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In Other News …… – politicalbetting.com

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  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,823
    Bloody hell I chose the race as my weekend childcare free pass and it's still not started. Get on with it, my pass runs out at five o'clock!
  • RazedabodeRazedabode Posts: 3,106
    Can’t we dump the FIA. Constantly shambolic
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,945
    edited May 2022

    So it’s even more socialist than the socialists would have done! Some boast that! 😂
    Yep. Cue much outrage and head scratching utter mystification about why Labour may be perceived as the lower tax Party?
    A small clue may be that you keep raising taxes.
    And then boast that it's more than Labour planned.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,824
    Dura_Ace said:

    Bald and Bankrupt has already done it with great vim and less dribbling on about sauce.
    In all seriousness, who is “bald and bankrupt” and how did he/she/it get into Abkhazia?


    it looks bloody hard. It is also meant to be AMAZING. One of the most beautiful yet melancholy places on earth. A non-country. Stalin’s Weird Eden
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,295
    Latest New Statesman prediction:

    Lab 300
    Con 250
    LD 22
    Grn 1
    SNP 54
    PC 4

    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/elections/2022/01/britain-predicts
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,535
    edited May 2022
    Leon said:

    In all seriousness, who is “bald and bankrupt” and how did he/she/it get into Abkhazia?


    it looks bloody hard. It is also meant to be AMAZING. One of the most beautiful yet melancholy places on earth. A non-country. Stalin’s Weird Eden
    Big YouTuber who speaks Russian and specialises going around Russia and former USSR countries.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,823
    edited May 2022

    It raises 5 billion, 3 billion more than labour's proposal
    That's not anything to boast about, Big_G, the government is spending £37bn and only raising £5bn. This is going to make inflation worse, not better. The best way to help the poor is to cut their taxes and raise their wages, not expensive and unfunded one off handouts.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,075

    Can the price the music was coming from the no 10 flat? Or that Carrie wasn’t singing in the shower?
    To be boring StillWater, there was a dingdong dom is gone victory rave up for NutNut and her mates that Boris was in the middle of, everyone knows this now, the opposition parties are on to the cack handed way the Save Big dog tried to cover this up - being the cover up is the new scandal to hollow out the Tories with.

    Which part of that paragraph is factually incorrect.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,535
    edited May 2022
    MaxPB said:

    That's not anything to boast about, Big_G, the government is spending £37bn and only raising £5bn. This is going to make inflation worse, not better. The best way to help the poor is to cut their taxes and raise their wages, not expensive and unfunded one off handouts.
    Still not spending enough according to dodgy BBC analysis...
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,075
    Andy_JS said:

    Latest New Statesman prediction:

    Lab 300
    Con 250
    LD 22
    Grn 1
    SNP 54
    PC 4

    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/elections/2022/01/britain-predicts

    That would be perfect.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,824

    You’re being rather unpleasant

    @Leon is enjoying his holiday and I, for one, am enjoying his observations

    I did call him “a fucking moron”, to be fair. Which, in this case, he is

    Tbilisi is exceptional. And while I am sure Goole Docks has its rough period charms, I rather doubt it is Tbilisi Old Town

    I can’t think of anything like it in terms of still-largely-undeveloped and yet full of incredible and beautiful potential. Maybe Naples? Palermo? But they are maybe lost causes. Tbilisi is bursting with energy and purpose. Hoxton in 1995, with oodles of sun

    And much better wine
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,295
    Leon said:


    I did call him “a fucking moron”, to be fair. Which, in this case, he is

    Tbilisi is exceptional. And while I am sure Goole Docks has its rough period charms, I rather doubt it is Tbilisi Old Town

    I can’t think of anything like it in terms of still-largely-undeveloped and yet full of incredible and beautiful potential. Maybe Naples? Palermo? But they are maybe lost causes. Tbilisi is bursting with energy and purpose. Hoxton in 1995, with oodles of sun

    And much better wine
    Haven't a lot of Russians who don't approve of Putin moved to Georgia recently?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,824

    Big YouTuber who speaks Russian and specialises going around Russia and former USSR countries.
    If this YouTuber did it recently, I am seriously impressed. It is not easy right now, at all. The FCO sternly advises against ANY travel
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,824
    Andy_JS said:

    Haven't a lot of Russians who don't approve of Putin moved to Georgia recently?
    I have heard that. There are Ukrainian flags EVERYWHERE
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,324

    Big YouTuber who speaks Russian and specialises going around Russia and former USSR countries.
    The video where he stayed in the worst hotel in Kyrgyzstan was pretty amazing.

    I can't recall exactly how he got into Abkhazia. I think he borrowed a car and just drove over the border relying on his not inconsiderable powers of bullshit.

    I am surprised he hasn't got a TV deal as he is very good at gonzo travel journalism in the worst places in the world.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,812
    Andy_JS said:

    Latest New Statesman prediction:

    Lab 300
    Con 250
    LD 22
    Grn 1
    SNP 54
    PC 4

    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/elections/2022/01/britain-predicts

    That's PM Starmer no messing.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,824
    Dura_Ace said:

    The video where he stayed in the worst hotel in Kyrgyzstan was pretty amazing.

    I can't recall exactly how he got into Abkhazia. I think he borrowed a car and just drove over the border relying on his not inconsiderable powers of bullshit.

    I am surprised he hasn't got a TV deal as he is very good at gonzo travel journalism in the worst places in the world.
    I hear it is basically impossible since your hero Putin waded into Ukraine

    But I might give it a go
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 5,173

    That would be perfect.
    No, Con at around 280 would be perfect. The mathematics ought ideally to be such that there is a good chance of another Conservative victory at the election after next, whilst Labour is still some distance from achieving a majority (especially bearing in mind that the recent Tory achievement of increasing its Parliamentary strength at successive elections whilst in Government is very much the exception rather than the rule.) It'd also leave a Labour minority critically dependent on the Liberal Democrats as well as the SNP, especially in those Commons votes not affecting Scotland where the latter traditionally sit on their hands.

    The more Labour is forced to be dependent on other partners, and the more remote its chances of winning another election under the existing system appear, so the more willing it'll be to contemplate electoral reform for Westminster - and PR is how you minimise the probability of our ever again having to make a choice between two unsuitable potential Prime Ministers advanced by radical factions, such as that we were forced into in 2019. What's good enough for the devolved parliaments ought to be good enough for the central one, after all.
  • TresTres Posts: 2,820

    The new systems for gig tickets are all electronic - you can sell tickets back and transfer them - all online. When you get to the venue, you have a changing (usual rotating crypto stuff) QR code in an app that links to the backend servers via the door guys scanners.
    What if you don't have a phone? Or will those of us without phones in the future be shunned or imprisoned like that rambler guy who didn't like wearing clothes?
    Carnyx said:

    Locals (ie not wealthy second-home owners) in Whitstable very upset by 2nd-h-os getting a subsidy of 0.4K.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/29/400-second-home-owners-fuel-bills-whistable-kent-seaside-chancellor-payout

    I must say, this sort of thingh from Mr Sunak* is not going to go down well in the countryside, or make any more convincing the whining from the Tory and business opposition to giving more Welsh second homes the same council tax as everyone else pays.

    * Edit: irrrespective of the expedience of a quick and dirty solution. And it needs only a few reports of grasping landlords and the coin in the slot meters to go even sourer.

    If you own 10 homes Sunak is giving you 10 times as much benefit as the plebs.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,530

    You’re being rather unpleasant

    @Leon is enjoying his holiday and I, for one, am enjoying his observations
    In what way was I being unpleasant ?

    I was making a reasonable suggestion to someone who has been promoting Tbilisi as the next big thing.

    Over the years we've had numerous tips from the Delancey Street Collective that X, Y or Z was the place to invest - I'm curious as to whether he ever did.

    Because if not, aren't we left with nothing more that PB's equivalent of Judith Chalmers ?

    And that's available in myriad forms on YouTube.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 18,366
    kinabalu said:

    That's PM Starmer no messing.
    Not just that. It (just about) stops the SNP even thinking about playing silly buggers.

    (I don't think they would be wise to, anyway; the "we could back the Tories" card is high cost/low value to play. But it would be reassuring if it were out of circulation.)
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,824
    Abkhazia





    A Nordic yet subtropical Eden. Apparently

    But also full of Soviet decay and Stalinist ghosts. And depopulated. God I so want to go
  • TresTres Posts: 2,820
    Dura_Ace said:

    The video where he stayed in the worst hotel in Kyrgyzstan was pretty amazing.

    I can't recall exactly how he got into Abkhazia. I think he borrowed a car and just drove over the border relying on his not inconsiderable powers of bullshit.

    I am surprised he hasn't got a TV deal as he is very good at gonzo travel journalism in the worst places in the world.
    I would be surprised if he did, he's got more skeletons in his closet than just being bankrupt.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,203
    edited May 2022
    MaxPB said:

    That's not anything to boast about, Big_G, the government is spending £37bn and only raising £5bn. This is going to make inflation worse, not better. The best way to help the poor is to cut their taxes and raise their wages, not expensive and unfunded one off handouts.
    I am surprised we are not seeing more of this kind of critique.

    Rishi is providing a bung to everyone, and especially to pensioners, and he’s chiefly paying for it on the credit card.

    He’s also doing so at a time of high inflation, and these measures are inflationary (esp the skew towards pensioner hand-outs).

    Thatcher is not just spinning in her grave, she has gone into orbit.

    Full admission: I was/am in favour of both a windfall tax and support for the least well off (via restoration of the UC uplift).
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,530

    Big YouTuber who speaks Russian and specialises going around Russia and former USSR countries.
    YouTube is great for travel videos.

    These are good sites:

    https://www.youtube.com/c/EvazuBeckOfficial/videos
    https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingUma/videos
  • ApplicantApplicant Posts: 3,379
    Andy_JS said:

    Latest New Statesman prediction:

    Lab 300
    Con 250
    LD 22
    Grn 1
    SNP 54
    PC 4

    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/elections/2022/01/britain-predicts

    I think, reading the article, this assumes the old boundaries?
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 9,778

    To be boring StillWater, there was a dingdong dom is gone victory rave up for NutNut and her mates that Boris was in the middle of, everyone knows this now, the opposition parties are on to the cack handed way the Save Big dog tried to cover this up - being the cover up is the new scandal to hollow out the Tories with.

    Which part of that paragraph is factually incorrect.
    “Everyone knows”

    To be boring for a moment, if “everyone knows” but no one has proof is it just to include the accusation in an official report?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,535
    edited May 2022
    Leon said:

    If this YouTuber did it recently, I am seriously impressed. It is not easy right now, at all. The FCO sternly advises against ANY travel
    He rather specialises in getting into places he shouldn't. He was in Syria 3-4 weeks ago, Ukraine when the invasion happened, and got fined a couple of weeks ago for visiting a Russian controlled space centre in Kazakhstan.

    His videos are very good, but he is rather a dodgy individual if the internet is to be believed.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 18,366

    Still not spending enough according to dodgy BBC analysis...
    Depends what we're trying to achieve.

    The real answer is that there ought to be pain incoming, because the UK has been making decadent decisions and living beyond its means for a while now. Retrenchment is inevitable, we should all feel the pinch and chip in to help those who need help.

    But that is a challenge in democratic politics. As long as someone is willing to say that the solution is something easy (see outrider politicians on the left and right), it's hard to actually address the reality.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,295
    Applicant said:

    I think, reading the article, this assumes the old boundaries?
    Yes. New boundaries will probably add around 10 to the Tory total and subtract 10 from Labour.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,203
    There was a suggestion earlier that the government were briefing that the ABBA party should not be investigated because there are “mental health problems” inside No.10.

    Did I get that right?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,203

    Depends what we're trying to achieve.

    The real answer is that there ought to be pain incoming, because the UK has been making decadent decisions and living beyond its means for a while now. Retrenchment is inevitable, we should all feel the pinch and chip in to help those who need help.

    But that is a challenge in democratic politics. As long as someone is willing to say that the solution is something easy (see outrider politicians on the left and right), it's hard to actually address the reality.
    The other issue is that the government has squandered any moral claim to an “we’re all in this together” message.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 18,366

    The other issue is that the government has squandered any moral claim to an “we’re all in this together” message.
    Also true.

    I wonder how much people here (let alone more widely) have taken on board how bad the economic outlook is at the level of individuals and families?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,203

    Also true.

    I wonder how much people here (let alone more widely) have taken on board how bad the economic outlook is at the level of individuals and families?
    Putting aside this board (which is reasonably privileged), my sense is that even the UK media haven’t fully grokked it.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,295
    edited May 2022
    Looks like TfL have forgotten to install ticket validators at 3 new Elizabeth Line stations — Custom House, Farringdon and Abbey Wood.

    https://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2022/05/untouchoutable.html
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,272
    edited May 2022

    There was a suggestion earlier that the government were briefing that the ABBA party should not be investigated because there are “mental health problems” inside No.10.

    Did I get that right?

    Quite possible, but perhaps not the best day for this story. It is the Johnson's first anniversary today, so they must want some quiet family time together. Hasn't the year just flown by?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,824

    He rather specialises in getting into places he shouldn't. He was in Syria 3-4 weeks ago, Ukraine when the invasion happened, and got fined a couple of weeks ago for visiting a Russian controlled space centre in Kazakhstan.

    His videos are very good, but he is rather a dodgy individual if the internet is to be believed.

    Anyone that does that kind of shit is going to be dodgy. It comes with the terroir. I speak from experience

    I’m going to check him out back at my hotel
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,203
    Leon said:

    AM I FUCKING CHARGING YOU?

    No. I am not. You don’t even have to log on to YouTube and see a couple of ads. You can just clock into PB as normal and you get my opinions and insights and travelogues for free, and if you find them tedious, wanky, silly, whatever, you just scroll past

    Eg A few weeks ago I gave you guys an insight into Karahan Tepe and Gobekli Tepe, before anyone else. Including my own personal photos of the latest revelations. About 2 months later that wanker SeanT published an article on it in the Spectator which was the most read ever on their website, basically copying me word for word, and everyone went OMFG this is amazing

    You guys got my insight FIRST. For Free. Does the late Judith Chalmers give you revelations about 13,000 year old secret buried civilisations, 8 weeks before the rest of the world gets it from some plagiarist? No, she does not
    The Late Judith Chalmers would be an excellent name for a tv comedy revue.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,095
    edited May 2022
    pigeon said:

    No, Con at around 280 would be perfect. The mathematics ought ideally to be such that there is a good chance of another Conservative victory at the election after next, whilst Labour is still some distance from achieving a majority (especially bearing in mind that the recent Tory achievement of increasing its Parliamentary strength at successive elections whilst in Government is very much the exception rather than the rule.) It'd also leave a Labour minority critically dependent on the Liberal Democrats as well as the SNP, especially in those Commons votes not affecting Scotland where the latter traditionally sit on their hands.

    The more Labour is forced to be dependent on other partners, and the more remote its chances of winning another election under the existing system appear, so the more willing it'll be to contemplate electoral reform for Westminster - and PR is how you minimise the probability of our ever again having to make a choice between two unsuitable potential Prime Ministers advanced by radical factions, such as that we were forced into in 2019. What's good enough for the devolved parliaments ought to be good enough for the central one, after all.
    PR boosts the likelihood of centrist governments but also makes it more difficult for radical governments to get elected. Even the Attlee government in 1945 and the Thatcher government of 1979 would have failed to get a majority for example and needed Liberal support to form a government.

    On the other side, extremist parties of left and right would find it easier to win seats, as the BNP did under PR in the 2009 European elections when they won 2 MEPs on just 6% of the vote. Only if they are ahead in the polls does FPTP help extreme parties
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,075

    “Everyone knows”

    To be boring for a moment, if “everyone knows” but no one has proof is it just to include the accusation in an official report?
    Getting more interesting for a moment, ABBA party nite can’t be properly investigated and reported without it bringing down Boris, hence Operation Big Dog, as now becoming clear to everyone, identified this early on, and have nobbled investigation and reporting all the way through.

    Good news, the Libdems have realised this and are on the care now 🙂

    Watch this move up news bulletins to the top now is my prediction.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,945

    Yes, I enjoy your contributions and think PB would be less without you. Sometimes I agree with you, more often not, but nothing wrong with that. The travelogues are just interesting. Don't stop.
    Seconded.
    And the language doesn't always evoke the much lamented Judith either.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,565

    Yes, I enjoy your contributions and think PB would be less without you. Sometimes I agree with you, more often not, but nothing wrong with that. The travelogues are just interesting. Don't stop.
    Absolutely, it is all very enlightening and entertaining.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,280
    Foxy said:

    Quite possible, but perhaps not the best day for this story. It is the Johnson's first anniversary today, so they must want some quiet family time together. Hasn't the year just flown by?
    It is only one of the Johnson's first anniversary!
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,103
    Leon said:

    I thought Tories were meant to approve of making money. My god you could make so much money here in Tbilisi property. It is at that perfect point. The kids and the artists are already colonising: tiny boutiques, little studios, avocado toast & bubble tea cafes.


    It is a Caucasian Shoreditch in 1996

    No doubt @BartholomewRoberts would knock it all down to build large estates of tiny red brick semis with ample parking




    I note you almost always manage to get young ladies in your pictures
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,808
    dixiedean said:

    Yep. Cue much outrage and head scratching utter mystification about why Labour may be perceived as the lower tax Party?
    A small clue may be that you keep raising taxes.
    And then boast that it's more than Labour planned.
    What labour say they planned and what they actually do are two different things. If labour plan to raise income tax by 5% I assume they will really raise it by 15% and are lying
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,535
    edited May 2022
    Leon said:


    Anyone that does that kind of shit is going to be dodgy. It comes with the terroir. I speak from experience

    I’m going to check him out back at my hotel
    His dodgyness is more to do with allegations over how he became bankrupt and also behaviour towards women. There is creditable evidence of his involvement in the whole pick-up artist thing and posting stories of rather exploiting women in poorer countries for sex, and that his cheeky chappie image on video can have a darker side.

    That all been said, he visits some fascinating places, that you rarely if ever see elsewhere.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601
    I'll never go to Tblisi, but unedited impressions are welcome. I encourage everyone to travel widely and share impressions!
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,824

    His dodgyness is more to do with allegations over how he became bankrupt and also behaviour towards women. There is creditable evidence of his involvement in the whole pick-up artist thing and posting stories of rather exploiting women in poorer countries for sex.
    Ugh!
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,530
    Leon said:

    AM I FUCKING CHARGING YOU?

    No. I am not. You don’t even have to log on to YouTube and see a couple of ads. You can just clock into PB as normal and you get my opinions and insights and travelogues for free, and if you find them tedious, wanky, silly, whatever, you just scroll past

    Eg A few weeks ago I gave you guys an insight into Karahan Tepe and Gobekli Tepe, before anyone else. Including my own personal photos of the latest revelations. About 2 months later that wanker SeanT published an article on it in the Spectator which was the most read ever on their website, basically copying me word for word, and everyone went OMFG this is amazing

    You guys got my insight FIRST. For Free. Does the late Judith Chalmers give you revelations about 13,000 year old secret buried civilisations, 8 weeks before the rest of the world gets it from some plagiarist? No, she does not
    You're highlighting the intrinsic sterility of your travelogues in recent years.

    When they were for book research there was a 'sowing the seeds' importance and anticipation about them.

    Remember when you travelled for a purpose ?

    Kurdistan, Cambodia, the Basque country, Fair Isle ?

    The current 'look at my bread roll' style doesn't provide the same vicarious pleasure.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601
    My complete lack of military knowledge makes me think this jacket is a bit short - he's not a tall man, was one not possible to cover a bit more of the torso?
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,075

    It raises 5 billion, 3 billion more than labour's proposal
    You are boasting the Tory’s raise taxes higher than Starmer would have done, and clearly in love with Windfall Tax being magic money tree without any downsides? Windfall tax - although popular in polls - As the government and the financial press have been explaining for months. does come with negatives. I understand it well I think.

    Oil businesses works in cyclical way, which Windfall Tax loving voters don’t perhaps appreciate. Energy groups find it incredible Boris government whacked them with a windfall tax. These companies made a loss during covid, but we still expect them to pour investment in to transform and revolutionise the energy sector where they can, despite creaming off their profits in a good year? and undermining relationship of working well with them for the time being to change the energy sector as the government plans. Aside from this money is better invested by the companies themselves on research and development and production capacity, it’s dividends are paid to pension funds too, not just the likes of Jacob Rees Moog.

    Surely it’s a dangerous game for any government at all, particularly a Tory one, to go into the market claiming “your profits are underserved”, which is exactly what this action screams doesn’t it? particularly for the Conservatives whose policy principles are founded upon faith in the market? For example in terms of fairness are the energy companies the only ones in profit right now, short term though it may be for them, what about Amazon Etc? Why pick on some making huge profit this year, not the others?

    This is the long-standing Conservative understanding of fairness the Boris all over the shop government has ripped up, expecting his PLP and party at large zip their mouths and not react? Once you pull out the roots of credibility that hold your distinctive tree up, it’s going to take long time to reverse the mess made to your credibility and ideological niche, You see this point? Boris is doing the credibility shred on Tories, Corbyn done on Labour credibility.

    And the negatives politically, all the TV News mentioned it was Tory U turn to Labours idea. it made Starmer look like the idea’s man to rescue the public from cost of living nightmare and the true leader of the country, whilst the Tory’s merely dither short on solutions. you think of how much money the Tory’s will spend in the next general election campaign trying to beat Labour, they might well take that money outside now and burn it for as much good it done them gifting Starmer and his front bench a multi billion pound makeover by surrendering lock stock and barrel to his policy idea - gifting Labour this win - Why are we expecting a Tory poll boost from such a scenario?

    If Starmer’s Labour suggest other idea’s now, and Tories refuse to obey Starmer, what do the voters make of that now after this U Turn?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601

    Also true.

    I wonder how much people here (let alone more widely) have taken on board how bad the economic outlook is at the level of individuals and families?
    I'm fortunate enough (not through very high income, but doing ok and limited outgoings) to not really have felt much impact, but I know quite a few people, who I'd not consider particularly poor, who are definitely being much more careful about any amount of random spending, about turning off devices to save electricity, that sort of thing. I have never seen people be quite so cautious before, which leads me to think it must be pretty bad, or people think it will be very bad.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,824
    malcolmg said:

    I note you almost always manage to get young ladies in your pictures

    Doesn’t every artist?

    In all seriousness, in the cool about-to be-Shoreditch parts of Tbilisi it is impossible to avoid. The young people - hipsters, gays, trendies, trannies, musicians, writers, students, painters - are the only people here in the REALLY crusty bits. Because the buildings are beautiful, and central, in an amazing old city, but you wouldn’t want to be 36 with kids, or 45 with older kids, not here. Half of these incredible houses are derelict (tho being speedily bought up and redeveloped, even as I sit here and type: I can see it happening down the street)

    What is particularly amazing about Tbilisi is the scale of the “Old Town”. This isn’t just a few nice blocks and then you get Soviet shit.

    It is kilometre after kilometre, of medieval, “Georgian”, “Victorian” plus some sensitive Art Deco and subtle modernism. There aren’t ANY carbuncles and it is all walkable. With a mighty river in the middle and the snow capped Caucasus on the horizon

    The potential is obvious and immense. I’m hardly the first person to notice it

    Of course there are clear threats. Putin for one
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,075
    malcolmg said:

    I note you almost always manage to get young ladies in your pictures
    Shhh I was enjoying that bit. Don’t alert the authorities.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,774

    51% yesterday said it is a distraction and that is up 8%

    Of course some want to continue the issue but already over half see it as a distraction
    As is the liar remaining PM.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 65,030
    Especially for @HYUFD

    A poll shows all North Wales conservatives will lose their seats and you still think Boris is a winner
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 65,030
    Nigelb said:

    As is the liar remaining PM.
    I do not disagree at all with that
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,774
    Leon said:

    AM I FUCKING CHARGING YOU?

    No. I am not. You don’t even have to log on to YouTube and see a couple of ads. You can just clock into PB as normal and you get my opinions and insights and travelogues for free, and if you find them tedious, wanky, silly, whatever, you just scroll past

    Eg A few weeks ago I gave you guys an insight into Karahan Tepe and Gobekli Tepe, before anyone else. Including my own personal photos of the latest revelations. About 2 months later that wanker SeanT published an article on it in the Spectator which was the most read ever on their website, basically copying me word for word, and everyone went OMFG this is amazing

    You guys got my insight FIRST. For Free. Does the late Judith Chalmers give you revelations about 13,000 year old secret buried civilisations, 8 weeks before the rest of the world gets it from some plagiarist? No, she does not
    I thought you believed in ghosts ?

    (I enjoy your tourism posts, FWIW.)
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,842
    Leon said:

    AM I FUCKING CHARGING YOU?

    No. I am not. You don’t even have to log on to YouTube and see a couple of ads. You can just clock into PB as normal and you get my opinions and insights and travelogues for free, and if you find them tedious, wanky, silly, whatever, you just scroll past

    Eg A few weeks ago I gave you guys an insight into Karahan Tepe and Gobekli Tepe, before anyone else. Including my own personal photos of the latest revelations. About 2 months later that wanker SeanT published an article on it in the Spectator which was the most read ever on their website, basically copying me word for word, and everyone went OMFG this is amazing

    You guys got my insight FIRST. For Free. Does the late Judith Chalmers give you revelations about 13,000 year old secret buried civilisations, 8 weeks before the rest of the world gets it from some plagiarist? No, she does not
    Oh no, has Judith Chalmers died?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,620
    Tres said:

    What if you don't have a phone? Or will those of us without phones in the future be shunned or imprisoned like that rambler guy who didn't like wearing clothes? If you own 10 homes Sunak is giving you 10 times as much benefit as the plebs.
    Quite. And of course every MP will benefit twice, unless the leccy is directly charged (no pun intended) pound for pound to the Parliamentary body in question.

    All that the papers need now is a Tory councillor landlord gouging his tenants at the coin meter, or better still (from the papers' point of view) a Tory MP.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,774
    kle4 said:

    I'm fortunate enough (not through very high income, but doing ok and limited outgoings) to not really have felt much impact, but I know quite a few people, who I'd not consider particularly poor, who are definitely being much more careful about any amount of random spending, about turning off devices to save electricity, that sort of thing. I have never seen people be quite so cautious before, which leads me to think it must be pretty bad, or people think it will be very bad.
    The next year or so has the potential to be seriously grim for a lot of people.
    Though of course, as in the 70s, plenty will float through it quite happily, for various reasons.
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 29,849

    Especially for @HYUFD

    A poll shows all North Wales conservatives will lose their seats and you still think Boris is a winner

    As you very well know, the local version of the Tory Party is called "Plaid Cymru"...
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,295
    kle4 said:

    I'll never go to Tblisi, but unedited impressions are welcome. I encourage everyone to travel widely and share impressions!

    I haven't been abroad since December 2019.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,620
    HYUFD said:

    PR boosts the likelihood of centrist governments but also makes it more difficult for radical governments to get elected. Even the Attlee government in 1945 and the Thatcher government of 1979 would have failed to get a majority for example and needed Liberal support to form a government.

    On the other side, extremist parties of left and right would find it easier to win seats, as the BNP did under PR in the 2009 European elections when they won 2 MEPs on just 6% of the vote. Only if they are ahead in the polls does FPTP help extreme parties
    You mean the Tory party isn;t an extremist party oft he right?
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 65,030
    £170 million match kicks off at Wembley
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,620
    Carnyx said:

    Quite. And of course every MP will benefit twice, unless the leccy is directly charged (no pun intended) pound for pound to the Parliamentary body in question.

    All that the papers need now is a Tory councillor landlord gouging his tenants at the coin meter, or better still (from the papers' point of view) a Tory MP.
    PS Sorry - only those MPs who have constituency homes and separate London accommodation, of course. Not used to thinking in terms of constituencies a trundle to the HoC on the U'ground.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,774
    edited May 2022
    Dammit - the one race where it’s almost impossible for Red Bull to screw Perez for the win, I don’t have a bet on him.

    Perils of going off to Stratford for the weekend.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,095

    Especially for @HYUFD

    A poll shows all North Wales conservatives will lose their seats and you still think Boris is a winner

    Not all Welsh Conservatives will lose, 5 would keep their seats, so 5 more Tory MPs than were elected in 1997 and 2001 when the Tories had 0 Welsh MPs
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 65,030
    HYUFD said:

    Not all Welsh Conservatives will lose, 5 would keep their seats, so 5 more Tory MPs than were elected in 1997 and 2001 when the Tories had 0 Welsh MPs
    No North Wales conservatives will hold their seats while Boris squats in office

    Your complacency is breathtaking and the only consolation will be watching Labour hit your inheritance
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,945
    HYUFD said:

    Not all Welsh Conservatives will lose, 5 would keep their seats, so 5 more Tory MPs than were elected in 1997 and 2001 when the Tories had 0 Welsh MPs
    We're doing better than 1997 and 2001. That don't impress me much.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,620
    HYUFD said:

    Not all Welsh Conservatives will lose, 5 would keep their seats, so 5 more Tory MPs than were elected in 1997 and 2001 when the Tories had 0 Welsh MPs
    So only 12.5% of the Welsh MPs. Really good performace that will be.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,945
    So Sadio Mane wants to leave?
    Wasn't expecting that. Bayern apparently.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 53,685
    Andy_JS said:

    I haven't been abroad since December 2019.
    October 2019 for me: Barcelona.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Foxy said:

    Quite possible, but perhaps not the best day for this story. It is the Johnson's first anniversary today, so they must want some quiet family time together. Hasn't the year just flown by?
    Hahahahahaha. Impressively deadpan if that's what it is, but I suspect you're the last person in
    Leicester to know that Galadriel slung her hook weeks ago, and is enjoying quiet time with someone quite different from phatboi.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,633
    kle4 said:

    I'll never go to Tblisi, but unedited impressions are welcome. I encourage everyone to travel widely and share impressions!

    Mmm Betty, the cats done a whoopsie.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,095
    edited May 2022
    dixiedean said:

    We're doing better than 1997 and 2001. That don't impress me much.
    It does me as I campaigned in both and went to the count in 2001. Some of us are not fairweather Tories who voted Labour at those general elections unlike a certain North Wales resident poster but stuck with the party in times even more difficult than now
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,620
    For teatine light relief, fat cat in Turkey and its icon:

    https://twitter.com/historydefined/status/1529953809967071233


  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,095
    edited May 2022

    No North Wales conservatives will hold their seats while Boris squats in office

    Your complacency is breathtaking and the only consolation will be watching Labour hit your inheritance
    Conservatives would hold Montgomeryshire, Clwyd West, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Monmouth, and Brecon and Radnorshire on the same poll. Clwyd West of course in north Wales

    https://www.vale50plus.org/new-poll-suggests-conservatives-would-be-decimated-in-wales-in-election/
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,620
    HYUFD said:

    Conservatives would hold Montgomeryshire, Clwyd West, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Monmouth, and Brecon and Radnorshire on the same poll. Clwyd West of course in north Wales

    https://www.vale50plus.org/new-poll-suggests-conservatives-would-be-decimated-in-wales-in-election/
    Not much in those areas apart from sheep, rocks and seaweed (some only), so it'll look good on the map all right. But not amount to much in bums on seats terms.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,075
    Looking at those Red Bull tyres - let’s do a Grain Dance 🤣
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 65,030
    HYUFD said:

    It does me as I campaigned in both and went to the count in 2001. Some of us are not fairweather Tories who voted Labour at those general elections unlike a certain North Wales resident poster but stuck with the party in times even more difficult than now
    You think that is a strenth - blind unquestioning loyalty no matter what is best for the country
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,945
    HYUFD said:

    Conservatives would hold Montgomeryshire, Clwyd West, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Monmouth, and Brecon and Radnorshire on the same poll. Clwyd West of course in north Wales

    https://www.vale50plus.org/new-poll-suggests-conservatives-would-be-decimated-in-wales-in-election/
    Be considerably worse under the new boundaries I should imagine too.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,103

    Not just that. It (just about) stops the SNP even thinking about playing silly buggers.

    (I don't think they would be wise to, anyway; the "we could back the Tories" card is high cost/low value to play. But it would be reassuring if it were out of circulation.)
    Only for Little Englanders who prefer it rigged their way all the time. You arseholes would rather have a bunch of lying , stealing cheating arseholes in power as long as they are English.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 53,685
    edited May 2022
    Andy_JS said:

    Looks like TfL have forgotten to install ticket validators at 3 new Elizabeth Line stations — Custom House, Farringdon and Abbey Wood.

    https://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2022/05/untouchoutable.html

    I think Liverpool Street might need them too, Whitechapel can be reached from Stratford via the Elizabeth Line going through Zone 1, or via the District Line via Mile End avoiding Zone 1.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,203
    malcolmg said:

    Only for Little Englanders who prefer it rigged their way all the time. You arseholes would rather have a bunch of lying , stealing cheating arseholes in power as long as they are English.
    I thought you didn’t like the SNP either.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 65,030
    edited May 2022
    HYUFD said:

    Conservatives would hold Montgomeryshire, Clwyd West, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Monmouth, and Brecon and Radnorshire on the same poll. Clwyd West of course in north Wales

    https://www.vale50plus.org/new-poll-suggests-conservatives-would-be-decimated-in-wales-in-election/
    You are not listening

    The poll incudes Clwyd West in which I was David Jones driver in the 2010 election

    Conservatives would lose all North Wales seats if election was held says poll

    https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/conservatives-would-lose-north-wales-24091868#ICID=Android_DailyPostNewsApp_AppShare
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,103

    You're highlighting the intrinsic sterility of your travelogues in recent years.

    When they were for book research there was a 'sowing the seeds' importance and anticipation about them.

    Remember when you travelled for a purpose ?

    Kurdistan, Cambodia, the Basque country, Fair Isle ?

    The current 'look at my bread roll' style doesn't provide the same vicarious pleasure.
    Speak for yourself , I find them very interesting.
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,192
    malcolmg said:

    Only for Little Englanders who prefer it rigged their way all the time. You arseholes would rather have a bunch of lying , stealing cheating arseholes in power as long as they are English.

    Hi @malcolmg - why not tell us what you really think, although I find it hard to disagree with your analysis above ;)
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,103

    I thought you didn’t like the SNP either.
    I do not like the current SNP leadership, but certainly not happy with arsehole Little Englanders wanting us as a colony but unhappy that we might actually participate in the politics. F***ing Tory arses.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,535
    edited May 2022
    dixiedean said:

    So Sadio Mane wants to leave?
    Wasn't expecting that. Bayern apparently.

    Liverpool have just signed yet another young attacking forward and I think another one is supposed to be joining this summer. Mane is now 30, one year left on this contract and I believe around this age is when the likes of Liverpool Brainiac statos advise the club to be much more cautious on the new size of new contracts.

    So I presume competition for places plus BM have offered his a big deal while Liverpool unlikely to give his some bumper deal taking him from 31 to mid 30s.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,620
    edited May 2022
    malcolmg said:

    I do not like the current SNP leadership, but certainly not happy with arsehole Little Englanders wanting us as a colony but unhappy that we might actually participate in the politics. F***ing Tory arses.
    Talking about critical assessment, have you tried this stuff?

    https://www.flavourly.com/haggis-beer

    I got two cans of it in my latest mixed beer doorstep delivery from Flavourly, and am not impressed with it. Perhaps a personal thing. TBF the mixed packs do have an element of unexpected discovery in them, and I found the blackcurrant beer in the same mixed pack was rather pleasantly wersh for a summer late afternoon.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,824

    You're highlighting the intrinsic sterility of your travelogues in recent years.

    When they were for book research there was a 'sowing the seeds' importance and anticipation about them.

    Remember when you travelled for a purpose ?

    Kurdistan, Cambodia, the Basque country, Fair Isle ?

    The current 'look at my bread roll' style doesn't provide the same vicarious pleasure.
    Intrinsic sterility? Lol. It’s a bunch of comments on PB fer feck’s sake, not an attempt to draft Anna Karenina in Africa

    Also: how do you know my travels aren’t leading on to something else? You don’t. Perhaps I’m just a little more coy about it, because: wankers, internet

    But even if I was just whiling away the time, decadently, you are free to pass over any remarks without angrily demanding a titwank like it is your god given right
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,535
    edited May 2022
    Carnyx said:

    Talking about critical assessment, have you tried this stuff?

    https://www.flavourly.com/haggis-beer

    I got two cans of it in my latest mixed beer doorstep delivery from Flavourly, and am not impressed with it. Perhaps a personal thing. TBF the mixed packs do have an element of unexpected discovery in them, and I found the blackcurrant beer in the same mixed pack was rather pleasantly wersh for a summer late afternoon.
    Bloody awful trend in "craft" beer at the moment to have all these artificially flavoured nonsense mimicking sweets, cakes, etc, often using ice cream concentrate flavourings. Its like alcopops for beer. If I want a millionaire shortbread tasting thing, I will buy some millionaire shortbread (soon to be renamed billionaire shortbread given the inflation).
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,203
    edited May 2022
    It’s v sunny in Woodstock, NY.

    Not nearly as interesting as Tbilisi, but when you’ve got kids your options reduce a bit.

    I’m going for a clichéd, but obligatory, pilgrimage to the Big Pink later.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,559

    Liverpool have just signed yet another young attacking forward and I think another one is supposed to be joining this summer. Mane is now 30, one year left on this contract and I believe around this age is when the likes of Liverpool Brainiac statos advise the club to be much more cautious on the new size of new contracts.

    So I presume competition for places plus BM have offered his a big deal while Liverpool unlikely to give his some bumper deal taking him from 31 to mid 30s.
    He can't score in finals. Let go.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,103
    edited May 2022
    Carnyx said:

    Talking about critical assessment, have you tried this stuff?

    https://www.flavourly.com/haggis-beer

    I got two cans of it in my latest mixed beer doorstep delivery from Flavourly, and am not impressed with it. Perhaps a personal thing. TBF the mixed packs do have an element of unexpected discovery in them, and I found the blackcurrant beer in the same mixed pack was rather pleasantly wersh for a summer late afternoon.
    Carnyx that is just wrong, must have been on a trip when they thought that was a good idea. There is a time and place for everything but haggis in beer is just not on. Take two of the best inventions in the world and just ruin them.
    PS: I have been trying the new Stella Artois unfiltered and it is very pleasant in the sunshine.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,670
    Thanks for the header. Much appreciated. Afternoon, everyone.

    1 - I'm not absolutely clear why checks should be applied to *owners*, rather than the people who run the homes. Childcare professionals may not be good at running a business.
    2 - I'm really not sure on this. If terrorists have been given effective amnesties, then I do not see why others should be different.
    3 - Yes.
    4 - This for me has a slight feel of aspects Zia-Ul-Haq's 'islamisation' of Pakistan in the late 1970s/1980s. A timebomb for the future.
    5 - I found the report on Afghanistan interesting in that responsibility was (correctly) laid at the door of Govt leadership, even when the behaviour of groups / individuals trying to shoehorn their special interests onto the agenda was way over the line.
    6 - Yes. I hope this will be a major campaigning point for parties at the next Election. Another reason for BoJoGo.
This discussion has been closed.