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  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,042

    Barnesian said:

    Open Thread! Wow. Does that mean we can talk about anything rather than sticking to the subject?

    That will never catch on.

    Yesterday we planted 3 trees in our garden.

    What types?
    A plum, a rowan and a filbert.

    The catkins on the filbert look lovely.
    Further to last night's prolapsing over rhetoric, have you tried watering them with the blood of tyrants & patriots?
    It is bad enough having to use the product of a privatised monopoly provider of an essential public utility.
  • Rexel56Rexel56 Posts: 807

    Rexel56 said:

    Mr. 56, cheers for that post excoriating Vaizey. I recall a little about that, but that's the sort of substantial detail that, frankly, the media should be reporting properly, rather than focusing on sensationalism and personalities.

    +1. Very illuminating. And my friend does indeed fall back on very expensive and limited satellite broadband.
    Read the Public Accounts Committee papers on Broadband Delivery UK; they don’t make comfortable reading for the government.
    WE have been left out too. BT say "no plans to deliver to us in the near future". I will have moved by the time it comes to my place, and when I move it will be to somewhere that has decent broadband. Funny how BT tests say 4mb download, but if you try and download anything its always at c200kbs...
    It's been a while since I paid attention to speeds (fibre) but from memory is there not an issue that advertised speeds are in megabits per second while your computer shows speeds in kilobytes per second.

    4 megabits per second ~ 500 kilobytes per second.
    No, the issue is that the broadband speed you get from BT Infinity is a function of the distance to the cabinet from your home and the quality of the copper (or worse still, aluminium) cable that connects you to the cabinet. Errors increase with distance and damaged wire and so speed has to be reduced. As a rule of thumb, 80mbps will be available next to the cabinet and 20mbps 1km away. More than 1.5km and speed will be slowe on BT Infinity than earlier technology.

    Full fibre to the home has no speed loss due to distance, we get 960mbps living on top of a hill in the Yorkshire Dales thanks to full fibre that we installed as a community.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,279
    eek said:

    Talking about Broadband if you can get a decent mobile signal and your broadband options are dire http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices/Huawei/HomeFi?memory=0&colour=Black will likely solve your issues for less than BT charge for a line.

    Even if your signal isn't brilliant you can add an external aerial and it would probably work.

    5G will make that dramatically faster in a couple of years’ or so time. Which is likely helping to stymie much rural broadband investment.

  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 9,856
    Ruth Davidson urged Theresa May to show a bit more sense of humour. Maybe Gavin Williamson is her idea of a naughty joke?
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,042
    Implicitly states that a minority Labour government / coalition would be better than a Labour majority. Whoever signs up to this defeatist propaganda should clearly be expelled from the party.
  • Barnesian said:

    Open Thread! Wow. Does that mean we can talk about anything rather than sticking to the subject?

    That will never catch on.

    Yesterday we planted 3 trees in our garden.

    Yesterday my wife died.
    My deepest condolences.
    And mine.
  • Mr. Palmer, lack of reporting on genuinely daft EU matters (VAT, old books, and, most seriously/recently, Article 13) in favour of regurgitating the same reports with the same cliches and lack of new information is another thing of which the media is guilty.

    And then mainstream news wonders why people go for new, alternative outlets.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,042
    I would like to add my condolences to TheAncientMariner
  • Rexel56Rexel56 Posts: 807
    Nigelb said:

    eek said:

    Talking about Broadband if you can get a decent mobile signal and your broadband options are dire http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices/Huawei/HomeFi?memory=0&colour=Black will likely solve your issues for less than BT charge for a line.

    Even if your signal isn't brilliant you can add an external aerial and it would probably work.

    5G will make that dramatically faster in a couple of years’ or so time. Which is likely helping to stymie much rural broadband investment.

    5G requires many masts, all fed by a fibre backhaul... so for 5G to be an option in rural settings, fibre will have to be installed extensively and so might as well be extended to the rural properties too. In other words, 5G and hyperfast rural broadband can only co-exist, you can’t have the former without the latter.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,220
    edited February 2019
    Rexel56 said:

    Rexel56 said:

    Mr. 56, cheers for that post excoriating Vaizey. I recall a little about that, but that's the sort of substantial detail that, frankly, the media should be reporting properly, rather than focusing on sensationalism and personalities.

    +1. Very illuminating. And my friend does indeed fall back on very expensive and limited satellite broadband.
    Read the Public Accounts Committee papers on Broadband Delivery UK; they don’t make comfortable reading for the government.
    WE have been left out too. BT say "no plans to deliver to us in the near future". I will have moved by the time it comes to my place, and when I move it will be to somewhere that has decent broadband. Funny how BT tests say 4mb download, but if you try and download anything its always at c200kbs...
    It's been a while since I paid attention to speeds (fibre) but from memory is there not an issue that advertised speeds are in megabits per second while your computer shows speeds in kilobytes per second.

    4 megabits per second ~ 500 kilobytes per second.
    No, the issue is that the broadband speed you get from BT Infinity is a function of the distance to the cabinet from your home and the quality of the copper (or worse still, aluminium) cable that connects you to the cabinet. Errors increase with distance and damaged wire and so speed has to be reduced. As a rule of thumb, 80mbps will be available next to the cabinet and 20mbps 1km away. More than 1.5km and speed will be slowe on BT Infinity than earlier technology.

    Full fibre to the home has no speed loss due to distance, we get 960mbps living on top of a hill in the Yorkshire Dales thanks to full fibre that we installed as a community.
    Yes, I'm on full fibre to the home. Just on 50/10 though (And it is a true 50/10), but obviously I can improve that if I wish to pay more - unfortunately with BT; I read up on your rural project but can't remember the name. It looks amazing.
    Looking for when my contract expires I might head to 150 or possibly 300 perhaps with Zen. 1 Gig not offered :p
  • swing_voterswing_voter Posts: 1,464

    Scott_P said:
    We’ve known that the QE was going to the Pacific for ages. There was an interview with the commanding officer when she was in New York that said so. It was just oversold with stupid language by GW. Combined with his awful voice he has no hope of getting the top job
    By 2021 when the QE sets sail for said region...we may well have a Labour govt under JC - by then this will be long long forgotten.......just saying
  • The talk of splits in both parties and the lack of any attempt to compromise in my opinion makes a GE less likely as I would assume so many of them would fear for their seats
  • EssexitEssexit Posts: 1,958
    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    Scott_P said:
    Does Williamson EVER get coffee? He must surely never have been offered a biscuit.....
    I guarantee that any biscuit he gets on an RN vessel will have passed through the sweaty crack of the tucker fucker charged with putting it on the plate. I know of more than one visiting politician that have had that VIP treatment.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,279
    edited February 2019
    Rexel56 said:

    Nigelb said:

    eek said:

    Talking about Broadband if you can get a decent mobile signal and your broadband options are dire http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices/Huawei/HomeFi?memory=0&colour=Black will likely solve your issues for less than BT charge for a line.

    Even if your signal isn't brilliant you can add an external aerial and it would probably work.

    5G will make that dramatically faster in a couple of years’ or so time. Which is likely helping to stymie much rural broadband investment.

    5G requires many masts, all fed by a fibre backhaul... so for 5G to be an option in rural settings, fibre will have to be installed extensively and so might as well be extended to the rural properties too. In other words, 5G and hyperfast rural broadband can only co-exist, you can’t have the former without the latter.
    Good point.

    There are still substantial areas of London with crap broadband, though.

  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876
    @TheAncientMariner many condolences on your loss.

    We are going to get "superfast broadband" from tomorrow. We will go from about 12mb to a promised 60-80mb. Should make working from home a lot easier. Up till now downloading lengthy documents or pdfs has been quite tedious. Acceptable service is coming to the countryside, its just taking a long, long time.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    Essexit said:

    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
    It looks like she doesn't hyphenate it:

    http://www.rebeccalongbailey.com/
  • dots said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Bored with the sober and predictable developments in British politics? Try the Ukraine, where a soap opera star is leading the Presidential election race, ahead of the grey incumbent Poroshenko and the ultra-populist Tymoshenko (who favours halving energy prices):

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2019_Ukrainian_presidential_election

    The Zelensky situation is truly amazing. The British equivalent would be Nicola Murray becoming PM in the Thick of It then the actor who portrayed her, Rebecca Front, deciding to actually run for PM and being 10 points ahead in the polls with four weeks to go. And we think British politics is fucked.
    Rebecca would make a great PM. Vote for Rebecca’s Popular Front. 🙃

    Now for some hot news from radio 4 broadcasting house (a cross between today and the goon show) The minister responsible for reassuring us not to stockpile has just said no one can guarantee anything. He refused to guarantee there won’t be shortages.

    Apparently The problem is, not the country of origin, but the country of processing ready to use. Things are flown into parts of Europe for processing, and driven or shipped into UK. At the same time we can’t talk of country of origin, and can’t use raw things, we can’t process them ourselves without other items. Hence not just fresh food shortages, medicines, but potentially shortages of all processed drink and food, and also fuel shortages, water shortages, blackouts.

    To be fair to Raab we can understand his Damascene conversion over Dover Calais now can’t we?
    Rebecca Front is a luvvie like Emma Thompson or David Schneider.

    Fine if you like that sort of thing but not necessarily a surefire election winner here.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,220

    Mr. Palmer, lack of reporting on genuinely daft EU matters (VAT, old books, and, most seriously/recently, Article 13) in favour of regurgitating the same reports with the same cliches and lack of new information is another thing of which the media is guilty.

    And then mainstream news wonders why people go for new, alternative outlets.

    I get my fake news from Gloria Borger
    I get my real news from Gloria Borger :D
  • It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.
  • It's amazing how much of Britain (and the US) is still on copper wire. I just bought a house out in the Japanese boonies - toilet empties into a hole in the ground, mains water pipes exist but appear to have been shut off since the early 1980s - but it was already hooked up with gigabit fiber...
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876
    Don't have to worry about being off topic since there isn't one but this is a story with potential political implications: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47269042

    The auto enrollment into pension schemes looks set out to wipe out almost all of the increase in real wages since they stopped falling pretty much at a stroke. Of course we need to save more, not least for our retirement, but given the current slowdown in the UK and EU economies the timing is less than optimal. It might even increase the risk of a technical recession this year.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 4,502
    I’ve kept the option of a diet on the table for the last 5 years sadly it hasn’t happened .

    The Labour cop out is seriously beginning to grate !
  • EssexitEssexit Posts: 1,958
    tlg86 said:

    Essexit said:

    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
    It looks like she doesn't hyphenate it:

    http://www.rebeccalongbailey.com/
    She does in her Twitter handle.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.
  • kle4 said:

    Wow, they really do like their trolling, don't they?

    Russian flag hung from Salisbury Cathedral

    https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/17438785.russian-flag-hung-from-salisbury-cathedral-overnight/

    That's probably the best they can do now since we've blown up 3/4 of their existing Western spy network. It's a cry for help.

    We should probably be flattered by the attention. The Russians continue to think we somehow magically pull the strings of the Western alliance. A function of their paranoia meeting the escapist fantasy of James Bond and somehow combining into reality in their minds.
  • Just one man's opinion....

    Mr Bower’s book, Dangerous Hero: Corbyn’s Ruthless Plot For Power, trace Mr Corbyn’s anti-Zionist beliefs to his first job as a researcher for the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers.

    The author says that Mr Corbyn’s campaigns on behalf of low-paid workers against ‘exploitative Jewish employers’ convinced him of ‘the malign collective power of Jews’.

    Mr Bower adds: ‘The truth is that Corbyn’s antagonism towards Zionism is one of the most consistent – and toxic – lines of his career. To him, Jews aren’t victims of racism and oppression but rather racist oppressors themselves.

    ‘For years, he’d noisily voice his outrage at the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza... never drawing a distinction between the terms Jew and Zionist which were interchangeable to many on the Left.’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6712899/Jeremy-Corbyns-secret-link-tormentor-pregnant-Jewish-MP-Luciana-Berger.html
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,134
    edited February 2019
    Donald Trump has told the EU it must take back its 800 Isis fighters captured in Syria by US-backed forces and put them on trial.

    The president’s call came as he prepared to claim the end of the caliphate in north-west Syria with the fall of the final Isis-held town.

    Some EU countries, notably France, have said they are preparing to take back their former jihadists, but the UK has been more resistant: it says the fighters held by the west’s Syrian Kurd allies can only return if they seek consular help in Turkey.

    The UK government says it faces a dilemma, especially concerning the wives or children of British fighters, and a major challenge either to prosecute the fighters or prevent them from undertaking terrorist acts in their homeland.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/17/islamic-state-isis-baghuz-trump-calls-on-european-allies-to-take-800-fighters-captured-in-syria

    Gitmo is off the table as an option then...I am guessing France are a bit more comfortable taking them back as they have spent the past 2 years sending in special forces to kill off the worst of the worst French citizens.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    That's not sobering, it's pushing us into brown trousers time.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876

    Scott_P said:
    We’ve known that the QE was going to the Pacific for ages. There was an interview with the commanding officer when she was in New York that said so. It was just oversold with stupid language by GW. Combined with his awful voice he has no hope of getting the top job
    By 2021 when the QE sets sail for said region...we may well have a Labour govt under JC - by then this will be long long forgotten.......just saying
    Will it be allowed to go to sea under Corbyn? Seems a bit aggressive. Maybe we could send out cups of tea and digestive biscuits instead.

    But the timing shows how indescribably stupid Williamson is. Hammond's trip to China cancelled so he could arse about something that is absolutely years off? Total prat.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    tlg86 said:

    Essexit said:

    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
    It looks like she doesn't hyphenate it:

    http://www.rebeccalongbailey.com/
    Wikipedia is lying to us! I demand to see the birth certificate
  • DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,134
    edited February 2019
    DavidL said:

    Scott_P said:
    We’ve known that the QE was going to the Pacific for ages. There was an interview with the commanding officer when she was in New York that said so. It was just oversold with stupid language by GW. Combined with his awful voice he has no hope of getting the top job
    By 2021 when the QE sets sail for said region...we may well have a Labour govt under JC - by then this will be long long forgotten.......just saying
    Will it be allowed to go to sea under Corbyn? Seems a bit aggressive. Maybe we could send out cups of tea and digestive biscuits instead.

    But the timing shows how indescribably stupid Williamson is. Hammond's trip to China cancelled so he could arse about something that is absolutely years off? Total prat.
    Could use it to travel the world rescuing illegal migrants and bringing them back to the UK? I can see Jezza signing off on that plan.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876

    Donald Trump has told the EU it must take back its 800 Isis fighters captured in Syria by US-backed forces and put them on trial.

    The president’s call came as he prepared to claim the end of the caliphate in north-west Syria with the fall of the final Isis-held town.

    Some EU countries, notably France, have said they are preparing to take back their former jihadists, but the UK has been more resistant: it says the fighters held by the west’s Syrian Kurd allies can only return if they seek consular help in Turkey.

    The UK government says it faces a dilemma, especially concerning the wives or children of British fighters, and a major challenge either to prosecute the fighters or prevent them from undertaking terrorist acts in their homeland.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/17/islamic-state-isis-baghuz-trump-calls-on-european-allies-to-take-800-fighters-captured-in-syria

    Gitmo is off the table as an option then...I am guessing France are a bit more comfortable taking them back as they have spent the past 2 years sending in special forces to kill off the worst of the worst French citizens.

    I thought we were doing something similar but we seem to have once again been blighted by low productivity.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    kle4 said:

    Wow, they really do like their trolling, don't they?

    Russian flag hung from Salisbury Cathedral

    https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/17438785.russian-flag-hung-from-salisbury-cathedral-overnight/

    That's probably the best they can do now since we've blown up 3/4 of their existing Western spy network. It's a cry for help.

    We should probably be flattered by the attention. The Russians continue to think we somehow magically pull the strings of the Western alliance. A function of their paranoia meeting the escapist fantasy of James Bond and somehow combining into reality in their minds.
    Much of what they do is for domestic consumption and the themes are only readily apparent in the Russian language media. In order to discourage emigration of educated and skilled people they go to great lengths to portray all potential destinations (US, EU, Australia) as dysfunctional and unsafe shit holes. However the Russians care less about British opinion of them than they do about the French to whom they have a massive and much deserved cultural inferiority complex.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,500

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    But Fox has negotiated a great trade deal with The Faroes. So that's a success.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Barnesian said:

    Open Thread! Wow. Does that mean we can talk about anything rather than sticking to the subject?

    That will never catch on.

    Yesterday we planted 3 trees in our garden.

    Yesterday my wife died.
    I’m sorry to hear that. My condolences
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    They don't seem to provoke the immediate negative opinion that Williamson does though. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone defend him.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
    Probably, to start with, her saying she didn't really know anything about NI politics when she got the job.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,500
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
    Been reading up on Irish, and especially N Irish, history?
  • kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
    Probably, to start with, her saying she didn't really know anything about NI politics when she got the job.
    How is that upsetting?

    Do we not want our politicians to be honest?

    If we should be upset with anyone about that it would be May who appointed her. Not someone being honest.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876

    DavidL said:

    Scott_P said:
    We’ve known that the QE was going to the Pacific for ages. There was an interview with the commanding officer when she was in New York that said so. It was just oversold with stupid language by GW. Combined with his awful voice he has no hope of getting the top job
    By 2021 when the QE sets sail for said region...we may well have a Labour govt under JC - by then this will be long long forgotten.......just saying
    Will it be allowed to go to sea under Corbyn? Seems a bit aggressive. Maybe we could send out cups of tea and digestive biscuits instead.

    But the timing shows how indescribably stupid Williamson is. Hammond's trip to China cancelled so he could arse about something that is absolutely years off? Total prat.
    Could use it to travel the world rescuing illegal migrants and bringing them back to the UK? I can see Jezza signing off on that plan.
    Watched episodes 2 and 3 of Europe, 10 years of turmoil, yesterday. Superb series, the BBC at its very best. One lost track of how many things Merkel has managed to misjudge in the last 10 years but of them all the asylum crisis from Syria was probably the worst. And the deal she struck with Turkey without the approval of Tusk or the Council really needs to be thought about when people obsess about how Leave allegedly lied about Turkey's impending accession.

    My conclusion was that without her there is no way that Brexit would have happened. Between the rejection of Cameron's attempts at restricting free movement, to the raping of Greece to the deals with Turkey and the mass acceptance of immigrants without any checks on their status or suitability, she really did everything necessary and possible to make it happen.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876
    kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
    Probably, to start with, her saying she didn't really know anything about NI politics when she got the job.
    Does that not just indicate sanity and a sense of priorities on her part? Its not like she was looking for that particular job.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163

    kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
    Probably, to start with, her saying she didn't really know anything about NI politics when she got the job.
    How is that upsetting?

    Do we not want our politicians to be honest?

    If we should be upset with anyone about that it would be May who appointed her. Not someone being honest.
    The question wasn't initially one of upset, it was about being inept. I have no idea if Bradley is still inept or not, I was just speculating what might have led someone to think she was.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    DavidL said:

    kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
    Probably, to start with, her saying she didn't really know anything about NI politics when she got the job.
    Does that not just indicate sanity and a sense of priorities on her part? Its not like she was looking for that particular job.
    I was merely speculating what might lead people to conclude she was inept - like you I don't know what else she has done at all.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,220
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
    Stripping away anything about brexit, I think the 'big 4' jobs are filled with competent ministers - and I think both Gove and Rudd are assets. They both could and have in the past fill big 4 roles if circumstances were different (Rudd's resignation was really from a hospital pass + unlucky)
    At the other end of the scale are Grayling, Bradley (@DavidL Her musings on NI are frequently clueless) and Liam Fox. I'd place Williamson above those 3 at least - he's probably a better defence minister to have INSIDE the EU rather than outside though as inside warships and trade can't be so easily linked.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,868
    malcolmg said:

    IanB2 said:

    The British airline Flybmi has gone bust, cancelling all flights with immediate effect and blaming Brexit as the main cause of its collapse.

    LOL, will be excuse of choice for years, any loser will just blame it all on Brexit
    Jamie Oliver comes to mind. His restaurants are shit, the chain went bankrupt because they are shit.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876
    kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
    Probably, to start with, her saying she didn't really know anything about NI politics when she got the job.
    Does that not just indicate sanity and a sense of priorities on her part? Its not like she was looking for that particular job.
    I was merely speculating what might lead people to conclude she was inept - like you I don't know what else she has done at all.
    She has achieved almost nothing that I can ascertain. Still no NI Assembly, the members of it still being paid, the cross border agencies who should surely have been working on the border issues apparently paralysed, the economy there slipping away, the peculiar limitations on UK human rights applied to NI still in place, but when you look at the likes of Williamson and Grayling maybe doing and saying nothing of substance is not the worst.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,134
    edited February 2019
    Scott_P said:
    3 strikes* and your out more like...

    * like speed points they get reset every so many years as well...other terms and conditions apply.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,871
    Essexit said:

    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
    Encouraging however that they recognise a Labour led government is better than an entirely Labour one...?
  • DavidL said:

    kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
    Probably, to start with, her saying she didn't really know anything about NI politics when she got the job.
    Does that not just indicate sanity and a sense of priorities on her part? Its not like she was looking for that particular job.
    Karen Bradley not knowing about nationalists and loyalists does not indicate sanity: it indicates she's been living in a cave without newspapers or television since the age of twelve.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,500
    edited February 2019
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Scott_P said:
    We’ve known that the QE was going to the Pacific for ages. There was an interview with the commanding officer when she was in New York that said so. It was just oversold with stupid language by GW. Combined with his awful voice he has no hope of getting the top job
    By 2021 when the QE sets sail for said region...we may well have a Labour govt under JC - by then this will be long long forgotten.......just saying
    Will it be allowed to go to sea under Corbyn? Seems a bit aggressive. Maybe we could send out cups of tea and digestive biscuits instead.

    But the timing shows how indescribably stupid Williamson is. Hammond's trip to China cancelled so he could arse about something that is absolutely years off? Total prat.
    Could use it to travel the world rescuing illegal migrants and bringing them back to the UK? I can see Jezza signing off on that plan.
    Watched episodes 2 and 3 of Europe, 10 years of turmoil, yesterday. Superb series, the BBC at its very best. One lost track of how many things Merkel has managed to misjudge in the last 10 years but of them all the asylum crisis from Syria was probably the worst. And the deal she struck with Turkey without the approval of Tusk or the Council really needs to be thought about when people obsess about how Leave allegedly lied about Turkey's impending accession.

    My conclusion was that without her there is no way that Brexit would have happened. Between the rejection of Cameron's attempts at restricting free movement, to the raping of Greece to the deals with Turkey and the mass acceptance of immigrants without any checks on their status or suitability, she really did everything necessary and possible to make it happen.
    The Turkey poster probably made a contribution to Leave's vote. Sadly.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,868
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Scott_P said:
    We’ve known that the QE was going to the Pacific for ages. There was an interview with the commanding officer when she was in New York that said so. It was just oversold with stupid language by GW. Combined with his awful voice he has no hope of getting the top job
    By 2021 when the QE sets sail for said region...we may well have a Labour govt under JC - by then this will be long long forgotten.......just saying
    Will it be allowed to go to sea under Corbyn? Seems a bit aggressive. Maybe we could send out cups of tea and digestive biscuits instead.

    But the timing shows how indescribably stupid Williamson is. Hammond's trip to China cancelled so he could arse about something that is absolutely years off? Total prat.
    Could use it to travel the world rescuing illegal migrants and bringing them back to the UK? I can see Jezza signing off on that plan.
    Watched episodes 2 and 3 of Europe, 10 years of turmoil, yesterday. Superb series, the BBC at its very best. One lost track of how many things Merkel has managed to misjudge in the last 10 years but of them all the asylum crisis from Syria was probably the worst. And the deal she struck with Turkey without the approval of Tusk or the Council really needs to be thought about when people obsess about how Leave allegedly lied about Turkey's impending accession.

    My conclusion was that without her there is no way that Brexit would have happened. Between the rejection of Cameron's attempts at restricting free movement, to the raping of Greece to the deals with Turkey and the mass acceptance of immigrants without any checks on their status or suitability, she really did everything necessary and possible to make it happen.
    Hmm, I've been hestitant to watch it, but people from both sides of the divide have praised the series.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,500
    MaxPB said:

    malcolmg said:

    IanB2 said:

    The British airline Flybmi has gone bust, cancelling all flights with immediate effect and blaming Brexit as the main cause of its collapse.

    LOL, will be excuse of choice for years, any loser will just blame it all on Brexit
    Jamie Oliver comes to mind. His restaurants are shit, the chain went bankrupt because they are shit.
    He's moving into a very grand house in an expensive area not far away from here though.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876

    DavidL said:

    kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    Not sure what Karen Bradley's done to upset you. Not sure what she's done at all tbh.
    Probably, to start with, her saying she didn't really know anything about NI politics when she got the job.
    Does that not just indicate sanity and a sense of priorities on her part? Its not like she was looking for that particular job.
    Karen Bradley not knowing about nationalists and loyalists does not indicate sanity: it indicates she's been living in a cave without newspapers or television since the age of twelve.
    The truth is that NI is not nearly as interesting as the inhabitants seem to think it is. Why we are still supposed to care what the murderous, criminal crime families claim to be their inspiration is really not obvious to me either.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176

    Scott_P said:
    3 strikes* and your out more like...

    * like speed points they get reset every so many years as well...other terms and conditions apply.
    Can you get your brother, spouse or some Russian to take them for you?
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,318

    Barnesian said:

    Open Thread! Wow. Does that mean we can talk about anything rather than sticking to the subject?

    That will never catch on.

    Yesterday we planted 3 trees in our garden.

    Yesterday my wife died.
    I am so sorry to hear. My deepest condolences to you.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677
    Pulpstar said:

    I'd place Williamson above those 3 at least - he's probably a better defence minister to have INSIDE the EU rather than outside though as inside warships and trade can't be so easily linked.

    Williamson is lucky, in that, some of the ongoing MoD disasters are too complicated and esoteric for the media and opposition to understand and weaponise. Eg: RAF 100 squadron used to provide training support (acting as the opposition) using the Hawk T1. However as the privatised MFTS training scheme has experienced complete meltdown 100 are now doing LIFT training of new FJ pilots. So who's doing the adversary role? That's right, nobody, the capability is now "gapped". Not only but also, the Typhoon conversion course was considerably dumbed down and 16 two seaters scrapped because much of the course content was "downloaded" to the Hawk course as the students would be flying the glass cockpit T2. Great idea except some of the students are now flying the clockwork cockpit T1 on 100 Squadron...
  • tlg86 said:

    Scott_P said:
    3 strikes* and your out more like...

    * like speed points they get reset every so many years as well...other terms and conditions apply.
    Can you get your brother, spouse or some Russian to take them for you?
    Absolutely.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Scott_P said:
    We’ve known that the QE was going to the Pacific for ages. There was an interview with the commanding officer when she was in New York that said so. It was just oversold with stupid language by GW. Combined with his awful voice he has no hope of getting the top job
    By 2021 when the QE sets sail for said region...we may well have a Labour govt under JC - by then this will be long long forgotten.......just saying
    Will it be allowed to go to sea under Corbyn? Seems a bit aggressive. Maybe we could send out cups of tea and digestive biscuits instead.

    But the timing shows how indescribably stupid Williamson is. Hammond's trip to China cancelled so he could arse about something that is absolutely years off? Total prat.
    Could use it to travel the world rescuing illegal migrants and bringing them back to the UK? I can see Jezza signing off on that plan.
    Watched episodes 2 and 3 of Europe, 10 years of turmoil, yesterday. Superb series, the BBC at its very best. One lost track of how many things Merkel has managed to misjudge in the last 10 years but of them all the asylum crisis from Syria was probably the worst. And the deal she struck with Turkey without the approval of Tusk or the Council really needs to be thought about when people obsess about how Leave allegedly lied about Turkey's impending accession.

    My conclusion was that without her there is no way that Brexit would have happened. Between the rejection of Cameron's attempts at restricting free movement, to the raping of Greece to the deals with Turkey and the mass acceptance of immigrants without any checks on their status or suitability, she really did everything necessary and possible to make it happen.
    The Turkey poster probably made a contribution to Leave's vote. Sadly.
    So did the Merkel agreement to waive the 78 conditions that Turkey was supposed to meet and the squashing of any objections from Cyprus. She was damn lucky that Erdogan decided to go off on one and give them a way out.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    tlg86 said:

    Essexit said:

    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
    It looks like she doesn't hyphenate it:

    http://www.rebeccalongbailey.com/
    If you ever want to cause yourself endless hassle and be constantly miss named then choose not to hyphenate a double baralled surname I can tell you. Many computer systems can't cope with the concept.
  • Rexel56 said:

    Rexel56 said:

    Mr. 56, cheers for that post excoriating Vaizey. I recall a little about that, but that's the sort of substantial detail that, frankly, the media should be reporting properly, rather than focusing on sensationalism and personalities.

    +1. Very illuminating. And my friend does indeed fall back on very expensive and limited satellite broadband.
    Read the Public Accounts Committee papers on Broadband Delivery UK; they don’t make comfortable reading for the government.
    WE have been left out too. BT say "no plans to deliver to us in the near future". I will have moved by the time it comes to my place, and when I move it will be to somewhere that has decent broadband. Funny how BT tests say 4mb download, but if you try and download anything its always at c200kbs...
    It's been a while since I paid attention to speeds (fibre) but from memory is there not an issue that advertised speeds are in megabits per second while your computer shows speeds in kilobytes per second.

    4 megabits per second ~ 500 kilobytes per second.
    No, the issue is that the broadband speed you get from BT Infinity is a function of the distance to the cabinet from your home and the quality of the copper (or worse still, aluminium) cable that connects you to the cabinet. Errors increase with distance and damaged wire and so speed has to be reduced. As a rule of thumb, 80mbps will be available next to the cabinet and 20mbps 1km away. More than 1.5km and speed will be slowe on BT Infinity than earlier technology.

    Full fibre to the home has no speed loss due to distance, we get 960mbps living on top of a hill in the Yorkshire Dales thanks to full fibre that we installed as a community.
    I understand that but I still think the bits or bytes issue exists, from memory.

    BT tests may say 4 megabits per second and downloads occur at 200 kilobytes. As a a real life function when if it wasn't for the copper degradation then it would be a multitude faster.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    edited February 2019
    Alistair said:

    tlg86 said:

    Essexit said:

    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
    It looks like she doesn't hyphenate it:

    http://www.rebeccalongbailey.com/
    If you ever want to cause yourself endless hassle and be constantly miss named then choose not to hyphenate a double baralled surname I can tell you. Many computer systems can't cope with the concept.
    Oh, I know. ;)
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,876
    MaxPB said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Scott_P said:
    We’ve known that the QE was going to the Pacific for ages. There was an interview with the commanding officer when she was in New York that said so. It was just oversold with stupid language by GW. Combined with his awful voice he has no hope of getting the top job
    By 2021 when the QE sets sail for said region...we may well have a Labour govt under JC - by then this will be long long forgotten.......just saying
    Will it be allowed to go to sea under Corbyn? Seems a bit aggressive. Maybe we could send out cups of tea and digestive biscuits instead.

    But the timing shows how indescribably stupid Williamson is. Hammond's trip to China cancelled so he could arse about something that is absolutely years off? Total prat.
    Could use it to travel the world rescuing illegal migrants and bringing them back to the UK? I can see Jezza signing off on that plan.
    Watched episodes 2 and 3 of Europe, 10 years of turmoil, yesterday. Superb series, the BBC at its very best. One lost track of how many things Merkel has managed to misjudge in the last 10 years but of them all the asylum crisis from Syria was probably the worst. And the deal she struck with Turkey without the approval of Tusk or the Council really needs to be thought about when people obsess about how Leave allegedly lied about Turkey's impending accession.

    My conclusion was that without her there is no way that Brexit would have happened. Between the rejection of Cameron's attempts at restricting free movement, to the raping of Greece to the deals with Turkey and the mass acceptance of immigrants without any checks on their status or suitability, she really did everything necessary and possible to make it happen.
    Hmm, I've been hestitant to watch it, but people from both sides of the divide have praised the series.
    It really is outstanding with lots of the main actors chipping in combined with news footage at the time. I thought it was pretty impartial.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,676
    Essexit said:

    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
    Thank God BigJohnOwls doesn't have a hyphen
  • YorkcityYorkcity Posts: 4,382
    edited February 2019
    Watching the Sunday Politics regarding the threat of de-selecting the Conservative MP for Grantham Nick Boles.
    Hoping they do not take this cause of action.
    As he seems a very good MP to me.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,500
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Scott_P said:
    We’ve known that the QE was going to the Pacific for ages. There was an interview with the commanding officer when she was in New York that said so. It was just oversold with stupid language by GW. Combined with his awful voice he has no hope of getting the top job
    By 2021 when the QE sets sail for said region...we may well have a Labour govt under JC - by then this will be long long forgotten.......just saying
    Will it be allowed to go to sea under Corbyn? Seems a bit aggressive. Maybe we could send out cups of tea and digestive biscuits instead.

    But the timing shows how indescribably stupid Williamson is. Hammond's trip to China cancelled so he could arse about something that is absolutely years off? Total prat.
    Could use it to travel the world rescuing illegal migrants and bringing them back to the UK? I can see Jezza signing off on that plan.
    Watched episodes 2 and 3 of Europe, 10 years of turmoil, yesterday. Superb series, the BBC at its very best. One lost track of how many things Merkel has managed to misjudge in the last 10 years but of them all the asylum crisis from Syria was probably the worst. And the deal she struck with Turkey without the approval of Tusk or the Council really needs to be thought about when people obsess about how Leave allegedly lied about Turkey's impending accession.

    My conclusion was that without her there is no way that Brexit would have happened. Between the rejection of Cameron's attempts at restricting free movement, to the raping of Greece to the deals with Turkey and the mass acceptance of immigrants without any checks on their status or suitability, she really did everything necessary and possible to make it happen.
    The Turkey poster probably made a contribution to Leave's vote. Sadly.
    So did the Merkel agreement to waive the 78 conditions that Turkey was supposed to meet and the squashing of any objections from Cyprus. She was damn lucky that Erdogan decided to go off on one and give them a way out.
    Trying to integrate the former Ottoman territories was always a bad idea.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,626
    edited February 2019
    Scott_P said:
    Almost worth joining the Labour Party to see how many strikes you get at hectoring terrorist-loving John McDonnell before being cast out....
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,134
    edited February 2019
    Chicago police believe Empire actor Jussie Smollett may have paid two men to carry out last month's alleged assault, reports in the US say.

    Two Nigerian brothers who had worked as extras on Empire told police that they were paid to take part in the 29 January attack, police sources said.

    Smollett had said he was attacked by two white men

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47269827
  • dots said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Bored with the sober and predictable developments in British politics? Try the Ukraine, where a soap opera star is leading the Presidential election race, ahead of the grey incumbent Poroshenko and the ultra-populist Tymoshenko (who favours halving energy prices):

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2019_Ukrainian_presidential_election

    The Zelensky situation is truly amazing. The British equivalent would be Nicola Murray becoming PM in the Thick of It then the actor who portrayed her, Rebecca Front, deciding to actually run for PM and being 10 points ahead in the polls with four weeks to go. And we think British politics is fucked.
    Rebecca would make a great PM. Vote for Rebecca’s Popular Front. 🙃

    Now for some hot news from radio 4 broadcasting house (a cross between today and the goon show) The minister responsible for reassuring us not to stockpile has just said no one can guarantee anything. He refused to guarantee there won’t be shortages.

    Apparently The problem is, not the country of origin, but the country of processing ready to use. Things are flown into parts of Europe for processing, and driven or shipped into UK. At the same time we can’t talk of country of origin, and can’t use raw things, we can’t process them ourselves without other items. Hence not just fresh food shortages, medicines, but potentially shortages of all processed drink and food, and also fuel shortages, water shortages, blackouts.

    To be fair to Raab we can understand his Damascene conversion over Dover Calais now can’t we?
    Rebecca Front is a luvvie like Emma Thompson or David Schneider.

    Fine if you like that sort of thing but not necessarily a surefire election winner here.
    Londoners elected the panel game star Boris; the Americans have elected film stars Reagan and Arnie, and reality tv star Trump. We in the West are not that sophisticated.
  • kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    They don't seem to provoke the immediate negative opinion that Williamson does though. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone defend him.

    Williamson is also transparently angling for the leadership. Fox and Bradley, at least, have the self-knowledge not to bother - which I guess does put them below him in the pecking order of crapness.

  • Mr. Urquhart, .... that sounds utterly nuts.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,134
    edited February 2019

    Mr. Urquhart, .... that sounds utterly nuts.

    Seems these MAGA supporters come in all shapes and sizes....
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,318
    tlg86 said:

    Alistair said:

    tlg86 said:

    Essexit said:

    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
    It looks like she doesn't hyphenate it:

    http://www.rebeccalongbailey.com/
    If you ever want to cause yourself endless hassle and be constantly miss named then choose not to hyphenate a double baralled surname I can tell you. Many computer systems can't cope with the concept.
    Oh, I know. ;)
    I have a double barrelled surname and an unusually spelt first name. The number of versions of my name I get is endless. Computers are by no means the worst. When some people hear my name they often think I am a man or, years ago, that I am my alter ego’s secretary.........

    But one advantage is that people remember it, which may or may not be a good thing, of course.....

  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    Cyclefree said:


    tlg86 said:

    Alistair said:

    tlg86 said:

    Essexit said:

    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
    It looks like she doesn't hyphenate it:

    http://www.rebeccalongbailey.com/
    If you ever want to cause yourself endless hassle and be constantly miss named then choose not to hyphenate a double baralled surname I can tell you. Many computer systems can't cope with the concept.
    Oh, I know. ;)
    I have a double barrelled surname and an unusually spelt first name. The number of versions of my name I get is endless. Computers are by no means the worst. When some people hear my name they often think I am a man or, years ago, that I am my alter ego’s secretary.........

    But one advantage is that people remember it, which may or may not be a good thing, of course.....

    I love that bit in The Thick of It:

    "That's Robyn Murdoch? I thought that was Robyn Murdoch's secretary."
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Scott_P said:
    We’ve known that the QE was going to the Pacific for ages. There was an interview with the commanding officer when she was in New York that said so. It was just oversold with stupid language by GW. Combined with his awful voice he has no hope of getting the top job
    By 2021 when the QE sets sail for said region...we may well have a Labour govt under JC - by then this will be long long forgotten.......just saying
    Will it be allowed to go to sea under Corbyn? Seems a bit aggressive. Maybe we could send out cups of tea and digestive biscuits instead.

    But the timing shows how indescribably stupid Williamson is. Hammond's trip to China cancelled so he could arse about something that is absolutely years off? Total prat.
    Could use it to travel the world rescuing illegal migrants and bringing them back to the UK? I can see Jezza signing off on that plan.
    Watched episodes 2 and 3 of Europe, 10 years of turmoil, yesterday. Superb series, the BBC at its very best. One lost track of how many things Merkel has managed to misjudge in the last 10 years but of them all the asylum crisis from Syria was probably the worst. And the deal she struck with Turkey without the approval of Tusk or the Council really needs to be thought about when people obsess about how Leave allegedly lied about Turkey's impending accession.

    My conclusion was that without her there is no way that Brexit would have happened. Between the rejection of Cameron's attempts at restricting free movement, to the raping of Greece to the deals with Turkey and the mass acceptance of immigrants without any checks on their status or suitability, she really did everything necessary and possible to make it happen.
    The Turkey poster probably made a contribution to Leave's vote. Sadly.
    So did the Merkel agreement to waive the 78 conditions that Turkey was supposed to meet and the squashing of any objections from Cyprus. She was damn lucky that Erdogan decided to go off on one and give them a way out.
    Trying to integrate the former Ottoman territories was always a bad idea.
    Careful, you sound like a wacist leaver ....
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,318
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6714029/Six-people-face-arrest-40million-black-hole-Patisserie-Valerie-accounts-discovered.html

    Entirely unsurprising.

    Though there is a delightful error in the first line of the report.....
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    edited February 2019
    MaxPB said:

    malcolmg said:

    IanB2 said:

    The British airline Flybmi has gone bust, cancelling all flights with immediate effect and blaming Brexit as the main cause of its collapse.

    LOL, will be excuse of choice for years, any loser will just blame it all on Brexit
    Jamie Oliver comes to mind. His restaurants are shit, the chain went bankrupt because they are shit.
    Jamie and all the others are suffering because of over-investment in the “crap casual” market over the past 10 years.

    As always, when the economy turns, the tide goes out, and we see which “chefs” are swimming naked.

    Oh, and the food at Jamie’s was overpriced shit.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    @TheAncientMariner I am so sorry to read about your loss.
  • RecidivistRecidivist Posts: 4,679

    Scott_P said:
    Does Williamson EVER get coffee? He must surely never have been offered a biscuit.....
    And sure as heck nobody is going to give him the wifi code.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,626
    Cyclefree said:



    Though there is a delightful error in the first line of the report.....

    In your dreams!
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    Williamson is the crappest, because he is provocatively crap.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,626
    tlg86 said:

    Essexit said:

    Appalling and abysmal stuff, she's missed the hyphen out of her own surname.
    It looks like she doesn't hyphenate it:

    http://www.rebeccalongbailey.com/
    There's no hyphen in Long Drop either....
  • RecidivistRecidivist Posts: 4,679
    There's a petition online to unilaterally revoke Article 50.

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/239706

    114,369 signatures as I post, and going up by about 1,000 an hour. It will have to increase that rate substantially to have an impact. But it would be agenda changing if it did. If it were to get to a million plus it would be hard to ignore.

    It is a simple message. Stop the Brexit process. We know it can be done. Most of us know it should be done. It avoids the divisive second referendum debate. We don't need EU agreement as we would to an extension.

    Crisis over.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,626

    Scott_P said:
    Does Williamson EVER get coffee? He must surely never have been offered a biscuit.....
    And sure as heck nobody is going to give him the wifi code.
    Rather more worrying would be someone giving him the nuclear code.....
  • There's a petition online to unilaterally revoke Article 50.

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/239706

    114,369 signatures as I post, and going up by about 1,000 an hour. It will have to increase that rate substantially to have an impact. But it would be agenda changing if it did. If it were to get to a million plus it would be hard to ignore.

    It is a simple message. Stop the Brexit process. We know it can be done. Most of us know it should be done. It avoids the divisive second referendum debate. We don't need EU agreement as we would to an extension.

    Crisis over.

    We have he similar before. Remember the one with 3 million signatures.
  • Mr. Recidivist, it'd take a lot more than that, I think, for the petition to have an impact.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,626

    There's a petition online to unilaterally revoke Article 50.

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/239706

    114,369 signatures as I post, and going up by about 1,000 an hour. It will have to increase that rate substantially to have an impact. But it would be agenda changing if it did. If it were to get to a million plus it would be hard to ignore.

    It is a simple message. Stop the Brexit process. We know it can be done. Most of us know it should be done. It avoids the divisive second referendum debate. We don't need EU agreement as we would to an extension.

    Crisis over.

    When 17.4m have signed, let us know.....
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,500
    Cyclefree said:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6714029/Six-people-face-arrest-40million-black-hole-Patisserie-Valerie-accounts-discovered.html

    Entirely unsurprising.

    Though there is a delightful error in the first line of the report.....

    People more deserving of arrest.......... as written!
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164
    edited February 2019
    Most recent poll in Spain shows Ciudadanos increasing it's vote along with Vox while Podemos and PP both drop. PSOE up slightly but overall right and centre right still in the lead overall.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2019_Spanish_general_election
  • anothernickanothernick Posts: 3,591
    DavidL said:

    Don't have to worry about being off topic since there isn't one but this is a story with potential political implications: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47269042

    The auto enrollment into pension schemes looks set out to wipe out almost all of the increase in real wages since they stopped falling pretty much at a stroke. Of course we need to save more, not least for our retirement, but given the current slowdown in the UK and EU economies the timing is less than optimal. It might even increase the risk of a technical recession this year.

    And the employers contributions to most public sector pension schemes are also going up on April 1st. This will suck money out of public service budgets, though the NHS and education will receive additional funding the cover the cost. But other services will have to bear some of it.
  • felix said:

    Most recent poll in Spain shows Ciudadanos increasing it's vote along with Vox while Podemos and PP both drop. PSOE up slightly but overall right and centre right still in the lead overall.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2019_Spanish_general_election

    When do we start getting into price of tomatos vs oranges?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,279

    kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    It is a sobering thought that Gavin Williamson is not close to being the most inept member of the current Cabinet. That’s how bad it is.

    Oh he is close if you except Grayling and we really cannot use him as a bar for anything. Flood prevention perhaps.

    Fox, Bradley and Mordaunt are all floating at the bottom, too.

    They don't seem to provoke the immediate negative opinion that Williamson does though. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone defend him.

    Williamson is also transparently angling for the leadership. Fox and Bradley, at least, have the self-knowledge not to bother - which I guess does put them below him in the pecking order of crapness.

    It is mildly concerning, though, to have a defence secretary who is not only crap and irredeemably naff, but also utterly delusional.

  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789
    edited February 2019
  • To be fair, I've heard some vegetarians do still eat fish.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,626

    To be fair, I've heard some vegetarians do still eat fish.

    Just don't tell the enormo-haddock.....
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