My guess: Sunak will wait until 2025 for the election – politicalbetting.com

Northern_Al said:

If anybody's doubting how desperate some Tories are getting, and how low they could sink, here's a preview from ConHome today:
CCHQ must find Starmer’s Willie Horton
https://conservativehome.com/2023/07/12/cchq-must-find-starmers-willie-horton/

A repulsive article.

Malmesbury said:

northern_monkey said:

Sandpit said:

Could have been worse, people might have mistaken him for a Max Verstappen fan…

Haha yeah it’s funny on one level. Lads, lads, lads, lager, lager, lager, and all that.

On the other just pause and reflect for a second - this government has made it legal for people to be challenged and if necessary detained for a slogan on a t-shirt.

If it’d been a Labour government doing this, getting people stopped for slogans on t-shirts - maybe something like ‘Bring back foxhunting’ - the right would be going batshit crazy.

The right are sanguine because this is directed at an issue they disagree with, and they are happy to flirt with authoritarianism. If not some kind form of fascism. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration, or premature, to drop the f-bomb now.

This government is intent on stripping us of rights. EU citizenship, the right to protest. What’s next?

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/hunting/girl-arrested-over-bollocks-to-blair-shirt-68779

There was a whole thing about this, even earlier - a comic got stopped by the police and forced to take his Bollocks To Blair T-shirt off outside Downing street.

EDIT: early in the New Labour thing, the Chinese President visited. The government used some ancient laws that applied to Royal parks to have any kind of protest banned and protestors removed. This included standing quietly, holding a small sign saying "Remember Tibet".

northern_monkey said:

Sandpit said:

Could have been worse, people might have mistaken him for a Max Verstappen fan…

Haha yeah it’s funny on one level. Lads, lads, lads, lager, lager, lager, and all that.

On the other just pause and reflect for a second - this government has made it legal for people to be challenged and if necessary detained for a slogan on a t-shirt.

If it’d been a Labour government doing this, getting people stopped for slogans on t-shirts - maybe something like ‘Bring back foxhunting’ - the right would be going batshit crazy.

The right are sanguine because this is directed at an issue they disagree with, and they are happy to flirt with authoritarianism. If not some kind form of fascism. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration, or premature, to drop the f-bomb now.

This government is intent on stripping us of rights. EU citizenship, the right to protest. What’s next?

Edit - oh yeah, ECHR, that's next.

Leon said:

I’ve done a Google search and I can’t find any images of Nandy wearing anything as suggestively kinky as that. So you can all put your Kleenex away. It’s not like Truss where there were hundreds of images of her in increasingly obvious BDSM-adjacent outfits/jewellery

Perhaps she simply doesn’t realise how it looks or she is in the very early days of a new lifestyle

northern_monkey said:

Malmesbury said:

northern_monkey said:

Sandpit said:

Could have been worse, people might have mistaken him for a Max Verstappen fan…

Haha yeah it’s funny on one level. Lads, lads, lads, lager, lager, lager, and all that.

On the other just pause and reflect for a second - this government has made it legal for people to be challenged and if necessary detained for a slogan on a t-shirt.

If it’d been a Labour government doing this, getting people stopped for slogans on t-shirts - maybe something like ‘Bring back foxhunting’ - the right would be going batshit crazy.

The right are sanguine because this is directed at an issue they disagree with, and they are happy to flirt with authoritarianism. If not some kind form of fascism. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration, or premature, to drop the f-bomb now.

This government is intent on stripping us of rights. EU citizenship, the right to protest. What’s next?

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/hunting/girl-arrested-over-bollocks-to-blair-shirt-68779

There was a whole thing about this, even earlier - a comic got stopped by the police and forced to take his Bollocks To Blair T-shirt off outside Downing street.

EDIT: early in the New Labour thing, the Chinese President visited. The government used some ancient laws that applied to Royal parks to have any kind of protest banned and protestors removed. This included standing quietly, holding a small sign saying "Remember Tibet".

I don't agree with those either. But it's not just outside Downing Street or in a Royal park under some bylaw, is it? It's everywhere now. Any copper can essentially do what they want. Still, thanks for the whataboutery.

northern_monkey said:

Malmesbury said:

northern_monkey said:

Sandpit said:

Could have been worse, people might have mistaken him for a Max Verstappen fan…

Haha yeah it’s funny on one level. Lads, lads, lads, lager, lager, lager, and all that.

On the other just pause and reflect for a second - this government has made it legal for people to be challenged and if necessary detained for a slogan on a t-shirt.

If it’d been a Labour government doing this, getting people stopped for slogans on t-shirts - maybe something like ‘Bring back foxhunting’ - the right would be going batshit crazy.

The right are sanguine because this is directed at an issue they disagree with, and they are happy to flirt with authoritarianism. If not some kind form of fascism. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration, or premature, to drop the f-bomb now.

This government is intent on stripping us of rights. EU citizenship, the right to protest. What’s next?

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/hunting/girl-arrested-over-bollocks-to-blair-shirt-68779

There was a whole thing about this, even earlier - a comic got stopped by the police and forced to take his Bollocks To Blair T-shirt off outside Downing street.

EDIT: early in the New Labour thing, the Chinese President visited. The government used some ancient laws that applied to Royal parks to have any kind of protest banned and protestors removed. This included standing quietly, holding a small sign saying "Remember Tibet".

I don't agree with those either. But it's not just outside Downing Street or in a Royal park under some bylaw, is it? It's everywhere now. Any copper can essentially do what they want. Still, thanks for the whataboutery.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Getting very messy in BBC presenter story. Now have current BBC presenters saying they must reveal themselves and they are never coming back in the building (and bbc news making a huge deal of this) and ex-bbc presenters going into bat for unnamed presenter saying they spoke to them and they are angry, its all a sun stitch up.

I am reminded of the spiderman meme, where all the spidermen are pointing at one another.

viewcode said:

Malmesbury said:

malcolmg said:

Benpointer said:

malcolmg said:

Carnyx said:

malcolmg said:

twistedfirestopper3 said:

Carnyx said:

SouthamObserver said:

If you are in search of positive news, let me give you some. The country around Sidmouth is currently buzzing with bees and butterflies. I think the decision to keep the grass long and let wild flowers grow in so many meadows, combined with recent rain, has brought them out to play. Not having a clue about nature I could be totally wrong. But I do know they are there because I can see them! Maybe it's only round here, but I hope not.

THere's been much more emphasis lately in leaving meadows alone for the early months to let the insects have a chance. Parallel movement in gardening, too: not being anal about one's lawn (let alone replace it with plastic etc). Mrs C has been of that philosophy for decades and our lawnless front garden has been a chaotic mass of flowers since the snowdrops and crocuses - full of bumblebees and hoverflies, and butterflies. In contrast to the sometimes sterile plastic grass and hard core parking spaces elswehere on the same street.

Edit: even the RHS is in on it, much to its credit.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/lawns/creating-wildflower-meadows

We're currently house hunting and it's been a real eye opener to see the number of places that have plastic grass. Way more than I'd have expected, and it really puts us off, as it'd have to be ripped up and proper lawn laid again. I

Was a story in paper last year , some woman had got up in morning to find someone had rolled teh lawn up and nicked it. Anyone with plastic grass should get minimum 3 years with no remission.

Oh, she had the value of her house increased? Difficult to see where the crime is then.

Carnyx, the crime is having plastic grass. What kind of cretin do you need to be to want that in preference to the real thing.

I am not a fan of plastic grass but my late mum had my brother lay some on a very untidy old concrete patio she had - it made it feel a nicer space to sit out in the sun for what turned out to be her last summer.

So there we are, my mum was a cretin in Malc's book. She'd have laughed at that.

Nice one, why not a nice outdoor carpet though.

Which is really plastic grass you can move. Except it never gets moved.

I have to ask: is there such a thing as outdoor carpet? Is this a Scottish thing?

Cookie said:

Malmesbury said:

Just heard an interesting... statement

That the planned Rheinmetall plant in Ukraine is already being scoped to produce the KF51

Could you elaborate a bit please? I have a vague and possibly wrong notion that Rheinmetall is a German firm who were pressuring the German gov not to supply Ukraine with weapons...? What is the KF51?

Leon said:

Flatlander said:

Leon said:

geoffw said:

Leon said:

Eabhal said:

On insects - I'd encourage those with cars to do the Bugs Matter reg plate survey (you count the number of insects you wipe out during a drive).

The latest data shows a drop of 64% between 2004 and 2022. 😮

It is a quiet catastrophe. Again I reference the number of times I’ve been bitten by mosquitoes. It has plunged in the last 10 years, and the decline seems to be speeding up

And it’s not like I’ve stopped going to hot mosquitoey places. They critters aren’t out there any more

Seems a benign form of catastrophe to me

Not when all the birds, that eat mosquitoes, likewise die out. And we know birdlife is also in steep decline

It looks fucking grim, frankly

It is probably worse than measured by the reg plate survey.

We've had a trend of the council not cutting verges (good) but that means that there is a disproportionate number of insects found next to roads.

Out in the wider countryside it is not really improved.

Too many people. Luckily, we’ve all stopped having kids or become asexual genderqueers so that problem will soon be solved

Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet

148grss said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Getting very messy in BBC presenter story. Now have current BBC presenters saying they must reveal themselves and they are never coming back in the building (and bbc news making a huge deal of this) and ex-bbc presenters going into bat for unnamed presenter saying they spoke to them and they are angry, its all a sun stitch up.

I am reminded of the spiderman meme, where all the spidermen are pointing at one another.

I mean, as it stands atm, do we have any actual accusation of illegal action? From my understanding the young person in question in the first accusation may have been 17 when first contacted, but the lawyer for that young person seems to have come out actively saying the account from the parents is wrong - so it looks like maybe a young person who does sex work (OF, camming, private / online escort work, whatever) who was getting money from a famous person and the parents not liking that and the fact the young person spent that money on drugs. The second account has essentially been "I talked to this person and they came across as desperate and needy" which may be unattractive to a potential partner and a bad way to have a relationship, but is not illegal. And the only other allegation I have seen is a person saying they may have approached another 17 year old at some point about something - again, it isn't known about what or if anything illegal happened.

Is it a bit cringe for a middle aged BBC presenter to be talking to / sexting / whatever with younger men? Sure. Is it illegal. No. Should it be front page news on the Sun? Also no. Should the other papers then put it on all of their front pages? Definitely no.

This story seems to be an attempt to do to some BBC news presenter what happened with Schofield, and continuing the increasing conflation between any same sex relationships with paedophilia. Obviously if the BBC employee in question did anything illegal, they should be investigated and punished. But all those people who argued that the court of public opinion was so unfair for the likes of Johnson or any other right winger, and hate it when people get "cancelled", seem to be dancing with glee at this story.

malcolmg said:

viewcode said:

Malmesbury said:

malcolmg said:

Benpointer said:

malcolmg said:

Carnyx said:

malcolmg said:

twistedfirestopper3 said:

Carnyx said:

SouthamObserver said:

If you are in search of positive news, let me give you some. The country around Sidmouth is currently buzzing with bees and butterflies. I think the decision to keep the grass long and let wild flowers grow in so many meadows, combined with recent rain, has brought them out to play. Not having a clue about nature I could be totally wrong. But I do know they are there because I can see them! Maybe it's only round here, but I hope not.

THere's been much more emphasis lately in leaving meadows alone for the early months to let the insects have a chance. Parallel movement in gardening, too: not being anal about one's lawn (let alone replace it with plastic etc). Mrs C has been of that philosophy for decades and our lawnless front garden has been a chaotic mass of flowers since the snowdrops and crocuses - full of bumblebees and hoverflies, and butterflies. In contrast to the sometimes sterile plastic grass and hard core parking spaces elswehere on the same street.

Edit: even the RHS is in on it, much to its credit.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/lawns/creating-wildflower-meadows

We're currently house hunting and it's been a real eye opener to see the number of places that have plastic grass. Way more than I'd have expected, and it really puts us off, as it'd have to be ripped up and proper lawn laid again. I

Was a story in paper last year , some woman had got up in morning to find someone had rolled teh lawn up and nicked it. Anyone with plastic grass should get minimum 3 years with no remission.

Oh, she had the value of her house increased? Difficult to see where the crime is then.

Carnyx, the crime is having plastic grass. What kind of cretin do you need to be to want that in preference to the real thing.

I am not a fan of plastic grass but my late mum had my brother lay some on a very untidy old concrete patio she had - it made it feel a nicer space to sit out in the sun for what turned out to be her last summer.

So there we are, my mum was a cretin in Malc's book. She'd have laughed at that.

Nice one, why not a nice outdoor carpet though.

Which is really plastic grass you can move. Except it never gets moved.

I have to ask: is there such a thing as outdoor carpet? Is this a Scottish thing?

If you do not have outdoor carpets you have never lived Viewcode. I picked it up living in USA, have several here for the patio but given the weather dif

Cookie said:

Malmesbury said:

Just heard an interesting... statement

That the planned Rheinmetall plant in Ukraine is already being scoped to produce the KF51

Could you elaborate a bit please? I have a vague and possibly wrong notion that Rheinmetall is a German firm who were pressuring the German gov not to supply Ukraine with weapons...? What is the KF51?

New Leopard

Eabhal said:

Leon said:

Flatlander said:

Leon said:

geoffw said:

Leon said:

Eabhal said:

On insects - I'd encourage those with cars to do the Bugs Matter reg plate survey (you count the number of insects you wipe out during a drive).

The latest data shows a drop of 64% between 2004 and 2022. 😮

It is a quiet catastrophe. Again I reference the number of times I’ve been bitten by mosquitoes. It has plunged in the last 10 years, and the decline seems to be speeding up

And it’s not like I’ve stopped going to hot mosquitoey places. They critters aren’t out there any more

Seems a benign form of catastrophe to me

Not when all the birds, that eat mosquitoes, likewise die out. And we know birdlife is also in steep decline

It looks fucking grim, frankly

It is probably worse than measured by the reg plate survey.

We've had a trend of the council not cutting verges (good) but that means that there is a disproportionate number of insects found next to roads.

Out in the wider countryside it is not really improved.

Too many people. Luckily, we’ve all stopped having kids or become asexual genderqueers so that problem will soon be solved

Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet

But this decline has happened rapidly in just the last 20 years? So something else is going on.

If we are going to have massive housebuilding programmes, there is an opportunity to actually improve biodiversity over current land use. Lots if bird species like House Sparrows are declining because they don't have anywhere to nest - easily fixed by stuff like this: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/rspb-news-original/news/stories/building-new-homes-for-swifts/

Leon said:

148grss said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Getting very messy in BBC presenter story. Now have current BBC presenters saying they must reveal themselves and they are never coming back in the building (and bbc news making a huge deal of this) and ex-bbc presenters going into bat for unnamed presenter saying they spoke to them and they are angry, its all a sun stitch up.

I am reminded of the spiderman meme, where all the spidermen are pointing at one another.

I mean, as it stands atm, do we have any actual accusation of illegal action? From my understanding the young person in question in the first accusation may have been 17 when first contacted, but the lawyer for that young person seems to have come out actively saying the account from the parents is wrong - so it looks like maybe a young person who does sex work (OF, camming, private / online escort work, whatever) who was getting money from a famous person and the parents not liking that and the fact the young person spent that money on drugs. The second account has essentially been "I talked to this person and they came across as desperate and needy" which may be unattractive to a potential partner and a bad way to have a relationship, but is not illegal. And the only other allegation I have seen is a person saying they may have approached another 17 year old at some point about something - again, it isn't known about what or if anything illegal happened.

Is it a bit cringe for a middle aged BBC presenter to be talking to / sexting / whatever with younger men? Sure. Is it illegal. No. Should it be front page news on the Sun? Also no. Should the other papers then put it on all of their front pages? Definitely no.

This story seems to be an attempt to do to some BBC news presenter what happened with Schofield, and continuing the increasing conflation between any same sex relationships with paedophilia. Obviously if the BBC employee in question did anything illegal, they should be investigated and punished. But all those people who argued that the court of public opinion was so unfair for the likes of Johnson or any other right winger, and hate it when people get "cancelled", seem to be dancing with glee at this story.

I don’t see many on PB “dancing with glee”

The general PB opinion, which I share, is that it is all rather sad and tawdry, mixed with puzzlement at the way the media/BBC themselves are handling the issue

It’s also getting quite boring and ridiculous. Either name the alleged culprit or move on

Stuartinromford said:

Andy_JS said:

"Northstowe: The broken-promise new town built 'with no heart'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66156561

I wonder how much NIMBYism would be quelled if community infrastructure had to be provided a lot earlier in the process of creating new places like Northstowe? It would need funding, because it wouldn't be commercially viable for the first few years. On the other hand, that might be a useful stick to get faster completion of estates. And the downside of forcing the first few residents to look elsewhere for stuff is that it creates habits that mean that the new community never fully gels.

FrankBooth said:

This lady's daily videos from Ukraine are well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejxqRMv9U0

One senses a real anger about the Vilnius summit.

148grss said:

Leon said:

148grss said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Getting very messy in BBC presenter story. Now have current BBC presenters saying they must reveal themselves and they are never coming back in the building (and bbc news making a huge deal of this) and ex-bbc presenters going into bat for unnamed presenter saying they spoke to them and they are angry, its all a sun stitch up.

I am reminded of the spiderman meme, where all the spidermen are pointing at one another.

I mean, as it stands atm, do we have any actual accusation of illegal action? From my understanding the young person in question in the first accusation may have been 17 when first contacted, but the lawyer for that young person seems to have come out actively saying the account from the parents is wrong - so it looks like maybe a young person who does sex work (OF, camming, private / online escort work, whatever) who was getting money from a famous person and the parents not liking that and the fact the young person spent that money on drugs. The second account has essentially been "I talked to this person and they came across as desperate and needy" which may be unattractive to a potential partner and a bad way to have a relationship, but is not illegal. And the only other allegation I have seen is a person saying they may have approached another 17 year old at some point about something - again, it isn't known about what or if anything illegal happened.

Is it a bit cringe for a middle aged BBC presenter to be talking to / sexting / whatever with younger men? Sure. Is it illegal. No. Should it be front page news on the Sun? Also no. Should the other papers then put it on all of their front pages? Definitely no.

This story seems to be an attempt to do to some BBC news presenter what happened with Schofield, and continuing the increasing conflation between any same sex relationships with paedophilia. Obviously if the BBC employee in question did anything illegal, they should be investigated and punished. But all those people who argued that the court of public opinion was so unfair for the likes of Johnson or any other right winger, and hate it when people get "cancelled", seem to be dancing with glee at this story.

I don’t see many on PB “dancing with glee”

The general PB opinion, which I share, is that it is all rather sad and tawdry, mixed with puzzlement at the way the media/BBC themselves are handling the issue

It’s also getting quite boring and ridiculous. Either name the alleged culprit or move on

Sorry if I was unclear; I wasn't talking specifically about PBers, I meant in general - the tabloids, twitter people, etc.

148grss said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Getting very messy in BBC presenter story. Now have current BBC presenters saying they must reveal themselves and they are never coming back in the building (and bbc news making a huge deal of this) and ex-bbc presenters going into bat for unnamed presenter saying they spoke to them and they are angry, its all a sun stitch up.

I am reminded of the spiderman meme, where all the spidermen are pointing at one another.

I mean, as it stands atm, do we have any actual accusation of illegal action? From my understanding the young person in question in the first accusation may have been 17 when first contacted, but the lawyer for that young person seems to have come out actively saying the account from the parents is wrong - so it looks like maybe a young person who does sex work (OF, camming, private / online escort work, whatever) who was getting money from a famous person and the parents not liking that and the fact the young person spent that money on drugs. The second account has essentially been "I talked to this person and they came across as desperate and needy" which may be unattractive to a potential partner and a bad way to have a relationship, but is not illegal. And the only other allegation I have seen is a person saying they may have approached another 17 year old at some point about something - again, it isn't known about what or if anything illegal happened.

Is it a bit cringe for a middle aged BBC presenter to be talking to / sexting / whatever with younger men? Sure. Is it illegal. No. Should it be front page news on the Sun? Also no. Should the other papers then put it on all of their front pages? Definitely no.

This story seems to be an attempt to do to some BBC news presenter what happened with Schofield, and continuing the increasing conflation between any same sex relationships with paedophilia. Obviously if the BBC employee in question did anything illegal, they should be investigated and punished. But all those people who argued that the court of public opinion was so unfair for the likes of Johnson or any other right winger, and hate it when people get "cancelled", seem to be dancing with glee at this story.

williamglenn said:

FrankBooth said:

This lady's daily videos from Ukraine are well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejxqRMv9U0

One senses a real anger about the Vilnius summit.

It shows one of the problems with valuing unity (of the EU and NATO) for its own sake. Countries that would be willing to do more to oppose Russia are held back by those who are afraid or protecting their own interests.

Theuniondivvie said:

williamglenn said:

FrankBooth said:

This lady's daily videos from Ukraine are well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejxqRMv9U0

One senses a real anger about the Vilnius summit.

It shows one of the problems with valuing unity (of the EU and NATO) for its own sake. Countries that would be willing to do more to oppose Russia are held back by those who are afraid or protecting their own interests.

What's the unity score on the Commonwealth re. supporting Ukraine?

FrancisUrquhart said:

Do these political books actually sell any real amount of copies? How many people bought Hancock's book?

Malmesbury said:

Leon said:

148grss said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Getting very messy in BBC presenter story. Now have current BBC presenters saying they must reveal themselves and they are never coming back in the building (and bbc news making a huge deal of this) and ex-bbc presenters going into bat for unnamed presenter saying they spoke to them and they are angry, its all a sun stitch up.

I am reminded of the spiderman meme, where all the spidermen are pointing at one another.

I mean, as it stands atm, do we have any actual accusation of illegal action? From my understanding the young person in question in the first accusation may have been 17 when first contacted, but the lawyer for that young person seems to have come out actively saying the account from the parents is wrong - so it looks like maybe a young person who does sex work (OF, camming, private / online escort work, whatever) who was getting money from a famous person and the parents not liking that and the fact the young person spent that money on drugs. The second account has essentially been "I talked to this person and they came across as desperate and needy" which may be unattractive to a potential partner and a bad way to have a relationship, but is not illegal. And the only other allegation I have seen is a person saying they may have approached another 17 year old at some point about something - again, it isn't known about what or if anything illegal happened.

Is it a bit cringe for a middle aged BBC presenter to be talking to / sexting / whatever with younger men? Sure. Is it illegal. No. Should it be front page news on the Sun? Also no. Should the other papers then put it on all of their front pages? Definitely no.

This story seems to be an attempt to do to some BBC news presenter what happened with Schofield, and continuing the increasing conflation between any same sex relationships with paedophilia. Obviously if the BBC employee in question did anything illegal, they should be investigated and punished. But all those people who argued that the court of public opinion was so unfair for the likes of Johnson or any other right winger, and hate it when people get "cancelled", seem to be dancing with glee at this story.

I don’t see many on PB “dancing with glee”

The general PB opinion, which I share, is that it is all rather sad and tawdry, mixed with puzzlement at the way the media/BBC themselves are handling the issue

It’s also getting quite boring and ridiculous. Either name the alleged culprit or move on

The “dancing with glee” thing is projection.

Like the fantasies of machine gunning migrants in the Channel. Where the reality is Dominos pizza and mid range country hotels with the treadmill next to the indoor pool.

Theuniondivvie said:

Oh ffs..

williamglenn said:

Theuniondivvie said:

williamglenn said:

FrankBooth said:

This lady's daily videos from Ukraine are well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejxqRMv9U0

One senses a real anger about the Vilnius summit.

It shows one of the problems with valuing unity (of the EU and NATO) for its own sake. Countries that would be willing to do more to oppose Russia are held back by those who are afraid or protecting their own interests.

What's the unity score on the Commonwealth re. supporting Ukraine?

Yes, good point. Imagine how hamstrung we'd be if we sought unity?

williamglenn said:

FrankBooth said:

This lady's daily videos from Ukraine are well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejxqRMv9U0

One senses a real anger about the Vilnius summit.

It shows one of the problems with valuing unity (of the EU and NATO) for its own sake. Countries that would be willing to do more to oppose Russia are held back by those who are afraid or protecting their own interests.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Theuniondivvie said:

Oh ffs..

There was a well known poker player whose abilities were really overblown (her brother was really the one ahead of thr curve who passed on tactics), who got lets just say got more than a reputation as a grifter and not trustworthy at all....they now are a "go to" person for podcasts and corporates talking at strategic thinking.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Theuniondivvie said:

Oh ffs..

There was a well known poker player whose abilities were really overblown (her brother was really the one ahead of thr curve who passed on tactics), who got lets just say got more than a reputation as a grifter and not trustworthy at all....they now are a "go to" person for tv, media, podcasts and corporates talking about strategic thinking. They have made many times more out of this new grift than they ever did at poker.

EPG said:

williamglenn said:

FrankBooth said:

This lady's daily videos from Ukraine are well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejxqRMv9U0

One senses a real anger about the Vilnius summit.

It shows one of the problems with valuing unity (of the EU and NATO) for its own sake. Countries that would be willing to do more to oppose Russia are held back by those who are afraid or protecting their own interests.

Nato exit the new red bus campaign? Russia Dom would come out of retirement for that one.

Malmesbury said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Do these political books actually sell any real amount of copies? How many people bought Hancock's book?

In many cases, the advances on such books are similar to the vast sums spent on speeches given by ex-politicans. Essentially a disguised donation.

SandraMc said:

I've had a busy morning and have just found time to sit with a coffee and read The Telegraph. I nearly spilt my coffee when I turned to page 3. Could they make it more obvious who the BBC presenter is? I won't say any more so not to get this site into trouble.

williamglenn said:

EPG said:

williamglenn said:

FrankBooth said:

This lady's daily videos from Ukraine are well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejxqRMv9U0

One senses a real anger about the Vilnius summit.

It shows one of the problems with valuing unity (of the EU and NATO) for its own sake. Countries that would be willing to do more to oppose Russia are held back by those who are afraid or protecting their own interests.

Nato exit the new red bus campaign? Russia Dom would come out of retirement for that one.

No need for NATO-exit. We just need to invoke the spirit of Victoria Nuland and stop valuing consensus over action.

williamglenn said:

EPG said:

williamglenn said:

FrankBooth said:

This lady's daily videos from Ukraine are well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejxqRMv9U0

One senses a real anger about the Vilnius summit.

It shows one of the problems with valuing unity (of the EU and NATO) for its own sake. Countries that would be willing to do more to oppose Russia are held back by those who are afraid or protecting their own interests.

Nato exit the new red bus campaign? Russia Dom would come out of retirement for that one.

No need for NATO-exit. We just need to invoke the spirit of Victoria Nuland and stop valuing consensus over action.

FrankBooth said:

Malmesbury said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Do these political books actually sell any real amount of copies? How many people bought Hancock's book?

In many cases, the advances on such books are similar to the vast sums spent on speeches given by ex-politicans. Essentially a disguised donation.

Why donate to an ex politician. Sympathy?

Malmesbury said:

A

williamglenn said:

EPG said:

williamglenn said:

FrankBooth said:

This lady's daily videos from Ukraine are well worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejxqRMv9U0

One senses a real anger about the Vilnius summit.

It shows one of the problems with valuing unity (of the EU and NATO) for its own sake. Countries that would be willing to do more to oppose Russia are held back by those who are afraid or protecting their own interests.

Nato exit the new red bus campaign? Russia Dom would come out of retirement for that one.

No need for NATO-exit. We just need to invoke the spirit of Victoria Nuland and stop valuing consensus over action.

NATO is the epitome of flexible response - ranging from Hungary (nearly pro Russia) to the UK (upsetting the US by pushing forward with new areas of arms supply).

BartholomewRoberts said:

Malmesbury said:

A

BartholomewRoberts said:

148grss said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Getting very messy in BBC presenter story. Now have current BBC presenters saying they must reveal themselves and they are never coming back in the building (and bbc news making a huge deal of this) and ex-bbc presenters going into bat for unnamed presenter saying they spoke to them and they are angry, its all a sun stitch up.

I am reminded of the spiderman meme, where all the spidermen are pointing at one another.

I mean, as it stands atm, do we have any actual accusation of illegal action? From my understanding the young person in question in the first accusation may have been 17 when first contacted, but the lawyer for that young person seems to have come out actively saying the account from the parents is wrong - so it looks like maybe a young person who does sex work (OF, camming, private / online escort work, whatever) who was getting money from a famous person and the parents not liking that and the fact the young person spent that money on drugs. The second account has essentially been "I talked to this person and they came across as desperate and needy" which may be unattractive to a potential partner and a bad way to have a relationship, but is not illegal. And the only other allegation I have seen is a person saying they may have approached another 17 year old at some point about something - again, it isn't known about what or if anything illegal happened.

Is it a bit cringe for a middle aged BBC presenter to be talking to / sexting / whatever with younger men? Sure. Is it illegal. No. Should it be front page news on the Sun? Also no. Should the other papers then put it on all of their front pages? Definitely no.

This story seems to be an attempt to do to some BBC news presenter what happened with Schofield, and continuing the increasing conflation between any same sex relationships with paedophilia. Obviously if the BBC employee in question did anything illegal, they should be investigated and punished. But all those people who argued that the court of public opinion was so unfair for the likes of Johnson or any other right winger, and hate it when people get "cancelled", seem to be dancing with glee at this story.

Do we have firm evidence of illegal activity? No.

Do we have an allegation of illegal activity? Yes.

So it should like any allegation be investigated seriously, bearing in mind both that criminal activity may have occurred and that innocent until proven guilty applies.

Does the fact that the alleged victim denies criminal activity happened mean it didn't? No.

People involved in wrongdoing, including victims, deny wrongdoing all the time.

The whole point of the age of consent is that the victim can't consent and can't say that a crime didn't happen if it did. The fact they're now an adult doesn't change that if a crime did occur when they were a child.

The homophobia thing is as interesting take on it.

What would happen, do you think, for allegations that a celebrity sent 5 figures to an opposite sex teenager for... services?

I think the whole story would be treated exactly the same, personally. The reporting has been conspicuously gender neutral.

Anabobazina said:

Woman wears skirt and heels is in a similar PB vein as bloke eats bacon sarnie or man cries at funeral.

Andy_JS said:

Wimbledon odds

Rybakina 3.55
Sabalenka 4.7
Svitolina 6.6
Jabeur 7.2
Vondrousova 7.4
Keys 16.5

https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/tennis/market/1.200957123

Leon said:

Anabobazina said:

Woman wears skirt and heels is in a similar PB vein as bloke eats bacon sarnie or man cries at funeral.

Mate, you’re talking to the guy who correctly identified the sexual significance of THE NECKLACE after fifteen seconds.

Malmesbury said:

FrankBooth said:

Malmesbury said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Do these political books actually sell any real amount of copies? How many people bought Hancock's book?

In many cases, the advances on such books are similar to the vast sums spent on speeches given by ex-politicans. Essentially a disguised donation.

Why donate to an ex politician. Sympathy?

In return for past favours done. This tells the next lot of politicians that if you are nice to us, we will remember *you* when you retire.

Much more civilised than briefcases full of cash.

FrankBooth said:

In other rumours Boris Johnson has not handed over his phone to the covid inquiry.

williamglenn said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Anabobazina said:

Woman wears skirt and heels is in a similar PB vein as bloke eats bacon sarnie or man cries at funeral.

Mate, you’re talking to the guy who correctly identified the sexual significance of THE NECKLACE after fifteen seconds.

We are talking to the guy with a fetlife account who insists on posting online fetish-based analyses of female politicians based on evidence that may be exceedingly sparse. How would you characterise this behavior?

If Italy is the model for all future Western politics then it can't be long before we start getting porn star MPs.

viewcode said:

williamglenn said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Anabobazina said:

Woman wears skirt and heels is in a similar PB vein as bloke eats bacon sarnie or man cries at funeral.

Mate, you’re talking to the guy who correctly identified the sexual significance of THE NECKLACE after fifteen seconds.

We are talking to the guy with a fetlife account who insists on posting online fetish-based analyses of female politicians based on evidence that may be exceedingly sparse. How would you characterise this behavior?

If Italy is the model for all future Western politics then it can't be long before we start getting porn star MPs.

Two points

* I imagine (and there is no way I'm going to look) that there are many AI-generated images of UK politicians of all stripes in various states of undress and poses.
* The question of what to do with politicians discovered to have unusual sex with consenting adults has arisen before (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Contender_(2000_film) for a fictional example). I can't think of a specific UK example other than sex-with-prostitutes and the Profumo affair. I assume others will provide further examples if they exist

Richard_Tyndall said:

viewcode said:

williamglenn said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Anabobazina said:

Woman wears skirt and heels is in a similar PB vein as bloke eats bacon sarnie or man cries at funeral.

Mate, you’re talking to the guy who correctly identified the sexual significance of THE NECKLACE after fifteen seconds.

We are talking to the guy with a fetlife account who insists on posting online fetish-based analyses of female politicians based on evidence that may be exceedingly sparse. How would you characterise this behavior?

If Italy is the model for all future Western politics then it can't be long before we start getting porn star MPs.

Two points

* I imagine (and there is no way I'm going to look) that there are many AI-generated images of UK politicians of all stripes in various states of undress and poses.
* The question of what to do with politicians discovered to have unusual sex with consenting adults has arisen before (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Contender_(2000_film) for a fictional example). I can't think of a specific UK example other than sex-with-prostitutes and the Profumo affair. I assume others will provide further examples if they exist

I suppose the most obvious one that springs to mind is the sad case of Stephen Milligan although of course that didn't involve anyone else.

Theuniondivvie said:

Oh ffs..