For a Liberal Democrat majority they'd need to gain over 250 seats. I cannot see it. On the plus side that would mean the Conservatives would lose a load of seats.
What should worry the Libdems right now despite being very comfortable the third largest party at Westminster is the fact that they appear completely irrelevant and totally off the radar for most voters when it comes to the next GE. Having secured the seat numbers they did they should have been in the perfect position to benefit from an unpopular main Opposition and a new Labour Government that has imploded so quickly, and yet they have failed to launch or make themselves relevant in the same way they did under past leaders the last time they were in that position with that number of MPs.
If they got even a quarter of the publicity that Reform get it might be different. In fact, I am amazed that the media aren’t examining Reform policies in depth, costing them and highlighting their impracticality. It shows who the media moguls, including the BBC, really support.
It isn't easy to give a lot of publicity that actually works to decent centrists who have no chance of being in power because of demography/history. That is the LD fate. However much attention they are given, no-one actually reads it.
Reform is different. I think it's a certainty that by about 2027 year end Reform will get proper detailed demands to say where they stand on difficult stuff from thoughtful media. Reform of course have the advantage that the political skill of dealing with this evasively is well developed and they will be working on technique. Blame Tory and Labour history for this.
Oddly on PB there are no contributors who both support Reform and are able to give a coherent account of how they will want to govern on the big spending stuff. They just pivot to migration. (I am against Reform and believe they will be high spend social democrat closed border dirigiste nationalists).
Please explain, with examples, the term “thoughtful media”.
Good question. The Economist; BBC radio sometimes; LBC sometimes; Times Radio sometimes; PB sometimes; Guardian and Times occasionally; New Statesman sometimes; TLS; very occasionally The Spectator; rare but more often than one would think: The Sun. Insufficient data because paywall: FT, NYT. Others worth a look on the interweb: The Rest is Politics, especially Rory; Washington Week (Jeffery Goldberg) which I find very good.
Does that answer?
I'd say that there are perhaps holes there in International & Specialist, and Podcasts. I'd add BBC World Service, DW and probably NPR. For current specialist Ukraine the Latest, Perun. One perhaps surprising one is the news/opinion from Church Times, who have very good networks where others do not and are quite diverse in views; they are tight with free articles. I've always followed legal commentators as a window on politics.
I don't have a good summary source who do USA or Canada well. I find NYT never ending and variable, with some good nuggets, like the 1990s Sunday Times when it required a shopping trolley to fetch.
There is also much on Substack, but subscribing gets expensive.
How do you assess traditional international papers now - Christian Science Monitor, IHT as was - now NYT International etc?
US media is now ridiculously polarised, and most of the good actual journalists have gone to independent media or platforms. Substack is good if you can avoid too many subscriptions, as is The Free Press. A well-curated Twitter can also be good for seeing a wide variety of viewpoints, but requires effort to keep the heat-to-light ratio sensible.
A lot of the comedy podcasts are also good for news and social commentary, as comedians see much more of the country than most journalists ever do. The last election result could have been predicted by listening to comedians. So many of them are liberal centrist types who voted Trump for the first time.
I'd rate the FT journalism highly but the paywall is expensive, I dropped it reluctantly once I'd run out of discounted subscription options. Though it's probably no more expensive than a printed daily paper was
Guardian / Observer split could be interesting, browsing the Observer over the weekend it seems to have kept the content while the Guardian has the clickbait. Particularly welcome was a complete absence of details about the sex lives of the late middle-aged.
On the FT I’ve discovered you get a digital account if you buy a Revolut Metal account (£15 a month). Need to sort that out when I sort out bank accounts later this year after the mortgage is paid off
That's less than 50% of the cheapest FT plan, classpass and NordVPN look added value as well. Though in reality might only be a couple of gym sessions or a pilates class / month.
Alert, though I see Revolut Metal doesn't have FSCS protection!
Desperate search for relevance from the Europeans.
Z is fucked in the head if he puts any store in their assurances about security.
Sadly I have to agree with you. I expect we’ll get some waffle this evening about these security agreements and this will be lauded by the useless media who seem to be going along with this charade .
"Sally Rooney vows to use BBC royalties to fund Palestine Action Normal People author says if her actions are considered terrorism under UK law, ‘so be it’"
Having said that so explicitly, does it not now potentially implicate the BBC if they continue to pay her?
Only if she is officially designated a supporter of terrorism. Money is fungible, and the BBC have a contractual obligation. It would take more than just a comment to override the obligation.
I’m sure she will welcome the inevitable investigation into her bank account.
Which of course begs the question of how does one actually donate to them, presumably they don’t have a website with a link to a payment processor? Bitcoin maybe?
I'm not sure they were the sort of organisation that had much in the way of assets even before they were banned.
Trump has accepted what Putin wants and either Ukraine agrees or he’ll find a way to pull support and play the martyr who wanted peace and blame Ukraine .
European leaders begging for scraps is an un-edifying spectacle .
Any security guarantees offered up by the WH are worthless and yet the media keeps bigging these up.
More than likely if Ukraine agrees to these hostage demands Putin will down the line come back for the whole of Ukraine under some false flag .
If Ukraine does decide to agree to the proposed deal, which I think is a pretty terrible deal, then it at least creates an opportunity for their armed forces to be strengthened in peace time, so that if/when Putin does try again, he rapidly regrets doing so.
Either way, whether Ukraine agrees or not, the best approach for Britain and other European countries is to provide Ukraine with as much support as possible, so that they are in a position to win the current or future war against Russia.
More column inches and intense discourse over this it seems.
This would have happened under a Conservative or Reform Government as well - as has been argued elsewhere, Connolly was very badly advised and might well have been acquitted had it gone to trial (she might not). Jones took his chances on a jury trial and was exonerated.
That's not two-tier anything however much people may wish it so or pick on the Prime Minister because of what he used to do. It's two separate cases which took very different paths - had Connolly gone to a jury trial and been acquitted and Jones pleaded guilty, would we be having this debate?
On topic, if our current state of fragmented politics broadly holds (a big “if”, but certainly possible) then I think it is quite hard to see the next GE resulting in a majority government.
Taking each of the parties in turn:
Labour are defending too many small majorities and start from a low base. It doesn’t take much of a swing to see them lose loads of seats, and there will be a likely an anti-incumbency feeling.
Even if the Tories enjoy a recovery, it is hard to see them dislodging the number of LDs they’d need to get a majority. Yes the LDs could plausibly lose some seats, but historically they are hard to dislodge, and any seat the Tories fail to win in the South means another red wall-type seat that they need to get in the midlands and the North - those seat profiles just don’t seem a good fit for the Tories right now.
Then Reform. Despite the fact that they are now polling well ahead and it’s entirely possible they’ll win a huge chunk of seats, they are still unlikely to have the ground game in tight races (yes, a rising tide carries all boats but there will be an impact) and tactical “stop Nigel” voting would likely cost them at least a few seats too.
I see things at the moment as being a question of whether Lab/LD have enough together, or Reform/CON. But a long way to go yet.
Can I mention Scotland? I don't think the SNP are going to do particularly well in the next few years - the press is finally giving them the scrutiny that they also ought to be giving to ReformUK, and the damage from Operation Branchform has not yet been factored in to the polling. Also, the factionalism within the SNP (and Alba) between Salmon-ites and Sturgeon-ists is becoming more apparent, as is the lack of obvious talent in the higher reaches of the party. They seem to be helfd solely responsible for the Trans issues in Scotland, which might be unfair but could still have an impact.
Their vote could go to Labour, and/or the Conservatives, and/or even the Lib Dems in a few places. I could see it bleeding away in all directions - not enough for them to be humiliated, but enough to ensure that there will not be an overall majority for any other party.
In Salmond and Sturgeon the SNP had 2 relative giants in a field of pygmies who dominated the political scene north of the border for good or ill for most of the last 20 years. Both were deeply flawed and more than a little bit deluded but they both had the strength of personality and charisma to make their party dominant.
Since Sturgeon acknowledged the game was up we have seen how the SNP fare with, shall we say, more mundane leadership. The future looks even worse, the departure of Kate Forbes from the political scene removes one of the few strands of talent left. The chronic weakness of Labour, who have not had a leader of talent north of the border since Donald Dewar and the desire for a significant minority to have independence means that the SNP may still have a major say in Scotland's governance but the heady days of 2014 will not return any time soon.
The political scene in the UK is dismal and depressing but the future of governance north of the border is frankly catastrophic and none of the options even aspire to poor.
Thanks for the challenge to my spectacularly boring list. Go on, give us your list.
The Spectator, Albanian Taxi Drivers, The Spectator, Random Rich people I definitely met but you never will, The Spectator, Twitter, The Spectator.
Völkischer Beobachter Der Angriff Der Stürmer Das Reich Illustrierter Beobachter NS-Frauen-Warte National-Zeitung Signal Krakauer Zeitung Il Popolo d’Italia La Difesa della Razza Gioventù Fascista Je Suis Partout Gringoire Rivarol Minute Présent Valeurs Actuelles Candour The Blackshirt Action Spearhead Nationalism Today Heritage and Destiny The Occidental Observer American Free Press National Vanguard National Review Shōwa Nichinichi Shimbun Kokumin Shimbun Rafu Shimpo Seiyūsha journals Shishi-oriented publications Hsin-Min Pao Blue Shirt Society Bulletins China Critic Die Bauernschaft Nation Europa Zuerst! Junge Freiheit Compact Deutsche Stimme Nouvelles de Synergies Européennes Éléments Krisis (in early Nouvelle Droite mode) Politica Hermética Interregnum The Rockwell Report White Power Stormer The Klansman www.politicalbetting.com
lol. Which plonker flagged this?
You must have more flags than a Starmer press conference by now.
I suspect it was "Small Dick Exhaust Pipes", @Dura_Ace, jealous of my multilngualism
Bela.
In case anyone was wondering.
DONALD (TINY HANDS), HAS WRITTEN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY THIS MORNING — UNFORTUNATELY (LOW IQ) HE SPELLED IT WRONG — “BETA.” SOON YOU WILL BE A “FIRED” BETA BECAUSE OF MY PERFECT, “BEAUTIFUL MAPS.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/1957094598104502783
Trump has accepted what Putin wants and either Ukraine agrees or he’ll find a way to pull support and play the martyr who wanted peace and blame Ukraine .
European leaders begging for scraps is an un-edifying spectacle .
Any security guarantees offered up by the WH are worthless and yet the media keeps bigging these up.
More than likely if Ukraine agrees to these hostage demands Putin will down the line come back for the whole of Ukraine under some false flag .
The point of the meetings? Work backwards from the outcome Trump wants: Europe to have two blocs: Russian sphere and western sphere; he doesn't mind exactly where the boundary is drawn in central Europe. - so to him Ukraine is a minor border dispute. And he wants to be out of Europe himself and for Europe to protect itself, which in itself is not as untreasonable aspiration 80 years after WWII. Europe is not worth a single USA soldier's life.
Western Europe has been feeble militarily and is embarrassed and still needs the old deal, and needs time to catch up with the new Europe (two blocs only) reality. And it is scared of Russia. France and UK are not yet used to being nuclear powers genuinely independent of other nuclear powers and therefore required to be bullies of big boy Russia. And their blue touch paper may be damp and they can't find the matches.
And they want Russia's sphere of influence to be as far east as possible. And time to rearm.
More column inches and intense discourse over this it seems.
This would have happened under a Conservative or Reform Government as well - as has been argued elsewhere, Connolly was very badly advised and might well have been acquitted had it gone to trial (she might not). Jones took his chances on a jury trial and was exonerated.
That's not two-tier anything however much people may wish it so or pick on the Prime Minister because of what he used to do. It's two separate cases which took very different paths - had Connolly gone to a jury trial and been acquitted and Jones pleaded guilty, would we be having this debate?
The article also makes clear that Connolly was wishing suffering and death on innocent human beings, while Jones was merely wishing it on cuddly Nazis. Now, I personally deplore all violence, but for me the article rather blew away the moral equivalence stance.
I see they've added new words to the dictionary, most of which I've never even heard of, and I read quite widely.
You're so skibidi, you need to get more sigma, innit.
No rizz. No aura points. Totally Ohio.
On 'Skibidi' - is the etymology of this connected to the song by Russian(?) band Little Big which Andrew Neil and Michael Portillo memorably danced to on on This Week to the absolute fury of Bobby Gillespie (or vice versa)? I'd assumed so, though there appears to be such a long lag between that song and the word's cultural currency that I'm not sure. Certainly when my daughter uses it she often follows it up with 'wa-wa-wa' which would imply the two are connected.
Egregious nonsense. Different cases, different facts, different charges for good reason, different pleas. One point of agreement: Connolly got quite a bit too long.
I see they've added new words to the dictionary, most of which I've never even heard of, and I read quite widely.
You're so skibidi, you need to get more sigma, innit.
No rizz. No aura points. Totally Ohio.
On 'Skibidi' - is the etymology of this connected to the song by Russian(?) band Little Big which Andrew Neil and Michael Portillo memorably danced to on on This Week to the absolute fury of Bobby Gillespie (or vice versa)? I'd assumed so, though there appears to be such a long lag between that song and the word's cultural currency that I'm not sure. Certainly when my daughter uses it she often follows it up with 'wa-wa-wa' which would imply the two are connected.
Not as far as I know, no, it is linked to a meme online, skibidi toilet.
Could someone enlighten me to which words that nobody uses have been added to the dictionary? You'd have to be living in a room with only books never to have heard of tradwife or delulu. Are there others? As for youth culture. Where do folk think new words have ever come from?
I have an ex named Louise who is very up her own backside and thinks, wrongly, that she is rather special and she is known in our circle as Deloulou.
I assume tradwife is a rather unnecessary portmanteau of traditional and wife. No idea about 'delulu'. One shudders to think.
Could someone enlighten me to which words that nobody uses have been added to the dictionary? You'd have to be living in a room with only books never to have heard of tradwife or delulu. Are there others? As for youth culture. Where do folk think new words have ever come from?
I have an ex named Louise who is very up her own backside and thinks, wrongly, that she is rather special and she is known in our circle as Deloulou.
I assume tradwife is a rather unnecessary portmanteau of traditional and wife. No idea about 'delulu'. One shudders to think.
On topic, if our current state of fragmented politics broadly holds (a big “if”, but certainly possible) then I think it is quite hard to see the next GE resulting in a majority government.
Taking each of the parties in turn:
Labour are defending too many small majorities and start from a low base. It doesn’t take much of a swing to see them lose loads of seats, and there will be a likely an anti-incumbency feeling.
Even if the Tories enjoy a recovery, it is hard to see them dislodging the number of LDs they’d need to get a majority. Yes the LDs could plausibly lose some seats, but historically they are hard to dislodge, and any seat the Tories fail to win in the South means another red wall-type seat that they need to get in the midlands and the North - those seat profiles just don’t seem a good fit for the Tories right now.
Then Reform. Despite the fact that they are now polling well ahead and it’s entirely possible they’ll win a huge chunk of seats, they are still unlikely to have the ground game in tight races (yes, a rising tide carries all boats but there will be an impact) and tactical “stop Nigel” voting would likely cost them at least a few seats too.
I see things at the moment as being a question of whether Lab/LD have enough together, or Reform/CON. But a long way to go yet.
Can I mention Scotland? I don't think the SNP are going to do particularly well in the next few years - the press is finally giving them the scrutiny that they also ought to be giving to ReformUK, and the damage from Operation Branchform has not yet been factored in to the polling. Also, the factionalism within the SNP (and Alba) between Salmon-ites and Sturgeon-ists is becoming more apparent, as is the lack of obvious talent in the higher reaches of the party. They seem to be helfd solely responsible for the Trans issues in Scotland, which might be unfair but could still have an impact.
Their vote could go to Labour, and/or the Conservatives, and/or even the Lib Dems in a few places. I could see it bleeding away in all directions - not enough for them to be humiliated, but enough to ensure that there will not be an overall majority for any other party.
In Salmond and Sturgeon the SNP had 2 relative giants in a field of pygmies who dominated the political scene north of the border for good or ill for most of the last 20 years. Both were deeply flawed and more than a little bit deluded but they both had the strength of personality and charisma to make their party dominant.
Since Sturgeon acknowledged the game was up we have seen how the SNP fare with, shall we say, more mundane leadership. The future looks even worse, the departure of Kate Forbes from the political scene removes one of the few strands of talent left. The chronic weakness of Labour, who have not had a leader of talent north of the border since Donald Dewar and the desire for a significant minority to have independence means that the SNP may still have a major say in Scotland's governance but the heady days of 2014 will not return any time soon.
The political scene in the UK is dismal and depressing but the future of governance north of the border is frankly catastrophic and none of the options even aspire to poor.
The fates of Forbes, Rory and Miliband D are examples of how party members/MPs/MSPs don't get second chances to do the game changing thing.
BTW the NS is today considering the chances of Burnham, leadership and a Gorton by-election. Small snag, if there is a Gotrton by-election it's in the bag for Reform.
Thanks for the challenge to my spectacularly boring list. Go on, give us your list.
The Spectator, Albanian Taxi Drivers, The Spectator, Random Rich people I definitely met but you never will, The Spectator, Twitter, The Spectator.
Völkischer Beobachter Der Angriff Der Stürmer Das Reich Illustrierter Beobachter NS-Frauen-Warte National-Zeitung Signal Krakauer Zeitung Il Popolo d’Italia La Difesa della Razza Gioventù Fascista Je Suis Partout Gringoire Rivarol Minute Présent Valeurs Actuelles Candour The Blackshirt Action Spearhead Nationalism Today Heritage and Destiny The Occidental Observer American Free Press National Vanguard National Review Shōwa Nichinichi Shimbun Kokumin Shimbun Rafu Shimpo Seiyūsha journals Shishi-oriented publications Hsin-Min Pao Blue Shirt Society Bulletins China Critic Die Bauernschaft Nation Europa Zuerst! Junge Freiheit Compact Deutsche Stimme Nouvelles de Synergies Européennes Éléments Krisis (in early Nouvelle Droite mode) Politica Hermética Interregnum The Rockwell Report White Power Stormer The Klansman www.politicalbetting.com
lol. Which plonker flagged this?
should be flagged just for being merde and clogging up the site, utter bollox post
On topic, if our current state of fragmented politics broadly holds (a big “if”, but certainly possible) then I think it is quite hard to see the next GE resulting in a majority government.
Taking each of the parties in turn:
Labour are defending too many small majorities and start from a low base. It doesn’t take much of a swing to see them lose loads of seats, and there will be a likely an anti-incumbency feeling.
Even if the Tories enjoy a recovery, it is hard to see them dislodging the number of LDs they’d need to get a majority. Yes the LDs could plausibly lose some seats, but historically they are hard to dislodge, and any seat the Tories fail to win in the South means another red wall-type seat that they need to get in the midlands and the North - those seat profiles just don’t seem a good fit for the Tories right now.
Then Reform. Despite the fact that they are now polling well ahead and it’s entirely possible they’ll win a huge chunk of seats, they are still unlikely to have the ground game in tight races (yes, a rising tide carries all boats but there will be an impact) and tactical “stop Nigel” voting would likely cost them at least a few seats too.
I see things at the moment as being a question of whether Lab/LD have enough together, or Reform/CON. But a long way to go yet.
Can I mention Scotland? I don't think the SNP are going to do particularly well in the next few years - the press is finally giving them the scrutiny that they also ought to be giving to ReformUK, and the damage from Operation Branchform has not yet been factored in to the polling. Also, the factionalism within the SNP (and Alba) between Salmon-ites and Sturgeon-ists is becoming more apparent, as is the lack of obvious talent in the higher reaches of the party. They seem to be helfd solely responsible for the Trans issues in Scotland, which might be unfair but could still have an impact.
Their vote could go to Labour, and/or the Conservatives, and/or even the Lib Dems in a few places. I could see it bleeding away in all directions - not enough for them to be humiliated, but enough to ensure that there will not be an overall majority for any other party.
In Salmond and Sturgeon the SNP had 2 relative giants in a field of pygmies who dominated the political scene north of the border for good or ill for most of the last 20 years. Both were deeply flawed and more than a little bit deluded but they both had the strength of personality and charisma to make their party dominant.
Since Sturgeon acknowledged the game was up we have seen how the SNP fare with, shall we say, more mundane leadership. The future looks even worse, the departure of Kate Forbes from the political scene removes one of the few strands of talent left. The chronic weakness of Labour, who have not had a leader of talent north of the border since Donald Dewar and the desire for a significant minority to have independence means that the SNP may still have a major say in Scotland's governance but the heady days of 2014 will not return any time soon.
The political scene in the UK is dismal and depressing but the future of governance north of the border is frankly catastrophic and none of the options even aspire to poor.
Yes indeed. The Thread Header is about the difficulty of any political party getting a majority at Westminster - I think we are agreed that the travails of the SNP might benefit Labour, or the Tories (or even the Lib Dems in places) but those parties will not benefit enough north of the border to make it much easier for them.
I see they've added new words to the dictionary, most of which I've never even heard of, and I read quite widely.
Sadly I have heard of all of the words. I assume you don't have school age children. I consider "skibidi toilet' to represent the absolute nadir of Western civilization.
On topic, if our current state of fragmented politics broadly holds (a big “if”, but certainly possible) then I think it is quite hard to see the next GE resulting in a majority government.
Taking each of the parties in turn:
Labour are defending too many small majorities and start from a low base. It doesn’t take much of a swing to see them lose loads of seats, and there will be a likely an anti-incumbency feeling.
Even if the Tories enjoy a recovery, it is hard to see them dislodging the number of LDs they’d need to get a majority. Yes the LDs could plausibly lose some seats, but historically they are hard to dislodge, and any seat the Tories fail to win in the South means another red wall-type seat that they need to get in the midlands and the North - those seat profiles just don’t seem a good fit for the Tories right now.
Then Reform. Despite the fact that they are now polling well ahead and it’s entirely possible they’ll win a huge chunk of seats, they are still unlikely to have the ground game in tight races (yes, a rising tide carries all boats but there will be an impact) and tactical “stop Nigel” voting would likely cost them at least a few seats too.
I see things at the moment as being a question of whether Lab/LD have enough together, or Reform/CON. But a long way to go yet.
Can I mention Scotland? I don't think the SNP are going to do particularly well in the next few years - the press is finally giving them the scrutiny that they also ought to be giving to ReformUK, and the damage from Operation Branchform has not yet been factored in to the polling. Also, the factionalism within the SNP (and Alba) between Salmon-ites and Sturgeon-ists is becoming more apparent, as is the lack of obvious talent in the higher reaches of the party. They seem to be helfd solely responsible for the Trans issues in Scotland, which might be unfair but could still have an impact.
Their vote could go to Labour, and/or the Conservatives, and/or even the Lib Dems in a few places. I could see it bleeding away in all directions - not enough for them to be humiliated, but enough to ensure that there will not be an overall majority for any other party.
In Salmond and Sturgeon the SNP had 2 relative giants in a field of pygmies who dominated the political scene north of the border for good or ill for most of the last 20 years. Both were deeply flawed and more than a little bit deluded but they both had the strength of personality and charisma to make their party dominant.
Since Sturgeon acknowledged the game was up we have seen how the SNP fare with, shall we say, more mundane leadership. The future looks even worse, the departure of Kate Forbes from the political scene removes one of the few strands of talent left. The chronic weakness of Labour, who have not had a leader of talent north of the border since Donald Dewar and the desire for a significant minority to have independence means that the SNP may still have a major say in Scotland's governance but the heady days of 2014 will not return any time soon.
The political scene in the UK is dismal and depressing but the future of governance north of the border is frankly catastrophic and none of the options even aspire to poor.
Given their opposition is only English parties and the demented greens it is hard to see them doing badly David.
On topic, if our current state of fragmented politics broadly holds (a big “if”, but certainly possible) then I think it is quite hard to see the next GE resulting in a majority government.
Taking each of the parties in turn:
Labour are defending too many small majorities and start from a low base. It doesn’t take much of a swing to see them lose loads of seats, and there will be a likely an anti-incumbency feeling.
Even if the Tories enjoy a recovery, it is hard to see them dislodging the number of LDs they’d need to get a majority. Yes the LDs could plausibly lose some seats, but historically they are hard to dislodge, and any seat the Tories fail to win in the South means another red wall-type seat that they need to get in the midlands and the North - those seat profiles just don’t seem a good fit for the Tories right now.
Then Reform. Despite the fact that they are now polling well ahead and it’s entirely possible they’ll win a huge chunk of seats, they are still unlikely to have the ground game in tight races (yes, a rising tide carries all boats but there will be an impact) and tactical “stop Nigel” voting would likely cost them at least a few seats too.
I see things at the moment as being a question of whether Lab/LD have enough together, or Reform/CON. But a long way to go yet.
Can I mention Scotland? I don't think the SNP are going to do particularly well in the next few years - the press is finally giving them the scrutiny that they also ought to be giving to ReformUK, and the damage from Operation Branchform has not yet been factored in to the polling. Also, the factionalism within the SNP (and Alba) between Salmon-ites and Sturgeon-ists is becoming more apparent, as is the lack of obvious talent in the higher reaches of the party. They seem to be helfd solely responsible for the Trans issues in Scotland, which might be unfair but could still have an impact.
Their vote could go to Labour, and/or the Conservatives, and/or even the Lib Dems in a few places. I could see it bleeding away in all directions - not enough for them to be humiliated, but enough to ensure that there will not be an overall majority for any other party.
In Salmond and Sturgeon the SNP had 2 relative giants in a field of pygmies who dominated the political scene north of the border for good or ill for most of the last 20 years. Both were deeply flawed and more than a little bit deluded but they both had the strength of personality and charisma to make their party dominant.
Since Sturgeon acknowledged the game was up we have seen how the SNP fare with, shall we say, more mundane leadership. The future looks even worse, the departure of Kate Forbes from the political scene removes one of the few strands of talent left. The chronic weakness of Labour, who have not had a leader of talent north of the border since Donald Dewar and the desire for a significant minority to have independence means that the SNP may still have a major say in Scotland's governance but the heady days of 2014 will not return any time soon.
The political scene in the UK is dismal and depressing but the future of governance north of the border is frankly catastrophic and none of the options even aspire to poor.
I think these are all reasons why we will see the next Parliament with more splintered representation. The number of younger SNP politicians standing down is considerable, particularly women. I can't see Swinney wanting to stay until 2031 if he wins, would be interesting to see if Mr Sarwar stays in place if he doesn't get FM
Holyrood has better working hours than Westminster, no late night sittings but cant seem to compete with big paying jobs in private or public sectors which dont attract the same criticism from the general public
Could someone enlighten me to which words that nobody uses have been added to the dictionary? You'd have to be living in a room with only books never to have heard of tradwife or delulu. Are there others? As for youth culture. Where do folk think new words have ever come from?
I have an ex named Louise who is very up her own backside and thinks, wrongly, that she is rather special and she is known in our circle as Deloulou.
I assume tradwife is a rather unnecessary portmanteau of traditional and wife. No idea about 'delulu'. One shudders to think.
I see they've added new words to the dictionary, most of which I've never even heard of, and I read quite widely.
Sadly I have heard of all of the words. I assume you don't have school age children. I consider "skibidi toilet' to represent the absolute nadir of Western civilization.
I see they've added new words to the dictionary, most of which I've never even heard of, and I read quite widely.
Sadly I have heard of all of the words. I assume you don't have school age children. I consider "skibidi toilet' to represent the absolute nadir of Western civilization.
Could someone enlighten me to which words that nobody uses have been added to the dictionary? You'd have to be living in a room with only books never to have heard of tradwife or delulu. Are there others? As for youth culture. Where do folk think new words have ever come from?
I have an ex named Louise who is very up her own backside and thinks, wrongly, that she is rather special and she is known in our circle as Deloulou.
I assume tradwife is a rather unnecessary portmanteau of traditional and wife. No idea about 'delulu'. One shudders to think.
Tradwife is a movement in the USA for women embracing particular sorts of "traditional" values - complementarian, stay at home with the kids, submit to your husband, and the rest.
It's once place where I think Pete Hegseth gets his "the husband should vote for the whole household" views from - that hit the papers a fortnight ago. Hegseth is a member of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, affiliated with Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. They embrace traditionalist roles. And, as with Maga politics, there is a Roman Catholic version. "Mormon Wife" is a more common stereotype.
On topic, if our current state of fragmented politics broadly holds (a big “if”, but certainly possible) then I think it is quite hard to see the next GE resulting in a majority government.
Taking each of the parties in turn:
Labour are defending too many small majorities and start from a low base. It doesn’t take much of a swing to see them lose loads of seats, and there will be a likely an anti-incumbency feeling.
Even if the Tories enjoy a recovery, it is hard to see them dislodging the number of LDs they’d need to get a majority. Yes the LDs could plausibly lose some seats, but historically they are hard to dislodge, and any seat the Tories fail to win in the South means another red wall-type seat that they need to get in the midlands and the North - those seat profiles just don’t seem a good fit for the Tories right now.
Then Reform. Despite the fact that they are now polling well ahead and it’s entirely possible they’ll win a huge chunk of seats, they are still unlikely to have the ground game in tight races (yes, a rising tide carries all boats but there will be an impact) and tactical “stop Nigel” voting would likely cost them at least a few seats too.
I see things at the moment as being a question of whether Lab/LD have enough together, or Reform/CON. But a long way to go yet.
Can I mention Scotland? I don't think the SNP are going to do particularly well in the next few years - the press is finally giving them the scrutiny that they also ought to be giving to ReformUK, and the damage from Operation Branchform has not yet been factored in to the polling. Also, the factionalism within the SNP (and Alba) between Salmon-ites and Sturgeon-ists is becoming more apparent, as is the lack of obvious talent in the higher reaches of the party. They seem to be helfd solely responsible for the Trans issues in Scotland, which might be unfair but could still have an impact.
Their vote could go to Labour, and/or the Conservatives, and/or even the Lib Dems in a few places. I could see it bleeding away in all directions - not enough for them to be humiliated, but enough to ensure that there will not be an overall majority for any other party.
In Salmond and Sturgeon the SNP had 2 relative giants in a field of pygmies who dominated the political scene north of the border for good or ill for most of the last 20 years. Both were deeply flawed and more than a little bit deluded but they both had the strength of personality and charisma to make their party dominant.
Since Sturgeon acknowledged the game was up we have seen how the SNP fare with, shall we say, more mundane leadership. The future looks even worse, the departure of Kate Forbes from the political scene removes one of the few strands of talent left. The chronic weakness of Labour, who have not had a leader of talent north of the border since Donald Dewar and the desire for a significant minority to have independence means that the SNP may still have a major say in Scotland's governance but the heady days of 2014 will not return any time soon.
The political scene in the UK is dismal and depressing but the future of governance north of the border is frankly catastrophic and none of the options even aspire to poor.
Golly, the future of governance north of the border is frankly catastrophic while the prospect of a Farage-led governnment elected on a wave of atavistic xenophobia is only dismal & depressing? I can actually see a few SCon Unionists voting Reform solely so they can say in Eeyor-ish fashion 'See, we Scots are just the same as the English really'. Can I pencil you in?
Could someone enlighten me to which words that nobody uses have been added to the dictionary? You'd have to be living in a room with only books never to have heard of tradwife or delulu. Are there others? As for youth culture. Where do folk think new words have ever come from?
I have an ex named Louise who is very up her own backside and thinks, wrongly, that she is rather special and she is known in our circle as Deloulou.
I assume tradwife is a rather unnecessary portmanteau of traditional and wife. No idea about 'delulu'. One shudders to think.
Tradwife is a movement in the USA for women embracing particular sorts of "traditional" values - complementarian, stay at home with the kids, submit to your husband, and the rest.
It's once place where I think Pete Hegseth gets his "the husband should vote for the whole household" views from - that hit the papers a fortnight ago. Hegseth is a member of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, affiliated with Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. They embrace traditionalist roles. And, as with Maga politics, there is a Roman Catholic version. "Mormon Wife" is a more common stereotype.
At the station hotel now, getting some fillet steak (£10) and beer (£2) while waiting a couple of hours for the train, contemplating how long it will be before I see such cheap food and drink again!
Apart from bag scanners at the station entrance, very little sign of this being anything other than a normal day in a normal city. Fingers crossed it stays like that for the next few hours.
Could someone enlighten me to which words that nobody uses have been added to the dictionary? You'd have to be living in a room with only books never to have heard of tradwife or delulu. Are there others? As for youth culture. Where do folk think new words have ever come from?
I have an ex named Louise who is very up her own backside and thinks, wrongly, that she is rather special and she is known in our circle as Deloulou.
I assume tradwife is a rather unnecessary portmanteau of traditional and wife. No idea about 'delulu'. One shudders to think.
Stems from 'delusion' apparently.
Delulu makes me want to shout.
I like delulu. It's satisfying to say under your breath if someone is acting in an exasperating manner. Tradwife is fine so long as it's being used to refer specifically to the social media phenomenon and not just any housewife.
At the station hotel now, getting some fillet steak (£10) and beer (£2) while waiting a couple of hours for the train, contemplating how long it will be before I see such cheap food and drink again!
Apart from bag scanners at the station entrance, very little sign of this being anything other than a normal day in a normal city. Fingers crossed it stays like that for the next few hours.
The little train museum between platforms used to be good (is it still there?) had one of Voroshilov's command trains. Useful for killing time while waiting for your train
Thanks for the challenge to my spectacularly boring list. Go on, give us your list.
The Spectator, Albanian Taxi Drivers, The Spectator, Random Rich people I definitely met but you never will, The Spectator, Twitter, The Spectator.
Völkischer Beobachter Der Angriff Der Stürmer Das Reich Illustrierter Beobachter NS-Frauen-Warte National-Zeitung Signal Krakauer Zeitung Il Popolo d’Italia La Difesa della Razza Gioventù Fascista Je Suis Partout Gringoire Rivarol Minute Présent Valeurs Actuelles Candour The Blackshirt Action Spearhead Nationalism Today Heritage and Destiny The Occidental Observer American Free Press National Vanguard National Review Shōwa Nichinichi Shimbun Kokumin Shimbun Rafu Shimpo Seiyūsha journals Shishi-oriented publications Hsin-Min Pao Blue Shirt Society Bulletins China Critic Die Bauernschaft Nation Europa Zuerst! Junge Freiheit Compact Deutsche Stimme Nouvelles de Synergies Européennes Éléments Krisis (in early Nouvelle Droite mode) Politica Hermética Interregnum The Rockwell Report White Power Stormer The Klansman www.politicalbetting.com
lol. Which plonker flagged this?
You must have more flags than a Starmer press conference by now.
I suspect it was "Small Dick Exhaust Pipes", @Dura_Ace, jealous of my multilngualism
Bela.
In case anyone was wondering.
DONALD (TINY HANDS), HAS WRITTEN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY THIS MORNING — UNFORTUNATELY (LOW IQ) HE SPELLED IT WRONG — “BETA.” SOON YOU WILL BE A “FIRED” BETA BECAUSE OF MY PERFECT, “BEAUTIFUL MAPS.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/1957094598104502783
There’s no way Newsom keeps this up for more than a week, and the old adage about wrestling with a pig is the first thing that comes to mind.
Oh, and polling of Californians suggest majority opposition to his further Gerrymandering of his State. He’ll need to win a referendum to do it thanks to the Constitution there, so all this shouting could end up with him failing.
Egregious nonsense. Different cases, different facts, different charges for good reason, different pleas. One point of agreement: Connolly got quite a bit too long.
I'm absolutely sick of hearing about Lucy Connolly. Can't we just let her out and buy her a bunch of flowers or something?
At the station hotel now, getting some fillet steak (£10) and beer (£2) while waiting a couple of hours for the train, contemplating how long it will be before I see such cheap food and drink again!
Apart from bag scanners at the station entrance, very little sign of this being anything other than a normal day in a normal city. Fingers crossed it stays like that for the next few hours.
The little train museum between platforms used to be good (is it still there?) had one of Voroshilov's command trains. Useful for killing time while waiting for your train
Yes I have a photo of it from the overpass, might go for a walk there later if time allows and the missus lets me!
Trump has accepted what Putin wants and either Ukraine agrees or he’ll find a way to pull support and play the martyr who wanted peace and blame Ukraine .
European leaders begging for scraps is an un-edifying spectacle .
Any security guarantees offered up by the WH are worthless and yet the media keeps bigging these up.
More than likely if Ukraine agrees to these hostage demands Putin will down the line come back for the whole of Ukraine under some false flag .
If Ukraine does decide to agree to the proposed deal, which I think is a pretty terrible deal, then it at least creates an opportunity for their armed forces to be strengthened in peace time, so that if/when Putin does try again, he rapidly regrets doing so.
Either way, whether Ukraine agrees or not, the best approach for Britain and other European countries is to provide Ukraine with as much support as possible, so that they are in a position to win the current or future war against Russia.
"then it at least creates an opportunity for their armed forces to be strengthened in peace time, so that if/when Putin does try again, he rapidly regrets doing so. "
It may well not happen, or at least enough. If such a terrible deal is agreed, then expect the Russian troll factories that have so helped Putin's messaging in the US and elsewhere to start on about the cost of giving aid to Ukraine given that there's 'peace', and how the Ukrainians are bad and do not deserve it.
My bet is that sanctions on Russia will be partially or fully lifted as part of the 'deal', and Putin will also massively build up his military.
Also, if there is 'peace' for five years, do you really expect Europe and the US to still be funding Ukraine's defence, given how the pro-Russian trolls and general idiots are already chuntering on about the cost?
TL:DR; Putin is an unfaithful actor. He will not keep to any agreement that does not benefit him.
Could someone enlighten me to which words that nobody uses have been added to the dictionary? You'd have to be living in a room with only books never to have heard of tradwife or delulu. Are there others? As for youth culture. Where do folk think new words have ever come from?
I have an ex named Louise who is very up her own backside and thinks, wrongly, that she is rather special and she is known in our circle as Deloulou.
I assume tradwife is a rather unnecessary portmanteau of traditional and wife. No idea about 'delulu'. One shudders to think.
Stems from 'delusion' apparently.
Delulu makes me want to shout.
I like delulu. It's satisfying to say under your breath if someone is acting in an exasperating manner. Tradwife is fine so long as it's being used to refer specifically to the social media phenomenon and not just any housewife.
You're trading one syllable less of "delusional" for sounding infantile. Poor deal.
Egregious nonsense. Different cases, different facts, different charges for good reason, different pleas. One point of agreement: Connolly got quite a bit too long.
I'm absolutely sick of hearing about Lucy Connolly. Can't we just let her out and buy her a bunch of flowers or something?
She's due out this month on licence aiui.
That Critic piece was just a rerun of the spiel. Be kind ... they have to make a living.
More column inches and intense discourse over this it seems.
This would have happened under a Conservative or Reform Government as well - as has been argued elsewhere, Connolly was very badly advised and might well have been acquitted had it gone to trial (she might not). Jones took his chances on a jury trial and was exonerated.
That's not two-tier anything however much people may wish it so or pick on the Prime Minister because of what he used to do. It's two separate cases which took very different paths - had Connolly gone to a jury trial and been acquitted and Jones pleaded guilty, would we be having this debate?
Yes. But with the major protagonists on either side of the debate doing a 180 degree turn.
Trump has accepted what Putin wants and either Ukraine agrees or he’ll find a way to pull support and play the martyr who wanted peace and blame Ukraine .
European leaders begging for scraps is an un-edifying spectacle .
Any security guarantees offered up by the WH are worthless and yet the media keeps bigging these up.
More than likely if Ukraine agrees to these hostage demands Putin will down the line come back for the whole of Ukraine under some false flag .
The point of the meetings? Work backwards from the outcome Trump wants: Europe to have two blocs: Russian sphere and western sphere; he doesn't mind exactly where the boundary is drawn in central Europe. - so to him Ukraine is a minor border dispute. And he wants to be out of Europe himself and for Europe to protect itself, which in itself is not as untreasonable aspiration 80 years after WWII. Europe is not worth a single USA soldier's life.
Western Europe has been feeble militarily and is embarrassed and still needs the old deal, and needs time to catch up with the new Europe (two blocs only) reality. And it is scared of Russia. France and UK are not yet used to being nuclear powers genuinely independent of other nuclear powers and therefore required to be bullies of big boy Russia. And their blue touch paper may be damp and they can't find the matches.
And they want Russia's sphere of influence to be as far east as possible. And time to rearm.
The rest follows as night follows day.
That’s not a bad theory, and I’ll add also add the opposition to Americans throwing money overseas that could be better spent at home, not helped by some very weird military accounting that led the previous administration to boast that they were sending “hundreds of billions of dollars” to Ukraine while actually doing nothing of the sort.
They’re going to fuck it up aren’t they? The whole point of shifting to a national % property tax to replace stamp duty is you make it an annual tax which makes it cheaper to actually move house for work, making everyone better off in the process, plus you start extracting a tax from the retired wealthy property owners who can definitely afford it & if they can’t they can downsize without paying a fortune in stamp duty.
Instead, it looks like the plan is an even higher stamp duty on homes > £500k which will make it even more expensive for anyone in the SE to move & the higher earners in the north likewise. So we’re going to make it more expensive for our most productive workers to move if they own property, not less. Oh, and we’re going to make it more expensive for wealthy retirees to sell their property & downsize.
Genius. Who comes up with this stuff?
Edit: Hmm. The actual report linked says this /is/ intended to be an annual tax. Guardian reporting seems very confused & unclear?
Egregious nonsense. Different cases, different facts, different charges for good reason, different pleas. One point of agreement: Connolly got quite a bit too long.
I'm absolutely sick of hearing about Lucy Connolly. Can't we just let her out and buy her a bunch of flowers or something?
She's due out this month on licence aiui.
That Critic piece was just a rerun of the spiel. Be kind ... they have to make a living.
Out this month? Thank god for that. Too much to hope for a period of quiet contemplation after that, I suppose.
Trump has accepted what Putin wants and either Ukraine agrees or he’ll find a way to pull support and play the martyr who wanted peace and blame Ukraine .
European leaders begging for scraps is an un-edifying spectacle .
Any security guarantees offered up by the WH are worthless and yet the media keeps bigging these up.
More than likely if Ukraine agrees to these hostage demands Putin will down the line come back for the whole of Ukraine under some false flag .
If Ukraine does decide to agree to the proposed deal, which I think is a pretty terrible deal, then it at least creates an opportunity for their armed forces to be strengthened in peace time, so that if/when Putin does try again, he rapidly regrets doing so.
Either way, whether Ukraine agrees or not, the best approach for Britain and other European countries is to provide Ukraine with as much support as possible, so that they are in a position to win the current or future war against Russia.
"then it at least creates an opportunity for their armed forces to be strengthened in peace time, so that if/when Putin does try again, he rapidly regrets doing so. "
It may well not happen, or at least enough. If such a terrible deal is agreed, then expect the Russian troll factories that have so helped Putin's messaging in the US and elsewhere to start on about the cost of giving aid to Ukraine given that there's 'peace', and how the Ukrainians are bad and do not deserve it.
My bet is that sanctions on Russia will be partially or fully lifted as part of the 'deal', and Putin will also massively build up his military.
Also, if there is 'peace' for five years, do you really expect Europe and the US to still be funding Ukraine's defence, given how the pro-Russian trolls and general idiots are already chuntering on about the cost?
TL:DR; Putin is an unfaithful actor. He will not keep to any agreement that does not benefit him.
I hope someone reminds Trump at the meeting that the Nobel Peace Prize is a European, specifically Norwegian, award.
Egregious nonsense. Different cases, different facts, different charges for good reason, different pleas. One point of agreement: Connolly got quite a bit too long.
I'm absolutely sick of hearing about Lucy Connolly. Can't we just let her out and buy her a bunch of flowers or something?
Surely the most lionized person ever whose only notable feature is to have called for the mass murder of innocents.
At the station hotel now, getting some fillet steak (£10) and beer (£2) while waiting a couple of hours for the train, contemplating how long it will be before I see such cheap food and drink again!
Apart from bag scanners at the station entrance, very little sign of this being anything other than a normal day in a normal city. Fingers crossed it stays like that for the next few hours.
The little train museum between platforms used to be good (is it still there?) had one of Voroshilov's command trains. Useful for killing time while waiting for your train
The other station (train station for the under 40s) with a museum is Millom. This fact is very little known. As Millom also has a plaque on Norman Nicholson's house it puts this little town up there with Kyiv, Venice, Machu Picchu and Qom as the place to visit. All the others are also easier to get to.
I see they've added new words to the dictionary, most of which I've never even heard of, and I read quite widely.
You're so skibidi, you need to get more sigma, innit.
No rizz. No aura points. Totally Ohio.
On 'Skibidi' - is the etymology of this connected to the song by Russian(?) band Little Big which Andrew Neil and Michael Portillo memorably danced to on on This Week to the absolute fury of Bobby Gillespie (or vice versa)? I'd assumed so, though there appears to be such a long lag between that song and the word's cultural currency that I'm not sure. Certainly when my daughter uses it she often follows it up with 'wa-wa-wa' which would imply the two are connected.
They were the Russian entry in Eurovision for the cancelled 2020 competition, and won the Youtube viewer ‘straw poll’ that took place instead, with one really annoyingly catchy pop song “Uno”. They’re US-based now.
No idea about the etymology of the current phrase though.
Digging on the Luke Campbell, the Boxing Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire, thing, it's the normal wanting to be like Elon, the checks and balances getting in the away, then the protagonist thinking he is being targeted personally by the "blob" or the Council Officers. One was they stopped him expensing 1st Class tickets, another was this:
According to those familiar with the situation, the tipping point came in the last month when Mr Campbell decided to find a new office building to replace the temporary arrangement used by HEYCA since it was established.
He decided that the team should move into 2 Humber Quays, a modern office block on the banks of the Humber with panoramic views of the river and city, and told officials that he had negotiated a “discount” with the owner.
But staff hit back, telling him that he had not completed the relevant paperwork for his idea, and suggested that the team should move into a cheaper former council building.
“Someone said to him: ‘You can’t do that, you need to do a feasibility study and report, and find out why other offices aren’t suitable,’” said one source.
At the station hotel now, getting some fillet steak (£10) and beer (£2) while waiting a couple of hours for the train, contemplating how long it will be before I see such cheap food and drink again!
Apart from bag scanners at the station entrance, very little sign of this being anything other than a normal day in a normal city. Fingers crossed it stays like that for the next few hours.
The little train museum between platforms used to be good (is it still there?) had one of Voroshilov's command trains. Useful for killing time while waiting for your train
At the station hotel now, getting some fillet steak (£10) and beer (£2) while waiting a couple of hours for the train, contemplating how long it will be before I see such cheap food and drink again!
Apart from bag scanners at the station entrance, very little sign of this being anything other than a normal day in a normal city. Fingers crossed it stays like that for the next few hours.
The little train museum between platforms used to be good (is it still there?) had one of Voroshilov's command trains. Useful for killing time while waiting for your train
The other station (train station for the under 40s)
Comments
The British state is perpetrating systematic injustice
Laurie Wastell
17 August, 2025"
https://thecritic.co.uk/two-tier-britain-laid-bare
Either way, whether Ukraine agrees or not, the best approach for Britain and other European countries is to provide Ukraine with as much support as possible, so that they are in a position to win the current or future war against Russia.
This would have happened under a Conservative or Reform Government as well - as has been argued elsewhere, Connolly was very badly advised and might well have been acquitted had it gone to trial (she might not). Jones took his chances on a jury trial and was exonerated.
That's not two-tier anything however much people may wish it so or pick on the Prime Minister because of what he used to do. It's two separate cases which took very different paths - had Connolly gone to a jury trial and been acquitted and Jones pleaded guilty, would we be having this debate?
Since Sturgeon acknowledged the game was up we have seen how the SNP fare with, shall we say, more mundane leadership. The future looks even worse, the departure of Kate Forbes from the political scene removes one of the few strands of talent left. The chronic weakness of Labour, who have not had a leader of talent north of the border since Donald Dewar and the desire for a significant minority to have independence means that the SNP may still have a major say in Scotland's governance but the heady days of 2014 will not return any time soon.
The political scene in the UK is dismal and depressing but the future of governance north of the border is frankly catastrophic and none of the options even aspire to poor.
DONALD (TINY HANDS), HAS WRITTEN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY THIS MORNING — UNFORTUNATELY (LOW IQ) HE SPELLED IT WRONG — “BETA.” SOON YOU WILL BE A “FIRED” BETA BECAUSE OF MY PERFECT, “BEAUTIFUL MAPS.” THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN
https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/1957094598104502783
Europe to have two blocs: Russian sphere and western sphere; he doesn't mind exactly where the boundary is drawn in central Europe. - so to him Ukraine is a minor border dispute.
And he wants to be out of Europe himself and for Europe to protect itself, which in itself is not as untreasonable aspiration 80 years after WWII. Europe is not worth a single USA soldier's life.
Western Europe has been feeble militarily and is embarrassed and still needs the old deal, and needs time to catch up with the new Europe (two blocs only) reality. And it is scared of Russia. France and UK are not yet used to being nuclear powers genuinely independent of other nuclear powers and therefore required to be bullies of big boy Russia. And their blue touch paper may be damp and they can't find the matches.
And they want Russia's sphere of influence to be as far east as possible. And time to rearm.
The rest follows as night follows day.
BTW the NS is today considering the chances of Burnham, leadership and a Gorton by-election. Small snag, if there is a Gotrton by-election it's in the bag for Reform.
https://morningcall.substack.com/p/morning-call-labours-king-over-the?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1661433&post_id=171252215&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1mnpci&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Holyrood has better working hours than Westminster, no late night sittings but cant seem to compete with big paying jobs in private or public sectors which dont attract the same criticism from the general public
"Thank you for your attention to this matter !"
It's once place where I think Pete Hegseth gets his "the husband should vote for the whole household" views from - that hit the papers a fortnight ago. Hegseth is a member of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, affiliated with Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. They embrace traditionalist roles. And, as with Maga politics, there is a Roman Catholic version. "Mormon Wife" is a more common stereotype.
There's a reality show (8 episodes) on Hulu called "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives", also on iTVX:
https://www.itv.com/watch/the-secret-lives-of-mormon-wives/10a6990
I like that "broligarchy" also appears.
I can actually see a few SCon Unionists voting Reform solely so they can say in Eeyor-ish fashion 'See, we Scots are just the same as the English really'. Can I pencil you in?
Is it just a continuation?
Is there some other thing that would be really bad for him?
At the station hotel now, getting some fillet steak (£10) and beer (£2) while waiting a couple of hours for the train, contemplating how long it will be before I see such cheap food and drink again!
Apart from bag scanners at the station entrance, very little sign of this being anything other than a normal day in a normal city. Fingers crossed it stays like that for the next few hours.
Oh, and polling of Californians suggest majority opposition to his further Gerrymandering of his State. He’ll need to win a referendum to do it thanks to the Constitution there, so all this shouting could end up with him failing.
It may well not happen, or at least enough. If such a terrible deal is agreed, then expect the Russian troll factories that have so helped Putin's messaging in the US and elsewhere to start on about the cost of giving aid to Ukraine given that there's 'peace', and how the Ukrainians are bad and do not deserve it.
My bet is that sanctions on Russia will be partially or fully lifted as part of the 'deal', and Putin will also massively build up his military.
Also, if there is 'peace' for five years, do you really expect Europe and the US to still be funding Ukraine's defence, given how the pro-Russian trolls and general idiots are already chuntering on about the cost?
TL:DR; Putin is an unfaithful actor. He will not keep to any agreement that does not benefit him.
https://bsky.app/profile/briantylercohen.bsky.social/post/3lwmlsycaxc23
That Critic piece was just a rerun of the spiel. Be kind ... they have to make a living.
So yep I do think continuation is the worst outcome for Putin (and Trump).
He wouldn't be too chuffed to see the majoritiy of his refineries snuffed out though - along with the means to fund his war.
They’re going to fuck it up aren’t they? The whole point of shifting to a national % property tax to replace stamp duty is you make it an annual tax which makes it cheaper to actually move house for work, making everyone better off in the process, plus you start extracting a tax from the retired wealthy property owners who can definitely afford it & if they can’t they can downsize without paying a fortune in stamp duty.
Instead, it looks like the plan is an even higher stamp duty on homes > £500k which will make it even more expensive for anyone in the SE to move & the higher earners in the north likewise. So we’re going to make it more expensive for our most productive workers to move if they own property, not less. Oh, and we’re going to make it more expensive for wealthy retirees to sell their property & downsize.
Genius. Who comes up with this stuff?
Edit: Hmm. The actual report linked says this /is/ intended to be an annual tax. Guardian reporting seems very confused & unclear?
NEW THREAD
No idea about the etymology of the current phrase though.
According to those familiar with the situation, the tipping point came in the last month when Mr Campbell decided to find a new office building to replace the temporary arrangement used by HEYCA since it was established.
He decided that the team should move into 2 Humber Quays, a modern office block on the banks of the Humber with panoramic views of the river and city, and told officials that he had negotiated a “discount” with the owner.
But staff hit back, telling him that he had not completed the relevant paperwork for his idea, and suggested that the team should move into a cheaper former council building.
“Someone said to him: ‘You can’t do that, you need to do a feasibility study and report, and find out why other offices aren’t suitable,’” said one source.
“He does get frustrated,” they said. “He’s come from a completely different world.”
(££) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/08/07/luke-campbell-reform-olympic-athlete-hull-east-yorkshire/
(The Telegraph comments are full of "destroy the blob", not "use our money efficiently".)
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/skibidi-toilet