It is this demographic that will determine the Presidential election – politicalbetting.com

Casino_Royale said:

Wow. Pledge for long-term abolition of NI.

Finally!!

Anabobazina said:

If my wife earns £60k I earn more than £80k can she now claim the full child benefit?

No, sadly not.

Phil said:

eek said:

So vat registration is now set at £90,000. Not much

No_Offence_Alan said:

theProle said:

rottenborough said:

VAT threshold to £90K.

Another utterly pointless gesture.

That's a good idea. Cost will be virtually nothing, whilst I know a lot of small businesses/sole traders who limit their business growth to keep under the threshold.

Threshold should be same as 40% tax band threshold - too many people pretending they are "companies".

Nope threshold should be at the point you are a business rather than a hobby which is probably at about the £20-30,000 point

VAT threshold should be £0.

If you’re registered as self employed, or are running a ltd company then you should be registered for VAT. Anything else creates a distortionary threshold that warps the economy around it.

At the very lowest levels that just encourages non-compliance, which then has a knock on effect on people's compliance for income tax. You don;t want to be catching the average spare time ebay seller.

Child Benefit tapering over £20k and not £10k will halve the incremental marginal rate.

At first glance a reasonable budget managerially. Too little too late politically though. And of course whatever the changes the current fiscal situation is far from great.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Taz said:

Bit of banter at Rayner's expense. Lovely stuff

Love it.

Tories made a mistake in choosing Boris over Hunt in 2019.

...because an 80 seat majority wasn't enough???

CatMan said:

So what was in the budget that hadn't been leaked already?

Zilch of note.

Looks like it will be Starmer this time

LostPassword said:

Casino_Royale said:

Wow. Pledge for long-term abolition of NI.

Didn't Osborne say he was going to do that?

Looks like Hunt is actually doing something about it though. A reduction from 10 to 6% is quite chunky - even if it is because he doesn't have the headroom to reduce income tax.

MikeL said:

Child Benefit tapering over £20k and not £10k will halve the incremental marginal rate.

A marginal amelioration of an anomaly they introduced isn't really much to boast about though.

"Vote for us! We'll eventually get around to making partial fixes to the problems we created!"

Anabobazina said:

Anabobazina said:

No rabbits, zero hats.

Interested to hear Rachel’s response.

Oh it’s SKS. Forget about that convention

Rachel Reeves is up tomorrow. They debate the Finance Bill for the rest of the week and the Shadow Chancellor leads for Labour. Sir Keir Starmer (as LotO) makes the immediate response on the day.

SNP kindly giving Starmer a bit more time to prepare his response

What's the division for ?

Pulpstar said:

What's the division for ?

SNP mischief making

Cutting NI means OBR raise growth forecast which then in turn means it uses less of headroom.

Phil said:

TimS said:

Phil said:

eek said:

So vat registration is now set at £90,000. Not much

No_Offence_Alan said:

theProle said:

rottenborough said:

VAT threshold to £90K.

Another utterly pointless gesture.

That's a good idea. Cost will be virtually nothing, whilst I know a lot of small businesses/sole traders who limit their business growth to keep under the threshold.

Threshold should be same as 40% tax band threshold - too many people pretending they are "companies".

Nope threshold should be at the point you are a business rather than a hobby which is probably at about the £20-30,000 point

VAT threshold should be £0.

If you’re registered as self employed, or are running a ltd company then you should be registered for VAT. Anything else creates a distortionary threshold that warps the economy around it.

At the very lowest levels that just encourages non-compliance, which then has a knock on effect on people's compliance for income tax. You don;t want to be catching the average spare time ebay seller.

Why not? Either they’re flogging their own second hand stuff, in which case there’s no VAT to pay, or they’re actively trading & making a profit in which case they should be charging VAT like everyone else.

Other countries in Europe follow exactly this model.

(I would expect a very low threshold around £1000 to exempt the very small time outfits.)

It adds lots of annoying overheads for micro / small businesses. And gives cowboys an advantage.

Mrs Flatlander used to be registered but it wasn't worth the paperwork as she has almost no capital costs.

The flat rate did improve things a bit but the chancellor (Osborne) later accused people of abusing his own scheme by using it as intended, so she de-registered.

It all got claimed back by her (business) customers, so what was the point?

Anabobazina said:

No rabbits, zero hats.

Interested to hear Rachel’s response.

Potential abolition of NI is a little rabbit - more so for the election than budget itself though.

Anabobazina said:

If my wife earns £60k I earn more than £80k can she now claim the full child benefit?

She always could. Just you then pay back the full amount via self assessment.

We always told our clients - claim it!
Claim it over the year, pay it back 31st January following. Cashflow!

Muesli said:

OnlyLivingBoy said:

Colin said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

BlancheLivermore said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:

Re London’s nightlife. Covid definitely had a massive effect. As did Brexit to a much lesser extent

But london has also gone from a Muslim population of ~300,000 to ~1,400,000 in 20 years. Muslims don’t drink or go to clubs. Or if they go to clubs they don’t drink. So nightlife dies

You can see this is in the widespread closure of pubs in tower hamlets etc

Many may welcome this change. Especially old nimbys who hate noise. Good for them and god speed - but I don’t. If I want a quiet sober Muslim city I’ll go to Fez. London is meant to be a buzzing world city or it is nothing

Its yet another tragic consequence of an insanely cavalier immigration policy; imagining that importing ten million people with a very different culture will have no effect

The non-Muslim population of London has also increased over the past twenty years, so I call bullshit.

I hope you see the statistical error here

No error. You've said the Muslim population of London has increased by 1.1 million over 20 years. But the total population of London has increased by around 1.8 million in that time. So the non-Muslim population has also increased.

I look forward to your prompt and effusive apology.

At the turn of the century about one in twelve Londoners were Muslims, now it's around one in six

Sure - the percentage of Londoners who are Muslims has increased and you can have various arguments over whether that's good, bad or neutral.

But Leon's specific point was that there is less of a market for nightclubs in London now because the absolute number of Muslims living in London has increased. But the fatal flaw in that argument is that the absolute number of non-Muslims living in London has also increased. Not by as much, but it's increased.

So it doesn't explain the phenomenon Leon has apparently noticed (which, as a reminder, is that he has less fun in London now he's an old fart).

Yes but these tend to be black africans, indians and east asians none of whom are renowned for their partying lifestyle. So the basic point is correct.

I'm old enough to remember when immigrants were criticised for having too much of a partying lifestyle! Now apparently a sober hard-working attitude is their crime.
This site is starting to develop a monomaniacle obsession with immigrants and Muslims that is both disturbing and boring.

I don't think it's this site developing a monomaniacal obsession with immigrants and Muslims; it's one loudmouth boor with a tedious and somewhat pathetic need to try and hijack every thread with a bizarre cocktail of holiday snaps and tendentious attention-seeking, like the bastard lovechild of Judith Chalmers and Jeremy Clarkson but without the subtlety or finesse.

Thanks mum. I knew I could rely on you

The next GE will follow the Autumn statement which could see a further drop in NI and a timetable equalising IT and NI

October to mid November

Foxy said:

anothernick said:

williamglenn said:

Can someone point out the Tory cuts?

https://x.com/rcolvile/status/1765312942973632750

There are more people but their salaries have dropped considerably in real terms I guess. That is how the cuts materialise.

I have had some treatment at a well-known NHS hospital in London recently - the staff were good but obviously rushed off their feet, the buildings are shabby, the toilets dirty and the furniture and equipment looked at least 10 years old.

It doesn't say much for how the Tories have mismanaged the NHS. More money and staff, but wasted by poor productivity because of failure to invest in capital equipment or training.

Part of the problem in hospitals of course is the complete collapse of the GP service. My surgery accepts enquiries only by email (3-5 day timescale for reply, often missed). You can try to phone but you will be in a queue for which reaches absurd lengths - can be 20 or 30 callers. If you manage to get through you might be given a telephone appointment - probably with a nurse rather than a doctor - in a week or two. It's hopeless - for anything urgent I would just go straight to A&E and I guess most people do the same. In fact when I was at a hospital (for another reason) the other day I saw a sign pointing to "urgent GP service".

One reason for the better growth numbers: OBR forecast of net immigration raised from 245k a year to 315k a year ....

https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1765373355509633263

Faisal Islam: suspects another Fiscal Statement coming.

Casino_Royale said:

Wow. Pledge for long-term abolition of NI.

But presumably no cut in NI factored into deficit forecasts during 2024-2029 parliament, so one for Sunak's third term?

Northern_Al said:

Labour sticking to its plans. Ending non-dom status. Extending windfall profits on energy companies for another year. Using IT to drive efficencies and improve productivity in the NHS. Reducing the tax burden on workers. At least Labour delivers on its promises.

Oh, hang on.

Blooming Labour government, just letting foreigners in...

Hunt has banked the growth from higher migration assumptions (now 315k a year up from 245k a year) without acknowledging the additional costs for public services.


https://twitter.com/Samfr/status/1765374999559332141

Casino_Royale said:

Anabobazina said:

If my wife earns £60k I earn more than £80k can she now claim the full child benefit?

No, sadly not.

Okay, thought not. Cheers for the reply

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Anabobazina said:

Anabobazina said:

No rabbits, zero hats.

Interested to hear Rachel’s response.

Oh it’s SKS. Forget about that convention

Rachel Reeves is up tomorrow. They debate the Finance Bill for the rest of the week and the Shadow Chancellor leads for Labour. Sir Keir Starmer (as LotO) makes the immediate response on the day.

Will probably turn off the telly and get on with my work then. Wait for Rachel.

Flatlander said:

Nigelb said:

MattW said:

This seems really strange from the German ambassador.

Nothing to do with us, Guv.

The German ambassador to the UK has said there is "no need to apologise" for security breaches which led to a call between top army officials being leaked by Russian sources.

Miguel Berger told BBC Radio 4's Today programme one of the participants had likely dialled in via an insecure line.

As a result, Russia was able to intercept the call, he said.

In the audio, officials can be heard discussing details of alleged British operations on the ground in Ukraine.

Mr Berger hit back at criticism by former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said Germany was "pretty penetrated by Russian intelligence" and "neither secure nor reliable".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68488962

Arguing that their communications were secure because someone got hacked phoning in via his hotel WIFI isn't the most convincing thing I've ever heard.

It shouldn't matter what WiFi you are using if the data is tunneled properly.

Either their explanation is nonsense on stilts or their security really is terrible.

In cryptography, the standard for a good system is that if the enemy has

1) The machine (algorithm)
2) The keys for x amount of time
3) All the messages - present included

Any present & future messages should still be secure.

TheValiant said:

Anabobazina said:

If my wife earns £60k I earn more than £80k can she now claim the full child benefit?

She always could. Just you then pay back the full amount via self assessment.

We always told our clients - claim it!
Claim it over the year, pay it back 31st January following. Cashflow!

Fair point but as I'm okay for cash I can't be bothered with the additional admin

Pulpstar said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

288 to 38

What a waste of time

But what did the SNP call it on ?

Think it was one of the Budget resolutions that normally go through on the nod.

TOPPING said:

Leon said:

Muesli said:

OnlyLivingBoy said:

Colin said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

BlancheLivermore said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:

Re London’s nightlife. Covid definitely had a massive effect. As did Brexit to a much lesser extent

But london has also gone from a Muslim population of ~300,000 to ~1,400,000 in 20 years. Muslims don’t drink or go to clubs. Or if they go to clubs they don’t drink. So nightlife dies

You can see this is in the widespread closure of pubs in tower hamlets etc

Many may welcome this change. Especially old nimbys who hate noise. Good for them and god speed - but I don’t. If I want a quiet sober Muslim city I’ll go to Fez. London is meant to be a buzzing world city or it is nothing

Its yet another tragic consequence of an insanely cavalier immigration policy; imagining that importing ten million people with a very different culture will have no effect

The non-Muslim population of London has also increased over the past twenty years, so I call bullshit.

I hope you see the statistical error here

No error. You've said the Muslim population of London has increased by 1.1 million over 20 years. But the total population of London has increased by around 1.8 million in that time. So the non-Muslim population has also increased.

I look forward to your prompt and effusive apology.

At the turn of the century about one in twelve Londoners were Muslims, now it's around one in six

Sure - the percentage of Londoners who are Muslims has increased and you can have various arguments over whether that's good, bad or neutral.

But Leon's specific point was that there is less of a market for nightclubs in London now because the absolute number of Muslims living in London has increased. But the fatal flaw in that argument is that the absolute number of non-Muslims living in London has also increased. Not by as much, but it's increased.

So it doesn't explain the phenomenon Leon has apparently noticed (which, as a reminder, is that he has less fun in London now he's an old fart).

Yes but these tend to be black africans, indians and east asians none of whom are renowned for their partying lifestyle. So the basic point is correct.

I'm old enough to remember when immigrants were criticised for having too much of a partying lifestyle! Now apparently a sober hard-working attitude is their crime.
This site is starting to develop a monomaniacle obsession with immigrants and Muslims that is both disturbing and boring.

I don't think it's this site developing a monomaniacal obsession with immigrants and Muslims; it's one loudmouth boor with a tedious and somewhat pathetic need to try and hijack every thread with a bizarre cocktail of holiday snaps and tendentious attention-seeking, like the bastard lovechild of Judith Chalmers and Jeremy Clarkson but without the subtlety or finesse.

Thanks mum. I knew I could rely on you

You probably think that you are the belwether on immigration and how _this time_ it will herald the end of the UK as we know it.

But you are wrong. There has always been immigration into the UK and now you get the situation whereby a guy who shouts at a probable Islamist terrorist "you ain't no Muslim, bruv" is considered quintessentially British.

For someone who believes themselves so acutely attuned to new trends and oncoming paradigm shifts, in this area you seem to be stuck on the back of one of John Major's old maid's bicycles.

What the fuck is this gibberish?

Pulpstar said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

288 to 38

What a waste of time

But what did the SNP call it on ?

"Eleanor Laing, the deputy speaker, is now calling a vote on certain budget measures (taxes that come into force tonight) that have to go through as soon as the budget speech is over. Normally this is down by acclamation (government MPs shouting aye), so that the Commons can get on with listening to the opposition’s response. But some MPs have forced a division (by shouting no), and there is a vote.

It seems to have been the SNP who were forcing a division.

After the speaker ignored Commons rules in a way that led to MPs not getting a vote on their Gaza motion last month, they have been talking about using more disruptive tactics at Westminster."

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/mar/06/spring-budget-2024-jeremy-hunt-tax-cuts-conservatives-labour-uk-politics-latest-updates

Flatlander said:

Phil said:

TimS said:

Phil said:

eek said:

So vat registration is now set at £90,000. Not much

No_Offence_Alan said:

theProle said:

rottenborough said:

VAT threshold to £90K.

Another utterly pointless gesture.

That's a good idea. Cost will be virtually nothing, whilst I know a lot of small businesses/sole traders who limit their business growth to keep under the threshold.

Threshold should be same as 40% tax band threshold - too many people pretending they are "companies".

Nope threshold should be at the point you are a business rather than a hobby which is probably at about the £20-30,000 point

VAT threshold should be £0.

If you’re registered as self employed, or are running a ltd company then you should be registered for VAT. Anything else creates a distortionary threshold that warps the economy around it.

At the very lowest levels that just encourages non-compliance, which then has a knock on effect on people's compliance for income tax. You don;t want to be catching the average spare time ebay seller.

Why not? Either they’re flogging their own second hand stuff, in which case there’s no VAT to pay, or they’re actively trading & making a profit in which case they should be charging VAT like everyone else.

Other countries in Europe follow exactly this model.

(I would expect a very low threshold around £1000 to exempt the very small time outfits.)

It adds lots of annoying overheads for micro / small businesses. And gives cowboys an advantage.

Mrs Flatlander used to be registered but it wasn't worth the paperwork as she has almost no capital costs.

The flat rate did improve things a bit but the chancellor (Osborne) later accused people of abusing his own scheme by using it as intended, so she de-registered.

It all got claimed back by her (business) customers, so what was the point?

You could say that about VAT at every level...

Pulpstar said:

What's the division for ?

So smokers and vapers can blame the government for tomorrow's tax rises.

Big_G_NorthWales said:

The next GE will follow the Autumn statement which could see a further drop in NI and a timetable equalising IT and NI

October to mid November

There will need to be a good uptick in the economy to allow a further NI cut in the autumn. Thresholds still frozen btw?

Good Lady Wifey pleased with the measures for the UK film industry.

Although, not expecting luvvies to rush to Rishi's side.

kinabalu said:

Looks like Labour should have saved their Non Dom policy for the manifesto. Lessons learnt hopefully.

Also extending north sea tax leaving them with only vat on private schools with is a pittance

They are playing for November. I am convinced there will be another autumn statement, now.

kinabalu said:

Looks like Labour should have saved their Non Dom policy for the manifesto. Lessons learnt hopefully.

Nah it's fine. Plenty more to go for amongst the rich. An 8% (=NI rate) surcharge on individual investment income would be valid. Might as well do the same for pensions too once Labour have a 300 seat majority - or at least a 2% surcharge on higher rate pension income.

Plus, they can still bring forward the non-Dom abolition timetable.

MattW said:

Nigelb said:

MattW said:

This seems really strange from the German ambassador.

Nothing to do with us, Guv.

The German ambassador to the UK has said there is "no need to apologise" for security breaches which led to a call between top army officials being leaked by Russian sources.

Miguel Berger told BBC Radio 4's Today programme one of the participants had likely dialled in via an insecure line.

As a result, Russia was able to intercept the call, he said.

In the audio, officials can be heard discussing details of alleged British operations on the ground in Ukraine.

Mr Berger hit back at criticism by former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said Germany was "pretty penetrated by Russian intelligence" and "neither secure nor reliable".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68488962

Arguing that their communications were secure because someone got hacked phoning in via his hotel WIFI isn't the most convincing thing I've ever heard.

Shoulda used Whatsapp?

(I'm not up to date on it.)

They didn’t get hacked because they used hotel WiFi - the Russians were able to listen into the call because a German officer phoned into a WebEx conference call from a hotel landline. A landline is unencrypted.

https://www.politico.eu/article/german-defense-minister-blames-taurus-call-leak-officer-logging-via-insecure-hotel-line/

Not doing the German officer corps’ reputation for competence any favours in the process tbh. I’m surprised the military even has the option to use a landline turned on given that it breaks all the security guarantees.

...

Slackbladder said:

Are the SNP playing silly buggers in the house?

When are they not?

Phil said:

MattW said:

Nigelb said:

MattW said:

This seems really strange from the German ambassador.

Nothing to do with us, Guv.

The German ambassador to the UK has said there is "no need to apologise" for security breaches which led to a call between top army officials being leaked by Russian sources.

Miguel Berger told BBC Radio 4's Today programme one of the participants had likely dialled in via an insecure line.

As a result, Russia was able to intercept the call, he said.

In the audio, officials can be heard discussing details of alleged British operations on the ground in Ukraine.

Mr Berger hit back at criticism by former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said Germany was "pretty penetrated by Russian intelligence" and "neither secure nor reliable".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68488962

Arguing that their communications were secure because someone got hacked phoning in via his hotel WIFI isn't the most convincing thing I've ever heard.

Shoulda used Whatsapp?

(I'm not up to date on it.)

They didn’t get hacked because they used hotel WiFi - the Russians were able to listen into the call because a German officer phoned into a WebEx conference call from a hotel landline. A landline is unencrypted.

https://www.politico.eu/article/german-defense-minister-blames-taurus-call-leak-officer-logging-via-insecure-hotel-line/

Not doing the German officer corps’ reputation for competence any favours in the process tbh. I’m surprised the military even has the option to use a landline turned on given that it breaks all the security guarantees.

The insanity there is not having end to end encryption. Even if the landline passed through Putin's office, they shouldn't have been able to get anything.

Colin said:

TOPPING said:

Leon said:

TOPPING said:

Leon said:

Muesli said:

OnlyLivingBoy said:

Colin said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

BlancheLivermore said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:

Re London’s nightlife. Covid definitely had a massive effect. As did Brexit to a much lesser extent

But london has also gone from a Muslim population of ~300,000 to ~1,400,000 in 20 years. Muslims don’t drink or go to clubs. Or if they go to clubs they don’t drink. So nightlife dies

You can see this is in the widespread closure of pubs in tower hamlets etc

Many may welcome this change. Especially old nimbys who hate noise. Good for them and god speed - but I don’t. If I want a quiet sober Muslim city I’ll go to Fez. London is meant to be a buzzing world city or it is nothing

Its yet another tragic consequence of an insanely cavalier immigration policy; imagining that importing ten million people with a very different culture will have no effect

The non-Muslim population of London has also increased over the past twenty years, so I call bullshit.

I hope you see the statistical error here

No error. You've said the Muslim population of London has increased by 1.1 million over 20 years. But the total population of London has increased by around 1.8 million in that time. So the non-Muslim population has also increased.

I look forward to your prompt and effusive apology.

At the turn of the century about one in twelve Londoners were Muslims, now it's around one in six

Sure - the percentage of Londoners who are Muslims has increased and you can have various arguments over whether that's good, bad or neutral.

But Leon's specific point was that there is less of a market for nightclubs in London now because the absolute number of Muslims living in London has increased. But the fatal flaw in that argument is that the absolute number of non-Muslims living in London has also increased. Not by as much, but it's increased.

So it doesn't explain the phenomenon Leon has apparently noticed (which, as a reminder, is that he has less fun in London now he's an old fart).

Yes but these tend to be black africans, indians and east asians none of whom are renowned for their partying lifestyle. So the basic point is correct.

I'm old enough to remember when immigrants were criticised for having too much of a partying lifestyle! Now apparently a sober hard-working attitude is their crime.
This site is starting to develop a monomaniacle obsession with immigrants and Muslims that is both disturbing and boring.

I don't think it's this site developing a monomaniacal obsession with immigrants and Muslims; it's one loudmouth boor with a tedious and somewhat pathetic need to try and hijack every thread with a bizarre cocktail of holiday snaps and tendentious attention-seeking, like the bastard lovechild of Judith Chalmers and Jeremy Clarkson but without the subtlety or finesse.

Thanks mum. I knew I could rely on you

You probably think that you are the belwether on immigration and how _this time_ it will herald the end of the UK as we know it.

But you are wrong. There has always been immigration into the UK and now you get the situation whereby a guy who shouts at a probable Islamist terrorist "you ain't no Muslim, bruv" is considered quintessentially British.

For someone who believes themselves so acutely attuned to new trends and oncoming paradigm shifts, in this area you seem to be stuck on the back of one of John Major's old maid's bicycles.

What the fuck is this gibberish?

Let me summarise.

For someone who believes they see into the future your posts on immigration show that you are irrevocably stuck in the past.

Maybe its you who are stuck in the past. Theres an argument multi racial societies only work whilst we have prosperity.

uh-oh

Phil said:

MattW said:

Nigelb said:

MattW said:

This seems really strange from the German ambassador.

Nothing to do with us, Guv.

The German ambassador to the UK has said there is "no need to apologise" for security breaches which led to a call between top army officials being leaked by Russian sources.

Miguel Berger told BBC Radio 4's Today programme one of the participants had likely dialled in via an insecure line.

As a result, Russia was able to intercept the call, he said.

In the audio, officials can be heard discussing details of alleged British operations on the ground in Ukraine.

Mr Berger hit back at criticism by former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said Germany was "pretty penetrated by Russian intelligence" and "neither secure nor reliable".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68488962

Arguing that their communications were secure because someone got hacked phoning in via his hotel WIFI isn't the most convincing thing I've ever heard.

Shoulda used Whatsapp?

(I'm not up to date on it.)

They didn’t get hacked because they used hotel WiFi - the Russians were able to listen into the call because a German officer phoned into a WebEx conference call from a hotel landline. A landline is unencrypted.

https://www.politico.eu/article/german-defense-minister-blames-taurus-call-leak-officer-logging-via-insecure-hotel-line/

Not doing the German officer corps’ reputation for competence any favours in the process tbh. I’m surprised the military even has the option to use a landline turned on given that it breaks all the security guarantees.

A voice call? Via a hotel switchboard? That's so bad it almost looks deliberate.

Colin said:

SouthamObserver said:

One reason for the better growth numbers: OBR forecast of net immigration raised from 245k a year to 315k a year ....

https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1765373355509633263

We are in a bind. Our economy depends on mass immigration but it costs the tories votes in their core supporters.

Build. More. Houses.

williamglenn said:

TOPPING said:

Leon said:

TOPPING said:

Leon said:

Muesli said:

OnlyLivingBoy said:

Colin said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

BlancheLivermore said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:

Re London’s nightlife. Covid definitely had a massive effect. As did Brexit to a much lesser extent

But london has also gone from a Muslim population of ~300,000 to ~1,400,000 in 20 years. Muslims don’t drink or go to clubs. Or if they go to clubs they don’t drink. So nightlife dies

You can see this is in the widespread closure of pubs in tower hamlets etc

Many may welcome this change. Especially old nimbys who hate noise. Good for them and god speed - but I don’t. If I want a quiet sober Muslim city I’ll go to Fez. London is meant to be a buzzing world city or it is nothing

Its yet another tragic consequence of an insanely cavalier immigration policy; imagining that importing ten million people with a very different culture will have no effect

The non-Muslim population of London has also increased over the past twenty years, so I call bullshit.

I hope you see the statistical error here

No error. You've said the Muslim population of London has increased by 1.1 million over 20 years. But the total population of London has increased by around 1.8 million in that time. So the non-Muslim population has also increased.

I look forward to your prompt and effusive apology.

At the turn of the century about one in twelve Londoners were Muslims, now it's around one in six

Sure - the percentage of Londoners who are Muslims has increased and you can have various arguments over whether that's good, bad or neutral.

But Leon's specific point was that there is less of a market for nightclubs in London now because the absolute number of Muslims living in London has increased. But the fatal flaw in that argument is that the absolute number of non-Muslims living in London has also increased. Not by as much, but it's increased.

So it doesn't explain the phenomenon Leon has apparently noticed (which, as a reminder, is that he has less fun in London now he's an old fart).

Yes but these tend to be black africans, indians and east asians none of whom are renowned for their partying lifestyle. So the basic point is correct.

I'm old enough to remember when immigrants were criticised for having too much of a partying lifestyle! Now apparently a sober hard-working attitude is their crime.
This site is starting to develop a monomaniacle obsession with immigrants and Muslims that is both disturbing and boring.

I don't think it's this site developing a monomaniacal obsession with immigrants and Muslims; it's one loudmouth boor with a tedious and somewhat pathetic need to try and hijack every thread with a bizarre cocktail of holiday snaps and tendentious attention-seeking, like the bastard lovechild of Judith Chalmers and Jeremy Clarkson but without the subtlety or finesse.

Thanks mum. I knew I could rely on you

You probably think that you are the belwether on immigration and how _this time_ it will herald the end of the UK as we know it.

But you are wrong. There has always been immigration into the UK and now you get the situation whereby a guy who shouts at a probable Islamist terrorist "you ain't no Muslim, bruv" is considered quintessentially British.

For someone who believes themselves so acutely attuned to new trends and oncoming paradigm shifts, in this area you seem to be stuck on the back of one of John Major's old maid's bicycles.

What the fuck is this gibberish?

Let me summarise.

For someone who believes they see into the future your posts on immigration show that you are irrevocably stuck in the past.

Could the same not be said about your triumphalism about integration? Lauding the person who said "you ain't no Muslim, bruv" is peak David Cameron.

Apart from his repeating the phrase being total cringe it is a good thing that he mentioned it. Like Rishi coming onto the tellybox saying we must all be nice to each other.

These are important, and necessarily general nudges that our PMs are in office to make.

As for "triumphalism of integration" I'm not sure what that means. If it means anything.

Flatlander said:

Phil said:

MattW said:

Nigelb said:

MattW said:

This seems really strange from the German ambassador.

Nothing to do with us, Guv.

The German ambassador to the UK has said there is "no need to apologise" for security breaches which led to a call between top army officials being leaked by Russian sources.

Miguel Berger told BBC Radio 4's Today programme one of the participants had likely dialled in via an insecure line.

As a result, Russia was able to intercept the call, he said.

In the audio, officials can be heard discussing details of alleged British operations on the ground in Ukraine.

Mr Berger hit back at criticism by former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said Germany was "pretty penetrated by Russian intelligence" and "neither secure nor reliable".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68488962

Arguing that their communications were secure because someone got hacked phoning in via his hotel WIFI isn't the most convincing thing I've ever heard.

Shoulda used Whatsapp?

(I'm not up to date on it.)

They didn’t get hacked because they used hotel WiFi - the Russians were able to listen into the call because a German officer phoned into a WebEx conference call from a hotel landline. A landline is unencrypted.

https://www.politico.eu/article/german-defense-minister-blames-taurus-call-leak-officer-logging-via-insecure-hotel-line/

Not doing the German officer corps’ reputation for competence any favours in the process tbh. I’m surprised the military even has the option to use a landline turned on given that it breaks all the security guarantees.

A voice call? Via a hotel switchboard? That's so bad it almost looks deliberate.

Apparently! Nuts isn’t it.

MarqueeMark said:

Good Lady Wifey pleased with the measures for the UK film industry.

Although, not expecting luvvies to rush to Rishi's side.

I don't know.

My son fresh with his MA in Digital Video Journalism from Cardiff University School of Journalism agrees with her. I suspect he is diametrically opposite both in terms of earnings and political leaning, but he liked that element of the budget nonetheless.

viewcode said:

Alanbrooke said:

kinabalu said:

Looks like Labour should have saved their Non Dom policy for the manifesto. Lessons learnt hopefully.

If thats the only thing they have as a policy they shouldnt bother standing

Oh I'm sure they have policies, and I'm sure they'll tell us and expect us to be impressed. But they will differ from the Blues in detail, not substance.

It's just 5 more years of continuity Sunak.

TOPPING said:

Leon said:

TOPPING said:

Leon said:

Muesli said:

OnlyLivingBoy said:

Colin said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

BlancheLivermore said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:

SirNorfolkPassmore said:

Leon said:

Re London’s nightlife. Covid definitely had a massive effect. As did Brexit to a much lesser extent

But london has also gone from a Muslim population of ~300,000 to ~1,400,000 in 20 years. Muslims don’t drink or go to clubs. Or if they go to clubs they don’t drink. So nightlife dies

You can see this is in the widespread closure of pubs in tower hamlets etc

Many may welcome this change. Especially old nimbys who hate noise. Good for them and god speed - but I don’t. If I want a quiet sober Muslim city I’ll go to Fez. London is meant to be a buzzing world city or it is nothing

Its yet another tragic consequence of an insanely cavalier immigration policy; imagining that importing ten million people with a very different culture will have no effect

The non-Muslim population of London has also increased over the past twenty years, so I call bullshit.

I hope you see the statistical error here

No error. You've said the Muslim population of London has increased by 1.1 million over 20 years. But the total population of London has increased by around 1.8 million in that time. So the non-Muslim population has also increased.

I look forward to your prompt and effusive apology.

At the turn of the century about one in twelve Londoners were Muslims, now it's around one in six

Sure - the percentage of Londoners who are Muslims has increased and you can have various arguments over whether that's good, bad or neutral.

But Leon's specific point was that there is less of a market for nightclubs in London now because the absolute number of Muslims living in London has increased. But the fatal flaw in that argument is that the absolute number of non-Muslims living in London has also increased. Not by as much, but it's increased.

So it doesn't explain the phenomenon Leon has apparently noticed (which, as a reminder, is that he has less fun in London now he's an old fart).

Yes but these tend to be black africans, indians and east asians none of whom are renowned for their partying lifestyle. So the basic point is correct.

I'm old enough to remember when immigrants were criticised for having too much of a partying lifestyle! Now apparently a sober hard-working attitude is their crime.
This site is starting to develop a monomaniacle obsession with immigrants and Muslims that is both disturbing and boring.

I don't think it's this site developing a monomaniacal obsession with immigrants and Muslims; it's one loudmouth boor with a tedious and somewhat pathetic need to try and hijack every thread with a bizarre cocktail of holiday snaps and tendentious attention-seeking, like the bastard lovechild of Judith Chalmers and Jeremy Clarkson but without the subtlety or finesse.

Thanks mum. I knew I could rely on you

You probably think that you are the belwether on immigration and how _this time_ it will herald the end of the UK as we know it.

But you are wrong. There has always been immigration into the UK and now you get the situation whereby a guy who shouts at a probable Islamist terrorist "you ain't no Muslim, bruv" is considered quintessentially British.

For someone who believes themselves so acutely attuned to new trends and oncoming paradigm shifts, in this area you seem to be stuck on the back of one of John Major's old maid's bicycles.

What the fuck is this gibberish?

Let me summarise.

For someone who believes they see into the future your posts on immigration show that you are irrevocably stuck in the past.

Your opinions are neither interesting nor novel nor amusingly expressed. But hey. There’s room for all on PB

viewcode said:

Mexicanpete said:

...My son fresh with his MA in Digital Video Journalism from Cardiff University School of Journalism....

Is he a YouTuber?

Pembrokeshire Early?