“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
Con + Ref are probably going to be on 50% pretty soon. The question is can they somehow transform that into winning a majority of seats, because at this year's GE they got 39% of the vote and 19% of seats between them.
There is no “they”.
Very many of those saying they will vote Reform are simply fed up with all the establishmanet partied and are registering a NOTA preference. A lot of them won’t be arsed to vote at all, hence Reform might better be renamed Underperform.
If the C+R total reaches 50% it simply means there are even more pissed off people than before; not that there is a majority wanting to see Dodgy Jenrick as Prime Minister.
Yes, you might equally consider LLG as a “they”.
Which would equally be bullshit.
The simple truth is Labour are leading the polls by significant margins when we were assured right here on PB they were “done”.
Funny old world.
I have said Starmer is done. And he is. Labour aren't done; they still have their majority. But we all remember what happened with Boris's majority...
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
Con + Ref are probably going to be on 50% pretty soon. The question is can they somehow transform that into winning a majority of seats, because at this year's GE they got 39% of the vote and 19% of seats between them.
There is no “they”.
Very many of those saying they will vote Reform are simply fed up with all the establishmanet partied and are registering a NOTA preference. A lot of them won’t be arsed to vote at all, hence Reform might better be renamed Underperform.
If the C+R total reaches 50% it simply means there are even more pissed off people than before; not that there is a majority wanting to see Dodgy Jenrick as Prime Minister.
To be honest this was the claim made before the last election. None of the commentators seriously thought Reform would do as well as the polls suggested and many on here were confidently claiming they would get no seats at all. There was a huge amount of wishful thinking going on with regard to [the lack of] Reform support. There were also plenty saying that the only seat Reform would win would be Farage's. And yet Reform did gain seats and came far too close in plenty of others.
This sort of thinking is dangerous. At least for those of us who would rather not see Reform gaining seats. It is also the same thinking that was prevelant before the EU Referendum, especially on here. In that instance I was glad that the received wisdom was wrong. In this case I will not be.
Post worthy of a +1 rather than just a like.
While people were debating the outcome of a second referendum the other day, I can't help but remember the 2019 European Parliament elections where Farage's lot came top on 30% and the Tories a miserable 4th on 8%. While the figures don't transpose directly into FPTP, it would have given Farage's vehicle a 100-200 majority if translated to a westminster election.
I could easily see this becoming the outcome of 2029 if neither the Tories nor Labour get their act together.
I really do hope you are wrong. A few months ago I would have said you were for sure. I thought they would get a few seats at the GE but not really make a big break through (so I am perhaps guilty of exactly the blindness I criticise even though that was the outcome). But I am shaken by the recent favourable polling about attacks on refugees and asylum seekers and do start to very much worry about what might happen if Labour and the Tories both continue to fail to provide proper leadership and Governance.
The current Labour government was never voted in on a wave of popularity, Blair '97 style. It was merely buggins' turn.
They won a majority on just 33% of the vote. Which is not far off what Farage's lot achieved in the 2019 Euros.
So the vote share is out there for Farage, waiting and willing.
An unpopular Labour government in 2029 + a Farage Lite-led Conservative party with no reason to vote for it vs the full fat Reform version could hand the magical 33% to Farage in 2029, tbh.
Trump spent a chunk of last night's rally explaining how in the film Full Metal Jacket the drill sergeant was, in the end, played by a real one because he was better than the actors.
We have three separate opinion polls all conducted within the same range by three different polling companies all showing a clear Labour lead over the Conservatives with Reform a close third and yet some on here are claiming, without a scintilla of evidence, Labour and the Conservatives are actually more or less tied.
Last week's local council by-elections did show Labour was struggling to get its vote out but were the beneficiaries of this discontent the Conservatives? No, it was Reform and the Greens who won seats.
We have, I believe, 18 local by-elections this coming Thursday including some Con-LD contests so we may or may not get a clearer picture of how things stand after those contests.
We had several trillion polls around the time of the GE showing Labour on about 40. They got 33.7
That is the point, you don’t seem to have grasped it
That is true, but that was for polls past-vote weighted to the 2019GE. We now have polls past-vote weighted to the 2024GE, and there's no way of knowing whether they will have the same error, a greater/lesser error, or whatever.
What we do know is that the polls most often overstate Labour. 2017 is the only exception in the modern polling era, and that might have been late swing. But still, the polls might not be overstating Labour by as much as they did at the 2024GE.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
The Argies know how to defeat a government in thrall to international legalism - get a resolution passed at the United Nations and wait for the Starmer/Lammy obeisance on bended knee
Con + Ref are probably going to be on 50% pretty soon. The question is can they somehow transform that into winning a majority of seats, because at this year's GE they got 39% of the vote and 19% of seats between them.
There is no “they”.
Very many of those saying they will vote Reform are simply fed up with all the establishmanet partied and are registering a NOTA preference. A lot of them won’t be arsed to vote at all, hence Reform might better be renamed Underperform.
If the C+R total reaches 50% it simply means there are even more pissed off people than before; not that there is a majority wanting to see Dodgy Jenrick as Prime Minister.
To be honest this was the claim made before the last election. None of the commentators seriously thought Reform would do as well as the polls suggested and many on here were confidently claiming they would get no seats at all. There was a huge amount of wishful thinking going on with regard to [the lack of] Reform support. There were also plenty saying that the only seat Reform would win would be Farage's. And yet Reform did gain seats and came far too close in plenty of others.
This sort of thinking is dangerous. At least for those of us who would rather not see Reform gaining seats. It is also the same thinking that was prevelant before the EU Referendum, especially on here. In that instance I was glad that the received wisdom was wrong. In this case I will not be.
Post worthy of a +1 rather than just a like.
While people were debating the outcome of a second referendum the other day, I can't help but remember the 2019 European Parliament elections where Farage's lot came top on 30% and the Tories a miserable 4th on 8%. While the figures don't transpose directly into FPTP, it would have given Farage's vehicle a 100-200 majority if translated to a westminster election.
I could easily see this becoming the outcome of 2029 if neither the Tories nor Labour get their act together.
I really do hope you are wrong. A few months ago I would have said you were for sure. I thought they would get a few seats at the GE but not really make a big break through (so I am perhaps guilty of exactly the blindness I criticise even though that was the outcome). But I am shaken by the recent favourable polling about attacks on refugees and asylum seekers and do start to very much worry about what might happen if Labour and the Tories both continue to fail to provide proper leadership and Governance.
If Labour and Starmer fail to deliver and/or continue to demonstrate as they are doing that they are indeed "all the bloody same" then I dont think Jenrick's tory shower will be the beneficiaries. It's Farage all the way in 2029.
If the next general election result was say Labour 27% Reform 23% and Tories 23%, then the Tories would gain 60 Labour seats while Reform would only gain 37 Labour seats. So under FPTP even if the Tories didn't gain any extra votes compared to 2024 if Farage ate into the Labour vote it would be the Tories the main beneficiaries
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
Did anyone see Have I Got News For You yesterday? One of the most awkward editions I've ever seen, because a lot of people didn't like the idea of laughing at jokes about a Labour government.
Saw the programme but not any reluctance to joke about or laugh at Labour.
Me neither, but is was generally a fairly flat and unfunny episode. No spark.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
I honestly think Kosovo is less of a pushover than Britain under starmer. These people have recent memory of fighting for their national and cultural interest. We have Sir Kir Royale
We have three separate opinion polls all conducted within the same range by three different polling companies all showing a clear Labour lead over the Conservatives with Reform a close third and yet some on here are claiming, without a scintilla of evidence, Labour and the Conservatives are actually more or less tied.
Last week's local council by-elections did show Labour was struggling to get its vote out but were the beneficiaries of this discontent the Conservatives? No, it was Reform and the Greens who won seats.
We have, I believe, 18 local by-elections this coming Thursday including some Con-LD contests so we may or may not get a clearer picture of how things stand after those contests.
We had several trillion polls around the time of the GE showing Labour on about 40. They got 33.7
That is the point, you don’t seem to have grasped it
Nah.
People are smarter than you expect when they are interested in something. In this case it was kicking the Tories out. Once they had a feel for the local detail and the national picture, they reviewed their choices.
There’s plenty of slim Labour majorities and it is tempting to think those are precarious. I would say that is a hasty view.
We get what we want when we actually want something.
I think this view is naive. If the Labour overestimate in the polls had ended up going to Lib Dems and Greens then the whole argument that Labour voters voted tactically might have some merit, but the Tories were underestimated in the polls, and RFM+CON were also underestimated, so there was an overall bias to the left[er]-wing parties in the polling for the last GE.
It wasn't as large as our excitable Leon makes out though. The wiki graph suggests that the final polls were out by an average of 3 points on the Labour share.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
I honestly think Kosovo is less of a pushover than Britain under starmer. These people have recent memory of fighting for their national and cultural interest. We have Sir Kir Royale
Even Biden and Trudeau are less weak than Starmer, at the moment the leader of the free world, sad to say is Emmanuel Macron followed by Giorgia Meloni
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Why then did we not negotiate WITH THE CHAGOSSIANS? Instead of Mauritius with its Chinese backer?
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
I wonder who were the 3 people who voted "no" in 2013
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
I honestly think Kosovo is less of a pushover than Britain under starmer. These people have recent memory of fighting for their national and cultural interest. We have Sir Kir Royale
Do you think the two Serb-majority towns in the north of Kosovo should be handed back to Serbia?
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Why then did we not negotiate WITH THE CHAGOSSIANS? Instead of Mauritius with its Chinese backer?
Oh I agree. As I said Starmer royally fucked up. But the underlying positions are very different. Not least because the Falkland Islanders are actually on the islands.
I honestly think Kosovo is less of a pushover than Britain under starmer. These people have recent memory of fighting for their national and cultural interest. We have Sir Kir Royale
Even Biden and Trudeau are less weak than Starmer, at the moment the leader of the free world, sad to say is Emmanuel Macron followed by Giorgia Meloni
Macron is terribly indeed fatally weakened by his election loss. So I disagree
I’m not sure the west has a capable leader. Meloni is probably the best but.. Italy
Scholz god help us. Biden lol. Trudeau on his way out
However I suspect democracy is about to deliver a series of Melonis. Seriously right wing leaders
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
And we now know these “diplomatic channels” work. That’s the example set by the Mauritians
Just put a bit of moral pressure on pathetic Britain and it folds immediately
The moral pressure would surely be on Argentina, given the Malv... er, I mean the Falklands have never actually been part of Argentina?
Just as the Chagos islands have never been part of Mauritius.
Detached from Mauritius in 1965.
The Falklands have never been detached from Argentina, because, er, it's never been part of Argentina.
I thought that the precursor country to Argentina had a penal colony on the Falklands in the 1830s, somewhat later than the first British colony, which was itself shortly after the first French colony and before the first Spanish colony.
IIRC the proto-Argentine effort failed before the British returned. So I would say that Argentina do have some sort of tenuous claim, but it's arguably weaker than the French claim, certainly weaker than the British claim, and insignificant compared to the people who are living there now.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
Incidentally it is incredible how TWO sassytempts on Trump have been completely forgotten, like someone seriously trying to shoot an ex president and extant presidential candidate is perfectly normal, indeed the fact it has happened twice shows how normal it is, and if someone tried to shoot Kamala Harris we’d all shrug in the same way
No, we would not
Well not really. There were two Assassination attempts on Ford within 17 days of each other. In both cases the would be assassin was within a couple of feet of the preseident and pulled the trigger. In the first case they had forgotten to chamber a round (or didn't know they had to) and in the second someone saw the gun arm come up and pulled it to one side so the shots missed the President but injured someone standing close to him. And yet to be honest it was hardly headline news for more than a day or so. And this was a serving President.
And that was in the 1970s. Since then?
The first sassytempt actually came so close to Trump it made him bleed
Incidentally I am open to any explanation for these bizarre incidents. American politics is so fucked up - in no small part by Trump himself, and his mad followers - I would not be surprised if Trump staged one of them. Especially the second. Tho my preferred narrative is still - the Ukrainians are doing it
But the total silence and LACK of speculation is quite odd. And I believe it is because people are terrified of saying anything that might help him, even if they would deny this, even if they are not aware of it
I am not sure it needs much explanation. The USA is so jam packed full of guns, crazies* and crazies with guns* that I am frankly amazed it doesn't happen more often.I assume the only thing stopping it is an inate sense of self preservation on the part of the would be assassins.
*for the record I classify anyone attempting to assassinate a politician in a democracy as a crazy, not just those targetting Trump.
A couple of years back, I heard an interview with an ex-Secret Service bod (I think it was on the 'Cops and Writers' podcast...). He said something like most of the crazies who want to do something like this talk, and the Secret Service are very good at picking up on that talk, and then going to visit the crazy. The visit often dissuades the crazy; and even if it does not, they are on one of several lists that may have various future effects on their lives.
In the case of the Butler incident, it seems that the talk was not picked up on, or if it was, not actioned. Perhaps this is because there is so much more crazy talk on t'Internet.
He also said something like: "the ones that keep them awake at night are the ones that don't talk." I think the guy who tried to assassinate Reagan was one such, especially as he was not targeting Reagan for political reasons, but to impress Jodie Foster...
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
We have three separate opinion polls all conducted within the same range by three different polling companies all showing a clear Labour lead over the Conservatives with Reform a close third and yet some on here are claiming, without a scintilla of evidence, Labour and the Conservatives are actually more or less tied.
Last week's local council by-elections did show Labour was struggling to get its vote out but were the beneficiaries of this discontent the Conservatives? No, it was Reform and the Greens who won seats.
We have, I believe, 18 local by-elections this coming Thursday including some Con-LD contests so we may or may not get a clearer picture of how things stand after those contests.
We had several trillion polls around the time of the GE showing Labour on about 40. They got 33.7
That is the point, you don’t seem to have grasped it
That is true, but that was for polls past-vote weighted to the 2019GE. We now have polls past-vote weighted to the 2024GE, and there's no way of knowing whether they will have the same error, a greater/lesser error, or whatever.
What we do know is that the polls most often overstate Labour. 2017 is the only exception in the modern polling era, and that might have been late swing. But still, the polls might not be overstating Labour by as much as they did at the 2024GE.
It's worth noting too that the polling pretty much right in terms of seats, even if wrong in percentages.
What they didn't pick up was the poor turnout in Labour safe seats, but good turnout in Lab, LD and Green target seats, hence the unexpected independent successes.
Whether the LLG parties can manage such an efficient vote distribution again is the unknown.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
I honestly think Kosovo is less of a pushover than Britain under starmer. These people have recent memory of fighting for their national and cultural interest. We have Sir Kir Royale
Even Biden and Trudeau are less weak than Starmer, at the moment the leader of the free world, sad to say is Emmanuel Macron followed by Giorgia Meloni
Macron is terribly indeed fatally weakened by his election loss. So I disagree
I’m not sure the west has a capable leader. Meloni is probably the best but.. Italy
Scholz god help us. Biden lol. Trudeau on his way out
However I suspect democracy is about to deliver a series of Melonis. Seriously right wing leaders
He isn't, he retains most seats for his party and the centre right and has appointed Barnier PM.
Meloni has a clearer majority yes and is probably the strongest leader in the G7 at present in terms of approval rating (also doing better than Albanese in Australia). Though as you say she is still leader of Italy, not a P5 UN Sec Council power like Macron and France also has a bigger economy than Italy.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
Con + Ref are probably going to be on 50% pretty soon. The question is can they somehow transform that into winning a majority of seats, because at this year's GE they got 39% of the vote and 19% of seats between them.
There is no “they”.
Very many of those saying they will vote Reform are simply fed up with all the establishmanet partied and are registering a NOTA preference. A lot of them won’t be arsed to vote at all, hence Reform might better be renamed Underperform.
If the C+R total reaches 50% it simply means there are even more pissed off people than before; not that there is a majority wanting to see Dodgy Jenrick as Prime Minister.
To be honest this was the claim made before the last election. None of the commentators seriously thought Reform would do as well as the polls suggested and many on here were confidently claiming they would get no seats at all. There was a huge amount of wishful thinking going on with regard to [the lack of] Reform support. There were also plenty saying that the only seat Reform would win would be Farage's. And yet Reform did gain seats and came far too close in plenty of others.
This sort of thinking is dangerous. At least for those of us who would rather not see Reform gaining seats. It is also the same thinking that was prevelant before the EU Referendum, especially on here. In that instance I was glad that the received wisdom was wrong. In this case I will not be.
Post worthy of a +1 rather than just a like.
While people were debating the outcome of a second referendum the other day, I can't help but remember the 2019 European Parliament elections where Farage's lot came top on 30% and the Tories a miserable 4th on 8%. While the figures don't transpose directly into FPTP, it would have given Farage's vehicle a 100-200 majority if translated to a westminster election.
I could easily see this becoming the outcome of 2029 if neither the Tories nor Labour get their act together.
I really do hope you are wrong. A few months ago I would have said you were for sure. I thought they would get a few seats at the GE but not really make a big break through (so I am perhaps guilty of exactly the blindness I criticise even though that was the outcome). But I am shaken by the recent favourable polling about attacks on refugees and asylum seekers and do start to very much worry about what might happen if Labour and the Tories both continue to fail to provide proper leadership and Governance.
If Labour and Starmer fail to deliver and/or continue to demonstrate as they are doing that they are indeed "all the bloody same" then I dont think Jenrick's tory shower will be the beneficiaries. It's Farage all the way in 2029.
If the next general election result was say Labour 27% Reform 23% and Tories 23%, then the Tories would gain 60 Labour seats while Reform would only gain 37 Labour seats. So under FPTP even if the Tories didn't gain any extra votes compared to 2024 if Farage ate into the Labour vote it would be the Tories the main beneficiaries
That will be making assumptions about more or less uniform swing. In our system you have to win local seats, not national votes, and how seats are won will depend on the parties emphasis and campaigning and so on, and most of all on how voters behave.
in 2024 GE the voters behaved in such a way as to give the LDs loads more seats than could have been the case with the same number of votes. Voters can do the same with Reform if they want.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
France is quite close to England. And our claim on chunks of it predates the claim of the French government. What’s good for the goose…
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
France is quite close to England. And our claim on chunks of it predates the claim of the French government. What’s good for the goose…
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
And we now know these “diplomatic channels” work. That’s the example set by the Mauritians
Just put a bit of moral pressure on pathetic Britain and it folds immediately
The moral pressure would surely be on Argentina, given the Malv... er, I mean the Falklands have never actually been part of Argentina?
Just as the Chagos islands have never been part of Mauritius.
Detached from Mauritius in 1965.
The Falklands have never been detached from Argentina, because, er, it's never been part of Argentina.
I thought that the precursor country to Argentina had a penal colony on the Falklands in the 1830s, somewhat later than the first British colony, which was itself shortly after the first French colony and before the first Spanish colony.
IIRC the proto-Argentine effort failed before the British returned. So I would say that Argentina do have some sort of tenuous claim, but it's arguably weaker than the French claim, certainly weaker than the British claim, and insignificant compared to the people who are living there now.
But the precedent has been set. Once a claimant country gets a judgment against us on the ICJ, or in the UN, or both, we fold
Argentina can skillfully organize enough friends, via China, to get that done. Then, on the precedent so fucking stupidly set in the Chagos, we fold
The Tories are desperately stupid idiots for starting this, I think Starmer is an actual traitor
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
Con + Ref are probably going to be on 50% pretty soon. The question is can they somehow transform that into winning a majority of seats, because at this year's GE they got 39% of the vote and 19% of seats between them.
There is no “they”.
Very many of those saying they will vote Reform are simply fed up with all the establishmanet partied and are registering a NOTA preference. A lot of them won’t be arsed to vote at all, hence Reform might better be renamed Underperform.
If the C+R total reaches 50% it simply means there are even more pissed off people than before; not that there is a majority wanting to see Dodgy Jenrick as Prime Minister.
To be honest this was the claim made before the last election. None of the commentators seriously thought Reform would do as well as the polls suggested and many on here were confidently claiming they would get no seats at all. There was a huge amount of wishful thinking going on with regard to [the lack of] Reform support. There were also plenty saying that the only seat Reform would win would be Farage's. And yet Reform did gain seats and came far too close in plenty of others.
This sort of thinking is dangerous. At least for those of us who would rather not see Reform gaining seats. It is also the same thinking that was prevelant before the EU Referendum, especially on here. In that instance I was glad that the received wisdom was wrong. In this case I will not be.
Post worthy of a +1 rather than just a like.
While people were debating the outcome of a second referendum the other day, I can't help but remember the 2019 European Parliament elections where Farage's lot came top on 30% and the Tories a miserable 4th on 8%. While the figures don't transpose directly into FPTP, it would have given Farage's vehicle a 100-200 majority if translated to a westminster election.
I could easily see this becoming the outcome of 2029 if neither the Tories nor Labour get their act together.
I really do hope you are wrong. A few months ago I would have said you were for sure. I thought they would get a few seats at the GE but not really make a big break through (so I am perhaps guilty of exactly the blindness I criticise even though that was the outcome). But I am shaken by the recent favourable polling about attacks on refugees and asylum seekers and do start to very much worry about what might happen if Labour and the Tories both continue to fail to provide proper leadership and Governance.
If Labour and Starmer fail to deliver and/or continue to demonstrate as they are doing that they are indeed "all the bloody same" then I dont think Jenrick's tory shower will be the beneficiaries. It's Farage all the way in 2029.
If the next general election result was say Labour 27% Reform 23% and Tories 23%, then the Tories would gain 60 Labour seats while Reform would only gain 37 Labour seats. So under FPTP even if the Tories didn't gain any extra votes compared to 2024 if Farage ate into the Labour vote it would be the Tories the main beneficiaries
That will be making assumptions about more or less uniform swing. In our system you have to win local seats, not national votes, and how seats are won will depend on the parties emphasis and campaigning and so on, and most of all on how voters behave.
in 2024 GE the voters behaved in such a way as to give the LDs loads more seats than could have been the case with the same number of votes. Voters can do the same with Reform if they want.
I find the efficiency (lack of) of the Reform vote quite interesting. If, for example, we trade more fishing rights for a better trade deal (very possible) in 2026 then I can see Reform starting to get some more concentration and a cause to rally behind in some of its targets.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
France is quite close to England. And our claim on chunks of it predates the claim of the French government. What’s good for the goose…
We could take the Faroes. Nice piece of land.
Here’s my proposed transfer deal with the EU:
1) The Scots get independence and must take Scotland with them;
Con + Ref are probably going to be on 50% pretty soon. The question is can they somehow transform that into winning a majority of seats, because at this year's GE they got 39% of the vote and 19% of seats between them.
There is no “they”.
Very many of those saying they will vote Reform are simply fed up with all the establishmanet partied and are registering a NOTA preference. A lot of them won’t be arsed to vote at all, hence Reform might better be renamed Underperform.
If the C+R total reaches 50% it simply means there are even more pissed off people than before; not that there is a majority wanting to see Dodgy Jenrick as Prime Minister.
To be honest this was the claim made before the last election. None of the commentators seriously thought Reform would do as well as the polls suggested and many on here were confidently claiming they would get no seats at all. There was a huge amount of wishful thinking going on with regard to [the lack of] Reform support. There were also plenty saying that the only seat Reform would win would be Farage's. And yet Reform did gain seats and came far too close in plenty of others.
This sort of thinking is dangerous. At least for those of us who would rather not see Reform gaining seats. It is also the same thinking that was prevelant before the EU Referendum, especially on here. In that instance I was glad that the received wisdom was wrong. In this case I will not be.
Post worthy of a +1 rather than just a like.
While people were debating the outcome of a second referendum the other day, I can't help but remember the 2019 European Parliament elections where Farage's lot came top on 30% and the Tories a miserable 4th on 8%. While the figures don't transpose directly into FPTP, it would have given Farage's vehicle a 100-200 majority if translated to a westminster election.
I could easily see this becoming the outcome of 2029 if neither the Tories nor Labour get their act together.
I really do hope you are wrong. A few months ago I would have said you were for sure. I thought they would get a few seats at the GE but not really make a big break through (so I am perhaps guilty of exactly the blindness I criticise even though that was the outcome). But I am shaken by the recent favourable polling about attacks on refugees and asylum seekers and do start to very much worry about what might happen if Labour and the Tories both continue to fail to provide proper leadership and Governance.
If Labour and Starmer fail to deliver and/or continue to demonstrate as they are doing that they are indeed "all the bloody same" then I dont think Jenrick's tory shower will be the beneficiaries. It's Farage all the way in 2029.
If the next general election result was say Labour 27% Reform 23% and Tories 23%, then the Tories would gain 60 Labour seats while Reform would only gain 37 Labour seats. So under FPTP even if the Tories didn't gain any extra votes compared to 2024 if Farage ate into the Labour vote it would be the Tories the main beneficiaries
That will be making assumptions about more or less uniform swing. In our system you have to win local seats, not national votes, and how seats are won will depend on the parties emphasis and campaigning and so on, and most of all on how voters behave.
in 2024 GE the voters behaved in such a way as to give the LDs loads more seats than could have been the case with the same number of votes. Voters can do the same with Reform if they want.
They can, if they want to. But hardly anyone really minds the Lib Dems. I do, but even that's mostly for ancestral family loyalty reasons.
Plenty of people really object to Reform. And, at some weird subconscious level, FPTP takes account of that.
i can’t even think about the Chagos Surrender it is so mind bogglingly stupid, self harming, it is like cutting off a finger in front of a team of hungry dogs and claiming in a weird high pitched voice how it shows you should be a primary school teacher
No, they will eat your severed finger and look hungrily at the other fingers
If I think about it any more I will have an aneurysm. Slow Horses it is
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
They are but the Maldives specifically said they weren't interested in owning the islands and all they want are overlapping zones of exclusive economic interest. Basically they want to be able to fish in the waters closest to their islands (within their 200 mile limit).
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
And we now know these “diplomatic channels” work. That’s the example set by the Mauritians
Just put a bit of moral pressure on pathetic Britain and it folds immediately
The moral pressure would surely be on Argentina, given the Malv... er, I mean the Falklands have never actually been part of Argentina?
Just as the Chagos islands have never been part of Mauritius.
Detached from Mauritius in 1965.
The Falklands have never been detached from Argentina, because, er, it's never been part of Argentina.
I thought that the precursor country to Argentina had a penal colony on the Falklands in the 1830s, somewhat later than the first British colony, which was itself shortly after the first French colony and before the first Spanish colony.
IIRC the proto-Argentine effort failed before the British returned. So I would say that Argentina do have some sort of tenuous claim, but it's arguably weaker than the French claim, certainly weaker than the British claim, and insignificant compared to the people who are living there now.
But the precedent has been set. Once a claimant country gets a judgment against us on the ICJ, or in the UN, or both, we fold
Argentina can skillfully organize enough friends, via China, to get that done. Then, on the precedent so fucking stupidly set in the Chagos, we fold
The Tories are desperately stupid idiots for starting this, I think Starmer is an actual traitor
Low IQ Leon, just a couple of points, firstly you voted for Starmer, secondly as you do not do nuance, here's the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, quoting a Labour Foreign Office Minister on why any comparisons between the Chagos Islands and GIbraltar & The Falkland Islands is nonsense.
This from @SDoughtyMP puts what was beyond doubt, beyond doubt. It is a sine qua non that only the People of Gibraltar decide any matter related to the sovereignty of #Gibraltar.
The current reporting and debate in UK seems to be more about party politics, blame-gaming and Tory Party leadership issues rather than anything remotely to do with sovereignty of any Overdeas Territory.
i can’t even think about the Chagos Surrender it is so mind bogglingly stupid, self harming, it is like cutting off a finger in front of a team of hungry dogs and claiming in a weird high pitched voice how it shows you should be a primary school teacher
No, they will eat your severed finger and look hungrily at the other fingers
If I think about it any more I will have an aneurysm. Slow Horses it is
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
France is quite close to England. And our claim on chunks of it predates the claim of the French government. What’s good for the goose…
We could take the Faroes. Nice piece of land.
Here’s my proposed transfer deal with the EU:
1) The Scots get independence and must take Scotland with them;
2) Except we keep the islands and oil;
3) We get the ancestral lands in France;
3) We keep Gibraltar;
4) We get Cyprus back; and
5) We get Malta.
6) Menorca!
7) Corsica!
8) Corfu and the other Ionians!
9) the British post-war zones in Germany and Austria!
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
And we now know these “diplomatic channels” work. That’s the example set by the Mauritians
Just put a bit of moral pressure on pathetic Britain and it folds immediately
The moral pressure would surely be on Argentina, given the Malv... er, I mean the Falklands have never actually been part of Argentina?
Just as the Chagos islands have never been part of Mauritius.
Detached from Mauritius in 1965.
The Falklands have never been detached from Argentina, because, er, it's never been part of Argentina.
I thought that the precursor country to Argentina had a penal colony on the Falklands in the 1830s, somewhat later than the first British colony, which was itself shortly after the first French colony and before the first Spanish colony.
IIRC the proto-Argentine effort failed before the British returned. So I would say that Argentina do have some sort of tenuous claim, but it's arguably weaker than the French claim, certainly weaker than the British claim, and insignificant compared to the people who are living there now.
But the precedent has been set. Once a claimant country gets a judgment against us on the ICJ, or in the UN, or both, we fold
Argentina can skillfully organize enough friends, via China, to get that done. Then, on the precedent so fucking stupidly set in the Chagos, we fold
The Tories are desperately stupid idiots for starting this, I think Starmer is an actual traitor
Low IQ Leon, just a couple of points, firstly you voted for Starmer, secondly as you do not do nuance, here's the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, quoting a Labour Foreign Office Minister on why any comparisons between the Chagos Islands and GIbraltar & The Falkland Islands is nonsense.
This from @SDoughtyMP puts what was beyond doubt, beyond doubt. It is a sine qua non that only the People of Gibraltar decide any matter related to the sovereignty of #Gibraltar.
The current reporting and debate in UK seems to be more about party politics, blame-gaming and Tory Party leadership issues rather than anything remotely to do with sovereignty of any Overdeas Territory.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
And we now know these “diplomatic channels” work. That’s the example set by the Mauritians
Just put a bit of moral pressure on pathetic Britain and it folds immediately
The moral pressure would surely be on Argentina, given the Malv... er, I mean the Falklands have never actually been part of Argentina?
Just as the Chagos islands have never been part of Mauritius.
Detached from Mauritius in 1965.
The Falklands have never been detached from Argentina, because, er, it's never been part of Argentina.
I thought that the precursor country to Argentina had a penal colony on the Falklands in the 1830s, somewhat later than the first British colony, which was itself shortly after the first French colony and before the first Spanish colony.
IIRC the proto-Argentine effort failed before the British returned. So I would say that Argentina do have some sort of tenuous claim, but it's arguably weaker than the French claim, certainly weaker than the British claim, and insignificant compared to the people who are living there now.
But the precedent has been set. Once a claimant country gets a judgment against us on the ICJ, or in the UN, or both, we fold
Argentina can skillfully organize enough friends, via China, to get that done. Then, on the precedent so fucking stupidly set in the Chagos, we fold
The Tories are desperately stupid idiots for starting this, I think Starmer is an actual traitor
Low IQ Leon, just a couple of points, firstly you voted for Starmer, secondly as you do not do nuance, here's the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, quoting a Labour Foreign Office Minister on why any comparisons between the Chagos Islands and GIbraltar & The Falkland Islands is nonsense.
This from @SDoughtyMP puts what was beyond doubt, beyond doubt. It is a sine qua non that only the People of Gibraltar decide any matter related to the sovereignty of #Gibraltar.
The current reporting and debate in UK seems to be more about party politics, blame-gaming and Tory Party leadership issues rather than anything remotely to do with sovereignty of any Overdeas Territory.
Remember when Cameron genuinely thought LOL meant "Lots Of Love" ?
It was great, a few of his staff told me they'd often messages from Dave along the following lines
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
It would have been like a term of endearment.
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
Depressing.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
Upcoming 2025 Channel 4 drama "Brian and Margaret", about a 1989 interview between Brian walden and then-PM Margaret Thatcher. Starring Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter. Two episodes, 60 mins each.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
France is quite close to England. And our claim on chunks of it predates the claim of the French government. What’s good for the goose…
We could take the Faroes. Nice piece of land.
Here’s my proposed transfer deal with the EU:
1) The Scots get independence and must take Scotland with them;
2) Except we keep the islands and oil;
3) We get the ancestral lands in France;
3) We keep Gibraltar;
4) We get Cyprus back; and
5) We get Malta.
6) Menorca!
7) Corsica!
8) Corfu and the other Ionians!
9) the British post-war zones in Germany and Austria!
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
And we now know these “diplomatic channels” work. That’s the example set by the Mauritians
Just put a bit of moral pressure on pathetic Britain and it folds immediately
The moral pressure would surely be on Argentina, given the Malv... er, I mean the Falklands have never actually been part of Argentina?
Just as the Chagos islands have never been part of Mauritius.
Detached from Mauritius in 1965.
The Falklands have never been detached from Argentina, because, er, it's never been part of Argentina.
I thought that the precursor country to Argentina had a penal colony on the Falklands in the 1830s, somewhat later than the first British colony, which was itself shortly after the first French colony and before the first Spanish colony.
IIRC the proto-Argentine effort failed before the British returned. So I would say that Argentina do have some sort of tenuous claim, but it's arguably weaker than the French claim, certainly weaker than the British claim, and insignificant compared to the people who are living there now.
But the precedent has been set. Once a claimant country gets a judgment against us on the ICJ, or in the UN, or both, we fold
Argentina can skillfully organize enough friends, via China, to get that done. Then, on the precedent so fucking stupidly set in the Chagos, we fold
The Tories are desperately stupid idiots for starting this, I think Starmer is an actual traitor
Low IQ Leon, just a couple of points, firstly you voted for Starmer, secondly as you do not do nuance, here's the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, quoting a Labour Foreign Office Minister on why any comparisons between the Chagos Islands and GIbraltar & The Falkland Islands is nonsense.
This from @SDoughtyMP puts what was beyond doubt, beyond doubt. It is a sine qua non that only the People of Gibraltar decide any matter related to the sovereignty of #Gibraltar.
The current reporting and debate in UK seems to be more about party politics, blame-gaming and Tory Party leadership issues rather than anything remotely to do with sovereignty of any Overdeas Territory.
I said this Chagos Surrender would reveal more dangerous rocks beyond (aside from its intrinsic self harming futility) and so it is. Already. The sharks gather as Britain bleeds out via the Starmer Artery
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
France is quite close to England. And our claim on chunks of it predates the claim of the French government. What’s good for the goose…
We could take the Faroes. Nice piece of land.
Here’s my proposed transfer deal with the EU:
1) The Scots get independence and must take Scotland with them;
2) Except we keep the islands and oil;
3) We get the ancestral lands in France;
3) We keep Gibraltar;
4) We get Cyprus back; and
5) We get Malta.
6) Menorca!
7) Corsica!
8) Corfu and the other Ionians!
9) the British post-war zones in Germany and Austria!
Will no-one speak up for the Heligolanders?
It was part of the British zone!! (only Bremen/Bremerhaven was American).
Remember when Cameron genuinely thought LOL meant "Lots Of Love" ?
It was great, a few of his staff told me they'd often messages from Dave along the following lines
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
It would have been like a term of endearment.
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
Depressing.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
It might be he is simply a stage the Tories have to go through before they realise they have to pick someone sane.
Seriously. This country would have been better governed by ME, armed with a ZX Spectrum, during a heroin gouch, than by both the Tories or Labour these last 20 fucking years
Basic basic decisions have gone wrong. A garden gnome could have done better
The last competent leader of Britain was Blair pre Iraq. That is a looooooooong time
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
France is quite close to England. And our claim on chunks of it predates the claim of the French government. What’s good for the goose…
We could take the Faroes. Nice piece of land.
Here’s my proposed transfer deal with the EU:
1) The Scots get independence and must take Scotland with them;
2) Except we keep the islands and oil;
3) We get the ancestral lands in France;
3) We keep Gibraltar;
4) We get Cyprus back; and
5) We get Malta.
6) Menorca!
7) Corsica!
8) Corfu and the other Ionians!
9) the British post-war zones in Germany and Austria!
Will no-one speak up for the Heligolanders?
It was part of the British zone!! (only Bremen/Bremerhaven was American).
Heiligoland was British until we swapped it for Zanzibar.
Seriously. This country would have been better governed by ME, armed with a ZX Spectrum, during a heroin gouch, than by both the Tories or Labour these last 20 fucking years
Basic basic decisions have gone wrong. A garden gnome could have done better
The last competent leader of Britain was Blair pre Iraq. That is a looooooooong time
20 years ago is roughly the point we started importing cheap Eastern Europe labour rather than increasing productivity..
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
And we now know these “diplomatic channels” work. That’s the example set by the Mauritians
Just put a bit of moral pressure on pathetic Britain and it folds immediately
The moral pressure would surely be on Argentina, given the Malv... er, I mean the Falklands have never actually been part of Argentina?
Just as the Chagos islands have never been part of Mauritius.
Detached from Mauritius in 1965.
The Falklands have never been detached from Argentina, because, er, it's never been part of Argentina.
I thought that the precursor country to Argentina had a penal colony on the Falklands in the 1830s, somewhat later than the first British colony, which was itself shortly after the first French colony and before the first Spanish colony.
IIRC the proto-Argentine effort failed before the British returned. So I would say that Argentina do have some sort of tenuous claim, but it's arguably weaker than the French claim, certainly weaker than the British claim, and insignificant compared to the people who are living there now.
But the precedent has been set. Once a claimant country gets a judgment against us on the ICJ, or in the UN, or both, we fold
Argentina can skillfully organize enough friends, via China, to get that done. Then, on the precedent so fucking stupidly set in the Chagos, we fold
The Tories are desperately stupid idiots for starting this, I think Starmer is an actual traitor
Low IQ Leon, just a couple of points, firstly you voted for Starmer, secondly as you do not do nuance, here's the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, quoting a Labour Foreign Office Minister on why any comparisons between the Chagos Islands and GIbraltar & The Falkland Islands is nonsense.
This from @SDoughtyMP puts what was beyond doubt, beyond doubt. It is a sine qua non that only the People of Gibraltar decide any matter related to the sovereignty of #Gibraltar.
The current reporting and debate in UK seems to be more about party politics, blame-gaming and Tory Party leadership issues rather than anything remotely to do with sovereignty of any Overdeas Territory.
Remember when Cameron genuinely thought LOL meant "Lots Of Love" ?
It was great, a few of his staff told me they'd often messages from Dave along the following lines
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
It would have been like a term of endearment.
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
Depressing.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
It might be he is simply a stage the Tories have to go through before they realise they have to pick someone sane.
That I could understand, what I cannot understand is how his dealings with Dirty Desmond didn't lead to his expulsion from parliament.
If a councillor had done what Jenrick had done they'd have likely ended up in prison.
(JohnO and I concluded the reason the media haven't made more of the story is that they don't understand the story.)
Remember when Cameron genuinely thought LOL meant "Lots Of Love" ?
It was great, a few of his staff told me they'd often messages from Dave along the following lines
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
It would have been like a term of endearment.
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
Depressing.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
It might be he is simply a stage the Tories have to go through before they realise they have to pick someone sane.
The problem is if Jenrick is a Truss like disaster they won't learn the actual lesson they need to learn and instead double down with Kemi Badenoch winning the second time round...
Also the WFP will cost more than it saves and is subject to challenge in Scotland
Starmer facing the difficult truth he is not very good at politics
If you're talking about increased uptake of pension credit for impoverished pensioners, that can only be a good thing and the fact you see the cost of that as a downside is a bit callous, to be frank.
You need to decide if you are a:
1) big state lefty type, who believes in historically high taxation and free stuff for rich people (roughly, the SNP, the Greens, and, for old people, the Conservatives)
or
2) someone who believes in high taxation and but targets cash towards to those who need it most (Labour, maybe)
or
3) someone who advocates for low taxation and low spending (err, Reform?)
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
No, President Milei made clear 'As a presidential candidate, Milei said Argentina had lost the war to the British and must “make every effort to recover the islands through diplomatic channels,” according to state news agency Télam.
And we now know these “diplomatic channels” work. That’s the example set by the Mauritians
Just put a bit of moral pressure on pathetic Britain and it folds immediately
The moral pressure would surely be on Argentina, given the Malv... er, I mean the Falklands have never actually been part of Argentina?
Just as the Chagos islands have never been part of Mauritius.
Detached from Mauritius in 1965.
The Falklands have never been detached from Argentina, because, er, it's never been part of Argentina.
I thought that the precursor country to Argentina had a penal colony on the Falklands in the 1830s, somewhat later than the first British colony, which was itself shortly after the first French colony and before the first Spanish colony.
IIRC the proto-Argentine effort failed before the British returned. So I would say that Argentina do have some sort of tenuous claim, but it's arguably weaker than the French claim, certainly weaker than the British claim, and insignificant compared to the people who are living there now.
But the precedent has been set. Once a claimant country gets a judgment against us on the ICJ, or in the UN, or both, we fold
Argentina can skillfully organize enough friends, via China, to get that done. Then, on the precedent so fucking stupidly set in the Chagos, we fold
The Tories are desperately stupid idiots for starting this, I think Starmer is an actual traitor
Low IQ Leon, just a couple of points, firstly you voted for Starmer, secondly as you do not do nuance, here's the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, quoting a Labour Foreign Office Minister on why any comparisons between the Chagos Islands and GIbraltar & The Falkland Islands is nonsense.
This from @SDoughtyMP puts what was beyond doubt, beyond doubt. It is a sine qua non that only the People of Gibraltar decide any matter related to the sovereignty of #Gibraltar.
The current reporting and debate in UK seems to be more about party politics, blame-gaming and Tory Party leadership issues rather than anything remotely to do with sovereignty of any Overdeas Territory.
Remember when Cameron genuinely thought LOL meant "Lots Of Love" ?
It was great, a few of his staff told me they'd often messages from Dave along the following lines
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
It would have been like a term of endearment.
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
Depressing.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
It might be he is simply a stage the Tories have to go through before they realise they have to pick someone sane.
That I could understand, what I cannot understand is how his dealings with Dirty Desmond didn't lead to his expulsion from parliament.
If a councillor had done what Jenrick had done they'd have likely ended up in prison.
(JohnO and I concluded the reason the media haven't made more of the story is that they don't understand the story.)
And until recently Dirty Desmond was part of "the club" and there is a certain amount of don't attack members / former members because they will have similar or worse on you....
Remember when Cameron genuinely thought LOL meant "Lots Of Love" ?
It was great, a few of his staff told me they'd often messages from Dave along the following lines
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
It would have been like a term of endearment.
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
Depressing.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
It might be he is simply a stage the Tories have to go through before they realise they have to pick someone sane.
There's a fine line here.
The Conservatives might have to go batso for a bit to get it out of their system. (Which is the American sect that sets its youth free for a period of time in the hope that they then settle down to a lifetime of piety?) Sort of like Labour and Corbyn.
But if they go too batso, there will be nothing left. And the Conservatives are in a much weaker place now than Labour were in in 2015.
Sure, there's an opportunity. But there's also a massive risk.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
France is quite close to England. And our claim on chunks of it predates the claim of the French government. What’s good for the goose…
We could take the Faroes. Nice piece of land.
Here’s my proposed transfer deal with the EU:
1) The Scots get independence and must take Scotland with them;
2) Except we keep the islands and oil;
3) We get the ancestral lands in France;
3) We keep Gibraltar;
4) We get Cyprus back; and
5) We get Malta.
6) Menorca!
7) Corsica!
8) Corfu and the other Ionians!
9) the British post-war zones in Germany and Austria!
Will no-one speak up for the Heligolanders?
It was part of the British zone!! (only Bremen/Bremerhaven was American).
Heiligoland was British until we swapped it for Zanzibar.
Remember when Cameron genuinely thought LOL meant "Lots Of Love" ?
It was great, a few of his staff told me they'd often messages from Dave along the following lines
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
It would have been like a term of endearment.
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
Depressing.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
It might be he is simply a stage the Tories have to go through before they realise they have to pick someone sane.
The problem is if Jenrick is a Truss like disaster they won't learn the actual lesson they need to learn and instead double down with Kemi Badenoch winning the second time round...
Remember when Cameron genuinely thought LOL meant "Lots Of Love" ?
It was great, a few of his staff told me they'd often messages from Dave along the following lines
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
It would have been like a term of endearment.
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
Depressing.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
It might be he is simply a stage the Tories have to go through before they realise they have to pick someone sane.
The problem is if Jenrick is a Truss like disaster they won't learn the actual lesson they need to learn and instead double down with Kemi Badenoch winning the second time round...
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
France is quite close to England. And our claim on chunks of it predates the claim of the French government. What’s good for the goose…
We could take the Faroes. Nice piece of land.
Here’s my proposed transfer deal with the EU:
1) The Scots get independence and must take Scotland with them;
2) Except we keep the islands and oil;
3) We get the ancestral lands in France;
3) We keep Gibraltar;
4) We get Cyprus back; and
5) We get Malta.
6) Menorca!
7) Corsica!
8) Corfu and the other Ionians!
9) the British post-war zones in Germany and Austria!
Will no-one speak up for the Heligolanders?
It was part of the British zone!! (only Bremen/Bremerhaven was American).
Heiligoland was British until we swapped it for Zanzibar.
Con + Ref are probably going to be on 50% pretty soon. The question is can they somehow transform that into winning a majority of seats, because at this year's GE they got 39% of the vote and 19% of seats between them.
There is no “they”.
Very many of those saying they will vote Reform are simply fed up with all the establishmanet partied and are registering a NOTA preference. A lot of them won’t be arsed to vote at all, hence Reform might better be renamed Underperform.
If the C+R total reaches 50% it simply means there are even more pissed off people than before; not that there is a majority wanting to see Dodgy Jenrick as Prime Minister.
To be honest this was the claim made before the last election. None of the commentators seriously thought Reform would do as well as the polls suggested and many on here were confidently claiming they would get no seats at all. There was a huge amount of wishful thinking going on with regard to [the lack of] Reform support. There were also plenty saying that the only seat Reform would win would be Farage's. And yet Reform did gain seats and came far too close in plenty of others.
This sort of thinking is dangerous. At least for those of us who would rather not see Reform gaining seats. It is also the same thinking that was prevelant before the EU Referendum, especially on here. In that instance I was glad that the received wisdom was wrong. In this case I will not be.
Post worthy of a +1 rather than just a like.
While people were debating the outcome of a second referendum the other day, I can't help but remember the 2019 European Parliament elections where Farage's lot came top on 30% and the Tories a miserable 4th on 8%. While the figures don't transpose directly into FPTP, it would have given Farage's vehicle a 100-200 majority if translated to a westminster election.
I could easily see this becoming the outcome of 2029 if neither the Tories nor Labour get their act together.
I really do hope you are wrong. A few months ago I would have said you were for sure. I thought they would get a few seats at the GE but not really make a big break through (so I am perhaps guilty of exactly the blindness I criticise even though that was the outcome). But I am shaken by the recent favourable polling about attacks on refugees and asylum seekers and do start to very much worry about what might happen if Labour and the Tories both continue to fail to provide proper leadership and Governance.
If Labour and Starmer fail to deliver and/or continue to demonstrate as they are doing that they are indeed "all the bloody same" then I dont think Jenrick's tory shower will be the beneficiaries. It's Farage all the way in 2029.
If the next general election result was say Labour 27% Reform 23% and Tories 23%, then the Tories would gain 60 Labour seats while Reform would only gain 37 Labour seats. So under FPTP even if the Tories didn't gain any extra votes compared to 2024 if Farage ate into the Labour vote it would be the Tories the main beneficiaries
That will be making assumptions about more or less uniform swing. In our system you have to win local seats, not national votes, and how seats are won will depend on the parties emphasis and campaigning and so on, and most of all on how voters behave.
in 2024 GE the voters behaved in such a way as to give the LDs loads more seats than could have been the case with the same number of votes. Voters can do the same with Reform if they want.
They can, if they want to. But hardly anyone really minds the Lib Dems. I do, but even that's mostly for ancestral family loyalty reasons.
Plenty of people really object to Reform. And, at some weird subconscious level, FPTP takes account of that.
Very interesting. I think I agree. I am rather fan of FPTP in single member seats. And I think the collective nation does act in particular ways as you suggest. Reform get more votes than the LDs in 2024 but few seats. LDs are genuinely capable of grown up politics. Reform clearly are not. Is there a subtle link between these facts?
I voted Labour, for the first time, for three linked reasons: to change the government and ensure we had one, to not vote for Reform, to make sure the Tories lost as badly as possible. Not out of any pro Labour conviction. Maybe I was not alone. And maybe there is, Jung like, a collective unconscious will.
Remember when Cameron genuinely thought LOL meant "Lots Of Love" ?
It was great, a few of his staff told me they'd often messages from Dave along the following lines
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
It would have been like a term of endearment.
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
Depressing.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
Also the WFP will cost more than it saves and is subject to challenge in Scotland
Starmer facing the difficult truth he is not very good at politics
If you're talking about increased uptake of pension credit for impoverished pensioners, that can only be a good thing and the fact you see the cost of that as a downside is a bit callous, to be frank.
You need to decide if you are a:
1) big state lefty type, who believes in historically high taxation and free stuff for rich people (roughly, the SNP, the Greens, and, for old people, the Conservatives)
or
2) someone who believes in high taxation and but targets cash towards to those who need it most (Labour, maybe)
or
3) someone who advocates for low taxation and low spending (err, Reform?)
When did I say it was a downside
It is good that pensioners are applying for pension credit, but the point I was making was that Reeves did not even think about the consequences as in her eyes it was a saving of 1.5 billion to the treasury
I am not callous and you should withdraw that remark
Macron announces France not sending weapons to Israel
Like us, I suspect they import more (certainly more that cannot be substituted) from Israel than they export to it. Cutting their nose off to spite their face, potentially.
“Argentina’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands, the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, are handed to Buenos Aires.
She said: “Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.””
Guardian
Do you think they'll invade a la 1982???
They will follow the extremely successful path pursued by Mauritius and China and in the end I bet a Labour government - or a shit Tory government - would and will fold
The precedent has been set
It will be disguised as co-sovereignty or a 999 year lease etc etc. Just like Diego Garcia
However there is a major caveat. I bet we’ll elect a hard right government before than. Inshallah
Nah, whilst Labour royally fucked it up, the British position was fatally undermined by the fact the actual former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands wanted their land back. There was no way the British could adopt the moral high ground on that one. In the case of the Falklands they can. The whole world knows the position of the inhabitants of the islands.
Looking at the map the Chagos Islands look nearer to the Maldives than any other independent states.
France is quite close to England. And our claim on chunks of it predates the claim of the French government. What’s good for the goose…
We could take the Faroes. Nice piece of land.
Here’s my proposed transfer deal with the EU:
1) The Scots get independence and must take Scotland with them;
2) Except we keep the islands and oil;
3) We get the ancestral lands in France;
3) We keep Gibraltar;
4) We get Cyprus back; and
5) We get Malta.
6) Menorca!
7) Corsica!
8) Corfu and the other Ionians!
9) the British post-war zones in Germany and Austria!
Will no-one speak up for the Heligolanders?
It was part of the British zone!! (only Bremen/Bremerhaven was American).
Heiligoland was British until we swapped it for Zanzibar.
Con + Ref are probably going to be on 50% pretty soon. The question is can they somehow transform that into winning a majority of seats, because at this year's GE they got 39% of the vote and 19% of seats between them.
There is no “they”.
Very many of those saying they will vote Reform are simply fed up with all the establishmanet partied and are registering a NOTA preference. A lot of them won’t be arsed to vote at all, hence Reform might better be renamed Underperform.
If the C+R total reaches 50% it simply means there are even more pissed off people than before; not that there is a majority wanting to see Dodgy Jenrick as Prime Minister.
To be honest this was the claim made before the last election. None of the commentators seriously thought Reform would do as well as the polls suggested and many on here were confidently claiming they would get no seats at all. There was a huge amount of wishful thinking going on with regard to [the lack of] Reform support. There were also plenty saying that the only seat Reform would win would be Farage's. And yet Reform did gain seats and came far too close in plenty of others.
This sort of thinking is dangerous. At least for those of us who would rather not see Reform gaining seats. It is also the same thinking that was prevelant before the EU Referendum, especially on here. In that instance I was glad that the received wisdom was wrong. In this case I will not be.
Post worthy of a +1 rather than just a like.
While people were debating the outcome of a second referendum the other day, I can't help but remember the 2019 European Parliament elections where Farage's lot came top on 30% and the Tories a miserable 4th on 8%. While the figures don't transpose directly into FPTP, it would have given Farage's vehicle a 100-200 majority if translated to a westminster election.
I could easily see this becoming the outcome of 2029 if neither the Tories nor Labour get their act together.
I really do hope you are wrong. A few months ago I would have said you were for sure. I thought they would get a few seats at the GE but not really make a big break through (so I am perhaps guilty of exactly the blindness I criticise even though that was the outcome). But I am shaken by the recent favourable polling about attacks on refugees and asylum seekers and do start to very much worry about what might happen if Labour and the Tories both continue to fail to provide proper leadership and Governance.
If Labour and Starmer fail to deliver and/or continue to demonstrate as they are doing that they are indeed "all the bloody same" then I dont think Jenrick's tory shower will be the beneficiaries. It's Farage all the way in 2029.
If the next general election result was say Labour 27% Reform 23% and Tories 23%, then the Tories would gain 60 Labour seats while Reform would only gain 37 Labour seats. So under FPTP even if the Tories didn't gain any extra votes compared to 2024 if Farage ate into the Labour vote it would be the Tories the main beneficiaries
That will be making assumptions about more or less uniform swing. In our system you have to win local seats, not national votes, and how seats are won will depend on the parties emphasis and campaigning and so on, and most of all on how voters behave.
in 2024 GE the voters behaved in such a way as to give the LDs loads more seats than could have been the case with the same number of votes. Voters can do the same with Reform if they want.
They can, if they want to. But hardly anyone really minds the Lib Dems. I do, but even that's mostly for ancestral family loyalty reasons.
Plenty of people really object to Reform. And, at some weird subconscious level, FPTP takes account of that.
Very interesting. I think I agree. I am rather fan of FPTP in single member seats. And I think the collective nation does act in particular ways as you suggest. Reform get more votes than the LDs in 2024 but few seats. LDs are genuinely capable of grown up politics. Reform clearly are not. Is there a subtle link between these facts?
I voted Labour, for the first time, for three linked reasons: to change the government and ensure we had one, to not vote for Reform, to make sure the Tories lost as badly as possible. Not out of any pro Labour conviction. Maybe I was not alone. And maybe there is, Jung like, a collective unconscious will.
I do though wonder how large the set of people is who didn't vote Reform this year on the assumption they couldn't win/were going to be fairly irrelevant, who might be more inclined to vote for them now they've seen Reform getting a second place in their constituency...
Also the WFP will cost more than it saves and is subject to challenge in Scotland
Starmer facing the difficult truth he is not very good at politics
If you're talking about increased uptake of pension credit for impoverished pensioners, that can only be a good thing and the fact you see the cost of that as a downside is a bit callous, to be frank.
You need to decide if you are a:
1) big state lefty type, who believes in historically high taxation and free stuff for rich people (roughly, the SNP, the Greens, and, for old people, the Conservatives)
or
2) someone who believes in high taxation and but targets cash towards to those who need it most (Labour, maybe)
or
3) someone who advocates for low taxation and low spending (err, Reform?)
When did I say it was a downside
It is good that pensioners are applying for pension credit, but the point I was making wadps Reeves did not even think about the consequences as in her eyes it was a saving of 1.5 billion to the treasury
I am not callous and you should withdraw that remark
Would you agree that removing WFP for rich pensioners and boosting PC uptake is a much better use of the cash?
The man featured in the Conservative party video could sell his Rolex and get 10 years worth* of WFP in return.
*I'm sure we have some horologists on here who will provide a more precise figure
Macron announces France not sending weapons to Israel
Like us, I suspect they import more (certainly more that cannot be substituted) from Israel than they export to it. Cutting their nose off to spite their face, potentially.
There is little point France sending weapons to Israel if Israel hadn't previously bought them.
So while Bae and America and ship weapons to Israel to replace ones they've fired France probably can't
Also the WFP will cost more than it saves and is subject to challenge in Scotland
Starmer facing the difficult truth he is not very good at politics
If you're talking about increased uptake of pension credit for impoverished pensioners, that can only be a good thing and the fact you see the cost of that as a downside is a bit callous, to be frank.
You need to decide if you are a:
1) big state lefty type, who believes in historically high taxation and free stuff for rich people (roughly, the SNP, the Greens, and, for old people, the Conservatives)
or
2) someone who believes in high taxation and but targets cash towards to those who need it most (Labour, maybe)
or
3) someone who advocates for low taxation and low spending (err, Reform?)
When did I say it was a downside
It is good that pensioners are applying for pension credit, but the point I was making wadps Reeves did not even think about the consequences as in her eyes it was a saving of 1.5 billion to the treasury
I am not callous and you should withdraw that remark
Would you agree that removing WFP for rich pensioners and boosting PC uptake is a much better use of the cash?
The man featured in the Conservative party video could sell his Rolex and get 10 years worth* of WFP in return.
*I'm sure we have some horologists on here who will provide a more precise figure
Upcoming 2025 Channel 4 drama "Brian and Margaret", about a 1989 interview between Brian walden and then-PM Margaret Thatcher. Starring Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter. Two episodes, 60 mins each.
Con + Ref are probably going to be on 50% pretty soon. The question is can they somehow transform that into winning a majority of seats, because at this year's GE they got 39% of the vote and 19% of seats between them.
There is no “they”.
Very many of those saying they will vote Reform are simply fed up with all the establishmanet partied and are registering a NOTA preference. A lot of them won’t be arsed to vote at all, hence Reform might better be renamed Underperform.
If the C+R total reaches 50% it simply means there are even more pissed off people than before; not that there is a majority wanting to see Dodgy Jenrick as Prime Minister.
To be honest this was the claim made before the last election. None of the commentators seriously thought Reform would do as well as the polls suggested and many on here were confidently claiming they would get no seats at all. There was a huge amount of wishful thinking going on with regard to [the lack of] Reform support. There were also plenty saying that the only seat Reform would win would be Farage's. And yet Reform did gain seats and came far too close in plenty of others.
This sort of thinking is dangerous. At least for those of us who would rather not see Reform gaining seats. It is also the same thinking that was prevelant before the EU Referendum, especially on here. In that instance I was glad that the received wisdom was wrong. In this case I will not be.
Post worthy of a +1 rather than just a like.
While people were debating the outcome of a second referendum the other day, I can't help but remember the 2019 European Parliament elections where Farage's lot came top on 30% and the Tories a miserable 4th on 8%. While the figures don't transpose directly into FPTP, it would have given Farage's vehicle a 100-200 majority if translated to a westminster election.
I could easily see this becoming the outcome of 2029 if neither the Tories nor Labour get their act together.
I really do hope you are wrong. A few months ago I would have said you were for sure. I thought they would get a few seats at the GE but not really make a big break through (so I am perhaps guilty of exactly the blindness I criticise even though that was the outcome). But I am shaken by the recent favourable polling about attacks on refugees and asylum seekers and do start to very much worry about what might happen if Labour and the Tories both continue to fail to provide proper leadership and Governance.
If Labour and Starmer fail to deliver and/or continue to demonstrate as they are doing that they are indeed "all the bloody same" then I dont think Jenrick's tory shower will be the beneficiaries. It's Farage all the way in 2029.
If the next general election result was say Labour 27% Reform 23% and Tories 23%, then the Tories would gain 60 Labour seats while Reform would only gain 37 Labour seats. So under FPTP even if the Tories didn't gain any extra votes compared to 2024 if Farage ate into the Labour vote it would be the Tories the main beneficiaries
That will be making assumptions about more or less uniform swing. In our system you have to win local seats, not national votes, and how seats are won will depend on the parties emphasis and campaigning and so on, and most of all on how voters behave.
in 2024 GE the voters behaved in such a way as to give the LDs loads more seats than could have been the case with the same number of votes. Voters can do the same with Reform if they want.
They can, if they want to. But hardly anyone really minds the Lib Dems. I do, but even that's mostly for ancestral family loyalty reasons.
Plenty of people really object to Reform. And, at some weird subconscious level, FPTP takes account of that.
Very interesting. I think I agree. I am rather fan of FPTP in single member seats. And I think the collective nation does act in particular ways as you suggest. Reform get more votes than the LDs in 2024 but few seats. LDs are genuinely capable of grown up politics. Reform clearly are not. Is there a subtle link between these facts?
I voted Labour, for the first time, for three linked reasons: to change the government and ensure we had one, to not vote for Reform, to make sure the Tories lost as badly as possible. Not out of any pro Labour conviction. Maybe I was not alone. And maybe there is, Jung like, a collective unconscious will.
I would rather single member seats were done via transferable votes. Far better that a candidate wins by 50% of preferred votes (even if it's my second choice) rather than the Reform (or Labour) candidate winning on 35% of the vote.
Also the WFP will cost more than it saves and is subject to challenge in Scotland
Starmer facing the difficult truth he is not very good at politics
If you're talking about increased uptake of pension credit for impoverished pensioners, that can only be a good thing and the fact you see the cost of that as a downside is a bit callous, to be frank.
You need to decide if you are a:
1) big state lefty type, who believes in historically high taxation and free stuff for rich people (roughly, the SNP, the Greens, and, for old people, the Conservatives)
or
2) someone who believes in high taxation and but targets cash towards to those who need it most (Labour, maybe)
or
3) someone who advocates for low taxation and low spending (err, Reform?)
When did I say it was a downside
It is good that pensioners are applying for pension credit, but the point I was making was that Reeves did not even think about the consequences as in her eyes it was a saving of 1.5 billion to the treasury
I am not callous and you should withdraw that remark
The problem with the proposed taxes and benefit cuts like WFA is that behaviour adjusts, so changing the pension relief may well not raise much money as people will simply pay less in, and save in other ways or simply spend it.
It's why changing the tax rates and bands is better. It's less distorting to behaviour.
Remember when Cameron genuinely thought LOL meant "Lots Of Love" ?
It was great, a few of his staff told me they'd often messages from Dave along the following lines
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
It would have been like a term of endearment.
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
Depressing.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
It might be he is simply a stage the Tories have to go through before they realise they have to pick someone sane.
The problem is if Jenrick is a Truss like disaster they won't learn the actual lesson they need to learn and instead double down with Kemi Badenoch winning the second time round...
Fortunately for the Tories Starmer is already the second most unpopuar PM this century after Truss so even Jenrick or Badenoch could make gains against him
Con + Ref are probably going to be on 50% pretty soon. The question is can they somehow transform that into winning a majority of seats, because at this year's GE they got 39% of the vote and 19% of seats between them.
There is no “they”.
Very many of those saying they will vote Reform are simply fed up with all the establishmanet partied and are registering a NOTA preference. A lot of them won’t be arsed to vote at all, hence Reform might better be renamed Underperform.
If the C+R total reaches 50% it simply means there are even more pissed off people than before; not that there is a majority wanting to see Dodgy Jenrick as Prime Minister.
To be honest this was the claim made before the last election. None of the commentators seriously thought Reform would do as well as the polls suggested and many on here were confidently claiming they would get no seats at all. There was a huge amount of wishful thinking going on with regard to [the lack of] Reform support. There were also plenty saying that the only seat Reform would win would be Farage's. And yet Reform did gain seats and came far too close in plenty of others.
This sort of thinking is dangerous. At least for those of us who would rather not see Reform gaining seats. It is also the same thinking that was prevelant before the EU Referendum, especially on here. In that instance I was glad that the received wisdom was wrong. In this case I will not be.
Post worthy of a +1 rather than just a like.
While people were debating the outcome of a second referendum the other day, I can't help but remember the 2019 European Parliament elections where Farage's lot came top on 30% and the Tories a miserable 4th on 8%. While the figures don't transpose directly into FPTP, it would have given Farage's vehicle a 100-200 majority if translated to a westminster election.
I could easily see this becoming the outcome of 2029 if neither the Tories nor Labour get their act together.
I really do hope you are wrong. A few months ago I would have said you were for sure. I thought they would get a few seats at the GE but not really make a big break through (so I am perhaps guilty of exactly the blindness I criticise even though that was the outcome). But I am shaken by the recent favourable polling about attacks on refugees and asylum seekers and do start to very much worry about what might happen if Labour and the Tories both continue to fail to provide proper leadership and Governance.
If Labour and Starmer fail to deliver and/or continue to demonstrate as they are doing that they are indeed "all the bloody same" then I dont think Jenrick's tory shower will be the beneficiaries. It's Farage all the way in 2029.
If the next general election result was say Labour 27% Reform 23% and Tories 23%, then the Tories would gain 60 Labour seats while Reform would only gain 37 Labour seats. So under FPTP even if the Tories didn't gain any extra votes compared to 2024 if Farage ate into the Labour vote it would be the Tories the main beneficiaries
That will be making assumptions about more or less uniform swing. In our system you have to win local seats, not national votes, and how seats are won will depend on the parties emphasis and campaigning and so on, and most of all on how voters behave.
in 2024 GE the voters behaved in such a way as to give the LDs loads more seats than could have been the case with the same number of votes. Voters can do the same with Reform if they want.
They can, if they want to. But hardly anyone really minds the Lib Dems. I do, but even that's mostly for ancestral family loyalty reasons.
Plenty of people really object to Reform. And, at some weird subconscious level, FPTP takes account of that.
Very interesting. I think I agree. I am rather fan of FPTP in single member seats. And I think the collective nation does act in particular ways as you suggest. Reform get more votes than the LDs in 2024 but few seats. LDs are genuinely capable of grown up politics. Reform clearly are not. Is there a subtle link between these facts?
I voted Labour, for the first time, for three linked reasons: to change the government and ensure we had one, to not vote for Reform, to make sure the Tories lost as badly as possible. Not out of any pro Labour conviction. Maybe I was not alone. And maybe there is, Jung like, a collective unconscious will.
I would rather single member seats were done via transferable votes. Far better that a candidate wins by 50% of preferred votes (even if it's my second choice) rather than the Reform (or Labour) candidate winning on 35% of the vote.
The AV is the one and only change I would like but, like Scottish independence and membership of the EU a referendum has settled it the other way.
Comments
Just put a bit of moral pressure on pathetic Britain and it folds immediately
A new leader needs to shake this client vote thing out of them. Desperately need a broader appeal otherwise the other parties will keep chipping away.
30 days to go.
What we do know is that the polls most often overstate Labour. 2017 is the only exception in the modern polling era, and that might have been late swing. But still, the polls might not be overstating Labour by as much as they did at the 2024GE.
Mauritius didn’t exist until it was colonised by Europeans. Etc
The Falklands have never been detached from Argentina, because, er, it's never been part of Argentina.
It wasn't as large as our excitable Leon makes out though. The wiki graph suggests that the final polls were out by an average of 3 points on the Labour share.
Indeed we deported the Chagossians to Mauritius (and the Seychelles) for that reason.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Falkland_Islands_sovereignty_referendum
I’m not sure the west has a capable leader. Meloni is probably the best but.. Italy
Scholz god help us. Biden lol. Trudeau on his way out
However I suspect democracy is about to deliver a series of Melonis. Seriously right wing leaders
IIRC the proto-Argentine effort failed before the British returned. So I would say that Argentina do have some sort of tenuous claim, but it's arguably weaker than the French claim, certainly weaker than the British claim, and insignificant compared to the people who are living there now.
In the case of the Butler incident, it seems that the talk was not picked up on, or if it was, not actioned. Perhaps this is because there is so much more crazy talk on t'Internet.
He also said something like: "the ones that keep them awake at night are the ones that don't talk." I think the guy who tried to assassinate Reagan was one such, especially as he was not targeting Reagan for political reasons, but to impress Jodie Foster...
How on earth is that a basis for them claiming sovereignty over Chagos ?
What they didn't pick up was the poor turnout in Labour safe seats, but good turnout in Lab, LD and Green target seats, hence the unexpected independent successes.
Whether the LLG parties can manage such an efficient vote distribution again is the unknown.
Meloni has a clearer majority yes and is probably the strongest leader in the G7 at present in terms of approval rating (also doing better than Albanese in Australia). Though as you say she is still leader of Italy, not a P5 UN Sec Council power like Macron and France also has a bigger economy than Italy.
Mauritius claims the entire Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean and also claims the whole French-administered Tromelin Island.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Mauritius
in 2024 GE the voters behaved in such a way as to give the LDs loads more seats than could have been the case with the same number of votes. Voters can do the same with Reform if they want.
Gibraltar?
Channel Islands?
Argentina can skillfully organize enough friends, via China, to get that done. Then, on the precedent so fucking stupidly set in the Chagos, we fold
The Tories are desperately stupid idiots for starting this, I think Starmer is an actual traitor
The Act that gave PNG independence was passed in Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papua_New_Guinea_Independence_Act_1975
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_of_Papua_and_New_Guinea
Edit: oh, I see what you mean...
1) The Scots get independence and must take Scotland with them;
2) Except we keep the islands and oil;
3) We get the ancestral lands in France;
3) We keep Gibraltar;
4) We get Cyprus back; and
5) We get Malta.
Plenty of people really object to Reform. And, at some weird subconscious level, FPTP takes account of that.
No, they will eat your severed finger and look hungrily at the other fingers
If I think about it any more I will have an aneurysm. Slow Horses it is
This from @SDoughtyMP puts what was beyond doubt, beyond doubt. It is a sine qua non that only the People of Gibraltar decide any matter related to the sovereignty of #Gibraltar.
The current reporting and debate in UK seems to be more about party politics, blame-gaming and Tory Party leadership issues rather than anything remotely to do with sovereignty of any Overdeas Territory.
https://x.com/FabianPicardo/status/1842599285277250040
British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar or any other of our Overseas Territories is not up for negotiation.
The Chagos Islands are a very different issue with a very different history.
The UK remains resolutely committed to all our Overseas Territories. 🇬🇧
https://x.com/SDoughtyMP/status/1842587242751283361
'Sorry to hear your grandfather is in hospital
LOL
Dave'
They found it comforting/amusing in difficult times.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/oct/05/doubts-grow-over-labours-vat-plan-for-private-schools?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/oct/05/revealed-premier-leagues-100000-freebies-operation-to-target-cabinet-and-mps-amid-battle-over-new-regulator?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
We know they are rowing back on non doms
Also the WFP will cost more than it saves and is subject to challenge in Scotland
Starmer facing the difficult truth he is not very good at politics
How was lunch with the soon to be ermine clad Lord JohnO?
7) Corsica!
8) Corfu and the other Ionians!
9) the British post-war zones in Germany and Austria!
Tho I did quite admire the socks, so a debonair idiot
Case closed.
Edit - I have many other socks that are worthy of even more admiration.
Nothing to do with JohnO's magnificent company but the realisation that Jenrick is going to win and he'll be an utter disaster, the the pineapple on the pizza with Trump winning the presidency a few days later.
https://www.channel4.com/press/news/first-look-images-released-major-new-channel-4-drama-brian-and-margaret-starring-steve
I said this Chagos Surrender would reveal more dangerous rocks beyond (aside from its intrinsic self harming futility) and so it is. Already. The sharks gather as Britain bleeds out via the Starmer Artery
Basic basic decisions have gone wrong. A garden gnome could have done better
The last competent leader of Britain was Blair pre Iraq. That is a looooooooong time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heligoland–Zanzibar_Treaty
If a councillor had done what Jenrick had done they'd have likely ended up in prison.
(JohnO and I concluded the reason the media haven't made more of the story is that they don't understand the story.)
You need to decide if you are a:
1) big state lefty type, who believes in historically high taxation and free stuff for rich people (roughly, the SNP, the Greens, and, for old people, the Conservatives)
or
2) someone who believes in high taxation and but targets cash towards to those who need it most (Labour, maybe)
or
3) someone who advocates for low taxation and low spending (err, Reform?)
The Conservatives might have to go batso for a bit to get it out of their system. (Which is the American sect that sets its youth free for a period of time in the hope that they then settle down to a lifetime of piety?) Sort of like Labour and Corbyn.
But if they go too batso, there will be nothing left. And the Conservatives are in a much weaker place now than Labour were in in 2015.
Sure, there's an opportunity. But there's also a massive risk.
Macron announces France not sending weapons to Israel
I voted Labour, for the first time, for three linked reasons: to change the government and ensure we had one, to not vote for Reform, to make sure the Tories lost as badly as possible. Not out of any pro Labour conviction. Maybe I was not alone. And maybe there is, Jung like, a collective unconscious will.
It is good that pensioners are applying for pension credit, but the point I was making was that Reeves did not even think about the consequences as in her eyes it was a saving of 1.5 billion to the treasury
I am not callous and you should withdraw that remark
The man featured in the Conservative party video could sell his Rolex and get 10 years worth* of WFP in return.
*I'm sure we have some horologists on here who will provide a more precise figure
So while Bae and America and ship weapons to Israel to replace ones they've fired France probably can't
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu7kZdbI2sg
It's why changing the tax rates and bands is better. It's less distorting to behaviour.
Even though, we know they’re crap. As are their rivals.