It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
That's a very good case for trying her case in a British court and punishing her under British Law.
Rather than pretending that she has nothing to do with us.
There’s an inarguable case for letting her be tried by the Syrians the Kurds the Yazidi or the Iraqis: her victims If we want to be generous we could pay to help them set up local courts (cheaper than hosting her and her chums in a council house for 300 years)
There’s a decent chance she would get the death penalty. Oh dear never mind etc
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
Reform collapsing would be a gift to the Conservatives. They will struggle if it doesn't, in fact
Reform imploding would no doubt help the Tories, but probably not where near what @HYUFD simple arithmetic shows. I suspect that many RefUKers are NOTA and will head in a variety of other directions, particularly DNV.
Or yet another new party with 1 MP, 3 parish councillors, a YouTube channel and less subtlety in going after Musk's money and the Fairly Secret Army vote.
There must be plenty of words beginning with "Re-" available as party names.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
That's a very good case for trying her case in a British court and punishing her under British Law.
Rather than pretending that she has nothing to do with us.
She committed no crimes in the UK.
And even if she could legally be tried here for crimes committed abroad, how on earth would Britain be able to get the evidence or witnesses? No - if she is allowed to return, she would be free. She has had her day in court here. The courts have ruled and that's it. It is - frankly - none of the US's business.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
And Good Morning one and all.
On what charges should she be tried?
Breaches of The Hague and later conventions on the conduct of armed conflicts.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
I cannot give examples because of the site's policy* on discussing other cases.
*which I support.
Fair enough.
But I fear the comparison you are making is more than a little ridiculous - if I've understood you correctly.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
That's a very good case for trying her case in a British court and punishing her under British Law.
Rather than pretending that she has nothing to do with us.
She committed no crimes in the UK.
And even if she could legally be tried here for crimes committed abroad, how on earth would Britain be able to get the evidence or witnesses? No - if she is allowed to return, she would be free. She has had her day in court here. The courts have ruled and that's it. It is - frankly - none of the US's business.
If we asked politely, the local Kurdish authorities would expedite witnesses against her.
The reason that she isn’t dead, is courtesy to the requests of UK governments, to them.
The locals who did the same things got the death penalty, long since.
Edit: she hasn’t had “a day in court”. Legal proceedings about her citizenship and right to return are not a trial for her crimes.
Also. Fuck me. How can they make it so hard to surf the net and get messages to the outside world? Because it’s harder here than anywhere I’ve ever been, I think
And I’ve been to some repressive countries and proper war zones. Just goes to show that if a government is REALLY keen on keeping shit under wraps they can have a pretty good go
By way of contrast, when I was in the Somaliland bit of Somalia, I had great internet speeds and no obvious restrictions on access.
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
How long before it’s like that down Whitehall?
Get yourself up to Inle lake, just make sure you have unlimited bug repellent. The balloon ride over Bagan is also a once in a lifetime type of experience. Agree that Rangoon is a shit hole though. It's probably worse than when we went in 2016.
That’s exactly my list. Inle. Bagan. And probably mylawnyine
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
And Good Morning one and all.
On what charges should she be tried?
War crimes, according to one of our colleagues.
That's going to be an impossible conviction because we only have hearsay on the alleged crimes and untrustworthy sources from the old Assad regime. It's nonsense, no let her be tried by the Syrians and she can rot in one of their jails for the rest of her life, we should pay the Syrians to do this.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
And Good Morning one and all.
On what charges should she be tried?
War crimes, according to one of our colleagues.
That's going to be an impossible conviction because we only have hearsay on the alleged crimes and untrustworthy sources from the old Assad regime. It's nonsense, no let her be tried by the Syrians and she can rot in one of their jails for the rest of her life, we should pay the Syrians to do this.
We have actual accounts and actual witnesses to her actions. From survivors.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
That's a very good case for trying her case in a British court and punishing her under British Law.
Rather than pretending that she has nothing to do with us.
She committed no crimes in the UK.
And even if she could legally be tried here for crimes committed abroad, how on earth would Britain be able to get the evidence or witnesses? No - if she is allowed to return, she would be free. She has had her day in court here. The courts have ruled and that's it. It is - frankly - none of the US's business.
Exactly, the evidence bar will be so high for this and everything we have is simply hearsay or highly questionable witnesses. Anyone who thinks she'll get any kind of conviction in the UK is delusional and the campaign to bring her back is based on the ultra low likelihood of a successful conviction. As I said, the most likely scenario if she's allowed to come back is a failed court case, if it even gets that far, a council flat in Tower Hamlets and a life on benefits while her victims get no justice.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
That's a very good case for trying her case in a British court and punishing her under British Law.
Rather than pretending that she has nothing to do with us.
She committed no crimes in the UK.
Without prejudging any cases if she does return to the UK at some point, there are a range of terrorism-related offences which have extraterritorial effect in the UK (i.e. that are criminal even if the place where they are committed is outside the UK).
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
That's a very good case for trying her case in a British court and punishing her under British Law.
Rather than pretending that she has nothing to do with us.
She committed no crimes in the UK.
And even if she could legally be tried here for crimes committed abroad, how on earth would Britain be able to get the evidence or witnesses? No - if she is allowed to return, she would be free. She has had her day in court here. The courts have ruled and that's it. It is - frankly - none of the US's business.
Exactly, the evidence bar will be so high for this and everything we have is simply hearsay or highly questionable witnesses. Anyone who thinks she'll get any kind of conviction in the UK is delusional and the campaign to bring her back is based on the ultra low likelihood of a successful conviction. As I said, the most likely scenario if she's allowed to come back is a failed court case, if it even gets that far, a council flat in Tower Hamlets and a life on benefits while her victims get no justice.
I’m quite certain that her champions would assert “She’s the real victim, here.”
Farage always seemed a one man brand to me. i can't think of a time when he was an effective leader of any of his parties.
Sorry to hear about your cat.
My first cat was named after a David L.
I named him Livingstone because he was an explorer.
Plus Captain Picard's fish was called Livingston (no e), Christ I was such a geek in those days.
On the A 24 northbound from Horsham at Kingsfold there is a large pub with a now forgettable name such that I cannot recall it.
I was visiting my then girlfriend c 1979 and went past this pub which at the time was called Cromwells. I have no idea why it was so named. When we married, we got a lovely grey (and white chested) cat, he was called Cromwell. I bought a placemat from the pub for an exorbitant £5 and Crommy had his own mat. He was a lovely cat with a magical.personality.
When our kids were young we had a Siamese we called Christopher. Whom we addressed solely as KitKat.
I love how some posters this morning are unwittingly making it easier to crack the security questions on their bank accounts. Name of first pet?
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
That's a very good case for trying her case in a British court and punishing her under British Law.
Rather than pretending that she has nothing to do with us.
She committed no crimes in the UK.
And even if she could legally be tried here for crimes committed abroad, how on earth would Britain be able to get the evidence or witnesses? No - if she is allowed to return, she would be free. She has had her day in court here. The courts have ruled and that's it. It is - frankly - none of the US's business.
If we asked politely, the local Kurdish authorities would expedite witnesses against her.
The reason that she isn’t dead, is courtesy to the requests of UK governments, to them.
The locals who did the same things got the death penalty, long since.
Edit: she hasn’t had “a day in court”. Legal proceedings about her citizenship and right to return are not a trial for her crimes.
Getting evidence to the standards required in an English criminal court is not a simple matter.
My reference to her day in court was precisely to the extensive legal proceedings taken by her to maintain her British citizenship. They went right up to the Supreme Court. Very few citizens - let alone young women in overseas countries abandoned by the terror organisations they joined - get such an opportunity. It is to the credit of our legal system, frankly, that such an unappealing person did have that right and opportunity. She lost that case and so has no legal right to return.
Whether that case was rightly decided I don't know. But it is currently the position.
I had a dig into the header topic last night, as I was awake in the early hours, and they are all close to here around Heanor and Alfreton. Reform have also issued a partial statement, which I'll post separately.
The G is being a little mischievous, in that only 2 of the 12 are at County Council level (Greater Heanor, Alfreton and Summercotes), and the others are Little Councillors. So a dent (2 from 50 countrywide), but not a big dent.
But 9 of those are on Heanor and Loscoe town Council afaics, which is the same area. And that area has history quite some way to the Right (BNP, UKIP etc). I'm not sure how far that informs these events.
Plus they are arguing for Ben Habib, a former Reform Deputy Leader, and about "autocracy". They say Habib drew them to Reform. Habib has backed Musk and called for Yaxley-Lennon to be released. Autocracy is an easy call, when the whole party is literally owned by one man.
Farage is talking about a "rogue branch" (it's quite quick to develop one of those !), and is trying to portray himself as respectable.
I'm not sure where they have to go. One County Councillor is an ex-Tory, but if they have gone for the Habib stream of Reform, I don't see an easy way back. So probably Independents, as I don't see them going for a groupuscule party such as current UKIP.
In Derbyshire at Council Level they have one remaining District Councillor in Bolsover, who is also a defector from Conservative.
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
Yes. Tho we should remember that for every Salisbury there is a Singapore or a Sydney. We left behind thriving wonderful cities as well
For me Yangon is maybe the most striking example because in its day it was regarded as the most handsome colonial city in south east Asia if not all Asia (and you can see it now, the bones of it) and yet it has all been left to rot - albeit picturesquely - in the tropical heat
Eg they didn’t flatten it, the grid just sits there. With parrots roosting in the Edwardian post office
And it also underlines how far we’ve fallen intrinsically. We can’t even build a decent street in the uk, with a nice metro stop. Or if we do it takes 900 years. We used to casually assemble entire and noble cities over the Easter holidays
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
And Good Morning one and all.
On what charges should she be tried?
War crimes, according to one of our colleagues.
That's going to be an impossible conviction because we only have hearsay on the alleged crimes and untrustworthy sources from the old Assad regime. It's nonsense, no let her be tried by the Syrians and she can rot in one of their jails for the rest of her life, we should pay the Syrians to do this.
The human rights brigade would be tripping over themselves and completely breathless to dream up whatever whatever mitigation they can think of, which would be accepted by our great and good court system if she ever set foot in this country. Cooper is right to keep her out.
Farage always seemed a one man brand to me. i can't think of a time when he was an effective leader of any of his parties.
Sorry to hear about your cat.
My first cat was named after a David L.
I named him Livingstone because he was an explorer.
Plus Captain Picard's fish was called Livingston (no e), Christ I was such a geek in those days.
On the A 24 northbound from Horsham at Kingsfold there is a large pub with a now forgettable name such that I cannot recall it.
I was visiting my then girlfriend c 1979 and went past this pub which at the time was called Cromwells. I have no idea why it was so named. When we married, we got a lovely grey (and white chested) cat, he was called Cromwell. I bought a placemat from the pub for an exorbitant £5 and Crommy had his own mat. He was a lovely cat with a magical.personality.
When our kids were young we had a Siamese we called Christopher. Whom we addressed solely as KitKat.
I love how some posters this morning are unwittingly making it easier to crack the security questions on their bank accounts. Name of first pet?
Actually no it wasn't my first pet. My first pet was a budgerigar and I use neither name for my bank account security.
Are there any overriding reasons why Trump wouldn't see Putin as an ally, and much of Europe as enemies?
And if Trump tells Putin he's welcome to the Baltics (scarily this doesn't seem impossible), which way would Britain go?
The question for Britain now is whether we can treat the US as a reliable ally. I am not at all sure we can. And that has serious implications for our defence and intelligence services, on top of the economic consequences of tariffs and so on.
Farage always seemed a one man brand to me. i can't think of a time when he was an effective leader of any of his parties.
Sorry to hear about your cat.
My first cat was named after a David L.
I named him Livingstone because he was an explorer.
Plus Captain Picard's fish was called Livingston (no e), Christ I was such a geek in those days.
On the A 24 northbound from Horsham at Kingsfold there is a large pub with a now forgettable name such that I cannot recall it.
I was visiting my then girlfriend c 1979 and went past this pub which at the time was called Cromwells. I have no idea why it was so named. When we married, we got a lovely grey (and white chested) cat, he was called Cromwell. I bought a placemat from the pub for an exorbitant £5 and Crommy had his own mat. He was a lovely cat with a magical.personality.
When our kids were young we had a Siamese we called Christopher. Whom we addressed solely as KitKat.
I love how some posters this morning are unwittingly making it easier to crack the security questions on their bank accounts. Name of first pet?
The name of my first pet was so difficult and convoluted it would actually be impossible to use as a security question.
'Twinkletoes' called 'Tinker' confuses the hell out of these bots.
Farage always seemed a one man brand to me. i can't think of a time when he was an effective leader of any of his parties.
Sorry to hear about your cat.
My first cat was named after a David L.
I named him Livingstone because he was an explorer.
Plus Captain Picard's fish was called Livingston (no e), Christ I was such a geek in those days.
On the A 24 northbound from Horsham at Kingsfold there is a large pub with a now forgettable name such that I cannot recall it.
I was visiting my then girlfriend c 1979 and went past this pub which at the time was called Cromwells. I have no idea why it was so named. When we married, we got a lovely grey (and white chested) cat, he was called Cromwell. I bought a placemat from the pub for an exorbitant £5 and Crommy had his own mat. He was a lovely cat with a magical.personality.
When our kids were young we had a Siamese we called Christopher. Whom we addressed solely as KitKat.
I love how some posters this morning are unwittingly making it easier to crack the security questions on their bank accounts. Name of first pet?
Surely Nigel is only unwittingly making it easier to crack the security questions on his bank account if that is, in fact, one of his security questions? If it isn't then he isn't.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
And Good Morning one and all.
On what charges should she be tried?
War crimes, according to one of our colleagues.
That's going to be an impossible conviction because we only have hearsay on the alleged crimes and untrustworthy sources from the old Assad regime. It's nonsense, no let her be tried by the Syrians and she can rot in one of their jails for the rest of her life, we should pay the Syrians to do this.
The human rights brigade would be tripping over themselves and completely breathless to dream up whatever whatever mitigation they can think of, which would be accepted by our great and good court system if she ever set foot in this country.
Making one hell of a weird alliance with Farage....
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
It's 15 years ago that I was there. I quite liked Rangoon, which I found to be very different to a lot of South East Asia, perhaps a view to what Thailand and Vietnam looked like before the impact of the West. Even then though the number of Chinese goods was driving out local goods. I was mostly in Upper Burma though, which is the heartland of Burmese culture.
Burma was run as an outpost of British India, particularly to provide rice to Bengal. In 1942 Rangoon was 50% Bengali, most of whom fled, and often died, in the Empires longest retreat to India. This is a large factor in both the wartime Bengal famine, and the continuing animosity of Burmese to Muslims (seen as an Imperial presence inflicted by Britain on them). State of the art Victorian governance consisted of no say for local people in governance and forced extraction of resources at the point of a gun.
I really liked Burma and might get back there sometime. It has a dreadful and barbaric military government, but magnificent and largely intact cultures and landscapes. There may well be regime change at some point as the military have had a number of recent setbacks in the ongoing civil wars. The rebels vary from pro-democracy students to Narco-oligarchs, via a multiplicity of minority nationalists. To say that Myanmar politics is opaque is one of the great understatement.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
Some quite obvious cognitive dissonance on teenagers autonomy and consent when you compare her case to others in the news.
Really? I can believe that, but care to give examples?
But I'd point out that there are unlikely to be cases quite as (ahem) extreme as what she did.
The age of consent and the age of criminal responsibility differ.
The slight problem with that argument is that she personally committed war crimes after she was over 16.
I still think she ought to come here to be tried properly.
And Good Morning one and all.
On what charges should she be tried?
War crimes, according to one of our colleagues.
That's going to be an impossible conviction because we only have hearsay on the alleged crimes and untrustworthy sources from the old Assad regime. It's nonsense, no let her be tried by the Syrians and she can rot in one of their jails for the rest of her life, we should pay the Syrians to do this.
TBH, I think she was unfairly denied British citizenship; she appears to have been groomed when in her very early teens (if not before) and it's all gone downhill from there. I'm relying here on the word of Mr M, who says we have reliable evidence, and cross-questionable witnesses in UK.If we haven't, that's different. What I don't think is right, though, is leaving her to rot, without someone listening to her case.
Farage always seemed a one man brand to me. i can't think of a time when he was an effective leader of any of his parties.
Sorry to hear about your cat.
My first cat was named after a David L.
I named him Livingstone because he was an explorer.
Plus Captain Picard's fish was called Livingston (no e), Christ I was such a geek in those days.
On the A 24 northbound from Horsham at Kingsfold there is a large pub with a now forgettable name such that I cannot recall it.
I was visiting my then girlfriend c 1979 and went past this pub which at the time was called Cromwells. I have no idea why it was so named. When we married, we got a lovely grey (and white chested) cat, he was called Cromwell. I bought a placemat from the pub for an exorbitant £5 and Crommy had his own mat. He was a lovely cat with a magical.personality.
When our kids were young we had a Siamese we called Christopher. Whom we addressed solely as KitKat.
I love how some posters this morning are unwittingly making it easier to crack the security questions on their bank accounts. Name of first pet?
The name of my first pet was so difficult and convoluted it would actually be impossible to use as a security question.
'Twinkletoes' called 'Tinker' confuses the hell out of these bots.
Annoyingly, my first pet was named after my mother's maiden name, which was also coincidentally the name of my primary school, my father's middle name, and the colour of my first car.
It all makes it impossible to set entirely safe security questions, so I just keep my entire substantial fortune under my mattress at 48 Palmerston Avenue, Lewisham.
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
It's 15 years ago that I was there. I quite liked Rangoon, which I found to be very different to a lot of South East Asia, perhaps a view to what Thailand and Vietnam looked like before the impact of the West. Even then though the number of Chinese goods was driving out local goods. I was mostly in Upper Burma though, which is the heartland of Burmese culture.
Burma was run as an outpost of British India, particularly to provide rice to Bengal. In 1942 Rangoon was 50% Bengali, most of whom fled, and often died, in the Empires longest retreat to India. This is a large factor in both the wartime Bengal famine, and the continuing animosity of Burmese to Muslims (seen as an Imperial presence inflicted by Britain on them). State of the art Victorian governance consisted of no say for local people in governance and forced extraction of resources at the point of a gun.
I really liked Burma and might get back there sometime. It has a dreadful and barbaric military government, but magnificent and largely intact cultures and landscapes. There may well be regime change at some point as the military have had a number of recent setbacks in the ongoing civil wars. The rebels vary from pro-democracy students to Narco-oligarchs, via a multiplicity of minority nationalists. To say that Myanmar politics is opaque is one of the great understatement.
Does it have anything to rival that famous Cambodian Temple city ?
Matt Wardman - @mattwardman.bsky.social @mattwardman I'm from the locality. This is how I see it. These are from the Habib stream of RefUK, who supports Yaxley-Lennon etc. Heanor & Loscoe was a fairly prominent BNP/UKIP area; there may be unpalatable leftovers who have got in. Nigel Farage rejects Y-L & wants to look respectable. https://x.com/mattwardman/status/1878011574159392936
Farage always seemed a one man brand to me. i can't think of a time when he was an effective leader of any of his parties.
Sorry to hear about your cat.
My first cat was named after a David L.
I named him Livingstone because he was an explorer.
Plus Captain Picard's fish was called Livingston (no e), Christ I was such a geek in those days.
On the A 24 northbound from Horsham at Kingsfold there is a large pub with a now forgettable name such that I cannot recall it.
I was visiting my then girlfriend c 1979 and went past this pub which at the time was called Cromwells. I have no idea why it was so named. When we married, we got a lovely grey (and white chested) cat, he was called Cromwell. I bought a placemat from the pub for an exorbitant £5 and Crommy had his own mat. He was a lovely cat with a magical.personality.
When our kids were young we had a Siamese we called Christopher. Whom we addressed solely as KitKat.
I love how some posters this morning are unwittingly making it easier to crack the security questions on their bank accounts. Name of first pet?
The name of my first pet was so difficult and convoluted it would actually be impossible to use as a security question.
'Twinkletoes' called 'Tinker' confuses the hell out of these bots.
Annoyingly, my first pet was named after my mother's maiden name, which was also coincidentally the name of my primary school, my father's middle name, and the colour of my first car.
It all makes it impossible to set entirely safe security questions, so I just keep my entire substantial fortune under my mattress at 48 Palmerston Avenue, Lewisham.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
That's a very good case for trying her case in a British court and punishing her under British Law.
Rather than pretending that she has nothing to do with us.
She committed no crimes in the UK.
And even if she could legally be tried here for crimes committed abroad, how on earth would Britain be able to get the evidence or witnesses? No - if she is allowed to return, she would be free. She has had her day in court here. The courts have ruled and that's it. It is - frankly - none of the US's business.
Surely she had her day away from court, not in it?
Are there any overriding reasons why Trump wouldn't see Putin as an ally, and much of Europe as enemies?
And if Trump tells Putin he's welcome to the Baltics (scarily this doesn't seem impossible), which way would Britain go?
Ally/enemy is the wrong frame. He sees Putin as the leader of a rival power and European countries as clients, not enemies.
I think it's a case of one ultra-rich man viewing himself as having more in common with other ultra-rich men, than with the unhumans that they rule over.
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
It's 15 years ago that I was there. I quite liked Rangoon, which I found to be very different to a lot of South East Asia, perhaps a view to what Thailand and Vietnam looked like before the impact of the West. Even then though the number of Chinese goods was driving out local goods. I was mostly in Upper Burma though, which is the heartland of Burmese culture.
Burma was run as an outpost of British India, particularly to provide rice to Bengal. In 1942 Rangoon was 50% Bengali, most of whom fled, and often died, in the Empires longest retreat to India. This is a large factor in both the wartime Bengal famine, and the continuing animosity of Burmese to Muslims (seen as an Imperial presence inflicted by Britain on them). State of the art Victorian governance consisted of no say for local people in governance and forced extraction of resources at the point of a gun.
I really liked Burma and might get back there sometime. It has a dreadful and barbaric military government, but magnificent and largely intact cultures and landscapes. There may well be regime change at some point as the military have had a number of recent setbacks in the ongoing civil wars. The rebels vary from pro-democracy students to Narco-oligarchs, via a multiplicity of minority nationalists. To say that Myanmar politics is opaque is one of the great understatement.
Incidentally, Mandalay is a bit of a disappointment from the historical point of view with only one of the original Royal Palace buildings still standing, ironically because it was moved for being "unlucky". The rest was destroyed by bombing in 1945. I used to have a patient who was crew in the Liberator bombers that destroyed it with incendiary bombs. A lovely bloke, long gone now, along with another patient who got an MC at Imphal. Viscount Slim's book "Defeat into Victory" is one of the best WW2 memoirs.
TBH, I think she was unfairly denied British citizenship; she appears to have been groomed when in her very early teens (if not before) and it's all gone downhill from there. I'm relying here on the word of Mr M, who says we have reliable evidence, and cross-questionable witnesses in UK.If we haven't, that's different. What I don't think is right, though, is leaving her to rot, without someone listening to her case.
I don't think anything of that actually matters and it's really simple - she left the UK on a flight to Istanbul having lived here for a number of years. That alone makes her our responsibility and we are shirking it...
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
It's 15 years ago that I was there. I quite liked Rangoon, which I found to be very different to a lot of South East Asia, perhaps a view to what Thailand and Vietnam looked like before the impact of the West. Even then though the number of Chinese goods was driving out local goods. I was mostly in Upper Burma though, which is the heartland of Burmese culture.
Burma was run as an outpost of British India, particularly to provide rice to Bengal. In 1942 Rangoon was 50% Bengali, most of whom fled, and often died, in the Empires longest retreat to India. This is a large factor in both the wartime Bengal famine, and the continuing animosity of Burmese to Muslims (seen as an Imperial presence inflicted by Britain on them). State of the art Victorian governance consisted of no say for local people in governance and forced extraction of resources at the point of a gun.
I really liked Burma and might get back there sometime. It has a dreadful and barbaric military government, but magnificent and largely intact cultures and landscapes. There may well be regime change at some point as the military have had a number of recent setbacks in the ongoing civil wars. The rebels vary from pro-democracy students to Narco-oligarchs, via a multiplicity of minority nationalists. To say that Myanmar politics is opaque is one of the great understatement.
Incidentally, Mandalay is a bit of a disappointment from the historical point of view with only one of the original Royal Palace buildings still standing, ironically because it was moved for being "unlucky". The rest was destroyed by bombing in 1945. I used to have a patient who was crew in the Liberator bombers that destroyed it with incendiary bombs. A lovely bloke, long gone now, along with another patient who got an MC at Imphal. Viscount Slim's book "Defeat into Victory" is one of the best WW2 memoirs.
Slim was, by some margin, the best British battlefield commander in WWII. And, he essentially transformed the Indian Army from a gendarmerie into quite an impressive war machine.
anyone who wants to be added to the PB list on Twitter, let me know (I'm MorrisF1) either here or there. Hopefully won't ever be needed but if the Act of Puritanical Censorship causes PB problems it could be used to more rapidly reconstitute a new site.
And, on a more self-absorbed note, my F1: 2025 Driver Lineup Predictions podcast (Undercutters ep4) is up here:
Slight problem with that is I’m not going near X regardless of any UK laws. It’s a swamp
If anybody really hates Twitter but wants to leave a means of contact, that's ok too. I appreciate people might not want to share their e-mail (although if I am an evil nefarious chap then waiting 16 years to gather e-mails is a pretty long con).
Edited extra bit: 18 years. I joined the site in 2007.
There are a lot of us on Bluesky. Possibly more than Twitter now.
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
It's 15 years ago that I was there. I quite liked Rangoon, which I found to be very different to a lot of South East Asia, perhaps a view to what Thailand and Vietnam looked like before the impact of the West. Even then though the number of Chinese goods was driving out local goods. I was mostly in Upper Burma though, which is the heartland of Burmese culture.
Burma was run as an outpost of British India, particularly to provide rice to Bengal. In 1942 Rangoon was 50% Bengali, most of whom fled, and often died, in the Empires longest retreat to India. This is a large factor in both the wartime Bengal famine, and the continuing animosity of Burmese to Muslims (seen as an Imperial presence inflicted by Britain on them). State of the art Victorian governance consisted of no say for local people in governance and forced extraction of resources at the point of a gun.
I really liked Burma and might get back there sometime. It has a dreadful and barbaric military government, but magnificent and largely intact cultures and landscapes. There may well be regime change at some point as the military have had a number of recent setbacks in the ongoing civil wars. The rebels vary from pro-democracy students to Narco-oligarchs, via a multiplicity of minority nationalists. To say that Myanmar politics is opaque is one of the great understatement.
Does it have anything to rival that famous Cambodian Temple city ?
The legend of Angkor Wat, I think it's called.
I have not been to Angkor Wat, but Bagan is one of the great sites. It was a city of 1 million people at one time, but all that is left now is the stone pagodas, perhaps a thousand of them in various states of ruin and size, with the civilian buildings all rotted away, leaving a massive plain of stupas.
Shortly before I visited all the local people were cleared off the site, at gunpoint by the SLORC military, without compensation, in order to make it more of a tourist site. Burma is full of that sort of brutal history amongst the beauty.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
Are there any overriding reasons why Trump wouldn't see Putin as an ally, and much of Europe as enemies?
And if Trump tells Putin he's welcome to the Baltics (scarily this doesn't seem impossible), which way would Britain go?
Ally/enemy is the wrong frame. He sees Putin as the leader of a rival power and European countries as clients, not enemies.
I think it's a case of one ultra-rich man viewing himself as having more in common with other ultra-rich men, than with the unhumans that they rule over.
Funnily enough, you see something very similar going on Season 6 of A Game of Thrones, when wealthy failson Tyrion is trying to persuade super rich slave owners that he and they have more more in common with each other, than with hoi polloi.
David Benioff is the son of a former Goldman Sachs CEO, David Friedman, and often used Tyrion as his avatar.
Reform councillors are if anything revolting as Farage isn't hardline enough on Begum and for Tommy Robinson. Much as the divide Trump and the GOP are now facing between Musk and Vivek on one side and Bannon on the other.
Though as Farage is the biggest asset for Reform I can't see him being removed
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
Are there any overriding reasons why Trump wouldn't see Putin as an ally, and much of Europe as enemies?
And if Trump tells Putin he's welcome to the Baltics (scarily this doesn't seem impossible), which way would Britain go?
The question for Britain now is whether we can treat the US as a reliable ally. I am not at all sure we can. And that has serious implications for our defence and intelligence services, on top of the economic consequences of tariffs and so on.
This is the key point. Our intelligence facilities are intertwined with the U.S, as well as the nuclear submarines.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
Perhaps we should consider the possibility and indeed the probability that he's an idiot?
Reform councillors are if anything revolting as Farage isn't hardline enough on Begum and for Tommy Robinson. Much as the divide Trump and the GOP are now facing between Musk and Vivek on one side and Bannon on the other.
Though as Farage is the biggest asset for Reform I can't see him being removed
Farage knows that while Tommy Robinson is liked by some members he's hated by many others and utterly repulsive to many potential voters.
On the other hand I hate a lot of his policies but Farage is 100% correct about Begum she is the responsibility of the UK
Reform councillors are if anything revolting as Farage isn't hardline enough on Begum and for Tommy Robinson. Much as the divide Trump and the GOP are now facing between Musk and Vivek on one side and Bannon on the other.
Though as Farage is the biggest asset for Reform I can't see him being removed
Besides, as things stand, there's no mechanism. Farage owns the party and membership confers no more rights than membership of the Dennis the Menace Fan Club.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
Perhaps we should consider the possibility and indeed the probability that he's an idiot?
That opens up a second question - how on earth has Begum appeared on Trump's radar...
The Bank of Mum and Dad is becoming the Hotel of Mum and Dad, new research reveals, with the housing crisis leading to a rise in young adults living with their parents.
The proportion of 25 to 34-year-olds residing with their parents has increased by more than a third in just under two decades, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) in its Hotel of Mum and Dad? report.
Almost a fifth (18 per cent) of this age group was living at their family home last year, up from 13 per cent in 2006. While the latest figure is down slightly from a pandemic peak of 21 per cent, the five percentage point increase is still estimated to represent about 450,000 more people in this age group living with parents in 2024 than if the proportion had stayed at its 2006 level.
The IFS said people with lower incomes were more likely to live at home, adding that the rise over recent decades had been “fuelled by” higher rents and soaring house prices.
Of 25 to 34-year-olds, men were more likely than women to live with their parents: 23 per cent compared with 15 per cent. Rates were also higher among young people born in the UK with Bangladeshi heritage, of whom 62 per cent lived at home, and half of young people with Indian backgrounds did so.
Interesting gender split given that women tend to be earn (be paid) less. Either much lower levels of discretionary spending or living with older men (or their boyfriend's parents?).
Women earn as much as men under 30, and also tend to have more academic qualifications. It's after 40 that the gender pay gap appears.
Mainly as more mothers choose to go part time or stay home with their children once they have a family. Even so more women still work full time after 40 than did decades ago so the gender pay gap is smaller than it was
anyone who wants to be added to the PB list on Twitter, let me know (I'm MorrisF1) either here or there. Hopefully won't ever be needed but if the Act of Puritanical Censorship causes PB problems it could be used to more rapidly reconstitute a new site.
And, on a more self-absorbed note, my F1: 2025 Driver Lineup Predictions podcast (Undercutters ep4) is up here:
Slight problem with that is I’m not going near X regardless of any UK laws. It’s a swamp
If anybody really hates Twitter but wants to leave a means of contact, that's ok too. I appreciate people might not want to share their e-mail (although if I am an evil nefarious chap then waiting 16 years to gather e-mails is a pretty long con).
Edited extra bit: 18 years. I joined the site in 2007.
There are a lot of us on Bluesky. Possibly more than Twitter now.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
It's perfectly possible to be concerned with both.
She was clearly groomed when underage to go to Syria.
The ability to remove citizenship at the whim of the Home Secretary is also a dangerously authoritarian power, albeit one that many like Jenrick might like to use.
I am very concerned about leaving someone stateless. But I also don't believe she had zero idea what she was doing when she went to Syria.
IMV she was not a victim. Bur she created many victims.
That's a very good case for trying her case in a British court and punishing her under British Law.
Rather than pretending that she has nothing to do with us.
She committed no crimes in the UK.
And even if she could legally be tried here for crimes committed abroad, how on earth would Britain be able to get the evidence or witnesses? No - if she is allowed to return, she would be free. She has had her day in court here. The courts have ruled and that's it. It is - frankly - none of the US's business.
For once I disagree with you. She is clearly guilty of entering and remaining in a designated area, which is an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000 and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. It may also be possible to convict her of supporting a proscribed organisation (maximum sentence 14 years), attendance at a place used for terrorist training (14 years) and possibly other terrorist offences. For all of these, she can be convicted in the UK notwithstanding the fact that the offence was committed elsewhere. For some it may be difficult to get the evidence required, but there is no difficulty at all with the designated area offence. If she is allowed to return, she is likely to face a substantial prison sentence.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended her decision to travel to China to improve economic ties at a time when soaring government borrowing costs threaten to squeeze UK public finances.
She says she wants a long-term relationship with China that is "squarely in our national interest" and on Saturday said agreements reached in Beijing would be worth £600m to the UK over the next five years.
These numbers are normally load of nonsense padded BS (The investment summit claimed £100bn or something stupid), but £100m a year, she got the Temu version of an agreement...
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
The middle position gets overlooked - she has behaved appallingly, and even at 15 should have known much better and deserves little from the UK, though if there were a general international repatriation programme from the area she currently lives she should be part of it. She should face justice in the UK. But what we should never do is land the problem on a not very wealthy third country (Bangladesh) who have nothing to do with it, nor should we render UK citizens stateless.
In this instance, rarely, Trump and Farage are more grown up than either Conservative or Labour, or the Supreme Court who should have told the government where to go.
We cannot render UK citizens stateless. The law prevents us from doing so. The Home Secretary's decision to exclude her was upheld by the Supreme Court because, at the time it was made, it did not render her stateless. According to the evidence presented, she is now stateless due to her failure to do what was needed to retain her Bangladeshi citizenship.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
Perhaps we should consider the possibility and indeed the probability that he's an idiot?
That opens up a second question - how on earth has Begum appeared on Trump's radar...
She's a young woman, and he's a sexual creep. If he saw one photo on Twitter...
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
I think Trump is looking to undermine Britain, possibly for supporting Harris instead of himself. He’s a shit stirrer.
Are there any overriding reasons why Trump wouldn't see Putin as an ally, and much of Europe as enemies?
And if Trump tells Putin he's welcome to the Baltics (scarily this doesn't seem impossible), which way would Britain go?
The question for Britain now is whether we can treat the US as a reliable ally. I am not at all sure we can. And that has serious implications for our defence and intelligence services, on top of the economic consequences of tariffs and so on.
This is the key point. Our intelligence facilities are intertwined with the U.S, as well as the nuclear submarines.
Big troubles ahead.
We surrendered our security to them a long time ago and it has only got worse in recent years. Nobody on PB wanted to talk about it when I complained that it was wrong. Not much point in complaining about it now.
The Bank of Mum and Dad is becoming the Hotel of Mum and Dad, new research reveals, with the housing crisis leading to a rise in young adults living with their parents.
The proportion of 25 to 34-year-olds residing with their parents has increased by more than a third in just under two decades, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) in its Hotel of Mum and Dad? report.
Almost a fifth (18 per cent) of this age group was living at their family home last year, up from 13 per cent in 2006. While the latest figure is down slightly from a pandemic peak of 21 per cent, the five percentage point increase is still estimated to represent about 450,000 more people in this age group living with parents in 2024 than if the proportion had stayed at its 2006 level.
The IFS said people with lower incomes were more likely to live at home, adding that the rise over recent decades had been “fuelled by” higher rents and soaring house prices.
Of 25 to 34-year-olds, men were more likely than women to live with their parents: 23 per cent compared with 15 per cent. Rates were also higher among young people born in the UK with Bangladeshi heritage, of whom 62 per cent lived at home, and half of young people with Indian backgrounds did so.
Looks like Indians and Bangladeshis retain the traditional view that young people should stay in the family home until marriage. Much like Italians still do, most young Italian men live at home, it is not necessarily a bad thing and enables more savings for a deposit on a house later
Are there any overriding reasons why Trump wouldn't see Putin as an ally, and much of Europe as enemies?
And if Trump tells Putin he's welcome to the Baltics (scarily this doesn't seem impossible), which way would Britain go?
The question for Britain now is whether we can treat the US as a reliable ally. I am not at all sure we can. And that has serious implications for our defence and intelligence services, on top of the economic consequences of tariffs and so on.
This is the key point. Our intelligence facilities are intertwined with the U.S, as well as the nuclear submarines.
Big troubles ahead.
I've seen this mentioned in specialist media for several months; they will have been on this - ideally measures to take without Trump finding out very much. What he doesn't know can't hurt US !
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
I think Trump is looking to undermine Britain, possibly for supporting Harris instead of himself. He’s a shit stirrer.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
The middle position gets overlooked - she has behaved appallingly, and even at 15 should have known much better and deserves little from the UK, though if there were a general international repatriation programme from the area she currently lives she should be part of it. She should face justice in the UK. But what we should never do is land the problem on a not very wealthy third country (Bangladesh) who have nothing to do with it, nor should we render UK citizens stateless.
In this instance, rarely, Trump and Farage are more grown up than either Conservative or Labour, or the Supreme Court who should have told the government where to go.
We cannot render UK citizens stateless. The law prevents us from doing so. The Home Secretary's decision to exclude her was upheld by the Supreme Court because, at the time it was made, it did not render her stateless. According to the evidence presented, she is now stateless due to her failure to do what was needed to retain her Bangladeshi citizenship.
She never held Bangladeshi citizenship, though was potentially eligible for it, so could not "retain" something she never had.
To be able to remove citizenship because someone is potentially eligible for anther citizenship is quite an authoritarian power. Potentially not just second generation migrants, but also those born in Northern Ireland and all Jews. Such power could easily be abused by an ethno-nationalist government, as for example India has done.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended her decision to travel to China to improve economic ties at a time when soaring government borrowing costs threaten to squeeze UK public finances.
She says she wants a long-term relationship with China that is "squarely in our national interest" and on Saturday said agreements reached in Beijing would be worth £600m to the UK over the next five years.
These numbers are normally load of nonsense padded BS (The investment summit claimed £100bn or something stupid), but £100m a year, she got the Temu version of an agreement...
Reeves really is lower division, even Sheffield council claimed bigger than that:
A council which signed a £1bn investment deal with a Chinese manufacturing firm three years ago has admitted the deal is now "dead".
Sheffield City Council announced the 60-year agreement with the Sichuan Guodong construction firm in 2016.
It was hailed a "massive vote of confidence" for the city but will now not happen, a councillor has said.
However, the authority said it had "no regrets" because the deal had "put Sheffield on the map".
Even now, I would happily give up Trident (and any strategic nuclear weapon of last resort) for a tactical nuclear programme. Tony Blair abandoned our tactical nukes I think (one among many disastrous decisions that feature in his putrid legacy). We'd still be a nuclear power, and we would have actual weapons that enemies would actually worry about, not ones that you would only use as revenge the event of a nuclear holocaust.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
I think Trump is looking to undermine Britain, possibly for supporting Harris instead of himself. He’s a shit stirrer.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
I think Trump is looking to undermine Britain, possibly for supporting Harris instead of himself. He’s a shit stirrer.
Tbf he hasn't singled out the UK, he's said all European countries with foreign terrorist fighters in limbo should repatriate them. It effects us most because we have the highest number of unrepatriated terrorists in and around Syria.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
I think Trump is looking to undermine Britain, possibly for supporting Harris instead of himself. He’s a shit stirrer.
Very possibly, but why would he get Farage to push the policy? It seems to be of some importance to get these people back to the UK. I just can't think why. At all.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
I think Trump is looking to undermine Britain, possibly for supporting Harris instead of himself. He’s a shit stirrer.
But the only thing being undermined by this is Reform.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended her decision to travel to China to improve economic ties at a time when soaring government borrowing costs threaten to squeeze UK public finances.
She says she wants a long-term relationship with China that is "squarely in our national interest" and on Saturday said agreements reached in Beijing would be worth £600m to the UK over the next five years.
These numbers are normally load of nonsense padded BS (The investment summit claimed £100bn or something stupid), but £100m a year, she got the Temu version of an agreement...
There’s plenty of things to condemn her for but this isn’t one of them. I cannot see what she has done wrong. She doesn’t need to be at her desk 24/7.
Reform collapsing would be a gift to the Conservatives. They will struggle if it doesn't, in fact
Under FPTP maybe, though Reform are now taking Labour not just Tory votes.
Under PR less so as the Tories and Reform could just form coalition governments after the election as the centre right and populist and nationalist right now do in Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and most likely now Austria too
Are there any overriding reasons why Trump wouldn't see Putin as an ally, and much of Europe as enemies?
And if Trump tells Putin he's welcome to the Baltics (scarily this doesn't seem impossible), which way would Britain go?
The question for Britain now is whether we can treat the US as a reliable ally. I am not at all sure we can. And that has serious implications for our defence and intelligence services, on top of the economic consequences of tariffs and so on.
This is the key point. Our intelligence facilities are intertwined with the U.S, as well as the nuclear submarines.
Big troubles ahead.
We surrendered our security to them a long time ago and it has only got worse in recent years. Nobody on PB wanted to talk about it when I complained that it was wrong. Not much point in complaining about it now.
I predict "anti-Americanism" is about to go mainstream here. So you'll have to budge up and make room.
Matt Wardman - @mattwardman.bsky.social @mattwardman I'm from the locality. This is how I see it. These are from the Habib stream of RefUK, who supports Yaxley-Lennon etc. Heanor & Loscoe was a fairly prominent BNP/UKIP area; there may be unpalatable leftovers who have got in. Nigel Farage rejects Y-L & wants to look respectable. https://x.com/mattwardman/status/1878011574159392936
What is this DNO certificate and is there actually a realistic chance of by-elections occurring?
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
It's 15 years ago that I was there. I quite liked Rangoon, which I found to be very different to a lot of South East Asia, perhaps a view to what Thailand and Vietnam looked like before the impact of the West. Even then though the number of Chinese goods was driving out local goods. I was mostly in Upper Burma though, which is the heartland of Burmese culture.
Burma was run as an outpost of British India, particularly to provide rice to Bengal. In 1942 Rangoon was 50% Bengali, most of whom fled, and often died, in the Empires longest retreat to India. This is a large factor in both the wartime Bengal famine, and the continuing animosity of Burmese to Muslims (seen as an Imperial presence inflicted by Britain on them). State of the art Victorian governance consisted of no say for local people in governance and forced extraction of resources at the point of a gun.
I really liked Burma and might get back there sometime. It has a dreadful and barbaric military government, but magnificent and largely intact cultures and landscapes. There may well be regime change at some point as the military have had a number of recent setbacks in the ongoing civil wars. The rebels vary from pro-democracy students to Narco-oligarchs, via a multiplicity of minority nationalists. To say that Myanmar politics is opaque is one of the great understatement.
Does it have anything to rival that famous Cambodian Temple city ?
The legend of Angkor Wat, I think it's called.
I have not been to Angkor Wat, but Bagan is one of the great sites. It was a city of 1 million people at one time, but all that is left now is the stone pagodas, perhaps a thousand of them in various states of ruin and size, with the civilian buildings all rotted away, leaving a massive plain of stupas.
Shortly before I visited all the local people were cleared off the site, at gunpoint by the SLORC military, without compensation, in order to make it more of a tourist site. Burma is full of that sort of brutal history amongst the beauty.
Angkor Wat is arguably THE single most impressive monument from the pre-modern world. And yes I’m including the pantheon, pyramids, Hagia Sophia, any medieval cathedrals (tho if you take them all together), Luxor; macchu pichu, Teotihuacan, and all
I’ve seen them all and Angkor Wat remains - to my mind - in a dreamy world of its own. Albeit now blighted by billions of tourists
I’ll be interested to compare Bagan. I very much doubt it’s in the same league but it does sound fabulous
I am excluding Gobekli Tepe and the tas Tepeler because you have to. They are more like alien cities from Martian invasions
Matt Wardman - @mattwardman.bsky.social @mattwardman I'm from the locality. This is how I see it. These are from the Habib stream of RefUK, who supports Yaxley-Lennon etc. Heanor & Loscoe was a fairly prominent BNP/UKIP area; there may be unpalatable leftovers who have got in. Nigel Farage rejects Y-L & wants to look respectable. https://x.com/mattwardman/status/1878011574159392936
What is this DNO certificate and is there actually a realistic chance of by-elections occurring?
Delegated Nominating Officer - the person who tells the LA that yes, this person is authorised to stand for this party so they have this authorisation.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
The middle position gets overlooked - she has behaved appallingly, and even at 15 should have known much better and deserves little from the UK, though if there were a general international repatriation programme from the area she currently lives she should be part of it. She should face justice in the UK. But what we should never do is land the problem on a not very wealthy third country (Bangladesh) who have nothing to do with it, nor should we render UK citizens stateless.
In this instance, rarely, Trump and Farage are more grown up than either Conservative or Labour, or the Supreme Court who should have told the government where to go.
We cannot render UK citizens stateless. The law prevents us from doing so. The Home Secretary's decision to exclude her was upheld by the Supreme Court because, at the time it was made, it did not render her stateless. According to the evidence presented, she is now stateless due to her failure to do what was needed to retain her Bangladeshi citizenship.
She never held Bangladeshi citizenship, though was potentially eligible for it, so could not "retain" something she never had.
To be able to remove citizenship because someone is potentially eligible for anther citizenship is quite an authoritarian power. Potentially not just second generation migrants, but also those born in Northern Ireland and all Jews. Such power could easily be abused by an ethno-nationalist government, as for example India has done.
The courts clearly stated in their judgements that she held Bangladeshi citizenship by descent until her 21st birthday. She wasn't "potentially eligible" for Bangladeshi citizenship. She actually held it. Or do you know something the courts don't?
The decision that she held citizenship was based on Bangladesh's Citizenship Act 1951 Section 5 which states "Subject to the provisions of section 3 a person born after the commencement of this Act, shall be a citizen of Bangladesh by descent if his father or mother is a citizen of Bangladesh at the time of his birth:"
Matt Wardman - @mattwardman.bsky.social @mattwardman I'm from the locality. This is how I see it. These are from the Habib stream of RefUK, who supports Yaxley-Lennon etc. Heanor & Loscoe was a fairly prominent BNP/UKIP area; there may be unpalatable leftovers who have got in. Nigel Farage rejects Y-L & wants to look respectable. https://x.com/mattwardman/status/1878011574159392936
What is this DNO certificate and is there actually a realistic chance of by-elections occurring?
Delegated Nominating Officer - the person who tells the LA that yes, this person is authorised to stand for this party so they have this authorisation.
Thanks. So Farage is claiming certain nominations were illegitimate. Does that mean the election of those candidates can be voided? Is it up to him, then, to go an election court and make that case? Is he actually going to do that?
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
I agree on all counts. It's not good and not come at a good time for Reform UK. I'm not sure what I'd have done in Farage's position (under strong pressure from Trump to support taking back Begum). I'm not altogether sure why Trump wants us to take her back so much.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
I get the logic that Begum is our responsibility and we should be responsible for her and I've always said as much. We shouldn't dump someone radicalised in the UK on another country just because her parents weren't born here..
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
Perhaps we should consider the possibility and indeed the probability that he's an idiot?
That opens up a second question - how on earth has Begum appeared on Trump's radar...
Isn't Sebastian Gorka English? And it is he rather than Trump who is pushing that particular agenda.
Matt Wardman - @mattwardman.bsky.social @mattwardman I'm from the locality. This is how I see it. These are from the Habib stream of RefUK, who supports Yaxley-Lennon etc. Heanor & Loscoe was a fairly prominent BNP/UKIP area; there may be unpalatable leftovers who have got in. Nigel Farage rejects Y-L & wants to look respectable. https://x.com/mattwardman/status/1878011574159392936
What is this DNO certificate and is there actually a realistic chance of by-elections occurring?
Delegated Nominating Officer - the person who tells the LA that yes, this person is authorised to stand for this party so they have this authorisation.
Thanks. So Farage is claiming certain nominations were illegitimate. Does that mean the election of those candidates can be voided? Is it up to him, then, to go an election court and make that case? Is he actually going to do that?
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
The middle position gets overlooked - she has behaved appallingly, and even at 15 should have known much better and deserves little from the UK, though if there were a general international repatriation programme from the area she currently lives she should be part of it. She should face justice in the UK. But what we should never do is land the problem on a not very wealthy third country (Bangladesh) who have nothing to do with it, nor should we render UK citizens stateless.
In this instance, rarely, Trump and Farage are more grown up than either Conservative or Labour, or the Supreme Court who should have told the government where to go.
We cannot render UK citizens stateless. The law prevents us from doing so. The Home Secretary's decision to exclude her was upheld by the Supreme Court because, at the time it was made, it did not render her stateless. According to the evidence presented, she is now stateless due to her failure to do what was needed to retain her Bangladeshi citizenship.
She never held Bangladeshi citizenship, though was potentially eligible for it, so could not "retain" something she never had.
To be able to remove citizenship because someone is potentially eligible for anther citizenship is quite an authoritarian power. Potentially not just second generation migrants, but also those born in Northern Ireland and all Jews. Such power could easily be abused by an ethno-nationalist government, as for example India has done.
The courts clearly stated in their judgements that she held Bangladeshi citizenship by descent until her 21st birthday. She wasn't "potentially eligible" for Bangladeshi citizenship. She actually held it. Or do you know something the courts don't?
The decision that she held citizenship was based on Bangladesh's Citizenship Act 1951 Section 5 which states "Subject to the provisions of section 3 a person born after the commencement of this Act, shall be a citizen of Bangladesh by descent if his father or mother is a citizen of Bangladesh at the time of his birth:"
Sorry that actually makes things worse - we let someone born in the UK be corrupted into being a terrorist and then dumped her on a country she had never lived in and I suspect had never ever visited...
Are there any overriding reasons why Trump wouldn't see Putin as an ally, and much of Europe as enemies?
And if Trump tells Putin he's welcome to the Baltics (scarily this doesn't seem impossible), which way would Britain go?
The question for Britain now is whether we can treat the US as a reliable ally. I am not at all sure we can. And that has serious implications for our defence and intelligence services, on top of the economic consequences of tariffs and so on.
This is the key point. Our intelligence facilities are intertwined with the U.S, as well as the nuclear submarines.
Big troubles ahead.
We surrendered our security to them a long time ago and it has only got worse in recent years. Nobody on PB wanted to talk about it when I complained that it was wrong. Not much point in complaining about it now.
I predict "anti-Americanism" is about to go mainstream here. So you'll have to budge up and make room.
I am not anti American, I am anti Britain being run as an American subsidiary, like there was a takeover bid that went through that nobody told us about. When it comes down to the line, we all have to do what the gaffer tells us if they want it enough (including France and Germany) but others a lot smaller than us have and exercise far, far greater autonomy.
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
The middle position gets overlooked - she has behaved appallingly, and even at 15 should have known much better and deserves little from the UK, though if there were a general international repatriation programme from the area she currently lives she should be part of it. She should face justice in the UK. But what we should never do is land the problem on a not very wealthy third country (Bangladesh) who have nothing to do with it, nor should we render UK citizens stateless.
In this instance, rarely, Trump and Farage are more grown up than either Conservative or Labour, or the Supreme Court who should have told the government where to go.
We cannot render UK citizens stateless. The law prevents us from doing so. The Home Secretary's decision to exclude her was upheld by the Supreme Court because, at the time it was made, it did not render her stateless. According to the evidence presented, she is now stateless due to her failure to do what was needed to retain her Bangladeshi citizenship.
She never held Bangladeshi citizenship, though was potentially eligible for it, so could not "retain" something she never had.
To be able to remove citizenship because someone is potentially eligible for anther citizenship is quite an authoritarian power. Potentially not just second generation migrants, but also those born in Northern Ireland and all Jews. Such power could easily be abused by an ethno-nationalist government, as for example India has done.
The courts clearly stated in their judgements that she held Bangladeshi citizenship by descent until her 21st birthday. She wasn't "potentially eligible" for Bangladeshi citizenship. She actually held it. Or do you know something the courts don't?
The decision that she held citizenship was based on Bangladesh's Citizenship Act 1951 Section 5 which states "Subject to the provisions of section 3 a person born after the commencement of this Act, shall be a citizen of Bangladesh by descent if his father or mother is a citizen of Bangladesh at the time of his birth:"
Bangladesh disagreed and said she wasn’t their problem. So, who should we believe? The courts or the country she is supposedly a citizen of? It seems a rather messy situation, legally speaking.
Matt Wardman - @mattwardman.bsky.social @mattwardman I'm from the locality. This is how I see it. These are from the Habib stream of RefUK, who supports Yaxley-Lennon etc. Heanor & Loscoe was a fairly prominent BNP/UKIP area; there may be unpalatable leftovers who have got in. Nigel Farage rejects Y-L & wants to look respectable. https://x.com/mattwardman/status/1878011574159392936
What is this DNO certificate and is there actually a realistic chance of by-elections occurring?
Delegated Nominating Officer - the person who tells the LA that yes, this person is authorised to stand for this party so they have this authorisation.
Thanks. So Farage is claiming certain nominations were illegitimate. Does that mean the election of those candidates can be voided? Is it up to him, then, to go an election court and make that case? Is he actually going to do that?
Farage always seemed a one man brand to me. i can't think of a time when he was an effective leader of any of his parties.
Sorry to hear about your cat.
My first cat was named after a David L.
I named him Livingstone because he was an explorer.
Plus Captain Picard's fish was called Livingston (no e), Christ I was such a geek in those days.
On the A 24 northbound from Horsham at Kingsfold there is a large pub with a now forgettable name such that I cannot recall it.
I was visiting my then girlfriend c 1979 and went past this pub which at the time was called Cromwells. I have no idea why it was so named. When we married, we got a lovely grey (and white chested) cat, he was called Cromwell. I bought a placemat from the pub for an exorbitant £5 and Crommy had his own mat. He was a lovely cat with a magical.personality.
When our kids were young we had a Siamese we called Christopher. Whom we addressed solely as KitKat.
I love how some posters this morning are unwittingly making it easier to crack the security questions on their bank accounts. Name of first pet?
It's a mistake for Farage to say we should accept the disgusting Begum back in the UK. She can rot in Syrian prison or they can deport her to Bangladesh. Just because Trump wants us to take her back it doesn't mean we should.
There is zero chance that she will face proper justice here for her crimes, a small slap on the wrist and probably a free council flat and benefits for life in Tower Hamlets is the most likely outcome.
A great number of people seem to be far more concerned for her, than they are for her victims and the victims of the group she willingly joined.
The middle position gets overlooked - she has behaved appallingly, and even at 15 should have known much better and deserves little from the UK, though if there were a general international repatriation programme from the area she currently lives she should be part of it. She should face justice in the UK. But what we should never do is land the problem on a not very wealthy third country (Bangladesh) who have nothing to do with it, nor should we render UK citizens stateless.
In this instance, rarely, Trump and Farage are more grown up than either Conservative or Labour, or the Supreme Court who should have told the government where to go.
We cannot render UK citizens stateless. The law prevents us from doing so. The Home Secretary's decision to exclude her was upheld by the Supreme Court because, at the time it was made, it did not render her stateless. According to the evidence presented, she is now stateless due to her failure to do what was needed to retain her Bangladeshi citizenship.
She never held Bangladeshi citizenship, though was potentially eligible for it, so could not "retain" something she never had.
To be able to remove citizenship because someone is potentially eligible for anther citizenship is quite an authoritarian power. Potentially not just second generation migrants, but also those born in Northern Ireland and all Jews. Such power could easily be abused by an ethno-nationalist government, as for example India has done.
The courts clearly stated in their judgements that she held Bangladeshi citizenship by descent until her 21st birthday. She wasn't "potentially eligible" for Bangladeshi citizenship. She actually held it. Or do you know something the courts don't?
The decision that she held citizenship was based on Bangladesh's Citizenship Act 1951 Section 5 which states "Subject to the provisions of section 3 a person born after the commencement of this Act, shall be a citizen of Bangladesh by descent if his father or mother is a citizen of Bangladesh at the time of his birth:"
"The state minister of foreign affairs of Bangladesh, Shahriar Alam, asserted in a statement to the British media just days after Javid’s announcement that Begum was not a citizen of Bangladesh and would be denied entry to the country."
France is a great power and anyone who defies it or disrespects it must face the consequences.
France must have the courage to denounce and put an end to the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968, which has become an immigration channel in its own right.
And in the face of the provocations of the Algerian regime which does not issue consular passes to its expelled nationals, we must drastically reduce the number of visas granted.
anyone who wants to be added to the PB list on Twitter, let me know (I'm MorrisF1) either here or there. Hopefully won't ever be needed but if the Act of Puritanical Censorship causes PB problems it could be used to more rapidly reconstitute a new site.
And, on a more self-absorbed note, my F1: 2025 Driver Lineup Predictions podcast (Undercutters ep4) is up here:
Slight problem with that is I’m not going near X regardless of any UK laws. It’s a swamp
If anybody really hates Twitter but wants to leave a means of contact, that's ok too. I appreciate people might not want to share their e-mail (although if I am an evil nefarious chap then waiting 16 years to gather e-mails is a pretty long con).
Edited extra bit: 18 years. I joined the site in 2007.
There are a lot of us on Bluesky. Possibly more than Twitter now.
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
It's 15 years ago that I was there. I quite liked Rangoon, which I found to be very different to a lot of South East Asia, perhaps a view to what Thailand and Vietnam looked like before the impact of the West. Even then though the number of Chinese goods was driving out local goods. I was mostly in Upper Burma though, which is the heartland of Burmese culture.
Burma was run as an outpost of British India, particularly to provide rice to Bengal. In 1942 Rangoon was 50% Bengali, most of whom fled, and often died, in the Empires longest retreat to India. This is a large factor in both the wartime Bengal famine, and the continuing animosity of Burmese to Muslims (seen as an Imperial presence inflicted by Britain on them). State of the art Victorian governance consisted of no say for local people in governance and forced extraction of resources at the point of a gun.
I really liked Burma and might get back there sometime. It has a dreadful and barbaric military government, but magnificent and largely intact cultures and landscapes. There may well be regime change at some point as the military have had a number of recent setbacks in the ongoing civil wars. The rebels vary from pro-democracy students to Narco-oligarchs, via a multiplicity of minority nationalists. To say that Myanmar politics is opaque is one of the great understatement.
Does it have anything to rival that famous Cambodian Temple city ?
The legend of Angkor Wat, I think it's called.
I have not been to Angkor Wat, but Bagan is one of the great sites. It was a city of 1 million people at one time, but all that is left now is the stone pagodas, perhaps a thousand of them in various states of ruin and size, with the civilian buildings all rotted away, leaving a massive plain of stupas.
Shortly before I visited all the local people were cleared off the site, at gunpoint by the SLORC military, without compensation, in order to make it more of a tourist site. Burma is full of that sort of brutal history amongst the beauty.
Angkor Wat is arguably THE single most impressive monument from the pre-modern world. And yes I’m including the pantheon, pyramids, Hagia Sophia, any medieval cathedrals (tho if you take them all together), Luxor; macchu pichu, Teotihuacan, and all
I’ve seen them all and Angkor Wat remains - to my mind - in a dreamy world of its own. Albeit now blighted by billions of tourists
I’ll be interested to compare Bagan. I very much doubt it’s in the same league but it does sound fabulous
I am excluding Gobekli Tepe and the tas Tepeler because you have to. They are more like alien cities from Martian invasions
I was going to say Gobekli Tepe is surely the most amazing example of ancient civilisation. Dated to 10,000 BC and it's just insane. Demolishes the idea that ancient humans were simple hunter gatherers and the African origin theory. It's been, err, interesting watching woke scientists try harder and harder to hold onto the African origin theory to the point of attempting to excommunicate scientists who dare to defy the prevailing theory. It's always amazing how scientific method takes a back seat when establishment approved ideas get disproved.
Matt Wardman - @mattwardman.bsky.social @mattwardman I'm from the locality. This is how I see it. These are from the Habib stream of RefUK, who supports Yaxley-Lennon etc. Heanor & Loscoe was a fairly prominent BNP/UKIP area; there may be unpalatable leftovers who have got in. Nigel Farage rejects Y-L & wants to look respectable. https://x.com/mattwardman/status/1878011574159392936
What is this DNO certificate and is there actually a realistic chance of by-elections occurring?
Delegated Nominating Officer - the person who tells the LA that yes, this person is authorised to stand for this party so they have this authorisation.
Thanks. So Farage is claiming certain nominations were illegitimate. Does that mean the election of those candidates can be voided? Is it up to him, then, to go an election court and make that case? Is he actually going to do that?
Stopped clocks are correct twice a day, and similarly Trump can occasionally say things I agree with. The likes of Begum are our responsibility.
We made the mess, and we should clear it up. If we are worried that the British legal system will not sentence her appropriately for what she has done, then we have a problem with our laws, which is very definitely ours to fix.
Rangoon is a bit of a shithole. A shithole full of post imperial noom but a bit of a shithole nonethiess
We built an entire and magnificent Victorian/Edwardian city on the banks of the woogly-waggly here, a mighty grid of banks and churches and city halls and customs houses and ornate Anglo-Burmese train stations - surrounding the golden pagodas - and now it all rots like a collection of Sicilian palazzi and trees grow through the roofs of the Port Authority HQ and Mon women, cheeks daubed with yellow thanaka paste, squat in the mildewed porches of the shuttered Strand Hotel selling tiny lychees and cheap Chinese dolls
There's some value in seeing it, though, as it's a perfect microcosm of much of the post-Imperial third world. At least that's what I thought when I was there a decade ago.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
It's 15 years ago that I was there. I quite liked Rangoon, which I found to be very different to a lot of South East Asia, perhaps a view to what Thailand and Vietnam looked like before the impact of the West. Even then though the number of Chinese goods was driving out local goods. I was mostly in Upper Burma though, which is the heartland of Burmese culture.
Burma was run as an outpost of British India, particularly to provide rice to Bengal. In 1942 Rangoon was 50% Bengali, most of whom fled, and often died, in the Empires longest retreat to India. This is a large factor in both the wartime Bengal famine, and the continuing animosity of Burmese to Muslims (seen as an Imperial presence inflicted by Britain on them). State of the art Victorian governance consisted of no say for local people in governance and forced extraction of resources at the point of a gun.
I really liked Burma and might get back there sometime. It has a dreadful and barbaric military government, but magnificent and largely intact cultures and landscapes. There may well be regime change at some point as the military have had a number of recent setbacks in the ongoing civil wars. The rebels vary from pro-democracy students to Narco-oligarchs, via a multiplicity of minority nationalists. To say that Myanmar politics is opaque is one of the great understatement.
Does it have anything to rival that famous Cambodian Temple city ?
The legend of Angkor Wat, I think it's called.
I have not been to Angkor Wat, but Bagan is one of the great sites. It was a city of 1 million people at one time, but all that is left now is the stone pagodas, perhaps a thousand of them in various states of ruin and size, with the civilian buildings all rotted away, leaving a massive plain of stupas.
Shortly before I visited all the local people were cleared off the site, at gunpoint by the SLORC military, without compensation, in order to make it more of a tourist site. Burma is full of that sort of brutal history amongst the beauty.
Angkor Wat is arguably THE single most impressive monument from the pre-modern world. And yes I’m including the pantheon, pyramids, Hagia Sophia, any medieval cathedrals (tho if you take them all together), Luxor; macchu pichu, Teotihuacan, and all
I’ve seen them all and Angkor Wat remains - to my mind - in a dreamy world of its own. Albeit now blighted by billions of tourists
I’ll be interested to compare Bagan. I very much doubt it’s in the same league but it does sound fabulous
I am excluding Gobekli Tepe and the tas Tepeler because you have to. They are more like alien cities from Martian invasions
I was going to say Gobekli Tepe is surely the most amazing example of ancient civilisation. Dated to 10,000 BC and it's just insane. Demolishes the idea that ancient humans were simple hunter gatherers and the African origin theory. It's been, err, interesting watching woke scientists try harder and harder to hold onto the African origin theory to the point of attempting to excommunicate scientists who dare to defy the prevailing theory. It's always amazing how scientific method takes a back seat when establishment approved ideas get disproved.
Comments
There’s a decent chance she would get the death penalty. Oh dear never mind etc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Ulster_Unionist_Council
But I fear the comparison you are making is more than a little ridiculous - if I've understood you correctly.
The reason that she isn’t dead, is courtesy to the requests of UK governments, to them.
The locals who did the same things got the death penalty, long since.
Edit: she hasn’t had “a day in court”. Legal proceedings about her citizenship and right to return are not a trial for her crimes.
We introduced state of the art Victorian governance and since we left, rather than build on our achievements with the added blessings of self-determination and democracy they have let it fall apart and the rest of the place with it.
A pattern replicated in many places, sadly, from Hong Kong to Freetown to Khartoum to Salisbury to ...
My reference to her day in court was precisely to the extensive legal proceedings taken by her to maintain her British citizenship. They went right up to the Supreme Court. Very few citizens - let alone young women in overseas countries abandoned by the terror organisations they joined - get such an opportunity. It is to the credit of our legal system, frankly, that such an unappealing person did have that right and opportunity. She lost that case and so has no legal right to return.
Whether that case was rightly decided I don't know. But it is currently the position.
Incidentally, the government's power to remove citizenship is an example of one of those slippery slopes. It started some time ago and all parties have been in favour of it and expanded it. See here - https://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2021/12/09/where-the-slippery-slope-leads/.
So, FPT on topic: The G is being a little mischievous, in that only 2 of the 12 are at County Council level (Greater Heanor, Alfreton and Summercotes), and the others are Little Councillors. So a dent (2 from 50 countrywide), but not a big dent.
But 9 of those are on Heanor and Loscoe town Council afaics, which is the same area. And that area has history quite some way to the Right (BNP, UKIP etc). I'm not sure how far that informs these events.
Plus they are arguing for Ben Habib, a former Reform Deputy Leader, and about "autocracy". They say Habib drew them to Reform. Habib has backed Musk and called for Yaxley-Lennon to be released. Autocracy is an easy call, when the whole party is literally owned by one man.
Farage is talking about a "rogue branch" (it's quite quick to develop one of those !), and is trying to portray himself as respectable.
I'm not sure where they have to go. One County Councillor is an ex-Tory, but if they have gone for the Habib stream of Reform, I don't see an easy way back. So probably Independents, as I don't see them going for a groupuscule party such as current UKIP.
In Derbyshire at Council Level they have one remaining District Councillor in Bolsover, who is also a defector from Conservative.
There is a note in the Spectator diary:
https://archive.is/20250110202421/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/reform-faces-councillor-exodus-as-12-set-to-quit-over-farage/
Open to correction on any errors, or extra information, as it's modestly intricate.
And if Trump tells Putin he's welcome to the Baltics (scarily this doesn't seem impossible), which way would Britain go?
For me Yangon is maybe the most striking example because in its day it was regarded as the most handsome colonial city in south east Asia if not all Asia (and you can see it now, the bones of it) and yet it has all been left to rot - albeit picturesquely - in the tropical heat
Eg they didn’t flatten it, the grid just sits there. With parrots roosting in the Edwardian post office
And it also underlines how far we’ve fallen intrinsically. We can’t even build a decent street in the uk, with a nice metro stop. Or if we do it takes 900 years. We used to casually assemble entire and noble cities over the Easter holidays
'Twinkletoes' called 'Tinker' confuses the hell out of these bots.
Burma was run as an outpost of British India, particularly to provide rice to Bengal. In 1942 Rangoon was 50% Bengali, most of whom fled, and often died, in the Empires longest retreat to India. This is a large factor in both the wartime Bengal famine, and the continuing animosity of Burmese to Muslims (seen as an Imperial presence inflicted by Britain on them). State of the art Victorian governance consisted of no say for local people in governance and forced extraction of resources at the point of a gun.
I really liked Burma and might get back there sometime. It has a dreadful and barbaric military government, but magnificent and largely intact cultures and landscapes. There may well be regime change at some point as the military have had a number of recent setbacks in the ongoing civil wars. The rebels vary from pro-democracy students to Narco-oligarchs, via a multiplicity of minority nationalists. To say that Myanmar politics is opaque is one of the great understatement.
I'm relying here on the word of Mr M, who says we have reliable evidence, and cross-questionable witnesses in UK.If we haven't, that's different.
What I don't think is right, though, is leaving her to rot, without someone listening to her case.
It all makes it impossible to set entirely safe security questions, so I just keep my entire substantial fortune under my mattress at 48 Palmerston Avenue, Lewisham.
The legend of Angkor Wat, I think it's called.
(My takeaway is that they have to work REALLY hard on candidate vetting.)
Zia Yusuf @ZiaYusufUK
This is dishonest from the Guardian.
They failed to publish @Nigel_Farage’s full statement to them.
The leader of this group of “councillors” was suspended weeks ago by Reform for:
1) nominating candidates that failed vetting.
2) fraudulently nominating candidates with an invalid DNO certificate.
As a result of (2), several of these ‘councillors’ are illegitimate and new elections must be held.
Reform stands for the highest standards in public life, and those who commit fraud will always be expelled.
https://x.com/ZiaYusufUK/status/1877816469201027468
It's getting traffic - 200k+ reads.
Even my reply below is over 1.2k
Matt Wardman - @mattwardman.bsky.social @mattwardman
I'm from the locality. This is how I see it.
These are from the Habib stream of RefUK, who supports Yaxley-Lennon etc. Heanor & Loscoe was a fairly prominent BNP/UKIP area; there may be unpalatable leftovers who have got in.
Nigel Farage rejects Y-L & wants to look respectable.
https://x.com/mattwardman/status/1878011574159392936
I wonder what's going on there.
Not least because much of Europe would use it as an excuse for another round of defence cuts.
Shortly before I visited all the local people were cleared off the site, at gunpoint by the SLORC military, without compensation, in order to make it more of a tourist site. Burma is full of that sort of brutal history amongst the beauty.
Overall I think Reform will weather the councillors leaving as growing pains.
David Benioff is the son of a former Goldman Sachs CEO, David Friedman, and often used Tyrion as his avatar.
Though as Farage is the biggest asset for Reform I can't see him being removed
The bit I don't get as you also say is why is Trump concerned about it..
Big troubles ahead.
On the other hand I hate a lot of his policies but Farage is 100% correct about Begum she is the responsibility of the UK
PB Bluesky - names edited out for slightly less clarity.
@davidherdson.bsky.social
@stuartteachphys.bsky.social
@cyclefree.bsky.social
@hwwpotts.bsky.social
@jydenham.bsky.social
@eek.bsky.social
@goat.navy
@jwsidders.bsky.social
@alastairmeeks.bsky.social
@foxinsoxuk.bsky.social
I think I have seen @rcs1000 somewhere, but I'm not sure about @TSE .
She says she wants a long-term relationship with China that is "squarely in our national interest" and on Saturday said agreements reached in Beijing would be worth £600m to the UK over the next five years.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqx9jggw9ndo
These numbers are normally load of nonsense padded BS (The investment summit claimed £100bn or something stupid), but £100m a year, she got the Temu version of an agreement...
That's not too difficult to explain either.
Farage has a history of deciding to prioritise earning money in the States getting bored of leadership, resigning, then taking it back later.
Feels like more chance than a simple roll of a die that he might do that again this year.
So many of the Thatcher era's - and New Labour's - myopic decisions are coming home to roost.
To be able to remove citizenship because someone is potentially eligible for anther citizenship is quite an authoritarian power. Potentially not just second generation migrants, but also those born in Northern Ireland and all Jews. Such power could easily be abused by an ethno-nationalist government, as for example India has done.
A council which signed a £1bn investment deal with a Chinese manufacturing firm three years ago has admitted the deal is now "dead".
Sheffield City Council announced the 60-year agreement with the Sichuan Guodong construction firm in 2016.
It was hailed a "massive vote of confidence" for the city but will now not happen, a councillor has said.
However, the authority said it had "no regrets" because the deal had "put Sheffield on the map".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-48925175
Under PR less so as the Tories and Reform could just form coalition governments after the election as the centre right and populist and nationalist right now do in Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and most likely now Austria too
I’ve seen them all and Angkor Wat remains - to my mind - in a dreamy world of its own. Albeit now blighted by billions of tourists
I’ll be interested to compare Bagan. I very much doubt it’s in the same league but it does sound fabulous
I am excluding Gobekli Tepe and the tas Tepeler because you have to. They are more like alien cities from Martian invasions
https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/guidance-candidates-and-agents-local-government-elections-england/nominations/completing-your-nomination-papers/candidates-standing-behalf-political-parties/certificate-authorisation
The decision that she held citizenship was based on Bangladesh's Citizenship Act 1951 Section 5 which states "Subject to the provisions of section 3 a person born after the commencement of this Act, shall be a citizen of Bangladesh by descent if his father or mother is a citizen of Bangladesh at the time of his birth:"
https://www.gov.uk/challenge-election-result
most challenges can only be done within 21 days. So no.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/3/19/shamima-begum-british-citizenship
She has never held a Bangladeshi passport and never been to the country. Bangladesh says she has never been a citizen.
https://x.com/gabrielattal/status/1877811005138366564
France is a great power and anyone who defies it or disrespects it must face the consequences.
France must have the courage to denounce and put an end to the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968, which has become an immigration channel in its own right.
And in the face of the provocations of the Algerian regime which does not issue consular passes to its expelled nationals, we must drastically reduce the number of visas granted.
The time for firmness has come.
you think there have been corrupt or illegal practices, for example bribery"
Although it appears the party leadership can't challenge, it has to be a group of at least 4 local electors, or one of the candidates
We made the mess, and we should clear it up. If we are worried that the British legal system will not sentence her appropriately for what she has done, then we have a problem with our laws, which is very definitely ours to fix.