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  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527
    kjh said:

    justin124 said:

    Tory 15 point lead....i have a feeling jezza will be doing everything possible to avoid an election now.

    or 2 point Tory lead.
    Justin, your posts just aren't objective. As remainer and LD supporter I have to accept that currently the Tories have a good lead and it has grown a little over the past few weeks. As events unfurl I hope that will change, but let's not be blind to the facts even if we don't like them.
    I look at ALL the polls and go to great lengths to find them. We currently have polls showing Tory leads of 15% - 6% - 5% - 3% - and 2%. I ignore none of them - but to suggest we have clarity as to where things now stand is nonsense!
  • Gabs2Gabs2 Posts: 1,268
    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513
    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of iron and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    How do we know he wasn't taking the piss ?
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,153
    edited October 2019
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,695

    kjh said:

    Haven't the LibDems fallen back nationally somewhat in the couple of weeks since that Finchley and Golders Green polling was done? And the Tories advanced? They could easily both be in the 30s now.

    Yes to all those points. But what is the point in pointing it out? Aren't you doing what Justin is doing? It is grasping at straws by just picking up the positives and ignoring the negatives.
    Time will tell whether it was taken at peak LibDem.....
    Might be, might not. I hope not, you hope it is obviously. Not the point I'm making. And in fairness my jibe was really at Justin who always has a very biased view of Labours position, but while I was having a go at him for it I picked on you as well, probably unfairly.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 77,895
    Nigelb said:

    Shinjiro Koizumi's 'sexy' fight against climate change is untranslatable, Japan's government says
    https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/10/16/national/politics-diplomacy/shinjiro-koizumis-sexy-fight-climate-change-untranslatable-japans-government-says/
    The Japanese government has officially determined that environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s recent use of the English word “sexy” in a reference to climate change is “difficult to accurately translate” into Japanese, avoiding issuing an official rendering of the young scion’s tricky choice of vocabulary.

    The government was forced to make sense of Koizumi’s recent vow to make Japan’s fight against climate change “sexy” after an opposition lawmaker requested an official interpretation of his remarks....

    セケシ-
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,344
    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of zinc or something and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    Looking at the map, I'm surprised there is more rainfall in NW Scotland and Wales than in West Ireland!
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,690
    Sterling still going gangbusters. But the cabinet emerge “grim faced”.

    It’s been a while since we had a cricket analogy. Perhaps today is a bit like when Stokes was smashing 6 after 6 and the crowd knew there was no stopping him, but poor old Root in the Pavillion couldn’t bear to watch.

  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,828
    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    Shall we declare war?
  • 148grss148grss Posts: 4,155
    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of iron and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    How do we know he wasn't taking the piss ?
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/de-bonos-marmite-plan-for-peace-in-middle-yeast-740189.html
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,828
    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of iron and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    How do we know he wasn't taking the piss ?
    More importantly, how do we know he wasn’t right?
  • TheValiantTheValiant Posts: 1,873

    Is the weather ever going to stop being bloody damp? The place hasn't been dry for weeks....

    Chucked it down this morning but turned sunny and warm now in Liverpool.

  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,828
    Scott_P said:
    This is the EU we are talking about, so yes.
  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527
    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    Haven't the LibDems fallen back nationally somewhat in the couple of weeks since that Finchley and Golders Green polling was done? And the Tories advanced? They could easily both be in the 30s now.

    Yes to all those points. But what is the point in pointing it out? Aren't you doing what Justin is doing? It is grasping at straws by just picking up the positives and ignoring the negatives.
    Time will tell whether it was taken at peak LibDem.....
    Might be, might not. I hope not, you hope it is obviously. Not the point I'm making. And in fairness my jibe was really at Justin who always has a very biased view of Labours position, but while I was having a go at him for it I picked on you as well, probably unfairly.
    You are confusing a disinclination to run with the crowd - and a willingness to be contrarian -with being biased. I am not currently a Labour supporter , and will be spoiling my ballot paper at the next election.
    Take a look at 'Opinion polling for the next United Kingdom general election' on Wilkipedia - and form your own objective opinion.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,695
    justin124 said:

    kjh said:

    justin124 said:

    Tory 15 point lead....i have a feeling jezza will be doing everything possible to avoid an election now.

    or 2 point Tory lead.
    Justin, your posts just aren't objective. As remainer and LD supporter I have to accept that currently the Tories have a good lead and it has grown a little over the past few weeks. As events unfurl I hope that will change, but let's not be blind to the facts even if we don't like them.
    I look at ALL the polls and go to great lengths to find them. We currently have polls showing Tory leads of 15% - 6% - 5% - 3% - and 2%. I ignore none of them - but to suggest we have clarity as to where things now stand is nonsense!
    Don't think I mentioned clarity anywhere. You stating something I didn't say is nonsense!!!??

    I mentioned a good lead that had grown a little. You choose to highlight the smallest lead. I don't think many on here would disagree that you tend to be biased towards Labour when interpreting data.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,700
    Mr. Leave, bloody hell. The Government, and Nicky Morgan, getting something right.
  • RobD said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of iron and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    How do we know he wasn't taking the piss ?
    More importantly, how do we know he wasn’t right?
    Why does the map include Switzerland but not Norway?
  • AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    edited October 2019

    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of zinc or something and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    Looking at the map, I'm surprised there is more rainfall in NW Scotland and Wales than in West Ireland!
    It's erosivity, which measures the amount of material transport via rainfall (I think). Influenced by a lot of stuff (type of slope, type of vegetation, average drop size etc). Drizzly places have less erosivity than places that suffer frequent downpours, for example, even if volume of water is the same.

    Here is a rainfall map, which is more intuitively correct.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/3dhurh/average_annual_precipitation_in_europe_550550/

  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,753
    RobD said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    Shall we declare war?
    Cannot sorry. The US has been identified by You Know Who as one of the nations against which we would have no chance. Got to let this one go.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,344
    Is Marmite either Halal or kosher? Would Vegemite work? Prefer Bovril myself.
  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527
    kjh said:

    justin124 said:

    kjh said:

    justin124 said:

    Tory 15 point lead....i have a feeling jezza will be doing everything possible to avoid an election now.

    or 2 point Tory lead.
    Justin, your posts just aren't objective. As remainer and LD supporter I have to accept that currently the Tories have a good lead and it has grown a little over the past few weeks. As events unfurl I hope that will change, but let's not be blind to the facts even if we don't like them.
    I look at ALL the polls and go to great lengths to find them. We currently have polls showing Tory leads of 15% - 6% - 5% - 3% - and 2%. I ignore none of them - but to suggest we have clarity as to where things now stand is nonsense!
    Don't think I mentioned clarity anywhere. You stating something I didn't say is nonsense!!!??

    I mentioned a good lead that had grown a little. You choose to highlight the smallest lead. I don't think many on here would disagree that you tend to be biased towards Labour when interpreting data.
    I only mentioned the 2% lead because someone else referred to the 15% lead implying it was typical - simply to highlight the wide range of polling results we are currently seeing. No idea as to which is correct - and I doubt that anyone else does!
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513
    Just be grateful he didn't go the whole Putin....

    https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1184436003555172353
  • TheValiantTheValiant Posts: 1,873
    RobD said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    Shall we declare war?
    Nuke em from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,113
    I`ve just caught up with this thread - I`m surprised that only 11% of Labour votors now support the result of the ref. Gosh.

    The 3% of BXP supporters who don`t support it must be confused souls!
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513

    RobD said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of iron and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    How do we know he wasn't taking the piss ?
    More importantly, how do we know he wasn’t right?
    Why does the map include Switzerland but not Norway?
    Because there has never been conflict in Norway, whereas Switzerland...
  • Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,800


    It's 'the tragedy of the commons'.
    Better to be hypocrites and to know that you are - and to want to do something about it - rather than being a climate change denier like Trump.
    We need our politicians to take a lead, there's only a certain amount that an individual can do.

    The problem is the power of business and industry and its wealth permeates the debate. As the arguments against the science of climate change are progressively debunked, the line has turned to personal jibes against anyone who dares question the current economic model and even more so if they have ever flown in a plane or driven a car for they are "hypocrites".

    The problem is how to tell those parts of the world which are seeking prosperity via resource consumption and industrialisation that they cannot do it even though the ones telling them have already enjoyed the benefits.

    Perhaps it's a question of redefining prosperity - owing your own car with the freedom that comes from it vs a reliable, comprehensive and affordable public transport system?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    Boris surrendered Kim Darroch pretty quickly. :smile:
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    In non-Brexit news, this story is more interesting for the point about Bitcoin:

    https://twitter.com/TheStalwart/status/1184474068071919616

    If anonymity can be stripped from Bitcoin transactions, doesn't that take away one of its big USPs?
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,344
    Nigelb said:

    RobD said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of iron and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    How do we know he wasn't taking the piss ?
    More importantly, how do we know he wasn’t right?
    Why does the map include Switzerland but not Norway?
    Because there has never been conflict in Norway, whereas Switzerland...
    Never been conflict in Norway......... I refer you to 1940, and the battles without which Churchill might well not have become PM.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,360

    In non-Brexit news, this story is more interesting for the point about Bitcoin:

    https://twitter.com/TheStalwart/status/1184474068071919616

    If anonymity can be stripped from Bitcoin transactions, doesn't that take away one of its big USPs?

    It will certainly lead to a lot of people worried about their drug and weapons deals.....
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,695
    justin124 said:

    kjh said:

    justin124 said:

    kjh said:

    justin124 said:

    Tory 15 point lead....i have a feeling jezza will be doing everything possible to avoid an election now.

    or 2 point Tory lead.
    Justin, your posts just aren't objective. As remainer and LD supporter I have to accept that currently the Tories have a good lead and it has grown a little over the past few weeks. As events unfurl I hope that will change, but let's not be blind to the facts even if we don't like them.
    I look at ALL the polls and go to great lengths to find them. We currently have polls showing Tory leads of 15% - 6% - 5% - 3% - and 2%. I ignore none of them - but to suggest we have clarity as to where things now stand is nonsense!
    Don't think I mentioned clarity anywhere. You stating something I didn't say is nonsense!!!??

    I mentioned a good lead that had grown a little. You choose to highlight the smallest lead. I don't think many on here would disagree that you tend to be biased towards Labour when interpreting data.
    I only mentioned the 2% lead because someone else referred to the 15% lead implying it was typical - simply to highlight the wide range of polling results we are currently seeing. No idea as to which is correct - and I doubt that anyone else does!
    Fair point.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Nigelb said:

    Just be grateful he didn't go the whole Putin....

    https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1184436003555172353

    One has to feel for the horse.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,269

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of zinc or something and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    Looking at the map, I'm surprised there is more rainfall in NW Scotland and Wales than in West Ireland!
    it's a map of erosivity not precipitation.

    Western Ireland is largely bog* already...

    * for the haters I'm being ironic. But there is a lot of bog :smile:
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453

    If anonymity can be stripped from Bitcoin transactions, doesn't that take away one of its big USPs?

    Yes, but I understand it relies on at already being broken somewhere else.

    For example, if I post you some drugs after you pay me with Bitcoin, I can link an address to your bitcoin wallet.

    If you use the same wallet to buy porn, that could be traced to your address, but only by someone who has the same information as me, which might in fact be the police...
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,700
    Mr. Meeks, blimey, that is interesting.

    I wonder if the value of Bitcoin will decline dramatically.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    Scott_P said:
    James Felton definitely doesn't swear in front of his parents.

    Anyway. no one except me criticises the Lib Dem defectors for saying one thing in 2017 and the complete opposite now, so don't rely on people thinking much of this (if they're being consistent)
  • timmotimmo Posts: 1,469
    kjh said:

    justin124 said:

    kjh said:

    justin124 said:

    kjh said:

    justin124 said:

    Tory 15 point lead....i have a feeling jezza will be doing everything possible to avoid an election now.

    or 2 point Tory lead.
    Justin, your posts just aren't objective. As remainer and LD supporter I have to accept that currently the Tories have a good lead and it has grown a little over the past few weeks. As events unfurl I hope that will change, but let's not be blind to the facts even if we don't like them.
    I look at ALL the polls and go to great lengths to find them. We currently have polls showing Tory leads of 15% - 6% - 5% - 3% - and 2%. I ignore none of them - but to suggest we have clarity as to where things now stand is nonsense!
    Don't think I mentioned clarity anywhere. You stating something I didn't say is nonsense!!!??

    I mentioned a good lead that had grown a little. You choose to highlight the smallest lead. I don't think many on here would disagree that you tend to be biased towards Labour when interpreting data.
    I only mentioned the 2% lead because someone else referred to the 15% lead implying it was typical - simply to highlight the wide range of polling results we are currently seeing. No idea as to which is correct - and I doubt that anyone else does!
    Fair point.
    But what they are all consistent about is a Tory lead.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,344
    Charles said:

    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of zinc or something and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    Looking at the map, I'm surprised there is more rainfall in NW Scotland and Wales than in West Ireland!
    it's a map of erosivity not precipitation.

    Western Ireland is largely bog* already...

    * for the haters I'm being ironic. But there is a lot of bog :smile:
    Ah, I see, thanks.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,828

    In non-Brexit news, this story is more interesting for the point about Bitcoin:

    https://twitter.com/TheStalwart/status/1184474068071919616

    If anonymity can be stripped from Bitcoin transactions, doesn't that take away one of its big USPs?

    They probably weren't using it right, thankfully. The lengths you have to go to to make it truly anonymous render it pointless, unless you can live your entire life with just bitcoin.

  • If anonymity can be stripped from Bitcoin transactions, doesn't that take away one of its big USPs?

    Well, it's not quite that simple. In one sense, Bitcoin transactions are not at all anonymous, because every transaction is logged and digitally signed in the publicly-visible block chain. Thus it is public information that transaction X was carried out by whoever holds digital signature Y. Now, a priori there's nothing to match digital signature Y to a physical person, but that doesn't mean you can never make such a match; for example, you could find other transactions signed with the same signature and if they lead you to places where you can identify the owner of the signature (for example by getting a warrant to investigate the records of the other party in one of those transactions), then you've cracked it.

    As a general point, though, you are right: people over-estimate the anonymity of such transactions, and if they are cracked there is a perfect audit trail identifying who is involved.
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547
    edited October 2019
    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Scott_P said:
    Of course they weren't. We know already that Brexit matters have been reserved to a sub-committee to reduce the number of leaks
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,269

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    This is a heartbreaking case. Set aside the question of whether the US should waive diplomatic immunity here - assuming that this woman was in fact entitled to it. There are two issues here:-

    1. She apparently told the police that she was not leaving the country and then did so. That feels like a an act of bad faith on her part, running away - though there may have been good reasons for departure unconnected to this accident.
    2. If the accident had happened the other way, a biker on the wrong side of the road crashing into her car and killing her son, the police would have taken action against the biker - if the evidence was there. But she gets away with it on the grounds of her immunity. Of course, that's the whole point of immunity. But it stinks in such a case because what she was doing had nothing to do with the work of diplomats. It feels - even if it may not be in law - like an abuse of the system.

    I have to say that I find it hard to understand how Mrs Sacoolas can live with herself. She has been responsible for the death of a young man. She is refusing to face the consequences of that by accepting the necessary punishment (if that is appropriate) or even allowing the police to gather all the facts. She will - presumably - be teaching her children about the importance of behaving with integrity, of understanding that actions have consequences, of learning to face up to your own mistakes, not be a coward etc. And yet in her own life she is setting the most awful example by running away. The Dunns don't want her imprisoned but they do want her to face up to what she has done and accept the consequences. I don't think this is too much to ask.

    But I fear they will not get this.

    Tough as it may be for them, they may be best advised to try and grieve in private rather than embark on legal action and public interviews which are, I suspect, unlikely to succeed. If the facts are not enough to make Mrs Sacoolas do the decent thing, I doubt that media hype or legal action will do so.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,800
    timmo said:


    But what they are all consistent about is a Tory lead.

    Yes, the Conservatives enjoy a lead which I suspect is nearer 5-10% overall but it's still significant. The question is whether this support is a mile wide and an inch deep and how the pro-Boris coalition will react as events unfold particularly if there is an extension or as the details of any WA become apparent.

    There's also the widespread perception that IF there is a Deal we will leave on 31/10. No, all we will do then is enter a transition period during which we remain full members of the EU in terms of our obligations and responsibilities but outside the decision making process so we are in the club following the rules paying our subs (and a few other members subs as well) but having no say while the members we are supporting get a voice in any decisions.

    To paraphrase a famous Liberal Unionist passing a WA isn't the end, it's not even the beginning of the end but it may be the end of the beginning.

  • BromBrom Posts: 3,760
    isam said:

    Scott_P said:
    James Felton definitely doesn't swear in front of his parents.

    Anyway. no one except me criticises the Lib Dem defectors for saying one thing in 2017 and the complete opposite now, so don't rely on people thinking much of this (if they're being consistent)
    Once Brexit is done what are social media nobodies like James Felton, Ian Dunt, Alex Andreou and the various other twitter types (on both sides of the debate) going to do with themselves? without Scott P they are nothing but surely they must have another tweeting cause in the pipeline.
  • Nigelb said:

    Just be grateful he didn't go the whole Putin....

    https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1184436003555172353

    One has to feel for the horse.
    One step out of line and it's off to the glue factory
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    How about that stunt in the White House?
  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    edited October 2019

    Nigelb said:

    RobD said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:

    Nigelb said:

    148grss said:
    Entirely unlike all the reasonable pragmatists over here...

    It's a pretty implausible thread.

    This bit is just hilarious:
    https://twitter.com/KarlreMarks/status/1181911675743674368
    Did you know that some academic literally once claimed that the Israel Palestine conflict was due to a lack of iron and could be solved by making people in the region eat Marmite, and the important people considered it for a while because when some old white dude says something authoritatively you have to pretend it's important?
    How do we know he wasn't taking the piss ?
    More importantly, how do we know he wasn’t right?
    Why does the map include Switzerland but not Norway?
    Because there has never been conflict in Norway, whereas Switzerland...
    Never been conflict in Norway......... I refer you to 1940, and the battles without which Churchill might well not have become PM.
    The irony being that Churchill was responsible for the fiasco that was the Norway Campaign that led directly to the fall of the government and Churchill becoming prime minister. There are no parallels at all with Boris entering Number 10, aside from the obvious ones.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    The technical debate is that she is now back in the US so no longer has diplomatic immunity (the purpose of which is to prevent undue pressure on diplomats)

    Wouldn't that open up extradition as a route to follow?
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,269

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    I understand. However, when it was a US citizen who suffered the US got Georgia to waive immunity. So it's not guarded that religiously in all cases. They could perfectly well do so here without setting a precedent for other countries.

    They don't want to. That's the issue. The government can take that view. The individual concerned should however be looking to their own conscience, not the law, in such a case.
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547
    edited October 2019
    Charles said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    How about that stunt in the White House?
    Oh that’s inexcusable and shows Trump is an arse. I assumed that was priced in and was talking about the underlying issue and the advice he’s getting.

    Edit - It also really does emphasise he thinks like a reality tv star. Probably something we can learn from that in predicting future behaviour. I mean “well guess what, we’ve brought her here tonight to apologise” is unbelievably crass and naive.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,344

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    What is giving offence is the Jeremy Kyle type set up that Trump apparently tried to engineer.
  • BromBrom Posts: 3,760
    https://twitter.com/theobertram/status/1184429611536519168


    I'm beginning to think that although yougov are probably understating Labour that maybe there is a large shy Labour vote out there, people who will vote the party regardless of leader but can't bring themselves to wear the badge proudly because of how toxic Jezza is.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,269
    Charles said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    The technical debate is that she is now back in the US so no longer has diplomatic immunity (the purpose of which is to prevent undue pressure on diplomats)

    Wouldn't that open up extradition as a route to follow?
    That would depend on the precise terms of the treaty. You will be aware that there was a lot of disquiet at the time it was agreed about its one-sided nature. And if such action was taken the US would no doubt respond by saying that she had immunity. So back to square one.

    Mrs Sacoolas could sort this out by doing the decent thing herself, coming back to the UK, speaking to the police and, if action is taken against her, taking her punishment.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,320
    Brom said:

    isam said:

    Scott_P said:
    James Felton definitely doesn't swear in front of his parents.

    Anyway. no one except me criticises the Lib Dem defectors for saying one thing in 2017 and the complete opposite now, so don't rely on people thinking much of this (if they're being consistent)
    Once Brexit is done what are social media nobodies like James Felton, Ian Dunt, Alex Andreou and the various other twitter types (on both sides of the debate) going to do with themselves? without Scott P they are nothing but surely they must have another tweeting cause in the pipeline.
    You mean once Brexit is cancelled? If we proceed, it will go on forever.
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547
    edited October 2019
    Charles said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    The technical debate is that she is now back in the US so no longer has diplomatic immunity (the purpose of which is to prevent undue pressure on diplomats)

    Wouldn't that open up extradition as a route to follow?
    I don’t claim to be an expert, but if that logic held true, wouldn’t it work for all diplomats everywhere accused of crimes? To take a trivial example, all of our diplomats in DC who refuse to pay for parking at the airport should, on that logic, expect a bill when they get home.

    It feels like a complex area where you have to have absolutes or the whole system falls over.
  • If EUCO and the Commons deliver a " political Yes " there is going to be another week of this as all sides try and tweek the contents of the final treaty text then express fauxtrage at the treaty text and claim it's not what their " political Yes " was too even though it clearly was. Only after that wrangle can we have the MV.

    And the whole point of Super Saturday was the Commons would only have 36 hours to consider the treaty text agreed at EUCO. If it now has 7 to 10 days between the contents of the Deal being published and the MV well... the longer time frame gives space for the People's Vote and Brexit Party and UU/TUV machines to crank up betrayal campaigns.

    However I'm sure Dominic Cummings has wargamed that.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,269

    Charles said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    How about that stunt in the White House?
    Oh that’s inexcusable and shows Trump is an arse. I assumed that was priced in and was talking about the underlying issue and the advice he’s getting.

    Edit - It also really does emphasise he thinks like a reality tv star. Probably something we can learn from that in predicting future behaviour. I mean “well guess what, we’ve brought her here tonight to apologise” is unbelievably crass and naive.
    Why in God's name did Mrs S agree to it? I think far more criticism should be made of her than Trump in this case. Any decent person would have said no to such a circus.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,687
    Charles said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    How about that stunt in the White House?
    Rhyming slang?
  • BromBrom Posts: 3,760

    Brom said:

    isam said:

    Scott_P said:
    James Felton definitely doesn't swear in front of his parents.

    Anyway. no one except me criticises the Lib Dem defectors for saying one thing in 2017 and the complete opposite now, so don't rely on people thinking much of this (if they're being consistent)
    Once Brexit is done what are social media nobodies like James Felton, Ian Dunt, Alex Andreou and the various other twitter types (on both sides of the debate) going to do with themselves? without Scott P they are nothing but surely they must have another tweeting cause in the pipeline.
    You mean once Brexit is cancelled? If we proceed, it will go on forever.
    That's good. I guess they have a lifetime of stuff to tweet about. Not sure if they're capable of monetising their inane opinions to any serious degree mind. Once we leave the EU I would imagine Brexit won't go away for a while but it will be marginalised in column inch terms by numerous other events.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,637
    Anorak said:

    Drutt said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-50067073

    "Never never never stick your head out of the window of a moving train" - R Dahl

    Why yes, this is indeed in exceptionally bad taste. Thank you for pointing that out.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcoWdrerLdU
    Why is Viv looking for his head on a single track stretch of rail?
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,700
    Mr. Brom, I'm inclined to agree.

    There'll be much "I'm voting for Labour, not for Corbyn" thinking.
  • stodge said:

    timmo said:


    But what they are all consistent about is a Tory lead.

    Yes, the Conservatives enjoy a lead which I suspect is nearer 5-10% overall but it's still significant. The question is whether this support is a mile wide and an inch deep and how the pro-Boris coalition will react as events unfold particularly if there is an extension or as the details of any WA become apparent.

    There's also the widespread perception that IF there is a Deal we will leave on 31/10. No, all we will do then is enter a transition period during which we remain full members of the EU in terms of our obligations and responsibilities but outside the decision making process so we are in the club following the rules paying our subs (and a few other members subs as well) but having no say while the members we are supporting get a voice in any decisions.

    To paraphrase a famous Liberal Unionist passing a WA isn't the end, it's not even the beginning of the end but it may be the end of the beginning.

    This is now the biggest single variable in UK politics. Is Brexit transactional which will be completed by an event ? Or is it existential and therefore be a process at least or irresolvable on less than generational timescales because the underlying psychology won't be sated by the event ?

    I think it's the later but the PB bubble is dominated by Tories who think the former.
  • Cyclefree said:

    Charles said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    How about that stunt in the White House?
    Oh that’s inexcusable and shows Trump is an arse. I assumed that was priced in and was talking about the underlying issue and the advice he’s getting.

    Edit - It also really does emphasise he thinks like a reality tv star. Probably something we can learn from that in predicting future behaviour. I mean “well guess what, we’ve brought her here tonight to apologise” is unbelievably crass and naive.
    Why in God's name did Mrs S agree to it? I think far more criticism should be made of her than Trump in this case. Any decent person would have said no to such a circus.
    I agree. Though, was she ordered to? He husband was a “diplomat”, does she work for the US Gvt too?
  • TheValiantTheValiant Posts: 1,873
    Cyclefree said:

    This is a heartbreaking case. Set aside the question of whether the US should waive diplomatic immunity here - assuming that this woman was in fact entitled to it. There are two issues here:-

    1. She apparently told the police that she was not leaving the country and then did so. That feels like a an act of bad faith on her part, running away - though there may have been good reasons for departure unconnected to this accident.
    2. If the accident had happened the other way, a biker on the wrong side of the road crashing into her car and killing her son, the police would have taken action against the biker - if the evidence was there. But she gets away with it on the grounds of her immunity. Of course, that's the whole point of immunity. But it stinks in such a case because what she was doing had nothing to do with the work of diplomats. It feels - even if it may not be in law - like an abuse of the system.

    I have to say that I find it hard to understand how Mrs Sacoolas can live with herself. She has been responsible for the death of a young man. She is refusing to face the consequences of that by accepting the necessary punishment (if that is appropriate) or even allowing the police to gather all the facts. She will - presumably - be teaching her children about the importance of behaving with integrity, of understanding that actions have consequences, of learning to face up to your own mistakes, not be a coward etc. And yet in her own life she is setting the most awful example by running away. The Dunns don't want her imprisoned but they do want her to face up to what she has done and accept the consequences. I don't think this is too much to ask.

    But I fear they will not get this.

    Tough as it may be for them, they may be best advised to try and grieve in private rather than embark on legal action and public interviews which are, I suspect, unlikely to succeed. If the facts are not enough to make Mrs Sacoolas do the decent thing, I doubt that media hype or legal action will do so.

    There is a lot to like here, so I'll repost it.

    I've been following the story, and agree she isn't ever coming back, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try (And indeed are trying).

    Indeed, I've been very surprised at how.... and not sure if this is the right word... the British Establishment have very much turned against Mrs. Sacoolas. Once they knew she'd fled, it was straight to the nuclear options of naming her, getting Sky TV to try and hunt her down, getting Raab and Johnson to both put in (admittedly hopeless) calls to the Ambassador and US President.

    We really have tried our damnedst here. I'm actually quite proud the lengths we've [1] gone too. I thought we'd try to just ignore the whole thing and hope it went away.

    [1] By 'we', I mean the British state, government and even media generally.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480
    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    This is a heartbreaking case. Set aside the question of whether the US should waive diplomatic immunity here - assuming that this woman was in fact entitled to it. There are two issues here:-

    1. She apparently told the police that she was not leaving the country and then did so. That feels like a an act of bad faith on her part, running away - though there may have been good reasons for departure unconnected to this accident.
    2. If the accident had happened the other way, a biker on the wrong side of the road crashing into her car and killing her son, the police would have taken action against the biker - if the evidence was there. But she gets away with it on the grounds of her immunity. Of course, that's the whole point of immunity. But it stinks in such a case because what she was doing had nothing to do with the work of diplomats. It feels - even if it may not be in law - like an abuse of the system.

    I have to say that I find it hard to understand how Mrs Sacoolas can live with herself. She has been responsible for the death of a young man. She is refusing to face the consequences of that by accepting the necessary punishment (if that is appropriate) or even allowing the police to gather all the facts. She will - presumably - be teaching her children about the importance of behaving with integrity, of understanding that actions have consequences, of learning to face up to your own mistakes, not be a coward etc. And yet in her own life she is setting the most awful example by running away. The Dunns don't want her imprisoned but they do want her to face up to what she has done and accept the consequences. I don't think this is too much to ask.

    But I fear they will not get this.

    Tough as it may be for them, they may be best advised to try and grieve in private rather than embark on legal action and public interviews which are, I suspect, unlikely to succeed. If the facts are not enough to make Mrs Sacoolas do the decent thing, I doubt that media hype or legal action will do so.
    I suspect that she would have only had a fine and driving ban if she had stayed and faced the consequences. A custodial sentence would be quite unlikely.
  • rpjsrpjs Posts: 3,787

    Is Marmite either Halal or kosher? Would Vegemite work? Prefer Bovril myself.

    Dunno about kosher, but IIRC halal is only concerned with the slaughter of animals providing meat, and there are no other Islamic dietary restrictions other than the prohibition of pork and the consumption of blood.

    So Vegemite by not containing any meet is ipso facto halal.
  • Good. There is absolutely no reason to rush this. Especially now it's a political vote not a MV. The theatre is unnecessery and only to Johnson's advantage.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480
    If there is a deal, they do need time to read and digest it. As always the devil is in the detail.

    Bouncing it though without scrutiny is unwise. That is how Mrs T passed the Single European Act that set the ball rolling on Euroscepticism.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,928

    In non-Brexit news, this story is more interesting for the point about Bitcoin:

    https://twitter.com/TheStalwart/status/1184474068071919616

    If anonymity can be stripped from Bitcoin transactions, doesn't that take away one of its big USPs?

    Bitcoin has never been anonymous: what it is is pseudononymous. There's a giant ledger with every Bitcoin transaction in it. If I identify your Bitcoin address as 101010101010101 through chatting to your exchange. And then I identify childporn.com's as 99299299299299 and then I see there's a transaction between the two, then you'd expect a visit from plod.

    Now, there are various ways around this. Bitcoin "tumblers" or "mixers" attempt to allow you pay in 1 Bitcoin and then get lots of bits of Bitcoin back from various other people. By doing it in this way, it becomes hard (perhaps impossible) to trace individual users. But most criminals aren't that smart.
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,113
    Re Dan Hodges: Yes, Lab/SNP/LD MPs will do all they can to stop government securing a deal. Can`t let Tories get credit.

    They are against a deal and against no deal yet have the gaul to say that they are respecting the ref result.
  • Cyclefree said:

    This is a heartbreaking case. Set aside the question of whether the US should waive diplomatic immunity here - assuming that this woman was in fact entitled to it. There are two issues here:-

    1. She apparently told

    I have to say that I find it hard to understand how Mrs Sacoolas can live with herself. She has been responsible for the death of a young man. She is refusing to face the consequences of that by accepting the necessary punishment (if that is appropriate) or even allowing the police to gather all the facts. She will - presumably - be teaching her children about the importance of behaving with integrity, of understanding that actions have consequences, of learning to face up to your own mistakes, not be a coward etc. And yet in her own life she is setting the most awful example by running away. The Dunns don't want her imprisoned but they do want her to face up to what she has done and accept the consequences. I don't think this is too much to ask.

    But I fear they will not get this.

    Tough as it may be for them, they may be best advised to try and grieve in private rather than embark on legal action and public interviews which are, I suspect, unlikely to succeed. If the facts are not enough to make Mrs Sacoolas do the decent thing, I doubt that media hype or legal action will do so.

    There is a lot to like here, so I'll repost it.

    I've been following the story, and agree she isn't ever coming back, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try (And indeed are trying).

    Indeed, I've been very surprised at how.... and not sure if this is the right word... the British Establishment have very much turned against Mrs. Sacoolas. Once they knew she'd fled, it was straight to the nuclear options of naming her, getting Sky TV to try and hunt her down, getting Raab and Johnson to both put in (admittedly hopeless) calls to the Ambassador and US President.

    We really have tried our damnedst here. I'm actually quite proud the lengths we've [1] gone too. I thought we'd try to just ignore the whole thing and hope it went away.

    [1] By 'we', I mean the British state, government and even media generally.
    Yes I agree. Put better than I could.
  • TheValiantTheValiant Posts: 1,873
    Cyclefree said:

    Mrs Sacoolas could sort this out by doing the decent thing herself, coming back to the UK, speaking to the police and, if action is taken against her, taking her punishment.

    I would be not too surprised if I heard that she had had her US passport taken away from her. I wonder if she has thought about doing just that. I bet she's being closely wacthed to make sure she doesn't try to leave the country, or even get to the UK embassay.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,320
    Brom said:

    Brom said:

    isam said:

    Scott_P said:
    James Felton definitely doesn't swear in front of his parents.

    Anyway. no one except me criticises the Lib Dem defectors for saying one thing in 2017 and the complete opposite now, so don't rely on people thinking much of this (if they're being consistent)
    Once Brexit is done what are social media nobodies like James Felton, Ian Dunt, Alex Andreou and the various other twitter types (on both sides of the debate) going to do with themselves? without Scott P they are nothing but surely they must have another tweeting cause in the pipeline.
    You mean once Brexit is cancelled? If we proceed, it will go on forever.
    That's good. I guess they have a lifetime of stuff to tweet about. Not sure if they're capable of monetising their inane opinions to any serious degree mind. Once we leave the EU I would imagine Brexit won't go away for a while but it will be marginalised in column inch terms by numerous other events.
    You think the decision to extend transition will be uncontroversial?
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,344
    Foxy said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.

    1. She apparently told the police that she was not leaving the country and then did so. That feels like a an act of bad faith on her part, running away - though there may have been good reasons for departure unconnected to this accident.
    2. If the accident had happened the other way, a biker on the wrong side of the road crashing into her car and killing her son, the police would have taken action against the biker - if the evidence was there. But she gets away with it on the grounds of her immunity. Of course, that's the whole point of immunity. But it stinks in such a case because what she was doing had nothing to do with the work of diplomats. It feels - even if it may not be in law - like an abuse of the system.

    I have to say that I find it hard to understand how Mrs Sacoolas can live with herself. She has been responsible for the death of a young man. She is refusing to face the consequences of that by accepting the necessary punishment (if that is appropriate) or even allowing the police to gather all the facts. She will - presumably - be teaching her children about the importance of behaving with integrity, of understanding that actions have consequences, of learning to face up to your own mistakes, not be a coward etc. And yet in her own life she is setting the most awful example by running away. The Dunns don't want her imprisoned but they do want her to face up to what she has done and accept the consequences. I don't think this is too much to ask.

    But I fear they will not get this.

    Tough as it may be for them, they may be best advised to try and grieve in private rather than embark on legal action and public interviews which are, I suspect, unlikely to succeed. If the facts are not enough to make Mrs Sacoolas do the decent thing, I doubt that media hype or legal action will do so.
    I suspect that she would have only had a fine and driving ban if she had stayed and faced the consequences. A custodial sentence would be quite unlikely.
    What would she have got in the state where she lives, once convicted of, let us say, careless driving. Unless there's a case for 'Causing Death by Dangerous Driving, I agree about the probable sentence.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,344

    Cyclefree said:

    Charles said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    How about that stunt in the White House?
    Oh that’s inexcusable and shows Trump is an arse. I assumed that was priced in and was talking about the underlying issue and the advice he’s getting.

    Edit - It also really does emphasise he thinks like a reality tv star. Probably something we can learn from that in predicting future behaviour. I mean “well guess what, we’ve brought her here tonight to apologise” is unbelievably crass and naive.
    Why in God's name did Mrs S agree to it? I think far more criticism should be made of her than Trump in this case. Any decent person would have said no to such a circus.
    I agree. Though, was she ordered to? He husband was a “diplomat”, does she work for the US Gvt too?
    Trump isn't coming over here for the 75th anniversary of VE Day is he? Please tell me he isn't!
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,828
    So now they want less time to debate it? :)
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,401
    NYT: Charles Blow on Biden at debate - "Bless his heart. It feels like he’s just hanging on for dear life. At moments, it felt like he vanished, not just because it wasn’t his time to speak but because his aura of invincibility is flickering like a candle in a hurricane. But he yelled in his closing, so there’s that."

    Other columnists also gave him the thumbs down.

    Not looking good for the Dems at the moment.
  • If the Commons votes against holding Super Saturday ( as it should ) then that adds a weekend of campaigning time for the grassroots to crack up their machines.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,269

    Cyclefree said:

    Charles said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    There is a UK-US Extradition Treaty.
    The individual has/had diplomatic immunity. There’s various bits of complexity around that; but all nations guard that religiously. If it doesn’t matter with us because they trust our legal system, then what about France? What about Mexico? What about Egypt? What about Iran?

    There’s obviously a line in there somewhere, but it’s better not to try and draw it, and to keep consistent for all countries. We’d do the same.

    It’s unimaginable what that family is going through, but it’s not a Trump/US thing.
    How about that stunt in the White House?
    Oh that’s inexcusable and shows Trump is an arse. I assumed that was priced in and was talking about the underlying issue and the advice he’s getting.

    Edit - It also really does emphasise he thinks like a reality tv star. Probably something we can learn from that in predicting future behaviour. I mean “well guess what, we’ve brought her here tonight to apologise” is unbelievably crass and naive.
    Why in God's name did Mrs S agree to it? I think far more criticism should be made of her than Trump in this case. Any decent person would have said no to such a circus.
    I agree. Though, was she ordered to? He husband was a “diplomat”, does she work for the US Gvt too?
    There are some orders you refuse to obey. Out of plain human decency, frankly. This should have been one of them, if in fact there was an "order".
  • Government tables motion for sitting on saturday

    Are these mps really going to try and stop it

    They are insane
  • Foxy said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Gabs2 said:

    The refusal of the US to handover the apparent killer of Harry Dunn or provide redress to the Connors after the disgusting abuse of their infant son shows the United States is no longer a friend to the UK. Nor should they any longer be considered a civilized Western country.

    You do realise no nation on the planet would “hand over” a citizen in these circumstances without months of patient diplomatic work? Of course you do.

    We all dislike Trump. We mustn’t let it blind us when the US is actually just acting like we would.
    This is a heartbreaking case. Set aside the question of whether the US should waive diplomatic immunity here - assuming that this woman was in fact entitled to it. There are two issues here:-

    1. She apparently told the police that she

    I have to say that I find it hard to understand how Mrs Sacoolas can live with herself. She has been responsible for the death of a young man. She is refusing to face the consequences of that by accepting the necessary punishment (if that is appropriate) or even allowing the police to gather all the facts. She will - presumably - be teaching her children about the importance of behaving with integrity, of understanding that actions have consequences, of learning to face up to your own mistakes, not be a coward etc. And yet in her own life she is setting the most awful example by running away. The Dunns don't want her imprisoned but they do want her to face up to what she has done and accept the consequences. I don't think this is too much to ask.

    But I fear they will not get this.

    Tough as it may be for them, they may be best advised to try and grieve in private rather than embark on legal action and public interviews which are, I suspect, unlikely to succeed. If the facts are not enough to make Mrs Sacoolas do the decent thing, I doubt that media hype or legal action will do so.
    I suspect that she would have only had a fine and driving ban if she had stayed and faced the consequences. A custodial sentence would be quite unlikely.
    Ignoring the fact she ran away, a bit of me says in a foreign country, driving on the wrong side of the road, maybe with bad road conditions; there but for the grace of God....

    But the police reaction suggests more. Still, we can’t know.
  • Gabs2Gabs2 Posts: 1,268

    NYT: Charles Blow on Biden at debate - "Bless his heart. It feels like he’s just hanging on for dear life. At moments, it felt like he vanished, not just because it wasn’t his time to speak but because his aura of invincibility is flickering like a candle in a hurricane. But he yelled in his closing, so there’s that."

    Other columnists also gave him the thumbs down.

    Not looking good for the Dems at the moment.

    I disagree. I think Warren is ideally positioned to win back the critical swing states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. A prairie populist with a record of bashing the coastal beacons of Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,344

    Cyclefree said:

    Mrs Sacoolas could sort this out by doing the decent thing herself, coming back to the UK, speaking to the police and, if action is taken against her, taking her punishment.

    I would be not too surprised if I heard that she had had her US passport taken away from her. I wonder if she has thought about doing just that. I bet she's being closely wacthed to make sure she doesn't try to leave the country, or even get to the UK embassay.
    Well, where she/her husband was working isn't your standard diplomatic-type place, is it?
  • If the Commons votes against holding Super Saturday ( as it should ) then that adds a weekend of campaigning time for the grassroots to crack up their machines.

    Why should it
  • Government tables motion for sitting on saturday

    Are these mps really going to try and stop it

    They are insane

    There are a number of reasonable and self interested grounds for the Commons not to agree to the Super Saturday stunt. You may not agree with them but describing them as " insane " is ludicrous.
  • Gabs2Gabs2 Posts: 1,268

    Good. There is absolutely no reason to rush this. Especially now it's a political vote not a MV. The theatre is unnecessery and only to Johnson's advantage.
    If it needs scrutiny, isn't MORE parliamentary time better?
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 62,749
    edited October 2019

    If the Commons votes against holding Super Saturday ( as it should ) then that adds a weekend of campaigning time for the grassroots to crack up their machines.

    So it moves to Monday and the opposition will be panned across the country

    Watch the conservative vote soar
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,153
    Knowing how Bercow loves being the center of attention I think he might side with the government on this one.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,700
    As someone in the comments pointed out, Corbyn's low approval rating is actually better than it was before the election in 2017:
    https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1184424977048784898

    Worth considering.
  • surbiton19surbiton19 Posts: 1,469
    Has anybody actually done the numbers ? ALL Con's , ALL DUP are 1 short. Plus a few Labour MPs [ I reckon Tory types like Mann, Hoey ]. Max 5. So a few Spartans and a few Rebels can ruin everything.
This discussion has been closed.