The Mad King is about to announce his new policy on auto tariffs
He is going to scrap his previous policy
This is not a retreat...
Spencer Hakimian @SpencerHakimian · 6m *LUTNICK: TARIFF WILL APPLY TO FOREIGN CAR MAKERS BUILDING CARS IN U.S.
🤣🤣🤣
Lol wtf. This has got to be the most stupid policy I've ever seen. What's the endgame here, lock out foreign car makers from the US market so that the likes of GM and Ford have a duopoly?
And how are you going to attract investment from the likes of TSMC if you are saying "well we might just tariff what you make here if we feel like it"?
Yeah it's completely mental. I don't understand this thinking at all, propping up failing US car companies by effectively blocking foreign brands just seems like a step into the dark for the US economy. There's a tiny kernel of logic behind tariffs to bring back manufacturing, but this makes less than zero sense. Foreign companies will quietly freeze investment and redirect to Mexico, why bother with a higher US cost structure when you get the same tariffs from low cost Mexico anyway?
The thinking (such as it is) is "I like tariffs". Imagine that said in the same voice Waynetta Slob used to say "I'm having a fag."
The tariffs aren't a means to an end, they are an end in themselves.
The Mad King is about to announce his new policy on auto tariffs
He is going to scrap his previous policy
This is not a retreat...
Spencer Hakimian @SpencerHakimian · 6m *LUTNICK: TARIFF WILL APPLY TO FOREIGN CAR MAKERS BUILDING CARS IN U.S.
🤣🤣🤣
Lol wtf. This has got to be the most stupid policy I've ever seen. What's the endgame here, lock out foreign car makers from the US market so that the likes of GM and Ford have a duopoly?
And how are you going to attract investment from the likes of TSMC if you are saying "well we might just tariff what you make here if we feel like it"?
Yeah it's completely mental. I don't understand this thinking at all, propping up failing US car companies by effectively blocking foreign brands just seems like a step into the dark for the US economy. There's a tiny kernel of logic behind tariffs to bring back manufacturing, but this makes less than zero sense. Foreign companies will quietly freeze investment and redirect to Mexico, why bother with a higher US cost structure when you get the same tariffs from low cost Mexico anyway?
The thinking (such as it is) is "I like tariffs". Imagine that said in the same voice Waynetta Slob used to say "I'm having a fag."
The tariffs aren't a means to an end, they are an end in themselves.
Except they're not. They change every week or so.
As long as that?
Ignoring Lutnick, the new regime actually makes a small amount of sense. I'll take it seriously if it's still in place come June.
The Mad King is about to announce his new policy on auto tariffs
He is going to scrap his previous policy
This is not a retreat...
Spencer Hakimian @SpencerHakimian · 6m *LUTNICK: TARIFF WILL APPLY TO FOREIGN CAR MAKERS BUILDING CARS IN U.S.
🤣🤣🤣
Lol wtf. This has got to be the most stupid policy I've ever seen. What's the endgame here, lock out foreign car makers from the US market so that the likes of GM and Ford have a duopoly?
And how are you going to attract investment from the likes of TSMC if you are saying "well we might just tariff what you make here if we feel like it"?
Yeah it's completely mental. I don't understand this thinking at all, propping up failing US car companies by effectively blocking foreign brands just seems like a step into the dark for the US economy. There's a tiny kernel of logic behind tariffs to bring back manufacturing, but this makes less than zero sense. Foreign companies will quietly freeze investment and redirect to Mexico, why bother with a higher US cost structure when you get the same tariffs from low cost Mexico anyway?
The thinking (such as it is) is "I like tariffs". Imagine that said in the same voice Waynetta Slob used to say "I'm having a fag."
The tariffs aren't a means to an end, they are an end in themselves.
Except they're not. They change every week or so.
I think the main driver is simply to own the news.
I’m far from convinced (as some seem to be) that the Canadian result points to what will happen to Reform at the next GE (or beforehand).
The Canadian situation was brought about by a very particular set of events that were immediate in the minds of voters. Canada is also much more badly hit by Trump’s trade policies and his general unhinged-ness, being next door. The Liberals also did an exceptionally well-timed switcheroo at the top.
We have had a lot of predictions that Trump’s antics would damage Reform. As of today, their poll rating is holding up and they will take a load of council seats on Thursday, and potentially win a Westminster by election. I could be persuaded that Trump might be a brake on them expanding their position further, but we don’t have any real evidence of that yet.
Yup. I don't assume people who self-indulgently voted for Brexit would not self-indulgently vote for the man most responsible for it.
Farage also doesn’t need to make MAGA converts of everyone.
He just needs enough people to feel let down by Labour and the Tories.
Reform are a NOTA party.
They don't have a monopoly on the NOTA vote though, do they? Lib Dems regained some of that turf in 2024 having lost it through involvement in the Coalition (making them a OOTA vote for a time). The Greens and Scots/Welsh nationalists also have NOTA appeal.
You can argue in a sense RefUK have greater NOTA appeal - they got more votes than any of those at the last General Election, and are polling higher now. But here's the rub... all those other NOTA parties were more efficient at turning votes into seats in 2024 - the Lib Dems by MILES. That's because they have fewer perceived negatives for NOTA voters (a big negative for Farage being the MAGA connection, which is highly unpopular in the UK).
It is a good point, and that is where FPTP and voter distribution has a big part to play.
In essence you need a bigger “Stop Reform” vote (of which there will be a good chunk) than those minded to vote Reform.
For that reason I’d be less bullish on their chances in much of the blue-rinse seats than a party like the LDs. Rural seats around big cities aren’t going to be great for them either, but the small towns and northern/eastern coasts are fertile ground. At the moment I subscribe to the view that no party can win a majority at the next GE. If I had to predict, I would suggest Labour minority with LD confidence and supply is the most likely.
Is it just me, or are we now awash with flies, in this warm weather?
All manner of stuff is out. Not just flies, but hoverflies, butterflies - and just seen a black oil beetle. The moths have been active the last few nights, with some of the bigger beasts waking up. I expect the cockchafers* will be out very shortly.
*mentioned solely so that TSE can have a snigger...
I remember when Bradley Walsh on ITV's The Chase had a snigger or two when "cockchafer" came up in a question
Once had a cockchafer with a load of parasitic mites running round on it. Ugh!
Always seems to be those or hornets that spoil moth trapping.
He was interviewed by Faisal, he commented that Mario Cumo said you campaign in poetry and govern in prose. Well, said Mark Carney, I campaigned in prose and will govern, in...technospeak maybe.
He is extremely bright, articulate, got a sense of humour and a clear vision of how the world works. I am frankly jealous of Canada, whatever his dancing is like.
I remember seeing him speaking off the cuff at a British embassy event in DC - the Chancellor of the time had been called back to London last minute to deal with some Brexit related bullshit and Carney stepped in to make some remarks, and was charming, smart and genuinely, properly, funny. An impressive man.
Sadly his tenure at the Bank of England was marked by political granstanding and (far more importantly) ruinous money printing.
Glad you found him so charming though - makes all the rampant inflation worthwhile somehow doesn't it?
Hi Liz, hope you're keeping well.
With much respect and affection for the lady, I don't think she's as funny as me.
Oh, I think the rest of us find her FAR funnier.
I'm sure she's sobbing all the way to the bank.
I'm sure she scrapes a living, but people don't laugh at her because she's struggling to buy butter.
The amusement comes from the spectacular failure of her short time in office, from her failure to have taken any meaningful lessons from it, and from her increasingly desperate and doomed attempts to regain the relevance and influence she ever so briefly enjoyed.
Yet politics is now driven by the 'growth agenda' that she brought to prominence, and even the dense creatures on the Labour front benches are now learning the very lessons she has attempted to teach as they struggle to Govern with the few levers they possesses in the grotesque blob that we call the modern British state.
And she continues to be blithely unaffected by the rather unbecoming cattiness of a certain type of middle-aged man (I won't call this type of person a misogynist - I'm not a doctor) who can't seem to handle the fact that she won't do as she's told and play dead.
7 former Labour councillors in Slough have joined the Lib Dems.
"Slough Liberal Democrat councillor group will be greatly strengthened by the addition of Cllr Sabia Akram, Cllr Waqas Sabah, Cllr Zaffar Ajaib, Cllr Haqeeq Dar, Cllr Mohammed Nazir, Cllr Naveeda Qaseem, Cllr Jamila Sabah..."
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
To be fair to Poilievre, despite losing his seat the Conservatives did gain votes and seats. Indeed they got the highest Conservative voteshare since 1988. Yet the anti Trump vote rallied around the Liberals as Carney squeezed the NDP vote to get most seats
‘Numerous signs of torture’: a Ukrainian journalist’s detention and death in Russian prison https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/29/viktoriia-roshchyna-ukrainian-journalist-death-russian-prison ...Preliminary forensics suggest “numerous signs of torture”, according to the prosecutor. Burn marks on her feet from electric shocks, abrasions on the hips and head, and a broken rib. Her hair, which she liked to wear long and tinted blonde at the tips, had been shaved. Sources close to the official investigation have also disclosed that the hyoid bone in her neck was broken. It is the kind of damage that can occur during strangulation. However, the exact cause of death may never be known because when her body was returned during the exchange on 14 February, certain parts were missing, namely the brain, eyes and larynx...
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
He was interviewed by Faisal, he commented that Mario Cumo said you campaign in poetry and govern in prose. Well, said Mark Carney, I campaigned in prose and will govern, in...technospeak maybe.
He is extremely bright, articulate, got a sense of humour and a clear vision of how the world works. I am frankly jealous of Canada, whatever his dancing is like.
I remember seeing him speaking off the cuff at a British embassy event in DC - the Chancellor of the time had been called back to London last minute to deal with some Brexit related bullshit and Carney stepped in to make some remarks, and was charming, smart and genuinely, properly, funny. An impressive man.
Sadly his tenure at the Bank of England was marked by political granstanding and (far more importantly) ruinous money printing.
Glad you found him so charming though - makes all the rampant inflation worthwhile somehow doesn't it?
Hi Liz, hope you're keeping well.
With much respect and affection for the lady, I don't think she's as funny as me.
Oh, I think the rest of us find her FAR funnier.
I'm sure she's sobbing all the way to the bank.
I'm sure she scrapes a living, but people don't laugh at her because she's struggling to buy butter.
The amusement comes from the spectacular failure of her short time in office, from her failure to have taken any meaningful lessons from it, and from her increasingly desperate and doomed attempts to regain the relevance and influence she ever so briefly enjoyed.
Yet politics is now driven by the 'growth agenda' that she brought to prominence, and even the dense creatures on the Labour front benches are now learning the very lessons she has attempted to teach as they struggle to Govern with the few levers they possesses in the grotesque blob that we call the modern British state.
And she continues to be blithely unaffected by the rather unbecoming cattiness of a certain type of middle-aged man (I won't call this type of person a misogynist - I'm not a doctor) who can't seem to handle the fact that she won't do as she's told and play dead.
Truly an intellectual giant, coming up with the concept of economic growth to drive prosperity. It is just slightly surprising no-one had ever thought of this before. Let us hope that this is just the start of her greatness, the tip of the iceberg perhaps.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
To be fair to Poilievre, despite losing his seat the Conservatives did gain votes and seats. Indeed they got the highest Conservative voteshare since 1988. Yet the anti Trump vote rallied around the Liberals as Carney squeezed the NDP vote to get most seats
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
The Mad King is about to announce his new policy on auto tariffs
He is going to scrap his previous policy
This is not a retreat...
Spencer Hakimian @SpencerHakimian · 6m *LUTNICK: TARIFF WILL APPLY TO FOREIGN CAR MAKERS BUILDING CARS IN U.S.
🤣🤣🤣
Lol wtf. This has got to be the most stupid policy I've ever seen. What's the endgame here, lock out foreign car makers from the US market so that the likes of GM and Ford have a duopoly?
And how are you going to attract investment from the likes of TSMC if you are saying "well we might just tariff what you make here if we feel like it"?
Yeah it's completely mental. I don't understand this thinking at all, propping up failing US car companies by effectively blocking foreign brands just seems like a step into the dark for the US economy. There's a tiny kernel of logic behind tariffs to bring back manufacturing, but this makes less than zero sense. Foreign companies will quietly freeze investment and redirect to Mexico, why bother with a higher US cost structure when you get the same tariffs from low cost Mexico anyway?
The thinking (such as it is) is "I like tariffs". Imagine that said in the same voice Waynetta Slob used to say "I'm having a fag."
The tariffs aren't a means to an end, they are an end in themselves.
Except they're not. They change every week or so.
As long as that?
Ignoring Lutnick, the new regime actually makes a small amount of sense. I'll take it seriously if it's still in place come June.
Not really. It doesn't matter what the regime is WRT tariffs if you keep changing it. International trade relies on long term stability and reliability. Keeping on changing things is never never the answer.
To be fair to Poilievre, despite losing his seat the Conservatives did gain votes and seats. Indeed they got the highest Conservative voteshare since 1988. Yet the anti Trump vote rallied around the Liberals as Carney squeezed the NDP vote to get most seats
Not purely and simply the Trump effect. There was also a boost from swapping out Trudeau.
You don't get it do you , I know well how English works. However in this instance you always use the "lowlifes" when talking about scumbags, you never ever ever say low lives. You might be clever but have obviously led a very sheltered life.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
You don't get it do you , I know well how English works. However in this instance you always use the "lowlifes" when talking about scumbags, you never ever ever say low lives. You might be clever but have obviously led a very sheltered life.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
The plural of Life is LIVES.
It ought to be but it isn't. It goes: Single person is low life; generic plural is low life; specific plural is low lifes. No idea why. Why is the plural of sheep sheep?
Always a special joy to agree with malcolmg about something important.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
The plural of Life is LIVES.
Wrong, its lowlifes with an f - its a compound word.
The only (slight) mistake in malcolm's post was its one [compound] word not two, so it should be lowlifes with no space in it, but it is definitely lowlifes and not lowlives.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
The plural of Life is LIVES.
It ought to be but it isn't. It goes: Single person is low life; generic plural is low life; specific plural is low lifes. No idea why. Why is the plural of sheep sheep?
He cannot grasp that fact. It is what it is bad grammar or not.
Reminder: "Bat guano has significant commercial value, primarily as a natural fertilizer due to its high content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. It's also a source of chitin and chitosan, and has historical importance in agriculture and industry. The global guano market, including bat guano, is projected to reach USD 1,005.42 million by 2031." (Google AI overview)
The Mad King is about to announce his new policy on auto tariffs
He is going to scrap his previous policy
This is not a retreat...
Spencer Hakimian @SpencerHakimian · 6m *LUTNICK: TARIFF WILL APPLY TO FOREIGN CAR MAKERS BUILDING CARS IN U.S.
🤣🤣🤣
Lol wtf. This has got to be the most stupid policy I've ever seen. What's the endgame here, lock out foreign car makers from the US market so that the likes of GM and Ford have a duopoly?
And how are you going to attract investment from the likes of TSMC if you are saying "well we might just tariff what you make here if we feel like it"?
Yeah it's completely mental. I don't understand this thinking at all, propping up failing US car companies by effectively blocking foreign brands just seems like a step into the dark for the US economy. There's a tiny kernel of logic behind tariffs to bring back manufacturing, but this makes less than zero sense. Foreign companies will quietly freeze investment and redirect to Mexico, why bother with a higher US cost structure when you get the same tariffs from low cost Mexico anyway?
The thinking (such as it is) is "I like tariffs". Imagine that said in the same voice Waynetta Slob used to say "I'm having a fag."
The tariffs aren't a means to an end, they are an end in themselves.
Except they're not. They change every week or so.
As long as that?
Ignoring Lutnick, the new regime actually makes a small amount of sense. I'll take it seriously if it's still in place come June.
Not really. It doesn't matter what the regime is WRT tariffs if you keep changing it. International trade relies on long term stability and reliability. Keeping on changing things is never never the answer.
Yes, that was my point. If the new policy stays in place for a full month, it would be an improvement.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
The plural of Life is LIVES.
Wrong, its lowlifes with an f - its a compound word.
The only (slight) mistake in malcolm's post was its one [compound] word not two, so it should be lowlifes with no space in it, but it is definitely lowlifes and not lowlives.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
The plural of Life is LIVES.
Wrong, its lowlifes with an f - its a compound word.
The only (slight) mistake in malcolm's post was its one [compound] word not two, so it should be lowlifes with no space in it, but it is definitely lowlifes and not lowlives.
Fair enough. When I become Lord Protector of the Anglosphere, I will sign an Executive Order changing it to "Lowlives" on the grounds that it's easier to pronounce
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
The plural of Life is LIVES.
Wrong, its lowlifes with an f - its a compound word.
The only (slight) mistake in malcolm's post was its one [compound] word not two, so it should be lowlifes with no space in it, but it is definitely lowlifes and not lowlives.
correct I should not have had a space
Actually, the Shorter Oxford has it as both low-lifes and (occas.) low-lives.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
We have ceased to care. Partly due to the fact the country feels like a doss house as so many people come and go, with no emotional attachment to the place
But it can be fixed. We just need a few severe sentences - broken window theory. They make it very apparent in the Stans that if you litter you WILL get punished - and harshly
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Low LIVES.
Your arse, low lifes for any educated person. Never in all my years heard any idiot trying to say low lives it is low lifes
The plural of Life is LIVES.
Wrong, its lowlifes with an f - its a compound word.
The only (slight) mistake in malcolm's post was its one [compound] word not two, so it should be lowlifes with no space in it, but it is definitely lowlifes and not lowlives.
Fair enough. When I become Lord Protector of the Anglosphere, I will sign an Executive Order changing it to "Lowlives" on the grounds that it's easier to pronounce
He was interviewed by Faisal, he commented that Mario Cumo said you campaign in poetry and govern in prose. Well, said Mark Carney, I campaigned in prose and will govern, in...technospeak maybe.
He is extremely bright, articulate, got a sense of humour and a clear vision of how the world works. I am frankly jealous of Canada, whatever his dancing is like.
I remember seeing him speaking off the cuff at a British embassy event in DC - the Chancellor of the time had been called back to London last minute to deal with some Brexit related bullshit and Carney stepped in to make some remarks, and was charming, smart and genuinely, properly, funny. An impressive man.
Sadly his tenure at the Bank of England was marked by political granstanding and (far more importantly) ruinous money printing.
Glad you found him so charming though - makes all the rampant inflation worthwhile somehow doesn't it?
Hi Liz, hope you're keeping well.
With much respect and affection for the lady, I don't think she's as funny as me.
Oh, I think the rest of us find her FAR funnier.
I'm sure she's sobbing all the way to the bank.
I'm sure she scrapes a living, but people don't laugh at her because she's struggling to buy butter.
The amusement comes from the spectacular failure of her short time in office, from her failure to have taken any meaningful lessons from it, and from her increasingly desperate and doomed attempts to regain the relevance and influence she ever so briefly enjoyed.
Yet politics is now driven by the 'growth agenda' that she brought to prominence, and even the dense creatures on the Labour front benches are now learning the very lessons she has attempted to teach as they struggle to Govern with the few levers they possesses in the grotesque blob that we call the modern British state.
And she continues to be blithely unaffected by the rather unbecoming cattiness of a certain type of middle-aged man (I won't call this type of person a misogynist - I'm not a doctor) who can't seem to handle the fact that she won't do as she's told and play dead.
Truly an intellectual giant, coming up with the concept of economic growth to drive prosperity. It is just slightly surprising no-one had ever thought of this before. Let us hope that this is just the start of her greatness, the tip of the iceberg perhaps.
The problem is that too much of politics is dominated by people whose life work it is to prevent growth. To stop construction of any factory, home, pylon, road, cycle path or any other infrastructure or development that might have growth.
You laugh at it, but growth is anathema to many people.
The amount of times I've been asked on this site "yeah but how would you feel about a factory opening near you" - err, delighted to see some investment, why do you ask - as people just assume that any growth is bad and assume that others must take that opinion too.
We'll get some growth, when people stop working bloody hard to prevent it.
Apologies if this has been covered but absolutely horrendous forecasts by the Atlantic Fed for tomorrow morning forecasting -1.5% (or even -2.7% on a different measure). US figures are always inflated by the tendency to give annual rather than quarterly figures but these are really bad numbers. Really bad. Trumpian even. https://www.atlantafed.org/cqer/research/gdpnow
I won't get a lot right in the annual PB predictions contest, but I am way out in front on this one, being the only one to predict negative growth in the USA.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I love the walks around here through the wood and countryside. Its beautiful with deer, an amazing range of wildlife and birds. But the country lanes are littered with empty cartons and boxes from the likes of KFC and MacDonalds. What possesses people to (a) eat that filth and then (b) chuck the boxes, cups and cupholders out the window so they can drive home?
It's really sad and the cumulative effect on our country is awful.
You don't get it do you , I know well how English works. However in this instance you always use the "lowlifes" when talking about scumbags, you never ever ever say low lives. You might be clever but have obviously led a very sheltered life.
Entirely off-topic but I am about to start a new project with an entirely new part of big client group. Brief includes undoing most of the business-blocking stuff required by a project I did with another part of the group…
You don't get it do you , I know well how English works. However in this instance you always use the "lowlifes" when talking about scumbags, you never ever ever say low lives. You might be clever but have obviously led a very sheltered life.
Wife = WIVES Knife = KNIVES Life = LIVES
Two Freddie Scappaticcis would be two Steakknifes though.
I’m far from convinced (as some seem to be) that the Canadian result points to what will happen to Reform at the next GE (or beforehand).
The Canadian situation was brought about by a very particular set of events that were immediate in the minds of voters. Canada is also much more badly hit by Trump’s trade policies and his general unhinged-ness, being next door. The Liberals also did an exceptionally well-timed switcheroo at the top.
We have had a lot of predictions that Trump’s antics would damage Reform. As of today, their poll rating is holding up and they will take a load of council seats on Thursday, and potentially win a Westminster by election. I could be persuaded that Trump might be a brake on them expanding their position further, but we don’t have any real evidence of that yet.
Indeed. Paradoxically the success might give greater prominence to more Trumpists in the party who will not be as careful as Farage is with their comments, and so get more people to see the connection, but for now, on locals at the least, it may not be at the forefront for a lot of people contemplating that vote.
Though referencing plans to cut council or government waste as DOGE style is the kind of perennially online framing that could be counterproductive.
He was interviewed by Faisal, he commented that Mario Cumo said you campaign in poetry and govern in prose. Well, said Mark Carney, I campaigned in prose and will govern, in...technospeak maybe.
He is extremely bright, articulate, got a sense of humour and a clear vision of how the world works. I am frankly jealous of Canada, whatever his dancing is like.
I remember seeing him speaking off the cuff at a British embassy event in DC - the Chancellor of the time had been called back to London last minute to deal with some Brexit related bullshit and Carney stepped in to make some remarks, and was charming, smart and genuinely, properly, funny. An impressive man.
Sadly his tenure at the Bank of England was marked by political granstanding and (far more importantly) ruinous money printing.
Glad you found him so charming though - makes all the rampant inflation worthwhile somehow doesn't it?
Hi Liz, hope you're keeping well.
With much respect and affection for the lady, I don't think she's as funny as me.
Oh, I think the rest of us find her FAR funnier.
I'm sure she's sobbing all the way to the bank.
I'm sure she scrapes a living, but people don't laugh at her because she's struggling to buy butter.
The amusement comes from the spectacular failure of her short time in office, from her failure to have taken any meaningful lessons from it, and from her increasingly desperate and doomed attempts to regain the relevance and influence she ever so briefly enjoyed.
Yet politics is now driven by the 'growth agenda' that she brought to prominence, and even the dense creatures on the Labour front benches are now learning the very lessons she has attempted to teach as they struggle to Govern with the few levers they possesses in the grotesque blob that we call the modern British state.
And she continues to be blithely unaffected by the rather unbecoming cattiness of a certain type of middle-aged man (I won't call this type of person a misogynist - I'm not a doctor) who can't seem to handle the fact that she won't do as she's told and play dead.
Truly an intellectual giant, coming up with the concept of economic growth to drive prosperity. It is just slightly surprising no-one had ever thought of this before. Let us hope that this is just the start of her greatness, the tip of the iceberg perhaps.
The problem is that too much of politics is dominated by people whose life work it is to prevent growth. To stop construction of any factory, home, pylon, road, cycle path or any other infrastructure or development that might have growth.
You laugh at it, but growth is anathema to many people.
The amount of times I've been asked on this site "yeah but how would you feel about a factory opening near you" - err, delighted to see some investment, why do you ask - as people just assume that any growth is bad and assume that others must take that opinion too.
We'll get some growth, when people stop working bloody hard to prevent it.
Yes, but you never accept that a lot of growth is achieved by externalising costs onto others. In particular pollution in all its forms, loss of amenities and general reduction in quality of life.
Sometimes the benefits of development outweighs these costs and sometimes it doesn't.
I’m far from convinced (as some seem to be) that the Canadian result points to what will happen to Reform at the next GE (or beforehand).
The Canadian situation was brought about by a very particular set of events that were immediate in the minds of voters. Canada is also much more badly hit by Trump’s trade policies and his general unhinged-ness, being next door. The Liberals also did an exceptionally well-timed switcheroo at the top.
We have had a lot of predictions that Trump’s antics would damage Reform. As of today, their poll rating is holding up and they will take a load of council seats on Thursday, and potentially win a Westminster by election. I could be persuaded that Trump might be a brake on them expanding their position further, but we don’t have any real evidence of that yet.
Yup. I don't assume people who self-indulgently voted for Brexit would not self-indulgently vote for the man most responsible for it.
Farage also doesn’t need to make MAGA converts of everyone.
He just needs enough people to feel let down by Labour and the Tories.
Reform are a NOTA party.
They don't have a monopoly on the NOTA vote though, do they? Lib Dems regained some of that turf in 2024 having lost it through involvement in the Coalition (making them a OOTA vote for a time). The Greens and Scots/Welsh nationalists also have NOTA appeal.
You can argue in a sense RefUK have greater NOTA appeal - they got more votes than any of those at the last General Election, and are polling higher now. But here's the rub... all those other NOTA parties were more efficient at turning votes into seats in 2024 - the Lib Dems by MILES. That's because they have fewer perceived negatives for NOTA voters (a big negative for Farage being the MAGA connection, which is highly unpopular in the UK).
It is a good point, and that is where FPTP and voter distribution has a big part to play.
In essence you need a bigger “Stop Reform” vote (of which there will be a good chunk) than those minded to vote Reform.
For that reason I’d be less bullish on their chances in much of the blue-rinse seats than a party like the LDs. Rural seats around big cities aren’t going to be great for them either, but the small towns and northern/eastern coasts are fertile ground. At the moment I subscribe to the view that no party can win a majority at the next GE. If I had to predict, I would suggest Labour minority with LD confidence and supply is the most likely.
Big cities and their rural hinterlands aren’t Reform territory, because they’re not the places left behind by our administrators. They’re the places where our administrators live and work, so must receive the benefits they deserve.
You don't get it do you , I know well how English works. However in this instance you always use the "lowlifes" when talking about scumbags, you never ever ever say low lives. You might be clever but have obviously led a very sheltered life.
Malc's right here. I would always say "lowlife scumbag" rather than "low live scum bag"
"Scum bags are low lives"could work, but no one would ever say that... (Well, maybe Yoda would)
Entirely off-topic but I am about to start a new project with an entirely new part of big client group. Brief includes undoing most of the business-blocking stuff required by a project I did with another part of the group…
18 months time - you will be redoing the business blocking stuff required by that first part of the group again but with a tiny exception...
To be fair to Poilievre, despite losing his seat the Conservatives did gain votes and seats. Indeed they got the highest Conservative voteshare since 1988. Yet the anti Trump vote rallied around the Liberals as Carney squeezed the NDP vote to get most seats
They lost. In an election where they had a massive lead. And an opposition easy to attack. And he lost his seat.
Only you could try and spin that as a positive result.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
The inhabitants of Singapore, Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek are proud of their cities and their countries. We’re not.
He was interviewed by Faisal, he commented that Mario Cumo said you campaign in poetry and govern in prose. Well, said Mark Carney, I campaigned in prose and will govern, in...technospeak maybe.
He is extremely bright, articulate, got a sense of humour and a clear vision of how the world works. I am frankly jealous of Canada, whatever his dancing is like.
I remember seeing him speaking off the cuff at a British embassy event in DC - the Chancellor of the time had been called back to London last minute to deal with some Brexit related bullshit and Carney stepped in to make some remarks, and was charming, smart and genuinely, properly, funny. An impressive man.
Sadly his tenure at the Bank of England was marked by political granstanding and (far more importantly) ruinous money printing.
Glad you found him so charming though - makes all the rampant inflation worthwhile somehow doesn't it?
Hi Liz, hope you're keeping well.
With much respect and affection for the lady, I don't think she's as funny as me.
Oh, I think the rest of us find her FAR funnier.
I'm sure she's sobbing all the way to the bank.
I'm sure she scrapes a living, but people don't laugh at her because she's struggling to buy butter.
The amusement comes from the spectacular failure of her short time in office, from her failure to have taken any meaningful lessons from it, and from her increasingly desperate and doomed attempts to regain the relevance and influence she ever so briefly enjoyed.
Yet politics is now driven by the 'growth agenda' that she brought to prominence, and even the dense creatures on the Labour front benches are now learning the very lessons she has attempted to teach as they struggle to Govern with the few levers they possesses in the grotesque blob that we call the modern British state.
And she continues to be blithely unaffected by the rather unbecoming cattiness of a certain type of middle-aged man (I won't call this type of person a misogynist - I'm not a doctor) who can't seem to handle the fact that she won't do as she's told and play dead.
Truly an intellectual giant, coming up with the concept of economic growth to drive prosperity. It is just slightly surprising no-one had ever thought of this before. Let us hope that this is just the start of her greatness, the tip of the iceberg perhaps.
The problem is that too much of politics is dominated by people whose life work it is to prevent growth. To stop construction of any factory, home, pylon, road, cycle path or any other infrastructure or development that might have growth.
You laugh at it, but growth is anathema to many people.
The amount of times I've been asked on this site "yeah but how would you feel about a factory opening near you" - err, delighted to see some investment, why do you ask - as people just assume that any growth is bad and assume that others must take that opinion too.
We'll get some growth, when people stop working bloody hard to prevent it.
Yes, but you never accept that a lot of growth is achieved by externalising costs onto others. In particular pollution in all its forms, loss of amenities and general reduction in quality of life.
Sometimes the benefits of development outweighs these costs and sometimes it doesn't.
Because its not really true.
Seeing costs go down due to competition is not an externalised cost, its competition and healthy and what should be happening.
We have very strict rules about all sorts of pollution.
Entirely off-topic but I am about to start a new project with an entirely new part of big client group. Brief includes undoing most of the business-blocking stuff required by a project I did with another part of the group…
18 months time - you will be redoing the business blocking stuff required by that first part of the group again but with a tiny exception...
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Trouble is 95% of people don’t throw rubbish out of cars, but 5% are absolute wankers who don’t care.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I love the walks around here through the wood and countryside. Its beautiful with deer, an amazing range of wildlife and birds. But the country lanes are littered with empty cartons and boxes from the likes of KFC and MacDonalds. What possesses people to (a) eat that filth and then (b) chuck the boxes, cups and cupholders out the window so they can drive home?
It's really sad and the cumulative effect on our country is awful.
Yes. It’s depressing and it drives me fucking nuts
But it CAN be fixed. We need to start tasering people that do this. I’m perfectly serious
Prison is a stupid and costly solution. Fines won’t work. So invent new forms of short sharp corporal punishment
If you get something as painful as really bad root canal surgery if you’re caught littering or tagging you really will think twice
I’m far from convinced (as some seem to be) that the Canadian result points to what will happen to Reform at the next GE (or beforehand).
The Canadian situation was brought about by a very particular set of events that were immediate in the minds of voters. Canada is also much more badly hit by Trump’s trade policies and his general unhinged-ness, being next door. The Liberals also did an exceptionally well-timed switcheroo at the top.
We have had a lot of predictions that Trump’s antics would damage Reform. As of today, their poll rating is holding up and they will take a load of council seats on Thursday, and potentially win a Westminster by election. I could be persuaded that Trump might be a brake on them expanding their position further, but we don’t have any real evidence of that yet.
Yup. I don't assume people who self-indulgently voted for Brexit would not self-indulgently vote for the man most responsible for it.
Farage also doesn’t need to make MAGA converts of everyone.
He just needs enough people to feel let down by Labour and the Tories.
Reform are a NOTA party.
They don't have a monopoly on the NOTA vote though, do they? Lib Dems regained some of that turf in 2024 having lost it through involvement in the Coalition (making them a OOTA vote for a time). The Greens and Scots/Welsh nationalists also have NOTA appeal.
You can argue in a sense RefUK have greater NOTA appeal - they got more votes than any of those at the last General Election, and are polling higher now. But here's the rub... all those other NOTA parties were more efficient at turning votes into seats in 2024 - the Lib Dems by MILES. That's because they have fewer perceived negatives for NOTA voters (a big negative for Farage being the MAGA connection, which is highly unpopular in the UK).
It is a good point, and that is where FPTP and voter distribution has a big part to play.
In essence you need a bigger “Stop Reform” vote (of which there will be a good chunk) than those minded to vote Reform.
For that reason I’d be less bullish on their chances in much of the blue-rinse seats than a party like the LDs. Rural seats around big cities aren’t going to be great for them either, but the small towns and northern/eastern coasts are fertile ground. At the moment I subscribe to the view that no party can win a majority at the next GE. If I had to predict, I would suggest Labour minority with LD confidence and supply is the most likely.
Big cities and their rural hinterlands aren’t Reform territory, because they’re not the places left behind by our administrators. They’re the places where our administrators live and work, so must receive the benefits they deserve.
It is simpler than that. There are benefits to living in a major city, and benefits to living in pleasant market towns, not much to living in smaller post industrial cities, so no one wants to stay there and they go into spirals of decline.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
We have ceased to care. Partly due to the fact the country feels like a doss house as so many people come and go, with no emotional attachment to the place
But it can be fixed. We just need a few severe sentences - broken window theory. They make it very apparent in the Stans that if you litter you WILL get punished - and harshly
Who will enforce the draconian rules? The police don’t investigate much more serious crimes, so it won’t be them.
I’d start by making it mandatory to print the car reg on any drive through take away packaging.
She said they ordered her and her daughters outside into the rain before they could even put on clothes.
“They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them,” she said. “My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments—her own dad, because it’s respectful. You have her out there, a minor, in her underwear.”
Marisa said the names on the search warrant were not hers or anyone in her family.
She recognized them as names listed on mail still arriving at the house—likely former residents.
“We just moved here from Maryland,” she said. “We’re citizens. That’s what I kept saying. We’re citizens.”
She said the agents didn’t care.
“They were very dismissive, very rough, very careless,” she said. “I kept pleading. I kept telling them we weren’t criminals. They were treating us like criminals. We were here by ourselves. We didn’t do anything.”
Marisa said the agents tore apart every square inch of the house and what few belongings they had, seizing their phones, laptops and their life savings in cash as “evidence.”
“I told them before they left, I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here,” she said. “I have to feed my children. I’m going to need gas money. I need to be able to get around. Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog.”..
He was interviewed by Faisal, he commented that Mario Cumo said you campaign in poetry and govern in prose. Well, said Mark Carney, I campaigned in prose and will govern, in...technospeak maybe.
He is extremely bright, articulate, got a sense of humour and a clear vision of how the world works. I am frankly jealous of Canada, whatever his dancing is like.
I remember seeing him speaking off the cuff at a British embassy event in DC - the Chancellor of the time had been called back to London last minute to deal with some Brexit related bullshit and Carney stepped in to make some remarks, and was charming, smart and genuinely, properly, funny. An impressive man.
Sadly his tenure at the Bank of England was marked by political granstanding and (far more importantly) ruinous money printing.
Glad you found him so charming though - makes all the rampant inflation worthwhile somehow doesn't it?
Hi Liz, hope you're keeping well.
With much respect and affection for the lady, I don't think she's as funny as me.
Oh, I think the rest of us find her FAR funnier.
I'm sure she's sobbing all the way to the bank.
I'm sure she scrapes a living, but people don't laugh at her because she's struggling to buy butter.
The amusement comes from the spectacular failure of her short time in office, from her failure to have taken any meaningful lessons from it, and from her increasingly desperate and doomed attempts to regain the relevance and influence she ever so briefly enjoyed.
Yet politics is now driven by the 'growth agenda' that she brought to prominence, and even the dense creatures on the Labour front benches are now learning the very lessons she has attempted to teach as they struggle to Govern with the few levers they possesses in the grotesque blob that we call the modern British state.
And she continues to be blithely unaffected by the rather unbecoming cattiness of a certain type of middle-aged man (I won't call this type of person a misogynist - I'm not a doctor) who can't seem to handle the fact that she won't do as she's told and play dead.
Truly an intellectual giant, coming up with the concept of economic growth to drive prosperity. It is just slightly surprising no-one had ever thought of this before. Let us hope that this is just the start of her greatness, the tip of the iceberg perhaps.
The problem is that too much of politics is dominated by people whose life work it is to prevent growth. To stop construction of any factory, home, pylon, road, cycle path or any other infrastructure or development that might have growth.
You laugh at it, but growth is anathema to many people.
The amount of times I've been asked on this site "yeah but how would you feel about a factory opening near you" - err, delighted to see some investment, why do you ask - as people just assume that any growth is bad and assume that others must take that opinion too.
We'll get some growth, when people stop working bloody hard to prevent it.
Yes, but you never accept that a lot of growth is achieved by externalising costs onto others. In particular pollution in all its forms, loss of amenities and general reduction in quality of life.
Sometimes the benefits of development outweighs these costs and sometimes it doesn't.
Because its not really true.
Seeing costs go down due to competition is not an externalised cost, its competition and healthy and what should be happening.
We have very strict rules about all sorts of pollution.
Yes, we do have rules at present. Rules that you want to remove in the interests of growth.
I’m far from convinced (as some seem to be) that the Canadian result points to what will happen to Reform at the next GE (or beforehand).
The Canadian situation was brought about by a very particular set of events that were immediate in the minds of voters. Canada is also much more badly hit by Trump’s trade policies and his general unhinged-ness, being next door. The Liberals also did an exceptionally well-timed switcheroo at the top.
We have had a lot of predictions that Trump’s antics would damage Reform. As of today, their poll rating is holding up and they will take a load of council seats on Thursday, and potentially win a Westminster by election. I could be persuaded that Trump might be a brake on them expanding their position further, but we don’t have any real evidence of that yet.
Yup. I don't assume people who self-indulgently voted for Brexit would not self-indulgently vote for the man most responsible for it.
Farage also doesn’t need to make MAGA converts of everyone.
He just needs enough people to feel let down by Labour and the Tories.
Reform are a NOTA party.
They don't have a monopoly on the NOTA vote though, do they? Lib Dems regained some of that turf in 2024 having lost it through involvement in the Coalition (making them a OOTA vote for a time). The Greens and Scots/Welsh nationalists also have NOTA appeal.
You can argue in a sense RefUK have greater NOTA appeal - they got more votes than any of those at the last General Election, and are polling higher now. But here's the rub... all those other NOTA parties were more efficient at turning votes into seats in 2024 - the Lib Dems by MILES. That's because they have fewer perceived negatives for NOTA voters (a big negative for Farage being the MAGA connection, which is highly unpopular in the UK).
It is a good point, and that is where FPTP and voter distribution has a big part to play.
In essence you need a bigger “Stop Reform” vote (of which there will be a good chunk) than those minded to vote Reform.
For that reason I’d be less bullish on their chances in much of the blue-rinse seats than a party like the LDs. Rural seats around big cities aren’t going to be great for them either, but the small towns and northern/eastern coasts are fertile ground. At the moment I subscribe to the view that no party can win a majority at the next GE. If I had to predict, I would suggest Labour minority with LD confidence and supply is the most likely.
Big cities and their rural hinterlands aren’t Reform territory, because they’re not the places left behind by our administrators. They’re the places where our administrators live and work, so must receive the benefits they deserve.
It is simpler than that. There are benefits to living in a major city, and benefits to living in pleasant market towns, not much to living in smaller post industrial cities, so no one wants to stay there and they go into spirals of decline.
There are benefits to living in smaller cities, done right, you can get the best of both worlds - the advantages of city life, without too much being squeezed out and able to get about etc
The problem is whether those smaller cities get investment or not
If I were dictator of England I would move senior civil servants out of London and disperse them across the entire country. See how rapidly investment turned up to the smaller cities when Sir Humphrey lives and works there.
He was interviewed by Faisal, he commented that Mario Cumo said you campaign in poetry and govern in prose. Well, said Mark Carney, I campaigned in prose and will govern, in...technospeak maybe.
He is extremely bright, articulate, got a sense of humour and a clear vision of how the world works. I am frankly jealous of Canada, whatever his dancing is like.
I remember seeing him speaking off the cuff at a British embassy event in DC - the Chancellor of the time had been called back to London last minute to deal with some Brexit related bullshit and Carney stepped in to make some remarks, and was charming, smart and genuinely, properly, funny. An impressive man.
Sadly his tenure at the Bank of England was marked by political granstanding and (far more importantly) ruinous money printing.
Glad you found him so charming though - makes all the rampant inflation worthwhile somehow doesn't it?
Hi Liz, hope you're keeping well.
With much respect and affection for the lady, I don't think she's as funny as me.
Oh, I think the rest of us find her FAR funnier.
I'm sure she's sobbing all the way to the bank.
I'm sure she scrapes a living, but people don't laugh at her because she's struggling to buy butter.
The amusement comes from the spectacular failure of her short time in office, from her failure to have taken any meaningful lessons from it, and from her increasingly desperate and doomed attempts to regain the relevance and influence she ever so briefly enjoyed.
Yet politics is now driven by the 'growth agenda' that she brought to prominence, and even the dense creatures on the Labour front benches are now learning the very lessons she has attempted to teach as they struggle to Govern with the few levers they possesses in the grotesque blob that we call the modern British state.
And she continues to be blithely unaffected by the rather unbecoming cattiness of a certain type of middle-aged man (I won't call this type of person a misogynist - I'm not a doctor) who can't seem to handle the fact that she won't do as she's told and play dead.
Truly an intellectual giant, coming up with the concept of economic growth to drive prosperity. It is just slightly surprising no-one had ever thought of this before. Let us hope that this is just the start of her greatness, the tip of the iceberg perhaps.
The problem is that too much of politics is dominated by people whose life work it is to prevent growth. To stop construction of any factory, home, pylon, road, cycle path or any other infrastructure or development that might have growth.
You laugh at it, but growth is anathema to many people.
The amount of times I've been asked on this site "yeah but how would you feel about a factory opening near you" - err, delighted to see some investment, why do you ask - as people just assume that any growth is bad and assume that others must take that opinion too.
We'll get some growth, when people stop working bloody hard to prevent it.
Yes, but you never accept that a lot of growth is achieved by externalising costs onto others. In particular pollution in all its forms, loss of amenities and general reduction in quality of life.
Sometimes the benefits of development outweighs these costs and sometimes it doesn't.
Because its not really true.
Seeing costs go down due to competition is not an externalised cost, its competition and healthy and what should be happening.
We have very strict rules about all sorts of pollution.
Yes, we do have rules at present. Rules that you want to remove in the interests of growth.
I have never proposed removing rules on pollution.
I have said very firmly and repeatedly we should have building standards, and pollution standards, then let people build what they want, where they want it, so long as it meets those standards. That whatever is not forbidden is legal, without asking for permission first since its automatically permitted if it is within code and not polluting.
I’m far from convinced (as some seem to be) that the Canadian result points to what will happen to Reform at the next GE (or beforehand).
The Canadian situation was brought about by a very particular set of events that were immediate in the minds of voters. Canada is also much more badly hit by Trump’s trade policies and his general unhinged-ness, being next door. The Liberals also did an exceptionally well-timed switcheroo at the top.
We have had a lot of predictions that Trump’s antics would damage Reform. As of today, their poll rating is holding up and they will take a load of council seats on Thursday, and potentially win a Westminster by election. I could be persuaded that Trump might be a brake on them expanding their position further, but we don’t have any real evidence of that yet.
Yup. I don't assume people who self-indulgently voted for Brexit would not self-indulgently vote for the man most responsible for it.
Farage also doesn’t need to make MAGA converts of everyone.
He just needs enough people to feel let down by Labour and the Tories.
Reform are a NOTA party.
They don't have a monopoly on the NOTA vote though, do they? Lib Dems regained some of that turf in 2024 having lost it through involvement in the Coalition (making them a OOTA vote for a time). The Greens and Scots/Welsh nationalists also have NOTA appeal.
You can argue in a sense RefUK have greater NOTA appeal - they got more votes than any of those at the last General Election, and are polling higher now. But here's the rub... all those other NOTA parties were more efficient at turning votes into seats in 2024 - the Lib Dems by MILES. That's because they have fewer perceived negatives for NOTA voters (a big negative for Farage being the MAGA connection, which is highly unpopular in the UK).
It is a good point, and that is where FPTP and voter distribution has a big part to play.
In essence you need a bigger “Stop Reform” vote (of which there will be a good chunk) than those minded to vote Reform.
For that reason I’d be less bullish on their chances in much of the blue-rinse seats than a party like the LDs. Rural seats around big cities aren’t going to be great for them either, but the small towns and northern/eastern coasts are fertile ground. At the moment I subscribe to the view that no party can win a majority at the next GE. If I had to predict, I would suggest Labour minority with LD confidence and supply is the most likely.
Big cities and their rural hinterlands aren’t Reform territory, because they’re not the places left behind by our administrators. They’re the places where our administrators live and work, so must receive the benefits they deserve.
It is simpler than that. There are benefits to living in a major city, and benefits to living in pleasant market towns, not much to living in smaller post industrial cities, so no one wants to stay there and they go into spirals of decline.
There are benefits to living in smaller cities, done right, you can get the best of both worlds - the advantages of city life, without too much being squeezed out and able to get about etc
The problem is whether those smaller cities get investment or not
If I were dictator of England I would move senior civil servants out of London and disperse them across the entire country. See how rapidly investment turned up to the smaller cities when Sir Humphrey lives and works there.
(Narrator: the Office For National Statistics moved from London to Newport)
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I love the walks around here through the wood and countryside. Its beautiful with deer, an amazing range of wildlife and birds. But the country lanes are littered with empty cartons and boxes from the likes of KFC and MacDonalds. What possesses people to (a) eat that filth and then (b) chuck the boxes, cups and cupholders out the window so they can drive home?
It's really sad and the cumulative effect on our country is awful.
Whilst I agree with all the rage at litterers and the cumulative effect it has, your post does illustrate a problem I often have with how people express that rage.
Why is it necessary to shit on people eating KFC and McDonalds in itself, separate to the littering? Similarly people will often object to construction of a McDonalds, for example, for reasons of littering, but make sure to virtue signal that of course they would also never eat at such a horrible place.
Yes, often they the source of the litter and that is a problem (around the restaurants themselves is often cleaner than half a mile to 1 mile away, as the employees will often make some effort), and yes, neither is top quality cuisine (though delicious), but the quality or not of the food is pretty pointless in this context of the problem of littering.
If we're making a point about obesity and public nutrition at the same time too, I guess, but that is usually not relevant. I feel like it adds an unnecessary distraction.
To be fair to Poilievre, despite losing his seat the Conservatives did gain votes and seats. Indeed they got the highest Conservative voteshare since 1988. Yet the anti Trump vote rallied around the Liberals as Carney squeezed the NDP vote to get most seats
They lost. In an election where they had a massive lead. And an opposition easy to attack. And he lost his seat.
Only you could try and spin that as a positive result.
They got 41% and gained 20 seats, they only lost on an anti Trump vote. It wasn't a particularly pro Liberal vote beyond that
To be fair to Poilievre, despite losing his seat the Conservatives did gain votes and seats. Indeed they got the highest Conservative voteshare since 1988. Yet the anti Trump vote rallied around the Liberals as Carney squeezed the NDP vote to get most seats
They lost. In an election where they had a massive lead. And an opposition easy to attack. And he lost his seat.
Only you could try and spin that as a positive result.
I thought that was a very positive result. I did not take to the man at all.
On litter and graffiti - this is not just a British problem
An American friend of mine is on assignment in Milan - doing a kind of cultural assessment for a book
He told me the other day he is astonished by the urban degradation. In particular the litter and graffiti. Or, as he put it pithily, “mile after mile; every wall is covered and every sidewalk is trashed”
To be fair to Poilievre, despite losing his seat the Conservatives did gain votes and seats. Indeed they got the highest Conservative voteshare since 1988. Yet the anti Trump vote rallied around the Liberals as Carney squeezed the NDP vote to get most seats
They lost. In an election where they had a massive lead. And an opposition easy to attack. And he lost his seat.
Only you could try and spin that as a positive result.
It was a pretty Corbyny kind of spin.
I feel a little bad for the guy for the things that were outside his control, but part of the job of a party leader is to adapt to a changing situation and make it work for you, same way that if a leader faces a hostile media it is their job to over come it and if they cannot that's on them.
He wasn't up to it and, whilst they technically went forwards, he still lost big and very personally too.
"Badenoch suggests UK net zero plans could lead to blackouts
The Tory leader has suggested that the power outages in Spain and Portugal were linked to a reliance on renewable energy, and that the UK's net zero plans could lead to blackouts."
There’s a very loud Catholic group demanding a MAGA pope. I can’t see how the conclave would be swayed, but I can see how MAGA could denounce the new pope when he decides he is into woke DEI shit like the New Testament
Trump would make an excellent pope. Plenary indulgence. Bribe your way into heaven. Kiss my ring. All the money in the world and a billion people worshipping you.
To be fair to Poilievre, despite losing his seat the Conservatives did gain votes and seats. Indeed they got the highest Conservative voteshare since 1988. Yet the anti Trump vote rallied around the Liberals as Carney squeezed the NDP vote to get most seats
They lost. In an election where they had a massive lead. And an opposition easy to attack. And he lost his seat.
Only you could try and spin that as a positive result.
They got 41% and gained 20 seats, they only lost on an anti Trump vote. It wasn't a particularly pro Liberal vote beyond that
This is the Corbynistas' 2017 argument, isn't it?
And endless cycle of claiming all manner of unprecedented triumphs... whilst ignoring the only fact that matters, which is that they lost.
Writing in the foreword, Sir Tony says: "Though most people will accept that climate change is a reality caused by human activity, they're turning away from the politics of the issue because they believe the proposed solutions are not founded on good policy."
He says "any strategy based on either 'phasing out' fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail".
He also warns against the "alarmist" tone of the debate on climate change, which he says is "riven with irrationality".
I think he is right about that. The movement has been very successful in a positive way, but there's dangers of trying to match the right vibes as if that in itself is enough.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I love the walks around here through the wood and countryside. Its beautiful with deer, an amazing range of wildlife and birds. But the country lanes are littered with empty cartons and boxes from the likes of KFC and MacDonalds. What possesses people to (a) eat that filth and then (b) chuck the boxes, cups and cupholders out the window so they can drive home?
It's really sad and the cumulative effect on our country is awful.
Whilst I agree with all the rage at litterers and the cumulative effect it has, your post does illustrate a problem I often have with how people express that rage.
Why is it necessary to shit on people eating KFC and McDonalds in itself, separate to the littering? Similarly people will often object to construction of a McDonalds, for example, for reasons of littering, but make sure to virtue signal that of course they would also never eat at such a horrible place.
Yes, often they the source of the litter and that is a problem (around the restaurants themselves is often cleaner than half a mile to 1 mile away, as the employees will often make some effort), and yes, neither is top quality cuisine (though delicious), but the quality or not of the food is pretty pointless in this context of the problem of littering.
If we're making a point about obesity and public nutrition at the same time too, I guess, but that is usually not relevant. I feel like it adds an unnecessary distraction.
The problem of bins in cars seems to be unsolved. Might help a bit.
There’s a very loud Catholic group demanding a MAGA pope. I can’t see how the conclave would be swayed, but I can see how MAGA could denounce the new pope when he decides he is into woke DEI shit like the New Testament
I think South Park already did that about 15 years ago, culminating in an American cardinal seizing power after the pope objected that killing Jesus (the character in the show) to protect the church was not very Christian.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Trouble is 95% of people don’t throw rubbish out of cars, but 5% are absolute wankers who don’t care.
This is most of the law. How do we deal with the 5% of nutters/psycho's/idiots.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Trouble is 95% of people don’t throw rubbish out of cars, but 5% are absolute wankers who don’t care.
This is most of the law. How do we deal with the 5% of nutters/psycho's/idiots.
London feels pleasantly buzzy in the spring warmth but I’m afraid the endless litter and graffiti is a significant culture shock after the immaculate cities of Central Asia. And I’m not talking Singapore - I’m talking Tashkent, Almaty and Bishkek. Big cities in poor countries
I was in Germany for a week recently and never saw one bit of litter anywhere, all buildings looked pristine , all roadsides etc perfectly clean and just the opposite of this country where people have no pride or respect for anything and just dump their crap anywhere. A shithole of a country riddled with low lifes.
Trouble is 95% of people don’t throw rubbish out of cars, but 5% are absolute wankers who don’t care.
This is most of the law. How do we deal with the 5% of nutters/psycho's/idiots.
I’m far from convinced (as some seem to be) that the Canadian result points to what will happen to Reform at the next GE (or beforehand).
The Canadian situation was brought about by a very particular set of events that were immediate in the minds of voters. Canada is also much more badly hit by Trump’s trade policies and his general unhinged-ness, being next door. The Liberals also did an exceptionally well-timed switcheroo at the top.
We have had a lot of predictions that Trump’s antics would damage Reform. As of today, their poll rating is holding up and they will take a load of council seats on Thursday, and potentially win a Westminster by election. I could be persuaded that Trump might be a brake on them expanding their position further, but we don’t have any real evidence of that yet.
Yup. I don't assume people who self-indulgently voted for Brexit would not self-indulgently vote for the man most responsible for it.
Farage also doesn’t need to make MAGA converts of everyone.
He just needs enough people to feel let down by Labour and the Tories.
Reform are a NOTA party.
They don't have a monopoly on the NOTA vote though, do they? Lib Dems regained some of that turf in 2024 having lost it through involvement in the Coalition (making them a OOTA vote for a time). The Greens and Scots/Welsh nationalists also have NOTA appeal.
You can argue in a sense RefUK have greater NOTA appeal - they got more votes than any of those at the last General Election, and are polling higher now. But here's the rub... all those other NOTA parties were more efficient at turning votes into seats in 2024 - the Lib Dems by MILES. That's because they have fewer perceived negatives for NOTA voters (a big negative for Farage being the MAGA connection, which is highly unpopular in the UK).
It is a good point, and that is where FPTP and voter distribution has a big part to play.
In essence you need a bigger “Stop Reform” vote (of which there will be a good chunk) than those minded to vote Reform.
For that reason I’d be less bullish on their chances in much of the blue-rinse seats than a party like the LDs. Rural seats around big cities aren’t going to be great for them either, but the small towns and northern/eastern coasts are fertile ground. At the moment I subscribe to the view that no party can win a majority at the next GE. If I had to predict, I would suggest Labour minority with LD confidence and supply is the most likely.
Big cities and their rural hinterlands aren’t Reform territory, because they’re not the places left behind by our administrators. They’re the places where our administrators live and work, so must receive the benefits they deserve.
It is simpler than that. There are benefits to living in a major city, and benefits to living in pleasant market towns, not much to living in smaller post industrial cities, so no one wants to stay there and they go into spirals of decline.
There are benefits to living in smaller cities, done right, you can get the best of both worlds - the advantages of city life, without too much being squeezed out and able to get about etc
The problem is whether those smaller cities get investment or not
If I were dictator of England I would move senior civil servants out of London and disperse them across the entire country. See how rapidly investment turned up to the smaller cities when Sir Humphrey lives and works there.
(Narrator: the Office For National Statistics moved from London to Newport)
Minor bits and pieces have moved, yes. However Sir Humphrey and all his senior apparatchiks aren't in Newport.
From Man Overboard, Yes, Prime Minister.
Move 200,000 or 300,000 service personnel up north and you create masses of civilian jobs. Clerks, suppliers, builders, vehicle maintenance. 300,000 extra pay packets spent in the shops.
You can't move thousands of men like that.
I thought that's what you did with armies.
You bring 'em back! This'd be permanent.
Guy, can any servicemen be stationed permanently in the north?
I suppose other ranks, junior officers, but you can't ask senior officers to live permanently in the north! The wives wouldn't stand for it for one thing. Children's schools.
I understand there are schools in the north of England.
What about Harrods? What about Wimbledon? Ascot? Henley? The Army and Navy Club? I mean civilisation, generally! It's just not on!
There’s a very loud Catholic group demanding a MAGA pope. I can’t see how the conclave would be swayed, but I can see how MAGA could denounce the new pope when he decides he is into woke DEI shit like the New Testament
I think South Park already did that about 15 years ago, culminating in an American cardinal seizing power after the pope objected that killing Jesus (the character in the show) to protect the church was not very Christian.
They’ve also revealed that the Pope answers to the highest power - the Queen Spider
Writing in the foreword, Sir Tony says: "Though most people will accept that climate change is a reality caused by human activity, they're turning away from the politics of the issue because they believe the proposed solutions are not founded on good policy."
He says "any strategy based on either 'phasing out' fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail".
He also warns against the "alarmist" tone of the debate on climate change, which he says is "riven with irrationality".
I think he is right about that. The movement has been very successful in a positive way, but there's dangers of trying to match the right vibes as if that in itself is enough.
It has been very successful in a positive way for China, which has grown rich supplying the transition whilst completely ignoring any rules that would have a negative impact on its own growth.
Comments
CNBC: What if Apple said, we're gonna build it in California, but now your iPhone, which was $1,100, is $2,000?
LUTNICK: No way ... Tim Cook wants to build it here. He's going to build it here ... we're going to go back to the society we knew.
Trump on his call with Bezos: "He was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly."
In essence you need a bigger “Stop Reform” vote (of which there will be a good chunk) than those minded to vote Reform.
For that reason I’d be less bullish on their chances in much of the blue-rinse seats than a party like the LDs. Rural seats around big cities aren’t going to be great for them either, but the small towns and northern/eastern coasts are fertile ground. At the moment I subscribe to the view that no party can win a majority at the next GE. If I had to predict, I would suggest Labour minority with LD confidence and supply is the most likely.
Always seems to be those or hornets that spoil moth trapping.
And she continues to be blithely unaffected by the rather unbecoming cattiness of a certain type of middle-aged man (I won't call this type of person a misogynist - I'm not a doctor) who can't seem to handle the fact that she won't do as she's told and play dead.
Most Mafia Dons would be way smarter than Trump.
‘Numerous signs of torture’: a Ukrainian journalist’s detention and death in Russian prison
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/29/viktoriia-roshchyna-ukrainian-journalist-death-russian-prison
...Preliminary forensics suggest “numerous signs of torture”, according to the prosecutor. Burn marks on her feet from electric shocks, abrasions on the hips and head, and a broken rib. Her hair, which she liked to wear long and tinted blonde at the tips, had been shaved.
Sources close to the official investigation have also disclosed that the hyoid bone in her neck was broken. It is the kind of damage that can occur during strangulation. However, the exact cause of death may never be known because when her body was returned during the exchange on 14 February, certain parts were missing, namely the brain, eyes and larynx...
"10% tariffs will make no difference to the price"
WTF?
"You will work in a factory, and so will your kids and your grandkids"
Off the charts lunacy
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/lowlife
lowlife - plural lowlifes
Knife = KNIVES
Life = LIVES
Always a special joy to agree with malcolmg about something important.
The only (slight) mistake in malcolm's post was its one [compound] word not two, so it should be lowlifes with no space in it, but it is definitely lowlifes and not lowlives.
(Today's picture. Native orchid, I think. Herefordshire. Apologies if I posted an image in the wee small hours this morning.)
(Google AI overview)
If the new policy stays in place for a full month, it would be an improvement.
But it can be fixed. We just need a few severe sentences - broken window theory. They make it very apparent in the Stans that if you litter you WILL get punished - and harshly
You laugh at it, but growth is anathema to many people.
The amount of times I've been asked on this site "yeah but how would you feel about a factory opening near you" - err, delighted to see some investment, why do you ask - as people just assume that any growth is bad and assume that others must take that opinion too.
We'll get some growth, when people stop working bloody hard to prevent it.
It's really sad and the cumulative effect on our country is awful.
The problem with reading too much into sub-samples I assume.
Though referencing plans to cut council or government waste as DOGE style is the kind of perennially online framing that could be counterproductive.
Sometimes the benefits of development outweighs these costs and sometimes it doesn't.
"Scum bags are low lives"could work, but no one would ever say that... (Well, maybe Yoda would)
Only you could try and spin that as a positive result.
Seeing costs go down due to competition is not an externalised cost, its competition and healthy and what should be happening.
We have very strict rules about all sorts of pollution.
But it CAN be fixed. We need to start tasering people that do this. I’m perfectly serious
Prison is a stupid and costly solution. Fines won’t work. So invent new forms of short sharp corporal punishment
If you get something as painful as really bad root canal surgery if you’re caught littering or tagging you really will think twice
https://x.com/rpsagainsttrump/status/1917293918074396977?s=46
I’d start by making it mandatory to print the car reg on any drive through take away packaging.
‘We’re citizens!’: Oklahoma City family traumatized after ICE raids home, but they weren’t suspects
https://kfor.com/news/local/were-citizens-oklahoma-city-family-traumatized-after-ice-raids-home-but-they-werent-suspects/
… “I keep asking them, ‘who are you? What are you doing here? What’s happening,’” she said. “And they said, ‘we have a warrant for the house, a search warrant.’”
She said they ordered her and her daughters outside into the rain before they could even put on clothes.
“They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them,” she said. “My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments—her own dad, because it’s respectful. You have her out there, a minor, in her underwear.”
Marisa said the names on the search warrant were not hers or anyone in her family.
She recognized them as names listed on mail still arriving at the house—likely former residents.
“We just moved here from Maryland,” she said. “We’re citizens. That’s what I kept saying. We’re citizens.”
She said the agents didn’t care.
“They were very dismissive, very rough, very careless,” she said. “I kept pleading. I kept telling them we weren’t criminals. They were treating us like criminals. We were here by ourselves. We didn’t do anything.”
Marisa said the agents tore apart every square inch of the house and what few belongings they had, seizing their phones, laptops and their life savings in cash as “evidence.”
“I told them before they left, I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here,” she said. “I have to feed my children. I’m going to need gas money. I need to be able to get around. Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog.”..
The problem is whether those smaller cities get investment or not
If I were dictator of England I would move senior civil servants out of London and disperse them across the entire country. See how rapidly investment turned up to the smaller cities when Sir Humphrey lives and works there.
I have said very firmly and repeatedly we should have building standards, and pollution standards, then let people build what they want, where they want it, so long as it meets those standards. That whatever is not forbidden is legal, without asking for permission first since its automatically permitted if it is within code and not polluting.
Why is it necessary to shit on people eating KFC and McDonalds in itself, separate to the littering? Similarly people will often object to construction of a McDonalds, for example, for reasons of littering, but make sure to virtue signal that of course they would also never eat at such a horrible place.
Yes, often they the source of the litter and that is a problem (around the restaurants themselves is often cleaner than half a mile to 1 mile away, as the employees will often make some effort), and yes, neither is top quality cuisine (though delicious), but the quality or not of the food is pretty pointless in this context of the problem of littering.
If we're making a point about obesity and public nutrition at the same time too, I guess, but that is usually not relevant. I feel like it adds an unnecessary distraction.
An American friend of mine is on assignment in Milan - doing a kind of cultural assessment for a book
He told me the other day he is astonished by the urban degradation. In particular the litter and graffiti. Or, as he put it pithily, “mile after mile; every wall is covered and every sidewalk is trashed”
Same can be seen in many parts of Paris of course
I feel a little bad for the guy for the things that were outside his control, but part of the job of a party leader is to adapt to a changing situation and make it work for you, same way that if a leader faces a hostile media it is their job to over come it and if they cannot that's on them.
He wasn't up to it and, whilst they technically went forwards, he still lost big and very personally too.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpvrwyp0jx3o
And endless cycle of claiming all manner of unprecedented triumphs... whilst ignoring the only fact that matters, which is that they lost.
He says "any strategy based on either 'phasing out' fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail".
He also warns against the "alarmist" tone of the debate on climate change, which he says is "riven with irrationality".
I think he is right about that. The movement has been very successful in a positive way, but there's dangers of trying to match the right vibes as if that in itself is enough.
From Man Overboard, Yes, Prime Minister.
Move 200,000 or 300,000 service personnel up north and you create masses of civilian jobs. Clerks, suppliers, builders, vehicle maintenance. 300,000 extra pay packets spent in the shops.
You can't move thousands of men like that.
I thought that's what you did with armies.
You bring 'em back! This'd be permanent.
Guy, can any servicemen be stationed permanently in the north?
I suppose other ranks, junior officers, but you can't ask senior officers to live permanently in the north! The wives wouldn't stand for it for one thing. Children's schools.
I understand there are schools in the north of England.
What about Harrods? What about Wimbledon? Ascot? Henley? The Army and Navy Club? I mean civilisation, generally! It's just not on!