Kay Burley interviewing Rachel Reeves and it appears over 30 people were at beergate, over £200 spent on curry, but apparently and this is new, there was an on line quiz going on
This is not going away much as many would like it to
Includes new @LordAshcroft research: 39% of 2019 Tory voters said “I thought he was a rogue and a chancer but I voted for him anyway.” But now, among those who voted Tory for the first time, their view of the PM has “deteriorated sharply”.
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
Not sure why 17 million people voted leave under that interpretation?
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
On the plus side, Boris is absorbing a lot of that hatred and resentment, and it will pass with him, like a bad bank, or a decommissioned nuclear site, or in a strange way, Jesus.
Boris is like Jesus for taking on our sins is the oddest hot take I've ever seen on this site. 😲
Politics doesn't just pass like that. If the Tories lose the next election, they'll probably be out of power for at least a decade.
Boris as scapegoat (which was the role Jesus was playing) is a common sentiment though
Whilst some of the current crisis is unquestionably international, equally a lot of it is not. Boris Johnson has brought about much of this. His careless lack of attention to detail and propensity to spaff out on the nation's credit card mirrors his own personal financial chaos.
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
Good morning, Big_G. Fair or not, the message 'not us, gov' isn't going to wash from a party that's been in power for over a decade.
Its probably about as fair as blaming Brown for the 2008 crash, but will be done just the same.
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
I will. I have the most serious concerns about any leader who goes off the cuff on such a sensitive occasion for foreign policy. That you won't criticise him is strange. The locals weren't going to be rude, any more than the CBI were going to start throwing bread rolls when Mr Johnson went on about Peppa Pig.
I am not going to criticise him over Ukraine - all that does is help Putin
You feel that Putin is a keen reader of PB so anything you say might affect the outcome? Perhaps he has a bet on it?
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
The real issue is the effect on the low paid and those on benefits and in poverty and help is needed and is urgent for them
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
Morning Big_G. I agree that the cost of living crisis is going to swamp them. And for a very specific reason - they simply don't care. Boris does boosterism, so even "I can't afford to heat my home so I ride the bus" got processed and responded to with "I gave you that bus pass" as if the cold pensioner should be appreciative.
Boosterism is a refusal to accept there is a problem. Hence the repeated "Dear Prime Minister please stop lying, luv the ONS" letters in response to "FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY IN THE G7". Hence the "can't people spend their savings to pay their energy bills, we must protect BP and Shell" responses.
This government are going to deny there is a problem. Tell people if they are struggling it is their fault because its always booming in Boris's Britain. And then offer them a shiny sixpence off their £5,000 personal finance black hole and expect gratitude.
Any other Tory government would do better because they would at least apply a veneer of being concerned.
I largely agree and despair at the inability of HMG and especially Boris and Rishi to show they really care and I cannot recall a conservative government so aloof and out of touch
It is fair to say only so much can be achieved by any government overwhelmed by this economy crisis but at least you can show you care
We mustn't forget Johnson appalling comment yesterday that he couldn't raise benefit levels despite the financial catastrophe facing many on social security because it would mean interest rates had to go up.
Economic codswallop which I suspect he just literally made up as he spoke.
Unless we are right on the edge of our debt funding limits. In which case it would be true.
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
Morning Big_G. I agree that the cost of living crisis is going to swamp them. And for a very specific reason - they simply don't care. Boris does boosterism, so even "I can't afford to heat my home so I ride the bus" got processed and responded to with "I gave you that bus pass" as if the cold pensioner should be appreciative.
Boosterism is a refusal to accept there is a problem. Hence the repeated "Dear Prime Minister please stop lying, luv the ONS" letters in response to "FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY IN THE G7". Hence the "can't people spend their savings to pay their energy bills, we must protect BP and Shell" responses.
This government are going to deny there is a problem. Tell people if they are struggling it is their fault because its always booming in Boris's Britain. And then offer them a shiny sixpence off their £5,000 personal finance black hole and expect gratitude.
Any other Tory government would do better because they would at least apply a veneer of being concerned.
The Pensioners Bus Pass is part of the reason that rural bus services are not viable. The amount that the bus company gets per journey is too low.
A classic example of gimmicky policy that is self defeating. What is the point of a bus pass when you no longer have a service?
22% of bus routes have gone in the last decade, particularly in the pandemic, but pandemic funding has now expired and the emergency funding goes in October. Most affected are the NW, East and East Midlands.
Its one reason, but its almost chicken and egg. The services are so poor that there is little point trying to use them. My dad, for complex reasons, is currently deprived of his driving licence. They have a small town 6 miles away, a city 11 miles away and two larger towns around 13/14 miles away. Buses to all are sporadic, and if you miss one, you may wait several hours for the next.
Frankly in rural parts, most people are car dependent and have been for many years. Reversing that would be a miracle.
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
Not sure why 17 million people voted leave under that interpretation?
You can have a preference without really being fussed either way: do you prefer cheese and onion or salt and vinegar?
Curious interview this evening - a lecturer doing research on political gambling approached me on the basis of several recommendations as an expert (er...thanks, I think). I'll suggest Mike ads the obvious next port of call, and Pip Moss. The interviewer's previous paper was on gambling in Papua New Guinea!
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
Of course what has changed recently is that Ukraine has stopped being police with regards to our "we don't want any" Ukrainian visas policy. With so many examples now of a system which is deliberately and egregiously trying to put off as many refugees as possible even the Ambassador is now complaining.
When the UK government is suggesting that a young girl go back to the war zone because it refuses to accept her paperwork we know the policy truly is "don't come here". Yet our government - and their parrots - squark about how wonderful and generous we are and look how appreciative the Ukrainians are.
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
Good morning, Big_G. Fair or not, the message 'not us, gov' isn't going to wash from a party that's been in power for over a decade.
Its probably about as fair as blaming Brown for the 2008 crash, but will be done just the same.
Real wages will be below 2010 levels at the next election.
That says all you need to know about Tory economic ineptitude over the past 12 years.
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
I will. I have the most serious concerns about any leader who goes off the cuff on such a sensitive occasion for foreign policy. That you won't criticise him is strange. The locals weren't going to be rude, any more than the CBI were going to start throwing bread rolls when Mr Johnson went on about Peppa Pig.
I am not going to criticise him over Ukraine - all that does is help Putin
You feel that Putin is a keen reader of PB so anything you say might affect the outcome? Perhaps he has a bet on it?
Seems Putin has Boris and the UK in his cross hairs and maybe his does read PB as there is no better place to test the current political climate
Croatian President wants some attention, Mélenchon is making hay, and Austria don't want Ukraine to join the EU because neutrality.
Next.
Austria is compromised
I think Austria is being realistic. While an association agreement can happen quickly, full and equal membership of the EU requires considerable structural change in Ukraine. Not to mention the small matter of defining its borders.
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
Middle class people still sat on pandemic savings Poor people with no savings struggling to make ends meet
entirely possible to have both at the same time
Twas ever thus. In the recessions of the 80's, if you kept your job, things weren't so bad. There are always winners and losers.
Worth noting that Vance had the good sense to spot what Trump was way back in 2016 and even warned he could be America's "Hitler".
Completely changed his tune in order to win office.
The question will be how much of an enabler of Trump and his cult authoritarianism Vance will be if he wins a Senate seat. At least we know at one point he could see what was happening.
Was it clear whether Vance thought being America’s Hitler was a good or a bad thing?
Kay Burley interviewing Rachel Reeves and it appears over 30 people were at beergate, over £200 spent on curry, but apparently and this is new, there was an on line quiz going on
This is not going away much as many would like it to
Kay Burley interviewing Rachel Reeves and it appears over 30 people were at beergate, over £200 spent on curry, but apparently and this is new, there was an on line quiz going on
This is not going away much as many would like it to
Like I said yesterday, for those who want to believe this to be significantly worse than Partygate it is significantly worse than Partygate. Kay Burley is one of those. What were the rules (not guidance) at the time?
Curious interview this evening - a lecturer doing research on political gambling approached me on the basis of several recommendations as an expert (er...thanks, I think). I'll suggest Mike ads the obvious next port of call, and Pip Moss. The interviewer's previous paper was on gambling in Papua New Guinea!
They need to speak to perhaps the foremost political gambler on PB (no offence all) who is @Andy_JS. His spreadsheet and the approach it informed to EURef was extraordinary and contributed to most people on here winning more money on political gambling than they had ever done previously and for some, winning the most money ever on gambling ever.
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
Of course what has changed recently is that Ukraine has stopped being police with regards to our "we don't want any" Ukrainian visas policy. With so many examples now of a system which is deliberately and egregiously trying to put off as many refugees as possible even the Ambassador is now complaining.
When the UK government is suggesting that a young girl go back to the war zone because it refuses to accept her paperwork we know the policy truly is "don't come here". Yet our government - and their parrots - squark about how wonderful and generous we are and look how appreciative the Ukrainians are.
The James O'Brien show yesterday (I know) was very revealing about some of the issues that people are facing when applying to house Ukrainian refugees.
In short definitely cock up and most likely conspiracy.
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
I will. I have the most serious concerns about any leader who goes off the cuff on such a sensitive occasion for foreign policy. That you won't criticise him is strange. The locals weren't going to be rude, any more than the CBI were going to start throwing bread rolls when Mr Johnson went on about Peppa Pig.
I am not going to criticise him over Ukraine - all that does is help Putin
We can - and should - criticise him over our appalling refugees policy. As the Ukrainian ambassador now is.
Curious interview this evening - a lecturer doing research on political gambling approached me on the basis of several recommendations as an expert (er...thanks, I think). I'll suggest Mike ads the obvious next port of call, and Pip Moss. The interviewer's previous paper was on gambling in Papua New Guinea!
They need to speak to perhaps the foremost political gambler on PB (no offence all) who is @Andy_JS. His spreadsheet and therefore approach to EURef was extraordinary and contributed to most people on here winning more money on political gambling than they had ever done previously and for some, winning the most money ever on gambling ever.
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
It's barely begun, so you wouldn't expect universal dismay. And even in the seventies there were those who did very well throughout the years of economic debacle.
What's going to matter is where gas and oil prices are by the winter. If they haven't come down, things will get ugly.
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
Opinion polls repeatedly showed that most people did not give any priority to Europe as an issue.
The vastly higher turnout in the EU referendum compared with the AV referendum shows that it was considered a much more important issue.
Yes but only after a referendum was called. That is the point.
It's a dumb point, unfortunately. There's a strand of opinion that credits Cameron with the ability to manufacture interest and concern on the issue by virtue of asking people. He was not that powerful.
Sure it wasn't a priority according to polling, but the interest and outcome once asked showed people cared about it. The polling was wrong.
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
Not sure why 17 million people voted leave under that interpretation?
You can have a preference without really being fussed either way: do you prefer cheese and onion or salt and vinegar?
Obviously cheese and onion, what kind of horrid monster would prefer salt and vinegar?
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
I will. I have the most serious concerns about any leader who goes off the cuff on such a sensitive occasion for foreign policy. That you won't criticise him is strange. The locals weren't going to be rude, any more than the CBI were going to start throwing bread rolls when Mr Johnson went on about Peppa Pig.
I am not going to criticise him over Ukraine - all that does is help Putin
You feel that Putin is a keen reader of PB so anything you say might affect the outcome? Perhaps he has a bet on it?
Seems Putin has Boris and the UK in his cross hairs and maybe his does read PB as there is no better place to test the current political climate
Lol, doubtless he’s obsessing over tediously repetitive bleating about £200 curries.
The Mail unintentionally raised an interesting question today.
If Starmer and his team did no work *after* beer and curry then at what point did work end and social begin?
I’m not sure there’s a good answer to that (which is why the rules were a bit silly)
Today's latest "revelations" really make a tit of the Mail stories. £200 of curry divided by dozens plural of activists = not much curry. Yet the Mail was clear that Starmer was illegally ladeling a curry feast into Rayner's illegal growler whilst swilling down a lake of lager.
Methinks there's also a lack of understanding of how things work in a campaign centre deep into a campaign. If you have the time you practically live there - I've eaten all three meals of the day there before now. Eating whilst talking about what is happening the day after is hardly unusual.
Indeed, and quite obviously Starmer and Rayner didnt each travel hundreds of miles for a social event, no matter how nice Hartlepool curries are.
The curry was actually in Durham, the office of the local MP, Mary Foy.
Durham have some decent curry houses.
Amaani at the Pumphouse is especially good.
Yes. Starmer was campaigning in Durham. Boris went to Hartlepool to be photographed enjoying a pint with Jill Mortimer (in one of her rare visits). That too was campaigning and allowed under the rules. Funny that the Wail isn't producing endless stories on that one.
Could we not make Boris a special envoy to Ukraine? They seem to love him out there. At home every inch Boris is removed from no10 is appreciated. A potential win-win?
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
I will. I have the most serious concerns about any leader who goes off the cuff on such a sensitive occasion for foreign policy. That you won't criticise him is strange. The locals weren't going to be rude, any more than the CBI were going to start throwing bread rolls when Mr Johnson went on about Peppa Pig.
I am not going to criticise him over Ukraine - all that does is help Putin
We can - and should - criticise him over our appalling refugees policy. As the Ukrainian ambassador now is.
I again agree with you and Patel should have been sacked long ago
Includes new @LordAshcroft research: 39% of 2019 Tory voters said “I thought he was a rogue and a chancer but I voted for him anyway.” But now, among those who voted Tory for the first time, their view of the PM has “deteriorated sharply”.
Curious interview this evening - a lecturer doing research on political gambling approached me on the basis of several recommendations as an expert (er...thanks, I think). I'll suggest Mike ads the obvious next port of call, and Pip Moss. The interviewer's previous paper was on gambling in Papua New Guinea!
They need to speak to perhaps the foremost political gambler on PB (no offence all) who is @Andy_JS. His spreadsheet and therefore approach to EURef was extraordinary and contributed to most people on here winning more money on political gambling than they had ever done previously and for some, winning the most money ever on gambling ever.
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
The sentiment drawn from within the garbled message was one we all agree with. The presentation however was shockingly poor for such a historic moment.
It was fine. Praised them, offered support, showed some humility for us not acting in 2014 etc. I deeply dislike the man but he can do thst sort of thing ok, I'm not seeing a dropping of the ball
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
I will. I have the most serious concerns about any leader who goes off the cuff on such a sensitive occasion for foreign policy. That you won't criticise him is strange. The locals weren't going to be rude, any more than the CBI were going to start throwing bread rolls when Mr Johnson went on about Peppa Pig.
I am not going to criticise him over Ukraine - all that does is help Putin
You feel that Putin is a keen reader of PB so anything you say might affect the outcome? Perhaps he has a bet on it?
Putin's method for his international opposition is to split and divide. If there is an existing divide, he will try to widen it, as a divided opposition is a weakened one.
This does not mean someone cannot criticise Boris or the government over Ukraine: but IMO they should do so because they disagree with the policy(ies), not because they dislike the messenger. The latter plays directly into Putin's hands.
Unity matters when it comes to helping Ukraine defeat Russia.
(This is only the case on Ukraine, where the bad guys are very clear. It's open season on Boris for everything else.)
In this case, do you believe a Starmer-led Labour government would be doing much different from what Johnson's government is doing?
AP calls Ohio US Senate Republican Primary for Vance
Updated just now 71% REPORTED Candidate Votes J.D. Vance 218,053 31.3% Josh Mandel 169,416 24.3% Matt Dolan 152,198 21.9% Mike Gibbons 83,383 12.0% Jane Timken 45,740 6.6% Mark Pukita 18,031 2.6% Neil Patel 9,565 1.4% Total reported 696,386
Seems a pretty clear win and therefore good news for Trump, right? His coat-tails evidently very effective for a GOP primary. Also, perhaps, good news for the Democrats in Ohio - is there polling on how they'll do vs Vance?
It looks to me like the more moderate Republicans made the same mistake as the French Left, and failed to agree to coalesce around a single candidate.
Moderates and liberals generally get screwed in revolutionary settings, and politics is so febrile there it feels like that.
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
Not sure why 17 million people voted leave under that interpretation?
You can have a preference without really being fussed either way: do you prefer cheese and onion or salt and vinegar?
Obviously cheese and onion, what kind of horrid monster would prefer salt and vinegar?
All very well but where do you stand on the subversion of the Green/Blue bag for cheese and onion/salt and vinegar.
Kay Burley interviewing Rachel Reeves and it appears over 30 people were at beergate, over £200 spent on curry, but apparently and this is new, there was an on line quiz going on
This is not going away much as many would like it to
Like I said yesterday, for those who want to believe this to be significantly worse than Partygate it is significantly worse than Partygate. Kay Burley is one of those. What were the rules (not guidance) at the time?
It is not a matter of scale but has Starmer and Labour breached covid regulations in this instance
It seems to be raised across the media whenever Starmer or labour politicians are interviewed, and Burley saying that an on line quiz was going on raises serious questions
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
Not sure why 17 million people voted leave under that interpretation?
You can have a preference without really being fussed either way: do you prefer cheese and onion or salt and vinegar?
Obviously cheese and onion, what kind of horrid monster would prefer salt and vinegar?
All very well but where do you stand on the subversion of the Green/Blue bag for cheese and onion/salt and vinegar.
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
Good morning, Big_G. Fair or not, the message 'not us, gov' isn't going to wash from a party that's been in power for over a decade.
Its probably about as fair as blaming Brown for the 2008 crash, but will be done just the same.
Real wages will be below 2010 levels at the next election.
That says all you need to know about Tory economic ineptitude over the past 12 years.
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
I will. I have the most serious concerns about any leader who goes off the cuff on such a sensitive occasion for foreign policy. That you won't criticise him is strange. The locals weren't going to be rude, any more than the CBI were going to start throwing bread rolls when Mr Johnson went on about Peppa Pig.
I am not going to criticise him over Ukraine - all that does is help Putin
You feel that Putin is a keen reader of PB so anything you say might affect the outcome? Perhaps he has a bet on it?
Putin's method for his international opposition is to split and divide. If there is an existing divide, he will try to widen it, as a divided opposition is a weakened one.
This does not mean someone cannot criticise Boris or the government over Ukraine: but IMO they should do so because they disagree with the policy(ies), not because they dislike the messenger. The latter plays directly into Putin's hands.
Unity matters when it comes to helping Ukraine defeat Russia.
(This is only the case on Ukraine, where the bad guys are very clear. It's open season on Boris for everything else.)
In this case, do you believe a Starmer-led Labour government would be doing much different from what Johnson's government is doing?
Watch the speech.
No one is critical of the message, but the messenger was very poorly prepared. He was on a World stage, representing our nation, that is a poor show.
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
As yes "full employment". Which as we all know is always statistical spin whichever government claims it rather than lived reality. We know hundreds of thousands of older people simply left employment during the pandemic and others cannot find work despite the vacancies at Manchester Airport and elsewhere.
As for people spending money, that happens at the depth of every recession. Underneath the "its busy" perception the hospitality industry is still struggling to recover from Covid. The closure of a chunk of outlets has helped, but companies like Pret are still reporting only 65% of pre-Covid trade.
You may not be struggling - and I'm not either. But we're the exception rather than the rule.
AP calls Ohio US Senate Republican Primary for Vance
Updated just now 71% REPORTED Candidate Votes J.D. Vance 218,053 31.3% Josh Mandel 169,416 24.3% Matt Dolan 152,198 21.9% Mike Gibbons 83,383 12.0% Jane Timken 45,740 6.6% Mark Pukita 18,031 2.6% Neil Patel 9,565 1.4% Total reported 696,386
Seems a pretty clear win and therefore good news for Trump, right? His coat-tails evidently very effective for a GOP primary. Also, perhaps, good news for the Democrats in Ohio - is there polling on how they'll do vs Vance?
It looks to me like the more moderate Republicans made the same mistake as the French Left, and failed to agree to coalesce around a single candidate.
Not all the other Republican candidates were moderates though and Ohio is Trump country. It voted for Trump in 2020 and 2016
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
Not sure why 17 million people voted leave under that interpretation?
You can have a preference without really being fussed either way: do you prefer cheese and onion or salt and vinegar?
Obviously cheese and onion, what kind of horrid monster would prefer salt and vinegar?
WHAAAT!
Until now I believed you were a vaguely decent almost sentient human being.
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
Of course what has changed recently is that Ukraine has stopped being police with regards to our "we don't want any" Ukrainian visas policy. With so many examples now of a system which is deliberately and egregiously trying to put off as many refugees as possible even the Ambassador is now complaining.
When the UK government is suggesting that a young girl go back to the war zone because it refuses to accept her paperwork we know the policy truly is "don't come here". Yet our government - and their parrots - squark about how wonderful and generous we are and look how appreciative the Ukrainians are.
The James O'Brien show yesterday (I know) was very revealing about some of the issues that people are facing when applying to house Ukrainian refugees.
In short definitely cock up and most likely conspiracy.
The Tory vote doesn't want the forrin here. This scheme had to be dragged out of the government and has been set up to be as difficult as possible. Thus they can say "aren't we generous" as they act ungenerously.
Kay Burley interviewing Rachel Reeves and it appears over 30 people were at beergate, over £200 spent on curry, but apparently and this is new, there was an on line quiz going on
This is not going away much as many would like it to
Like I said yesterday, for those who want to believe this to be significantly worse than Partygate it is significantly worse than Partygate. Kay Burley is one of those. What were the rules (not guidance) at the time?
It is not a matter of scale but has Starmer and Labour breached covid regulations in this instance
It seems to be raised across the media whenever Starmer or labour politicians are interviewed, and Burley saying that an on line quiz was going on raises serious questions
Its not working on the public, from YouGov yesterday:
#Beergate stories haven't changed the public perception that Keir Starmer has generally abided by COVID rules
Generally did: 42% (+2 from Jan) Generally didn't: 28% (-)
Boris Johnson, meanwhile, is still seen as a rulebreaker
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
I've come to think Brexit was a mistake, but people pointing to polls saying it wasnt a salient issue is one of the silliest arguments against it I've ever seen.
The proof of what people actually felt about it was in the action and outcome. Some polling doesnt mean shit.
It's just an expression of a what if scenario had a referendum not come up, utterly pointless and handily enabling the dismissal of all the concerns people raised and the votes they cast. Because people didn't really mean that because a poll showed it wasn't a priority.
Some local Tory candidates are so worried about being tainted by @BorisJohnson they - say 'please don't punish local Conservatives for mistakes made in Westminster' - admit 'there is lingering unhappiness with the national political scene' - omit 'Conservative' brand completely https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1521758845613264896/photo/1
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
I will. I have the most serious concerns about any leader who goes off the cuff on such a sensitive occasion for foreign policy. That you won't criticise him is strange. The locals weren't going to be rude, any more than the CBI were going to start throwing bread rolls when Mr Johnson went on about Peppa Pig.
I am not going to criticise him over Ukraine - all that does is help Putin
You feel that Putin is a keen reader of PB so anything you say might affect the outcome? Perhaps he has a bet on it?
Putin's method for his international opposition is to split and divide. If there is an existing divide, he will try to widen it, as a divided opposition is a weakened one.
This does not mean someone cannot criticise Boris or the government over Ukraine: but IMO they should do so because they disagree with the policy(ies), not because they dislike the messenger. The latter plays directly into Putin's hands.
Unity matters when it comes to helping Ukraine defeat Russia.
(This is only the case on Ukraine, where the bad guys are very clear. It's open season on Boris for everything else.)
In this case, do you believe a Starmer-led Labour government would be doing much different from what Johnson's government is doing?
Supporting or opposing government measures entirely based on the source is peak partisanship.
There was a focus group done, some years ago IIRC, where polices were presented without naming the party supporting them. Back in New Labour times, I think. Quite a few people strongly supported policies of the "wrong" party, until they were told which one they came from.
Includes new @LordAshcroft research: 39% of 2019 Tory voters said “I thought he was a rogue and a chancer but I voted for him anyway.” But now, among those who voted Tory for the first time, their view of the PM has “deteriorated sharply”.
Cue HY to insist that 39% of Tory voters are not Tory voters, are not wanted, and indeed never did vote Tory.
You have to remember the Tories won a landslide majority of 80 in 2019. Many Tory 2019 voters will therefore not have voted Tory before then or not voted Tory since 1987 when the Tories last won a landslide before then. They voted Tory for Boris to get Brexit done and to beat Corbyn. However both those aims have been achieved and many of them will go back to Labour now Corbyn has gone and Brexit been deliverered. Whatever the Tories do they were not natural Tories
Croatian President wants some attention, Mélenchon is making hay, and Austria don't want Ukraine to join the EU because neutrality.
Next.
If the US want Finland in then I very much doubt Croatia's view will count for much.
Croatia has a veto same as anybody
The Croatian president Zoran Milanović is pro-Russian and at odds with the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on this and a number of other issues. I don't think Milanović's views represent the position of Croatia on NATO accession.
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
It's barely begun, so you wouldn't expect universal dismay. And even in the seventies there were those who did very well throughout the years of economic debacle.
What's going to matter is where gas and oil prices are by the winter. If they haven't come down, things will get ugly.
The cost of living crisis is driven by external causes - oil and gas prices, supply chain issues from aboard (COVID and BREXIT).
Croatian President wants some attention, Mélenchon is making hay, and Austria don't want Ukraine to join the EU because neutrality.
Next.
If the US want Finland in then I very much doubt Croatia's view will count for much.
Croatia has a veto same as anybody
The Croatian president Zoran Milanović is pro-Russian and at odds with the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on this and a number of other issues. I don't think Milanović's views represent the position of Croatia on NATO accession.
Croatia is likely to get leaned on, hard, if the opposition is serious.
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
It's barely begun, so you wouldn't expect universal dismay. And even in the seventies there were those who did very well throughout the years of economic debacle.
What's going to matter is where gas and oil prices are by the winter. If they haven't come down, things will get ugly.
Same in the 1930's.
As for this cycle, I suspect it looks very different for those who have paid off their mortgage (or nearly done so) vs. everyone else.
If you're doing well, it might be polite to keep quiet about it.
AP calls Ohio US Senate Republican Primary for Vance
Updated just now 71% REPORTED Candidate Votes J.D. Vance 218,053 31.3% Josh Mandel 169,416 24.3% Matt Dolan 152,198 21.9% Mike Gibbons 83,383 12.0% Jane Timken 45,740 6.6% Mark Pukita 18,031 2.6% Neil Patel 9,565 1.4% Total reported 696,386
Seems a pretty clear win and therefore good news for Trump, right? His coat-tails evidently very effective for a GOP primary. Also, perhaps, good news for the Democrats in Ohio - is there polling on how they'll do vs Vance?
It looks to me like the more moderate Republicans made the same mistake as the French Left, and failed to agree to coalesce around a single candidate.
They thought Trump would slink off to Florida to play golf and have an enlarged prostate. Like many others, they failed to anticipate that he would come back in Dark MAGA form in 2024.
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
The issue is mostly one of constrained supply raising prices, as a result of the pandemic and the war.
The economy isn’t being allowed to achieve its potential because of these constraints, and growth is lower than expected as a result.
It’s a very unusual situation, and is likely to persist for the next year or so.
Croatian President wants some attention, Mélenchon is making hay, and Austria don't want Ukraine to join the EU because neutrality.
Next.
Austria is compromised
For Ukraine to meet the various tests for going from a candidate membership to full EU membership would take of the order of 10 years, in normal times.
Consider the road that Croatia took to joining the EU - many similar issues.
Kay Burley interviewing Rachel Reeves and it appears over 30 people were at beergate, over £200 spent on curry, but apparently and this is new, there was an on line quiz going on
This is not going away much as many would like it to
£7 per curry sounds like a bargain
Or not a lot per person per head. Quiz? Sounds very innocuous compared with the raucous shenanigans nightly at 10 or 11 Downing Street. And as for the police standing about doing nothing, what were the Met doing when clinking suitcases were being carried in to this addresses?
Croatian President wants some attention, Mélenchon is making hay, and Austria don't want Ukraine to join the EU because neutrality.
Next.
If the US want Finland in then I very much doubt Croatia's view will count for much.
Croatia has a veto same as anybody
I was expecting this to come from Hungary.
The NATO rules are clear - accession has to be unanimous. No reason has to be given for a rejection.
All Putin needs is one friend.
I think the point about Croatia's president is that he is not head of government. The government and parliament seem to be in favour of Sweden and Finland joining NATO, so it's pretty doubtful that the president would actually be able to veto it.
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
I've come to think Brexit was a mistake, but people pointing to polls saying it wasnt a salient issue is one of the silliest arguments against it I've ever seen.
The proof of what people actually felt about it was in the action and outcome. Some polling doesnt mean shit.
It's just an expression of a what if scenario had a referendum not come up, utterly pointless and handily enabling the dismissal of all the concerns people raised and the votes they cast. Because people didn't really mean that because a poll showed it wasn't a priority.
The Brexit referendum forced people to choose, often about an issue that they hadn't really thought a lot of previously. Such is the nature of referendums.
Once people had chosen their side their views on immigration, loss of control, or international institutions became core. This worked on both sides, and to a degree still does. Like many others I became much more pro-European as a result, while others went the other way.
Croatian President wants some attention, Mélenchon is making hay, and Austria don't want Ukraine to join the EU because neutrality.
Next.
Austria is compromised
For Ukraine to meet the various tests for going from a candidate membership to full EU membership would take of the order of 10 years, in normal times.
Consider the road that Croatia took to joining the EU - many similar issues.
Serbia and Montenegro are making slow process toward membership because they are failing to get to grips with corruption and they are unimpeachable bastions of rectitude compared to Ukraine.
Croatian President wants some attention, Mélenchon is making hay, and Austria don't want Ukraine to join the EU because neutrality.
Next.
If the US want Finland in then I very much doubt Croatia's view will count for much.
Croatia has a veto same as anybody
The Croatian president Zoran Milanović is pro-Russian and at odds with the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on this and a number of other issues. I don't think Milanović's views represent the position of Croatia on NATO accession.
Croatia is likely to get leaned on, hard, if the opposition is serious.
Malmesbury is right imo, Hungary is the more serious veto threat to Finland and Sweden joining NATO. The Finns and Swedes know that. Viktor Orbán is much more of a problem than the Croatian president, not least because he pushes back when leaned on.
AP calls Ohio US Senate Republican Primary for Vance
Updated just now 71% REPORTED Candidate Votes J.D. Vance 218,053 31.3% Josh Mandel 169,416 24.3% Matt Dolan 152,198 21.9% Mike Gibbons 83,383 12.0% Jane Timken 45,740 6.6% Mark Pukita 18,031 2.6% Neil Patel 9,565 1.4% Total reported 696,386
Seems a pretty clear win and therefore good news for Trump, right? His coat-tails evidently very effective for a GOP primary. Also, perhaps, good news for the Democrats in Ohio - is there polling on how they'll do vs Vance?
It looks to me like the more moderate Republicans made the same mistake as the French Left, and failed to agree to coalesce around a single candidate.
They thought Trump would slink off to Florida to play golf and have an enlarged prostate. Like many others, they failed to anticipate that he would come back in Dark MAGA form in 2024.
I remember winding up a Trump-hating American neighbour about this when Biden won. "Don't worry, Trump will run again next time for yet more lols".
Croatian President wants some attention, Mélenchon is making hay, and Austria don't want Ukraine to join the EU because neutrality.
Next.
If the US want Finland in then I very much doubt Croatia's view will count for much.
Croatia has a veto same as anybody
I was expecting this to come from Hungary.
The NATO rules are clear - accession has to be unanimous. No reason has to be given for a rejection.
All Putin needs is one friend.
I think the point about Croatia's president is that he is not head of government. The government and parliament seem to be in favour of Sweden and Finland joining NATO, so it's pretty doubtful that the president would actually be able to veto it.
He has been, rather aggressively, on Russia's side in the whole Ukrainian issue. There will be some fun there. Which will probably end up in the Croatian courts.
I am still expecting a veto from Hungary on Sweden and Finland joining NATO - I would be happily surprised if that doesn't happen. But given the Hungarian governments behaviour to date.....
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
As yes "full employment". Which as we all know is always statistical spin whichever government claims it rather than lived reality. We know hundreds of thousands of older people simply left employment during the pandemic and others cannot find work despite the vacancies at Manchester Airport and elsewhere.
As for people spending money, that happens at the depth of every recession. Underneath the "its busy" perception the hospitality industry is still struggling to recover from Covid. The closure of a chunk of outlets has helped, but companies like Pret are still reporting only 65% of pre-Covid trade.
You may not be struggling - and I'm not either. But we're the exception rather than the rule.
I never get why this is made personal, I was just stating facts.
In terms of full employment we do have it, if you want a job you can get one.
I left school in the early 80's when there was no work, the situation is radically different now.
Croatian President wants some attention, Mélenchon is making hay, and Austria don't want Ukraine to join the EU because neutrality.
Next.
Austria is compromised
For Ukraine to meet the various tests for going from a candidate membership to full EU membership would take of the order of 10 years, in normal times.
Consider the road that Croatia took to joining the EU - many similar issues.
Serbia and Montenegro are making slow process toward membership because they are failing to get to grips with corruption and they are unimpeachable bastions of rectitude compared to Ukraine.
Indeed that is why "Servant of the People" Zelensky was so electorally successful, and such an ideological threat to Putin. Zelensky was specifically mandated to move Ukraine away from being an oligarchical kleptocracy like Russia, but that work is a long job. Ironically Putin has accelerated it.
Eustice says energy companies pay enough tax and people should go for better value brands in the supermarket . Job done I’m sure this will go down well with voters !
Includes new @LordAshcroft research: 39% of 2019 Tory voters said “I thought he was a rogue and a chancer but I voted for him anyway.” But now, among those who voted Tory for the first time, their view of the PM has “deteriorated sharply”.
Cue HY to insist that 39% of Tory voters are not Tory voters, are not wanted, and indeed never did vote Tory.
You have to remember the Tories won a landslide majority of 80 in 2019. Many Tory 2019 voters will therefore not have voted Tory before then or not voted Tory since 1987 when the Tories last won a landslide before then. They voted Tory for Boris to get Brexit done and to beat Corbyn. However both those aims have been achieved and many of them will go back to Labour now Corbyn has gone and Brexit been deliverered. Whatever the Tories do they were not natural Tories
@hyufd makes a good point although I would dispute brexit is done, but if these voters think so, so be it. One also has to ask if the Tories are doing so badly why aren't their poll ratings lower?
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
As yes "full employment". Which as we all know is always statistical spin whichever government claims it rather than lived reality. We know hundreds of thousands of older people simply left employment during the pandemic and others cannot find work despite the vacancies at Manchester Airport and elsewhere.
As for people spending money, that happens at the depth of every recession. Underneath the "its busy" perception the hospitality industry is still struggling to recover from Covid. The closure of a chunk of outlets has helped, but companies like Pret are still reporting only 65% of pre-Covid trade.
You may not be struggling - and I'm not either. But we're the exception rather than the rule.
I never get why this is made personal, I was just stating facts.
In terms of full employment we do have it, if you want a job you can get one.
I left school in the early 80's when there was no work, the situation is radically different now.
Once again, COVID accelerated a process - in this case early retirement/slowing down
Quite a few people "retired" early, by replacing their full time jobs with part time plus pension.
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
Not sure why 17 million people voted leave under that interpretation?
You can have a preference without really being fussed either way: do you prefer cheese and onion or salt and vinegar?
Obviously cheese and onion, what kind of horrid monster would prefer salt and vinegar?
All very well but where do you stand on the subversion of the Green/Blue bag for cheese and onion/salt and vinegar.
Cheese is yellow, any colour other than yellow for cheese and onion is an unacceptable monstrosity that only a troglodyte would use.
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
As yes "full employment". Which as we all know is always statistical spin whichever government claims it rather than lived reality. We know hundreds of thousands of older people simply left employment during the pandemic and others cannot find work despite the vacancies at Manchester Airport and elsewhere.
As for people spending money, that happens at the depth of every recession. Underneath the "its busy" perception the hospitality industry is still struggling to recover from Covid. The closure of a chunk of outlets has helped, but companies like Pret are still reporting only 65% of pre-Covid trade.
You may not be struggling - and I'm not either. But we're the exception rather than the rule.
I never get why this is made personal, I was just stating facts.
In terms of full employment we do have it, if you want a job you can get one.
I left school in the early 80's when there was no work, the situation is radically different now.
Certainly true round here in the Midlands. Adverts all over the place almost pleading for staff. In various sectors.
I saw one last week outside a Hyundai main dealer: "Mechanics wanted. £1,000 sign on bonus plus £1,000 retention bonus".
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
Not sure why 17 million people voted leave under that interpretation?
You can have a preference without really being fussed either way: do you prefer cheese and onion or salt and vinegar?
Obviously cheese and onion, what kind of horrid monster would prefer salt and vinegar?
WHAAAT!
Until now I believed you were a vaguely decent almost sentient human being.
Can we talk rape right here?
How’s the oil crisis going to impact our favourite crisps? Should we start stockpiling and banditry? I 😍 the ones cooked in rapeseed oil.
A full poll rather than a Scotch subsample so beloved of certain PBers so may be discounted, but still to see the slightest evidence that Unionist parties aren't guddling about in the same pool of voters.
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
Not sure why 17 million people voted leave under that interpretation?
You can have a preference without really being fussed either way: do you prefer cheese and onion or salt and vinegar?
Obviously cheese and onion, what kind of horrid monster would prefer salt and vinegar?
WHAAAT!
Until now I believed you were a vaguely decent almost sentient human being.
Can we talk rape right here?
How’s the oil crisis going to impact our favourite crisps? Should we start stockpiling and banditry? I 😍 the ones cooked in rapeseed oil.
I had no idea that there was anti salt n' vinegar sentiment out there. One of life's treats as far as I'm concerned. Right up there with pineapple on pizza.
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
As yes "full employment". Which as we all know is always statistical spin whichever government claims it rather than lived reality. We know hundreds of thousands of older people simply left employment during the pandemic and others cannot find work despite the vacancies at Manchester Airport and elsewhere.
As for people spending money, that happens at the depth of every recession. Underneath the "its busy" perception the hospitality industry is still struggling to recover from Covid. The closure of a chunk of outlets has helped, but companies like Pret are still reporting only 65% of pre-Covid trade.
You may not be struggling - and I'm not either. But we're the exception rather than the rule.
I never get why this is made personal, I was just stating facts.
In terms of full employment we do have it, if you want a job you can get one.
I left school in the early 80's when there was no work, the situation is radically different now.
Certainly true round here in the Midlands. Adverts all over the place almost pleading for staff. In various sectors.
I saw one last week outside a Hyundai main dealer: "Mechanics wanted. £1,000 sign on bonus plus £1,000 retention bonus".
That's insane when you consider what a relatively low skill job being a "mechanic" at a main stealer is. Most of the time it's standing round pretending to do oil and filter changes but not doing them. All body and paint will be subbed out and nobody with a Hyundai old enough to have a serious engine issue is taking it to the dealer.
Complaining or exclaiming about major impact of religion upon the United States is a fool's errand.
Seeing as how religion has ALWAYS been a major factor in American history and thus politics. As it used to be in Europe, including UK.
Big difference here was that, unlike you, we did NOT fight bloody wars - civil, uncivil, international - over religion. Conflict, yes. Riots, occasionally. But NOTHING like the English Civil War or Thirty Years War.
Interesting part of our religious heritage - indeed its hallmark - is our diversity of faiths and esp. creeds. Which soon led - as in UK - to opposition to an established church. Difference was that establishment was too weak to survive here for very long, just a few decades after independence in a few states. And was of course banned federally.
We still argue what "separation of church and state" means. But few Americans think it's a bad thing per se - even the nutters!
Maybe you should try it sometime?
I’m sorry @SeaShantyIrish2 but this is nonsense. America is intensely religious in a way that it’s entirely alien to UK/Oz/Canada, and also most Europeans
So you may de jure have separation of church and state but de facto you do not. The Civil War was infused with religious debate and that killed 750,000 Americans - including fully 20% of all Southern men of fighting age
Europeans USED to be intensely religious. Now you are intensely irreligious. Having totally lost your faith due to WAY too much wars of religion, auto de fes and "Gott Mit Uns"
Whereas Americans have NOT lost their faith, for the most part. And only a minority is theologically obsessed - just that it compares with about zilch in Europe PLUS the rest of the county have religious buttons that can definitely be pushed. For good (anti-Slavery), mixed (Prohibition) or ill (anti-Semitism).
I say Prohibition was mixed, because motivation (ending abuse of alcohol) was good but unexpected consequences (Al Capone) were bad. Same with "War on Drugs".
In a sense there is something admirable about America’s debate on abortion
It is akin to the slavery debate, in its power, yet much more nuanced (both sides have good arguments: they obviously did not on slavery). This is a profound and serious moral issue and Americans REALLY care. Perhaps they care too much, and they might end up shooting each other, but arguably that is better than the shrug of the cynical European
Tricky. I’m glad the UK is not embittered by this debate yet I am also glad a serious western society is exercised by it
The UK performed the same service for the rest of the EU when we had Brexit
It's interesting how most conservatives in the UK (and Europe) aren't particularly bothered about the abortion debate.
It is not very interesting imo. There are two related questions that might be interesting.
One in the United States is the extent to which abortion determines a person's vote, in the sense that they would vote for the other party on other issues. Will pro-choice Republicans now vote Democrat? Will pro-life Democrats who were previously voting Republican in order to restrict abortion, now vote Democrat?
And here, might abortion be a Brexit-type issue? One where most people are vaguely content with the status quo, and do not give it a moment's thought from one year to the next, but where that might change if ever they are forced to vote on it because some idiot prime minister calls a referendum in order to buy off a vocal minority on one side or the other.
Europe was an issue that tore the country's politics apart for generations, it wasn't just because a PM chose to call a referendum about it.
If you don't think that Europe was already a massive issue in this country pre-2016 (and had been since the 1980s if not earlier) then you weren't paying much attention.
I think you mean tore the Conservative party apart, no-one else gave a toss. It never topped that What are your most salient concerns poll.
You're right Ishmael but I think you're wasting your breath. They're like JW's and they won't listen if you tell them that most of the country was bimbling along with the EU: happy to travel freely and enjoying the odd joke at Brussels' expense.
Brexit was never for Britain. It was for the tory party.
Not sure why 17 million people voted leave under that interpretation?
You can have a preference without really being fussed either way: do you prefer cheese and onion or salt and vinegar?
Obviously cheese and onion, what kind of horrid monster would prefer salt and vinegar?
WHAAAT!
Until now I believed you were a vaguely decent almost sentient human being.
Can we talk rape right here?
How’s the oil crisis going to impact our favourite crisps? Should we start stockpiling and banditry? I 😍 the ones cooked in rapeseed oil.
They go soft if you keep them for very long, so no.
And with the sunflower shortage, you're probably in luck.
Depressing headlines today on cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine
I have listened to Boris's interview yesterday and he demonstrated an utter lack of empathy and frankly sounds like an empty vessel
Boris and Rishi together have taken the conservative party to the brink of disastrous local elections and longer term a real likelihood of a dreadful defeat in 24
I cannot understand just how conservative mps have allowed this situation to develop and just hope that post the locals they take action to remove Boris and start the process of recovering competence, honesty and integrity
I note that the SNP are falling in the polls as labour rises and I hope labour cut through in Scotland as they deserve better than Sturgeon and her government
As far as the cost of living crisis, I believe it will overwhelm most governments as it is impossible for any government to mitigate the adverse effects other than on the margins
But then Johnson was lauded by, well everyone, for his speech to the Ukrainian Parliament. The Churchill channelled soundbites were superb. Well done Boris!
I took the time to listen to the speech in its entirety. Well, it was about 50% of the way to being a Peppa Pig car crash. Lucky that was all lost in translation. He looked poorly prepared for such a big event. Did he lose his notes again?
I will not criticise him for his speech to the Ukraine Parliament which was very well received with standing ovations from a county suffering unspeakable war crimes and clearly count Boris and the UK as their strongest ally
Notwithstanding, it will not move many votes as his utter inability to apply himself to relieving the cost of living crisis
Of course what has changed recently is that Ukraine has stopped being police with regards to our "we don't want any" Ukrainian visas policy. With so many examples now of a system which is deliberately and egregiously trying to put off as many refugees as possible even the Ambassador is now complaining.
When the UK government is suggesting that a young girl go back to the war zone because it refuses to accept her paperwork we know the policy truly is "don't come here". Yet our government - and their parrots - squark about how wonderful and generous we are and look how appreciative the Ukrainians are.
The James O'Brien show yesterday (I know) was very revealing about some of the issues that people are facing when applying to house Ukrainian refugees.
In short definitely cock up and most likely conspiracy.
The Tory vote doesn't want the forrin here. This scheme had to be dragged out of the government and has been set up to be as difficult as possible. Thus they can say "aren't we generous" as they act ungenerously.
If you believe that to be the case why was the government so generous on HK residency visas?
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
As yes "full employment". Which as we all know is always statistical spin whichever government claims it rather than lived reality. We know hundreds of thousands of older people simply left employment during the pandemic and others cannot find work despite the vacancies at Manchester Airport and elsewhere.
As for people spending money, that happens at the depth of every recession. Underneath the "its busy" perception the hospitality industry is still struggling to recover from Covid. The closure of a chunk of outlets has helped, but companies like Pret are still reporting only 65% of pre-Covid trade.
You may not be struggling - and I'm not either. But we're the exception rather than the rule.
I never get why this is made personal, I was just stating facts.
In terms of full employment we do have it, if you want a job you can get one.
I left school in the early 80's when there was no work, the situation is radically different now.
Certainly true round here in the Midlands. Adverts all over the place almost pleading for staff. In various sectors.
I saw one last week outside a Hyundai main dealer: "Mechanics wanted. £1,000 sign on bonus plus £1,000 retention bonus".
That's insane when you consider what a relatively low skill job being a "mechanic" at a main stealer is. Most of the time it's standing round pretending to do oil and filter changes but not doing them. All body and paint will be subbed out and nobody with a Hyundai old enough to have a serious engine issue is taking it to the dealer.
Before too long I'll be needing four brake pads for my VW. The main VW dealer quoted me £408. I have no idea whether this is reasonable or not.
The thing is, even if I could save a few quid shopping around is the time spent doing this plus the uncertainty of the quality of work/components used versus the VW main dealer worth it? Or am I being a mug?
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
As yes "full employment". Which as we all know is always statistical spin whichever government claims it rather than lived reality. We know hundreds of thousands of older people simply left employment during the pandemic and others cannot find work despite the vacancies at Manchester Airport and elsewhere.
As for people spending money, that happens at the depth of every recession. Underneath the "its busy" perception the hospitality industry is still struggling to recover from Covid. The closure of a chunk of outlets has helped, but companies like Pret are still reporting only 65% of pre-Covid trade.
You may not be struggling - and I'm not either. But we're the exception rather than the rule.
I never get why this is made personal, I was just stating facts.
In terms of full employment we do have it, if you want a job you can get one.
I left school in the early 80's when there was no work, the situation is radically different now.
Certainly true round here in the Midlands. Adverts all over the place almost pleading for staff. In various sectors.
I saw one last week outside a Hyundai main dealer: "Mechanics wanted. £1,000 sign on bonus plus £1,000 retention bonus".
That's insane when you consider what a relatively low skill job being a "mechanic" at a main stealer is. Most of the time it's standing round pretending to do oil and filter changes but not doing them. All body and paint will be subbed out and nobody with a Hyundai old enough to have a serious engine issue is taking it to the dealer.
Before too long I'll be needing four brake pads for my VW. The main VW dealer quoted me £408. I have no idea whether this is reasonable or not.
The thing is, even if I could save a few quid shopping around is the time spent doing this plus the uncertainty of the quality of work/components used versus the VW main dealer worth it? Or am I being a mug?
Unless the car is under warranty, it’s almost never worth taking it to the main dealer for service.
Their labour rates are often double what an independent would charge, and for something simple like brake pads the work wil be just as good.
This is definitely the strangest cost of living crisis ever.
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
As yes "full employment". Which as we all know is always statistical spin whichever government claims it rather than lived reality. We know hundreds of thousands of older people simply left employment during the pandemic and others cannot find work despite the vacancies at Manchester Airport and elsewhere.
As for people spending money, that happens at the depth of every recession. Underneath the "its busy" perception the hospitality industry is still struggling to recover from Covid. The closure of a chunk of outlets has helped, but companies like Pret are still reporting only 65% of pre-Covid trade.
You may not be struggling - and I'm not either. But we're the exception rather than the rule.
I never get why this is made personal, I was just stating facts.
In terms of full employment we do have it, if you want a job you can get one.
I left school in the early 80's when there was no work, the situation is radically different now.
Certainly true round here in the Midlands. Adverts all over the place almost pleading for staff. In various sectors.
I saw one last week outside a Hyundai main dealer: "Mechanics wanted. £1,000 sign on bonus plus £1,000 retention bonus".
That's insane when you consider what a relatively low skill job being a "mechanic" at a main stealer is. Most of the time it's standing round pretending to do oil and filter changes but not doing them. All body and paint will be subbed out and nobody with a Hyundai old enough to have a serious engine issue is taking it to the dealer.
Before too long I'll be needing four brake pads for my VW. The main VW dealer quoted me £408. I have no idea whether this is reasonable or not.
The thing is, even if I could save a few quid shopping around is the time spent doing this plus the uncertainty of the quality of work/components used versus the VW main dealer worth it? Or am I being a mug?
It's probably two hours of labour so it's pricey but not absolute thievery.
If the discs are in good shape and the car is not so old that everything is corroded into one solid lump then do them yourself. Brake pads are a doddle.
Includes new @LordAshcroft research: 39% of 2019 Tory voters said “I thought he was a rogue and a chancer but I voted for him anyway.” But now, among those who voted Tory for the first time, their view of the PM has “deteriorated sharply”.
Cue HY to insist that 39% of Tory voters are not Tory voters, are not wanted, and indeed never did vote Tory.
You have to remember the Tories won a landslide majority of 80 in 2019. Many Tory 2019 voters will therefore not have voted Tory before then or not voted Tory since 1987 when the Tories last won a landslide before then. They voted Tory for Boris to get Brexit done and to beat Corbyn. However both those aims have been achieved and many of them will go back to Labour now Corbyn has gone and Brexit been deliverered. Whatever the Tories do they were not natural Tories
So your'e saying you have no interest in their votes again and are happy with at best minority government or worst going back into opposition.
Proper political movements want to draw in as many voters as possible. Your puritanical approach is to drive them away.
Different attempted scam call this morning on land-line; 'I am..... British sounding name, but West African accent..... possible. About your Amazon account" Me 'Haven't got one' Caller "I'll have to check. Please stay on the line.' Me 'Why didn't you check it before you rang me?" And rang off
Includes new @LordAshcroft research: 39% of 2019 Tory voters said “I thought he was a rogue and a chancer but I voted for him anyway.” But now, among those who voted Tory for the first time, their view of the PM has “deteriorated sharply”.
Cue HY to insist that 39% of Tory voters are not Tory voters, are not wanted, and indeed never did vote Tory.
You have to remember the Tories won a landslide majority of 80 in 2019. Many Tory 2019 voters will therefore not have voted Tory before then or not voted Tory since 1987 when the Tories last won a landslide before then. They voted Tory for Boris to get Brexit done and to beat Corbyn. However both those aims have been achieved and many of them will go back to Labour now Corbyn has gone and Brexit been deliverered. Whatever the Tories do they were not natural Tories
So your'e saying you have no interest in their votes again and are happy with at best minority government or worst going back into opposition.
Proper political movements want to draw in as many voters as possible. Your puritanical approach is to drive them away.
I don't think there are that many 'natural Tories". Thee are people who think that voting Conservative is in their best interests, or who have tagged along for some special reason, like getting Brexit done, but High Church members )or supporters) of the squirearchy..... not so many!
Comments
If they can follow through with that (and there's some doubt due to Hungary) then that is a very good thing. 👍
This is not going away much as many would like it to
But now, among those who voted Tory for the first time, their view of the PM has “deteriorated sharply”.
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/boris-johnson-gmb-interview-cost-of-living-crisis-tories-catastrophe-1608078
We have full employment in the UK
Houses are selling instantly for often much more than the asking price.
Pubs, restaurants, theatres etc are packed with people discretionary spending.
Holiday bookings are surging "Heathrow airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying"
A very odd cost of living crisis.
https://www.euronews.com/2022/05/02/russian-gas-eu-crisis-talks-seek-unity-over-putin-s-demand-for-payments-in-roubles
Russian gas is another matter.
In any event, it's possible that events by the end of the year might have rendered all of this moot.
A french word in Quordle today?
Frankly in rural parts, most people are car dependent and have been for many years. Reversing that would be a miracle.
When the UK government is suggesting that a young girl go back to the war zone because it refuses to accept her paperwork we know the policy truly is "don't come here". Yet our government - and their parrots - squark about how wonderful and generous we are and look how appreciative the Ukrainians are.
That says all you need to know about Tory economic ineptitude over the past 12 years.
In short definitely cock up and most likely conspiracy.
And even in the seventies there were those who did very well throughout the years of economic debacle.
What's going to matter is where gas and oil prices are by the winter. If they haven't come down, things will get ugly.
Sure it wasn't a priority according to polling, but the interest and outcome once asked showed people cared about it. The polling was wrong.
‘This stuff is pure gold, Sergei Viktorovich!’
https://twitter.com/BBCLauraKT/status/1521416906716160001
The NATO rules are clear - accession has to be unanimous. No reason has to be given for a rejection.
All Putin needs is one friend.
This does not mean someone cannot criticise Boris or the government over Ukraine: but IMO they should do so because they disagree with the policy(ies), not because they dislike the messenger. The latter plays directly into Putin's hands.
Unity matters when it comes to helping Ukraine defeat Russia.
(This is only the case on Ukraine, where the bad guys are very clear. It's open season on Boris for everything else.)
In this case, do you believe a Starmer-led Labour government would be doing much different from what Johnson's government is doing?
It seems to be raised across the media whenever Starmer or labour politicians are interviewed, and Burley saying that an on line quiz was going on raises serious questions
No one is critical of the message, but the messenger was very poorly prepared. He was on a World stage, representing our nation, that is a poor show.
As for people spending money, that happens at the depth of every recession. Underneath the "its busy" perception the hospitality industry is still struggling to recover from Covid. The closure of a chunk of outlets has helped, but companies like Pret are still reporting only 65% of pre-Covid trade.
You may not be struggling - and I'm not either. But we're the exception rather than the rule.
Until now I believed you were a vaguely decent almost sentient human being.
#Beergate stories haven't changed the public perception that Keir Starmer has generally abided by COVID rules
Generally did: 42% (+2 from Jan)
Generally didn't: 28% (-)
Boris Johnson, meanwhile, is still seen as a rulebreaker
Generally did: 21% (+4)
Generally didn't: 70% (-3) https://t.co/fwy7GhSwou
The mud isn't sticking because quite obviously SKS is a goody two shoes, while Johnsons pants are a conflagration.
The proof of what people actually felt about it was in the action and outcome. Some polling doesnt mean shit.
It's just an expression of a what if scenario had a referendum not come up, utterly pointless and handily enabling the dismissal of all the concerns people raised and the votes they cast. Because people didn't really mean that because a poll showed it wasn't a priority.
- say 'please don't punish local Conservatives for mistakes made in Westminster'
- admit 'there is lingering unhappiness with the national political scene'
- omit 'Conservative' brand completely https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1521758845613264896/photo/1
There was a focus group done, some years ago IIRC, where polices were presented without naming the party supporting them. Back in New Labour times, I think. Quite a few people strongly supported policies of the "wrong" party, until they were told which one they came from.
Bit like the 70s oil crisis(es)
As for this cycle, I suspect it looks very different for those who have paid off their mortgage (or nearly done so) vs. everyone else.
If you're doing well, it might be polite to keep quiet about it.
The economy isn’t being allowed to achieve its potential because of these constraints, and growth is lower than expected as a result.
It’s a very unusual situation, and is likely to persist for the next year or so.
Consider the road that Croatia took to joining the EU - many similar issues.
And, Good Morning, one and all.
Once people had chosen their side their views on immigration, loss of control, or international institutions became core. This worked on both sides, and to a degree still does. Like many others I became much more pro-European as a result, while others went the other way.
I was joking ...
I am still expecting a veto from Hungary on Sweden and Finland joining NATO - I would be happily surprised if that doesn't happen. But given the Hungarian governments behaviour to date.....
In terms of full employment we do have it, if you want a job you can get one.
I left school in the early 80's when there was no work, the situation is radically different now.
Quite a few people "retired" early, by replacing their full time jobs with part time plus pension.
Disclosure: it's not 'twats'.
I saw one last week outside a Hyundai main dealer: "Mechanics wanted. £1,000 sign on bonus plus £1,000 retention bonus".
How’s the oil crisis going to impact our favourite crisps? Should we start stockpiling and banditry? I 😍 the ones cooked in rapeseed oil.
A full poll rather than a Scotch subsample so beloved of certain PBers so may be discounted, but still to see the slightest evidence that Unionist parties aren't guddling about in the same pool of voters.
And with the sunflower shortage, you're probably in luck.
The thing is, even if I could save a few quid shopping around is the time spent doing this plus the uncertainty of the quality of work/components used versus the VW main dealer worth it? Or am I being a mug?
https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1521556446747541510
Their labour rates are often double what an independent would charge, and for something simple like brake pads the work wil be just as good.
If the discs are in good shape and the car is not so old that everything is corroded into one solid lump then do them yourself. Brake pads are a doddle.
Proper political movements want to draw in as many voters as possible. Your puritanical approach is to drive them away.
Me 'Haven't got one'
Caller "I'll have to check. Please stay on the line.'
Me 'Why didn't you check it before you rang me?" And rang off