“Envoy to the nations and regions” is such an obvious load of wank one wonders if it is actually designed to humiliate her
If it comes with the £170k salary and gold plated pension I might be able to find a couple of day a week to do the job should the ball come out the back of the scrum....
How have the regions and nations endured without a prime ministerial envoy hitherto? This appointment is long overdue
Anybody would think they made up the job at 9.59am on a Sunday when the PR team were all still in bed.
If Boris Johnson had arrived at such a genius solution you would be pointing at a serious attempt to "level up" the nation.
Yes I know it's bollocks.
You seem to have me confused with somebody else. You will struggle to find a positive post about Boris from me.
On a more serious note, I am surprised some journalist hasn't done some leg work and had a proper look at where the levelling up money was spent. From personal experience I know of some very interesting places it end up, and certainly not what most people would think required levelling up cash.
You'll never guess who was the relevant minister...
There was a post here the other day (@Nigelb?) saying how Trump had pledged to restore some confederacy names to key military sites and elsewhere.
Whilst I'm not a supporter of the Confederacy- nowhere close - I can see why stripping out every single statue of Robert Lee and Stonewall Jackson would have pissed off Southerners, as it's part of their history and identity. I was annoyed even here about the Rhodes Commission to make a detailed submission to them, and that one stayed up.
There are lots of little things like that about Trump that garner him votes.
It's 9 military bases that were renamed in 2023.
Jurisdiction over statues, school names, parks etc is not a federal responsibility.
So in Georgia there are 201 recognised Confederate memorials still extant for example, including a statue of General Gordon outside the state legislature, despite him being a KKK leader. The state flag is based on the Confederate flag too.
So it isn't accurate to suggest that history is being erased.
There are 45 schools in Georgia named for Confederates too, some with significant African American student enrollment.
Well done for spectacularly missing the point.
What was your point then?
You mentioned removing statues of Lee and Jackson. That isn't a Federal responsibility
I was highlighting why Trump has appeal, and why moves like this strike a chord and drive sentiment for him. Many people will view the pressures that led to changes like this as liberal sentiment emanating from Washington that cascades down to the States, and will want their man in there instead to quash it. Whether you think this is "fact" or not is entirely irrelevant; it's the vibe. They have precisely zero interest in any pedantry about what is officially a federal versus a state matter, and the parties and politics often span both in any event.
But, of course, you know this. You were just being your usual tedious self.
But… this sort of narrative, which I’m sure has some truth to it, assumes the only voters that matter or have influence over the election are those who’d be annoyed by liberal sentiment.
The corollary is that there are no voters who might be upset or annoyed by racist sentiment. Or that they don’t matter because they’re in safe Democrat seats. Somewhere like Georgia, I’m not sure that’s true.
Divisive ideologies tend to drive turnout among their own supporters, and among their opponents.
The secret - this is where the dog whistle analogy is so powerful - is to appeal to your own ideologies while making sure the other side don’t notice.
Indeed, such a move may not be popular in Union States such as Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, or with US Army soldiers.
Renaming a military base, as Trump promised last week, after a traitorous, slave owning incompetent is perhaps not his smartest pledge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braxton_Bragg … Bragg is generally considered among the worst generals of the Civil War. Most of the battles he engaged in ended in defeat. Bragg was extremely unpopular with both the officers and ordinary men under his command, who criticized him for numerous perceived faults, including poor battlefield strategy, a quick temper, and overzealous discipline. ..
Though I grant it’s on brand.
So you are saying that Braxton Bragg did a lot for the success of the Union side?
He also needs to make sure that the seven-day working week is reinstituted. Senior officials in Downing Street do not do ordinary jobs. Their pretence that they do has frustrated and even enraged senior Labour people who can’t contact key personnel when a bad news story starts to break, or when any other emergency needs attention.
Six pm on Friday for Friday night dinner only as I recall.
A good example of Starmer's comms people asleep at the wheel. And there have been plenty of non-stories which Starmer's people have thoroughly lost control of.
It's like they didn't realise the Tory's client media wouldn't run with a story whether it was true or not.
Labour have been very fortunate that Tory MPs have been less inclined towards the mudslinging and left it to Leon and the Telegraph. That will stop once Jenrick becomes LOTO, so not much time to get their act together.
Nope, it was a total stop on work at 6pm:
“We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after 6 o’clock, pretty well come what may. There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.”
It was a view that was quickly rowed back. I never understood it to be the interpretation given by Fortune magazine. If they thought that was realistic we need a coup and a real grafter like Boris brought back to office.
As I remember at 6 o'clock on a Friday under Johnson it was wine time rather than working.
6pm, Fat chance of Bozza still being there at that time. He had long since left by the time the cabin bag of pino was being wheeled in.
You are Nadine Dorries AICMFP. Yes, that was the case for the defence and there is a lot to it. Boris was not in Number 10 for Winetime Fridays, invariably having left for Chequers.
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
Israel's army chief has said that Israeli forces had defeated the military wing of Hamas, as he addressed troops ahead of the first anniversary of the 7 October attack by the Palestinian militant group.
So the war is over now, right? Israel has won and can dictate the peace.
"We are not stopping," Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement, as troops in northern Gaza operated against what the military said were Hamas attempts to rebuild.
Ukraine will never join NATO on my watch, says Slovakia PM Fico
https://www.politico.eu/article/nato-ukraine-slovakia-robert-fico-military-defense-alliance/ Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico vowed on Sunday to block Ukraine from joining NATO for as long as he is head of the country's government. NATO's leadership wants Ukraine to join the military alliance after its war with Russia ends in order to deter further aggression from Moscow, but Fico's declaration highlights the political difficulties that are likely to arise in pursuing that aim. “As long as I am head of the Slovak government, I will direct the MPs that are under my control as chairman of the [ruling Smer] party never to agree to Ukraine's joining NATO,” he said on the weekly "O päť minút dvanásť" (5 Minutes to 12) program…
.. Last Thursday, Fico promised to “do everything possible for the renewal of economic and standard relations with Russia.” Following his Sunday talk show performance, Fico doubled down on that vow, proposing to visit Moscow next May for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, “as long as I'm invited.” Speaking at a ceremony to mark the Oct. 6, 1944 arrival of troops from the former Soviet Union at rugged Dukla Pass near Slovakia's border with Poland, Fico went on to stress that Russian sacrifices had helped liberate Slovakia from Nazi rule. “Freedom came from the East,” he said, “and absolutely nothing can change this truth….
Putin’s fellow Stalin fan, then. I guess 1968 doesn’t count ?
He also needs to make sure that the seven-day working week is reinstituted. Senior officials in Downing Street do not do ordinary jobs. Their pretence that they do has frustrated and even enraged senior Labour people who can’t contact key personnel when a bad news story starts to break, or when any other emergency needs attention.
Six pm on Friday for Friday night dinner only as I recall.
A good example of Starmer's comms people asleep at the wheel. And there have been plenty of non-stories which Starmer's people have thoroughly lost control of.
It's like they didn't realise the Tory's client media wouldn't run with a story whether it was true or not.
Labour have been very fortunate that Tory MPs have been less inclined towards the mudslinging and left it to Leon and the Telegraph. That will stop once Jenrick becomes LOTO, so not much time to get their act together.
Nope, it was a total stop on work at 6pm:
“We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after 6 o’clock, pretty well come what may. There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.”
It was a view that was quickly rowed back. I never understood it to be the interpretation given by Fortune magazine. If they thought that was realistic we need a coup and a real grafter like Boris brought back to office.
As I remember at 6 o'clock on a Friday under Johnson it was wine time rather than working.
6pm, Fat chance of Bozza still being there at that time. He had long since left by the time the cabin bag of pino was being wheeled in.
You are Nadine Dorries AICMFP. Yes, that was the case for the defence and there is a lot to it. Boris was not in Number 10 for Winetime Fridays, invariably having left for Chequers.
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
I don't think it would have mattered, as my take has always been he basically said chaps and chapesses, all working hard, good good, now the usual Friday drinks after work in #10, you know had to officially put the old kibosh on that...but if I never saw it, it never happened and just to let you know, I will be leaving early on Friday afternoons to go to Chequers....so he was well aware of it, but perhaps not they were shagging on the kids swings and karoke-ing in the basement all night.
He also needs to make sure that the seven-day working week is reinstituted. Senior officials in Downing Street do not do ordinary jobs. Their pretence that they do has frustrated and even enraged senior Labour people who can’t contact key personnel when a bad news story starts to break, or when any other emergency needs attention.
Six pm on Friday for Friday night dinner only as I recall.
A good example of Starmer's comms people asleep at the wheel. And there have been plenty of non-stories which Starmer's people have thoroughly lost control of.
It's like they didn't realise the Tory's client media wouldn't run with a story whether it was true or not.
Labour have been very fortunate that Tory MPs have been less inclined towards the mudslinging and left it to Leon and the Telegraph. That will stop once Jenrick becomes LOTO, so not much time to get their act together.
Nope, it was a total stop on work at 6pm:
“We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after 6 o’clock, pretty well come what may. There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.”
It was a view that was quickly rowed back. I never understood it to be the interpretation given by Fortune magazine. If they thought that was realistic we need a coup and a real grafter like Boris brought back to office.
If Starmer doesn’t want to work 24/7 - fine. Then the job of Deputy PM needs to be upgraded and they can take the after hours shifts.
Same with other jobs in government.
At that point you’ll hear screaming. Because that means sharing power. And sharing it with worse rivals than the Opposition. Sharing it with colleagues!!!!!!
Also having to be on duty on Friday nights would cut into Big Ange clubbing time....
“So, Prime Minister, you have appointed a Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy PM. Why?”
He also needs to make sure that the seven-day working week is reinstituted. Senior officials in Downing Street do not do ordinary jobs. Their pretence that they do has frustrated and even enraged senior Labour people who can’t contact key personnel when a bad news story starts to break, or when any other emergency needs attention.
Six pm on Friday for Friday night dinner only as I recall.
A good example of Starmer's comms people asleep at the wheel. And there have been plenty of non-stories which Starmer's people have thoroughly lost control of.
It's like they didn't realise the Tory's client media wouldn't run with a story whether it was true or not.
Labour have been very fortunate that Tory MPs have been less inclined towards the mudslinging and left it to Leon and the Telegraph. That will stop once Jenrick becomes LOTO, so not much time to get their act together.
Nope, it was a total stop on work at 6pm:
“We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after 6 o’clock, pretty well come what may. There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.”
It was a view that was quickly rowed back. I never understood it to be the interpretation given by Fortune magazine. If they thought that was realistic we need a coup and a real grafter like Boris brought back to office.
As I remember at 6 o'clock on a Friday under Johnson it was wine time rather than working.
6pm, Fat chance of Bozza still being there at that time. He had long since left by the time the cabin bag of pino was being wheeled in.
You are Nadine Dorries AICMFP. Yes, that was the case for the defence and there is a lot to it. Boris was not in Number 10 for Winetime Fridays, invariably having left for Chequers.
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
Going to Chequers? His second home? Which was a breach of *checks notes* lockdown regulations...
Israel's army chief has said that Israeli forces had defeated the military wing of Hamas, as he addressed troops ahead of the first anniversary of the 7 October attack by the Palestinian militant group.
So the war is over now, right? Israel has won and can dictate the peace.
"We are not stopping," Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement, as troops in northern Gaza operated against what the military said were Hamas attempts to rebuild.
It's a forever war now.
They're on the way to social and moral collapse as a nation.
And these action are leading to a surge in anti-senitism all over the world, as some of my own family are finding out.
Some quite interesting analysis of his language and sentence structure.
The NYT has taken a lot of flack for ignoring the many issues with Trump. If they are starting to change it does not bode well for him.
"Former President Donald J. Trump vividly recounted how the audience at his climactic debate with Vice President Kamala Harris was on his side. Except that there was no audience. The debate was held in an empty hall. No one “went crazy,” as Mr. Trump put it, because no one was there.
Anyone can misremember, of course. But the debate had been just a week earlier and a fairly memorable moment. And it was hardly the only time Mr. Trump has seemed confused, forgetful, incoherent or disconnected from reality lately. In fact, it happens so often these days that it no longer even generates much attention."
"it no longer even generates much attention"
Trump's collapsing cognitive abilities has NEVER generated attention. It just hasn't been remarked upon. It was all Biden, Biden, Biden. But he is all over the place.
His rapid decline SHOULD be as much under the microscope as was Biden's - scrutiny that caused him to withdraw.
A truly terrible scenario is Trump winning - and then rapidly being deemed unfit and moved out the White House to make way for JD Vance. Is that what you want, America?
He also needs to make sure that the seven-day working week is reinstituted. Senior officials in Downing Street do not do ordinary jobs. Their pretence that they do has frustrated and even enraged senior Labour people who can’t contact key personnel when a bad news story starts to break, or when any other emergency needs attention.
Six pm on Friday for Friday night dinner only as I recall.
A good example of Starmer's comms people asleep at the wheel. And there have been plenty of non-stories which Starmer's people have thoroughly lost control of.
It's like they didn't realise the Tory's client media wouldn't run with a story whether it was true or not.
Labour have been very fortunate that Tory MPs have been less inclined towards the mudslinging and left it to Leon and the Telegraph. That will stop once Jenrick becomes LOTO, so not much time to get their act together.
Nope, it was a total stop on work at 6pm:
“We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after 6 o’clock, pretty well come what may. There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.”
It was a view that was quickly rowed back. I never understood it to be the interpretation given by Fortune magazine. If they thought that was realistic we need a coup and a real grafter like Boris brought back to office.
If Starmer doesn’t want to work 24/7 - fine. Then the job of Deputy PM needs to be upgraded and they can take the after hours shifts.
Same with other jobs in government.
At that point you’ll hear screaming. Because that means sharing power. And sharing it with worse rivals than the Opposition. Sharing it with colleagues!!!!!!
Also having to be on duty on Friday nights would cut into Big Ange clubbing time....
“So, Prime Minister, you have appointed a Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy PM. Why?”
In Hezbollah's case that is so they have a leader in waiting for next week....
He also needs to make sure that the seven-day working week is reinstituted. Senior officials in Downing Street do not do ordinary jobs. Their pretence that they do has frustrated and even enraged senior Labour people who can’t contact key personnel when a bad news story starts to break, or when any other emergency needs attention.
Six pm on Friday for Friday night dinner only as I recall.
A good example of Starmer's comms people asleep at the wheel. And there have been plenty of non-stories which Starmer's people have thoroughly lost control of.
It's like they didn't realise the Tory's client media wouldn't run with a story whether it was true or not.
Labour have been very fortunate that Tory MPs have been less inclined towards the mudslinging and left it to Leon and the Telegraph. That will stop once Jenrick becomes LOTO, so not much time to get their act together.
Nope, it was a total stop on work at 6pm:
“We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after 6 o’clock, pretty well come what may. There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.”
It was a view that was quickly rowed back. I never understood it to be the interpretation given by Fortune magazine. If they thought that was realistic we need a coup and a real grafter like Boris brought back to office.
If Starmer doesn’t want to work 24/7 - fine. Then the job of Deputy PM needs to be upgraded and they can take the after hours shifts.
Same with other jobs in government.
At that point you’ll hear screaming. Because that means sharing power. And sharing it with worse rivals than the Opposition. Sharing it with colleagues!!!!!!
Personally I thought that quote about stopping at 6 was good, and if they felt they had to row it back that makes me feel less good about the government and about our general societal view of work. The PM is not a robot who should be tirelessly steering the ship of state 24/7 -- they are a human being with a family and they will do a better job of focusing on their work and making good decisions if they're getting a decent amount of sleep and time to relax with their family. I think that acknowledging that and not drifting into the error of workaholism is a sign of good ability to prioritise and make decisions. (You'll notice he didn't say he was totally uncontactable on Friday evenings or that he never made exceptions in emergencies, incidentally.)
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
They clearly did a hell of a lot more than sell them some dodgy pagers booby trapped with explosives.
They've evidently turned the whole organisation upside down.
I would be very interested to know how long they have been planning this. It is very hard to believe that a plan of this scale, complexity and fiendish effectiveness was conceived, developed, initiated and executed in just one year.
Which would suggest they have been planning to go after Hizbollah on a grand scale for quite a while...
he is nowhere near as bad as many of his critics make out.
He's worse
The interviews he has given this week trying to flog his book lay bare the worst of his character.
His entire approach to Brexit was a game to "beat Cameron". He knew it was fucking stupid, but Cameron was against so he was for. He wanted to prove he was better than Cameron. Nobody can now dispute Cameron was right about him all along...
Ukraine will never join NATO on my watch, says Slovakia PM Fico
https://www.politico.eu/article/nato-ukraine-slovakia-robert-fico-military-defense-alliance/ Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico vowed on Sunday to block Ukraine from joining NATO for as long as he is head of the country's government. NATO's leadership wants Ukraine to join the military alliance after its war with Russia ends in order to deter further aggression from Moscow, but Fico's declaration highlights the political difficulties that are likely to arise in pursuing that aim. “As long as I am head of the Slovak government, I will direct the MPs that are under my control as chairman of the [ruling Smer] party never to agree to Ukraine's joining NATO,” he said on the weekly "O päť minút dvanásť" (5 Minutes to 12) program…
.. Last Thursday, Fico promised to “do everything possible for the renewal of economic and standard relations with Russia.” Following his Sunday talk show performance, Fico doubled down on that vow, proposing to visit Moscow next May for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, “as long as I'm invited.” Speaking at a ceremony to mark the Oct. 6, 1944 arrival of troops from the former Soviet Union at rugged Dukla Pass near Slovakia's border with Poland, Fico went on to stress that Russian sacrifices had helped liberate Slovakia from Nazi rule. “Freedom came from the East,” he said, “and absolutely nothing can change this truth….
Putin’s fellow Stalin fan, then. I guess 1968 doesn’t count ?
The USSR formations at the battle of Dukla Pass were the Ist and 4th Ukranian Fronts, the 4th being under a Ukranian field Marshall.
Some quite interesting analysis of his language and sentence structure.
The NYT has taken a lot of flack for ignoring the many issues with Trump. If they are starting to change it does not bode well for him.
"Former President Donald J. Trump vividly recounted how the audience at his climactic debate with Vice President Kamala Harris was on his side. Except that there was no audience. The debate was held in an empty hall. No one “went crazy,” as Mr. Trump put it, because no one was there.
Anyone can misremember, of course. But the debate had been just a week earlier and a fairly memorable moment. And it was hardly the only time Mr. Trump has seemed confused, forgetful, incoherent or disconnected from reality lately. In fact, it happens so often these days that it no longer even generates much attention."
"it no longer even generates much attention"
Trump's collapsing cognitive abilities has NEVER generated attention. It just hasn't been remarked upon. It was all Biden, Biden, Biden. But he is all over the place.
His rapid decline SHOULD be as much under the microscope as was Biden's - scrutiny that caused him to withdraw.
A truly terrible scenario is Trump winning - and then rapidly being deemed unfit and moved out the White House to make way for JD Vance. Is that what you want, America?
The problem is, as I think has been remarked on here, that Trump seems robust, whereas Biden seemed frailer. Biden doddered somewhat but Trump, while demented, is demented with confidence. Plus, there's enough coherence in his ramblings that they can resonate with people. The cat and dog eating, which has become a meme, is an honestly believed racist trope. Trump's bizarre rant about house-hold appliances breaking more frequently than they used to is a constant refrain from those over 70. Even out of his mind (or perhaps because he's out of his mind), Trump can still connect with particular demographics.
There was a post here the other day (@Nigelb?) saying how Trump had pledged to restore some confederacy names to key military sites and elsewhere.
Whilst I'm not a supporter of the Confederacy- nowhere close - I can see why stripping out every single statue of Robert Lee and Stonewall Jackson would have pissed off Southerners, as it's part of their history and identity. I was annoyed even here about the Rhodes Commission to make a detailed submission to them, and that one stayed up.
There are lots of little things like that about Trump that garner him votes.
It's 9 military bases that were renamed in 2023.
Jurisdiction over statues, school names, parks etc is not a federal responsibility.
So in Georgia there are 201 recognised Confederate memorials still extant for example, including a statue of General Gordon outside the state legislature, despite him being a KKK leader. The state flag is based on the Confederate flag too.
So it isn't accurate to suggest that history is being erased.
There are 45 schools in Georgia named for Confederates too, some with significant African American student enrollment.
Well done for spectacularly missing the point.
What was your point then?
You mentioned removing statues of Lee and Jackson. That isn't a Federal responsibility
I was highlighting why Trump has appeal, and why moves like this strike a chord and drive sentiment for him. Many people will view the pressures that led to changes like this as liberal sentiment emanating from Washington that cascades down to the States, and will want their man in there instead to quash it. Whether you think this is "fact" or not is entirely irrelevant; it's the vibe. They have precisely zero interest in any pedantry about what is officially a federal versus a state matter, and the parties and politics often span both in any event.
But, of course, you know this. You were just being your usual tedious self.
But… this sort of narrative, which I’m sure has some truth to it, assumes the only voters that matter or have influence over the election are those who’d be annoyed by liberal sentiment.
The corollary is that there are no voters who might be upset or annoyed by racist sentiment. Or that they don’t matter because they’re in safe Democrat seats. Somewhere like Georgia, I’m not sure that’s true.
Divisive ideologies tend to drive turnout among their own supporters, and among their opponents.
The secret - this is where the dog whistle analogy is so powerful - is to appeal to your own ideologies while making sure the other side don’t notice.
Indeed, such a move may not be popular in Union States such as Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, or with US Army soldiers.
Renaming a military base, as Trump promised last week, after a traitorous, slave owning incompetent is perhaps not his smartest pledge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braxton_Bragg … Bragg is generally considered among the worst generals of the Civil War. Most of the battles he engaged in ended in defeat. Bragg was extremely unpopular with both the officers and ordinary men under his command, who criticized him for numerous perceived faults, including poor battlefield strategy, a quick temper, and overzealous discipline. ..
Though I grant it’s on brand.
So you are saying that Braxton Bragg did a lot for the success of the Union side?
Brigadier General Jupiter Doke (Union) has entered the chat, along with Major-General Gibeon J. Buxter, C.S.A, Major-General Dolliver Billows, C.S.A
Observed by Mr. Hannibal Alcazar Peyton, of Jayhawk, Kentucky.
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
'Playing whack-a-mole' will end up being renamed 'playing Hezbollah'.
Let's take a moment of quiet reflection for the dozens of Lebanese civilians, Muslim and Christian who have lost their lives as collateral damage. Mossad have the capability to drop Hezbollah f****** one by one from high windows without taking out block of flats.
Israel's army chief has said that Israeli forces had defeated the military wing of Hamas, as he addressed troops ahead of the first anniversary of the 7 October attack by the Palestinian militant group.
So the war is over now, right? Israel has won and can dictate the peace.
"We are not stopping," Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement, as troops in northern Gaza operated against what the military said were Hamas attempts to rebuild.
It's a forever war now.
They're on the way to social and moral collapse as a nation.
And these action are leading to a surge in anti-senitism all over the world, as some of my own family are finding out.
I'd strongly argue that the 'new' anti-Semites are people who, if they were not anti-Semites before, were just looking for an excuse to be anti-Semites.
For some reason, many people, and indeed nations, find it very easy to fall into anti-Semitism; something that has recurringly happened over centuries, if not Millenia.
he is nowhere near as bad as many of his critics make out.
He's worse
The interviews he has given this week trying to flog his book lay bare the worst of his character.
His entire approach to Brexit was a game to "beat Cameron". He knew it was fucking stupid, but Cameron was against so he was for. He wanted to prove he was better than Cameron. Nobody can now dispute Cameron was right about him all along...
I’ve got a feeling sad deranged Remoaners - such as your good self - are not Boris’ target demographic
Tho I note he got you watching his interviews so you could frot yourself Into another enjoyable fury
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
Either he didn't know what was happening in his own house, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM, or he did know and condoned it, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
They clearly did a hell of a lot more than sell them some dodgy pagers booby trapped with explosives.
They've evidently turned the whole organisation upside down.
I would be very interested to know how long they have been planning this. It is very hard to believe that a plan of this scale, complexity and fiendish effectiveness was conceived, developed, initiated and executed in just one year.
Which would suggest they have been planning to go after Hizbollah on a grand scale for quite a while...
There is a report in the Washington Post saying the walkie talkie scheme was 10 years in the making, and the pagers they did 2 years ago.
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
Either he didn't know what was happening in his own house, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM, or he did know and condoned it, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
They clearly did a hell of a lot more than sell them some dodgy pagers booby trapped with explosives.
They've evidently turned the whole organisation upside down.
I would be very interested to know how long they have been planning this. It is very hard to believe that a plan of this scale, complexity and fiendish effectiveness was conceived, developed, initiated and executed in just one year.
Which would suggest they have been planning to go after Hizbollah on a grand scale for quite a while...
There is a report in the Washington Post saying the walkie talkie scheme was 10 years in the making, and the pagers they did 2 years ago.
If it was “just” two years that is remarkable and impressive
They are successfully demolishing Hezbollah as a coherent organisation. If only they could be as forensic in Gaza
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
Either he didn't know what was happening in his own house, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM, or he did know and condoned it, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM
Boris was not forced out for incompetence.
Indeed. He was also venal and stupid, arrogant and unethical, but none of those make him more competent
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
They clearly did a hell of a lot more than sell them some dodgy pagers booby trapped with explosives.
They've evidently turned the whole organisation upside down.
I would be very interested to know how long they have been planning this. It is very hard to believe that a plan of this scale, complexity and fiendish effectiveness was conceived, developed, initiated and executed in just one year.
Which would suggest they have been planning to go after Hizbollah on a grand scale for quite a while...
There is a report in the Washington Post saying the walkie talkie scheme was 10 years in the making, and the pagers they did 2 years ago.
If it was “just” two years that is remarkable and impressive
They are successfully demolishing Hezbollah as a coherent organisation. If only they could be as forensic in Gaza
Well the report is they started planning 10 years ago, first idea was walkie talkies, then more recently they came up with the idea for the pagers. I think 2 years ago is when they made them.
It seems they have way more intel on Hezbollah than Hamas. Maybe it is moles inside the organisation, maybe its easier for Mossad to travel around in Lebanon.
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
Either he didn't know what was happening in his own house, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM, or he did know and condoned it, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM
"Either he didn't know what was happening in his own house"
If you're talking about No. 10, then you're either being a little bit stupid, or rather dissembling. Number 10 isn't just 'his house', but also a workplace and a seat of government. It's not as though he goes down to the front door to let people in every time the doorbell rings.
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Some quite interesting analysis of his language and sentence structure.
The NYT has taken a lot of flack for ignoring the many issues with Trump. If they are starting to change it does not bode well for him.
"Former President Donald J. Trump vividly recounted how the audience at his climactic debate with Vice President Kamala Harris was on his side. Except that there was no audience. The debate was held in an empty hall. No one “went crazy,” as Mr. Trump put it, because no one was there.
Anyone can misremember, of course. But the debate had been just a week earlier and a fairly memorable moment. And it was hardly the only time Mr. Trump has seemed confused, forgetful, incoherent or disconnected from reality lately. In fact, it happens so often these days that it no longer even generates much attention."
"it no longer even generates much attention"
Trump's collapsing cognitive abilities has NEVER generated attention. It just hasn't been remarked upon. It was all Biden, Biden, Biden. But he is all over the place.
His rapid decline SHOULD be as much under the microscope as was Biden's - scrutiny that caused him to withdraw.
A truly terrible scenario is Trump winning - and then rapidly being deemed unfit and moved out the White House to make way for JD Vance. Is that what you want, America?
That scenario is probably the actual plan of some of the billionaire GOP backers.
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
Either he didn't know what was happening in his own house, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM, or he did know and condoned it, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM
Boris was not forced out for incompetence.
Indeed. He was also venal and stupid, arrogant and unethical, but none of those make him more competent
Oddly enough, I would argue that Starmer has shown himself to be venal in accepting all these 'gifts'; stupid for ruining his political honeymoon in this manner; arrogant in the way he handled it, and unethical in his handling of various matters.
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
What value is there to the Conservatives of electing an ersatz Farage as leader, when the Farage-curious can just vote for full fat Farage?
See what you think. I don’t know where I stand on this sad issue. But the Canadian example gives me doubts
Thankfully Conservative leader Polievre is miles ahead in Canadian polls and has promised to row back on the near euthanasia on demand of Trudeau’s Liberal government
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
Either he didn't know what was happening in his own house, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM, or he did know and condoned it, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM
Boris was not forced out for incompetence.
Indeed. He was also venal and stupid, arrogant and unethical, but none of those make him more competent
Oddly enough, I would argue that Starmer has shown himself to be venal in accepting all these 'gifts'; stupid for ruining his political honeymoon in this manner; arrogant in the way he handled it, and unethical in his handling of various matters.
Some quite interesting analysis of his language and sentence structure.
The NYT has taken a lot of flack for ignoring the many issues with Trump. If they are starting to change it does not bode well for him.
"Former President Donald J. Trump vividly recounted how the audience at his climactic debate with Vice President Kamala Harris was on his side. Except that there was no audience. The debate was held in an empty hall. No one “went crazy,” as Mr. Trump put it, because no one was there.
Anyone can misremember, of course. But the debate had been just a week earlier and a fairly memorable moment. And it was hardly the only time Mr. Trump has seemed confused, forgetful, incoherent or disconnected from reality lately. In fact, it happens so often these days that it no longer even generates much attention."
"it no longer even generates much attention"
Trump's collapsing cognitive abilities has NEVER generated attention. It just hasn't been remarked upon. It was all Biden, Biden, Biden. But he is all over the place.
His rapid decline SHOULD be as much under the microscope as was Biden's - scrutiny that caused him to withdraw.
A truly terrible scenario is Trump winning - and then rapidly being deemed unfit and moved out the White House to make way for JD Vance. Is that what you want, America?
That scenario is probably the actual plan of some of the billionaire GOP backers.
The members will be furious with the MPs if Cleverly is next to go out, which I still think is a possibility because of the fact that most Stride supporters will switch to Tugendhat.
Tugendhat is more electable than Cleverly, the members would be more furious if they aren’t given Kemi to vote for
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Well, perhaps, and I hope we do, let's see. Cleverly is a bit slow moving, but perhaps he has what it takes. Jenrick and Badenoch are flash-in-the-pan politicians, but Cleverly is different. Good or bad, I don't know.
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
I think that, on balance, I'm opposed. Just as the principle with a criminal conviction is that we'd rather ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent man is wrongly convicted, so I'd have to argue that it was better for ten terminally ill patients to suffer a difficult death than one person to be killed by the state before their time.
As someone who has suffered quite badly from depression at various times the stories about mentally ill people being euthanased has seriously given me the jitters.
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
What value is there to the Conservatives of electing an ersatz Farage as leader, when the Farage-curious can just vote for full fat Farage?
Not only that, an ersatz Farage without the demagogic ability.
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Good evening
You are on the right of the party and obviously prefer that direction of travel, but as a one nation conservative only Cleverly would see me rejoin the party
None of the candidates excite, and the party needs to understand the public want to hear about solutions for the NHS and cost of living, and while immigration is important, it needs to be balanced with answers to many issues now facing the country and not to go back to the past
Looking over your shoulder at Reform and hoping to be Reform light is not the answer, nor is Farage
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
Either he didn't know what was happening in his own house, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM, or he did know and condoned it, in which case he was too incompetent to be PM
Boris was not forced out for incompetence.
Indeed. He was also venal and stupid, arrogant and unethical, but none of those make him more competent
Oddly enough, I would argue that Starmer has shown himself to be venal in accepting all these 'gifts'; stupid for ruining his political honeymoon in this manner; arrogant in the way he handled it, and unethical in his handling of various matters.
As for competence... we'll have to see.
Perhaps his colleagues will defenestrate him
The Labour Party is not the Conservative Party, and AIUI it is far harder to do so. Therefore failure for them to do so is not evidence of much, and it does not make the way Starmer's behaved and governed in any way good.
But I hope they don't defenestrate Starmer; Labour and Starmer should get a good shot at power and at setting their agenda. They may learn and improve with time (something Boris has never been able to do). But 'improving' from the low base they've set in the first few months is not exactly an onerous task.
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
They clearly did a hell of a lot more than sell them some dodgy pagers booby trapped with explosives.
They've evidently turned the whole organisation upside down.
I would be very interested to know how long they have been planning this. It is very hard to believe that a plan of this scale, complexity and fiendish effectiveness was conceived, developed, initiated and executed in just one year.
Which would suggest they have been planning to go after Hizbollah on a grand scale for quite a while...
There is a report in the Washington Post saying the walkie talkie scheme was 10 years in the making, and the pagers they did 2 years ago.
If it was “just” two years that is remarkable and impressive
They are successfully demolishing Hezbollah as a coherent organisation. If only they could be as forensic in Gaza
Well the report is they started planning 10 years ago, first idea was walkie talkies, then more recently they came up with the idea for the pagers. I think 2 years ago is when they made them.
It seems they have way more intel on Hezbollah than Hamas. Maybe it is moles inside the organisation, maybe it's easier for Mossad to travel around in Lebanon.
I suspect it's as simple as they didn't think of Hamas as a serious threat. Cut off from outside aid, surrounded by Israeli firepower, loathed by their own people, how could they be? Otherwise they would hardly have been helping fund them even as a cynical ploy to keep Netanyahu in power.
Hizbollah, however, as the de facto Lebanese state, well armed, well equipped and with easy access to Syria and Iran, was clearly a threat.
The members will be furious with the MPs if Cleverly is next to go out, which I still think is a possibility because of the fact that most Stride supporters will switch to Tugendhat.
Tugendhat is more electable than Cleverly, the members would be more furious if they aren’t given Kemi to vote for
That is in your opinion , other opinions are available
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
I think that, on balance, I'm opposed. Just as the principle with a criminal conviction is that we'd rather ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent man is wrongly convicted, so I'd have to argue that it was better for ten terminally ill patients to suffer a difficult death than one person to be killed by the state before their time.
As someone who has suffered quite badly from depression at various times the stories about mentally ill people being euthanased has seriously given me the jitters.
I suspect you're probably right, unless it's in the final stages and patients are in immense pain.
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Well, perhaps, and I hope we do, let's see. Cleverly is a bit slow moving, but perhaps he has what it takes. Jenrick and Badenoch are flash-in-the-pan politicians, but Cleverly is different. Good or bad, I don't know.
An effective Leader of the Opposition needs conviction and energy and aggression or high intellect and sharp debating skills, ideally both, as far as I can see Cleverly has neither. I don’t dislike him, he should be in Shadow Cabinet but not leader
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
I think that, on balance, I'm opposed. Just as the principle with a criminal conviction is that we'd rather ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent man is wrongly convicted, so I'd have to argue that it was better for ten terminally ill patients to suffer a difficult death than one person to be killed by the state before their time.
As someone who has suffered quite badly from depression at various times the stories about mentally ill people being euthanased has seriously given me the jitters.
That’s roughly where I am. Tho I somewhat change my mind with each heart rending story
What gives me real pause is the evidence there IS a slippery slope. You start with offering it to the terminally ill in terrible pain - hard to argue against - and then it ends up with severely depressed people in financial trouble. wtf
In principle, I am in favour of a well regulated and controlled form of euthanasia. In practice I think I am against because I am not confident it could be regulated well enough to avoid some cases of state endorsed murder; and just one case is too many.
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
Netanyahu may be a shit but I would far rather he was in charge of defending us and our overseas territories than dreary old Sir Keir
Are you quite serious? You'd prefer someone who happily politicises the judiciary, is happy to see the whole Middle East burn to keep himself out of jail, is/was close friends with Putin and whose own police force state that he should be indicted for bribery and fraud?
Whither the rule of law? Off to GB News with you boyo.
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Well, perhaps, and I hope we do, let's see. Cleverly is a bit slow moving, but perhaps he has what it takes. Jenrick and Badenoch are flash-in-the-pan politicians, but Cleverly is different. Good or bad, I don't know.
An effective Leader of the Opposition needs conviction and energy and aggression or high intellect and sharp debating skills, ideally both, as far as I can see Cleverly has neither. I don’t dislike him, he should be in Shadow Cabinet but not leader
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
I think that, on balance, I'm opposed. Just as the principle with a criminal conviction is that we'd rather ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent man is wrongly convicted, so I'd have to argue that it was better for ten terminally ill patients to suffer a difficult death than one person to be killed by the state before their time.
As someone who has suffered quite badly from depression at various times the stories about mentally ill people being euthanased has seriously given me the jitters.
So long as the system is voluntary only then no, it is absolutely not better.
Let people choose.
There is no dignity in a painful and sad long drawn out death.
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Actually, amiability goes quite a long way. As we saw with Ronald Reagan. Cleverly was, ahem, clever to draw on the 40th President in his speech.
In principle, I am in favour of a well regulated and controlled form of euthanasia. In practice I think I am against because I am not confident it could be regulated well enough to avoid some cases of state endorsed murder; and just one case is too many.
I read today that in Holland 5% of deaths are now a result of state sanctioned euthanasia
Don’t hate on me if I’m wrong. I haven’t checked and I’m too knackered to do so and flying home v v v late
But still. If that’s right. It’s an alarming stat. 1 in 20??
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
I think that, on balance, I'm opposed. Just as the principle with a criminal conviction is that we'd rather ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent man is wrongly convicted, so I'd have to argue that it was better for ten terminally ill patients to suffer a difficult death than one person to be killed by the state before their time.
As someone who has suffered quite badly from depression at various times the stories about mentally ill people being euthanased has seriously given me the jitters.
So long as the system is voluntary only then no, it is absolutely not better.
Let people choose.
There is no dignity in a painful and sad long drawn out death.
And what do you say to someone who insists they are suicidally miserable and hopeless due to loneliness and sexual dysfunction?
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Well, perhaps, and I hope we do, let's see. Cleverly is a bit slow moving, but perhaps he has what it takes. Jenrick and Badenoch are flash-in-the-pan politicians, but Cleverly is different. Good or bad, I don't know.
An effective Leader of the Opposition needs conviction and energy and aggression or high intellect and sharp debating skills, ideally both, as far as I can see Cleverly has neither. I don’t dislike him, he should be in Shadow Cabinet but not leader
Yes, but that's the day-to-day politics. Starmer is a clear example of none of these things, but he managed Labour in a way that they got elected with a thumping majority. The Tory party needs above all a sense of direction, a sense of what they want to achieve. They didn't get trounced out of office because they had no conviction, energy, or intellect. It was about them not having anything like a vision. Government by numbers.
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
Any such scheme would have to have a conscience clause (as we have for abortion) where staff can refuse to participate on the grounds of ethical belief.
Euthanasia is a step too far in my view, though am in favour of cessation of active treatment, with generous pain relief that may well accelerate death. Indeed I have supported this for members of my own family who were dying. It's a nuanced distinction, perhaps even a false one.
End of Life care can be quite a difficult discussion to broach, but usually families are quite receptive.
In practice the law has a lot of discretion. Take for example the Case of Dr Cox who deliberately killed a patient. I had worked on the ward and knew both him and (I think) the patient he killed. He was a very compassionate doctor.
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
I think that, on balance, I'm opposed. Just as the principle with a criminal conviction is that we'd rather ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent man is wrongly convicted, so I'd have to argue that it was better for ten terminally ill patients to suffer a difficult death than one person to be killed by the state before their time.
As someone who has suffered quite badly from depression at various times the stories about mentally ill people being euthanased has seriously given me the jitters.
So long as the system is voluntary only then no, it is absolutely not better.
Let people choose.
There is no dignity in a painful and sad long drawn out death.
And what do you say to someone who insists they are suicidally miserable and hopeless due to loneliness and sexual dysfunction?
In principle, I am in favour of a well regulated and controlled form of euthanasia. In practice I think I am against because I am not confident it could be regulated well enough to avoid some cases of state endorsed murder; and just one case is too many.
It is far too complex a subject to be playing political games with it
It needs very careful consideration and stringent safeguards to protect the vulnerable
In some cases it is acceptable but I would not like to oversee the act of euthanasia
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
What value is there to the Conservatives of electing an ersatz Farage as leader, when the Farage-curious can just vote for full fat Farage?
Not only that, an ersatz Farage without the demagogic ability.
Quite.
Is Jenrick going to out-Farage Farage? Clearly not. He lacks the common touch and gives most voters the ick. So if the Tories go down that route and ape Farage + Reform's policies, what they are really doing is ceding ground to Farage. Better to put clear blue water between them and the man, leave the hardcore Faragists to their party, and focus on the centre right waitrose types who might be lib dem curious but will be financially screwed by five years of a Labour government.
The Cons are obsessed with Farage while ignoring a huge number of their traditional vote have already peeled away to the lib dems.
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
I think that, on balance, I'm opposed. Just as the principle with a criminal conviction is that we'd rather ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent man is wrongly convicted, so I'd have to argue that it was better for ten terminally ill patients to suffer a difficult death than one person to be killed by the state before their time.
As someone who has suffered quite badly from depression at various times the stories about mentally ill people being euthanased has seriously given me the jitters.
So long as the system is voluntary only then no, it is absolutely not better.
Let people choose.
There is no dignity in a painful and sad long drawn out death.
This is why it's a thorny issue in my view.
I am not quite sure the comparison with criminal convictions works, because I wonder if the horror of a long drawn out death is more like the wrongful conviction - making someone keep living against their wishes isn't equivalent to someone guilty going free.
Philosophically/ethically I think it depends on your view of the sanctity of human life. In practical terms, like Leon, I fear the slippery slope.
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
Any such scheme would have to have a conscience clause (as we have for abortion) where staff can refuse to participate on the grounds of ethical belief.
Euthanasia is a step too far in my view, though am in favour of cessation of active treatment, with generous pain relief that may well accelerate death. Indeed I have supported this for members of my own family who were dying. It's a nuanced distinction, perhaps even a false one.
End of Life care can be quite a difficult discussion to broach, but usually families are quite receptive.
In practice the law has a lot of discretion. Take for example the Case of Dr Cox who deliberately killed a patient. I had worked on the ward and knew both him and (I think) the patient he killed. He was a very compassionate doctor.
TBH this issue vexes me particularly now because of my mother. I may make black jokes but that’s how I cope. Her condition is grim - she’s badly demented and in quite a lot of physical pain due to multiple ailments
When she was younger she would say to me “if I ever get like that please smother me with a cushion”. Of course she is now LIKE THAT but the dementia means she is in no position to choose
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
I think that, on balance, I'm opposed. Just as the principle with a criminal conviction is that we'd rather ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent man is wrongly convicted, so I'd have to argue that it was better for ten terminally ill patients to suffer a difficult death than one person to be killed by the state before their time.
As someone who has suffered quite badly from depression at various times the stories about mentally ill people being euthanased has seriously given me the jitters.
So long as the system is voluntary only then no, it is absolutely not better.
Let people choose.
There is no dignity in a painful and sad long drawn out death.
The difficulty is it truly being voluntary, rather than an unsound mind or manipulative relatives. Neither of these are unusual when people are severely ill.
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
What value is there to the Conservatives of electing an ersatz Farage as leader, when the Farage-curious can just vote for full fat Farage?
Not only that, an ersatz Farage without the demagogic ability.
Quite.
Is Jenrick going to out-Farage Farage? Clearly not. He lacks the common touch and gives most voters the ick. So if the Tories go down that route and ape Farage + Reform's policies, what they are really doing is ceding ground to Farage. Better to put clear blue water between them and the man, leave the hardcore Faragists to their party, and focus on the centre right waitrose types who might be lib dem curious but will be financially screwed by five years of a Labour government.
The Cons are obsessed with Farage while ignoring a huge number of their traditional vote have already peeled away to the lib dems.
If they want to win back centre right Waitrose voters from the LDs then Tugendhat is a better bet than Cleverly
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
They clearly did a hell of a lot more than sell them some dodgy pagers booby trapped with explosives.
They've evidently turned the whole organisation upside down.
I would be very interested to know how long they have been planning this. It is very hard to believe that a plan of this scale, complexity and fiendish effectiveness was conceived, developed, initiated and executed in just one year.
Which would suggest they have been planning to go after Hizbollah on a grand scale for quite a while...
I agree. They do seem likely to have a very high level double agent, for a start. They're going to start looking at which among them has mysteriously stayed clear of harm.
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
Any such scheme would have to have a conscience clause (as we have for abortion) where staff can refuse to participate on the grounds of ethical belief.
Euthanasia is a step too far in my view, though am in favour of cessation of active treatment, with generous pain relief that may well accelerate death. Indeed I have supported this for members of my own family who were dying. It's a nuanced distinction, perhaps even a false one.
End of Life care can be quite a difficult discussion to broach, but usually families are quite receptive.
In practice the law has a lot of discretion. Take for example the Case of Dr Cox who deliberately killed a patient. I had worked on the ward and knew both him and (I think) the patient he killed. He was a very compassionate doctor.
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
I think that, on balance, I'm opposed. Just as the principle with a criminal conviction is that we'd rather ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent man is wrongly convicted, so I'd have to argue that it was better for ten terminally ill patients to suffer a difficult death than one person to be killed by the state before their time.
As someone who has suffered quite badly from depression at various times the stories about mentally ill people being euthanased has seriously given me the jitters.
So long as the system is voluntary only then no, it is absolutely not better.
Let people choose.
There is no dignity in a painful and sad long drawn out death.
And what do you say to someone who insists they are suicidally miserable and hopeless due to loneliness and sexual dysfunction?
Offer them a quick easy way out?
Cheer up Leon, would be my suggestion.
You got a proper chuckle here in Pristina airport. So that’s something. Especially given the catering options - I do believe Kosovo has the worst food in Europe
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Actually, amiability goes quite a long way. As we saw with Ronald Reagan. Cleverly was, ahem, clever to draw on the 40th President in his speech.
Reagan was sharp, could be aggressive in debate and had energy and much more charisma than Cleverly does. He could also articulate a conservative message brilliantly
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Actually, amiability goes quite a long way. As we saw with Ronald Reagan. Cleverly was, ahem, clever to draw on the 40th President in his speech.
Reagan was sharp, could be aggressive in debate and had energy and much more charisma than Cleverly does. He could also articulate a conservative message brilliantly
And he was funny.
Funny ha ha, not funny peculiar like Trump and Vance.
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
Netanyahu may be a shit but I would far rather he was in charge of defending us and our overseas territories than dreary old Sir Keir
Are you quite serious? You'd prefer someone who happily politicises the judiciary, is happy to see the whole Middle East burn to keep himself out of jail, is/was close friends with Putin and whose own police force state that he should be indicted for bribery and fraud?
Whither the rule of law? Off to GB News with you boyo.
If you want to defend your country you want a leader who is a ruthless shit, not one who will consider subsection 4.1 of the UN Charter before deciding whether or not to blow up a ship dropping large numbers of enemy troops on your beaches or whether to kill terrorist leaders or not
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Actually, amiability goes quite a long way. As we saw with Ronald Reagan. Cleverly was, ahem, clever to draw on the 40th President in his speech.
Reagan was sharp, could be aggressive in debate and had energy and much more charisma than Cleverly does. He could also articulate a conservative message brilliantly
Your diagnosis of cleverly is spot on. In some ways he would be the worst choice
At least Badenoch would be new, and Jenrick has energy and a bit of oratory. Tugendhat seems to have centre right principles - I disagree but that’s him
Cleverly is an affable manager, and no more. He’s also tainted by the Chagos surrender
See what you think. I don’t know where I stand on this sad issue. But the Canadian example gives me doubts
It was LBJ who said: “You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered."
Wise advice. It should be heeded by those proposing new laws or policies and airily dismissing any concerns about the misuse of such laws, on the basis that no-one will ever do the thing that the law permits or abuse the loophole created or use the law to achieve an end its proponents never intended.
Those with malign intent will always exploit the law, loopholes, well-meaning policies for their own ends, if given the opportunity to do so. The fact that those ends were not intended by those enacting the legislation or introducing a policy is irrelevant.
To those who say no-one would do awful things with these laws, the response is: “How can you be certain?”
If they wouldn’t do them, the powers are not needed.
If they exist, they will be used.
If they can be used, they will be abused.
Naivety is unpardonable in legislators and policy-makers.
They should read the Francis Report or the Report on the Gosport War Memorial Hospital for what nurses and doctors are capable of doing to the vulnerable.
In principle, I am in favour of a well regulated and controlled form of euthanasia. In practice I think I am against because I am not confident it could be regulated well enough to avoid some cases of state endorsed murder; and just one case is too many.
I read today that in Holland 5% of deaths are now a result of state sanctioned euthanasia
Don’t hate on me if I’m wrong. I haven’t checked and I’m too knackered to do so and flying home v v v late
But still. If that’s right. It’s an alarming stat. 1 in 20??
12% of deaths in the UK are down to dementia.
The moment I am diagnosed with dementia from which there is no real prospect of remission, I will want to put my affairs in order, then have a means of checking out that doesn't require me to traumatise a train driver. I would not want my loved ones to see my decline, be responsible for my care during that decline.
I want to know with 100% certainty that my previously recorded wishes to terminate my life in various circumstances will be respected. That law is unlikely during my lifetime. But in stages we need to move towards it.
Cleverly is perfectly amiable but I fail to see the point of replacing Rishi with him. As far as I can see he is Rishi with less energy and fewer brains and not much charisma. Indeed I can’t see a single policy difference between Cleverly and Sunak as PM.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
Well, perhaps, and I hope we do, let's see. Cleverly is a bit slow moving, but perhaps he has what it takes. Jenrick and Badenoch are flash-in-the-pan politicians, but Cleverly is different. Good or bad, I don't know.
An effective Leader of the Opposition needs conviction and energy and aggression or high intellect and sharp debating skills, ideally both, as far as I can see Cleverly has neither. I don’t dislike him, he should be in Shadow Cabinet but not leader
Yes, but that's the day-to-day politics. Starmer is a clear example of none of these things, but he managed Labour in a way that they got elected with a thumping majority. The Tory party needs above all a sense of direction, a sense of what they want to achieve. They didn't get trounced out of office because they had no conviction, energy, or intellect. It was about them not having anything like a vision. Government by numbers.
Starmer at least has intellect and good debating skills, he would run rings around Cleverly at PMQs.
Say what you like about Jenrick or Badenoch at least they have some vision of a right wing red meat form. Even Tugendhat has a vision of a form of patrician Toryism, does Cleverly have any vision at all?
In principle, I am in favour of a well regulated and controlled form of euthanasia. In practice I think I am against because I am not confident it could be regulated well enough to avoid some cases of state endorsed murder; and just one case is too many.
I read today that in Holland 5% of deaths are now a result of state sanctioned euthanasia
Don’t hate on me if I’m wrong. I haven’t checked and I’m too knackered to do so and flying home v v v late
But still. If that’s right. It’s an alarming stat. 1 in 20??
Perhaps it suggests that rather a lot of people end their days ina huge amount of pain and would prefer another way?
Personally I'd say euthanasia should be legal. Only for terminally ill, of sound mind who have pre declared their intention and probably a few other safeguards I've missed.
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
Netanyahu may be a shit but I would far rather he was in charge of defending us and our overseas territories than dreary old Sir Keir
Are you quite serious? You'd prefer someone who happily politicises the judiciary, is happy to see the whole Middle East burn to keep himself out of jail, is/was close friends with Putin and whose own police force state that he should be indicted for bribery and fraud?
Whither the rule of law? Off to GB News with you boyo.
If you want to defend your country you want a leader who is a ruthless shit, not one who will consider subsection 4.1 of the UN Charter before deciding whether or not to blow up a ship dropping large numbers of enemy troops on your beaches
Perhaps in the short term.
In the long term, I suspect Netanyahu is doing more damage to Israeli interests than Hamas, Hezbollah and IRGC have managed between them. If I were Israeli I'd be horrified at the way Netanyahu were 'defending' my country.
(To be clear, my view is premised on the belief that Israel is not, as some claim, in a 'fight for survival' because it will always have the backing of the USA. If I'm wrong in my view and Israel really could be wiped out by its enemies, my view (and probably my ethical stance) would move significantly in favour of their current actions).
Comments
When do we get the next stage result?
I'm being offered a cash out on laying Kemikaze which is nearly 45% of the potential profit if I win.
(£8.78 and £20, since you ask
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd new Hezbollah leader reported killed already
Ibrahim Amine al-Sayyed only lasted hours
It’s a bit like the spinal tap drummer gag
What wounded Boris was that his instinctive lying and bullshitting led him to deny partygate even from his position of complete ignorance. If he'd stonewalled until he'd phoned round to establish the facts, or promised an inquiry, he might have survived.
Just something… off. Touch of the Harold shipman about her. High on her power of life and death
And yet I know people in terrible pain who want what she offers and j get that argument entirely
The doctors who do it should be screened and vetted for mental issues - and I suspect that Canadian would fail on several measures
Israel's army chief has said that Israeli forces had defeated the military wing of Hamas, as he addressed troops ahead of the first anniversary of the 7 October attack by the Palestinian militant group.
So the war is over now, right? Israel has won and can dictate the peace.
"We are not stopping," Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement, as troops in northern Gaza operated against what the military said were Hamas attempts to rebuild.
It's a forever war now.
https://www.politico.eu/article/nato-ukraine-slovakia-robert-fico-military-defense-alliance/
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico vowed on Sunday to block Ukraine from joining NATO for as long as he is head of the country's government.
NATO's leadership wants Ukraine to join the military alliance after its war with Russia ends in order to deter further aggression from Moscow, but Fico's declaration highlights the political difficulties that are likely to arise in pursuing that aim.
“As long as I am head of the Slovak government, I will direct the MPs that are under my control as chairman of the [ruling Smer] party never to agree to Ukraine's joining NATO,” he said on the weekly "O päť minút dvanásť" (5 Minutes to 12) program…
.. Last Thursday, Fico promised to “do everything possible for the renewal of economic and standard relations with Russia.”
Following his Sunday talk show performance, Fico doubled down on that vow, proposing to visit Moscow next May for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, “as long as I'm invited.”
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the Oct. 6, 1944 arrival of troops from the former Soviet Union at rugged Dukla Pass near Slovakia's border with Poland, Fico went on to stress that Russian sacrifices had helped liberate Slovakia from Nazi rule.
“Freedom came from the East,” he said, “and absolutely nothing can change this truth….
Putin’s fellow Stalin fan, then.
I guess 1968 doesn’t count ?
And these action are leading to a surge in anti-senitism all over the world, as some of my own family are finding out.
Anyone can misremember, of course. But the debate had been just a week earlier and a fairly memorable moment. And it was hardly the only time Mr. Trump has seemed confused, forgetful, incoherent or disconnected from reality lately. In fact, it happens so often these days that it no longer even generates much attention."
"it no longer even generates much attention"
Trump's collapsing cognitive abilities has NEVER generated attention. It just hasn't been remarked upon. It was all Biden, Biden, Biden. But he is all over the place.
His rapid decline SHOULD be as much under the microscope as was Biden's - scrutiny that caused him to withdraw.
A truly terrible scenario is Trump winning - and then rapidly being deemed unfit and moved out the White House to make way for JD Vance. Is that what you want, America?
2) was it his own vomit?
You can’t dust for vomit, you know….
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c781vgy3918o
I agree with the conclusion.
They've evidently turned the whole organisation upside down.
I would be very interested to know how long they have been planning this. It is very hard to believe that a plan of this scale, complexity and fiendish effectiveness was conceived, developed, initiated and executed in just one year.
Which would suggest they have been planning to go after Hizbollah on a grand scale for quite a while...
The interviews he has given this week trying to flog his book lay bare the worst of his character.
His entire approach to Brexit was a game to "beat Cameron". He knew it was fucking stupid, but Cameron was against so he was for. He wanted to prove he was better than Cameron. Nobody can now dispute Cameron was right about him all along...
https://www.ft.com/content/a16a933a-0800-449e-af7d-9165a665e64a
"The conference motif was verbs beginning “re-”. Renew. Rebuild. Although not remember."
Observed by Mr. Hannibal Alcazar Peyton, of Jayhawk, Kentucky.
For some reason, many people, and indeed nations, find it very easy to fall into anti-Semitism; something that has recurringly happened over centuries, if not Millenia.
Tho I note he got you watching his interviews so you could frot yourself Into another enjoyable fury
They are successfully demolishing Hezbollah as a coherent organisation. If only they could be as forensic in Gaza
It seems they have way more intel on Hezbollah than Hamas. Maybe it is moles inside the organisation, maybe its easier for Mossad to travel around in Lebanon.
Sincere question
Could you ever be part of a medical euthanasia scheme? As I say I am deeply divided on the topic
I’d like people to be given the means of a painless way out but building an ethical legal structure is incredibly hard. And I don’t think Canada has done it
If you're talking about No. 10, then you're either being a little bit stupid, or rather dissembling. Number 10 isn't just 'his house', but also a workplace and a seat of government. It's not as though he goes down to the front door to let people in every time the doorbell rings.
Farage would welcome a Cleverly leadership as he would gain no voters the Tories have lost to Reform while Jenrick might and the LDs fear Tugendhat more than Cleverly. All that can be said for Cleverly is he is better than Kemi for leader as he would at least hold the 2024 Tory vote and might win over a few Labour voters unhappy with Starmer.
The Conhome poll was a snap poll with a small sample though, all it may well do is see Jenrick lend some MPs to Tugendhat next week to try and knock Cleverly and Kemi out
As for competence... we'll have to see.
As someone who has suffered quite badly from depression at various times the stories about mentally ill people being euthanased has seriously given me the jitters.
You are on the right of the party and obviously prefer that direction of travel, but as a one nation conservative only Cleverly would see me rejoin the party
None of the candidates excite, and the party needs to understand the public want to hear about solutions for the NHS and cost of living, and while immigration is important, it needs to be balanced with answers to many issues now facing the country and not to go back to the past
Looking over your shoulder at Reform and hoping to be Reform light is not the answer, nor is Farage
Labour really shouldn’t rush through this bill because Sir Kir “promised Esther before the election”
Fuck that. We don’t have government by ex-tv-presenter
But I hope they don't defenestrate Starmer; Labour and Starmer should get a good shot at power and at setting their agenda. They may learn and improve with time (something Boris has never been able to do). But 'improving' from the low base they've set in the first few months is not exactly an onerous task.
I expect him to do nothing. A day of peace. It's pretty unlikely though.
Hizbollah, however, as the de facto Lebanese state, well armed, well equipped and with easy access to Syria and Iran, was clearly a threat.
What gives me real pause is the evidence there IS a slippery slope. You start with offering it to the terminally ill in terrible pain - hard to argue against - and then it ends up with severely depressed people in financial trouble. wtf
Whither the rule of law? Off to GB News with you boyo.
Let people choose.
There is no dignity in a painful and sad long drawn out death.
Don’t hate on me if I’m wrong. I haven’t checked and I’m too knackered to do so and flying home v v v late
But still. If that’s right. It’s an alarming stat. 1 in 20??
Offer them a quick easy way out?
Euthanasia is a step too far in my view, though am in favour of cessation of active treatment, with generous pain relief that may well accelerate death. Indeed I have supported this for members of my own family who were dying. It's a nuanced distinction, perhaps even a false one.
End of Life care can be quite a difficult discussion to broach, but usually families are quite receptive.
In practice the law has a lot of discretion. Take for example the Case of Dr Cox who deliberately killed a patient. I had worked on the ward and knew both him and (I think) the patient he killed. He was a very compassionate doctor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Cox_(doctor)
It needs very careful consideration and stringent safeguards to protect the vulnerable
In some cases it is acceptable but I would not like to oversee the act of euthanasia
Is Jenrick going to out-Farage Farage? Clearly not. He lacks the common touch and gives most voters the ick. So if the Tories go down that route and ape Farage + Reform's policies, what they are really doing is ceding ground to Farage. Better to put clear blue water between them and the man, leave the hardcore Faragists to their party, and focus on the centre right waitrose types who might be lib dem curious but will be financially screwed by five years of a Labour government.
The Cons are obsessed with Farage while ignoring a huge number of their traditional vote have already peeled away to the lib dems.
"How a Russian operative snared an Irish politician"
https://www.thetimes.com/article/1a160fca-281c-4882-8d14-f8cf6885cb25?shareToken=d2549f221cff581da6c2d2aa13f8c067
I am not quite sure the comparison with criminal convictions works, because I wonder if the horror of a long drawn out death is more like the wrongful conviction - making someone keep living against their wishes isn't equivalent to someone guilty going free.
Philosophically/ethically I think it depends on your view of the sanctity of human life. In practical terms, like Leon, I fear the slippery slope.
A wise and informed opinion
TBH this issue vexes me particularly now because of my mother. I may make black jokes but that’s how I cope. Her condition is grim - she’s badly demented and in quite a lot of physical pain due to multiple ailments
When she was younger she would say to me “if I ever get like that please smother me with a cushion”. Of course she is now LIKE THAT but the dementia means she is in no position to choose
A rum do
My sister had a DNR, though in her final hours she was transferred from care to the hospital where she died 5 hours after admission
Funny ha ha, not funny peculiar like Trump and Vance.
At least Badenoch would be new, and Jenrick has energy and a bit of oratory. Tugendhat seems to have centre right principles - I disagree but that’s him
Cleverly is an affable manager, and no more. He’s also tainted by the Chagos surrender
Wise advice. It should be heeded by those proposing new laws or policies and airily dismissing any concerns about the misuse of such laws, on the basis that no-one will ever do the thing that the law permits or abuse the loophole created or use the law to achieve an end its proponents never intended.
Those with malign intent will always exploit the law, loopholes, well-meaning policies for their own ends, if given the opportunity to do so. The fact that those ends were not intended by those enacting the legislation or introducing a policy is irrelevant.
To those who say no-one would do awful things with these laws, the response is: “How can you be certain?”
If they wouldn’t do them, the powers are not needed.
If they exist, they will be used.
If they can be used, they will be abused.
Naivety is unpardonable in legislators and policy-makers.
They should read the Francis Report or the Report on the Gosport War Memorial Hospital for what nurses and doctors are capable of doing to the vulnerable.
The moment I am diagnosed with dementia from which there is no real prospect of remission, I will want to put my affairs in order, then have a means of checking out that doesn't require me to traumatise a train driver. I would not want my loved ones to see my decline, be responsible for my care during that decline.
I want to know with 100% certainty that my previously recorded wishes to terminate my life in various circumstances will be respected. That law is unlikely during my lifetime. But in stages we need to move towards it.
Say what you like about Jenrick or Badenoch at least they have some vision of a right wing red meat form. Even Tugendhat has a vision of a form of patrician Toryism, does Cleverly have any vision at all?
Personally I'd say euthanasia should be legal. Only for terminally ill, of sound mind who have pre declared their intention and probably a few other safeguards I've missed.
In the long term, I suspect Netanyahu is doing more damage to Israeli interests than Hamas, Hezbollah and IRGC have managed between them. If I were Israeli I'd be horrified at the way Netanyahu were 'defending' my country.
(To be clear, my view is premised on the belief that Israel is not, as some claim, in a 'fight for survival' because it will always have the backing of the USA. If I'm wrong in my view and Israel really could be wiped out by its enemies, my view (and probably my ethical stance) would move significantly in favour of their current actions).