Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

This should help Farage be re-elected in Clacton – politicalbetting.com

13

Comments

  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,544

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    It seems to exist mostly in the mind of posh right wingers, so my guess is it's a form of projection and perhaps it is this group who are the real dinner party aficionados. See also the phrase "nanny state".
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,454

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    It seems to exist mostly in the mind of posh right wingers, so my guess is it's a form of projection and perhaps it is this group who are the real dinner party aficionados. See also the phrase "nanny state".
    I think you are right. It's what the Blob, Civil Service, Wokists etc. supposedly do in the evenings.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    We occasionally have disparate groups of people (no tories or leavers though) who wouldn't normally meet each other for dinner - that's a DP I suppose. Mrs DA loves to cook and I love an audience so they serve a purpose.
  • mercatormercator Posts: 815
    Dura_Ace said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    We occasionally have disparate groups of people (no tories or leavers though) who wouldn't normally meet each other for dinner - that's a DP I suppose. Mrs DA loves to cook and I love an audience so they serve a purpose.
    Sounds like a kitchen supper to me. Cameron was big on those.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,053

    viewcode said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I'm not middle-class (I know - restrain your shock) but am I correct in thinking that middle-class people don't have dinner parties these days, and that's it's more a upper-middle-class/upper-class/citizen of nowhere thing?
    People still do have them and a certain type of Gen Z is actually keen on them but it’s more - in my experience - friends who go down the pub to drink, for Sunday lunch and / or post- a workout activity.

    His point though - which a fair few either deliberately or not seem to be avoiding by focusing on the dinner party comment - is correct. I hang round with a social crowd that is overwhelmingly, professional middle class in a nice London enclave. If you point out the downsides of immigration, and his point that it’s the poorer segments who bear the costs, you do indeed get shouted down.
    Oh I wasn't contradicting his thesis, and I'm the one on PB who most admires his analysis. My criticisms relate to
    • i) his belief that the elites are left-wing (it affects the right-wing too).
    • ii) his abandonment of analysis for advocacy, and
    • iii) the way his increasing exposure is affecting his personality.
    Hence my highlighting of his anachronistic phrasing
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420
    edited August 19

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,527
    ydoethur said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Perth for me.
    Why is why many Scots feel closer to Norway than London.
    I thought it was Sweden for the great Stuart Dickson?
    Quick tip. Never, ever, look up Stuart Dickson on LinkedIn. It is a moral outrage to do so.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,507

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    Who the flip still has dinner parties anyway?

    Isn't that one of the indigenous ways of life that has been lost?
    Good point.

    He's so out of touch he thinks people have dinner parties.

    He'll be posting about prawn cocktails next.
    Of course people don't have dinner parties. They have kitchen suppers. Don't they?
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,502

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,544

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
    North London, innit. Never go near the place.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,507

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    When it does come through you will be able to, it seems, bring your own chips.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
    North London, innit. Never go near the place.
    The bit when the coke is in and the wit is out and someone leans forward and say "don't get me wrong, but...." and goes Full Farage.

    Always seem to have rolled up sleeves. Bad sign I think.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,053
    mercator said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    We occasionally have disparate groups of people (no tories or leavers though) who wouldn't normally meet each other for dinner - that's a DP I suppose. Mrs DA loves to cook and I love an audience so they serve a purpose.
    Sounds like a kitchen supper to me. Cameron was big on those.
    "country supper" vs "kitchen supper"
    Middle-class people have friends. Malmesbury's Nu10K treate people like pieces on a chessboard: building allies and alliances, abandoning/betraying pieces. It's a world I find very difficult to understand.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/leveson-inquiry/9334069/Secret-ingredients-of-Rebekah-Brooks-and-David-Camerons-Country-Supper.html
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,544
    TOPPING said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    When it does come through you will be able to, it seems, bring your own chips.
    Pommes frites surely?
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,516

    kjh said:

    Selebian said:

    kjh said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Somewhere just a bit North of London.
    So you refer to your Southwold* house as your retreat in The North? :wink:

    *apologies if that's not you, but I think you've mentioned it before
    Yep that is me. My wife is there at the moment. She is Scottish so Southwold might just qualify as the South. So goes there to escape from me.
    Don't suggest in Southwold that you're in the South. It's East Anglia.
    Nobody who lives on Southwold however comes from East Anglia, we are all luvvies from the Home Counties.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,258

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    It's absolute drivel, isn't it. The last dinner party I went to I got into an argument with a Trump supporter and had to pull my punches since he's my cousin. Not any old cousin either. He's the one who gave me a green velvet jacket, bought in Carnaby St, when I was 17. So I have to weigh that up against his current unpleasantness.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 21,866
    edited August 19

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
    There are layers of Hampstead. I lived in South Hampstead for a few years, and my LL was a Hampstead Liberal, who's day job was running the IT end of Ceefax for the BBC as it was coming to its finish - approx 2004. He used to jog across the Heath every day for a dip in the pond, then have a naked cold shower outside in the back yard.

    Then there is rich Hampstead, with net worths in the 5s or 10s of millions, and old money Hampstead, and younger stuck in a tiny flat Hampstead, and rich husband trophy-wife Hampstead with an Aga and a manicured back garden, and oligarch Hampstead, and professional gay-couple Hampstead, and boring, successful professional Hampstead, and "schools" Hampstead, and "got to live in Hampstead" Hampstead, and more.

    Oh, and "My Dad works for the Guardian so I got a mini-column Hampstead" aka Max Gogarty. Very funny.

    Hello. I'm Max Gogarty. I'm 19 and live on top of a hill in north London.

    At the minute, I'm working in a restaurant with a bunch of lovely, funny people; writing a play; writing bits for Skins; spending any sort of money I earn on food and skinny jeans, and drinking my way to a financially blighted two-month trip to India and Thailand. Clichéd I know, but clichés are there for a reason.

    https://www.theguardian.com/travel/blog/2008/feb/14/skinsblog
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420
    viewcode said:

    mercator said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    We occasionally have disparate groups of people (no tories or leavers though) who wouldn't normally meet each other for dinner - that's a DP I suppose. Mrs DA loves to cook and I love an audience so they serve a purpose.
    Sounds like a kitchen supper to me. Cameron was big on those.
    "country supper" vs "kitchen supper"
    Middle-class people have friends. Malmesbury's Nu10K treate people like pieces on a chessboard: building allies and alliances, abandoning/betraying pieces. It's a world I find very difficult to understand.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/leveson-inquiry/9334069/Secret-ingredients-of-Rebekah-Brooks-and-David-Camerons-Country-Supper.html

    Paul glanced at Halleck, took in the defensive positions of his guards, looked at the banker until the man lowered the water flagon. He said: "Once, on Caladan, I saw the body of a drowned fisherman recovered. He--"

    "Drowned?" It was the stillsuit manufacturer's daughter.

    Paul hesitated, then: "Yes. Immersed in water until dead. Drowned."

    "What an interesting way to die," she murmured.

    Paul's smile became brittle. He returned his attention to the banker. "The interesting thing about this man was the wounds on his shoulders--made by another fisherman's claw-boots. This fisherman was one of several in a boat--a craft for traveling on water--that foundered . . . sank beneath the water. Another fisherman helping recover the body said he'd seen marks like this man's wounds several times. They meant another drowning fisherman had tried to stand on this poor fellow's shoulders in the attempt to reach up to the surface--to reach air."

    "Why is this interesting?" the banker asked.

    "Because of an observation made by my father at the time. He said the drowning man who climbs on your shoulders to save himself is understandable--except when you see it happen in the drawing room." Paul hesitated just long enough for the banker to see the point coming, then: "And, I should add, except when you see it at the dinner table."

    A sudden stillness enfolded the room.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,507
    A dp is just getting friends around to socialise with and someone cooks. Happens all over the planet but Matt Goodwin has succeeded in making it a hill to die on for in particular left wing PB-ers with all their scathing Hyacinth Bouquet comments for some reason.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420
    MattW said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
    There are layers of Hampstead. I lived in South Hampstead for a few years, and my LL was a Hampstead Liberal, who's day job was running the IT end of Ceefax for the BBC as it was coming to its finish - approx 2004. He used to jog across the Heath every day for a dip in the pond, then have a naked cold shower outside in the back yard.

    Then there is rich Hampstead, with net worths in the 5s or 10s of millions, and old money Hampstead, and younger stuck in a tiny flat Hampstead, and rich husband trophy-wife Hampstead with an Aga and a manicured back garden, and oligarch Hampstead, and professional gay-couple Hampstead, and boring, successful professional Hampstead, and "schools" Hampstead, and "got to live in Hampstead" Hampstead, and more.
    This was low millions Hampstead. "rich husband trophy-wife Hampstead with an Aga and a manicured back garden" - exactly...
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420
    TOPPING said:

    A dp is just getting friends around to socialise with and someone cooks. Happens all over the planet but Matt Goodwin has succeeded in making it a hill to die on for in particular left wing PB-ers with all their scathing Hyacinth Bouquet comments for some reason.

    There's really two kinds - the one where you have friends round. And the ones where it is a status/networking event.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,040
    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    Selebian said:

    kjh said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Somewhere just a bit North of London.
    So you refer to your Southwold* house as your retreat in The North? :wink:

    *apologies if that's not you, but I think you've mentioned it before
    Yep that is me. My wife is there at the moment. She is Scottish so Southwold might just qualify as the South. So goes there to escape from me.
    Don't suggest in Southwold that you're in the South. It's East Anglia.
    Nobody who lives on Southwold however comes from East Anglia, we are all luvvies from the Home Counties.
    Long ago I ran, on a temporary basis, a pharmacy in Aldeburgh for a couple of weeks. There was a clear difference between the genuine locals and the weekenders, some of whom were actually full-time residents.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,084
    MattW said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
    There are layers of Hampstead. I lived in South Hampstead for a few years, and my LL was a Hampstead Liberal, who's day job was running the IT end of Ceefax for the BBC as it was coming to its finish - approx 2004. He used to jog across the Heath every day for a dip in the pond, then have a naked cold shower outside in the back yard.

    Then there is rich Hampstead, with net worths in the 5s or 10s of millions, and old money Hampstead, and younger stuck in a tiny flat Hampstead, and rich husband trophy-wife Hampstead with an Aga and a manicured back garden, and oligarch Hampstead, and professional gay-couple Hampstead, and boring, successful professional Hampstead, and "schools" Hampstead, and "got to live in Hampstead" Hampstead, and more.

    Oh, and "My Dad works for the Guardian so I got a mini-column Hampstead" aka Max Gogarty. Very funny.

    Hello. I'm Max Gogarty. I'm 19 and live on top of a hill in north London.

    At the minute, I'm working in a restaurant with a bunch of lovely, funny people; writing a play; writing bits for Skins; spending any sort of money I earn on food and skinny jeans, and drinking my way to a financially blighted two-month trip to India and Thailand. Clichéd I know, but clichés are there for a reason.

    https://www.theguardian.com/travel/blog/2008/feb/14/skinsblog
    My abiding memory of college days is that everywhere in Hampstead is uphill.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,544
    TOPPING said:

    A dp is just getting friends around to socialise with and someone cooks. Happens all over the planet but Matt Goodwin has succeeded in making it a hill to die on for in particular left wing PB-ers with all their scathing Hyacinth Bouquet comments for some reason.

    Hard not to point out an absurd cliche when you see one.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,258
    edited August 19

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    But what about the lefty liberal guests whose rank hypocrisy you will have gently teased out and condemned? Do they not get a bit cheesed off sometimes?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 21,866

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    This would be a sleepover?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420
    MattW said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    This would be a sleepover?
    People insist on getting taxis at 4:30am. I keep saying that if we open another bottle, the tube will be open before we finish it...
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420
    kinabalu said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    But what about the lefty liberal guests whose rank hypocrisy you will have gently teased out and condemned? Do they not get a bit cheesed off sometimes?
    Don't invite them. Plus don't talk politics at the table.


  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,544
    MattW said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
    There are layers of Hampstead. I lived in South Hampstead for a few years, and my LL was a Hampstead Liberal, who's day job was running the IT end of Ceefax for the BBC as it was coming to its finish - approx 2004. He used to jog across the Heath every day for a dip in the pond, then have a naked cold shower outside in the back yard.

    Then there is rich Hampstead, with net worths in the 5s or 10s of millions, and old money Hampstead, and younger stuck in a tiny flat Hampstead, and rich husband trophy-wife Hampstead with an Aga and a manicured back garden, and oligarch Hampstead, and professional gay-couple Hampstead, and boring, successful professional Hampstead, and "schools" Hampstead, and "got to live in Hampstead" Hampstead, and more.

    Oh, and "My Dad works for the Guardian so I got a mini-column Hampstead" aka Max Gogarty. Very funny.

    Hello. I'm Max Gogarty. I'm 19 and live on top of a hill in north London.

    At the minute, I'm working in a restaurant with a bunch of lovely, funny people; writing a play; writing bits for Skins; spending any sort of money I earn on food and skinny jeans, and drinking my way to a financially blighted two-month trip to India and Thailand. Clichéd I know, but clichés are there for a reason.

    https://www.theguardian.com/travel/blog/2008/feb/14/skinsblog
    I go for dinner regularly with a group of fellow finance professionals, a lot of them live in Hampstead or its environs. I am the only notably left wing member of this group, although technically the rest of them are all immigrants! I guess they are "boring, successful professional Hampstead" although I don't find them boring, obvs. Maybe "schools Hampstead" too - I am also the only member of the group with state school educated kids. Most of them probably cross the Atantic more frequently than they cross the Thames.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420

    MattW said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
    There are layers of Hampstead. I lived in South Hampstead for a few years, and my LL was a Hampstead Liberal, who's day job was running the IT end of Ceefax for the BBC as it was coming to its finish - approx 2004. He used to jog across the Heath every day for a dip in the pond, then have a naked cold shower outside in the back yard.

    Then there is rich Hampstead, with net worths in the 5s or 10s of millions, and old money Hampstead, and younger stuck in a tiny flat Hampstead, and rich husband trophy-wife Hampstead with an Aga and a manicured back garden, and oligarch Hampstead, and professional gay-couple Hampstead, and boring, successful professional Hampstead, and "schools" Hampstead, and "got to live in Hampstead" Hampstead, and more.

    Oh, and "My Dad works for the Guardian so I got a mini-column Hampstead" aka Max Gogarty. Very funny.

    Hello. I'm Max Gogarty. I'm 19 and live on top of a hill in north London.

    At the minute, I'm working in a restaurant with a bunch of lovely, funny people; writing a play; writing bits for Skins; spending any sort of money I earn on food and skinny jeans, and drinking my way to a financially blighted two-month trip to India and Thailand. Clichéd I know, but clichés are there for a reason.

    https://www.theguardian.com/travel/blog/2008/feb/14/skinsblog
    I go for dinner regularly with a group of fellow finance professionals, a lot of them live in Hampstead or its environs. I am the only notably left wing member of this group, although technically the rest of them are all immigrants! I guess they are "boring, successful professional Hampstead" although I don't find them boring, obvs. Maybe "schools Hampstead" too - I am also the only member of the group with state school educated kids. Most of them probably cross the Atantic more frequently than they cross the Thames.
    "Most of them probably cross the Atantic more frequently than they cross the Thames." - ha, yes.
  • pm215pm215 Posts: 1,090
    theProle said:

    Reform’s next move, if they really want to hit the big time, is to professionalise their operation and start putting down roots in local government.

    As a step towards doing that they need to be putting formal party structures in place.

    Maybe I will be surprised, but nothing in Farage’s MO suggests to me he’s able to put the hard work in to really do that.

    He is good at generating headlines but if he is really serious about turning Reform into the second party in the country it will take a lot more than name recognition and media attention.

    He did a podcast interview recently somewhere like Triggernomitary, in which he was talking about this a bit - the gist of that bit was he could see how LDs had rebuilt from councillor level, and then leveraged this to make inroads at Westminster, and he wanted Reform to do the same, upping their ground game and local councillor base to act as a springboard at the next GE.

    Obviously easier to talk the talk than walk the walk, but it shows he's certainly thinking down these lines.
    How much does Farage himself need to do the hard work on this, and how much could he achieve by hiring somebody who's good and has experience with that kind of local level buildup and just keeping it funded and checking in on progress occasionally?
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,358
    @NatashaC

    Deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, Matt Vickers,
    quits to back Robert Jenrick
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 27,674
    Dura_Ace said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    We occasionally have disparate groups of people (no tories or leavers though) who wouldn't normally meet each other for dinner - that's a DP I suppose. Mrs DA loves to cook and I love an audience so they serve a purpose.
    They wouldn't tell you if they were.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 21,866
    edited August 19
    This tweet from a disabled friend who uses a tricycle as her mobility aid in Liverpool.

    Dr Kay Inckle, @KayInckle, 2h
    Yesterday on one short stretch of road in #Liverpool I had a group of men in a car shouting obscenities at me followed by the passenger of another spraying liquid on me from a spray gun. Why can't women cycle without harassment/abuse?
    @London_Cycling
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT16B1xu3LA


    The vid is a link to a campaign video by London Cycle Campaign about the abuse women get when cycling.

    I'm sure it's the same in different contexts - walking with kids, workplace and so on. This is an aspect I get to hear about.
  • eekeek Posts: 27,481
    pm215 said:

    theProle said:

    Reform’s next move, if they really want to hit the big time, is to professionalise their operation and start putting down roots in local government.

    As a step towards doing that they need to be putting formal party structures in place.

    Maybe I will be surprised, but nothing in Farage’s MO suggests to me he’s able to put the hard work in to really do that.

    He is good at generating headlines but if he is really serious about turning Reform into the second party in the country it will take a lot more than name recognition and media attention.

    He did a podcast interview recently somewhere like Triggernomitary, in which he was talking about this a bit - the gist of that bit was he could see how LDs had rebuilt from councillor level, and then leveraged this to make inroads at Westminster, and he wanted Reform to do the same, upping their ground game and local councillor base to act as a springboard at the next GE.

    Obviously easier to talk the talk than walk the walk, but it shows he's certainly thinking down these lines.
    How much does Farage himself need to do the hard work on this, and how much could he achieve by hiring somebody who's good and has experience with that kind of local level buildup and just keeping it funded and checking in on progress occasionally?
    Well he should be employing people to do it but that would cost both money and some of his "power" so I suspect he won't be implementing a plan to create grass roots.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 61,462

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    A bottle per person per course??!!!!
  • pm215pm215 Posts: 1,090
    eek said:

    pm215 said:

    theProle said:

    Reform’s next move, if they really want to hit the big time, is to professionalise their operation and start putting down roots in local government.

    As a step towards doing that they need to be putting formal party structures in place.

    Maybe I will be surprised, but nothing in Farage’s MO suggests to me he’s able to put the hard work in to really do that.

    He is good at generating headlines but if he is really serious about turning Reform into the second party in the country it will take a lot more than name recognition and media attention.

    He did a podcast interview recently somewhere like Triggernomitary, in which he was talking about this a bit - the gist of that bit was he could see how LDs had rebuilt from councillor level, and then leveraged this to make inroads at Westminster, and he wanted Reform to do the same, upping their ground game and local councillor base to act as a springboard at the next GE.

    Obviously easier to talk the talk than walk the walk, but it shows he's certainly thinking down these lines.
    How much does Farage himself need to do the hard work on this, and how much could he achieve by hiring somebody who's good and has experience with that kind of local level buildup and just keeping it funded and checking in on progress occasionally?
    Well he should be employing people to do it but that would cost both money and some of his "power" so I suspect he won't be implementing a plan to create grass roots.
    That seems more like a "it isn't really important to him compared to other things, even if he claims it is" argument rather than a "he's telling the truth when he says he'd like it but he's too lazy to put in the effort required" argument, though.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 61,462
    Well, the middle class dinner party thing seems to have stirred PB this morning.

  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420
    eek said:

    pm215 said:

    theProle said:

    Reform’s next move, if they really want to hit the big time, is to professionalise their operation and start putting down roots in local government.

    As a step towards doing that they need to be putting formal party structures in place.

    Maybe I will be surprised, but nothing in Farage’s MO suggests to me he’s able to put the hard work in to really do that.

    He is good at generating headlines but if he is really serious about turning Reform into the second party in the country it will take a lot more than name recognition and media attention.

    He did a podcast interview recently somewhere like Triggernomitary, in which he was talking about this a bit - the gist of that bit was he could see how LDs had rebuilt from councillor level, and then leveraged this to make inroads at Westminster, and he wanted Reform to do the same, upping their ground game and local councillor base to act as a springboard at the next GE.

    Obviously easier to talk the talk than walk the walk, but it shows he's certainly thinking down these lines.
    How much does Farage himself need to do the hard work on this, and how much could he achieve by hiring somebody who's good and has experience with that kind of local level buildup and just keeping it funded and checking in on progress occasionally?
    Well he should be employing people to do it but that would cost both money and some of his "power" so I suspect he won't be implementing a plan to create grass roots.
    It’s quite possible he doesn’t know it is part of the job. Doesn’t strike me as the type to ask advice from other parlimentarians.

    MEPs tended not to do such stuff.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 21,866

    MattW said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
    There are layers of Hampstead. I lived in South Hampstead for a few years, and my LL was a Hampstead Liberal, who's day job was running the IT end of Ceefax for the BBC as it was coming to its finish - approx 2004. He used to jog across the Heath every day for a dip in the pond, then have a naked cold shower outside in the back yard.

    Then there is rich Hampstead, with net worths in the 5s or 10s of millions, and old money Hampstead, and younger stuck in a tiny flat Hampstead, and rich husband trophy-wife Hampstead with an Aga and a manicured back garden, and oligarch Hampstead, and professional gay-couple Hampstead, and boring, successful professional Hampstead, and "schools" Hampstead, and "got to live in Hampstead" Hampstead, and more.

    Oh, and "My Dad works for the Guardian so I got a mini-column Hampstead" aka Max Gogarty. Very funny.

    Hello. I'm Max Gogarty. I'm 19 and live on top of a hill in north London.

    At the minute, I'm working in a restaurant with a bunch of lovely, funny people; writing a play; writing bits for Skins; spending any sort of money I earn on food and skinny jeans, and drinking my way to a financially blighted two-month trip to India and Thailand. Clichéd I know, but clichés are there for a reason.

    https://www.theguardian.com/travel/blog/2008/feb/14/skinsblog
    I go for dinner regularly with a group of fellow finance professionals, a lot of them live in Hampstead or its environs. I am the only notably left wing member of this group, although technically the rest of them are all immigrants! I guess they are "boring, successful professional Hampstead" although I don't find them boring, obvs. Maybe "schools Hampstead" too - I am also the only member of the group with state school educated kids. Most of them probably cross the Atantic more frequently than they cross the Thames.
    I wondered about that when I was doing my list - successful City or West-End types (could perhaps add tech-entrepreneurs, arty/media, and small numbers of footballers). When I worked in IT in the City (Schroders etc) it was very international - with a slice of professionals from the 'top' end of each nationality. I always found it quirky that they employed a professional "Butler" to look after the Directors.

    Probably the place that was most different was a bank owned by the Government of Cuba.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 118,517

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    A bottle per person per course??!!!!
    You should have lunch with JohnO 😁
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 68,745
    DougSeal said:

    ydoethur said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Perth for me.
    Why is why many Scots feel closer to Norway than London.
    I thought it was Sweden for the great Stuart Dickson?
    Quick tip. Never, ever, look up Stuart Dickson on LinkedIn. It is a moral outrage to do so.
    To use LinkedIn ?
    Absolutely.
  • TazTaz Posts: 13,604
    eek said:

    pm215 said:

    theProle said:

    Reform’s next move, if they really want to hit the big time, is to professionalise their operation and start putting down roots in local government.

    As a step towards doing that they need to be putting formal party structures in place.

    Maybe I will be surprised, but nothing in Farage’s MO suggests to me he’s able to put the hard work in to really do that.

    He is good at generating headlines but if he is really serious about turning Reform into the second party in the country it will take a lot more than name recognition and media attention.

    He did a podcast interview recently somewhere like Triggernomitary, in which he was talking about this a bit - the gist of that bit was he could see how LDs had rebuilt from councillor level, and then leveraged this to make inroads at Westminster, and he wanted Reform to do the same, upping their ground game and local councillor base to act as a springboard at the next GE.

    Obviously easier to talk the talk than walk the walk, but it shows he's certainly thinking down these lines.
    How much does Farage himself need to do the hard work on this, and how much could he achieve by hiring somebody who's good and has experience with that kind of local level buildup and just keeping it funded and checking in on progress occasionally?
    Well he should be employing people to do it but that would cost both money and some of his "power" so I suspect he won't be implementing a plan to create grass roots.
    Does he really want to anyway. It all strikes me as just a vanity project. I doubt he would ever cede control to anyone too.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 21,866
    edited August 19

    MattW said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
    There are layers of Hampstead. I lived in South Hampstead for a few years, and my LL was a Hampstead Liberal, who's day job was running the IT end of Ceefax for the BBC as it was coming to its finish - approx 2004. He used to jog across the Heath every day for a dip in the pond, then have a naked cold shower outside in the back yard.

    Then there is rich Hampstead, with net worths in the 5s or 10s of millions, and old money Hampstead, and younger stuck in a tiny flat Hampstead, and rich husband trophy-wife Hampstead with an Aga and a manicured back garden, and oligarch Hampstead, and professional gay-couple Hampstead, and boring, successful professional Hampstead, and "schools" Hampstead, and "got to live in Hampstead" Hampstead, and more.

    Oh, and "My Dad works for the Guardian so I got a mini-column Hampstead" aka Max Gogarty. Very funny.

    Hello. I'm Max Gogarty. I'm 19 and live on top of a hill in north London.

    At the minute, I'm working in a restaurant with a bunch of lovely, funny people; writing a play; writing bits for Skins; spending any sort of money I earn on food and skinny jeans, and drinking my way to a financially blighted two-month trip to India and Thailand. Clichéd I know, but clichés are there for a reason.

    https://www.theguardian.com/travel/blog/2008/feb/14/skinsblog
    I go for dinner regularly with a group of fellow finance professionals, a lot of them live in Hampstead or its environs. I am the only notably left wing member of this group, although technically the rest of them are all immigrants! I guess they are "boring, successful professional Hampstead" although I don't find them boring, obvs. Maybe "schools Hampstead" too - I am also the only member of the group with state school educated kids. Most of them probably cross the Atantic more frequently than they cross the Thames.
    Have you talked about VAT on school fees? :smile:
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 22,458
    Who Goodwinnned the thread AGAIN?

    Why does this tiresome clown continue to get airtime?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    A bottle per person per course??!!!!
    If you cater to that level, you never run out. Plus some of the pros can keep that pace or very near.
  • mercatormercator Posts: 815
    kinabalu said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    But what about the lefty liberal guests whose rank hypocrisy you will have gently teased out and condemned? Do they not get a bit cheesed off sometimes?
    Back in the day I read a piece in the guardian which recounted approvingly how all the guests walked out of a dinner party after one of them noticed they were being served South African wine. So I guess you just let the napkin slip once you are bored of them.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 22,458
    Scott_xP said:

    @NatashaC

    Deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, Matt Vickers,
    quits to back Robert Jenrick

    JENRICK
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,420
    mercator said:

    kinabalu said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    But what about the lefty liberal guests whose rank hypocrisy you will have gently teased out and condemned? Do they not get a bit cheesed off sometimes?
    Back in the day I read a piece in the guardian which recounted approvingly how all the guests walked out of a dinner party after one of them noticed they were being served South African wine. So I guess you just let the napkin slip once you are bored of them.
    Is there any Israeli wine?
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,544
    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    I've always been intensely disappointed by how few dinner parties I've been to. Despite being a fully signed up member of the tofu eating wokerati, I just can't seem to get an invitation to these legendary soirees, which loom so large in the imaginations of chippy rightwingers like Goodwin. I would like nothing better than to luxuriate in my luxury beliefs between the cheese course and the Ferrero Rochets, perhaps comparing notes with the other guests on our inexpensive foreign born cleaners, laughing as we knowingly undermine traditional British values, or having a good old sneer at the working classes and their Bovine attachment to the nation state, but I can only assume that my invitation is held up in the post.
    I've been to a few. When I was living in Hampstead, it was like being in an episode of Desperate Housewives, sometimes.

    There is a thing of polishing your liberal credentials in affluent social groups - "look at me, aren't so inclusive".

    And several times I've noticed the social inclusion has limits. My ex from those days had a daughter with developmental disabilities. The other kids got on well with her and liked her. Was genuinely nice to see the way that even kids who barely knew here would look after her and try and include her.

    On one occasion at party we overheard a couple complaining that she made people feel bad - by being there and not being normal.

    My ex did exactly the right thing. Checked to see if the child's nappy was a bit loose, sat her down on the really, really expensive sofa (that the couple in question had bragged about), then we left when the job was done. Never spoke to them again.

    EDIT: The social climbing at those events reminded me of the dinner party scene in the book Dune. Especially the quip about claw boot marks.
    There are layers of Hampstead. I lived in South Hampstead for a few years, and my LL was a Hampstead Liberal, who's day job was running the IT end of Ceefax for the BBC as it was coming to its finish - approx 2004. He used to jog across the Heath every day for a dip in the pond, then have a naked cold shower outside in the back yard.

    Then there is rich Hampstead, with net worths in the 5s or 10s of millions, and old money Hampstead, and younger stuck in a tiny flat Hampstead, and rich husband trophy-wife Hampstead with an Aga and a manicured back garden, and oligarch Hampstead, and professional gay-couple Hampstead, and boring, successful professional Hampstead, and "schools" Hampstead, and "got to live in Hampstead" Hampstead, and more.

    Oh, and "My Dad works for the Guardian so I got a mini-column Hampstead" aka Max Gogarty. Very funny.

    Hello. I'm Max Gogarty. I'm 19 and live on top of a hill in north London.

    At the minute, I'm working in a restaurant with a bunch of lovely, funny people; writing a play; writing bits for Skins; spending any sort of money I earn on food and skinny jeans, and drinking my way to a financially blighted two-month trip to India and Thailand. Clichéd I know, but clichés are there for a reason.

    https://www.theguardian.com/travel/blog/2008/feb/14/skinsblog
    I go for dinner regularly with a group of fellow finance professionals, a lot of them live in Hampstead or its environs. I am the only notably left wing member of this group, although technically the rest of them are all immigrants! I guess they are "boring, successful professional Hampstead" although I don't find them boring, obvs. Maybe "schools Hampstead" too - I am also the only member of the group with state school educated kids. Most of them probably cross the Atantic more frequently than they cross the Thames.
    Have you talked about VAT on school fees? :smile:
    I was laughing at them on the group chat. They can all afford it anyway.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 68,745

    Dura_Ace said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    We occasionally have disparate groups of people (no tories or leavers though) who wouldn't normally meet each other for dinner - that's a DP I suppose. Mrs DA loves to cook and I love an audience so they serve a purpose.
    They wouldn't tell you if they were.
    Dura has likely been trained in advanced interrogation techniques...
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 47,731
    edited August 19

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    There is a certain contradiction and dishonesty about immigration in Britain. There is general agreement that immigration is too high, but when it comes down to nuts and bolts, people are generally in favour.


  • mercatormercator Posts: 815

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    A bottle per person per course??!!!!
    If you cater to that level, you never run out. Plus some of the pros can keep that pace or very near.
    The concerning thing is consumption is never uniform, so the pros are also taking up slack.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,643
    Afternoon all :)

    Most on here won't have attended the most decorous kind of dinner party currently - the Liberal Democrat Dinner Party. Obviously, they've been the hit of the summer with the vegan burgers and the lentil stew going down (and coming back up) a treat.

    Among the younger elements the main after dinner party game is called "Do Something Ed" which generally involves balancing six plates on your head or abseiling down the side of a building or trying to paddleboard in the kids' swimming pool.

    That's fine for the young or young at heart but for the older participants the new after dinner game of choice is called "Declaration". One plays a Liberal Democrat candidate (with rosette), another a Conservative candidate (with rosette). Into a hat or beret go the names of all the constituencies gained from the Conservatives.

    A name is drawn and we all have to guess which constituency it is (like charades). The winner gets to be the Returning Officer and read out the result from the last election. Obviously, we all want Chichester - last time we played I got Dorking & Horley which was nice (as someone once said).
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 53,313

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    A bottle per person per course??!!!!
    If you cater to that level, you never run out. Plus some of the pros can keep that pace or very near.
    Yup, you can never have too much wine in the plan, and nothing’s worse than scraping around for another bottle of something close when one runs out. If you start at 7pm and finish at 4am, it’s not particularly difficult to see three empty bottles each.
  • TazTaz Posts: 13,604
    This is just staggering.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/debt-ridden-council-accuses-solar-tycoon-of-blowing-150m-of-its-cash/ar-AA1oV3Xg?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=31590d05a8434b1497fcabd6b1b749e0&ei=43

    A debt-ridden council has accused a Dubai-based solar tycoon of blowing £150 million of its cash on his luxury lifestyle, including by purchasing his own yacht and private jet.

    A High Court lawsuit by Thurrock Council in Essex, which declared itself bankrupt in 2022, claims Liam Kavanagh spent £13.7 million on a new yacht, £9.1 million on a private jet and another £20 million on a 232-acre country estate in Hampshire.

    The council invested some £400 million in bonds for a green energy scheme involving solar farms run by Kavanagh and his company Rockfire Capital, and racked up debts totalling more than £1.4 billion.
  • CD13CD13 Posts: 6,364
    Do you of you realise that most people living North of Watford think you all live like some of you are describing this morning?

    Real people have supper just before you go to bed, having come back from the pub. I did try Tofu once at a restaurant in Boston - but it was the fake place in Massachusetts, not the real one in Lincolnshire.

    And I don't see what the attraction is to eating congealed snot, when you can have an acelet sandwich, or proper Boston sausage from Mountains on the town bridge. Them four Yorkshiremen know nowt.

  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,112

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    A bottle per person per course??!!!!
    If you cater to that level, you never run out. Plus some of the pros can keep that pace or very near.
    I learned a new French social phrase last week: aperitif dînatoire. Quite a nice thing to do: have people round for drinks then bring out food, and hey presto people have had dinner too.

    Our neighbour’s apéro dînatoire was rather more dînatoire than aperitif. I had one small glass of wine all evening, matching our host and not wanting to appear like a drunk.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 4,761

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    Who the flip still has dinner parties anyway?

    Isn't that one of the indigenous ways of life that has been lost?
    Good point.

    He's so out of touch he thinks people have dinner parties.

    He'll be posting about prawn cocktails next.
    Goodwin’s perfect meal will be Prawn Cocktail, followed by Steak Diane, then Black Forest Gateau, all washed down with Mateus Rose. No cheese course; the cheese will have been eaten earlier on sticks with pineapple and cocktail onions, accompanied by Harveys Bristol Cream.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 61,462

    Who Goodwinnned the thread AGAIN?

    Why does this tiresome clown continue to get airtime?

    That was me. Sorry.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,516

    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    Selebian said:

    kjh said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Somewhere just a bit North of London.
    So you refer to your Southwold* house as your retreat in The North? :wink:

    *apologies if that's not you, but I think you've mentioned it before
    Yep that is me. My wife is there at the moment. She is Scottish so Southwold might just qualify as the South. So goes there to escape from me.
    Don't suggest in Southwold that you're in the South. It's East Anglia.
    Nobody who lives on Southwold however comes from East Anglia, we are all luvvies from the Home Counties.
    Long ago I ran, on a temporary basis, a pharmacy in Aldeburgh for a couple of weeks. There was a clear difference between the genuine locals and the weekenders, some of whom were actually full-time residents.
    Ah but Aldeburgh just aspires to be Southwold.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,454
    edited August 19

    mercator said:

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    Labour exploitation (alleged trafficking, insufficient evidence for a Court finding - certainly horrible treatment and neglect) by a scallop dredging company TN Trawlers based in Annan, Solway, in the period 2011-2013.

    A good example imo of fines treated as an overhead.

    Story:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd9dnk34k41o

    File on Four 8pm tonight, downloadable as a podcast now.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00224hm

    I presume this is an example of a job that the lazy, feckless UKers refuse to do, preferring to luxuriate in their vast handouts from the state. If they took time from being fed peeled grapes, while lying on a bed made of 50 pounds notes etc....
    This one is much more serious than that, and I'd recommend a read or a listen. It's exploitation of the type that gave rise to gang masters legislation. There is one account of deckhands literally jumping off the ship and swimming across the harbour to get away.

    A years long police investigation which did not bring the needed results at the end.
    Oh, absolutely - just being sarcastic about a certain type of PBer who thinks that ultra cheap labour is a human right for employers.
    Apologies - I took that seriously, In my defence, I just listened to the programme - serious sclerosis in the prosecution system.
    We've come a long way from the days that the Royal Navy said that slavery = piracy = hanging

    So civilised now.
    Pedantically it was the Crown in Parliament which said that, and it only said that about trading slaves by sea, and the penalty was reduced to life imprisonment in 1837.
    True. Life meant life back then. In a 19th cent prison. I think I'd take the short drop and sudden stop over that.

    Give these fuckers life-means-life. If nothing else, it'll show down their ability to run a slave based trawling operation.

    Oh, and haul their trawlers up on a slip and cut them in half, in the old style.
    Er, you'd have been let out early on "ticket of leave" if of good behaviour. Whines and panics in the media about such things are nothing new.

    And for much of the C19 you were quite likely to get either a free trip to Oz or a seaside activity holiday in an old line of battle ship, moored in exciting places such as Woolwich, Faversham, Portland, the Hamoaze or even Gib.
  • mercatormercator Posts: 815
    Sandpit said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    A bottle per person per course??!!!!
    If you cater to that level, you never run out. Plus some of the pros can keep that pace or very near.
    Yup, you can never have too much wine in the plan, and nothing’s worse than scraping around for another bottle of something close when one runs out. If you start at 7pm and finish at 4am, it’s not particularly difficult to see three empty bottles each.
    There is also the concept of the "cellar defender", drinkable but inexpensive wine bought in bulk to ensure the "something close" is not the Pichon Comtesse Reserve you were saving for 2027.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 16,541
    Foxy said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    There is a certain contradiction and dishonesty about immigration in Britain. There is general agreement that immigration is too high, but when it comes down to nuts and bolts, people are generally in favour.


    Which is the truly bad thing about Goodwin's Dinner Party thing.

    There's definitely a need to reflect on whether the UK is getting things right with immigration and whether we are doing as much as we should on thinking about capacity, infrastructure and integration to make it work.

    But denying that the last governments let numbers increase massively for good reasons of necessity, rather than to look good at Dinner Parties... That's textbook bad faith argument.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,112

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    Who the flip still has dinner parties anyway?

    Isn't that one of the indigenous ways of life that has been lost?
    Good point.

    He's so out of touch he thinks people have dinner parties.

    He'll be posting about prawn cocktails next.
    Goodwin’s perfect meal will be Prawn Cocktail, followed by Steak Diane, then Black Forest Gateau, all washed down with Mateus Rose. No cheese course; the cheese will have been eaten earlier on sticks with pineapple and cocktail onions, accompanied by Harveys Bristol Cream.
    It’s time people moved on from 70s and 80s retro dinners and embrace the 90s.

    - Glass of cava
    - Melon with Parma ham
    - Pan-fried sea bass
    - Oxford Landing Chardonnay
    - Tiramisu
    - glass of Baileys or Kahlua to finish
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 4,761
    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    Selebian said:

    kjh said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Somewhere just a bit North of London.
    So you refer to your Southwold* house as your retreat in The North? :wink:

    *apologies if that's not you, but I think you've mentioned it before
    Yep that is me. My wife is there at the moment. She is Scottish so Southwold might just qualify as the South. So goes there to escape from me.
    Don't suggest in Southwold that you're in the South. It's East Anglia.
    Nobody who lives on Southwold however comes from East Anglia, we are all luvvies from the Home Counties.
    Locals can’t afford to buy a house in Southwold.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 31,357
    It's very simple: either immigration has to hugely come down before the next election, or Farage will be PM.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 4,761

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    Do you invite the NU14units?
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    Dura_Ace said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    We occasionally have disparate groups of people (no tories or leavers though) who wouldn't normally meet each other for dinner - that's a DP I suppose. Mrs DA loves to cook and I love an audience so they serve a purpose.
    They wouldn't tell you if they were.
    We never have meat or alcohol in the house so they wouldn't attend, even if undercover.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,084
    Taz said:

    This is just staggering.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/debt-ridden-council-accuses-solar-tycoon-of-blowing-150m-of-its-cash/ar-AA1oV3Xg?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=31590d05a8434b1497fcabd6b1b749e0&ei=43

    A debt-ridden council has accused a Dubai-based solar tycoon of blowing £150 million of its cash on his luxury lifestyle, including by purchasing his own yacht and private jet.

    A High Court lawsuit by Thurrock Council in Essex, which declared itself bankrupt in 2022, claims Liam Kavanagh spent £13.7 million on a new yacht, £9.1 million on a private jet and another £20 million on a 232-acre country estate in Hampshire.

    The council invested some £400 million in bonds for a green energy scheme involving solar farms run by Kavanagh and his company Rockfire Capital, and racked up debts totalling more than £1.4 billion.

    As with the interest rate swaps scandal of the 1980s, you have to wonder if councils should be allowed to speculate in the markets (even if your borough did make a mint on Amazon and Bitcoin).
  • MattWMattW Posts: 21,866
    edited August 19
    Cyclecameras for @Selebian

    My comments:

    Start with your objectives and requirements. Key things are daylight or darkness (ie winter commuting), budget, ease of use, battery life, combined with light, bike or helmet mount, how to charge, do you want radar?, vid method (eg circular overwrite), and can you bookmark incidents with one button click. Can you leave it on the bike when parking it (I can't)? If not, consider easy-release-mounts or helmet mounted.

    Decent quality can be from £150-200 for front and back. New models are best, but stuff that has been around for a couple of years should be OK if chosen carefully. Deep discounts (say 30%) or Voucher codes are sometimes available. Try Sport Pursuit etc.

    I run a Chilicam front and Techalogic DC1 Camera/Light back, which were in the range quoted. The rear can transit a "rear view mirror" view to my phone.

    For ease of use, you can get helmet mounted ones facing both ways, such as a Techalogic DC1.

    Place to start:https://road.cc/buyers-guide/best-bike-cameras-cycling

    I'd strongly recommend try a PasspIxi. Costs from £10 and makes a difference ime. It's a reflective "camera" sign that they seem to notice.
    https://passpixi.com/
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,084
    Kamala & Walz have been backed off the boards on Betfair. All the 1.01 is gone. Coincidentally, the Dem convention starts today.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 4,761
    Sandpit said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    A bottle per person per course??!!!!
    If you cater to that level, you never run out. Plus some of the pros can keep that pace or very near.
    Yup, you can never have too much wine in the plan, and nothing’s worse than scraping around for another bottle of something close when one runs out. If you start at 7pm and finish at 4am, it’s not particularly difficult to see three empty bottles each.
    We once (about 30 years ago) held a dinner party where the guests cleared the wine rack. Fortunately, the corner shop was open, and I nipped across for extra supplies several times during the evening. By the end of the evening, the shop’s wine shelf was looking quite bare. Before our next dinner party, we invested in a larger wine rack.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 53,313
    Taz said:

    This is just staggering.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/debt-ridden-council-accuses-solar-tycoon-of-blowing-150m-of-its-cash/ar-AA1oV3Xg?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=31590d05a8434b1497fcabd6b1b749e0&ei=43

    A debt-ridden council has accused a Dubai-based solar tycoon of blowing £150 million of its cash on his luxury lifestyle, including by purchasing his own yacht and private jet.

    A High Court lawsuit by Thurrock Council in Essex, which declared itself bankrupt in 2022, claims Liam Kavanagh spent £13.7 million on a new yacht, £9.1 million on a private jet and another £20 million on a 232-acre country estate in Hampshire.

    The council invested some £400 million in bonds for a green energy scheme involving solar farms run by Kavanagh and his company Rockfire Capital, and racked up debts totalling more than £1.4 billion.

    Taz said:

    This is just staggering.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/debt-ridden-council-accuses-solar-tycoon-of-blowing-150m-of-its-cash/ar-AA1oV3Xg?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=31590d05a8434b1497fcabd6b1b749e0&ei=43

    A debt-ridden council has accused a Dubai-based solar tycoon of blowing £150 million of its cash on his luxury lifestyle, including by purchasing his own yacht and private jet.

    A High Court lawsuit by Thurrock Council in Essex, which declared itself bankrupt in 2022, claims Liam Kavanagh spent £13.7 million on a new yacht, £9.1 million on a private jet and another £20 million on a 232-acre country estate in Hampshire.

    The council invested some £400 million in bonds for a green energy scheme involving solar farms run by Kavanagh and his company Rockfire Capital, and racked up debts totalling more than £1.4 billion.

    So the fund manager made a total of 8% on the investment. Is that too bad?
  • AlsoLeiAlsoLei Posts: 1,415
    kjh said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Somewhere just a bit North of London.
    Leon once claimed Kenwood as the boundary, and I'm inclined to agree.

    After all, the southern limit of the last glaciation was just beyond it, around Muswell Hill / Alexandra Palace. And that means the ridge from Kenwood to Highgate and on to Crouch Hill is a terminal moraine and, as such, will be the southernmost part of the country to have been primarily shaped by ice.

    If we're wanting to divide north from south, that seems a less-arbitrary way of defining the boundary than most.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 4,761

    Well, the middle class dinner party thing seems to have stirred PB this morning.

    At last, a subject we all have extensive knowledge of!
  • MattWMattW Posts: 21,866

    Taz said:

    This is just staggering.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/debt-ridden-council-accuses-solar-tycoon-of-blowing-150m-of-its-cash/ar-AA1oV3Xg?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=31590d05a8434b1497fcabd6b1b749e0&ei=43

    A debt-ridden council has accused a Dubai-based solar tycoon of blowing £150 million of its cash on his luxury lifestyle, including by purchasing his own yacht and private jet.

    A High Court lawsuit by Thurrock Council in Essex, which declared itself bankrupt in 2022, claims Liam Kavanagh spent £13.7 million on a new yacht, £9.1 million on a private jet and another £20 million on a 232-acre country estate in Hampshire.

    The council invested some £400 million in bonds for a green energy scheme involving solar farms run by Kavanagh and his company Rockfire Capital, and racked up debts totalling more than £1.4 billion.

    As with the interest rate swaps scandal of the 1980s, you have to wonder if councils should be allowed to speculate in the markets (even if your borough did make a mint on Amazon and Bitcoin).
    I'd call this at least in part a problem of Govt taking limitations off, whilst squeezing budgets tightly so denying the ability to develop capacity to manage the new possibilities.

    Here, Mansfield DC bought some property which became a hotel (Travelodge, 18-20 Learmonth Terrace, Edinburgh) but I think they are getting out without a bloodbath. I hope.
    https://www.chad.co.uk/news/politics/mansfield-district-council-to-sell-edinburgh-hotel-3367858
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 4,761
    AlsoLei said:

    kjh said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Somewhere just a bit North of London.
    Leon once claimed Kenwood as the boundary, and I'm inclined to agree.

    After all, the southern limit of the last glaciation was just beyond it, around Muswell Hill / Alexandra Palace. And that means the ridge from Kenwood to Highgate and on to Crouch Hill is a terminal moraine and, as such, will be the southernmost part of the country to have been primarily shaped by ice.

    If we're wanting to divide north from south, that seems a less-arbitrary way of defining the boundary than most.
    Kenwood? Is that where chefs live?
  • theProletheProle Posts: 1,097
    pm215 said:

    eek said:

    pm215 said:

    theProle said:

    Reform’s next move, if they really want to hit the big time, is to professionalise their operation and start putting down roots in local government.

    As a step towards doing that they need to be putting formal party structures in place.

    Maybe I will be surprised, but nothing in Farage’s MO suggests to me he’s able to put the hard work in to really do that.

    He is good at generating headlines but if he is really serious about turning Reform into the second party in the country it will take a lot more than name recognition and media attention.

    He did a podcast interview recently somewhere like Triggernomitary, in which he was talking about this a bit - the gist of that bit was he could see how LDs had rebuilt from councillor level, and then leveraged this to make inroads at Westminster, and he wanted Reform to do the same, upping their ground game and local councillor base to act as a springboard at the next GE.

    Obviously easier to talk the talk than walk the walk, but it shows he's certainly thinking down these lines.
    How much does Farage himself need to do the hard work on this, and how much could he achieve by hiring somebody who's good and has experience with that kind of local level buildup and just keeping it funded and checking in on progress occasionally?
    Well he should be employing people to do it but that would cost both money and some of his "power" so I suspect he won't be implementing a plan to create grass roots.
    That seems more like a "it isn't really important to him compared to other things, even if he claims it is" argument rather than a "he's telling the truth when he says he'd like it but he's too lazy to put in the effort required" argument, though.
    This all presumes he isn't doing anything to build out grassroots support. He probably isn't, but I'm not sure we'd know much to the contrary if he was.

    He's obviously not going to do it himself, but if (and it's a big if) he hired the right person, it could happen. I seriously thought about trying to contact him to see if I could get the gig (I'm pretty sure I could make it work) but decided on balance I don't want to give up running a successful small business to get embroiled in politics.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 118,517

    Well, the middle class dinner party thing seems to have stirred PB this morning.

    At last, a subject we all have extensive knowledge of!
    Not me, I am working class.
  • Model steam train firm to close after 88 years because of anti-terror ‘red tape

    Depressing. We're desperately short of engineers and scientists, but the hobbies that spark curiosity in young people are gradually being regulated out of existence.
  • AlsoLeiAlsoLei Posts: 1,415

    AlsoLei said:

    kjh said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Somewhere just a bit North of London.
    Leon once claimed Kenwood as the boundary, and I'm inclined to agree.

    After all, the southern limit of the last glaciation was just beyond it, around Muswell Hill / Alexandra Palace. And that means the ridge from Kenwood to Highgate and on to Crouch Hill is a terminal moraine and, as such, will be the southernmost part of the country to have been primarily shaped by ice.

    If we're wanting to divide north from south, that seems a less-arbitrary way of defining the boundary than most.
    Kenwood? Is that where chefs live?
    It's fairly mixed round there...
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 31,357
    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ

    Sweden used to be one of the safest places to live in the world. Wonder what happened."

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1825478939092914416
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 53,313
    mercator said:

    Sandpit said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    A bottle per person per course??!!!!
    If you cater to that level, you never run out. Plus some of the pros can keep that pace or very near.
    Yup, you can never have too much wine in the plan, and nothing’s worse than scraping around for another bottle of something close when one runs out. If you start at 7pm and finish at 4am, it’s not particularly difficult to see three empty bottles each.
    There is also the concept of the "cellar defender", drinkable but inexpensive wine bought in bulk to ensure the "something close" is not the Pichon Comtesse Reserve you were saving for 2027.
    Ha yes, always keep a few cheap bottles of plonk around for the end of the night, something vaguely drinkable that isn’t one of the recognisable Aussie screwtop ‘house wine’ brands.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 4,761
    AlsoLei said:

    kjh said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Somewhere just a bit North of London.
    Leon once claimed Kenwood as the boundary, and I'm inclined to agree.

    After all, the southern limit of the last glaciation was just beyond it, around Muswell Hill / Alexandra Palace. And that means the ridge from Kenwood to Highgate and on to Crouch Hill is a terminal moraine and, as such, will be the southernmost part of the country to have been primarily shaped by ice.

    If we're wanting to divide north from south, that seems a less-arbitrary way of defining the boundary than most.
    That makes sense.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 4,761

    Well, the middle class dinner party thing seems to have stirred PB this morning.

    At last, a subject we all have extensive knowledge of!
    Not me, I am working class.
    If you weren’t working class, you would have said “not I”.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 22,458
    Andy_JS said:

    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ

    Sweden used to be one of the safest places to live in the world. Wonder what happened."

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1825478939092914416

    Can I ask why you follow this drongo around?

    What on Earth do you see in him?

    (I've asked you this question several times but you haven't answered as far as I'm aware. I'm genuinely interested.)

  • MattWMattW Posts: 21,866
    AlsoLei said:

    AlsoLei said:

    kjh said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Somewhere just a bit North of London.
    Leon once claimed Kenwood as the boundary, and I'm inclined to agree.

    After all, the southern limit of the last glaciation was just beyond it, around Muswell Hill / Alexandra Palace. And that means the ridge from Kenwood to Highgate and on to Crouch Hill is a terminal moraine and, as such, will be the southernmost part of the country to have been primarily shaped by ice.

    If we're wanting to divide north from south, that seems a less-arbitrary way of defining the boundary than most.
    Kenwood? Is that where chefs live?
    It's fairly mixed round there...
    It would have been great, but Ken Wood based his company in Woking, not Kenwood.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Wood_(manufacturer)
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,084

    Kamala & Walz have been backed off the boards on Betfair. All the 1.01 is gone. Coincidentally, the Dem convention starts today.

    Oh hallo, there's some 1.01 back now, if anyone is interested.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,380
    MattW said:

    Cyclecameras for @Selebian

    My comments:

    Start with your objectives and requirements. Key things are daylight or darkness (ie winter commuting), budget, ease of use, battery life, combined with light, bike or helmet mount, how to charge, do you want radar?, vid method (eg circular overwrite), and can you bookmark incidents with one button click. Can you leave it on the bike when parking it (I can't)? If not, consider easy-release-mounts or helmet mounted.

    Decent quality can be from £150-200 for front and back. New models are best, but stuff that has been around for a couple of years should be OK if chosen carefully. Deep discounts (say 30%) or Voucher codes are sometimes available. Try Sport Pursuit etc.

    I run a Chilicam front and Techalogic DC1 Camera/Light back, which were in the range quoted. The rear can transit a "rear view mirror" view to my phone.

    For ease of use, you can get helmet mounted ones facing both ways, such as a Techalogic DC1.

    Place to start:https://road.cc/buyers-guide/best-bike-cameras-cycling

    I'd strongly recommend try a PasspIxi. Costs from £10 and makes a difference ime. It's a reflective "camera" sign that they seem to notice.
    https://passpixi.com/

    Thanks. I've been down the cycle.cc list before, so the personal recommendations are valued. I'm not really keen on helmet mount (I'm a bit of a cycle helmet purist - very particular about the feel, basically I don't want to notice it - and don't want to strap things on really) and probably can't leave on bike (I've forgotten fairly expensive lights on the bike for an hour or two at work and not had them nicked, but it's open cycle parking). I'd be thinking mainly for incident reporting, but have also seen a few interesting things on the commute that it would be nice to show the kids - close encounters with deer, owls etc and needs to cover day time and night time.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,228
    viewcode said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    You go to Robert Dyas and get a grim-meter. Put it on the dashboard (you can get an app for it now) and drive north. When the level of grim-ness enters the red zone, you are in The Proper North.


    I find it starts going crazy just north of Mill Hill. I've never dared to see what happens if I actually leave the M25.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,112
    AlsoLei said:

    kjh said:

    TOPPING said:

    kjh said:

    HYUFD said:

    Lennon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Clacton is the poorest part of Essex and Jaywick is one of the most deprived parts of the UK which makes even Harlow and Basildon look posh by comparison. So not sure if Farage's all expenses paid trips to the US will go down well there, especially as I am not even sure if he has bought a house in the constituency yet.

    On the other hand like Trump being wealthy doesn't stop them holding their white working class support as long as they continue to fight immigration and globalisation

    The entire constituency is not a s***house, the good burghers of Frinton and Little Clacton have left the board mortally insulted.
    Frinton is alright and has some good sailing but the residents there see themselves more part of greater Suffolk than Clacton and Jaywick
    When Alun Cairns first became MP for the Vale of Glamorgan he had a home just over the Western Vale border but it was still just inside Bridgend Borough. Local legend has it, and I can't categorically say it is true or otherwise, he allegedly made enquiries to have the Vale border extended into Bridgend so his house would be in the correct county ( I assume the constituency might have been mentioned too). I believe he was allegedly given short shrift.

    Frinton is Greater Suffolk? You Tories operate on a reverse notion of “If the Mountain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain".

    Frinton is closer to Aldeburgh than Chigwell and closer to Ipswich than Basildon
    And London is closer to Calais than it is to Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle... so presumably that means that it is part of 'Greater France'?
    I suspect most Londoners in central London would feel closer to France than the North and visit France more often than the North unless they come from the North originally. Inner London voted strongly to Remain in the EU too, the North voted clearly to Leave
    That is a rather good observation. Hate to admit it but it is certainly true for me. I travel far more often to France than I do to the North.
    And where exactly does "The North" start?
    Somewhere just a bit North of London.
    Leon once claimed Kenwood as the boundary, and I'm inclined to agree.

    After all, the southern limit of the last glaciation was just beyond it, around Muswell Hill / Alexandra Palace. And that means the ridge from Kenwood to Highgate and on to Crouch Hill is a terminal moraine and, as such, will be the southernmost part of the country to have been primarily shaped by ice.

    If we're wanting to divide north from south, that seems a less-arbitrary way of defining the boundary than most.
    Strictly speaking that was the Anglian glacial limit. The last glaciation, the Devensian, only got as far as Lincs in the East and down to South Wales in the west, with a big gap in the middle up to Yorkshire.

    Then, just to confuse things, the one in between - the Wolstonian - got to around Watford Gap in Northants.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 27,551
    edited August 19
    stodge said:

    Morning all :)

    Rather like Trump, I don't "get" Farage - I simply don't see his appeal. Yes, he says what a lot of people are, in his view, "thinking" though the actual evidence for that isn't strong.

    He's also keen on diagnosis but not so keen on treatment. Yes, there's a problem with immigration but I can't figure out if he sees the problem with the levels of legal immigration, illegal immigration or the cultural assimilation of those already here or all three at the same time.

    The illegal immigration problem is largely symbolic - the numbers aren't huge but the sight of dinghies of people arriving at beaches on the south coast has a psychological impact. Countries with primarily land borders have a different cultural view than islands - I know we have a land border in Ulster but strangely I've not heard of large numbers of migrants crossing that. I also don't hear of migrants trying to get to Alderney which is only 10 miles from France.

    That in turn forms a view of who the migrants are and why there are coming.

    Legal immigration is a political and economic issue and covers a lot of areas. I suspect there's a general concensus we want and would indeed welcome migrants in some economic sectors - high skilled professionals for example and those with skills to work in the NHS. There's probably a grudging recognition we need lower skilled labour to do the jobs which many British can't or won't do at the rates businesses want to pay and within that an acknowledgement continuing economic growth relies (as it always has) on the availability of that cheap labour (and cheap resources).

    Cultural assimilation is a societal issue and, as I've said here before, it's more often a problem within communities than across communities. Those newly arrived are often most resented by those who've been here a while or who are second or third generation and have made the cultural journey. People like people like themselves and it's easier to stay in a group that speaks your language and eats your food and thinks like you do and, oddly enough, modern technology helps that.

    There is a distinct British identity evolving from those who have arrived as migrants or refugees (from wherever) which isn't English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh or even Cornish. Idealistically, you could say it takes the best from where they came and the best of what they've found since getting here but I'm not wholly convinced and even within that there are any number of sub cultures. Education and the children are the best hope of creating greater integration (as they always have been).

    As we know, many political speakers trade on people's insecurities and misconceptions and language is often used to accentuate or exaggerate half truths. The first task is to challenge those speakers head on.

    Like Trump and Johnson the people who support Farage are most likely absolutely despised by Trump, Johnson and Farage. Those voters who PB right- wingers claim are loved by them and reviled by liberal elite lefties.
    TOPPING said:

    A dp is just getting friends around to socialise with and someone cooks. Happens all over the planet but Matt Goodwin has succeeded in making it a hill to die on for in particular left wing PB-ers with all their scathing Hyacinth Bouquet comments for some reason.

    Not just Labour lefties luvvies. There are quite a few Reform -free Tories on here who believe
    Goodwin is a poor academic.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 21,866
    edited August 19
    Selebian said:

    MattW said:

    Cyclecameras for @Selebian

    My comments:

    Start with your objectives and requirements. Key things are daylight or darkness (ie winter commuting), budget, ease of use, battery life, combined with light, bike or helmet mount, how to charge, do you want radar?, vid method (eg circular overwrite), and can you bookmark incidents with one button click. Can you leave it on the bike when parking it (I can't)? If not, consider easy-release-mounts or helmet mounted.

    Decent quality can be from £150-200 for front and back. New models are best, but stuff that has been around for a couple of years should be OK if chosen carefully. Deep discounts (say 30%) or Voucher codes are sometimes available. Try Sport Pursuit etc.

    I run a Chilicam front and Techalogic DC1 Camera/Light back, which were in the range quoted. The rear can transit a "rear view mirror" view to my phone.

    For ease of use, you can get helmet mounted ones facing both ways, such as a Techalogic DC1.

    Place to start:https://road.cc/buyers-guide/best-bike-cameras-cycling

    I'd strongly recommend try a PasspIxi. Costs from £10 and makes a difference ime. It's a reflective "camera" sign that they seem to notice.
    https://passpixi.com/

    Thanks. I've been down the cycle.cc list before, so the personal recommendations are valued. I'm not really keen on helmet mount (I'm a bit of a cycle helmet purist - very particular about the feel, basically I don't want to notice it - and don't want to strap things on really) and probably can't leave on bike (I've forgotten fairly expensive lights on the bike for an hour or two at work and not had them nicked, but it's open cycle parking). I'd be thinking mainly for incident reporting, but have also seen a few interesting things on the commute that it would be nice to show the kids - close encounters with deer, owls etc and needs to cover day time and night time.
    Selebian said:

    MattW said:

    Cyclecameras for @Selebian

    My comments:

    Start with your objectives and requirements. Key things are daylight or darkness (ie winter commuting), budget, ease of use, battery life, combined with light, bike or helmet mount, how to charge, do you want radar?, vid method (eg circular overwrite), and can you bookmark incidents with one button click. Can you leave it on the bike when parking it (I can't)? If not, consider easy-release-mounts or helmet mounted.

    Decent quality can be from £150-200 for front and back. New models are best, but stuff that has been around for a couple of years should be OK if chosen carefully. Deep discounts (say 30%) or Voucher codes are sometimes available. Try Sport Pursuit etc.

    I run a Chilicam front and Techalogic DC1 Camera/Light back, which were in the range quoted. The rear can transit a "rear view mirror" view to my phone.

    For ease of use, you can get helmet mounted ones facing both ways, such as a Techalogic DC1.

    Place to start:https://road.cc/buyers-guide/best-bike-cameras-cycling

    I'd strongly recommend try a PasspIxi. Costs from £10 and makes a difference ime. It's a reflective "camera" sign that they seem to notice.
    https://passpixi.com/

    Thanks. I've been down the cycle.cc list before, so the personal recommendations are valued. I'm not really keen on helmet mount (I'm a bit of a cycle helmet purist - very particular about the feel, basically I don't want to notice it - and don't want to strap things on really) and probably can't leave on bike (I've forgotten fairly expensive lights on the bike for an hour or two at work and not had them nicked, but it's open cycle parking). I'd be thinking mainly for incident reporting, but have also seen a few interesting things on the commute that it would be nice to show the kids - close encounters with deer, owls etc and needs to cover day time and night time.
    Selebian said:

    MattW said:

    Cyclecameras for @Selebian

    My comments:

    Start with your objectives and requirements. Key things are daylight or darkness (ie winter commuting), budget, ease of use, battery life, combined with light, bike or helmet mount, how to charge, do you want radar?, vid method (eg circular overwrite), and can you bookmark incidents with one button click. Can you leave it on the bike when parking it (I can't)? If not, consider easy-release-mounts or helmet mounted.

    Decent quality can be from £150-200 for front and back. New models are best, but stuff that has been around for a couple of years should be OK if chosen carefully. Deep discounts (say 30%) or Voucher codes are sometimes available. Try Sport Pursuit etc.

    I run a Chilicam front and Techalogic DC1 Camera/Light back, which were in the range quoted. The rear can transit a "rear view mirror" view to my phone.

    For ease of use, you can get helmet mounted ones facing both ways, such as a Techalogic DC1.

    Place to start:https://road.cc/buyers-guide/best-bike-cameras-cycling

    I'd strongly recommend try a PasspIxi. Costs from £10 and makes a difference ime. It's a reflective "camera" sign that they seem to notice.
    https://passpixi.com/

    Thanks. I've been down the cycle.cc list before, so the personal recommendations are valued. I'm not really keen on helmet mount (I'm a bit of a cycle helmet purist - very particular about the feel, basically I don't want to notice it - and don't want to strap things on really) and probably can't leave on bike (I've forgotten fairly expensive lights on the bike for an hour or two at work and not had them nicked, but it's open cycle parking). I'd be thinking mainly for incident reporting, but have also seen a few interesting things on the commute that it would be nice to show the kids - close encounters with deer, owls etc and needs to cover day time and night time.
    Expect to have to do a bit of fiddling to get it how you like. I'm using a handlebar extension on my saddle post to get it out a bit sideways. But I have not found an easy way to Quick Release the rear camera.

    There is value in asking on the detail on a cycle forum - I usually ask on road.cc where there are few replies but from people who know. Cycling UK forum is also good.

    may also be worth asking about the local Police Force on your local cycling FB group eg some want a bit of the cycle in frame, like the "dog for scale".
  • sarissasarissa Posts: 1,953

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    Who the flip still has dinner parties anyway?

    Isn't that one of the indigenous ways of life that has been lost?
    Good point.

    He's so out of touch he thinks people have dinner parties.

    He'll be posting about prawn cocktails next.
    Blue Nun or Mateus Rose, anyone?
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,159
    Taz said:

    This is just staggering.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/debt-ridden-council-accuses-solar-tycoon-of-blowing-150m-of-its-cash/ar-AA1oV3Xg?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=31590d05a8434b1497fcabd6b1b749e0&ei=43

    A debt-ridden council has accused a Dubai-based solar tycoon of blowing £150 million of its cash on his luxury lifestyle, including by purchasing his own yacht and private jet.

    A High Court lawsuit by Thurrock Council in Essex, which declared itself bankrupt in 2022, claims Liam Kavanagh spent £13.7 million on a new yacht, £9.1 million on a private jet and another £20 million on a 232-acre country estate in Hampshire.

    The council invested some £400 million in bonds for a green energy scheme involving solar farms run by Kavanagh and his company Rockfire Capital, and racked up debts totalling more than £1.4 billion.

    Why do councils think they can do asset/investment management? A graduate hire in any fund would tell you those bonds are worthless after about 5 minutes of research.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,507

    Sandpit said:

    Today's Goodwin:

    "Once again, only about one in five people in Britain are passionately supportive of current immigration policy, while most of those —ensconced as they are in professional jobs in universities, corporations, the BBC, charities, museums and galleries— will never feel the negative effects of the policy they are advocating.

    Why? Because they belong to the luxury belief class, advocating ideas and policies like mass immigration which bring them status and brownie points from other elites at little cost to themselves, which make them feel fashionable and morally righteous at middle-class dinner parties , but which simultaneously inflict higher costs on the working-class and all those who simply want to protect the things they love by slowing the pace of immigration, like their identity, culture, values, and ways of life."


    Does he honestly believe people at middle class dinner parties sit around discussing how wonderful mass migration is?

    Bonkers.

    What actually is a 'middle-class dinner party'? (I've never been to one and don't know anyone who has.) I've always assumed they involve sitting around a dining table all night (no lounging around on sofas or milling about in the kitchen) while a hired caterer does all the cooking. Is that the gist?
    I think nowadays it’s known as going to a restaurant with friends. The UK food revolution (one of Leon’s faves, RIP), insofar as it exists, is about eating out not cooking at home. Probably passed Goodwin, Farage etc by.
    We invite people round for food all the time. Even by the time you provide 3 courses and wine for 6, it is cheaper than 2 in many restaurants. Plus the cooking can be fun.

    I serve half a bottle of champagne per head and a bottle per person, per course thereafter seems to work. Never seem to get complaints about anything.....
    A bottle per person per course??!!!!
    If you cater to that level, you never run out. Plus some of the pros can keep that pace or very near.
    Yup, you can never have too much wine in the plan, and nothing’s worse than scraping around for another bottle of something close when one runs out. If you start at 7pm and finish at 4am, it’s not particularly difficult to see three empty bottles each.
    We once (about 30 years ago) held a dinner party where the guests cleared the wine rack. Fortunately, the corner shop was open, and I nipped across for extra supplies several times during the evening. By the end of the evening, the shop’s wine shelf was looking quite bare. Before our next dinner party, we invested in a larger wine rack.
    I mean we all have these stories but once when in Hong Kong the Mandarin had an "all you can drink champagne brunch" so we carefully ambushed them arriving at opening time minus one minute and stayed until bottles of Veuve Clicquot (for it was hers) lined the walls of the place as far as you can see. The staff loved it because what did they care.

    For planning purposes for events it's usually a third of a bottle per person (half if you're nervous) and that usually works.

    For dps I would have 2x bottles per person but plenty in reserve. But then again I mix a mean gin beforehand.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,527
    Andy_JS said:

    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ

    Sweden used to be one of the safest places to live in the world. Wonder what happened."

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1825478939092914416

    Can we please stop Goodwin-ing the board. There are other tweets out there that are far more interesting than this provocateur ex-academic.
This discussion has been closed.