In suggesting Labour is on unsafe ground in Ilford North, we are, of course, assuming that pro-Gaza Independents will still be a thing in May 2029. Apart from any other consideration we'll have a different US president to deal with.
But what will Gaza be like given the Trumpdozer and his mates seem to want to make it prime real estate.
Take Trump seriously but not literally and work out the possibilities from there.
Can anyone tell us what is the best plan as yet from anyone with power but who isn't Trump?
Stick with a 2-state solution. Put pressure on Israel to accept it. The US could do this if they wanted to.
No, they couldn’t
After October 7 there is no two state solution. It’s done
So what’s next? The only world leader offering ANY future to the Palestinians is - irony of ironies - Donald Trump
What future?
He's offering them a forced relocation to the desert whilst providing the Israelis with more bombs. No doubt as soon as they move they will be bombed and once they settle they will be bombed. What choice?
There was a Israeli spokeswoman on the WATO who's rhetoric was indistinguishable from Nazi pamphlets. And this is a spokeswoman. Imagine what is said behind the scenes. Hopefully the Arabs will now understand that America will always support Israeli aggression. And Israel will always want more.
AIUI he wants them to go to Indonesia
If Jakarta can be persuaded (that’s one of the world’s bigger ifs) that would be a great choice. Sunny, fertile, Muslim but quite relaxed, and in a booming part of the world
Because, let’s face it, what is the alternative? After October 7 Israel will NEVER agree to a 2 state solution. It was already extremely unlikely Palestinians would be allowed to return to their homes pre 1947, now it is utterly impossible
So what’s left? They will just sit there, in squalor and misery, in the rubble of Gaza, for the rest of time? That’s it? I doubt it. If I were Palestinian I would hate Jews so much I would try and do another October 7, eventually one of them will succeed, so we have another October 7, and this time Israel will kill 80,000 or 500,000 not 40,000, or maybe Israel will kill all of them, fuck knows but that is the future unless someone suggests a new and radically different solution
I believe the cumulative death toll is closer to 500 000 than 40 000.
You state everything as absolute and predetermined I think differently. Israel will do what the US requires of them and once Americans are no longer willing to fund endless atrocities these immutable ideas will change. You cannot bomb your neighbours and threaten a continent whilst living on a postage stamp.
Israel relies on a mercurial superpower for most of their weapons and have a population of 10 million. They will have to compromise.
Weren't we rather postage stamp-sized relatively in 1940s and didn't we need to rely on the US to do what was right. So what you suggest is not inevitable.
We had 20 odd miles of moat and an empire. Israel is surrounded by places it has bombed and some concrete walls. You're a shouty military man do you really think they will ever be secure?
"We had 20 odd miles of moat and an empire."
Genuinely LOL.
Do you suppose our moat would have protected us absent US involvement.
The US wasn't secure on 9/11 and in Boston. We weren't secure from PIRA and latterly from IS-inspired events. Is Israel secure? Evidently not either as we have seen. But is it an existential threat - yes as far as Hamas and plenty of "ordinary decent Palestinians" are concerned. But practically no. They aren't going anywhere any time soon.
Unlike it seems perhaps according to The Donald's latest idea, those selfsame Palestinians.
Our 'moat' did protect us. Hitler abandoned Operation Sea Lion after losing the Battle of Britain ... hat-tip Polish and Czechoslovak pilots ..... and turned his face East. With eventually fatal results.
Irrelevant. Without the US we would have run out of everything.
Things were running very close, I grant you. But the US was continuing to SELL us some at least of what we needed. And we weren't starving. Close, admittedly. I was there, and I remember.
I think the acknowledged view (correct me if I'm wrong) is that without Lend Lease things would have ground to a halt.
We sometimes forget (I don't!) how extraordinary those times must have been for people who lived through it. My parents did.
Nah, I lived through part of the war and those times seemed quite normal to me
Yikes - seems extraordinary. Or did you seek to normalise the situation in order to cope?
In suggesting Labour is on unsafe ground in Ilford North, we are, of course, assuming that pro-Gaza Independents will still be a thing in May 2029. Apart from any other consideration we'll have a different US president to deal with.
But what will Gaza be like given the Trumpdozer and his mates seem to want to make it prime real estate.
Take Trump seriously but not literally and work out the possibilities from there.
Can anyone tell us what is the best plan as yet from anyone with power but who isn't Trump?
Stick with a 2-state solution. Put pressure on Israel to accept it. The US could do this if they wanted to.
No, they couldn’t
After October 7 there is no two state solution. It’s done
So what’s next? The only world leader offering ANY future to the Palestinians is - irony of ironies - Donald Trump
Not really. China, France, Russia, the UK, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada, the EU, Egypt and Turkey, the US Democrats all still back a 2 state solution.
Only Hamas, who still want to wipe Israel from the map in theory and Trump and Netanyahu, who want to wipe Palestine from the map and have a greater Israel, disagree
Err...hamas and israeil disagree....the only two parties actually relevent....the ones that agree dont actually get a say
They do, as nothing can be agreed without support from the UN Security Council and their neighbours as well
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
In suggesting Labour is on unsafe ground in Ilford North, we are, of course, assuming that pro-Gaza Independents will still be a thing in May 2029. Apart from any other consideration we'll have a different US president to deal with.
But what will Gaza be like given the Trumpdozer and his mates seem to want to make it prime real estate.
Take Trump seriously but not literally and work out the possibilities from there.
Can anyone tell us what is the best plan as yet from anyone with power but who isn't Trump?
Stick with a 2-state solution. Put pressure on Israel to accept it. The US could do this if they wanted to.
No, they couldn’t
After October 7 there is no two state solution. It’s done
So what’s next? The only world leader offering ANY future to the Palestinians is - irony of ironies - Donald Trump
What future?
He's offering them a forced relocation to the desert whilst providing the Israelis with more bombs. No doubt as soon as they move they will be bombed and once they settle they will be bombed. What choice?
There was a Israeli spokeswoman on the WATO who's rhetoric was indistinguishable from Nazi pamphlets. And this is a spokeswoman. Imagine what is said behind the scenes. Hopefully the Arabs will now understand that America will always support Israeli aggression. And Israel will always want more.
AIUI he wants them to go to Indonesia
If Jakarta can be persuaded (that’s one of the world’s bigger ifs) that would be a great choice. Sunny, fertile, Muslim but quite relaxed, and in a booming part of the world
Because, let’s face it, what is the alternative? After October 7 Israel will NEVER agree to a 2 state solution. It was already extremely unlikely Palestinians would be allowed to return to their homes pre 1947, now it is utterly impossible
So what’s left? They will just sit there, in squalor and misery, in the rubble of Gaza, for the rest of time? That’s it? I doubt it. If I were Palestinian I would hate Jews so much I would try and do another October 7, eventually one of them will succeed, so we have another October 7, and this time Israel will kill 80,000 or 500,000 not 40,000, or maybe Israel will kill all of them, fuck knows but that is the future unless someone suggests a new and radically different solution
I believe the cumulative death toll is closer to 500 000 than 40 000.
You state everything as absolute and predetermined I think differently. Israel will do what the US requires of them and once Americans are no longer willing to fund endless atrocities these immutable ideas will change. You cannot bomb your neighbours and threaten a continent whilst living on a postage stamp.
Israel relies on a mercurial superpower for most of their weapons and have a population of 10 million. They will have to compromise.
Weren't we rather postage stamp-sized relatively in 1940s and didn't we need to rely on the US to do what was right. So what you suggest is not inevitable.
We had 20 odd miles of moat and an empire. Israel is surrounded by places it has bombed and some concrete walls. You're a shouty military man do you really think they will ever be secure?
"We had 20 odd miles of moat and an empire."
Genuinely LOL.
Do you suppose our moat would have protected us absent US involvement.
The US wasn't secure on 9/11 and in Boston. We weren't secure from PIRA and latterly from IS-inspired events. Is Israel secure? Evidently not either as we have seen. But is it an existential threat - yes as far as Hamas and plenty of "ordinary decent Palestinians" are concerned. But practically no. They aren't going anywhere any time soon.
Unlike it seems perhaps according to The Donald's latest idea, those selfsame Palestinians.
Our 'moat' did protect us. Hitler abandoned Operation Sea Lion after losing the Battle of Britain ... hat-tip Polish and Czechoslovak pilots ..... and turned his face East. With eventually fatal results.
Irrelevant. Without the US we would have run out of everything.
Things were running very close, I grant you. But the US was continuing to SELL us some at least of what we needed. And we weren't starving. Close, admittedly. I was there, and I remember.
I think the acknowledged view (correct me if I'm wrong) is that without Lend Lease things would have ground to a halt.
We sometimes forget (I don't!) how extraordinary those times must have been for people who lived through it. My parents did.
Nah, I lived through part of the war and those times seemed quite normal to me
Yikes - seems extraordinary. Or did you seek to normalise the situation in order to cope?
I confess some admiration for Trump's policy-making: throw the spaghetti at the ceiling and see what sticks. That may be the only way with traditionally intractable problems. Tough on the Gazans, but what could be tougher than what they've been going through as a result of their own government's (Hamas's) depravity?
I would invite you to revisit this when we see where (if anywhere) it all goes.
Weird from Met Police. Not going to investigate any potential Covid transgression if it occurred more than three years ago. Have I got that right? Who decided that. Seems bonkers as the beginning of Covid is coming up for its fifth anniversary.
She may have a point 'In their original article, the doctors argue that most preparation can be done using a combination of a "blunt, round nose" knife and another which, although sharp, is also short enough (under 5cm) to render it less likely to be lethal if used as a weapon. TV chef Anthony Worrall Thompson agrees, observing that in the Far East, pointed knives are used very rarely and that "for everyday cooking, a square-end or blunt-ended knife is OK".
Lovely PMI report for January. Highlights include:
'incoming new work declined in January'
I could go on. It's pretty grim.
Perhaps that explains the otherwise inexplicable Chagos debacle
“Quick, do a deal so mind-fuckingly terrible and misguided it distracts from the way we have utterly trashed the economy”
Like Putin invading Ukraine but with more annoying lawyers
Look, you haven’t been in the relevant secret security briefings on Chagos, so you haven’t a well informed clue what you are blathering on about on this subject. When the British PM, foreign office, Pentagon, and both Presidents and administrations of Biden and Trump all agree on something and sign it off, what more do you know they all don’t?
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
I confess some admiration for Trump's policy-making: throw the spaghetti at the ceiling and see what sticks. That may be the only way with traditionally intractable problems. Tough on the Gazans, but what could be tougher than what they've been going through as a result of their own government's (Hamas's) depravity?
I would invite you to revisit this when we see where (if anywhere) it all goes.
This stuff betrays how unserious the Conservative ecosystem has become about actually winning votes from anyone under the age of about 60.
Taking the piss out of centrists dads is just an extension of doing the same to Millenials. The trouble is this cohort are now an important part of the electorate, and they voted 44:14 Labour:Conservative.
With Reform eating up the pensioner/WWC vote... what's left?
In suggesting Labour is on unsafe ground in Ilford North, we are, of course, assuming that pro-Gaza Independents will still be a thing in May 2029. Apart from any other consideration we'll have a different US president to deal with.
But what will Gaza be like given the Trumpdozer and his mates seem to want to make it prime real estate.
Take Trump seriously but not literally and work out the possibilities from there.
Can anyone tell us what is the best plan as yet from anyone with power but who isn't Trump?
Stick with a 2-state solution. Put pressure on Israel to accept it. The US could do this if they wanted to.
No, they couldn’t
After October 7 there is no two state solution. It’s done
So what’s next? The only world leader offering ANY future to the Palestinians is - irony of ironies - Donald Trump
What future?
He's offering them a forced relocation to the desert whilst providing the Israelis with more bombs. No doubt as soon as they move they will be bombed and once they settle they will be bombed. What choice?
There was a Israeli spokeswoman on the WATO who's rhetoric was indistinguishable from Nazi pamphlets. And this is a spokeswoman. Imagine what is said behind the scenes. Hopefully the Arabs will now understand that America will always support Israeli aggression. And Israel will always want more.
More security? More ways to stop terrorists murdering, abducting, raping? Lots of what Israel has done in the name of responding to 7th October can be seen as over the top, barbaric, a step too far. For sure. But then Hamas sought this out. They sewed the wind. What did they think would happen?
Why stop at Oct 7th, the history goes back decades.
Yes, it does, but Oct 7th was what caused the latest flare up in a long line of hate.
At some point people need to sit down together with their enemies and talk. Its happened in Northern Ireland thankfully. Why not in the ME?
I suppose one advantage in Nirthern Ireland was that an increasing number of people didn't regard themselves as Protestant or Catholic, or even if they did, didn't think that defined them.any more.
In Northern Ireland, the security forces penetrated both sides to the point that their double agents were using “internal security” in the terrorist organisations to murder those opposed to a deal.
The government(s) had total financial and military control.
They used the above to buy off The Men Of Violence on both sides with well paid jobs. Their criminal enterprises are also protected from the police.
None of this applies to Israel/Palestine
That's certainly a large part of the story, but I think there were other factors, such as the relative decline of religion.
and the border had less meaning because both Ireland and the UK were in the EU.
So we just need to get Israel and the Palestinian Authority to join the EU.
We could ask for a Palestinian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.
I wonder if we did, whether there would be the same degree of protection needed for their contestant as there was for the Israeli entry last year.
Or have to be!
I suppose your view is that it would have been better had Israel done nothing after October 7th.
You suppose wrong!
Life's too short to ask when you would have stopped. How many dead Gazans would you, as Bibi, have said okay enough's enough.
I don't know from where you're getting the idea that I sympathise much with either side. Oct 7th was a dreadful atrocity, but so is Israel's response. Now.
You just said you don't think Israel should have done nothing so you approve of their response. But not, I assume, the extent of it. Have I got that right?
If yes, then when, as Israel would you have stopped. Or would you rather the response would have been something else. If so, what?
Good question, and I'm not chickening out. It's almost impossible situation, given Netenyahu's(?sp) political and legal problems, and Hamas' blindness. I suggest that, if by some miracle, a pause could have been negotiated, as now, those of less ill-will should try to get the hostages out and a cease-fire. I would suggest that continuing the Israeli attacks is simply acting as a recruiting agent for the next generation of Hamas fighters.
In suggesting Labour is on unsafe ground in Ilford North, we are, of course, assuming that pro-Gaza Independents will still be a thing in May 2029. Apart from any other consideration we'll have a different US president to deal with.
But what will Gaza be like given the Trumpdozer and his mates seem to want to make it prime real estate.
Take Trump seriously but not literally and work out the possibilities from there.
Can anyone tell us what is the best plan as yet from anyone with power but who isn't Trump?
Stick with a 2-state solution. Put pressure on Israel to accept it. The US could do this if they wanted to.
No, they couldn’t
After October 7 there is no two state solution. It’s done
So what’s next? The only world leader offering ANY future to the Palestinians is - irony of ironies - Donald Trump
Not really. China, France, Russia, the UK, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada, the EU, Egypt and Turkey, the US Democrats all still back a 2 state solution.
Only Hamas, who still want to wipe Israel from the map in theory and Trump and Netanyahu, who want to wipe Palestine from the map and have a greater Israel, disagree
Palestine badly needs an inspiring leader. A Mandela or Zelenskyy or even a Sakashvili. Someone who can communicate a vision to their people while pressing the right buttons with world leaders, and make their small country’s cause the world’s cause while reassuring Israel.
They’ve never had this. Arafat was a bit weird, and they’ve since had a succession of uninspiring technocratic types in the PA and terrorists in Gaza.
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
He has (like too many politicians) a somewhat unfortunate "backpfeifengesicht" as the Germans might say
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Well no idea. However nobody has done it since the NHS was founded.
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
She may have a point 'In their original article, the doctors argue that most preparation can be done using a combination of a "blunt, round nose" knife and another which, although sharp, is also short enough (under 5cm) to render it less likely to be lethal if used as a weapon. TV chef Anthony Worrall Thompson agrees, observing that in the Far East, pointed knives are used very rarely and that "for everyday cooking, a square-end or blunt-ended knife is OK".
As a cook who’s managed to stab myself a couple of times* with the pointy end, I wouldn’t object, either.
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
I think too far to the Blairite wing of the party. That wouldn't be an issue at the GE, but would be for the leadership contest. I don't think he would get much support from unions or membership and probably not a lot from the MPs either.
He might be a candidate in the longer term, but not the next contest.
She may have a point 'In their original article, the doctors argue that most preparation can be done using a combination of a "blunt, round nose" knife and another which, although sharp, is also short enough (under 5cm) to render it less likely to be lethal if used as a weapon. TV chef Anthony Worrall Thompson agrees, observing that in the Far East, pointed knives are used very rarely and that "for everyday cooking, a square-end or blunt-ended knife is OK".
As a cook who’s managed to stab myself a couple of times* with the pointy end, I wouldn’t object, either.
*Unintentionally
The way I cook I've tried several times and missed.
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
The Yutt carrying knives down their sweats aren't using mums best vegetable knife to stab each other.
In suggesting Labour is on unsafe ground in Ilford North, we are, of course, assuming that pro-Gaza Independents will still be a thing in May 2029. Apart from any other consideration we'll have a different US president to deal with.
But what will Gaza be like given the Trumpdozer and his mates seem to want to make it prime real estate.
Take Trump seriously but not literally and work out the possibilities from there.
Can anyone tell us what is the best plan as yet from anyone with power but who isn't Trump?
Stick with a 2-state solution. Put pressure on Israel to accept it. The US could do this if they wanted to.
No, they couldn’t
After October 7 there is no two state solution. It’s done
So what’s next? The only world leader offering ANY future to the Palestinians is - irony of ironies - Donald Trump
Not really. China, France, Russia, the UK, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada, the EU, Egypt and Turkey, the US Democrats all still back a 2 state solution.
Only Hamas, who still want to wipe Israel from the map in theory and Trump and Netanyahu, who want to wipe Palestine from the map and have a greater Israel, disagree
Err...hamas and israeil disagree....the only two parties actually relevent....the ones that agree dont actually get a say
Without going round in circles (as in embarking on a classic CiF Israel/Palestinian "debate"), do you think that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza was an attempt to see whether a two state solution could work in practice. Or do you think that Gaza was still a "prison" and resistance showed that the PA or Hamas just needed to keep going to get complete freedom.
I think when israel was helping rebuild gaza prior to 2006 the palestinian response was to elect hamas....A time when gaza had hope and the palestinians chose fuck you as the answer
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
In suggesting Labour is on unsafe ground in Ilford North, we are, of course, assuming that pro-Gaza Independents will still be a thing in May 2029. Apart from any other consideration we'll have a different US president to deal with.
But what will Gaza be like given the Trumpdozer and his mates seem to want to make it prime real estate.
Take Trump seriously but not literally and work out the possibilities from there.
Can anyone tell us what is the best plan as yet from anyone with power but who isn't Trump?
Stick with a 2-state solution. Put pressure on Israel to accept it. The US could do this if they wanted to.
No, they couldn’t
After October 7 there is no two state solution. It’s done
So what’s next? The only world leader offering ANY future to the Palestinians is - irony of ironies - Donald Trump
For once you are right Leon. Build back better. Hotels, beach resorts and casinos from the river to the sea, it has to be. The biggest best holiday camp, better even than Filey, and the safest and most secure Hotels in the world as no one would wish to target them.
We are blessed to have a PBer who shares identical thinking with Trump, so can achieve justice and fairness, a win win for all, from even the most impossible situations.
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
But as a policy to reduce violence, it is (forgive the pun) missing the point.
In suggesting Labour is on unsafe ground in Ilford North, we are, of course, assuming that pro-Gaza Independents will still be a thing in May 2029. Apart from any other consideration we'll have a different US president to deal with.
But what will Gaza be like given the Trumpdozer and his mates seem to want to make it prime real estate.
Take Trump seriously but not literally and work out the possibilities from there.
Can anyone tell us what is the best plan as yet from anyone with power but who isn't Trump?
Stick with a 2-state solution. Put pressure on Israel to accept it. The US could do this if they wanted to.
No, they couldn’t
After October 7 there is no two state solution. It’s done
So what’s next? The only world leader offering ANY future to the Palestinians is - irony of ironies - Donald Trump
Not really. China, France, Russia, the UK, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada, the EU, Egypt and Turkey, the US Democrats all still back a 2 state solution.
Only Hamas, who still want to wipe Israel from the map in theory and Trump and Netanyahu, who want to wipe Palestine from the map and have a greater Israel, disagree
Err...hamas and israeil disagree....the only two parties actually relevent....the ones that agree dont actually get a say
They do, as nothing can be agreed without support from the UN Security Council and their neighbours as well
Don't be daft the un security council is a waste of time with no teeth. They are the gumless poodle of world politics nothing they say or do is relevant to anyone. The un would be better abolished as the useless turd it is
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
She may have a point 'In their original article, the doctors argue that most preparation can be done using a combination of a "blunt, round nose" knife and another which, although sharp, is also short enough (under 5cm) to render it less likely to be lethal if used as a weapon. TV chef Anthony Worrall Thompson agrees, observing that in the Far East, pointed knives are used very rarely and that "for everyday cooking, a square-end or blunt-ended knife is OK".
As a cook who’s managed to stab myself a couple of times* with the pointy end, I wouldn’t object, either.
*Unintentionally
After Worral Thompson presented the case on TV I tried very hard and failed to find suitable round-ended kitchen knives. That said, in preparing food it was never the pointy end that drew my own blood. ... Knife skills eh?
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Correct.
The NHS kills political careers.
I'll shorten that for you. The NHS kills.
Well, it's sorted out two different cancers in me, so that's wrong.
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
But as a policy to reduce violence, it is (forgive the pun) missing the point.
You bring in non pointy knives they will use screwdrivers etc which are actually a lot better for stabbing
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
But as a policy to reduce violence, it is (forgive the pun) missing the point.
You bring in non pointy knives they will use screwdrivers etc which are actually a lot better for stabbing
We don't hear so much about acid attacks these days. Have they fallen in number (along side the rise of stabby stabby), because pre-COVID that seemed to be another popular tactics for gang on gang violence, and impossible to stop as so many household products are available that can be used.
On topic, I seriously doubt Streeting will succeed Starmer anyway for two reasons, firstly the left and soft left of Labour really don't like him. The person who succeeds Starmer - either in power or as opposition leader after a loss - is likely to be someone who can at least put feelers out to those people, and someone who makes the party feel better about itself over someone telling it hard truths about power.
Secondly, he's not a woman. That may sound daft but Labour is quite obviously embarrassed now about never electing a female leade. Given the Chancellor, DPM, Home Secretary, education secretary, and plenty of the more prominent mid-ranking ministers or backbenchers who could try an insurgent campaign are women, there's not going to be a good excuse that the bloke is the only viable option this time unless the field thins out massively.
Same reason Burnham may struggle should he ever get back to Westminster - though the first point doesn't apply - so maybe slightly better place if he can become an MP.
Labour won't elect a woman to be leader, they never have despite many chances what makes you think they wont go for another white middle aged male....people have said the next labour leader will have to be a woman for almost 2 decades.....hasn't happened yet
Labour have had one leadership election in which there was a female candidate who'd previously held any of the great offices of state or shadowed them - 2015 when the Corbyn wave took hold and di for Yvette Cooper. In the next leadership election there could be two (or more) plus Angela Rayner, who is Deputy Prime Minister.
For all you say 'they have had plenty of chances', it's not really been true has it - at least in the contests themselves.
You can argue Labour created that situation by not promoting women to enough high profile roles or allowing those who get there to be torn down by internal and external opponents. But if you look at who the candidates have been, (Beckett in 94, Abbott in 10, Cooper 15, Nandy and RLB 2020) only really Cooper has an argument to say she was the most qualified candidate but overlooked in favour of mediocre men the party liked more.
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
I confess some admiration for Trump's policy-making: throw the spaghetti at the ceiling and see what sticks. That may be the only way with traditionally intractable problems. Tough on the Gazans, but what could be tougher than what they've been going through as a result of their own government's (Hamas's) depravity?
I would invite you to revisit this when we see where (if anywhere) it all goes.
You think the answer is more of the same?
No, neither do I have a plan. It's way above my paygrade. But I would like to see the US use its leverage in a less frivolous manner. I see little chance of this with the current occupant of the WH.
But, you know, I might be wrong and perhaps your admiration for him is merited. It'll become clear pretty soon which is which. That's all I meant. Don't get too bedazzled by his shtick. Let's see how things pan out.
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Correct.
The NHS kills political careers.
I'll shorten that for you. The NHS kills.
Well, it's sorted out two different cancers in me, so that's wrong.
I dare say "it" didn't, but teams of individual clinicians did .
It is time people started seeing the NHS as a bureaucracy rather than an organisation that must never be criticised. It is this deification that causes the institution to believe it is beyond reproach and is a root cause of sloppy processes and lack of best practice.
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
In suggesting Labour is on unsafe ground in Ilford North, we are, of course, assuming that pro-Gaza Independents will still be a thing in May 2029. Apart from any other consideration we'll have a different US president to deal with.
But what will Gaza be like given the Trumpdozer and his mates seem to want to make it prime real estate.
Take Trump seriously but not literally and work out the possibilities from there.
Can anyone tell us what is the best plan as yet from anyone with power but who isn't Trump?
Stick with a 2-state solution. Put pressure on Israel to accept it. The US could do this if they wanted to.
No, they couldn’t
After October 7 there is no two state solution. It’s done
So what’s next? The only world leader offering ANY future to the Palestinians is - irony of ironies - Donald Trump
What future?
He's offering them a forced relocation to the desert whilst providing the Israelis with more bombs. No doubt as soon as they move they will be bombed and once they settle they will be bombed. What choice?
There was a Israeli spokeswoman on the WATO who's rhetoric was indistinguishable from Nazi pamphlets. And this is a spokeswoman. Imagine what is said behind the scenes. Hopefully the Arabs will now understand that America will always support Israeli aggression. And Israel will always want more.
More security? More ways to stop terrorists murdering, abducting, raping? Lots of what Israel has done in the name of responding to 7th October can be seen as over the top, barbaric, a step too far. For sure. But then Hamas sought this out. They sewed the wind. What did they think would happen?
Why stop at Oct 7th, the history goes back decades.
Yes, it does, but Oct 7th was what caused the latest flare up in a long line of hate.
At some point people need to sit down together with their enemies and talk. Its happened in Northern Ireland thankfully. Why not in the ME?
I suppose one advantage in Nirthern Ireland was that an increasing number of people didn't regard themselves as Protestant or Catholic, or even if they did, didn't think that defined them.any more.
In Northern Ireland, the security forces penetrated both sides to the point that their double agents were using “internal security” in the terrorist organisations to murder those opposed to a deal.
The government(s) had total financial and military control.
They used the above to buy off The Men Of Violence on both sides with well paid jobs. Their criminal enterprises are also protected from the police.
None of this applies to Israel/Palestine
That's certainly a large part of the story, but I think there were other factors, such as the relative decline of religion.
and the border had less meaning because both Ireland and the UK were in the EU.
So we just need to get Israel and the Palestinian Authority to join the EU.
We could ask for a Palestinian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.
I wonder if we did, whether there would be the same degree of protection needed for their contestant as there was for the Israeli entry last year.
Or have to be!
I suppose your view is that it would have been better had Israel done nothing after October 7th.
You suppose wrong!
Life's too short to ask when you would have stopped. How many dead Gazans would you, as Bibi, have said okay enough's enough.
I don't know from where you're getting the idea that I sympathise much with either side. Oct 7th was a dreadful atrocity, but so is Israel's response. Now.
You just said you don't think Israel should have done nothing so you approve of their response. But not, I assume, the extent of it. Have I got that right?
If yes, then when, as Israel would you have stopped. Or would you rather the response would have been something else. If so, what?
Good question, and I'm not chickening out. It's almost impossible situation, given Netenyahu's(?sp) political and legal problems, and Hamas' blindness. I suggest that, if by some miracle, a pause could have been negotiated, as now, those of less ill-will should try to get the hostages out and a cease-fire. I would suggest that continuing the Israeli attacks is simply acting as a recruiting agent for the next generation of Hamas fighters.
'preciate your response. It was an almost impossible situation. That pause might (might) have come around more quickly had Hamas released the hostages at any time over the past 15+ months. But at the outset Bibi said the mission was to destroy Hamas so maybe not (although global pressure would likely have been difficult to withstand if Hamas released the hostages).
So the bottom line is, as per your post, the best solution was an I wouldn't have started from here approach. Hamas took the hostages, weren't minded to give them all back at any point (still aren't), and Israel decided to take the war to them.
No solutions. But you blame Israel for responding to an impossible predicament to the extent that you justify Israeli contestants at Eurovision being harassed and therefore needing protection.
She may have a point 'In their original article, the doctors argue that most preparation can be done using a combination of a "blunt, round nose" knife and another which, although sharp, is also short enough (under 5cm) to render it less likely to be lethal if used as a weapon. TV chef Anthony Worrall Thompson agrees, observing that in the Far East, pointed knives are used very rarely and that "for everyday cooking, a square-end or blunt-ended knife is OK".
As a cook who’s managed to stab myself a couple of times* with the pointy end, I wouldn’t object, either.
*Unintentionally
You're interested in golf, Nigel, aren't you?
So you'll have seen that the world #1, Scottie Scheffler, recently injured himself in a kitchen accident and had to miss two tournaments.
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
You merely have to type his voice coaches name into Google, and you can see her tits. Just saying.
Hyufd has tits?
They weren't obvious when I knew him at uni...
And where did you study? I'm mainly asking so that I can reinforce my prejudices. Bad answers would include Oxford, and I'm off the bridge if you say Sussex.
On topic, I seriously doubt Streeting will succeed Starmer anyway for two reasons, firstly the left and soft left of Labour really don't like him. The person who succeeds Starmer - either in power or as opposition leader after a loss - is likely to be someone who can at least put feelers out to those people, and someone who makes the party feel better about itself over someone telling it hard truths about power.
Secondly, he's not a woman. That may sound daft but Labour is quite obviously embarrassed now about never electing a female leade. Given the Chancellor, DPM, Home Secretary, education secretary, and plenty of the more prominent mid-ranking ministers or backbenchers who could try an insurgent campaign are women, there's not going to be a good excuse that the bloke is the only viable option this time unless the field thins out massively.
Same reason Burnham may struggle should he ever get back to Westminster - though the first point doesn't apply - so maybe slightly better place if he can become an MP.
"Labour is quite obviously embarrassed now about never electing a female leade." - Is this true? Are we not beyond the simplistic idea of it must be 'x' or 'y'? Why not the best person for the job? That's partly why I support pushing back on EDI (sorry, that should be DEI now, apparently, missed the memo).
Of course the best person for the job and all that. But leadership elections often aren't about the best person for the job (as different people have very different criteria) - they're about who is the best ideological fit for a party's idea of itself at anyone time, what came before and whether you want continuity or change, and who can unite different factions enough to win.
Look at the recent Tory leadership election - which ended up a choice between a dud and a slightly sharper more Maciavellian dud. The membership chose the sui generis dud. Labour previously chose Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. The Tories have picked Liz Truss, IDS, plus Boris - someone who was the right fit electorally but disastrous in the end due to failings that many knew should be disqualifying long before he was in the cabinet let alone stood for the Tory leadership.
My point is that perhaps unlike at some points in the past, Labour activists will quite clearly be well disposed towards the idea of electing a female leader next time, and will have plenty of options who either meet the threshold of experience in big government jobs (if are looking for that), or a strong media presence if want an outsider.
That likely means a male candidate will have to be outstanding and popular with the membership to win. Even if you think the former, Streeting isn't the latter. If it's effectively him versus Rayner, say, he won't win.
I agree with what you're saying but if Streeting is a standout - ie it's clear he has far more 'it' than anybody else - I think he has a good chance. I wouldn't rule him out on gender grounds, is what I mean, despite it being a minus for him.
The gender bias is really strong in history. Of the six female candidates, Yvette Cooper and Rebecca Long-Bailey are the only two not to finish last (and they beat two of the others).
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
It hasn’t prevented devolved Health Secretaries from being promoted to First Minister. Mark Drakeford, Vaughan Gething, Eluned Morgan, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf were all Health Secretaries before being appointed First Minister.
On topic, I seriously doubt Streeting will succeed Starmer anyway for two reasons, firstly the left and soft left of Labour really don't like him. The person who succeeds Starmer - either in power or as opposition leader after a loss - is likely to be someone who can at least put feelers out to those people, and someone who makes the party feel better about itself over someone telling it hard truths about power.
Secondly, he's not a woman. That may sound daft but Labour is quite obviously embarrassed now about never electing a female leade. Given the Chancellor, DPM, Home Secretary, education secretary, and plenty of the more prominent mid-ranking ministers or backbenchers who could try an insurgent campaign are women, there's not going to be a good excuse that the bloke is the only viable option this time unless the field thins out massively.
Same reason Burnham may struggle should he ever get back to Westminster - though the first point doesn't apply - so maybe slightly better place if he can become an MP.
"Labour is quite obviously embarrassed now about never electing a female leade." - Is this true? Are we not beyond the simplistic idea of it must be 'x' or 'y'? Why not the best person for the job? That's partly why I support pushing back on EDI (sorry, that should be DEI now, apparently, missed the memo).
Of course the best person for the job and all that. But leadership elections often aren't about the best person for the job (as different people have very different criteria) - they're about who is the best ideological fit for a party's idea of itself at anyone time, what came before and whether you want continuity or change, and who can unite different factions enough to win.
Look at the recent Tory leadership election - which ended up a choice between a dud and a slightly sharper more Maciavellian dud. The membership chose the sui generis dud. Labour previously chose Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. The Tories have picked Liz Truss, IDS, plus Boris - someone who was the right fit electorally but disastrous in the end due to failings that many knew should be disqualifying long before he was in the cabinet let alone stood for the Tory leadership.
My point is that perhaps unlike at some points in the past, Labour activists will quite clearly be well disposed towards the idea of electing a female leader next time, and will have plenty of options who either meet the threshold of experience in big government jobs (if are looking for that), or a strong media presence if want an outsider.
That likely means a male candidate will have to be outstanding and popular with the membership to win. Even if you think the former, Streeting isn't the latter. If it's effectively him versus Rayner, say, he won't win.
I agree with what you're saying but if Streeting is a standout - ie it's clear he has far more 'it' than anybody else - I think he has a good chance. I wouldn't rule him out on gender grounds, is what I mean, despite it being a minus for him.
Possible, but I think you underestimate how much the left and soft left of the party dislike him. It's irrational in my view, but kind of a thing that means it may be tough to win a Labour leadership election in which there are questions over the party's direction. Alternatively, if things are going well and want a steady safe pair of hands as continuity then there will be other options - including women - with the experience to stake a claim.
Of course he could somehow rescue the NHS and be popular enough with the public he's impossible to ignore - but that doesn't seem overly likely even with an extremely sanguine view of Labour's plans and prospects.
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
It hasn’t prevented devolved Health Secretaries from being promoted to First Minister. Mark Drakeford, Vaughan Gething, Eluned Morgan, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf were all Health Secretaries before being appointed First Minister.
And what a mess they all made at being First Minister !!!!
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
The text has been written in such a way that the Telegraph seems to be claiming their gotcha irrespective of any statute of limitations consideration.
Good. Complete waste of Police time if they looked into it.
Rubbish. Politicians who were responsible for the abomination of "lockdown rules" or who cheered from the sidelines (ie opposition benches) should be made to pay tenfold for any transgressions.
Didn't mean it? Welcome to how the rest of us were supposed to live.
Who is everyone's pick for next Labour leader? I think Yvette Cooper.
I don't have one. I remember John Moore. I remember Alan Milburn. I remember Michael Heseltine. I remember Sayid Javid. I remember Rory Stewart. I remember not to bet on things I can't get a read on.
She may have a point 'In their original article, the doctors argue that most preparation can be done using a combination of a "blunt, round nose" knife and another which, although sharp, is also short enough (under 5cm) to render it less likely to be lethal if used as a weapon. TV chef Anthony Worrall Thompson agrees, observing that in the Far East, pointed knives are used very rarely and that "for everyday cooking, a square-end or blunt-ended knife is OK".
As a cook who’s managed to stab myself a couple of times* with the pointy end, I wouldn’t object, either.
*Unintentionally
You're interested in golf, Nigel, aren't you?
So you'll have seen that the world #1, Scottie Scheffler, recently injured himself in a kitchen accident and had to miss two tournaments.
On topic, I seriously doubt Streeting will succeed Starmer anyway for two reasons, firstly the left and soft left of Labour really don't like him. The person who succeeds Starmer - either in power or as opposition leader after a loss - is likely to be someone who can at least put feelers out to those people, and someone who makes the party feel better about itself over someone telling it hard truths about power.
Secondly, he's not a woman. That may sound daft but Labour is quite obviously embarrassed now about never electing a female leade. Given the Chancellor, DPM, Home Secretary, education secretary, and plenty of the more prominent mid-ranking ministers or backbenchers who could try an insurgent campaign are women, there's not going to be a good excuse that the bloke is the only viable option this time unless the field thins out massively.
Same reason Burnham may struggle should he ever get back to Westminster - though the first point doesn't apply - so maybe slightly better place if he can become an MP.
"Labour is quite obviously embarrassed now about never electing a female leade." - Is this true? Are we not beyond the simplistic idea of it must be 'x' or 'y'? Why not the best person for the job? That's partly why I support pushing back on EDI (sorry, that should be DEI now, apparently, missed the memo).
Of course the best person for the job and all that. But leadership elections often aren't about the best person for the job (as different people have very different criteria) - they're about who is the best ideological fit for a party's idea of itself at anyone time, what came before and whether you want continuity or change, and who can unite different factions enough to win.
Look at the recent Tory leadership election - which ended up a choice between a dud and a slightly sharper more Maciavellian dud. The membership chose the sui generis dud. Labour previously chose Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. The Tories have picked Liz Truss, IDS, plus Boris - someone who was the right fit electorally but disastrous in the end due to failings that many knew should be disqualifying long before he was in the cabinet let alone stood for the Tory leadership.
My point is that perhaps unlike at some points in the past, Labour activists will quite clearly be well disposed towards the idea of electing a female leader next time, and will have plenty of options who either meet the threshold of experience in big government jobs (if are looking for that), or a strong media presence if want an outsider.
That likely means a male candidate will have to be outstanding and popular with the membership to win. Even if you think the former, Streeting isn't the latter. If it's effectively him versus Rayner, say, he won't win.
I agree with what you're saying but if Streeting is a standout - ie it's clear he has far more 'it' than anybody else - I think he has a good chance. I wouldn't rule him out on gender grounds, is what I mean, despite it being a minus for him.
The gender bias is really strong in history. Of the six female candidates, Yvette Cooper and Rebecca Long-Bailey are the only two not to finish last (and they beat two of the others).
Yvette Cooper had a really good chance of winning Labour's 2015 leadership election. However, she blew it because her campaign was so safe, dull and lacklustre that members were completely turned off. Same with Andy Burnham in that campaign. Hence Corbyn.
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
On topic, I seriously doubt Streeting will succeed Starmer anyway for two reasons, firstly the left and soft left of Labour really don't like him. The person who succeeds Starmer - either in power or as opposition leader after a loss - is likely to be someone who can at least put feelers out to those people, and someone who makes the party feel better about itself over someone telling it hard truths about power.
Secondly, he's not a woman. That may sound daft but Labour is quite obviously embarrassed now about never electing a female leade. Given the Chancellor, DPM, Home Secretary, education secretary, and plenty of the more prominent mid-ranking ministers or backbenchers who could try an insurgent campaign are women, there's not going to be a good excuse that the bloke is the only viable option this time unless the field thins out massively.
Same reason Burnham may struggle should he ever get back to Westminster - though the first point doesn't apply - so maybe slightly better place if he can become an MP.
Labour won't elect a woman to be leader, they never have despite many chances what makes you think they wont go for another white middle aged male....people have said the next labour leader will have to be a woman for almost 2 decades.....hasn't happened yet
Labour have had one leadership election in which there was a female candidate who'd previously held any of the great offices of state or shadowed them - 2015 when the Corbyn wave took hold and di for Yvette Cooper. In the next leadership election there could be two (or more) plus Angela Rayner, who is Deputy Prime Minister.
For all you say 'they have had plenty of chances', it's not really been true has it - at least in the contests themselves.
You can argue Labour created that situation by not promoting women to enough high profile roles or allowing those who get there to be torn down by internal and external opponents. But if you look at who the candidates have been, (Beckett in 94, Abbott in 10, Cooper 15, Nandy and RLB 2020) only really Cooper has an argument to say she was the most qualified candidate but overlooked in favour of mediocre men the party liked more.
Erm the labour party that elected corbyn who had never held any of the great offices of state? Didn't seem an issue then
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
Who is everyone's pick for next Labour leader? I think Yvette Cooper.
What has she ever done except for the shambles that was hips.....why would you want such an asinine person in charge when the only thing she championed was a complete idiocy?
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
So let’s tackle the symptom but not the cause.
Pointy kitchen knives are a symptom?
He means the reason people want to kill each other...if they don't use knives there are a million ways to do it unless you want to ban for example cricket bats too
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
It hasn’t prevented devolved Health Secretaries from being promoted to First Minister. Mark Drakeford, Vaughan Gething, Eluned Morgan, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf were all Health Secretaries before being appointed First Minister.
True, but health secretary is probably the most consequential cabinet position in the devolved admins. More important than finance as they don't have a treasury function.
At UK level, health is a middling role, well below Chancellor, Foreign and Home, and maybe on a par with Defence and several others.
On topic, I seriously doubt Streeting will succeed Starmer anyway for two reasons, firstly the left and soft left of Labour really don't like him. The person who succeeds Starmer - either in power or as opposition leader after a loss - is likely to be someone who can at least put feelers out to those people, and someone who makes the party feel better about itself over someone telling it hard truths about power.
Secondly, he's not a woman. That may sound daft but Labour is quite obviously embarrassed now about never electing a female leade. Given the Chancellor, DPM, Home Secretary, education secretary, and plenty of the more prominent mid-ranking ministers or backbenchers who could try an insurgent campaign are women, there's not going to be a good excuse that the bloke is the only viable option this time unless the field thins out massively.
Same reason Burnham may struggle should he ever get back to Westminster - though the first point doesn't apply - so maybe slightly better place if he can become an MP.
"Labour is quite obviously embarrassed now about never electing a female leade." - Is this true? Are we not beyond the simplistic idea of it must be 'x' or 'y'? Why not the best person for the job? That's partly why I support pushing back on EDI (sorry, that should be DEI now, apparently, missed the memo).
Of course the best person for the job and all that. But leadership elections often aren't about the best person for the job (as different people have very different criteria) - they're about who is the best ideological fit for a party's idea of itself at anyone time, what came before and whether you want continuity or change, and who can unite different factions enough to win.
Look at the recent Tory leadership election - which ended up a choice between a dud and a slightly sharper more Maciavellian dud. The membership chose the sui generis dud. Labour previously chose Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. The Tories have picked Liz Truss, IDS, plus Boris - someone who was the right fit electorally but disastrous in the end due to failings that many knew should be disqualifying long before he was in the cabinet let alone stood for the Tory leadership.
My point is that perhaps unlike at some points in the past, Labour activists will quite clearly be well disposed towards the idea of electing a female leader next time, and will have plenty of options who either meet the threshold of experience in big government jobs (if are looking for that), or a strong media presence if want an outsider.
That likely means a male candidate will have to be outstanding and popular with the membership to win. Even if you think the former, Streeting isn't the latter. If it's effectively him versus Rayner, say, he won't win.
I agree with what you're saying but if Streeting is a standout - ie it's clear he has far more 'it' than anybody else - I think he has a good chance. I wouldn't rule him out on gender grounds, is what I mean, despite it being a minus for him.
The gender bias is really strong in history. Of the six female candidates, Yvette Cooper and Rebecca Long-Bailey are the only two not to finish last (and they beat two of the others).
Yep. Same in America. Two strong and viable female candidates for president yet the same male buffoon was preferred to both. Go figure.
The Tories, to their credit, are a standout on this.
Who is everyone's pick for next Labour leader? I think Yvette Cooper.
What has she ever done except for the shambles that was hips.....why would you want such an asinine person in charge when the only thing she championed was a complete idiocy?
At least when buying a house it meant we had something to rely on. Hips dont lie.
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
So let’s tackle the symptom but not the cause.
Pointy kitchen knives are a symptom?
He means the reason people want to kill each other...if they don't use knives there are a million ways to do it unless you want to ban for example cricket bats too
Oh yes, I see. The "tools" then. We're tackling the tools not the root cause.
Who is everyone's pick for next Labour leader? I think Yvette Cooper.
What has she ever done except for the shambles that was hips.....why would you want such an asinine person in charge when the only thing she championed was a complete idiocy?
At least when buying a house it meant we had something to rely on. Hips dont lie.
apart from they were pointless as no bank would trust a survey by the seller so all it did in effect was add costs to the seller
She may have a point 'In their original article, the doctors argue that most preparation can be done using a combination of a "blunt, round nose" knife and another which, although sharp, is also short enough (under 5cm) to render it less likely to be lethal if used as a weapon. TV chef Anthony Worrall Thompson agrees, observing that in the Far East, pointed knives are used very rarely and that "for everyday cooking, a square-end or blunt-ended knife is OK".
As a cook who’s managed to stab myself a couple of times* with the pointy end, I wouldn’t object, either.
*Unintentionally
You're interested in golf, Nigel, aren't you?
So you'll have seen that the world #1, Scottie Scheffler, recently injured himself in a kitchen accident and had to miss two tournaments.
No.
Ah OK. Well he did. Something to do with rolling pasta.
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
So let’s tackle the symptom but not the cause.
Pointy kitchen knives are a symptom?
He means the reason people want to kill each other...if they don't use knives there are a million ways to do it unless you want to ban for example cricket bats too
Oh yes, I see. The "tools" then. We're tackling the tools not the root cause.
Correct, its not knives that kill its people....tackle why people want to kill you solve the problem....ban knives all you do is switch them to alternative means
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
So let’s tackle the symptom but not the cause.
Pointy kitchen knives are a symptom?
He means the reason people want to kill each other...if they don't use knives there are a million ways to do it unless you want to ban for example cricket bats too
We could ban cricket bats for foreigners, might give us a squeak in the Ashes.
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
So let’s tackle the symptom but not the cause.
Pointy kitchen knives are a symptom?
He means the reason people want to kill each other...if they don't use knives there are a million ways to do it unless you want to ban for example cricket bats too
We could ban cricket bats for foreigners, might give us a squeak in the Ashes.
You think we might be able to edge a draw if the Aussies have to bat with their hands? I think that's very optimistic.
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
So let’s tackle the symptom but not the cause.
Pointy kitchen knives are a symptom?
He means the reason people want to kill each other...if they don't use knives there are a million ways to do it unless you want to ban for example cricket bats too
We could ban cricket bats for foreigners, might give us a squeak in the Ashes.
Most people think cricket a minority sport akin to curling....dont think therefore banning bats would be any more popular than banning the brushes they use to polish the ice
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
So let’s tackle the symptom but not the cause.
Pointy kitchen knives are a symptom?
He means the reason people want to kill each other...if they don't use knives there are a million ways to do it unless you want to ban for example cricket bats too
We could ban cricket bats for foreigners, might give us a squeak in the Ashes.
You think we might be able to edge a draw if the Aussies have to bat with their hands? I think that's very optimistic.
It probably depends on how many of the England team are Kiwis and Saffers.
When we ban pointy knives, and it doesn’t work, will we come for the screwdrivers? How will we stop people breaking knives to get a point? What about good old fashioned toothbrush shivs? Will we ban bottles?
Who is everyone's pick for next Labour leader? I think Yvette Cooper.
What has she ever done except for the shambles that was hips.....why would you want such an asinine person in charge when the only thing she championed was a complete idiocy?
I don't want her in charge - I think she's the most likely.
Arriving at PB far too late into the conversation, as I always do.
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Who was the last Minister of Health to become PM?
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
The Metropolitan Police has declined to investigate Sir Keir Starmer’s in person meeting with his voice coach during Covid lockdown.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said police should look into whether a visit by Leonie Mellinger to Labour’s London headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020 had broken any Covid rules.
But a Met Police spokesman said the force was barred from any investigations of possible Covid breaches that had happened more than three years ago.
“We can confirm we have received a report,” the spokesman said. “The specific legislation that would be used by police forces dealing with alleged offences during Covid has a three-year deadline for initiating proceedings. As this alleged incident falls outside this timeframe, no action will be taken.”
You merely have to type his voice coaches name into Google, and you can see her tits. Just saying.
Hyufd has tits?
They weren't obvious when I knew him at uni...
And where did you study? I'm mainly asking so that I can reinforce my prejudices. Bad answers would include Oxford, and I'm off the bridge if you say Sussex.
Good Lord Sir Kier got his arse handed to him at PMQs. Kemi had a few adrenaliney jitters but overall she had a gaping open goal and slammed it in. The man was an incomprehensible blubbering wreck.
All it will achieve is more expensive kitchen knives as production will have to be adapted for those blades destined for UK market compared to rest of the world.
No it won’t. Non pointy knives are already quite common.
So let’s tackle the symptom but not the cause.
Pointy kitchen knives are a symptom?
He means the reason people want to kill each other...if they don't use knives there are a million ways to do it unless you want to ban for example cricket bats too
Quite, people will kill each other if they want to. As Malmesbury points out in prison, where knives are tightly regulated, prisoners make their own. Crims are very resourceful when it comes to exacting whatever retribution they want.
There is nothing there at all to tackle why it happens and if people think a few youth clubs and ping pong tables are the solution they’re dreaming.
In suggesting Labour is on unsafe ground in Ilford North, we are, of course, assuming that pro-Gaza Independents will still be a thing in May 2029. Apart from any other consideration we'll have a different US president to deal with.
But what will Gaza be like given the Trumpdozer and his mates seem to want to make it prime real estate.
Take Trump seriously but not literally and work out the possibilities from there.
Can anyone tell us what is the best plan as yet from anyone with power but who isn't Trump?
Stick with a 2-state solution. Put pressure on Israel to accept it. The US could do this if they wanted to.
No, they couldn’t
After October 7 there is no two state solution. It’s done
So what’s next? The only world leader offering ANY future to the Palestinians is - irony of ironies - Donald Trump
What future?
He's offering them a forced relocation to the desert whilst providing the Israelis with more bombs. No doubt as soon as they move they will be bombed and once they settle they will be bombed. What choice?
There was a Israeli spokeswoman on the WATO who's rhetoric was indistinguishable from Nazi pamphlets. And this is a spokeswoman. Imagine what is said behind the scenes. Hopefully the Arabs will now understand that America will always support Israeli aggression. And Israel will always want more.
AIUI he wants them to go to Indonesia
If Jakarta can be persuaded (that’s one of the world’s bigger ifs) that would be a great choice. Sunny, fertile, Muslim but quite relaxed, and in a booming part of the world
Because, let’s face it, what is the alternative? After October 7 Israel will NEVER agree to a 2 state solution. It was already extremely unlikely Palestinians would be allowed to return to their homes pre 1947, now it is utterly impossible
So what’s left? They will just sit there, in squalor and misery, in the rubble of Gaza, for the rest of time? That’s it? I doubt it. If I were Palestinian I would hate Jews so much I would try and do another October 7, eventually one of them will succeed, so we have another October 7, and this time Israel will kill 80,000 or 500,000 not 40,000, or maybe Israel will kill all of them, fuck knows but that is the future unless someone suggests a new and radically different solution
I believe the cumulative death toll is closer to 500 000 than 40 000.
You state everything as absolute and predetermined I think differently. Israel will do what the US requires of them and once Americans are no longer willing to fund endless atrocities these immutable ideas will change. You cannot bomb your neighbours and threaten a continent whilst living on a postage stamp.
Israel relies on a mercurial superpower for most of their weapons and have a population of 10 million. They will have to compromise.
Weren't we rather postage stamp-sized relatively in 1940s and didn't we need to rely on the US to do what was right. So what you suggest is not inevitable.
Canada was on our side, too. So were Australia, India and, although less committed IIRC, South Africa. To name but four.
Yeah we would definitely have come through with the aid of the South Africans.
It was the US that made the difference and to give the old "yeah buts" is a trifle disingenuous.
The Allies brought different strengths. The Royal Navy was the largest in the world in 1939. Most ships at D-Day were British. Bomber Command was a DUKE effort. (dominions, U.K. and Empire) and in combo with the USAAF wrecked Germany by 1945. The USA was the industrial powerhouse churning out tanks, ships and planes, but the U.K. produced a decent share of those too. And lastly on men - the US dominated the land war in Europe after the autumn, but many many DUKE soldiers took part.
Who is everyone's pick for next Labour leader? I think Yvette Cooper.
What has she ever done except for the shambles that was hips.....why would you want such an asinine person in charge when the only thing she championed was a complete idiocy?
At least when buying a house it meant we had something to rely on. Hips dont lie.
She should replicate it with KIPS. Each knife would come with an information pack about the specific risks associated with it.
Comments
Streeting is unlikely to be next Labour leader simply because he has Health as a brief. He's doing ok there, but to rise to the leadership from Health requires something outstanding.
(He's also, in my opinion only, a bit unlikeable)
Taking the piss out of centrists dads is just an extension of doing the same to Millenials. The trouble is this cohort are now an important part of the electorate, and they voted 44:14 Labour:Conservative.
With Reform eating up the pensioner/WWC vote... what's left?
Anything special about the plastic bag ones?
I would suggest that continuing the Israeli attacks is simply acting as a recruiting agent for the next generation of Hamas fighters.
I keep coming up with Neville Chamberlain, who was Minister of Health three times in the 1920s and early 1930s.
*Unintentionally
He might be a candidate in the longer term, but not the next contest.
The Yutt carrying knives down their sweats aren't using mums best vegetable knife to stab each other.
The NHS kills political careers.
We are blessed to have a PBer who shares identical thinking with Trump, so can achieve justice and fairness, a win win for all, from even the most impossible situations.
💋 keep it simple stupid
Non pointy knives are already quite common.
But as a policy to reduce violence, it is (forgive the pun) missing the point.
For all you say 'they have had plenty of chances', it's not really been true has it - at least in the contests themselves.
You can argue Labour created that situation by not promoting women to enough high profile roles or allowing those who get there to be torn down by internal and external opponents. But if you look at who the candidates have been, (Beckett in 94, Abbott in 10, Cooper 15, Nandy and RLB 2020) only really Cooper has an argument to say she was the most qualified candidate but overlooked in favour of mediocre men the party liked more.
But, you know, I might be wrong and perhaps your admiration for him is merited. It'll become clear pretty soon which is which. That's all I meant. Don't get too bedazzled by his shtick. Let's see how things pan out.
They weren't obvious when I knew him at uni...
It is time people started seeing the NHS as a bureaucracy rather than an organisation that must never be criticised. It is this deification that causes the institution to believe it is beyond reproach and is a root cause of sloppy processes and lack of best practice.
So the bottom line is, as per your post, the best solution was an I wouldn't have started from here approach. Hamas took the hostages, weren't minded to give them all back at any point (still aren't), and Israel decided to take the war to them.
No solutions. But you blame Israel for responding to an impossible predicament to the extent that you justify Israeli contestants at Eurovision being harassed and therefore needing protection.
So you'll have seen that the world #1, Scottie Scheffler, recently injured himself in a kitchen accident and had to miss two tournaments.
Of course he could somehow rescue the NHS and be popular enough with the public he's impossible to ignore - but that doesn't seem overly likely even with an extremely sanguine view of Labour's plans and prospects.
I believe the prison parlance for these things is a ‘shank’.
Didn't mean it? Welcome to how the rest of us were supposed to live.
Hence Corbyn.
I think that Sam Kerr was the author of her own misfortune.
At UK level, health is a middling role, well below Chancellor, Foreign and Home, and maybe on a par with Defence and several others.
The Tories, to their credit, are a standout on this.
https://ifs.org.uk/articles/ifs-response-final-english-local-government-finance-settlement
Of course.
Aberystwyth.
There is nothing there at all to tackle why it happens and if people think a few youth clubs and ping pong tables are the solution they’re dreaming.