BBC Russia editor Steve Rosenberg's daily review of the Russian press is worth a read imo. Today, cooling relations with Trump and a sudden interest in Musk's trolling re the Epstein files.
STEVE'S READING RUSSIA - RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW (09.07.25)
In the Russian papers today I noticed a change in tone regarding Donald Trump, with comments like these: “Trump changes his mind on key issues as easily as he changes shoes." “Mental gap between Trump & Putin.” “Trump offers Russia too little. The continuation of a good quarrel is better than a bad peace.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPMSjUtbN9E
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
Why would there be a scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry? Have I missed something?
Do they object to the Sutton Hoo helmet being lent to France?
Probably a lot of young people will be finding out for the first time that nearly a thousand years ago a lot of migrants crossed the Channel in a fleet of small boats and took over the whole country.
Given how this scandal is so utterly dwarfed by other vaster scandals, I find it hard to get exercised by it. Indeed I have suspicions of those that do. This one is so much easier to take - the villains are nasty managers - so let’s make tv dramas about it and write 5000 word essays about it and ventilate about it endlessly
Rather than focusing on much greater and more troubling problems
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
After R** L*****'s disgusting piece last week I don't believe we are allowed to mention S***tator ever again.
If you think it was “disgusting” then you clearly haven’t read it and just seen the headline. Alternatively you might want to quit PB because there are infinitely more offensive things written here most days to trouble such a fragile temperament. But I think you didn’t actually read it.
What part of bombing Glastonbury festival and bombing Brighton don't you object to?
John Betjeman must be mighty relieved the citizens of Slough are too late to report him to the police. As for Shakespeare’s call to kill all lawyers, gadzooks.
Again, read the article and you will see that he says that such a call to bomb places is wrong and psychopathic and is made for dramatic effect.
What I don't understand about you right wingers is offensive material that attacks people you don't like is satire yet unacceptable commentary about, for example, the IDF or milkshakes thrown at Nigel Farage should be (possibly justifiably) punished with a custodial sentence. Likewise jostling Starmer whilst LOTO was just the rough and tumble of politics, writing something offensive about Trump's bone spurs on the other hand get one thrown out of the US.
You may not agree but there is a difference between chanting "death, death, death to the IDF' and making an obviously satirical point about bombing Glastonbury. Its like the chap who got into trouble for a tweet about Robin Hood airport. No one believed Rod Liddle or this chap were actually serious. In the death to the IDF case there are enough violent idiots out there PACE the Southport riots to make it a serious issue.
As for milkshaking anyone, and in this case Farage, the issue was more the stupid Jo Brand comment.
18% of Brits say they would consider a vote for Jezbollah?
How many Americans would consider a vote for the America Party? Especially if it is led by MechaHitler?
Less, but only due to the stronger two party system vs our sort of 2.5 party one.
Using the Laakso and Taagepera (1979) formula for the effective number of parties, Great Britain has 2.1 parties in terms of Commons seats, but 4.5 parties in terms of votes at the 2024 general election, and 5.0 in terms of current polling.
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
After R** L*****'s disgusting piece last week I don't believe we are allowed to mention S***tator ever again.
If you think it was “disgusting” then you clearly haven’t read it and just seen the headline. Alternatively you might want to quit PB because there are infinitely more offensive things written here most days to trouble such a fragile temperament. But I think you didn’t actually read it.
What part of bombing Glastonbury festival and bombing Brighton don't you object to?
John Betjeman must be mighty relieved the citizens of Slough are too late to report him to the police. As for Shakespeare’s call to kill all lawyers, gadzooks.
Again, read the article and you will see that he says that such a call to bomb places is wrong and psychopathic and is made for dramatic effect.
What I don't understand about you right wingers is offensive material that attacks people you don't like is satire yet unacceptable commentary about, for example, the IDF or milkshakes thrown at Nigel Farage should be (possibly justifiably) punished with a custodial sentence. Likewise jostling Starmer whilst LOTO was just the rough and tumble of politics, writing something offensive about Trump's bone spurs on the other hand get one thrown out of the US.
Liddle is a longtime purveyor of "ooo, I'm politically incorrect, me" hackery. It's not an especially challenging genre but he has tbf got the hang of it.
There was a guy who used to post on here like that. I think he used to write an article here and there for the Sp**tator too. I am not sure what happened to him.
Many individuals should face criminal trials over this scandal, but do we think any will ?
And on more depressing news both labour and the conservatives make solemn pledges to retain the triple lock which shows just how much serious trouble we are when neither are fit to govern when they put their popularity before doing the right thing
Where on earth is the leader we need to take the difficult decisions, wean us off spending and borrowing, and take the country away from an inevitable debt crisis
In a couple of years or so, the triple lock will take the state pension up to the level of the basic tax allowance, the latter being frozen (with the freeze hotly expected to be extended). At that point, I suggest something will have to change, to avoid the scenario whereby millions of pensioners whose only income is the state pension suddenly starting to pay tax. Somehow, the state pension and the basic tax allowance will have to be harmonised, and while it might be good news if the tax allowance were indexed to the triple lock, I suspect this will prove unaffordable and therefore the triple lock will have to go.
I don't believe anyone can just be on state pension, they would be eligible for pension credits and all sorts of stuff. Benefits should be taxable for sure , people getting thousands a month on top of free housing and don't pay a penny in tax. Some mug working for £15K gets taxed , unbelievable.
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
After R** L*****'s disgusting piece last week I don't believe we are allowed to mention S***tator ever again.
If you think it was “disgusting” then you clearly haven’t read it and just seen the headline. Alternatively you might want to quit PB because there are infinitely more offensive things written here most days to trouble such a fragile temperament. But I think you didn’t actually read it.
What part of bombing Glastonbury festival and bombing Brighton don't you object to?
John Betjeman must be mighty relieved the citizens of Slough are too late to report him to the police. As for Shakespeare’s call to kill all lawyers, gadzooks.
Again, read the article and you will see that he says that such a call to bomb places is wrong and psychopathic and is made for dramatic effect.
What I don't understand about you right wingers is offensive material that attacks people you don't like is satire yet unacceptable commentary about, for example, the IDF or milkshakes thrown at Nigel Farage should be (possibly justifiably) punished with a custodial sentence. Likewise jostling Starmer whilst LOTO was just the rough and tumble of politics, writing something offensive about Trump's bone spurs on the other hand get one thrown out of the US.
You may not agree but there is a difference between chanting "death, death, death to the IDF' and making an obviously satirical point about bombing Glastonbury. Its like the chap who got into trouble for a tweet about Robin Hood airport. No one believed Rod Liddle or this chap were actually serious. In the death to the IDF case there are enough violent idiots out there PACE the Southport riots to make it a serious issue.
As for milkshaking anyone, and in this case Farage, the issue was more the stupid Jo Brand comment.
This is the go to for edgy right wingers. "Of course it was satire". Well if one needs to explain it, it is was neither funny nor satirical.
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
After R** L*****'s disgusting piece last week I don't believe we are allowed to mention S***tator ever again.
If you think it was “disgusting” then you clearly haven’t read it and just seen the headline. Alternatively you might want to quit PB because there are infinitely more offensive things written here most days to trouble such a fragile temperament. But I think you didn’t actually read it.
What part of bombing Glastonbury festival and bombing Brighton don't you object to?
John Betjeman must be mighty relieved the citizens of Slough are too late to report him to the police. As for Shakespeare’s call to kill all lawyers, gadzooks.
Again, read the article and you will see that he says that such a call to bomb places is wrong and psychopathic and is made for dramatic effect.
What I don't understand about you right wingers is offensive material that attacks people you don't like is satire yet unacceptable commentary about, for example, the IDF or milkshakes thrown at Nigel Farage should be (possibly justifiably) punished with a custodial sentence. Likewise jostling Starmer whilst LOTO was just the rough and tumble of politics, writing something offensive about Trump's bone spurs on the other hand get one thrown out of the US.
Liddle is a longtime purveyor of "ooo, I'm politically incorrect, me" hackery. It's not an especially challenging genre but he has tbf got the hang of it.
There was a guy who used to post on here like that. I think he used to write an article here and there for the Sp**tator too. I am not sure what happened to him.
Oh god, yes. Him.
Thanks for spoiling my sleep, btw, with that "Farage as Chitty childcatcher" image yesterday. It works only too well.
Tommy R has 'light touch' endorsed Advance UK which might push their membership up a bit with his followers (they sit at a bit over 10,000, largest UK party with no elected representatives)
The RSPB has 1.2 million members and no elected representatives.
Wot? You are ignoring Angela and Maria Eagle.
And Jodie Gosling.
One Swallow. And a couple of Martins. Two Reeves (which are female Ruff). Plus a Woodcock.
Oh, and a Peacock
And a lot of tits of various colours...
Tsk. Everyone knows most tits are blue.
Various shades of blue.
True. Anyhow I'm now sitting at the bottom of the largest puffin colony outside Iceland, on a glorious day, me and the dog watching all puffins buzzing back and forth, forever busy
Puffins are indeed wonderful.
Just bear in mind if you ever get close, they have razor-sharp feet.
Something to bear in mind.
Being protected, they're mostly binocular distance, but every now and again one flies overhead. They seem to have a faster wing flap than other birds and you can hear them coming so we can duck if necessary...
If you ever get to the Treshnish Isles (near Mull), all the birds there are ridiculously tame. I have sat on a clifftop there and had a number of puffins sat within a couple of feet of me, at all points of the compass!
Many individuals should face criminal trials over this scandal, but do we think any will ?
And on more depressing news both labour and the conservatives make solemn pledges to retain the triple lock which shows just how much serious trouble we are when neither are fit to govern when they put their popularity before doing the right thing
Where on earth is the leader we need to take the difficult decisions, wean us off spending and borrowing, and take the country away from an inevitable debt crisis
In a couple of years or so, the triple lock will take the state pension up to the level of the basic tax allowance, the latter being frozen (with the freeze hotly expected to be extended). At that point, I suggest something will have to change, to avoid the scenario whereby millions of pensioners whose only income is the state pension suddenly starting to pay tax. Somehow, the state pension and the basic tax allowance will have to be harmonised, and while it might be good news if the tax allowance were indexed to the triple lock, I suspect this will prove unaffordable and therefore the triple lock will have to go.
I don't believe anyone can just be on state pension, they would be eligible for pension credits and all sorts of stuff. Benefits should be taxable for sure , people getting thousands a month on top of free housing and don't pay a penny in tax. Some mug working for £15K gets taxed , unbelievable.
If you are receiving full state pension you won't get pension credit, or help with council tax, or water, or energy.
Resident doctors in England will go on strike later this month in their long-running dispute over pay, the BMA has announced.
The union says they will stage a full walk out from 7am on Friday 25 July until 7am on Wednesday 30 July.
The announcement comes after 90% of resident doctors who are members of the BMA voted in favour of strike action - but turnout was down to 55%.
In a statement, BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: "We met [Health Secretary] Wes Streeting yesterday and made every attempt to avoid strike action by opening negotiations for pay restoration.
"Unfortunately, the government has stated that it will not negotiate on pay, wanting to focus on non-pay elements without suggesting what these might be.
"Without a credible offer to keep us on the path to restore our pay, we have no choice but to call strikes."
They called on Streeting to "seriously come to the table in the next two weeks" to avert the strikes.
How far are BMA painted into their corner on this?
Are they still claiming an uplift based on RPI not CPI?
The morons want another 30% , time to give an ultimatum and rewrite the contracts of any loser striking.
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
Why would there be a scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry? Have I missed something?
Do they object to the Sutton Hoo helmet being lent to France?
Probably a lot of young people will be finding out for the first time that nearly a thousand years ago a lot of migrants crossed the Channel in a fleet of small boats and took over the whole country.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
Irony is we have many MPs and public figures queuing up to demand compensation for the WASPE women who don’t deserve a penny.
The Waspy women thing was entirely without merit but had the politically critical quality of being easy to understand. Hence the number of MPs and others lining up behind it. And hence the fondness for issues involving calculable amounts of free money to a readily identifiable group. See also WFA and last week's benefits shambles and two child cap which have the same quality.
Surely the WASPI issue is simple.
I have had my retirement age pushed back several times. The changes were decades into the future and made no effect to my plans.
Some of the WASPI women were told that instead of being able to retire and draw your pension next year, you now have to wait 6 years. That's a massive difference.
"But the law changed in 1995" seems to be the defence, Sure. Who goes around proactively checking Hansard in case the government have changed the law against you? They started writing to the affected in 2009 about the change coming into effect the following year. Not much notice if you'd planned to retire and now couldn't.
So what. Every legal challenge has accepted that the change of law in 1995 is not an issue so it is a perfect defence. No issue. It’s been used as a defence in court and won.
Even the PHSO judgement found there was no obligation on behalf of the govt to write to them to tell them. It even found people who received letters in 2011 didn’t remember receiving them and if people had received letters that they may not have read them. It’s all in the PHSO report
There was not just Hansard. There were plenty of campaigns in the papers and on TV to raise awareness at the time.
The state pension is a benefit and that is all there is to it and the govt can take it away or give it if they wish. They chop and change at will. This got traction as it’s a well funded, largely middle class and white, group who were effective lobbyists.
I’ve never had a letter telling me my state pension age is increasing to 67. So what.
The solution to the WASPE women is simple. Ignore them. The whole movement is fractured and WASPE doesn’t not represent all affected women either.
Many individuals should face criminal trials over this scandal, but do we think any will ?
And on more depressing news both labour and the conservatives make solemn pledges to retain the triple lock which shows just how much serious trouble we are when neither are fit to govern when they put their popularity before doing the right thing
Where on earth is the leader we need to take the difficult decisions, wean us off spending and borrowing, and take the country away from an inevitable debt crisis
In a couple of years or so, the triple lock will take the state pension up to the level of the basic tax allowance, the latter being frozen (with the freeze hotly expected to be extended). At that point, I suggest something will have to change, to avoid the scenario whereby millions of pensioners whose only income is the state pension suddenly starting to pay tax. Somehow, the state pension and the basic tax allowance will have to be harmonised, and while it might be good news if the tax allowance were indexed to the triple lock, I suspect this will prove unaffordable and therefore the triple lock will have to go.
I don't believe anyone can just be on state pension, they would be eligible for pension credits and all sorts of stuff. Benefits should be taxable for sure , people getting thousands a month on top of free housing and don't pay a penny in tax. Some mug working for £15K gets taxed , unbelievable.
If you are receiving full state pension you won't get pension credit, or help with council tax, or water, or energy.
Surprised me for sure, and yet morons like Bart simpson want to tax them and make them pay NI and university fees.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
China’s Defense Ministry signaled readiness to export J-10 jets to “friendly countries,” as speculation grows over Iran’s interest in the J-10C. No official deal announced, but Beijing hints at willingness to share the aircraft. https://x.com/PolymarketIntel/status/1942907250148024326
Its not entirely unlikely that China quite fancies benchmarking its kit against what Israel can throw against it.
Many individuals should face criminal trials over this scandal, but do we think any will ?
And on more depressing news both labour and the conservatives make solemn pledges to retain the triple lock which shows just how much serious trouble we are when neither are fit to govern when they put their popularity before doing the right thing
Where on earth is the leader we need to take the difficult decisions, wean us off spending and borrowing, and take the country away from an inevitable debt crisis
Robert Jenrick on Sky this morning gave an undertaking the conservatives will keep the triple lock
Correct me if I am wrong but I believe Kemi won the Tory leadership last year NOT Jenrick and Kemi has made clear she would means test the triple lock
Is she going to take into account capital?????
More to the point, how on earth can the "triple lock" part be means tested. In the first year you'd presumably end up with two sets of pensioners, one receiving 3.1% or whatever higher than the other cohort. I know there's a change for pensioners born in 1951/53 between the basic and the new state pension but that isn't means testing. It's a hellacious amount of effort for not much reward in the medium term ! Over time it'd grow into the weirdest system tbh.
Yes, just daft.
Get rid of the triple lock. Simple; effective. Labour is polling around 15% with the demographic. What have they got to lose ?
In three words "Winter Fuel Allowance". For all this government's mishandling of the partial removal, it is an absolute nonsense that it should be the public's biggest complaint of the Labour administration, by far, and as shown in the word cloud on this site a few days ago.
Voters thought they were electing a Labour government, not one that removed granny's heating in winter as its first big act to raise funds while not raising tax on the wealthiest and rich and the highest earners via a wealth tax or a higher top rate of income tax at all.
Starmer is polling lower than any Labour leader since WW2 as he is seen to be a PM for the rich and woke liberal metropolitan elite not the working class and ordinary middle class people. Hence Rayner is like a shark waiting to pounce and Reeves is dead in the water sooner rather than later and Farage has been making hay
Badenoch is polling lower than any Conservative leader ever. We live in an unprecedented time of four plus party politics. It makes comparison to times of two party politics difficult.
Why are we living in four plus party politics though? Because people feel so let down by the Tories and yes, also Labour.
We can make the comparisons because the two main parties are each responsible for finding themselves in the position they do. It was not long ago that they were each polling 70-80% between them. What has changed? A fundamental breakdown in trust in the Tories, and a seismic sense of disappointment with Labour.
And the biggest factor in that disappointment? That Labour tried to means test a universal benefit.
But I suppose we can blame all politicians for not spelling out the facts of life to the voters.
Yet today we’re told both main parties are committing to the triple lock.
It should be okay for me as I get my state pension shortly but it’s wrong.
The next state pension review reports in 2029 IIRC.
Tommy R has 'light touch' endorsed Advance UK which might push their membership up a bit with his followers (they sit at a bit over 10,000, largest UK party with no elected representatives)
The RSPB has 1.2 million members and no elected representatives.
Yet their performative anger over net neutrality changes helped stop the policy change when the Tories were in charge.
Resident doctors in England will go on strike later this month in their long-running dispute over pay, the BMA has announced.
The union says they will stage a full walk out from 7am on Friday 25 July until 7am on Wednesday 30 July.
The announcement comes after 90% of resident doctors who are members of the BMA voted in favour of strike action - but turnout was down to 55%.
In a statement, BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: "We met [Health Secretary] Wes Streeting yesterday and made every attempt to avoid strike action by opening negotiations for pay restoration.
"Unfortunately, the government has stated that it will not negotiate on pay, wanting to focus on non-pay elements without suggesting what these might be.
"Without a credible offer to keep us on the path to restore our pay, we have no choice but to call strikes."
They called on Streeting to "seriously come to the table in the next two weeks" to avert the strikes.
How far are BMA painted into their corner on this?
Are they still claiming an uplift based on RPI not CPI?
The morons want another 30% , time to give an ultimatum and rewrite the contracts of any loser striking.
I wonder whether the national feeling at the moment is going to be against the doctors; with people feeling that they should put the interests of NHS, waiting lists, patients in pain etc first.
You only have to start asking things like 'Who should get less because you get more', and 'What about every other deserving case' for things to fray at the edges a bit.
China’s Defense Ministry signaled readiness to export J-10 jets to “friendly countries,” as speculation grows over Iran’s interest in the J-10C. No official deal announced, but Beijing hints at willingness to share the aircraft. https://x.com/PolymarketIntel/status/1942907250148024326
Its not entirely unlikely that China quite fancies benchmarking its kit against what Israel can throw against it.
They have been actively pushing a line that Pakistan used Chinese made jets to down several Raffale Indian Airforce jets to advertise the Chinese jets’ abilities and damage the French efforts to sell Raffales.
The French are trying to push back against this story but fighting a losing battle with countries already China curious.
Irony is we have many MPs and public figures queuing up to demand compensation for the WASPE women who don’t deserve a penny.
The Waspy women thing was entirely without merit but had the politically critical quality of being easy to understand. Hence the number of MPs and others lining up behind it. And hence the fondness for issues involving calculable amounts of free money to a readily identifiable group. See also WFA and last week's benefits shambles and two child cap which have the same quality.
Surely the WASPI issue is simple.
I have had my retirement age pushed back several times. The changes were decades into the future and made no effect to my plans.
Some of the WASPI women were told that instead of being able to retire and draw your pension next year, you now have to wait 6 years. That's a massive difference.
"But the law changed in 1995" seems to be the defence, Sure. Who goes around proactively checking Hansard in case the government have changed the law against you? They started writing to the affected in 2009 about the change coming into effect the following year. Not much notice if you'd planned to retire and now couldn't.
So what. Every legal challenge has accepted that the change of law in 1995 is not an issue so it is a perfect defence. No issue. It’s been used as a defence in court and won.
Even the PHSO judgement found there was no obligation on behalf of the govt to write to them to tell them. It even found people who received letters in 2011 didn’t remember receiving them and if people had received letters that they may not have read them. It’s all in the PHSO report
There was not just Hansard. There were plenty of campaigns in the papers and on TV to raise awareness at the time.
The state pension is a benefit and that is all there is to it and the govt can take it away or give it if they wish. They chop and change at will. This got traction as it’s a well funded, largely middle class and white, group who were effective lobbyists.
I’ve never had a letter telling me my state pension age is increasing to 67. So what.
The solution to the WASPE women is simple. Ignore them. The whole movement is fractured and WASPE doesn’t not represent all affected women either.
The level of info they claim is needed in order for any law to be enacted is bloody absurd. Their upset is understandable but they went beyond reasonable grievance long long ago and i no longer have any sympathy.
Irony is we have many MPs and public figures queuing up to demand compensation for the WASPE women who don’t deserve a penny.
The Waspy women thing was entirely without merit but had the politically critical quality of being easy to understand. Hence the number of MPs and others lining up behind it. And hence the fondness for issues involving calculable amounts of free money to a readily identifiable group. See also WFA and last week's benefits shambles and two child cap which have the same quality.
Surely the WASPI issue is simple.
I have had my retirement age pushed back several times. The changes were decades into the future and made no effect to my plans.
Some of the WASPI women were told that instead of being able to retire and draw your pension next year, you now have to wait 6 years. That's a massive difference.
"But the law changed in 1995" seems to be the defence, Sure. Who goes around proactively checking Hansard in case the government have changed the law against you? They started writing to the affected in 2009 about the change coming into effect the following year. Not much notice if you'd planned to retire and now couldn't.
So what. Every legal challenge has accepted that the change of law in 1995 is not an issue so it is a perfect defence. No issue. It’s been used as a defence in court and won.
Even the PHSO judgement found there was no obligation on behalf of the govt to write to them to tell them. It even found people who received letters in 2011 didn’t remember receiving them and if people had received letters that they may not have read them. It’s all in the PHSO report
There was not just Hansard. There were plenty of campaigns in the papers and on TV to raise awareness at the time.
The state pension is a benefit and that is all there is to it and the govt can take it away or give it if they wish. They chop and change at will. This got traction as it’s a well funded, largely middle class and white, group who were effective lobbyists.
I’ve never had a letter telling me my state pension age is increasing to 67. So what.
The solution to the WASPE women is simple. Ignore them. The whole movement is fractured and WASPE doesn’t not represent all affected women either.
The level of info they claim is needed in order for any law to be enacted is bloody absurd. Their upset is understandable but they went beyond reasonable grievance long long ago and i no longer have any sympathy.
Exactly what I tell my two year old when he doesn't want his bath.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
This is the best post I have read on here in 2025. Feel fuckin emosh TBH.
China’s Defense Ministry signaled readiness to export J-10 jets to “friendly countries,” as speculation grows over Iran’s interest in the J-10C. No official deal announced, but Beijing hints at willingness to share the aircraft. https://x.com/PolymarketIntel/status/1942907250148024326
Its not entirely unlikely that China quite fancies benchmarking its kit against what Israel can throw against it.
They have been actively pushing a line that Pakistan used Chinese made jets to down several Raffale Indian Airforce jets to advertise the Chinese jets’ abilities and damage the French efforts to sell Raffales.
The French are trying to push back against this story but fighting a losing battle with countries already China curious.
I suspect the Indians are now quite China curious...
China’s Defense Ministry signaled readiness to export J-10 jets to “friendly countries,” as speculation grows over Iran’s interest in the J-10C. No official deal announced, but Beijing hints at willingness to share the aircraft. https://x.com/PolymarketIntel/status/1942907250148024326
Its not entirely unlikely that China quite fancies benchmarking its kit against what Israel can throw against it.
They have been actively pushing a line that Pakistan used Chinese made jets to down several Raffale Indian Airforce jets to advertise the Chinese jets’ abilities and damage the French efforts to sell Raffales.
The French are trying to push back against this story but fighting a losing battle with countries already China curious.
One other advantage of buying Chinese arms is (apparently) that they are delivered more quickly than their Russian or Western equivalents.
Tommy R has 'light touch' endorsed Advance UK which might push their membership up a bit with his followers (they sit at a bit over 10,000, largest UK party with no elected representatives)
The RSPB has 1.2 million members and no elected representatives.
Yet their performative anger over net neutrality changes helped stop the policy change when the Tories were in charge.
China’s Defense Ministry signaled readiness to export J-10 jets to “friendly countries,” as speculation grows over Iran’s interest in the J-10C. No official deal announced, but Beijing hints at willingness to share the aircraft. https://x.com/PolymarketIntel/status/1942907250148024326
Its not entirely unlikely that China quite fancies benchmarking its kit against what Israel can throw against it.
They have been actively pushing a line that Pakistan used Chinese made jets to down several Raffale Indian Airforce jets to advertise the Chinese jets’ abilities and damage the French efforts to sell Raffales.
The French are trying to push back against this story but fighting a losing battle with countries already China curious.
The point is that Chinese kit is now almost certainly superior to Russian. Better radar; better missiles. And they have available manufacturing capacity for export, which Russia lacks.
How they will stack up against western kit remains a fairly open question.
Tommy R has 'light touch' endorsed Advance UK which might push their membership up a bit with his followers (they sit at a bit over 10,000, largest UK party with no elected representatives)
The RSPB has 1.2 million members and no elected representatives.
Wot? You are ignoring Angela and Maria Eagle.
And Jodie Gosling.
One Swallow. And a couple of Martins. Two Reeves (which are female Ruff). Plus a Woodcock.
Oh, and a Peacock
And a lot of tits of various colours...
Tsk. Everyone knows most tits are blue.
Various shades of blue.
Some round here have beards.
[To preempt the pedantry, yes, I know they are Panurus and not Panus]
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Kemi again speechifying rather than asking simple questions. Starmer has had another couple of verbal slips.
Oh God! Not sausages again?
This is why I think Starmer will follow Wilson. One reason anyway.
You think he has early-onset dementia?
I merely observe verbal slips; I am not a doctor so steer clear of precise diagnoses which do not really matter anyway. More important is that Wilson noticed his own decline at an early stage, not that he'd taken medical advice. (Although famously, one of Wilson's ministers was the neurologist Dr David Owen, so who knows?)
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Kemi again speechifying rather than asking simple questions. Starmer has had another couple of verbal slips.
Oh God! Not sausages again?
This is why I think Starmer will follow Wilson. One reason anyway.
You think he has early-onset dementia?
I merely observe verbal slips; I am not a doctor so steer clear of precise diagnoses which do not really matter anyway. More important is that Wilson noticed his own decline at an early stage, not that he'd taken medical advice. (Although famously, one of Wilson's ministers was the neurologist Dr David Owen, so who knows?)
How prone was Starmer to verbal sausages previously ? It needn't be decline; he might just not be very good on his feet.
(I never willingly listen to any of his speeches, so I'm not well placed to judge.)
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
Why would there be a scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry? Have I missed something?
Do they object to the Sutton Hoo helmet being lent to France?
John Redwood has decided it's an insult to the English, as it features scenes of Norman domination. He's a bit late to the story on this one.
I was in the Con Club with my Dad and there was a lot of bad feeling towards the tapestry gift. Redwood is right, and the English Nation is right behind him on this, Macron and the French are knowingly taking the piss out of us with “le gift”. Although the tapestry is complete gibberish in terms of history - no arrow through the eye etc, that’s just victors rewriting history to say God was in their side (and back up by the Pope and his corrupt Catholic money), as art it shouldn’t be destroyed as a lot of protestors want - I don’t think it should come here, it won’t be safe. It won’t go back in one piece and I am sure Macron knows this.
The historical question being asked is very easy - Normans weren’t franks or French, they were back door Vikings, the type our Saxon Kings gaily slaughtered on the were sniff of the smelly things. Vikings, especially the ones who converted to Christianity for land and money were simply gangsters and racketeers. And not to forget harrowing of the North that was even worse for Yorkshire than what the Labour government is now doing. The the Norman’s did give us English our flag and some other good things that were good. History lesson over. Hope that clears all the questions up.
China’s Defense Ministry signaled readiness to export J-10 jets to “friendly countries,” as speculation grows over Iran’s interest in the J-10C. No official deal announced, but Beijing hints at willingness to share the aircraft. https://x.com/PolymarketIntel/status/1942907250148024326
Its not entirely unlikely that China quite fancies benchmarking its kit against what Israel can throw against it.
They have been actively pushing a line that Pakistan used Chinese made jets to down several Raffale Indian Airforce jets to advertise the Chinese jets’ abilities and damage the French efforts to sell Raffales.
The French are trying to push back against this story but fighting a losing battle with countries already China curious.
One other advantage of buying Chinese arms is (apparently) that they are delivered more quickly than their Russian or Western equivalents.
Part of the Rafale success story is their ability to deliver quickly. The French AF are scrupulous about keeping their fleet up to date and in a common configuration so they can be sold easily and the back filled by new builds.
I don't know how much the J-10 vs Rafale shootdown hurts its export prospects. The MiG-29 had a fucking dismal A2A combat record (something like 0:15 before the SMO) and that was an export sensation,
China’s Defense Ministry signaled readiness to export J-10 jets to “friendly countries,” as speculation grows over Iran’s interest in the J-10C. No official deal announced, but Beijing hints at willingness to share the aircraft. https://x.com/PolymarketIntel/status/1942907250148024326
Its not entirely unlikely that China quite fancies benchmarking its kit against what Israel can throw against it.
They have been actively pushing a line that Pakistan used Chinese made jets to down several Raffale Indian Airforce jets to advertise the Chinese jets’ abilities and damage the French efforts to sell Raffales.
The French are trying to push back against this story but fighting a losing battle with countries already China curious.
The point is that Chinese kit is now almost certainly superior to Russian. Better radar; better missiles. And they have available manufacturing capacity for export, which Russia lacks.
How they will stack up against western kit remains a fairly open question.
I would imagine a lot of their kit is as good because it’s going to be largely copied as with most Chinese tech over the last few decades, and then done cheaper and faster and in cases, better - like the EV market.
The crazy thing is, if we could be certain the Chinese couldn’t remotely cut or track their kit, we could do worse than buying it off them and saving billions and years of waiting.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
Are they though?
Very easy to answer - whose supporters in their clubs are all chipper with their front bench and how it is going, and who supporters completely deny they ever supported the struggling government front bench. 😁
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
Why would there be a scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry? Have I missed something?
Do they object to the Sutton Hoo helmet being lent to France?
John Redwood has decided it's an insult to the English, as it features scenes of Norman domination. He's a bit late to the story on this one.
I was in the Con Club with my Dad and there was a lot of bad feeling towards the tapestry gift. Redwood is right, and the English Nation is right behind him on this, Macron and the French are knowingly taking the piss out of us with “le gift”. Although the tapestry is complete gibberish in terms of history - no arrow through the eye etc, that’s just victors rewriting history to say God was in their side (and back up by the Pope and his corrupt Catholic money), as art it shouldn’t be destroyed as a lot of protestors want - I don’t think it should come here, it won’t be safe. It won’t go back in one piece and I am sure Macron knows this.
The historical question being asked is very easy - Normans weren’t franks or French, they were back door Vikings, the type our Saxon Kings gaily slaughtered on the were sniff of the smelly things. Vikings, especially the ones who converted to Christianity for land and money were simply gangsters and racketeers. And not to forget harrowing of the North that was even worse for Yorkshire than what the Labour government is now doing. The the Norman’s did give us English our flag and some other good things that were good. History lesson over. Hope that clears all the questions up.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
What do you base this on, given the recent polls showing the Conservatives around 20% (e.g. the latest one putting them on 19%)?
I think, based on recent canvassing, that most people have largely given up on politics as a source of helpful developments. There is a vague tendency to try Reform, because they've not been tried before, and otherwise lots of people (like me) who feel the situation is difficult and nobody is offering a realistic and coherent way forward.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
Are they though?
Very easy to answer - whose supporters in their clubs are all chipper with their front bench and how it is going, and who supporters completely deny they ever supported the struggling government front bench. 😁
Is the sniff of power in the room with us right now?
Tommy R has 'light touch' endorsed Advance UK which might push their membership up a bit with his followers (they sit at a bit over 10,000, largest UK party with no elected representatives)
The RSPB has 1.2 million members and no elected representatives.
Yet their performative anger over net neutrality changes helped stop the policy change when the Tories were in charge.
Via the quangocrats in Natural England I think ?
Possibly. I just remember the outrage on Twitter. As if the Tories wanted to boil alive any living creature.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
Are they though?
Very easy to answer - whose supporters in their clubs are all chipper with their front bench and how it is going, and who supporters completely deny they ever supported the struggling government front bench. 😁
Is the sniff of power in the room with us right now?
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
Why would there be a scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry? Have I missed something?
Do they object to the Sutton Hoo helmet being lent to France?
John Redwood has decided it's an insult to the English, as it features scenes of Norman domination. He's a bit late to the story on this one.
I was in the Con Club with my Dad and there was a lot of bad feeling towards the tapestry gift. Redwood is right, and the English Nation is right behind him on this, Macron and the French are knowingly taking the piss out of us with “le gift”. Although the tapestry is complete gibberish in terms of history - no arrow through the eye etc, that’s just victors rewriting history to say God was in their side (and back up by the Pope and his corrupt Catholic money), as art it shouldn’t be destroyed as a lot of protestors want - I don’t think it should come here, it won’t be safe. It won’t go back in one piece and I am sure Macron knows this.
The historical question being asked is very easy - Normans weren’t franks or French, they were back door Vikings, the type our Saxon Kings gaily slaughtered on the were sniff of the smelly things. Vikings, especially the ones who converted to Christianity for land and money were simply gangsters and racketeers. And not to forget harrowing of the North that was even worse for Yorkshire than what the Labour government is now doing. The the Norman’s did give us English our flag and some other good things that were good. History lesson over. Hope that clears all the questions up.
If you say so, Moon Rabbit ! Although I was taught at school that the Normans tended to have one Viking and one French paren, and many English surnames are Norman - Bennett, Warren, Mortimer, Percy, Clifford, Deneuve-Mordaunt, Etc.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
Are they though?
Very easy to answer - whose supporters in their clubs are all chipper with their front bench and how it is going, and who supporters completely deny they ever supported the struggling government front bench. 😁
Is the sniff of power in the room with us right now?
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
What do you base this on, given the recent polls showing the Conservatives around 20% (e.g. the latest one putting them on 19%)?
I think, based on recent canvassing, that most people have largely given up on politics as a source of helpful developments. There is a vague tendency to try Reform, because they've not been tried before, and otherwise lots of people (like me) who feel the situation is difficult and nobody is offering a realistic and coherent way forward.
You know politics well Nick, the performances change for the better before the polls follow suit.
RefUK 321 Lab 164 LD 66 Con 46 SNP 24 PC 4 Grn 2 Others 23
This,looks like the definition of a snooze summer poll. I can almost hear them doing the research from their deckchairs.
Gotta feel for the Lib Dems; despite decades of effort as the third party, they've utterly failed to capitalise on the decline of the two major parties....
On topic, many thanks to Cyclefree for the header. There is, I think, a default assumption that any situation will produce numerous people claiming money on more or less spurious grounds, magnified by the press seeking daily stories to outrage and titillate us. Genuine scandals like this tend to get lumped with the others, and wrongdoers count on general fatigue as a way to move on without doing anything.
I'm not sure how this is best avoided. As individuals we are rarely able to distinguish genuine outrages from special- interest claims. Perhaps the Ombudsman system needs beefing up with a team delegated to examine whether a particular claim is reasonably likely to have merit?
Starmers PM job satisfaction figures have moved well below Labour's voting intention. Shields buckling, captain
Starmer had a bad June. Whilst Labour hasn't yet consequently followed his slide, it may still have a bad July.
It's the hope that will kill you. Replace hope with reality, RefCon just shy of 50%.
Mind you a party of Government one year in averaging around 22/23% is unprecedentedly bad.
Absolutely compared with history.
But then history we are comparing with didn’t have so many parties polling so well at the same time. And that’s bound tobe impacting satisfaction rating as well as voting figures too.
The psephological challenge is knowing who can and would coalescing into a government in case of hung parliament, that’s the end point to start from as we work backwards to understand how these party voters would likely vote to block certain coalition governments they don’t want. Around the world they have PR electoral systems that often does result in those coalitions, but under FPTP the voting in May 2029 will be to block not sticking with your preference where you are as that will be a clear wasted vote.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
I think we can file that with your other electoral predictions.
This has flagged by a load of people with serious reach within gambling space as soon as it was inserted.
And on PB.
I highlighted at the time, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Senators aren't reading PB....but people in the US who are well known in gambling and have fairly big reach did speak out and were ignored.
Starmers PM job satisfaction figures have moved well below Labour's voting intention. Shields buckling, captain
Starmer had a bad June. Whilst Labour hasn't yet consequently followed his slide, it may still have a bad July.
It's the hope that will kill you. Replace hope with reality, RefCon just shy of 50%.
Mind you a party of Government one year in averaging around 22/23% is unprecedentedly bad.
Absolutely compared with history.
But then history we are comparing with didn’t have so many parties polling so well at the same time. And that’s bound tobe impacting satisfaction rating as well as voting figures too.
The psephological challenge is knowing who can and would coalescing into a government in case of hung parliament, that’s the end point to start from as we work backwards to understand how these party voters would likely vote to block certain coalition governments they don’t want. Around the world they have PR electoral systems that often does result in those coalitions, but under FPTP the voting in May 2029 will be to block not sticking with your preference where you are as that will be a clear wasted vote.
Ref, Con and DUP would make a cheeky title threesome.
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
Why would there be a scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry? Have I missed something?
Do they object to the Sutton Hoo helmet being lent to France?
John Redwood has decided it's an insult to the English, as it features scenes of Norman domination. He's a bit late to the story on this one.
I was in the Con Club with my Dad and there was a lot of bad feeling towards the tapestry gift. Redwood is right, and the English Nation is right behind him on this, Macron and the French are knowingly taking the piss out of us with “le gift”. Although the tapestry is complete gibberish in terms of history - no arrow through the eye etc, that’s just victors rewriting history to say God was in their side (and back up by the Pope and his corrupt Catholic money), as art it shouldn’t be destroyed as a lot of protestors want - I don’t think it should come here, it won’t be safe. It won’t go back in one piece and I am sure Macron knows this.
The historical question being asked is very easy - Normans weren’t franks or French, they were back door Vikings, the type our Saxon Kings gaily slaughtered on the were sniff of the smelly things. Vikings, especially the ones who converted to Christianity for land and money were simply gangsters and racketeers. And not to forget harrowing of the North that was even worse for Yorkshire than what the Labour government is now doing. The the Norman’s did give us English our flag and some other good things that were good. History lesson over. Hope that clears all the questions up.
If you say so, Moon Rabbit ! Although I was taught at school that the Normans tended to have one Viking and one French paren, and many English surnames are Norman - Bennett, Warren, Mortimer, Percy, Clifford, Deneuve-Mordaunt, Etc.
Norman’s are Vikings. You notice how they came from nowhere and disappeared into nowhere, not long Vikings history? The Vikings didn’t disappear, they became normans and English by switching from raiding to squatting like mafia bosses and racketeers, that’s how economies ticked up, as Viking squatting landlord racketeers spent the money in the place they now squatting not raiding.
If you trying to defend Vikings, how come Vikings only remembered with bad names - Bjorn the sneak, Ragnar the untrustworthy, Nogbad the Bad, Bluetooth the bad breath, Count Otto the oddo?
RefUK 321 Lab 164 LD 66 Con 46 SNP 24 PC 4 Grn 2 Others 23
This,looks like the definition of a snooze summer poll. I can almost hear them doing the research from their deckchairs.
Gotta feel for the Lib Dems; despite decades of effort as the third party, they've utterly failed to capitalise on the decline of the two major parties....
Now that much of the diagnostics space has been quietly privatised, anyone can now walk in and buy scans (especially ultrasound) for a hundred quid or so. You could gift your loved ones a framed picture of their innards.
Starmers PM job satisfaction figures have moved well below Labour's voting intention. Shields buckling, captain
Starmer had a bad June. Whilst Labour hasn't yet consequently followed his slide, it may still have a bad July.
It's the hope that will kill you. Replace hope with reality, RefCon just shy of 50%.
Mind you a party of Government one year in averaging around 22/23% is unprecedentedly bad.
Absolutely compared with history.
But then history we are comparing with didn’t have so many parties polling so well at the same time. And that’s bound tobe impacting satisfaction rating as well as voting figures too.
The psephological challenge is knowing who can and would coalescing into a government in case of hung parliament, that’s the end point to start from as we work backwards to understand how these party voters would likely vote to block certain coalition governments they don’t want. Around the world they have PR electoral systems that often does result in those coalitions, but under FPTP the voting in May 2029 will be to block not sticking with your preference where you are as that will be a clear wasted vote.
Ref, Con and DUP would make a cheeky title threesome.
Yep that’s starting with end result coalition. Now work backwards to think what each parties voters actually do at the election.
One Nation Conservatives would rather vote for any other party to murder a Reform candidates political career, than vote for the Reform candidate. Simples.
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
Why would there be a scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry? Have I missed something?
Do they object to the Sutton Hoo helmet being lent to France?
John Redwood has decided it's an insult to the English, as it features scenes of Norman domination. He's a bit late to the story on this one.
I was in the Con Club with my Dad and there was a lot of bad feeling towards the tapestry gift. Redwood is right, and the English Nation is right behind him on this, Macron and the French are knowingly taking the piss out of us with “le gift”. Although the tapestry is complete gibberish in terms of history - no arrow through the eye etc, that’s just victors rewriting history to say God was in their side (and back up by the Pope and his corrupt Catholic money), as art it shouldn’t be destroyed as a lot of protestors want - I don’t think it should come here, it won’t be safe. It won’t go back in one piece and I am sure Macron knows this.
The historical question being asked is very easy - Normans weren’t franks or French, they were back door Vikings, the type our Saxon Kings gaily slaughtered on the were sniff of the smelly things. Vikings, especially the ones who converted to Christianity for land and money were simply gangsters and racketeers. And not to forget harrowing of the North that was even worse for Yorkshire than what the Labour government is now doing. The the Norman’s did give us English our flag and some other good things that were good. History lesson over. Hope that clears all the questions up.
If you say so, Moon Rabbit ! Although I was taught at school that the Normans tended to have one Viking and one French paren, and many English surnames are Norman - Bennett, Warren, Mortimer, Percy, Clifford, Deneuve-Mordaunt, Etc.
Norman’s are Vikings. You notice how they came from nowhere and disappeared into nowhere, not long Vikings history? The Vikings didn’t disappear, they became normans and English by switching from raiding to squatting like mafia bosses and racketeers, that’s how economies ticked up, as Viking squatting landlord racketeers spent the money in the place they now squatting not raiding.
If you trying to defend Vikings, how come Vikings only remembered with bad names - Bjorn the sneak, Ragnar the untrustworthy, Nogbad the Bad, Bluetooth the bad breath, Count Otto the oddo?
Chuck Grassley is 91. At the best of times US legislation is badly written, subject to last minute amendments and often include items well outside the scope of what the headline bill suggests. Regardless of party, at his age it seems impossible to keep up with everything in normal times, let alone an obese, shitty bill.
This has flagged by a load of people with serious reach within gambling space as soon as it was inserted.
And on PB.
I highlighted at the time, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Senators aren't reading PB....but people in the US who are well known in gambling and have fairly big reach did speak out and were ignored.
If Senators are not reading PB and are not reading President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill they rubber-stamped, what are they doing? Surely insider trading can't take that much time.
This has flagged by a load of people with serious reach within gambling space as soon as it was inserted.
And on PB.
I highlighted at the time, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Senators aren't reading PB....but people in the US who are well known in gambling and have fairly big reach did speak out and were ignored.
If Senators are not reading PB and are not reading President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill they rubber-stamped, what are they doing? Surely insider trading can't take that much time.
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
Why would there be a scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry? Have I missed something?
Do they object to the Sutton Hoo helmet being lent to France?
John Redwood has decided it's an insult to the English, as it features scenes of Norman domination. He's a bit late to the story on this one.
I was in the Con Club with my Dad and there was a lot of bad feeling towards the tapestry gift. Redwood is right, and the English Nation is right behind him on this, Macron and the French are knowingly taking the piss out of us with “le gift”. Although the tapestry is complete gibberish in terms of history - no arrow through the eye etc, that’s just victors rewriting history to say God was in their side (and back up by the Pope and his corrupt Catholic money), as art it shouldn’t be destroyed as a lot of protestors want - I don’t think it should come here, it won’t be safe. It won’t go back in one piece and I am sure Macron knows this.
The historical question being asked is very easy - Normans weren’t franks or French, they were back door Vikings, the type our Saxon Kings gaily slaughtered on the were sniff of the smelly things. Vikings, especially the ones who converted to Christianity for land and money were simply gangsters and racketeers. And not to forget harrowing of the North that was even worse for Yorkshire than what the Labour government is now doing. The the Norman’s did give us English our flag and some other good things that were good. History lesson over. Hope that clears all the questions up.
Is this satire? Can’t tell
If I asked you “who are the English?” You couldn’t answer. You don’t do history as well as me.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
What do you base this on, given the recent polls showing the Conservatives around 20% (e.g. the latest one putting them on 19%)?
I think, based on recent canvassing, that most people have largely given up on politics as a source of helpful developments. There is a vague tendency to try Reform, because they've not been tried before, and otherwise lots of people (like me) who feel the situation is difficult and nobody is offering a realistic and coherent way forward.
You know politics well Nick, the performances change for the better before the polls follow suit.
If you just look at the last week or so, Tories are down. If you look a little longer they are just holding their own, if you look back a sensible length of time they are down and out. They are, IMO, about as low as they can be given their irreducible core vote. The rest of the voters are beginning to forget they exist.
The slightly more interesting movement is that, despite being a total disaster, Labour are holding their own and Reform are drifting down. After the last 12 months for Labour to be within about 5 points of the leader is quite good. For the opposition to be trailing third and sometimes vying for fourth is less good.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
I think we can file that with your other electoral predictions.
Most of my electoral predictions have been utter brilliant. The GE would be before summer recess I told you before we even entered 2024. I gave you July 4th weeks before Sunak even thought of it himself. I gave you a Labour front bencher losing in the midst of a Labour landslide at least two years before the election.
This has flagged by a load of people with serious reach within gambling space as soon as it was inserted.
And on PB.
I highlighted at the time, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Senators aren't reading PB....but people in the US who are well known in gambling and have fairly big reach did speak out and were ignored.
If Senators are not reading PB and are not reading President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill they rubber-stamped, what are they doing? Surely insider trading can't take that much time.
Starmers PM job satisfaction figures have moved well below Labour's voting intention. Shields buckling, captain
Starmer had a bad June. Whilst Labour hasn't yet consequently followed his slide, it may still have a bad July.
It's the hope that will kill you. Replace hope with reality, RefCon just shy of 50%.
Mind you a party of Government one year in averaging around 22/23% is unprecedentedly bad.
Absolutely compared with history.
But then history we are comparing with didn’t have so many parties polling so well at the same time. And that’s bound tobe impacting satisfaction rating as well as voting figures too.
The psephological challenge is knowing who can and would coalescing into a government in case of hung parliament, that’s the end point to start from as we work backwards to understand how these party voters would likely vote to block certain coalition governments they don’t want. Around the world they have PR electoral systems that often does result in those coalitions, but under FPTP the voting in May 2029 will be to block not sticking with your preference where you are as that will be a clear wasted vote.
Ref, Con and DUP would make a cheeky title threesome.
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
What do you base this on, given the recent polls showing the Conservatives around 20% (e.g. the latest one putting them on 19%)?
I think, based on recent canvassing, that most people have largely given up on politics as a source of helpful developments. There is a vague tendency to try Reform, because they've not been tried before, and otherwise lots of people (like me) who feel the situation is difficult and nobody is offering a realistic and coherent way forward.
You know politics well Nick, the performances change for the better before the polls follow suit.
If you just look at the last week or so, Tories are down. If you look a little longer they are just holding their own, if you look back a sensible length of time they are down and out. They are, IMO, about as low as they can be given their irreducible core vote. The rest of the voters are beginning to forget they exist.
The slightly more interesting movement is that, despite being a total disaster, Labour are holding their own and Reform are drifting down. After the last 12 months for Labour to be within about 5 points of the leader is quite good. For the opposition to be trailing third and sometimes vying for fourth is less good.
Tell us for the trillionth time how Labour are on course to win the next GE
Kemi seems to all over the place today. No clear theme or direction.
Not at all, she is tying Starmer and his government into knots just as she has been doing recently.
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
I think we can file that with your other electoral predictions.
Most of my electoral predictions have been utter brilliant. The GE would be before summer recess I told you before we even entered 2024. I gave you July 4th weeks before Sunak even thought of it himself. I gave you a Labour front bencher losing in the midst of a Labour landslide at least two years before the election.
You keep predicting Conservative victories and they keep losing
A scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry is exactly what this summer is missing. Looking forward to the weekend BBQ and watching England tear itself apart.
Rest is History specials, a Reform rally at Hastings, Spectator in turmoil. In. My. Veins.
Why would there be a scandal over the Bayeux Tapestry? Have I missed something?
Do they object to the Sutton Hoo helmet being lent to France?
John Redwood has decided it's an insult to the English, as it features scenes of Norman domination. He's a bit late to the story on this one.
I was in the Con Club with my Dad and there was a lot of bad feeling towards the tapestry gift. Redwood is right, and the English Nation is right behind him on this, Macron and the French are knowingly taking the piss out of us with “le gift”. Although the tapestry is complete gibberish in terms of history - no arrow through the eye etc, that’s just victors rewriting history to say God was in their side (and back up by the Pope and his corrupt Catholic money), as art it shouldn’t be destroyed as a lot of protestors want - I don’t think it should come here, it won’t be safe. It won’t go back in one piece and I am sure Macron knows this.
The historical question being asked is very easy - Normans weren’t franks or French, they were back door Vikings, the type our Saxon Kings gaily slaughtered on the were sniff of the smelly things. Vikings, especially the ones who converted to Christianity for land and money were simply gangsters and racketeers. And not to forget harrowing of the North that was even worse for Yorkshire than what the Labour government is now doing. The the Norman’s did give us English our flag and some other good things that were good. History lesson over. Hope that clears all the questions up.
Is this satire? Can’t tell
If I asked you “who are the English?” You couldn’t answer. You don’t do history as well as me.
So, who are the English?
The people who almost always decide how the UK should be governed.
Comments
STEVE'S READING RUSSIA - RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW (09.07.25)
In the Russian papers today I noticed a change in tone regarding Donald Trump, with comments like these: “Trump changes his mind on key issues as easily as he changes shoes." “Mental gap between Trump & Putin.” “Trump offers Russia too little. The continuation of a good quarrel is better than a bad peace.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPMSjUtbN9E
As for milkshaking anyone, and in this case Farage, the issue was more the stupid Jo Brand comment.
Thanks for spoiling my sleep, btw, with that "Farage as Chitty childcatcher" image yesterday. It works only too well.
https://www.staffatours.com/tours/staffa-and-treshnish-isles-wildlife-tour/
Or
Minding his ps and qs so Reeves doesn't start blubbing again?
The Tories are right back in with a sniff of power a lot quicker than people thought. As Reform continue to struggle and dwindle, the Conservative vote share is going to grow and grow, built on the performances of Kemi and her front bench in recent months.
Even the PHSO judgement found there was no obligation on behalf of the govt to write to them to tell them. It even found people who received letters in 2011 didn’t remember receiving them and if people had received letters that they may not have read them. It’s all in the PHSO report
There was not just Hansard. There were plenty of campaigns in the papers and on TV to raise awareness at the time.
The state pension is a benefit and that is all there is to it and the govt can take it away or give it if they wish. They chop and change at will. This got traction as it’s a well funded, largely middle class and white, group who were effective lobbyists.
I’ve never had a letter telling me my state pension age is increasing to 67. So what.
The solution to the WASPE women is simple. Ignore them. The whole movement is fractured and WASPE doesn’t not represent all affected women either.
China’s Defense Ministry signaled readiness to export J-10 jets to “friendly countries,” as speculation grows over Iran’s interest in the J-10C. No official deal announced, but Beijing hints at willingness to share the aircraft.
https://x.com/PolymarketIntel/status/1942907250148024326
Its not entirely unlikely that China quite fancies benchmarking its kit against what Israel can throw against it.
A few questions later:-
Starmer – we can't tax our way to growth.
Oops.
@LukeTryl
➡️ REF UK 29% (nc)
🌹 LAB 24% (nc)
🌳 CON 19% (nc)
🔶 LIB DEM 14% (+2)
🌍 GREEN 7% (-2)
🟡 SNP 3% (nc)
N = 2,084 | Dates:4 - 7/7 | Change w 30/6"
https://x.com/LukeTryl/status/1942848128119677033
Baxter:
RefUK 321
Lab 164
LD 66
Con 46
SNP 24
PC 4
Grn 2
Others 23
It should be okay for me as I get my state pension shortly but it’s wrong.
The next state pension review reports in 2029 IIRC.
You only have to start asking things like 'Who should get less because you get more', and 'What about every other deserving case' for things to fray at the edges a bit.
The French are trying to push back against this story but fighting a losing battle with countries already China curious.
The Trades Unions are out of control !
Better radar; better missiles.
And they have available manufacturing capacity for export, which Russia lacks.
How they will stack up against western kit remains a fairly open question.
[To preempt the pedantry, yes, I know they are Panurus and not Panus]
It needn't be decline; he might just not be very good on his feet.
(I never willingly listen to any of his speeches, so I'm not well placed to judge.)
Although the tapestry is complete gibberish in terms of history - no arrow through the eye etc, that’s just victors rewriting history to say God was in their side (and back up by the Pope and his corrupt Catholic money), as art it shouldn’t be destroyed as a lot of protestors want - I don’t think it should come here, it won’t be safe. It won’t go back in one piece and I am sure Macron knows this.
The historical question being asked is very easy - Normans weren’t franks or French, they were back door Vikings, the type our Saxon Kings gaily slaughtered on the were sniff of the smelly things. Vikings, especially the ones who converted to Christianity for land and money were simply gangsters and racketeers. And not to forget harrowing of the North that was even worse for Yorkshire than what the Labour government is now doing. The the Norman’s did give us English our flag and some other good things that were good.
History lesson over. Hope that clears all the questions up.
https://x.com/PolymarketIntel/status/1942887083141665134
I don't know how much the J-10 vs Rafale shootdown hurts its export prospects. The MiG-29 had a fucking dismal A2A combat record (something like 0:15 before the SMO) and that was an export sensation,
The crazy thing is, if we could be certain the Chinese couldn’t remotely cut or track their kit, we could do worse than buying it off them and saving billions and years of waiting.
I think, based on recent canvassing, that most people have largely given up on politics as a source of helpful developments. There is a vague tendency to try Reform, because they've not been tried before, and otherwise lots of people (like me) who feel the situation is difficult and nobody is offering a realistic and coherent way forward.
Although I was taught at school that the Normans tended to have one Viking and one French paren, and many English surnames are Norman - Bennett, Warren, Mortimer, Percy, Clifford, Deneuve-Mordaunt, Etc.
Powder not power.
Mind you a party of Government one year in averaging around 22/23% is unprecedentedly bad.
Surely not.
How the sausage is made: Senate Republicans have no idea how deduction limits on gambling losses got into Trump’s big bill.
“If you’re asking me how it got in there, no I don’t know,” says Grassley
“I’m not sure what it does,” Cornyn added
Both sit on Finance committee
https://x.com/igorbobic/status/1942689163226022191
I'm not sure how this is best avoided. As individuals we are rarely able to distinguish genuine outrages from special- interest claims. Perhaps the Ombudsman system needs beefing up with a team delegated to examine whether a particular claim is reasonably likely to have merit?
Violets are blue
Here’s the Adam smith institute
Just for you
https://x.com/asi/status/1942846867168973067?s=61
But then history we are comparing with didn’t have so many parties polling so well at the same time. And that’s bound tobe impacting satisfaction rating as well as voting figures too.
The psephological challenge is knowing who can and would coalescing into a government in case of hung parliament, that’s the end point to start from as we work backwards to understand how these party voters would likely vote to block certain coalition governments they don’t want. Around the world they have PR electoral systems that often does result in those coalitions, but under FPTP the voting in May 2029 will be to block not sticking with your preference where you are as that will be a clear wasted vote.
If you trying to defend Vikings, how come Vikings only remembered with bad names - Bjorn the sneak, Ragnar the untrustworthy, Nogbad the Bad, Bluetooth the bad breath, Count Otto the oddo?
Now that much of the diagnostics space has been quietly privatised, anyone can now walk in and buy scans (especially ultrasound) for a hundred quid or so. You could gift your loved ones a framed picture of their innards.
One Nation Conservatives would rather vote for any other party to murder a Reform candidates political career, than vote for the Reform candidate. Simples.
So, who are the English?
They are political cockroaches. As history shows. You think they are dead. But they are alive and well under your fridge...
The slightly more interesting movement is that, despite being a total disaster, Labour are holding their own and Reform are drifting down. After the last 12 months for Labour to be within about 5 points of the leader is quite good. For the opposition to be trailing third and sometimes vying for fourth is less good.