The Daily Mail seems to have taken it upon themselves to cheer us all up by having a huge in depth article about how we’ll all die in a nuclear attack.
Does it discuss the potential impact on house prices?
Campaigners have threatened the government with legal action unless it reconsiders the decision to refuse compensation to millions of women affected by an increase in the state pension age.
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group is demanding payouts for 3.6 million women born in the 1950s who were not properly informed of changes first introduced in the 1990s.
It appears to me that WASPI are very much for state pension inequality!
Surely it can't go through as it has an indirect discriminatory effect on gay men (No gay male couple will benefit) which is a protected characteristic ?
They have lost every legal challenge they have made. This is about the timelimit for a judicial review of the decision not to pay these freeloaders "compensation" for their ignorance.
A £75K crowdfunder has been launched.
One on the radio this morning didn't receive a letter and claimed to have been out of the country on the day it "led the news coverage" (i.e. the first announcement of the change). That's the extent of her case. What of due dilligence in planning your retirement? Check in with an advisor? Do some sums? If she had she would have seen a bit of a change.
The story they are trying to tell is that loads of women were about to retire (presumably the next day) when they suddenly discovered that the rules had changed quite a number of years ago, but no-one had told them. Its bullshit.
They can all eff off and when they get there they can do it again.
The thing is the maladministration took place several years after it became law. So it is not even the initial change in pension age PHSO found against. Just a letter should have gone to them around 2 years earlier.
PHSO Simply caved in to a well funded, well connected, middle class lobby who have extremely good publicists as we can see today with the story still gaining prominence.
It remains to be seen whether or not they can get the £75K to crowdfund the judicial review.
The Lib Dems would just give them every penny they demand without saying where it comes from,
Unfunded entitlements and other such policies are the worse form of populism.
On a completely different note. A lady at my rowing club is going back to Japan. To start a family. Because the cost of nursery in London is £1600 per child. In Tokyo, the government is paying for it. The cost of housing there is less as well.
The reason that nursery costs £1600 per child is that the Blair government created regulations to make nursery’s the highest specc’d in terms of staff, of anywhere in the developed world. So childcare divides into
1) people who can afford private schools fees for their toddlers to get looked after. 2) people who have the space to afford an au pair. 3) people who are well off enough, that one person can afford not to work 4) people who use illegal “nurseries” - someone looks after x kids… 5) people who don’t work.
1-3 covers all the Real People, so why care?
I think the state should just offer childcare in its own nurseries. Buy up buildings or add extensions to school property that can be used to care for ~4 year olds. There would be a one-off cost but thereafter the "building rental" cost would be removed from nursery fees (which will be very significant).
It would also remove the private equity profit margin from the fees.
Finally you align child:carer ratios with other nations.
... Some people will still choose to use options 1-3 because they value the relative benefits, but it means the majority of people have a "default" option that is affordable (or free).
Under current law, state nurseries (which exist, to a certain degree) have to follow exactly the same rules on staffing.
The idea that this will be substantially cheaper is simply incorrect. Acquiring/building facilities will create borrowing which will take decades to pay off.
The issues are
1) Child/carer ratios. 2) The state pays or not.
Its the ratios. The nursery that my son goes to (handily at the Uni) could take another 12-16 children a day for minimal extra cost (the food, basically) if the ratio was relaxed by just one extra child per carer.
Stroke of a pen in government could do that today.
🚨 NEW: Donald Trump’s demand for Ukraine minerals is ‘reasonable’, says Boris Johnson
“America has a history of demanding a price for its support, and from where I stand today, I think that price is reasonable”, the former PM told ITV
To which the follow up question is why then did you (Bozo the clown) send arms to Ukraine without demanding concessions 3 years ago
Because it was the right thing for us to do?
But he is correct that historically US "support" has always come with strings attached. Did we ever actually fully pay off the debts we owed them from WW1 and WW2?
We did, yes, pay off those debts IIRC, but also the US wrote off a huge amount of war debt. The Marshall Plan money was mostly never re-paid.
The US support in the early years of WW2 was only ever transactional. Churchill had to beg for stuff from FDR up to 41. Even planes we'd bought from them. It was only pearl harbour that brought them into the war, and only because they'd been attacked. The US are not better than Ferengi to be honest. The supplies they sent us was in return for ideas,secrets and products from our industries. They even reneged on nuclear secrets after the war. Fuck em I say.
That might be true in the early years of the war, but the Marshall Plan after the war was hugely important and mostly aid, not loans.
A genuine case of enlightened self-interest. With the benefit of hindsight perhaps something similar (funded by the Cold War peace dividend) should have been done with Russia after the collapse of the USSR.
We spent a fortune helping not just Russia, but all the ex-Soviet states, if they accepted that help.
The myth that we did nothing or little is just that - a myth.
Russia had a massive opportunity from the mid-nineties onwards. It chose to squander that opportunity. That was Putin's choice.
I'm not pushing that myth or blaming the West. I know efforts were made, political and financial.
However it didn't work. The project was rushed and corrupted. A small number of people, inside and outside Russia, profited massively at the expense of a population already scarred by communism.
So I think, clock back, we and they could and should have done better. I don't buy the idea there's something in the Russian 'waters' that makes it compulsory for them to be an impoverished autocracy.
NEW: updated long-run gap in voting between young men and women in Germany:
The gender gap continues to widen, but contrary to what is often assumed, young men continue to vote roughly in line with the overall population, while young women have swung very sharply left.
How many of these American candy stores are legit?
One has popped up in my town in recent weeks and I've never seen a single person in it.
If they're not legit, then why don't the authorities do something about it?
It's to do with dodging business rates/NDR, according to my Albanian taxi driver. The tenant folds and the council can't collect any revenue from them, and the property owner avoids the tax they'd pay on an empty shop.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
How many of these American candy stores are legit?
One has popped up in my town in recent weeks and I've never seen a single person in it.
If they're not legit*, then why don't the authorities do something about it?
I read an article a couple of years ago about the ones on Oxford Street in London. The difficulty was proving they weren't legit, when they often only stayed open for a few months.
The people working there didn't know who owned them, and the laws weren't in place to take quick action. Trading Standards could only guess they were dodgy, so have to jump through hoops to get to the people running them, and by the time they did, the money would have gone through the shop, and it would be closed, or ownership changed.
I'd have thought there was some kind of money laundering legislation that allowed a quicker response, but it didn't appear to be the case (or it wasn't a priority).
*and of course, just because a shop doesn't do well, doesn't mean it's not a legitimate attempt to start a business.
The other question is how big will the Europeans' aid package be for Ukraine today? Will it be enough to see them through another 6 months? If so, Trump will have lost such control as he has and Russia will start to panic as their economic crisis intensifies.
Ideally, we are looking for something close to $20bn with roughly 10% of that from us.
The traitorous scum Orbán is going to block that . They refuse to approve any more arms sales .
It can be done at a national level to (a) include us and (b) avoid vetoes. slow walking etc by the recalcitrant within the EU. The problem is that Germany, the biggest single contributor, doesn't have a government as of today.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
Campaigners have threatened the government with legal action unless it reconsiders the decision to refuse compensation to millions of women affected by an increase in the state pension age.
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group is demanding payouts for 3.6 million women born in the 1950s who were not properly informed of changes first introduced in the 1990s.
It appears to me that WASPI are very much for state pension inequality!
Surely it can't go through as it has an indirect discriminatory effect on gay men (No gay male couple will benefit) which is a protected characteristic ?
They have lost every legal challenge they have made. This is about the timelimit for a judicial review of the decision not to pay these freeloaders "compensation" for their ignorance.
A £75K crowdfunder has been launched.
One on the radio this morning didn't receive a letter and claimed to have been out of the country on the day it "led the news coverage" (i.e. the first announcement of the change). That's the extent of her case. What of due dilligence in planning your retirement? Check in with an advisor? Do some sums? If she had she would have seen a bit of a change.
The story they are trying to tell is that loads of women were about to retire (presumably the next day) when they suddenly discovered that the rules had changed quite a number of years ago, but no-one had told them. Its bullshit.
They can all eff off and when they get there they can do it again.
The thing is the maladministration took place several years after it became law. So it is not even the initial change in pension age PHSO found against. Just a letter should have gone to them around 2 years earlier.
PHSO Simply caved in to a well funded, well connected, middle class lobby who have extremely good publicists as we can see today with the story still gaining prominence.
It remains to be seen whether or not they can get the £75K to crowdfund the judicial review.
The Lib Dems would just give them every penny they demand without saying where it comes from,
Unfunded entitlements and other such policies are the worse form of populism.
On a completely different note. A lady at my rowing club is going back to Japan. To start a family. Because the cost of nursery in London is £1600 per child. In Tokyo, the government is paying for it. The cost of housing there is less as well.
The reason that nursery costs £1600 per child is that the Blair government created regulations to make nursery’s the highest specc’d in terms of staff, of anywhere in the developed world. So childcare divides into
1) people who can afford private schools fees for their toddlers to get looked after. 2) people who have the space to afford an au pair. 3) people who are well off enough, that one person can afford not to work 4) people who use illegal “nurseries” - someone looks after x kids… 5) people who don’t work.
1-3 covers all the Real People, so why care?
I think the state should just offer childcare in its own nurseries. Buy up buildings or add extensions to school property that can be used to care for ~4 year olds. There would be a one-off cost but thereafter the "building rental" cost would be removed from nursery fees (which will be very significant).
It would also remove the private equity profit margin from the fees.
Finally you align child:carer ratios with other nations.
... Some people will still choose to use options 1-3 because they value the relative benefits, but it means the majority of people have a "default" option that is affordable (or free).
Under current law, state nurseries (which exist, to a certain degree) have to follow exactly the same rules on staffing.
The idea that this will be substantially cheaper is simply incorrect. Acquiring/building facilities will create borrowing which will take decades to pay off.
The issues are
1) Child/carer ratios. 2) The state pays or not.
Its the ratios. The nursery that my son goes to (handily at the Uni) could take another 12-16 children a day for minimal extra cost (the food, basically) if the ratio was relaxed by just one extra child per carer.
Stroke of a pen in government could do that today.
It's been tried a couple of times. The most serious attempt was, IIRC, under the Coalition. Which was beaten back with cries of "They want to kill all the toddlers!"
The suggestion, then, was to align the ratios with that well known hell hole of social provision, Sweden.
🚨 NEW: Donald Trump’s demand for Ukraine minerals is ‘reasonable’, says Boris Johnson
“America has a history of demanding a price for its support, and from where I stand today, I think that price is reasonable”, the former PM told ITV
To which the follow up question is why then did you (Bozo the clown) send arms to Ukraine without demanding concessions 3 years ago
Because it was the right thing for us to do?
But he is correct that historically US "support" has always come with strings attached. Did we ever actually fully pay off the debts we owed them from WW1 and WW2?
We did, yes, pay off those debts IIRC, but also the US wrote off a huge amount of war debt. The Marshall Plan money was mostly never re-paid.
The US support in the early years of WW2 was only ever transactional. Churchill had to beg for stuff from FDR up to 41. Even planes we'd bought from them. It was only pearl harbour that brought them into the war, and only because they'd been attacked. The US are not better than Ferengi to be honest. The supplies they sent us was in return for ideas,secrets and products from our industries. They even reneged on nuclear secrets after the war. Fuck em I say.
That might be true in the early years of the war, but the Marshall Plan after the war was hugely important and mostly aid, not loans.
A genuine case of enlightened self-interest. With the benefit of hindsight perhaps something similar (funded by the Cold War peace dividend) should have been done with Russia after the collapse of the USSR.
We spent a fortune helping not just Russia, but all the ex-Soviet states, if they accepted that help.
The myth that we did nothing or little is just that - a myth.
Russia had a massive opportunity from the mid-nineties onwards. It chose to squander that opportunity. That was Putin's choice.
I'm not pushing that myth or blaming the West. I know efforts were made, political and financial.
However it didn't work. The project was rushed and corrupted. A small number of people, inside and outside Russia, profited massively at the expense of a population already scarred by communism.
So I think, clock back, we and they could and should have done better. I don't buy the idea there's something in the Russian 'waters' that makes it compulsory for them to be an impoverished autocracy.
IMV there were bad actors, mainly within Russia, who would have sought to take advantage of whatever we did.
"I don't buy the idea there's something in the Russian 'waters' that makes it compulsory for them to be an impoverished autocracy."
That's been their state for hundreds of years. Despite their great human and natural resources.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
The Electoral Calculus prediction based on current polls would be Lab 37%, Ref 30%, Con 15%, LD 10%, Green 9% so Ref need to throw the kitchen sink at it
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
The Electoral Calculus prediction based on current polls would be Lab 37%, Ref 30%, Con 15%, LD 10%, Green 9% so Ref need to throw the kitchen sink at it
With some Tory tactical votes to beat Labour Reform could win it
The Daily Mail seems to have taken it upon themselves to cheer us all up by having a huge in depth article about how we’ll all die in a nuclear attack.
Does it discuss the potential impact on house prices?
I have a theory that a major deterrent to attack on this country is the threat of the CGT bill, if someone nukes all the places like Slough.
"You turned the place into a wasteland of radioactive zombies. So you are responsible for a 250% increase in property values."
The Daily Mail seems to have taken it upon themselves to cheer us all up by having a huge in depth article about how we’ll all die in a nuclear attack.
Does it discuss the potential impact on house prices?
I have a theory that a major deterrent to attack on this country is the threat of the CGT bill, if someone nukes all the places like Slough.
"You turned the place into a wasteland of radioactive zombies. So you are responsible for a 250% increase in property values."
Drop the bomb on Wolverhampton, I doubt people would notice much difference.
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
There are a lot of Turkish Barbers that will be hugely busy, and they provide a great service.
They're also a large part of Turkish culture, and when I lived in London, Turkish female friends would consider it a night out to go and get their hair done. For the men, the barber's seemed to be similar to the typical African-American barbers you see on TV, where people will go regularly, and hang out. Probably makes a lot more sense in a culture where so many people don't drink alcohol.
The Daily Mail seems to have taken it upon themselves to cheer us all up by having a huge in depth article about how we’ll all die in a nuclear attack.
I'm writing a header on which country to be bet on for going nuclear, first.
I hope you don't mean launching them at an adversary ?
I’m always an advocate of Global Thermonuclear War.
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
There are a lot of Turkish Barbers that will be hugely busy, and they provide a great service.
They're also a large part of Turkish culture, and when I lived in London, Turkish female friends would consider it a night out to go and get their hair done. For the men, the barber's seemed to be similar to the typical African-American barbers you see on TV, where people will go regularly, and hang out. Probably makes a lot more sense in a culture where so many people don't drink alcohol.
And there are a lot that aren't.
A fair few of the ones local to me are staffed by Albanians and rarely ever seem busy.
The Daily Mail seems to have taken it upon themselves to cheer us all up by having a huge in depth article about how we’ll all die in a nuclear attack.
Does it discuss the potential impact on house prices?
I have a theory that a major deterrent to attack on this country is the threat of the CGT bill, if someone nukes all the places like Slough.
"You turned the place into a wasteland of radioactive zombies. So you are responsible for a 250% increase in property values."
Think of the IHT liabilities on agricultural property after all those forced successions too.
The Daily Mail seems to have taken it upon themselves to cheer us all up by having a huge in depth article about how we’ll all die in a nuclear attack.
The Rant spreading joy and happiness as usual... 😂
As I posted on PB last week, I wrote to Severn Trent about this sentence in their email:
"I want to reassure you that none of the bill increase will go towards executive director bonuses. Customers do not pay for bonuses; they are entirely funded by our investors."
They have replied:
"I can totally understand your scepticism around the link between bill increases and executive directors bonuses, however I want to assure you that none of our executive directors’ bonuses are paid for by Severn Trent Water, they are paid by Severn Trent Plc, which is funded by our investors.
When setting prices for customers, Ofwat only allows Severn Trent Water to take into account the costs that we incur in delivering our service to customers. This does not include bonuses to our executive directors, so can assure you no part of the bill that you pay will go toward this."
So that's ok then. They must own the water company as a hobby.
I can see what they are saying.
Customer prices are negotiated with OFWAT based on a fixed return on the regulated operating base.
This return is net of certain operating costs including an allowance for management and administrative costs. This does not include executive bonuses.
Essentially what the company is saying is that executive bonuses are a “cost of doing business” in order to achieve the expected returns from their investment. Obviously in making an investment decision they look at the return after all costs so executive / holding company costs reduce the value they put on the company
(The reason why the utility investors did so well over the last 15 years was that OFWAT persistently overestimated the cost of debt, allowing the companies to capture the spread by the assumed and actual cost of debt)
I would be very interested to see why/how the cost of borrowing was handled like this.
The only fig leaf I can think of is - “Borrowing costs are absurdly low. If they vaguely return to normal in the next year.. we should allow for that”.
But a decade plus of that is an enormous fuckup.
Basically it was an enormous fuck up
Essentially they started from the borrowing costs in the last five year period and then reviewed based on their external view of the market to come up with an initial perspective. They then negotiated this with the utilities.
Just like American Sweet Stores (Candy FFS !!!) I am sure some are legit.
Must annoy the legit stores no end that (Along with barbers and nail bars) money laundering shop of choice seems to involve sweets from the States as a facade.
As I posted on PB last week, I wrote to Severn Trent about this sentence in their email:
"I want to reassure you that none of the bill increase will go towards executive director bonuses. Customers do not pay for bonuses; they are entirely funded by our investors."
They have replied:
"I can totally understand your scepticism around the link between bill increases and executive directors bonuses, however I want to assure you that none of our executive directors’ bonuses are paid for by Severn Trent Water, they are paid by Severn Trent Plc, which is funded by our investors.
When setting prices for customers, Ofwat only allows Severn Trent Water to take into account the costs that we incur in delivering our service to customers. This does not include bonuses to our executive directors, so can assure you no part of the bill that you pay will go toward this."
So that's ok then. They must own the water company as a hobby.
I can see what they are saying.
Customer prices are negotiated with OFWAT based on a fixed return on the regulated operating base.
This return is net of certain operating costs including an allowance for management and administrative costs. This does not include executive bonuses.
Essentially what the company is saying is that executive bonuses are a “cost of doing business” in order to achieve the expected returns from their investment. Obviously in making an investment decision they look at the return after all costs so executive / holding company costs reduce the value they put on the company
(The reason why the utility investors did so well over the last 15 years was that OFWAT persistently overestimated the cost of debt, allowing the companies to capture the spread by the assumed and actual cost of debt)
I would be very interested to see why/how the cost of borrowing was handled like this.
The only fig leaf I can think of is - “Borrowing costs are absurdly low. If they vaguely return to normal in the next year.. we should allow for that”.
But a decade plus of that is an enormous fuckup.
Basically it was an enormous fuck up
Essentially they started from the borrowing costs in the last five year period and then reviewed based on their external view of the market to come up with an initial perspective. They then negotiated this with the utilities.
When you say "negotiated", it reminds me of PJ O'Rourke likening such transactions to doing real estate deals with your dog.
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
There are a lot of Turkish Barbers that will be hugely busy, and they provide a great service.
They're also a large part of Turkish culture, and when I lived in London, Turkish female friends would consider it a night out to go and get their hair done. For the men, the barber's seemed to be similar to the typical African-American barbers you see on TV, where people will go regularly, and hang out. Probably makes a lot more sense in a culture where so many people don't drink alcohol.
We would not cut our son's hair for a while before he goes to Turkey, as my F-i-L loved taking him to his barber's to see his friends. AIUI it is much more of a cultural thing over there than it is here.
My F-i-L sadly died in December, but Mrs J took my son over there last week and they went back to the same barbers, where they met up again with some of my F-i-L's friends.
The only thing he can. The British state is highly optimised toward subservience to the USA. That's not going to change overnight. Canada being butthurt, that Ukraine thing if it's even still going, etc. are minor issues compared to that governing principle.
A state visit legitimizes Trump . And what if he becomes even more of a Putin arselicker before that .
You cancel it. It’s something he wants that is in the near future but he has to behave to get it.
And - looking for a silver lining here - Charles’s cancer means that you can cancel it because of the King’s health if you need to.
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
There are a lot of Turkish Barbers that will be hugely busy, and they provide a great service.
They're also a large part of Turkish culture, and when I lived in London, Turkish female friends would consider it a night out to go and get their hair done. For the men, the barber's seemed to be similar to the typical African-American barbers you see on TV, where people will go regularly, and hang out. Probably makes a lot more sense in a culture where so many people don't drink alcohol.
We would not cut our son's hair for a while before he goes to Turkey, as my F-i-L loved taking him to his barber's to see his friends. AIUI it is much more of a cultural thing over there than it is here.
My F-i-L sadly died in December, but Mrs J took my son over there last week and they went back to the same barbers, where they met up again with some of my F-i-L's friends.
Two Middle Eastern barbers have recently opened in my home sub-suburb - Crown Barbers and Luxury Barbers. They are both garish as fuck and there is never a soul in either.
Vape shops are equally dodgy. There is a side street in Cheetham Hill with at least 30 on, and no other businesses.
The Daily Mail seems to have taken it upon themselves to cheer us all up by having a huge in depth article about how we’ll all die in a nuclear attack.
The Rant spreading joy and happiness as usual... 😂
Joy and happiness doesn't drive clicks or engagement or make money.
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
There are a lot of Turkish Barbers that will be hugely busy, and they provide a great service.
They're also a large part of Turkish culture, and when I lived in London, Turkish female friends would consider it a night out to go and get their hair done. For the men, the barber's seemed to be similar to the typical African-American barbers you see on TV, where people will go regularly, and hang out. Probably makes a lot more sense in a culture where so many people don't drink alcohol.
We would not cut our son's hair for a while before he goes to Turkey, as my F-i-L loved taking him to his barber's to see his friends. AIUI it is much more of a cultural thing over there than it is here.
My F-i-L sadly died in December, but Mrs J took my son over there last week and they went back to the same barbers, where they met up again with some of my F-i-L's friends.
Two Middle Eastern barbers have recently opened in my home sub-suburb - Crown Barbers and Luxury Barbers. They are both garish as fuck and there is never a soul in either.
Vape shops are equally dodgy. There is a side street in Cheetham Hill with at least 30 on, and no other businesses.
Although in my local town we do have a Vape shop that doubles up as a craft beer bar.
That one seems okay. The landlord seems a nice guy albeit a Shitcoin fanatic.
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
There are a lot of Turkish Barbers that will be hugely busy, and they provide a great service.
They're also a large part of Turkish culture, and when I lived in London, Turkish female friends would consider it a night out to go and get their hair done. For the men, the barber's seemed to be similar to the typical African-American barbers you see on TV, where people will go regularly, and hang out. Probably makes a lot more sense in a culture where so many people don't drink alcohol.
We would not cut our son's hair for a while before he goes to Turkey, as my F-i-L loved taking him to his barber's to see his friends. AIUI it is much more of a cultural thing over there than it is here.
My F-i-L sadly died in December, but Mrs J took my son over there last week and they went back to the same barbers, where they met up again with some of my F-i-L's friends.
Two Middle Eastern barbers have recently opened in my home sub-suburb - Crown Barbers and Luxury Barbers. They are both garish as fuck and there is never a soul in either.
Vape shops are equally dodgy. There is a side street in Cheetham Hill with at least 30 on, and no other businesses.
I'll bet they're all banking thousands every day in used £20s, though.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
The Electoral Calculus prediction based on current polls would be Lab 37%, Ref 30%, Con 15%, LD 10%, Green 9% so Ref need to throw the kitchen sink at it
With some Tory tactical votes to beat Labour Reform could win it
I think with this seat Reform simply have to win if they want to be a credible force in British Politics rather than shouting from the sidelines.
If they fail then I would think it highly likely that we hit peak Reform.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
The Electoral Calculus prediction based on current polls would be Lab 37%, Ref 30%, Con 15%, LD 10%, Green 9% so Ref need to throw the kitchen sink at it
With some Tory tactical votes to beat Labour Reform could win it
I think with this seat Reform simply have to win if they want to be a credible force in British Politics rather than shouting from the sidelines.
If they fail then I would think it highly likely that we hit peak Reform.
Indeed, certainly if they want to be getting the kind of swing they need to win most seats or a majority
Reform’s problem is that after the post-Ukraine settlement there will be a lot of movement in Europe around common security policy. Reform will have to either make the argument that this policy isn’t required and the UK should stay in splendid isolation (their Brexit tendencies), or they will have to justify the increased defence spending etc that they have always supported Trump in calling for, hence shooting their fox somewhat.
I suspect Farage will find it hard to resist the urge to wave his magic wand and suggest closer ties and defence co-operation with the US and a FTA with Trump will magically solve all this and we shouldn’t be dealing with the nasty Europeans, but in a world that marches on, and in a Trump WH that is not going to be popular among the general public in the UK, that is going to be an increasingly difficult line to tread while still trying to build your popularity.
This deep constitutional principle, articulated at the height of WWII, is likely at stake under the current administration.
The "Fixed Star in Our Constitutional Constellation" https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/126-the-fixed-star-in-our-constitutional "...It seems trite but necessary to say that the First Amendment to our Constitution was designed to avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings. There is no mysticism in the American concept of the State or of the nature or origin of its authority. We set up government by consent of the governed, and the Bill of Rights denies those in power any legal opportunity to coerce that consent. Authority here is to be controlled by public opinion, not public opinion by authority.
...freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us."
Barnette was written in the context of compelling speech by schoolchildren, but its broader point—written at a time in which the American public was becoming increasingly aware of the terrible atrocities that the Nazis were committing in the name of national unity—was as powerful as Jackson’s prose was elegant. Ideological pluralism isn’t just a feature of our culture; it is a constitutionally protected reality. And enforced orthodoxy, whether in the name of national unity, fealty to a particular religion, or obeisance to a specific political leader, is a corruption of our most fundamental constitutional ideals. It’s why, among lots of other things, federal employees and officers take an oath to support the Constitution, not the President.
Jackson, who would go on to serve as the lead U.S. prosecutor at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, was exactly right in Barnette. We ignore him at our peril...
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
The Electoral Calculus prediction based on current polls would be Lab 37%, Ref 30%, Con 15%, LD 10%, Green 9% so Ref need to throw the kitchen sink at it
With some Tory tactical votes to beat Labour Reform could win it
I think with this seat Reform simply have to win if they want to be a credible force in British Politics rather than shouting from the sidelines.
If they fail then I would think it highly likely that we hit peak Reform.
Indeed, certainly if they want to be getting the kind of swing they need to win most seats or a majority
10 weeks seems a lot for a minor ruckus, based on the in-depth knowledge of sentencing I have gleaned from Police Interceptors. Can't help feeling a little sorry for him there - I don't know for sure but I strongly suspect he was goaded into what he did. And now his career is over.
Anyway, I'd say Reform have been chomping at the bit for a seat *like* this - but probably not *this* seat. The Labour bit is too Scouse, the Tory bit too Cheshire. Neither, I would say, are subect to much more squeezing.
And immigration, where Reform score well, has fallen down the agenda; and Ukraine, where they score badly, has risen up it. Of course, we don't yet have a date for a BE, so that may have flipped again by the time the election comes around.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
The Electoral Calculus prediction based on current polls would be Lab 37%, Ref 30%, Con 15%, LD 10%, Green 9% so Ref need to throw the kitchen sink at it
With some Tory tactical votes to beat Labour Reform could win it
Does your knowledge of the Conservative Party suggest that there would be widespread tactical voting for Reform in order to defeat Labour? Asking for a betting account.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
The Electoral Calculus prediction based on current polls would be Lab 37%, Ref 30%, Con 15%, LD 10%, Green 9% so Ref need to throw the kitchen sink at it
With some Tory tactical votes to beat Labour Reform could win it
I think with this seat Reform simply have to win if they want to be a credible force in British Politics rather than shouting from the sidelines.
If they fail then I would think it highly likely that we hit peak Reform.
Indeed, certainly if they want to be getting the kind of swing they need to win most seats or a majority
10 weeks seems a lot for a minor ruckus, based on the in-depth knowledge of sentencing I have gleaned from Police Interceptors. Can't help feeling a little sorry for him there - I don't know for sure but I strongly suspect he was goaded into what he did. And now his career is over.
Anyway, I'd say Reform have been chomping at the bit for a seat *like* this - but probably not *this* seat. The Labour bit is too Scouse, the Tory bit too Cheshire. Neither, I would say, are subect to much more squeezing.
And immigration, where Reform score well, has fallen down the agenda; and Ukraine, where they score badly, has risen up it. Of course, we don't yet have a date for a BE, so that may have flipped again by the time the election comes around.
Though given by election swings tend to be even bigger than nationally and the LDs, by election protest specialists, were not even in the top 4 in Runcorn at the GE Reform will hope to squeeze the protest vote to beat Labour
How many of these American candy stores are legit?
One has popped up in my town in recent weeks and I've never seen a single person in it.
If they're not legit, then why don't the authorities do something about it?
From anecdotage from my own town centre, the Sunak ministry told the local councils to get companies in shops by any means necessary, and they did. It was, along with the opening of lots of new minor railway stations, one of the successes of his regime. But as me, thee, and the dogs in the street know, a lot of them are hooky and/or money laundering. Given the choice is that or the death of the town centre, I imagine nobody is checking too closely.
Taken a long while for that to come to court!! Offences committed pre-2020, possibly as far back as 2014, and initially arrested in 2021. It should be noted that he'd have been an MEP for the Farage-led party at the time of the alleged offences, whatever it was called at the time, so dissembling about whether he is/was a supporter or member of Reform is irrelevant.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
The Electoral Calculus prediction based on current polls would be Lab 37%, Ref 30%, Con 15%, LD 10%, Green 9% so Ref need to throw the kitchen sink at it
With some Tory tactical votes to beat Labour Reform could win it
I think with this seat Reform simply have to win if they want to be a credible force in British Politics rather than shouting from the sidelines.
If they fail then I would think it highly likely that we hit peak Reform.
Disagree. This is not a particularly good area for Reform because of the Merseyside influence. Almost anywhere near the east coast of England would be far better for them. So it wouldn't be terrible for them if they didn't win.
The Daily Mail seems to have taken it upon themselves to cheer us all up by having a huge in depth article about how we’ll all die in a nuclear attack.
I'm writing a header on which country to be bet on for going nuclear, first.
I hope you don't mean launching them at an adversary ?
I’m always an advocate of Global Thermonuclear War.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
The Electoral Calculus prediction based on current polls would be Lab 37%, Ref 30%, Con 15%, LD 10%, Green 9% so Ref need to throw the kitchen sink at it
With some Tory tactical votes to beat Labour Reform could win it
I think with this seat Reform simply have to win if they want to be a credible force in British Politics rather than shouting from the sidelines.
If they fail then I would think it highly likely that we hit peak Reform.
Disagree. This is not a particularly good area for Reform because of the Merseyside influence. Almost anywhere near the east coast of England would be far better for them. So it wouldn't be terrible for them if they didn't win.
I do not disagree that there are far better places for them to target, certainly where you say is prime Reform territory. The seat I live in is one too.
How many of these American candy stores are legit?
One has popped up in my town in recent weeks and I've never seen a single person in it.
If they're not legit, then why don't the authorities do something about it?
It's to do with dodging business rates/NDR, according to my Albanian taxi driver. The tenant folds and the council can't collect any revenue from them, and the property owner avoids the tax they'd pay on an empty shop.
So why don't authorities immediately swoop and close them down when they open up?
How many of these American candy stores are legit?
One has popped up in my town in recent weeks and I've never seen a single person in it.
If they're not legit, then why don't the authorities do something about it?
It's to do with dodging business rates/NDR, according to my Albanian taxi driver. The tenant folds and the council can't collect any revenue from them, and the property owner avoids the tax they'd pay on an empty shop.
So why don't authorities immediately swoop and close them down when they open up?
How many of these American candy stores are legit?
One has popped up in my town in recent weeks and I've never seen a single person in it.
If they're not legit*, then why don't the authorities do something about it?
I read an article a couple of years ago about the ones on Oxford Street in London. The difficulty was proving they weren't legit, when they often only stayed open for a few months.
The people working there didn't know who owned them, and the laws weren't in place to take quick action. Trading Standards could only guess they were dodgy, so have to jump through hoops to get to the people running them, and by the time they did, the money would have gone through the shop, and it would be closed, or ownership changed.
I'd have thought there was some kind of money laundering legislation that allowed a quicker response, but it didn't appear to be the case (or it wasn't a priority).
*and of course, just because a shop doesn't do well, doesn't mean it's not a legitimate attempt to start a business.
Change the law.
This seems to be one of those scams where everyone knows what's going on but no-one can do anything due to due process.
I was not aware that it is illegal to accept payment for making an otherwise perfectly legal statement. You learn something every day.
The issue isn't with the statements it's that someone with a public duty receives an advantage from someone else that could influence the way they carry out their duties. He might have made the same pro Russia statements without being bribed. But the fact of accepting the money is enough for this to be an offence under the 2010 Bribery Act. Someone in his position should be well aware of this.
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
Our town has five Turkish Barbers, and a car wash at the station.
Also, I just popped into the Mediterranean Steakhouse and had a minute steak for lunch: they were all Albanian and speaking Albanian to each other. I was the only one in there.
Didn't tell them this, obviously, but the first thought that crossed my mind walking out: have I just directly financed organised crime?
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
Our town has five Turkish Barbers, and a car wash at the station.
Also, I just popped into the Mediterranean Steakhouse and had a minute steak for lunch: they were all Albanian and speaking Albanian to each other. I was the only one in there.
Didn't tell them this, obviously, but the first thought that crossed my mind walking out: have I just directly financed organised crime?
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
3 or 4 Turkish barbers have opened in a medium-sized town in my area recently. Seems odd because you'd think one might open and then perhaps another one 5 years later, not so many in a short time.
🚨 NEW: Donald Trump’s demand for Ukraine minerals is ‘reasonable’, says Boris Johnson
“America has a history of demanding a price for its support, and from where I stand today, I think that price is reasonable”, the former PM told ITV
To which the follow up question is why then did you (Bozo the clown) send arms to Ukraine without demanding concessions 3 years ago
Because it was the right thing for us to do?
But he is correct that historically US "support" has always come with strings attached. Did we ever actually fully pay off the debts we owed them from WW1 and WW2?
We did, yes, pay off those debts IIRC, but also the US wrote off a huge amount of war debt. The Marshall Plan money was mostly never re-paid.
The US support in the early years of WW2 was only ever transactional. Churchill had to beg for stuff from FDR up to 41. Even planes we'd bought from them. It was only pearl harbour that brought them into the war, and only because they'd been attacked. The US are not better than Ferengi to be honest. The supplies they sent us was in return for ideas,secrets and products from our industries. They even reneged on nuclear secrets after the war. Fuck em I say.
That might be true in the early years of the war, but the Marshall Plan after the war was hugely important and mostly aid, not loans.
There's always been a struggle in the US between isolationists and those would engage overseas. This lot are somewhat different.
A quid pro quo: there a number of white British men of working age (30s to 50s) walking round in hoodies and trainers who have terrible teeth and vocabulary and stink of fags, buying junk with cash at offlicences and Iceland.
Today, is like a microcosm of Britain in a small provincial town.
How many of these American candy stores are legit?
One has popped up in my town in recent weeks and I've never seen a single person in it.
If they're not legit, then why don't the authorities do something about it?
From anecdotage from my own town centre, the Sunak ministry told the local councils to get companies in shops by any means necessary, and they did. It was, along with the opening of lots of new minor railway stations, one of the successes of his regime. But as me, thee, and the dogs in the street know, a lot of them are hooky and/or money laundering. Given the choice is that or the death of the town centre, I imagine nobody is checking too closely.
I get that but I'd prefer a residential conversion to a fake shop and money laundering outfit, I think.
If the Tories have any sense (which, in itself, is a question), they'll hit any by election with everything to stop Reform. They'd prefer a Labour hold. Too Scouse and too Cheshire.
The other question is how big will the Europeans' aid package be for Ukraine today? Will it be enough to see them through another 6 months? If so, Trump will have lost such control as he has and Russia will start to panic as their economic crisis intensifies.
Ideally, we are looking for something close to $20bn with roughly 10% of that from us.
The traitorous scum Orbán is going to block that . They refuse to approve any more arms sales .
Its interesting how effective Hungary, a small recipient country, is in causing disruption in the EU.
Compared to how ineffective the UK, a large contributor country, was in EU negotiations.
Perhaps if the UK leaders had done a little more vetoing and a little less posturing and surrendering then the UK would still be in the EU.
EU needs to get its act together and kick out Hungary. Time for countries to pick a side.
They can’t . There’s no actual mechanism to kick them out . You can suspend their voting rights in the EP and put in other measures but need unanimous agreement from the remaining members and Fico another Putin puppet will block those .
Europe needs to start replacing the carrots with sticks. If some countries want to cause difficulties that are contrary to the security of the whole group, then a way can be found to politely remind them that if they’d like to be outside the club at the mercy of Russia and without access to the benefits, the door is over there.
Europe really has to start remaking itself as a security-first collective. I think Merz, and perhaps increasingly Macron, are starting to get this.
It's also not impossible that such a security collective overlaps but is distinct from the EU. And indeed NATO. That would get around the vetos of the semi-detached (or worse) members, and allow the participation of non EU members (ie the UK and Norway).
QMV is possible in the Council of the EU on Common Foreign and Security Policy - Article 31 of Lisbon. So there is no veto on such matters (unless somebody important like France objects). Orban didn't vote in favour of EU association for Ukraine but it still passed.
You've misread it.
If a member of the Council says they will oppose a decision, a vote will not take place. A member can abstain and "check out" on a matter; that means it will not be bound by any decision made by the rest but it also agrees it will not obstruct the Union in pursuing it.
The Council can only decide to act by QMV on a matter if the European Council first unanimously agrees.
In any event, EU structures are hardly conducive to rapid decision making, which is probably what's required here, if it's to make any contribution to resolving our current difficulties.
Any European defence alliance will have to be taken outside of EU structures.
Tissues and hugs for the federalists.
The likely outcome to all this is More Europe, not less.
It's more European defence cooperation. Not for your sordid dream.
No sordid dream here, just the reality. The increased security co-operation will inevitably create incentives to tie European nations closer together. At the same time, I think there is likely to be a significant shift in how Europe deals with border policy and external threats. So we will get a different Europe, perhaps a multi-speed Europe, perhaps not the federalist dream but not the dream of eurosceptics either. But certainly more Europe than we had before.
As a Leaver I have to agree with this
Indeed I reckon there is now a chance for the UK to make the kind of EU we always wanted
We should say to them: we will unite in common European security and defence - for those willing - France, Holland, Nordics, Poland, Balts, maybe Germany Italy or Spain? - and offer a nuclear guarantee, but in return we want a Single Market with limited Free Movement and the end of the ECHR and an ECJ severely curtailed in its purview
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
Our town has five Turkish Barbers, and a car wash at the station.
Also, I just popped into the Mediterranean Steakhouse and had a minute steak for lunch: they were all Albanian and speaking Albanian to each other. I was the only one in there.
Didn't tell them this, obviously, but the first thought that crossed my mind walking out: have I just directly financed organised crime?
The Daily Mail seems to have taken it upon themselves to cheer us all up by having a huge in depth article about how we’ll all die in a nuclear attack.
I'm writing a header on which country to be bet on for going nuclear, first.
I hope you don't mean launching them at an adversary ?
I’m always an advocate of Global Thermonuclear War.
Inevitably...
The inevitable consequence of dabbling in bridge. No Trumps notwithstanding.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
Reform will certainly hope so, Reform were second to Labour in his Runcorn seat last year and got 18% of the vote ie more than they did nationally. So a probable by election there now will likely be heavily targeted by Farage
The Electoral Calculus prediction based on current polls would be Lab 37%, Ref 30%, Con 15%, LD 10%, Green 9% so Ref need to throw the kitchen sink at it
With some Tory tactical votes to beat Labour Reform could win it
Just so I’m clear - if you were knocking on doors in a future Runcorn and Helmsby by election, would you be suggesting to Conservative inclined voters they should vote Reform tactically to defeat Labour?
Which is more important - Labour losing or Reform winning?
I find this attitude curious at a time when in both Germany and Austria conservative parties are going into coalition with social democratic parties to keep out populist parties.
Were Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives to be in a position to support either a minority Labour Government or a minority Reform Government after the next General Election, are there any circumstances in which you would advocate supporting a minority Labour administration?
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
Our town has five Turkish Barbers, and a car wash at the station.
Also, I just popped into the Mediterranean Steakhouse and had a minute steak for lunch: they were all Albanian and speaking Albanian to each other. I was the only one in there.
Didn't tell them this, obviously, but the first thought that crossed my mind walking out: have I just directly financed organised crime?
My first thought would have been "why is my steak so small?"
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
Our town has five Turkish Barbers, and a car wash at the station.
Also, I just popped into the Mediterranean Steakhouse and had a minute steak for lunch: they were all Albanian and speaking Albanian to each other. I was the only one in there.
Didn't tell them this, obviously, but the first thought that crossed my mind walking out: have I just directly financed organised crime?
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
I was not aware that it is illegal to accept payment for making an otherwise perfectly legal statement. You learn something every day.
Bribery is bribery. Even if the thing you do in return for the bribery is unexceptional. Or even something you might have done anyway.
Indeed. Not all bribery is Robert Jenrick style: give me a few thousand and I'll make sure you get your planning certs and avoid millions of tax. Other people have a bit more sophistication.
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
He's going to appeal the sentence. So it's possible that he wins and gets a sentence light enough not to trigger a petition... possible, but not very likely. However, am I right in thinking that an appeal stops the petition going forward while it's being considered?
WRT Runcorn possible by-election. Is there now anyone in politics who will welcome one? Reform would have until their best mates started backing Russia; but now?
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
If this come off 90% of PB will look like 5 year olds that shat themselves
WRT Runcorn possible by-election. Is there now anyone in politics who will welcome one? Reform would have until their best mates started backing Russia; but now?
Reform UK were (a distant) second at the general. This is a prime target for them.
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
3 or 4 Turkish barbers have opened in a medium-sized town in my area recently. Seems odd because you'd think one might open and then perhaps another one 5 years later, not so many in a short time.
The weird thing is, this is a pan European phenomenon
Probably “worse” in the UK but I’ve also seen it in Germany France and Spain - “Turkish” barbers with no customers
Same goes for American candy stores, seen them in France, Italy and Spain. Empty
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
If this come off 90% of PB will look like 5 year olds that shat themselves
As that noted PB wit and satirist put it not so long ago (gaining precisely one "like" in the process):
"Even people as dumb as @kamski can work out your and other PB posters' bleatings [about how dweadful that nasty Donald is] are simply the wailings of sulky student leftists being told that the Barclays branch in the Student Union will remain open."
Amesbury gets 10 week jail sentence, so as it is less than a year he can still technically remain an MP for now but a recall petition is likely as he received a custodial sentence
The recall petition would be pretty sure to pass so depends if he does the decent thing and resigns
He's going to appeal the sentence. So it's possible that he wins and gets a sentence light enough not to trigger a petition... possible, but not very likely. However, am I right in thinking that an appeal stops the petition going forward while it's being considered?
Yes. (See the Recall Act sections 1-4.)
If he succeeds only to the extent of suspending the sentence, that does not help him (Section 2).
FWIW I think the sentence was a bit on the high side given the provocation.
WRT Runcorn possible by-election. Is there now anyone in politics who will welcome one? Reform would have until their best mates started backing Russia; but now?
Reform UK were (a distant) second at the general. This is a prime target for them.
The Electoral Calculus MRP from the end of Jan had Runcorn as 32%/30% to Lab.
I was not aware that it is illegal to accept payment for making an otherwise perfectly legal statement. You learn something every day.
Bribery is bribery. Even if the thing you do in return for the bribery is unexceptional. Or even something you might have done anyway.
I looked up the Bribery Act 2010, apparently it is illegal to accept money for carrying out some duty in an inappropriate way. I presume as he was an MEP that would extend to making public statements. Not sure if that would extend to Joe Public
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
If this come off 90% of PB will look like 5 year olds that shat themselves
The text looks like a load of waffle . Best await the detail before declaring victory !
WRT Runcorn possible by-election. Is there now anyone in politics who will welcome one? Reform would have until their best mates started backing Russia; but now?
Reform UK were (a distant) second at the general. This is a prime target for them.
Yes. It’s close to a “must win”, but I think if they get within 1-2k votes that will make them happy enough as it will add credence to the surge narrative. They should really be challenging for the seat though.
The only thing he can. The British state is highly optimised toward subservience to the USA. That's not going to change overnight. Canada being butthurt, that Ukraine thing if it's even still going, etc. are minor issues compared to that governing principle.
A state visit legitimizes Trump . And what if he becomes even more of a Putin arselicker before that .
Tough tits. We should have considered the possibility that the American's might just elect someone that we might find unseemly before we decided it was a whizzbang idea to become a vassal state.
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
Our town has five Turkish Barbers, and a car wash at the station.
Also, I just popped into the Mediterranean Steakhouse and had a minute steak for lunch: they were all Albanian and speaking Albanian to each other. I was the only one in there.
Didn't tell them this, obviously, but the first thought that crossed my mind walking out: have I just directly financed organised crime?
My first thought would have been "why is my steak so small?"
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
If this come off 90% of PB will look like 5 year olds that shat themselves
We are hearing completely different stories from the 2 sides.
Personally were I Ukrainian I wouldn’t trust Trump as far as I could throw him.
Yes he should be jailed because an MP can't be going around banging out their constituents. Then again, he said words to the effect of "that's the last time you will threaten [an MP]."
So maybe he was pre-empting/worrying about an Amess-type event. Dodgy lot up there in Cheshire or wherever it was.
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
If this come off 90% of PB will look like 5 year olds that shat themselves
The text looks like a load of waffle . Best await the detail before declaring victory !
Who is “declaring victory”? I am merely pointing out that those who so volubly and publicly soiled themselves in the last few weeks, deranged by Trump, are - at least - at risk of looking very very ridiculous
But, as you say, we need the Deets, and it could all be nonsense
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
Presumably the same applies to Turkish Barbers and Pop up Car Washes.
3 or 4 Turkish barbers have opened in a medium-sized town in my area recently. Seems odd because you'd think one might open and then perhaps another one 5 years later, not so many in a short time.
The weird thing is, this is a pan European phenomenon
Probably “worse” in the UK but I’ve also seen it in Germany France and Spain - “Turkish” barbers with no customers
Same goes for American candy stores, seen them in France, Italy and Spain. Empty
There's a whole international network of shady shit that goes on that we're all blind to.
The other question is how big will the Europeans' aid package be for Ukraine today? Will it be enough to see them through another 6 months? If so, Trump will have lost such control as he has and Russia will start to panic as their economic crisis intensifies.
Ideally, we are looking for something close to $20bn with roughly 10% of that from us.
The traitorous scum Orbán is going to block that . They refuse to approve any more arms sales .
Its interesting how effective Hungary, a small recipient country, is in causing disruption in the EU.
Compared to how ineffective the UK, a large contributor country, was in EU negotiations.
Perhaps if the UK leaders had done a little more vetoing and a little less posturing and surrendering then the UK would still be in the EU.
EU needs to get its act together and kick out Hungary. Time for countries to pick a side.
They can’t . There’s no actual mechanism to kick them out . You can suspend their voting rights in the EP and put in other measures but need unanimous agreement from the remaining members and Fico another Putin puppet will block those .
Europe needs to start replacing the carrots with sticks. If some countries want to cause difficulties that are contrary to the security of the whole group, then a way can be found to politely remind them that if they’d like to be outside the club at the mercy of Russia and without access to the benefits, the door is over there.
Europe really has to start remaking itself as a security-first collective. I think Merz, and perhaps increasingly Macron, are starting to get this.
It's also not impossible that such a security collective overlaps but is distinct from the EU. And indeed NATO. That would get around the vetos of the semi-detached (or worse) members, and allow the participation of non EU members (ie the UK and Norway).
QMV is possible in the Council of the EU on Common Foreign and Security Policy - Article 31 of Lisbon. So there is no veto on such matters (unless somebody important like France objects). Orban didn't vote in favour of EU association for Ukraine but it still passed.
You've misread it.
If a member of the Council says they will oppose a decision, a vote will not take place. A member can abstain and "check out" on a matter; that means it will not be bound by any decision made by the rest but it also agrees it will not obstruct the Union in pursuing it.
The Council can only decide to act by QMV on a matter if the European Council first unanimously agrees.
In any event, EU structures are hardly conducive to rapid decision making, which is probably what's required here, if it's to make any contribution to resolving our current difficulties.
Any European defence alliance will have to be taken outside of EU structures.
Tissues and hugs for the federalists.
The likely outcome to all this is More Europe, not less.
It's more European defence cooperation. Not for your sordid dream.
No sordid dream here, just the reality. The increased security co-operation will inevitably create incentives to tie European nations closer together. At the same time, I think there is likely to be a significant shift in how Europe deals with border policy and external threats. So we will get a different Europe, perhaps a multi-speed Europe, perhaps not the federalist dream but not the dream of eurosceptics either. But certainly more Europe than we had before.
As a Leaver I have to agree with this
Indeed I reckon there is now a chance for the UK to make the kind of EU we always wanted
We should say to them: we will unite in common European security and defence - for those willing - France, Holland, Nordics, Poland, Balts, maybe Germany Italy or Spain? - and offer a nuclear guarantee, but in return we want a Single Market with limited Free Movement and the end of the ECHR and an ECJ severely curtailed in its purview
That’s not a bad deal for both sides
It’s time to think BIGLY
How do we negotiate the end of the ECHR with the EU when it is not an EU organisation? It would be as valid and practical as negotiating the end of ICJ with the EU.
If we want to leave the ECHR (and I am not advocating that) then we just do so. It is not dependent on our relationship with the EU.
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
If this come off 90% of PB will look like 5 year olds that shat themselves
We are hearing completely different stories from the 2 sides.
Personally were I Ukrainian I wouldn’t trust Trump as far as I could throw him.
Which would be the right view to take of any other sovereign state. People seem to forget the whole interests not friends thing when they talk about in particular the US.
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
If this come off 90% of PB will look like 5 year olds that shat themselves
As that noted PB wit and satirist put it not so long ago (gaining precisely one "like" in the process):
"Even people as dumb as @kamski can work out your and other PB posters' bleatings [about how dweadful that nasty Donald is] are simply the wailings of sulky student leftists being told that the Barclays branch in the Student Union will remain open."
You are showing your age there - nowadays the only banking related item will be a cashpoint if the student union has rented space to Tesco / one stop or the Co-op
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
If this come off 90% of PB will look like 5 year olds that shat themselves
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
If this come off 90% of PB will look like 5 year olds that shat themselves
As that noted PB wit and satirist put it not so long ago (gaining precisely one "like" in the process):
"Even people as dumb as @kamski can work out your and other PB posters' bleatings [about how dweadful that nasty Donald is] are simply the wailings of sulky student leftists being told that the Barclays branch in the Student Union will remain open."
You are showing your age there - nowadays the only banking related item will be a cashpoint if the student union has rented space to Tesco / one stop or the Co-op
My point was, given the age demographic on PB, and in particular the posters this was aimed at, in their minds they are still back in the day protesting against Barclays.
The other question is how big will the Europeans' aid package be for Ukraine today? Will it be enough to see them through another 6 months? If so, Trump will have lost such control as he has and Russia will start to panic as their economic crisis intensifies.
Ideally, we are looking for something close to $20bn with roughly 10% of that from us.
The traitorous scum Orbán is going to block that . They refuse to approve any more arms sales .
Its interesting how effective Hungary, a small recipient country, is in causing disruption in the EU.
Compared to how ineffective the UK, a large contributor country, was in EU negotiations.
Perhaps if the UK leaders had done a little more vetoing and a little less posturing and surrendering then the UK would still be in the EU.
EU needs to get its act together and kick out Hungary. Time for countries to pick a side.
They can’t . There’s no actual mechanism to kick them out . You can suspend their voting rights in the EP and put in other measures but need unanimous agreement from the remaining members and Fico another Putin puppet will block those .
Europe needs to start replacing the carrots with sticks. If some countries want to cause difficulties that are contrary to the security of the whole group, then a way can be found to politely remind them that if they’d like to be outside the club at the mercy of Russia and without access to the benefits, the door is over there.
Europe really has to start remaking itself as a security-first collective. I think Merz, and perhaps increasingly Macron, are starting to get this.
It's also not impossible that such a security collective overlaps but is distinct from the EU. And indeed NATO. That would get around the vetos of the semi-detached (or worse) members, and allow the participation of non EU members (ie the UK and Norway).
QMV is possible in the Council of the EU on Common Foreign and Security Policy - Article 31 of Lisbon. So there is no veto on such matters (unless somebody important like France objects). Orban didn't vote in favour of EU association for Ukraine but it still passed.
You've misread it.
If a member of the Council says they will oppose a decision, a vote will not take place. A member can abstain and "check out" on a matter; that means it will not be bound by any decision made by the rest but it also agrees it will not obstruct the Union in pursuing it.
The Council can only decide to act by QMV on a matter if the European Council first unanimously agrees.
In any event, EU structures are hardly conducive to rapid decision making, which is probably what's required here, if it's to make any contribution to resolving our current difficulties.
Any European defence alliance will have to be taken outside of EU structures.
Tissues and hugs for the federalists.
The likely outcome to all this is More Europe, not less.
It's more European defence cooperation. Not for your sordid dream.
No sordid dream here, just the reality. The increased security co-operation will inevitably create incentives to tie European nations closer together. At the same time, I think there is likely to be a significant shift in how Europe deals with border policy and external threats. So we will get a different Europe, perhaps a multi-speed Europe, perhaps not the federalist dream but not the dream of eurosceptics either. But certainly more Europe than we had before.
As a Leaver I have to agree with this
Indeed I reckon there is now a chance for the UK to make the kind of EU we always wanted
We should say to them: we will unite in common European security and defence - for those willing - France, Holland, Nordics, Poland, Balts, maybe Germany Italy or Spain? - and offer a nuclear guarantee, but in return we want a Single Market with limited Free Movement and the end of the ECHR and an ECJ severely curtailed in its purview
That’s not a bad deal for both sides
It’s time to think BIGLY
How do we negotiate the end of the ECHR with the EU when it is not an EU organisation? It would be as valid and practical as negotiating the end of ICJ with the EU.
If we want to leave the ECHR (and I am not advocating that) then we just do so. It is not dependent on our relationship with the EU.
Absolutely. It's what being a sovereign nation means. Same before we left the EU, mind.
The other question is how big will the Europeans' aid package be for Ukraine today? Will it be enough to see them through another 6 months? If so, Trump will have lost such control as he has and Russia will start to panic as their economic crisis intensifies.
Ideally, we are looking for something close to $20bn with roughly 10% of that from us.
The traitorous scum Orbán is going to block that . They refuse to approve any more arms sales .
Its interesting how effective Hungary, a small recipient country, is in causing disruption in the EU.
Compared to how ineffective the UK, a large contributor country, was in EU negotiations.
Perhaps if the UK leaders had done a little more vetoing and a little less posturing and surrendering then the UK would still be in the EU.
EU needs to get its act together and kick out Hungary. Time for countries to pick a side.
They can’t . There’s no actual mechanism to kick them out . You can suspend their voting rights in the EP and put in other measures but need unanimous agreement from the remaining members and Fico another Putin puppet will block those .
Europe needs to start replacing the carrots with sticks. If some countries want to cause difficulties that are contrary to the security of the whole group, then a way can be found to politely remind them that if they’d like to be outside the club at the mercy of Russia and without access to the benefits, the door is over there.
Europe really has to start remaking itself as a security-first collective. I think Merz, and perhaps increasingly Macron, are starting to get this.
It's also not impossible that such a security collective overlaps but is distinct from the EU. And indeed NATO. That would get around the vetos of the semi-detached (or worse) members, and allow the participation of non EU members (ie the UK and Norway).
QMV is possible in the Council of the EU on Common Foreign and Security Policy - Article 31 of Lisbon. So there is no veto on such matters (unless somebody important like France objects). Orban didn't vote in favour of EU association for Ukraine but it still passed.
You've misread it.
If a member of the Council says they will oppose a decision, a vote will not take place. A member can abstain and "check out" on a matter; that means it will not be bound by any decision made by the rest but it also agrees it will not obstruct the Union in pursuing it.
The Council can only decide to act by QMV on a matter if the European Council first unanimously agrees.
In any event, EU structures are hardly conducive to rapid decision making, which is probably what's required here, if it's to make any contribution to resolving our current difficulties.
Any European defence alliance will have to be taken outside of EU structures.
Tissues and hugs for the federalists.
The likely outcome to all this is More Europe, not less.
It's more European defence cooperation. Not for your sordid dream.
No sordid dream here, just the reality. The increased security co-operation will inevitably create incentives to tie European nations closer together. At the same time, I think there is likely to be a significant shift in how Europe deals with border policy and external threats. So we will get a different Europe, perhaps a multi-speed Europe, perhaps not the federalist dream but not the dream of eurosceptics either. But certainly more Europe than we had before.
As a Leaver I have to agree with this
Indeed I reckon there is now a chance for the UK to make the kind of EU we always wanted
We should say to them: we will unite in common European security and defence - for those willing - France, Holland, Nordics, Poland, Balts, maybe Germany Italy or Spain? - and offer a nuclear guarantee, but in return we want a Single Market with limited Free Movement and the end of the ECHR and an ECJ severely curtailed in its purview
That’s not a bad deal for both sides
It’s time to think BIGLY
How do we negotiate the end of the ECHR with the EU when it is not an EU organisation? It would be as valid and practical as negotiating the end of ICJ with the EU.
If we want to leave the ECHR (and I am not advocating that) then we just do so. It is not dependent on our relationship with the EU.
They make up the countries that matter so if they all agree to replace the ECHR with something different then it would happen.
Comments
Stroke of a pen in government could do that today.
However it didn't work. The project was rushed and corrupted. A small number of people, inside and outside Russia, profited massively at the expense of a population already scarred by communism.
So I think, clock back, we and they could and should have done better. I don't buy the idea there's something in the Russian 'waters' that makes it compulsory for them to be an impoverished autocracy.
NEW: updated long-run gap in voting between young men and women in Germany:
The gender gap continues to widen, but contrary to what is often assumed, young men continue to vote roughly in line with the overall population, while young women have swung very sharply left.
What he did was out of order, especially as the guy posed no threat at the time and had his hands in his pockets.
The people working there didn't know who owned them, and the laws weren't in place to take quick action. Trading Standards could only guess they were dodgy, so have to jump through hoops to get to the people running them, and by the time they did, the money would have gone through the shop, and it would be closed, or ownership changed.
I'd have thought there was some kind of money laundering legislation that allowed a quicker response, but it didn't appear to be the case (or it wasn't a priority).
*and of course, just because a shop doesn't do well, doesn't mean it's not a legitimate attempt to start a business.
https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/oxford-street-candy-shop-investigation-b1082733.html
Two big problems.
Landlords prefer bottom-feeders like this to a totally empty shop.
The relevant authorities are local councils, and they now only exist to provide social services.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001455
The suggestion, then, was to align the ratios with that well known hell hole of social provision, Sweden.
"I don't buy the idea there's something in the Russian 'waters' that makes it compulsory for them to be an impoverished autocracy."
That's been their state for hundreds of years. Despite their great human and natural resources.
"You turned the place into a wasteland of radioactive zombies. So you are responsible for a 250% increase in property values."
They're also a large part of Turkish culture, and when I lived in London, Turkish female friends would consider it a night out to go and get their hair done. For the men, the barber's seemed to be similar to the typical African-American barbers you see on TV, where people will go regularly, and hang out. Probably makes a lot more sense in a culture where so many people don't drink alcohol.
A fair few of the ones local to me are staffed by Albanians and rarely ever seem busy.
https://x.com/lukasdegutis/status/1893971556054786361
Essentially they started from the borrowing costs in the last five year period and then reviewed based on their external view of the market to come up with an initial perspective. They then negotiated this with the utilities.
My F-i-L sadly died in December, but Mrs J took my son over there last week and they went back to the same barbers, where they met up again with some of my F-i-L's friends.
And - looking for a silver lining here - Charles’s cancer means that you can cancel it because of the King’s health if you need to.
Vape shops are equally dodgy. There is a side street in Cheetham Hill with at least 30 on, and no other businesses.
Doom, gloom and reality TV does.
That one seems okay. The landlord seems a nice guy albeit a Shitcoin fanatic.
If they fail then I would think it highly likely that we hit peak Reform.
Russia is not a problem for Reform at the moment.
It could become one
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/ex-reform-uk-leader-in-wales-in-court-over-alleged-favourable-russia-statements/ar-AA1zFt0h?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=13cf0b6214554ecae52d3539590d5882&ei=18
I suspect Farage will find it hard to resist the urge to wave his magic wand and suggest closer ties and defence co-operation with the US and a FTA with Trump will magically solve all this and we shouldn’t be dealing with the nasty Europeans, but in a world that marches on, and in a Trump WH that is not going to be popular among the general public in the UK, that is going to be an increasingly difficult line to tread while still trying to build your popularity.
https://x.com/journalismseen/status/1893788836263579841
The "Fixed Star in Our Constitutional Constellation"
https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/126-the-fixed-star-in-our-constitutional
"...It seems trite but necessary to say that the First Amendment to our Constitution was designed to avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings. There is no mysticism in the American concept of the State or of the nature or origin of its authority. We set up government by consent of the governed, and the Bill of Rights denies those in power any legal opportunity to coerce that consent. Authority here is to be controlled by public opinion, not public opinion by authority.
...freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us."
Barnette was written in the context of compelling speech by schoolchildren, but its broader point—written at a time in which the American public was becoming increasingly aware of the terrible atrocities that the Nazis were committing in the name of national unity—was as powerful as Jackson’s prose was elegant. Ideological pluralism isn’t just a feature of our culture; it is a constitutionally protected reality. And enforced orthodoxy, whether in the name of national unity, fealty to a particular religion, or obeisance to a specific political leader, is a corruption of our most fundamental constitutional ideals. It’s why, among lots of other things, federal employees and officers take an oath to support the Constitution, not the President.
Jackson, who would go on to serve as the lead U.S. prosecutor at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, was exactly right in Barnette. We ignore him at our peril...
Anyway, I'd say Reform have been chomping at the bit for a seat *like* this - but probably not *this* seat. The Labour bit is too Scouse, the Tory bit too Cheshire. Neither, I would say, are subect to much more squeezing.
And immigration, where Reform score well, has fallen down the agenda; and Ukraine, where they score badly, has risen up it. Of course, we don't yet have a date for a BE, so that may have flipped again by the time the election comes around.
This seems to be one of those scams where everyone knows what's going on but no-one can do anything due to due process.
Also, I just popped into the Mediterranean Steakhouse and had a minute steak for lunch: they were all Albanian and speaking Albanian to each other. I was the only one in there.
Didn't tell them this, obviously, but the first thought that crossed my mind walking out: have I just directly financed organised crime?
Today, is like a microcosm of Britain in a small provincial town.
They'd prefer a Labour hold.
Too Scouse and too Cheshire.
Indeed I reckon there is now a chance for the UK to make the kind of EU we always wanted
We should say to them: we will unite in common European security and defence - for those willing - France, Holland, Nordics, Poland, Balts, maybe Germany Italy or Spain? - and offer a nuclear guarantee, but in return we want a Single Market with limited Free Movement and the end of the ECHR and an ECJ severely curtailed in its purview
That’s not a bad deal for both sides
It’s time to think BIGLY
Which is more important - Labour losing or Reform winning?
I find this attitude curious at a time when in both Germany and Austria conservative parties are going into coalition with social democratic parties to keep out populist parties.
Were Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives to be in a position to support either a minority Labour Government or a minority Reform Government after the next General Election, are there any circumstances in which you would advocate supporting a minority Labour administration?
My mate's wife is from Colorado, she is a buyer.
EXCLUSIVE:
The US will commit to a “free, sovereign and secure” Ukraine and a “lasting peace” as part of a minerals deal that now appears imminent, according to a recent draft text seen by Bloomberg
US will agree a “durable partnership” between Washington and Kyiv, texts shows
US will signal intent to invest in Ukraine
US will also say those who “acted adversely” to Ukraine in the war should not “benefit from its reconstruction”
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna says the minerals deal is in the “final stages”
Person familiar says a new draft has almost been agreed and is awaiting a reply from the US
Probably “worse” in the UK but I’ve also seen it in Germany France and Spain - “Turkish” barbers with no customers
Same goes for American candy stores, seen them in France, Italy and Spain. Empty
"Even people as dumb as @kamski can work out your and other PB posters' bleatings [about how dweadful that nasty Donald is] are simply the wailings of sulky student leftists being told that the Barclays branch in the Student Union will remain open."
https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/5129501#Comment_5129501
If he succeeds only to the extent of suspending the sentence, that does not help him (Section 2).
FWIW I think the sentence was a bit on the high side given the provocation.
Personally were I Ukrainian I wouldn’t trust Trump as far as I could throw him.
Yes he should be jailed because an MP can't be going around banging out their constituents. Then again, he said words to the effect of "that's the last time you will threaten [an MP]."
So maybe he was pre-empting/worrying about an Amess-type event. Dodgy lot up there in Cheshire or wherever it was.
But, as you say, we need the Deets, and it could all be nonsense
If we want to leave the ECHR (and I am not advocating that) then we just do so. It is not dependent on our relationship with the EU.