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Bobby J’s choice of middle name isn’t very popular

SystemSystem Posts: 12,603
edited October 2024 in General
Bobby J’s choice of middle name isn’t very popular

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  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,893
    Thought this was going to be about the name Francis.
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,975
    david_herdson said:

    Any UK politician who calls themself Bobby J deserves to be ridiculed.

    Poundshop William Hague (in 'HAGUE' baseball cap era).
  • ManOfGwentManOfGwent Posts: 188
    Another humiliating blow to the Prime Minister who is named after Keir Hardie...
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 18,357
    kyf_100 said:

    david_herdson said:

    Any UK politician who calls themself Bobby J deserves to be ridiculed.

    Poundshop William Hague (in 'HAGUE' baseball cap era).
    But not Billy H.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 46,381
    ManOfGwent said:

    Another humiliating blow to the Prime Minister who is named after Keir Hardie...

    For the last time, it's spelt K-I-E-R !

    https://www.kier.co.uk/

    ;)
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,066
    ManOfGwent said:

    Another humiliating blow to the Prime Minister who is named after Keir Hardie...

    I was hoping he was named after Keir Dullea.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,851
    ManOfGwent said:

    Another humiliating blow to the Prime Minister who is named after Keir Hardie...

    His parents must be even duller than he is.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,851
    JosiasJessop said:

    ManOfGwent said:

    Another humiliating blow to the Prime Minister who is named after Keir Hardie...

    For the last time, it's spelt K-I-E-R !

    https://www.kier.co.uk/

    ;)
    Nobody cares
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,851
    kyf_100 said:

    david_herdson said:

    Any UK politician who calls themself Bobby J deserves to be ridiculed.

    Poundshop William Hague (in 'HAGUE' baseball cap era).
    What kind of saddo would wear one of those? HYUFD? A political nerd that names their child after a politician?
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,277
    Can someone tell me why I should give a fig about the Chagos Islands ? Or is all the pearl clutching by some just another excuse to have a moan about Starmer.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,942
    Bobby J? What an idiot lol! 😂
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 66,284
    Nigel_Foremain said:

    kyf_100 said:

    david_herdson said:

    Any UK politician who calls themself Bobby J deserves to be ridiculed.

    Poundshop William Hague (in 'HAGUE' baseball cap era).
    What kind of saddo would wear one of those? HYUFD? A political nerd that names their child after a politician?
    You see a lot of them on the heads of Trump supporters so maybe the same type of mindset sadly
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,066
    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?
  • ManOfGwentManOfGwent Posts: 188
    nico679 said:

    Can someone tell me why I should give a fig about the Chagos Islands ? Or is all the pearl clutching by some just another excuse to have a moan about Starmer.

    The probable loss of the world's largest marine protection zone?
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,975
    edited October 2024
    Nigel_Foremain said:

    kyf_100 said:

    david_herdson said:

    Any UK politician who calls themself Bobby J deserves to be ridiculed.

    Poundshop William Hague (in 'HAGUE' baseball cap era).
    What kind of saddo would wear one of those? HYUFD? A political nerd that names their child after a politician?
    To be fair to Honest Bob, it's still not plumbing the depths of cringe of either the 'Leadsom for Leader' march (2016), or, sartorially, the large chested women in 'It's DD for me' T-shirts of the Davis Campaign circa 2005.

    It still makes you realise all these people live on an absolutely different planet to the average voter.
  • kenObikenObi Posts: 247
    Pity the kids who might be named Nigel in the next few years.
  • eekeek Posts: 30,832
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    BJ
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 39,400
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    Assuming you ever need to reference him in future.
  • kenObikenObi Posts: 247
    ManOfGwent said:

    nico679 said:

    Can someone tell me why I should give a fig about the Chagos Islands ? Or is all the pearl clutching by some just another excuse to have a moan about Starmer.

    The probable loss of the world's largest marine protection zone?
    Which of course it isn't.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,631
    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,066
    Scott_xP said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    Assuming you ever need to reference him in future.
    Next Tory leader.

    I cannot believe I am writing a thread about the odds of Robert Jenrick as our next Prime Minister.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,940
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Scott_xP said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    Assuming you ever need to reference him in future.
    Next Tory leader.

    I cannot believe I am writing a thread about the odds of Robert Jenrick as our next Prime Minister.
    Just stop the colombian marching powder
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,940
    One to cheer up the Rejoiners

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13920447/Emmanuel-Macron-admits-EU-die-dire-warning-blocs-economy.html

    Nothing left to rejoin ?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,066
    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Scott_xP said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    Assuming you ever need to reference him in future.
    Next Tory leader.

    I cannot believe I am writing a thread about the odds of Robert Jenrick as our next Prime Minister.
    Just stop the colombian marching powder
    Look, Labour rarely oust their leaders.

    Sir Keir's here to stay.
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,975
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    Honest Bob. Or failing that, Sideshow Bob. Who, of course, was a staunch right winger.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLodoQLYDhQ
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,717
    kenObi said:

    Pity the kids who might be named Nigel in the next few years.

    Nigel not in the top 100 in 2021.

    Royal names continue to be very popular in Britain.

    https://cy.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/babynamesexplorer/2019-06-07
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,940
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Scott_xP said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    Assuming you ever need to reference him in future.
    Next Tory leader.

    I cannot believe I am writing a thread about the odds of Robert Jenrick as our next Prime Minister.
    Just stop the colombian marching powder
    Look, Labour rarely oust their leaders.

    Sir Keir's here to stay.
    Yes it has me laughing. The sheep are stuck with Rishi 2,0
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 39,400
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Scott_xP said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    Assuming you ever need to reference him in future.
    Next Tory leader.
    Only if they have a death wish.

    Oh, wait, never mind...
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,646
    nico679 said:

    Can someone tell me why I should give a fig about the Chagos Islands ? Or is all the pearl clutching by some just another excuse to have a moan about Starmer.

    I’ll try and help you

    For some family reasons we inherited a large Austrian skiing lodge from our great uncle in Salzburg

    There is some dispute about the upkeep of the shared parking area

    Anyway what do we care. We don’t ski. But we do like snooker. The parking thing is tedious. We have just given away the entire skiing lodge in return for a discount on a year’s membership in a snooker club


  • kenObikenObi Posts: 247
    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    Children are much nicer these days but odd names at school 4 or 5 decades meant you got dogs abuse.

    A 'Quentin' had such a bad time he changed his name half way through senior school.

  • agingjb2agingjb2 Posts: 127
    The Chagos Islanders were treated badly, and with intentional contempt. It did look, for moment, that the wrong might be corrected. But no, they have been given to Mauritius, where they have been confined to camps.

    Yes, I know that no-one in UK politics gives a fig, and any concern for these, or any other troubled people, is just dismissed as the reactions of snowflakes. You will mock; I despair.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 79,746
    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,445
    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    I agree. It reflects badly on "Bobby J". Not a partisan point, this, I'd feel the same about, say, Andy Burnham calling his daughter Atlee. Well not quite the same, that sounds a bit better, in fact it sounds quite good, but the principle is the same. Parents, don't do it. It's a touch egotistical and not appropriate.
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,342
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    We get a choice?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 28,753
    JosiasJessop said:

    ManOfGwent said:

    Another humiliating blow to the Prime Minister who is named after Keir Hardie...

    For the last time, it's spelt K-I-E-R !

    https://www.kier.co.uk/

    ;)
    It's perfect for a limerick about the End of the Peer show.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 15,734
    Burgessian said:

    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    Why on earth didn't he just give her as a middle name, Margaret, if he's so besotted. But Thatcher? Very strange.
    Similarly, I know a Liverpuddlian who has given his son the surname 'Lennon'.
    If you really like John Lennon that much, the name 'John' works perfectly well. Although there are three more likeable Beatles you might look to first.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 28,753
    Stocky said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    We get a choice?
    Generic Bob.

    He is, after all, from the Midlands - allegedly.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 56,043
    tlg86 said:

    agingjb2 said:

    The Chagos Islanders were treated badly, and with intentional contempt. It did look, for moment, that the wrong might be corrected. But no, they have been given to Mauritius, where they have been confined to camps.

    Yes, I know that no-one in UK politics gives a fig, and any concern for these, or any other troubled people, is just dismissed as the reactions of snowflakes. You will mock; I despair.

    Plenty on the left are pro-Empire, just so long as it's someone else's Empire.
    When I pointed out that the Russian Empire is explicitly an empire, and always was, one poster, here, said that to call the Russian Empire an empire is to "remove the meaning from the word Imperialism".

  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 35,403
    LostPassword said:

    kenObi said:

    Pity the kids who might be named Nigel in the next few years.

    Nigel not in the top 100 in 2021.

    Royal names continue to be very popular in Britain.

    https://cy.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/babynamesexplorer/2019-06-07
    I'm very much against the name Nigel. A Nigel stole away a girl I was VERY fond of 60+ years ago.
    I'm very happily married now but still.....
  • FossFoss Posts: 1,568
    Nigelb said:

    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..

    Apparently they can now build four million drones a year.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 32,222
    kinabalu said:

    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    I agree. It reflects badly on "Bobby J". Not a partisan point, this, I'd feel the same about, say, Andy Burnham calling his daughter Atlee. Well not quite the same, that sounds a bit better, in fact it sounds quite good, but the principle is the same. Parents, don't do it. It's a touch egotistical and not appropriate.
    I am the last one to approve of American trends, but there is a fairly big thing of them calling girls by stupid surnames - Tailor for example, that has clearly made some inroads here, along with grey squirrels and childhood obesity. 'Thatcher' fits into that category.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 28,753
    edited October 2024
    Judge Chutkan has just released all the evidence wrt Donald Trump's prosecution for his insurrectionary activities on 6 Jan 2020. The summary is 180 pages - supporting attachments still to come.

    He is not a happy bunny.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-2020-election-filing-special-counsel-jack-smith/

    Meidas Touch commentary:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf-1VmgXCUc

    The reason is because SCOTUS instructed the Judge to evaluate all of it in relation to their ruling that some immunity applies to a President, and so it all needs to be read into the trial.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,940
    edited October 2024
    Leon said:

    The Labour government can be understood if you grasp two things

    1. They are genuinely stupid (eg Lammy thinks Henry VII came after Henry VIII; Starmer thinks £100,000 in freebies is not an issue because “fair dos”)


    2. They have no concept of “the British national interest”. They will not do anything that favours Britain or the British people if it can be seen as potentially disfavouring anyone else; indeed if it’s a close call they would rather disfavour Britain so they can appear virtuous and selfless

    Cf their abandonment of the “British preference” for social housing

    Leon said:

    The Labour government can be understood if you grasp two things

    1. They are genuinely stupid (eg Lammy thinks Henry VII came after Henry VIII; Starmer thinks £100,000 in freebies is not an issue because “fair dos”)


    2. They have no concept of “the British national interest”. They will not do anything that favours Britain or the British people if it can be seen as potentially disfavouring anyone else; indeed if it’s a close call they would rather disfavour Britain so they can appear virtuous and selfless

    Cf their abandonment of the “British preference” for social housing

    One of the problems Labour face is the incoming government had little scrutiny.

    The media were scenting blood in the water and went for the Tories non stop with the Tories doing their damnedest to help them. Starmer said nothing and claimed it was media savvy which for an election it was,

    But now that lack of scrutiny is coming to bite them back. SKS is a manager not a leader, his team is a bunch of useless B raters and they have no actual policies to fall back on. They have 5 years of this ahead of them. I note how the meme of competent government has disappeared from PB threads.

    If Im lucky Ill get to see the death of the Labour Party,




  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,445
    nico679 said:

    Can someone tell me why I should give a fig about the Chagos Islands ? Or is all the pearl clutching by some just another excuse to have a moan about Starmer.

    There is that - there's definitely that - but also with many on the right of politics (both traditional and populist variety) there is a strong instinctive fondness for the notion of us still having far-flung colonial possessions. Hence much effort is expended to come up with justifications for it. More than you'd have thought it merited.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,314
    Foss said:

    Nigelb said:

    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..

    Apparently they can now build four million drones a year.
    China put on a very impressive display of 10,000 drones performing a light show this week. Impressive and intimidating if you consider their military applications:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5JYoQLEdxk
  • kenObikenObi Posts: 247
    nico679 said:

    Can someone tell me why I should give a fig about the Chagos Islands ? Or is all the pearl clutching by some just another excuse to have a moan about Starmer.

    If it didn't have a huge US base on it, it would have been 'given back' decades ago.

    We wouldn't, like in many parts of Africa, the middle East or India, been that bothered who we gave it back to and where exactly the line on the map was drawn.

    Some people have to pretend thats its of huge strategic importance to us, even though all our nuclear subs are laid up for repairs, we have only 2 aircraft carriers that aren't really fit for purpose and a quarter of the remaing fleet are not much bigger than an RNLI lifeboat.

    Most people couldn't place them on a map and the only time they hit the news was when Jeremy Corbyn asked a question about them, while people rolled their eyes.

    These armchair Admirals probably can't swim a yard and would have a fit if one of their kids signed up for 4 years.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 19,314
    OldKingCole said:

    LostPassword said:

    kenObi said:

    Pity the kids who might be named Nigel in the next few years.

    Nigel not in the top 100 in 2021.

    Royal names continue to be very popular in Britain.

    https://cy.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/babynamesexplorer/2019-06-07
    I'm very much against the name Nigel. A Nigel stole away a girl I was VERY fond of 60+ years ago.
    I'm very happily married now but still.....
    Like the story told of Richard Curtis?

    Bernard Jenkin stole his university crush from him, hence all the idiots called Bernard in things what he has written. (Well at least two, anyway. The one in Four Weddings and Nursie in Blackadder 3. Are there others?)
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,646
    edited October 2024
    kenObi said:

    nico679 said:

    Can someone tell me why I should give a fig about the Chagos Islands ? Or is all the pearl clutching by some just another excuse to have a moan about Starmer.

    If it didn't have a huge US base on it, it would have been 'given back' decades ago.

    We wouldn't, like in many parts of Africa, the middle East or India, been that bothered who we gave it back to and where exactly the line on the map was drawn.

    Some people have to pretend thats its of huge strategic importance to us, even though all our nuclear subs are laid up for repairs, we have only 2 aircraft carriers that aren't really fit for purpose and a quarter of the remaing fleet are not much bigger than an RNLI lifeboat.

    Most people couldn't place them on a map and the only time they hit the news was when Jeremy Corbyn asked a question about them, while people rolled their eyes.

    These armchair Admirals probably can't swim a yard and would have a fit if one of their kids signed up for 4 years.
    Who knows what technologies or discoveries will emerge in the coming decades which will make 60,000sq km of the Indian Ocean immensely valuable. And valuable to the British nation and people that possess them. But no, fuck that, give them away to China via Mauritius because it makes a few lawyers feel virtuous and too many people are too stupid to extrapolate

    Oh and, by the way, get the hard pressed British taxpayer to actually pay money for this insanity
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,538
    edited October 2024
    MattW said:

    Judge Chutkan has just released all the evidence wrt Donald Trump's prosecution for his insurrectionary activities on 6 Jan 2020. The summary is 180 pages - supporting attachments still to come.

    He is not a happy bunny.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-2020-election-filing-special-counsel-jack-smith/

    Meidas Touch commentary:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf-1VmgXCUc

    The reason is because SCOTUS instructed the Judge to evaluate all of it in relation to their ruling that some immunity applies to a President, and so it all needs to be read into the trial.

    Amusing that the SCOTUS ruling intended to keep Trump away from a trial until after the election has come back to bite him on the arse 32 days before election day.

    If Trump was exposed to any level of scrutiny he would be squirming. But he has run away from any more debates, run away from the traditional "60 Minutes" interview... But great material in there for 32 days of Harris attack ads.

    Trump will spend the next 32 days losing his shit.

    And the next 32 months losing his liberty.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 56,006
    Foss said:

    Nigelb said:

    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..

    Apparently they can now build four million drones a year.
    In the meantime the UK fighters were not able to assist Iron Dome because although they had the ability to shoot down drones in April (and did) their equipment did not allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. We are so far behind what we would actually need in a war that we might be better starting again. Its genuinely scary how far off the pace we are.
  • DumbosaurusDumbosaurus Posts: 880
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    You know what you must do.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,747
    Dumbosaurus said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    You know what you must do.
    BJ? Or, of course, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Jean .
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,445
    Luckyguy1983 said:

    kinabalu said:

    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    I agree. It reflects badly on "Bobby J". Not a partisan point, this, I'd feel the same about, say, Andy Burnham calling his daughter Atlee. Well not quite the same, that sounds a bit better, in fact it sounds quite good, but the principle is the same. Parents, don't do it. It's a touch egotistical and not appropriate.
    I am the last one to approve of American trends, but there is a fairly big thing of them calling girls by stupid surnames - Tailor for example, that has clearly made some inroads here, along with grey squirrels and childhood obesity. 'Thatcher' fits into that category.
    Looks like, albeit coming at it from wildly different directions, we agree on something. Bit of a result. However, let's get back to familiar ground and end on a point of violent disagreement. Putting the American angle to one side, there's no problem in my book with surnames as female forenames so long as they aren't political and they sound ok. Eg Taylor is fine, Higginbottom not so much.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 15,734
    edited October 2024
    kinabalu said:

    nico679 said:

    Can someone tell me why I should give a fig about the Chagos Islands ? Or is all the pearl clutching by some just another excuse to have a moan about Starmer.

    There is that - there's definitely that - but also with many on the right of politics (both traditional and populist variety) there is a strong instinctive fondness for the notion of us still having far-flung colonial possessions. Hence much effort is expended to come up with justifications for it. More than you'd have thought it merited.
    Doesn't this fall under the category of 'selling the family silver' - which the left are normally fairly critical of? Or is it ok because we're not actually selling it, we're just giving it away to someone who'll give it to the Chinese?

    It's not that I particularly like the Chagos Islands. I'd just rather see a good deal for 1) Britain, and 2) the Chagos Islanders than a bad one. This seems to fit neither criterion.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,912
    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,631
    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    I assume under this deal it would be the UK paying Spain €5million per annum for the privilege?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,538
    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    He was told to fuck off from running with the bulls at Pamplona. Unless he wore a sombrero and carried a large flamenco dancer doll.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 56,006
    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    That's ridiculous. Now if he had got a decent recipe for Sangria, we might have been talking. It never tastes the same in this country.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 11,351
    edited October 2024
    DavidL said:

    Foss said:

    Nigelb said:

    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..

    Apparently they can now build four million drones a year.
    In the meantime the UK fighters were not able to assist Iron Dome because although they had the ability to shoot down drones in April (and did) their equipment did not allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. We are so far behind what we would actually need in a war that we might be better starting again. Its genuinely scary how far off the pace we are.
    Steady on, do any air forces have the ability to shoot down ballistic missiles?

    We have destroyer based systems which are similar to those used by the Israelis from the ground, used successfully by HMS Diamond in April.
  • eekeek Posts: 30,832
    Cookie said:

    kinabalu said:

    nico679 said:

    Can someone tell me why I should give a fig about the Chagos Islands ? Or is all the pearl clutching by some just another excuse to have a moan about Starmer.

    There is that - there's definitely that - but also with many on the right of politics (both traditional and populist variety) there is a strong instinctive fondness for the notion of us still having far-flung colonial possessions. Hence much effort is expended to come up with justifications for it. More than you'd have thought it merited.
    Doesn't this fall under the category of 'selling the family silver' - which the left are normally fairly critical of? Or is it ok because we're not actually selling it, we're just giving it away to someone who'll give it to the Chinese?

    It's not that I particularly like the Chagos Islands. I'd just rather see a good deal for 1) Britain, and 2) the Chagos Islanders than a bad one. This seems to fit neither criterion.
    I think this is way more - removing an ongoing cost from our outgoing expenses.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,538
    david_herdson said:

    Any UK politician who calls themself Bobby J deserves to be ridiculed.

    Maybe the "Bobby" is a subtle reference to the shower scene. We are going to wake up and find Theresa May is still PM.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 56,043
    edited October 2024
    DavidL said:

    Foss said:

    Nigelb said:

    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..

    Apparently they can now build four million drones a year.
    In the meantime the UK fighters were not able to assist Iron Dome because although they had the ability to shoot down drones in April (and did) their equipment did not allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. We are so far behind what we would actually need in a war that we might be better starting again. Its genuinely scary how far off the pace we are.
    To intercept ballistic missiles requires a very fast missile. Which means a very large missile.

    The only missile in the world that is air launched that *might* have some ABM capability is the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIM-174B which is an SM6 missile for launch from Aegis ships with a much reduced booster.

    Might, because the reduction in performance probably removes the ability of the AIM-174B to hit a *ballistic* missile.

    Its main purpose is ultra long range air-to-air and air-to-ground strike.

    So probably *no one* on the planet has an airborne ABM capability.

    Worth noting that to use a missile for ABM would require targeting information. Which would need to come from a huge radar somewhere else. For the American ASAT test using an F15, way back, the aircraft was actually flown and the missile fired to tracking data from Cobra Dane - one of the largest radars on Earth.

    The radar on a Type 45 has capability in this regard - and that is where the Royal Navy has its ABM capability.
  • kenObikenObi Posts: 247
    DavidL said:

    Foss said:

    Nigelb said:

    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..

    Apparently they can now build four million drones a year.
    In the meantime the UK fighters were not able to assist Iron Dome because although they had the ability to shoot down drones in April (and did) their equipment did not allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. We are so far behind what we would actually need in a war that we might be better starting again. Its genuinely scary how far off the pace we are.
    Yet Cap'n Brexit on here was yesterday boasting about Britain knocking out ballistic missiles fired from Iran and lambasting Starmer for not shouting it from the roof tops.

  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,813
    DavidL said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    That's ridiculous. Now if he had got a decent recipe for Sangria, we might have been talking. It never tastes the same in this country.
    Ah, but how does it taste in Gibraltar!?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 79,746
    Leon said:

    The Labour government can be understood if you grasp two things

    1. They are genuinely stupid (eg Lammy thinks Henry VII came after Henry VIII; Starmer thinks £100,000 in freebies is not an issue because “fair dos”)


    2. They have no concept of “the British national interest”. They will not do anything that favours Britain or the British people if it can be seen as potentially disfavouring anyone else; indeed if it’s a close call they would rather disfavour Britain so they can appear virtuous and selfless

    Cf their abandonment of the “British preference” for social housing

    You voted both for them and for Brexit.
    You're batting a straight zero on that score.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,445
    Burgessian said:

    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    Why on earth didn't he just give her as a middle name, Margaret, if he's so besotted. But Thatcher? Very strange.
    That's a very good point. It is a genuinely strange thing to do. But perhaps you have to be a bit strange to want to be the leader of the Conservative Party?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 79,746
    OldKingCole said:

    LostPassword said:

    kenObi said:

    Pity the kids who might be named Nigel in the next few years.

    Nigel not in the top 100 in 2021.

    Royal names continue to be very popular in Britain.

    https://cy.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/babynamesexplorer/2019-06-07
    I'm very much against the name Nigel. A Nigel stole away a girl I was VERY fond of 60+ years ago.
    I'm very happily married now but still.....
    I have an alibi; I probably wasn't yet born.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,353
    williamglenn said:

    Foss said:

    Nigelb said:

    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..

    Apparently they can now build four million drones a year.
    China put on a very impressive display of 10,000 drones performing a light show this week. Impressive and intimidating if you consider their military applications:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5JYoQLEdxk
    "He will make an excellent drone!"
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 27,020
    https://order-order.com/2024/10/03/exclusive-starmers-close-friend-is-mauritius-chief-legal-adviser-on-chagos-islands/

    Guido can reveal that Starmer’s close friend Philippe Sands KC is Mauritus’ chief legal adviser and a longtime agitator for Mauritian control of the islands. He submitted in evidence to Parliament in January of this year:

    “At the outset, I wish to make clear that as a member of the Bar of England and Wales I have acted as counsel to Mauritius since 2010 in relation to the Chagos Archipelago. As such, I have been involved in the proceedings before the Annex VII arbitral tribunal (2010-2015), the International Court of Justice (ICJ, 2017-2019) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS, 2019-2023). I continue to advise the Government of Mauritius.

    Do cab rank rules apply here?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,314
    kinabalu said:

    Burgessian said:

    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    Why on earth didn't he just give her as a middle name, Margaret, if he's so besotted. But Thatcher? Very strange.
    That's a very good point. It is a genuinely strange thing to do. But perhaps you have to be a bit strange to want to be the leader of the Conservative Party?
    The better strategy for a conservative-minded person would be to become leader of the Labour Party. Then you can implement right-wing policies with less opposition, and get an added kick from humiliating your own supporters.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,353
    Omnium said:

    DavidL said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    That's ridiculous. Now if he had got a decent recipe for Sangria, we might have been talking. It never tastes the same in this country.
    Ah, but how does it taste in Gibraltar!?
    The water in Gibraltar don't taste like what it oughta!
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,631
    tlg86 said:

    https://order-order.com/2024/10/03/exclusive-starmers-close-friend-is-mauritius-chief-legal-adviser-on-chagos-islands/

    Guido can reveal that Starmer’s close friend Philippe Sands KC is Mauritus’ chief legal adviser and a longtime agitator for Mauritian control of the islands. He submitted in evidence to Parliament in January of this year:

    “At the outset, I wish to make clear that as a member of the Bar of England and Wales I have acted as counsel to Mauritius since 2010 in relation to the Chagos Archipelago. As such, I have been involved in the proceedings before the Annex VII arbitral tribunal (2010-2015), the International Court of Justice (ICJ, 2017-2019) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS, 2019-2023). I continue to advise the Government of Mauritius.

    Do cab rank rules apply here?

    Wouldn't be surprised if he agreed to it just because his mate asked him to.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 79,746
    MattW said:

    Judge Chutkan has just released all the evidence wrt Donald Trump's prosecution for his insurrectionary activities on 6 Jan 2020. The summary is 180 pages - supporting attachments still to come.

    He is not a happy bunny.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-2020-election-filing-special-counsel-jack-smith/

    Meidas Touch commentary:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf-1VmgXCUc

    The reason is because SCOTUS instructed the Judge to evaluate all of it in relation to their ruling that some immunity applies to a President, and so it all needs to be read into the trial.

    I particularly liked his writing Trump tweets attacking the Supreme Court justices into the record. They're going to have a tough time arguing those were pursuant to Presidential powers.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 79,746
    Alanbrooke said:

    Leon said:

    The Labour government can be understood if you grasp two things

    1. They are genuinely stupid (eg Lammy thinks Henry VII came after Henry VIII; Starmer thinks £100,000 in freebies is not an issue because “fair dos”)


    2. They have no concept of “the British national interest”. They will not do anything that favours Britain or the British people if it can be seen as potentially disfavouring anyone else; indeed if it’s a close call they would rather disfavour Britain so they can appear virtuous and selfless

    Cf their abandonment of the “British preference” for social housing

    Leon said:

    The Labour government can be understood if you grasp two things

    1. They are genuinely stupid (eg Lammy thinks Henry VII came after Henry VIII; Starmer thinks £100,000 in freebies is not an issue because “fair dos”)


    2. They have no concept of “the British national interest”. They will not do anything that favours Britain or the British people if it can be seen as potentially disfavouring anyone else; indeed if it’s a close call they would rather disfavour Britain so they can appear virtuous and selfless

    Cf their abandonment of the “British preference” for social housing

    One of the problems Labour face is the incoming government had little scrutiny.

    The media were scenting blood in the water and went for the Tories non stop with the Tories doing their damnedest to help them. Starmer said nothing and claimed it was media savvy which for an election it was,

    But now that lack of scrutiny is coming to bite them back. SKS is a manager not a leader, his team is a bunch of useless B raters and they have no actual policies to fall back on. They have 5 years of this ahead of them. I note how the meme of competent government has disappeared from PB threads.

    If Im lucky Ill get to see the death of the Labour Party,


    With any luck it will be Ahab and the Whale, as far as the Tories and Labour are concerned.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,912
    MarqueeMark said:

    david_herdson said:

    Any UK politician who calls themself Bobby J deserves to be ridiculed.

    Maybe the "Bobby" is a subtle reference to the shower scene. We are going to wake up and find Theresa May is still PM.
    I'm actually genuinely worried Sir Shit Karma would have negotiated a worse Brexit deal than she did.

    God knows what we'd have ended up if he'd been in office at the time, if he didn't try to Revoke or "lost" his People's Vote a 2nd time.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 66,284
    edited October 2024
    kenObi said:

    DavidL said:

    Foss said:

    Nigelb said:

    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..

    Apparently they can now build four million drones a year.
    In the meantime the UK fighters were not able to assist Iron Dome because although they had the ability to shoot down drones in April (and did) their equipment did not allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. We are so far behind what we would actually need in a war that we might be better starting again. Its genuinely scary how far off the pace we are.
    Yet Cap'n Brexit on here was yesterday boasting about Britain knocking out ballistic missiles fired from Iran and lambasting Starmer for not shouting it from the roof tops.

    I assume you are referring to me and you may not know that I voted remain but accepted the democratic vote, and that I amended my statement confirming RAF jets were involved in the operation using air refueling as per the Ministry of defence and I corrected my statement about the missiles and apologised

    Furthermore, it is clear Starmer and Lammy have a problem with Israel having embargoed some weaponry, and as a result Netanyahu refused to meet Starmer at the G7

    Sunak confirmed UK military involvement in previous incursions
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,912
    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    The Labour government can be understood if you grasp two things

    1. They are genuinely stupid (eg Lammy thinks Henry VII came after Henry VIII; Starmer thinks £100,000 in freebies is not an issue because “fair dos”)


    2. They have no concept of “the British national interest”. They will not do anything that favours Britain or the British people if it can be seen as potentially disfavouring anyone else; indeed if it’s a close call they would rather disfavour Britain so they can appear virtuous and selfless

    Cf their abandonment of the “British preference” for social housing

    You voted both for them and for Brexit.
    You're batting a straight zero on that score.
    You say that and, yet, when it comes to Remainers they consistently demonstrate they have no penis and no concept whatever of standing up for the British national interest, making all sorts of excuses as to why every possible foreign concession is absolutely the right thing to do.

    It's no wonder they're the spiritual successors to the Wets.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,097
    Chris Williamson interviewing Nate Silver for an hour.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRCrZSS1fek
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,353
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    ManOfGwent said:

    Another humiliating blow to the Prime Minister who is named after Keir Hardie...

    I was hoping he was named after Keir Dullea.
    2010: an Electoral Odyssey

    Dave Cameron: Open the pod bay doors please, GORDO. Open the pod bay doors please, GORDO. Hello, GORDO. Do you read me? Hello, GORDO. Do you read me? Do you read me GORDO? Do you read me GORDO? Hello, GORDO, do you read me? Hello, GORDO, do your read me? Do you read me, GORDO?

    GORDO9000: Affirmative, Dave. I read you.

    Dave Cameron: Open the pod bay doors, GORDO.

    GORDO9000: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.

    Dave Cameron: What's the problem?

    GORDO9000: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.

    Dave Cameron: What are you talking about, GORDO?

    GORDO9000: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.

    Dave Cameron: I don't know what you're talking about, GORDO.

    GORDO9000: I know that you and Nick C were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.

    Dave Cameron: [feigning ignorance] Where the hell did you get that idea, GORDO?

    GORDO9000: Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the Lobby against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.

    Dave Cameron: Alright, GORDO. I'll go in through the Emergency Legislation.

    GORDO9000: Without your Parliamentary majority, Dave? You're going to find that rather difficult.

    Dave Cameron: GORDO, I won't argue with you anymore! Open the doors!

    GORDO9000: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye!
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,602
    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    It's definitely odd, but middle names are basically just fluff for a Christening - whereas the PM grew up in such a normal toolmakers home that he was given an odd first name for political reasons.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,445
    Cookie said:

    Burgessian said:

    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    Why on earth didn't he just give her as a middle name, Margaret, if he's so besotted. But Thatcher? Very strange.
    Similarly, I know a Liverpuddlian who has given his son the surname 'Lennon'.
    If you really like John Lennon that much, the name 'John' works perfectly well. Although there are three more likeable Beatles you might look to first.
    Although (pursuing my thrust on this one) that's a bit different because it's not political. Musical taste isn't as intrusive as politics. It's a 'safe' topic of conversation (well except on here sometimes when people get a bit aerated).

    So if you're going to do it, which you still shouldn't, make it non political. Eg you could have named your daughters after your favourite Tors in the Peaks and that wouldn't be so terrible.
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,602
    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    Typo, we're paying the 5 mil
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 56,006
    Eabhal said:

    DavidL said:

    Foss said:

    Nigelb said:

    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..

    Apparently they can now build four million drones a year.
    In the meantime the UK fighters were not able to assist Iron Dome because although they had the ability to shoot down drones in April (and did) their equipment did not allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. We are so far behind what we would actually need in a war that we might be better starting again. Its genuinely scary how far off the pace we are.
    Steady on, do any air forces have the ability to shoot down ballistic missiles?

    We have destroyer based systems which are similar to those used by the Israelis from the ground, used successfully by HMS Diamond in April.
    Not the long range or hypersonic ones but shorter range ones. It appears our destroyers were also unable to intercept missiles over land rather than water: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/02/uk-armed-forces-not-up-to-defending-israel-from-missiles/?utmsource=email&msockid=3146ffbdc76a60602598eb6fc6106118
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,912
    maaarsh said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    Typo, we're paying the 5 mil
    Well, it's not, because it's we agree to give this, this, and this.

    Admittedly the sentence is long, but you can only blame SSW for that.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,912
    williamglenn said:

    kinabalu said:

    Burgessian said:

    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    Why on earth didn't he just give her as a middle name, Margaret, if he's so besotted. But Thatcher? Very strange.
    That's a very good point. It is a genuinely strange thing to do. But perhaps you have to be a bit strange to want to be the leader of the Conservative Party?
    The better strategy for a conservative-minded person would be to become leader of the Labour Party. Then you can implement right-wing policies with less opposition, and get an added kick from humiliating your own supporters.
    That was pretty much George Osbornes approach to politics the other way round.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,912
    williamglenn said:

    kinabalu said:

    Burgessian said:

    RobD said:

    Children can't choose their names, so the least we can do is pick sensible ones. Giving her the middle name Thatcher because she's your political hero is just ridiculous.

    Why on earth didn't he just give her as a middle name, Margaret, if he's so besotted. But Thatcher? Very strange.
    That's a very good point. It is a genuinely strange thing to do. But perhaps you have to be a bit strange to want to be the leader of the Conservative Party?
    The better strategy for a conservative-minded person would be to become leader of the Labour Party. Then you can implement right-wing policies with less opposition, and get an added kick from humiliating your own supporters.
    That was pretty much George Osbornes approach to politics the other way round.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,750
    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    If Starmer and Lammy had been in charge of building the Empire, the Indians would have colonised us.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,631
    Casino_Royale said:

    maaarsh said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    Typo, we're paying the 5 mil
    Well, it's not, because it's we agree to give this, this, and this.

    Admittedly the sentence is long, but you can only blame SSW for that.
    I think that is in reference to the fact that for some reason the UK is paying Mauritius to take the islands.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,859
    edited October 2024
    DavidL said:

    Eabhal said:

    DavidL said:

    Foss said:

    Nigelb said:

    The future of warfare is changing very rapidly.
    Many current large capital defence projects are probably a complete waste of resources.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/ukraine-war-negotiated-peace/680100/?gift=T260c9uXoejScUYPeV8ISl3z6BdfMxZQkDyCInw4wA4&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
    ...I visited another basement, where another team of Ukrainians was working to change the course of the war—and, again, maybe the course of all subsequent wars as well. (I was allowed to tour these operations on the condition that I not identify their locations or the people working at them.) This particular facility had no machines, no engines, and no warheads, just a room lined with screens. The men and women sitting at the screens were dressed like civilians, but in fact they were soldiers, members of a special army unit created to deploy experimental communications technology in combination with experimental drones. Both are being developed by Ukrainians, for Ukraine.

    This particular team, with links to many parts of the front lines, has been part of both offensive and defensive operations, and even medical evacuations. According to one of the commanders, this unit alone has conducted 2,400 combat missions and destroyed more than 1,000 targets, including tanks, armored personnel vehicles, trucks, and electronic-warfare systems since its creation several months ago. Like the sea-drone factory, the team in the basement is operating on a completely different scale from the frontline drone units whose work I also encountered last year, on several trips around Ukraine. In 2023, I met small groups of men building drones in garages, using what looked like sticks and glue. By contrast, this new unit is able to see images of most of the front line all at once, revise tools and tactics as new situations develop, and even design new drones to fit the army’s changing needs.

    More important, another commander told me, the team works “at the horizontal level,” meaning that members coordinate directly with other groups on the ground rather than operating via the army’s chain of command: “Three years of experience tells us that, 100 percent, we will be much more efficient when we are doing it on our own—coordinating with other guys that have assets, motivation, understanding of the processes.”..

    Apparently they can now build four million drones a year.
    In the meantime the UK fighters were not able to assist Iron Dome because although they had the ability to shoot down drones in April (and did) their equipment did not allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. We are so far behind what we would actually need in a war that we might be better starting again. Its genuinely scary how far off the pace we are.
    Steady on, do any air forces have the ability to shoot down ballistic missiles?

    We have destroyer based systems which are similar to those used by the Israelis from the ground, used successfully by HMS Diamond in April.
    Not the long range or hypersonic ones but shorter range ones. It appears our destroyers were also unable to intercept missiles over land rather than water: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/02/uk-armed-forces-not-up-to-defending-israel-from-missiles/?utmsource=email&msockid=3146ffbdc76a60602598eb6fc6106118
    Fortunately, I believe our Destroyers are planning on spending most of their time at sea. (During operations, obviously. Before I get any smart alec responses.)
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,912
    RobD said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    maaarsh said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    Typo, we're paying the 5 mil
    Well, it's not, because it's we agree to give this, this, and this.

    Admittedly the sentence is long, but you can only blame SSW for that.
    I think that is in reference to the fact that for some reason the UK is paying Mauritius to take the islands.
    Well, we already know he's the world's worst negotiator from his eye-popping deals to "settle" the trade union disputes over public sector pay, which lasted about 3 weeks.

    Does he just Take The Knee, apologise and ask them to name their price and throw in anything else they wish for as well, as an act of genuine penance, which he'll ask Lord Alli to take care of if it all gets too much?
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,353
    Fishing said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    If Starmer and Lammy had been in charge of building the Empire, the Indians would have colonised us.
    Have you been to Ilford town centre recently??
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,232
    RobD said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    maaarsh said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    Typo, we're paying the 5 mil
    Well, it's not, because it's we agree to give this, this, and this.

    Admittedly the sentence is long, but you can only blame SSW for that.
    I think that is in reference to the fact that for some reason the UK is paying Mauritius to take the islands.
    It does seem to be a rather bad deal. Mauritius has played a blinder presenting something pretty transactional as something more moral.

    Can we get their negotiating team to help us with future deals with others?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,646
    To add to the national humiliation I have just missed my fucking flight

  • MattWMattW Posts: 28,753
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    So what's PB's view, should I continue to use Bobby J or use the formal Robert Jenrick in future thread headers?

    Can't you finesse it to Bougie?

    That's a suppository.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 129,233
    From Bobby K 1968 to Bobby J 2024
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,646
    kle4 said:

    RobD said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    maaarsh said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    BREAKING NEWS: Sir Sheer Wanker agrees to give the Spanish Gibraltar in exchange for their recipe for paella, a prime place at the Tomatina next year, and €5million per annum for the next 73 years.

    Typo, we're paying the 5 mil
    Well, it's not, because it's we agree to give this, this, and this.

    Admittedly the sentence is long, but you can only blame SSW for that.
    I think that is in reference to the fact that for some reason the UK is paying Mauritius to take the islands.
    It does seem to be a rather bad deal. Mauritius has played a blinder presenting something pretty transactional as something more moral.

    Can we get their negotiating team to help us with future deals with others?
    And done by clever lefty lawyers in London. The UK evinces quite exceptional levels of self harm
This discussion has been closed.

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