Very interesting straw in the wind that the place where I have moved to, which is about as genteel Tory as you will get had a "Free Tommy" Robinson banner at the weekend at the main river bridge in the town. Yet another incident which shows that whatever you think of his views, and I disassociate myself completely from his anti-Islamic hysteria, that freedom of speech has been fatally undermined by this government, to its eternal shame. The mainstream media may be ignoring this story, but I sense that there is a ground swell of opinion that could rear its head in a most ugly way at a point down the line.
At least I no longer have Caroline Nokes as my constituency MP any longer........although the Tory MP on my new patch is no better!
Tommy Robinson is emphatically not a free speech martyr.
The authorities are acting entirely properly in seeking to preserve the integrity of the trial process.
I Expect you are right but the arrest,sentencing of 13 months and the news blackout - all done in a matter of hours leaves me a taste of East Germany than modern Britain.
Very interesting straw in the wind that the place where I have moved to, which is about as genteel Tory as you will get had a "Free Tommy" Robinson banner at the weekend at the main river bridge in the town. Yet another incident which shows that whatever you think of his views, and I disassociate myself completely from his anti-Islamic hysteria, that freedom of speech has been fatally undermined by this government, to its eternal shame. The mainstream media may be ignoring this story, but I sense that there is a ground swell of opinion that could rear its head in a most ugly way at a point down the line.
At least I no longer have Caroline Nokes as my constituency MP any longer........although the Tory MP on my new patch is no better!
Tommy Robinson is emphatically not a free speech martyr.
The authorities are acting entirely properly in seeking to preserve the integrity of the trial process.
I Expect you are right but the arrest,sentencing of 13 months and the news blackout - all done in a matter of hours leaves me a taste of East Germany than modern Britain.
I didn't know that East Germany was so protective of the rule of law and fair trials!
After about 10 minutes of research it looks like my relative has overpaid, quite significantly. Houses on the same road have sold for up to £200k less than what they paid very recently, and they seem to be in better condition too. I should find the name of that agent for when I next want to sell.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
Mind you, as Defence Secretaries go, Gavin Williamson is only middling in the pilllock stakes. Just look at some of the Blair appointees (Des Browne, Geoff Hoon, Bob Ainsworth...) and weep:
Mind you, as Defence Secretaries go, Gavin Williamson is only middling in the pilllock stakes. Just look at some of the Blair appointees (Des Browne, Geoff Hoon, Bob Ainsworth...) and weep:
Incidentally, my tongue was slightly in my cheek on the last thread. But I still don't know what pub cricket is. Something like fantasy football? (Perhaps, like Mr Williamson, I should stop digging.)
I will keep Josiah's warning about dogging in mind, should the subject come up...
Actually I didn't know what pub cricket was either.
I assumed that it was a pub which had a cricket team on the local village green or for this Scottish pub on the local beach:
I vaguely remember Auf Wiedersehen Pet showing this game while in Cuba but with roadkill instead of pub signs.
The Ship Inn is great. Decent beer. Awful parking in Elie in summer though. And half of the Edinburgh banking / law fraternity families have decamped there for a month.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Bromley is in Greater London but has a Kent postcode so seen (wrongly perhaps) as a grey area. It is true that non-London addresses usually command lower prices, even if they are in reality in London.
Very interesting straw in the wind that the place where I have moved to had a "Free Tommy" Robinson banner at the weekend at the main river bridge in the town. Yet another incident which shows that whatever you think of his views, and I disassociate myself completely from his anti-Islamic hysteria, that freedom of speech has been fatally undermined by this government, to its eternal shame.
Tommy Robinson is emphatically not a free speech martyr.
The authorities are acting entirely properly in seeking to preserve the integrity of the trial process.
I Expect you are right but the arrest,sentencing of 13 months and the news blackout - all done in a matter of hours leaves me a taste of East Germany than modern Britain.
OK - let's get things straight.
- TR had a suspended sentence. That means that if you commit another offence during the period of the suspended sentence you go to prison. That is a standard condition of suspended sentences. They are suspended on the basis of your good behaviour. If you misbehave you go to prison which is what you were sentenced to at the time. - He was explicitly warned by the judge at the time that if he misbehaved he would go straight to prison. - There are strict contempt of court laws in relation to trials which restrict what can be reported. This is not because we are like East Germany but because we take seriously the process of trial - namely that defendants are innocent until proven guilty and that the jury must decide on the basis of the evidence presented at court not on the basis of ill-informed comment and misinformation by others, amongst other things. - What TR was doing was breaching this and therefore potentially risking the trial. This would have meant that thousands of pounds of public money would have been wasted, the work done by the prosecution would have been for nothing, the defendants would not have received certainty and the victims would not have got justice. What kind of malicious moron puts all this at risk while claiming to speak for the victims? A moment's thought would make it clear that the victims' suffering would continue if the trial was aborted and/or if they had to go through the ordeal all over again.
TR knew all of this and deliberately waved two fingers at our judicial process while claiming - or allowing his supporters to claim - that he was being silenced because he spoke the truth, or some such bollocks. And it is bollocks because the truth of the allegations are being properly tested in court. Not on the streets. Which makes us very unlike - and better than - East Germany.
Our criminal process is not perfect. But it's better than most. And those who treat it - and the defendants and victims - with contempt rightly suffer the consequences
Very interesting straw in the wind that the place where I have moved to, which is about as genteel Tory as you will get had a "Free Tommy" Robinson banner at the weekend at the main river bridge in the town. Yet another incident which shows that whatever you think of his views, and I disassociate myself completely from his anti-Islamic hysteria, that freedom of speech has been fatally undermined by this government, to its eternal shame. The mainstream media may be ignoring this story, but I sense that there is a ground swell of opinion that could rear its head in a most ugly way at a point down the line.
At least I no longer have Caroline Nokes as my constituency MP any longer........although the Tory MP on my new patch is no better!
Tommy Robinson is emphatically not a free speech martyr.
The authorities are acting entirely properly in seeking to preserve the integrity of the trial process.
I Expect you are right but the arrest,sentencing of 13 months and the news blackout - all done in a matter of hours leaves me a taste of East Germany than modern Britain.
Yes - very badly and stupidly handled by the authorities. Do we really need D notices - supposedly meant for issues of national security - and media blackouts for someone arrested and jailed for filming outside a court about a case where the accused have all been mentioned and pictured in the local papers?
The story has got far more coverage as a result here and internationally than it would have done had they allowed the media to report it properly at the time. The related court case is still ongoing.
Robinson may not be a free speech martyr but he is going to be able to be presented as one.
Mind you, as Defence Secretaries go, Gavin Williamson is only middling in the pilllock stakes. Just look at some of the Blair appointees (Des Browne, Geoff Hoon, Bob Ainsworth...) and weep:
Mind you, as Defence Secretaries go, Gavin Williamson is only middling in the pilllock stakes. Just look at some of the Blair appointees (Des Browne, Geoff Hoon, Bob Ainsworth...) and weep:
Very interesting straw in the wind that the place where I have moved to, which is about as genteel Tory as you will get had a "Free Tommy" Robinson banner at the weekend at the main river bridge in the town. Yet another incident which shows that whatever you think of his views, and I disassociate myself completely from his anti-Islamic hysteria, that freedom of speech has been fatally undermined by this government, to its eternal shame. The mainstream media may be ignoring this story, but I sense that there is a ground swell of opinion that could rear its head in a most ugly way at a point down the line.
At least I no longer have Caroline Nokes as my constituency MP any longer........although the Tory MP on my new patch is no better!
Tommy Robinson is emphatically not a free speech martyr.
The authorities are acting entirely properly in seeking to preserve the integrity of the trial process.
I Expect you are right but the arrest,sentencing of 13 months and the news blackout - all done in a matter of hours leaves me a taste of East Germany than modern Britain.
Yes - very badly and stupidly handled by the authorities. Do we really need D notices - supposedly meant for issues of national security - and media blackouts for someone arrested and jailed for filming outside a court about a case where the accused have all been mentioned and pictured in the local papers?
The story has got far more coverage as a result here and internationally than it would have done had they allowed the media to report it properly at the time. The related court case is still ongoing.
Oh for the love of God! Contempt of court laws limit what the press can say about any trial. TR was making comments about the allegations and the evidence and seeking to put this in the public domain in a way which clearly breaches those laws and about which he had been explicitly warned by the judge.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
You need to get past the SE postcodes for the best bits.
(Apologies to anyone in Blackheath or the nice bits of Eltham )
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
Mind you, as Defence Secretaries go, Gavin Williamson is only middling in the pilllock stakes. Just look at some of the Blair appointees (Des Browne, Geoff Hoon, Bob Ainsworth...) and weep:
Mind you, as Defence Secretaries go, Gavin Williamson is only middling in the pilllock stakes. Just look at some of the Blair appointees (Des Browne, Geoff Hoon, Bob Ainsworth...) and weep:
Does Des Browne only count as half a pillock as he was also Scottish Secretary at the same time.
Of those surely Geoff Hoon was worst? Almost as awful as David Waddington when he was Home Secretary.
Actually identifying the worst Defence Minister* ever, really is a race to the bottom.
When was the last decent one?
*Could we go back to having a Minister of War again? so much less mealy mouthed.
In recent years, I agree with @The_Woodpecker that Geoff Hoon was the worst, followed closely by Bob Ainsworth. A distinguished mention in the awfulness stakes has to be reserved for Liam Fox, who completely blew the long-awaited Stategic Defence Review and who doesn't have the excuses which the Blair appointees do that they were appointed with no preparation, were going to be moved on before they'd understood the brief, and were not allowed to do their jobs because the PM micro-managed every decision and regarded Defence as a kind of consumer brand from which he thought he should gain the benefit.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
Ouch!
Greetings Master. Your Apprentice awaits instruction.
I remember wondering if they should have stuck with Henry Bolton at the time... having a girlfriend saying racist things can't really be much worse than backing Tommy Robinson....
Wise words indeed from the forecaster's forecaster, with his track record. It's going to be quite a ride into late 2020 / early 2021. One thing I think this will do is to make the Remainers / Remoaners look very very foolish indeed. The political ambitions of the European project are going to founder on the hard rocks of economics and events dear boy events. The voters have given the UK a great chance to get as far away as possible from this mess......and embrace the coming world powers of China and India post 2032. That is the future, not Europe, and definitely not the EU. It's time to grasp the opportunities of Brexit, and not whinge about trying to put the world back to it's 1980's or 1990's position. That time has past, and those who believe in the EU project are living in that past.
"Europe’s confusion and tension over Italy’s deepening political crisis was manifest on Tuesday as some of the EU’s most senior figures sparred over how to respond.
Günther Oettinger, Germany’s EU commissioner, hinted that the upheaval in markets, with Italian bond yields spiking to their highest in years, would exert healthy, pro-European discipline on Italian voters as they confront an unprecedented second election within a calendar year."
Thanks AndyJS - what's your take on Lewisham East? I know the area a bit, although it was my final year at the LSE when I lived in Lewisham West, and when Eltham was my stomping ground at the 1997 general election........since which time there has been enormous demographic change which rather renders my experience and knowledge from 20 years ago rather redundant.
I think that Labour 54, Tory down a bit, Lib Dem low 20's prediction to be broadly on the money if I had to guess from afar.
Yes I broadly agree with Barnesian's prediction. The LDs might do a bit better if they can get an anti-Brexit campaign going.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
You need to get past the SE postcodes for the best bits.
(Apologies to anyone in Blackheath or the nice bits of Eltham )
Yes don't diss the residents around Eltham Palace tssskkk!
An irritating man Mr Williamson and has as much chance of becoming PM as Eddie the Eagle but Richard Madely is a pompous arse and I have some sympathy for Williamson ignoring him.
The voters have given the UK a great chance to get as far away as possible from this mess......and embrace the coming world powers of China and India post 2032. That is the future, not Europe, and definitely not the EU. It's time to grasp the opportunities of Brexit, and not whinge about trying to put the world back to it's 1980's or 1990's position. That time has past, and those who believe in the EU project are living in that past.
What can Brexit Britain offer China and India that France or Germany can't?
Much in the manner that Moscow and Washington brought their other partners into their engagement with India, Paris opens the door for stronger strategic ties between India and Europe as a whole. The unfolding maritime cooperation, joint efforts to counter terrorism, and the building of the solar alliance, underline the emerging globalisation of the India-France partnership and eventually that between Delhi and Brussels.
Very interesting straw in the wind that the place where I have moved to, which is about as genteel Tory as you will get had a "Free Tommy" Robinson banner at the weekend at the main river bridge in the town. Yet another incident which shows that whatever you think of his views, and I disassociate myself completely from his anti-Islamic hysteria, that freedom of speech has been fatally undermined by this government, to its eternal shame. The mainstream media may be ignoring this story, but I sense that there is a ground swell of opinion that could rear its head in a most ugly way at a point down the line.
At least I no longer have Caroline Nokes as my constituency MP any longer........although the Tory MP on my new patch is no better!
Tommy Robinson is emphatically not a free speech martyr.
The authorities are acting entirely properly in seeking to preserve the integrity of the trial process.
I Expect you are right but the arrest,sentencing of 13 months and the news blackout - all done in a matter of hours leaves me a taste of East Germany than modern Britain.
More like the other way round. This fawning over the racist Robinson leaves Britain with the taste of East Germany
The main change looks to me to be Liga munching Forza's vote. Good chance Salvini can become PM if there are fresh elections
Yes, although if both the populist parties are roughly neck-and-neck at another election you could end up with yet another impasse with both parties expecting to get the top job.
In recent years, I agree with @The_Woodpecker that Geoff Hoon was the worst, followed closely by Bob Ainsworth. A distinguished mention in the awfulness stakes has to be reserved for Liam Fox, who completely blew the long-awaited Stategic Defence Review and who doesn't have the excuses which the Blair appointees do that they were appointed with no preparation, were going to be moved on before they'd understood the brief, and were not allowed to do their jobs because the PM micro-managed every decision and regarded Defence as a kind of consumer brand from which he thought he should gain the benefit.
FWIW my cousin (then deputy Chief of Staff), who is small-c conservative (don't know how he actually votes) rated John Reid highly as a professional who listened to the military properly but wasn't a pushover. I don't think he expected much of most Defence Ministers so he said it in a tone of pleasant surprise.
The main change looks to me to be Liga munching Forza's vote. Good chance Salvini can become PM if there are fresh elections
Has anyone done any work on what the unwinding of the Forza/M5S deal means? Because presumably Forza will be standing everywhere this time. One would expect them to be disproportionately hit.
Wise words indeed from the forecaster's forecaster, with his track record. It's going to be quite a ride into late 2020 / early 2021. One thing I think this will do is to make the Remainers / Remoaners look very very foolish indeed. The political ambitions of the European project are going to founder on the hard rocks of economics and events dear boy events. The voters have given the UK a great chance to get as far away as possible from this mess......and embrace the coming world powers of China and India post 2032. That is the future, not Europe, and definitely not the EU. It's time to grasp the opportunities of Brexit, and not whinge about trying to put the world back to it's 1980's or 1990's position. That time has past, and those who believe in the EU project are living in that past.
Good night.
His record being, errrr, pretty poor.
Here's the thing.
Do you believe the ECB will allow countries (other than Italy) to default, or will they simply buy up unlimited quantities of Spanish, Portueguese, etc. bonds?
My view is that they will simply announce that they are prepared to backstop the Euro and buy as much as is required to safeguard its integrity.
At which point a short of Spanish government bonds is a career ending proposition.
In recent years, I agree with @The_Woodpecker that Geoff Hoon was the worst, followed closely by Bob Ainsworth. A distinguished mention in the awfulness stakes has to be reserved for Liam Fox, who completely blew the long-awaited Stategic Defence Review and who doesn't have the excuses which the Blair appointees do that they were appointed with no preparation, were going to be moved on before they'd understood the brief, and were not allowed to do their jobs because the PM micro-managed every decision and regarded Defence as a kind of consumer brand from which he thought he should gain the benefit.
I once met Portillo at Yeovilton. I'll spare the audience the indelicate nickname with which he was bestowed by the matelots present. I was briefly introduced to George Robertson on Invincible and he at least seemed to be a normal person who didn't bullshit and didn't try to bask in refracted military glory. I never met Hoon but he had a reputation of being a twat and half.
Gavin Williamson’s performance today has to be worst performance on TV since William Shatner covered ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart,’ Liverpool lost to Real Madrid, that’s how bad it was.
That was so sad with Gavin Williamson. You are quite right - there is no way he will convince anyone that he has the skills to be prime minister. I wonder how long he will stay in the cabinet and how he came to get there. This guy runs a ministerial budget of £40bn?
In recent years, I agree with @The_Woodpecker that Geoff Hoon was the worst, followed closely by Bob Ainsworth. A distinguished mention in the awfulness stakes has to be reserved for Liam Fox, who completely blew the long-awaited Stategic Defence Review and who doesn't have the excuses which the Blair appointees do that they were appointed with no preparation, were going to be moved on before they'd understood the brief, and were not allowed to do their jobs because the PM micro-managed every decision and regarded Defence as a kind of consumer brand from which he thought he should gain the benefit.
I once met Portillo at Yeovilton. I'll spare the audience the indelicate nickname with which he was bestowed by the matelots present. I was briefly introduced to George Robertson on Invincible and he at least seemed to be a normal person who didn't bullshit and didn't try to bask in refracted military glory. I never met Hoon but he had a reputation of being a twat and half.
I spotted Portillo at Ely station a couple of years ago, but as he was busy filming I couldn't get his autograph
Speaking of Yeovil. I did Yeovil Pen Mill to Upwey (nr. Weymouth) today.
Over the Bank Holiday, did Cardiff Queen St to Cardiff Bay, and the short curve connecting Trowbridge with the Main Line near Westbury.
Mind you, as Defence Secretaries go, Gavin Williamson is only middling in the pilllock stakes. Just look at some of the Blair appointees (Des Browne, Geoff Hoon, Bob Ainsworth...) and weep
Then there's Michael Portillo, who invoked the SAS at the Tory party conference and later managed to infuriate the Household Cavalry by holding a raucous party during their display on Horse Guards Parade.
I would not be so sure, in 1997 Michael Howard refused to answer Jeremy Paxman's question to him more than a dozen times, 6 years later he was elected leader of the Tory Party.
In recent years, I agree with @The_Woodpecker that Geoff Hoon was the worst, followed closely by Bob Ainsworth. A distinguished mention in the awfulness stakes has to be reserved for Liam Fox, who completely blew the long-awaited Stategic Defence Review and who doesn't have the excuses which the Blair appointees do that they were appointed with no preparation, were going to be moved on before they'd understood the brief, and were not allowed to do their jobs because the PM micro-managed every decision and regarded Defence as a kind of consumer brand from which he thought he should gain the benefit.
I once met Portillo at Yeovilton. I'll spare the audience the indelicate nickname with which he was bestowed by the matelots present. I was briefly introduced to George Robertson on Invincible and he at least seemed to be a normal person who didn't bullshit and didn't try to bask in refracted military glory. I never met Hoon but he had a reputation of being a twat and half.
I spotted Portillo at Ely station a couple of years ago, but as he was busy filming I couldn't get his autograph
Speaking of Yeovil. I did Yeovil Pen Mill to Upwey (nr. Weymouth) today.
Over the Bank Holiday, did Cardiff Queen St to Cardiff Bay, and the short curve connecting Trowbridge with the Main Line near Westbury.
Have you done the curve between Streatham and Streatham Common? It must be the slowest bit of track in London.
Particularly galling when you remember you ought to have left the train at Streatham for the Common as Streatham Common is really Streatham Vale. But the pub by the station serves a good beer from that Kentish part of London known as Bromley.
In recent years, I agree with @The_Woodpecker that Geoff Hoon was the worst, followed closely by Bob Ainsworth. A distinguished mention in the awfulness stakes has to be reserved for Liam Fox, who completely blew the long-awaited Stategic Defence Review and who doesn't have the excuses which the Blair appointees do that they were appointed with no preparation, were going to be moved on before they'd understood the brief, and were not allowed to do their jobs because the PM micro-managed every decision and regarded Defence as a kind of consumer brand from which he thought he should gain the benefit.
I once met Portillo at Yeovilton. I'll spare the audience the indelicate nickname with which he was bestowed by the matelots present. I was briefly introduced to George Robertson on Invincible and he at least seemed to be a normal person who didn't bullshit and didn't try to bask in refracted military glory. I never met Hoon but he had a reputation of being a twat and half.
I spotted Portillo at Ely station a couple of years ago, but as he was busy filming I couldn't get his autograph
Speaking of Yeovil. I did Yeovil Pen Mill to Upwey (nr. Weymouth) today.
Over the Bank Holiday, did Cardiff Queen St to Cardiff Bay, and the short curve connecting Trowbridge with the Main Line near Westbury.
Have you done the curve between Streatham and Streatham Common? It must be the slowest bit of track in London.
Particularly galling when you remember you ought to have left the train at Streatham for the Common as Streatham Common is really Streatham Vale. But the pub by the station serves a good beer from that Kentish part of London known as Bromley.
Oh yes, I did that years ago. The real rare bit of track at Streatham is the single track curve connecting the fast tracks from Balham to Croydon with the Streatham to Wimbledon/Mitcham lines. I first did it in 2012.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
As opposed to you who despite the actual Assembly Member for West Central London being a Tory seem to think there are no Tories in West London!
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
As opposed to you who despite the actual Assembly Member for West Central London being a Tory seem to think there are no Tories in West London!
Used to have family members living in the Ealing Common area but I think they moved out in the 1970s.
Mind you, as Defence Secretaries go, Gavin Williamson is only middling in the pilllock stakes. Just look at some of the Blair appointees (Des Browne, Geoff Hoon, Bob Ainsworth...) and weep
Then there's Michael Portillo, who invoked the SAS at the Tory party conference and later managed to infuriate the Household Cavalry by holding a raucous party during their display on Horse Guards Parade.
The Telegraph reports that when he was moved from Berlin to Brussels American diplomats in Berlin observed he was 'an un-loved colleague who won't be missed'....
The Telegraph reports that when he was moved from Berlin to Brussels American diplomats in Berlin observed he was 'an un-loved colleague who won't be missed'....
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
As opposed to you who despite the actual Assembly Member for West Central London being a Tory seem to think there are no Tories in West London!
Is West Central London the same place as West London ?
Why are the media talking about Roseanne when populist parties in Italy are on 55% in the polls? I think the latter is more important in the scheme of things.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
As opposed to you who despite the actual Assembly Member for West Central London being a Tory seem to think there are no Tories in West London!
Is West Central London the same place as West London ?
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
As opposed to you who despite the actual Assembly Member for West Central London being a Tory seem to think there are no Tories in West London!
Is West Central London the same place as West London ?
Yes and no. As someone who's lived in Earls Court for a long time, there's a certain over-priced dumpiness to parts of west central London that mildly idiosyncratic.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
As opposed to you who despite the actual Assembly Member for West Central London being a Tory seem to think there are no Tories in West London!
Is West Central London the same place as West London ?
Yes and no. As someone who's lived in Earls Court for a long time, there's a certain over-priced dumpiness to parts of west central London that mildly idiosyncratic.
I think Earls Court used to be known as Kangaroo Valley.
Why are the media talking about Roseanne when populist parties in Italy are on 55% in the polls? I think the latter is more important in the scheme of things.
Because Roseanne is in America and media types spend most of their time watching (and following) the American news channels. That's the real BBC bias! This tendency to lead on American domestic news is worse overnight and at weekends when the more experienced staff are off. Another example is over the last couple of days there was more on the BBC news site about flooding in Maryland than coverage of flooding in Birmingham.
Why are the media talking about Roseanne when populist parties in Italy are on 55% in the polls? I think the latter is more important in the scheme of things.
Because Roseanne is in America and media types spend most of their time watching (and following) the American news channels. That's the real BBC bias! This tendency to lead on American domestic news is worse overnight and at weekends when the more experienced staff are off. Another example is over the last couple of days there was more on the BBC news site about flooding in Maryland than coverage of flooding in Birmingham.
Roseanne Barr is, unbelievably, a celebrity. This means that such a story ticks several boxes for the media: celebrity, scandal, Twitter, racism. It's also easy to explain.
The Italian story does not tick as many boxes: it's politics (yawn), foreign, and complex to explain, with parties only a few percent of people will have heard of, yet alone know the various interrelationships. Italian political problems are also hardly unusual.
As for the flooding: the pictures from Maryland were utterly spectacular; much more so than the sad events from the UK. Spectacular pictures make for good ratings. It's also lazy journalism; they can just slurp the pictures from the agencies or other media organisations.
If there is a pro-US bias, it may be because the US is bigger, has great soft power (i.e. celebrities), is known to a basic level by most people, has great hard power (it is the only current superpower), and is larger, so more happens there.
Why are the media talking about Roseanne when populist parties in Italy are on 55% in the polls? I think the latter is more important in the scheme of things.
Because Roseanne is in America and media types spend most of their time watching (and following) the American news channels. That's the real BBC bias! This tendency to lead on American domestic news is worse overnight and at weekends when the more experienced staff are off. Another example is over the last couple of days there was more on the BBC news site about flooding in Maryland than coverage of flooding in Birmingham.
Roseanne Barr is, unbelievably, a celebrity. This means that such a story ticks several boxes for the media: celebrity, scandal, Twitter, racism. It's also easy to explain.
The Italian story does not tick as many boxes: it's politics (yawn), foreign, and complex to explain, with parties only a few percent of people will have heard of, yet alone know the various interrelationships. Italian political problems are also hardly unusual.
As for the flooding: the pictures from Maryland were utterly spectacular; much more so than the sad events from the UK. Spectacular pictures make for good ratings. It's also lazy journalism; they can just slurp the pictures from the agencies or other media organisations.
If there is a pro-US bias, it may be because the US is bigger, has great soft power (i.e. celebrities), is known to a basic level by most people, has great hard power (it is the only current superpower), and is larger, so more happens there.
I really don't want to defend Rosanne here but I ended up following a bit of the conversation for her tweet and someone defending Soros posted an interview where he did talk about taking people's property and wiki indicates that he was born in 1930, which could make him young enough to be a young child rather than say a toddler.
From a very brief read (so happily corrected on any of this) it was said he was adopted by someone (or taken in) and then protected by being claimed to be not Jewish.
What did not come through was that he was some kind of sell out enriching himself by selling out his fellow jewish people but rather a young boy pretending not to be Jewish and so doing what everyone else is doing to blend in.
Although I can't say I've ever really looked into Soros past before so if I've taken the interview the wrong way and been tricked by twitter my apologies.
Edit: To clarify the defence of Rosanne part whilst she is twisting things in a particularly nasty way it maybe isn't a flat out lie but a badly twisted version of the truth.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
As opposed to you who despite the actual Assembly Member for West Central London being a Tory seem to think there are no Tories in West London!
Is West Central London the same place as West London ?
No, it's no more West London than EC is East London.
Edit/ the assembly seat with that name does include parts of west London as well as Westminster that would be considered central London. The West Central postcode area includes small parts of Camden and Islington.
I really don't want to defend Rosanne here but I ended up following a bit of the conversation for her tweet and someone defending Soros posted an interview where he did talk about taking people's property and wiki indicates that he was born in 1930, which could make him young enough to be a young child rather than say a toddler.
From a very brief read (so happily corrected on any of this) it was said he was adopted by someone (or taken in) and then protected by being claimed to be not Jewish.
What did not come through was that he was some kind of sell out enriching himself by selling out his fellow jewish people but rather a young boy pretending not to be Jewish and so doing what everyone else is doing to blend in.
Although I can't say I've ever really looked into Soros past before so if I've taken the interview the wrong way and been tricked by twitter my apologies.
Edit: To clarify the defence of Rosanne part whilst she is twisting things in a particularly nasty way it maybe isn't a flat out lie but a badly twisted version of the truth.
IIRC it wasn’t too unusual for Jewish children, adopted or taken in by local non-Nazi Gentiles, to be passed off as non-Jewish. AIUI their true heritage was usually made known to them when it was safe to do so. After all a child under about 5 would probably have no idea what religion or race he or she was, unless, obviously there were skin colour differences.
George Soros must have been on the receiving end of more anti-Semitism than any other man alive.
And in the last few months both the Telegraph and the Mail have separately decided that he should be at the centre of front page headlines. I can’t imagine why they think he is so newsworthy.
It's telling that even the most unspoofably loyal of the PB tories aren't coming in to bat for the Fireplace Salesman. On that basis alone his leadership prospects must be zero.
I do have a little sympathy though because often what starts out being a straight question totally derails the whole interview, because then the interviewer wants to follow up on xyz, whereas he came on to talk about 'news' - whatever that African elephant thing was.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
As opposed to you who despite the actual Assembly Member for West Central London being a Tory seem to think there are no Tories in West London!
Nope. You are making up stories again. I did not and would not say there were no Tories in West London.
You said that West London is “largely Tory”. In fact, it is largely Labour as I have show you time after time.
Your problem is that you are completely incapable of ever admitting you are wrong.
Are nearly all nuisance calls not from abroad? We have number recognition on the house phone and stopped answering international calls years ago.
It will be a relief when PPI finally becomes time barred later this year.
My wife was also commenting that the effect of the great GDPR fiasco seems to be considerably less than was hoped. She is still receiving significant numbers of spam emails from companies she has never dealt with, never signed up to and who should not have her address on their data banks. No doubt the Information Commissioner will spring into action any decade.
It's telling that even the most unspoofably loyal of the PB tories aren't coming in to bat for the Fireplace Salesman. On that basis alone his leadership prospects must be zero.
I would imagine a fireplace salesman to have a bit of patter. Williamson sounds utterly unenthused - it reminds me of previous driving tests: "I regret to inform you that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion."
When @Hunchman starts quoting Armstrong overnight as evidence that the Euro is about to collapse we can surely all see that the talk about a Euro crisis is being seriously overblown. What we have seen so far is modest increases in the spread for Italian bonds. We have also seen substantial capital flows out of Italy and some other southern European countries to "safe havens" in northern Europe. So far the ECB has been willing to replace that capital by allowing banks to draw sufficient Euros to trade normally.
To get to a crisis point it seems to me that several things have to happen.
Firstly, the populists whose Finance Minister was rejected are going to have to do better in another election that won't be held until September at the earliest. That seems possible, even probable but it is not certain.
Secondly, that government when elected has to threaten to default on the country's debts to the ECB. That would be an incredibly stupid thing to do given the power the ECB has over the Italian banking system.
Alternatively, they may conclude that they should simply leave the Euro. See above with brass knobs on.
Alternatively, the ECB may decide/be forced by Germany into either winding down or at least capping the Target2 imbalances. This would effectively cause liquidity shortages in Italy and elsewhere causing a serious recession. It would also be an incredibly stupid thing to do and inconsistent with the existence of a single currency bloc.
No doubt there are other scenarios or stupidities that could cause a crisis but they are all ever more unlikely. What I think is clear that even in a worst case scenario this is a story which will evolve slowly over a period of months, not days. Although I am a Eurosceptic and a leaver I don't think it is sensible to anticipate people acting like idiots or gloat over some hypothetical crisis which might seriously damage our largest trading links. There are real problems caused by Italy's lack of growth and very high debt. The lack of the former is making the latter ever harder to bear. But we are a very long way from Armageddon.
A relative of mine just spent a million quid on a house in outer London. It's not very nice either judging by the pictures. They also have to pay the additional stamp duty because they've decided to hold on to their previous property.
They didn't take any advice from anyone in the family despite most of us working in some kind of finance.
Well this is in North West London so the prices are going to be on a different level to any SE postcode. Value wise that looks much, much better though.
HYUFD would no doubt be able to find you a bargain in ‘West’ London. It would be nowhere near West London, but he’d repeatedly swear it was, which is the main thing.
As opposed to you who despite the actual Assembly Member for West Central London being a Tory seem to think there are no Tories in West London!
Nope. You are making up stories again. I did not and would not say there were no Tories in West London.
You said that West London is “largely Tory”. In fact, it is largely Labour as I have show you time after time.
Your problem is that you are completely incapable of ever admitting you are wrong.
Except I am not wrong as West London Tory councils in Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, Hillingdon and Richmond Park and Tory MPs in Sutton and Wimbledon all clearly prove
Comments
Have you read the Secret Barristers article?
https://twitter.com/BarristerSecret/status/1001451479817949184?s=19
- TR had a suspended sentence. That means that if you commit another offence during the period of the suspended sentence you go to prison. That is a standard condition of suspended sentences. They are suspended on the basis of your good behaviour. If you misbehave you go to prison which is what you were sentenced to at the time.
- He was explicitly warned by the judge at the time that if he misbehaved he would go straight to prison.
- There are strict contempt of court laws in relation to trials which restrict what can be reported. This is not because we are like East Germany but because we take seriously the process of trial - namely that defendants are innocent until proven guilty and that the jury must decide on the basis of the evidence presented at court not on the basis of ill-informed comment and misinformation by others, amongst other things.
- What TR was doing was breaching this and therefore potentially risking the trial. This would have meant that thousands of pounds of public money would have been wasted, the work done by the prosecution would have been for nothing, the defendants would not have received certainty and the victims would not have got justice. What kind of malicious moron puts all this at risk while claiming to speak for the victims? A moment's thought would make it clear that the victims' suffering would continue if the trial was aborted and/or if they had to go through the ordeal all over again.
TR knew all of this and deliberately waved two fingers at our judicial process while claiming - or allowing his supporters to claim - that he was being silenced because he spoke the truth, or some such bollocks. And it is bollocks because the truth of the allegations are being properly tested in court. Not on the streets. Which makes us very unlike - and better than - East Germany.
Our criminal process is not perfect. But it's better than most. And those who treat it - and the defendants and victims - with contempt rightly suffer the consequences
The story has got far more coverage as a result here and internationally than it would have done had they allowed the media to report it properly at the time. The related court case is still ongoing.
Robinson may not be a free speech martyr but he is going to be able to be presented as one.
When was the last decent one?
*Could we go back to having a Minister of War again? so much less mealy mouthed.
(Apologies to anyone in Blackheath or the nice bits of Eltham
I remember wondering if they should have stuck with Henry Bolton at the time... having a girlfriend saying racist things can't really be much worse than backing Tommy Robinson....
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/europes-current-economy/the-euro-crisis-is-unfolding-on-schedule/
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/sovereign-debt-crisis/a-global-systemic-collapse-opportunity-risk/
Wise words indeed from the forecaster's forecaster, with his track record. It's going to be quite a ride into late 2020 / early 2021. One thing I think this will do is to make the Remainers / Remoaners look very very foolish indeed. The political ambitions of the European project are going to founder on the hard rocks of economics and events dear boy events. The voters have given the UK a great chance to get as far away as possible from this mess......and embrace the coming world powers of China and India post 2032. That is the future, not Europe, and definitely not the EU. It's time to grasp the opportunities of Brexit, and not whinge about trying to put the world back to it's 1980's or 1990's position. That time has past, and those who believe in the EU project are living in that past.
Good night.
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/france-indias-new-russia-emmanuel-macron-narendra-modi-5091279/
Much in the manner that Moscow and Washington brought their other partners into their engagement with India, Paris opens the door for stronger strategic ties between India and Europe as a whole. The unfolding maritime cooperation, joint efforts to counter terrorism, and the building of the solar alliance, underline the emerging globalisation of the India-France partnership and eventually that between Delhi and Brussels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_Italian_general_election#2018
https://twitter.com/guardian/status/1001601035419385857
Here's the thing.
Do you believe the ECB will allow countries (other than Italy) to default, or will they simply buy up unlimited quantities of Spanish, Portueguese, etc. bonds?
My view is that they will simply announce that they are prepared to backstop the Euro and buy as much as is required to safeguard its integrity.
At which point a short of Spanish government bonds is a career ending proposition.
Speaking of Yeovil. I did Yeovil Pen Mill to Upwey (nr. Weymouth) today.
Over the Bank Holiday, did Cardiff Queen St to Cardiff Bay, and the short curve connecting Trowbridge with the Main Line near Westbury.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwlsd8RAoqI
Particularly galling when you remember you ought to have left the train at Streatham for the Common as Streatham Common is really Streatham Vale. But the pub by the station serves a good beer from that Kentish part of London known as Bromley.
Who Dares Wins
WE dare!
WE will WIN!!
https://twitter.com/AlexInAir/status/1001596368606162950
Kill thousands with diesels - naughty boys! Price gouge? Nothing to see here...
The Italian story does not tick as many boxes: it's politics (yawn), foreign, and complex to explain, with parties only a few percent of people will have heard of, yet alone know the various interrelationships. Italian political problems are also hardly unusual.
As for the flooding: the pictures from Maryland were utterly spectacular; much more so than the sad events from the UK. Spectacular pictures make for good ratings. It's also lazy journalism; they can just slurp the pictures from the agencies or other media organisations.
If there is a pro-US bias, it may be because the US is bigger, has great soft power (i.e. celebrities), is known to a basic level by most people, has great hard power (it is the only current superpower), and is larger, so more happens there.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/roseanne-barr-obama-adviser-baby-muslim-brotherhood-planet/story?id=55504982
From a very brief read (so happily corrected on any of this) it was said he was adopted by someone (or taken in) and then protected by being claimed to be not Jewish.
What did not come through was that he was some kind of sell out enriching himself by selling out his fellow jewish people but rather a young boy pretending not to be Jewish and so doing what everyone else is doing to blend in.
Although I can't say I've ever really looked into Soros past before so if I've taken the interview the wrong way and been tricked by twitter my apologies.
Edit: To clarify the defence of Rosanne part whilst she is twisting things in a particularly nasty way it maybe isn't a flat out lie but a badly twisted version of the truth.
Edit/ the assembly seat with that name does include parts of west London as well as Westminster that would be considered central London. The West Central postcode area includes small parts of Camden and Islington.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44297817
1) why the f*** has it taken this long?
2) any chance it could be made retrospective?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44294566
Co-leaders worked well in Rome and Sparta. For a party with one MP it sounds like grandiose nonsense.
And in the last few months both the Telegraph and the Mail have separately decided that he should be at the centre of front page headlines. I can’t imagine why they think he is so newsworthy.
We will be caught in the resulting chaos, whether we are still in or out.
I do have a little sympathy though because often what starts out being a straight question totally derails the whole interview, because then the interviewer wants to follow up on xyz, whereas he came on to talk about 'news' - whatever that African elephant thing was.
Once accidentally barred someone I didn’t really want to and he said it worked well! Just said ‘leave a message'
You said that West London is “largely Tory”. In fact, it is largely Labour as I have show you time after time.
Your problem is that you are completely incapable of ever admitting you are wrong.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/LondonParliamentaryConstituency2015Results2.png
And AfD will be running Germany.
History doesn't repeat, but sometimes rhymes etc etc
It will be a relief when PPI finally becomes time barred later this year.
My wife was also commenting that the effect of the great GDPR fiasco seems to be considerably less than was hoped. She is still receiving significant numbers of spam emails from companies she has never dealt with, never signed up to and who should not have her address on their data banks. No doubt the Information Commissioner will spring into action any decade.
Williamson sounds utterly unenthused - it reminds me of previous driving tests:
"I regret to inform you that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion."
NEW THREAD
Eat Japanese Knotweed if you want to get rid of it
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/29/answer-curse-japanese-knotweed-can-eaten-submission-says-former/
https://twitter.com/iainmartin1/status/1001544543546769409
To get to a crisis point it seems to me that several things have to happen.
Firstly, the populists whose Finance Minister was rejected are going to have to do better in another election that won't be held until September at the earliest. That seems possible, even probable but it is not certain.
Secondly, that government when elected has to threaten to default on the country's debts to the ECB. That would be an incredibly stupid thing to do given the power the ECB has over the Italian banking system.
Alternatively, they may conclude that they should simply leave the Euro. See above with brass knobs on.
Alternatively, the ECB may decide/be forced by Germany into either winding down or at least capping the Target2 imbalances. This would effectively cause liquidity shortages in Italy and elsewhere causing a serious recession. It would also be an incredibly stupid thing to do and inconsistent with the existence of a single currency bloc.
No doubt there are other scenarios or stupidities that could cause a crisis but they are all ever more unlikely. What I think is clear that even in a worst case scenario this is a story which will evolve slowly over a period of months, not days. Although I am a Eurosceptic and a leaver I don't think it is sensible to anticipate people acting like idiots or gloat over some hypothetical crisis which might seriously damage our largest trading links. There are real problems caused by Italy's lack of growth and very high debt. The lack of the former is making the latter ever harder to bear. But we are a very long way from Armageddon.
https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article176799738/Italien-Bundesregierung-verhaelt-sich-ruhig-Parteien-zunehmend-besorgt.html
have the Italians just put the brakes on the project ?