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The government sinks to a new low yet still leads the Tories who remain in third place

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  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617

    Thanks - I have learned a new word for the day.
    Very useful in sheep-breeding and long used in studies of Greek art. Purely coincidental obvs.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,414
    eek said:

    From memory a level maths today contains things that were first / second year degree when I went to Uni
    Long time ago now, but my A level Physics had things being taken out (we were shown a 8 page book of things that had been removed). I'd be surprised if A level maths has bucked that trend in that way.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,257
    Battlebus said:

    How did you get that passed the AI Checker?


    You may have missed the fact that my second job - after flint knapping - is writing
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,789

    An alternative take:

    https://x.com/balajis/status/1884271593620468026

    The full scope of what is happening is completely unprecedented in our lifetimes.

    The Trump executive orders were clearly meticulously planned to strike every single source of blue power, simultaneously, both in the US and abroad.

    A fusillade of legal cruise missiles.
    More like a frequently illegal blunderbuss.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,651

    Kemi is doing badly but as posted earlier in this thread, Jenrick is just as bad, if not worse. Here is that 30-second clip showing him being read the riot act yesterday.
    https://x.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1884273412534894738
    Looking at his smirky face I can’t decide if he doesn’t care, because he thinks his target audience will forget the last 14 years, or he’s genuinely convinced himself he wasn’t in government 6 months ago.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,096
    Leon said:

    Where is @Anabobazina?!

    Not seen him this year?
    Didn't he flounce over the merest hint of criticism of Labour to not return ?

    Rogerdamus also.

    Others have taken breaks and returned.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,293
    https://www.soapcentral.com/human-interest/news-let-s-work-something-out-florida-trump-supporter-begs-president-let-keep-wife-ice-deports-back-venezuela

    "Let's work something out" — Florida Trump supporter begs president to "let me keep my wife" after ICE deports her back to Venezuela
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,414
    Leon said:

    You may have missed the fact that my second job - after flint knapping - is writing
    I thought your first job was posting on PB, certainly from the number of posts in a limited time span...
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,651
    eek said:

    You’re right but equally at the moment if I want to fly to someone that isn’t incredibly mainstream I have no choice but to fly via Amsterdam.

    Yes I could go to Newcastle and go via CDG but just nope either way you can’t go via Heathrow which would be what most people expect

    So those 3 flights from Liverpool will be 1 plane for onward connections and 2 for people to get to London cheaper than the train - with train prices set insanely high to limit demand on already full services
    Of course if they had sensibly branched HS2 out to Heathrow we could actually reduce emissions as more people in the North and Midlands would take the train to connect with Heathrow flights instead of flying to Schiphol.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 13,804

    Given my day job, I can confidently say that 99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality.

    If you use cash you are on the side of the criminals and tax dodgers as well as making the lives harder for legitimate businesses.
    Today's cash transactions for 6 Seville oranges, a few quid to a charity collection, the purchase of a pint of milk and a Twirl and paying a small bill is taking on a sinister aspect. When do HMRC/Police/MI6/MI5/Prevent Scheme call round for a serious chat?
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 7,255
    edited January 29

    https://www.soapcentral.com/human-interest/news-let-s-work-something-out-florida-trump-supporter-begs-president-let-keep-wife-ice-deports-back-venezuela

    "Let's work something out" — Florida Trump supporter begs president to "let me keep my wife" after ICE deports her back to Venezuela

    Something something leopards...
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,257
    Taz said:

    Didn't he flounce over the merest hint of criticism of Labour to not return ?

    Rogerdamus also.

    Others have taken breaks and returned.
    That’s a shame. I enjoy his commentary. Also I never saw him as especially snowflakey - so it’s a surprise? Maybe he had other reasons

    It’s a bad sign for Labour that their supporters are so fragile they can’t take a few weeks of mild abuse
  • kamskikamski Posts: 6,236
    Leon said:

    This stuff is really really pathetic. Labour are in power. They will get mocked and insulted. What did they honestly expect??
    Just proffering honest advice when asked. Sorry to see it triggered you though - maybe have a bit of lie down with your artisanal throw you'll be right as rain in no time!
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 29,797
    TimS said:

    That works for the big global superscaler cloud applications that do stuff in the background, and lots of them are already in cold countries with cheap renewable energy, but a lot of data centres need to be close to the main markets to minimise latency, hence most are in the Thames valley and more widely around the FLAPD hubs.
    Latency is generally less of a concern than it used to be simply because data transfer and processing have become much faster, but in any case, the main market for the government of Scotland and its people is Scotland.
  • eekeek Posts: 29,462
    viewcode said:

    Every week I go to the cash point and take out a fixed amount of cash. It helps me budget during the week. I also get the slip that tells me how much money I have and enter that in a spreadsheet. I have been doing that for more decades than I like to think.

    When I go round to the corner shop for £2 of milk they don’t want me paying via card as there is 30p transaction fee due to them being fleeced by the card machine provider

    Strangely enough unless you are sending £20+ they want cash
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,516
    kamski said:

    'lettuce' is gender neutral, I think? but it's a bit of a tired joke by now that doesn't seem to make any sense in this context - hasn't Badenoch already lasted longer a lettuce? Or is he predicting that she will become PM but only for a few days? I don't get it.

    I wouldn't use 'Rachel from Accounts' myself, and as you're asking my advice: steer clear of it if you want to avoid any appearance of being an arse.

    I'm happy to give people the benefit of the doubt if they do use it, though it does leave a bit of an off smell.
    This is well expressed. People using it will fall into 2 groups: (1) Don't recognise that it's sexist. (2) Know full well it's sexist but don't care because they are.

    It can be hard to tell the difference (although not *that* hard in some cases) therefore it's only fair to go with benefit of the doubt.

    That is what I will do. Unless unduly provoked.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,749

    'I can confidently say that 99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality.

    Wow. Any particular data to back up this 99% of all cash transactions are dodgy statistic? I will think on this next time I buy a pint, or do some top up shopping and consider what criminality I am supporting.
    LOL!
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,000
    eek said:

    When I go round to the corner shop for £2 of milk they don’t want me paying via card as there is 30p transaction fee due to them being fleeced by the card machine provider

    Strangely enough unless you are sending £20+ they want cash
    Plenty of payment providers who charge only on a % basis these days with no transaction fee.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 6,236
    viewcode said:

    Every week I go to the cash point and take out a fixed amount of cash. It helps me budget during the week. I also get the slip that tells me how much money I have and enter that in a spreadsheet. I have been doing that for more decades than I like to think.

    Going a bit far - but there is good evidence that using cash helps people budget.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,139
    TOPPING said:

    Is that your hotel room. I would be seriously concerned if you made your bed up every day like that in NW1.
    HW1 is a bit suburban, n'est-ce pas?

    I spent several years living in EC2.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,097
    edited January 29
    viewcode said:

    Every week I go to the cash point and take out a fixed amount of cash. It helps me budget during the week. I also get the slip that tells me how much money I have and enter that in a spreadsheet. I have been doing that for more decades than I like to think.

    It's so easy to spend money without even bothering to notice how much you're spending with electronic methods.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,096
    Leon said:

    That’s a shame. I enjoy his commentary. Also I never saw him as especially snowflakey - so it’s a surprise? Maybe he had other reasons

    It’s a bad sign for Labour that their supporters are so fragile they can’t take a few weeks of mild abuse
    Imagine how they'd feel if they had the likes of Led By Donkeys, who were supposedly there to hold truth to power but now seem to stalk Nigel Farage, on the case of the govt too with all manner of banal stunts that they think are edgy and cleverl
  • eekeek Posts: 29,462

    Latency is generally less of a concern than it used to be simply because data transfer and processing have become much faster, but in any case, the main market for the government of Scotland and its people is Scotland.
    Latency is still an issue but there will be bigger priorities above latency. For AI the question will be guaranteed power first everything else secondary
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 29,797
    viewcode said:

    Every week I go to the cash point and take out a fixed amount of cash. It helps me budget during the week. I also get the slip that tells me how much money I have and enter that in a spreadsheet. I have been doing that for more decades than I like to think.

    More and more people are going back to cash as envelope-stuffing and other means of saving money are promoted on social media. Likewise cutting up cards (metaphorically or literally) to climb out of debt.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,218
    viewcode said:

    Every week I go to the cash point and take out a fixed amount of cash. It helps me budget during the week. I also get the slip that tells me how much money I have and enter that in a spreadsheet. I have been doing that for more decades than I like to think.

    Just go the whole hog and fucking move into Beamish.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,096

    Bollox. Where do most cash transactions take place - in supermarkets. It's people, often older, who don't trust electronic money or others who have limited financial skills and can budget better with physical money.
    Given stories like this from Canada is it any wonder there are conspiracy theories of the move away from cash ?

    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/world/americas/canada-protest-finances.html
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,257
    edited January 29
    MattW said:

    HW1 is a bit suburban, n'est-ce pas?

    I spent several years living in EC2.
    EC2 is sweet

    It’s my proud boast that I have lived in nearly all the “1s”

    W1. SW1, EC1, N1, WC1, E1 and now NW1

    Only one missing is SE1. But I’ll cope
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,749
    edited January 29

    Kemi is doing badly but as posted earlier in this thread, Jenrick is just as bad, if not worse. Here is that 30-second clip showing him being read the riot act yesterday.
    https://x.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1884273412534894738
    On what basis is she doing badly? She's only been LOTO for 3 months and she's (mostly) made the right calls in that time and week by week consistently picks the correct issues for PMQ's and sometimes manages to beat SKS (which is a tall order given his experience, his majority and he has right to reply and the final say in any contest)

    Granted she hasn't has any cut through yet with the public but that's mostly because the public have "tuned out" of listening to anything the Conservatives have to say - That will change but it might take a couple of years.

    If people are still not listening to the Tories in 2027, then it may be time to revise my opinion but for now I still say Kemi is doing fine for a LOTO at this particular moment in the political cycle.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 13,804
    Andy_JS said:

    It's so easy to spend money without even bothering to notice how much you're spending with electronic methods.
    It's a point Rory Sutherland makes. Suppose you had to pay for holidays and stuff in used five pound notes, you would think a little longer.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,096
    algarkirk said:

    It's curious how it is so much easier to see 10 million people you don't know deported than one person you do. Not only wives but neighbours, families your children know from school. It's possible that this is a rock on which this slightly fascist tendency will founder.
    No, and it is as much about deterrence as well.

    Removing people who have no right to remain, well, Labour are happily doing that at the moment and trumpeting their success relative to the inept Tories. Hardly call labour slightly fascistic.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,990

    This on the day Starmer's rating of -42 goes below Sunak's worst rating of -41

    See More in Common

    Kemi Badenoch is very different and has plenty of time to develop, not least because there is nobody else remotely suited at present
    I didn't see it but Mexicanpete never looks at anything dispassionately
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,679

    Bollox. Where do most cash transactions take place - in supermarkets. It's people, often older, who don't trust electronic money or others who have limited financial skills and can budget better with physical money.
    Pretty much every single supermarket I go to has people waiting for the 'cash and card' checkout because they have cash and only the 'card only' ones are available. I'm always surprised by the number of people who can't or won't pay by card. Not necessarily older than me, either.
  • Bollox. Where do most cash transactions take place - in supermarkets. It's people, often older, who don't trust electronic money or others who have limited financial skills and can budget better with physical money.
    From my day job.

    I get to see information that the public do not.
  • viewcode said:

    Every week I go to the cash point and take out a fixed amount of cash. It helps me budget during the week. I also get the slip that tells me how much money I have and enter that in a spreadsheet. I have been doing that for more decades than I like to think.

    Get yourself an app or online account.

    Then get a credit card and you can get rewarded and protected for using your card.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,731

    Thanks - I have learned a new word for the day.
    Ffffffffffffion?
  • eekeek Posts: 29,462
    edited January 29
    Cookie said:

    Pretty much every single supermarket I go to has people waiting for the 'cash and card' checkout because they have cash and only the 'card only' ones are available. I'm always surprised by the number of people who can't or won't pay by card. Not necessarily older than me, either.
    Many people need to watch their budget and the easiest way to do that is cash.

    Credit / Debit cards are great for people who are organized but utterly painful for people who aren’t organized or need to watch what they spend
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617

    Bollox. Where do most cash transactions take place - in supermarkets. It's people, often older, who don't trust electronic money or others who have limited financial skills and can budget better with physical money.
    Or limited IT skills full stop.

    I was once stopped in the street by a young person who wanted me to get her some money from the ATM machine with her card, using the pass code she'd written on a scrap of paper. She was pretty obviously from the local residential community for people who would have limited skills in such areas.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,096
    Dura_Ace said:

    Just go the whole hog and fucking move into Beamish.
    I love the Auto workshop at Beamish in the 1913 part, as well as the old buses.

    Proper good old Engineering.

  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,749
    viewcode said:

    Every week I go to the cash point and take out a fixed amount of cash. It helps me budget during the week. I also get the slip that tells me how much money I have and enter that in a spreadsheet. I have been doing that for more decades than I like to think.

    Good for you. You stick to what works for you!
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,469
    Bayern Munich are a 97% chance to beat Slovan Bratislava tonight. There can't have been much shorter prices in football before.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,516
    edited January 29
    algarkirk said:

    It's curious how it is so much easier to see 10 million people you don't know deported than one person you do. Not only wives but neighbours, families your children know from school. It's possible that this is a rock on which this slightly fascist tendency will founder.
    Yes, the popularity of these types of policies depends on dehumanisation.
  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,556
    Leon said:

    That’s a shame. I enjoy his commentary. Also I never saw him as especially snowflakey - so it’s a surprise? Maybe he had other reasons

    It’s a bad sign for Labour that their supporters are so fragile they can’t take a few weeks of mild abuse
    Anabob's been round this neighbourhood in various guises since the days he wore short trousers. He'll be back sooner or later.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617

    From my day job.

    I get to see information that the public do not.
    Point taken, but still. Take it on faith? Are we going to be worshipping you next?
  • kamskikamski Posts: 6,236

    From my day job.

    I get to see information that the public do not.
    "99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality."

    of course that's bollocks. if you're so sad that you want to pretend you've got access to secret information to impress us, you should at least make it slightly plausible.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,218
    Carnyx said:

    Or limited IT skills full stop.

    I was once stopped in the street by a young person who wanted me to get her some money from the ATM machine with her card, using the pass code she'd written on a scrap of paper. She was pretty obviously from the local residential community for people who would have limited skills in such areas.
    It's nice to see that some people will take the time to help Kemi.
  • eekeek Posts: 29,462
    edited January 29
    kinabalu said:

    Yes, the popularity of these types of policies depends on dehumanisation.
    That’s the whole problem with immigration - people don’t want immigrants but like the ones they know like Mahmud who arrived 2 years ago (and helps tidy the street say).

    The immigrants people want to go are 99% of the time the faceless ones they don’t know
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,929
    Leon said:

    You may have missed the fact that my second job - after flint knapping - is writing
    An honest mistake, given that the bilge you post on here offers few clues.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617
    Dura_Ace said:

    It's nice to see that some people will take the time to help Kemi.
    I didn't.

    (ATMs have cameras. And the moment I was known to have someone else's code ....)
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,679
    Leon said:

    EC2 is sweet

    It’s my proud boast that I have lived in nearly all the “1s”

    W1. SW1, EC1, N1, WC1, E1 and now NW1

    Only one missing is SE1. But I’ll cope
    A pedant notes: there are postcodes outside London too.

    But that is quite remarkable. The average first number in my postcode is 13 1/8. If it's weighted by the length of time I've spent there it's 16.7. And that's someone who's lived somewhere fairly urban all his life (though my 1 "1" was DL1, so my least metropolitan address).

    You must have a remarkably low average postcode score.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,730
    edited January 29

    Trouserless bloke with a cudgel chasing three girls?
    Burmese refer to Westerners as "the trousers people" as near universally male and female wear sarongs, except the military. There is a gender difference in how it is tied, and social class by length. Peasants wear shorter sarongs so they don't get muddy in the paddy fields etc.

    So those girls being chased may well be three peasants being chased by a soldier, the Kachin being one of the ethnic groups at war with the government.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 23,917
    Dura_Ace said:

    Just go the whole hog and fucking move into Beamish.
    I think the cashpoints in the 1820s still used CRTs, and only worked if the rubber band was wound up. :)
  • Carnyx said:

    Point taken, but still. Take it on faith? Are we going to be worshipping you next?
    Wait, you’re not already worshipping me over these last few years?
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,398
    TimS said:

    I know we’re all Trumpists now but there remain a few people in the country for whom, for example, government fast tracking for offshore wind farms is necessary and useful.

    “I want infrastructure, but not in my ideological back yard”.
    Yes, they're called wind farm owners.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617
    edited January 29

    Wait, you’re not already worshipping me over these last few years?
    Hmm, you certainly don't have feet of clay, so perhaps I should reconsider.

    Edit: Or at least they are very well hidden.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,414
    Carnyx said:

    Point taken, but still. Take it on faith? Are we going to be worshipping you next?
    You don't already? Heathen.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617
    viewcode said:

    I think the cashpoints in the 1820s still used CRTs, and only worked if the rubber band was wound up. :)
    Nah, they were getting really excited about the new steam engines with mechanical processing. Mr Babbage and all that.
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 623
    GIN1138 said:

    On what basis is she doing badly? She's only been LOTO for 3 months and she's (mostly) made the right calls in that time and week by week consistently picks the correct issues for PMQ's and sometimes manages to beat SKS (which is a tall order given his experience, his majority and he has right to reply and the final say in any contest)

    Granted she hasn't has any cut through yet with the public but that's mostly because the public have "tuned out" of listening to anything the Conservatives have to say - That will change but it might take a couple of years.

    If people are still not listening to the Tories in 2027, then it may be time to revise my opinion but for now I still say Kemi is doing fine for a LOTO at this particular moment in the political cycle.
    I admire your enthusiasm but if the Conservatives are trailing even with such a bad Labour government, the only way is out.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/nov/16/kemi-badenochs-first-approval-ratings-as-tory-leader-worse-than-sunaks-and-johnsons
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,516
    edited January 29
    Leon said:

    That’s a shame. I enjoy his commentary. Also I never saw him as especially snowflakey - so it’s a surprise? Maybe he had other reasons

    It’s a bad sign for Labour that their supporters are so fragile they can’t take a few weeks of mild abuse
    Anabobazina has posted either not much or not at all since Nov 5th. So I tentatively deduce it might be disgust at Donald Trump's election leading to a lessening of political libido. In which case it says much about him, all of it good. I'm a bit disappointed that I'm still pumping away as much as ever.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,730
    IanB2 said:

    An honest mistake, given that the bilge you post on here offers few clues.
    To be fair there is demand for dystopic fantasy fiction writing. It's when it pretends to be reportage that the problem arises.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,097
    Just read that Bercow apparently starred in an American version of The Traitors. Did anyone see it?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,139
    edited January 29
    I've been reading up a little, and reflecting, on Bishop Budde vs President Chump.

    And my photo quota is the Darth Vader grotesque from the National Cathedral in Washington DC. An interesting exercise in soft power marketing, btw - they just asserted the civil role, and everyone else accepted it. There's no official designation as such.


  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,257
    IanB2 said:

    An honest mistake, given that the bilge you post on here offers few clues.
    Heh
  • Cookie said:

    Pretty much every single supermarket I go to has people waiting for the 'cash and card' checkout because they have cash and only the 'card only' ones are available. I'm always surprised by the number of people who can't or won't pay by card. Not necessarily older than me, either.
    I pay by cash at Tesco if a few items if it comes to something like £11.23 but by card if it is like £9.50 or ,£19.20. This is because I need pound coins for tips for the delivery from Sainsubury and charity days at my children's schools. The banks are all closed and the post office has a massive queue.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 29,797
    Andy_JS said:

    Just read that Bercow apparently starred in an American version of The Traitors. Did anyone see it?

    According to The Rest is Entertainment Bercow was not very good because the Americans did not know who he was and his catchphrases did not resonate. Otoh, he probably received a cheque large enough to appear on TSE's print-outs.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,293
    Taz said:

    Imagine how they'd feel if they had the likes of Led By Donkeys, who were supposedly there to hold truth to power but now seem to stalk Nigel Farage, on the case of the govt too with all manner of banal stunts that they think are edgy and cleverl
    C'mon, this was great: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/heil-tesla-controversial-image-of-elon-musk-displayed-on-tesla-factory-in-germany-7548717
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,139

    According to The Rest is Entertainment Bercow was not very good because the Americans did not know who he was and his catchphrases did not resonate. Otoh, he probably received a cheque large enough to appear on TSE's print-outs.
    Who is he?

    *innocent face* seems appropriate.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 30,844
    ....
    kinabalu said:

    Anabobazina has posted either not much or not at all since Nov 5th. So I tentatively deduce it might be disgust at Donald Trump's election leading to a lessening of political libido. In which case it says much about him, all of it good. I'm a bit disappointed that I'm still pumping away as much as ever.
    Me too. I deserve a slap for my lack of self discipline.

    What am I doing in a Trumpian RefCon echo chamber anyway?
  • So, the afternoon thread, shall I do something on Brexit or something on Badenoch’s worrying ratings?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,257
    Cookie said:

    A pedant notes: there are postcodes outside London too.

    But that is quite remarkable. The average first number in my postcode is 13 1/8. If it's weighted by the length of time I've spent there it's 16.7. And that's someone who's lived somewhere fairly urban all his life (though my 1 "1" was DL1, so my least metropolitan address).

    You must have a remarkably low average postcode score.
    Actually this is true

    The only other places I have lived in the UK are Hereford - HR4 - and Truro - TR1 - TR1!!

    So, that’s 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 1
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,408
    https://x.com/disclosetv/status/1884585589913039076

    Trump set to sign order instructing federal agencies to "combat antisemitism," which may include deporting anti-Jewish activists.
  • kamski said:

    Going a bit far - but there is good evidence that using cash helps people budget.
    The main "cash only" establishment near me is a Chinese takeaway. People would budget even better if they didn't spend on takeaways.
  • kinabalu said:

    Anabobazina has posted either not much or not at all since Nov 5th. So I tentatively deduce it might be disgust at Donald Trump's election leading to a lessening of political libido. In which case it says much about him, all of it good. I'm a bit disappointed that I'm still pumping away as much as ever.
    If you feel you have to stop posting, let's hope you keep "tracking" 🙏
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 30,844

    So, the afternoon thread, shall I do something on Brexit or something on Badenoch’s worrying ratings?

    Brexit might get us the Farage photo. I can't see how you fit the fragrant Nigel into a Badenoch thread. Now there is a challenge!
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,139

    I complained about Rachel from accounts yesterday. No longer. Far worse is what Teesside Tories have done. They called a pointless vote of Stockton Borough Council to call for a national grooming gangs enquiry. And are now promoting Facebook ads on community forums calling out Labour councillors who voted against.

    In the comments - on Stockton Conservatives Facebook page - are people saying councillors are involved in grooming, are nonces, are rape gang supporters, should be abused in the street, should have people at their houses to shout at them.

    Stockton Conservatives have decided to whip up a literal mob, with at least 3 female councillors having people banging on their front door shouting abuse, and one spat at in the street.

    That's like the Rebecca Brooks "find your local paedo" playbook from the late 1990s tabloids.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,414
    Leon said:

    Actually this is true

    The only other places I have lived in the UK are Hereford - HR4 - and Truro - TR1 - TR1!!

    So, that’s 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 1
    I think this just suggests you don't want to live in the countryside.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,516

    ....

    Me too. I deserve a slap for my lack of self discipline.

    What am I doing in a Trumpian RefCon echo chamber anyway?
    It's sheer masochism. But it's also truly important work. That's what I tell myself anyway.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 30,844

    https://x.com/disclosetv/status/1884585589913039076

    Trump set to sign order instructing federal agencies to "combat antisemitism," which may include deporting anti-Jewish activists.

    That's quite a few MAGA, Proud Boys and the KKK f*****. Bring it on.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,651
    eek said:

    Many people need to watch their budget and the easiest way to do that is cash.

    Credit / Debit cards are great for people who are organized but utterly painful for people who aren’t organized or need to watch what they spend
    The other thing is that the grey cash economy has downstream impacts on cash usage. So people being paid cash in hand to evade PAYE or VAT will then need to spend it - at the supermarket or elsewhere. That’s essentially micro-laundering.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,516

    If you feel you have to stop posting, let's hope you keep "tracking" 🙏
    I'll always keep an eye on you, don't worry.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,257
    RFK jr about to go in front of Congress

    He strikes me as a nutter who should be nowhere near government. However, the entire Democrat agenda against him - I am watching CNN - is based on “respecting science”. This is from the party that has spent years perverting and lying about science to disguise their culpability in Wuhan and also to protect extremely dodgy scientists from proper scrutiny

    This is why it is really really bad to lie about important things, because it comes back to bite you. Cf Biden and pardons

    “Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid“
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,460
    Leon said:

    RFK jr about to go in front of Congress

    He strikes me as a nutter who should be nowhere near government. However, the entire Democrat agenda against him - I am watching CNN - is based on “respecting science”. This is from the party that has spent years perverting and lying about science to disguise their culpability in Wuhan and also to protect extremely dodgy scientists from proper scrutiny

    This is why it is really really bad to lie about important things, because it comes back to bite you. Cf Biden and pardons

    “Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid“

    He is also of course the late Bobby Kennedy's son and the late President John F Kennedy's nephew. If it wasn't for his pro Trump and anti Vax views he would still be Democrat royalty
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,771

    Bye-bye Elon.
    It will be very much "we decide who is an anti-Semite".
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,749
    Andy_JS said:

    Just read that Bercow apparently starred in an American version of The Traitors. Did anyone see it?

    Bercow money-grabbing in America now? Right show for him, anyway! 😂
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,257
    HYUFD said:

    He is also of course the late Bobby Kennedy's son and the late President John F Kennedy's nephew. If it wasn't for his pro Trump and anti Vax views he would still be Democrat royalty
    His female relative who is attacking him seems as nasty and weird as him

    What a strange, doomed family. I blame it all (genuinely) on the evil Anglophobe quasi-Nazi IRA-loving patriarch
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,616
    edited January 29
    MattW said:

    HW1 is a bit suburban, n'est-ce pas?

    I spent several years living in EC2.
    Next door-ish. EC2 is a place to work, not live.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,752
    IanB2 said:

    An honest mistake, given that the bilge you post on here offers few clues.
    Lol. There have been some good put downs on here before, but that one is definitely in one of the higher leagues.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,097
    Leon said:

    RFK jr about to go in front of Congress

    He strikes me as a nutter who should be nowhere near government. However, the entire Democrat agenda against him - I am watching CNN - is based on “respecting science”. This is from the party that has spent years perverting and lying about science to disguise their culpability in Wuhan and also to protect extremely dodgy scientists from proper scrutiny

    This is why it is really really bad to lie about important things, because it comes back to bite you. Cf Biden and pardons

    “Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid“

    He is an idiot but has the right ideas on reducing obesity, probably by mistake.
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,771
    Andy_JS said:

    Just read that Bercow apparently starred in an American version of The Traitors. Did anyone see it?

    Yes. US Traitors is peculiar because it is all reality show "stars" and the odd Brit (they've got Ivar Mountbatten this year).

    Bercow was presented as rather well-liked by his fellow players.
  • Another poll with Lab ahead and the Tories third.

    Margin of error changes in latest
    @moreincommonuk.bsky.social
    poll mean again it's a virtual 3-way tie between Labour, Reform & Conservatives

    🌹LAB 25% (+1)
    ➡️ REF UK 25% (nc)
    🌳CON 24% (-1)
    🔶 LIB DEM 13% ( +1)
    🌍 GREEN 7% (nc)
    🟡 SNP 2% (-1)

    N = 2,009 Dates: 24 - 27 Jan, Change w 20 Jan

    https://bsky.app/profile/luketryl.bsky.social/post/3lgui72kquc2f
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,460
    edited January 29
    Andy_JS said:

    Robert Jenrick must be feeling quietly confident that he'll be Tory leader within a year or two. Badenoch needs to improve fairly quickly.

    No he won't, he lost the members vote to Kemi clearly and lost the Tory MPs vote too.

    I remain of the view she stays leader until the next GE but if Tory MPs do do an IDS and remove her I suspect it would be Mel Stride or Chris Philp who are the Michael Howard figures who replace her (Howard was IDS' Shadow Chancellor remember, Jenrick is too much of a David Davis rebel now)
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,752
    Andy_JS said:

    He is an idiot but has the right ideas on reducing obesity, probably by mistake.
    Winston S. Churchill — ‘The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.’
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,929
    Leon said:

    Actually this is true

    The only other places I have lived in the UK are Hereford - HR4 - and Truro - TR1 - TR1!!

    So, that’s 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 1
    Hence your ignorance of the country beyond your chosen urban redoubts.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,749
    Battlebus said:

    I admire your enthusiasm but if the Conservatives are trailing even with such a bad Labour government, the only way is out.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/nov/16/kemi-badenochs-first-approval-ratings-as-tory-leader-worse-than-sunaks-and-johnsons
    People are fed up with Labour but still don't want to hear from the Tories as they threw them out less than a year ago.

    Added to that Con have the complication of Farage and it's almost a perfect storm for Con/Kemi in the first year or this Parliament.
  • Taz said:

    Didn't he flounce over the merest hint of criticism of Labour to not return ?

    Rogerdamus also.

    Others have taken breaks and returned.
    Hopefully Roger returns for the Oscars, that was one area where his predictions were valuable.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,516

    https://x.com/disclosetv/status/1884585589913039076

    Trump set to sign order instructing federal agencies to "combat antisemitism," which may include deporting anti-Jewish activists.

    Loves his "executive orders", doesn't he? I'm guessing his next one will reduce grocery prices and then straight after that, barely a pause, he'll sign one that makes Russia pull out of Ukraine.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,460

    Cash is dead, part 2,444

    Lloyds Banking Group to close a further 136 branches.

    https://www.ft.com/content/d41e7dc9-90e4-4247-a70e-fc1ae1fd4c72

    More bad news for high streets and for pensioners
This discussion has been closed.