Mahmood stated in October 2024 that she was opposed to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on assisted dying. She said: 'I voted against the bill when it was last introduced in 2015. I'll be voting against it again. As a Muslim, I have an unshakable belief in the sanctity and value of human life. I don't think death is a service that the state should be offering.'[66]
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.
You should be called JokeGuy, lucky. If her Lazy Excellence hadn’t skipped security briefings, should might have landed a punch.
But Farage was very interesting. Not banging on about traitors giving the empire away, or boat crossings on porous borders, or lack of homes due to 1M each year in new migrants, he linked pensioners empty pockets as a reason to abandon Labour for Reform, in the way the Conservative front bench can’t do just yet as they were in control so long till recently so are linked to the financial pain.
Um, piss off. Kier's risible 'security briefings' defence was the worst part of his performance. Well, except that strangled "No thaaaanks". But nothing is worse than that.
His briefings were getting howls of derision by the end - he ended up inventing briefings that Kemi should have attended for things that don't even have briefings.
That would be SKS's ideal form of PMQs though probably wouldn't it? None of this nasty holding the Government to account and stirring up the public. Let's just have a briefing beforehand and then go through the motions. Sadly that's not the way it worked out for him today.
In Leon and LuckyGuy are two people who would turn on the Conservative Party in an instant. I don’t want the Conservative Party to go full fat Leon or silly LuckyGuy in opposition, but stick to responsible opposition that protects UK interests whilst opposing and scrutinising a government.
The £18B Chagos figure was fake, put out by those negotiating with the UK government in a deal, to try and get a better deal from taxpayers money. You were the one who said Badenoch was brilliant at PMQs, where she claimed £18B as a fact in commons, she said it was true. The rival negotiating team to the UK have since disowned the figure they floated yesterday. Starmer so easily flattened Badenoch by asking her, for goodness sake whose side are you on.
The same line so often thrown at you on PB.
You really need to try to understand that Prime Ministers questions is one thing, and your opinion of the relative merits of Starmer and Badenoch is another. Clearly you're quite a passionate defender of Starmer - it seems to be a reflex that more than one of our Tory wets is sadly afflicted with, and that's fine, but he didn't flatten anyone, except in your fond imaginings.
As for turning on the Tories - you bet. I'll support any Government that governs in my interests and those of the wider country. I really don’t care what colour of rosette they have on. But Kemi was bang on today, in content and delivery, and Starmer turned into a gibbering blancmange. Her very happy face at the end said it all.
Labour leader of the future: why not the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood. Seems rather more sensible and competent than others.
Charisma?
I have never heard from or of her before. So a possible John Major bet, I guess. Assuming that 'sensible and competent' has betting value in the future.
The last four people to "win" a GE were Cameron (2010, 15), May (2017), Boris (2019) and Starmer (2024). Hmm...
You only have to look more sensible and competent than your opponent.
As others point out in that Twitter thread, the idea that the Americans are going to be using a vital telecommunications system as part of their defence systems that may one day be shut down because a telecommunications bureau in Switzerland isn't keen that there may be some question over the legality of Britain's ownership of Chagos is so utterly ludicrous I am amazed that the Cabinet Office had the balls to even type it up. No wonder even Sir Speech Therapy's own Cabinet aren't convinced by his 'security briefing' on the matter.
Mahmood stated in October 2024 that she was opposed to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on assisted dying. She said: 'I voted against the bill when it was last introduced in 2015. I'll be voting against it again. As a Muslim, I have an unshakable belief in the sanctity and value of human life. I don't think death is a service that the state should be offering.'[66]
I believe in the sanctity of life too as a non-muslim, indeed, non-believer. Her motivation in his instance presumably doesn't make her take less valid than mine.
Labour leader of the future: why not the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood. Seems rather more sensible and competent than others.
Charisma?
I have never heard from or of her before. So a possible John Major bet, I guess. Assuming that 'sensible and competent' has betting value in the future.
The last four people to "win" a GE were Cameron (2010, 15), May (2017), Boris (2019) and Starmer (2024). Hmm...
You only have to look more sensible and competent than your opponent.
See one Corbyn, Jeremy. A lesson large parts of the internet still have not learned.
Elon Musk @elonmusk · 47m With the support of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.
Just a few days ago, the FAA’s primary aircraft safety notification system failed for several hours!
Ah yes if there is one thing that safety critical systems would benefit from it is agile development. Genius!
"This shit's written in 'C', we need to rehack it in Mojo, give me your password and keyboard now."
It doesn't matter how good a developer you are if you have no experience in the domain you can't "make rapid safefy upgrades". Something like ATC is going to need a lot of knowledge, training, and processes to follow or you can really screw things up, hopefully in safe way by grounding aircraft and not in a dangerous way.
Look, we'll lose a few planes and passengers along the way, but we're rapidly iterating and we estimate it will take no more than seven or eight... incidents... before we have it working as well before. Only in Erlang.
BREAKING: Delta Airlines, Japan Airlines planes collide on the ground in Seattle https://trib.al/dSoY5XN
Since Trump took over, air travel Stateside has gone to pot.
Wait till they have to land at the airports using the flaming wreckage of another plane in lieu of landing lights, Die Hard 2 style.
That made no sense. The plane was almost completely out of fuel: any burning was likely to be therefore limited to the drinks trolley.
The burning plane he's referring to was the 747 containing the fake soldiers and the drug lord at the end of the film, not the 707? piloted by Miles Edward O'Brien in the middle of the film.
You make an excellent point. It was the Windsor Air (?) flight that was deliberately crashed (presumably because its radar altimeter was broken).
Windsor Airlines Flight 114. Piloted by Colm Meaney of Star Trek TNG, Under Siege, and Con-Air fame.
Elon Musk @elonmusk · 47m With the support of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.
Just a few days ago, the FAA’s primary aircraft safety notification system failed for several hours!
Ah yes if there is one thing that safety critical systems would benefit from it is agile development. Genius!
"This shit's written in 'C', we need to rehack it in Mojo, give me your password and keyboard now."
It doesn't matter how good a developer you are if you have no experience in the domain you can't "make rapid safefy upgrades". Something like ATC is going to need a lot of knowledge, training, and processes to follow or you can really screw things up, hopefully in safe way by grounding aircraft and not in a dangerous way.
Look, we'll lose a few planes and passengers along the way, but we're rapidly iterating and we estimate it will take no more than seven or eight... incidents... before we have it working as well before. Only in Erlang.
BREAKING: Delta Airlines, Japan Airlines planes collide on the ground in Seattle https://trib.al/dSoY5XN
Since Trump took over, air travel Stateside has gone to pot.
Wait till they have to land at the airports using the flaming wreckage of another plane in lieu of landing lights, Die Hard 2 style.
That made no sense. The plane was almost completely out of fuel: any burning was likely to be therefore limited to the drinks trolley.
The burning plane he's referring to was the 747 containing the fake soldiers and the drug lord at the end of the film, not the 707? piloted by Miles Edward O'Brien in the middle of the film.
You make an excellent point. It was the Windsor Air (?) flight that was deliberately crashed (presumably because its radar altimeter was broken).
Windsor Airlines Flight 114. Piloted by Colm Meaney of Star Trek TNG, Under Siege, and Con-Air fame.
As others point out in that Twitter thread, the idea that the Americans are going to be using a vital telecommunications system as part of their defence systems that may one day be shut down because a telecommunications bureau in Switzerland isn't keen that there may be some question over the legality of Britain's ownership of Chagos is so utterly ludicrous I am amazed that the Cabinet Office had the balls to even type it up. No wonder even Sir Speech Therapy's own Cabinet aren't convinced by his 'security briefing' on the matter.
To be fair, the ITU is more than a mere bureau: they do lots of very important work on defining interoperability standards.
But your general point is correct:
It's a ludicrous explanation that no one could possibly mutter with a straight face.
Elon Musk @elonmusk · 47m With the support of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.
Just a few days ago, the FAA’s primary aircraft safety notification system failed for several hours!
Ah yes if there is one thing that safety critical systems would benefit from it is agile development. Genius!
"This shit's written in 'C', we need to rehack it in Mojo, give me your password and keyboard now."
It doesn't matter how good a developer you are if you have no experience in the domain you can't "make rapid safefy upgrades". Something like ATC is going to need a lot of knowledge, training, and processes to follow or you can really screw things up, hopefully in safe way by grounding aircraft and not in a dangerous way.
Look, we'll lose a few planes and passengers along the way, but we're rapidly iterating and we estimate it will take no more than seven or eight... incidents... before we have it working as well before. Only in Erlang.
BREAKING: Delta Airlines, Japan Airlines planes collide on the ground in Seattle https://trib.al/dSoY5XN
Since Trump took over, air travel Stateside has gone to pot.
Wait till they have to land at the airports using the flaming wreckage of another plane in lieu of landing lights, Die Hard 2 style.
That made no sense. The plane was almost completely out of fuel: any burning was likely to be therefore limited to the drinks trolley.
The burning plane he's referring to was the 747 containing the fake soldiers and the drug lord at the end of the film, not the 707? piloted by Miles Edward O'Brien in the middle of the film.
You make an excellent point. It was the Windsor Air (?) flight that was deliberately crashed (presumably because its radar altimeter was broken).
Windsor Airlines Flight 114. Piloted by Colm Meaney of Star Trek TNG, Under Siege, and Con-Air fame.
Elon Musk @elonmusk · 47m With the support of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.
Just a few days ago, the FAA’s primary aircraft safety notification system failed for several hours!
Ah yes if there is one thing that safety critical systems would benefit from it is agile development. Genius!
"This shit's written in 'C', we need to rehack it in Mojo, give me your password and keyboard now."
It doesn't matter how good a developer you are if you have no experience in the domain you can't "make rapid safefy upgrades". Something like ATC is going to need a lot of knowledge, training, and processes to follow or you can really screw things up, hopefully in safe way by grounding aircraft and not in a dangerous way.
Look, we'll lose a few planes and passengers along the way, but we're rapidly iterating and we estimate it will take no more than seven or eight... incidents... before we have it working as well before. Only in Erlang.
BREAKING: Delta Airlines, Japan Airlines planes collide on the ground in Seattle https://trib.al/dSoY5XN
Since Trump took over, air travel Stateside has gone to pot.
Wait till they have to land at the airports using the flaming wreckage of another plane in lieu of landing lights, Die Hard 2 style.
That made no sense. The plane was almost completely out of fuel: any burning was likely to be therefore limited to the drinks trolley.
The burning plane he's referring to was the 747 containing the fake soldiers and the drug lord at the end of the film, not the 707? piloted by Miles Edward O'Brien in the middle of the film.
You make an excellent point. It was the Windsor Air (?) flight that was deliberately crashed (presumably because its radar altimeter was broken).
Windsor Airlines Flight 114. Piloted by Colm Meaney of Star Trek TNG, Under Siege, and Con-Air fame.
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.
You should be called JokeGuy, lucky. If her Lazy Excellence hadn’t skipped security briefings, should might have landed a punch.
But Farage was very interesting. Not banging on about traitors giving the empire away, or boat crossings on porous borders, or lack of homes due to 1M each year in new migrants, he linked pensioners empty pockets as a reason to abandon Labour for Reform, in the way the Conservative front bench can’t do just yet as they were in control so long till recently so are linked to the financial pain.
Um, piss off. Kier's risible 'security briefings' defence was the worst part of his performance. Well, except that strangled "No thaaaanks". But nothing is worse than that.
His briefings were getting howls of derision by the end - he ended up inventing briefings that Kemi should have attended for things that don't even have briefings.
That would be SKS's ideal form of PMQs though probably wouldn't it? None of this nasty holding the Government to account and stirring up the public. Let's just have a briefing beforehand and then go through the motions. Sadly that's not the way it worked out for him today.
In Leon and LuckyGuy are two people who would turn on the Conservative Party in an instant. I don’t want the Conservative Party to go full fat Leon or silly LuckyGuy in opposition, but stick to responsible opposition that protects UK interests whilst opposing and scrutinising a government.
The £18B Chagos figure was fake, put out by those negotiating with the UK government in a deal, to try and get a better deal from taxpayers money. You were the one who said Badenoch was brilliant at PMQs, where she claimed £18B as a fact in commons, she said it was true. The rival negotiating team to the UK have since disowned the figure they floated yesterday. Starmer so easily flattened Badenoch by asking her, for goodness sake whose side are you on.
The same line so often thrown at you on PB.
You really need to try to understand that Prime Ministers questions is one thing, and your opinion of the relative merits of Starmer and Badenoch is another. Clearly you're quite a passionate defender of Starmer - it seems to be a reflex that more than one of our Tory wets is sadly afflicted with, and that's fine, but he didn't flatten anyone, except in your fond imaginings.
As for turning on the Tories - you bet. I'll support any Government that governs in my interests and those of the wider country. I really don’t care what colour of rosette they have on. But Kemi was bang on today, in content and delivery, and Starmer turned into a gibbering blancmange. Her very happy face at the end said it all.
What i’m delivering is a straight and honest Christian Tory (what you’d likely call Wet) commentary on leader Kemi Badenoch’s performance. Even then I am sure there will be moments when the dry, right of centre LuckyGuy and I sing from same hymn sheet. But so long as you remain so kneejerk anti Britain whilst pursuing your political hobbyhorses, we won’t sing from same hymn sheet very often. I always put Britain First. Jointly, with Yorkshire.
Overall, when Badenoch positions Conservative Party as serious, anti populist right wing, in huge contrast to Reforms pie in the sky populist nonsense, it is largely good, but her inherent laziness - often shown up at PMQs and in interviews - is unforgivable considering UKs greatest ever political party remains teetering in such a mess of credibility and support.
And pushing this Chagos stuff is just plain embarrassing for a LOTO. Bang Off.
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.
You should be called JokeGuy, lucky. If her Lazy Excellence hadn’t skipped security briefings, should might have landed a punch.
But Farage was very interesting. Not banging on about traitors giving the empire away, or boat crossings on porous borders, or lack of homes due to 1M each year in new migrants, he linked pensioners empty pockets as a reason to abandon Labour for Reform, in the way the Conservative front bench can’t do just yet as they were in control so long till recently so are linked to the financial pain.
Um, piss off. Kier's risible 'security briefings' defence was the worst part of his performance. Well, except that strangled "No thaaaanks". But nothing is worse than that.
His briefings were getting howls of derision by the end - he ended up inventing briefings that Kemi should have attended for things that don't even have briefings.
That would be SKS's ideal form of PMQs though probably wouldn't it? None of this nasty holding the Government to account and stirring up the public. Let's just have a briefing beforehand and then go through the motions. Sadly that's not the way it worked out for him today.
In Leon and LuckyGuy are two people who would turn on the Conservative Party in an instant. I don’t want the Conservative Party to go full fat Leon or silly LuckyGuy in opposition, but stick to responsible opposition that protects UK interests whilst opposing and scrutinising a government.
The £18B Chagos figure was fake, put out by those negotiating with the UK government in a deal, to try and get a better deal from taxpayers money. You were the one who said Badenoch was brilliant at PMQs, where she claimed £18B as a fact in commons, she said it was true. The rival negotiating team to the UK have since disowned the figure they floated yesterday. Starmer so easily flattened Badenoch by asking her, for goodness sake whose side are you on.
The same line so often thrown at you on PB.
You really need to try to understand that Prime Ministers questions is one thing, and your opinion of the relative merits of Starmer and Badenoch is another. Clearly you're quite a passionate defender of Starmer - it seems to be a reflex that more than one of our Tory wets is sadly afflicted with, and that's fine, but he didn't flatten anyone, except in your fond imaginings.
As for turning on the Tories - you bet. I'll support any Government that governs in my interests and those of the wider country. I really don’t care what colour of rosette they have on. But Kemi was bang on today, in content and delivery, and Starmer turned into a gibbering blancmange. Her very happy face at the end said it all.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But sorry I think this might be one of the most bonkers views of PMQs from another planet I've ever heard.
Badenoch was absolutely dreadful with what should have been another open goal. As ever because she hits on a topic with some potential - but then hasn't done the reading to nail the Prime Minister on the detail on it and then drifts off to whatever's been in her Twitter feed that week and lets him off the hook.
Even Tory-sympathetic commentators have been saying she's woeful - for the same reason every time. It's all surface and no depth, so is fairly easily brushed off as a repetitive attack line or the usual turds dragged from Elon's sewer instead of actually catching the government out on the detail of an issue in a way that embarrasses Starmer into a forced admission.
As happened today when Badenoch had nothing to counter Starmer's assertion that she hadn't asked for the briefings on the issue so hadn't read them. If she had, or detail that contradicted Starmer, it would've been a perfect opportunity to plunge the knife in. But she just ended up saying "waffle" over and over again, ironically while...err..waffling.
This is not to say Starmer is particularly good at PMQs. At best he's perfunctory and he's not really quick enough to think on his feet when caught off guard like the best practitioners. But that's what makes Badenoch so bad! She loses by walking on to the same obvious punches every week to someone she should be, given the government's troubles and his woodenness, be beating quite comfortably.
South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote “solidarity, equality, & sustainability.” In other words: DEI and climate change.
My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.
But there's not actually any real debate/uncertainty over the Islands belonging to us, is there? And even if some arbitrary court said they aren't British we would just tell them to **** off. Same as we would with the Falklands, Gibraltar and any other British sovereign territory?
“ But there's not actually any real debate/uncertainty over the Islands belonging to us, is there? And even if some arbitrary court said they aren't British we would just tell them to **** off.”
Is it comparable situation to the Falklands? Or is each situation different, depending if you have easy plan B round the issue?
It depends what you regard by arbitrary international law. In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued an opinion UK did not have sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and administration of the whole archipelago should be handed over "as rapidly as possible" to Mauritius. The United Nations General Assembly then voted to give Britain a six-month deadline to begin process of handing over the islands. In 2021, the United Nation's International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, ruled Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Islands.
Why? The government of Mauritius argued in UN's highest court it was illegally forced to give Chagos Islands away in 1968, and the court ruled that the UK's administration of the territory is unlawful. The UK at the request of US began expelling the inhabitants of Chagos in 1968 concluding forced deportations in 1973.
What would you do? If you want to be part of institution settling international disputes, want others to abide by its decisions, and you lose a case in the courtroom, what is the best thing to do?
Where did £18B figure come from? It’s the same £9B over 100 years lease money, only inflation proofed. It’s been banded about on basis Mauritius government said the agreement was inflation proofed, but they have clearly denied today they ever said that. My bet is, we will certainly pay more than £9B over 100 years, but as I’ll be 128 it’s not a bet I’ll place.
And people still insist Kemi Badenoch was fantastic today, and didn’t embarrass herself and the party she leads? Fortunately not for much longer though. Soon as Trump and his administration endorse the UK governments plan b - we were probably told by US what to do anyway like with ill fated plan A in 1968 - these arguably ignorant attacks on plan b will cease. Which is why I am disappointed to see the Conservatives today mix up and bake so much humble pie, to be swallowed later 😖
My message to Kemi - stop listening to ravings of simple minded populists on PB. They’ve never talked any sense in their lives.
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.
You should be called JokeGuy, lucky. If her Lazy Excellence hadn’t skipped security briefings, should might have landed a punch.
But Farage was very interesting. Not banging on about traitors giving the empire away, or boat crossings on porous borders, or lack of homes due to 1M each year in new migrants, he linked pensioners empty pockets as a reason to abandon Labour for Reform, in the way the Conservative front bench can’t do just yet as they were in control so long till recently so are linked to the financial pain.
Um, piss off. Kier's risible 'security briefings' defence was the worst part of his performance. Well, except that strangled "No thaaaanks". But nothing is worse than that.
His briefings were getting howls of derision by the end - he ended up inventing briefings that Kemi should have attended for things that don't even have briefings.
That would be SKS's ideal form of PMQs though probably wouldn't it? None of this nasty holding the Government to account and stirring up the public. Let's just have a briefing beforehand and then go through the motions. Sadly that's not the way it worked out for him today.
In Leon and LuckyGuy are two people who would turn on the Conservative Party in an instant. I don’t want the Conservative Party to go full fat Leon or silly LuckyGuy in opposition, but stick to responsible opposition that protects UK interests whilst opposing and scrutinising a government.
The £18B Chagos figure was fake, put out by those negotiating with the UK government in a deal, to try and get a better deal from taxpayers money. You were the one who said Badenoch was brilliant at PMQs, where she claimed £18B as a fact in commons, she said it was true. The rival negotiating team to the UK have since disowned the figure they floated yesterday. Starmer so easily flattened Badenoch by asking her, for goodness sake whose side are you on.
The same line so often thrown at you on PB.
You really need to try to understand that Prime Ministers questions is one thing, and your opinion of the relative merits of Starmer and Badenoch is another. Clearly you're quite a passionate defender of Starmer - it seems to be a reflex that more than one of our Tory wets is sadly afflicted with, and that's fine, but he didn't flatten anyone, except in your fond imaginings.
As for turning on the Tories - you bet. I'll support any Government that governs in my interests and those of the wider country. I really don’t care what colour of rosette they have on. But Kemi was bang on today, in content and delivery, and Starmer turned into a gibbering blancmange. Her very happy face at the end said it all.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But sorry I think this might be one of the most bonkers views of PMQs from another planet I've ever heard.
Badenoch was absolutely dreadful with what should have been another open goal. As ever because she hits on a topic with some potential - but then hasn't done the reading to nail the Prime Minister on the detail on it and then drifts off to whatever's been in her Twitter feed that week and lets him off the hook.
Even Tory-sympathetic commentators have been saying she's woeful - for the same reason every time. It's all surface and no depth, so is fairly easily brushed off as a repetitive attack line or the usual turds dragged from Elon's sewer instead of actually catching the government out on the detail of an issue in a way that embarrasses Starmer into a forced admission.
As happened today when Badenoch had nothing to counter Starmer's assertion that she hadn't asked for the briefings on the issue so hadn't read them. If she had, or detail that contradicted Starmer, it would've been a perfect opportunity to plunge the knife in. But she just ended up saying "waffle" over and over again, ironically while...err..waffling.
This is not to say Starmer is particularly good at PMQs. At best he's perfunctory and he's not really quick enough to think on his feet when caught off guard like the best practitioners. But that's what makes Badenoch so bad! She loses by walking on to the same obvious punches every week to someone she should be, given the government's troubles and his woodenness, be beating quite comfortably.
Starmer is absolutely Rubbish at PMQs and media interviews. The ums and pauses grate, he’s condescending. He couldn’t sell a used car on the Apprentice.
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.
You should be called JokeGuy, lucky. If her Lazy Excellence hadn’t skipped security briefings, should might have landed a punch.
But Farage was very interesting. Not banging on about traitors giving the empire away, or boat crossings on porous borders, or lack of homes due to 1M each year in new migrants, he linked pensioners empty pockets as a reason to abandon Labour for Reform, in the way the Conservative front bench can’t do just yet as they were in control so long till recently so are linked to the financial pain.
Um, piss off. Kier's risible 'security briefings' defence was the worst part of his performance. Well, except that strangled "No thaaaanks". But nothing is worse than that.
His briefings were getting howls of derision by the end - he ended up inventing briefings that Kemi should have attended for things that don't even have briefings.
That would be SKS's ideal form of PMQs though probably wouldn't it? None of this nasty holding the Government to account and stirring up the public. Let's just have a briefing beforehand and then go through the motions. Sadly that's not the way it worked out for him today.
In Leon and LuckyGuy are two people who would turn on the Conservative Party in an instant. I don’t want the Conservative Party to go full fat Leon or silly LuckyGuy in opposition, but stick to responsible opposition that protects UK interests whilst opposing and scrutinising a government.
The £18B Chagos figure was fake, put out by those negotiating with the UK government in a deal, to try and get a better deal from taxpayers money. You were the one who said Badenoch was brilliant at PMQs, where she claimed £18B as a fact in commons, she said it was true. The rival negotiating team to the UK have since disowned the figure they floated yesterday. Starmer so easily flattened Badenoch by asking her, for goodness sake whose side are you on.
The same line so often thrown at you on PB.
You really need to try to understand that Prime Ministers questions is one thing, and your opinion of the relative merits of Starmer and Badenoch is another. Clearly you're quite a passionate defender of Starmer - it seems to be a reflex that more than one of our Tory wets is sadly afflicted with, and that's fine, but he didn't flatten anyone, except in your fond imaginings.
As for turning on the Tories - you bet. I'll support any Government that governs in my interests and those of the wider country. I really don’t care what colour of rosette they have on. But Kemi was bang on today, in content and delivery, and Starmer turned into a gibbering blancmange. Her very happy face at the end said it all.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But sorry I think this might be one of the most bonkers views of PMQs from another planet I've ever heard.
Badenoch was absolutely dreadful with what should have been another open goal. As ever because she hits on a topic with some potential - but then hasn't done the reading to nail the Prime Minister on the detail on it and then drifts off to whatever's been in her Twitter feed that week and lets him off the hook.
Even Tory-sympathetic commentators have been saying she's woeful - for the same reason every time. It's all surface and no depth, so is fairly easily brushed off as a repetitive attack line or the usual turds dragged from Elon's sewer instead of actually catching the government out on the detail of an issue in a way that embarrasses Starmer into a forced admission.
As happened today when Badenoch had nothing to counter Starmer's assertion that she hadn't asked for the briefings on the issue so hadn't read them. If she had, or detail that contradicted Starmer, it would've been a perfect opportunity to plunge the knife in. But she just ended up saying "waffle" over and over again, ironically while...err..waffling.
This is not to say Starmer is particularly good at PMQs. At best he's perfunctory and he's not really quick enough to think on his feet when caught off guard like the best practitioners. But that's what makes Badenoch so bad! She loses by walking on to the same obvious punches every week to someone she should be, given the government's troubles and his woodenness, be beating quite comfortably.
Starmer is absolutely Rubbish at PMQs and media interviews. The ums and pauses grate, he’s condescending. He couldn’t sell a used car on the Apprentice.
That as might be - I never said he was good - but Badenoch is so bad it makes him look far better than he should be. She's woeful in a way that a particularly bad A Level politics student would be.
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.
You should be called JokeGuy, lucky. If her Lazy Excellence hadn’t skipped security briefings, should might have landed a punch.
But Farage was very interesting. Not banging on about traitors giving the empire away, or boat crossings on porous borders, or lack of homes due to 1M each year in new migrants, he linked pensioners empty pockets as a reason to abandon Labour for Reform, in the way the Conservative front bench can’t do just yet as they were in control so long till recently so are linked to the financial pain.
Um, piss off. Kier's risible 'security briefings' defence was the worst part of his performance. Well, except that strangled "No thaaaanks". But nothing is worse than that.
His briefings were getting howls of derision by the end - he ended up inventing briefings that Kemi should have attended for things that don't even have briefings.
That would be SKS's ideal form of PMQs though probably wouldn't it? None of this nasty holding the Government to account and stirring up the public. Let's just have a briefing beforehand and then go through the motions. Sadly that's not the way it worked out for him today.
In Leon and LuckyGuy are two people who would turn on the Conservative Party in an instant. I don’t want the Conservative Party to go full fat Leon or silly LuckyGuy in opposition, but stick to responsible opposition that protects UK interests whilst opposing and scrutinising a government.
The £18B Chagos figure was fake, put out by those negotiating with the UK government in a deal, to try and get a better deal from taxpayers money. You were the one who said Badenoch was brilliant at PMQs, where she claimed £18B as a fact in commons, she said it was true. The rival negotiating team to the UK have since disowned the figure they floated yesterday. Starmer so easily flattened Badenoch by asking her, for goodness sake whose side are you on.
The same line so often thrown at you on PB.
You really need to try to understand that Prime Ministers questions is one thing, and your opinion of the relative merits of Starmer and Badenoch is another. Clearly you're quite a passionate defender of Starmer - it seems to be a reflex that more than one of our Tory wets is sadly afflicted with, and that's fine, but he didn't flatten anyone, except in your fond imaginings.
As for turning on the Tories - you bet. I'll support any Government that governs in my interests and those of the wider country. I really don’t care what colour of rosette they have on. But Kemi was bang on today, in content and delivery, and Starmer turned into a gibbering blancmange. Her very happy face at the end said it all.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But sorry I think this might be one of the most bonkers views of PMQs from another planet I've ever heard.
Badenoch was absolutely dreadful with what should have been another open goal. As ever because she hits on a topic with some potential - but then hasn't done the reading to nail the Prime Minister on the detail on it and then drifts off to whatever's been in her Twitter feed that week and lets him off the hook.
Even Tory-sympathetic commentators have been saying she's woeful - for the same reason every time. It's all surface and no depth, so is fairly easily brushed off as a repetitive attack line or the usual turds dragged from Elon's sewer instead of actually catching the government out on the detail of an issue in a way that embarrasses Starmer into a forced admission.
As happened today when Badenoch had nothing to counter Starmer's assertion that she hadn't asked for the briefings on the issue so hadn't read them. If she had, or detail that contradicted Starmer, it would've been a perfect opportunity to plunge the knife in. But she just ended up saying "waffle" over and over again, ironically while...err..waffling.
This is not to say Starmer is particularly good at PMQs. At best he's perfunctory and he's not really quick enough to think on his feet when caught off guard like the best practitioners. But that's what makes Badenoch so bad! She loses by walking on to the same obvious punches every week to someone she should be, given the government's troubles and his woodenness, be beating quite comfortably.
Jenrick knows he's going to be leader, but probably doesn't want the job just yet.
Plenty of controversy on Wednesday as some senior political leaders turned up to address the assembled Māori (not Prime Minister Christopher Luxon who chose discretion by heading to the relative safety of Akaroa, outside Christchurch).
The Treaty Principles Bill, going through Parliament, authored by David Seymour, is controversial to say the least inasmuch as the Māori claim it will water down or remove the privileges granted in the main treaty of 1840.
Seymour tried to argue this case but a large number of Maori women turned their backs on him (which was effective) before his microphone was turned off (which looked petty). Winston Peters came out swinging to try to placate the opposition but it all got a bit heated.
In more important news, TV New Zealand had as its top evening story news of a deal being struck between the Cook Islands and China. Basically, the same old story with plenty of Chinese money pledged for infrastructure and economic development. Wellington is concerned because officially the Cook Islands Government has to “consult” before reaching a deal with another country but only if it involves defence or security which are New Zealand’s responsibility. With recent developments in Kiribati and the Solomons, both New Zealand and Australia are following China’s activities in the South West Pacific with particular concern.
On domestic matters, the postponement of most County Council elections pending reorganisation comes as little surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote “solidarity, equality, & sustainability.” In other words: DEI and climate change.
My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.
It's a shame he feels the need to put climate change in there.
Because here's the thing: once you've decided something is "against the national interest", then one is no longer interested in whether it is true or not.
Elon Musk @elonmusk · 47m With the support of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.
Just a few days ago, the FAA’s primary aircraft safety notification system failed for several hours!
Ah yes if there is one thing that safety critical systems would benefit from it is agile development. Genius!
"This shit's written in 'C', we need to rehack it in Mojo, give me your password and keyboard now."
It doesn't matter how good a developer you are if you have no experience in the domain you can't "make rapid safefy upgrades". Something like ATC is going to need a lot of knowledge, training, and processes to follow or you can really screw things up, hopefully in safe way by grounding aircraft and not in a dangerous way.
Look, we'll lose a few planes and passengers along the way, but we're rapidly iterating and we estimate it will take no more than seven or eight... incidents... before we have it working as well before. Only in Erlang.
BREAKING: Delta Airlines, Japan Airlines planes collide on the ground in Seattle https://trib.al/dSoY5XN
Since Trump took over, air travel Stateside has gone to pot.
Wait till they have to land at the airports using the flaming wreckage of another plane in lieu of landing lights, Die Hard 2 style.
That made no sense. The plane was almost completely out of fuel: any burning was likely to be therefore limited to the drinks trolley.
The burning plane he's referring to was the 747 containing the fake soldiers and the drug lord at the end of the film, not the 707? piloted by Miles Edward O'Brien in the middle of the film.
You make an excellent point. It was the Windsor Air (?) flight that was deliberately crashed (presumably because its radar altimeter was broken).
Windsor Airlines Flight 114. Piloted by Colm Meaney of Star Trek TNG, Under Siege, and Con-Air fame.
Errr
And Layer Cake
He was also in a rather fun little film from a few years back: Pixie. A bit formulative, and utter nonsense, but I enjoyed it,
(A young woman and two friends steal drugs from an Irish mob of priests and go on the run.)
On domestic matters, the postponement of most County Council elections pending reorganisation comes as little surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
You’re behind the times regarding the SCC view. The only options are two or three Unitaries. I agree two are more likely but they could be north-south. You are correct that Woking, in particular, is a huge problem.
South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote “solidarity, equality, & sustainability.” In other words: DEI and climate change.
My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.
America is doing very bad things too. You'd think they'd get on.
The cancelling of elections is not a good look at all for Labour and stupidly plays right into Farage's hands.
Social media already spreading Tice and Farage clips saying it is denying 5 million people a vote this spring.
The local government reorganisation is a good idea. The additional millions to hold elections now and for the new unitaries both was probably a small price to pay to avoid that charge (I still think the timetable to get it done for next year is unrealistic).
For areas where the outcome is that new councils are being created, realistically the shadow elections aren’t going to take place until 2027 and a further deferral is very likely.
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
Elon Musk @elonmusk · 47m With the support of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.
Just a few days ago, the FAA’s primary aircraft safety notification system failed for several hours!
Ah yes if there is one thing that safety critical systems would benefit from it is agile development. Genius!
"This shit's written in 'C', we need to rehack it in Mojo, give me your password and keyboard now."
It doesn't matter how good a developer you are if you have no experience in the domain you can't "make rapid safefy upgrades". Something like ATC is going to need a lot of knowledge, training, and processes to follow or you can really screw things up, hopefully in safe way by grounding aircraft and not in a dangerous way.
Look, we'll lose a few planes and passengers along the way, but we're rapidly iterating and we estimate it will take no more than seven or eight... incidents... before we have it working as well before. Only in Erlang.
The cancelling of elections is not a good look at all for Labour and stupidly plays right into Farage's hands.
Social media already spreading Tice and Farage clips saying it is denying 5 million people a vote this spring.
The local government reorganisation is a good idea. The additional millions to hold elections now and for the new unitaries both was probably a small price to pay to avoid that charge (I still think the timetable to get it done for next year is unrealistic).
For areas where the outcome is that new councils are being created, realistically the shadow elections aren’t going to take place until 2027 and a further deferral is very likely.
They managed more rapidly than that in the case of Cumbria - but that was the only one being pushed through at the time, I think.
GOP support for Musk influence with Trump falls dramatically
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5129353-gop-support-for-musk-influence-with-trump-falls-dramatically-poll/ The share of Republicans who say they want tech billionaire Elon Musk to have significant influence in the Trump administration has fallen substantially in the months since President Trump was elected. In The Economist/YouGov poll taken in the days after the November 2024 election, 47 percent of surveyed Republicans said they wanted Musk to have “a lot” of influence in the Trump administration, while 29 percent wanted “a little” and 12 percent wanted him to have “none at all.” Today, however, the share of Republicans who say they want Musk to have “a lot” of influence has fallen substantially to 26 percent. Meanwhile, 43 percent of Republican respondents say they want Musk to have “a little” influence, and 17 percent say they want him to have “none at all,” according to the latest poll from The Economist/YouGov released Wednesday. Surveyed Democrats and independents are also showing less desire for Musk to have a prominent influence in the Trump administration. Only 6 percent of each group say they want Musk to have “a lot” of influence. In November, 15 percent of Democrats and 26 percent of independents said they wanted Trump to have “a lot” of influence in the administration. Overall, 13 percent of surveyed Americans want Musk to have “a lot” of influence on the Trump administration, while 25 percent say they want “a little” influence and 46 percent say they want “none at all.” In November, 34 percent of surveyed Americans wanted Musk to have “a lot” of influence, 22 percent wanted him to have “a little” influence, and 30 percent said “none at all.” The numbers come as 51 percent of Americans perceive Musk as having “a lot” of influence on the Trump administration, according to the February poll. That includes 78 percent of Democrats, 41 percent of Independents, and 35 percent of Republicans. The latest poll also shows Americans have less favorable views of Trump and Vice President Vance than they did in last week’s poll, conducted after their first week in office...
As expected, Trump's favouribility rating has fallen much less. The cult (you too, william ?) will blame his minions for anything bad long before they get around to blaming him.
I assume the risk is that the islands will be seized by the forces of the International Telecommunications Union if the UK is found in breach of international law?
They have threatened to change the UK country code to:
As expected, Trump's favouribility rating has fallen much less. The cult (you too, william ?) will blame his minions for anything bad long before they get around to blaming him.
It’s Tim Walz’s strategy to appeal to Trump to do something to rein in Musk.
I can’t help thinking back on Trump’s Gaza plan announcement and the global reaction as being like the Austin Powers where Dr Evil has travelled back in time and demands 100 billion dollars and all the world leaders start laughing at him and making up numbers like a kajillion dollars.
On domestic matters, the postponement of most County Council elections pending reorganisation comes as little surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
You’re behind the times regarding the SCC view. The only options are two or three Unitaries. I agree two are more likely but they could be north-south. You are correct that Woking, in particular, is a huge problem.
South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote “solidarity, equality, & sustainability.” In other words: DEI and climate change.
My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.
Too busy on his Casino plans for Gaza - though in South Africa he could learn a lot about ethnic cleansing and 'two-state' solutions.
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
I can’t help thinking back on Trump’s Gaza plan announcement and the global reaction as being like the Austin Powers where Dr Evil has travelled back in time and demands 100 billion dollars and all the world leaders start laughing at him and making up numbers like a kajillion dollars.
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
On domestic matters, the postponement of most County Council elections pending reorganisation comes as little surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
You’re behind the times regarding the SCC view. The only options are two or three Unitaries. I agree two are more likely but they could be north-south. You are correct that Woking, in particular, is a huge problem.
Woking has always been a huge problem.
I know when this was looked at informally some years ago there was support for a three unitary solution containing about 400,000 each - a North West, a Mid and an East were touted.
I accept Tim Oliver has realised the County Unitary ship has sailed and I also accept the Conservatives on SCC saw a likely bloodbath in May and this may buy them control of one of the new unitary councils next year.
Where I do agree with Tim is on the finances - the huge Woking and Spelthorne debts will need to be written off and I suspect there will need to be help with transitional costs - if SCC and the Ds and Bs can agree a common approach they may get somewhere with Government.
A two-state solution is about as likely as one in France today, where we get to keep Normandy and Aquitaine.
That ship sailed forever in October 2023.
[Well, for us in sailed in 1453 at the Battle of Castillon]
Leon is correct. There will not be a two state solution as neither Hamas nor Israel want it and it is what they want that is what matters here not what the rest of the world may want.
The cancelling of elections is not a good look at all for Labour and stupidly plays right into Farage's hands.
Social media already spreading Tice and Farage clips saying it is denying 5 million people a vote this spring.
The local government reorganisation is a good idea. The additional millions to hold elections now and for the new unitaries both was probably a small price to pay to avoid that charge (I still think the timetable to get it done for next year is unrealistic).
For areas where the outcome is that new councils are being created, realistically the shadow elections aren’t going to take place until 2027 and a further deferral is very likely.
It’s an enormous undertaking. I’ve been messaging with an ex-colleague. She is in despair at the implications - I tried to offer what comfort I could from 13,000 miles away which wasn’t much.
I can’t help thinking back on Trump’s Gaza plan announcement and the global reaction as being like the Austin Powers where Dr Evil has travelled back in time and demands 100 billion dollars and all the world leaders start laughing at him and making up numbers like a kajillion dollars.
It was 'one million dollars!'
Nope, that’s the first film where he has been unfrozen and the U.N. just say ok to 1 million.
The second where he travels back in time and asks for 100 billion - the joke being that 100 billion in the sixties is a ludicrously high amount of money.
On domestic matters, the postponement of most County Council elections pending reorganisation comes as little surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
You’re behind the times regarding the SCC view. The only options are two or three Unitaries. I agree two are more likely but they could be north-south. You are correct that Woking, in particular, is a huge problem.
Woking has always been a huge problem.
I know when this was looked at informally some years ago there was support for a three unitary solution containing about 400,000 each - a North West, a Mid and an East were touted.
I accept Tim Oliver has realised the County Unitary ship has sailed and I also accept the Conservatives on SCC saw a likely bloodbath in May and this may buy them control of one of the new unitary councils next year.
Where I do agree with Tim is on the finances - the huge Woking and Spelthorne debts will need to be written off and I suspect there will need to be help with transitional costs - if SCC and the Ds and Bs can agree a common approach they may get somewhere with Government.
Written off. How and by who ? The govt bail them out ? I’d hope not. Why should the taxpayer bail out profligate councils. Woking is in the position it is in due to its own mismanagement. If the govt bail Woking out then they have to bail out Brum, Nottingham and all the other councils that have been ineptly managed. Why should they get taxpayers money when councils that have been better managed won’t.
Let them and their electors take the consequences of their choices.
We might worry about America in the Med but China in the southwest Pacific is a real concern as well. The Solomons, Kiribati, Vanuatu and now the Cook Islands have all had the Chinese soft sell and as an antidote to the existing influences of Canberra, Wellington and even Washington, has appeal.
I can’t help thinking back on Trump’s Gaza plan announcement and the global reaction as being like the Austin Powers where Dr Evil has travelled back in time and demands 100 billion dollars and all the world leaders start laughing at him and making up numbers like a kajillion dollars.
It was 'one million dollars!'
Nope, that’s the first film where he has been unfrozen and the U.N. just say ok to 1 million.
The second where he travels back in time and asks for 100 billion - the joke being that 100 billion in the sixties is a ludicrously high amount of money.
Ah right - never seen the second film right through. Generally get bored after about 25 minutes.
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.
You should be called JokeGuy, lucky. If her Lazy Excellence hadn’t skipped security briefings, should might have landed a punch.
But Farage was very interesting. Not banging on about traitors giving the empire away, or boat crossings on porous borders, or lack of homes due to 1M each year in new migrants, he linked pensioners empty pockets as a reason to abandon Labour for Reform, in the way the Conservative front bench can’t do just yet as they were in control so long till recently so are linked to the financial pain.
Um, piss off. Kier's risible 'security briefings' defence was the worst part of his performance. Well, except that strangled "No thaaaanks". But nothing is worse than that.
His briefings were getting howls of derision by the end - he ended up inventing briefings that Kemi should have attended for things that don't even have briefings.
That would be SKS's ideal form of PMQs though probably wouldn't it? None of this nasty holding the Government to account and stirring up the public. Let's just have a briefing beforehand and then go through the motions. Sadly that's not the way it worked out for him today.
In Leon and LuckyGuy are two people who would turn on the Conservative Party in an instant. I don’t want the Conservative Party to go full fat Leon or silly LuckyGuy in opposition, but stick to responsible opposition that protects UK interests whilst opposing and scrutinising a government.
The £18B Chagos figure was fake, put out by those negotiating with the UK government in a deal, to try and get a better deal from taxpayers money. You were the one who said Badenoch was brilliant at PMQs, where she claimed £18B as a fact in commons, she said it was true. The rival negotiating team to the UK have since disowned the figure they floated yesterday. Starmer so easily flattened Badenoch by asking her, for goodness sake whose side are you on.
The same line so often thrown at you on PB.
You really need to try to understand that Prime Ministers questions is one thing, and your opinion of the relative merits of Starmer and Badenoch is another. Clearly you're quite a passionate defender of Starmer - it seems to be a reflex that more than one of our Tory wets is sadly afflicted with, and that's fine, but he didn't flatten anyone, except in your fond imaginings.
As for turning on the Tories - you bet. I'll support any Government that governs in my interests and those of the wider country. I really don’t care what colour of rosette they have on. But Kemi was bang on today, in content and delivery, and Starmer turned into a gibbering blancmange. Her very happy face at the end said it all.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But sorry I think this might be one of the most bonkers views of PMQs from another planet I've ever heard.
Badenoch was absolutely dreadful with what should have been another open goal. As ever because she hits on a topic with some potential - but then hasn't done the reading to nail the Prime Minister on the detail on it and then drifts off to whatever's been in her Twitter feed that week and lets him off the hook.
Even Tory-sympathetic commentators have been saying she's woeful - for the same reason every time. It's all surface and no depth, so is fairly easily brushed off as a repetitive attack line or the usual turds dragged from Elon's sewer instead of actually catching the government out on the detail of an issue in a way that embarrasses Starmer into a forced admission.
As happened today when Badenoch had nothing to counter Starmer's assertion that she hadn't asked for the briefings on the issue so hadn't read them. If she had, or detail that contradicted Starmer, it would've been a perfect opportunity to plunge the knife in. But she just ended up saying "waffle" over and over again, ironically while...err..waffling.
This is not to say Starmer is particularly good at PMQs. At best he's perfunctory and he's not really quick enough to think on his feet when caught off guard like the best practitioners. But that's what makes Badenoch so bad! She loses by walking on to the same obvious punches every week to someone she should be, given the government's troubles and his woodenness, be beating quite comfortably.
If that comforts you, do by all means continue to think it ducks.
South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote “solidarity, equality, & sustainability.” In other words: DEI and climate change.
My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.
Too busy on his Casino plans for Gaza - though in South Africa he could learn a lot about ethnic cleansing and 'two-state' solutions.
On domestic matters, the postponement of most County Council elections pending reorganisation comes as little surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
You’re behind the times regarding the SCC view. The only options are two or three Unitaries. I agree two are more likely but they could be north-south. You are correct that Woking, in particular, is a huge problem.
Woking has always been a huge problem.
I know when this was looked at informally some years ago there was support for a three unitary solution containing about 400,000 each - a North West, a Mid and an East were touted.
I accept Tim Oliver has realised the County Unitary ship has sailed and I also accept the Conservatives on SCC saw a likely bloodbath in May and this may buy them control of one of the new unitary councils next year.
Where I do agree with Tim is on the finances - the huge Woking and Spelthorne debts will need to be written off and I suspect there will need to be help with transitional costs - if SCC and the Ds and Bs can agree a common approach they may get somewhere with Government.
Written off. How and by who ? The govt bail them out ? I’d hope not. Why should the taxpayer bail out profligate councils. Woking is in the position it is in due to its own mismanagement. If the govt bail Woking out then they have to bail out Brum, Nottingham and all the other councils that have been ineptly managed. Why should they get taxpayers money when councils that have been better managed won’t.
Let them and their electors take the consequences of their choices.
As you well know, the Conservatives who oversaw the financial mismanagement of Woking BC were booted out - should they be personally surcharged for their share of the debt? It hasn’t happened at Thurrock or Croydon. What about the senior officers who acquiesced?
As for the electors, they weren’t consulted but you seem happy for them to be in the hook for millions which will blight future spending and services.
I can’t help thinking back on Trump’s Gaza plan announcement and the global reaction as being like the Austin Powers where Dr Evil has travelled back in time and demands 100 billion dollars and all the world leaders start laughing at him and making up numbers like a kajillion dollars.
It was 'one million dollars!'
Nope, that’s the first film where he has been unfrozen and the U.N. just say ok to 1 million.
The second where he travels back in time and asks for 100 billion - the joke being that 100 billion in the sixties is a ludicrously high amount of money.
Ah right - never seen the second film right through. Generally get bored after about 25 minutes.
Trump’s plan for Gaza sounds like some evil weirdness from planet Zog. In the end the solution - if it ever happens - will be something like his proposal
On domestic matters, the postponement of most County Council elections pending reorganisation comes as little surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
You’re behind the times regarding the SCC view. The only options are two or three Unitaries. I agree two are more likely but they could be north-south. You are correct that Woking, in particular, is a huge problem.
Woking has always been a huge problem.
It's not for nothing the Martians first landed there.
A two-state solution is about as likely as one in France today, where we get to keep Normandy and Aquitaine.
That ship sailed forever in October 2023.
[Well, for us in sailed in 1453 at the Battle of Castillon]
Leon is correct. There will not be a two state solution as neither Hamas nor Israel want it and it is what they want that is what matters here not what the rest of the world may want.
It reminds me a bit of a "soft Brexit" as a compromise, which neither side wanted.
It will be, sadly, a fight to the death and that's one the Palestinians will lose.
On domestic matters, the postponement of most County Council elections pending reorganisation comes as little surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
You’re behind the times regarding the SCC view. The only options are two or three Unitaries. I agree two are more likely but they could be north-south. You are correct that Woking, in particular, is a huge problem.
Woking has always been a huge problem.
I know when this was looked at informally some years ago there was support for a three unitary solution containing about 400,000 each - a North West, a Mid and an East were touted.
I accept Tim Oliver has realised the County Unitary ship has sailed and I also accept the Conservatives on SCC saw a likely bloodbath in May and this may buy them control of one of the new unitary councils next year.
Where I do agree with Tim is on the finances - the huge Woking and Spelthorne debts will need to be written off and I suspect there will need to be help with transitional costs - if SCC and the Ds and Bs can agree a common approach they may get somewhere with Government.
Written off. How and by who ? The govt bail them out ? I’d hope not. Why should the taxpayer bail out profligate councils. Woking is in the position it is in due to its own mismanagement. If the govt bail Woking out then they have to bail out Brum, Nottingham and all the other councils that have been ineptly managed. Why should they get taxpayers money when councils that have been better managed won’t.
Let them and their electors take the consequences of their choices.
How about a market-based solution? Parties would have to take out Professional Indemnity insurance to cover their councillors for losses due to incompetence and unlawful actions. Should have happened after Westminster
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
We are living in an age of blood and steel, I'm afraid - just look at what Trump has been able to achieve in less than a month from shaking his stick around - and I see little benefit to Britain walking into that naked with a broken cricket bat.
A two-state solution is about as likely as one in France today, where we get to keep Normandy and Aquitaine.
That ship sailed forever in October 2023.
[Well, for us in sailed in 1453 at the Battle of Castillon]
Leon is correct. There will not be a two state solution as neither Hamas nor Israel want it and it is what they want that is what matters here not what the rest of the world may want.
Hamas is broken and only ever represented a minority of Palestinians. Most Palestinians live in the West Bank under a Fatah government, which supports a 2-state solution. Even then, Hamas isn’t clearly against a 2-state solution and more often than not Hamas officials say that remains their goal.
Likud, on polling, is expected to lose the next Israeli election and some opposition parties are more supportive of a 2-state solution.
Obviously, Hamas’s actions have been a huge setback for a 2-state solution. But a 1-state solution is also problematic. If you combined Israel and the Palestinian Territories into 1 state now, that would have to be as a secular state. The Israeli right aren’t interested in that approach; they don’t want to absorb a large Palestinian population. What the Israeli right want is the land without its current population. That would mean genocide.
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
We are living in an age of blood and steel, I'm afraid - just look at what Trump has been able to achieve in less than a month from shaking his stick around - and I see little benefit to Britain walking into that naked with a broken cricket bat.
What exactly has Trump achieved in his first 3 weeks?
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
We are living in an age of blood and steel, I'm afraid - just look at what Trump has been able to achieve in less than a month from shaking his stick around - and I see little benefit to Britain walking into that naked with a broken cricket bat.
What exactly has Trump achieved in his first 3 weeks?
He’s managed to find something that Turkey, Russia, Iran, Saudi, UK, France Germany, China and Japan all agree with. Nobody has ever managed that before.
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
We are living in an age of blood and steel, I'm afraid - just look at what Trump has been able to achieve in less than a month from shaking his stick around - and I see little benefit to Britain walking into that naked with a broken cricket bat.
What exactly has Trump achieved in his first 3 weeks?
I can’t help thinking back on Trump’s Gaza plan announcement and the global reaction as being like the Austin Powers where Dr Evil has travelled back in time and demands 100 billion dollars and all the world leaders start laughing at him and making up numbers like a kajillion dollars.
It was 'one million dollars!'
Nope, that’s the first film where he has been unfrozen and the U.N. just say ok to 1 million.
The second where he travels back in time and asks for 100 billion - the joke being that 100 billion in the sixties is a ludicrously high amount of money.
Ah right - never seen the second film right through. Generally get bored after about 25 minutes.
Trump’s plan for Gaza sounds like some evil weirdness from planet Zog. In the end the solution - if it ever happens - will be something like his proposal
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
We are living in an age of blood and steel, I'm afraid - just look at what Trump has been able to achieve in less than a month from shaking his stick around - and I see little benefit to Britain walking into that naked with a broken cricket bat.
What exactly has Trump achieved in his first 3 weeks?
He has confirmed many of the worst fears of how chaotic his administration would be.
As evidenced by the dramatic drop in the Stock Market.
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
We are living in an age of blood and steel, I'm afraid - just look at what Trump has been able to achieve in less than a month from shaking his stick around - and I see little benefit to Britain walking into that naked with a broken cricket bat.
What exactly has Trump achieved in his first 3 weeks?
He has confirmed many of the worst fears of how chaotic his administration would be.
As evidenced by the dramatic drop in the Stock Market.
In this the markets were right. The Grand Old Duke of Trump marched his tariffs up the hill, then marched them down again. All it did was make enemies of friends.
South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote “solidarity, equality, & sustainability.” In other words: DEI and climate change.
My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.
I am sure that the meeting will go a lot better without him.
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
We are living in an age of blood and steel, I'm afraid - just look at what Trump has been able to achieve in less than a month from shaking his stick around - and I see little benefit to Britain walking into that naked with a broken cricket bat.
What exactly has Trump achieved in his first 3 weeks?
He has confirmed many of the worst fears of how chaotic his administration would be.
As evidenced by the dramatic drop in the Stock Market.
I suspect he will be happier sticking to domestic politics for a while, the much promised Ukraine peace deal never materialised either.
South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote “solidarity, equality, & sustainability.” In other words: DEI and climate change.
My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.
It's a shame he feels the need to put climate change in there.
Because here's the thing: once you've decided something is "against the national interest", then one is no longer interested in whether it is true or not.
There's no point expecting any kind of rational thought from him. He's a deranged megalomaniac. Perhaps that's worse than a rational megalomaniac.
As others point out in that Twitter thread, the idea that the Americans are going to be using a vital telecommunications system as part of their defence systems that may one day be shut down because a telecommunications bureau in Switzerland isn't keen that there may be some question over the legality of Britain's ownership of Chagos is so utterly ludicrous I am amazed that the Cabinet Office had the balls to even type it up. No wonder even Sir Speech Therapy's own Cabinet aren't convinced by his 'security briefing' on the matter.
To be fair, the ITU is more than a mere bureau: they do lots of very important work on defining interoperability standards.
But your general point is correct:
It's a ludicrous explanation that no one could possibly mutter with a straight face.
Five minutes acquaintance with the workings of the ITU would tell you that the scenario depicted resembles Interpol in Netflix action movies more than it resembles reality.
The Rory Stewart story about a policy being pushed forward in the face of ministerial opposition, reality and common sense comes to mind.
A two-state solution is about as likely as one in France today, where we get to keep Normandy and Aquitaine.
That ship sailed forever in October 2023.
[Well, for us in sailed in 1453 at the Battle of Castillon]
Leon is correct. There will not be a two state solution as neither Hamas nor Israel want it and it is what they want that is what matters here not what the rest of the world may want.
It reminds me a bit of a "soft Brexit" as a compromise, which neither side wanted.
It will be, sadly, a fight to the death and that's one the Palestinians will lose.
Possibly, but things can change. Who'd have thought a couple of years ago that the US would have a president threatening war with Denmark?
It's not hard to imagine the Democrats adopting some of the America First rhetoric, and combined with revulsion at Israeli war crimes we could have a Democrat US president asking what the US has gained from the 300+billion in aid it has given to Israel apart from complicity in genocide. In which case the boot could be on the other foot.
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
We are living in an age of blood and steel, I'm afraid - just look at what Trump has been able to achieve in less than a month from shaking his stick around - and I see little benefit to Britain walking into that naked with a broken cricket bat.
What exactly has Trump achieved in his first 3 weeks?
Well, he's burnt down about 75 years of built up political capital in a fortnight.
He's wrecked the reputation of the USA as a stable, reliable, trustworthy country.
And he's running an action learning experiment in what can happen when the Rule of Law is removed from an advanced country.
A two-state solution is about as likely as one in France today, where we get to keep Normandy and Aquitaine.
That ship sailed forever in October 2023.
[Well, for us in sailed in 1453 at the Battle of Castillon]
Leon is correct. There will not be a two state solution as neither Hamas nor Israel want it and it is what they want that is what matters here not what the rest of the world may want.
It reminds me a bit of a "soft Brexit" as a compromise, which neither side wanted.
It will be, sadly, a fight to the death and that's one the Palestinians will lose.
Possibly, but things can change. Who'd have thought a couple of years ago that the US would have a president threatening war with Denmark?
It's not hard to imagine the Democrats adopting some of the America First rhetoric, and combined with revulsion at Israeli war crimes we could have a Democrat US president asking what the US has gained from the 300+billion in aid it has given to Israel apart from complicity in genocide. In which case the boot could be on the other foot.
Yes, a new American regime that pulls the plug on support for Israel is possibly just an election away.
Ben Wallace (former Def Sec) seems to have immediately posted that this is all fabricated.
Even if it isn't it deifies the purity of international law whilst ignoring that old adage that possession is nine tenths of the law.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
I do wonder what military and communication resources China has in Tibet...
We are living in an age of blood and steel, I'm afraid - just look at what Trump has been able to achieve in less than a month from shaking his stick around - and I see little benefit to Britain walking into that naked with a broken cricket bat.
What exactly has Trump achieved in his first 3 weeks?
He’s managed to find something that Turkey, Russia, Iran, Saudi, UK, France Germany, China and Japan all agree with. Nobody has ever managed that before.
On domestic matters, the postponement of most County Council elections pending reorganisation comes as little surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
You’re behind the times regarding the SCC view. The only options are two or three Unitaries. I agree two are more likely but they could be north-south. You are correct that Woking, in particular, is a huge problem.
Woking has always been a huge problem.
I know when this was looked at informally some years ago there was support for a three unitary solution containing about 400,000 each - a North West, a Mid and an East were touted.
I accept Tim Oliver has realised the County Unitary ship has sailed and I also accept the Conservatives on SCC saw a likely bloodbath in May and this may buy them control of one of the new unitary councils next year.
Where I do agree with Tim is on the finances - the huge Woking and Spelthorne debts will need to be written off and I suspect there will need to be help with transitional costs - if SCC and the Ds and Bs can agree a common approach they may get somewhere with Government.
Written off. How and by who ? The govt bail them out ? I’d hope not. Why should the taxpayer bail out profligate councils. Woking is in the position it is in due to its own mismanagement. If the govt bail Woking out then they have to bail out Brum, Nottingham and all the other councils that have been ineptly managed. Why should they get taxpayers money when councils that have been better managed won’t.
Let them and their electors take the consequences of their choices.
As you well know, the Conservatives who oversaw the financial mismanagement of Woking BC were booted out - should they be personally surcharged for their share of the debt? It hasn’t happened at Thurrock or Croydon. What about the senior officers who acquiesced?
As for the electors, they weren’t consulted but you seem happy for them to be in the hook for millions which will blight future spending and services.
Given the nature of the scandal in Woking, dodgy favoured property companies, lending and ludicrous developments, some of those Conservatives should be facing criminal investigation.
As for the debts, it is probably a case of at some point the realisation cannot pay off the money as stands - as it is so large - and coming to some kind of deal that attempts to minimise the amount central government might end up on the hook for.
On domestic matters, the postponement of most County Council elections pending reorganisation comes as little surprise.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
You’re behind the times regarding the SCC view. The only options are two or three Unitaries. I agree two are more likely but they could be north-south. You are correct that Woking, in particular, is a huge problem.
Woking has always been a huge problem.
I know when this was looked at informally some years ago there was support for a three unitary solution containing about 400,000 each - a North West, a Mid and an East were touted.
I accept Tim Oliver has realised the County Unitary ship has sailed and I also accept the Conservatives on SCC saw a likely bloodbath in May and this may buy them control of one of the new unitary councils next year.
Where I do agree with Tim is on the finances - the huge Woking and Spelthorne debts will need to be written off and I suspect there will need to be help with transitional costs - if SCC and the Ds and Bs can agree a common approach they may get somewhere with Government.
Written off. How and by who ? The govt bail them out ? I’d hope not. Why should the taxpayer bail out profligate councils. Woking is in the position it is in due to its own mismanagement. If the govt bail Woking out then they have to bail out Brum, Nottingham and all the other councils that have been ineptly managed. Why should they get taxpayers money when councils that have been better managed won’t.
Let them and their electors take the consequences of their choices.
As you well know, the Conservatives who oversaw the financial mismanagement of Woking BC were booted out - should they be personally surcharged for their share of the debt? It hasn’t happened at Thurrock or Croydon. What about the senior officers who acquiesced?
As for the electors, they weren’t consulted but you seem happy for them to be in the hook for millions which will blight future spending and services.
I don’t well know as I’m from the North East and don’t see why taxpayers up and down the country should bail this reckless county out and, yes, I am happy, No delighted, for the electors who made a bad choice to pay for that decision. Perhaps they will be more sensible in their choice next time.
My local council could do with more cash. Why shouldn’t we get some ? Our council tax is high compared to the rest of,the nation and southern counties are dumping problem families up here.
Comments
Mahmood stated in October 2024 that she was opposed to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on assisted dying. She said: 'I voted against the bill when it was last introduced in 2015. I'll be voting against it again. As a Muslim, I have an unshakable belief in the sanctity and value of human life. I don't think death is a service that the state should be offering.'[66]
As for turning on the Tories - you bet. I'll support any Government that governs in my interests and those of the wider country. I really don’t care what colour of rosette they have on. But Kemi was bang on today, in content and delivery, and Starmer turned into a gibbering blancmange. Her very happy face at the end said it all.
Erin Reed's commentary: https://bsky.app/profile/erininthemorning.com/post/3lhhlsomhec2b
And Layer Cake
But your general point is correct:
It's a ludicrous explanation that no one could possibly mutter with a straight face.
Overall, when Badenoch positions Conservative Party as serious, anti populist right wing, in huge contrast to Reforms pie in the sky populist nonsense, it is largely good, but her inherent laziness - often shown up at PMQs and in interviews - is unforgivable considering UKs greatest ever political party remains teetering in such a mess of credibility and support.
And pushing this Chagos stuff is just plain embarrassing for a LOTO. Bang Off.
Badenoch was absolutely dreadful with what should have been another open goal. As ever because she hits on a topic with some potential - but then hasn't done the reading to nail the Prime Minister on the detail on it and then drifts off to whatever's been in her Twitter feed that week and lets him off the hook.
Even Tory-sympathetic commentators have been saying she's woeful - for the same reason every time. It's all surface and no depth, so is fairly easily brushed off as a repetitive attack line or the usual turds dragged from Elon's sewer instead of actually catching the government out on the detail of an issue in a way that embarrasses Starmer into a forced admission.
As happened today when Badenoch had nothing to counter Starmer's assertion that she hadn't asked for the briefings on the issue so hadn't read them. If she had, or detail that contradicted Starmer, it would've been a perfect opportunity to plunge the knife in. But she just ended up saying "waffle" over and over again, ironically while...err..waffling.
This is not to say Starmer is particularly good at PMQs. At best he's perfunctory and he's not really quick enough to think on his feet when caught off guard like the best practitioners. But that's what makes Badenoch so bad! She loses by walking on to the same obvious punches every week to someone she should be, given the government's troubles and his woodenness, be beating quite comfortably.
I will NOT attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote “solidarity, equality, & sustainability.” In other words: DEI and climate change.
My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.
Is it comparable situation to the Falklands? Or is each situation different, depending if you have easy plan B round the issue?
It depends what you regard by arbitrary international law.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued an opinion UK did not have sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and administration of the whole archipelago should be handed over "as rapidly as possible" to Mauritius. The United Nations General Assembly then voted to give Britain a six-month deadline to begin process of handing over the islands. In 2021, the United Nation's International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, ruled Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Islands.
Why?
The government of Mauritius argued in UN's highest court it was illegally forced to give Chagos Islands away in 1968, and the court ruled that the UK's administration of the territory is unlawful. The UK at the request of US began expelling the inhabitants of Chagos in 1968 concluding forced deportations in 1973.
What would you do?
If you want to be part of institution settling international disputes, want others to abide by its decisions, and you lose a case in the courtroom, what is the best thing to do?
Where did £18B figure come from?
It’s the same £9B over 100 years lease money, only inflation proofed. It’s been banded about on basis Mauritius government said the agreement was inflation proofed, but they have clearly denied today they ever said that.
My bet is, we will certainly pay more than £9B over 100 years, but as I’ll be 128 it’s not a bet I’ll place.
And people still insist Kemi Badenoch was fantastic today, and didn’t embarrass herself and the party she leads? Fortunately not for much longer though. Soon as Trump and his administration endorse the UK governments plan b - we were probably told by US what to do anyway like with ill fated plan A in 1968 - these arguably ignorant attacks on plan b will cease. Which is why I am disappointed to see the Conservatives today mix up and bake so much humble pie, to be swallowed later 😖
My message to Kemi - stop listening to ravings of simple minded populists on PB. They’ve never talked any sense in their lives.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-scraps-diversity-based-hiring-targets-wsj-reports-2025-02-05/
Plenty of controversy on Wednesday as some senior political leaders turned up to address the assembled Māori (not Prime Minister Christopher Luxon who chose discretion by heading to the relative safety of Akaroa, outside Christchurch).
The Treaty Principles Bill, going through Parliament, authored by David Seymour, is controversial to say the least inasmuch as the Māori claim it will water down or remove the privileges granted in the main treaty of 1840.
Seymour tried to argue this case but a large number of Maori women turned their backs on him (which was effective) before his microphone was turned off (which looked petty). Winston Peters came out swinging to try to placate the opposition but it all got a bit heated.
In more important news, TV New Zealand had as its top evening story news of a deal being struck between the Cook Islands and China. Basically, the same old story with plenty of Chinese money pledged for infrastructure and economic development. Wellington is concerned because officially the Cook Islands Government has to “consult” before reaching a deal with another country but only if it involves defence or security which are New Zealand’s responsibility. With recent developments in Kiribati and the Solomons, both New Zealand and Australia are following China’s activities in the South West Pacific with particular concern.
It will be interesting to see how Surrey County and the eleven District and Boroughs could and would come to an agreed position given the huge animosities at senior level. Tim Oliver, the County leader, will doubtless brush off his plans for a County Unitary but it’s clear the Districts and Boroughs are more in favour of two or possibly three smaller unitaries.
As I understand it, the “favourite” is two unitaries, an east and a west, with about 500,000 in each. Presumably West Surrey would have Guildford as HQ while East Surrey would run out of the existing County Council HQ in Woodhatch. The timetable for setting up the new authorities looks frighteningly tight and the thorny questions of existing District Council debt (Woking, Spelthorne) and transition costs seem not to have been addressed.
Quite apart from the finances and the legalities, there’s the property and the staff to be disaggregated - it’s an enormous task and I’m left thinking 50 years of two tier worked reasonably well for some areas so why change it?
Because here's the thing: once you've decided something is "against the national interest", then one is no longer interested in whether it is true or not.
(A young woman and two friends steal drugs from an Irish mob of priests and go on the run.)
You'd think they'd get on.
We shouldn't be naive about the power politics that's played out through UN agencies and the ICJ and Mauritius should be told the islands will stay British forever, there will never be a deal, and we should up our naval presence there on top.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5129353-gop-support-for-musk-influence-with-trump-falls-dramatically-poll/
The share of Republicans who say they want tech billionaire Elon Musk to have significant influence in the Trump administration has fallen substantially in the months since President Trump was elected.
In The Economist/YouGov poll taken in the days after the November 2024 election, 47 percent of surveyed Republicans said they wanted Musk to have “a lot” of influence in the Trump administration, while 29 percent wanted “a little” and 12 percent wanted him to have “none at all.”
Today, however, the share of Republicans who say they want Musk to have “a lot” of influence has fallen substantially to 26 percent. Meanwhile, 43 percent of Republican respondents say they want Musk to have “a little” influence, and 17 percent say they want him to have “none at all,” according to the latest poll from The Economist/YouGov released Wednesday.
Surveyed Democrats and independents are also showing less desire for Musk to have a prominent influence in the Trump administration. Only 6 percent of each group say they want Musk to have “a lot” of influence. In November, 15 percent of Democrats and 26 percent of independents said they wanted Trump to have “a lot” of influence in the administration.
Overall, 13 percent of surveyed Americans want Musk to have “a lot” of influence on the Trump administration, while 25 percent say they want “a little” influence and 46 percent say they want “none at all.”
In November, 34 percent of surveyed Americans wanted Musk to have “a lot” of influence, 22 percent wanted him to have “a little” influence, and 30 percent said “none at all.”
The numbers come as 51 percent of Americans perceive Musk as having “a lot” of influence on the Trump administration, according to the February poll. That includes 78 percent of Democrats, 41 percent of Independents, and 35 percent of Republicans.
The latest poll also shows Americans have less favorable views of Trump and Vice President Vance than they did in last week’s poll, conducted after their first week in office...
As expected, Trump's favouribility rating has fallen much less. The cult (you too, william ?) will blame his minions for anything bad long before they get around to blaming him.
https://x.com/tim_walz/status/1887150655682351108
A two-state solution is about as likely as one in France today, where we get to keep Normandy and Aquitaine.
That ship sailed forever in October 2023.
[Well, for us in sailed in 1453 at the Battle of Castillon]
I accept Tim Oliver has realised the County Unitary ship has sailed and I also accept the Conservatives on SCC saw a likely bloodbath in May and this may buy them control of one of the new unitary councils next year.
Where I do agree with Tim is on the finances - the huge Woking and Spelthorne debts will need to be written off and I suspect there will need to be help with transitional costs - if SCC and the Ds and Bs can agree a common approach they may get somewhere with Government.
The second where he travels back in time and asks for 100 billion - the joke being that 100 billion in the sixties is a ludicrously high amount of money.
Let them and their electors take the consequences of their choices.
Saint Audrey of Ely's name was used to sell garments made of lace
Puritans thought they were too revealing and immodest, and tawdry was born
As for the electors, they weren’t consulted but you seem happy for them to be in the hook for millions which will blight future spending and services.
Trump’s plan for Gaza sounds like some evil weirdness from planet Zog. In the end the solution - if it ever happens - will be something like his proposal
It will be, sadly, a fight to the death and that's one the Palestinians will lose.
Parties would have to take out Professional Indemnity insurance to cover their councillors for losses due to incompetence and unlawful actions.
Should have happened after Westminster
Likud, on polling, is expected to lose the next Israeli election and some opposition parties are more supportive of a 2-state solution.
Obviously, Hamas’s actions have been a huge setback for a 2-state solution. But a 1-state solution is also problematic. If you combined Israel and the Palestinian Territories into 1 state now, that would have to be as a secular state. The Israeli right aren’t interested in that approach; they don’t want to absorb a large Palestinian population. What the Israeli right want is the land without its current population. That would mean genocide.
As evidenced by the dramatic drop in the Stock Market.
NEW THREAD
The Rory Stewart story about a policy being pushed forward in the face of ministerial opposition, reality and common sense comes to mind.
It's not hard to imagine the Democrats adopting some of the America First rhetoric, and combined with revulsion at Israeli war crimes we could have a Democrat US president asking what the US has gained from the 300+billion in aid it has given to Israel apart from complicity in genocide. In which case the boot could be on the other foot.
He's wrecked the reputation of the USA as a stable, reliable, trustworthy country.
And he's running an action learning experiment in what can happen when the Rule of Law is removed from an advanced country.
As for the debts, it is probably a case of at some point the realisation cannot pay off the money as stands - as it is so large - and coming to some kind of deal that attempts to minimise the amount central government might end up on the hook for.
My local council could do with more cash. Why shouldn’t we get some ? Our council tax is high compared to the rest of,the nation and southern counties are dumping problem families up here.