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Trump dominates our news cycle – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 12,369
edited March 20 in General
Trump dominates our news cycle – politicalbetting.com

Which news story have Brits heard the most about?(asked 17-18 Mar 2025)Top 5 categoriesDonald Trump [general/other]: 16%Welfare changes: 15%Ukraine war: 14%Trump on the war in Ukraine: 12%Trump on tariffs: 3%Respondents answered in own words, which were categorised by our AI topic model

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Comments

  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 37,209
    "Brian Stelter posted a December 9, 2017, quote from the New York Times:

    "Before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals."

    Stelter wrote: “I think about this quote a lot.” "
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 8,586
    Hopefully Trump has an anti-Trump effect everywhere else in the world. Fingers crossed for Canada elections this year.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,406
    It's hardly surprising, though, with the administration in the process of upending our security settlement that's lasted most of our lifetimes.

    Amongst other things.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,406
    JosiasJessop said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    Scott_xP said:

    boulay said:

    It’s quite funny how for decades the liberal Hollywood chaps have used the Military Industrial Complex as a baddie, plotting to take down good people who threaten their interests and yet if this shady cabal exists it might be the best hope of stopping Trump in his tracks.

    You have to imagine that somewhere in a dark room in Washington DC the heads of defence manufacturers and related parties are meeting about how Trump has single handedly destroyed export markets of their most expensive products in a couple of months whilst also announcing cuts to domestic spending on defence.

    At what point do they become the plotters of film and tv and try and remove him?

    It's also ironic that one of Trumpski's persistent complaints is that Europeans don't buy American cars, while they did buy most of their weapons.

    We are still not buying their cars, especially Tesla's, or their weapons.

    He freaks out about balance of trade. Well, guess what...
    Their cars are exceptionally ugly which doesn’t help. Teslas look shit - apparently because it’s about eking out every bit of efficiency - but I’m sure a few fewer miles per charge for a better looking car isn’t the worst idea.
    Looks are 100% subjective though. I think the Model S looks fine and hasn't dated too much despite its immense age. The rest of the range is amorphously bland and clearly way behind the European and Asian competition.

    When manufacturers focus group cars they find people will prefer designs that are most like ones with which they are already familiar. Hence endless recycling of design themes with ID.Buzz, Renault 5, 12cilindri, etc.
    It's not just familiarity with design; it's also engineering convergence. If you want to make an SUV that will be fuel efficient and carry the loads required, there are only so many practical shapes you can use. Likewise small cars, estate cars, etc, etc. The drag coefficient rules. Which is why so many cars look similar from the outside (especially compared to the 1970s...) but can be very different internally.
    That's not really true of EVs, though.
    Current designs own more to tradition and existing regulations.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,184
    rkrkrk said:

    Hopefully Trump has an anti-Trump effect everywhere else in the world. Fingers crossed for Canada elections this year.

    The Greenlandic elections were a big surprise and seem to have been an anti-Trump vote, so it’s already happened in one place.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,841
    Scott_xP said:

    "Brian Stelter posted a December 9, 2017, quote from the New York Times:

    "Before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals."

    Stelter wrote: “I think about this quote a lot.” "

    It seems more like a cartoon series featuring a gormless character whose skin is an odd shade of orange.

    Doh!
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 44,956
    Nigelb said:

    JosiasJessop said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    Scott_xP said:

    boulay said:

    It’s quite funny how for decades the liberal Hollywood chaps have used the Military Industrial Complex as a baddie, plotting to take down good people who threaten their interests and yet if this shady cabal exists it might be the best hope of stopping Trump in his tracks.

    You have to imagine that somewhere in a dark room in Washington DC the heads of defence manufacturers and related parties are meeting about how Trump has single handedly destroyed export markets of their most expensive products in a couple of months whilst also announcing cuts to domestic spending on defence.

    At what point do they become the plotters of film and tv and try and remove him?

    It's also ironic that one of Trumpski's persistent complaints is that Europeans don't buy American cars, while they did buy most of their weapons.

    We are still not buying their cars, especially Tesla's, or their weapons.

    He freaks out about balance of trade. Well, guess what...
    Their cars are exceptionally ugly which doesn’t help. Teslas look shit - apparently because it’s about eking out every bit of efficiency - but I’m sure a few fewer miles per charge for a better looking car isn’t the worst idea.
    Looks are 100% subjective though. I think the Model S looks fine and hasn't dated too much despite its immense age. The rest of the range is amorphously bland and clearly way behind the European and Asian competition.

    When manufacturers focus group cars they find people will prefer designs that are most like ones with which they are already familiar. Hence endless recycling of design themes with ID.Buzz, Renault 5, 12cilindri, etc.
    It's not just familiarity with design; it's also engineering convergence. If you want to make an SUV that will be fuel efficient and carry the loads required, there are only so many practical shapes you can use. Likewise small cars, estate cars, etc, etc. The drag coefficient rules. Which is why so many cars look similar from the outside (especially compared to the 1970s...) but can be very different internally.
    That's not really true of EVs, though.
    Current designs own more to tradition and existing regulations.
    Drag coefficient is no different for EVs than it is for ICE cars. The batteries and lack of engine allow different packaging, but if you want efficiency, reducing drag is king.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,581
    JosiasJessop said:

    Nigelb said:

    JosiasJessop said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    Scott_xP said:

    boulay said:

    It’s quite funny how for decades the liberal Hollywood chaps have used the Military Industrial Complex as a baddie, plotting to take down good people who threaten their interests and yet if this shady cabal exists it might be the best hope of stopping Trump in his tracks.

    You have to imagine that somewhere in a dark room in Washington DC the heads of defence manufacturers and related parties are meeting about how Trump has single handedly destroyed export markets of their most expensive products in a couple of months whilst also announcing cuts to domestic spending on defence.

    At what point do they become the plotters of film and tv and try and remove him?

    It's also ironic that one of Trumpski's persistent complaints is that Europeans don't buy American cars, while they did buy most of their weapons.

    We are still not buying their cars, especially Tesla's, or their weapons.

    He freaks out about balance of trade. Well, guess what...
    Their cars are exceptionally ugly which doesn’t help. Teslas look shit - apparently because it’s about eking out every bit of efficiency - but I’m sure a few fewer miles per charge for a better looking car isn’t the worst idea.
    Looks are 100% subjective though. I think the Model S looks fine and hasn't dated too much despite its immense age. The rest of the range is amorphously bland and clearly way behind the European and Asian competition.

    When manufacturers focus group cars they find people will prefer designs that are most like ones with which they are already familiar. Hence endless recycling of design themes with ID.Buzz, Renault 5, 12cilindri, etc.
    It's not just familiarity with design; it's also engineering convergence. If you want to make an SUV that will be fuel efficient and carry the loads required, there are only so many practical shapes you can use. Likewise small cars, estate cars, etc, etc. The drag coefficient rules. Which is why so many cars look similar from the outside (especially compared to the 1970s...) but can be very different internally.
    That's not really true of EVs, though.
    Current designs own more to tradition and existing regulations.
    Drag coefficient is no different for EVs than it is for ICE cars. The batteries and lack of engine allow different packaging, but if you want efficiency, reducing drag is king.
    Though battery cost/charging time provides a higher incentive to minimise drag, compared with mileage improvement on an ICE.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 6,012
    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 64,788
    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,581
    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    Go transactional.

    Deterrence for sale - “We cover your nation on a risk factor multiplied by square km. Payment up front, one month in advance. No Amex.”

    Charlie Stross would approve.
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 591
    Can a Starbucks menu explain the Ukraine war?

    When you stand in front of one to buy your coffee do you get confused? Does anyone actually evaluate all the information in front of them or will they just jump at whatever looks familiar in terms of understanding?

    'Flood the zone' Bannon and other amplifiers provides lots of alternative facts so that people will jump at whatever they think is closest to their understanding.

    So here's a contribution about the origins of the Ukraine conflict which challenges people to spot where the misinformation lies.

    https://thehill.com/opinion/5198022-ukraine-conflict-disinformation/
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,021
    Trump seems to be largely motivated by crude atavistic impulse, the main one being personal acquisition. When that meets geopolitics it just looks deranged. How in the hell is the USA taking control of Ukraine’s nuclear power stations (only Zaporizhzhia according to Zelensky, all of them according to Trump - who do you believe?) going to work in practice? Is Putin going to be intimidated by a few US contractors in white coats?
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 44,956
    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    Mrs J is not on social media, and does not comment, despite reading a great deal online.

    Her reasoning is that you are simply giving away information that can be used against you, and the advantages are not worth it. I disagree with her (hence my website, and commenting on here...) but her argument is becoming increasingly persuasive.

    I don't comment on Twix, as it seems pointless arguing with so many bots. I only use FB to post pics and stuff for relatives and friends to see, and then rarely. I never talk politics on there.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 37,209
    JosiasJessop said:

    I don't comment on Twix, as it seems pointless arguing with so many bots.

    I replied to a post many months ago. Now every couple of weeks I get an alert that somebody liked my post. Every single one of them is a bot. It's really strange
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,191
    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 44,956
    Theuniondivvie said:

    Trump seems to be largely motivated by crude atavistic impulse, the main one being personal acquisition. When that meets geopolitics it just looks deranged. How in the hell is the USA taking control of Ukraine’s nuclear power stations (only Zaporizhzhia according to Zelensky, all of them according to Trump - who do you believe?) going to work in practice? Is Putin going to be intimidated by a few US contractors in white coats?

    He'll give the US contract to run them to a shell company that just so happens to employ a load of heavily-armed 'contractors', aka little green men, who all oddly seem to come from east of the Donbass.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 64,788
    Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.

    The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.

    Guardian


    Madness. Total madness.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,021
    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    When it comes to working together, I’m not sure a nuclear deterrent supplied by the USA and two (some of the time) carriers worth of aircraft supplied by the USA are fantastic cards in the UK hand.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 64,788
    JosiasJessop said:

    Theuniondivvie said:

    Trump seems to be largely motivated by crude atavistic impulse, the main one being personal acquisition. When that meets geopolitics it just looks deranged. How in the hell is the USA taking control of Ukraine’s nuclear power stations (only Zaporizhzhia according to Zelensky, all of them according to Trump - who do you believe?) going to work in practice? Is Putin going to be intimidated by a few US contractors in white coats?

    He'll give the US contract to run them to a shell company that just so happens to employ a load of heavily-armed 'contractors', aka little green men, who all oddly seem to come from east of the Donbass.
    I think more importantly it is what Putin wants as Ukr will not be able to regain nuclear weapons without control of those plants.

  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,406
    There is an opposition leadership vacuum which can't last for very long.
    Anyone actually betting on the 2028 election should keep a close eye on this.

    Dems expected to skewer GOP cuts at town halls. Instead they faced angry constituents.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/19/democrats-town-halls-anger-schumer-00239667
    Congressional Democrats — who were hoping to blast Republicans over budget cuts — instead took incoming from their exasperated constituents when they traveled home to host town halls.

    In Arizona, Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly were confronted at a joint forum Monday by an attendee demanding to know if they “would support removing” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In Oregon, an audience member told Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Janelle Bynum on Sunday that he is “so pissed off right now at the leadership in the United States Senate that they are not willing to step up and fight.”..


  • nico67nico67 Posts: 4,870
    A poll from February asked whether Trump should follow court orders .

    Overall 84% said yes .

    Dems 92%
    GOP 79%
    Indy 82%

  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,406
    .
    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Actually there's a lot more cash than that at stake.

    And negotiations are ongoing. My guess is that we'll sign up fairly soon after some compromises on both sides.
    The French are holding things up by trying to introduce non-military issues (eg fishing), but I think security needs will win out over the traditional intransigence.

    Probably just as well it's the bloodless Starmer, and not boulay, who is negotiating on our behalf.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 44,956
    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Yep. Expecting the EU to buy loads of weapons off us after we have left seems a bit like having cake and eating it too.

    The reason the EU wants to build more weapons is that the USA has become very politically unreliable. Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there. If they go with us, they risk the same thing happening as happened with the US.

    I expect they will buy stuff off us, especially individual countries, but we can't really whinge about them not doing.

    From their perspective, we are politically unreliable.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 37,209
    LOL. You wanna join the club, you have to pay the fees...

    @KateEMcCann

    Germany ambassador to the UK tells @TimesRadio the UK can benefit from
    150bn euro defence fund IF we sign a security agreement and pay into the fund. Otherwise EU taxpayer money is being spent in the UK and won’t benefit them.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 6,188
    Have we had this?

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c87121e0j4yo

    A North Dakota jury has found Greenpeace liable for defamation, ordering it to pay more than $660m (£507m) in damages to an oil company for the environmental group's role in one of the largest anti-fossil fuel protests in US history.

    I expect Musk will be complaining about this outrageous censorship any time now.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 6,188
    Meanwhile Musk is trying to flip the Wisconsin supreme court

    https://apnews.com/article/musk-progress-2028-wisconsin-supreme-court-acb3b82275e466909c45fe284aa52dbf

    A group funded by Elon Musk is behind deceptive ads in crucial Wisconsin Supreme Court race
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,517
    edited March 20
    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 6,012
    Nigelb said:

    .

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Actually there's a lot more cash than that at stake.

    And negotiations are ongoing. My guess is that we'll sign up fairly soon after some compromises on both sides.
    The French are holding things up by trying to introduce non-military issues (eg fishing), but I think security needs will win out over the traditional intransigence.

    Probably just as well it's the bloodless Starmer, and not boulay, who is negotiating on our behalf.
    You definitely don’t want me negotiating anything outside of my area of expertise although I do always get on with the French v well in real life.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,342
    kamski said:

    Meanwhile Musk is trying to flip the Wisconsin supreme court

    https://apnews.com/article/musk-progress-2028-wisconsin-supreme-court-acb3b82275e466909c45fe284aa52dbf

    A group funded by Elon Musk is behind deceptive ads in crucial Wisconsin Supreme Court race

    They are pretty despicable tactics.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,086
    bondegezou said:

    rkrkrk said:

    Hopefully Trump has an anti-Trump effect everywhere else in the world. Fingers crossed for Canada elections this year.

    The Greenlandic elections were a big surprise and seem to have been an anti-Trump vote, so it’s already happened in one place.
    Greenland seemed to find the sweet spot of an anti-Trump, anti-Denmark option...
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 23,959
    Naively optimistic header. Four years.....hah.
  • FffsFffs Posts: 85
    JosiasJessop said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Yep. Expecting the EU to buy loads of weapons off us after we have left seems a bit like having cake and eating it too.

    The reason the EU wants to build more weapons is that the USA has become very politically unreliable. Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there. If they go with us, they risk the same thing happening as happened with the US.

    I expect they will buy stuff off us, especially individual countries, but we can't really whinge about them not doing.

    From their perspective, we are politically unreliable.
    "Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there" - possibly, but Hungary suggests that the political structure doesn't act as much of a restraint.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 64,820
    Scott_xP said:

    LOL. You wanna join the club, you have to pay the fees...

    @KateEMcCann

    Germany ambassador to the UK tells @TimesRadio the UK can benefit from
    150bn euro defence fund IF we sign a security agreement and pay into the fund. Otherwise EU taxpayer money is being spent in the UK and won’t benefit them.

    Absolutely nothing controversial about that and I expect an agreement, as the EU cannot have a defence pact without the UK and vice versa
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 64,820
    TimS said:

    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
    I wouldn't travel to US for work or pleasure at this time
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 23,959
    Fffs said:

    JosiasJessop said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Yep. Expecting the EU to buy loads of weapons off us after we have left seems a bit like having cake and eating it too.

    The reason the EU wants to build more weapons is that the USA has become very politically unreliable. Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there. If they go with us, they risk the same thing happening as happened with the US.

    I expect they will buy stuff off us, especially individual countries, but we can't really whinge about them not doing.

    From their perspective, we are politically unreliable.
    "Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there" - possibly, but Hungary suggests that the political structure doesn't act as much of a restraint.
    For the last 5-10 years what no-one in Europe has been willing to openly talk about let alone consider dealing with was the danger of the US becoming a hostile threat.

    Currently what no-one in Europe is willing to openly talk about or deal with is the very plausible risk that at least one of the UK, France or Germany falls to the broligarchs. What then? Whatever structures we build to ramp up our defences have to be flexible and resillient to the loss of current allies.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,517
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    Scott_xP said:

    LOL. You wanna join the club, you have to pay the fees...

    @KateEMcCann

    Germany ambassador to the UK tells @TimesRadio the UK can benefit from
    150bn euro defence fund IF we sign a security agreement and pay into the fund. Otherwise EU taxpayer money is being spent in the UK and won’t benefit them.

    Absolutely nothing controversial about that and I expect an agreement, as the EU cannot have a defence pact without the UK and vice versa
    I think there will be one.

    The fishing rights thing is rather silly of France. We should all be focused on denying “fishing” rights to mystery Russian vessels dangling their lines around those telecoms cables.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 44,956
    Fffs said:

    JosiasJessop said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Yep. Expecting the EU to buy loads of weapons off us after we have left seems a bit like having cake and eating it too.

    The reason the EU wants to build more weapons is that the USA has become very politically unreliable. Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there. If they go with us, they risk the same thing happening as happened with the US.

    I expect they will buy stuff off us, especially individual countries, but we can't really whinge about them not doing.

    From their perspective, we are politically unreliable.
    "Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there" - possibly, but Hungary suggests that the political structure doesn't act as much of a restraint.
    Yes, I was thinking of Hungary when I wrote that. But the point stands: even in the case of Hungary, there is a political structure that does not exist in the case of the UK.

    (I do not know what the EU does about Hungary; it would be worth a threader from someone who is more knowledgeable...)
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,406
    .
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    Scott_xP said:

    LOL. You wanna join the club, you have to pay the fees...

    @KateEMcCann

    Germany ambassador to the UK tells @TimesRadio the UK can benefit from
    150bn euro defence fund IF we sign a security agreement and pay into the fund. Otherwise EU taxpayer money is being spent in the UK and won’t benefit them.

    Absolutely nothing controversial about that and I expect an agreement, as the EU cannot have a defence pact without the UK and vice versa
    Some solid common sense from you there, Big_G.
    I don't see anything particularly controversial about this, either. We're spending a lot of money in European defence anyway, since it's in our interests. There's no good reason not to formalise that, and derive some benefit in return.

    The sooner, the better.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,517
    noneoftheabove said:

    Fffs said:

    JosiasJessop said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Yep. Expecting the EU to buy loads of weapons off us after we have left seems a bit like having cake and eating it too.

    The reason the EU wants to build more weapons is that the USA has become very politically unreliable. Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there. If they go with us, they risk the same thing happening as happened with the US.

    I expect they will buy stuff off us, especially individual countries, but we can't really whinge about them not doing.

    From their perspective, we are politically unreliable.
    "Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there" - possibly, but Hungary suggests that the political structure doesn't act as much of a restraint.
    For the last 5-10 years what no-one in Europe has been willing to openly talk about let alone consider dealing with was the danger of the US becoming a hostile threat.

    Currently what no-one in Europe is willing to openly talk about or deal with is the very plausible risk that at least one of the UK, France or Germany falls to the broligarchs. What then? Whatever structures we build to ramp up our defences have to be flexible and resillient to the loss of current allies.
    It’s a worry. I think Germany is the biggest risk of the 3. France’s RN right seems to be moving away from Russia and I sense no love lost between Le Pen and the Trumpists. Reform’s only path to political power here must surely be by stepping away from Putinism (and they remain way behind, still trailing the Tories in several polls despite being mid-term). The AfD are proper Putinist nazis, and look like they’re here to stay. Let’s hope the firewall stays in place.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 13,710
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    TimS said:

    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
    I wouldn't travel to US for work or pleasure at this time
    Ditto. How the world has darkened. 20 years ago (and probably more recently too) UK university students, including a family member of mine, were able to spend a year in Iran as part of their undergraduate studies.

    Now I don't think I would be happy to see them go to spend a year ay Yale.

    BTW, the BBC is still giving notably scant coverage to the USA's internal coup now well under way.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 3,296
    edited March 20
    Nigelb said:

    .

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Actually there's a lot more cash than that at stake.

    And negotiations are ongoing. My guess is that we'll sign up fairly soon after some compromises on both sides.
    The French are holding things up by trying to introduce non-military issues (eg fishing), but I think security needs will win out over the traditional intransigence.

    Probably just as well it's the bloodless Starmer, and not boulay, who is negotiating on our behalf.
    It wouldn't surprise me a bit, now, if the EU developed some sort of associate membership for Canada - the sort of thing it was impossible for it to develop for the UK - and then, maybe, we could go the Canada route once it exists.

    ETA good morning, everyone.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,517
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    TimS said:

    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
    I wouldn't travel to US for work or pleasure at this time
    5 days in LA coming up in early April, and probably a little weekend drive out to Joshua Tree. I shall make sure PB isn’t open on my phone when I get off the plane.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,265
    Eddie Jordan has died.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,191
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    TimS said:

    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
    I wouldn't travel to US for work or pleasure at this time
    I am going to my USN squadron reunion in Florida this year. Their system of systems is poorly optimised for the persecution of well off, late middle aged white men so I will be just fine.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,517
    algarkirk said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    TimS said:

    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
    I wouldn't travel to US for work or pleasure at this time
    Ditto. How the world has darkened. 20 years ago (and probably more recently too) UK university students, including a family member of mine, were able to spend a year in Iran as part of their undergraduate studies.

    Now I don't think I would be happy to see them go to spend a year ay Yale.

    BTW, the BBC is still giving notably scant coverage to the USA's internal coup now well under way.
    On the other hand several countries that used to be virtually off limits are now visitable.

    On the no go list we have Afghanistan, Somalia (both for decades now), most of Iraq, Syria (for now), Russia, Belarus, Iran, Niger, Mali, other bits of the Sahel outside capital cities. On the now open list: Colombia, Sri Lanka, Saudi, Myanmar (ish), rest of Indochina, Timor Leste…
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,822
    edited March 20
    Dura_Ace said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    TimS said:

    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
    I wouldn't travel to US for work or pleasure at this time
    I am going to my USN squadron reunion in Florida this year. Their system of systems is poorly optimised for the persecution of well off, late middle aged white men so I will be just fine.
    If they pick up on your PB posts you're off to Guantanamo. #luigi
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,406
    .
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Eddie Jordan has died.

    RIP.
    A reminder of not entirely corporate F1 days.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,145
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Eddie Jordan has died.

    I saw him on Cap Ferrat in a beach restaurant quite recently with some very attractive companions. One of the good guys I always thought
  • MattWMattW Posts: 25,857
    FPT
    MattW said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:

    I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.

    As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.

    The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.

    I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).

    Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.

    I encourage our allies and friends to do the same.
    https://x.com/RasmusJarlov/status/1902389277423509877

    Mind boggling tweet

    Not sure it’s wise
    We’re beyond that, I think.
    Europe has a brief chance to get its act together on defence, and that requires an honest discussion. The fact that the US cannot, for the first time in our lifetimes, by considered a reliable ally isn’t something you can ignore.

    And it’s not as though they aren’t already aware of that.

    ‘There is no kill switch’—The F-35 'kill switch' rumor has been debunked.

    “After weeks of speculation, the Pentagon formally denies having the ability to remotely disable @LockheedMartin’s F-35 fighter jets.”
    https://x.com/thef35/status/1902117234039992683


    Of all the stupid things Trump has done, this - along with the tariff madness - seems the most stupid of all

    And i am strongly sympathetic (unlike anyone else on here) to a lot of the Trumpite Culture War on Woke. But the damage to alliances, friendships and American tech/industrial exports could be generational, it may never be fixable

    I cannot see the logic. And usually I can see some logic to what Trump does - even if it is evil and immoral

    Maybe Trump really is a Russian agent, just as Starmer works for China
    I think that burning down the USA's international relationships is more damaging more broadly than that. Notably things like JD Vance pissing on the graves of all the soldiers from 50+ countries who served alongside them and were killed, in their support, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    For the UK that was 230k service people who served and getting on for a thousand who were killed.

    Next time they have a 9/11 and ask for help, the response will be crickets.

    They will lose something like $70-100bn annually in arms exports (that's 1/3 to 1/2 of present volume), plus all the other pivots away.

    Plus Trump has burnt down 80 years of reputational capital.

    Domestically, they are destroying the science base of their advanced economy, and their society itself. It's going to be quite apocalyptic.
    Incidentally, had you copped that Uruguay is assessed by Freedom House as the equal 11th most "free" country in the world - above most of Europe. A nugget for your article, if not yet written?

    (Taiwan is ~top 25.)

    https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores?sort=desc&order=Total Score and Status

  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,308
    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Perhaps they want to be equally exclusionary when it comes to spending money and risking lives in defending EU countries.

    I'm sure Austria, Ireland and Hungary would be happy to make up the difference.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,191
    Eabhal said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    TimS said:

    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
    I wouldn't travel to US for work or pleasure at this time
    I am going to my USN squadron reunion in Florida this year. Their system of systems is poorly optimised for the persecution of well off, late middle aged white men so I will be just fine.
    If they pick up on your PB posts you're off to Guantanamo. #luigi
    Not arsed, mate, went to boarding school and served on a T23. No better preparation for Camp X-Ray.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 25,857
    edited March 20
    JosiasJessop said:

    Nigelb said:

    JosiasJessop said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    Scott_xP said:

    boulay said:

    It’s quite funny how for decades the liberal Hollywood chaps have used the Military Industrial Complex as a baddie, plotting to take down good people who threaten their interests and yet if this shady cabal exists it might be the best hope of stopping Trump in his tracks.

    You have to imagine that somewhere in a dark room in Washington DC the heads of defence manufacturers and related parties are meeting about how Trump has single handedly destroyed export markets of their most expensive products in a couple of months whilst also announcing cuts to domestic spending on defence.

    At what point do they become the plotters of film and tv and try and remove him?

    It's also ironic that one of Trumpski's persistent complaints is that Europeans don't buy American cars, while they did buy most of their weapons.

    We are still not buying their cars, especially Tesla's, or their weapons.

    He freaks out about balance of trade. Well, guess what...
    Their cars are exceptionally ugly which doesn’t help. Teslas look shit - apparently because it’s about eking out every bit of efficiency - but I’m sure a few fewer miles per charge for a better looking car isn’t the worst idea.
    Looks are 100% subjective though. I think the Model S looks fine and hasn't dated too much despite its immense age. The rest of the range is amorphously bland and clearly way behind the European and Asian competition.

    When manufacturers focus group cars they find people will prefer designs that are most like ones with which they are already familiar. Hence endless recycling of design themes with ID.Buzz, Renault 5, 12cilindri, etc.
    It's not just familiarity with design; it's also engineering convergence. If you want to make an SUV that will be fuel efficient and carry the loads required, there are only so many practical shapes you can use. Likewise small cars, estate cars, etc, etc. The drag coefficient rules. Which is why so many cars look similar from the outside (especially compared to the 1970s...) but can be very different internally.
    That's not really true of EVs, though.
    Current designs own more to tradition and existing regulations.
    Drag coefficient is no different for EVs than it is for ICE cars. The batteries and lack of engine allow different packaging, but if you want efficiency, reducing drag is king.
    Not quite. EVs don't need through-flow to cool the engine etc.

    Equally looks don't reflect CD so much - remember the "jellymould" Ford Sierra on 0.34 in 1983, and the more conventional looking Vauxhall Astra Gen 2 on 0.30 one year later.

    Though TBF the NSU RO80 my parents had was at 0.36 in 1967.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 4,365
    Iaraelis kill 70 overnight according to Sky.

    I wonder what the scores are now.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,308
    edited March 20
    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,145
    Dura_Ace said:

    Eabhal said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    TimS said:

    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
    I wouldn't travel to US for work or pleasure at this time
    I am going to my USN squadron reunion in Florida this year. Their system of systems is poorly optimised for the persecution of well off, late middle aged white men so I will be just fine.
    If they pick up on your PB posts you're off to Guantanamo. #luigi
    Not arsed, mate, went to boarding school and served on a T23. No better preparation for Camp X-Ray.
    Boarding prep school?
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,191
    TimS said:

    algarkirk said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    TimS said:

    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
    I wouldn't travel to US for work or pleasure at this time
    Ditto. How the world has darkened. 20 years ago (and probably more recently too) UK university students, including a family member of mine, were able to spend a year in Iran as part of their undergraduate studies.

    Now I don't think I would be happy to see them go to spend a year ay Yale.

    BTW, the BBC is still giving notably scant coverage to the USA's internal coup now well under way.
    On the other hand several countries that used to be virtually off limits are now visitable.

    On the no go list we have Afghanistan, Somalia (both for decades now), most of Iraq, Syria (for now), Russia, Belarus, Iran, Niger, Mali, other bits of the Sahel outside capital cities. On the now open list: Colombia, Sri Lanka, Saudi, Myanmar (ish), rest of Indochina, Timor Leste…
    Iraq and Iran are fine (see Itchy Boots on YT) and I wouldn't hesitate to go to Russia or Belarus.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,940
    Theuniondivvie said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    When it comes to working together, I’m not sure a nuclear deterrent supplied by the USA and two (some of the time) carriers worth of aircraft supplied by the USA are fantastic cards in the UK hand.
    A busted flush more like, still we have the special special relationship
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,145
    edited March 20
    Daveyboy1961 said:

    Iaraelis kill 70 overnight according to Sky.

    I wonder what the scores are now.

    Monsters. How did they get like this?

    https://www.middleeasteye.net/
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,191
    another_richard said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Perhaps they want to be equally exclusionary when it comes to spending money and risking lives in defending EU countries.

    I'm sure Austria, Ireland and Hungary would be happy to make up the difference.
    The UK will be defending them anyway if it all kicks off unless NATO falls apart completely - which admittedly is looking odds on.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,940
    JosiasJessop said:

    Fffs said:

    JosiasJessop said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Yep. Expecting the EU to buy loads of weapons off us after we have left seems a bit like having cake and eating it too.

    The reason the EU wants to build more weapons is that the USA has become very politically unreliable. Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there. If they go with us, they risk the same thing happening as happened with the US.

    I expect they will buy stuff off us, especially individual countries, but we can't really whinge about them not doing.

    From their perspective, we are politically unreliable.
    "Countries within the EU are more reliable, as there is a political structure there" - possibly, but Hungary suggests that the political structure doesn't act as much of a restraint.
    Yes, I was thinking of Hungary when I wrote that. But the point stands: even in the case of Hungary, there is a political structure that does not exist in the case of the UK.

    (I do not know what the EU does about Hungary; it would be worth a threader from someone who is more knowledgeable...)
    Chuck the feckers out till they get rid of that balloon.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,822
    edited March 20
    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    That's a strange interpretation. Low unemployment typically means that there is a tight labour market, and that there are plenty of jobs that need to be filled.

    If you're talking about the difference between the NE and London, that's almost certainly a difference in structural unemployment. London, being a dynamic city with lots of young people, will have more people working on short-term contracts/gig economy, and therefore more people between jobs.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,940
    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    that is the immigration bonus, a fortune spent on benefits and housing economic migrants. The do gooders will be delighted.
  • TazTaz Posts: 16,943
    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    Fishing rights trumps defence to France.

    https://x.com/afneil/status/1902495981033419207?s=61
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,517
    Dura_Ace said:

    TimS said:

    algarkirk said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    TimS said:

    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    That frisson I was talking about. Normal democracies don’t deny entry to people who write hurty words about their leader.
    I wouldn't travel to US for work or pleasure at this time
    Ditto. How the world has darkened. 20 years ago (and probably more recently too) UK university students, including a family member of mine, were able to spend a year in Iran as part of their undergraduate studies.

    Now I don't think I would be happy to see them go to spend a year ay Yale.

    BTW, the BBC is still giving notably scant coverage to the USA's internal coup now well under way.
    On the other hand several countries that used to be virtually off limits are now visitable.

    On the no go list we have Afghanistan, Somalia (both for decades now), most of Iraq, Syria (for now), Russia, Belarus, Iran, Niger, Mali, other bits of the Sahel outside capital cities. On the now open list: Colombia, Sri Lanka, Saudi, Myanmar (ish), rest of Indochina, Timor Leste…
    Iraq and Iran are fine (see Itchy Boots on YT) and I wouldn't hesitate to go to Russia or Belarus.
    I’ve not been to Russia since May 2018 (and even then it felt decidedly different from before) and would generally avoid places where I might become a political bargaining chip.

    I’d have thought an ex forces “tourist”/spy in Iran would be perfect fodder.
  • TazTaz Posts: 16,943
    malcolmg said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    that is the immigration bonus, a fortune spent on benefits and housing economic migrants. The do gooders will be delighted.
    There’s a massive industry built up around these people. If you played a slot machine that always paid out you’d be delighted too.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,517
    edited March 20
    malcolmg said:

    Theuniondivvie said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    When it comes to working together, I’m not sure a nuclear deterrent supplied by the USA and two (some of the time) carriers worth of aircraft supplied by the USA are fantastic cards in the UK hand.
    A busted flush more like, still we have the special special relationship
    On topic, we have an actual busted flush at home. Plumber is coming out to fix it next week.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 25,857
    Eabhal said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    That's a strange interpretation. Low unemployment typically means that there is a tight labour market, and that there are plenty of jobs that need to be filled.

    If you're talking about the difference between the NE and London, that's almost certainly a difference in structural unemployment. London, being a dynamic city with lots of young people, will have more people working on short-term contracts/gig economy, and therefore more people between jobs.
    According to the ONS 33.2% of the people in Kensington & Chelsea are Economically Inactive.

    Bloody slackers.

    (And that's not an outlier either - last year was 35%.

    Don't tell Sky News.)
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,308
    MattW said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:

    I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.

    As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.

    The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.

    I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).

    Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.

    I encourage our allies and friends to do the same.
    https://x.com/RasmusJarlov/status/1902389277423509877

    Mind boggling tweet

    Not sure it’s wise
    We’re beyond that, I think.
    Europe has a brief chance to get its act together on defence, and that requires an honest discussion. The fact that the US cannot, for the first time in our lifetimes, by considered a reliable ally isn’t something you can ignore.

    And it’s not as though they aren’t already aware of that.

    ‘There is no kill switch’—The F-35 'kill switch' rumor has been debunked.

    “After weeks of speculation, the Pentagon formally denies having the ability to remotely disable @LockheedMartin’s F-35 fighter jets.”
    https://x.com/thef35/status/1902117234039992683


    Of all the stupid things Trump has done, this - along with the tariff madness - seems the most stupid of all

    And i am strongly sympathetic (unlike anyone else on here) to a lot of the Trumpite Culture War on Woke. But the damage to alliances, friendships and American tech/industrial exports could be generational, it may never be fixable

    I cannot see the logic. And usually I can see some logic to what Trump does - even if it is evil and immoral

    Maybe Trump really is a Russian agent, just as Starmer works for China
    I think that burning down the USA's international relationships is more damaging more broadly than that. Notably things like JD Vance pissing on the graves of all the soldiers from 50+ countries who served alongside them and were killed, in their support, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    For the UK that was 230k service people who served and getting on for a thousand who were killed.

    Next time they have a 9/11 and ask for help, the response will be crickets.

    They will lose something like $70-100bn annually in arms exports (that's 1/3 to 1/2 of present volume), plus all the other pivots away.

    Plus Trump has burnt down 80 years of reputational capital.

    Domestically, they are destroying the science base of their advanced economy, and their society itself. It's going to be quite apocalyptic.
    Trump doesn't seem to understand/care about the value of goodwill.

    Now there might be many Americans who wanted the government to be run like a business but did they want it to be run like a private equity takeover of flogging the assets, taking out the money and leaving nothing behind ?
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 16,297
    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    I don't want to puncture this immigration theory of everything, but those differential unemployment rates are probably related to age more than anything else, as London has a younger population and young people, lacking marketable experience, are much more likely to be unemployed (unemployment rate of 18-24yos is 13%, compared to <3% for over 50yos).
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 16,297
    Ha ha less than 3%!
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 37,209
    another_richard said:

    Trump doesn't seem to understand/care about the value of goodwill.

    Now there might be many Americans who wanted the government to be run like a business but did they want it to be run like a private equity takeover of flogging the assets, taking out the money and leaving nothing behind ?

    The model here is Broadcom

    Every company they acquire, they jack up the prices until the customers leave.

    They did it with Symantec. Now VMWare.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,145
    rottenborough said:

    Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.

    The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.

    Guardian


    Madness. Total madness.

    Just watched an episode of GB News for the first time. They've exhumed Eamonn Holmes. Any young media students looking for a job try GB News. They must be desperate
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,315
    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    They may do it statistically but you can’t treat London as a homogeneous economic entity. There are huge disparities within relatively short distances across the capital.

    In Newham there are always people looking for work - who are they? I suspect many are students looking for extra work - there are no doubt some here illegally who can’t sign on. We have a lot of cash only businesses such as the local Albanian run car wash.

    There seem to be jobs in retail and hospitality but they usually want experience of some sort and in my part of the world the “family” business still holds sway so the newly arrived second cousin can get a job in the shop.

    I suspect it’s rather different in Bromley, Kingston or Uxbridge.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 25,857
    edited March 20
    One coming down the track - Trump reportedly having databases recording war crimes in Ukraine, including that related to thousands of children abducted to Russia, deleted, as he withdraws funding to the project.

    https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-press-marco-rubio-over-deleted-russian-war-crimes-data-2047047

    The detail is not absolutely clear yet, and Trump / Musk will obfuscate. I hope Yale University had their data backed up in a safe jurisdiction.

    I'd say it's exactly the sort of promise he may have quietly made to Putin, given that he launched his assault on the ICC on day one.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 25,857
    edited March 20
    stodge said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    They may do it statistically but you can’t treat London as a homogeneous economic entity. There are huge disparities within relatively short distances across the capital.

    In Newham there are always people looking for work - who are they? I suspect many are students looking for extra work - there are no doubt some here illegally who can’t sign on. We have a lot of cash only businesses such as the local Albanian run car wash.

    There seem to be jobs in retail and hospitality but they usually want experience of some sort and in my part of the world the “family” business still holds sway so the newly arrived second cousin can get a job in the shop.

    I suspect it’s rather different in Bromley, Kingston or Uxbridge.
    Why not? London media treats The North as a homogenous economic entity.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,308
    edited March 20
    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    I don't want to puncture this immigration theory of everything, but those differential unemployment rates are probably related to age more than anything else, as London has a younger population and young people, lacking marketable experience, are much more likely to be unemployed (unemployment rate of 18-24yos is 13%, compared to 3% for over 50yos).

    But a younger population should also have a higher employment rate and London's is below average.

    You're right that people without marketable experience, and skills, will have higher unemployment but how many of London's current unemployed will ever gain those ?

    As opposed to becoming unemployable for life as they subsist on welfare while being replaced by the next wave of immigrants.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 25,857
    Roger said:

    rottenborough said:

    Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.

    The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.

    Guardian


    Madness. Total madness.

    Just watched an episode of GB News for the first time. They've exhumed Eamonn Holmes. Any young media students looking for a job try GB News. They must be desperate
    If it's your first time, I'd be very interested in your assessment of their methodology for putting out unbalanced coverage whilst maintaining an illusion of balance.

    AFAICS their main technique is to have the presenters (many of whom are a touch nutty) frame an exaggerated, spun version of the story, or add a fabricated interpretation, then have their "balanced" panel (fairly hard righty, some sort of lefty) have their debate through a shifted Overton window.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,438
    MattW said:

    Eabhal said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    That's a strange interpretation. Low unemployment typically means that there is a tight labour market, and that there are plenty of jobs that need to be filled.

    If you're talking about the difference between the NE and London, that's almost certainly a difference in structural unemployment. London, being a dynamic city with lots of young people, will have more people working on short-term contracts/gig economy, and therefore more people between jobs.
    According to the ONS 33.2% of the people in Kensington & Chelsea are Economically Inactive.

    Bloody slackers.

    (And that's not an outlier either - last year was 35%.

    Don't tell Sky News.)
    How many of them are MPs?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,265
    Nigelb said:

    .

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Eddie Jordan has died.

    RIP.
    A reminder of not entirely corporate F1 days.
    I remember when Damon Hill won Jordan’s first Grand Prix at the incident packed Belgium Grand Prix of 1998 and the Yellow team partied like it was 1999.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,308
    stodge said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    They may do it statistically but you can’t treat London as a homogeneous economic entity. There are huge disparities within relatively short distances across the capital.

    In Newham there are always people looking for work - who are they? I suspect many are students looking for extra work - there are no doubt some here illegally who can’t sign on. We have a lot of cash only businesses such as the local Albanian run car wash.

    There seem to be jobs in retail and hospitality but they usually want experience of some sort and in my part of the world the “family” business still holds sway so the newly arrived second cousin can get a job in the shop.

    I suspect it’s rather different in Bromley, Kingston or Uxbridge.
    Indeed.

    And London's higher cost of living requires people to earn higher wages to make working worthwhile.

    And many people will never have the skills or experience to do that.
  • El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 4,242
    To no great surprise, one of Reform UK's new councillors is someone who was suspended from the Conservatives last year for retweeting a Britain First comment about "Islamist squatters":

    https://bsky.app/profile/oxfordclarion.bsky.social/post/3lksfims5222i
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,308
    MattW said:

    Eabhal said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    That's a strange interpretation. Low unemployment typically means that there is a tight labour market, and that there are plenty of jobs that need to be filled.

    If you're talking about the difference between the NE and London, that's almost certainly a difference in structural unemployment. London, being a dynamic city with lots of young people, will have more people working on short-term contracts/gig economy, and therefore more people between jobs.
    According to the ONS 33.2% of the people in Kensington & Chelsea are Economically Inactive.

    Bloody slackers.

    (And that's not an outlier either - last year was 35%.

    Don't tell Sky News.)
    K&C is a borough of extremes.

    Lots of rich who don't need to work and lots of poor who cannot afford to work.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,406
    Roger said:

    rottenborough said:

    Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.

    The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.

    Guardian


    Madness. Total madness.

    Just watched an episode of GB News for the first time. They've exhumed Eamonn Holmes. Any young media students looking for a job try GB News. They must be desperate
    Just checked, and it appears he's still alive.
    I might have tuned in otherwise.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,581
    Eabhal said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    That's a strange interpretation. Low unemployment typically means that there is a tight labour market, and that there are plenty of jobs that need to be filled.

    If you're talking about the difference between the NE and London, that's almost certainly a difference in structural unemployment. London, being a dynamic city with lots of young people, will have more people working on short-term contracts/gig economy, and therefore more people between jobs.
    There is very low unemployment among people seeking work.

    Shoving people into other categories has been The Policy for decades now.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,822
    edited March 20
    another_richard said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    I don't want to puncture this immigration theory of everything, but those differential unemployment rates are probably related to age more than anything else, as London has a younger population and young people, lacking marketable experience, are much more likely to be unemployed (unemployment rate of 18-24yos is 13%, compared to 3% for over 50yos).

    But a younger population should also have a higher employment rate and London's is below average.

    You're right that people without marketable experience, and skills, will have higher unemployment but how many of London's current unemployed will ever gain those ?

    As opposed to becoming unemployable for life as they subsist on welfare while being replaced by the next wave of immigrants.
    London's employment rate is 74%, versus 75% UK average. That's exceptionally high if you consider the number of students in London. You misinterpreted the figures and now you're digging a big hole.

    What's remarkable about the UK is we have high employment rates, and low unemployment, despite the enormous levels of net migration over the last few years.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,406
    Dura_Ace said:

    another_richard said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    boulay said:

    The EU can’t help themselves. They believe there is an existential threat to them from Russia so are trying to improve their defensive capabilities and one of the potential partners who could massively increase these capabilities is told “you cannot benefit from this unless you sign up to our rules, but btw please will you help us at your cost.”

    They should be saying “let’s work together - if you build kit we need we will buy it and if we build kit you need you can buy it. We will happily shelter under the nuclear umbrella provided by you and France at your costs and so think it’s only day to treat you as a friend and partner.”

    The UK chose to leave. It's not surprising that they aren't going to get a sniff of the EU €150bn SAFE fund.

    #brexitmeansbrexit #betteroffout #badideapoorlyexecuted
    Perhaps they want to be equally exclusionary when it comes to spending money and risking lives in defending EU countries.

    I'm sure Austria, Ireland and Hungary would be happy to make up the difference.
    The UK will be defending them anyway if it all kicks off unless NATO falls apart completely - which admittedly is looking odds on.
    The point is really a NATO replacement, just in case the US is permanently AWOL.
    And that requires collaboration for all manner of reasons.

    Airborne Electromagnetic Warfare in NATO: A Critical European Capability Gap

    https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/occasional-papers/airborne-electromagnetic-warfare-nato-critical-european-capability-gap
    Airborne electromagnetic warfare (EW) capabilities are critical to Western airpower, but they are also one of the areas in which NATO countries have the greatest dependence on the US military. The scale of this dependence represents a potential risk for the Alliance if Russian aggression occurs when American reinforcements and support capacity are either tied up with a concurrent crisis in another theatre or are otherwise unavailable at scale.

    No single European country has either the existing foundations or sufficient suitably qualified and experienced personnel to rapidly be able to add meaningful capabilities across all aspects of EW. Therefore, creating end-to-end capability within Europe will require genuine multinational partnerships and cooperative specialisation.

    The UK has maintained world-class signals analysis and mission dataprogramming expertise, especially through the Joint Electronic Warfare Operational Support Centre and the tactical data-focused Typhoon Mission Support Centre. However, maintaining these vital and scarce capabilities in electromagnetic support measures (ESM) and electromagnetic countermeasures (ECM) in an era of rapidly evolving digital threat systems will require increased investment and rapid adoption of AI- and machine learning-enabled toolsets.

    The key to rapidly increasing European NATO’s ability to collect electromagnetic intelligence data is to ensure that all the electronic support measures suites being carried by non-traditional ISR platforms – such as modern fighter aircraft and UAVs for other mission sets – are used to their full collection potential.

    A pooled multinational electromagnetic attack squadron procured and run by NATO could allow air forces that are too small to economically field dedicated EW capabilities to meaningfully contribute funding and personnel. There is precedence for this approach in other areas, such as the NATO Airborne Warning and Control System Force (AWACS), the Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Capability fleet, and the Strategic Airlift Capability fleet...
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,124
    edited March 20
    rottenborough said:

    No one will be prepared to travel to America for work shortly:



    A French scientist was denied entry to the US after immigration officials found text messages that were critical of Donald Trump which they said “could be considered to be terrorism”.

    The researcher, who has not been named, was on his way to a conference in Houston, Texas, when officers pulled him aside for a random check and searched his work computer and personal phone, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

    Telegraph

    Again, I would issue caution. This all comes from a single source and on their side that has been then transcribed across all the media. They pulled him, it is said by random (they don't generally pull people like that as they already have more than enough people to investigate, they might say that, but it is because their is some warning on their system*). But, it says they found "hateful and conspiratorial messages" (not just Trump related) and was informed that he had been under investigation from the FBI (so that is probably why he was pulled).

    * I have told the story of Mrs U getting pulled just like this. And it was because there was somebody with same name / very similar DOB, that was flagged.

    I wouldn't be shocked if it is the same case here.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 16,297
    another_richard said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    I don't want to puncture this immigration theory of everything, but those differential unemployment rates are probably related to age more than anything else, as London has a younger population and young people, lacking marketable experience, are much more likely to be unemployed (unemployment rate of 18-24yos is 13%, compared to 3% for over 50yos).

    But a younger population should also have a higher employment rate and London's is below average.

    You're right that people without marketable experience, and skills, will have higher unemployment but how many of London's current unemployed will ever gain those ?

    As opposed to becoming unemployable for life as they subsist on welfare while being replaced by the next wave of immigrants.
    Have you ever even been to London? It is full of incredibly ambitious young people, often immigrants or children of immigrants. My daughter attended a state sixth form college that sends more kids to Oxbridge than Eton. Most of the kids there are from ethnic minorities (including my daughter, who is now at Oxford doing a maths degree). The idea that London is full of lazy brown people sitting around spending other people's money is a laughable fiction - the energy and ambition of London keeps the rest of the country afloat.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,256
    MattW said:

    One coming down the track - Trump reportedly having databases recording war crimes in Ukraine, including that related to thousands of children abducted to Russia, deleted, as he withdraws funding to the project.

    https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-press-marco-rubio-over-deleted-russian-war-crimes-data-2047047

    The detail is not absolutely clear yet, and Trump / Musk will obfuscate. I hope Yale University had their data backed up in a safe jurisdiction.

    I'd say it's exactly the sort of promise he may have quietly made to Putin, given that he launched his assault on the ICC on day one.

    That story has malicious compliance, obfuscation and lies written all over it. How can cutting funding for something 'result' in the deletion of data? Did the data even exist in the first place?

    An unidentified source familiar with the tracking program told Reuters that DOGE's cutting funding for the program has resulted in the deletion of $26 million of war crimes evidence protecting Putin. They said, "They took $26 million of U.S. taxpayers money used for war crimes data and threw it into the woodchipper, including the dossiers on all the children. If you wanted to protect President Putin from prosecution, you nuke that thing. And they did it. It's the final court-admissible version with all the metadata."
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,822
    Malmesbury said:

    Eabhal said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    That's a strange interpretation. Low unemployment typically means that there is a tight labour market, and that there are plenty of jobs that need to be filled.

    If you're talking about the difference between the NE and London, that's almost certainly a difference in structural unemployment. London, being a dynamic city with lots of young people, will have more people working on short-term contracts/gig economy, and therefore more people between jobs.
    There is very low unemployment among people seeking work.

    Shoving people into other categories has been The Policy for decades now.
    That's not true either. Employment rates are at a historically high levels, and we compare very well internationally. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/march2025

    You guys are barking up the wrong tree. Employment is simply not an issue in the UK - it's the very low wages for those in employment that is the issue, and why GDP per capita has flatlined and living standards not improved.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 33,976
    MattW said:

    Eabhal said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    That's a strange interpretation. Low unemployment typically means that there is a tight labour market, and that there are plenty of jobs that need to be filled.

    If you're talking about the difference between the NE and London, that's almost certainly a difference in structural unemployment. London, being a dynamic city with lots of young people, will have more people working on short-term contracts/gig economy, and therefore more people between jobs.
    According to the ONS 33.2% of the people in Kensington & Chelsea are Economically Inactive.

    Bloody slackers.

    (And that's not an outlier either - last year was 35%.

    Don't tell Sky News.)
    Does that include retired people?
  • glwglw Posts: 10,257
    MattW said:

    FPT

    MattW said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:

    I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.

    As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.

    The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.

    I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).

    Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.

    I encourage our allies and friends to do the same.
    https://x.com/RasmusJarlov/status/1902389277423509877

    Mind boggling tweet

    Not sure it’s wise
    We’re beyond that, I think.
    Europe has a brief chance to get its act together on defence, and that requires an honest discussion. The fact that the US cannot, for the first time in our lifetimes, by considered a reliable ally isn’t something you can ignore.

    And it’s not as though they aren’t already aware of that.

    ‘There is no kill switch’—The F-35 'kill switch' rumor has been debunked.

    “After weeks of speculation, the Pentagon formally denies having the ability to remotely disable @LockheedMartin’s F-35 fighter jets.”
    https://x.com/thef35/status/1902117234039992683


    Of all the stupid things Trump has done, this - along with the tariff madness - seems the most stupid of all

    And i am strongly sympathetic (unlike anyone else on here) to a lot of the Trumpite Culture War on Woke. But the damage to alliances, friendships and American tech/industrial exports could be generational, it may never be fixable

    I cannot see the logic. And usually I can see some logic to what Trump does - even if it is evil and immoral

    Maybe Trump really is a Russian agent, just as Starmer works for China
    I think that burning down the USA's international relationships is more damaging more broadly than that. Notably things like JD Vance pissing on the graves of all the soldiers from 50+ countries who served alongside them and were killed, in their support, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    For the UK that was 230k service people who served and getting on for a thousand who were killed.

    Next time they have a 9/11 and ask for help, the response will be crickets.

    They will lose something like $70-100bn annually in arms exports (that's 1/3 to 1/2 of present volume), plus all the other pivots away.

    Plus Trump has burnt down 80 years of reputational capital.

    Domestically, they are destroying the science base of their advanced economy, and their society itself. It's going to be quite apocalyptic.
    Incidentally, had you copped that Uruguay is assessed by Freedom House as the equal 11th most "free" country in the world - above most of Europe. A nugget for your article, if not yet written?

    (Taiwan is ~top 25.)

    https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores?sort=desc&amp;order=Total Score and Status

    Arm's exports are just the tip of the iceberg. If we can't trust US weapons — because they do mission planning, or provice maintenance and spares — how can we trust other goods and services? We need to treat the US the same way we treat China. Anything critical has to be US-free. That will take a long, long time, and the cost to us and the US will be enormous.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,284
    Eabhal said:

    another_richard said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    I don't want to puncture this immigration theory of everything, but those differential unemployment rates are probably related to age more than anything else, as London has a younger population and young people, lacking marketable experience, are much more likely to be unemployed (unemployment rate of 18-24yos is 13%, compared to 3% for over 50yos).

    But a younger population should also have a higher employment rate and London's is below average.

    You're right that people without marketable experience, and skills, will have higher unemployment but how many of London's current unemployed will ever gain those ?

    As opposed to becoming unemployable for life as they subsist on welfare while being replaced by the next wave of immigrants.
    London's employment rate is 74%, versus 75% UK average. That's exceptionally high if you consider the number of students in London. You misinterpreted the figures and now you're digging a big hole.

    What's remarkable about the UK is we have high employment rates, and low unemployment, despite the enormous levels of net migration over the last few years.
    Good morning everyone!

    My grandson's student girl-friend has two (part-time) jobs, as well as her studies. Cost of living in London, she says.

    Before anyone asks, I don't know how she does it, either. She has a lot of reading to do, he says, but seems to spend time round at his as well.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,355
    MattW said:

    Eabhal said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    That's a strange interpretation. Low unemployment typically means that there is a tight labour market, and that there are plenty of jobs that need to be filled.

    If you're talking about the difference between the NE and London, that's almost certainly a difference in structural unemployment. London, being a dynamic city with lots of young people, will have more people working on short-term contracts/gig economy, and therefore more people between jobs.
    According to the ONS 33.2% of the people in Kensington & Chelsea are Economically Inactive.

    Bloody slackers.

    (And that's not an outlier either - last year was 35%.

    Don't tell Sky News.)
    Retired people and inheritance
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,822
    Andy_JS said:

    MattW said:

    Eabhal said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    That's a strange interpretation. Low unemployment typically means that there is a tight labour market, and that there are plenty of jobs that need to be filled.

    If you're talking about the difference between the NE and London, that's almost certainly a difference in structural unemployment. London, being a dynamic city with lots of young people, will have more people working on short-term contracts/gig economy, and therefore more people between jobs.
    According to the ONS 33.2% of the people in Kensington & Chelsea are Economically Inactive.

    Bloody slackers.

    (And that's not an outlier either - last year was 35%.

    Don't tell Sky News.)
    Does that include retired people?
    It's 16-64, so does include early retirees and students.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,406
    williamglenn said:

    MattW said:

    One coming down the track - Trump reportedly having databases recording war crimes in Ukraine, including that related to thousands of children abducted to Russia, deleted, as he withdraws funding to the project.

    https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-press-marco-rubio-over-deleted-russian-war-crimes-data-2047047

    The detail is not absolutely clear yet, and Trump / Musk will obfuscate. I hope Yale University had their data backed up in a safe jurisdiction.

    I'd say it's exactly the sort of promise he may have quietly made to Putin, given that he launched his assault on the ICC on day one.

    That story has malicious compliance, obfuscation and lies written all over it. How can cutting funding for something 'result' in the deletion of data? Did the data even exist in the first place?

    An unidentified source familiar with the tracking program told Reuters that DOGE's cutting funding for the program has resulted in the deletion of $26 million of war crimes evidence protecting Putin. They said, "They took $26 million of U.S. taxpayers money used for war crimes data and threw it into the woodchipper, including the dossiers on all the children. If you wanted to protect President Putin from prosecution, you nuke that thing. And they did it. It's the final court-admissible version with all the metadata."
    There has been regular reporting of the destruction of records by DOGE, in numerous instances. As I'm sure you're well aware.
    Malice and obfuscation are rather more likely from that source.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 33,976
    HYUFD said:

    MattW said:

    Eabhal said:

    another_richard said:

    Regional unemployment:

    London 6.3%
    Wales 5.4%
    North East 4.7%

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/march2025

    We all know that there isn't enough housing for all the immigrants allowed to migrate to London.

    But there isn't even the excuse that there are jobs that need filling.

    That's a strange interpretation. Low unemployment typically means that there is a tight labour market, and that there are plenty of jobs that need to be filled.

    If you're talking about the difference between the NE and London, that's almost certainly a difference in structural unemployment. London, being a dynamic city with lots of young people, will have more people working on short-term contracts/gig economy, and therefore more people between jobs.
    According to the ONS 33.2% of the people in Kensington & Chelsea are Economically Inactive.

    Bloody slackers.

    (And that's not an outlier either - last year was 35%.

    Don't tell Sky News.)
    Retired people and inheritance
    It's a high figure if it only includes 16-64 as Eabhal has just confirmed.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,256
    Nigelb said:

    williamglenn said:

    MattW said:

    One coming down the track - Trump reportedly having databases recording war crimes in Ukraine, including that related to thousands of children abducted to Russia, deleted, as he withdraws funding to the project.

    https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-press-marco-rubio-over-deleted-russian-war-crimes-data-2047047

    The detail is not absolutely clear yet, and Trump / Musk will obfuscate. I hope Yale University had their data backed up in a safe jurisdiction.

    I'd say it's exactly the sort of promise he may have quietly made to Putin, given that he launched his assault on the ICC on day one.

    That story has malicious compliance, obfuscation and lies written all over it. How can cutting funding for something 'result' in the deletion of data? Did the data even exist in the first place?

    An unidentified source familiar with the tracking program told Reuters that DOGE's cutting funding for the program has resulted in the deletion of $26 million of war crimes evidence protecting Putin. They said, "They took $26 million of U.S. taxpayers money used for war crimes data and threw it into the woodchipper, including the dossiers on all the children. If you wanted to protect President Putin from prosecution, you nuke that thing. And they did it. It's the final court-admissible version with all the metadata."
    There has been regular reporting of the destruction of records by DOGE, in numerous instances. As I'm sure you're well aware.
    Malice and obfuscation are rather more likely from that source.
    How could DOGE have access to Yale University's data in order to delete it? It's not a credible story on any level.
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