Former Labour councillor defects to Reform – politicalbetting.com

rottenborough said:

Nottingham city council bankrupt.

Now Notts police go into special measures.



Notts TV
@Notts_TV
Nottinghamshire Police is now in Special measures, after an announcement this morning from the policing watchdog. His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services has told the force to "urgently produce an improvement plan" and say big changes must be made by September.

https://twitter.com/Notts_TV/status/1767239700647964764

Any reason? The only recent big crime story I can remember from Nottingham is the murders of Grace and Barnaby, and Ian Coates, although Nottingham did use to have a lot of gun crime.

deleted

Casino_Royale said:

Putin has a tiny willy and smells of wee.

That's me.

nico679 said:

williamglenn said:

Nigelb said:

Trump will not give a penny to Ukraine - Hungary PM Orban
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68533351

Note that it doesn't say he wouldn't give them weapons. Trump favours using lend-lease to finance it.

You seriously think Trump will even go that far. Putin will be celebrating if Trump is elected . There is no middle ground here , you either support Trump or Ukraine . You can’t do both .

I think it's very unlikely that Trump will continue the current policy of giving Ukraine just enough support to keep the war smouldering - he will change the policy. He'll want to be seen to have 'sorted it out', rather than continuing the conflict because a continuation is perceived to be in the USA's geostrategic interests.

I do think it's possible that his re-election could be a net good for Ukraine though, because he's an unknown quantity in the negotiations. Ukraine faces a real issue in negotiating any kind of peace with Russia because Russia has the upper hand and Biden can't really threaten to give Ukraine anything that menaces the Russians if they don't co-operate, because politically he's prevented from doing so. Trump can make those sorts of threats, and perhaps be believed, because much as I do think he admires Putin, he could also turn on him easily - this is Trump; he doesn't do loyalty.

I don't 'want' Russia to gain from its invasion, but I do want people to stop dying, Ukraine to stop being turned into the Somme, and for gas to fall in price. Therefore, I want the smouldering war to be quenched, a new iron curtain wherever it goes, and for the rest of Ukraine to be garrisoned heavily as a protection against any future Russian territorial ambitions. So I prefer what I perceive to be Trump's solution, thab what I perceive to be Biden's.

Casino_Royale said:

Putin has a tiny willy and smells of wee.

Think how many wars and how much strife would have been avoided if nature had decreed that all men were going to be born "equal" in the trouser department.

No need for dictators to have to make up for their inadequacies with violence which means we'd possible have avoided Napoleon, Hitler, Putin, etc...

LostPassword said:

state_go_away said:

Maybe I am becoming thick in my old age but why is it a seemingly massive deal that Princess Katherine edited a photo? Its the main headline on the BBC not just the Express . Anyone else find this a bit unnerving that they are losing their finger on the pulse

Ten years ago the Royal Family had QEII and DoE, all four of QEII's children, William and Harry as active royals, plus some of their spouses, and the other ones that everyone forgets, the Gloucester's.

Now, KCIII has cancer, Andrew is disgraced, Harry estranged, William hiding, the Gloucester's winding down. Only Anne and Edward are doing the work of being seen.

Kate hasn't been seen for ages and then the photo that is released is a fake. People are losing their heads because the Royal family need to be seen, and right now they seem to be missing.

I think it was always going to be a bumpy time after QEII long reign.

Obviously it's also very bad luck that King Charles has developed cancer just months into his reign and Princess Catherine has become unwell at the same time.

By not being honest and transparent about Kate, RF have definitely helped make things far worse than they needed to be, though.

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

GIN1138 said:

Casino_Royale said:

Putin has a tiny willy and smells of wee.

Think how many wars and how much strife would have been avoided if nature had decreed that all men were going to be born "equal" in the trouser department.

No need for dictators to have to make up for their inadequacies with violence which means we'd possible have avoided Napoleon, Hitler, Putin, etc...

Recently heard eminent British historian (via an old clip on YouTube) say that, based on her correspondence - not sure with who(m) - that Napoleon's 2nd Empress (at least that HE wed) Marie Louise, was MOST impressed with Boney's (ahem) sexual prowess.

And another Marie, namely Marie Walewska, was another satisfied customer (except where Poland was concerned) and even visited Napoleon on Elba just to get a bit more sugar-sugar from the Corsican Ogre.

Well as the old saying goes, it's not what you've got but how you use it, that counts!

viewcode said:

bondegezou said:

I first had them at a breakfast on a balcony overlooking Bangkok, at the house of the King's personal secretary, with a man so famous that his name had become a euphemism for "condom".

What? Mr Rubber Johnny?

M. Lettre?

state_go_away said:

Maybe I am becoming thick in my old age but why is it a seemingly massive deal that Princess Katherine edited a photo? Its the main headline on the BBC not just the Express . Anyone else find this a bit unnerving that they are losing their finger on the pulse

I think a good chunk of it is anger from the U.K. papers about the restrictions on reporting. Both William, Harry and their wives have used the law against media intrusion. In addition, as I understand it, it has been made clear that if U.K. papers use paparazzi long lens shots etc, the Royal family would blacklist the paper in question. No cooperation, no press conference invites.

carnforth said:

Apropos of nothing, the Independent have run a profile of a young female aristocrat:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/sarah-rose-hanbury-duchess-cholmondeley-william-kate-b2510472.html

Probably just feeding off twitter, of course.

Evening all

Plenty to chew over in the past 24 hours or so but I'll start with Portugal which produced a surprising result.

The surprise wasn't the fall of the Socialists but the mediocre performance of the Social Democrats and the strong polling by Chega (doing a bit better than VOX in Spain).

With the four overseas seats to be declared, the Democratic Alliance, led by Montenegro's Social Democrats, leads the Socialists 79-77 (needing the three Madeira seats to get them over the line). Chega went from 7% to 18% and gained 36 seats (the Socialists lost 43 and the Democratic Alliance gained just two).

Not much change among the minor parties with the Greens gaining three and the Communists losing two.

Interesting to see the Algarve or Faro District, was the only one won by Chega (albeit narrowly).

Chega's 48 seats mean they can form a majority with either the Democratic Alliance or the Socialists but both the two major party blocs have refused to go into coalition with Ventura and his party.

I suspect Montenegro will be invited to form a Government - he might be able to cut a deal with Liberal Initiative to get their eight seats but basically without Chega the only majority coalition would be a "grand" coalition of Socialists and Democratic Alliance and that won't happen.

I thought the Socialists were quick overnight to hand the mess over to Montenegro - could be a shrewd move.

stodge said:

Evening all

Plenty to chew over in the past 24 hours or so but I'll start with Portugal which produced a surprising result.

The surprise wasn't the fall of the Socialists but the mediocre performance of the Social Democrats and the strong polling by Chega (doing a bit better than VOX in Spain).

With the four overseas seats to be declared, the Democratic Alliance, led by Montenegro's Social Democrats, leads the Socialists 79-77 (needing the three Madeira seats to get them over the line). Chega went from 7% to 18% and gained 36 seats (the Socialists lost 43 and the Democratic Alliance gained just two).

Not much change among the minor parties with the Greens gaining three and the Communists losing two.

Interesting to see the Algarve or Faro District, was the only one won by Chega (albeit narrowly).

Chega's 48 seats mean they can form a majority with either the Democratic Alliance or the Socialists but both the two major party blocs have refused to go into coalition with Ventura and his party.

I suspect Montenegro will be invited to form a Government - he might be able to cut a deal with Liberal Initiative to get their eight seats but basically without Chega the only majority coalition would be a "grand" coalition of Socialists and Democratic Alliance and that won't happen.

I thought the Socialists were quick overnight to hand the mess over to Montenegro - could be a shrewd move.

It's not widely known, but the Portuguese economy was already on its knees before the financial crisis: they had a big bust in, IIRC 2001, related to the dot com boom. So it's more than 20 years of pain now.

Many portuguese have moved - often to France and the UK. At the same time, city property prices have gone nuts. In Lisbon now, a one bed flat can cost more in rent than an entire minimum wage income.

GIN1138 said:

LostPassword said:

state_go_away said:

Maybe I am becoming thick in my old age but why is it a seemingly massive deal that Princess Katherine edited a photo? Its the main headline on the BBC not just the Express . Anyone else find this a bit unnerving that they are losing their finger on the pulse

Ten years ago the Royal Family had QEII and DoE, all four of QEII's children, William and Harry as active royals, plus some of their spouses, and the other ones that everyone forgets, the Gloucester's.

Now, KCIII has cancer, Andrew is disgraced, Harry estranged, William hiding, the Gloucester's winding down. Only Anne and Edward are doing the work of being seen.

Kate hasn't been seen for ages and then the photo that is released is a fake. People are losing their heads because the Royal family need to be seen, and right now they seem to be missing.

I think it was always going to be a bumpy time after QEII long reign.

Obviously it's also very bad luck that King Charles has developed cancer just months into his reign and Princess Catherine has become unwell at the same time.

By not being honest and transparent about Kate, RF have definitely helped make things far worse than they needed to be, though.

Well known people get ill all the time - the great and good, celebrities, people noted in their field. Some are not so famous or only periodically in the public eye and are able to say nothing, some say nothing and there is a rumour mill (Pete Kay's health springs to mind), some are ill in the public eye. But the Royal way of dealing with it seems increasingly archaic - it would seem better to give a basic diagnosis, an idea of treatment, and then update periodically if it is long term. Not the gory details, just the basics I mean unless William is engaging in domestic abuse, which would be a tricky explanation.

There will still be a rumour mill, but it would be much more bounded by established fact if the Royals decided to furnish the basics as ill MPs generally do.

stodge said:

Evening all

Plenty to chew over in the past 24 hours or so but I'll start with Portugal which produced a surprising result.

The surprise wasn't the fall of the Socialists but the mediocre performance of the Social Democrats and the strong polling by Chega (doing a bit better than VOX in Spain).

With the four overseas seats to be declared, the Democratic Alliance, led by Montenegro's Social Democrats, leads the Socialists 79-77 (needing the three Madeira seats to get them over the line). Chega went from 7% to 18% and gained 36 seats (the Socialists lost 43 and the Democratic Alliance gained just two).

Not much change among the minor parties with the Greens gaining three and the Communists losing two.

Interesting to see the Algarve or Faro District, was the only one won by Chega (albeit narrowly).

Chega's 48 seats mean they can form a majority with either the Democratic Alliance or the Socialists but both the two major party blocs have refused to go into coalition with Ventura and his party.

I suspect Montenegro will be invited to form a Government - he might be able to cut a deal with Liberal Initiative to get their eight seats but basically without Chega the only majority coalition would be a "grand" coalition of Socialists and Democratic Alliance and that won't happen.

I thought the Socialists were quick overnight to hand the mess over to Montenegro - could be a shrewd move.

The algarve is the area of Portugal most impacted by illegal migrants, legal migrants, street crime, etc (along with Lisbon)

It is not surprising the far right now does well there

Cf marine le pen in Provence and languedoc

GIN1138 said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

GIN1138 said:

Casino_Royale said:

Putin has a tiny willy and smells of wee.

Think how many wars and how much strife would have been avoided if nature had decreed that all men were going to be born "equal" in the trouser department.

No need for dictators to have to make up for their inadequacies with violence which means we'd possible have avoided Napoleon, Hitler, Putin, etc...

Recently heard eminent British historian (via an old clip on YouTube) say that, based on her correspondence - not sure with who(m) - that Napoleon's 2nd Empress (at least that HE wed) Marie Louise, was MOST impressed with Boney's (ahem) sexual prowess.

And another Marie, namely Marie Walewska, was another satisfied customer (except where Poland was concerned) and even visited Napoleon on Elba just to get a bit more sugar-sugar from the Corsican Ogre.

Well as the old saying goes, it's not what you've got but how you use it, that counts!

"It ain't the meat, it's the motion" - Empress Josephine

Luckyguy1983 said:

nico679 said:

williamglenn said:

Nigelb said:

Trump will not give a penny to Ukraine - Hungary PM Orban
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68533351

Note that it doesn't say he wouldn't give them weapons. Trump favours using lend-lease to finance it.

You seriously think Trump will even go that far. Putin will be celebrating if Trump is elected . There is no middle ground here , you either support Trump or Ukraine . You can’t do both .

I think it's very unlikely that Trump will continue the current policy of giving Ukraine just enough support to keep the war smouldering - he will change the policy. He'll want to be seen to have 'sorted it out', rather than continuing the conflict because a continuation is perceived to be in the USA's geostrategic interests.

I do think it's possible that his re-election could be a net good for Ukraine though, because he's an unknown quantity in the negotiations. Ukraine faces a real issue in negotiating any kind of peace with Russia because Russia has the upper hand and Biden can't really threaten to give Ukraine anything that menaces the Russians if they don't co-operate, because politically he's prevented from doing so. Trump can make those sorts of threats, and perhaps be believed, because much as I do think he admires Putin, he could also turn on him easily - this is Trump; he doesn't do loyalty.

I don't 'want' Russia to gain from its invasion, but I do want people to stop dying, Ukraine to stop being turned into the Somme, and for gas to fall in price. Therefore, I want the smouldering war to be quenched, a new iron curtain wherever it goes, and for the rest of Ukraine to be garrisoned heavily as a protection against any future Russian territorial ambitions. So I prefer what I perceive to be Trump's solution, thab what I perceive to be Biden's.

I guess that Trump will try and do some kind of 'deal', it might work for a short period. But long term the problem with Russia is going to persist. Unfortunately, I don't think Eastern Europe can really be garrisoned, the war will just start up somewhere else again. It will be like whack a mole for the indefinite future.

Malmesbury said:

A

Casino_Royale said:

Putin has a tiny willy and smells of wee.

You shouldn’t be rude about this noble, extra alpha male

He was carrying a fair bit of timber, even then.

Leon said:

stodge said:

Evening all

Plenty to chew over in the past 24 hours or so but I'll start with Portugal which produced a surprising result.

The surprise wasn't the fall of the Socialists but the mediocre performance of the Social Democrats and the strong polling by Chega (doing a bit better than VOX in Spain).

With the four overseas seats to be declared, the Democratic Alliance, led by Montenegro's Social Democrats, leads the Socialists 79-77 (needing the three Madeira seats to get them over the line). Chega went from 7% to 18% and gained 36 seats (the Socialists lost 43 and the Democratic Alliance gained just two).

Not much change among the minor parties with the Greens gaining three and the Communists losing two.

Interesting to see the Algarve or Faro District, was the only one won by Chega (albeit narrowly).

Chega's 48 seats mean they can form a majority with either the Democratic Alliance or the Socialists but both the two major party blocs have refused to go into coalition with Ventura and his party.

I suspect Montenegro will be invited to form a Government - he might be able to cut a deal with Liberal Initiative to get their eight seats but basically without Chega the only majority coalition would be a "grand" coalition of Socialists and Democratic Alliance and that won't happen.

I thought the Socialists were quick overnight to hand the mess over to Montenegro - could be a shrewd move.

The algarve is the area of Portugal most impacted by illegal migrants, legal migrants, street crime, etc (along with Lisbon)

It is not surprising the far right now does well there

Cf marine le pen in Provence and languedoc

MY experience of the Algarve is it took a big hit after 2008 when the Irish golfers stopped coming. The British always had a strong presence there - now Germans, Russians and Swedes. I get the point about illegal migrants as well as the legal ones. I strongly suspect Reform's strongest results here will be in southern and eastern coastal towns (of which Ashfield isn't one unless theories about the timing and extent of climate change prove to be somewhat inaccurate).

TimS said:

carnforth said:

stodge said:

Evening all

Plenty to chew over in the past 24 hours or so but I'll start with Portugal which produced a surprising result.

The surprise wasn't the fall of the Socialists but the mediocre performance of the Social Democrats and the strong polling by Chega (doing a bit better than VOX in Spain).

With the four overseas seats to be declared, the Democratic Alliance, led by Montenegro's Social Democrats, leads the Socialists 79-77 (needing the three Madeira seats to get them over the line). Chega went from 7% to 18% and gained 36 seats (the Socialists lost 43 and the Democratic Alliance gained just two).

Not much change among the minor parties with the Greens gaining three and the Communists losing two.

Interesting to see the Algarve or Faro District, was the only one won by Chega (albeit narrowly).

Chega's 48 seats mean they can form a majority with either the Democratic Alliance or the Socialists but both the two major party blocs have refused to go into coalition with Ventura and his party.

I suspect Montenegro will be invited to form a Government - he might be able to cut a deal with Liberal Initiative to get their eight seats but basically without Chega the only majority coalition would be a "grand" coalition of Socialists and Democratic Alliance and that won't happen.

I thought the Socialists were quick overnight to hand the mess over to Montenegro - could be a shrewd move.

It's not widely known, but the Portuguese economy was already on its knees before the financial crisis: they had a big bust in, IIRC 2001, related to the dot com boom. So it's more than 20 years of pain now.

Many portuguese have moved - often to France and the UK. At the same time, city property prices have gone nuts. In Lisbon now, a one bed flat can cost more in rent than an entire minimum wage income.

A strangely forgotten country, Portugal, outside of tourism.

It has a population of 10 million and GDP of 376 billion. That’s very similar on both metrics to Hungary or Czechia, and similar population to Sweden (though poorer). Much more people than Austria, Serbia, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, all of the Baltics combined, Bulgaria

It has former colonies and people speaking its language on 3 continents, and strategically positioned oceanic islands in the Atlantic… yet is geopolitically invisible.

It’s always been peripheral - literally

It was the accidentally enormous empire which changed that for a while

It’s remarkable it survives at all. Several times it has nearly been absorbed into Spain

Leon said:

carnforth said:

stodge said:

Evening all

Plenty to chew over in the past 24 hours or so but I'll start with Portugal which produced a surprising result.

The surprise wasn't the fall of the Socialists but the mediocre performance of the Social Democrats and the strong polling by Chega (doing a bit better than VOX in Spain).

With the four overseas seats to be declared, the Democratic Alliance, led by Montenegro's Social Democrats, leads the Socialists 79-77 (needing the three Madeira seats to get them over the line). Chega went from 7% to 18% and gained 36 seats (the Socialists lost 43 and the Democratic Alliance gained just two).

Not much change among the minor parties with the Greens gaining three and the Communists losing two.

Interesting to see the Algarve or Faro District, was the only one won by Chega (albeit narrowly).

Chega's 48 seats mean they can form a majority with either the Democratic Alliance or the Socialists but both the two major party blocs have refused to go into coalition with Ventura and his party.

I suspect Montenegro will be invited to form a Government - he might be able to cut a deal with Liberal Initiative to get their eight seats but basically without Chega the only majority coalition would be a "grand" coalition of Socialists and Democratic Alliance and that won't happen.

I thought the Socialists were quick overnight to hand the mess over to Montenegro - could be a shrewd move.

It's not widely known, but the Portuguese economy was already on its knees before the financial crisis: they had a big bust in, IIRC 2001, related to the dot com boom. So it's more than 20 years of pain now.

Many portuguese have moved - often to France and the UK. At the same time, city property prices have gone nuts. In Lisbon now, a one bed flat can cost more in rent than an entire minimum wage income.

That’s because the Portuguese government offered EU passports to anyone willing to buy a house there, and now has a pretty generous digital nomad scheme

Portugal is a rather nice place to live if you don’t mind a bit of tedium and humdrum food

Great climate, some wild landscapes, genuinely untouched coastline, lovely wines, pleasant towns and cities, low crime

For an American on an American income it is absolute paradise compared to the dystopia of many modern American cities

I spent two months in the winter during Covid in a cheap hotel at Monte Estoril (one very short train ride from Cascais) and it was delightful.

Hilarious gossip in the lobby. A northern Iraqi grandmother threatening, in perfect English, to disown her grandson because he'd taken up with a Portuguese boy. It seemed clear that if it had been an Iraqi boy - especially a Northern Iraqi boy - the transgression would have been forgiven.

stodge said:

I was fascinated by Lee Anderson's comment in his defection (or similar) speech this morning:

"I want my country back".

What was his country? When did it exist? Could he describe it to me or will it end up a romanticised idyll like John Major's notions of the local vicar cycling to the village church on a Sunday morning?

In any case, where does he get off demanding I live in the same country as him? I might not want to - my country is probably very different to his (it may not be). The truth is societies and countries are constantly evolving and changing - as the song has it "don't look back, you can never look back".

Echoing MAGA-maniac, nativists-gone-nuts rhetoric from USA.

state_go_away said:

Maybe I am becoming thick in my old age but why is it a seemingly massive deal that Princess Katherine edited a photo? Its the main headline on the BBC not just the Express . Anyone else find this a bit unnerving that they are losing their finger on the pulse

It's only a matter of time before Catherine Replacement Theory begins to gain traction amongst the internet conspiracist community. It may already have started.

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

stodge said:

I was fascinated by Lee Anderson's comment in his defection (or similar) speech this morning:

"I want my country back".

What was his country? When did it exist? Could he describe it to me or will it end up a romanticised idyll like John Major's notions of the local vicar cycling to the village church on a Sunday morning?

In any case, where does he get off demanding I live in the same country as him? I might not want to - my country is probably very different to his (it may not be). The truth is societies and countries are constantly evolving and changing - as the song has it "don't look back, you can never look back".

Echoing MAGA-maniac, nativists-gone-nuts rhetoric from USA.

This is where AR headsets could help in future, if they can be made more comfortable and ergonomic.

If you’re like our Lee you get to tune your headset so it screens out people with funny foreign accents or boys holding hands with each other. Or if you’re far left you can apply an empty shelves filter to your trips to the supermarket.

Purge

GIN1138 said:

Hmmm...

Politics UK
@PolitlcsUK
🚨 NEW: A top Tory close to No 10 has told parliamentary colleagues that Rishi Sunak will call an election if 10 Tory MPs defect to Reform UK

[
@joncraig
]

That’s quite reassuring for the 6 or 7 who were planning to do so. They should be safe.

If they suspect 10 Tories are going to defect wouldn't it be better to call the election before the defections, that way Reform are denied the publicity?

carnforth said:

Carnyx said:

carnforth said:

Apropos of nothing, the Independent have run a profile of a young female aristocrat:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/sarah-rose-hanbury-duchess-cholmondeley-william-kate-b2510472.html

A surname that, unfortunately, I can never take seriously since learning as a small boy that Gerald Durrell had a chimp called Cholmondeley St John, and having my mother explain the pronunciation.

It's silly, but not as silly as Featherstonehaugh.

Talliaferro.
Menzies.

viewcode said:

carnforth said:

Carnyx said:

carnforth said:

Apropos of nothing, the Independent have run a profile of a young female aristocrat:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/sarah-rose-hanbury-duchess-cholmondeley-william-kate-b2510472.html

A surname that, unfortunately, I can never take seriously since learning as a small boy that Gerald Durrell had a chimp called Cholmondeley St John, and having my mother explain the pronunciation.

It's silly, but not as silly as Featherstonehaugh.

Talliaferro.
Menzies.

Didn't know Talliaferro!

DecrepiterJohnL said:

LostPassword said:

numbertwelve said:

LostPassword said:

state_go_away said:

Maybe I am becoming thick in my old age but why is it a seemingly massive deal that Princess Katherine edited a photo? Its the main headline on the BBC not just the Express . Anyone else find this a bit unnerving that they are losing their finger on the pulse

Ten years ago the Royal Family had QEII and DoE, all four of QEII's children, William and Harry as active royals, plus some of their spouses, and the other ones that everyone forgets, the Gloucester's.

Now, KCIII has cancer, Andrew is disgraced, Harry estranged, William hiding, the Gloucester's winding down. Only Anne and Edward are doing the work of being seen.

Kate hasn't been seen for ages and then the photo that is released is a fake. People are losing their heads because the Royal family need to be seen, and right now they seem to be missing.

Can’t they get Andrew and Fergie’s kids in to do some of the hospital openings etc, the ones of crazy wedding hat fame? I get that they have morally questionable parents but it’s not their fault, and they seem decent enough?

They could, but it would go against the plan to shrink the size of the Royal Family.

A plan Charles probably formulated back in 1972 and has not revised since, despite the Royal Family having recently shrunk organically as documented earlier in this thread.

Has it shrunk organically?

Yes the previous generation have gone, but there's another generation growing up currently who presumably will get involved when they're old enough: George, Charlotte etc

Is that just not how life goes?

williamglenn said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Putinsts are on same page, or rather line of BS, re: UKR.

Trump wants to help Ukraine out, as Al Capone helped out Chicago.

EXCEPT Capone did NOT support Stalin annexing Chicago, the way Trump supports Putin annexing Ukraine.

Do you condemn the way the US took advantage of Britain during WW2?

Roosevelt had to battle right wing isolationists to intervene at all.
How little has changed.

GIN1138 said:

Hmmm...

Politics UK
@PolitlcsUK
🚨 NEW: A top Tory close to No 10 has told parliamentary colleagues that Rishi Sunak will call an election if 10 Tory MPs defect to Reform UK

[
@joncraig
]

Talk about striking from a point of maximum strength weakness.

Nigelb said:

williamglenn said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Putinsts are on same page, or rather line of BS, re: UKR.

Trump wants to help Ukraine out, as Al Capone helped out Chicago.

EXCEPT Capone did NOT support Stalin annexing Chicago, the way Trump supports Putin annexing Ukraine.

Do you condemn the way the US took advantage of Britain during WW2?

Roosevelt had to battle right wing isolationists to intervene at all.
How little has changed.

There has always been a substantial isolationist streak in the US based upon the ludicrous belief that being bordered by two oceans mean they don't have to worry about things outside of their country. You would think that after Covid-19 even the dopiest MAGA-hatted Republicans would realise that the world is more interconnected than ever before, but apparently not. God help us all if Trump is re-elected.

LostPassword said:

GIN1138 said:

If they suspect 10 Tories are going to defect wouldn't it be better to call the election before the defections, that way Reform are denied the publicity?

Or they might defect on day two of the election campaign and really create pandemonium.

In such a scenario, there would end up being a lot of people (with various coloured rosettes) who ended up becoming MPs when the didn't really expect it.

viewcode said:

carnforth said:

Carnyx said:

carnforth said:

Apropos of nothing, the Independent have run a profile of a young female aristocrat:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/sarah-rose-hanbury-duchess-cholmondeley-william-kate-b2510472.html

A surname that, unfortunately, I can never take seriously since learning as a small boy that Gerald Durrell had a chimp called Cholmondeley St John, and having my mother explain the pronunciation.

It's silly, but not as silly as Featherstonehaugh.

Talliaferro.
Menzies.

If Menz-zeez want it pronounced Ming-geez they should spell it that way.

stodge said:

I was fascinated by Lee Anderson's comment in his defection (or similar) speech this morning:

"I want my country back".

What was his country? When did it exist? Could he describe it to me or will it end up a romanticised idyll like John Major's notions of the local vicar cycling to the village church on a Sunday morning?

In any case, where does he get off demanding I live in the same country as him? I might not want to - my country is probably very different to his (it may not be). The truth is societies and countries are constantly evolving and changing - as the song has it "don't look back, you can never look back".

There's a wonderful line in a Show of Hands song, about the Union Jack, along the lines of "it's my flag too, and I want it back".

We're all different, and no one person's vision of the country is "definitive", so we have to learn to live together.

Ratters said:

GIN1138 said:

Hmmm...

Politics UK
@PolitlcsUK
🚨 NEW: A top Tory close to No 10 has told parliamentary colleagues that Rishi Sunak will call an election if 10 Tory MPs defect to Reform UK

[
@joncraig
]

Talk about striking from a point of maximum strength weakness.

So all we need is 10 Tory MPs to join Reform and this deathbed Government will be put out of its misery...

Alphabet_Soup said:

viewcode said:

carnforth said:

Carnyx said:

carnforth said:

Apropos of nothing, the Independent have run a profile of a young female aristocrat:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/sarah-rose-hanbury-duchess-cholmondeley-william-kate-b2510472.html

A surname that, unfortunately, I can never take seriously since learning as a small boy that Gerald Durrell had a chimp called Cholmondeley St John, and having my mother explain the pronunciation.

It's silly, but not as silly as Featherstonehaugh.

Talliaferro.
Menzies.

If Menz-zeez want it pronounced Ming-geez they should spell it that way.

On the contrary, it was the southron who misunderstood the yogh as a Z. Vide Hjaltland becoming Shetland via Zetland.

Ratters said:

GIN1138 said:

Hmmm...

Politics UK
@PolitlcsUK
🚨 NEW: A top Tory close to No 10 has told parliamentary colleagues that Rishi Sunak will call an election if 10 Tory MPs defect to Reform UK

[
@joncraig
]

Talk about striking from a point of maximum strength weakness.

Yeah if that's the plan he should just get on and call the election next week.

anothernick said:

WillG said:

Chris said:

anothernick said:

moonshine said:

Princess of wales seen in car with her husband, as he goes to westminster abbey. She’s just gone for the drive apparently. So she’s not dead!

So why the f**k can't she arrange an independent, unedited photo!

I'm just curious about one detail. Is it even possible to get your fingers into the position of those of Louis's right hand without using your left hand to force them there?

Just how bad are the Royal Family's PR team that they thought releasing this photo was a good idea? And then to release a statement saying Kate likes to do photoshop in her spare time?

🤦‍♀️

The government should be stepping in as Blair did when they totally misread the mood after Diana's death. But Sunak does not
have the authority and probably would not know what to do even if he had it.

FWIW she’s said in the past that she edits photos. The press release was just repeating the truth.

Gardenwalker said:

Dalziell

That is the correct pronunciation, on the orthography - it's a yogh not a voiced s type z.

rcs1000 said:

No_Offence_Alan said:

Leon said:

TimS said:

carnforth said:

stodge said:

Evening all

Plenty to chew over in the past 24 hours or so but I'll start with Portugal which produced a surprising result.

The surprise wasn't the fall of the Socialists but the mediocre performance of the Social Democrats and the strong polling by Chega (doing a bit better than VOX in Spain).

With the four overseas seats to be declared, the Democratic Alliance, led by Montenegro's Social Democrats, leads the Socialists 79-77 (needing the three Madeira seats to get them over the line). Chega went from 7% to 18% and gained 36 seats (the Socialists lost 43 and the Democratic Alliance gained just two).

Not much change among the minor parties with the Greens gaining three and the Communists losing two.

Interesting to see the Algarve or Faro District, was the only one won by Chega (albeit narrowly).

Chega's 48 seats mean they can form a majority with either the Democratic Alliance or the Socialists but both the two major party blocs have refused to go into coalition with Ventura and his party.

I suspect Montenegro will be invited to form a Government - he might be able to cut a deal with Liberal Initiative to get their eight seats but basically without Chega the only majority coalition would be a "grand" coalition of Socialists and Democratic Alliance and that won't happen.

I thought the Socialists were quick overnight to hand the mess over to Montenegro - could be a shrewd move.

It's not widely known, but the Portuguese economy was already on its knees before the financial crisis: they had a big bust in, IIRC 2001, related to the dot com boom. So it's more than 20 years of pain now.

Many portuguese have moved - often to France and the UK. At the same time, city property prices have gone nuts. In Lisbon now, a one bed flat can cost more in rent than an entire minimum wage income.

A strangely forgotten country, Portugal, outside of tourism.

It has a population of 10 million and GDP of 376 billion. That’s very similar on both metrics to Hungary or Czechia, and similar population to Sweden (though poorer). Much more people than Austria, Serbia, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, all of the Baltics combined, Bulgaria

It has former colonies and people speaking its language on 3 continents, and strategically positioned oceanic islands in the Atlantic… yet is geopolitically invisible.

It’s always been peripheral - literally

It was the accidentally enormous empire which changed that for a while

It’s remarkable it survives at all. Several times it has nearly been absorbed into Spain

And since Portugal shipped more African slaves to the Americas than Britain, it must pay even more than the UK in reparations.

Brazil was a massively bigger importer of slaves than the US.

Kept it going much later than the US too. One of the last major countries, if not the last, to abolish it.

Muesli said:

state_go_away said:

Maybe I am becoming thick in my old age but why is it a seemingly massive deal that Princess Katherine edited a photo? Its the main headline on the BBC not just the Express . Anyone else find this a bit unnerving that they are losing their finger on the pulse

From what I read, the problem with the photo wasn’t the BBC not having their finger on the pulse; the problem was Princess Charlotte having her finger on the pulse, her finger on the chair, her finger on the ceiling and her finger outside the window.

I must be old fashioned. All this fuss is no way to discuss a perfectly OK photo of three children, who appear absolutely delightful and who didn't ask for all this and whose mum has not been well.

Mainwaring

carnforth said:

How many Tory MPs would save their seats by defecting to Reform. 0? 1? 2?

There's a mathematical formula for calculating that.

e^(iπ) + 1

Carnyx said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

viewcode said:

carnforth said:

Carnyx said:

carnforth said:

Apropos of nothing, the Independent have run a profile of a young female aristocrat:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/sarah-rose-hanbury-duchess-cholmondeley-william-kate-b2510472.html

A surname that, unfortunately, I can never take seriously since learning as a small boy that Gerald Durrell had a chimp called Cholmondeley St John, and having my mother explain the pronunciation.

It's silly, but not as silly as Featherstonehaugh.

Talliaferro.
Menzies.

If Menz-zeez want it pronounced Ming-geez they should spell it that way.

On the contrary, it was the southron who misunderstood the yogh as a Z. Vide Hjaltland becoming Shetland via Zetland.

They used to have a monopoly in newspaper distribution, even as far as Zetland. If the Daily Beast failed to arrive in Norwick for breakfast Menzies would get the blame, but they rarely got any praise when it did. Needless to say it was mispronounced all the way back to Fleet Street.

stodge said:

The circle Reform seem to be trying to square is the one where you cut taxes, raise public spending, especially on defence and policing and don't increase the deficit or debt.

I'm also far from convinced whether Reform or any other party has got any answers to the current problems of under employment.

None of the parties has any answers to any problems at all. Not really.

Nigelb said:

Unfortunate.
Why did they have no system of checks ?

"Colorado’s star DNA scientist intentionally manipulated evidence for years, calling into question all of the criminal cases she worked on." She "omitted material facts in records, tampered with DNA testing results, and violated a variety of lab policies."
https://twitter.com/AjitPai/status/1767241479481696436

This has happened before, in the US. It does make me wonder what has happened here.

{Dr Freddy Patel has entered the chat and delivered a report saying that that the guy with the bullet holes died of natural causes}

stodge said:

pigeon said:

stodge said:

The circle Reform seem to be trying to square is the one where you cut taxes, raise public spending, especially on defence and policing and don't increase the deficit or debt.

I'm also far from convinced whether Reform or any other party has got any answers to the current problems of under employment.

None of the parties has any answers to any problems at all. Not really.

Yes but I'm not sure any of the rest of us do either or at least solutions which would be legal and viable.

Well, we could look at productivity. And invest, steadily, in quiet fashion, over decades, in slowly improving processes and equipment.