The decision gets worse by the minute. Supposedly we handed these islands over to a country 1,300 miles away “for the Chagossians”
From the guardian:
“Chagossian Voices, a community organisation for Chagossians based in the UK and in several other countries, condemned the UK government’s lack of consultation with them before Thursday’s announcement.
It said: “Chagossian Voices deplore the exclusion of the Chagossian community from the negotiations which have produced this statement of intent concerning the sovereignty of our homeland. Chagossians have learned this outcome from the media and remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland. The views of Chagossians, the Indigenous inhabitants of the islands, have been consistently and deliberately ignored and we demand full inclusion in the drafting of the treaty.”
A lot of the Chagossians have been working with the British Government administering the MPA. I suspect they can see all their long years of hard work going down the plughole, particularly if Mauritius gives fishing rights to the Chinese.
The decision gets worse by the minute. Supposedly we handed these islands over to a country 1,300 miles away “for the Chagossians”
From the guardian:
“Chagossian Voices, a community organisation for Chagossians based in the UK and in several other countries, condemned the UK government’s lack of consultation with them before Thursday’s announcement.
It said: “Chagossian Voices deplore the exclusion of the Chagossian community from the negotiations which have produced this statement of intent concerning the sovereignty of our homeland. Chagossians have learned this outcome from the media and remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland. The views of Chagossians, the Indigenous inhabitants of the islands, have been consistently and deliberately ignored and we demand full inclusion in the drafting of the treaty.”
The two countries have promoted mutual trust through frequent high-level contacts. More than 20 high-level visits have taken place over the past 10 years. In 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a visit to Mauritius and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth attended the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. The leaders of the two states visited each other within one year, drawing a blueprint for the long-term development of China-Mauritius relations and showing the way for future practical cooperation between the two countries in various fields.
In July 2021, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Prime Minister Jugnauth led all members of his Cabinet to attend the CPC and World Political Parties Summit via video link, injecting new impetus into the China-Mauritius exchanges on governance. Both sides jointly adhere to multilateralism and have maintained close contacts and cooperation in international and regional affairs for a long time, which has laid a solid foundation for bilateral relations. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Mauritius have been actively cooperating in the anti-virus fight. China has provided four batches of vaccines to the country, helping it build a "Great Wall of Immunity" to defeat the virus, and making important contributions to its opening of the border as planned.
The economic and trade exchanges between the two countries have become increasingly close, and their pragmatic cooperation has yielded fruitful results. China has become the largest trading partner of Mauritius for many years in a row.
The decision gets worse by the minute. Supposedly we handed these islands over to a country 1,300 miles away “for the Chagossians”
From the guardian:
“Chagossian Voices, a community organisation for Chagossians based in the UK and in several other countries, condemned the UK government’s lack of consultation with them before Thursday’s announcement.
It said: “Chagossian Voices deplore the exclusion of the Chagossian community from the negotiations which have produced this statement of intent concerning the sovereignty of our homeland. Chagossians have learned this outcome from the media and remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland. The views of Chagossians, the Indigenous inhabitants of the islands, have been consistently and deliberately ignored and we demand full inclusion in the drafting of the treaty.”
A lot of the Chagossians have been working with the British Government administering the MPA. I suspect they can see all their long years of hard work going down the plughole, particularly if Mauritius gives fishing rights to the Chinese.
Of course that’s what will now happen. China will plunder those seas and menace the UK/US base. The chagossians have not been consulted and will get almost zero from this. Meanwhile we are PAYING Mauritius to take our territory
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
Falling birthrate in UK; a whole basket of overlapping reasons:
Female careers - both choice and necessity leading to finite female caring/nurturing time Education structure - female best years spent in education and career development House prices and size Lack of social housing Uncertainty of renting sector Marriage breakdown Contraception and abortion Discontent among women with men Cost and difficulty of childcare Cars and car seats - this imposes a convenience maximum of 2 The modern custom that children have their own individual room.
I am amazed that anyone has any at all.
Discontent among women about men is somewhat a facet of your first reason. Crudely, men on average select for physical attraction whilst women select for ability to provide. Entry of women to the workplace has simultaneously lowered relatively earnings ability for the average man, whilst independent earnings capacity raises the average womens idea of what constitutes ability to provide.
Softbank’s Masa Son says artificial general intelligence will be achieved within 2-3 years, with artificial super intelligence occurring within 10 years.
If this is as accurate as his other forecasts, AGI is never coming
Softbank’s Masa Son says artificial general intelligence will be achieved within 2-3 years, with artificial super intelligence occurring within 10 years.
If this is as accurate as his other forecasts, AGI is never coming
"The backdrop to every single thing that the Labour party has done in government has been its first action to take them into fuel allowance away from 10 million pensioners. That has set the tone for everything, and it’s the backdrop for for how actions are seen.
People see that you’ve taken this from 10 million people, and taking that for free from businesses.
That’s the truth. There’s anger out there, and behaviour has to change."
Guardian live blog
People angry for the removal of freebie shocker.
I was SHOCKED to find KEIR STARMER TOOK OVER £100000 of gifts.
Is PB aware of this ?
You certainly weren't aware that politicians of all parties accept and declare gifts and have done for decades. Only that ignorance could explain your daily performative pearl-clutching on here.
I am just about old enough to remember £200k of gold wallpaper, it is a shame these young whippersnappers have no recall of such events.
It’s incredible, isn’t it? Not only is he accepting gifts left right and centre, he’s actually paying other countries to take strategic bits of British territory.
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
I have lots of good friends. I count good friends as “people I can discuss anything with”. Sorry if that upends your view of the world
Ah ok. That includes me then, I suppose (although I didn't spot my initial on the list). One child - hardly shifting the dial, I know.
Certainly doesn’t include you
Oh. No soft-soaping there. Fair enough.
Well good luck with the next trip. It will hopefully take your mind off Keir Starmer for a short while anyway.
That wasn’t meant meanly or personally, I just don’t count people I’ve met only online as “friends”
Indeed I’ve long thought there should be a new word for people like us. Internet personae you get to know well but never that well, and never for real
“Acquaintances” is too cold, and also doesn’t capture the internet aspect. “Friends” is too warm and intimate
A good friend is someone you can discuss anything with: sex, politics, health, love
A mere friend is someone whose company is enjoyable and you regularly - weekly or yearly - seek it out (and vice versa) but topics might be restricted
An acquaintance is “someone you have met more than once” but you’ve never had more than one head-to-head for the sake of it
What are we on here? “Locals” perhaps. In the pb pub. Regulars
Back to @kinabalu 's comment that "but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down"
- yes, but - I'm not sure in the developed world that's true.
Parenthood isn't really that bad a deal for women. I wouldn't volunteer for pregnancy and childbirth, but that is only a comparatively small part of parenthood - by far the bigger implication is the amount of resources you must pour into it, and that's true of both parents. Had I not had children, I reckon I could have been retiring in a year or two, rather than in 12-15 years. It's on the surface a bum deal for all parents. And yet the species has persisted, because actually, having children is brilliant for all sorts of reasons it's very hard to explain even to yourself, let alone anyone who doesn't have children. And the number of women who reach the end of childrearing age by choice is demographically negligible. They are there, but they always have been. Far more common are the women who reach the end of childrearing age childless who wish it were not so. Almost no-one regrets the children they had. But plenty regret the children they did not.
For the purposes of clarity, I'm not arguing that female emancipation is a bad thing. I'm arguing that I'm not satisfied with it as an argument for the decline in birth rate. Or at least, I'm not arguing that I'm satisfied with it as an argument for the rise in childlessness.
Not so much the rise of childlessness per se but the declining birthrate (although there's strong correlation there obviously).
When the world of work was the preserve of men it meant having and raising children had little competition as a way for women to find fulfilment. They now have more options, hence do less of that.
Of course there are other reasons impacting the birthrate, but this one is high in the mix imo.
Softbank’s Masa Son says artificial general intelligence will be achieved within 2-3 years, with artificial super intelligence occurring within 10 years.
If this is as accurate as his other forecasts, AGI is never coming
Ha ha ha ha ha
He said SoftBank
Ha ha ha ha ha
From memory SoftBank are part of the latest OpenAI funding round.
I'm still of the opinion that there are great solutions within AI but the current rush for general purpose AI is a complete dead end that's targeting a market that doesn't exist in the numbers required to pay for it.
"Then Brexit left many European nations reluctant to continue backing the UK’s stance in international forums."
Whoops
European backing is worthless anyway other than France and France has enough dodgy claims in overseas territory that they would also not want questions raised about. The only backing that matters is the US and our own. The government has scored a bit own goal here and now it will be open season on British overseas territory.
It’s incredible, isn’t it? Not only is he accepting gifts left right and centre, he’s actually paying other countries to take strategic bits of British territory.
And doing it to right an injustice against the indigenous people - and yet it turns out the indigenous people were not consulted and are deeply angry. That’s impressive even for this government
Can we all just sit back and enjoy the fact that Britain is handing over sovereign territory to a distant foreign country which never owned that territory, and that we are actually PAYING that country to take our territory, and we are supposedly doing it on behalf of the indigenous people of that territory, who are however deeply angered by this decision and say they were not consulted
Perhaps we are getting Madagascar in exchange?
Maybe even the whole DVD boxed set - if Starmer has negotiated well...
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
Falling birthrate in UK; a whole basket of overlapping reasons:
Female careers - both choice and necessity leading to finite female caring/nurturing time Education structure - female best years spent in education and career development House prices and size Lack of social housing Uncertainty of renting sector Marriage breakdown Contraception and abortion Discontent among women with men Cost and difficulty of childcare Cars and car seats - this imposes a convenience maximum of 2 The modern custom that children have their own individual room.
I am amazed that anyone has any at all.
The car seats thing is a pain (if you have three that are still young enough to need proper car seats rather than boosters). We have a Sharan, which is getting on a bit, and I'm not sure what options we'd have had for the next car. Even a lot of SUVs struggle with three full size car seats across the back - when we were looking it was Peugeot 5008, Grand Picasso, Galaxy, S-Max, Alhambra/Sharan, XC90, Disco pretty much. Even something like a Zafira or BMW 2 series won't three car seats across (I've been in car showrooms and tried!). Most of those are discontinued and now getting old. There are more compact options for car seats - e.g. two or three bolted together as a single, more compact unit, but they are costly and inflexible when one of your kids then needs the next thing up.
With 4, plus luggage, we'll be in the market for a Transporter or something similar
Eg my mother. She had 4 kids but in 2024 a woman of similar background, ability, temperament and circumstances would probably have 2 at the most. Amongst other things because her options would be wider.
"It is a clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes."
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
Falling birthrate in UK; a whole basket of overlapping reasons:
Female careers - both choice and necessity leading to finite female caring/nurturing time Education structure - female best years spent in education and career development House prices and size Lack of social housing Uncertainty of renting sector Marriage breakdown Contraception and abortion Discontent among women with men Cost and difficulty of childcare Cars and car seats - this imposes a convenience maximum of 2 The modern custom that children have their own individual room.
I am amazed that anyone has any at all.
The car seats thing is a pain (if you have three that are still young enough to need proper car seats rather than boosters). We have a Sharan, which is getting on a bit, and I'm not sure what options we'd have had for the next car. Even a lot of SUVs struggle with three full size car seats across the back - when we were looking it was Peugeot 5008, Grand Picasso, Galaxy, S-Max, Alhambra/Sharan, XC90, Disco pretty much. Even something like a Zafira or BMW 2 series won't three car seats across (I've been in car showrooms and tried!). Most of those are discontinued and now getting old. There are more compact options for car seats - e.g. two or three bolted together as a single, more compact unit, but they are costly and inflexible when one of your kids then needs the next thing up.
With 4, plus luggage, we'll be in the market for a Transporter or something similar
We've been talking about a third but the car situation has really put us both off lol, I can't imagine needing a transporter!
Starmer hands Diego Garcia “back to” Mauritius (they never owned it)
But of course he does. Next the Elgin Marbles, the Benin Bronzes, he will probably try and hand over Stonehenge to Norway
Absolutely insane
Here is the official statement on Diego Garcia: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-between-uk-and-mauritius-3-october-2024 (You will notice the word "back" is not used anywhere.) It looks like a deal has been reached between different parties that will help solve the longstanding problem of people having been expelled from their homes. Is that not good news?
A 99-year lease for Diego Garcia. By which point the Chinese population may be less than half its current number.
Rumours of the demise of the base have been greatly exaggerated, and Britain has again asserted its respect for the international rule of law.
And yet again the PB Tory hot takes have proven... embarrassing.
A diplomatic and humane act by Sir Keir, that may go some way to assuaging a historical wrong.
Are you missing the part where the negotiations have been going for years? But no, it's a Starmer masterstroke!
It wouldn't surprise me if the agreement was essentially done before the election, but that Sunak & co stalled on it because they didn't want to be the people to announce it and upset the right-wing press.
Another reason for Sunak calling the election in mid-summer. Along with the prison releases.
Lord Cameron had told the FCDO to stop the negotiations while he was Foreign Sec. They recommenced under Lammy.
This is quite the image
It was administered as part of Mauritius during colonial times.
I wonder how many other interesting territorial claims could be made on such a basis. And, what's to stop the Chagos Islanders just declaring UDI?
Might be tricky given that no Chagossians reside in the archipelago – due to their forced expulsion in 1967.
It’s incredible, isn’t it? Not only is he accepting gifts left right and centre, he’s actually paying other countries to take strategic bits of British territory.
And doing it to right an injustice against the indigenous people - and yet it turns out the indigenous people were not consulted and are deeply angry. That’s impressive even for this government
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
Falling birthrate in UK; a whole basket of overlapping reasons:
Female careers - both choice and necessity leading to finite female caring/nurturing time Education structure - female best years spent in education and career development House prices and size Lack of social housing Uncertainty of renting sector Marriage breakdown Contraception and abortion Discontent among women with men Cost and difficulty of childcare Cars and car seats - this imposes a convenience maximum of 2 The modern custom that children have their own individual room.
I am amazed that anyone has any at all.
The car seats thing is a pain (if you have three that are still young enough to need proper car seats rather than boosters). We have a Sharan, which is getting on a bit, and I'm not sure what options we'd have had for the next car. Even a lot of SUVs struggle with three full size car seats across the back - when we were looking it was Peugeot 5008, Grand Picasso, Galaxy, S-Max, Alhambra/Sharan, XC90, Disco pretty much. Even something like a Zafira or BMW 2 series won't three car seats across (I've been in car showrooms and tried!). Most of those are discontinued and now getting old. There are more compact options for car seats - e.g. two or three bolted together as a single, more compact unit, but they are costly and inflexible when one of your kids then needs the next thing up.
With 4, plus luggage, we'll be in the market for a Transporter or something similar
We've been talking about a third but the car situation has really put us both off lol, I can't imagine needing a transporter!
Let me tell you about 2 sets of friends who both sought a third and had twins...
"It is a clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes."
Can we all just sit back and enjoy the fact that Britain is handing over sovereign territory to a distant foreign country which never owned that territory, and that we are actually PAYING that country to take our territory, and we are supposedly doing it on behalf of the indigenous people of that territory, who are however deeply angered by this decision and say they were not consulted
Perhaps we are getting Madagascar in exchange?
Maybe even the whole DVD boxed set - if Starmer has negotiated well...
I had my eye on Australia (with Jackman and Kidman).
So to be clear Diego Garcia is 1339 miles from Mauritius. We took control of it in 1965. Prior to that there was no relationship between Mauritius and the Chagos islands of which Diego Garcia forms the most substantial part. We took control from Mauritius which was then under our control as well but which has since become independent. We, somewhat shamefully, removed the indigenous population from Diego Garcia to Mauritius, approximately 50 years ago. We then built a large base on the island that was also used by the Americans. And now we are giving this to Mauritius.
This is slightly mad. If the indigenous population still wanted to return we perhaps had a moral responsibility to do that. If they wanted independence from us we should then respect that too. If they wanted to combine with Mauritius that would be up to them. But on what conceivable basis are we giving a country something it never had and to which it has no obvious claim?
My main sadness about this is it will mean the end of British Indian Ocean Territory stamps.
Actually more seriously, my only real worry about this is what it will mean for the Marine Protection Area. It is currently the largest MPA in the world accounting for 50% of all No Take waters on the planet. The Mauritian Government have long objected to this and want to be able to fish there. This could be environmentally very bad.
It's pretty obvious that the Chinese will sweep the MPA clean with their gigantic industrial fishing fleet. An environmental disaster in the making. A really shameful thing to have done.
Starmer hands Diego Garcia “back to” Mauritius (they never owned it)
But of course he does. Next the Elgin Marbles, the Benin Bronzes, he will probably try and hand over Stonehenge to Norway
Absolutely insane
Here is the official statement on Diego Garcia: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-between-uk-and-mauritius-3-october-2024 (You will notice the word "back" is not used anywhere.) It looks like a deal has been reached between different parties that will help solve the longstanding problem of people having been expelled from their homes. Is that not good news?
A 99-year lease for Diego Garcia. By which point the Chinese population may be less than half its current number.
Rumours of the demise of the base have been greatly exaggerated, and Britain has again asserted its respect for the international rule of law.
And yet again the PB Tory hot takes have proven... embarrassing.
A diplomatic and humane act by Sir Keir, that may go some way to assuaging a historical wrong.
Are you missing the part where the negotiations have been going for years? But no, it's a Starmer masterstroke!
It wouldn't surprise me if the agreement was essentially done before the election, but that Sunak & co stalled on it because they didn't want to be the people to announce it and upset the right-wing press.
Another reason for Sunak calling the election in mid-summer. Along with the prison releases.
Lord Cameron had told the FCDO to stop the negotiations while he was Foreign Sec. They recommenced under Lammy.
This is quite the image
It was administered as part of Mauritius during colonial times.
I wonder how many other interesting territorial claims could be made on such a basis. And, what's to stop the Chagos Islanders just declaring UDI?
Might be tricky given that no Chagossians reside in the archipelago – due to their forced expulsion in 1967.
Resettlement is being support as part of this deal, so there will be. Have you read the press release? None of your comments suggest you have.
Can we all just sit back and enjoy the fact that Britain is handing over sovereign territory to a distant foreign country which never owned that territory, and that we are actually PAYING that country to take our territory, and we are supposedly doing it on behalf of the indigenous people of that territory, who are however deeply angered by this decision and say they were not consulted
Perhaps we are getting Madagascar in exchange?
Maybe even the whole DVD boxed set - if Starmer has negotiated well...
I had my eye on Australia (with Jackman and Kidman).
I'd never clocked before that the two leads are both mans (bot not both men, of course!)
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
Falling birthrate in UK; a whole basket of overlapping reasons:
Female careers - both choice and necessity leading to finite female caring/nurturing time Education structure - female best years spent in education and career development House prices and size Lack of social housing Uncertainty of renting sector Marriage breakdown Contraception and abortion Discontent among women with men Cost and difficulty of childcare Cars and car seats - this imposes a convenience maximum of 2 The modern custom that children have their own individual room.
I am amazed that anyone has any at all.
The car seats thing is a pain (if you have three that are still young enough to need proper car seats rather than boosters). We have a Sharan, which is getting on a bit, and I'm not sure what options we'd have had for the next car. Even a lot of SUVs struggle with three full size car seats across the back - when we were looking it was Peugeot 5008, Grand Picasso, Galaxy, S-Max, Alhambra/Sharan, XC90, Disco pretty much. Even something like a Zafira or BMW 2 series won't three car seats across (I've been in car showrooms and tried!). Most of those are discontinued and now getting old. There are more compact options for car seats - e.g. two or three bolted together as a single, more compact unit, but they are costly and inflexible when one of your kids then needs the next thing up.
With 4, plus luggage, we'll be in the market for a Transporter or something similar
We've got a Sharan too.
The number of cars with three proper seats in the back is surprisingly small. Even once they're out of car seats, having one child on the not-really-a-seat in the middle is a little suboptimal. You'd be forever having arguments.
And there's pretty much no electric cars which have that arrangement.
Still, this Sharan should do us for another seven years or so, by which time some of the kids should have left home.
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Starmer hands Diego Garcia “back to” Mauritius (they never owned it)
But of course he does. Next the Elgin Marbles, the Benin Bronzes, he will probably try and hand over Stonehenge to Norway
Absolutely insane
Here is the official statement on Diego Garcia: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-between-uk-and-mauritius-3-october-2024 (You will notice the word "back" is not used anywhere.) It looks like a deal has been reached between different parties that will help solve the longstanding problem of people having been expelled from their homes. Is that not good news?
A 99-year lease for Diego Garcia. By which point the Chinese population may be less than half its current number.
Rumours of the demise of the base have been greatly exaggerated, and Britain has again asserted its respect for the international rule of law.
And yet again the PB Tory hot takes have proven... embarrassing.
A diplomatic and humane act by Sir Keir, that may go some way to assuaging a historical wrong.
Are you missing the part where the negotiations have been going for years? But no, it's a Starmer masterstroke!
It wouldn't surprise me if the agreement was essentially done before the election, but that Sunak & co stalled on it because they didn't want to be the people to announce it and upset the right-wing press.
Another reason for Sunak calling the election in mid-summer. Along with the prison releases.
Lord Cameron had told the FCDO to stop the negotiations while he was Foreign Sec. They recommenced under Lammy.
This is quite the image
It was administered as part of Mauritius during colonial times.
I wonder how many other interesting territorial claims could be made on such a basis. And, what's to stop the Chagos Islanders just declaring UDI?
Might be tricky given that no Chagossians reside in the archipelago – due to their forced expulsion in 1967.
Resettlement is being support as part of this deal, so there will be. Have you read the press release? None of your comments suggest you have.
The OP was about Diego Garcia – where there will be no resettlement. If they want to declare UDI on the rest of the archipelago, their homeland, then perhaps they have good reason to do so?
I need to see the details of this Mauritius deal. If it was negotiated under Cameron as FS, then we can't discount the possibility that we're handing over the climate secretary too: Chagos with Ed Miliband.
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
Falling birthrate in UK; a whole basket of overlapping reasons:
Female careers - both choice and necessity leading to finite female caring/nurturing time Education structure - female best years spent in education and career development House prices and size Lack of social housing Uncertainty of renting sector Marriage breakdown Contraception and abortion Discontent among women with men Cost and difficulty of childcare Cars and car seats - this imposes a convenience maximum of 2 The modern custom that children have their own individual room.
I am amazed that anyone has any at all.
The car seats thing is a pain (if you have three that are still young enough to need proper car seats rather than boosters). We have a Sharan, which is getting on a bit, and I'm not sure what options we'd have had for the next car. Even a lot of SUVs struggle with three full size car seats across the back - when we were looking it was Peugeot 5008, Grand Picasso, Galaxy, S-Max, Alhambra/Sharan, XC90, Disco pretty much. Even something like a Zafira or BMW 2 series won't three car seats across (I've been in car showrooms and tried!). Most of those are discontinued and now getting old. There are more compact options for car seats - e.g. two or three bolted together as a single, more compact unit, but they are costly and inflexible when one of your kids then needs the next thing up.
With 4, plus luggage, we'll be in the market for a Transporter or something similar
We've got a Sharan too.
The number of cars with three proper seats in the back is surprisingly small. Even once they're out of car seats, having one child on the not-really-a-seat in the middle is a little suboptimal. You'd be forever having arguments.
And there's pretty much no electric cars which have that arrangement.
Still, this Sharan should do us for another seven years or so, by which time some of the kids should have left home.
There's nothing that beats it for space for footprint, I think. We'll miss it when we're forced to upgrade to a bus
"The backdrop to every single thing that the Labour party has done in government has been its first action to take them into fuel allowance away from 10 million pensioners. That has set the tone for everything, and it’s the backdrop for for how actions are seen.
People see that you’ve taken this from 10 million people, and taking that for free from businesses.
That’s the truth. There’s anger out there, and behaviour has to change."
Guardian live blog
People angry for the removal of freebie shocker.
I was SHOCKED to find KEIR STARMER TOOK OVER £100000 of gifts.
Is PB aware of this ?
I'd love to see the list of gift totals that all MPs received, not just Labour. What about the ministers last year?
I think the issue at play is Starmer came into office as someone who would stop sleaze and cronyism, and unfortunately he has tarred himself with the same brush and the principal charge he faces is he is a hypocrite
There can be no dispute that Reeves first act to withdraw the WFP from 10 million pensioners and hand it to train drivers has cut through, and now with Lord Alli seemingly gifting the cabinet with freebies Starmer has seen his personal rating dive and ironically Sunaks government is more popular than Starmer
If you had predicted this present stare of affairs on the 5th July most everyone would be astonished, and most sensible Labour supporters must be concerned at the present state of the party notwithstanding the few who seem to be in denial and keep maintaining nothing to see here
I don't think many labour supporters are happy about this. It does seem like a bit of a pile on though. Not sure where you think the wfp money pays the train drivers though, does the government pay their wages? I am not a labour supporter or member but I confirm that I voted for them to help kick out a Tory and I have no buyer's remorse for that. The media pile on has been quite shocking, bearing in mind we haven't had a budget yet. I shouldn't be surprised with pb tories attitude. They've had 4 years of Boris grift to grin and bear, so they must be so thankful. As a libdem I don't really worry too much by labour because I think their hearts are in the right place. The tories were vile and needed removing.
The problem Reeves created was to means test the WFP thereby removing it from 10 million pensioners and at the same time announce the settlement of the train drivers dispute with a huge payrise. The optics were awful though universal WFP had to be curtailed but had she done it in her Autumn statement with an implemention for 2025 it would not have been anywhere near as controversial
It has been challenged in Scotland and may yet have to be paid for this year, but the irony is that the drive to get pensioners signed up to pensioner's credit will evaporate the savings anyway
I resigned my membership of the conservative party at the time of the Johnson debacle and frankly am relieved they lost and have 5 years to try to become a one nation party, and if Cleverly becomes leader I will rejoin, but not with anyone else
As far as the pile on labour is concerned I mainly watch Sky news and the change in attitude from anti conservative to anti Labour is notable but maybe as journalists they are seeking gotchas and a successful gotcha of a PM or cabinet minister must be high in their playbook
Labour has also been pretty inept in explaining (1) why they need to make expenditure savings, and (2) why they've chosen to do what they've done and how they've done it. You have to put the work in establishing the narrative and how the political / fiscal strategy fits into that.
They could have said it's unfair that millionaires get WFP. They could have talked about the cost of servicing Tory debt. They could have talked about it being a dangerous world and needing to reinvest savings into national security.
They did not of that and instead made it look like lower-income pensioners are paying for a big pay rise to well-off train drivers.
This Labour generation of politicians are particularly crap at politics. They seem to have no understanding of how you mesh the administrative and the campaigning together, or how you lead the national conversation.
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
I have lots of good friends. I count good friends as “people I can discuss anything with”. Sorry if that upends your view of the world
Ah ok. That includes me then, I suppose (although I didn't spot my initial on the list). One child - hardly shifting the dial, I know.
Certainly doesn’t include you
Oh. No soft-soaping there. Fair enough.
Well good luck with the next trip. It will hopefully take your mind off Keir Starmer for a short while anyway.
That wasn’t meant meanly or personally, I just don’t count people I’ve met only online as “friends”
Indeed I’ve long thought there should be a new word for people like us. Internet personae you get to know well but never that well, and never for real
“Acquaintances” is too cold, and also doesn’t capture the internet aspect. “Friends” is too warm and intimate
A good friend is someone you can discuss anything with: sex, politics, health, love
A mere friend is someone whose company is enjoyable and you regularly - weekly or yearly - seek it out (and vice versa) but topics might be restricted
An acquaintance is “someone you have met more than once” but you’ve never had more than one head-to-head for the sake of it
What are we on here? “Locals” perhaps. In the pb pub. Regulars
Ok, politically the decision seems unwise, and environmentally it's going to be bad, and strategically it's obviously stupid, and morally it's a bit bizarre, but apart from that seems like a winner from the toolmaker's son.
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
Well, it might be because Alt-rght media bitches went out to spike a positive story?
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
I have lots of good friends. I count good friends as “people I can discuss anything with”. Sorry if that upends your view of the world
Ah ok. That includes me then, I suppose (although I didn't spot my initial on the list). One child - hardly shifting the dial, I know.
Certainly doesn’t include you
Oh. No soft-soaping there. Fair enough.
Well good luck with the next trip. It will hopefully take your mind off Keir Starmer for a short while anyway.
That wasn’t meant meanly or personally, I just don’t count people I’ve met only online as “friends”
Indeed I’ve long thought there should be a new word for people like us. Internet personae you get to know well but never that well, and never for real
“Acquaintances” is too cold, and also doesn’t capture the internet aspect. “Friends” is too warm and intimate
A good friend is someone you can discuss anything with: sex, politics, health, love
A mere friend is someone whose company is enjoyable and you regularly - weekly or yearly - seek it out (and vice versa) but topics might be restricted
An acquaintance is “someone you have met more than once” but you’ve never had more than one head-to-head for the sake of it
What are we on here? “Locals” perhaps. In the pb pub. Regulars
"It is a clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes."
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
So is the US base going to close? Why are they welcoming the deal?
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Sadly, given the Chagosian reaction today, it seems they have managed to take a win and turn it into a serious loss.
Giving it back to the Chagosians would have been righting a serious wrong. Giving it to the Mauritians without consulting the Chagosians - particularly given the environmental risks that are involved - now seems like a very poor decision.
I assume that as a result of this the MPA is dead and we will see a return to extensive fishing of the area.
But the timing of this breakthrough reflects a growing sense of urgency in international affairs, not least regarding Ukraine, with the UK keen to remove the Chagos issue as an obstacle to winning more global support, particularly from African nations, with the prospect of a second Trump presidency looming.
I mean where to even begin with this shite? We are giving a territory away, to a country that has never held it, in order to get more African countries to like us so that we can persuade them to give a shit about another country, also not a part of the UK, that we have decided we must be involved in at all costs. Sorry but where does this stop? Every British citizen to give a leg for Ukraine? If you don't do it you're a vile Putinist shill? I fondly remember a time when I was told here that Ukraine would just be 'buying British weapons'.
Wouldn’t it be awkward if James Cleverly were undermined by, oh I don’t know, say, James Cleverly…
If we're frank, the Tories would absolutely have done this anyway. The statements of Biden indicate to me a very heavy-handed US involvement. Rishi wasn't any better at telling Grandpa Joe to piss off than Starmer is. But Starmer’s in Government now, so he's where the buck stops.
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
Well, it might be because Alt-rght media bitches went out to spike a positive story?
I never saw the BBC as being part of the 'Alt-right mediabitches'
From the BBC article on the decision.
"But Frankie Bontemps, a second generation Chagossian in the UK, told the BBC that he felt "betrayed" and "angry" at the news because "Chagossians have never been involved" in the negotiations.
"We remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland", he said, and called for the full inclusion of Chagossians in drafting the treaty."
I was chatting to my son the other day about friends and friendly relationships, and I have three categories:
*) Friends. People who will drop everything and drive to the other side of the country to help you, and you would do for them. Often more like family than purely friends. A small but select group, and you are often stuck with them for life.
*) Mates. People you go drinking with, are friendly with, and will arrange to do things with; like go to clubs (or, more for PBers age group) theatre, the races, etc, etc.
*) Acquaintances. People you generally know and are friendly with. You may have a drink with them once in a while, but generally more formal than the above.
"The backdrop to every single thing that the Labour party has done in government has been its first action to take them into fuel allowance away from 10 million pensioners. That has set the tone for everything, and it’s the backdrop for for how actions are seen.
People see that you’ve taken this from 10 million people, and taking that for free from businesses.
That’s the truth. There’s anger out there, and behaviour has to change."
Guardian live blog
People angry for the removal of freebie shocker.
I was SHOCKED to find KEIR STARMER TOOK OVER £100000 of gifts.
Is PB aware of this ?
I'd love to see the list of gift totals that all MPs received, not just Labour. What about the ministers last year?
I think the issue at play is Starmer came into office as someone who would stop sleaze and cronyism, and unfortunately he has tarred himself with the same brush and the principal charge he faces is he is a hypocrite
There can be no dispute that Reeves first act to withdraw the WFP from 10 million pensioners and hand it to train drivers has cut through, and now with Lord Alli seemingly gifting the cabinet with freebies Starmer has seen his personal rating dive and ironically Sunaks government is more popular than Starmer
If you had predicted this present stare of affairs on the 5th July most everyone would be astonished, and most sensible Labour supporters must be concerned at the present state of the party notwithstanding the few who seem to be in denial and keep maintaining nothing to see here
I don't think many labour supporters are happy about this. It does seem like a bit of a pile on though. Not sure where you think the wfp money pays the train drivers though, does the government pay their wages? I am not a labour supporter or member but I confirm that I voted for them to help kick out a Tory and I have no buyer's remorse for that. The media pile on has been quite shocking, bearing in mind we haven't had a budget yet. I shouldn't be surprised with pb tories attitude. They've had 4 years of Boris grift to grin and bear, so they must be so thankful. As a libdem I don't really worry too much by labour because I think their hearts are in the right place. The tories were vile and needed removing.
The problem Reeves created was to means test the WFP thereby removing it from 10 million pensioners and at the same time announce the settlement of the train drivers dispute with a huge payrise. The optics were awful though universal WFP had to be curtailed but had she done it in her Autumn statement with an implemention for 2025 it would not have been anywhere near as controversial
It has been challenged in Scotland and may yet have to be paid for this year, but the irony is that the drive to get pensioners signed up to pensioner's credit will evaporate the savings anyway
I resigned my membership of the conservative party at the time of the Johnson debacle and frankly am relieved they lost and have 5 years to try to become a one nation party, and if Cleverly becomes leader I will rejoin, but not with anyone else
As far as the pile on labour is concerned I mainly watch Sky news and the change in attitude from anti conservative to anti Labour is notable but maybe as journalists they are seeking gotchas and a successful gotcha of a PM or cabinet minister must be high in their playbook
Labour has also been pretty inept in explaining (1) why they need to make expenditure savings, and (2) why they've chosen to do what they've done and how they've done it. You have to put the work in establishing the narrative and how the political / fiscal strategy fits into that.
They could have said it's unfair that millionaires get WFP. They could have talked about the cost of servicing Tory debt. They could have talked about it being a dangerous world and needing to reinvest savings into national security.
They did not of that and instead made it look like lower-income pensioners are paying for a big pay rise to well-off train drivers.
This Labour generation of politicians are particularly crap at politics. They seem to have no understanding of how you mesh the administrative and the campaigning together, or how you lead the national conversation.
In 1997 Labour had a budget within 2 months of getting elected. And another one 9 months later in March 1998
Absolutely no reason this mob couldn't have had a budget in the first 10 days of September and got the bad news over with. They can have another in March 2025 if they wish.
They had been miles ahead in the polls for 18 months - what on earth were they doing during that time ?
Is it just a function of me getting older or is this cohort of politicians the weakest we have ever had
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
I guess the government had to balance the competing demands of the Mauritians who had the legal case, the Chagossians who had the moral case, and the Americans, who had the military and security case. It seems to me that the deal, which will guarantee the right of return to islands other than DG while allowing the UK (in reality the US) to maintain the DG base, satisfies those competing demands rather effectively. Presumably the Chagossians hoped for more and no doubt deserved more too, but this is a decent compromise.
"The Chagos islanders themselves – some in Mauritius and the Seychelles, but others living in Crawley in Sussex – do not speak with one voice on the fate of their homeland."
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
Falling birthrate in UK; a whole basket of overlapping reasons:
Female careers - both choice and necessity leading to finite female caring/nurturing time Education structure - female best years spent in education and career development House prices and size Lack of social housing Uncertainty of renting sector Marriage breakdown Contraception and abortion Discontent among women with men Cost and difficulty of childcare Cars and car seats - this imposes a convenience maximum of 2 The modern custom that children have their own individual room.
I am amazed that anyone has any at all.
The car seats thing is a pain (if you have three that are still young enough to need proper car seats rather than boosters). We have a Sharan, which is getting on a bit, and I'm not sure what options we'd have had for the next car. Even a lot of SUVs struggle with three full size car seats across the back - when we were looking it was Peugeot 5008, Grand Picasso, Galaxy, S-Max, Alhambra/Sharan, XC90, Disco pretty much. Even something like a Zafira or BMW 2 series won't three car seats across (I've been in car showrooms and tried!). Most of those are discontinued and now getting old. There are more compact options for car seats - e.g. two or three bolted together as a single, more compact unit, but they are costly and inflexible when one of your kids then needs the next thing up.
With 4, plus luggage, we'll be in the market for a Transporter or something similar
We've got a Sharan too.
The number of cars with three proper seats in the back is surprisingly small. Even once they're out of car seats, having one child on the not-really-a-seat in the middle is a little suboptimal. You'd be forever having arguments.
And there's pretty much no electric cars which have that arrangement.
Still, this Sharan should do us for another seven years or so, by which time some of the kids should have left home.
There's nothing that beats it for space for footprint, I think. We'll miss it when we're forced to upgrade to a bus
Having to park two streets away so neighbours don't laugh is an issue.
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Sadly, given the Chagosian reaction today, it seems they have managed to take a win and turn it into a serious loss.
Giving it back to the Chagosians would have been righting a serious wrong. Giving it to the Mauritians without consulting the Chagosians - particularly given the environmental risks that are involved - now seems like a very poor decision.
I assume that as a result of this the MPA is dead and we will see a return to extensive fishing of the area.
At the time, wasn't the MPA seen as a gambit by the UK to tighten its grip on the area? (From memory only)
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
I guess the government had to balance the competing demands of the Mauritians who had the legal case, the Chagossians who had the moral case, and the Americans, who had the military and security case. It seems to me that the deal, which will guarantee the right of return to islands other than DG while allowing the UK (in reality the US) to maintain the DG base, satisfies those competing demands rather effectively. Presumably the Chagossians hoped for more and no doubt deserved more too, but this is a decent compromise.
Won't it all be flooded from global warming in 100 years time anyway?
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
Well, it might be because Alt-rght media bitches went out to spike a positive story?
I never saw the BBC as being part of the 'Alt-right mediabitches'
From the BBC article on the decision.
"But Frankie Bontemps, a second generation Chagossian in the UK, told the BBC that he felt "betrayed" and "angry" at the news because "Chagossians have never been involved" in the negotiations.
"We remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland", he said, and called for the full inclusion of Chagossians in drafting the treaty."
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
So is the US base going to close? Why are they welcoming the deal?
Melania Trump about to unleash a bombshell memoir to be published on Tuesday that could depress evangelical and pro life Catholic turnout for Trump in November
Seems odd they'd let her if that's the likely effect?
I don't think it will depress his vote, and indeed I suspect it's tactical.
Trump and other Republicans need to face both ways on this issue - the pro-life vote is important, but is very much a minority position. Polls in the US consistently show a healthy pro-choice majority (60%+). That's markedly different between parties, but you're still looking at 40% support among Republicans - they are much more divided than Democrats on this (where about 85% are pro-choice) and pro-choice Republican is very definitely a constituency Trump needs to hold onto.
His position has to be that this is a state rights issue, not a reproductive rights one. In front of Christian right audiences, he's often tempted to go further than that, causing him some issues for him. But it isn't unhelpful to him at all if Melania nods to the pro-choice side of the debate.
The pro choice side of the debate and women for whom that is a top issue are overwhelmingly voting Harris anyway.
Pro life evangelical turnout though is vital for Trump in many Midwestern and Southern swing states, if they stay home that could see Georgia and North Carolina (both in the top 10 states by evangelicals) in play for Harris and Walz. Evangelicals are already annoyed Trump isn't pushing for a Federal abortion ban after the SC repealed Roe v Wade, if his wife now pushes pro choice that will hurt him.
Last time a GOP nominee's wife was so vocally pro choice was Betty Ford in 1976 and Carter won with evangelicals not turning out for Ford
I really don't think Betty Ford's views on abortion were the key reason Carter did better than most Democrats amongst evangelicals. Carter was (and indeed is) a southern Baptist - he was very keen to talk about it, and was pretty popular in the south (where a lot of evangelicals live) for reasons not necessarily related to religion.
Ford was a born-again Christian too, funnily enough, but was uncomfortable talking about it, and was a mid-westerner.
Ford was an Episcopalian not an evangelical. If evangelical turnout falls for Trump relative to 2016 and 2020 he could lose NC as well as fail to regain Georgia as a result
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
I guess the government had to balance the competing demands of the Mauritians who had the legal case, the Chagossians who had the moral case, and the Americans, who had the military and security case. It seems to me that the deal, which will guarantee the right of return to islands other than DG while allowing the UK (in reality the US) to maintain the DG base, satisfies those competing demands rather effectively. Presumably the Chagossians hoped for more and no doubt deserved more too, but this is a decent compromise.
Won't it all be flooded from global warming in 100 years time anyway?
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
I guess the government had to balance the competing demands of the Mauritians who had the legal case, the Chagossians who had the moral case, and the Americans, who had the military and security case. It seems to me that the deal, which will guarantee the right of return to islands other than DG while allowing the UK (in reality the US) to maintain the DG base, satisfies those competing demands rather effectively. Presumably the Chagossians hoped for more and no doubt deserved more too, but this is a decent compromise.
Won't it all be flooded from global warming in 100 years time anyway?
Spoil sport!
Or, conventional weapons bases won't matter as much.
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
I guess the government had to balance the competing demands of the Mauritians who had the legal case, the Chagossians who had the moral case, and the Americans, who had the military and security case. It seems to me that the deal, which will guarantee the right of return to islands other than DG while allowing the UK (in reality the US) to maintain the DG base, satisfies those competing demands rather effectively. Presumably the Chagossians hoped for more and no doubt deserved more too, but this is a decent compromise.
Some were on R4 quoted as welcoming the deal. As far as I can see, the Chagossians aren't particularly united on their aims. Quite a large number wish to remain in the UK with full citizenship rights.
I could just be missing it but I've yet to see a criticism of the substance of the deal from the Chagossian community. They seem to be more peeved at not being involved in the discussions which is understandable.
It's SHITE being British! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the lefties. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand are GOVERNED by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to governed BY. We're ruled by effete arseholes. It's a SHITE state of affairs to be in, and ALL the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference!
But the timing of this breakthrough reflects a growing sense of urgency in international affairs, not least regarding Ukraine, with the UK keen to remove the Chagos issue as an obstacle to winning more global support, particularly from African nations, with the prospect of a second Trump presidency looming.
I mean where to even begin with this shite? We are giving a territory away, to a country that has never held it, in order to get more African countries to like us so that we can persuade them to give a shit about another country, also not a part of the UK, that we have decided we must be involved in at all costs. Sorry but where does this stop? Every British citizen to give a leg for Ukraine? If you don't do it you're a vile Putinist shill? I fondly remember a time when I was told here that Ukraine would just be 'buying British weapons'.
This line about Mauritius never owning the Chagos Islands strikes me as a little bit ahistorical. Mauritius didn't exist as a sovereign entity until it was granted independence in the 1960s. Prior to then it had been a colonial possession of various European countries, culminating in the French, who introduced slavery, and the British, who abolished slavery and imported Indian indentured labour. Both the British and the French administered the Chagos Islands from Mauritius as part of the same territory. The only reason then that Mauritius never owned the Chagos Islands is because we split them off from Mauritius when the latter became independent. Up until then we had considered them the same territory, as evident from our own administrative procedures.
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Sadly, given the Chagosian reaction today, it seems they have managed to take a win and turn it into a serious loss.
Giving it back to the Chagosians would have been righting a serious wrong. Giving it to the Mauritians without consulting the Chagosians - particularly given the environmental risks that are involved - now seems like a very poor decision.
I assume that as a result of this the MPA is dead and we will see a return to extensive fishing of the area.
I think everyone is going to find a way to be extremely pissed by this decision, even if on balance it's the correct thing to do (international law etc etc). You can see why Starmer would simply nod in approval as the robust legal arguments are laid out in front of him.
Could be another example where Labour are in more peril from the left than the right, destroying a MPA and somehow managing to mess up decolonisation - like handing the Falklands to a far-right junta.
It's SHITE being British! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the lefties. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand are GOVERNED by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to governed BY. We're ruled by effete arseholes. It's a SHITE state of affairs to be in, and ALL the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference!
Have you been consulting Trump's White House doctor on the QT ?
Melania Trump about to unleash a bombshell memoir to be published on Tuesday that could depress evangelical and pro life Catholic turnout for Trump in November
Seems odd they'd let her if that's the likely effect?
I don't think it will depress his vote, and indeed I suspect it's tactical.
Trump and other Republicans need to face both ways on this issue - the pro-life vote is important, but is very much a minority position. Polls in the US consistently show a healthy pro-choice majority (60%+). That's markedly different between parties, but you're still looking at 40% support among Republicans - they are much more divided than Democrats on this (where about 85% are pro-choice) and pro-choice Republican is very definitely a constituency Trump needs to hold onto.
His position has to be that this is a state rights issue, not a reproductive rights one. In front of Christian right audiences, he's often tempted to go further than that, causing him some issues for him. But it isn't unhelpful to him at all if Melania nods to the pro-choice side of the debate.
The pro choice side of the debate and women for whom that is a top issue are overwhelmingly voting Harris anyway.
Pro life evangelical turnout though is vital for Trump in many Midwestern and Southern swing states, if they stay home that could see Georgia and North Carolina (both in the top 10 states by evangelicals) in play for Harris and Walz. Evangelicals are already annoyed Trump isn't pushing for a Federal abortion ban after the SC repealed Roe v Wade, if his wife now pushes pro choice that will hurt him.
Last time a GOP nominee's wife was so vocally pro choice was Betty Ford in 1976 and Carter won with evangelicals not turning out for Ford
I really don't think Betty Ford's views on abortion were the key reason Carter did better than most Democrats amongst evangelicals. Carter was (and indeed is) a southern Baptist - he was very keen to talk about it, and was pretty popular in the south (where a lot of evangelicals live) for reasons not necessarily related to religion.
Ford was a born-again Christian too, funnily enough, but was uncomfortable talking about it, and was a mid-westerner.
Ford was an Episcopalian not an evangelical. If evangelical turnout falls for Trump relative to 2016 and 2020 he could lose NC as well as fail to regain Georgia as a result
If the pro-choice Republican vote falls, he is also in danger (slightly less so in North Carolina, but certainly in the rust belt).
As I say, although there is a party divide on this, the Democrats are relatively united whereas 40% of Republicans are pro-choice. So, on this issue, Republican presidential candidates have to try to face both ways. That's particularly when the primaries are out of the way.
Is this Diego Garcia issue going to damage James Cleverly's Tory leadership bid? After all, it was his initiative and his negotiations in the first place; criticising it being completed can look rather dodgy.
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
Falling birthrate in UK; a whole basket of overlapping reasons:
Female careers - both choice and necessity leading to finite female caring/nurturing time Education structure - female best years spent in education and career development House prices and size Lack of social housing Uncertainty of renting sector Marriage breakdown Contraception and abortion Discontent among women with men Cost and difficulty of childcare Cars and car seats - this imposes a convenience maximum of 2 The modern custom that children have their own individual room.
I am amazed that anyone has any at all.
The car seats thing is a pain (if you have three that are still young enough to need proper car seats rather than boosters). We have a Sharan, which is getting on a bit, and I'm not sure what options we'd have had for the next car. Even a lot of SUVs struggle with three full size car seats across the back - when we were looking it was Peugeot 5008, Grand Picasso, Galaxy, S-Max, Alhambra/Sharan, XC90, Disco pretty much. Even something like a Zafira or BMW 2 series won't three car seats across (I've been in car showrooms and tried!). Most of those are discontinued and now getting old. There are more compact options for car seats - e.g. two or three bolted together as a single, more compact unit, but they are costly and inflexible when one of your kids then needs the next thing up.
With 4, plus luggage, we'll be in the market for a Transporter or something similar
We've got a Sharan too.
The number of cars with three proper seats in the back is surprisingly small. Even once they're out of car seats, having one child on the not-really-a-seat in the middle is a little suboptimal. You'd be forever having arguments.
And there's pretty much no electric cars which have that arrangement.
Still, this Sharan should do us for another seven years or so, by which time some of the kids should have left home.
The memories...4 children. Mitsubishi Spacewagon, Galaxy, Zafira, Zafira in succession. So pleased now to have a boring Citroen C3, though very often one, sometimes two, grandchildren in the back.
It's SHITE being British! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the lefties. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand are GOVERNED by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to governed BY. We're ruled by effete arseholes. It's a SHITE state of affairs to be in, and ALL the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference!
It's SHITE being TORY! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate Starmer Labour. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand LOST BY A LANDSLIDE TO wankers. Can't even find a decent Party to lose an election to. We're ruled by effete arseholes, Leon. It's a SHITE state of affairs to be in, and ALL the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference!
The injustice was done to the Chagossians, who were evicted from their homes, not to Mauritius.
It’s not obvious that the Chagossians will benefit from this. And, China is getting a foot in the door, and the opportunity to harvest the surrounding sea.
It's SHITE being British! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the lefties. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand are GOVERNED by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to governed BY. We're ruled by effete arseholes. It's a SHITE state of affairs to be in, and ALL the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference!
Never fear, woke hating Kemi and macho patriot Rob will soon be ready to join man of the people hard man Nige to take on Starmer and his band of evil woke effete metropolitan liberal globalist elitists plus Angela Rayner
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
I guess the government had to balance the competing demands of the Mauritians who had the legal case, the Chagossians who had the moral case, and the Americans, who had the military and security case. It seems to me that the deal, which will guarantee the right of return to islands other than DG while allowing the UK (in reality the US) to maintain the DG base, satisfies those competing demands rather effectively. Presumably the Chagossians hoped for more and no doubt deserved more too, but this is a decent compromise.
Some were on R4 quoted as welcoming the deal. As far as I can see, the Chagossians aren't particularly united on their aims. Quite a large number wish to remain in the UK with full citizenship rights.
Currently there are no Chagossians living in the Chagos Islands. There is zero probability of the Islands ever being a self sufficient self governing territory. Hopefully the Mauritians can help those Chagossians who want to return to islands other than DG to do so and those who want to build a life here instead can do so too.
Wouldn’t it be awkward if James Cleverly were undermined by, oh I don’t know, say, James Cleverly…
If we're frank, the Tories would absolutely have done this anyway. The statements of Biden indicate to me a very heavy-handed US involvement. Rishi wasn't any better at telling Grandpa Joe to piss off than Starmer is. But Starmer’s in Government now, so he's where the buck stops.
David Cameron reportedly stopped this from going ahead when he became foreign secretary. I don't think the Tories would have gone through with it, it was in fact Liz Truss that started the whole process off because she's a blithering idiot.
Is this Diego Garcia issue going to damage James Cleverly's Tory leadership bid? After all, it was his initiative and his negotiations in the first place; criticising it being completed can look rather dodgy.
The skinny is that the idea was Liz Truss’ (yes) and Cleverly didn’t like it - negotiating on sovereignty - but agreed to it as a loyal FS. That of course could be his own spin as everyone from left and right pours scorn on this terrible blunder
I think they were the last areas to gain independence too.
We were in Pondicherry about ten years ago. There is practically no remnant of Frenchness left, bar a few old buildings with iron balconies. and a couple of boules courts.
It's SHITE being British! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the lefties. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand are GOVERNED by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to governed BY. We're ruled by effete arseholes. It's a SHITE state of affairs to be in, and ALL the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference!
Melania Trump about to unleash a bombshell memoir to be published on Tuesday that could depress evangelical and pro life Catholic turnout for Trump in November
Seems odd they'd let her if that's the likely effect?
I don't think it will depress his vote, and indeed I suspect it's tactical.
Trump and other Republicans need to face both ways on this issue - the pro-life vote is important, but is very much a minority position. Polls in the US consistently show a healthy pro-choice majority (60%+). That's markedly different between parties, but you're still looking at 40% support among Republicans - they are much more divided than Democrats on this (where about 85% are pro-choice) and pro-choice Republican is very definitely a constituency Trump needs to hold onto.
His position has to be that this is a state rights issue, not a reproductive rights one. In front of Christian right audiences, he's often tempted to go further than that, causing him some issues for him. But it isn't unhelpful to him at all if Melania nods to the pro-choice side of the debate.
The pro choice side of the debate and women for whom that is a top issue are overwhelmingly voting Harris anyway.
Pro life evangelical turnout though is vital for Trump in many Midwestern and Southern swing states, if they stay home that could see Georgia and North Carolina (both in the top 10 states by evangelicals) in play for Harris and Walz. Evangelicals are already annoyed Trump isn't pushing for a Federal abortion ban after the SC repealed Roe v Wade, if his wife now pushes pro choice that will hurt him.
Last time a GOP nominee's wife was so vocally pro choice was Betty Ford in 1976 and Carter won with evangelicals not turning out for Ford
I really don't think Betty Ford's views on abortion were the key reason Carter did better than most Democrats amongst evangelicals. Carter was (and indeed is) a southern Baptist - he was very keen to talk about it, and was pretty popular in the south (where a lot of evangelicals live) for reasons not necessarily related to religion.
Ford was a born-again Christian too, funnily enough, but was uncomfortable talking about it, and was a mid-westerner.
Ford was an Episcopalian not an evangelical. If evangelical turnout falls for Trump relative to 2016 and 2020 he could lose NC as well as fail to regain Georgia as a result
If the pro-choice Republican vote falls, he is also in danger (slightly less so in North Carolina, but certainly in the rust belt).
As I say, although there is a party divide on this, the Democrats are relatively united whereas 40% of Republicans are pro-choice. So, on this issue, Republican presidential candidates have to try to face both ways. That's particularly when the primaries are out of the way.
If Harris and Walz win North Carolina and Georgia then Trump would lose 265 to 273 for Harris even if he won Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin AND Pennsylvania.
Wouldn’t it be awkward if James Cleverly were undermined by, oh I don’t know, say, James Cleverly…
If we're frank, the Tories would absolutely have done this anyway. The statements of Biden indicate to me a very heavy-handed US involvement. Rishi wasn't any better at telling Grandpa Joe to piss off than Starmer is. But Starmer’s in Government now, so he's where the buck stops.
David Cameron reportedly stopped this from going ahead when he became foreign secretary. I don't think the Tories would have gone through with it, it was in fact Liz Truss that started the whole process off because she's a blithering idiot.
Liz Truss was a Tory and I don't think we should let anyone forget it. Labour gave us Corbyn and it turned into a competition..
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
I guess the government had to balance the competing demands of the Mauritians who had the legal case, the Chagossians who had the moral case, and the Americans, who had the military and security case. It seems to me that the deal, which will guarantee the right of return to islands other than DG while allowing the UK (in reality the US) to maintain the DG base, satisfies those competing demands rather effectively. Presumably the Chagossians hoped for more and no doubt deserved more too, but this is a decent compromise.
Some were on R4 quoted as welcoming the deal. As far as I can see, the Chagossians aren't particularly united on their aims. Quite a large number wish to remain in the UK with full citizenship rights.
Currently there are no Chagossians living in the Chagos Islands. There is zero probability of the Islands ever being a self sufficient self governing territory. Hopefully the Mauritians can help those Chagossians who want to return to islands other than DG to do so and those who want to build a life here instead can do so too.
Great. So the British taxpayer has to pay for fucking everything - we’re actually paying the Mauritians - and we also have to pay for any that still stay and we’ll probably end up paying the Chinese directly to build a new base - and of course we get zippo in return. Fabulous. Brilliant deal making
I think they were the last areas to gain independence too.
We were in Pondicherry about ten years ago. There is practically no remnant of Frenchness left, bar a few old buildings with iron balconies. and a couple of boules courts.
Never been to "Pondy", but been to Mahe (the former enclave in Kerala) a fair few times. Famous locally for its liquor stores!
ETA: Goa, and a few other Portuguese enclaves, were the last parts to rejoin India, in 1961.
I think they were the last areas to gain independence too.
We were in Pondicherry about ten years ago. There is practically no remnant of Frenchness left, bar a few old buildings with iron balconies. and a couple of boules courts.
I spent some time in South India a few years back - I found Pondicherry rather quaint in a couple of streets with the old architecture, though the place as a whole I have to admit I didn’t particularly find very interesting.
Congratulations to the government for doing the right thing on the Chagos Islands, bringing to a close one of the more shameful periods in our recent colonial history. I see that the Tory party is making an arse of itself on this, as is to be expected.
Then why are the chagossians themselves deeply angry and why do they say they were not consulted?
I guess the government had to balance the competing demands of the Mauritians who had the legal case, the Chagossians who had the moral case, and the Americans, who had the military and security case. It seems to me that the deal, which will guarantee the right of return to islands other than DG while allowing the UK (in reality the US) to maintain the DG base, satisfies those competing demands rather effectively. Presumably the Chagossians hoped for more and no doubt deserved more too, but this is a decent compromise.
Some were on R4 quoted as welcoming the deal. As far as I can see, the Chagossians aren't particularly united on their aims. Quite a large number wish to remain in the UK with full citizenship rights.
Currently there are no Chagossians living in the Chagos Islands. There is zero probability of the Islands ever being a self sufficient self governing territory. Hopefully the Mauritians can help those Chagossians who want to return to islands other than DG to do so and those who want to build a life here instead can do so too.
I don't understand why we couldn't have offered the Chagossians this ourselves. Presumably because there's zero infrastructure outwith DG there - so I assume noone wants to live there as it's practically impossible.
It's SHITE being British! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the lefties. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand are GOVERNED by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to governed BY. We're ruled by effete arseholes. It's a SHITE state of affairs to be in, and ALL the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference!
How many times have we warned you that Absinthe for breakfast will **** up your entire day?
Why is everyone making out they have loads of friends?
I only have four proper ones - two male and two female. They have 3 kids between them. So with my one that's 4 between 5.
Why is the birth-rate falling? Numerous reasons, obviously, but I'd highlight female emancipation. Women know it's a bum deal for them and with more empowerment are freer to turn it down.
Falling birthrate in UK; a whole basket of overlapping reasons:
Female careers - both choice and necessity leading to finite female caring/nurturing time Education structure - female best years spent in education and career development House prices and size Lack of social housing Uncertainty of renting sector Marriage breakdown Contraception and abortion Discontent among women with men Cost and difficulty of childcare Cars and car seats - this imposes a convenience maximum of 2 The modern custom that children have their own individual room.
I am amazed that anyone has any at all.
The car seats thing is a pain (if you have three that are still young enough to need proper car seats rather than boosters). We have a Sharan, which is getting on a bit, and I'm not sure what options we'd have had for the next car. Even a lot of SUVs struggle with three full size car seats across the back - when we were looking it was Peugeot 5008, Grand Picasso, Galaxy, S-Max, Alhambra/Sharan, XC90, Disco pretty much. Even something like a Zafira or BMW 2 series won't three car seats across (I've been in car showrooms and tried!). Most of those are discontinued and now getting old. There are more compact options for car seats - e.g. two or three bolted together as a single, more compact unit, but they are costly and inflexible when one of your kids then needs the next thing up.
With 4, plus luggage, we'll be in the market for a Transporter or something similar
Indeedy !
There's a useful thing called a Multimac, which puts 3 or 4 (depending on age/size) across the back of vehicles including estates, where number of fixing points is the usual limitation. But you'll be spending £1500+.
Tom Tugendhat hits out at James Cleverly over Chagos islands, as Labour's deal somehow produces further Tory splits
TT says "initiated during Liz Truss' premiership [when JC was foreign sec], these negotiations should never have started". Claims they compromise national security
Comments
Xi must be smiling today
http://mu.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/sgxw/202203/t20220328_10656501.htm
The two countries have promoted mutual trust through frequent high-level contacts. More than 20 high-level visits have taken place over the past 10 years. In 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a visit to Mauritius and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth attended the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. The leaders of the two states visited each other within one year, drawing a blueprint for the long-term development of China-Mauritius relations and showing the way for future practical cooperation between the two countries in various fields.
In July 2021, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Prime Minister Jugnauth led all members of his Cabinet to attend the CPC and World Political Parties Summit via video link, injecting new impetus into the China-Mauritius exchanges on governance. Both sides jointly adhere to multilateralism and have maintained close contacts and cooperation in international and regional affairs for a long time, which has laid a solid foundation for bilateral relations. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Mauritius have been actively cooperating in the anti-virus fight. China has provided four batches of vaccines to the country, helping it build a "Great Wall of Immunity" to defeat the virus, and making important contributions to its opening of the border as planned.
The economic and trade exchanges between the two countries have become increasingly close, and their pragmatic cooperation has yielded fruitful results. China has become the largest trading partner of Mauritius for many years in a row.
Oh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_India
No surprise people are pairing off later.
If this is as accurate as his other forecasts, AGI is never coming
He said SoftBank
Ha ha ha ha ha
When the world of work was the preserve of men it meant having and raising children had little competition as a way for women to find fulfilment. They now have more options, hence do less of that.
Of course there are other reasons impacting the birthrate, but this one is high in the mix imo.
I'm still of the opinion that there are great solutions within AI but the current rush for general purpose AI is a complete dead end that's targeting a market that doesn't exist in the numbers required to pay for it.
Maybe even the whole DVD boxed set - if Starmer has negotiated well...
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/angela-rayner-s-ibiza-dj-booth-rave-was-836-freebie/ar-AA1rDGIJ?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=2b61b0dbd584424ab001f1824e2b44c4&ei=10
With 4, plus luggage, we'll be in the market for a Transporter or something similar
"It is a clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes."
https://news.sky.com/story/uk-to-hand-over-sovereignty-of-chagos-islands-to-mauritius-after-decades-long-dispute-13227089
In three months.
The number of cars with three proper seats in the back is surprisingly small. Even once they're out of car seats, having one child on the not-really-a-seat in the middle is a little suboptimal. You'd be forever having arguments.
And there's pretty much no electric cars which have that arrangement.
Still, this Sharan should do us for another seven years or so, by which time some of the kids should have left home.
Election betting returns to the US!
They could have said it's unfair that millionaires get WFP. They could have talked about the cost of servicing Tory debt. They could have talked about it being a dangerous world and needing to reinvest savings into national security.
They did not of that and instead made it look like lower-income pensioners are paying for a big pay rise to well-off train drivers.
This Labour generation of politicians are particularly crap at politics. They seem to have no understanding of how you mesh the administrative and the campaigning together, or how you lead the national conversation.
Fitting, that a toolmaker should make a tool.
https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1841816941129867563
Presumably by 'Americans' he means Trump.
Giving it back to the Chagosians would have been righting a serious wrong. Giving it to the Mauritians without consulting the Chagosians - particularly given the environmental risks that are involved - now seems like a very poor decision.
I assume that as a result of this the MPA is dead and we will see a return to extensive fishing of the area.
I mean where to even begin with this shite? We are giving a territory away, to a country that has never held it, in order to get more African countries to like us so that we can persuade them to give a shit about another country, also not a part of the UK, that we have decided we must be involved in at all costs. Sorry but where does this stop? Every British citizen to give a leg for Ukraine? If you don't do it you're a vile Putinist shill? I fondly remember a time when I was told here that Ukraine would just be 'buying British weapons'.
F*** me there's one hell of an echo in here.
From the BBC article on the decision.
"But Frankie Bontemps, a second generation Chagossian in the UK, told the BBC that he felt "betrayed" and "angry" at the news because "Chagossians have never been involved" in the negotiations.
"We remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland", he said, and called for the full inclusion of Chagossians in drafting the treaty."
*) Friends. People who will drop everything and drive to the other side of the country to help you, and you would do for them. Often more like family than purely friends. A small but select group, and you are often stuck with them for life.
*) Mates. People you go drinking with, are friendly with, and will arrange to do things with; like go to clubs (or, more for PBers age group) theatre, the races, etc, etc.
*) Acquaintances. People you generally know and are friendly with. You may have a drink with them once in a while, but generally more formal than the above.
And another one 9 months later in March 1998
Absolutely no reason this mob couldn't have had a budget in the first 10 days of September and got the bad news over with. They can have another in March 2025 if they wish.
They had been miles ahead in the polls for 18 months - what on earth were they doing during that time ?
Is it just a function of me getting older or is this cohort of politicians the weakest we have ever had
Per the BBC.
You only see me for the clothes I wear.....
He's got some things going for him as a candidate, but being the sharpest tool in the box isn't one.
As far as I can see, the Chagossians aren't particularly united on their aims. Quite a large number wish to remain in the UK with full citizenship rights.
We will see how long that lasts
LOL.
Could be another example where Labour are in more peril from the left than the right, destroying a MPA and somehow managing to mess up decolonisation - like handing the Falklands to a far-right junta.
As I say, although there is a party divide on this, the Democrats are relatively united whereas 40% of Republicans are pro-choice. So, on this issue, Republican presidential candidates have to try to face both ways. That's particularly when the primaries are out of the way.
After all, it was his initiative and his negotiations in the first place; criticising it being completed can look rather dodgy.
It’s not obvious that the Chagossians will benefit from this. And, China is getting a foot in the door, and the opportunity to harvest the surrounding sea.
We were in Pondicherry about ten years ago. There is practically no remnant of Frenchness left, bar a few old buildings with iron balconies. and a couple of boules courts.
https://www.270towin.com/
Trump cannot afford to see evangelicals stay home
ETA: Goa, and a few other Portuguese enclaves, were the last parts to rejoin India, in 1961.
There's a useful thing called a Multimac, which puts 3 or 4 (depending on age/size) across the back of vehicles including estates, where number of fixing points is the usual limitation. But you'll be spending £1500+.
https://www.multimac.com/home
Or you are, as you say, into MPVs, 2 or 3 row tonka-tankers, or something small van size or VW Transporter size.
New prices of such vehicle seem to be £~35k+ if not cheap and nasty, or hope for a good day on Carwow.
I might be attracted to a Skoda Kodiak.
Tom Tugendhat hits out at James Cleverly over Chagos islands, as Labour's deal somehow produces further Tory splits
TT says "initiated during Liz Truss' premiership [when JC was foreign sec], these negotiations should never have started". Claims they compromise national security