A good policy badly implemented. but at least the Welsh government accept Drakeford.was wrong and have addressed it and it seems it will end up being where it should have been at the beginning
Communication between the councils and Cardiff Bay was dire. Here in the Vale the Council did a great job (on the whole). In Carmarthenshire it was dreadful. Every village from Carmarthen to Lampeter drops to twenty and there are plenty of villages.
A friend of mine's father had polio as a child. He was very successful which was handy because he could afford to make his substantial home wheelchair friendly.
I was somewhat surprised to find that my mum had caught polio (I think in the 1960s), and had been fine afterwards. In the 1990s I also knew a very young-looking lady who walked with a limp after getting polio as a child.
There's no way we want that awful disease to make a comeback.
“A friend in Latakia tells me they're very scared by what they're seeing.
Since yesterday heavily armed men, including some foreigners speaking languages they've never heard before, have been parading through and patrolling the streets.
These men are behaving like religious extremists. They are shouting at unveiled women and demanding they wear a hijab. They are asking with hostility any men and women who walk together if they are married or not. There is no more alcohol, shops that have alcohol have been vandalized, burned and closed.
"Latakia and Tartous have never been Islamic cities and this is very dangerous for them because the majority is Alawis and Christians," says my friend.
Still, some of the armed men are trying to comfort people. HTS guys are insisting everything will be fine and fair in the future, people just need to wait. But it feels like a massive gaslight as people are afraid by what they see as a rapidly changing Syria they don't recognize and perhaps don't have a place in.
There are also complaints about the media portraying everything as rosy and free when people feel a different kind of scared under these emerging authorities.
My friend did not want this attributed to their name out of fear. Reminds me of the old Syria.”
Was is ever going to be any different. We traded a secularish tyrant for Islamists and terrorists. The best case scenario is an Egypt style government, the worst case is Afghanistan.
This is why many of us on PB weren’t “celebrating” the fall of Assad - unlike others. It was grimly satisfying seeing him go, shame they couldn’t try him and execute him; but it was obvious that what would follow could easily be worse
I suspect it will be worse
The leader Jolani is a serious Islamist, ISIS-style, a genuine believer. He will impose strict sharia law. Around him are people even more extreme
The result will be closer to Afghanistan than Egypt, with one difference, Afghanistan is remote and it can be ignored, Syria is pivotally placed in the MENA and it borders Israel and NATO
It will suck in jihadis and export trouble
No Syrian was willing to lift a finger to defend Assad, so in their eyes, he was the worst available option.
The Ukrainians, and others, initially welcomed Hitler's troops
What parallel universe do you live in?
Are you claiming it is not a historical fact that many Ukrainians welcomed the Nazi invasion as being preferable to Stalin's tyranny?
That is a fact. Also entirely understandable. Stalin had within recent living memory inflicted Satanic suffering on the Ukrainians, esp the Holodomor, the deliberate starvation of the entire nation, which led to widespread cannibbalism
No wonder many Ukrainians preferred - at first - the efficient, smartly dressed Nazis. Then they realised that, incredibly, the Nazis were probably worse
Ukraine has had far more tragedy than any nation deserves. Slava Ukraini
There's a really great book on why this strip of Europe, north to south, has seen such terrible suffering: from the Baltics and Poland down through Belarus to Ukraine then the Balkans
They are the "shatterzone", a geopolitical faultline where so many empires and civilisations meet - Islam v Christianity, Orthodox v Catholic, Slav v Teuton, East v West, Russia v Europe, Ottomans v Austro-Hungarians
The savagery of the fighting between Russia, Poland, the Cossacks, Austria/Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Crimean Khanate was simply off the scale. Sienkewicz's books, With Sword and Fire, The Deluge, and Fire in the Steppe, bring it vividly to life.
One of the main characters ends up being slowly impaled, blinded, and burned alive, all from his POV (in turn, the character sold the hero's mother and girlfriend into Ottoman slavery).
On my recent trip to Kosovo, one of my standout moments was visiting a small, quite pretty town in the hills where the Kosovan war has been frozen and is now policed by bored Italian carabinieri, who park on the bridge that divides Serbians from Kosovan, and Christians from Muslims
What’s striking is that this same exact place - this town this river this bridge - was a fault line during the Ottoman Empire and also centuries before that. East v west
All these PBers angsting about low growth who voted for Brexit. They're like me as a kid always going out in winter without a coat and complaining it's cold.
If the economies of EU member states were booming, there might be a point there. Low growth is a problem across the board.
Ok, but that wasn't quite my point. I agree we're in an era of low growth. Indeed I keep saying (am just about alone in saying) we should be realistic about this and stop expecting the government to somehow break us out of it. It's not going to happen.
What I meant with the Brexit angle is that the people who voted for Brexit demonstrated, by the act of doing so, that growth is not a top priority for them. It becomes a matter of paramount importance only when it comes in low under a Labour government.
To add some cheer to the seasonanl gloom, various *technological developments* are - almost certainly - about to turbocharge growth around the world, UK included. Starmer might get lucky, even tho he doesn't deserve it
OTOH the same changes might mean millions unemployed - what can you do
Passing over the surname coincidence, this does illustrate two conflicting visions held by Team Trump, that for convenience we can identify with Elon Musk and JD Vance respectively. Sack workers, automate and trade (Musk) or impose tariffs and protect American workers (Vance). This extends to cars: Musk makes subsidised electric cars with Chinese bits; Vance wants to subsidise US-built petrol cars instead.
Musk builds his cars in Shanghai now for the most part.
Omoda and BYD dealers springing up everywhere. The European motor industry I fear is about to die on its arse. Ford and General Motors will follow quickly irrespective of Vance tariffs, Stellantis/ Chrysler/Jeep is already dead in the water.
Some of the new-fangled electric buses in London are BYD.
A friend of mine's father had polio as a child. He was very successful which was handy because he could afford to make his substantial home wheelchair friendly.
I was somewhat surprised to find that my mum had caught polio (I think in the 1960s), and had been fine afterwards. In the 1990s I also knew a very young-looking lady who walked with a limp after getting polio as a child.
There's no way we want that awful disease to make a comeback.
It was surprisingly ubiquitous for those not much older than me. I took the sugar cube. You hear of quite famous people who came through after months of rehabilitation but who still bear the scars, about those who had it worse and those who died. America just voted (to steal another dystopian Mad Max idea) for ,"Mr Dead".
P.S. Dark as the crypt here in South East Wales now.
Yes, Kemi is a dud. But no idea why this should surprise anyone. She was useless, absent and cowardly as BizSec, as many of us pointed out repeatedly.
What on Earth commended her to the top job? What credentials did/does she have?
The whole episode is weird beyond measure.
Partly, an incredible amount of ambition. She give the impression of really, really wanting the job. That helps you get to the top in politics, even if it is a huge red flag in terms of being suitable.
Mostly, that most of the alternatives are visibly worse. Jenrick is too cynical in his nastiness, Morduant too not-an-MP, Hunt too past it. Cleverly would probably be better, but mostly because I think he would appreciate the absurdity of the situation more.
The next few years are where the purges of 2019 threaten to really come back and bite the Conservatives on the bottom. Even if they want to change direction fundamentally, they don't really have the people to do so.
So who was lost in the 'purges of 2019' ?
Here are the names:
Guto Bebb Ken Clarke David Gauke Sam Gyimah Justine Greening Dominic Grieve Philip Hammond Olly Letwin Anne Milton Antoinette Sandbach Rory Stewart
Give their ages and the loss of seats this year how many would even still be MPs ?
It wasn't so much about the MPs (though 2022-now would have benefitted from having people like Gauke, Greening and Stewart on-call) as the effect on the candidates' list. The people who didn't enter parliament in 2019 or 2024. The people who won't be interesting spokesmen in 2028 or senior Cabinet members in 2033.
The curse of delayed consequences strikes again.
I think you had to go back earlier. The Tory Party of 2015/6 was quite civilised but after Brexit and the defenestration of Cameron Osborne Clark and co all the civilising influences melted away and you were left with the Johnsons Goves Patels Rees Moggs Bravermen and the most unfit and unpleasant leading Tory politicians most of us can remember.
Isn't this largely vibes-based though? In terms of policy and rhetoric, Cameron and Osborne were well to the right of Johnson.
On most things except Brexit yes but in Roger's view Brexit brought in a lot more oiks into the Conservative parliamentary party in 2019 who were often Northern, uncouth and non Oxbridge and non public school educated and fewer patrician smoothies he could even consider having to dinner like Rory Stewart, Gauke and Grieve. Even if Kemi is a bit more palatable than the ghastly Johnson and Farage she is still a bit common, mouthy and non Europhile elitist
Just seen the Masterchef final. Gregg’s swansong. Excellent it was too and a very worthy winner although we’d have been happy whoever won.
It was, wasn't it. No, I won't spoil.
I think we've seen the last of Mr Wallace though. Unless he's in court at some point.
Well worth watching, I know every year in these sort of competitions that they always say this is the best year yet but, for professional Masterchef I do think this was.
It was so dark and grey in London today, when I walked into my living room at noon and opened the blinds (I woke late, blame my jet lag), I didn't notice any real difference in the light levels in my living room. lol. So I turned on all the sidelights
Basically Britain is plunged into Stygian gloom from late November to late Feb
A good policy badly implemented. but at least the Welsh government accept Drakeford.was wrong and have addressed it and it seems it will end up being where it should have been at the beginning
Communication between the councils and Cardiff Bay was dire. Here in the Vale the Council did a great job (on the whole). In Carmarthenshire it was dreadful. Every village from Carmarthen to Lampeter drops to twenty and there are plenty of villages.
London smog? Probably getting better after all those ULEZ extensions.
Interesting point. The Ulez extension has indeed been superbly implemented. A great policy and one that Sadiq Khan is rightly praised for. See also, 20mph implementation in many London neighbourhoods. Even the great Sir Mark Drakeford, Lord and Protector of All Wales, ran into trouble with that one.
Just seen the Masterchef final. Gregg’s swansong. Excellent it was too and a very worthy winner although we’d have been happy whoever won.
It was, wasn't it. No, I won't spoil.
I think we've seen the last of Mr Wallace though. Unless he's in court at some point.
Well worth watching, I know every year in these sort of competitions that they always say this is the best year yet but, for professional Masterchef I do think this was.
Yes this year's contestants were excellent. Though i suspect the final line up would have been different if Gaston hadn't dropped his bisque in the cook off.
For anyone with any doubts, a painful take-down of the CNN report - which had @NigelB in literal tears obver his laptop, barely able to reach his cocoa as he wept
"Taking a look at the extremely bizarre video of CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward supposedly rescuing a Syrian prisoner, and the huge number of questions it raises:"
There are many other take-downs, and even more questions. The "prisoner" has clean fingernails, neatly manicured. He doesn't exactly look starved, he needs to go on a diet. His hair and beard have been recently trimmed. His acting is terrible. He's wearing a rather nice camel coat. 3 months locked in darkness??? Even genuine Syrian prisoners freed from Assad's dungeons are angry at this absurd pantomime, which - remember - got @NigelB lustily sobbing over his Tesco value prawn sandwich
No such thing as a "Tesco value" prawn sandwich. That's not how they're badged.
Oh, you're suddenly an expert on all things Tesco-brand related? This morning you were unfamiliar with the Rosedene Farms brand.
(This, by the way, is just me being cheeky. I'm not trying to pick a fight, and in fact I applaud your pedantry and picking up the fifth or sixth most relevant part of the post.)
Just seen the Masterchef final. Gregg’s swansong. Excellent it was too and a very worthy winner although we’d have been happy whoever won.
It was, wasn't it. No, I won't spoil.
I think we've seen the last of Mr Wallace though. Unless he's in court at some point.
Well worth watching, I know every year in these sort of competitions that they always say this is the best year yet but, for professional Masterchef I do think this was.
Without even seeing the last two episodes (NO SPOILERS!!!!) I agree, this has been the best Pro Masterchef ever. Just a phenomenal amount of talent, and a nice diverse array of contestants, all likeable in different ways
A friend of mine's father had polio as a child. He was very successful which was handy because he could afford to make his substantial home wheelchair friendly.
I was somewhat surprised to find that my mum had caught polio (I think in the 1960s), and had been fine afterwards. In the 1990s I also knew a very young-looking lady who walked with a limp after getting polio as a child.
There's no way we want that awful disease to make a comeback.
I wonder if polio has been targeted because it is one of those things where a lot of people catch it when young but only a a few get paralysed and few of those die. So, presumably, on a purely selfish rather than herd immunity logic, the cost of not being immunised is relatively small.
Or so it may seem small, until one gets to see the health provider bill [edit] if one is unlucky. I wonder, will the refusal to vaccinate be an excuse not to pay up on insurance?
Just seen the Masterchef final. Gregg’s swansong. Excellent it was too and a very worthy winner although we’d have been happy whoever won.
It was, wasn't it. No, I won't spoil.
I think we've seen the last of Mr Wallace though. Unless he's in court at some point.
Well worth watching, I know every year in these sort of competitions that they always say this is the best year yet but, for professional Masterchef I do think this was.
Yes this year's contestants were excellent. Though i suspect the final line up would have been different if Gaston hadn't dropped his bisque in the cook off.
I really had the hots for Chloe, then she revealed she is lesbian, and I felt incoherently disorientated
Just seen the Masterchef final. Gregg’s swansong. Excellent it was too and a very worthy winner although we’d have been happy whoever won.
It was, wasn't it. No, I won't spoil.
I think we've seen the last of Mr Wallace though. Unless he's in court at some point.
Well worth watching, I know every year in these sort of competitions that they always say this is the best year yet but, for professional Masterchef I do think this was.
Yes this year's contestants were excellent. Though i suspect the final line up would have been different if Gaston hadn't dropped his bisque in the cook off.
I really had the hots for Chloe, then she revealed she is lesbian, and I felt incoherently disorientated
All these PBers angsting about low growth who voted for Brexit. They're like me as a kid always going out in winter without a coat and complaining it's cold.
If the economies of EU member states were booming, there might be a point there. Low growth is a problem across the board.
Ok, but that wasn't quite my point. I agree we're in an era of low growth. Indeed I keep saying (am just about alone in saying) we should be realistic about this and stop expecting the government to somehow break us out of it. It's not going to happen.
What I meant with the Brexit angle is that the people who voted for Brexit demonstrated, by the act of doing so, that growth is not a top priority for them. It becomes a matter of paramount importance only when it comes in low under a Labour government.
Well I voted for it, and a large part of my vote was for growth (or, more accurately, not-sclerosis) - I think membership of the EU contains a moderate risk of a catastrophic impact on growth. But I do accept your point: growth is not the be all and end all for all voters. To take a crass example, care for the elderly or the mentally handicapped does little or nothing for growth, but we still pay for it because we value it as a society.
But that doesn't mean government can't or shouldn't promote growth. Growing the country's economy is not the same as growing your own wealth, but there are broad paralells - the more nice stuff we have now, the less we can invest in our future. The more we can invest in the future, the better off we will be in 5, 10, 20, 50 years' time. There's a balance to be struck, of course. I appreciate a bit of state spending as much as the next man, and for some people it's critical. But we do also rather need to be investing in things which will enable future generations to put food on the table.
Ok, forget Brexit, and just to clarify this point on growth because I sense I'm not getting it over very well.
I want to see us grow and I think the government can and should help with that. There is then a plethora of views as to how best to do it. Cut this tax, raise that one, spend on this, don't spend on that, get out of the way and release the animal spirits, no don't do that ffs, state planning and investment is the way, industrial strategy, green revolution, no, slash red tape, we need lots of immigrants, no we don't, get our own people off the sick and back into work ... so much there to debate, there's just about as many opinions on how to grow the economy as there are people.
So it's important for government to assess all that and make their choices BUT it's all on the margins compared to the macro fact that for a variety of reasons we are in an era of low growth and this is unlikely to change anytime soon. Therefore it would be better if this was accepted rather than kicked against. Politicians should stop promising a transformation on growth and people should stop expecting it.
The narrative about sunset times (widely available on an internet connected device near you) ranks right up there with Guess Boris' Weight and My Favourite Crisp Sandwich in the annals of PB Dull Man Mundanity.
Can't someone start an argument or something?
e.g.
• Cash is great • All Welsh roads should be reduced to 3mph limits • The tube scene from Darkest Hour is the epitome of great cinema
Just seen the Masterchef final. Gregg’s swansong. Excellent it was too and a very worthy winner although we’d have been happy whoever won.
It was, wasn't it. No, I won't spoil.
I think we've seen the last of Mr Wallace though. Unless he's in court at some point.
Well worth watching, I know every year in these sort of competitions that they always say this is the best year yet but, for professional Masterchef I do think this was.
Yes this year's contestants were excellent. Though i suspect the final line up would have been different if Gaston hadn't dropped his bisque in the cook off.
I really had the hots for Chloe, then she revealed she is lesbian, and I felt incoherently disorientated
You could see her as a challenge, aim to convert her.
All these PBers angsting about low growth who voted for Brexit. They're like me as a kid always going out in winter without a coat and complaining it's cold.
If the economies of EU member states were booming, there might be a point there. Low growth is a problem across the board.
Ok, but that wasn't quite my point. I agree we're in an era of low growth. Indeed I keep saying (am just about alone in saying) we should be realistic about this and stop expecting the government to somehow break us out of it. It's not going to happen.
What I meant with the Brexit angle is that the people who voted for Brexit demonstrated, by the act of doing so, that growth is not a top priority for them. It becomes a matter of paramount importance only when it comes in low under a Labour government.
To add some cheer to the seasonanl gloom, various *technological developments* are - almost certainly - about to turbocharge growth around the world, UK included. Starmer might get lucky, even tho he doesn't deserve it
OTOH the same changes might mean millions unemployed - what can you do
I bet you we don't see that turbo charge for several years yet.
Just seen the Masterchef final. Gregg’s swansong. Excellent it was too and a very worthy winner although we’d have been happy whoever won.
It was, wasn't it. No, I won't spoil.
I think we've seen the last of Mr Wallace though. Unless he's in court at some point.
Well worth watching, I know every year in these sort of competitions that they always say this is the best year yet but, for professional Masterchef I do think this was.
Yes this year's contestants were excellent. Though i suspect the final line up would have been different if Gaston hadn't dropped his bisque in the cook off.
I really had the hots for Chloe, then she revealed she is lesbian, and I felt incoherently disorientated
Girl with the flat greasy hair and the nose ring ?
For anyone with any doubts, a painful take-down of the CNN report - which had @NigelB in literal tears obver his laptop, barely able to reach his cocoa as he wept
"Taking a look at the extremely bizarre video of CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward supposedly rescuing a Syrian prisoner, and the huge number of questions it raises:"
There are many other take-downs, and even more questions. The "prisoner" has clean fingernails, neatly manicured. He doesn't exactly look starved, he needs to go on a diet. His hair and beard have been recently trimmed. His acting is terrible. He's wearing a rather nice camel coat. 3 months locked in darkness??? Even genuine Syrian prisoners freed from Assad's dungeons are angry at this absurd pantomime, which - remember - got @NigelB lustily sobbing over his Tesco value prawn sandwich
No such thing as a "Tesco value" prawn sandwich. That's not how they're badged.
Oh, you're suddenly an expert on all things Tesco-brand related? This morning you were unfamiliar with the Rosedene Farms brand.
(This, by the way, is just me being cheeky. I'm not trying to pick a fight, and in fact I applaud your pedantry and picking up the fifth or sixth most relevant part of the post.)
Yes it shamed me, not knowing that, and I think I've fallen into the trap of overcompensating. I did, and this is about as sad and insecure as you can get, first google how the label on a Tesco prawn sandwich looks, check it doesn't say "value" on it, before making that last post. Had to be 100% certain I wasn't screwing up again.
It was so dark and grey in London today, when I walked into my living room at noon and opened the blinds (I woke late, blame my jet lag), I didn't notice any real difference in the light levels in my living room. lol. So I turned on all the sidelights
Basically Britain is plunged into Stygian gloom from late November to late Feb
Agreed. No wonder you avoid Britain during the winter.
Chairman of @marksandspencer Archie Norman @therealarchie tells me on @TimesRadio that Brexit means they've had to hire a warehouse just to store the paperwork needed to export to the Republic of Ireland….
Comments
Whereas those of us who blanche at dark mornings have another 6 or 7 weeks of sunrise after 8am.
Which is why I value the return of GMT in October.
There's no way we want that awful disease to make a comeback.
What’s striking is that this same exact place - this town this river this bridge - was a fault line during the Ottoman Empire and also centuries before that. East v west
A thousand years of fighting and on it goes
France is stuffed.
"Syria’s new Minister of Justice, Shadi al-Waisi:
We will implement Sharia law in Syria."
https://x.com/GlobeEyeNews/status/1867199167518716338
It's going to end up as bad as, or worse, than Assad
P.S. Dark as the crypt here in South East Wales now.
Basically Britain is plunged into Stygian gloom from late November to late Feb
(This, by the way, is just me being cheeky. I'm not trying to pick a fight, and in fact I applaud your pedantry and picking up the fifth or sixth most relevant part of the post.)
Or so it may seem small, until one gets to see the health provider bill [edit] if one is unlucky. I wonder, will the refusal to vaccinate be an excuse not to pay up on insurance?
NEW THREAD
I want to see us grow and I think the government can and should help with that. There is then a plethora of views as to how best to do it. Cut this tax, raise that one, spend on this, don't spend on that, get out of the way and release the animal spirits, no don't do that ffs, state planning and investment is the way, industrial strategy, green revolution, no, slash red tape, we need lots of immigrants, no we don't, get our own people off the sick and back into work ... so much there to debate, there's just about as many opinions on how to grow the economy as there are people.
So it's important for government to assess all that and make their choices BUT it's all on the margins compared to the macro fact that for a variety of reasons we are in an era of low growth and this is unlikely to change anytime soon. Therefore it would be better if this was accepted rather than kicked against. Politicians should stop promising a transformation on growth and people should stop expecting it.
Can't someone start an argument or something?
e.g.
• Cash is great
• All Welsh roads should be reduced to 3mph limits
• The tube scene from Darkest Hour is the epitome of great cinema
Anything.
Chairman of @marksandspencer Archie Norman @therealarchie tells me on @TimesRadio that Brexit means they've had to hire a warehouse just to store the paperwork needed to export to the Republic of Ireland….