I'm sticking with my fairly consistent (so far) line that the Starmer Govt are to date getting the strategic decisions about right and moving carefully as the situation requires, but need some PR Rottweilers.
They are not being driven by short-termist demands on the whole, or the rattling noise the Opposition are occasionally making when they try to escape from the dustbin of history, which is the correct way.
I wonder what the Kemikaze line will be tomorrow?
Turkey is a rubbish meat for Christmas dinner?
Agree. Boring meat. We will be having duck, as we did last year. The 3 years before that I made a Beef Wellington. A lot of hassle on Christmas Eve, but easy on the day
Good turkey can actually be quite tasty. Ours now comes (when we do turkey, which is not every year) from the daughter of my in-laws' former next door neighbour, who has a small farm and they have a hell of a lot more flavour than the standard supermarket - or even local butcher - ones.
This does however involve me meeting up with the farmer on Christmas eve in a car park with some cash, often under cover of darkness, and looking like I'm doing a drugs transaction
Free-range turkey is indeed tasty, especially if you go for a black one.
The extra mile I’ve gone - that none of you have - is to keep my Christmas dinner entertained during the autumn months, because the farm turkeys grazed in the next field to our weekly dog agility get together, and often used to line up by the fence to enjoy the show.
Until one week late in the year when, suddenly, they all weren’t there….
Might as well just make it a solid year at this point. Nasa says that the astronauts stuck on the International Space Station will have to wait even longer to get home.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were due to be back after just a week when they blasted off in June.
Their stay was extended to February next year because of technical issues with the experimental spacecraft, Starliner, built by Boeing.
They were supposed to be home in 10 days, now it’s going to be 10 months. The Starliner that took them up there cost $2bn to design and build but couldn’t bring them home, and the Falcon that will collect them costs around $150m - plus their food and lodgings for the ten months, living in the most expensive object that man has ever built.
I’d sign up for that tomorrow!
Far too expensive. Every year you get a six hundred million mile trip round the sun just by staying put, and it is free. Life is one long free holiday cruise.
Highest GOP voteshare for their presidential candidate since the 50.7% for George W Bush in 2004 when he was re elected as President.
Though on the positive side for Democrats they took Congress two years later in the 2006 midterms and won back the White House with Obama and Biden in 2008 with a big win over McCain and Palin
It's the one time of year when we can wish people merriness
Happy Christmas is my usual phrase. Maybe I should change it.
I swear it always used to be 'Merry Christmas' in the UK - that is how I remember childhood anyway....
The two were both used.
'Happy Christmas' was a 19th century religious / behaviourist campaign that wanted people to be more abstemious and less 'merry' in an inebriated sense. To them, wishing people a Merry Christmas was tantamount to concentrating on all the wrong things.
It's the one time of year when we can wish people merriness
Happy Christmas is my usual phrase. Maybe I should change it.
I swear it always used to be 'Merry Christmas' in the UK - that is how I remember childhood anyway....
The two were both used.
'Happy Christmas' was a 19th century religious / behaviourist campaign that wanted people to be more abstemious and less 'merry' in an inebriated sense. To them, wishing people a Merry Christmas was tantamount to concentrating on all the wrong things.
I'm sticking with my fairly consistent (so far) line that the Starmer Govt are to date getting the strategic decisions about right and moving carefully as the situation requires, but need some PR Rottweilers.
They are not being driven by short-termist demands on the whole, or the rattling noise the Opposition are occasionally making when they try to escape from the dustbin of history, which is the correct way.
I wonder what the Kemikaze line will be tomorrow?
Turkey is a rubbish meat for Christmas dinner?
Agree. Boring meat. We will be having duck, as we did last year. The 3 years before that I made a Beef Wellington. A lot of hassle on Christmas Eve, but easy on the day
Good turkey can actually be quite tasty. Ours now comes (when we do turkey, which is not every year) from the daughter of my in-laws' former next door neighbour, who has a small farm and they have a hell of a lot more flavour than the standard supermarket - or even local butcher - ones.
This does however involve me meeting up with the farmer on Christmas eve in a car park with some cash, often under cover of darkness, and looking like I'm doing a drugs transaction
Free-range turkey is indeed tasty, especially if you go for a black one.
The extra mile I’ve gone - that none of you have - is to keep my Christmas dinner entertained during the autumn months, because the farm turkeys grazed in the next field to our weekly dog agility get together, and often used to line up by the fence to enjoy the show.
Until one week late in the year when, suddenly, they all weren’t there….
I swear that dog always has a cheeky grin on his face.
It is sometimes treated as an inevitability the Ireland will be united, sometimes explicitly on the basis it's an island and therefore makes sense, which is a bit strange when there are many divided islands in the world.
That said i do think it will happen, but not this side of 2030. My gut feeling is that its widely supported but that support is prepared to wait.
I think that the feeling of inevitability arose from the demographics. The catholics were out producing the protestants and would eventually also outvote them on the matter.
The problem with this is the ever growing number of people who do not consider themselves either protestant or catholic. Why would they want to join Eire? A fairly compelling economic case would make the difference but I am not sure that is imminent. The southern Irish has a high GDP per capita but relatively little of that seems to make the tables of those who live there.
I think partly there will be the evidence that Dublin cares more about the six counties than London does.
Northern Ireland will miss out on hosting matches for the European football tournament because the London government pulled the plug on the stadium project. Dublin put up money for it.
Dublin is also putting up money for dualling the A5. There will be other infrastructure projects in the North where Dublin will be seen as a willing partner, but London an impediment.
Of course all this will change when the Irish public finances stop defying reality and start having the same problems as most other developed countries.
They have a large dod of cash that they didn't really want courtesy of the EU's rules on tax avoidance but even although it is large it is also finite.
The Irish government were running a large budget surplus because of windfall corporation tax receipts before the Apple tax judgement. No-one knows how long the corporation tax bonanza will last.
I'm sticking with my fairly consistent (so far) line that the Starmer Govt are to date getting the strategic decisions about right and moving carefully as the situation requires, but need some PR Rottweilers.
They are not being driven by short-termist demands on the whole, or the rattling noise the Opposition are occasionally making when they try to escape from the dustbin of history, which is the correct way.
I wonder what the Kemikaze line will be tomorrow?
Turkey is a rubbish meat for Christmas dinner?
Agree. Boring meat. We will be having duck, as we did last year. The 3 years before that I made a Beef Wellington. A lot of hassle on Christmas Eve, but easy on the day
Good turkey can actually be quite tasty. Ours now comes (when we do turkey, which is not every year) from the daughter of my in-laws' former next door neighbour, who has a small farm and they have a hell of a lot more flavour than the standard supermarket - or even local butcher - ones.
This does however involve me meeting up with the farmer on Christmas eve in a car park with some cash, often under cover of darkness, and looking like I'm doing a drugs transaction
Free-range turkey is indeed tasty, especially if you go for a black one.
The extra mile I’ve gone - that none of you have - is to keep my Christmas dinner entertained during the autumn months, because the farm turkeys grazed in the next field to our weekly dog agility get together, and often used to line up by the fence to enjoy the show.
Until one week late in the year when, suddenly, they all weren’t there….
I swear that dog always has a cheeky grin on his face.
He knows that one of those black turkeys in the background has our name on it….
Highest GOP voteshare for their presidential candidate since the 50.7% for George W Bush in 2004 when he was re elected as President.
Though on the positive side for Democrats they took Congress two years later in the 2006 midterms and won back the White House with Obama and Biden in 2008 with a big win over McCain and Palin
Might as well just make it a solid year at this point. Nasa says that the astronauts stuck on the International Space Station will have to wait even longer to get home.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were due to be back after just a week when they blasted off in June.
Their stay was extended to February next year because of technical issues with the experimental spacecraft, Starliner, built by Boeing.
They were supposed to be home in 10 days, now it’s going to be 10 months. The Starliner that took them up there cost $2bn to design and build but couldn’t bring them home, and the Falcon that will collect them costs around $150m - plus their food and lodgings for the ten months, living in the most expensive object that man has ever built.
I’d sign up for that tomorrow!
I really hope they have good mental health support up there. I'd be going crazy for sure.
NASA are keeping them busy with the various experiments and daily tasks on board, and there’s a whole team of people back on Earth dedicated to their physical and mental health. There’s quite a few who have done a year on the ISS, although most of them were at least expecting to be up for a few months when they launched!
The physical recovery will be horrible when they get back though, after that long in zero G you pretty much have to learn to stand and walk again because of muscle atrophy. No matter how much time you spend in the onboard gym, it’s not enough but better than the alternative.
I always find it interesting in sci-fi whether the author leans into the practical difficulties of living in space on the human body, ignores it completely, or just comes up with a handwave explanation.
Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, has denied murdering three young girls - Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King - in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Mr Rudakubana appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via a video link but refused to speak when asked to confirm his name and enter his pleas, so the judge Mr Justice Goose entered them on his behalf.
It's the one time of year when we can wish people merriness
Happy Christmas is my usual phrase. Maybe I should change it.
I swear it always used to be 'Merry Christmas' in the UK - that is how I remember childhood anyway....
The two were both used.
'Happy Christmas' was a 19th century religious / behaviourist campaign that wanted people to be more abstemious and less 'merry' in an inebriated sense. To them, wishing people a Merry Christmas was tantamount to concentrating on all the wrong things.
How can that be, when Xmas is all about eating, drinking, watching rubbish television and forgetting that it gets dark nowadays around the same time that Leon comes round from his hangover?
It is sometimes treated as an inevitability the Ireland will be united, sometimes explicitly on the basis it's an island and therefore makes sense, which is a bit strange when there are many divided islands in the world.
That said i do think it will happen, but not this side of 2030. My gut feeling is that its widely supported but that support is prepared to wait.
I think that the feeling of inevitability arose from the demographics. The catholics were out producing the protestants and would eventually also outvote them on the matter.
The problem with this is the ever growing number of people who do not consider themselves either protestant or catholic. Why would they want to join Eire? A fairly compelling economic case would make the difference but I am not sure that is imminent. The southern Irish has a high GDP per capita but relatively little of that seems to make the tables of those who live there.
I'm interested in your final para - is the implication that while Ireland the country appears rich, this isn't felt by individual Irishmen and women? That surprises me. I don't know the country well but all I've seen of it looks pretty affluent.
Broadly speaking Ireland is as affluent as Britain, with public finances flattered by windfall corporation tax receipts, and by having more favourable demographics.
But GDP per capita is twice as high as Britain.
If you look closely Irelands demographics are extraordinary.
Median age 1985 was 26.3 Now it is about 39
It's forecast to be a little higher than the UK in 30 years time
It feels mile more affluent than when I first worked regularly in the 1980's
Does it feel much more affluent than the UK ? Not really.
Visitors rarely see Drogheda or Tallaght.
The distortive effect of corporate profits on Irish GDP is pretty much the biggest example of this in the world, or at least in relatively large developed economies. There's some of that in the very high Singaporean GDP per capita too, Singapore being (alongside Switzerland) the other major hub location for IP, regional HQs and principal trading companies. It looks like the effect is also now very visible in the Danish GDP stats thanks to Novo Nordisk.
There has probably been a similar, smaller but still present effect flattering UK GDP given the number of regional value chains that have the UK as a profit centre.
Yes, if you look at Irish GDP/head it is about twice the UK's. Hooray. Good for them.
But if you look at household consumption/head, it's about 10% less than the UK. And indirect indicators like electricity consumption show similar results.
They've made progress over the last generation, but it's extremely risky - they had a much worse setback than we did in 2007-10, and nobody knows how long the US and the UK will let Ireland get away with poaching so much of its tax revenue.
Highest GOP voteshare for their presidential candidate since the 50.7% for George W Bush in 2004 when he was re elected as President.
Though on the positive side for Democrats they took Congress two years later in the 2006 midterms and won back the White House with Obama and Biden in 2008 with a big win over McCain and Palin
Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, has denied murdering three young girls - Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King - in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Mr Rudakubana appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via a video link but refused to speak when asked to confirm his name and enter his pleas, so the judge Mr Justice Goose entered them on his behalf.
An odd way to report this.
Not really - refusing to plead invokes a not guilty plea by default.
Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, has denied murdering three young girls - Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King - in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Mr Rudakubana appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via a video link but refused to speak when asked to confirm his name and enter his pleas, so the judge Mr Justice Goose entered them on his behalf.
An odd way to report this.
Not really - refusing to plead invokes a not guilty plea by default.
Didn't use to be that way of course. Ask Charles I.
It is sometimes treated as an inevitability the Ireland will be united, sometimes explicitly on the basis it's an island and therefore makes sense, which is a bit strange when there are many divided islands in the world.
That said i do think it will happen, but not this side of 2030. My gut feeling is that its widely supported but that support is prepared to wait.
I think that the feeling of inevitability arose from the demographics. The catholics were out producing the protestants and would eventually also outvote them on the matter.
The problem with this is the ever growing number of people who do not consider themselves either protestant or catholic. Why would they want to join Eire? A fairly compelling economic case would make the difference but I am not sure that is imminent. The southern Irish has a high GDP per capita but relatively little of that seems to make the tables of those who live there.
I'm interested in your final para - is the implication that while Ireland the country appears rich, this isn't felt by individual Irishmen and women? That surprises me. I don't know the country well but all I've seen of it looks pretty affluent.
Broadly speaking Ireland is as affluent as Britain, with public finances flattered by windfall corporation tax receipts, and by having more favourable demographics.
But GDP per capita is twice as high as Britain.
If you look closely Irelands demographics are extraordinary.
Median age 1985 was 26.3 Now it is about 39
It's forecast to be a little higher than the UK in 30 years time
It feels mile more affluent than when I first worked regularly in the 1980's
Does it feel much more affluent than the UK ? Not really.
Visitors rarely see Drogheda or Tallaght.
The distortive effect of corporate profits on Irish GDP is pretty much the biggest example of this in the world, or at least in relatively large developed economies. There's some of that in the very high Singaporean GDP per capita too, Singapore being (alongside Switzerland) the other major hub location for IP, regional HQs and principal trading companies. It looks like the effect is also now very visible in the Danish GDP stats thanks to Novo Nordisk.
There has probably been a similar, smaller but still present effect flattering UK GDP given the number of regional value chains that have the UK as a profit centre.
Yes, if you look at Irish GDP/head it is about twice the UK's. Hooray. Good for them.
But if you look at household consumption/head, it's about 10% less than the UK. And indirect indicators like electricity consumption show similar results.
They've made progress over the last generation, but it's extremely risky - they had a much worse setback than we did in 2007-10, and nobody knows how long the US and the UK will let Ireland get away with poaching so much of its tax revenue.
They may have Ratnered themselves a bit in the US by picking a fight with Israel.
Well done Rachel, another winner. Insane self inflicted wound. They overdid the doom and gloom.
British manufacturers reported the biggest fall in output in late 2024 since the COVID-19 pandemic and they are even more downbeat about the start of next year, according to a survey that adds to signs of a loss of momentum in the economy.
The Confederation of British Industry said a gauge of output over the three months to December in its monthly industrial trends survey - published on Wednesday - fell to -25, its lowest since August 2020, down from -12 in the three months to November.
This is my first article in an academic publication, on Mina the Elder, the Uncrowned King of Navarre. It can be downloaded in PDF format.
I am not surprised to see that weapons procurement is impossible. Can't say that 'hodge-podge governance' has really changed either, I should think.
The author is more sympathetic to defence procurers and contractors than they deserve, IMHO, but he does make the good point that it is a particular problem for powers that are significant, but not superpowers, like the UK or France. Superpowers can achieve economies in scale. Minor powers concentrate on one or two functions, and essentially rely upon powerful allies.
The UK and France can make big savings by buying stuff off the shelf (mostly from the USA), but then you're always at risk of their imposing restrictions on its use or cutting off the supply.
Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, has denied murdering three young girls - Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King - in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Mr Rudakubana appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via a video link but refused to speak when asked to confirm his name and enter his pleas, so the judge Mr Justice Goose entered them on his behalf.
An odd way to report this.
Not really - refusing to plead invokes a not guilty plea by default.
I'd have thought it should say:
Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, refused to submit a plea when asked...
This is my first article in an academic publication, on Mina the Elder, the Uncrowned King of Navarre. It can be downloaded in PDF format.
I am not surprised to see that weapons procurement is impossible. Can't say that 'hodge-podge governance' has really changed either, I should think.
Mind you, Henry V managed to turn up at Agincourt with 1/2 a million arrows. So ammunition procurement has been solved once (at least) in the last thousand years.
Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, has denied murdering three young girls - Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King - in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Mr Rudakubana appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via a video link but refused to speak when asked to confirm his name and enter his pleas, so the judge Mr Justice Goose entered them on his behalf.
An odd way to report this.
Not really - refusing to plead invokes a not guilty plea by default.
Didn't use to be that way of course. Ask Charles I.
Progress.
Then again…
“… and as for Progress, it was at one time quite a nuisance, but it never progressed.”
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
No, the first one is a city centre and a town centre. *
The second one is indeed two city centres. I don't see a problem with this. Your position appears to be that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me that this should be the case.
*Actually, to be pedantic, Gateshead Town Centre is about half a mile away from Baltic Quay, so not really in that pic. But that changes neither your argument nor mine. I'm happy to concede a little poetic license for the sake of a pretty picture.
Lol. No. They are wholly functioning parts of the same city. Simple geography. That someone called them something different hundreds of years ago doesn’t change that. Are the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s in different cities?
This is my first article in an academic publication, on Mina the Elder, the Uncrowned King of Navarre. It can be downloaded in PDF format.
I am not surprised to see that weapons procurement is impossible. Can't say that 'hodge-podge governance' has really changed either, I should think.
Mind you, Henry V managed to turn up at Agincourt with 1/2 a million arrows. So ammunition procurement has been solved once (at least) in the last thousand years.
He does seem to have been very efficient. I'm in the middle of rereading N A M Rodger Safeguard of the Sea which basically argues that he was one of the few effective usewrs of sea power in English history - both in employing it but also creating and supporting it.
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
No, the first one is a city centre and a town centre. *
The second one is indeed two city centres. I don't see a problem with this. Your position appears to be that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me that this should be the case.
*Actually, to be pedantic, Gateshead Town Centre is about half a mile away from Baltic Quay, so not really in that pic. But that changes neither your argument nor mine. I'm happy to concede a little poetic license for the sake of a pretty picture.
Lol. No. They are wholly functioning parts of the same city. Simple geography. That someone called them something different hundreds of years ago doesn’t change that. Are the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s in different cities?
Someone is about to say yes - City of London and City of Westminster, but that's just because of our peculiar definition of city (anything the monarch calls a city).
Carnyx - You were right to add a milk allergy to my point about Farage and lactose intolerance. I should have said something like: "lactose intolerant or, far worse, allergic to anything in the milkshake". Small boys often would be pleased by the possibility of licking up part of a milkshake.
(For the record: I have been lactose intolerant for decades. It's been a nuisance, but no more than that, now that I know what the problem is. Food allergies are much worse, and can even be deadly.)
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
No, the first one is a city centre and a town centre. *
The second one is indeed two city centres. I don't see a problem with this. Your position appears to be that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me that this should be the case.
*Actually, to be pedantic, Gateshead Town Centre is about half a mile away from Baltic Quay, so not really in that pic. But that changes neither your argument nor mine. I'm happy to concede a little poetic license for the sake of a pretty picture.
Lol. No. They are wholly functioning parts of the same city. Simple geography. That someone called them something different hundreds of years ago doesn’t change that. Are the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s in different cities?
Are the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s in different cities?
Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, has denied murdering three young girls - Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King - in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Mr Rudakubana appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via a video link but refused to speak when asked to confirm his name and enter his pleas, so the judge Mr Justice Goose entered them on his behalf.
An odd way to report this.
Not really - refusing to plead invokes a not guilty plea by default.
Didn't use to be that way of course. Ask Charles I.
Progress.
Then again…
“… and as for Progress, it was at one time quite a nuisance, but it never progressed.”
And Chas 1 was lucky not to get the peine forte et dure treatment - being tortured till he agreed to plead guilty [edit] or not guilty.
This is my first article in an academic publication, on Mina the Elder, the Uncrowned King of Navarre. It can be downloaded in PDF format.
I am not surprised to see that weapons procurement is impossible. Can't say that 'hodge-podge governance' has really changed either, I should think.
Mind you, Henry V managed to turn up at Agincourt with 1/2 a million arrows. So ammunition procurement has been solved once (at least) in the last thousand years.
He does seem to have been very efficient. I'm in the middle of rereading N A M Rodger Safeguard of the Sea which basically argues that he was one of the few effective usewrs of sea power in English history - both in employing it but also creating and supporting it.
Though he did follow the trend of building a mega ship that was basically useless - the Grace Dieu
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
No, the first one is a city centre and a town centre. *
The second one is indeed two city centres. I don't see a problem with this. Your position appears to be that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me that this should be the case.
*Actually, to be pedantic, Gateshead Town Centre is about half a mile away from Baltic Quay, so not really in that pic. But that changes neither your argument nor mine. I'm happy to concede a little poetic license for the sake of a pretty picture.
Lol. No. They are wholly functioning parts of the same city. Simple geography. That someone called them something different hundreds of years ago doesn’t change that. Are the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s in different cities?
This is my first article in an academic publication, on Mina the Elder, the Uncrowned King of Navarre. It can be downloaded in PDF format.
I am not surprised to see that weapons procurement is impossible. Can't say that 'hodge-podge governance' has really changed either, I should think.
Mind you, Henry V managed to turn up at Agincourt with 1/2 a million arrows. So ammunition procurement has been solved once (at least) in the last thousand years.
He does seem to have been very efficient. I'm in the middle of rereading N A M Rodger Safeguard of the Sea which basically argues that he was one of the few effective usewrs of sea power in English history - both in employing it but also creating and supporting it.
Though he did follow the trend of building a mega ship that was basically useless - the Grace Dieu
This is my first article in an academic publication, on Mina the Elder, the Uncrowned King of Navarre. It can be downloaded in PDF format.
I am not surprised to see that weapons procurement is impossible. Can't say that 'hodge-podge governance' has really changed either, I should think.
Mind you, Henry V managed to turn up at Agincourt with 1/2 a million arrows. So ammunition procurement has been solved once (at least) in the last thousand years.
He does seem to have been very efficient. I'm in the middle of rereading N A M Rodger Safeguard of the Sea which basically argues that he was one of the few effective usewrs of sea power in English history - both in employing it but also creating and supporting it.
Though he did follow the trend of building a mega ship that was basically useless - the Grace Dieu
Not sure about that. Apparently at least one successful cruise. That triple skinned clinker planking might have been worth it.
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
No, the first one is a city centre and a town centre. *
The second one is indeed two city centres. I don't see a problem with this. Your position appears to be that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me that this should be the case.
*Actually, to be pedantic, Gateshead Town Centre is about half a mile away from Baltic Quay, so not really in that pic. But that changes neither your argument nor mine. I'm happy to concede a little poetic license for the sake of a pretty picture.
Lol. No. They are wholly functioning parts of the same city. Simple geography. That someone called them something different hundreds of years ago doesn’t change that. Are the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s in different cities?
This is my first article in an academic publication, on Mina the Elder, the Uncrowned King of Navarre. It can be downloaded in PDF format.
I am not surprised to see that weapons procurement is impossible. Can't say that 'hodge-podge governance' has really changed either, I should think.
Mind you, Henry V managed to turn up at Agincourt with 1/2 a million arrows. So ammunition procurement has been solved once (at least) in the last thousand years.
He does seem to have been very efficient. I'm in the middle of rereading N A M Rodger Safeguard of the Sea which basically argues that he was one of the few effective usewrs of sea power in English history - both in employing it but also creating and supporting it.
Though he did follow the trend of building a mega ship that was basically useless - the Grace Dieu
Not sure about that. Apparently at least one successful cruise. That triple skinned clinker planking might have been worth it.
One voyage, complete with a mutiny. Even by modern procurement standards, a failure.
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
No, the first one is a city centre and a town centre. *
The second one is indeed two city centres. I don't see a problem with this. Your position appears to be that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me that this should be the case.
*Actually, to be pedantic, Gateshead Town Centre is about half a mile away from Baltic Quay, so not really in that pic. But that changes neither your argument nor mine. I'm happy to concede a little poetic license for the sake of a pretty picture.
Lol. No. They are wholly functioning parts of the same city. Simple geography. That someone called them something different hundreds of years ago doesn’t change that. Are the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s in different cities?
Someone is about to say yes - City of London and City of Westminster, but that's just because of our peculiar definition of city (anything the monarch calls a city).
You're walrusing here! We have an agreed definition of a city. It's not wildly cnotroversial.
"Someone is about to say this orange is different from this lemon, but that's just because of our peculiar definition of citrus fruit."
Hope I haven't missed the boat with this but on the Merry v Happy point. Merry Christmas works better because it's usually followed (even if just in the mind) by Happy New Year. You don't want two Merrys or two Happys (obviously) and wishing somebody a "Merry New Year" sounds all wrong. So "Merry Christmas" is what you go with.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
Hope I haven't missed the boat with this but on the Merry v Happy point. Merry Christmas works better because it's usually followed (even if just in the mind) by Happy New Year. You don't want two Merrys or two Happys (obviously) and wishing somebody a "Merry New Year" sounds all wrong. So "Merry Christmas" is what you go with.
Happy Christmas and Merry New Year has a nice ring to it.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
Hope I haven't missed the boat with this but on the Merry v Happy point. Merry Christmas works better because it's usually followed (even if just in the mind) by Happy New Year. You don't want two Merrys or two Happys (obviously) and wishing somebody a "Merry New Year" sounds all wrong. So "Merry Christmas" is what you go with.
That is what I think George Orwell would call a miserable cliché. Try sprucing it up with something a bit different or whimsical. How about, Joyful No-eel Howly Christmas Merry Christmoose
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
Hope I haven't missed the boat with this but on the Merry v Happy point. Merry Christmas works better because it's usually followed (even if just in the mind) by Happy New Year. You don't want two Merrys or two Happys (obviously) and wishing somebody a "Merry New Year" sounds all wrong. So "Merry Christmas" is what you go with.
Happy Christmas and Merry New Year has a nice ring to it.
It doesn't, Rob, not if you think about it. The "year" wish is for the duration not just for seeing it in. So you're effectively saying to somebody you hope they are constantly 24/7 "merry" for the whole of the next 12 months.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
Hope I haven't missed the boat with this but on the Merry v Happy point. Merry Christmas works better because it's usually followed (even if just in the mind) by Happy New Year. You don't want two Merrys or two Happys (obviously) and wishing somebody a "Merry New Year" sounds all wrong. So "Merry Christmas" is what you go with.
Happy Christmas and Merry New Year has a nice ring to it.
It doesn't, Rob, not if you think about it. The "year" wish is for the duration not just for seeing it in. So you're effectively saying to somebody you hope they are constantly 24/7 "merry" for the whole of the next 12 months.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
I think that some human rights lawyers and judges feel a positive glow of virtue, by endangering the public, in the cause of abstract principles.
I met some of the people involved in Capn’ Hooks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Hamza_al-Masri) fight against extradition. They were quite clear that they believed that all extradition and repatriation was wrong and they wanted to set precedents to stop all of it.
This is my first article in an academic publication, on Mina the Elder, the Uncrowned King of Navarre. It can be downloaded in PDF format.
I am not surprised to see that weapons procurement is impossible. Can't say that 'hodge-podge governance' has really changed either, I should think.
Mind you, Henry V managed to turn up at Agincourt with 1/2 a million arrows. So ammunition procurement has been solved once (at least) in the last thousand years.
He does seem to have been very efficient. I'm in the middle of rereading N A M Rodger Safeguard of the Sea which basically argues that he was one of the few effective usewrs of sea power in English history - both in employing it but also creating and supporting it.
Though he did follow the trend of building a mega ship that was basically useless - the Grace Dieu
Not sure about that. Apparently at least one successful cruise. That triple skinned clinker planking might have been worth it.
One voyage, complete with a mutiny. Even by modern procurement standards, a failure.
Oh, do you have a decent reference for that, please?
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
I think that some human rights lawyers and judges feel a positive glow of virtue, by endangering the public, in the cause of abstract principles.
I met some of the people involved in Capn’ Hooks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Hamza_al-Masri) fight against extradition. They were quite clear that they believed that all extradition and repatriation was wrong and they wanted to set precedents to stop all of it.
Such people are unhinged. Unfortunately, they are absurdly influential.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
The French government would have had him on a plane to Turkey seven to eight seconds after finishing his sentence.
When told they were naughty, by the courts, the government would have replied with a shrug and “Je suis desolate”. Followed by accidentally never letting him back in the country.
This is my first article in an academic publication, on Mina the Elder, the Uncrowned King of Navarre. It can be downloaded in PDF format.
Look forward to reading this later. Rather tired/eyes going fuzzy after faffing with technical crap (and rapidly making logos) right now. Spain's got a fascinating history, and congrats on getting that published.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
I think that some human rights lawyers and judges feel a positive glow of virtue, by endangering the public, in the cause of abstract principles.
I met some of the people involved in Capn’ Hooks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Hamza_al-Masri) fight against extradition. They were quite clear that they believed that all extradition and repatriation was wrong and they wanted to set precedents to stop all of it.
Such people are unhinged. Unfortunately, they are absurdly influential.
How have they attained so much influence ? What sort of thought processes do the relevant judges go through to reach their increasingly ridiculous conclusions ? It's precisely the same de haut en bas mindset that excluded the 2nd round of presidential elections going ahead in Romania.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
I think that some human rights lawyers and judges feel a positive glow of virtue, by endangering the public, in the cause of abstract principles.
I met some of the people involved in Capn’ Hooks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Hamza_al-Masri) fight against extradition. They were quite clear that they believed that all extradition and repatriation was wrong and they wanted to set precedents to stop all of it.
Such people are unhinged. Unfortunately, they are absurdly influential.
How have they attained so much influence ? What sort of thought processes do the relevant judges go through to reach their increasingly ridiculous conclusions ? It's precisely the same de haut en bas mindset that excluded the 2nd round of presidential elections going ahead in Romania.
As Madame de Merteuille put it, "Like most intellectuals, he is quite stupid."
There comes a point where a group of highly qualified people talk only to like-minded people, and come to increasingly stupid conclusions.
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
No, the first one is a city centre and a town centre. *
The second one is indeed two city centres. I don't see a problem with this. Your position appears to be that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me that this should be the case.
*Actually, to be pedantic, Gateshead Town Centre is about half a mile away from Baltic Quay, so not really in that pic. But that changes neither your argument nor mine. I'm happy to concede a little poetic license for the sake of a pretty picture.
Lol. No. They are wholly functioning parts of the same city. Simple geography. That someone called them something different hundreds of years ago doesn’t change that. Are the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s in different cities?
Someone is about to say yes - City of London and City of Westminster, but that's just because of our peculiar definition of city (anything the monarch calls a city).
Yes, that was my trick question. Clearly there are part of one city – London. Just Newcastle & Gateshead Quaysides are one city, and Manchester and Salford are.
It is sometimes treated as an inevitability the Ireland will be united, sometimes explicitly on the basis it's an island and therefore makes sense, which is a bit strange when there are many divided islands in the world.
That said i do think it will happen, but not this side of 2030. My gut feeling is that its widely supported but that support is prepared to wait.
I think that the feeling of inevitability arose from the demographics. The catholics were out producing the protestants and would eventually also outvote them on the matter.
The problem with this is the ever growing number of people who do not consider themselves either protestant or catholic. Why would they want to join Eire? A fairly compelling economic case would make the difference but I am not sure that is imminent. The southern Irish has a high GDP per capita but relatively little of that seems to make the tables of those who live there.
I'm interested in your final para - is the implication that while Ireland the country appears rich, this isn't felt by individual Irishmen and women? That surprises me. I don't know the country well but all I've seen of it looks pretty affluent.
Broadly speaking Ireland is as affluent as Britain, with public finances flattered by windfall corporation tax receipts, and by having more favourable demographics.
But GDP per capita is twice as high as Britain.
If you look closely Irelands demographics are extraordinary.
Median age 1985 was 26.3 Now it is about 39
It's forecast to be a little higher than the UK in 30 years time
It feels mile more affluent than when I first worked regularly in the 1980's
Does it feel much more affluent than the UK ? Not really.
Visitors rarely see Drogheda or Tallaght.
The distortive effect of corporate profits on Irish GDP is pretty much the biggest example of this in the world, or at least in relatively large developed economies. There's some of that in the very high Singaporean GDP per capita too, Singapore being (alongside Switzerland) the other major hub location for IP, regional HQs and principal trading companies. It looks like the effect is also now very visible in the Danish GDP stats thanks to Novo Nordisk.
There has probably been a similar, smaller but still present effect flattering UK GDP given the number of regional value chains that have the UK as a profit centre.
Yes, if you look at Irish GDP/head it is about twice the UK's. Hooray. Good for them.
But if you look at household consumption/head, it's about 10% less than the UK. And indirect indicators like electricity consumption show similar results.
They've made progress over the last generation, but it's extremely risky - they had a much worse setback than we did in 2007-10, and nobody knows how long the US and the UK will let Ireland get away with poaching so much of its tax revenue.
They may have Ratnered themselves a bit in the US by picking a fight with Israel.
They'll pick a fight with anyone .... we love a good scrap now and then. Hasn't stopped Americans coming over. If you want to tour the whole of the island, they're everywhere. Had one farmer tell me about a group of guys in Stetsons coming over and offering to help a neighbouring farmer sell his farm and move to Montana. They help them move over and find a place as they are really, really keen on maintaining skills and the agricultural industry there. Perhaps I should send Clarkson the link?
Hope I haven't missed the boat with this but on the Merry v Happy point. Merry Christmas works better because it's usually followed (even if just in the mind) by Happy New Year. You don't want two Merrys or two Happys (obviously) and wishing somebody a "Merry New Year" sounds all wrong. So "Merry Christmas" is what you go with.
That is what I think George Orwell would call a miserable cliché. Try sprucing it up with something a bit different or whimsical. How about, Joyful No-eel Howly Christmas Merry Christmoose
Howly Christmas?
I rather like that one. Pity I've already written all my cards.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
I think that some human rights lawyers and judges feel a positive glow of virtue, by endangering the public, in the cause of abstract principles.
I met some of the people involved in Capn’ Hooks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Hamza_al-Masri) fight against extradition. They were quite clear that they believed that all extradition and repatriation was wrong and they wanted to set precedents to stop all of it.
Such people are unhinged. Unfortunately, they are absurdly influential.
How have they attained so much influence ? What sort of thought processes do the relevant judges go through to reach their increasingly ridiculous conclusions ? It's precisely the same de haut en bas mindset that excluded the 2nd round of presidential elections going ahead in Romania.
As Madame de Merteuille put it, "Like most intellectuals, he is quite stupid."
There comes a point where a group of highly qualified people talk only to like-minded people, and come to increasingly stupid conclusions.
Sir Keir hopes the economy will be significantly better by this time next year.
It it is, his figures will improve significantly.
If not, start betting on Mr Streeting.
I think we all agree with Keir on this. We all hope the economy will improve significantly.
I don’t think it will though. Too many global headwinds.
If you want the UK economy to improve then jacking up National Insurance as a tax on jobs was precisely the wrong way to go about it.
We should be rebalancing the taxation system so that unearned and earning incomes are treated the same, which would help fill in black holes, not make the system worse by taxing employment even more while leaving unearned incomes untouched.
The Budget was a horrendous mistake.
Labour seem to think that reorganising local government is more important than reorganising council tax.
Sorting the boundaries out must come first, so core cities can capture the tax base of those for whom they provide services.
I do love the word 'capture'.
The voters are less likely to enjoy having their taxes captured and spent elsewhere.
It’s not “elsewhere” - that’s the point. Parts of Manchester and Newcastle city centre are not under the control of their city council. Nottingham’s boundary is batshit crazy. Places that are part and parcel of the cities are not paying towards it services. This isn’t complicated.
Manchester City Council controls all of Manchester City Centre. I'm guessing the point you are making is that Salford City Centre isn't controlled by Manchester City Council. Which is true, but doesn't seem to be holding either party back.
Ditto Newcastle/Gateshead.
If you have been to Gateshead recently you will know how untrue that is
This pictures shows two city centres according to @Cookie...
No, the first one is a city centre and a town centre. *
The second one is indeed two city centres. I don't see a problem with this. Your position appears to be that municipal boundaries can only be in fields. It's not obvious to me that this should be the case.
*Actually, to be pedantic, Gateshead Town Centre is about half a mile away from Baltic Quay, so not really in that pic. But that changes neither your argument nor mine. I'm happy to concede a little poetic license for the sake of a pretty picture.
Lol. No. They are wholly functioning parts of the same city. Simple geography. That someone called them something different hundreds of years ago doesn’t change that. Are the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s in different cities?
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
I think that some human rights lawyers and judges feel a positive glow of virtue, by endangering the public, in the cause of abstract principles.
I met some of the people involved in Capn’ Hooks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Hamza_al-Masri) fight against extradition. They were quite clear that they believed that all extradition and repatriation was wrong and they wanted to set precedents to stop all of it.
Such people are unhinged. Unfortunately, they are absurdly influential.
They are on a Moral Crusade.
A psychiatrist friend had some interesting things to say about a prison visiting group she briefly worked with. They got very upset when she read trial transcripts instead of just believing what the prisoners said.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
The contrast between the European and American approach to such mattersis about to become very clear indeed.
And you don't think, for even the minutest moment, that the 'American approach' might lead to injustices?
Justice is a balance, as is well seen above the Old Bailey.
It's an injustice that this person has not been deported.
Supposedly, some British diplomat told Deng Xiao Ping, that "we believe that it is better that ten guilty men go free than that one innocent man be found guilty."
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
The contrast between the European and American approach to such mattersis about to become very clear indeed.
And you don't think, for even the minutest moment, that the 'American approach' might lead to injustices?
Justice is a balance, as is well seen above the Old Bailey.
If you’re a foreign national sentenced to imprisonment, then you should be deported when you have served your sentence. From the prison to the airport. If you wish to come back, then you appeal at your own expense from abroad.
This isn’t controversial in 90% of the countries in the world.
So, despite (or, as a consequence of) the Daily Express having predicted a freezing white cold snap for Xmas, the forecast is now for Xmas Day to be markedly mild....
It is sometimes treated as an inevitability the Ireland will be united, sometimes explicitly on the basis it's an island and therefore makes sense, which is a bit strange when there are many divided islands in the world.
That said i do think it will happen, but not this side of 2030. My gut feeling is that its widely supported but that support is prepared to wait.
I think that the feeling of inevitability arose from the demographics. The catholics were out producing the protestants and would eventually also outvote them on the matter.
The problem with this is the ever growing number of people who do not consider themselves either protestant or catholic. Why would they want to join Eire? A fairly compelling economic case would make the difference but I am not sure that is imminent. The southern Irish has a high GDP per capita but relatively little of that seems to make the tables of those who live there.
I'm interested in your final para - is the implication that while Ireland the country appears rich, this isn't felt by individual Irishmen and women? That surprises me. I don't know the country well but all I've seen of it looks pretty affluent.
Broadly speaking Ireland is as affluent as Britain, with public finances flattered by windfall corporation tax receipts, and by having more favourable demographics.
But GDP per capita is twice as high as Britain.
If you look closely Irelands demographics are extraordinary.
Median age 1985 was 26.3 Now it is about 39
It's forecast to be a little higher than the UK in 30 years time
It feels mile more affluent than when I first worked regularly in the 1980's
Does it feel much more affluent than the UK ? Not really.
Visitors rarely see Drogheda or Tallaght.
The distortive effect of corporate profits on Irish GDP is pretty much the biggest example of this in the world, or at least in relatively large developed economies. There's some of that in the very high Singaporean GDP per capita too, Singapore being (alongside Switzerland) the other major hub location for IP, regional HQs and principal trading companies. It looks like the effect is also now very visible in the Danish GDP stats thanks to Novo Nordisk.
There has probably been a similar, smaller but still present effect flattering UK GDP given the number of regional value chains that have the UK as a profit centre.
Yes, if you look at Irish GDP/head it is about twice the UK's. Hooray. Good for them.
But if you look at household consumption/head, it's about 10% less than the UK. And indirect indicators like electricity consumption show similar results.
They've made progress over the last generation, but it's extremely risky - they had a much worse setback than we did in 2007-10, and nobody knows how long the US and the UK will let Ireland get away with poaching so much of its tax revenue.
They may have Ratnered themselves a bit in the US by picking a fight with Israel.
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers has won his human rights battle against deportation.
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
The contrast between the European and American approach to such mattersis about to become very clear indeed.
And you don't think, for even the minutest moment, that the 'American approach' might lead to injustices?
Justice is a balance, as is well seen above the Old Bailey.
If you’re a foreign national sentenced to imprisonment, then you should be deported when you have served your sentence. From the prison to the airport. If you wish to come back, then you appeal at your own expense from abroad.
This isn’t controversial in 90% of the countries in the world.
Comments
Merry Christmas
Xmas is a good compromise, I think?
'Happy Christmas' was a 19th century religious / behaviourist campaign that wanted people to be more abstemious and less 'merry' in an inebriated sense. To them, wishing people a Merry Christmas was tantamount to concentrating on all the wrong things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiQ7S38nKog
America was warned this guy would destroy the rule of law and still they voted for him.
They didn't care enough about living in a democracy nor about the rule of law to keep them.
Just read some Honor Harrington the other day.
Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, has denied murdering three young girls - Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King - in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Mr Rudakubana appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via a video link but refused to speak when asked to confirm his name and enter his pleas, so the judge Mr Justice Goose entered them on his behalf.
An odd way to report this.
Ramadan cycles through the year, just to let you know.
This is my first article in an academic publication, on Mina the Elder, the Uncrowned King of Navarre. It can be downloaded in PDF format.
But if you look at household consumption/head, it's about 10% less than the UK. And indirect indicators like electricity consumption show similar results.
They've made progress over the last generation, but it's extremely risky - they had a much worse setback than we did in 2007-10, and nobody knows how long the US and the UK will let Ireland get away with poaching so much of its tax revenue.
I am not surprised to see that weapons procurement is impossible. Can't say that 'hodge-podge governance' has really changed either, I should think.
Could be good for the North East and the Nissan plant there as well as the numerous battery plants.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/companies/two-major-car-manufacturers-in-talks-to-start-merger-to-compete-as-largest-electric-vehicle-makers/ar-AA1w4KOT?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=bb39e4e9f0a64183b619a2e0d0a00ce2&ei=35
British manufacturers reported the biggest fall in output in late 2024 since the COVID-19 pandemic and they are even more downbeat about the start of next year, according to a survey that adds to signs of a loss of momentum in the economy.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/uk-factories-report-plunge-in-output-adding-to-economic-slowdown-signs/ar-AA1w59m2?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=996f1e3205e04f9aa9638680c8bac376&ei=16
The Confederation of British Industry said a gauge of output over the three months to December in its monthly industrial trends survey - published on Wednesday - fell to -25, its lowest since August 2020, down from -12 in the three months to November.
The UK and France can make big savings by buying stuff off the shelf (mostly from the USA), but then you're always at risk of their imposing restrictions on its use or cutting off the supply.
How very "Love Thy Neighbour"
Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, 18, refused to submit a plea when asked...
And sometimes I just use it!
Then again…
“… and as for Progress, it was at one time quite a nuisance, but it never progressed.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37550060
A man accused of killing the Labour MP Jo Cox refused to enter pleas as he appeared in court.
Thomas Mair, 53, from Birstall, remained silent when asked to plead at the Old Bailey on four charges relating to Mrs Cox's death.
Mrs Cox, 41, who was a married mother-of-two, was shot and stabbed in Birstall, West Yorkshire, in June.
In the light of Mr Mair's silence, the judge ordered that not guilty pleas should be entered on his behalf.
(For the record: I have been lactose intolerant for decades. It's been a nuisance, but no more than that, now that I know what the problem is. Food allergies are much worse, and can even be deadly.)
Well.. technically...
& they are in different council areas.
Definitely two-tier justice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peine_forte_et_dure
https://undercutters.podbean.com/e/f1-2024-title-fight-undercutters-ep1/
Hope you give it a listen. Second episode will be about the battle for sixth between RB, Haas, and Alpine.
"Someone is about to say this orange is different from this lemon, but that's just because of our peculiar definition of citrus fruit."
The man, who was jailed for 16 years for plotting to supply heroin across the UK, won the right to remain in the UK on the basis that it would breach his human right to a family life, even though he had an extra-marital affair with a woman in Turkey who he married to “preserve her honour”.
The 70-year-old drug dealer, who was granted anonymity, also claimed that as an Alevi Kurd he would be persecuted if he was deported to Turkey.
However, the immigration tribunal was told that he had returned to his homeland eight times since he came to Britain without facing any persecution.
The man’s claim to remain in the UK was backed by the UN Refugee Agency, despite the Home Office saying that he was a “danger to the community” and that his continued presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good” because of his criminal history.
The tribunal was told that he was believed to be the head of an organised crime gang responsible at the time for 90 per cent of the UK heroin trade.
...even getting a Turkish passport...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/18/turkish-crime-boss-jailed-heroin-offences-allowed-to-stay/
The contrast between the European and American approach to such mattersis about to become very clear indeed.
Joyful No-eel
Howly Christmas
Merry Christmoose
See the problem?
https://morrisf1.blogspot.com/2024/12/f1-2024-title-fight.html
When told they were naughty, by the courts, the government would have replied with a shrug and “Je suis desolate”. Followed by accidentally never letting him back in the country.
NEW THREAD
It's precisely the same de haut en bas mindset that excluded the 2nd round of presidential elections going ahead in Romania.
Of course it was. Fuck the community. The rights of the criminal and all that.
There comes a point where a group of highly qualified people talk only to like-minded people, and come to increasingly stupid conclusions.
https://farmconnectmontana.org/land-link-program/
I rather like that one. Pity I've already written all my cards.
A psychiatrist friend had some interesting things to say about a prison visiting group she briefly worked with. They got very upset when she read trial transcripts instead of just believing what the prisoners said.
Justice is a balance, as is well seen above the Old Bailey.
But to be sure: let's deport every criminal, eh? That way we can be *sure* that there are no criminals left (*). Australia should do.
Or perhaps, just perhaps, there should be a balance? (**)
(*) Not really...
(**) Answering a post with a question, as you do, but unlike you, actually giving my view.,,
To which the reply was, "better for whom?"
This isn’t controversial in 90% of the countries in the world.