The point must be coming when Biden rows back on leaving in his time scale
Will be interesting what he says shortly
There shouldn’t even be a bloody stupid time scale. Biden should have ripped up Trump’s moronic agreement, slowly started moving people out, kept bagram open just in case, put in MORE troops to aid a slow, thorough withdrawal. And right at the end you sabotage all weapons if you do have to get everyone out. Meanwhile start arming potential taliban adversaries
And, also, fuck Pakistan. Frankly. This country is no friend of the West.
They also control all the airspace through which evacuations are currently taking place.
The point must be coming when Biden rows back on leaving in his time scale
Will be interesting what he says shortly
There shouldn’t even be a bloody stupid time scale. Biden should have ripped up Trump’s moronic agreement, slowly started moving people out, kept bagram open just in case, put in MORE troops to aid a slow, thorough withdrawal. And right at the end you sabotage all weapons if you do have to get everyone out. Meanwhile start arming potential taliban adversaries
And, also, fuck Pakistan. Frankly. This country is no friend of the West.
They also control all the airspace through which evacuations are currently taking place.
Except by, perhaps, the Poles.
The Polish Poles? Or the Amundsen and Scott Poles?
It's worth noting this is a sample of nearly 3,500 people so a bit larger than normal polls. The Liberals lead the Conservatives by less than two points with the NDP running a strong third at just under 22%.
Some interesting findings particularly with relevance to the three key battlegrounds - Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
I had heard of The Secret Barrister and the Secret Magistrate, but I had no idea it was a whole genre now Why are there so many ‘secret’ books?...
First there was the “Secret Barrister”, whose mysterious social media avatar of a robed bunny rabbit propelled him/her first to the heights of legal Twitter and then to a multi-book deal. Hot on his/her heels came lid-lifting memoirs from the “Secret Doctor”, “Secret Civil Servant”, “Secret Magistrate” et al; now the genre welcomes a volume from the “Secret Head Teacher” (out on 19 August)...
Through history, signing your name to your testimony was what gave it credibility. Enthusiasts of rhetoric call this the “ethos” appeal: your audience knows who you are and can trust you – or not – based on your public standing.
Now, the opposite seems to hold. We are in an environment where anonymity is not the token of the fink, the weasel, the confidential informer and the nark, but of the brave speaker of truth to power... The suggestion is there are some truths that can only be spoken under a cloak of anonymity.
I did like The Secret Barrister and Fake Law, though Justice on Trial by Chris Daw was good and shows it doesn't need to be anonymous. Secret Magistrate sounds interesting.
On the other hand, that approach would disqualify about 95% of commenting on PB. We could instantly dismiss anything HYUFD said at once. And of course, I too.
The point must be coming when Biden rows back on leaving in his time scale
Will be interesting what he says shortly
There shouldn’t even be a bloody stupid time scale. Biden should have ripped up Trump’s moronic agreement, slowly started moving people out, kept bagram open just in case, put in MORE troops to aid a slow, thorough withdrawal. And right at the end you sabotage all weapons if you do have to get everyone out. Meanwhile start arming potential taliban adversaries
And, also, fuck Pakistan. Frankly. This country is no friend of the West.
I cannot understand why Pakistan has not been put under more pressure by the West. They have been arming the Taliban and giving them sanctuary. The Taliban don't have munitions factories. One has to assume they have got their weapons and materiel from Pakistan.
I don’t get it either
Weakness, most likely. We don't want to upset them in case they decide to ramp up their war with India in Kashmir.
An airman involved in the evacuation told me the US “put the cart before the horse.” He asked why we didn’t pull out vulnerable people before pulling out combat troops, when it was stable and easy?
So the Taliban are setting women on fire for cooking food wrong, and exporting young women in coffins to neighbouring countries to be used as sex slaves. But that’s ok, because
‘US Government Demands Taliban Respect Women And Girls In Strongly Worded Statement‘
An airman involved in the evacuation told me the US “put the cart before the horse.” He asked why we didn’t pull out vulnerable people before pulling out combat troops, when it was stable and easy?
So there now appears to be 100% confirmation that UK and French units are venturing out into Kabul and getting people to KBL airport. The Germans look to be working to the same plan, having unloaded choppers at KBL.
This leads to some questions, which it appears some in the US are picking up on. Why are the US not doing the same, or at least seen to be doing the same?
There are several possible theories, two of the most explosive are that the UK and others have perhaps cut a dirty deal with the Taliban or that the US troops are under instruction to not venture out. Maybe the intermediaries the UK and so on are working with are just a bit better....
I mentioned yesterday one thing to watch for as regards what way the overall wind was blowing was what the security firms that advise and operate security for Westerners in Afghanistan were advising to their clients; hide or go to airport. Less publicised than the UK & French expeditions are that those private security firms are actually doing some of the runs from city to airport escorting human cargo. I am 100% it is going on ona ones and twos basis.I had also heard a story yesterday that the US was looking to contract some firms in at very short notice to do some extraction work.
Add all that up and it does make a reasonable case that the US could be seeking to outsource their effort but again, why? What is stopping them doing it with what they have or flying in the operators? Are they doing it and just pretending they arent? Given the god awful publicity back at home, you would suspect if they were at it, the administration would leak it out
I read earlier that the US were furious with the UK for doing these extractions. The reason being the deal with the taliban for being able to run the airport was meant they could not make these extractions.
The point must be coming when Biden rows back on leaving in his time scale
Will be interesting what he says shortly
There shouldn’t even be a bloody stupid time scale. Biden should have ripped up Trump’s moronic agreement, slowly started moving people out, kept bagram open just in case, put in MORE troops to aid a slow, thorough withdrawal. And right at the end you sabotage all weapons if you do have to get everyone out. Meanwhile start arming potential taliban adversaries
And, also, fuck Pakistan. Frankly. This country is no friend of the West.
I cannot understand why Pakistan has not been put under more pressure by the West. They have been arming the Taliban and giving them sanctuary. The Taliban don't have munitions factories. One has to assume they have got their weapons and materiel from Pakistan.
I don’t get it either
Pakistan is a nation founded expressly as an Islamic state and is nuclear capable.
Do you feel lucky?
That is not quite right. It was General Zia who deposed (and executed) Bhutto who Islamified Pakistan but that was OK because he was also organising the mujahideens to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan in coordination with and bankrolled by the United States.
Partition was along religious lines.
But the original Pakistan was rather a nation for Muslims rather than an Islamic state.
An airman involved in the evacuation told me the US “put the cart before the horse.” He asked why we didn’t pull out vulnerable people before pulling out combat troops, when it was stable and easy?
Biden: Taliban is letting Americans get to airport
Well as it turns out Americans arent getting into the airport, some anyway, Reports of some US citizens, passports in hand have been turned back (rather roughly turned back if the stories are to be believed).
PS The US has just about reached its planned numbers of troops at the airport.
Biden cant tough this out with talk, something has gone badly wrong with the extraction process, the question is whether he is calling the shots and the shots are all wrong.
He's right to say there was no good time to pull out. There would always have been chaos whenever it happened.
There's a space between 'no chaos' and this, and indeed it could even have been worse. So that there was no good time to pull out is not actually an answer to whether the pull out in this way and time was handled properly.
It's worth noting this is a sample of nearly 3,500 people so a bit larger than normal polls. The Liberals lead the Conservatives by less than two points with the NDP running a strong third at just under 22%.
Some interesting findings particularly with relevance to the three key battlegrounds - Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
In Germany if the Union are largest party it would likely still be a Union and SPD coalition with the Greens or FDP added on.
In Canada, Liberal leakage to the 3rd placed NDP would benefit the 2nd placed Conservatives most under Canadian FPTP of course given the NDP are still 6% behind the Conservatives but the Conservatives now only 2% behind the Liberals.
It looks like Trudeau will scrape home as largest party but fail to get the majority he wanted
Completely off topic, but I’m just watching The Hundred - does anyone think the name Southern Brave is a bit suspicious? There must have been a committee meeting to come up with the name and the obvious name would have been Southern Softies, so I wonder if they went from that to Southern Brave.
Completely off topic, but I’m just watching The Hundred - does anyone think the name Southern Brave is a bit suspicious? There must have been a committee meeting to come up with the name and the obvious name would have been Southern Softies, so I wonder if they went from that to Southern Brave.
To me it just reads wrong as a singular, but I wondered if they decided 'Braves' would put people in mind of native american warriors.
Completely off topic, but I’m just watching The Hundred - does anyone think the name Southern Brave is a bit suspicious? There must have been a committee meeting to come up with the name and the obvious name would have been Southern Softies, so I wonder if they went from that to Southern Brave.
To me it just reads wrong as a singular, but I wondered if they decided 'Braves' would put people in mind of native american warriors.
A couple of years ago, I sold my business. At this point, I'm looking around for something to do. I've always been very interested in politics. Getting elected would probably be far from impossible.
But it doesn't seem like it would be that much fun... I *might* have managed junior ministerial status by the time I reached fifty. Or I could be a PPS for a couple of years.
And then I'm required to memorise talking points and parrot them in interviews, based on what works in focus groups.
Finally, there's the press watching over you, waiting for a "gaffe", and the intrusion (particularly if I did climb the greasy pole) into my family's life.
Doesn't seem that idyllic, really.
Well, let me put the alternative case. I think it was an absolutely wonderful job, and I miss it every day. I've been a senior IT executive in private industry; set up two successful private companies; written three books and had senior jobs in two charities dealing with issues I care about. No disrespect to any of that, but being an MP was better.
The key thing (as with much of life) is that you need to enjoy it for what it is, rather than base your prospective enjoyment on future promotion. For four days a week, you get to engage with the country's decision-makers on ANY subject that interests you, backed up by a superb library with 50 full-time researchers eager to help you. It's trivial to get a discussion with a Secretary of State, and not hard to talk with the PM. Will they listen to what you have to say? That's up to you, but your access is unparalleled. You can specialise, and become the go-to expert on your preferred subject, with a seat on the Select Committee analysing policy in detail, or you can generalise, and take an interest in everything.
For three days a week, you get the chance to change lives directly. Every year, dozens of people will find that you can sort out private messes, just by knowing how the system works and using the authority that your position gives you locally. You can't help everyone, but around 50% of the cases that come to you are soluble. For years after you leave Parliament, people will stop you in the street and remind you that you made their life better.
And it's fun - duelling daily with opponents as you do on PB, grappling with ongoing crises and trying to work out what you think, and trying to influence the outcomes.
And of course maybe you will get promoted, and do even more. But the basic job is deeply fulfilling in itself.
Go on Robert. Doesn’t matter what party you stand for, we just need to improve the average capability and integrity of the 650 to get this ship back on course.
An airman involved in the evacuation told me the US “put the cart before the horse.” He asked why we didn’t pull out vulnerable people before pulling out combat troops, when it was stable and easy?
"The realities of the war or the limits of British power were barely mentioned. Some delusional Tory MPs even tried to argue that the British Army could have occupied Afghanistan in America’s place to help keep the Taliban at bay.
They spoke warmly of the West’s nation-building project, as if it had not just crumbled before their eyes.
The tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan is a humiliation for Western interventionism. But MPs don’t seem to see it that way. They only see the need for more intervention, more occupation and ultimately more bloodshed. Something must be done, even if it achieves nothing.
For much of the political class, Afghanistan was and always will be ‘the good war’. That is why MPs were so emotional today. Afghanistan gave them a sense of purpose they could no longer find at home. But it was hardly ‘the good war’ for those left in its wake.
He's right to say there was no good time to pull out. There would always have been chaos whenever it happened.
You think some of the basics would have been thought about in terms of an evacuation plan.
Nothing. You can argue there would have been chaos, but you can also plan to minimise it. It is clear Biden didn’t bother
There was no good time for the Titanic to sink. On the other hand, you could have planned for it, with a proper Titanic-evacuation strategy, not locking 3rd class passengers down below decks, making sure the ship has enough lifeboats for all, and so forth
Polling parity by the end of the year in the UK, time to up my bet of a Labour poll lead
Keep your powder dry. I am not expecting any Labour surge. You can tell the majority of the 43% are going to stand by their man. PB is a microcosm of the UK and Johnson's support amongst the PB faithful has never been more solid.
He's right to say there was no good time to pull out. There would always have been chaos whenever it happened.
You think some of the basics would have been thought about in terms of an evacuation plan.
Nothing. You can argue there would have been chaos, but you can also plan to minimise it. It is clear Biden didn’t bother
There was no good time for the Titanic to sink. On the other hand, you could have planned for it, with a proper Titanic-evacuation strategy, not locking 3rd class passengers down below decks, making sure the ship has enough lifeboats for all, and so forth
They didn’t actually lock Third Class passengers below - in fact some Third Class men were in one of the first boats away - but the general point holds true - there were two disasters in April 1912 - striking the iceberg, then a catastrophically botched evacuation which could have easily saved many hundreds more. The trouble was in a two and a half hour sinking it wasn’t really obvious to those onboard that the ship was in terminal trouble until the last 15 minutes.
So the Taliban are setting women on fire for cooking food wrong, and exporting young women in coffins to neighbouring countries to be used as sex slaves. But that’s ok, because
‘US Government Demands Taliban Respect Women And Girls In Strongly Worded Statement‘
So there now appears to be 100% confirmation that UK and French units are venturing out into Kabul and getting people to KBL airport. The Germans look to be working to the same plan, having unloaded choppers at KBL.
This leads to some questions, which it appears some in the US are picking up on. Why are the US not doing the same, or at least seen to be doing the same?
There are several possible theories, two of the most explosive are that the UK and others have perhaps cut a dirty deal with the Taliban or that the US troops are under instruction to not venture out. Maybe the intermediaries the UK and so on are working with are just a bit better....
I mentioned yesterday one thing to watch for as regards what way the overall wind was blowing was what the security firms that advise and operate security for Westerners in Afghanistan were advising to their clients; hide or go to airport. Less publicised than the UK & French expeditions are that those private security firms are actually doing some of the runs from city to airport escorting human cargo. I am 100% it is going on ona ones and twos basis.I had also heard a story yesterday that the US was looking to contract some firms in at very short notice to do some extraction work.
Add all that up and it does make a reasonable case that the US could be seeking to outsource their effort but again, why? What is stopping them doing it with what they have or flying in the operators? Are they doing it and just pretending they arent? Given the god awful publicity back at home, you would suspect if they were at it, the administration would leak it out
I read earlier that the US were furious with the UK for doing these extractions. The reason being the deal with the taliban for being able to run the airport was meant they could not make these extractions.
Only two reasons why not. One they got hustled out of when the Taliban just said no and the US blinked or they got the free passage agreement, believed it and got hustled out of it in practice because the Taliban had no intention of giving that promise 100% in practice Why dont they ask the likes of the British & French to take Americans with them where they can. The attendant publicity wouldnt do the administration any good but FFS we are beyond optics now
He's right to say there was no good time to pull out. There would always have been chaos whenever it happened.
You think some of the basics would have been thought about in terms of an evacuation plan.
Nothing. You can argue there would have been chaos, but you can also plan to minimise it. It is clear Biden didn’t bother
There was no good time for the Titanic to sink. On the other hand, you could have planned for it, with a proper Titanic-evacuation strategy, not locking 3rd class passengers down below decks, making sure the ship has enough lifeboats for all, and so forth
The trouble was in a two and a half hour sinking it wasn’t really obvious to those onboard that the ship was in terminal trouble until the last 15 minutes.
Really? That puts a bit of a different complexion on the (still brave) 'they stayed at their posts' kind of comments.
The point must be coming when Biden rows back on leaving in his time scale
Will be interesting what he says shortly
There shouldn’t even be a bloody stupid time scale. Biden should have ripped up Trump’s moronic agreement, slowly started moving people out, kept bagram open just in case, put in MORE troops to aid a slow, thorough withdrawal. And right at the end you sabotage all weapons if you do have to get everyone out. Meanwhile start arming potential taliban adversaries
And, also, fuck Pakistan. Frankly. This country is no friend of the West.
I cannot understand why Pakistan has not been put under more pressure by the West. They have been arming the Taliban and giving them sanctuary. The Taliban don't have munitions factories. One has to assume they have got their weapons and materiel from Pakistan.
I don’t get it either
Pakistan is a nation founded expressly as an Islamic state and is nuclear capable.
Do you feel lucky?
That is not quite right. It was General Zia who deposed (and executed) Bhutto who Islamified Pakistan but that was OK because he was also organising the mujahideens to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan in coordination with and bankrolled by the United States.
Partition was along religious lines.
But the original Pakistan was rather a nation for Muslims rather than an Islamic state.
True. But it wasn't a huge leap from one you the other when there sole justification of the state was as protector of Muslims.
“What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point, with Al Qaeda gone?” Mr. Biden asked in response to a question about whether or not American allies have been critical of the withdrawal effort. “We went and did the mission. You’ve known my position for a long, long time.”
It's worth noting this is a sample of nearly 3,500 people so a bit larger than normal polls. The Liberals lead the Conservatives by less than two points with the NDP running a strong third at just under 22%.
Some interesting findings particularly with relevance to the three key battlegrounds - Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
I think SPD plus Greens plus FDP has been in majority territory for about 16 polls in a row!
So there now appears to be 100% confirmation that UK and French units are venturing out into Kabul and getting people to KBL airport. The Germans look to be working to the same plan, having unloaded choppers at KBL.
This leads to some questions, which it appears some in the US are picking up on. Why are the US not doing the same, or at least seen to be doing the same?
There are several possible theories, two of the most explosive are that the UK and others have perhaps cut a dirty deal with the Taliban or that the US troops are under instruction to not venture out. Maybe the intermediaries the UK and so on are working with are just a bit better....
I mentioned yesterday one thing to watch for as regards what way the overall wind was blowing was what the security firms that advise and operate security for Westerners in Afghanistan were advising to their clients; hide or go to airport. Less publicised than the UK & French expeditions are that those private security firms are actually doing some of the runs from city to airport escorting human cargo. I am 100% it is going on ona ones and twos basis.I had also heard a story yesterday that the US was looking to contract some firms in at very short notice to do some extraction work.
Add all that up and it does make a reasonable case that the US could be seeking to outsource their effort but again, why? What is stopping them doing it with what they have or flying in the operators? Are they doing it and just pretending they arent? Given the god awful publicity back at home, you would suspect if they were at it, the administration would leak it out
I read earlier that the US were furious with the UK for doing these extractions. The reason being the deal with the taliban for being able to run the airport was meant they could not make these extractions.
Only two reasons why not. One they got hustled out of when the Taliban just said no and the US blinked or they got the free passage agreement, believed it and got hustled out of it in practice because the Taliban had no intention of giving that promise 100% in practice Why dont they ask the likes of the British & French to take Americans with them where they can. The attendant publicity wouldnt do the administration any good but FFS we are beyond optics now
As I referred this morning, how many “Terry Waites” are you expecting to still be in Afghanistan when the last plane leaves?
In Germany if the Union are largest party it would likely still be a Union and SPD coalition with the Greens or FDP added on.
In Canada, Liberal leakage to the 3rd placed NDP would benefit the 2nd placed Conservatives most under Canadian FPTP of course given the NDP are still 6% behind the Conservatives but the Conservatives now only 2% behind the Liberals.
It looks like Trudeau will scrape home as largest party but fail to get the majority he wanted
We've discussed Germany at length and I don't disagree but the gap between the Union and SPD has closed and is closing. It's not inconceivable the SPD could top the poll for the first time since 2002.
As for Canada, there's a lot going on under the figures I think. There would be a swing from Conservative to NDP as well on these numbers. The NDP were 18 points behind the Conservatives in 2019 - Counsel has the gap at seven so that's a 5.5% swing which is not inconsiderable.
The question is how the votes will shape up in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. There's no point the Conservatives piling up votes in Alberta and Saskatchewan if they miss marginals in those other three provinces.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 15m Biden says all Americans are getting to the airport. Then he says US forces might need to go into Kabul to get them. Both statements can’t be true.
He's right to say there was no good time to pull out. There would always have been chaos whenever it happened.
You think some of the basics would have been thought about in terms of an evacuation plan.
Nothing. You can argue there would have been chaos, but you can also plan to minimise it. It is clear Biden didn’t bother
There was no good time for the Titanic to sink. On the other hand, you could have planned for it, with a proper Titanic-evacuation strategy, not locking 3rd class passengers down below decks, making sure the ship has enough lifeboats for all, and so forth
The trouble was in a two and a half hour sinking it wasn’t really obvious to those onboard that the ship was in terminal trouble until the last 15 minutes.
Really? That puts a bit of a different complexion on the (still brave) 'they stayed at their posts' kind of comments.
The Senior Deck Officers knew what was going to happen, in all likelihood most of the crew did not. Many thought it was a silly drill and after bobbing around in a freezing ocean overnight they’d be back onboard in the morning. By the time it was clear the ship was in terminal trouble the lifeboats had all gone.
Presume it refers to this sort of thing. (From Stephen Daisley's article on the deal in the Spectator.)
One thing the Greens are likely to get out of their new relationship with the Scottish government is progress on one of their top priorities: gender identity. Harvie’s team are the full Judith Butler on these matters. In the last parliament, they voted against giving sexual assault victims the right to request a forensic examiner of the same sex rather than the same ‘gender’. Sturgeon is fixated on these matters too, which gives the gender ideologues real scope to press ahead with their agenda.
"Osama bin Laden banned al Qaeda from trying to assassinate Joe Biden because he believed he would be an incompetent president and 'lead the US into a crisis'"
Andrew Neil @afneil · 15m Biden says all Americans are getting to the airport. Then he says US forces might need to go into Kabul to get them. Both statements can’t be true.
The point must be coming when Biden rows back on leaving in his time scale
Will be interesting what he says shortly
There shouldn’t even be a bloody stupid time scale. Biden should have ripped up Trump’s moronic agreement, slowly started moving people out, kept bagram open just in case, put in MORE troops to aid a slow, thorough withdrawal. And right at the end you sabotage all weapons if you do have to get everyone out. Meanwhile start arming potential taliban adversaries
And, also, fuck Pakistan. Frankly. This country is no friend of the West.
They also control all the airspace through which evacuations are currently taking place.
Except by, perhaps, the Poles.
The Polish Poles? Or the Amundsen and Scott Poles?
I mean mainly the .. er .. Dutch Poles.
A flight via Tbilisi which presumably avoided Pakistan
Presume it refers to this sort of thing. (From Stephen Daisley's article on the deal in the Spectator.)
One thing the Greens are likely to get out of their new relationship with the Scottish government is progress on one of their top priorities: gender identity. Harvie’s team are the full Judith Butler on these matters. In the last parliament, they voted against giving sexual assault victims the right to request a forensic examiner of the same sex rather than the same ‘gender’. Sturgeon is fixated on these matters too, which gives the gender ideologues real scope to press ahead with their agenda.
Another terrible aspect of that presser. This is the biggest US foreign policy humiliation in many years
Biden was late, he was there for about 20 minutes, he took 5 pre-planned questions, then fled
He is not serving American democracy, apart from anything else. Even Trump was more up-front than this
He can never come back from this.
Edit: Others might, but my view of Biden is that he can't.
How can we know? Who knows how this is all being seen in the american heartlands and Trump/Biden swing counties?
Quite true. We can’t. But Biden looks defeated emotionally and psychologically. It all looks painful. He’s a seriously old man. Whatever happens this will now haunt him (and it could get still worse). I can’t see him running again - so to that extent he probably cannot come back from this
Andrew Neil @afneil · 15m Biden says all Americans are getting to the airport. Then he says US forces might need to go into Kabul to get them. Both statements can’t be true.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 15m Biden says all Americans are getting to the airport. Then he says US forces might need to go into Kabul to get them. Both statements can’t be true.
Biden is clearly losing touch with reality
At one point he also called Doha “da-ho”. And he had copious notes in front of him
It’s a trivial thing, but he does this all the time. It looks like early senility.
Another terrible aspect of that presser. This is the biggest US foreign policy humiliation in many years
Biden was late, he was there for about 20 minutes, he took 5 pre-planned questions, then fled
He is not serving American democracy, apart from anything else. Even Trump was more up-front than this
He can never come back from this.
Edit: Others might, but my view of Biden is that he can't.
How can we know? Who knows how this is all being seen in the american heartlands and Trump/Biden swing counties?
I don't know clearly. Just my guess. Moreover this guess is one with very weak confidence. I've not, nor would I currently suggest betting against Biden being the next President.
I'm against his succession in a very token way betting-wise.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 15m Biden says all Americans are getting to the airport. Then he says US forces might need to go into Kabul to get them. Both statements can’t be true.
Biden is clearly losing touch with reality
Trump or Biden: the Frying Pan/Fire election?
You look at that and you have to ask yourself, is that really the best America can come up with
He's right to say there was no good time to pull out. There would always have been chaos whenever it happened.
You think some of the basics would have been thought about in terms of an evacuation plan.
Nothing. You can argue there would have been chaos, but you can also plan to minimise it. It is clear Biden didn’t bother
I agree, and you could say exactly the same about the UK's 'planning' for evacuation since Doha was signed 18 months ago. That's why Raab (and Johnson) is culpable.
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
I do not recall candles being needed during the Winter of Discontent - the miners, electricity power workers etc were not involved in the industrial chaos which then engulfed the country. Power cuts and the associated need for candles belonged to the 3-Day Week of the 1973/74 Winter - and before that the first Miners Strike in early 1972.In the Winter of 1970/71 there had also been power cuts when Frank Chappell's power workers took industrial action. All of that happened under Ted Heath's Government - not Callaghan.
He's right to say there was no good time to pull out. There would always have been chaos whenever it happened.
You think some of the basics would have been thought about in terms of an evacuation plan.
Nothing. You can argue there would have been chaos, but you can also plan to minimise it. It is clear Biden didn’t bother
I agree, and you could say exactly the same about the UK's 'planning' for evacuation since Doha was signed 18 months ago. That's why Raab (and Johnson) is culpable.
Yes - they both absolutely are.
It’s been clear for a while Johnson doesn’t really give a damn about leading anything
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
I do not recall candles being needed during the Winter of Discontent - the miners, electricity power workers etc were not involved in the industrial chaos which then engulfed the country. Power cuts and the associated need for candles belonged to the 3-Day Week of the 1973/74 Winter - and before that the first Miners Strike in early 1972.In the Winter of 1970/71 there had also been power cuts when Frank Chappell's power workers took industrial action. All of that happened under Ted Heath's Government - not Callaghan.
Candles. I still recall the smell of burnt hair if you leant too close.
Power cuts were always caused by Labour and the Unions. Trash on the streets was always caused by Labour and the Unions. Nothing good has ever come from Labour and the Unions.
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
I do not recall candles being needed during the Winter of Discontent - the miners, electricity power workers etc were not involved in the industrial chaos which then engulfed the country. Power cuts and the associated need for candles belonged to the 3-Day Week of the 1973/74 Winter - and before that the first Miners Strike in early 1972.In the Winter of 1970/71 there had also been power cuts when Frank Chappell's power workers took industrial action. All of that happened under Ted Heath's Government - not Callaghan.
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
I do not recall candles being needed during the Winter of Discontent - the miners, electricity power workers etc were not involved in the industrial chaos which then engulfed the country. Power cuts and the associated need for candles belonged to the 3-Day Week of the 1973/74 Winter - and before that the first Miners Strike in early 1972.In the Winter of 1970/71 there had also been power cuts when Frank Chappell's power workers took industrial action. All of that happened under Ted Heath's Government - not Callaghan.
Candles. I still recall the smell of burnt hair if you leant too close.
Power cuts were always caused by Labour and the Unions. Trash on the streets was always caused by Labour and the Unions. Nothing good has ever come from Labour and the Unions.
Strange - nearly 50 years on and the view is so ingrained.
I remember doing my homework by candlelight and having to watch Midlands Today as the London studio for Nationwide was blacked out. It was arguably the biggest disruption to normal life until the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
They would show the dwindling reserves of coal at the power stations and explain how the blackouts would intensify as these fell further. Nonetheless, it's widely argued had Heath gone to the country earlier, he'd have won.
The longer it went on, the more powerless and out of control of events he became.
It's a salient lesson which we saw repeated last year - people will support a Government during a crisis but only as long as the Government looks to be in control of events. Once events take over, the Government looks weak and support can ebb away.
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
I do not recall candles being needed during the Winter of Discontent - the miners, electricity power workers etc were not involved in the industrial chaos which then engulfed the country. Power cuts and the associated need for candles belonged to the 3-Day Week of the 1973/74 Winter - and before that the first Miners Strike in early 1972.In the Winter of 1970/71 there had also been power cuts when Frank Chappell's power workers took industrial action. All of that happened under Ted Heath's Government - not Callaghan.
Candles. I still recall the smell of burnt hair if you leant too close.
Power cuts were always caused by Labour and the Unions. Trash on the streets was always caused by Labour and the Unions. Nothing good has ever come from Labour and the Unions.
That's a balanced, objective view of the last 120 years since the Labour Party was formed. Not. Maybe over that time working people have derived some benefit from Trades Unions and Labour?
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
Callaghan was overall a decent man, a patriot, tried to run a balanced budget and a relatively sane Labour leader. Brown was a worse PM than he was.
It was the unions and the Labour left that were the problem as they were with Heath not his holiday in the sun (same applies for Raab, it was Biden and Trump who were responsible for the Afghan situation).
After Callaghan the Labour Party went far left under Foot and militant and were almost overtaken by the SDP and the 36% Callaghan got in 1979 was not matched or surpassed by another Labour leader until Blair in 1997.
Callaghan was a disatrous party leader as evidenced by his failure to call an election in Autumn 1978 - when he had a fair chance of winning - and his decision to remain LOTO for 18 months after losing office in May 1979. The latter effectively cost Denis Healey the Leadership of the party. He also badly mimanaged the Winter of Discontent crisis by failing to bring in the Army as had happened during the Firemen's strike in Winter of 1977/78.Had he done that , much of the Tory attack on the Government's impotence would have been defused. To cap it all, Callaghan could have avoided the No Confidence Vote at the end of March that year which led to an election being called for May 3rd.When defeat in that vote looked likely, he ought to have gone to the Queen a couple of days earlier and announced an election for June 7th - to coincide with the first elections to the European Parliament at a time when Labour was the more Eurosceptic party.
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
I do not recall candles being needed during the Winter of Discontent - the miners, electricity power workers etc were not involved in the industrial chaos which then engulfed the country. Power cuts and the associated need for candles belonged to the 3-Day Week of the 1973/74 Winter - and before that the first Miners Strike in early 1972.In the Winter of 1970/71 there had also been power cuts when Frank Chappell's power workers took industrial action. All of that happened under Ted Heath's Government - not Callaghan.
Candles. I still recall the smell of burnt hair if you leant too close.
Power cuts were always caused by Labour and the Unions. Trash on the streets was always caused by Labour and the Unions. Nothing good has ever come from Labour and the Unions.
Strange - nearly 50 years on and the view is so ingrained.
I remember doing my homework by candlelight and having to watch Midlands Today as the London studio for Nationwide was blacked out. It was arguably the biggest disruption to normal life until the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
They would show the dwindling reserves of coal at the power stations and explain how the blackouts would intensify as these fell further. Nonetheless, it's widely argued had Heath gone to the country earlier, he'd have won.
The longer it went on, the more powerless and out of control of events he became.
It's a salient lesson which we saw repeated last year - people will support a Government during a crisis but only as long as the Government looks to be in control of events. Once events take over, the Government looks weak and support can ebb away.
Heath was hopeless. His only contribution was to illuminate the fact that the unions were in power.
Admittedly he knew that and there's a degree to which he paved the way to sense.
The point must be coming when Biden rows back on leaving in his time scale
Will be interesting what he says shortly
There shouldn’t even be a bloody stupid time scale. Biden should have ripped up Trump’s moronic agreement, slowly started moving people out, kept bagram open just in case, put in MORE troops to aid a slow, thorough withdrawal. And right at the end you sabotage all weapons if you do have to get everyone out. Meanwhile start arming potential taliban adversaries
And, also, fuck Pakistan. Frankly. This country is no friend of the West.
They also control all the airspace through which evacuations are currently taking place.
Except by, perhaps, the Poles.
The Polish Poles? Or the Amundsen and Scott Poles?
I mean mainly the .. er .. Dutch Poles.
A flight via Tbilisi which presumably avoided Pakistan
A Hungarian air force plane also flew in from Tbilisi this afternoon.
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
I do not recall candles being needed during the Winter of Discontent - the miners, electricity power workers etc were not involved in the industrial chaos which then engulfed the country. Power cuts and the associated need for candles belonged to the 3-Day Week of the 1973/74 Winter - and before that the first Miners Strike in early 1972.In the Winter of 1970/71 there had also been power cuts when Frank Chappell's power workers took industrial action. All of that happened under Ted Heath's Government - not Callaghan.
Candles. I still recall the smell of burnt hair if you leant too close.
Power cuts were always caused by Labour and the Unions. Trash on the streets was always caused by Labour and the Unions. Nothing good has ever come from Labour and the Unions.
That's a balanced, objective view of the last 120 years since the Labour Party was formed. Not. Maybe over that time working people have derived some benefit from Trades Unions and Labour?
I'd not for a moment argue that over the first (say) 50 years the Labour party was beneficial to all of us. The trade unions have been beneficial over a longer period. Neither have been helpful to anyone in the last 30 years.
Amazing really that Margaret Thatcher only won relatively narrowly on May 03rd 1979. A 7% lead on the day.
The preceding months were chaotic and the winter of discontent was terrible, exacerbated by one of the coldest and snowiest winters of the C20th.
I think a lot of the reason Maggie didn't win by a thumping majority is that she was a woman. I still encountered a lot of tory men chuntering about how they preferred Ted Heath.
p.s. oh and for the record, my name is because I live on a heath not because I admired Sir Ted. Nor because I'm a pagan. The occasional voodoo doll and sacrifice of course but nothing that you wouldn't stumble into on Egdon Heath.
Amazing really that Margaret Thatcher only won relatively narrowly on May 03rd 1979. A 7% lead on the day.
The preceding months were chaotic and the winter of discontent was terrible, exacerbated by one of the coldest and snowiest winters of the C20th.
I think a lot of the reason Maggie didn't win by a thumping majority is that she was a woman. I still encountered a lot of tory men chuntering about how they preferred Ted Heath.
p.s. oh and for the record, my name is because I live on a heath not because I admired Sir Ted. Nor because I'm a pagan. The occasional voodoo doll and sacrifice of course but nothing that you wouldn't stumble into on Egdon Heath.
Thatcher's 1979 margin of 7.1% was actually at the time the biggest lead in vote share terms achieved by the Tories - up to that time - since World War 2.
The point must be coming when Biden rows back on leaving in his time scale
Will be interesting what he says shortly
There shouldn’t even be a bloody stupid time scale. Biden should have ripped up Trump’s moronic agreement, slowly started moving people out, kept bagram open just in case, put in MORE troops to aid a slow, thorough withdrawal. And right at the end you sabotage all weapons if you do have to get everyone out. Meanwhile start arming potential taliban adversaries
And, also, fuck Pakistan. Frankly. This country is no friend of the West.
They also control all the airspace through which evacuations are currently taking place.
Except by, perhaps, the Poles.
The Polish Poles? Or the Amundsen and Scott Poles?
I mean mainly the .. er .. Dutch Poles.
A flight via Tbilisi which presumably avoided Pakistan
A Hungarian air force plane also flew in from Tbilisi this afternoon.
Amazing really that Margaret Thatcher only won relatively narrowly on May 03rd 1979. A 7% lead on the day.
The preceding months were chaotic and the winter of discontent was terrible, exacerbated by one of the coldest and snowiest winters of the C20th.
I think a lot of the reason Maggie didn't win by a thumping majority is that she was a woman. I still encountered a lot of tory men chuntering about how they preferred Ted Heath.
p.s. oh and for the record, my name is because I live on a heath not because I admired Sir Ted. Nor because I'm a pagan. The occasional voodoo doll and sacrifice of course but nothing that you wouldn't stumble into on Egdon Heath.
If you set aside politics then her journey is amazing.
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
I do not recall candles being needed during the Winter of Discontent - the miners, electricity power workers etc were not involved in the industrial chaos which then engulfed the country. Power cuts and the associated need for candles belonged to the 3-Day Week of the 1973/74 Winter - and before that the first Miners Strike in early 1972.In the Winter of 1970/71 there had also been power cuts when Frank Chappell's power workers took industrial action. All of that happened under Ted Heath's Government - not Callaghan.
Candles. I still recall the smell of burnt hair if you leant too close.
Power cuts were always caused by Labour and the Unions. Trash on the streets was always caused by Labour and the Unions. Nothing good has ever come from Labour and the Unions.
I have voted Tory for most of my adult life, but to state "Nothing good has ever come from Labour and the Unions" suggests you are either so far right you should be wearing jackboots, or you are ignorant of history or perhaps both.
The point must be coming when Biden rows back on leaving in his time scale
Will be interesting what he says shortly
There shouldn’t even be a bloody stupid time scale. Biden should have ripped up Trump’s moronic agreement, slowly started moving people out, kept bagram open just in case, put in MORE troops to aid a slow, thorough withdrawal. And right at the end you sabotage all weapons if you do have to get everyone out. Meanwhile start arming potential taliban adversaries
And, also, fuck Pakistan. Frankly. This country is no friend of the West.
They also control all the airspace through which evacuations are currently taking place.
Except by, perhaps, the Poles.
The Polish Poles? Or the Amundsen and Scott Poles?
I mean mainly the .. er .. Dutch Poles.
A flight via Tbilisi which presumably avoided Pakistan
A Hungarian air force plane also flew in from Tbilisi this afternoon.
Aha.
The Hungarian Poles as well
The USAF bombardier that flew into Afghanistan earlier is flying circles north of Kabul. Internet says it's a flying super wifi comms hub.
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
I do not recall candles being needed during the Winter of Discontent - the miners, electricity power workers etc were not involved in the industrial chaos which then engulfed the country. Power cuts and the associated need for candles belonged to the 3-Day Week of the 1973/74 Winter - and before that the first Miners Strike in early 1972.In the Winter of 1970/71 there had also been power cuts when Frank Chappell's power workers took industrial action. All of that happened under Ted Heath's Government - not Callaghan.
Candles. I still recall the smell of burnt hair if you leant too close.
Power cuts were always caused by Labour and the Unions. Trash on the streets was always caused by Labour and the Unions. Nothing good has ever come from Labour and the Unions.
I have voted Tory for most of my adult life, but to state "Nothing good has ever come from Labour and the Unions" suggests you are either so far right you should be wearing jackboots, or you are ignorant of history or perhaps both.
I assumed he was being sarcastic and pretending to be a Tory cheerleader.
Jim Callaghan - the classic "in office but not in power" PM, at any rate before John Major and TM.
Still at least he paved the way for Margaret Thatcher. Although I still remember the candles my parents kept for several years afterwards in case the Winter of Discontent was repeated.
I do not recall candles being needed during the Winter of Discontent - the miners, electricity power workers etc were not involved in the industrial chaos which then engulfed the country. Power cuts and the associated need for candles belonged to the 3-Day Week of the 1973/74 Winter - and before that the first Miners Strike in early 1972.In the Winter of 1970/71 there had also been power cuts when Frank Chappell's power workers took industrial action. All of that happened under Ted Heath's Government - not Callaghan.
That is of course true - but I imagine my father's reasoning was that it wasn't predictable which sectors would be hit by widespread industrial discontent in the future, and while the dead going unburied or Ford workers coming out wouldn't affect him directly in the short term, electricity certainly would.
I wonder whether he still had them during the Miner's Strike?
Comments
Except by, perhaps, the Poles.
I imagine last night's Infratest poll from Germany is considered ancient history:
Changes from 2017 Bundestag election:
Union CDU/CSU: 23% (-10)
Social Democrats: 21% (+0.5)
Greens: 17% (+8)
Free Democrats: 13% (+2)
Alternative for Germany: 11% (-1.5)
Other; 8% (+4)
Left: 7% (-2)
SPD plus Greens plus FDP into majority territory on these numbers and the Union continuing to slip towards the SPD with the Greens also falling back.
I, Prague, we need to talk about Czechia - perhaps next week. They vote in early October and a much better poll for Babis and his governing ANO party.
In Canada, a new pollster has entered the fray in the form of Counsel Research:
https://counselpa.com/insight/ndp-gains-in-key-battlegrounds-threaten-trudeaus-path-to-majority/
It's worth noting this is a sample of nearly 3,500 people so a bit larger than normal polls. The Liberals lead the Conservatives by less than two points with the NDP running a strong third at just under 22%.
Some interesting findings particularly with relevance to the three key battlegrounds - Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
Biden denies loss of US credibility
Biden: Taliban is letting Americans get to airport
https://twitter.com/RichardEngel/status/1428779398354907136?s=20
(Of course, Starlink will provide Internet to pretty much all the world's airlines in a couple of years.)
Presumably the reason is that they didn't think that Afghanistan would collapse even as they left.
https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1428736863926431751?s=20
PS The US has just about reached its planned numbers of troops at the airport.
Biden cant tough this out with talk, something has gone badly wrong with the extraction process, the question is whether he is calling the shots and the shots are all wrong.
Nothing. You can argue there would have been chaos, but you can also plan to minimise it. It is clear Biden didn’t bother
In Canada, Liberal leakage to the 3rd placed NDP would benefit the 2nd placed Conservatives most under Canadian FPTP of course given the NDP are still 6% behind the Conservatives but the Conservatives now only 2% behind the Liberals.
It looks like Trudeau will scrape home as largest party but fail to get the majority he wanted
They spoke warmly of the West’s nation-building project, as if it had not just crumbled before their eyes.
The tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan is a humiliation for Western interventionism. But MPs don’t seem to see it that way. They only see the need for more intervention, more occupation and ultimately more bloodshed. Something must be done, even if it achieves nothing.
For much of the political class, Afghanistan was and always will be ‘the good war’. That is why MPs were so emotional today. Afghanistan gave them a sense of purpose they could no longer find at home. But it was hardly ‘the good war’ for those left in its wake.
God help the next nation they try to save."
https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/08/18/afghanistan-and-the-delusions-of-the-political-class/
Trudeau's average lead in the latest 5 opinion polls is 1.5%.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2021_Canadian_federal_election#Campaign_period
Ah, my coat?
NYTimes
As for Canada, there's a lot going on under the figures I think. There would be a swing from Conservative to NDP as well on these numbers. The NDP were 18 points behind the Conservatives in 2019 - Counsel has the gap at seven so that's a 5.5% swing which is not inconsiderable.
The question is how the votes will shape up in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. There's no point the Conservatives piling up votes in Alberta and Saskatchewan if they miss marginals in those other three provinces.
Biden was late, he was there for about 20 minutes, he took 5 pre-planned questions, then fled
He is not serving American democracy, apart from anything else. Even Trump was more up-front than this
Andrew Neil
@afneil
·
15m
Biden says all Americans are getting to the airport. Then he says US forces might need to go into Kabul to get them. Both statements can’t be true.
One thing the Greens are likely to get out of their new relationship with the Scottish government is progress on one of their top priorities: gender identity. Harvie’s team are the full Judith Butler on these matters. In the last parliament, they voted against giving sexual assault victims the right to request a forensic examiner of the same sex rather than the same ‘gender’. Sturgeon is fixated on these matters too, which gives the gender ideologues real scope to press ahead with their agenda.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9911499/Osama-bin-Laden-predicted-Joe-Biden-lead-America-crisis.html
Edit: Others might, but my view of Biden is that he can't.
A flight via Tbilisi which presumably avoided Pakistan
That is a real tough one for these people
Post code data here https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk
MSOA data here (approx units 7500)
https://twitter.com/RP131/status/1428767174722736130
https://twitter.com/JobbingLeftieH/status/1428774321225441280?s=20
It’s a trivial thing, but he does this all the time. It looks like early senility.
I'm against his succession in a very token way betting-wise.
It’s been clear for a while Johnson doesn’t really give a damn about leading anything
Power cuts were always caused by Labour and the Unions. Trash on the streets was always caused by Labour and the Unions. Nothing good has ever come from Labour and the Unions.
I remember doing my homework by candlelight and having to watch Midlands Today as the London studio for Nationwide was blacked out. It was arguably the biggest disruption to normal life until the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
They would show the dwindling reserves of coal at the power stations and explain how the blackouts would intensify as these fell further. Nonetheless, it's widely argued had Heath gone to the country earlier, he'd have won.
The longer it went on, the more powerless and out of control of events he became.
It's a salient lesson which we saw repeated last year - people will support a Government during a crisis but only as long as the Government looks to be in control of events. Once events take over, the Government looks weak and support can ebb away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNdjqx6vKy4
I wonder if she's planning a Presidential run
Admittedly he knew that and there's a degree to which he paved the way to sense.
The preceding months were chaotic and the winter of discontent was terrible, exacerbated by one of the coldest and snowiest winters of the C20th.
I think a lot of the reason Maggie didn't win by a thumping majority is that she was a woman. I still encountered a lot of tory men chuntering about how they preferred Ted Heath.
p.s. oh and for the record, my name is because I live on a heath not because I admired Sir Ted. Nor because I'm a pagan. The occasional voodoo doll and sacrifice of course but nothing that you wouldn't stumble into on Egdon Heath.
The Hungarian Poles as well
I wonder whether he still had them during the Miner's Strike?