🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
Agreed. It can only be that.
If he’s not a traitor he is the worst politician in history who always ends up with the worst possible deal for this country. Remember he’s the guy who not only gave away the Chagos to China but AGREED A DEAL WHERE WE PAY FOR THAT
Are you on a mission to bore the fuck out of everyone?
YOU persuaded me to vote for these Labour c*nts, begging, mewling and pleading again and again until I wearily relented, so I’m allowed to feel somewhat cheesed off with the result
Why did you listen to him and not me?
I was trying to warn you and @algarkirk before the election.
You didn't listen.
I think in the aftermath of Liz Truss I wavered quite badly but that really was such a shit show. As we got to about Feb this year I'd resolved to stick with the party and renewed my membership and went out canvassing for our local candidate, we did pretty well to limit the damage and we're definitely in the running to win it back in 2029.
The alternate universe where the idiot members didn't vote for Truss and instead voted for Rishi is one where Labour struggled to get a majority and we finished on about 250 seats with ~30% of the vote. It wouldn't have been great but compared to what we actually ended up with, infinitely better and a huge platform from which to rebuild in opposition and hit the government hard when it fucks up. Right now we need a leader to be out there condemning the cave in on the reparations discussion, instead we're still waiting to elect a leader.
It’s hardly surprising. After years climbing the greasy pole, he’s reached the top, peered into the void, and realised that Britain is ungovernable. Rishi realised this too, which is why he called an unwinnable election early. The problems facing Britain are deeply embedded in our social, economic and cultural history. The democratic myth that they can be fixed by a new leader, a change of government, and minor tweaks to the tax code, or by yet more surveillance and regulation, is absurd. Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve. But we’ve let too many in who have radically different values and goals. Even those that belong here have no shared vision that extends beyond their fear of collapsing social order and an irrational desire for the state to protect them. Whoever we elect as leader, their plans will be greeted with incredulity, and their leadership will be undermined by nonsense about cake, wallpaper, Taylor Swift tickets, and blocked by institutions whose only function is to hinder change. Keir looks bewildered because all of this has just dawned on him, as it dawned on Rishi earlier, and as it will undoubtedly dawn on Kemi, or Robert, or even Nigel, should they ever find themselves in the top job. There’s no solution now.
"Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve."
This is largely true. We are not a united people. I am not sure that's the fault of immigrants, though. Just look at the ongoing debates on here between Scottish nationalists and unionists and Remainers and Leavers. There are massive faultlines in this country's cohesion that the 2014 and 2016 referenda exposed. I don't know how you put those back in a box.
Vote Reform and then take out the internal trash
You want Labour to stay in power for another term then, and give away everything outside Islington and put us all in manacles just for being British?
Interesting piece by Max, I'd like to see real food cooking taught in all schools, national cooking/cookery campaigns, and more visits to farmers/farms at all levels of education.
One thing: I get leaflets through the door every other week from Dominos and PapaJohns, both of which I hate. Yes, they can post what they like - and no doubt this is part of an aggressive marketing campaign - but things like this combined with JustEat and Deliveroo make it very very easy to eat shit.
How do we make it easier to eat well?
And this is where the nannying definitely comes in, it might be dispiriting for people like us to contemplate advertising and leafleting bans for unhealthy foods and takeaways but the situation is only getting worse.
On healthy eating, it is already easy to do so, people just don't know how. I actually think we don't need to tackle cooking at school age, we need to do it for parents in their 30s and 40s who never learned. Make it part of eligibility for benefits to attend mandatory cooking classes, give people basic cooking equipment when they sign on and, frankly, be more intrusive about their spending. As I said any solution on healthy eating is going to feel like and be nannying, I think we need to get on board with this or there is no end to the tax rises, the £20bn salvo Labour are planning right now will look like child's play when we win in 2029 if action isn't taken.
I think the problem is not that people cannot cook, it's that they don't want to. It's too much hassle, which is why so many live off takeaways and ready meals.
Basically, humans are like all animals lazy and greedy. If they can ride they will not walk, and if they can eat high energy foods without cooking then they will do so. In order to choose healthy lifestyles we have to actively use intellect and deferred gratification over base instinct. That's why the fat jabs are such an appeal, we can become slim without effort.
No, I think you'd be shocked as to how lacking people are with culinary skills these days, people in their 30s and 40s who never learned. One of our friends managed to both overboil and burn her pasta when she had us over for dinner. It was inedible so we got a deliveroo instead. The thing without someone to teach her there is no resource for people like that to learn, they need to be spoonfed the basics of how to boil rice/pasta etc... until they've got that figured out, or how to replace sauce from a jar with sauce that's made fresh. She's even said to us that when her and her husband come to visit us she thinks being able to turn ingredients into amazing food is like magic but doesn't know where to start.
She's also not alone, there's millions of adults who just never learned to cook, even the basics, and now don't know where or how to start so subsist on microwave and frozen food.
That’s basic stupidity. Anyone with an iq over 100 who can read can learn to cook
Saturday night on a clear mild October evening in a town of 20,000 people. It’s not yet 8pm. This is the Main Street
So ? You can see similar all around the world.
In some places the 'main street' is where the shops and banks are and so empty at 8pm.
But a short distance away will be the streets where the bars and restaurants are and will be busy.
What the F are you on about, you dolt?
This is Japan not the USA. In Japan the action happens in town centres, as in Europe. There are NO busy streets in Hida Fukawara. I have checked
This is rural depopulation, ageing, and demographic decline in action. Japan is much further down the road but it is the future for us all at present global birthrates
Well I don't see much rural depopulation in this country.
But then I don't live in the middle of Snowdonia, which is the equivalent of Hida Fukawara.
I'm not sure what you're trying to prove by going to increasingly obscure places and claiming its the future for the rest of us.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
Agreed. It can only be that.
If he’s not a traitor he is the worst politician in history who always ends up with the worst possible deal for this country. Remember he’s the guy who not only gave away the Chagos to China but AGREED A DEAL WHERE WE PAY FOR THAT
He (i.e., we) will be ripped apart by China, the EU, Spain, the Commonwealth and the USA in any trade deal or geopolitical negotiation over the next 4 years. It's going to cost us a fortune. Some of it permanently, I'm afraid.
I just hope the Tories can unpick it all when they reset and get back in office 🙏
He is a traitorous c*nt
Remember that one of the “reasons” for the Chagos Surrender was that it would “increase our influence and soft power”. Instead everyone has laughed at Starmer and Labour for being such a weak bunch of fucking cucks and now they are demanding the UK pay seven trillion quid and forcing Starmer to sign this communique
Interesting piece by Max, I'd like to see real food cooking taught in all schools, national cooking/cookery campaigns, and more visits to farmers/farms at all levels of education.
One thing: I get leaflets through the door every other week from Dominos and PapaJohns, both of which I hate. Yes, they can post what they like - and no doubt this is part of an aggressive marketing campaign - but things like this combined with JustEat and Deliveroo make it very very easy to eat shit.
How do we make it easier to eat well?
And this is where the nannying definitely comes in, it might be dispiriting for people like us to contemplate advertising and leafleting bans for unhealthy foods and takeaways but the situation is only getting worse.
On healthy eating, it is already easy to do so, people just don't know how. I actually think we don't need to tackle cooking at school age, we need to do it for parents in their 30s and 40s who never learned. Make it part of eligibility for benefits to attend mandatory cooking classes, give people basic cooking equipment when they sign on and, frankly, be more intrusive about their spending. As I said any solution on healthy eating is going to feel like and be nannying, I think we need to get on board with this or there is no end to the tax rises, the £20bn salvo Labour are planning right now will look like child's play when we win in 2029 if action isn't taken.
Nannying for me is telling people what to do or stopping them doing what they want to do. And patronising them at the same time like they're children.
I don't have a problem regulating harmful adverts or supplements that do us real damage.
I agree with you on cooking. One small example, last night I looked at a chicken curry and thought.. I'd quite like something else with that. There were dried red lentils and a tin of tomatoes in the cupboard. I baulked at it, thinking I'd screw it up and it'd be shit, but a BBC receipe and 30 minutes later I had an amazing lentil curry, that we both polished off.
I agree with cooking classes for those on benefits. In fact, I think in general the government should fund and promote this. (As long as it's not captured by leftwing activists, who'll want to push "sustainability", veganism and non-dairy)
Then people can choose what to cook themselves. Not nannying.
Lentils ?
Where is Casino, and what have you done with him ??
I know this is a gentle troll, but I've always done a meat curry and a vegetable curry. My objection is to the ideology of Veganism being inflicted on us to the exclusion of everything else, not the value of vegetables and fruits period.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
I've just voted for her, and donated £100.
Oh dear. Metaphysics in action - never stop moaning about the wokification of our institutions and the moribund nature of our economy, then take an action that makes it more likely to continue.
Commonwealth leaders have agreed the "time has come" for a conversation about reparations for the slave trade, despite the UK's desire to keep the subject off the agenda at a two-day summit in Samoa.
A document signed by 56 heads of government, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, acknowledges calls for "discussions on reparatory justice" for the "abhorrent" transatlantic slave trade.
The statement says it is time for a "meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation".
Sir Keir said there had been no discussions about money at the meeting, and that the UK is "very clear" in its position that it would not pay reparations.
The UK has faced growing calls from Commonwealth leaders to apologise and pay reparations for the country’s historical role in the slave trade. Reparations for the benefit of those who suffered as a result of slavery could take many forms, from financial to symbolic.
But, can you blame them? They know a mug when they see one.
Another £10bn per year in tax rises to pay for reparations then.
That hasn't been said at all. You are all making stuff up.
By all means criticise this Government for their errors but we have had commentary on here about how bad Labour are from several dozen budgets written by the Telegraph and other PBers.
As previously posted would absolutely love some Betfair markets to take on the doomongers on stuff that just ain't happening.
A Betfair market on budget announcements would be hilarious, because unlike most ‘specials’ there’s both sides of every bet on offer, and the temptation for people with knowledge to pile on in the closing days and hours would likely be too much.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
I've just voted for her, and donated £100.
Oh dear. Metaphysics in action - never stop moaning about the wokification of our institutions and the moribund nature of our economy, then take an action that makes it more likely to continue.
Your dogmatic take on which Tory leaders are "sound" and which are secret wets, and the tribal ad-hominem it triggers, is deeply weird.
How on earth you reach the conclusion that she's pro-Woke I don't know.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
Agreed. It can only be that.
If he’s not a traitor he is the worst politician in history who always ends up with the worst possible deal for this country. Remember he’s the guy who not only gave away the Chagos to China but AGREED A DEAL WHERE WE PAY FOR THAT
You voted for Sir Kneel.
You also want the Conservative party destroyed and they're the only way Labour can be replaced.
Not true.
If Brave Sir Nigel garners enough support from disillusioned Labourites you remain dead in the water. And Brave Sir Nigel becomes king.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
Agreed. It can only be that.
If he’s not a traitor he is the worst politician in history who always ends up with the worst possible deal for this country. Remember he’s the guy who not only gave away the Chagos to China but AGREED A DEAL WHERE WE PAY FOR THAT
Are you on a mission to bore the fuck out of everyone?
YOU persuaded me to vote for these Labour c*nts, begging, mewling and pleading again and again until I wearily relented, so I’m allowed to feel somewhat cheesed off with the result
Why did you listen to him and not me?
I was trying to warn you and @algarkirk before the election.
You didn't listen.
I think in the aftermath of Liz Truss I wavered quite badly but that really was such a shit show. As we got to about Feb this year I'd resolved to stick with the party and renewed my membership and went out canvassing for our local candidate, we did pretty well to limit the damage and we're definitely in the running to win it back in 2029.
The alternate universe where the idiot members didn't vote for Truss and instead voted for Rishi is one where Labour struggled to get a majority and we finished on about 250 seats with ~30% of the vote. It wouldn't have been great but compared to what we actually ended up with, infinitely better and a huge platform from which to rebuild in opposition and hit the government hard when it fucks up. Right now we need a leader to be out there condemning the cave in on the reparations discussion, instead we're still waiting to elect a leader.
Sad, but true.
This issue is made for Kemi though. And I hope she tears the c**t to pieces.
8.5m views now for Rogan/Trump, and most of the US is still sleeping.
Its getting clipped and getting lots of views on social media e.g. saw one with 10 million views.
Trump and Vance have been doing all these podcasts over the past month. Now it might be preaching to the converted, or it could be a genius strategy that has somewhat flown under the radar. We will find out in a couple of weeks.
It’s definitely a different strategy, and the long form of these podcasts suit the personalities of Trump and Vance.
I suspect Von’s audience is quite heavily Trump-biased, more so than Rogan’s, so it’s difficult to work out how many swing voters are watching. Might help with GOTV and turnout though, if more people come to realise that they’re not Hitler and Geobbels. The top comments are basically that Vance isn’t “weird”, he’s just a regular American dude.
Vance is 'weird' to the US establishment because he is genuinely someone who has dragged himself up from deprivation.
As opposed to pretending they have done so like so many politicians claim to.
I think the word 'flawed' better describes Vance, understandably (but not excusably) so given his background.
Vance is a far more interesting person than Trump, who is merely a privileged bully boy.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
Agreed. It can only be that.
If he’s not a traitor he is the worst politician in history who always ends up with the worst possible deal for this country. Remember he’s the guy who not only gave away the Chagos to China but AGREED A DEAL WHERE WE PAY FOR THAT
He (i.e., we) will be ripped apart by China, the EU, Spain, the Commonwealth and the USA in any trade deal or geopolitical negotiation over the next 4 years. It's going to cost us a fortune. Some of it permanently, I'm afraid.
I just hope the Tories can unpick it all when they reset and get back in office 🙏
He is a traitorous c*nt
Remember that one of the “reasons” for the Chagos Surrender was that it would “increase our influence and soft power”. Instead everyone has laughed at Starmer and Labour for being such a weak bunch of fucking cucks and now they are demanding the UK pay seven trillion quid and forcing Starmer to sign this communique
WANKERS
I may not have liked having Labour governments in the past, but at least they were led by people who actually thought they should defend the interests of the British people, rather than the interests of foreign powers.
Similar markets had Hillary Clinton at 80-90% in 2016, and there’s the suggestion of a number of pro-Trump whales with millions on one side of the current market.
Harris is the value at somewhere close to 2/1. 64.3% is something like 11/6
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
I've just voted for her, and donated £100.
Oh dear. Metaphysics in action - never stop moaning about the wokification of our institutions and the moribund nature of our economy, then take an action that makes it more likely to continue.
Your dogmatic take on which Tory leaders are "sound" and which are secret wets, and the tribal ad-hominem it triggers, is deeply weird.
How on earth you reach the conclusion that she's pro-Woke I don't know.
He's not even in the party CR, not worth listening to.
On Employers NI - it's the politically easiest way to increase taxes by a substantial amount. My naive interpretation of the promise not to increase income tax, NI or VAT had precluded it as an option, but I don't think the government are going to suffer politically for dodging that with the small print over "working people".
It is, obviously, a little bit disheartening to see a government - once again - do what is politically expedient, rather than something more ideal for the economy, but they are politicians, and they will want to be re-elected. There are worse things they could have chosen to do.
Relative to the rest of Europe our employer taxes are lower.
However it creates a whole set of problems elsewhere as it will mean low paid workers who aren't on the minimum wage are unlikely to see a pay increase next year as the first 2% has just been sent to the Government... Add on any increase to the minimum wage and the first 3% for those above the minimum wage is probably going to the Government or those who are on the minimum wage..
To be frank - I'm expecting to be wholly disappointed with this budget - there are a whole set of things that can only be implemented early on (changes to Council tax, changes to VAT registration levels) and I doubt any of the straws have been grasped to kick off the work required).
I think it's pretty clear they hadn't done any thinking of the practicalities of their programme or how they'd deliver on it in opposition.
They just said what they needed to win the election, had a bit of break over the Summer - during which time they made some inept political moves - and then had an oh shit moment in September when they realised how hard it would be when their propaganda met reality.
You've got to bear in mind Starmer is a Tedious Tactical Triangulator and, now Sunak has gone, he has no-one to triangulate against and is exposed.
This is stressing him out. Which is why, sadly, he looks so harrowed in those photos.
At least with Boris you got joie de vivre. Starmer is just depressing.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
Agreed. It can only be that.
If he’s not a traitor he is the worst politician in history who always ends up with the worst possible deal for this country. Remember he’s the guy who not only gave away the Chagos to China but AGREED A DEAL WHERE WE PAY FOR THAT
You voted for Sir Kneel.
You also want the Conservative party destroyed and they're the only way Labour can be replaced.
Not true.
If Brave Sir Nigel garners enough support from disillusioned Labourites you remain dead in the water. And Brave Sir Nigel becomes king.
King of an imaginary sandcastle with the tide about to come in.
What dickhead at Apple thought it was a great idea to introduce this functionality where every month I have to click a load of pop-ups to agree to each app that uses my certain privileges. Every sodding month.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
I've just voted for her, and donated £100.
Oh dear. Metaphysics in action - never stop moaning about the wokification of our institutions and the moribund nature of our economy, then take an action that makes it more likely to continue.
Your dogmatic take on which Tory leaders are "sound" and which are secret wets, and the tribal ad-hominem it triggers, is deeply weird.
How on earth you reach the conclusion that she's pro-Woke I don't know.
He's not even in the party CR, not worth listening to.
If Kemi wins, I think I'll even rejoin. I detested the last government, but still gave a grudging vote on July 4th. But, I had at least half-hoped that Starmer had some backbone.
So he ran late because he spent the full three hours with Rogan.
It happens when schedules are very tight, and many more will see the Rogan conversation than would have seen the rally.
Yeah it’s crap for those with later plans, but these things rarely run to time anyway.
Apoarently Kamala took 2 days off campaigning too.
She took time off to prepare for the CNN town hall - from which the Trump campaign are Tweeting clips, which suggests it didn’t go according to plan. Some genuinely difficult questions from the audience, which she mostly swerved with a word salad of nothingness.
Can’t we wind back three months and have both parties find someone different? Vance and Walz are both much better candidates than Trump and Harris.
Saturday night on a clear mild October evening in a town of 20,000 people. It’s not yet 8pm. This is the Main Street
Looks like any provincial town in France at the same time of night.
I know France well, I don’t believe that is true at all
This is a town of 20,000 people, not 2,000
It looks like all the towns in provincial France I have visited. They eat early and go to bed early.
That's curious, the opposite of the Spanish.
Yep, the total opposite of the Spanish. IN any Spanish town at 8.00 pm the shops are still open and the streets are very crowded. When I lived in Spain, I remember driving back through France tot he UK and permanently being caught out on when you could get something to eat. No chance after 2.00m pm or 8.00m pm outside the big cities. Thank God for McDonald's!
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It’s hardly surprising. After years climbing the greasy pole, he’s reached the top, peered into the void, and realised that Britain is ungovernable. Rishi realised this too, which is why he called an unwinnable election early. The problems facing Britain are deeply embedded in our social, economic and cultural history. The democratic myth that they can be fixed by a new leader, a change of government, and minor tweaks to the tax code, or by yet more surveillance and regulation, is absurd. Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve. But we’ve let too many in who have radically different values and goals. Even those that belong here have no shared vision that extends beyond their fear of collapsing social order and an irrational desire for the state to protect them. Whoever we elect as leader, their plans will be greeted with incredulity, and their leadership will be undermined by nonsense about cake, wallpaper, Taylor Swift tickets, and blocked by institutions whose only function is to hinder change. Keir looks bewildered because all of this has just dawned on him, as it dawned on Rishi earlier, and as it will undoubtedly dawn on Kemi, or Robert, or even Nigel, should they ever find themselves in the top job. There’s no solution now.
"Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve."
This is largely true. We are not a united people. I am not sure that's the fault of immigrants, though. Just look at the ongoing debates on here between Scottish nationalists and unionists and Remainers and Leavers. There are massive faultlines in this country's cohesion that the 2014 and 2016 referenda exposed. I don't know how you put those back in a box.
Vote Reform and then take out the internal trash
You want Labour to stay in power for another term then, and give away everything outside Islington and put us all in manacles just for being British?
i don’t trust the Tories after the last 14 years. I want a properly right wing government, after being promised that for over a decade and never getting it, fuck that shit
I think the best result for the country in four years time will be Reform leading, and the Tories necessarily having to ally with them to wipe out Labour. This is perfectly plausible, it is happening across Europe, the tides are turning
PB tories hate every single tax increase but yet their lads left public finances in dire straits. Fuck off, you broke it. The money has to come from somewhere and if business owners have to take some money from profits to pay NI then so what. Deal with it.
There are Santa's little helpers, like you and Foxy too, but you don't have quite the same histrionics that they do, even though you both get off on Wokery, Self-Flagellation and Reparations.
I do not support Labour. I did not vote for Labour at the general election. I’ve never voted for Labour in an FPTP election or first preference vote for them in an ordinal election.
It’s hardly surprising. After years climbing the greasy pole, he’s reached the top, peered into the void, and realised that Britain is ungovernable. Rishi realised this too, which is why he called an unwinnable election early. The problems facing Britain are deeply embedded in our social, economic and cultural history. The democratic myth that they can be fixed by a new leader, a change of government, and minor tweaks to the tax code, or by yet more surveillance and regulation, is absurd. Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve. But we’ve let too many in who have radically different values and goals. Even those that belong here have no shared vision that extends beyond their fear of collapsing social order and an irrational desire for the state to protect them. Whoever we elect as leader, their plans will be greeted with incredulity, and their leadership will be undermined by nonsense about cake, wallpaper, Taylor Swift tickets, and blocked by institutions whose only function is to hinder change. Keir looks bewildered because all of this has just dawned on him, as it dawned on Rishi earlier, and as it will undoubtedly dawn on Kemi, or Robert, or even Nigel, should they ever find themselves in the top job. There’s no solution now.
"Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve."
This is largely true. We are not a united people. I am not sure that's the fault of immigrants, though. Just look at the ongoing debates on here between Scottish nationalists and unionists and Remainers and Leavers. There are massive faultlines in this country's cohesion that the 2014 and 2016 referenda exposed. I don't know how you put those back in a box.
Vote Reform and then take out the internal trash
You want Labour to stay in power for another term then, and give away everything outside Islington and put us all in manacles just for being British?
i don’t trust the Tories after the last 14 years. I want a properly right wing government, after being promised that for over a decade and never getting it, fuck that shit
I think the best result for the country in four years time will be Reform leading, and the Tories necessarily having to ally with them to wipe out Labour. This is perfectly plausible, it is happening across Europe, the tides are turning
Labour has the feel already of a one term government. Astonishing after only 100-odd days and with a massive majority.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
It’s hardly surprising. After years climbing the greasy pole, he’s reached the top, peered into the void, and realised that Britain is ungovernable. Rishi realised this too, which is why he called an unwinnable election early. The problems facing Britain are deeply embedded in our social, economic and cultural history. The democratic myth that they can be fixed by a new leader, a change of government, and minor tweaks to the tax code, or by yet more surveillance and regulation, is absurd. Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve. But we’ve let too many in who have radically different values and goals. Even those that belong here have no shared vision that extends beyond their fear of collapsing social order and an irrational desire for the state to protect them. Whoever we elect as leader, their plans will be greeted with incredulity, and their leadership will be undermined by nonsense about cake, wallpaper, Taylor Swift tickets, and blocked by institutions whose only function is to hinder change. Keir looks bewildered because all of this has just dawned on him, as it dawned on Rishi earlier, and as it will undoubtedly dawn on Kemi, or Robert, or even Nigel, should they ever find themselves in the top job. There’s no solution now.
"Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve."
This is largely true. We are not a united people. I am not sure that's the fault of immigrants, though. Just look at the ongoing debates on here between Scottish nationalists and unionists and Remainers and Leavers. There are massive faultlines in this country's cohesion that the 2014 and 2016 referenda exposed. I don't know how you put those back in a box.
Vote Reform and then take out the internal trash
You want Labour to stay in power for another term then, and give away everything outside Islington and put us all in manacles just for being British?
i don’t trust the Tories after the last 14 years. I want a properly right wing government, after being promised that for over a decade and never getting it, fuck that shit
I think the best result for the country in four years time will be Reform leading, and the Tories necessarily having to ally with them to wipe out Labour. This is perfectly plausible, it is happening across Europe, the tides are turning
Reform aren't going to win in this country. They have a natural support ceiling of ~20% and a right wing leader like Kemi will likely lower that cap to 15% unless Nige can seriously start winning Labour voters over. By splitting the vote this time the public handed Labour an impenetrable majority and you're suggesting we should do it again in 2029? It will just be another 5 years of Labour destroying this country and our values.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
I've just voted for her, and donated £100.
Oh dear. Metaphysics in action - never stop moaning about the wokification of our institutions and the moribund nature of our economy, then take an action that makes it more likely to continue.
Your dogmatic take on which Tory leaders are "sound" and which are secret wets, and the tribal ad-hominem it triggers, is deeply weird.
How on earth you reach the conclusion that she's pro-Woke I don't know.
He's not even in the party CR, not worth listening to.
If Kemi wins, I think I'll even rejoin. I detested the last government, but still gave a grudging vote on July 4th. But, I had at least half-hoped that Starmer had some backbone.
Be good to have you back.
What I find odd is how this lack of backbone can even extend into some of the wetter Conservatives at times, who are embarrassed at being British.
What is it about our elites that makes them hate their own country so?
It’s hardly surprising. After years climbing the greasy pole, he’s reached the top, peered into the void, and realised that Britain is ungovernable. Rishi realised this too, which is why he called an unwinnable election early. The problems facing Britain are deeply embedded in our social, economic and cultural history. The democratic myth that they can be fixed by a new leader, a change of government, and minor tweaks to the tax code, or by yet more surveillance and regulation, is absurd. Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve. But we’ve let too many in who have radically different values and goals. Even those that belong here have no shared vision that extends beyond their fear of collapsing social order and an irrational desire for the state to protect them. Whoever we elect as leader, their plans will be greeted with incredulity, and their leadership will be undermined by nonsense about cake, wallpaper, Taylor Swift tickets, and blocked by institutions whose only function is to hinder change. Keir looks bewildered because all of this has just dawned on him, as it dawned on Rishi earlier, and as it will undoubtedly dawn on Kemi, or Robert, or even Nigel, should they ever find themselves in the top job. There’s no solution now.
"Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve."
This is largely true. We are not a united people. I am not sure that's the fault of immigrants, though. Just look at the ongoing debates on here between Scottish nationalists and unionists and Remainers and Leavers. There are massive faultlines in this country's cohesion that the 2014 and 2016 referenda exposed. I don't know how you put those back in a box.
Vote Reform and then take out the internal trash
You want Labour to stay in power for another term then, and give away everything outside Islington and put us all in manacles just for being British?
i don’t trust the Tories after the last 14 years. I want a properly right wing government, after being promised that for over a decade and never getting it, fuck that shit
I think the best result for the country in four years time will be Reform leading, and the Tories necessarily having to ally with them to wipe out Labour. This is perfectly plausible, it is happening across Europe, the tides are turning
Which you won't get. You'll get a split vote (Reform have a ceiling) and Labour back in office.
You will need to vote for whoever is best place to defeat the Labour candidate or the Santa's Little Helper candidate - don't forget the Liberal Democrats are little sir echo.
It’s hardly surprising. After years climbing the greasy pole, he’s reached the top, peered into the void, and realised that Britain is ungovernable. Rishi realised this too, which is why he called an unwinnable election early. The problems facing Britain are deeply embedded in our social, economic and cultural history. The democratic myth that they can be fixed by a new leader, a change of government, and minor tweaks to the tax code, or by yet more surveillance and regulation, is absurd. Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve. But we’ve let too many in who have radically different values and goals. Even those that belong here have no shared vision that extends beyond their fear of collapsing social order and an irrational desire for the state to protect them. Whoever we elect as leader, their plans will be greeted with incredulity, and their leadership will be undermined by nonsense about cake, wallpaper, Taylor Swift tickets, and blocked by institutions whose only function is to hinder change. Keir looks bewildered because all of this has just dawned on him, as it dawned on Rishi earlier, and as it will undoubtedly dawn on Kemi, or Robert, or even Nigel, should they ever find themselves in the top job. There’s no solution now.
"Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve."
This is largely true. We are not a united people. I am not sure that's the fault of immigrants, though. Just look at the ongoing debates on here between Scottish nationalists and unionists and Remainers and Leavers. There are massive faultlines in this country's cohesion that the 2014 and 2016 referenda exposed. I don't know how you put those back in a box.
Vote Reform and then take out the internal trash
You want Labour to stay in power for another term then, and give away everything outside Islington and put us all in manacles just for being British?
i don’t trust the Tories after the last 14 years. I want a properly right wing government, after being promised that for over a decade and never getting it, fuck that shit
I think the best result for the country in four years time will be Reform leading, and the Tories necessarily having to ally with them to wipe out Labour. This is perfectly plausible, it is happening across Europe, the tides are turning
Labour has the feel already of a one term government. Astonishing after only 100-odd days and with a massive majority.
Maybe Reeves wil turn it around next week.
In your dreams. It has all the hallmarks of Dennis Healey and "tax em till their pips squeak"about it
It’s hardly surprising. After years climbing the greasy pole, he’s reached the top, peered into the void, and realised that Britain is ungovernable. Rishi realised this too, which is why he called an unwinnable election early. The problems facing Britain are deeply embedded in our social, economic and cultural history. The democratic myth that they can be fixed by a new leader, a change of government, and minor tweaks to the tax code, or by yet more surveillance and regulation, is absurd. Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve. But we’ve let too many in who have radically different values and goals. Even those that belong here have no shared vision that extends beyond their fear of collapsing social order and an irrational desire for the state to protect them. Whoever we elect as leader, their plans will be greeted with incredulity, and their leadership will be undermined by nonsense about cake, wallpaper, Taylor Swift tickets, and blocked by institutions whose only function is to hinder change. Keir looks bewildered because all of this has just dawned on him, as it dawned on Rishi earlier, and as it will undoubtedly dawn on Kemi, or Robert, or even Nigel, should they ever find themselves in the top job. There’s no solution now.
"Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve."
This is largely true. We are not a united people. I am not sure that's the fault of immigrants, though. Just look at the ongoing debates on here between Scottish nationalists and unionists and Remainers and Leavers. There are massive faultlines in this country's cohesion that the 2014 and 2016 referenda exposed. I don't know how you put those back in a box.
Vote Reform and then take out the internal trash
You want Labour to stay in power for another term then, and give away everything outside Islington and put us all in manacles just for being British?
i don’t trust the Tories after the last 14 years. I want a properly right wing government, after being promised that for over a decade and never getting it, fuck that shit
I think the best result for the country in four years time will be Reform leading, and the Tories necessarily having to ally with them to wipe out Labour. This is perfectly plausible, it is happening across Europe, the tides are turning
Which you won't get. You'll get a split vote (Reform have a ceiling) and Labour back in office.
You will need to vote for whoever is best place to defeat the Labour candidate or the Santa's Little Helper candidate - don't forget the Liberal Democrats are little sir echo.
I'd vote Reform, now, in a seat where they ran second to Labour, like Llanelli, or Bradford South. In England or Wales, the non-Labour alternative is either Conservative or Reform, in almost every Labour seat.
Saturday night on a clear mild October evening in a town of 20,000 people. It’s not yet 8pm. This is the Main Street
Looks like any provincial town in France at the same time of night.
I know France well, I don’t believe that is true at all
This is a town of 20,000 people, not 2,000
It looks like all the towns in provincial France I have visited. They eat early and go to bed early.
That's curious, the opposite of the Spanish.
Many moons ago I went for dinner in a place in city centre Madrid where I was staying for work for a couple of nights. I went at ≈ 7pm and was astonished to be dining alone. Nothing got going until at least 8pm and was still rocking at 10pm.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
He has also invited Kamala Harris to sit down with him.
Does this interview win Trump the Presidency?
Gets Rogan more attention which he thrives on as does Trump. Two egomanics together.
Well yeah OK, but what do we think to this as a campaign tactic just over a week out from polling day?
It's an interesting choice from Team Trump in what I think has been a MUCH better campaign compared to either 2016 or 2020.
I imagine it was planned a long time ago. A clever move. Would you say Rogans followers are most likely to be Trump than Harris supporters?
If it was organised a while ago, everyone involved kept very quiet until a few days back. Monday was when the speculation started.
Rogan’s audience skews male and rural, so theoretically more likely to be Trump votes than Harris voters.
He does get something totally outrageous like 100m views and downloads, by far the most popular podcast out there. This one will likely set records for a single podcast episode, half the country will have watched it before the election.
Interesting. I agree with you about the profile of his audience.
It does feel like the Trump team masterplanned this last few weeks whereas Kamala has been winging it since the kamalagasm
Nonetheless people are writing off the Dems far too easily. An awful lot of Americans fear and despise Donald Trump and would vote for chairman Mao in preference to him
Or even Donald Duck.
I can't see how Trump being on Rogan changes a single vote frankly. Although it may help with GOTV.
That’s an odd perspective. Over 3hrs he talks gently, a bit rambly and (expertly) gives the impression of being a slightly inappropriate uncle. Rather than Hitler. In an historically close election from a polls perspective, it might prove to be quite an important moment.
Maybe Trumps suggestion he’d get rid of income taxes might swing a few votes for the economically illiterate . Rogan failed to ask him how the government would fund things .
His plan AIUI is to increase tarrifs on imports, and reduce Federal income taxes by a similar amount, such that most Americans would pay no Federal income taxes at all.
This would turbocharge inflation with all imports massively increasing in price. Consumers would switch to domestically produced items where possible, so you’d have to increase tariffs even more to raise enough revenue. It would be like imposing sanctions on yourself.
There would indeed be some inflation as the cost of imports rises, but the US is self sufficient in an awful lot of products and still has a wide manufacturing base. Medium term it would see investment in domestic manufacturing, as the sheer size of the domestic market makes this worthwhile for many companies.
I’m not sure he would be worried about the revenue declining over time, as he plans on significant (and deflationary) reductions in Federal spending - he’s also term limited, so any problems are for the next guy to handle.
Trump's plans for Social Security (US state pensions) will bankrupt the fund in 6 years, but that conveniently leaves the mess for someone else to sort out.
It seems that right wingers always want their tax cuts now rather than prudent long term finances. I am old enough to remember when they cared about deficits and debts.
Dunno about "always". The traditional Conservative approach has always been "low taxes and sound money". And, if push came to shove, taxes went up to avoid debauching the Treasury. Howe did it, Clarke did it, Osborne did it. Question how well they did it, but they did it. Heck, even Sunak did it in his early days.
And that's the conservative thing to do- try to avoid leaving too much mess for the next generation. (Incidentally, interesting lack of object permanence shown by some of our friends on the right today- just because someone has taken the tea towels off the unspeakable mess doesn't mean that they generated the mess.)
The fiscal plans Hunt left were unsound money- everyone who knows about such things said so. If some large, unspecified, presumably politically impossible spending cuts happened in the future, government borrowing wouldn't get too bad. It was the domestic equivalent of treating a new credit card as a pay rise.
Thanks Hunt. Thunt.
No, under Hunts plans we'd have had debt coming down as a %GDP by 2027-2028.
We won't now.
Hunt's plans were a work of fiction. In his plan he would have put up fuel duty by 7p in this budget. You can't honestly believe that he would have done that. Do you also believe that he would have achieved the spending cuts in his plans?
Given that his fiscal rule was to have debt falling a a % of GDP in five years time, he could simply have changed the date at which all the unpleasant things needed to be done to achieve that, and seen debt increase instead.
I don't think he'd have put fuel duty up. I think he'd have demanded more spending restraints, less increase in benefits, lower pay deals and maybe might have tweaked some allowances elsewhere.
With the Tories a £9-10 billion spending deficit would have stayed that way and been plugged. With Labour they've ballooned it to £40bn+ (so far, looks like we've got reparations to come on top) and counting.
Looking at the deficit as distinct from borrowing we have of course the big January payback still to come as tax receipts come in prior to self assessment. Looking at the chart, I see remarkable consistency (obviously the immediate Covid response was very poor for the public finances) over the last decade or so.
Clearly, the big January tax payments before the self assessment deadline might change the overall aspect - we'll see.
Saturday night on a clear mild October evening in a town of 20,000 people. It’s not yet 8pm. This is the Main Street
Looks like any provincial town in France at the same time of night.
I know France well, I don’t believe that is true at all
This is a town of 20,000 people, not 2,000
It looks like all the towns in provincial France I have visited. They eat early and go to bed early.
That's curious, the opposite of the Spanish.
Many moons ago I went for dinner in a place in city centre Madrid where I was staying for work for a couple of nights. I went at ≈ 7pm and was astonished to be dining alone. Nothing got going until at least 8pm and was still rocking at 10pm.
Another thing about the Spanish is how smart they look at night. Most British men look like slobs.
It’s hardly surprising. After years climbing the greasy pole, he’s reached the top, peered into the void, and realised that Britain is ungovernable. Rishi realised this too, which is why he called an unwinnable election early. The problems facing Britain are deeply embedded in our social, economic and cultural history. The democratic myth that they can be fixed by a new leader, a change of government, and minor tweaks to the tax code, or by yet more surveillance and regulation, is absurd. Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve. But we’ve let too many in who have radically different values and goals. Even those that belong here have no shared vision that extends beyond their fear of collapsing social order and an irrational desire for the state to protect them. Whoever we elect as leader, their plans will be greeted with incredulity, and their leadership will be undermined by nonsense about cake, wallpaper, Taylor Swift tickets, and blocked by institutions whose only function is to hinder change. Keir looks bewildered because all of this has just dawned on him, as it dawned on Rishi earlier, and as it will undoubtedly dawn on Kemi, or Robert, or even Nigel, should they ever find themselves in the top job. There’s no solution now.
"Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve."
This is largely true. We are not a united people. I am not sure that's the fault of immigrants, though. Just look at the ongoing debates on here between Scottish nationalists and unionists and Remainers and Leavers. There are massive faultlines in this country's cohesion that the 2014 and 2016 referenda exposed. I don't know how you put those back in a box.
Vote Reform and then take out the internal trash
You want Labour to stay in power for another term then, and give away everything outside Islington and put us all in manacles just for being British?
i don’t trust the Tories after the last 14 years. I want a properly right wing government, after being promised that for over a decade and never getting it, fuck that shit
I think the best result for the country in four years time will be Reform leading, and the Tories necessarily having to ally with them to wipe out Labour. This is perfectly plausible, it is happening across Europe, the tides are turning
Which you won't get. You'll get a split vote (Reform have a ceiling) and Labour back in office.
You will need to vote for whoever is best place to defeat the Labour candidate or the Santa's Little Helper candidate - don't forget the Liberal Democrats are little sir echo.
Depends. If their is an economic collapse a Trump like figure may well emerge in the uk. At present the nearest weve got is someone like Tommy Robinson.
Saturday night on a clear mild October evening in a town of 20,000 people. It’s not yet 8pm. This is the Main Street
Looks like any provincial town in France at the same time of night.
I know France well, I don’t believe that is true at all
This is a town of 20,000 people, not 2,000
It looks like all the towns in provincial France I have visited. They eat early and go to bed early.
That's curious, the opposite of the Spanish.
Many moons ago I went for dinner in a place in city centre Madrid where I was staying for work for a couple of nights. I went at ≈ 7pm and was astonished to be dining alone. Nothing got going until at least 8pm and was still rocking at 10pm.
I do some work in Barcelona these days and many of the restaurants there have an early sitting for Americans, who just cannot cope with regular Catalan/Spanish eating hours. They open at 6.30 feed the Yanks and other tourists, then get the locals in from about 9.00 pm.
Those budget requests to the Tory government weren't politically driven at all, not a chance. I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit but because of London demographics we can never get rid of him.
Saturday night on a clear mild October evening in a town of 20,000 people. It’s not yet 8pm. This is the Main Street
Looks like any provincial town in France at the same time of night.
I know France well, I don’t believe that is true at all
This is a town of 20,000 people, not 2,000
It looks like all the towns in provincial France I have visited. They eat early and go to bed early.
That's curious, the opposite of the Spanish.
Many moons ago I went for dinner in a place in city centre Madrid where I was staying for work for a couple of nights. I went at ≈ 7pm and was astonished to be dining alone. Nothing got going until at least 8pm and was still rocking at 10pm.
I do some work in Barcelona these days and many of the restaurants there have an early sitting for Americans, who just cannot cope with regular Catalan/Spanish eating hours. They open at 6.30 feed the Yanks and other tourists, then get the locals in from about 9.00 pm.
I really enjoyed my working holiday in Madrid, a couple of years ago. It has a very elegant city centre, and wonderful art galleries.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
I’d love to know who had the bright idea of giving visas to dependents of students. 400,000 of them in 2022, who all had to live somewhere.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
Saturday night on a clear mild October evening in a town of 20,000 people. It’s not yet 8pm. This is the Main Street
Looks like any provincial town in France at the same time of night.
I know France well, I don’t believe that is true at all
This is a town of 20,000 people, not 2,000
It looks like all the towns in provincial France I have visited. They eat early and go to bed early.
It doesn’t. I can think of multiple towns I visited on my recent French visits, I did three months (out of five) in France. From Brittany to Occitanie, from Provence to the Rhônes Alpes
I submit my experience is greater than yours. A French town of 20,000 people on a pleasant, dry, clear Saturday evening would have people strolling about on several main streets and squares until quite late. Also, there would be cars! There is zero traffic here
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
Yep, it's going to go down. This is the problem with all the apocalyptic doomcasting we see on here. The Tories need to avoid it at all costs because they are going to look very foolish and entirely unelectable in five years if immigration has not soared, if the economy has not collapsed, if we are not paying billions in reparations to Barbados and Trinidad, and we have not handed the Falklands to Argentina.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
Some people have tried to argue that Labour's landslide victory was evidence of Starmer's political genius, but given the truly exceptional events of the last Conservative government - Truss, of course, but also with Johnson before that, and inflation - I think it's fair to characterise Labour as having underperformed at GE2024.
With the Tory vote share reduced to just 24.4% in Great Britain, a decent showing by Labour should have seen the Tories well under 100 seats.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
They already quietly ditched the higher minimum pay level for a visa.
Those budget requests to the Tory government weren't politically driven at all, not a chance. I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit but because of London demographics we can never get rid of him.
I think that the next round of local elections in London may surprise you. I would expect Barnet, Enfield, Westminster, Sutton, Wandsworth, Croydon to go Blue, and for them to recover their old seats in Brent North, given how allegiances among Indians are changing.
Saturday night on a clear mild October evening in a town of 20,000 people. It’s not yet 8pm. This is the Main Street
Looks like any provincial town in France at the same time of night.
I know France well, I don’t believe that is true at all
This is a town of 20,000 people, not 2,000
It looks like all the towns in provincial France I have visited. They eat early and go to bed early.
It doesn’t. I can think of multiple towns I visited on my recent French visits, I did three months (out of five) in France. From Brittany to Occitanie, from Provence to the Rhônes Alpes
I submit my experience is greater than yours. A French town of 20,000 people on a pleasant, dry, clear Saturday evening would have people strolling about on several main streets and squares until quite late. Also, there would be cars! There is zero traffic here
It is decidedly eerie
You can submit all you like. We have different experiences.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
They already quietly ditched the higher minimum pay level for a visa.
It's still £39k, I think they ditched the increase from £39k to £44k that the Tories had baked in.
Interesting piece by Max, I'd like to see real food cooking taught in all schools, national cooking/cookery campaigns, and more visits to farmers/farms at all levels of education.
One thing: I get leaflets through the door every other week from Dominos and PapaJohns, both of which I hate. Yes, they can post what they like - and no doubt this is part of an aggressive marketing campaign - but things like this combined with JustEat and Deliveroo make it very very easy to eat shit.
How do we make it easier to eat well?
And this is where the nannying definitely comes in, it might be dispiriting for people like us to contemplate advertising and leafleting bans for unhealthy foods and takeaways but the situation is only getting worse.
On healthy eating, it is already easy to do so, people just don't know how. I actually think we don't need to tackle cooking at school age, we need to do it for parents in their 30s and 40s who never learned. Make it part of eligibility for benefits to attend mandatory cooking classes, give people basic cooking equipment when they sign on and, frankly, be more intrusive about their spending. As I said any solution on healthy eating is going to feel like and be nannying, I think we need to get on board with this or there is no end to the tax rises, the £20bn salvo Labour are planning right now will look like child's play when we win in 2029 if action isn't taken.
Nannying for me is telling people what to do or stopping them doing what they want to do. And patronising them at the same time like they're children.
I don't have a problem regulating harmful adverts or supplements that do us real damage.
I agree with you on cooking. One small example, last night I looked at a chicken curry and thought.. I'd quite like something else with that. There were dried red lentils and a tin of tomatoes in the cupboard. I baulked at it, thinking I'd screw it up and it'd be shit, but a BBC receipe and 30 minutes later I had an amazing lentil curry, that we both polished off.
I agree with cooking classes for those on benefits. In fact, I think in general the government should fund and promote this. (As long as it's not captured by leftwing activists, who'll want to push "sustainability", veganism and non-dairy)
Then people can choose what to cook themselves. Not nannying.
Lentils ?
Where is Casino, and what have you done with him ??
I know this is a gentle troll, but I've always done a meat curry and a vegetable curry. My objection is to the ideology of Veganism being inflicted on us to the exclusion of everything else, not the value of vegetables and fruits period.
It's called a balanced diet.
Agreed. I’ve always seen Vegan as a cuisine not a lifestyle
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
I've just voted for her, and donated £100.
Oh dear. Metaphysics in action - never stop moaning about the wokification of our institutions and the moribund nature of our economy, then take an action that makes it more likely to continue.
Your dogmatic take on which Tory leaders are "sound" and which are secret wets, and the tribal ad-hominem it triggers, is deeply weird.
How on earth you reach the conclusion that she's pro-Woke I don't know.
I haven't reached any conclusion that she is 'pro-woke' - I have reached the conclusion that she would take as much actual action on woke once in power as Cameron, May, Boris and Sunak. I do think she'd pick some good Twitter battles and 'own' the odd 'lib' though, so if that's become the sum total of your ambitions for the country, well done you.
I judge people by their actions not their words. Find me something that Kemi Badenoch did to where she *actually* picked a fight with a single vested interest to advance Britain's cause and I might revise my opinion. Her political career shows her crossing roads to avoid fights rather than to start them.
Badenoch's problem is that she is a small state cut the fat Tory at a time when the public thinks the answer is tax rises not tax cuts. The tax burden may be historically high but that isn't translating into support for slashing spending. It's a fantasy to think you can make further 'savings' in areas like Defence, Home Affairs and local government. Either we move to a system of private insurance for healthcare or taxes go up.
They could follow the Starmer model of opposition, basically try to be as unobjectionable as possible and not really stand for anything. Some would call that moving to the centre, others would call it being an empty vessel. Alternatively they could try and appeal to conservative voters. But which ones? Time and again we see how there is no real overlap between economic and social conservatives. Trying to appeal to both at the same time won't likely work.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
Yep, it's going to go down. This is the problem with all the apocalyptic doomcasting we see on here. The Tories need to avoid it at all costs because they are going to look very foolish and entirely unelectable in five years if immigration has not soared, if the economy has not collapsed, if we are not paying billions in reparations to Barbados and Trinidad, and we have not handed the Falklands to Argentina.
They’ve gotta keep a few things in the bag for the second term.
Saturday night on a clear mild October evening in a town of 20,000 people. It’s not yet 8pm. This is the Main Street
Looks like any provincial town in France at the same time of night.
I know France well, I don’t believe that is true at all
This is a town of 20,000 people, not 2,000
It looks like all the towns in provincial France I have visited. They eat early and go to bed early.
That's curious, the opposite of the Spanish.
Many moons ago I went for dinner in a place in city centre Madrid where I was staying for work for a couple of nights. I went at ≈ 7pm and was astonished to be dining alone. Nothing got going until at least 8pm and was still rocking at 10pm.
I do some work in Barcelona these days and many of the restaurants there have an early sitting for Americans, who just cannot cope with regular Catalan/Spanish eating hours. They open at 6.30 feed the Yanks and other tourists, then get the locals in from about 9.00 pm.
I really enjoyed my working holiday in Madrid, a couple of years ago. It has a very elegant city centre, and wonderful art galleries.
Yep, it's a fine city. I first went there in 1978 and can remember the shock of seeing armed police patrols on the street at night - but also the joy of being able to drink wine and smoke fags seemingly perfectly legally even though I was only 14. And it never shut. It was open 24 hours a day. Obviously, it's changed a bit since then but it has managed the change far better than Barcelona has. When I go to the latter these days I get a genuine twinge of sadness for all that it has lost or, more accurately, given up. I never get that in Madrid.
It’s hardly surprising. After years climbing the greasy pole, he’s reached the top, peered into the void, and realised that Britain is ungovernable. Rishi realised this too, which is why he called an unwinnable election early. The problems facing Britain are deeply embedded in our social, economic and cultural history. The democratic myth that they can be fixed by a new leader, a change of government, and minor tweaks to the tax code, or by yet more surveillance and regulation, is absurd. Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve. But we’ve let too many in who have radically different values and goals. Even those that belong here have no shared vision that extends beyond their fear of collapsing social order and an irrational desire for the state to protect them. Whoever we elect as leader, their plans will be greeted with incredulity, and their leadership will be undermined by nonsense about cake, wallpaper, Taylor Swift tickets, and blocked by institutions whose only function is to hinder change. Keir looks bewildered because all of this has just dawned on him, as it dawned on Rishi earlier, and as it will undoubtedly dawn on Kemi, or Robert, or even Nigel, should they ever find themselves in the top job. There’s no solution now.
"Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve."
This is largely true. We are not a united people. I am not sure that's the fault of immigrants, though. Just look at the ongoing debates on here between Scottish nationalists and unionists and Remainers and Leavers. There are massive faultlines in this country's cohesion that the 2014 and 2016 referenda exposed. I don't know how you put those back in a box.
Vote Reform and then take out the internal trash
You want Labour to stay in power for another term then, and give away everything outside Islington and put us all in manacles just for being British?
i don’t trust the Tories after the last 14 years. I want a properly right wing government, after being promised that for over a decade and never getting it, fuck that shit
I think the best result for the country in four years time will be Reform leading, and the Tories necessarily having to ally with them to wipe out Labour. This is perfectly plausible, it is happening across Europe, the tides are turning
Labour has the feel already of a one term government. Astonishing after only 100-odd days and with a massive majority.
Maybe Reeves wil turn it around next week.
What's incredible is that, after a string of unforced missteps, Labour are now relying wholly on the budget to return them to an upward curve. That would be a massive ask in the best of circumstances; within the current narrative it will surely be an impossibility. I feel desperately sorry for Rachel: her colleagues have condemned her to a political hell.
Those budget requests to the Tory government weren't politically driven at all, not a chance. I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit but because of London demographics we can never get rid of him.
I think that the next round of local elections in London may surprise you. I would expect Barnet, Enfield, Westminster, Sutton, Wandsworth, Croydon to go Blue, and for them to recover their old seats in Brent North, given how allegiances among Indians are changing.
Yes, I'm expecting that too. Enfield swung Tory at the last set of local elections. I just hope it translates to seats in 2029. I think we should win Finchley and Golders Green but I can't think of many more seats in North London that will fall.
Those budget requests to the Tory government weren't politically driven at all, not a chance. I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit but because of London demographics we can never get rid of him.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
That's very representative of elite Left-lib thinking.
Eric Kaufmann describes it as "left modernism," which leads to "asymmetrical multiculturalism" - the idea that all cultures present in a given society deserve to be preserved except the host culture.
The consequences of such social policies have prevented such politicians from responding to the concerns of large swathes of the voting population, giving populists an opportunity to rise.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
They already quietly ditched the higher minimum pay level for a visa.
It's still £39k, I think they ditched the increase from £39k to £44k that the Tories had baked in.
That and...
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, pauses move to increase family visa threshold to £38,700 next year
Earlier this year, the Tories increased the income threshold needed to bring a foreign partner to the UK from £18,600 to £29,000 in a bid to reduce legal migration. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has now paused plans to raise the threshold further to £38,700 next year.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
Given that the Tory members are primarily electing a LotO at the moment, that’s exactly why they should go for Kemi.
The optics of an African woman pushing back against this sort of stuff at PMQs every week will be absolutely awful for Starmer.
This could be the discussion of the time, an issue that divides people. It’s the ultimate visceral dividing line and Labour are in the process locking themselves into a cave they won’t be able to escape from.
Those budget requests to the Tory government weren't politically driven at all, not a chance. I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit but because of London demographics we can never get rid of him.
I think that the next round of local elections in London may surprise you. I would expect Barnet, Enfield, Westminster, Sutton, Wandsworth, Croydon to go Blue, and for them to recover their old seats in Brent North, given how allegiances among Indians are changing.
This place used to be a source of informed political comment.
Now?
"I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit ..." but because of 'demographics' "we can never get rid of him".
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
They already quietly ditched the higher minimum pay level for a visa.
It's still £39k, I think they ditched the increase from £39k to £44k that the Tories had baked in.
That and...
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, pauses move to increase family visa threshold to £38,700 next year
Earlier this year, the Tories increased the income threshold needed to bring a foreign partner to the UK from £18,600 to £29,000 in a bid to reduce legal migration. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has now paused plans to raise the threshold further to £38,700 next year.
Is there some legislative reason these things are not just linked to inflation? See also student loan amounts. Why do governments prefer not to do that?
Badenoch's problem is that she is a small state cut the fat Tory at a time when the public thinks the answer is tax rises not tax cuts. The tax burden may be historically high but that isn't translating into support for slashing spending. It's a fantasy to think you can make further 'savings' in areas like Defence, Home Affairs and local government. Either we move to a system of private insurance for healthcare or taxes go up.
They could follow the Starmer model of opposition, basically try to be as unobjectionable as possible and not really stand for anything. Some would call that moving to the centre, others would call it being an empty vessel. Alternatively they could try and appeal to conservative voters. But which ones? Time and again we see how there is no real overlap between economic and social conservatives. Trying to appeal to both at the same time won't likely work.
The public may well change their minds about tax rises after the budget. They almost certainly will after five years of Labour handing over the money to their mates in the public sector while private sector belts continue to tighten. And if that doesn't get them angry, stuff like fuel duty increases almost certainly will.
I have a feeling this budget is going to be truly awful for growth, awful for jobs, awful for the economy. By 2029 I'm hoping the pendulum will have swung back to belief in a smaller state.
Those budget requests to the Tory government weren't politically driven at all, not a chance. I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit but because of London demographics we can never get rid of him.
Never say never- if Boris could do it, if Andy Street could do it in Greater Birmingham, it's not impossible.
But if the Conservatives insist on putting up nobodies who would rather still be in Middlesex/Surrey/Kent/Essex, they will keep losing. Putting Hall up was an insult to London, and thingy who had been a senior Spad would have little better.
Maybe James Cleverly- definitely a big character, probably about to be semi-detached from where the party is headed, connections to London- can be persuaded for 2028.
Double whammy for tax on jobs, rate up and threshold down.
The chancellor is set to increase the National Insurance rate for employers to boost funding for public services including the NHS. Rachel Reeves is also expected to use Wednesday's Budget to lower the threshold for when employers start paying the tax - with the two measures combined to raise about £20bn.
The move is thought to be the single largest revenue raiser of next week's Budget, with other tax rises expected, although Reeves is not likely to introduce the levy to employers' pensions contributions.
It’s hardly surprising. After years climbing the greasy pole, he’s reached the top, peered into the void, and realised that Britain is ungovernable. Rishi realised this too, which is why he called an unwinnable election early. The problems facing Britain are deeply embedded in our social, economic and cultural history. The democratic myth that they can be fixed by a new leader, a change of government, and minor tweaks to the tax code, or by yet more surveillance and regulation, is absurd. Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve. But we’ve let too many in who have radically different values and goals. Even those that belong here have no shared vision that extends beyond their fear of collapsing social order and an irrational desire for the state to protect them. Whoever we elect as leader, their plans will be greeted with incredulity, and their leadership will be undermined by nonsense about cake, wallpaper, Taylor Swift tickets, and blocked by institutions whose only function is to hinder change. Keir looks bewildered because all of this has just dawned on him, as it dawned on Rishi earlier, and as it will undoubtedly dawn on Kemi, or Robert, or even Nigel, should they ever find themselves in the top job. There’s no solution now.
"Politics only works when we have a united people with a shared set of strongly held values, and a willingness to support government in pursuing goals that we all want to achieve."
This is largely true. We are not a united people. I am not sure that's the fault of immigrants, though. Just look at the ongoing debates on here between Scottish nationalists and unionists and Remainers and Leavers. There are massive faultlines in this country's cohesion that the 2014 and 2016 referenda exposed. I don't know how you put those back in a box.
Vote Reform and then take out the internal trash
You want Labour to stay in power for another term then, and give away everything outside Islington and put us all in manacles just for being British?
i don’t trust the Tories after the last 14 years. I want a properly right wing government, after being promised that for over a decade and never getting it, fuck that shit
I think the best result for the country in four years time will be Reform leading, and the Tories necessarily having to ally with them to wipe out Labour. This is perfectly plausible, it is happening across Europe, the tides are turning
Which you won't get. You'll get a split vote (Reform have a ceiling) and Labour back in office.
You will need to vote for whoever is best place to defeat the Labour candidate or the Santa's Little Helper candidate - don't forget the Liberal Democrats are little sir echo.
I'd vote Reform, now, in a seat where they ran second to Labour, like Llanelli, or Bradford South. In England or Wales, the non-Labour alternative is either Conservative or Reform, in almost every Labour seat.
I can understand that.
It would be that at the next election there are 280-300 Tory seats and 70-80 Reform seats.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
I've just voted for her, and donated £100.
Oh dear. Metaphysics in action - never stop moaning about the wokification of our institutions and the moribund nature of our economy, then take an action that makes it more likely to continue.
Your dogmatic take on which Tory leaders are "sound" and which are secret wets, and the tribal ad-hominem it triggers, is deeply weird.
How on earth you reach the conclusion that she's pro-Woke I don't know.
I haven't reached any conclusion that she is 'pro-woke' - I have reached the conclusion that she would take as much actual action on woke once in power as Cameron, May, Boris and Sunak. I do think she'd pick some good Twitter battles and 'own' the odd 'lib' though, so if that's become the sum total of your ambitions for the country, well done you.
I judge people by their actions not their words. Find me something that Kemi Badenoch did to where she *actually* picked a fight with a single vested interest to advance Britain's cause and I might revise my opinion. Her political career shows her crossing roads to avoid fights rather than to start them.
Fact that Osbourne supports her means she will do nothing to tackle woke.
On the upside, I am walking home (after a boisterous steak and ham dinner in a weird Spanish izakaya where they kept showing me photos of their annual naked barrel thumping festival) along a golden carp filled canal, with 18th century sake warehouses on one side and on the other a parade of Shinto and zen temples and the lamplight is soft in the dark and the total absence of people and - even more - cars - there are none on the streets - makes this all feel authentically like Japan from the shogunate or the early meiji
It would have been like this. I can hear toads croaking in the middle of the town and I wonder if there are fireflies over by the shrine
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
Oh God, he's such a Twat.
"Been forced": it's a voluntary body, with no teeth or binding decision-making ability; they just sensed weakness and pushed him till he folded.
Get him out of office. We can't afford 4 1/2 years of British interests being sold out worldwide.
And the policy is to engage China a lot more...I am sure they will give us a good deal....
Was he not paying attention to the BRICS conference last week?
Interesting piece by Max, I'd like to see real food cooking taught in all schools, national cooking/cookery campaigns, and more visits to farmers/farms at all levels of education.
One thing: I get leaflets through the door every other week from Dominos and PapaJohns, both of which I hate. Yes, they can post what they like - and no doubt this is part of an aggressive marketing campaign - but things like this combined with JustEat and Deliveroo make it very very easy to eat shit.
How do we make it easier to eat well?
And this is where the nannying definitely comes in, it might be dispiriting for people like us to contemplate advertising and leafleting bans for unhealthy foods and takeaways but the situation is only getting worse.
On healthy eating, it is already easy to do so, people just don't know how. I actually think we don't need to tackle cooking at school age, we need to do it for parents in their 30s and 40s who never learned. Make it part of eligibility for benefits to attend mandatory cooking classes, give people basic cooking equipment when they sign on and, frankly, be more intrusive about their spending. As I said any solution on healthy eating is going to feel like and be nannying, I think we need to get on board with this or there is no end to the tax rises, the £20bn salvo Labour are planning right now will look like child's play when we win in 2029 if action isn't taken.
Nannying for me is telling people what to do or stopping them doing what they want to do. And patronising them at the same time like they're children.
I don't have a problem regulating harmful adverts or supplements that do us real damage.
I agree with you on cooking. One small example, last night I looked at a chicken curry and thought.. I'd quite like something else with that. There were dried red lentils and a tin of tomatoes in the cupboard. I baulked at it, thinking I'd screw it up and it'd be shit, but a BBC receipe and 30 minutes later I had an amazing lentil curry, that we both polished off.
I agree with cooking classes for those on benefits. In fact, I think in general the government should fund and promote this. (As long as it's not captured by leftwing activists, who'll want to push "sustainability", veganism and non-dairy)
Then people can choose what to cook themselves. Not nannying.
Lentils ?
Where is Casino, and what have you done with him ??
I know this is a gentle troll, but I've always done a meat curry and a vegetable curry. My objection is to the ideology of Veganism being inflicted on us to the exclusion of everything else, not the value of vegetables and fruits period.
It's called a balanced diet.
Agreed. I’ve always seen Vegan as a cuisine not a lifestyle
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
I’d love to know who had the bright idea of giving visas to dependents of students. 400,000 of them in 2022, who all had to live somewhere.
From 2019. "Written" by Liam Fox and Damian Hinds. May PM.
"increase the total number of international students choosing to study in the UK higher education system each year to 600,000 by 2030"
"The government’s 2018 immigration white paper, The UK’s Future Skills-Based Immigration System, sets out a number of positive changes to the visa offer for international students."
"This will include the whole of government promoting our visa offer, highlighting that there is no limit on the number of international students that can study in the UK and that we are improving our post-study offer."
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
Agreed. It can only be that.
If he’s not a traitor he is the worst politician in history who always ends up with the worst possible deal for this country. Remember he’s the guy who not only gave away the Chagos to China but AGREED A DEAL WHERE WE PAY FOR THAT
He (i.e., we) will be ripped apart by China, the EU, Spain, the Commonwealth and the USA in any trade deal or geopolitical negotiation over the next 4 years. It's going to cost us a fortune. Some of it permanently, I'm afraid.
I just hope the Tories can unpick it all when they reset and get back in office 🙏
He is a traitorous c*nt
Remember that one of the “reasons” for the Chagos Surrender was that it would “increase our influence and soft power”. Instead everyone has laughed at Starmer and Labour for being such a weak bunch of fucking cucks and now they are demanding the UK pay seven trillion quid and forcing Starmer to sign this communique
WANKERS
He's surely empowered Putin too. How long before Russian tanks are in Sevenoaks because the great big girl's blouse is too scared to use Trident?
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
They already quietly ditched the higher minimum pay level for a visa.
It's still £39k, I think they ditched the increase from £39k to £44k that the Tories had baked in.
It should be kept in line with the 40% income tax bracket.
Badenoch's problem is that she is a small state cut the fat Tory at a time when the public thinks the answer is tax rises not tax cuts. The tax burden may be historically high but that isn't translating into support for slashing spending. It's a fantasy to think you can make further 'savings' in areas like Defence, Home Affairs and local government. Either we move to a system of private insurance for healthcare or taxes go up.
They could follow the Starmer model of opposition, basically try to be as unobjectionable as possible and not really stand for anything. Some would call that moving to the centre, others would call it being an empty vessel. Alternatively they could try and appeal to conservative voters. But which ones? Time and again we see how there is no real overlap between economic and social conservatives. Trying to appeal to both at the same time won't likely work.
The only people who can sell a conservative vision to enough voters are Boris and Nigel. So eventually one of those will be leader.
Saturday night on a clear mild October evening in a town of 20,000 people. It’s not yet 8pm. This is the Main Street
Looks like any provincial town in France at the same time of night.
I know France well, I don’t believe that is true at all
This is a town of 20,000 people, not 2,000
It looks like all the towns in provincial France I have visited. They eat early and go to bed early.
That's curious, the opposite of the Spanish.
Many moons ago I went for dinner in a place in city centre Madrid where I was staying for work for a couple of nights. I went at ≈ 7pm and was astonished to be dining alone. Nothing got going until at least 8pm and was still rocking at 10pm.
I do some work in Barcelona these days and many of the restaurants there have an early sitting for Americans, who just cannot cope with regular Catalan/Spanish eating hours. They open at 6.30 feed the Yanks and other tourists, then get the locals in from about 9.00 pm.
I really enjoyed my working holiday in Madrid, a couple of years ago. It has a very elegant city centre, and wonderful art galleries.
Yep, it's a fine city. I first went there in 1978 and can remember the shock of seeing armed police patrols on the street at night - but also the joy of being able to drink wine and smoke fags seemingly perfectly legally even though I was only 14. And it never shut. It was open 24 hours a day. Obviously, it's changed a bit since then but it has managed the change far better than Barcelona has. When I go to the latter these days I get a genuine twinge of sadness for all that it has lost or, more accurately, given up. I never get that in Madrid.
Barcelona was the last European destination we visited, in late 2019, before the pandemic. Obviously, the Cathedral was the highlight, and also the panoramic view from the church at Tibidabo. We got ripped a little bit, at one of those set-menu "restaurants" along the La Rambla. Only real disappointment was that, because Mum insisted on travelling everywhere by bus, I couldn't do more of the underground railway network!
Those budget requests to the Tory government weren't politically driven at all, not a chance. I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit but because of London demographics we can never get rid of him.
I think that the next round of local elections in London may surprise you. I would expect Barnet, Enfield, Westminster, Sutton, Wandsworth, Croydon to go Blue, and for them to recover their old seats in Brent North, given how allegiances among Indians are changing.
This place used to be a source of informed political comment.
Now?
"I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit ..." but because of 'demographics' "we can never get rid of him".
Well, yes, the Conservatives are thrashing around in their own frustration. Their only policy line seems to be "give us another chance, we won't be so bad next time".
If you want an example of their new generation of idiocy, exhibit A from Neil O'Brien:
As fine an example of the "nanny State" as you could wish but to be fair it is annoying when your tube journey is soundtracked by someone else's music so what's the solution? Will the Conservatives fund enough Police to ensure there is a BTP presence on every train? Seems unlikely. Do they hope "peer pressure" will be enough - if enough people complain it often works (surprisingly).
My personal irritation is fly tipping but most if it happens late at night - councils already have surveillance cameras in known areas - could they fund cameras on private properties in known fly tipping areas? O'Brien seems to forget (how convenient when in opposition) the party he represents had 14 years in Government to pass similar legislation - did they ever? No, why not? Because they know and I know (and O'Brien probably does as well) any sucvh legislation would be totally unenforceable via current means.
As for Sadiq Khan, yes, to a point. I'd like to see far more time and effort put in to stopping fare evasion which is endemic among some social groups (young men in particular).
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
Oh God, he's such a Twat.
"Been forced": it's a voluntary body, with no teeth or binding decision-making ability; they just sensed weakness and pushed him till he folded.
Get him out of office. We can't afford 4 1/2 years of British interests being sold out worldwide.
I would be happy if the UK resigned from the Commonwealth. Sorry, Charlie Three, I know your Mum was passionate about it, but times change.
Has there ever been any polling about the UK and the Commonwealth?
Those budget requests to the Tory government weren't politically driven at all, not a chance. I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit but because of London demographics we can never get rid of him.
Never say never- if Boris could do it, if Andy Street could do it in Greater Birmingham, it's not impossible.
But if the Conservatives insist on putting up nobodies who would rather still be in Middlesex/Surrey/Kent/Essex, they will keep losing. Putting Hall up was an insult to London, and thingy who had been a senior Spad would have little better.
Maybe James Cleverly- definitely a big character, probably about to be semi-detached from where the party is headed, connections to London- can be persuaded for 2028.
Yes they need an Andy Street from London.
Charlie Mullins would have been a great one a decade ago, but he’s now 70 and retired with his money.
Cleverly is a good idea, it needs to be someone who’s already a household name in the city.
Michael Gove would also be a good pick, he’s lived there for decades and has possibly the best record of the last government at actually chalking up achievements. Not that he’s about to quit his very cushy new job at the Spectator any time soon.
Interesting piece by Max, I'd like to see real food cooking taught in all schools, national cooking/cookery campaigns, and more visits to farmers/farms at all levels of education.
One thing: I get leaflets through the door every other week from Dominos and PapaJohns, both of which I hate. Yes, they can post what they like - and no doubt this is part of an aggressive marketing campaign - but things like this combined with JustEat and Deliveroo make it very very easy to eat shit.
How do we make it easier to eat well?
And this is where the nannying definitely comes in, it might be dispiriting for people like us to contemplate advertising and leafleting bans for unhealthy foods and takeaways but the situation is only getting worse.
On healthy eating, it is already easy to do so, people just don't know how. I actually think we don't need to tackle cooking at school age, we need to do it for parents in their 30s and 40s who never learned. Make it part of eligibility for benefits to attend mandatory cooking classes, give people basic cooking equipment when they sign on and, frankly, be more intrusive about their spending. As I said any solution on healthy eating is going to feel like and be nannying, I think we need to get on board with this or there is no end to the tax rises, the £20bn salvo Labour are planning right now will look like child's play when we win in 2029 if action isn't taken.
Nannying for me is telling people what to do or stopping them doing what they want to do. And patronising them at the same time like they're children.
I don't have a problem regulating harmful adverts or supplements that do us real damage.
I agree with you on cooking. One small example, last night I looked at a chicken curry and thought.. I'd quite like something else with that. There were dried red lentils and a tin of tomatoes in the cupboard. I baulked at it, thinking I'd screw it up and it'd be shit, but a BBC receipe and 30 minutes later I had an amazing lentil curry, that we both polished off.
I agree with cooking classes for those on benefits. In fact, I think in general the government should fund and promote this. (As long as it's not captured by leftwing activists, who'll want to push "sustainability", veganism and non-dairy)
Then people can choose what to cook themselves. Not nannying.
Lentils ?
Where is Casino, and what have you done with him ??
I know this is a gentle troll, but I've always done a meat curry and a vegetable curry. My objection is to the ideology of Veganism being inflicted on us to the exclusion of everything else, not the value of vegetables and fruits period.
It's called a balanced diet.
Agreed. I’ve always seen Vegan as a cuisine not a lifestyle
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
They already quietly ditched the higher minimum pay level for a visa.
It's still £39k, I think they ditched the increase from £39k to £44k that the Tories had baked in.
It should be kept in line with the 40% income tax bracket.
It's quite a significant policy. We now have large numbers of young single men who might otherwise be looking abroad for a spouse.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
Agreed. It can only be that.
If he’s not a traitor he is the worst politician in history who always ends up with the worst possible deal for this country. Remember he’s the guy who not only gave away the Chagos to China but AGREED A DEAL WHERE WE PAY FOR THAT
He (i.e., we) will be ripped apart by China, the EU, Spain, the Commonwealth and the USA in any trade deal or geopolitical negotiation over the next 4 years. It's going to cost us a fortune. Some of it permanently, I'm afraid.
I just hope the Tories can unpick it all when they reset and get back in office 🙏
He is a traitorous c*nt
Remember that one of the “reasons” for the Chagos Surrender was that it would “increase our influence and soft power”. Instead everyone has laughed at Starmer and Labour for being such a weak bunch of fucking cucks and now they are demanding the UK pay seven trillion quid and forcing Starmer to sign this communique
WANKERS
He's surely empowered Putin too. How long before Russian tanks are in Sevenoaks because the great big girl's blouse is too scared to use Trident?
Now that would be a sight. The Russians amongst the fair maidens of Sevenoaks. A bit of food perhaps for services rendered.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
I've just voted for her, and donated £100.
Oh dear. Metaphysics in action - never stop moaning about the wokification of our institutions and the moribund nature of our economy, then take an action that makes it more likely to continue.
Your dogmatic take on which Tory leaders are "sound" and which are secret wets, and the tribal ad-hominem it triggers, is deeply weird.
How on earth you reach the conclusion that she's pro-Woke I don't know.
I haven't reached any conclusion that she is 'pro-woke' - I have reached the conclusion that she would take as much actual action on woke once in power as Cameron, May, Boris and Sunak. I do think she'd pick some good Twitter battles and 'own' the odd 'lib' though, so if that's become the sum total of your ambitions for the country, well done you.
I judge people by their actions not their words. Find me something that Kemi Badenoch did to where she *actually* picked a fight with a single vested interest to advance Britain's cause and I might revise my opinion. Her political career shows her crossing roads to avoid fights rather than to start them.
Fact that Osbourne supports her means she will do nothing to tackle woke.
Kemi might do something different to the likely Jenrick strategy which is: go to the right, destroy reform and get all their votes, then go back to the 'centre' : a strategy that people are suspicious of and unlikely to work in any event, given how politics now is.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
I’d love to know who had the bright idea of giving visas to dependents of students. 400,000 of them in 2022, who all had to live somewhere.
From 2019. "Written" by Liam Fox and Damian Hinds. May PM.
"increase the total number of international students choosing to study in the UK higher education system each year to 600,000 by 2030"
"The government’s 2018 immigration white paper, The UK’s Future Skills-Based Immigration System, sets out a number of positive changes to the visa offer for international students."
"This will include the whole of government promoting our visa offer, highlighting that there is no limit on the number of international students that can study in the UK and that we are improving our post-study offer."
It’s not a bad idea by itself, but the problem (as ever) is housing.
I’d let as many students in on visas as the university can accommodate themselves - which gives a large incentive to start building more halls of residence on campus or in their city. Overseas students are absolutely a good thing for UK plc.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
This really is a nice easy bowl for Kemi to hit. It is perfect for her that will give her airtime and good culture war territory she loves.
I've just voted for her, and donated £100.
Oh dear. Metaphysics in action - never stop moaning about the wokification of our institutions and the moribund nature of our economy, then take an action that makes it more likely to continue.
Your dogmatic take on which Tory leaders are "sound" and which are secret wets, and the tribal ad-hominem it triggers, is deeply weird.
How on earth you reach the conclusion that she's pro-Woke I don't know.
I haven't reached any conclusion that she is 'pro-woke' - I have reached the conclusion that she would take as much actual action on woke once in power as Cameron, May, Boris and Sunak. I do think she'd pick some good Twitter battles and 'own' the odd 'lib' though, so if that's become the sum total of your ambitions for the country, well done you.
I judge people by their actions not their words. Find me something that Kemi Badenoch did to where she *actually* picked a fight with a single vested interest to advance Britain's cause and I might revise my opinion. Her political career shows her crossing roads to avoid fights rather than to start them.
Fact that Osbourne supports her means she will do nothing to tackle woke.
Kemi might do something different to the likely Jenrick strategy which is: go to the right, destroy reform and get all their votes, then go back to the 'centre' : a strategy that people are suspicious of and unlikely to work in any event, given how politics now is.
I suspect Kemi won't set the world on fire, is a bit lazy, can't really manage people and hasn't really worked out what she'll do yet.
Nevertheless, she's better than Jenrick. And she'll certainly rip Starmer apart over his traitorous bullshit.
If the pictures coming out of today’s Georgian election are accurate and not staged, then it’s…looking like a Government win. Another domino falls to the authoritarians.
🔺 NEW: Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to promise Commonwealth countries that Britain will discuss reparations for slavery next year as he failed to quash an official call for damages
As I said before, I think he's actually a traitor. He loathes this country and can't wait to destroy it.
He's a word that would get me banned.
But I hope I don't bump into him next Tuesday.
Starmer, during his short term in office, has proved himself to be a very weak man.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
I wonder if Starmer has similar views to those reportedly of Gus O'Donnell's
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
How much higher do you think immigration will go over the course of, say, the next year?
It should fall, because of changes already made to the law. What legal changes this government will make, I have no idea, at this point.
They already quietly ditched the higher minimum pay level for a visa.
It's still £39k, I think they ditched the increase from £39k to £44k that the Tories had baked in.
It should be kept in line with the 40% income tax bracket.
It's quite a significant policy. We now have large numbers of young single men who might otherwise be looking abroad for a spouse.
Tell the young single men to come to the sandpit, where there’s hundreds of thousands of single young women from Asia, Africa, and the CIS countries, most of whom are looking for a traditional marriage.
Comments
The alternate universe where the idiot members didn't vote for Truss and instead voted for Rishi is one where Labour struggled to get a majority and we finished on about 250 seats with ~30% of the vote. It wouldn't have been great but compared to what we actually ended up with, infinitely better and a huge platform from which to rebuild in opposition and hit the government hard when it fucks up. Right now we need a leader to be out there condemning the cave in on the reparations discussion, instead we're still waiting to elect a leader.
It happens when schedules are very tight, and many more will see the Rogan conversation than would have seen the rally.
Yeah it’s crap for those with later plans, but these things rarely run to time anyway.
But then I don't live in the middle of Snowdonia, which is the equivalent of Hida Fukawara.
I'm not sure what you're trying to prove by going to increasingly obscure places and claiming its the future for the rest of us.
Remember that one of the “reasons” for the Chagos Surrender was that it would “increase our influence and soft power”. Instead everyone has laughed at Starmer and Labour for being such a weak bunch of fucking cucks and now they are demanding the UK pay seven trillion quid and forcing Starmer to sign this communique
WANKERS
It's called a balanced diet.
Not only will he not defend his country's own interests, he probably doesn't even think he ought to defend his country's own interests.
How on earth you reach the conclusion that she's pro-Woke I don't know.
If Brave Sir Nigel garners enough support from disillusioned Labourites you remain dead in the water. And Brave Sir Nigel becomes king.
This issue is made for Kemi though. And I hope she tears the c**t to pieces.
As opposed to pretending they have done so like so many politicians claim to.
I think the word 'flawed' better describes Vance, understandably (but not excusably) so given his background.
Vance is a far more interesting person than Trump, who is merely a privileged bully boy.
Harris is the value at somewhere close to 2/1. 64.3% is something like 11/6
Did I say "party". I meant "work event"
Can’t we wind back three months and have both parties find someone different? Vance and Walz are both much better candidates than Trump and Harris.
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that "When I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it's my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." He has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_O'Donnell
I think the best result for the country in four years time will be Reform leading, and the Tories necessarily having to ally with them to wipe out Labour. This is perfectly plausible, it is happening across Europe, the tides are turning
Maybe Reeves wil turn it around next week.
It's interesting to me that Blair and Brown were absolutely determined, during their first term, to give the Conservatives no opening to claw their way back.
Stamer, on the other hand, is giving them endless openings.
What I find odd is how this lack of backbone can even extend into some of the wetter Conservatives at times, who are embarrassed at being British.
What is it about our elites that makes them hate their own country so?
You will need to vote for whoever is best place to defeat the Labour candidate or the Santa's Little Helper candidate - don't forget the Liberal Democrats are little sir echo.
Looking at the deficit as distinct from borrowing we have of course the big January payback still to come as tax receipts come in prior to self assessment. Looking at the chart, I see remarkable consistency (obviously the immediate Covid response was very poor for the public finances) over the last decade or so.
Clearly, the big January tax payments before the self assessment deadline might change the overall aspect - we'll see.
Those budget requests to the Tory government weren't politically driven at all, not a chance. I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit but because of London demographics we can never get rid of him.
I submit my experience is greater than yours. A French town of 20,000 people on a pleasant, dry, clear Saturday evening would have people strolling about on several main streets and squares until quite late. Also, there would be cars! There is zero traffic here
It is decidedly eerie
With the Tory vote share reduced to just 24.4% in Great Britain, a decent showing by Labour should have seen the Tories well under 100 seats.
https://x.com/bbcweather/status/1850081193603015153?t=5XcQZN4J6y2fzeUGEvx4YQ&s=19
I judge people by their actions not their words. Find me something that Kemi Badenoch did to where she *actually* picked a fight with a single vested interest to advance Britain's cause and I might revise my opinion. Her political career shows her crossing roads to avoid fights rather than to start them.
They could follow the Starmer model of opposition, basically try to be as unobjectionable as possible and not really stand for anything. Some would call that moving to the centre, others would call it being an empty vessel. Alternatively they could try and appeal to conservative voters. But which ones? Time and again we see how there is no real overlap between economic and social conservatives. Trying to appeal to both at the same time won't likely work.
Eric Kaufmann describes it as "left modernism," which leads to "asymmetrical multiculturalism" - the idea that all cultures present in a given society deserve to be preserved except the host culture.
The consequences of such social policies have prevented such politicians from responding to the concerns of large swathes of the voting population, giving populists an opportunity to rise.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, pauses move to increase family visa threshold to £38,700 next year
Earlier this year, the Tories increased the income threshold needed to bring a foreign partner to the UK from £18,600 to £29,000 in a bid to reduce legal migration. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has now paused plans to raise the threshold further to £38,700 next year.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/keir-starmer-drops-plan-raise-income-barrier-migrants-spouses-7cbdm7wpx
Now?
"I fucking hate this mayor. He's so openly shit ..." but because of 'demographics' "we can never get rid of him".
I have a feeling this budget is going to be truly awful for growth, awful for jobs, awful for the economy. By 2029 I'm hoping the pendulum will have swung back to belief in a smaller state.
But if the Conservatives insist on putting up nobodies who would rather still be in Middlesex/Surrey/Kent/Essex, they will keep losing. Putting Hall up was an insult to London, and thingy who had been a senior Spad would have little better.
Maybe James Cleverly- definitely a big character, probably about to be semi-detached from where the party is headed, connections to London- can be persuaded for 2028.
The chancellor is set to increase the National Insurance rate for employers to boost funding for public services including the NHS. Rachel Reeves is also expected to use Wednesday's Budget to lower the threshold for when employers start paying the tax - with the two measures combined to raise about £20bn.
The move is thought to be the single largest revenue raiser of next week's Budget, with other tax rises expected, although Reeves is not likely to introduce the levy to employers' pensions contributions.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9wrkngvyx4o
It would be that at the next election there are 280-300 Tory seats and 70-80 Reform seats.
It would have been like this. I can hear toads croaking in the middle of the town and I wonder if there are fireflies over by the shrine
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ccab348e5274a1ac5ce280c/International_Education_Strategy_Accessible.pdf
"increase the total number of international students choosing to study in the UK higher education system each year to 600,000 by 2030"
"The government’s 2018 immigration white paper, The UK’s Future Skills-Based Immigration System, sets out a number of positive changes to the visa offer for international students."
"This will include the whole of government promoting our visa offer, highlighting that there is no limit on the number of international students that can study in the UK and that we are improving our post-study offer."
[Lady has the kids]
If you want an example of their new generation of idiocy, exhibit A from Neil O'Brien:
https://news.sky.com/story/tory-mp-reveals-plan-to-make-britain-vaguely-civilised-again-including-a-ban-on-music-played-out-loud-on-public-transport-13240874
As fine an example of the "nanny State" as you could wish but to be fair it is annoying when your tube journey is soundtracked by someone else's music so what's the solution? Will the Conservatives fund enough Police to ensure there is a BTP presence on every train? Seems unlikely. Do they hope "peer pressure" will be enough - if enough people complain it often works (surprisingly).
My personal irritation is fly tipping but most if it happens late at night - councils already have surveillance cameras in known areas - could they fund cameras on private properties in known fly tipping areas? O'Brien seems to forget (how convenient when in opposition) the party he represents had 14 years in Government to pass similar legislation - did they ever? No, why not? Because they know and I know (and O'Brien probably does as well) any sucvh legislation would be totally unenforceable via current means.
As for Sadiq Khan, yes, to a point. I'd like to see far more time and effort put in to stopping fare evasion which is endemic among some social groups (young men in particular).
Has there ever been any polling about the UK and the Commonwealth?
Charlie Mullins would have been a great one a decade ago, but he’s now 70 and retired with his money.
Cleverly is a good idea, it needs to be someone who’s already a household name in the city.
Michael Gove would also be a good pick, he’s lived there for decades and has possibly the best record of the last government at actually chalking up achievements. Not that he’s about to quit his very cushy new job at the Spectator any time soon.
Getting emotional.
I’d let as many students in on visas as the university can accommodate themselves - which gives a large incentive to start building more halls of residence on campus or in their city. Overseas students are absolutely a good thing for UK plc.
Nevertheless, she's better than Jenrick. And she'll certainly rip Starmer apart over his traitorous bullshit.
https://x.com/jezko_fella/status/1850138568699662575?s=46
https://x.com/jayinkyiv/status/1850097482144850221?s=46
https://x.com/kyivpost/status/1850106800428691676?s=46
Caveats apply