Nigel's going to consign Thatcherism to history...
Still plenty of coal down there. We just need fit young men to dig it out. A quarter of a million would be about right, if we were aiming for a complete restoration. And we could also repeal the discriminatory Victorian legislation that bans women from the coal face. What a time to be alive.
Trump asks Starmer if the UK could take on Russia on its own
Well, we held off the vast mass of the Nazi military might until the Americans got their shit together...
Yes, and America became the dominant power of the 20th century because of their stance, and we became the sick man of Europe because of ours.
Next time round, I'll take the American option - they don't seem terribly ashamed of their war records.
When I was a kid the standard belief was that the US acknowledged that they had been late for the last 2 world wars but would make it up in the next one.
Trump asks Starmer if the UK could take on Russia on its own
He is right, we couldn't militarily (though economically maybe) which is why all European NATO nations and Canada must work together to contain Putin
There is a UK submarine ready to do just that.
(Though that would not have been a sensible response from Starmer, in the circumstances).
Which could at most destroy Moscow and maybe St Petersburg while Putin wipes out the whole UK (and even with the French nukes only a few Russian cities more).
Only the US has enough nukes to wipe out pretty much all of Russia
Most of Russia is uninhabited. The UK and France have the ability to destroy the main population centres.
Our nuclear programme will last weeks without US support.
That's if they can even be fired without their support - recent tests are not a positive indication.
Farage attacking suspended sentence for Amesbury compared to '2 tier justice' of jail terms for tweeters in the riots (and the Reform MP for Basildon I assume years ago) in Reform rally in Hull
Trump asks Starmer if the UK could take on Russia on its own
He is right, we couldn't militarily (though economically maybe) which is why all European NATO nations and Canada must work together to contain Putin
Why should we bother to contain him if America is no longer interested? They were the ones who made it their business to poke him in the first place (yes, I know he shouldn't have launched an illegal and bloody invasion in response), now they're busy making friends with him and Europe is supposed to still be bitter enemies and shun Russia's cheap gas in favour of the American imported variety? Ummm, why?
As we are on the same continent as he is and America aren't? The US are more focused on containing China than Russia now, militarily as well as economically
So? Why should we continue to hold someone else's grudges if they're not even holding them any more?
It's as stupid as paying for another country to have a military base for the next 99 years.
We aren't invading Russia are we, we are supplying aid and weapons to Ukraine as Russia invaded them on our continent
What has invading Russia got to do with it? What I am saying is why would we not quickly de-escalate and normalise trade with Russia, if America, who is the driving force behind all our major foreign policy decisions, is going to normalise their own relations with Russia. We deal with plenty of other horrible people quite happily because it suits us.
Because it suits us not to normalise relations with our enemies.
Russia is our enemy because of Russia's actions, not because America opposes Russia. That's what you don't seem to grasp with your inane belief we only oppose Russia because America wants us to. Quite the opposite, we've consistently been putting what pressure on America we can to ensure they oppose Russia just like us.
🇺🇸🇬🇧 It seems that the union flag is flying upside down outside Blair House - the presidential guesthouse opposite the White House where PM Starmer is staying for his visit.
National humiliation number one in a series of 12.
I wonder if the option of not going was considered.
No, and the daft bastard has invited Trump, his wife and his diapers to Windsor Castle for a state visit.
Does Starmer bear a grudge against Charles ?
KC has invited the President for another visit, in Scotland, dropping in en passant at Balmoral as one does, to plan everything properly for the big one, fide Graun feed.
"PA Media has released extracts from King Charles’ letter to President Trump. Trump displayed the letter for the cameras, and so some of the wording was visible.
In the letter, the king invited the president to meet him in Scotland, either at Dumfries House or Balmoral, which are near Trump’s golf courses, ahead of a former state visit."
Trump is half Scottish ancestry of course
That is defamatory. I am sure he was Irish and German. I am deeply offended.
His Mam came from the Outer Hebrides.
Feck. How embarrassing.
In polling atm he is the second worst rated President in history. Only beaten by a Donald J Trump in his first term.
"U.S. service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption, according to an internal Pentagon memo.
The memo, revealed in a court filing on Wednesday night, details the Trump administration's new policy regarding transgender individuals. The policy notes that such service members "may be considered for a waiver on a case-by-case basis, provided there is a compelling Government interest."'
That'll give people an easy out if the USA ever needs to introduce conscription.
The last figure I saw was that this would affect 10-20,000 service people.
(That's out of around 1.3 million - not sure how accurate I think the number is.)
Erin Reed quotes SPARTA's estimate of 2941 junior enlisted + 647 junior officers + 10736 senior enlisted + 235 senior officers=14,559 warfighters. About 1% of the total.
To put that number in context 14,559 warfighters fired by Trump for being trans 13,488 warfighter casualties in the 42-country coalition in the Kuwait Gulf War 1990-1991 3,579 warfighter casualties in the 8 country coalition in Afghanistan 2001-2021 747 warfighter casualties in the 4 country coalition in the Iraq invasion 2003 (does not include the resultant war)
Total cost of firing those 14,559 people: $18billion (SPARTA estimate)
Trump asks Starmer if the UK could take on Russia on its own
Well, we held off the vast mass of the Nazi military might until the Americans got their shit together...
Yes, and America became the dominant power of the 20th century because of their stance, and we became the sick man of Europe because of ours.
Next time round, I'll take the American option - they don't seem terribly ashamed of their war records.
When I was a kid the standard belief was that the US acknowledged that they had been late for the last 2 world wars but would make it up in the next one.
What form did this endearing admission take?
Mainly school grounds jokes to be honest. It’s what happens when you grow up on army bases.
Oh I see Starmer has been an utter twat staying silent while Trump lied through his teeth about EU trade and Ukraine support. Then saying “our trade is different, we have a trade deficit with you”. Amoral. Might as well go the whole Swiss hog and offer to bank his stolen gold and paintings when the war starts.
"U.S. service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption, according to an internal Pentagon memo.
The memo, revealed in a court filing on Wednesday night, details the Trump administration's new policy regarding transgender individuals. The policy notes that such service members "may be considered for a waiver on a case-by-case basis, provided there is a compelling Government interest."'
That'll give people an easy out if the USA ever needs to introduce conscription.
The last figure I saw was that this would affect 10-20,000 service people.
(That's out of around 1.3 million - not sure how accurate I think the number is.)
Erin Reed quotes SPARTA's estimate of 2941 junior enlisted + 647 junior officers + 10736 senior enlisted + 235 senior officers=14,559 warfighters. About 1% of the total.
To put that number in context 14,559 warfighters fired by Trump for being trans 13,488 warfighter casualties in the 42-country coalition in the Kuwait Gulf War 1990-1991 3,579 warfighter casualties in the 8 country coalition in Afghanistan 2001-2021 747 warfighter casualties in the 4 country coalition in the Iraq invasion 2003 (does not include the resultant war)
Total cost of firing those 14,559 people: $18billion (SPARTA estimate)
"U.S. service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption, according to an internal Pentagon memo.
The memo, revealed in a court filing on Wednesday night, details the Trump administration's new policy regarding transgender individuals. The policy notes that such service members "may be considered for a waiver on a case-by-case basis, provided there is a compelling Government interest."'
That'll give people an easy out if the USA ever needs to introduce conscription.
The last figure I saw was that this would affect 10-20,000 service people.
(That's out of around 1.3 million - not sure how accurate I think the number is.)
Erin Reed quotes SPARTA's estimate of 2941 junior enlisted + 647 junior officers + 10736 senior enlisted + 235 senior officers=14,559 warfighters. About 1% of the total.
To put that number in context 14,559 warfighters fired by Trump for being trans 13,488 warfighter casualties in the 42-country coalition in the Kuwait Gulf War 1990-1991 3,579 warfighter casualties in the 8 country coalition in Afghanistan 2001-2021 747 warfighter casualties in the 4 country coalition in the Iraq invasion 2003 (does not include the resultant war)
Total cost of firing those 14,559 people: $18billion (SPARTA estimate)
Is warfighter the new politically correct word for soldier?
...no, it's the 10-20yr old politically correct word for "soldier/sailor/airman/coastguard/marine/guardian", where "guardian" is the term for a warfighter in the Space Force. [EDIT: I'm not sure about "coastguard", but they are a branch, so they may be?]
"U.S. service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption, according to an internal Pentagon memo.
The memo, revealed in a court filing on Wednesday night, details the Trump administration's new policy regarding transgender individuals. The policy notes that such service members "may be considered for a waiver on a case-by-case basis, provided there is a compelling Government interest."'
That'll give people an easy out if the USA ever needs to introduce conscription.
The last figure I saw was that this would affect 10-20,000 service people.
(That's out of around 1.3 million - not sure how accurate I think the number is.)
Erin Reed quotes SPARTA's estimate of 2941 junior enlisted + 647 junior officers + 10736 senior enlisted + 235 senior officers=14,559 warfighters. About 1% of the total.
To put that number in context 14,559 warfighters fired by Trump for being trans 13,488 warfighter casualties in the 42-country coalition in the Kuwait Gulf War 1990-1991 3,579 warfighter casualties in the 8 country coalition in Afghanistan 2001-2021 747 warfighter casualties in the 4 country coalition in the Iraq invasion 2003 (does not include the resultant war)
Total cost of firing those 14,559 people: $18billion (SPARTA estimate)
Oh I see Starmer has been an utter twat staying silent while Trump lied through his teeth about EU trade and Ukraine support. Then saying “our trade is different, we have a trade deficit with you”. Amoral. Might as well go the whole Swiss hog and offer to bank his stolen gold and paintings when the war starts.
Starmer is grotesque. A moral narcissist who is actually an amoral slug
Farage attacking suspended sentence for Amesbury compared to '2 tier justice' of jail terms for tweeters in the riots (and the Reform MP for Basildon I assume years ago) in Reform rally in Hull
Farage (along with the rest of REF and CON) is looking a complete and utter fool tonight, after Trump gave his backing to Starmers Chagos deal.
In the long run is may benefit Farage if he decides to cool things down with Donald from here on in but for now it's a bad night for Nigel.
"U.S. service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption, according to an internal Pentagon memo.
The memo, revealed in a court filing on Wednesday night, details the Trump administration's new policy regarding transgender individuals. The policy notes that such service members "may be considered for a waiver on a case-by-case basis, provided there is a compelling Government interest."'
That'll give people an easy out if the USA ever needs to introduce conscription.
The last figure I saw was that this would affect 10-20,000 service people.
(That's out of around 1.3 million - not sure how accurate I think the number is.)
Erin Reed quotes SPARTA's estimate of 2941 junior enlisted + 647 junior officers + 10736 senior enlisted + 235 senior officers=14,559 warfighters. About 1% of the total.
To put that number in context 14,559 warfighters fired by Trump for being trans 13,488 warfighter casualties in the 42-country coalition in the Kuwait Gulf War 1990-1991 3,579 warfighter casualties in the 8 country coalition in Afghanistan 2001-2021 747 warfighter casualties in the 4 country coalition in the Iraq invasion 2003 (does not include the resultant war)
Total cost of firing those 14,559 people: $18billion (SPARTA estimate)
Is warfighter the new politically correct word for soldier?
...no, it's the 10-20yr old politically correct word for "soldier/sailor/airman/coastguard/marine/guardian", where "guardian" is the term for a warfighter in the Space Force. [EDIT: I'm not sure about "coastguard", but they are a branch, so they may be?]
I have never seen it before tonight (or at least not noticed it!).
Oh I see Starmer has been an utter twat staying silent while Trump lied through his teeth about EU trade and Ukraine support. Then saying “our trade is different, we have a trade deficit with you”. Amoral. Might as well go the whole Swiss hog and offer to bank his stolen gold and paintings when the war starts.
Starmer is grotesque. A moral narcissist who is actually an amoral slug
Probably all true. However, he's also starting to look a little bit like a winner and that's the name of the game...
Harold Wilson deported Chagossians from their homeland. Tony Blair banned them from ever returning. And now Keir Starmer is paying Mauritius to give away their homeland without their consent. This will be an everlasting moral stain on the Labour Party.
Disappointed none of you Philistines have picked up on my subtle reference to Charles Dickens.
It was unmissable. Your expectations are too great in these hard times, and our old curiosity to spot all the references has become not a tale of two cities but a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing.
Trump asks Starmer if the UK could take on Russia on its own
He is right, we couldn't militarily (though economically maybe) which is why all European NATO nations and Canada must work together to contain Putin
There is a UK submarine ready to do just that.
(Though that would not have been a sensible response from Starmer, in the circumstances).
Which could at most destroy Moscow and maybe St Petersburg while Putin wipes out the whole UK (and even with the French nukes only a few Russian cities more).
Only the US has enough nukes to wipe out pretty much all of Russia
Britain and France between them have about 525 nuclear warheads. About a third of them are ready for launch. I would suggest that would do rather more damage than just Moscow and St Petersburg
For the record I am not advocating this nor do I think (hope) we would ever do it. But your claims are ratherwide of the mark.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
"U.S. service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption, according to an internal Pentagon memo.
The memo, revealed in a court filing on Wednesday night, details the Trump administration's new policy regarding transgender individuals. The policy notes that such service members "may be considered for a waiver on a case-by-case basis, provided there is a compelling Government interest."'
That'll give people an easy out if the USA ever needs to introduce conscription.
The last figure I saw was that this would affect 10-20,000 service people.
(That's out of around 1.3 million - not sure how accurate I think the number is.)
Erin Reed quotes SPARTA's estimate of 2941 junior enlisted + 647 junior officers + 10736 senior enlisted + 235 senior officers=14,559 warfighters. About 1% of the total.
To put that number in context 14,559 warfighters fired by Trump for being trans 13,488 warfighter casualties in the 42-country coalition in the Kuwait Gulf War 1990-1991 3,579 warfighter casualties in the 8 country coalition in Afghanistan 2001-2021 747 warfighter casualties in the 4 country coalition in the Iraq invasion 2003 (does not include the resultant war)
Total cost of firing those 14,559 people: $18billion (SPARTA estimate)
To be clear: there are 14,000 US soldiers who were born a different sex from the one they now identify as? I find that incredible, if so.
If SPARTA is correct, then there are 14,559 who were born a different sex from the one they now identify as and are known to be so. There is a waiver for those who have never transitioned and are willing to remain in the closet. I don't know how to estimate the latter number.
Remember the Law of Large Numbers and "rare is not the same as infrequent". If there are 1.3million warfighters currently enlisted, then a trans population in the 1,500 to 15,000 range is not implausible, especially if benefits are part of the package.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
I thought he looked like a plonker.
I think that counts as a win as far as Trump's concerned.
Oh I see Starmer has been an utter twat staying silent while Trump lied through his teeth about EU trade and Ukraine support. Then saying “our trade is different, we have a trade deficit with you”. Amoral. Might as well go the whole Swiss hog and offer to bank his stolen gold and paintings when the war starts.
Starter is playing Palmerston - protecting UK national interest as he sees it. Time will tell .
"U.S. service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption, according to an internal Pentagon memo.
The memo, revealed in a court filing on Wednesday night, details the Trump administration's new policy regarding transgender individuals. The policy notes that such service members "may be considered for a waiver on a case-by-case basis, provided there is a compelling Government interest."'
That'll give people an easy out if the USA ever needs to introduce conscription.
The last figure I saw was that this would affect 10-20,000 service people.
(That's out of around 1.3 million - not sure how accurate I think the number is.)
Erin Reed quotes SPARTA's estimate of 2941 junior enlisted + 647 junior officers + 10736 senior enlisted + 235 senior officers=14,559 warfighters. About 1% of the total.
To put that number in context 14,559 warfighters fired by Trump for being trans 13,488 warfighter casualties in the 42-country coalition in the Kuwait Gulf War 1990-1991 3,579 warfighter casualties in the 8 country coalition in Afghanistan 2001-2021 747 warfighter casualties in the 4 country coalition in the Iraq invasion 2003 (does not include the resultant war)
Total cost of firing those 14,559 people: $18billion (SPARTA estimate)
Nigel's going to consign Thatcherism to history...
Still plenty of coal down there. We just need fit young men to dig it out. A quarter of a million would be about right, if we were aiming for a complete restoration. And we could also repeal the discriminatory Victorian legislation that bans women from the coal face. What a time to be alive.
Plenty of children, too, could dig for coal. Little fingers make for little wages.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
I thought he looked like a plonker.
What it definitely wasn’t was a Love Actually moment. He didn’t stand up to Trump. He sucked up to him. Was that the best thing for UK plc? Not sure. It’s not an easy question to answer. But it probably wasn’t the best outcome for Starmer and the fact that he would have known that is to his credit.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
I thought he looked like a plonker.
Starmer was okay minus the over the top fawning when he handed the invitation for a state visit .
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
I thought he looked like a plonker.
Starmer was okay minus the over the top fawning when he handed the invitation for a state visit .
Whether we like it or not the UK is currently too reliant on the US for its defence .
You can’t just change that overnight .
We need to go full on alt.right Euro defense
Britain under reform shall be united with France under le pen, Germany under the AfD and Italy under Meloni
Then let’s make Europe great again - and able to defend our noble civilisation from the heathens
Except the AfD lost in Germany, Meloni is only in a coalition government with centre right Forza Italia, Le Pen needs LR voters support to win in the runoff in 2027 and Reform can't govern without Tory support either, so you would need the centre right too
Oh I see Starmer has been an utter twat staying silent while Trump lied through his teeth about EU trade and Ukraine support. Then saying “our trade is different, we have a trade deficit with you”. Amoral. Might as well go the whole Swiss hog and offer to bank his stolen gold and paintings when the war starts.
Starmer is grotesque. A moral narcissist who is actually an amoral slug
Slugs combine their slime with more charisma to be fair
Trump asks Starmer if the UK could take on Russia on its own
He is right, we couldn't militarily (though economically maybe) which is why all European NATO nations and Canada must work together to contain Putin
There is a UK submarine ready to do just that.
(Though that would not have been a sensible response from Starmer, in the circumstances).
Which could at most destroy Moscow and maybe St Petersburg while Putin wipes out the whole UK (and even with the French nukes only a few Russian cities more).
Only the US has enough nukes to wipe out pretty much all of Russia
Britain and France between them have about 525 nuclear warheads. About a third of them are ready for launch. I would suggest that would do rather more damage than just Moscow and St Petersburg
For the record I am not advocating this nor do I think (hope) we would ever do it. But your claims are ratherwide of the mark.
As long as Putin thinks we might, given the provocation...
"U.S. service members who are transgender or otherwise exhibit gender dysphoria are prohibited from military service unless they obtain an exemption, according to an internal Pentagon memo.
The memo, revealed in a court filing on Wednesday night, details the Trump administration's new policy regarding transgender individuals. The policy notes that such service members "may be considered for a waiver on a case-by-case basis, provided there is a compelling Government interest."'
That'll give people an easy out if the USA ever needs to introduce conscription.
The last figure I saw was that this would affect 10-20,000 service people.
(That's out of around 1.3 million - not sure how accurate I think the number is.)
Erin Reed quotes SPARTA's estimate of 2941 junior enlisted + 647 junior officers + 10736 senior enlisted + 235 senior officers=14,559 warfighters. About 1% of the total.
To put that number in context 14,559 warfighters fired by Trump for being trans 13,488 warfighter casualties in the 42-country coalition in the Kuwait Gulf War 1990-1991 3,579 warfighter casualties in the 8 country coalition in Afghanistan 2001-2021 747 warfighter casualties in the 4 country coalition in the Iraq invasion 2003 (does not include the resultant war)
Total cost of firing those 14,559 people: $18billion (SPARTA estimate)
Is warfighter the new politically correct word for soldier?
...no, it's the 10-20yr old politically correct word for "soldier/sailor/airman/coastguard/marine/guardian", where "guardian" is the term for a warfighter in the Space Force. [EDIT: I'm not sure about "coastguard", but they are a branch, so they may be?]
I have never seen it before tonight (or at least not noticed it!).
I find it a bit precious, and it's the kind of thing you find in official documents or formal correspondence, but it is definitely a thing. It's one of those useful terms like "casualty" wherre you don't have to specify further. A "casualty" is one who cannot fight and includes dead, wounded, prisoners, and people who are hiding under the table.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
I thought he looked like a plonker.
What it definitely wasn’t was a Love Actually moment. He didn’t stand up to Trump. He sucked up to him. Was that the best thing for UK plc? Not sure. It’s not an easy question to answer. But it probably wasn’t the best outcome for Starmer and the fact that he would have known that is to his credit.
To be fair Trump didn’t say anything provocative about the UK. Considering the attitude of Musk and Vance towards us that’s at least something. But Trump just straight out lied about our allies, countries we’re going to need to work with to defend Ukraine in future, and I think that ignoring this was, well, a choice, but an unfortunate one.
Oh I see Starmer has been an utter twat staying silent while Trump lied through his teeth about EU trade and Ukraine support. Then saying “our trade is different, we have a trade deficit with you”. Amoral. Might as well go the whole Swiss hog and offer to bank his stolen gold and paintings when the war starts.
No doubt the word "perfidious" comes to Macron as he watches the snake charmer's antics
Oh I see Starmer has been an utter twat staying silent while Trump lied through his teeth about EU trade and Ukraine support. Then saying “our trade is different, we have a trade deficit with you”. Amoral. Might as well go the whole Swiss hog and offer to bank his stolen gold and paintings when the war starts.
No doubt the word "perfidious" comes to Macron as he watches the snake charmer's antics
Macron behaved like a statesman. Starmer has behaved like a poodle.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
I thought he looked like a plonker.
What it definitely wasn’t was a Love Actually moment. He didn’t stand up to Trump. He sucked up to him. Was that the best thing for UK plc? Not sure. It’s not an easy question to answer. But it probably wasn’t the best outcome for Starmer and the fact that he would have known that is to his credit.
To be fair Trump didn’t say anything provocative about the UK. Considering the attitude of Musk and Vance towards us that’s at least something. But Trump just straight out lied about our allies, countries we’re going to need to work with to defend Ukraine in future, and I think that ignoring this was, well, a choice, but an unfortunate one.
Not having a TV I haven't seen Sir Keir answering questions off the cuff. Is he normally able to do that or is he the sort of person who can't find the immediate response? I'm a delayed action type myself so I know how awkward it can be.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
I thought he looked like a plonker.
What it definitely wasn’t was a Love Actually moment. He didn’t stand up to Trump. He sucked up to him. Was that the best thing for UK plc? Not sure. It’s not an easy question to answer. But it probably wasn’t the best outcome for Starmer and the fact that he would have known that is to his credit.
To be fair Trump didn’t say anything provocative about the UK. Considering the attitude of Musk and Vance towards us that’s at least something. But Trump just straight out lied about our allies, countries we’re going to need to work with to defend Ukraine in future, and I think that ignoring this was, well, a choice, but an unfortunate one.
Not having a TV I haven't seen Sir Keir answering questions off the cuff. Is he normally able to do that or is he the sort of person who can't find the immediate response? I'm a delayed action type myself so I know how awkward it can be.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
I thought he looked like a plonker.
Starmer was okay minus the over the top fawning when he handed the invitation for a state visit .
Clever move by Starmer to be fair, turn Trump's biggest weakness against him.
Trump is a preening narcissist, a disgrace to the Oval Office and unfit to be President - but like it or not he is President.
So what better way to manage such a preening narcissist but to gift him a mirror and say "oh look how special you are".
Of course the self-absorbed Trump is going to want the State Visit and he's going to want to ensure things work out well for it. So he'll reinforce the 'special relationship' not because he cares for the UK, nor because he cares for America, but because he cares first and foremost about himself and Starmer has tapped into that vanity with a shiny bauble.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
I thought he looked like a plonker.
Starmer was okay minus the over the top fawning when he handed the invitation for a state visit .
Clever move by Starmer to be fair, turn Trump's biggest weakness against him.
Trump is a preening narcissist, a disgrace to the Oval Office and unfit to be President - but like it or not he is President.
So what better way to manage such a preening narcissist but to gift him a mirror and say "oh look how special you are".
Of course the self-absorbed Trump is going to want the State Visit and he's going to want to ensure things work out well for it. So he'll reinforce the 'special relationship' not because he cares for the UK, nor because he cares for America, but because he cares first and foremost about himself and Starmer has tapped into that vanity with a shiny bauble.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
I’ve only had a bottle of Sauvignon blanc. What the hell have you been drinking?
FOMO.
Off topic, but as it's your birthday, have you been to Sheriffmuir? Not just the WArs of the Covenant battlefield, but the D-Day demonstration Atlantikwall to the north? Still battered by AVREs, Petards, whatnot.
The moor is the same slope as the D-Day beaches. And you can see - if you know where to look (esp. to the W of the road near the little elbow) - the U-shaped earthworks which were the dummy landing craft where the demonstration tanks started their attack runs. And the tank tracks in some places.
(But one has to be careful on the moor - too many Great WAr training trenches full of old barbed wire.)
I think there's an article online in the Forth Naturalist & Historian somewhere. Definitely worth taking if you go - it has air photos.
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
Three months and 13,000 miles removed and I still don't know what to make of Starmer.
I suspect, like most incoming Prime Ministers, he had an idea of the job but the reality has been somewhat different. His "honeymoon" was even shorter than Johnson's and he has inherited an angry and disillusioned electorate who want "change" but not perhaps the kind he wants and almost certainly more than he knows we can afford at this time.
Having seen an incoming "centre right" Government in New Zealand about nine months further down the road, I can assure him it won't get any easier. Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis are going through all the pain and vitriol Starmer and Reeves are enduring and the truth is their "quasi-Thatcherite" approach of cutting spending and offering tax cuts isn't proving any more popular or effective.
The only political advantage Luxon has is his equivalent of Reform are behind him on the Government benches.
The other fascinating area is the response to the second Trump administration. I find Trump hard to evaluate - good ideas and noble sentiments are wrapped in a deeply unpleasant adversarial and often nonsensical package.
Take Gaza - the idea of pouring billions in to rebuild and reconstruct the Gaza Strip is fine and noble and a temporary spell of US or UN administration to facilitate that not unappealing and temporary relocation of the Palestinian population during the rebuilding process not without merit BUT the Gazans don't, I suspect, want to live on a Middle East version of the Las Vegas Strip nor so they want to be economically and politically beholden in perpetuity to their erstwhile benefactors.
Oddly enough, they probably want what most people want - peace, jobs, prosperity, decent schools and public services (they might not want to pay for them but that's a different question). Given the vast amounts of money in the region, it seems beyond crazy the Gazans have to live in bombed out ruins and if I were Trump, I'd be making some calls to the rules of Saudi Arabia and the UAE reminding them of their obligations.I'd also be reminding the Israelis of the old adage people who were busy making money are usually too busy to be making trouble.
Oh I see Starmer has been an utter twat staying silent while Trump lied through his teeth about EU trade and Ukraine support. Then saying “our trade is different, we have a trade deficit with you”. Amoral. Might as well go the whole Swiss hog and offer to bank his stolen gold and paintings when the war starts.
No doubt the word "perfidious" comes to Macron as he watches the snake charmer's antics
Macron behaved like a statesman. Starmer has behaved like a poodle.
Macron was oleaginous
Starmer is fucking rebarbative. Geopolitical arschlosssen
Starmer has utterly rinsed his critics. He is the best PM we could have chosen.
It's a good day/night for SKS. No getting away from that.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
I thought he looked like a plonker.
What it definitely wasn’t was a Love Actually moment. He didn’t stand up to Trump. He sucked up to him. Was that the best thing for UK plc? Not sure. It’s not an easy question to answer. But it probably wasn’t the best outcome for Starmer and the fact that he would have known that is to his credit.
Starmer has probably done as well as he could have done, given the UK's hopelessly compromised dependency on a country run by a malevolent lunatic.
Starmer is working incredibly hard here. The thing about the Churchill bust was nauseating but went down incredibly well with Trump.
I am very torn.
SKS is doing great! This is easily his best day since he became PM.
It's deeply distressing but it's the difference between a PB poster and PM. I think almost all of us would have ended up attempting something similar, to varying degrees of success.
Disappointed none of you Philistines have picked up on my subtle reference to Charles Dickens.
It was unmissable. Your expectations are too great in these hard times, and our old curiosity to spot all the references has become not a tale of two cities but a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing.
Oh I see Starmer has been an utter twat staying silent while Trump lied through his teeth about EU trade and Ukraine support. Then saying “our trade is different, we have a trade deficit with you”. Amoral. Might as well go the whole Swiss hog and offer to bank his stolen gold and paintings when the war starts.
No doubt the word "perfidious" comes to Macron as he watches the snake charmer's antics
Macron behaved like a statesman. Starmer has behaved like a poodle.
Disappointed none of you Philistines have picked up on my subtle reference to Charles Dickens.
It was unmissable. Your expectations are too great in these hard times, and our old curiosity to spot all the references has become not a tale of two cities but a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing.
SKS:It's not about taking part. It's about winning.
Who would ever have thought he'd have it in him to talk the language of The Donald? 😂
Starmer's people have obviously looked at how the Japanese PM "handled" Trump a few weeks back and we're now seeing a clear pattern. It's Trump's house so it's Trump's rules - he leads and controls the discussion and that's fine.
There is a geopolitical reality at work here - you can't simply go to the Oval Office and have a sit down or stand up argument with Trump and Vance in public and expect it to end well. The Americans are the most powerful nation on the planet and that's the reality. Tact and diplomacy go a long way.
Those who are not well disposed toward Starmer might want to ask themselves what Badenoch or Farage would say or do different - short answer, nothing. It's not Reagan/Thatcher or even Blair/GW Bush or even Cameron/Obama but that doesn't mean we can't "do busines" with Washington because, to be blunt, we have to.
Trump says he will impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports to the US and confirms he will go ahead with 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports from next week as neither nation had done enough on border security and drug trafficking to merit further suspension of them. Trump also says 25% tariffs on EU imports will be coming 'soon.'
So the great global trade war of 2025 is now underway, albeit as Starmer visits Trump in DC the UK is not being targeted specifically yet
SKS:It's not about taking part. It's about winning.
Who would ever have thought he'd have it in him to talk the language of The Donald? 😂
Starmer's people have obviously looked at how the Japanese PM "handled" Trump a few weeks back and we're now seeing a clear pattern. It's Trump's house so it's Trump's rules - he leads and controls the discussion and that's fine.
I think that's a good take. But like Japan our actions and words will likely have to differ. Praise Trump, say everything is fine, and prepare for the worst.
Starmer is working incredibly hard here. The thing about the Churchill bust was nauseating but went down incredibly well with Trump.
I am very torn on all this. He must have chanted "national interest" to himself the whole way across the Atlantic.
Give over. This is hideous national humiliation
Though for all his faults Starmer does look to have avoided for the UK's exporters the 20% tariffs Trump has imposed on Chinese exports to the US and the 25% tariffs he has confirmed he will impose next month on Canadian, Mexican and EU exporters to the US
Starmer now sells out Canada. He could have said something simple like “I know Donald is just joking about this. Look, Canada is one of Britain’s and America’s closest allies, a member of 5 eyes, and I think we all agree that”.
I see OpenAI have released (sort of) GPT4.5. Roughly 40 to 70x the cost of their previous 'omg amazing you should be in awe' model. I tried to get the previous one to add some markdown formatting to a document earlier and it 'thought' and 'thought' about it for four minutes, then failed to even add a ## tag to the original text.
(Some other things - it is amazing at, but... really. A quid's worth to have it just echo stdin to stdout?)
Interesting first question from the press. Domestic stuff is causing Trump some serious issues.
That's what will "do" for Trump and the MAGA fanatics. As I reminded someone the other day, it's not the big things which cause you real problems, it's the little things.
IF Americans come to feel worse off under Trump, enough of them will peel away from the Republicans to give the Democrats a real chance.
That's where politics is - incoming administrations replacing outgoing deeply unpopular administrations on a message of "change" themselves become deeply unpopular when they fail to deliver that "change" (whatever that is and however it's perceived). They are themselves then replaced by either another iteration of the previous Government or by something different ("radical change") which in turn fails to deliver.
Oh I see Starmer has been an utter twat staying silent while Trump lied through his teeth about EU trade and Ukraine support. Then saying “our trade is different, we have a trade deficit with you”. Amoral. Might as well go the whole Swiss hog and offer to bank his stolen gold and paintings when the war starts.
No doubt the word "perfidious" comes to Macron as he watches the snake charmer's antics
Macron behaved like a statesman. Starmer has behaved like a poodle.
Macron was oleaginous
Starmer is fucking rebarbative. Geopolitical arschlosssen
Starmer now sells out Canada. He could have said something simple like “I know Donald is just joking about this. Look, Canada is one of Britain’s and America’s closest allies, a member of 5 eyes, and I think we all agree that”.
There can be no question where Starmer sees the future and it is close to the US with a trade deal avoiding tariffs
Of course Trump has UK connections, but also he endorses Brexit, and absolutely has the EU in his cross hairs so it could be argued that Starmer has taken advantage and absolutely with Mandelson influence
Starmer has at times been embarrassing patronising and not sure many of his mps or Lib Dems will be pleased
Comments
That's if they can even be fired without their support - recent tests are not a positive indication.
You can’t just change that overnight .
Russia is our enemy because of Russia's actions, not because America opposes Russia. That's what you don't seem to grasp with your inane belief we only oppose Russia because America wants us to. Quite the opposite, we've consistently been putting what pressure on America we can to ensure they oppose Russia just like us.
Britain under reform shall be united with France under le pen, Germany under the AfD and Italy under Meloni
Then let’s make Europe great again - and able to defend our noble civilisation from the heathens
They should dub his voice with an actor like they used to with Gerry Adams.
In polling atm he is the second worst rated President in history. Only beaten by a Donald J Trump in his first term.
To put that number in context
14,559 warfighters fired by Trump for being trans
13,488 warfighter casualties in the 42-country coalition in the Kuwait Gulf War 1990-1991
3,579 warfighter casualties in the 8 country coalition in Afghanistan 2001-2021
747 warfighter casualties in the 4 country coalition in the Iraq invasion 2003 (does not include the resultant war)
Total cost of firing those 14,559 people: $18billion (SPARTA estimate)
Sources: https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/no-trumps-trans-military-ban-does for the trans figures, Wikipedia for the war estimates.
Brexit may have been wiser than I thought.
In the long run is may benefit Farage if he decides to cool things down with Donald from here on in but for now it's a bad night for Nigel.
Harold Wilson deported Chagossians from their homeland. Tony Blair banned them from ever returning. And now Keir Starmer is paying Mauritius to give away their homeland without their consent. This will be an everlasting moral stain on the Labour Party.
Did you see my reference to my recent holiday?
FOMO.
For the record I am not advocating this nor do I think (hope) we would ever do it. But your claims are ratherwide of the mark.
In the end, I doubt any of this will make much difference to the next election and the important story of the week in terms of domestic politics, was energy bills rising AGAIN - But the more "wins" SKS can get, the more he looks like a winner.
Remember the Law of Large Numbers and "rare is not the same as infrequent". If there are 1.3million warfighters currently enlisted, then a trans population in the 1,500 to 15,000 range is not implausible, especially if benefits are part of the package.
I'll get my coat.
Yes. The new Attlee.
Kirk: oh by the way thank you for this
Spock: I know of your fondness for antiques
Kirk: it was the best of times it was the worst of times...message, Spock?
Spock: none that I'm conscious of. Except of course "happy birthday": surely the best of times...
Trump is a preening narcissist, a disgrace to the Oval Office and unfit to be President - but like it or not he is President.
So what better way to manage such a preening narcissist but to gift him a mirror and say "oh look how special you are".
Of course the self-absorbed Trump is going to want the State Visit and he's going to want to ensure things work out well for it. So he'll reinforce the 'special relationship' not because he cares for the UK, nor because he cares for America, but because he cares first and foremost about himself and Starmer has tapped into that vanity with a shiny bauble.
The moor is the same slope as the D-Day beaches. And you can see - if you know where to look (esp. to the W of the road near the little elbow) - the U-shaped earthworks which were the dummy landing craft where the demonstration tanks started their attack runs. And the tank tracks in some places.
(But one has to be careful on the moor - too many Great WAr training trenches full of old barbed wire.)
I think there's an article online in the Forth Naturalist & Historian somewhere. Definitely worth taking if you go - it has air photos.
I am very torn on all this. He must have chanted "national interest" to himself the whole way across the Atlantic.
He'll probably have us offering troops to take on the Mexican cartels.
I suspect, like most incoming Prime Ministers, he had an idea of the job but the reality has been somewhat different. His "honeymoon" was even shorter than Johnson's and he has inherited an angry and disillusioned electorate who want "change" but not perhaps the kind he wants and almost certainly more than he knows we can afford at this time.
Having seen an incoming "centre right" Government in New Zealand about nine months further down the road, I can assure him it won't get any easier. Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis are going through all the pain and vitriol Starmer and Reeves are enduring and the truth is their "quasi-Thatcherite" approach of cutting spending and offering tax cuts isn't proving any more popular or effective.
The only political advantage Luxon has is his equivalent of Reform are behind him on the Government benches.
The other fascinating area is the response to the second Trump administration. I find Trump hard to evaluate - good ideas and noble sentiments are wrapped in a deeply unpleasant adversarial and often nonsensical package.
Take Gaza - the idea of pouring billions in to rebuild and reconstruct the Gaza Strip is fine and noble and a temporary spell of US or UN administration to facilitate that not unappealing and temporary relocation of the Palestinian population during the rebuilding process not without merit BUT the Gazans don't, I suspect, want to live on a Middle East version of the Las Vegas Strip nor so they want to be economically and politically beholden in perpetuity to their erstwhile benefactors.
Oddly enough, they probably want what most people want - peace, jobs, prosperity, decent schools and public services (they might not want to pay for them but that's a different question). Given the vast amounts of money in the region, it seems beyond crazy the Gazans have to live in bombed out ruins and if I were Trump, I'd be making some calls to the rules of Saudi Arabia and the UAE reminding them of their obligations.I'd also be reminding the Israelis of the old adage people who were busy making money are usually too busy to be making trouble.
Starmer is fucking rebarbative. Geopolitical arschlosssen
Who would ever have thought he'd have it in him to talk the language of The Donald? 😂
There is a geopolitical reality at work here - you can't simply go to the Oval Office and have a sit down or stand up argument with Trump and Vance in public and expect it to end well. The Americans are the most powerful nation on the planet and that's the reality. Tact and diplomacy go a long way.
Those who are not well disposed toward Starmer might want to ask themselves what Badenoch or Farage would say or do different - short answer, nothing. It's not Reagan/Thatcher or even Blair/GW Bush or even Cameron/Obama but that doesn't mean we can't "do busines" with Washington because, to be blunt, we have to.
We both think the same thing - that its ours.
(Some other things - it is amazing at, but... really. A quid's worth to have it just echo stdin to stdout?)
https://x.com/Mediaite/status/1895096680531284062
IF Americans come to feel worse off under Trump, enough of them will peel away from the Republicans to give the Democrats a real chance.
That's where politics is - incoming administrations replacing outgoing deeply unpopular administrations on a message of "change" themselves become deeply unpopular when they fail to deliver that "change" (whatever that is and however it's perceived). They are themselves then replaced by either another iteration of the previous Government or by something different ("radical change") which in turn fails to deliver.
Of course Trump has UK connections, but also he endorses Brexit, and absolutely has the EU in his cross hairs so it could be argued that Starmer has taken advantage and absolutely with Mandelson influence
Starmer has at times been embarrassing patronising and not sure many of his mps or Lib Dems will be pleased