I don't see tackle the Budget Deficit of well over a hundred billion pounds per annum instead as an option?
We can't afford to do any of the above.
You might be able to do things that reduced people's costs by £1,000 a year that didn't involve the government spending any money.
For example, if competition rules were changed so that increased competition led to lower costs in a sector which currently has monopolistic profits. Or if rents were reduced as a result of increases in housing supply.
Net Zero rules changing would almost certainly lead to lower costs for energy because the subsidies for production and infrastructure would go, together with transition penalties, but at the cost of delays in reducing emissions.
We probably don't need MoTs on new cars until they are 5 years old now, not 3 years old.
Why? Doesn't the MOT mainly check wear parts? Tyres, brakes, steering components, suspension components, boots, bushes, dampers, springs, drop links, ball joints, track rod ends and structural corrosion? All susceptible to wear on your electric vehicle.
Cars are far more robust than, say, the 1980s when they were rust buckets after 18 months.
It's not essential to MoT after 3 years. They are usually still on finance then, on low mileage and as good as new. But it is an example of our ultra-conservative risk culture.
No-one wants to make the call, and bank the savings but risk even one single newspaper headline in a few years time saying, probably inaccurately, that a 4.5 year car just crashed and a fault 'might' have been spotted if it'd had an MoT sooner (which it almost never does).
MoTs are fucking mad when you think about it. The most common failure is lights/bulbs so the safety justification is spurious with modern cars.
The Australian system is the best. No MoT equivalent unless the car has been off road, unregistered then it needs an inspection before it can be re-registered. Combine that with roadside enforcement by the cops on the real shit heaps and that's all you need.
These cops - they only stop Jaguars?
Already motionless under a cloud of steam and above a pool of oil.
I don't see tackle the Budget Deficit of well over a hundred billion pounds per annum instead as an option?
We can't afford to do any of the above.
You might be able to do things that reduced people's costs by £1,000 a year that didn't involve the government spending any money.
For example, if competition rules were changed so that increased competition led to lower costs in a sector which currently has monopolistic profits. Or if rents were reduced as a result of increases in housing supply.
Net Zero rules changing would almost certainly lead to lower costs for energy because the subsidies for production and infrastructure would go, together with transition penalties, but at the cost of delays in reducing emissions.
We probably don't need MoTs on new cars until they are 5 years old now, not 3 years old.
(MOTs are a weird one because very few collisions are caused by mechanical faults, yet they must cost drivers billions in costs each year. Compared with something like a 20mph limit the cost-benefit is completely out of whack.)
It'd probably save all motorists about £250 million a year, across all new cars. You could add in some faff factor in booking the car in and shuttling in/out. Probably some downside cost in a bit less work for garages, but not much.
It'll never happen though.
But think of the £250m hit to the economy of all that elimination of paper pushing.
You're assuming those 3-5 year old cars will be kept at the same standard without an MOT requirement. Doesn’t take many accidents to top £250 mill in damages.
Uk banks hold a lot of uk debt (20%?) after the quantitative easing spree a while back. We are also paying those banks interest on that debt. ~~ £20bn.
That easing was to iirc, increase the velocity of money. I was reminded by the above post from Casino.
I’m not sure why we are paying the banks that £20bn? Are we paying them to hold gilts we pretty much gave them? Is that a very expensive bung obviously better spent on re-arming and security.
Surely the banks would prefer a safer country. A deal should be done.
If banks are going to face strong-arm tactics, then the financial sector will decamp to somewhere else. (By which I mean, forcing re-negotiating of terms after the event.)
Yes.
But I suppose it also depends on how concerned we feel about the international situation. I’m feeling more concerned now than at any time in my life.
We are to be left swinging in the wind by the US. China is worrying, not our friend. Russia a gangster on a Chinese lead. Climate change has already added around 20% to food bills and it will never come back from there.
Our politics is short term and vapid. There is no urgency. Distraction by fascists fearing for their neo liberal drivers news agenda that bears little resemblance to reality.
I’m not keen on strong arm tactics. But they may be something to consider.
But they will still a load of money on the project....worst of both worlds. Its another classic government U-Turn where we end up in a worse position than when we started.
But they will still a load of money on the project....worst of both worlds.
Starmer's government is a real study in bonkers incompetence - announce loads of stuff that pisses everyone off and then don't implement it anyway, so they are unpopular for their ideas, unpopular for their inability to actually do anything and unpopular for their inability to do stuff that they think is necessary but of which they're too chickenshit to stick to their principles on because it's so unpopular.
Really they should have just done a metaphorical "tub of lard" substitute on day one of their government and they'd have achieved about the same amount of stuff whilst being much less unpopular with it.
But they will still a load of money on the project....worst of both worlds.
Starmer's government is a real study in bonkers incompetence - announce loads of stuff that pisses everyone off and then don't implement it anyway, so they are unpopular for their ideas, unpopular for their inability to actually do anything and unpopular for their inability to do stuff that they think is necessary but of which they're too chickenshit to stick to their principles on because it's so unpopular.
Really they should have just done a metaphorical "tub of lard" substitute on day one of their government and they'd have achieved about the same amount of stuff whilst being much less unpopular with it.
I don't see tackle the Budget Deficit of well over a hundred billion pounds per annum instead as an option?
We can't afford to do any of the above.
You might be able to do things that reduced people's costs by £1,000 a year that didn't involve the government spending any money.
For example, if competition rules were changed so that increased competition led to lower costs in a sector which currently has monopolistic profits. Or if rents were reduced as a result of increases in housing supply.
Net Zero rules changing would almost certainly lead to lower costs for energy because the subsidies for production and infrastructure would go, together with transition penalties, but at the cost of delays in reducing emissions.
We probably don't need MoTs on new cars until they are 5 years old now, not 3 years old.
Why? Doesn't the MOT mainly check wear parts? Tyres, brakes, steering components, suspension components, boots, bushes, dampers, springs, drop links, ball joints, track rod ends and structural corrosion? All susceptible to wear on your electric vehicle.
Cars are far more robust than, say, the 1980s when they were rust buckets after 18 months.
It's not essential to MoT after 3 years. They are usually still on finance then, on low mileage and as good as new. But it is an example of our ultra-conservative risk culture.
No-one wants to make the call, and bank the savings but risk even one single newspaper headline in a few years time saying, probably inaccurately, that a 4.5 year car just crashed and a fault 'might' have been spotted if it'd had an MoT sooner (which it almost never does).
MoTs are fucking mad when you think about it. The most common failure is lights/bulbs so the safety justification is spurious with modern cars.
The Australian system is the best. No MoT equivalent unless the car has been off road, unregistered then it needs an inspection before it can be re-registered. Combine that with roadside enforcement by the cops on the real shit heaps and that's all you need.
We don’t have MOTs, the police just set up road checks randomly every month or so where they pull over anything looking decrepit or with lights issues, silencers removed or whatever. Seems to work fine. Usually it’s just a write up to have something fixed but they can also demand you take your vehicle to Vehicle Standards who will decide if it has to be taken off the road.
I don't see tackle the Budget Deficit of well over a hundred billion pounds per annum instead as an option?
We can't afford to do any of the above.
You might be able to do things that reduced people's costs by £1,000 a year that didn't involve the government spending any money.
For example, if competition rules were changed so that increased competition led to lower costs in a sector which currently has monopolistic profits. Or if rents were reduced as a result of increases in housing supply.
Net Zero rules changing would almost certainly lead to lower costs for energy because the subsidies for production and infrastructure would go, together with transition penalties, but at the cost of delays in reducing emissions.
We probably don't need MoTs on new cars until they are 5 years old now, not 3 years old.
Why? Doesn't the MOT mainly check wear parts? Tyres, brakes, steering components, suspension components, boots, bushes, dampers, springs, drop links, ball joints, track rod ends and structural corrosion? All susceptible to wear on your electric vehicle.
Cars are far more robust than, say, the 1980s when they were rust buckets after 18 months.
It's not essential to MoT after 3 years. They are usually still on finance then, on low mileage and as good as new. But it is an example of our ultra-conservative risk culture.
No-one wants to make the call, and bank the savings but risk even one single newspaper headline in a few years time saying, probably inaccurately, that a 4.5 year car just crashed and a fault 'might' have been spotted if it'd had an MoT sooner (which it almost never does).
MoTs are fucking mad when you think about it. The most common failure is lights/bulbs so the safety justification is spurious with modern cars.
The Australian system is the best. No MoT equivalent unless the car has been off road, unregistered then it needs an inspection before it can be re-registered. Combine that with roadside enforcement by the cops on the real shit heaps and that's all you need.
These cops - they only stop Jaguars?
Already motionless under a cloud of steam and above a pool of oil.
Even the e Pace?
They are supposed to be good if you're on the right software version. It just takes 12 months of visits to the dealer to get it.
BTW... I am intrigued by the Medicare fraud story from Minnesota. One would think that - on average - the amount of money paid per Medicare recipient would be roughly similar by State, given that what Medicare pays for each procedure and every drug is set our in legislation.
Now it is, of course, an utterly massive program, with money being sent (via the States) from the Federal government to private medical providers, and there's going to be a fair amount of people billing for things that didn't happen, and it is essential to have robust processes in places for identifying fraudulent claims.
The first place one would want to look, therefore, would be how much is being spent per old person by State.
And Minnesota doesn't stand out; it's amost exactly the same amount (within a dollar) as Mississippi. Which means either (a) old people in Minnesota are significantly healthier (possible); or (b) there is a similar amount of fraud in Mississippi. Indeed, one might expect that -due to lower wages and rents- that Mississippi costs might be lower.
People in Minnesota are healthier than people living in Mississippi. Here’s an AI summary:
“Health indices by U.S. state vary significantly, with states like Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Minnesota often ranking high for overall health (e.g., lower chronic disease, better access), while states in the South (e.g., Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama) frequently rank lower due to higher rates of obesity, smoking, and mortality”
I didn’t prompt it on specific states. It just picked Minnesota and Mississippi as examples there.
Do you know about US history and why Mississippi has terrible health indices?
I would suggest that the comparison is more complicated than that.
Living is more expensive than dying, so the poor health of Mississippians with obesity smoking and cardiac disease may mean significant savings on oncology etc. First you have to live long enough to get it.
The costs need to be standardised by age and illness in order to make a comparison. So for example: does a myocardial infarction in a 70 year old cost more in Minnesota?
I don't see tackle the Budget Deficit of well over a hundred billion pounds per annum instead as an option?
We can't afford to do any of the above.
You might be able to do things that reduced people's costs by £1,000 a year that didn't involve the government spending any money.
For example, if competition rules were changed so that increased competition led to lower costs in a sector which currently has monopolistic profits. Or if rents were reduced as a result of increases in housing supply.
Net Zero rules changing would almost certainly lead to lower costs for energy because the subsidies for production and infrastructure would go, together with transition penalties, but at the cost of delays in reducing emissions.
We probably don't need MoTs on new cars until they are 5 years old now, not 3 years old.
Why? Doesn't the MOT mainly check wear parts? Tyres, brakes, steering components, suspension components, boots, bushes, dampers, springs, drop links, ball joints, track rod ends and structural corrosion? All susceptible to wear on your electric vehicle.
Cars are far more robust than, say, the 1980s when they were rust buckets after 18 months.
It's not essential to MoT after 3 years. They are usually still on finance then, on low mileage and as good as new. But it is an example of our ultra-conservative risk culture.
No-one wants to make the call, and bank the savings but risk even one single newspaper headline in a few years time saying, probably inaccurately, that a 4.5 year car just crashed and a fault 'might' have been spotted if it'd had an MoT sooner (which it almost never does).
But they will still a load of money on the project....worst of both worlds.
Starmer's government is a real study in bonkers incompetence - announce loads of stuff that pisses everyone off and then don't implement it anyway, so they are unpopular for their ideas, unpopular for their inability to actually do anything and unpopular for their inability to do stuff that they think is necessary but of which they're too chickenshit to stick to their principles on because it's so unpopular.
Really they should have just done a metaphorical "tub of lard" substitute on day one of their government and they'd have achieved about the same amount of stuff whilst being much less unpopular with it.
Roy Hattersley would be proud!
Grammar police. Will be proud.. he is not deceased.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
And people would notice the difference, because...?
Even keeping Labour would be better than Plaid Green
You know nothing about Wales to make such a statement
Labours arrogant entitled rule has to end
Not if the alternative would be a Plaid Green disaster
Iranians are being massacred - in their thousands, if some of the reports out of Iran are accurate, with executions to start tomorrow but, hey, let's discuss MoTs instead.
I don't see tackle the Budget Deficit of well over a hundred billion pounds per annum instead as an option?
We can't afford to do any of the above.
You might be able to do things that reduced people's costs by £1,000 a year that didn't involve the government spending any money.
For example, if competition rules were changed so that increased competition led to lower costs in a sector which currently has monopolistic profits. Or if rents were reduced as a result of increases in housing supply.
Net Zero rules changing would almost certainly lead to lower costs for energy because the subsidies for production and infrastructure would go, together with transition penalties, but at the cost of delays in reducing emissions.
We probably don't need MoTs on new cars until they are 5 years old now, not 3 years old.
Why? Doesn't the MOT mainly check wear parts? Tyres, brakes, steering components, suspension components, boots, bushes, dampers, springs, drop links, ball joints, track rod ends and structural corrosion? All susceptible to wear on your electric vehicle.
Cars are far more robust than, say, the 1980s when they were rust buckets after 18 months.
It's not essential to MoT after 3 years. They are usually still on finance then, on low mileage and as good as new. But it is an example of our ultra-conservative risk culture.
No-one wants to make the call, and bank the savings but risk even one single newspaper headline in a few years time saying, probably inaccurately, that a 4.5 year car just crashed and a fault 'might' have been spotted if it'd had an MoT sooner (which it almost never does).
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Iranians are being massacred - in their thousands, if some of the reports out of Iran are accurate, with executions to start tomorrow but, hey, let's discuss MoTs instead.
Why does any BBC mention of the events in Iran seem to compulsorily include that “the protests were sparked by anger over the collapse of the Iranian currency and soaring cost of living“, and not mention anger over the despotic Islamist regime?
BTW... I am intrigued by the Medicare fraud story from Minnesota. One would think that - on average - the amount of money paid per Medicare recipient would be roughly similar by State, given that what Medicare pays for each procedure and every drug is set our in legislation.
Now it is, of course, an utterly massive program, with money being sent (via the States) from the Federal government to private medical providers, and there's going to be a fair amount of people billing for things that didn't happen, and it is essential to have robust processes in places for identifying fraudulent claims.
The first place one would want to look, therefore, would be how much is being spent per old person by State.
And Minnesota doesn't stand out; it's amost exactly the same amount (within a dollar) as Mississippi. Which means either (a) old people in Minnesota are significantly healthier (possible); or (b) there is a similar amount of fraud in Mississippi. Indeed, one might expect that -due to lower wages and rents- that Mississippi costs might be lower.
Probably a bit of both. People in Minnesota are much healthier than most other places in the US, and there's probably also a certain amount of fraud in other states like Mississippi.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Well neither would give you a vote on independence anyway even if they did take over the UK
BTW... I am intrigued by the Medicare fraud story from Minnesota. One would think that - on average - the amount of money paid per Medicare recipient would be roughly similar by State, given that what Medicare pays for each procedure and every drug is set our in legislation.
Now it is, of course, an utterly massive program, with money being sent (via the States) from the Federal government to private medical providers, and there's going to be a fair amount of people billing for things that didn't happen, and it is essential to have robust processes in places for identifying fraudulent claims.
The first place one would want to look, therefore, would be how much is being spent per old person by State.
And Minnesota doesn't stand out; it's amost exactly the same amount (within a dollar) as Mississippi. Which means either (a) old people in Minnesota are significantly healthier (possible); or (b) there is a similar amount of fraud in Mississippi. Indeed, one might expect that -due to lower wages and rents- that Mississippi costs might be lower.
The difference is that Minnesota is a net contributor to federal coffers.
GOP grandstanding on this is utterly hypocritical.
Actually investigate hard and prosecute it, unless you want to see Nigel win a landslide.
Fraud is going to be the single biggest story in the US Mid-Terms.
Elon Musk came in promising to find massive amounts of fraud in Social Security, and actually found... errr... basically none. Federal government spending has risen 6% in the last year, which means it hasn't just risen more than inflation, it's risen more than nominal economic growth. The budget deficit, thanks to tax cuts, has also risen.
Well they got Tim Walz already, and there appears to be a concerted effort to get Mr Newsom on a similar scandal, although he’s as slippery as an eel.
Yes, there’s also a concerted effort to get primary challenges against the Republican Senators who didn’t want to codify a lot of Musk’s spending cuts the other night. https://x.com/nedryun/status/2011044812741562475
oh you talking about orange and his cronies making up stuff, rather than genuine fraud
Donald Trump was found personally guilty of multiple counts of fraud. The Trump Foundation was forcibly wound up because of fraud. His companies have been found guilty of fraud. It’s easy to find fraud in the US: start in the White House.
Trump isn’t on the ballot, and good luck convincing any of his supporters that his legal problems of the last few years haven’t been politically motivated.
Trump isn’t on the ballot, but I’m pretty certain Trump will be one of the biggest stories of the midterms, probably the biggest.
Fortunately, the number of his supporters is trending downwards. I’m not certain the Republicans talking about fraud is going to save them when it’s so easy to start talking about Republican fraud, but we’ll see. There are still plenty of gullible people who believe everything they read in their MAGA social media bubble.
Just as there are many who start from OranageManBad and work backwards, through their own media ecosphere.
We actually agree on more than which we disagree.
The President is always going to be a factor or an issue in every mid term election whether it's their character or the effectiveness of their policies - that's how it always has been and it's no different with Trump.
Quite rightly, the Federal Government can be held to account or scrutiny for those policies which it controls just as the State legislatures are held to account for State mandated policies and programmes.
This notion somehow the mid term election won't be or can't be about Trump is ridiculous but it will be the policies he has enacted and the degree to which Americans think those policies are working which will be important.
Of course the Federal government plays a role in the mid-terms, and you’d expect a swing against an incumbent President, so for the Dems to take over the House. The Senate is more difficult for them, but they might get it to an annoying 51-49 that keeps VP Vance there all the time.
Either way, the problem is the Executive trying to codify their programme, as as been seen this week with two dozen Republicans Senators voting on a budget Bill that reinstates funding to a bunch of Dem NGOs on what’s clearly a behind-closed-doors reciprocal basis.
Elon Musk is again furious.
I'm intrigued. When did the smack addled old weirdo stop being furious?
I am just watching The House with David Olusoga. The wartime occupants of Montague Mansions are German Jews who are just about to arrive from Saxenhausen.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Well neither would give you a vote on independence anyway even if they did take over the UK
Iranians are being massacred - in their thousands, if some of the reports out of Iran are accurate, with executions to start tomorrow but, hey, let's discuss MoTs instead.
Why does any BBC mention of the events in Iran seem to compulsorily include that “the protests were sparked by anger over the collapse of the Iranian currency and soaring cost of living“, and not mention anger over the despotic Islamist regime?
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Nothing could be worse than the decades of labour
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
US Supreme Court is having fun today, arguing the same things as the UK Supreme Court did some months ago with regard to the difference between sex and gender.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Well neither would give you a vote on independence anyway even if they did take over the UK
So many good news stories at the moment. Here's another one.
"Europe | Charlemagne Why Europe is rediscovering the virtues of cash In a world of payment apps and digital euros, the coin is staging a modest comeback" (£)
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Well neither would give you a vote on independence anyway even if they did take over the UK
Iranians are being massacred - in their thousands, if some of the reports out of Iran are accurate, with executions to start tomorrow but, hey, let's discuss MoTs instead.
Why does any BBC mention of the events in Iran seem to compulsorily include that “the protests were sparked by anger over the collapse of the Iranian currency and soaring cost of living“, and not mention anger over the despotic Islamist regime?
If said reporter is actually in Iran, then one gives them the benefit of the doubt. There’s clearly a civil war going on.
US Supreme Court is having fun today, arguing the same things as the UK Supreme Court did some months ago with regard to the difference between sex and gender.
Still nothing on tariffs though, the lazy low lifes.
Which is irritating as I was looking forward to what sophistry they would come up with to declare Trump can do whatever the hell he likes because they take money from him think the President is above the law this time.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Well neither would give you a vote on independence anyway even if they did take over the UK
We'll declare UDI.
Oh, gosh, don't go there, PLEASE don't go there.
Tanks from Epping !!!!!
We already have all his tanks at Castle Martin anyway.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Nothing could be worse than the decades of labour
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
Actually investigate hard and prosecute it, unless you want to see Nigel win a landslide.
Fraud is going to be the single biggest story in the US Mid-Terms.
Elon Musk came in promising to find massive amounts of fraud in Social Security, and actually found... errr... basically none. Federal government spending has risen 6% in the last year, which means it hasn't just risen more than inflation, it's risen more than nominal economic growth. The budget deficit, thanks to tax cuts, has also risen.
Well they got Tim Walz already, and there appears to be a concerted effort to get Mr Newsom on a similar scandal, although he’s as slippery as an eel.
Yes, there’s also a concerted effort to get primary challenges against the Republican Senators who didn’t want to codify a lot of Musk’s spending cuts the other night. https://x.com/nedryun/status/2011044812741562475
oh you talking about orange and his cronies making up stuff, rather than genuine fraud
Donald Trump was found personally guilty of multiple counts of fraud. The Trump Foundation was forcibly wound up because of fraud. His companies have been found guilty of fraud. It’s easy to find fraud in the US: start in the White House.
Trump isn’t on the ballot, and good luck convincing any of his supporters that his legal problems of the last few years haven’t been politically motivated.
Trump isn’t on the ballot, but I’m pretty certain Trump will be one of the biggest stories of the midterms, probably the biggest.
Fortunately, the number of his supporters is trending downwards. I’m not certain the Republicans talking about fraud is going to save them when it’s so easy to start talking about Republican fraud, but we’ll see. There are still plenty of gullible people who believe everything they read in their MAGA social media bubble.
Just as there are many who start from OranageManBad and work backwards, through their own media ecosphere.
We actually agree on more than which we disagree.
The President is always going to be a factor or an issue in every mid term election whether it's their character or the effectiveness of their policies - that's how it always has been and it's no different with Trump.
Quite rightly, the Federal Government can be held to account or scrutiny for those policies which it controls just as the State legislatures are held to account for State mandated policies and programmes.
This notion somehow the mid term election won't be or can't be about Trump is ridiculous but it will be the policies he has enacted and the degree to which Americans think those policies are working which will be important.
Of course the Federal government plays a role in the mid-terms, and you’d expect a swing against an incumbent President, so for the Dems to take over the House. The Senate is more difficult for them, but they might get it to an annoying 51-49 that keeps VP Vance there all the time.
Either way, the problem is the Executive trying to codify their programme, as as been seen this week with two dozen Republicans Senators voting on a budget Bill that reinstates funding to a bunch of Dem NGOs on what’s clearly a behind-closed-doors reciprocal basis.
Elon Musk is again furious.
I'm intrigued. When did the smack addled old weirdo stop being furious?
Ketamine.
I don't think dissolving your bladder to the point of incontinence and a burning urethra makes you less angry
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Well neither would give you a vote on independence anyway even if they did take over the UK
We'll declare UDI.
Means little, the Senedd could be suspended and direct rule applied from London, Madrid and Catalonia style
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Nothing could be worse than the decades of labour
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
So many good news stories at the moment. Here's another one.
"Europe | Charlemagne Why Europe is rediscovering the virtues of cash In a world of payment apps and digital euros, the coin is staging a modest comeback" (£)
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Nothing could be worse than the decades of labour
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Nothing could be worse than the decades of labour
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
Yes it could. Five minutes of Reform.
Edit. And or the Tories.
The meltdown of Labour in Wales, Scotland and in English councils will get the headlines in May, but the Tory meltdown in each of these will be pretty spectacular too. @Big_G_NorthWales will be the only Tory in the village.
A Plaid government will be interesting, it will give Plaid a step up to SNP type status, and may be as hard as the SNP to dislodge.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Well neither would give you a vote on independence anyway even if they did take over the UK
We'll declare UDI.
Means little, the Senedd could be suspended and direct rule applied from London, Madrid and Catalonia style
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Well neither would give you a vote on independence anyway even if they did take over the UK
We'll declare UDI.
Means little, the Senedd could be suspended and direct rule applied from London, Madrid and Catalonia style
As I've already mentioned. We have your tanks, oh and your drinking water.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Nothing could be worse than the decades of labour
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Nothing could be worse than the decades of labour
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
Yes it could. Five minutes of Reform.
Edit. And or the Tories.
The meltdown of Labour in Wales, Scotland and in English councils will get the headlines in May, but the Tory meltdown in each of these will be pretty spectacular too. @Big_G_NorthWales will be the only Tory in the village.
A Plaid government will be interesting, it will give Plaid a step up to SNP type status, and may be as hard as the SNP to dislodge.
I expect the conservatives to outperform the lib dems in Wales
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Well neither would give you a vote on independence anyway even if they did take over the UK
We'll declare UDI.
Means little, the Senedd could be suspended and direct rule applied from London, Madrid and Catalonia style
As I've already mentioned. We have your tanks, oh and your drinking water.
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Nothing could be worse than the decades of labour
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
Yes it could. Five minutes of Reform.
Edit. And or the Tories.
The meltdown of Labour in Wales, Scotland and in English councils will get the headlines in May, but the Tory meltdown in each of these will be pretty spectacular too. @Big_G_NorthWales will be the only Tory in the village.
A Plaid government will be interesting, it will give Plaid a step up to SNP type status, and may be as hard as the SNP to dislodge.
I expect the conservatives to outperform the lib dems in Wales
So many good news stories at the moment. Here's another one.
"Europe | Charlemagne Why Europe is rediscovering the virtues of cash In a world of payment apps and digital euros, the coin is staging a modest comeback" (£)
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Nothing could be worse than the decades of labour
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
Yes it could. Five minutes of Reform.
Edit. And or the Tories.
The meltdown of Labour in Wales, Scotland and in English councils will get the headlines in May, but the Tory meltdown in each of these will be pretty spectacular too. @Big_G_NorthWales will be the only Tory in the village.
A Plaid government will be interesting, it will give Plaid a step up to SNP type status, and may be as hard as the SNP to dislodge.
I expect the conservatives to outperform the lib dems in Wales
When you write outperform, do you really mean will get a slightly better single figure result than the LDs?
So many good news stories at the moment. Here's another one.
"Europe | Charlemagne Why Europe is rediscovering the virtues of cash In a world of payment apps and digital euros, the coin is staging a modest comeback" (£)
I am just watching The House with David Olusoga. The wartime occupants of Montague Mansions are German Jews who are just about to arrive from Saxenhausen.
I don't have a telegraph account - is the whole digital id scheme being scrapped, or just the bit about needing it for employment for migrants? I can only see the sub-heading which says "Migrants will no longer need to show identity cards to prove right to work".
Walz cries foul after lead fraud prosecutor in Minnesota resigns
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5686983-federal-prosecutor-resigns-minnesota/ ...The New York Times first reported that Joseph H. Thompson resigned from his position as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. In his role, Thompson oversaw the federal investigation into allegations that social services programs in the state defrauded the federal government of millions of dollars. In a statement posted on the social platform X, Walz credited Thompson for his long career in the Justice Department (DOJ) and called him a “principled public servant.” “This is a huge loss for our state,” the governor said. “It’s also the latest sign Trump is pushing nonpartisan career professionals out of the justice department, replacing them with his sycophants.” The Times reported that Thompson and five other prosecutors resigned over a push within the DOJ to investigate the wife of the woman killed last week in Minneapolis and the lack of interest in investigating the ICE officer who shot her. Thompson has served in the District office for over a decade and he was previously appointed by President Trump to serve as the acting U.S. attorney for the office. The DOJ press release announcing his appointment last June credited his experience leading the Fraud and Public Corruption section of the department during the ongoing social services fraud scandal in Minnesota. “Mr. Thompson has overseen an unprecedented effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute fraud against state and federal government programs, including as the lead prosecutor in the Feeding Our Future investigation, which has been recognized by the Department of Justice as the largest Covid-19 fraud in the United States,” the announcement said. ..
I don't see tackle the Budget Deficit of well over a hundred billion pounds per annum instead as an option?
We can't afford to do any of the above.
You might be able to do things that reduced people's costs by £1,000 a year that didn't involve the government spending any money.
For example, if competition rules were changed so that increased competition led to lower costs in a sector which currently has monopolistic profits. Or if rents were reduced as a result of increases in housing supply.
Net Zero rules changing would almost certainly lead to lower costs for energy because the subsidies for production and infrastructure would go, together with transition penalties, but at the cost of delays in reducing emissions.
We probably don't need MoTs on new cars until they are 5 years old now, not 3 years old.
Why? Doesn't the MOT mainly check wear parts? Tyres, brakes, steering components, suspension components, boots, bushes, dampers, springs, drop links, ball joints, track rod ends and structural corrosion? All susceptible to wear on your electric vehicle.
Cars are far more robust than, say, the 1980s when they were rust buckets after 18 months.
It's not essential to MoT after 3 years. They are usually still on finance then, on low mileage and as good as new. But it is an example of our ultra-conservative risk culture.
No-one wants to make the call, and bank the savings but risk even one single newspaper headline in a few years time saying, probably inaccurately, that a 4.5 year car just crashed and a fault 'might' have been spotted if it'd had an MoT sooner (which it almost never does).
So are we now supposed to be welcoming to Iranian refugees? I am struggling to keep up.
It was clearly labelled as satire.
The US is offering to trade their own blue-haired liberal women who profess to love Hamas and Iran, for the incredibly brave women actually removing their hijabs in Iran, many of whom are being killed for doing so.
I don't see tackle the Budget Deficit of well over a hundred billion pounds per annum instead as an option?
We can't afford to do any of the above.
You might be able to do things that reduced people's costs by £1,000 a year that didn't involve the government spending any money.
For example, if competition rules were changed so that increased competition led to lower costs in a sector which currently has monopolistic profits. Or if rents were reduced as a result of increases in housing supply.
Net Zero rules changing would almost certainly lead to lower costs for energy because the subsidies for production and infrastructure would go, together with transition penalties, but at the cost of delays in reducing emissions.
We probably don't need MoTs on new cars until they are 5 years old now, not 3 years old.
I believe Labour have removed these charges from electricity bills already and are funding the costs from central government funds.
But no-one has noticed because it's small beer compared to swings in the price of gas and the prices Britain has to pay when it needs to import electricity.
So many good news stories at the moment. Here's another one.
"Europe | Charlemagne Why Europe is rediscovering the virtues of cash In a world of payment apps and digital euros, the coin is staging a modest comeback" (£)
Iranians are being massacred - in their thousands, if some of the reports out of Iran are accurate, with executions to start tomorrow but, hey, let's discuss MoTs instead.
I mentioned the other night that my Persian friends said when the internet was cut in Iran that was a bad sign, that's usually the precursor for state murder and repression.
Tonight they are braced for the Iranian Tiananmen Square.
Walz cries foul after lead fraud prosecutor in Minnesota resigns
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5686983-federal-prosecutor-resigns-minnesota/ ...The New York Times first reported that Joseph H. Thompson resigned from his position as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. In his role, Thompson oversaw the federal investigation into allegations that social services programs in the state defrauded the federal government of millions of dollars. In a statement posted on the social platform X, Walz credited Thompson for his long career in the Justice Department (DOJ) and called him a “principled public servant.” “This is a huge loss for our state,” the governor said. “It’s also the latest sign Trump is pushing nonpartisan career professionals out of the justice department, replacing them with his sycophants.” The Times reported that Thompson and five other prosecutors resigned over a push within the DOJ to investigate the wife of the woman killed last week in Minneapolis and the lack of interest in investigating the ICE officer who shot her. Thompson has served in the District office for over a decade and he was previously appointed by President Trump to serve as the acting U.S. attorney for the office. The DOJ press release announcing his appointment last June credited his experience leading the Fraud and Public Corruption section of the department during the ongoing social services fraud scandal in Minnesota. “Mr. Thompson has overseen an unprecedented effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute fraud against state and federal government programs, including as the lead prosecutor in the Feeding Our Future investigation, which has been recognized by the Department of Justice as the largest Covid-19 fraud in the United States,” the announcement said. ..
Ah, yes, we can see how much MAGA really cares about fraud.
I don't have a telegraph account - is the whole digital id scheme being scrapped, or just the bit about needing it for employment for migrants? I can only see the sub-heading which says "Migrants will no longer need to show identity cards to prove right to work".
So are we now supposed to be welcoming to Iranian refugees? I am struggling to keep up.
It was clearly labelled as satire.
The US is offering to trade their own blue-haired liberal women who profess to love Hamas and Iran, for the incredibly brave women actually removing their hijabs in Iran, many of whom are being killed for doing so.
I find the change in tune to welcome refugees from Iran very welcome. They are consistently one of the most frequent nationalities applying for asylum here.
So many good news stories at the moment. Here's another one.
"Europe | Charlemagne Why Europe is rediscovering the virtues of cash In a world of payment apps and digital euros, the coin is staging a modest comeback" (£)
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
No they wouldn't. I can list all the shite that they have already claimed they would do. It is a list not dissimilar to my top twenty list of things I don't wasn't to happen in Wales.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Well neither would give you a vote on independence anyway even if they did take over the UK
We'll declare UDI.
Means little, the Senedd could be suspended and direct rule applied from London, Madrid and Catalonia style
As I've already mentioned. We have your tanks, oh and your drinking water.
You certainly don't have any tanks, the army is controlled by the UK government and plenty of lakes in England in the Lake District etc
So many good news stories at the moment. Here's another one.
"Europe | Charlemagne Why Europe is rediscovering the virtues of cash In a world of payment apps and digital euros, the coin is staging a modest comeback" (£)
I don't have a telegraph account - is the whole digital id scheme being scrapped, or just the bit about needing it for employment for migrants? I can only see the sub-heading which says "Migrants will no longer need to show identity cards to prove right to work".
There have of course been other useless prime ministers in our time: prime ministers who have started wars, killed thousands through neglect or cruelty, plunged millions into poverty, been duplicitous or corrupt, who have been turfed out in disgrace. But with the brief exception of Liz Truss, even the most divisive of them took years to become the focal point of mass rage. Starmer has managed to hit the sweet spot within barely a year. People genuinely, viscerally loathe this guy. Why him? Why now? And why like this?
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
It could be substantially worse. Reform, or even worse Welsh Conservatives.
Both would be miles better than Plaid Green
Any Welsh government will be a disaster, because there are no good options for them.
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
Plaid Labour might just about avoid too big a disaster, Plaid Green would be an absolute disaster. Not least as Polanski leads the Welsh as well as English Greens
Nothing could be worse than the decades of labour
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
Yes it could. Five minutes of Reform.
Edit. And or the Tories.
The meltdown of Labour in Wales, Scotland and in English councils will get the headlines in May, but the Tory meltdown in each of these will be pretty spectacular too. @Big_G_NorthWales will be the only Tory in the village.
A Plaid government will be interesting, it will give Plaid a step up to SNP type status, and may be as hard as the SNP to dislodge.
YouGov has just polled me asking, "Does former Conservative MPs joining Reform UK make you think more positively or more negatively towards Reform UK, or does it make no difference?"
Dreadful poll for Reform and Labour with the numbers suggesting Plaid are very close to taking majority control of the Senedd.
The Westminster numbers are (changes on the July 2024 GE):
Plaid 29 (+14) Reform 25 (+8) Lab 13 (-24) Con 12 (-6) Green 12 (+7) Lib Dem 6 (-0.5) Other 2 (-0.5)
Astonishing numbers...
Much as I predicted this morning [11.32] and not a surprise for me
Plaid Green will be very interesting but as for labour, a disaster
I confess to considerable ignorance in Welsh politics but the Senedd projection looks remarkable - Labour down to 8, the Conservatives to 6, the LDs to 3.
Could a Plaid-Green coalition work? The numbers suggest a healthy majority and were this to happen it would be a huge personal triumph for Rhun ap Iorwerth and a significant shift in Welsh politics.
I have no idea how Plaid Green would work out but the state of labour in Wales is deserved with decades of their arrogant entitlement to rule
The LD are not nearly as popular as years ago and 3 seats is very possible as are 6 conservatives
Plaid Green would be an utter disaster for Wales and probably send it near bankrupt
And people would notice the difference, because...?
Even keeping Labour would be better than Plaid Green
You know nothing about Wales to make such a statement
Comments
But I suppose it also depends on how concerned we feel about the international situation. I’m feeling more concerned now than at any time in my life.
We are to be left swinging in the wind by the US. China is worrying, not our friend. Russia a gangster on a Chinese lead. Climate change has already added around 20% to food bills and it will never come back from there.
Our politics is short term and vapid. There is no urgency. Distraction by fascists fearing for their neo liberal drivers news agenda that bears little resemblance to reality.
I’m not keen on strong arm tactics. But they may be something to consider.
Provided we fund defence properly, our geopolitical security position is stronger than I thought - even into the mid 21st Century.
U.S. Offers To Trade Its Liberal Women For Iranian Women https://t.co/k4aivNQ7IG
Really they should have just done a metaphorical "tub of lard" substitute on day one of their government and they'd have achieved about the same amount of stuff whilst being much less unpopular with it.
Living is more expensive than dying, so the poor health of Mississippians with obesity smoking and cardiac disease may mean significant savings on oncology etc. First you have to live long enough to get it.
The costs need to be standardised by age and illness in order to make a comparison. So for example: does a myocardial infarction in a 70 year old cost more in Minnesota?
Bloody nanny state Tories.
Will be proud.. he is not deceased.
Now there was a man who was both a crook and a Tristram with absolutely no redeeming features whatsoever.
Anyway if Reform or Jenrick Tories take over in England I'd vote for independence and hope for the best.
Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com
Trump: "Starting February 1, we're not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities"
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mcddjsdngz2f
There is no reason to think Plaid would be substantially worse than any other. Indeed, as their leadership core (such as it is) is much abler than that of any other party (which means they wear their underpants round their arses) they would likely be a better option than any other.
The great thing would be, they're not Welsh Labour. Even thirty years ago Rod Richards quite rightly described them as 'all the same - they're short, they're fat and they're fundamentally corrupt.' And they've got worse, not better, since.
The only reason they're not the most corrupt political party in Europe is because the government of Republika Srbska sets the bar so high.
It's not a strict liability offence; the subpoena's validity is judiciable.
GOP grandstanding on this is utterly hypocritical.
History is repeating itself.
Anyway this is our Senedd and nothing to do with an Englishman
"Europe | Charlemagne
Why Europe is rediscovering the virtues of cash
In a world of payment apps and digital euros, the coin is staging a modest comeback" (£)
https://www.economist.com/europe/2026/01/08/why-europe-is-rediscovering-the-virtues-of-cash
If not, then eff off.
Which is irritating as I was looking forward to what sophistry they would come up with to declare Trump can do whatever the hell he likes because they
take money from himthink the President is above the law this time.I think.
Edit. And or the Tories.
https://x.com/sajwani/status/2011167235243720706
Mr Starmer, we’re still waiting for you…
A Plaid government will be interesting, it will give Plaid a step up to SNP type status, and may be as hard as the SNP to dislodge.
Thanks to Biden in 2023 who sued Texas when they tried to block the border to illegal immigrants, and the Supreme Court ruled in the president’s favour.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-sides-biden-administration-texas-border-dispute/story?id=106575343
Damn, I'm good.
For the hat trick I need to get a crachcach the state of Welsh Labour.
Feel smug if you spot them, I feel content.
Decline of cash credited for drop in NHS surgery for children swallowing objects
Figures reveal 29% fall in operations in England to remove foreign bodies from children’s airways, noses and throats
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/28/decline-of-cash-credited-for-drop-in-nhs-surgery-for-children-swallowing-objects
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5686983-federal-prosecutor-resigns-minnesota/
...The New York Times first reported that Joseph H. Thompson resigned from his position as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. In his role, Thompson oversaw the federal investigation into allegations that social services programs in the state defrauded the federal government of millions of dollars.
In a statement posted on the social platform X, Walz credited Thompson for his long career in the Justice Department (DOJ) and called him a “principled public servant.”
“This is a huge loss for our state,” the governor said. “It’s also the latest sign Trump is pushing nonpartisan career professionals out of the justice department, replacing them with his sycophants.”
The Times reported that Thompson and five other prosecutors resigned over a push within the DOJ to investigate the wife of the woman killed last week in Minneapolis and the lack of interest in investigating the ICE officer who shot her.
Thompson has served in the District office for over a decade and he was previously appointed by President Trump to serve as the acting U.S. attorney for the office.
The DOJ press release announcing his appointment last June credited his experience leading the Fraud and Public Corruption section of the department during the ongoing social services fraud scandal in Minnesota.
“Mr. Thompson has overseen an unprecedented effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute fraud against state and federal government programs, including as the lead prosecutor in the Feeding Our Future investigation, which has been recognized by the Department of Justice as the largest Covid-19 fraud in the United States,” the announcement said. ..
Sometimes we're just having a conversation on what we think the right thing to do is.
Have you considered that?
Barrister disbarred for sexual misconduct loses appeal
Navjot “Jo” Sidhu attempted to appeal against his disbarment but did not challenge the finding that he “pressured a young lawyer” into sex
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/sidhu-disbarred-zfbx8f69j
The US is offering to trade their own blue-haired liberal women who profess to love Hamas and Iran, for the incredibly brave women actually removing their hijabs in Iran, many of whom are being killed for doing so.
But no-one has noticed because it's small beer compared to swings in the price of gas and the prices Britain has to pay when it needs to import electricity.
Tonight they are braced for the Iranian Tiananmen Square.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3385zrrx73o
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y320k72vyo
Dilbert and xkcd are the Matt for nerds.
This would be a good thing, but still, surprising.
I have just discovered after years in limbo the Kevin Smith film Dogma is now available for digital download at Apple/Amazon etc.
One of my all time favourite films that ended up in limbo thanks to Harvey Weinstein.
Imagine a world without lawyers or bankers.
Burgessian iron law.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/13/crowds-offensive-chants-keir-starmer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2026_Scottish_Parliament_election#Regional_vote
India scraps colonial-era railway uniforms to erase British legacy
Banning of the Bandhgala is latest in a raft of measures by Narendra Modi to definitively decolonise India
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/13/india-scraps-colonial-railway-uniforms-erase-british-legacy/
The longer we go before they drop the more it becomes, well, normal.
That's terribly young.
He wrote a book I really enjoyed called How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.