Yes. I fail to see a significant difference between them
Any difference is going to be in the nature, volume and, critically, classification of documents passed. That's not going to be obvious until some way down the line.
This must have been what Starmer enigmatically referred to yesterday when he said 'nobody is above the law.'
Just seems odd that Pandy is arrested for “misconduct in public office” for the Trade Envoy emails and Mandy isn’t for the ones he allegedly sent.
Recall, however, that the police have searched Lord Mandypants’s homes in London and Wiltshire and, if they are actually arresting the Andrew formerly known as Prince, then an arrest of Lord M may not be far away
This isn’t going away soon, not for the royals and not for Skyr
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
Women bullying women can be viscous - I dealt with a case at a previous job.
I was startled at the way the behaviour was defended. By other women.
Still we should note that 'misconduct in public office' still means he's not being nailed for molesting girls who had been trafficked. If he did, of course.
Al Capone and tax evasion.
Morally, the molesting girls allegations are far worse, of course they are. And if Andrew goes to his grave without justice being served, that is a bad thing. But if this is the thing that he can be sent down for, becuase it's potentially utterly unambiguous, so be it.
(And yes, Mandy is also potenitally in deep doodoo here. As are those who presumably knew (the Palace must have known something, surely?) but sat on the information.)
Interesting polling. In all but two of the match ups (Lib Dems vs Labour or the Greens) the more left wing option is ahead.
Yes, very interesting polling. Reform lose every contest, with the implication they have the plurality of unpopularity as well as, from current general polling, the plurality of popularity.
So ensuring they don't form a government should be easy.
There is one central problem, and another secondary problem, and the next election may well turn on its resolution: Firstly identifying the party in each relevant seat that can beat Reform in a world where Labour unusually hold all the seats that are most likely to change hands, but are now unloved.
(Cumbria, apart from Farron's seat is my example but is typical: 2024: all Labour. 2019: all Tory. Projected 2029: all Reform. Which party is the tactical vote?)
The secondary problem is how to know if voting Tory is in fact a vote for a Reform + Tory government or not.
Indeed and this is the big question for Badenoch going forward. Whatever her public criticisms of Reform before an election, do we still think IF the numbers work for a Reform minority Government, she will offer Confidence & Supply to Farage? I suspect this is something she has been pondering - I would if I were her.
Publicly, it will be all about maximising the Conservative vote but as we know what leaders say before the votes are cast and what they do once they are counted aren't always the same.
Davey faces a similar dilemma - would he support a minority second term Labour Government with Confidence & Supply?
Both Badenoch and Davey could come out before the election and say they will neither support a Reform minority nor a Labour minority but the charge then will be, as it would have for Clegg in 2010, to have been to cause chaos in the name of self indulgence.
The test would then be whether either or both would vote down a Reform or Labour Queen's Speech and trigger a second election - I suspect they'd get little thanks from the public for that.
I think we will see semi-official unpublicised verbal agreements to lay off certain constituencies, as we did between Lab and Lib in 1997.
I'm not sure which parties would be involved though - perhaps the Greens as their realistic target seats will be few and far between most likely.
Interesting polling. In all but two of the match ups (Lib Dems vs Labour or the Greens) the more left wing option is ahead.
Yes, very interesting polling. Reform lose every contest, with the implication they have the plurality of unpopularity as well as, from current general polling, the plurality of popularity.
So ensuring they don't form a government should be easy.
There is one central problem, and another secondary problem, and the next election may well turn on its resolution: Firstly identifying the party in each relevant seat that can beat Reform in a world where Labour unusually hold all the seats that are most likely to change hands, but are now unloved.
(Cumbria, apart from Farron's seat is my example but is typical: 2024: all Labour. 2019: all Tory. Projected 2029: all Reform. Which party is the tactical vote?)
The secondary problem is how to know if voting Tory is in fact a vote for a Reform + Tory government or not.
Indeed and this is the big question for Badenoch going forward. Whatever her public criticisms of Reform before an election, do we still think IF the numbers work for a Reform minority Government, she will offer Confidence & Supply to Farage? I suspect this is something she has been pondering - I would if I were her.
Publicly, it will be all about maximising the Conservative vote but as we know what leaders say before the votes are cast and what they do once they are counted aren't always the same.
Davey faces a similar dilemma - would he support a minority second term Labour Government with Confidence & Supply?
Both Badenoch and Davey could come out before the election and say they will neither support a Reform minority nor a Labour minority but the charge then will be, as it would have for Clegg in 2010, to have been to cause chaos in the name of self indulgence.
The test would then be whether either or both would vote down a Reform or Labour Queen's Speech and trigger a second election - I suspect they'd get little thanks from the public for that.
If Farage = 280 and Kemi = 50 she'll probably have to If Farage = 190 and Kemi = 140 he can f off
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
No one has been concerned by bullying allegations for 10 years
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
This must have been what Starmer enigmatically referred to yesterday when he said 'nobody is above the law.'
Just seems odd that Pandy is arrested for “misconduct in public office” for the Trade Envoy emails and Mandy isn’t for the ones he allegedly sent.
Random guesses (any of the following)
1) Andrew put detailed “this is the offence and I am committing it” stuff in the emails. Thick as mince. 2) He isn’t trying the “emails are all fake - get better proven copies” thing. Not questioning the evidence 3) Mandy is in deeper - they are finding more and more stuff 4) the pressure to arrest someone is immense 5) Andrew has decided to give a full confession, sobbing everyone else in. The arrest would be part of plea bargain process. 6) they have contrastive evidence on Andrew. Protection officers in the room?
Interesting polling. In all but two of the match ups (Lib Dems vs Labour or the Greens) the more left wing option is ahead.
Yes, very interesting polling. Reform lose every contest, with the implication they have the plurality of unpopularity as well as, from current general polling, the plurality of popularity.
So ensuring they don't form a government should be easy.
There is one central problem, and another secondary problem, and the next election may well turn on its resolution: Firstly identifying the party in each relevant seat that can beat Reform in a world where Labour unusually hold all the seats that are most likely to change hands, but are now unloved.
(Cumbria, apart from Farron's seat is my example but is typical: 2024: all Labour. 2019: all Tory. Projected 2029: all Reform. Which party is the tactical vote?)
The secondary problem is how to know if voting Tory is in fact a vote for a Reform + Tory government or not.
Indeed and this is the big question for Badenoch going forward. Whatever her public criticisms of Reform before an election, do we still think IF the numbers work for a Reform minority Government, she will offer Confidence & Supply to Farage? I suspect this is something she has been pondering - I would if I were her.
Publicly, it will be all about maximising the Conservative vote but as we know what leaders say before the votes are cast and what they do once they are counted aren't always the same.
Davey faces a similar dilemma - would he support a minority second term Labour Government with Confidence & Supply?
Both Badenoch and Davey could come out before the election and say they will neither support a Reform minority nor a Labour minority but the charge then will be, as it would have for Clegg in 2010, to have been to cause chaos in the name of self indulgence.
The test would then be whether either or both would vote down a Reform or Labour Queen's Speech and trigger a second election - I suspect they'd get little thanks from the public for that.
As Nick Clegg found out between 2010 and 2015, holding the balance of power is a lot less fun than it's made out to be. Apart from the German FDP, has anyone really thrived in the role?
It’s just depressing how brutally the UK is divided. A division mirrored on PB
There is one way to unite the country, some kind of grand project we can all get behind. To that end I propose
THE LEONDAMUS MEMORIAL PARK
It should occupy the largely unnecessary green spaces that at present form Regent’s Park. Instead of the silly football fields and zoo, there would be a 8000 metre high statue of me, made from Cornish granite, serpentine, emeralds, and inexplicably radioactive Portland stone, surrounded by various pavilions inscribed with jewels spelling out some of my most famous neologisms from PB like “baxtered”, “skyr tolmakersson”, “rogerdamus”, “gaylording ponceyboots”, “eadric”, “farmy farm” and “only one photo a day”
Various stalls would be erected season by season offering fruit ices and gummy bears with profits going to my own charity, inspired by Save the Children, which we all know as “save the really hot ones”
Well, that would unite us all.
In criticism of it...
I presume you’re joking?! Or you are inadvertently proving my point. It’s cynicism like this that is polarising and enfeeblibg the nation. Why can’t we dream? Why not show some ambition?
I’m right now at the Chiang Kai Shel memorial hall in Taipei and there are happy families and local young people gathered together picnicking and dallying and singing patriotic songs. Quite frankly it’s inspiring. Why can’t we do the same??
A ridiculously huge statue and numbingly vast plaza dedicated entirely to me and my sayings and other things connected to me, right in the middle of London, is exactly the kind of thing we could all get behind. A focus of unity which we desperately need
Because we’re ashamed of our past and it would offend people with they/them pronouns, pink hair wearing a keffiyeh.
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
No one has been concerned by bullying allegations for 10 years
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
Total hypocricicy
Which Tory will be the attack bitch
Pritti Patel PMSL
I'd have more respect for you if you owned it. You went nuts last week about a Tory who had allegations made sitting next to Badenoch, now you don't care about allegations.
The BBC reckons there's no precedent for the arrest, but go back 500 years or so and they were sticking each other in the Tower of London all the time.
It’s just depressing how brutally the UK is divided. A division mirrored on PB
There is one way to unite the country, some kind of grand project we can all get behind. To that end I propose
THE LEONDAMUS MEMORIAL PARK
It should occupy the largely unnecessary green spaces that at present form Regent’s Park. Instead of the silly football fields and zoo, there would be a 8000 metre high statue of me, made from Cornish granite, serpentine, emeralds, and inexplicably radioactive Portland stone, surrounded by various pavilions inscribed with jewels spelling out some of my most famous neologisms from PB like “baxtered”, “skyr tolmakersson”, “rogerdamus”, “gaylording ponceyboots”, “eadric”, “farmy farm” and “only one photo a day”
Various stalls would be erected season by season offering fruit ices and gummy bears with profits going to my own charity, inspired by Save the Children, which we all know as “save the really hot ones”
We tried the national monument wheeze with the Millennium Dome and all we got out of that was Lord Mandelson.
Odd thing about the Millennium Dome. For all the criticism and the ghastliness of the 1999 NYE party, my wife went there to the exhibition and really enjoyed it. And it then became a successful venue.
The longer this century goes on, the more I think my 1999 NYE decision to have an early night and read The Darkling Thrush (dated 31 December 1900) was about right.
The land's sharp features seemed to be The Century's corpse outleant, His crypt the cloudy canopy, The wind his death-lament. The ancient pulse of germ and birth Was shrunken hard and dry, And every spirit upon earth Seemed fervourless as I.
We had gone away as a group of friends to stay in Malvern. That night we climbed the hills and was able to see fireworks going off all across the Severn valley for tens of miles. Glorious.
Thanks to Railtrack ineptness on November 5th in the late 90s, I once spent far too long on a very windswept Peterborough railway station, which unexpectedly afforded me a view of four different firework displays.
This experience means I can easily understand why Louise Doughty chose to set her novel Platform Seven in Peterborough.
My wife (then girlfriend) tried to get a visa to visit her friend in Iran about twelve years ago. The Iranians rejected her application. I was somewhat relieved - and that was before Zaghari-Ratcliffe (I suspect she'd have had the good sense not to try of that had already happened).
Friend also left shortly after and now holds Australian citizenship, although still with some family in Iran.
My wife (then girlfriend) tried to get a visa to visit her friend in Iran about twelve years ago. The Iranians rejected her application. I was somewhat relieved - and that was before Zaghari-Ratcliffe (I suspect she'd have had the good sense not to try of that had already happened).
Friend also left shortly after and now holds Australian citizenship, although still with some family in Iran.
The whole thing is a game. They are just hostages by a quasi legal fiction. Starmer will almost certainly pay the money, unless regime change comes first,
The BBC reckons there's no precedent for the arrest, but go back 500 years or so and they were sticking each other in the Tower of London all the time.
If only they had banged up another Prince in the Tower...
The BBC reckons there's no precedent for the arrest, but go back 500 years or so and they were sticking each other in the Tower of London all the time.
I think the practice came to an end when the Stuarts replaced the Tudors. One of the traditions of the Norman/Welsh Kings of England that the Scottish and German monarchs didn't imitate.
I suppose it rather lost its charm when Parliament started in on the imprisoning/executing Royals line of business.
Breaking news. An unnamed man in his 60s has been arrested on the Sandringham Estate on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Wonder who that might be? Intriguing.🧐
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
No one has been concerned by bullying allegations for 10 years
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
Total hypocricicy
Which Tory will be the attack bitch
Pritti Patel PMSL
I'd have more respect for you if you owned it. You went nuts last week about a Tory who had allegations made sitting next to Badenoch, now you don't care about allegations.
Never change.
Romeo has been vetted and passed for senior roles under Tory PMs and passed.
She was vetted in 2024 for this role and past.
Bullying Allegations were made ALLEGATIONS
Patel was found GUILTY
No Tory PM has the backbone to remove her despite her GUILT
You just carry on digging that hole of complete hypocrisy.
My wife (then girlfriend) tried to get a visa to visit her friend in Iran about twelve years ago. The Iranians rejected her application. I was somewhat relieved - and that was before Zaghari-Ratcliffe (I suspect she'd have had the good sense not to try of that had already happened).
Friend also left shortly after and now holds Australian citizenship, although still with some family in Iran.
Despite being born in India, Mrs DA is of Iranian heritage and still has family there. She won't dream of visiting, though I went in 2009ish. I would go again. No problem with a 26C passport (real soft power).
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
No one has been concerned by bullying allegations for 10 years
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
Total hypocricicy
Which Tory will be the attack bitch
Pritti Patel PMSL
I'd have more respect for you if you owned it. You went nuts last week about a Tory who had allegations made sitting next to Badenoch, now you don't care about allegations.
Never change.
Romeo has been vetted and passed for senior roles under Tory PMs and passed.
She was vetted in 2024 for this role and past.
Bullying Allegations were made ALLEGATIONS
Patel was found GUILTY
No Tory PM has the backbone to remove her despite her GUILT
You just carry on digging that hole of complete hypocrisy.
Who mentioned Patel? You were wibbling about a male Tory MP last week.
The royal family face their biggest crisis since the abdication of Edward in 1936
They are going to have the press pack hounding them whenever or wherever they appear in public
Yeah, King Prince Charles is going to have to constantly answer questions about what he knew and when. I suspect his preening self-regard will prevent him from chucking the towel and letting the Baldy Basketcase have go to establish a clean break with the sordid past.
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
No one has been concerned by bullying allegations for 10 years
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
Total hypocricicy
Which Tory will be the attack bitch
Pritti Patel PMSL
I'd have more respect for you if you owned it. You went nuts last week about a Tory who had allegations made sitting next to Badenoch, now you don't care about allegations.
Never change.
Romeo has been vetted and passed for senior roles under Tory PMs and passed.
She was vetted in 2024 for this role and past.
Bullying Allegations were made ALLEGATIONS
Patel was found GUILTY
No Tory PM has the backbone to remove her despite her GUILT
You just carry on digging that hole of complete hypocrisy.
Interesting polling. In all but two of the match ups (Lib Dems vs Labour or the Greens) the more left wing option is ahead.
Yes, very interesting polling. Reform lose every contest, with the implication they have the plurality of unpopularity as well as, from current general polling, the plurality of popularity.
So ensuring they don't form a government should be easy.
There is one central problem, and another secondary problem, and the next election may well turn on its resolution: Firstly identifying the party in each relevant seat that can beat Reform in a world where Labour unusually hold all the seats that are most likely to change hands, but are now unloved.
(Cumbria, apart from Farron's seat is my example but is typical: 2024: all Labour. 2019: all Tory. Projected 2029: all Reform. Which party is the tactical vote?)
The secondary problem is how to know if voting Tory is in fact a vote for a Reform + Tory government or not.
Indeed and this is the big question for Badenoch going forward. Whatever her public criticisms of Reform before an election, do we still think IF the numbers work for a Reform minority Government, she will offer Confidence & Supply to Farage? I suspect this is something she has been pondering - I would if I were her.
Publicly, it will be all about maximising the Conservative vote but as we know what leaders say before the votes are cast and what they do once they are counted aren't always the same.
Davey faces a similar dilemma - would he support a minority second term Labour Government with Confidence & Supply?
Both Badenoch and Davey could come out before the election and say they will neither support a Reform minority nor a Labour minority but the charge then will be, as it would have for Clegg in 2010, to have been to cause chaos in the name of self indulgence.
The test would then be whether either or both would vote down a Reform or Labour Queen's Speech and trigger a second election - I suspect they'd get little thanks from the public for that.
Yes. Largely agree. It seems to me the Tories may find themselves in a unique situation, for which the name is Zugzwang. As things stand we know that no other significant party will touch Reform with a bargepole. The 'left of centre' grouping (Lab, LD, G, PC, SNP) has an unambiguous nature.
Obvs the Tories may or may not deal with Reform. Some will only vote for them if they will, some (including me) will only vote for them if the won't. The remaining group who don't care either way exists but isn't a lots of seats winning sized group.
Only three courses are open to them, and it isn't possible to opt out, as one of the courses is doing and saying nothing:
Yes we would. No we won't. Do and say nothing/ambiguity/we decide after the election/we are going to win it doesn't arise. These are identical.
The royal family face their biggest crisis since the abdication of Edward in 1936
They are going to have the press pack hounding them whenever or wherever they appear in public
For more than 22 years Andrew was second-in-line to the throne. It's bad, but it's out of their hands now. Not sure whether it's better for them to see him convicted, and housed at His Majesty's Pleasure somewhere less comfortable than Sandringham, or not.
The royal family face their biggest crisis since the abdication of Edward in 1936
They are going to have the press pack hounding them whenever or wherever they appear in public
Yeah, King Prince Charles is going to have to constantly answer questions about what he knew and when. I suspect his preening self-regard will prevent him from chucking the towel and letting the Baldy Basketcase have go to establish a clean break with the sordid past.
Careful, speculation on King BB the first of Great Britain could result in some on PB exploding with delighted excitement.
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Watching this media 'fest' goodness only knows what happens if and when Mandelson is also arrested
Rather less, I'd have thought.
Partly, the former Grand Old Duke of Yuck was in the queue to be King, which Mandelson wasn't.
Partly, whilst the allegations against Mandy are very very bad, the ones against Andy are worse- all the same bad stuff, plus Actually Doing It with people who he shouldn't have.
As the Contempt of Court Act is now in effect with regard to allegations of misconduct by the former prince, the reporting free-for-all will have to calm down a bit. I am sure this has not occurred to any of the courtiers and relatives who had to give the nod to this.
Watching this media 'fest' goodness only knows what happens if and when Mandelson is also arrested
I suspect it will struggle to find airtime TBH. Nothing can compete with the arrest of the King's brother. I suspect this is a lucky break for Starmer, even if it does suggest a Mandy nicking is also incoming.
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
No one has been concerned by bullying allegations for 10 years
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
Total hypocricicy
Which Tory will be the attack bitch
Pritti Patel PMSL
I'd have more respect for you if you owned it. You went nuts last week about a Tory who had allegations made sitting next to Badenoch, now you don't care about allegations.
Never change.
Romeo has been vetted and passed for senior roles under Tory PMs and passed.
She was vetted in 2024 for this role and past.
Bullying Allegations were made ALLEGATIONS
Patel was found GUILTY
No Tory PM has the backbone to remove her despite her GUILT
You just carry on digging that hole of complete hypocrisy.
Wasn't Mandelson also vetted and approved?
Not the level of vetting Romeo has had on 4 occasions
The allegations in 2016 were fully investigated and turfed out, no case to answer.
May be you should be asking May, Boris, Truss and Sunak why they were happy to have her.?
MAY BE you should also ask Sunak and Badenoch why they work with a BULLY found GUILTY by the Independent assessor
The royal family face their biggest crisis since the abdication of Edward in 1936
They are going to have the press pack hounding them whenever or wherever they appear in public
For more than 22 years Andrew was second-in-line to the throne. It's bad, but it's out of their hands now. Not sure whether it's better for them to see him convicted, and housed at His Majesty's Pleasure somewhere less comfortable than Sandringham, or not.
Having a lag in the family would show the common touch...
Watching this media 'fest' goodness only knows what happens if and when Mandelson is also arrested
I suspect it will struggle to find airtime TBH. Nothing can compete with the arrest of the King's brother. I suspect this is a lucky break for Starmer, even if it does suggest a Mandy nicking is also incoming.
No Emmerdale or Coronation Street for weeks... ITN will go in to meltdown
It’s just depressing how brutally the UK is divided. A division mirrored on PB
There is one way to unite the country, some kind of grand project we can all get behind. To that end I propose
THE LEONDAMUS MEMORIAL PARK
It should occupy the largely unnecessary green spaces that at present form Regent’s Park. Instead of the silly football fields and zoo, there would be a 8000 metre high statue of me, made from Cornish granite, serpentine, emeralds, and inexplicably radioactive Portland stone, surrounded by various pavilions inscribed with jewels spelling out some of my most famous neologisms from PB like “baxtered”, “skyr tolmakersson”, “rogerdamus”, “gaylording ponceyboots”, “eadric”, “farmy farm” and “only one photo a day”
Various stalls would be erected season by season offering fruit ices and gummy bears with profits going to my own charity, inspired by Save the Children, which we all know as “save the really hot ones”
We tried the national monument wheeze with the Millennium Dome and all we got out of that was Lord Mandelson.
Odd thing about the Millennium Dome. For all the criticism and the ghastliness of the 1999 NYE party, my wife went there to the exhibition and really enjoyed it. And it then became a successful venue.
I agree with her. The Dome was fantastic. I went there about 4 times during 2000. The media didn't like it because on 31st December 1999 they were left out in the cold by a fire alert at Stratford tube station. It's a long story.
That just means its a common law offence, meaning not one defined in legislation, so Parliament has not set a maximum penalty for it. The offence is due to be replaced by some statutory gubbins this Parliament sometime.
As the Contempt of Court Act is now in effect with regard to allegations of misconduct by the former prince, the reporting free-for-all will have to calm down a bit. I am sure this has not occurred to any of the courtiers and relatives who had to give the nod to this.
Sounds like the kind of sneaky advice Mandelson might give.
Morning all. The Standard has a piece up digging muvh too deeply and earnestly into the London subsample of this polling suggesting Reform will get shut out (they weirdly seem to suggest zero Reform seats at a GE in London) Not suggesting we take that at face value but it mentions areas like Bexley snd Bromley swinging behind the Tories to stop Reform. We have a good test of that theory coming up........
As far as Bromley goes, Reform narrowly took Bromley Common at near the height of their popularity in July and the bottom of the Tories and there is 32% Lab LD to 'squeeze' (if we follow the Standard). Bromley will be, i think, a good test of the Tory firewall
Sub samples? I was told off for using a sub sample of England VI and a weighted vote of 2000 yet the Standard is probably playing guesswork with much smaller numbers.
On other sites, there are all sorts of analyses and predictions about London right down to Ward level. In truth, no one, except those very close to a particular area, knows for sure and that's the fascination. I can make some informed predictions on Newham but I could very easily be wrong.
A lot will depend on the candidates and the extent to which, for example, Reform fields full slates or whether in their weaker areas, both the Labour and Conservative parties will struggle to find candidates.
It’s just depressing how brutally the UK is divided. A division mirrored on PB
There is one way to unite the country, some kind of grand project we can all get behind. To that end I propose
THE LEONDAMUS MEMORIAL PARK
It should occupy the largely unnecessary green spaces that at present form Regent’s Park. Instead of the silly football fields and zoo, there would be a 8000 metre high statue of me, made from Cornish granite, serpentine, emeralds, and inexplicably radioactive Portland stone, surrounded by various pavilions inscribed with jewels spelling out some of my most famous neologisms from PB like “baxtered”, “skyr tolmakersson”, “rogerdamus”, “gaylording ponceyboots”, “eadric”, “farmy farm” and “only one photo a day”
Various stalls would be erected season by season offering fruit ices and gummy bears with profits going to my own charity, inspired by Save the Children, which we all know as “save the really hot ones”
We tried the national monument wheeze with the Millennium Dome and all we got out of that was Lord Mandelson.
Odd thing about the Millennium Dome. For all the criticism and the ghastliness of the 1999 NYE party, my wife went there to the exhibition and really enjoyed it. And it then became a successful venue.
I agree with her. The Dome was fantastic. I went there about 4 times during 2000. The media didn't like it because on 31st December 1999 they were left out in the cold by a fire alert at Stratford tube station. It's a long story.
Have to say I went twice and thought it was marvellous and a real triumph.
Yes. I fail to see a significant difference between them
Andy is thick and was appallingly brought up.
Also the leaked info he leaked was sh*t, Mandy's was potentially highly lucrative.
If the Royals are playing their usual role of media cover, then Mandy may be attending a voluntary interview somewhere on the quiet. A bit less pleasant for them than the usual "is her bump showing yet? Kate looks radiant", but former Prince "paedo" arrested for misconduct does the job.
That just means its a common law offence, meaning not one defined in legislation, so Parliament has not set a maximum penalty for it. The offence is due to be replaced by some statutory gubbins this Parliament sometime.
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
No one has been concerned by bullying allegations for 10 years
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
Total hypocricicy
Which Tory will be the attack bitch
Pritti Patel PMSL
I'd have more respect for you if you owned it. You went nuts last week about a Tory who had allegations made sitting next to Badenoch, now you don't care about allegations.
Never change.
Romeo has been vetted and passed for senior roles under Tory PMs and passed.
She was vetted in 2024 for this role and past.
Bullying Allegations were made ALLEGATIONS
Patel was found GUILTY
No Tory PM has the backbone to remove her despite her GUILT
You just carry on digging that hole of complete hypocrisy.
Who mentioned Patel? You were wibbling about a male Tory MP last week.
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
No one has been concerned by bullying allegations for 10 years
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
Total hypocricicy
Which Tory will be the attack bitch
Pritti Patel PMSL
I'd have more respect for you if you owned it. You went nuts last week about a Tory who had allegations made sitting next to Badenoch, now you don't care about allegations.
Never change.
When it is chatting about Brum, food, Blues and stuff Brixian is sound but the tribal stuff is just way too much.
Interesting polling. In all but two of the match ups (Lib Dems vs Labour or the Greens) the more left wing option is ahead.
Yes, very interesting polling. Reform lose every contest, with the implication they have the plurality of unpopularity as well as, from current general polling, the plurality of popularity.
So ensuring they don't form a government should be easy.
There is one central problem, and another secondary problem, and the next election may well turn on its resolution: Firstly identifying the party in each relevant seat that can beat Reform in a world where Labour unusually hold all the seats that are most likely to change hands, but are now unloved.
(Cumbria, apart from Farron's seat is my example but is typical: 2024: all Labour. 2019: all Tory. Projected 2029: all Reform. Which party is the tactical vote?)
The secondary problem is how to know if voting Tory is in fact a vote for a Reform + Tory government or not.
Indeed and this is the big question for Badenoch going forward. Whatever her public criticisms of Reform before an election, do we still think IF the numbers work for a Reform minority Government, she will offer Confidence & Supply to Farage? I suspect this is something she has been pondering - I would if I were her.
Publicly, it will be all about maximising the Conservative vote but as we know what leaders say before the votes are cast and what they do once they are counted aren't always the same.
Davey faces a similar dilemma - would he support a minority second term Labour Government with Confidence & Supply?
Both Badenoch and Davey could come out before the election and say they will neither support a Reform minority nor a Labour minority but the charge then will be, as it would have for Clegg in 2010, to have been to cause chaos in the name of self indulgence.
The test would then be whether either or both would vote down a Reform or Labour Queen's Speech and trigger a second election - I suspect they'd get little thanks from the public for that.
I think we will see semi-official unpublicised verbal agreements to lay off certain constituencies, as we did between Lab and Lib in 1997.
I'm not sure which parties would be involved though - perhaps the Greens as their realistic target seats will be few and far between most likely.
The BBC reckons there's no precedent for the arrest, but go back 500 years or so and they were sticking each other in the Tower of London all the time.
I think the practice came to an end when the Stuarts replaced the Tudors. One of the traditions of the Norman/Welsh Kings of England that the Scottish and German monarchs didn't imitate.
I suppose it rather lost its charm when Parliament started in on the imprisoning/executing Royals line of business.
This is part of what makes 17th century British history so amazing. In 1599 we still lived in the world of killing royals and catholics, religious wars across Europe and absolute monarchs. By 1699 we were in the world of Lockean liberalism, The Toleration Act, and parliament deciding who the monarch was and how the succession worked, and no-one being killed for believing something a bit odd.
(The last was 1697, Thomas Akenhead, hanged in Edinburgh for blasphemy.)
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
No one has been concerned by bullying allegations for 10 years
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
Total hypocricicy
Which Tory will be the attack bitch
Pritti Patel PMSL
I'd have more respect for you if you owned it. You went nuts last week about a Tory who had allegations made sitting next to Badenoch, now you don't care about allegations.
Never change.
When it is chatting about Brum, food, Blues and stuff Brixian is sound but the tribal stuff is just way too much.
Labour appoint a woman who has held 3 key private secretary posts under Tory Governments...
Nothing tribal from me.
It's not like they've appointed Jack Grealish as Minister for Sport
The only tribality is from the Tories, OK for them, a bully suddenly for us
That just means its a common law offence, meaning not one defined in legislation, so Parliament has not set a maximum penalty for it. The offence is due to be replaced by some statutory gubbins this Parliament sometime.
Watching this media 'fest' goodness only knows what happens if and when Mandelson is also arrested
I suspect it will struggle to find airtime TBH. Nothing can compete with the arrest of the King's brother. I suspect this is a lucky break for Starmer, even if it does suggest a Mandy nicking is also incoming.
It's also an airtime challenge, as the story is unmissable but actually there is nothing of substance you can say.
Morning all. The Standard has a piece up digging muvh too deeply and earnestly into the London subsample of this polling suggesting Reform will get shut out (they weirdly seem to suggest zero Reform seats at a GE in London) Not suggesting we take that at face value but it mentions areas like Bexley snd Bromley swinging behind the Tories to stop Reform. We have a good test of that theory coming up........
As far as Bromley goes, Reform narrowly took Bromley Common at near the height of their popularity in July and the bottom of the Tories and there is 32% Lab LD to 'squeeze' (if we follow the Standard). Bromley will be, i think, a good test of the Tory firewall
Sub samples? I was told off for using a sub sample of England VI and a weighted vote of 2000 yet the Standard is probably playing guesswork with much smaller numbers.
On other sites, there are all sorts of analyses and predictions about London right down to Ward level. In truth, no one, except those very close to a particular area, knows for sure and that's the fascination. I can make some informed predictions on Newham but I could very easily be wrong.
A lot will depend on the candidates and the extent to which, for example, Reform fields full slates or whether in their weaker areas, both the Labour and Conservative parties will struggle to find candidates.
500 odd. So, yes, much smaller numbers It is indeed fascinating. The by elections since last May at least give us the kernel of an idea
"Keir Starmer’s administration will “pause for thought” on plans to bring legislation underpinning the deal back to the House of Lords, a senior U.K. government official briefed on the plans and granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the record, said."
This must have been what Starmer enigmatically referred to yesterday when he said 'nobody is above the law.'
Just seems odd that Pandy is arrested for “misconduct in public office” for the Trade Envoy emails and Mandy isn’t for the ones he allegedly sent.
Recall, however, that the police have searched Lord Mandypants’s homes in London and Wiltshire and, if they are actually arresting the Andrew formerly known as Prince, then an arrest of Lord M may not be far away
This isn’t going away soon, not for the royals and not for Skyr
Given the govt has commissioned a report into foreign interference in UK politics, timed just to come out before the locals, and ostensibly to label Reform fully pro Russian do you really expect they will allow Mandelson with the Russian, and other, allegations plaguing him to be arrested and interviewed about it ?
Excellent service and widely respected by successive Tory Governments
Let's cut the bullshit of a few mysoginst old duffers who have tried to smear her. If the Right Wing media attack her there will be hundreds of positive quotes from previous Tory Ministers she's worked for.
Not concerned by the bullying allegations? Of course not, she's on your side and that kind of thing only matters when your opponents do it, right?
No one has been concerned by bullying allegations for 10 years
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
Total hypocricicy
Which Tory will be the attack bitch
Pritti Patel PMSL
I'd have more respect for you if you owned it. You went nuts last week about a Tory who had allegations made sitting next to Badenoch, now you don't care about allegations.
Never change.
When it is chatting about Brum, food, Blues and stuff Brixian is sound but the tribal stuff is just way too much.
Labour appoint a woman who has held 3 key private secretary posts under Tory Governments...
Nothing tribal from me.
It's not like they've appointed Jack Grealish as Minister for Sport
The only tribality is from the Tories, OK for them, a bully suddenly for us
Come off it. Jack would be great in that role - and England duties are unlikely to interfere any time soon.
That just means its a common law offence, meaning not one defined in legislation, so Parliament has not set a maximum penalty for it. The offence is due to be replaced by some statutory gubbins this Parliament sometime.
Interesting polling. In all but two of the match ups (Lib Dems vs Labour or the Greens) the more left wing option is ahead.
Yes, very interesting polling. Reform lose every contest, with the implication they have the plurality of unpopularity as well as, from current general polling, the plurality of popularity.
So ensuring they don't form a government should be easy.
There is one central problem, and another secondary problem, and the next election may well turn on its resolution: Firstly identifying the party in each relevant seat that can beat Reform in a world where Labour unusually hold all the seats that are most likely to change hands, but are now unloved.
(Cumbria, apart from Farron's seat is my example but is typical: 2024: all Labour. 2019: all Tory. Projected 2029: all Reform. Which party is the tactical vote?)
The secondary problem is how to know if voting Tory is in fact a vote for a Reform + Tory government or not.
Indeed and this is the big question for Badenoch going forward. Whatever her public criticisms of Reform before an election, do we still think IF the numbers work for a Reform minority Government, she will offer Confidence & Supply to Farage? I suspect this is something she has been pondering - I would if I were her.
Publicly, it will be all about maximising the Conservative vote but as we know what leaders say before the votes are cast and what they do once they are counted aren't always the same.
Davey faces a similar dilemma - would he support a minority second term Labour Government with Confidence & Supply?
Both Badenoch and Davey could come out before the election and say they will neither support a Reform minority nor a Labour minority but the charge then will be, as it would have for Clegg in 2010, to have been to cause chaos in the name of self indulgence.
The test would then be whether either or both would vote down a Reform or Labour Queen's Speech and trigger a second election - I suspect they'd get little thanks from the public for that.
I think we will see semi-official unpublicised verbal agreements to lay off certain constituencies, as we did between Lab and Lib in 1997.
I'm not sure which parties would be involved though - perhaps the Greens as their realistic target seats will be few and far between most likely.
Greens came second in 40 seats in 2024
That looks like a good basis for a negotiation - a decent number of targets to ask another party to leave alone, or to agree to leave alone.
Interesting polling. In all but two of the match ups (Lib Dems vs Labour or the Greens) the more left wing option is ahead.
Yes, very interesting polling. Reform lose every contest, with the implication they have the plurality of unpopularity as well as, from current general polling, the plurality of popularity.
So ensuring they don't form a government should be easy.
There is one central problem, and another secondary problem, and the next election may well turn on its resolution: Firstly identifying the party in each relevant seat that can beat Reform in a world where Labour unusually hold all the seats that are most likely to change hands, but are now unloved.
(Cumbria, apart from Farron's seat is my example but is typical: 2024: all Labour. 2019: all Tory. Projected 2029: all Reform. Which party is the tactical vote?)
The secondary problem is how to know if voting Tory is in fact a vote for a Reform + Tory government or not.
Indeed and this is the big question for Badenoch going forward. Whatever her public criticisms of Reform before an election, do we still think IF the numbers work for a Reform minority Government, she will offer Confidence & Supply to Farage? I suspect this is something she has been pondering - I would if I were her.
Publicly, it will be all about maximising the Conservative vote but as we know what leaders say before the votes are cast and what they do once they are counted aren't always the same.
Davey faces a similar dilemma - would he support a minority second term Labour Government with Confidence & Supply?
Both Badenoch and Davey could come out before the election and say they will neither support a Reform minority nor a Labour minority but the charge then will be, as it would have for Clegg in 2010, to have been to cause chaos in the name of self indulgence.
The test would then be whether either or both would vote down a Reform or Labour Queen's Speech and trigger a second election - I suspect they'd get little thanks from the public for that.
Yes. Largely agree. It seems to me the Tories may find themselves in a unique situation, for which the name is Zugzwang. As things stand we know that no other significant party will touch Reform with a bargepole. The 'left of centre' grouping (Lab, LD, G, PC, SNP) has an unambiguous nature.
Obvs the Tories may or may not deal with Reform. Some will only vote for them if they will, some (including me) will only vote for them if the won't. The remaining group who don't care either way exists but isn't a lots of seats winning sized group.
Only three courses are open to them, and it isn't possible to opt out, as one of the courses is doing and saying nothing:
Yes we would. No we won't. Do and say nothing/ambiguity/we decide after the election/we are going to win it doesn't arise. These are identical.
Each course, as things stand now, is damaging.
Yes and the LDs, who have had much more experience of this, called it "equidistance" and that policy served them well until 2010. If, of course, Reform or Labour win an outright majority, it won't matter and both Badenoch and Davey will probably and quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
The other "hope" for Badenoch is Restore Britain - if, pace Referendum in 1997, Lowe's party has the funds to put up a candidate in every seat, they will likely draw 2-4% away from Reform which could make all the difference.
Comments
QEII really should not have given him cover.
This isn’t going away soon, not for the royals and not for Skyr
I was startled at the way the behaviour was defended. By other women.
Morally, the molesting girls allegations are far worse, of course they are. And if Andrew goes to his grave without justice being served, that is a bad thing. But if this is the thing that he can be sent down for, becuase it's potentially utterly unambiguous, so be it.
(And yes, Mandy is also potenitally in deep doodoo here. As are those who presumably knew (the Palace must have known something, surely?) but sat on the information.)
People would happily pay a tenner to see both of them in chains. The modern-day equivalent of Bedlam.
Chuck in Tony Blair and make it £20...
I'm not sure which parties would be involved though - perhaps the Greens as their realistic target seats will be few and far between most likely.
If Farage = 190 and Kemi = 140 he can f off
Who the feck has she worked for on that time.
Oh the Daily fucking Mail... Its OK for a bully to work for May, Boris, Truss Sunak no problem, give her a chance.
The minute Starmer appoints her... Oh let's spread some fucking shit
Total hypocricicy
Which Tory will be the attack bitch
Pritti Patel PMSL
1) Andrew put detailed “this is the offence and I am committing it” stuff in the emails. Thick as mince.
2) He isn’t trying the “emails are all fake - get better proven copies” thing. Not questioning the evidence
3) Mandy is in deeper - they are finding more and more stuff
4) the pressure to arrest someone is immense
5) Andrew has decided to give a full confession, sobbing everyone else in. The arrest would be part of plea bargain process.
6) they have contrastive evidence on Andrew. Protection officers in the room?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c747nqply93o
Why do people take the risk?
Harsh timing.
Never change.
This experience means I can easily understand why Louise Doughty chose to set her novel Platform Seven in Peterborough.
"Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office."
take a shot every time you hear the words "just glad the queen isn't here to see this"
The Andy and Mandy Show. Although it probably won't go to court until 2029.
Still, his mum must be causing the foundations of Windsor Castle to be vibrating, such will be the rate of her rotation...
Friend also left shortly after and now holds Australian citizenship, although still with some family in Iran.
Westminster Voting Intention:
RFM: 28% (+13)
LAB: 21% (-14)
CON: 20% (-4)
GRN: 12% (+5)
LDM: 12% (-1)
SNP: 3% (=)
Via @GoodGrowthFdn - New BPC pollster! - 13-16 Feb.
Changes w/ GE2024.
https://x.com/i/status/2024379106637345070
I suppose it rather lost its charm when Parliament started in on the imprisoning/executing Royals line of business.
'Fucksake, £10 million for NOTHING!'
They are going to have the press pack hounding them whenever or wherever they appear in public
She was vetted in 2024 for this role and past.
Bullying Allegations were made ALLEGATIONS
Patel was found GUILTY
No Tory PM has the backbone to remove her despite her GUILT
You just carry on digging that hole of complete hypocrisy.
Andy is thick and was appallingly brought up.
Obvs the Tories may or may not deal with Reform. Some will only vote for them if they will, some (including me) will only vote for them if the won't. The remaining group who don't care either way exists but isn't a lots of seats winning sized group.
Only three courses are open to them, and it isn't possible to opt out, as one of the courses is doing and saying nothing:
Yes we would.
No we won't.
Do and say nothing/ambiguity/we decide after the election/we are going to win it doesn't arise. These are identical.
Each course, as things stand now, is damaging.
In my lifetime at least two former cabinet ministers have served prison time, zero Princes.
Partly, the former Grand Old Duke of Yuck was in the queue to be King, which Mandelson wasn't.
Partly, whilst the allegations against Mandy are very very bad, the ones against Andy are worse- all the same bad stuff, plus Actually Doing It with people who he shouldn't have.
This is even bigger than Currygate.
Thank goodness TSE is not on his holibobs.
Look at us, America. Who has the tyrannical monarchy now?
As the Contempt of Court Act is now in effect with regard to allegations of misconduct by the former prince, the reporting free-for-all will have to calm down a bit. I am sure this has not occurred to any of the courtiers and relatives who had to give the nod to this.
The allegations in 2016 were fully investigated and turfed out, no case to answer.
May be you should be asking May, Boris, Truss and Sunak why they were happy to have her.?
MAY BE you should also ask Sunak and Badenoch why they work with a BULLY found GUILTY by the Independent assessor
At Police Scotland speed I'd give it about 2 years.
But now they have one.
Fill your boots on the detail -
https://www.cps.gov.uk/prosecution-guidance/misconduct-public-office
On other sites, there are all sorts of analyses and predictions about London right down to Ward level. In truth, no one, except those very close to a particular area, knows for sure and that's the fascination. I can make some informed predictions on Newham but I could very easily be wrong.
A lot will depend on the candidates and the extent to which, for example, Reform fields full slates or whether in their weaker areas, both the Labour and Conservative parties will struggle to find candidates.
If the Royals are playing their usual role of media cover, then Mandy may be attending a voluntary interview somewhere on the quiet. A bit less pleasant for them than the usual "is her bump showing yet? Kate looks radiant", but former Prince "paedo" arrested for misconduct does the job.
I call him cedilla man
(The last was 1697, Thomas Akenhead, hanged in Edinburgh for blasphemy.)
https://youtu.be/7CyDNxPnvhw?si=l2geig-XHvPQapGd
Nothing tribal from me.
It's not like they've appointed Jack Grealish as Minister for Sport
The only tribality is from the Tories, OK for them, a bully suddenly for us
It is indeed fascinating. The by elections since last May at least give us the kernel of an idea
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-to-pause-for-thought-on-chagos-islands-deal-after-us-donald-trump-blast/
"Keir Starmer’s administration will “pause for thought” on plans to bring legislation underpinning the deal back to the House of Lords, a senior U.K. government official briefed on the plans and granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the record, said."
But a timely remindrr here to be careful
If it happens it will be post May.
Canada vs Korea is a straight shoot out, winner goes through, loser goes home.
We need to win and the USA to lose for team GB to go through.
Nothing became his life like the leaving of it... Macbeth
I call it for 5-10 Green seats in 2029 !
The other "hope" for Badenoch is Restore Britain - if, pace Referendum in 1997, Lowe's party has the funds to put up a candidate in every seat, they will likely draw 2-4% away from Reform which could make all the difference.
Should we start saying "Vote Lowe, Get Starmer" ?