I find it hard to see how America can draw a line under the catastrophe that it's insane president has unleashed without removing Trump from office. We're rapidly approaching the point where the destruction of US credibility means a simple reversal of tariffs won't be enough
I find it hard to see how America can draw a line under the catastrophe that it's insane president has unleashed without removing Trump from office. We're rapidly approaching the point where the destruction of US credibility means a simple reversal of tariffs won't be enough
Another "Brexit bonus" - 10 yr borrowing costs for the UK are now higher than .. Greece.
Your daily reminder that borrowing costs in developed countries are primarily a reflection of future interest rate expectations rather than default risk.
I find it hard to see how America can draw a line under the catastrophe that it's insane president has unleashed without removing Trump from office. We're rapidly approaching the point where the destruction of US credibility means a simple reversal of tariffs won't be enough
As always, lets play the scenario - Trump restores tariffs to Status Quo Ante.
The markets will not thank him by having a restored confidence in the economy. Other countries will assume that SQA may be changed again on a whim with no notice - and thus largely carry on as if the tariffs are in place.
And politically? He's screamed about how terrible the core fundamentals of the US economy are, and then made things worse.
We know from recent events that political lies do not defeat lived reality. All those Tory voters were not convinced by Huntsunak saying "we've cut your taxes" because when they looked at their payslip they could see the tax increase. Will be the same, even for a MAGA zealot - you can only be told "don't look up" so many times before you do and then you can't ignore the reality.
AfD 25 % CDU/CSU 24 % SPD 15 % GRÜNE 11 % DIE LINKE 11 % BSW 5 % FDP 4 % (Ipsos）
It is significant - perhaps very significant - that the catastropfuck of Trumpism does not seem to be impacting the alt-right in Europe, which goes from strength to strength
You'd think this would be covered by Brit journalists specialising in the USA but they are too lazy. I am tempted to shout at them to put a wiggle on, eg. "Arbeit, Matt Frei!"
It's partly because Musk has stopped appearing at AfD rallies thar they are doing better. But mainly frustration that the election was weeks ago, nothing has changed, Merz is so useless, dishonest and unlikeable, and the AfD are the main opposition. The Greens are still part of the minority government that hasn't been able to do anything since November. The Left have also benefited in the polls but don't have the massive establishment support the AfD have.
Merz is the first Germany party leader to get his party back to government after only one term out of power in 50 years. He also had a successful private sector career before becoming chancellor.
As long as the CDU and SPD combined have most votes and the CDU more seats than the SPD it doesn't matter if the AfD lead the polls either, Merz stays chancellor.
Merz has also just introduced a tough new policy suspending refugee immigrants
You mean Merz led the CDU to their 2nd worst result ever, and their worst ever from opposition. And that in the favourable situation of running as opposition to a historically unpopular government. And a government that contained all 3 of SPD, Greens and FDP. So a really bad result under the circumstances.
You may like Merz, but most Germans don't.
I do expect the CDU to recover a bit after they take office, and start spending all those billions they've made available for themselves that Merz denied the last government.
Because Germany like most nations now has more multi party politics. He still won the election and as I said the AfD coming top is far less of a concern for Merz than the SPD topping the polls provided Union + SPD is bigger still than AfD and Union remains bigger than SPD as he still remains chancellor that way.
If the SPD refused to work with the Union the only alternative would be a Union and AfD deal
Nah, just unconstitutional. Casting out Truss and Rees-Mogg was the voters' job.
Jesus isn't MAGA anyway. In America he'd clearly back Bernie, and here I've always seen him as a LibDem - bearded, well meaning and sandal-wearing, but spouting pious, muddled and impractical crap.
If only MAGA and the LibDems were more like Jesus, i.e. non-existent.
Whatever your religious opinions are, one thing that is certain is that the person now known as Jesus of Nazareth" was a genuine person and certainly was not "non-existant".
People who don't accept this are on the same level as people who don't accept the moon landings.
Jesus was also relatively socially conservative even if economically left (also pro 3rd sector)
What was his position on HS2?
Jerusalem to Nazareth, with fork to Capernaum. Cancel the proposed extensions to Sidon and Damascus. Just like Rishi.
I find it hard to see how America can draw a line under the catastrophe that it's insane president has unleashed without removing Trump from office. We're rapidly approaching the point where the destruction of US credibility means a simple reversal of tariffs won't be enough
The EU’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs on all of America’s trading partners may be less aggressive than expected, but it does show some creativity in its bid to hit the U.S. where it will hurt the most.
According to an internal document seen by POLITICO, the Commission is considering slapping tariffs of up to 25 percent on a broad range of exports from the U.S. worth around €22.1 billion based on the EU’s 2024 imports.
The list features run-of-the-mill agricultural and industrial commodities such as soybeans, meat, tobacco, iron, steel and aluminum — to hit the American sectors that rely most on transatlantic exports.
Dig deeper, and it turns out the EU’s trade nerds have stirred some unaccustomed creativity into their expert knowledge of obscure customs codes, while channeling a helping of passive aggression to inflict pain on Trump’s base.
Let’s start with the EU’s No. 1 target — soybeans, the most valuable item on the bloc’s hit list, a product whose economic and symbolic significance for the Republican Party's heartlands cannot be overstated.
The EU is also targeting beef from Kansas and Nebraska, poultry from Louisiana, car parts from Michigan, cigarettes from Florida, and wood products from North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
While the Commission ended up dropping whiskey from the final draft after successful lobbying from France, Italy and Ireland, it did include other more niche items designed to cause the greatest pain to exporters in Republican states.
Do we still trust opinion polls? Or should I say, “why do we still trust opinion polls?”?
At the time of the Blackpool by election last year, Labour were on 44% in most polls, and that number went up afterwards. Yet in that by election, despite winning, Labour got fewer votes than they did in the 2019 GE when they got 32% nationally. This seemed completely at odds with a party about to get mid forties nationally; when Labour won in 97, they’d been stacking up thousands of extra votes in the preceding by elections. I asked at the time where the extra were votes coming from, if no one new is turning out to vote for them in these by election wins… as it happened, they didn’t need any extra votes, but it showed the 44% plus polls up as pretty shoddy
But Labour's share went up from 38% to 58% between 2019 and the byelection.
They got less votes because turnout was down, but I'd have thought that was because the actual result was pretty much a foregone conclusion. It probably suggests that there was a lot less enthusiasm for politics, but then 1997 was before the malign influence of social media had sucked most of the positivity from politics.
The share of the vote in Blackpool was irrelevant; the striking thing was that at a time when the incumbents couldn’t have been less popular, fewer people voted Labour than last time. As I say, in 96 Labour were winning these by elections with huge increases of votes
If you’re talking about the GE, they got fewer votes than 2019 but also a much smaller share of the votes than polls suggested less than six months previously. I suggest that the clues were there in Blackpool, and also other by elections that the mid forties was never going to happen.
That's all very well, but tonight I have to eat a actual horse
That's not very impressive (I suspect many of us have eaten horse) unless you are eating the whole horse. If you are that would be very impressive indeed.
I have (some) horse in the freezer with the pheasants, the pigeons, the (checks) ostriches, and the chuckleberries.
Never heard of a chuckleberry. Looked it up and it sounds fantastic.
Mine came from here wholesale, as very good value compared to blueberries, redcurrants etc. I now have a freezer draw full of them, loose, having bought a 12kg box to get a ludicrous price (£3 per kilo). The other items tend to be £15-20 for 2.5 kilos, depending on timing.
Be warned, the stuff about surprisingly sweet is mainly baloney. They are less tart than a gooseberry, but still quite sharp. Sweetener required.
Since they are a hybrid you are probably a better judge:
Chuckleberries were bred by Chas Welch in Norfolk, England, by crossing a redcurrant, a gooseberry, and a jostaberry (a hybrid of a gooseberry and blackcurrant).
I usually order enough of berries (£60 I think) to get free carriage, which is significant.
As PB's answer to Mr Crump * (see James Herriott), you might like to give it a go.
If you happen to drive down the M1 past Alfreton (M1 J28) and you want a smaller sample I could happily barter some from my 12kg (how much do you need for a trial?) for 3-4 bottles of Vintage Taz Selection.
I find it hard to see how America can draw a line under the catastrophe that it's insane president has unleashed without removing Trump from office. We're rapidly approaching the point where the destruction of US credibility means a simple reversal of tariffs won't be enough
I find it hard to see how America can draw a line under the catastrophe that it's insane president has unleashed without removing Trump from office. We're rapidly approaching the point where the destruction of US credibility means a simple reversal of tariffs won't be enough
The arrogance of these people is off the charts. They have a certain image of America and regard it as America’s duty to live up to it.
I don't see minimally sane and functional administration as a particularly high standard to expect any government to live up to. Even if you do, we can legitimately have different opinions on this?
The EU’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs on all of America’s trading partners may be less aggressive than expected, but it does show some creativity in its bid to hit the U.S. where it will hurt the most.
According to an internal document seen by POLITICO, the Commission is considering slapping tariffs of up to 25 percent on a broad range of exports from the U.S. worth around €22.1 billion based on the EU’s 2024 imports.
The list features run-of-the-mill agricultural and industrial commodities such as soybeans, meat, tobacco, iron, steel and aluminum — to hit the American sectors that rely most on transatlantic exports.
Dig deeper, and it turns out the EU’s trade nerds have stirred some unaccustomed creativity into their expert knowledge of obscure customs codes, while channeling a helping of passive aggression to inflict pain on Trump’s base.
Let’s start with the EU’s No. 1 target — soybeans, the most valuable item on the bloc’s hit list, a product whose economic and symbolic significance for the Republican Party's heartlands cannot be overstated.
The EU is also targeting beef from Kansas and Nebraska, poultry from Louisiana, car parts from Michigan, cigarettes from Florida, and wood products from North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
While the Commission ended up dropping whiskey from the final draft after successful lobbying from France, Italy and Ireland, it did include other more niche items designed to cause the greatest pain to exporters in Republican states.
Have no doubts - we are at economic war with the USA. They want to kill as much of our economy as they can.
Sometimes in a crisis the best action is no action - wait for the chaos to sweep past you and then assess what to do. In this case I do not think so. Dial up the reciprocal targeting of the US economy and balance that off by doing more trade with notAmerica.
I find it hard to see how America can draw a line under the catastrophe that it's insane president has unleashed without removing Trump from office. We're rapidly approaching the point where the destruction of US credibility means a simple reversal of tariffs won't be enough
The USA is pushing other countries towards China so the total reverse of what it wants to see . China is now seen as a more reliable trade partner .
This looks like the biggest of own goals by the USA .
Not if the US wants to largely ignore the rest of the world and just produce its own goods and services for its own consumers and stay out of foreign wars and deport illegal immigrants too ie America First as Trump says.
If Trump's tariffs do increase US manufacturing jobs then nationalist parties across the West will also grow further including on a policy of raising tariffs on cheap Chinese goods
Trump's policy (if not his intent), is to strengthen rival nations at the expense of his own.
Again a globalist view, China already dominates manufacturing globally so the rustbelt has nothing to lose and if Europe has to fund more of its own defence and builds military strength that was needed anyway.
No, just a common sense view. Nobody got richer by making everything more expensive for their own people, putting a bomb under share prices, and raising long term interest rates. Nobody got rich by making their own country a worse place to do business in, and driving away foreign consumers.
Prioritising the rust belt, over every other part of the USA, especially the parts that make profits by selling goods and services abroad, is the epitome of stupidity.
It was the rust belt that elected Trump.
Yes, Wall Street and Tech and government workers may be hit but they and Hollywood and DC backed Harris on the whole anyway as did coastal America.
It was rustbelt middle America who elected Trump and their America has been in relative decline for years, so they took a gamble on Trump to revive manufacturing and produce for America first, they don't care about the liberal coasts, they are also fed up of foreign wars and immigration they want an isolationist US.
Trump's gamble is more US manufacturing jobs will be created than the rise in cost of living hitting swing voters and that more consumers will switch to US goods from imports
Coastal states that voted for Trump: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska. Which is 137 electoral votes.
If anyone believes that low skilled mass manufacturing is going to return to rust belt small towns:
Chinese manufacturing labor isn’t just cheaper. It’s better.
In China, there are no people who are too fat to work. The workers don’t storm off midshift, never to return to their job. You don’t have people who insist on being paid in cash so that they can keep their disability payments, while they do acrobatics on the factory floor that the non-disabled workers cannot do.
Chinese workers much less likely to physically attack each other and their manager. They don’t take 30 minute bathroom breaks on company time. They don’t often quit because their out-of-state mother of their children discovered their new job and now receives 60% of their wages as child support. They don’t disappear because they’ve gone on meth benders. And they don’t fall asleep on a box midshift because their pay from yesterday got converted into pills.
And they can do their times tables. To manufacture, you need to be able to consistently and accurately multiply 7 times 9 and read in English, and a disturbingly large portion of the American workforce cannot do that.
Chinese workers work longer hours more happily and they’re physically faster with their hands; they can do things that American labor can’t. It’s years of accumulated skill, but it’s also a culture that is oriented around hard work and education that the United States no longer has.
The article clearly contains exaggerations such as "In China, there are no people who are too fat to work." WIth 1.3 billion people, I'm sure there will be quite a few people in this category.
The Chinese aren't supermen or robots.
To the extent this is true, it's because they have to work like this to survive - as Britons did in the mills of Lancashire and Yorkshire in the 19th Century.
As soon as society became more affluent, quite rightly there was a demand for social and employment reform.
This whole kerfuffle is causing a lot of wierdly hairpin moral reassessments on the part of our Trump-hating pitchfork wavers.
Sudden effusive praise for a brutal Chinese capitalist system and condemnation of fat Americans with their bathroom breaks and drug issues doesn't immediately tally with their views on the horiffic cruelty of 'austerity' in the UK and 'welfare cuts' in the UK.
Unlike the Mad king, who is currently finding out...
Tariffs are now at the point where they could gum up all trade
Which would be bad
The US-China tariffs are now so high by both sides that no trade will operate between those two countries. Whether that means 'creative' accounting methods will be found to pretend that those goods aren't really from China, no siree, they're from the United Kingdom; or whether just out and out smuggling will make a massive comeback remains to be seen.
"If you can get a couple—three—deals in the next three, four, five weeks, I don’t know many weeks, maybe six weeks, that’s going to trigger a tremendous rally in the stock market. Because people are going to say, you know what, the Trump people were right, and this is exactly how it’s playing out."
"Frankly, at this point, to me, all this recession talk—it’s the greatest recession that never happened."
The deals are being done. This is going to be HUGE.
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
Nah, just unconstitutional. Casting out Truss and Rees-Mogg was the voters' job.
Jesus isn't MAGA anyway. In America he'd clearly back Bernie, and here I've always seen him as a LibDem - bearded, well meaning and sandal-wearing, but spouting pious, muddled and impractical crap.
If only MAGA and the LibDems were more like Jesus, i.e. non-existent.
Whatever your religious opinions are, one thing that is certain is that the person now known as Jesus of Nazareth" was a genuine person and certainly was not "non-existant".
People who don't accept this are on the same level as people who don't accept the moon landings.
As the biggest and staunchest atheist in the world, I do believe Jesus existed.
I also think his message of peace, hope and love for the world and fellow humans was much to be admired.
Christians who follow his message, and the New Testament, are the proper way. Those who believe in the Old Testament and 'bashing babies against rocks' (Psalm 137:9) are wrong and should be ignored.
The USA is pushing other countries towards China so the total reverse of what it wants to see . China is now seen as a more reliable trade partner .
This looks like the biggest of own goals by the USA .
Not if the US wants to largely ignore the rest of the world and just produce its own goods and services for its own consumers and stay out of foreign wars and deport illegal immigrants too ie America First as Trump says.
If Trump's tariffs do increase US manufacturing jobs then nationalist parties across the West will also grow further including on a policy of raising tariffs on cheap Chinese goods
Trump's policy (if not his intent), is to strengthen rival nations at the expense of his own.
Again a globalist view, China already dominates manufacturing globally so the rustbelt has nothing to lose and if Europe has to fund more of its own defence and builds military strength that was needed anyway.
No, just a common sense view. Nobody got richer by making everything more expensive for their own people, putting a bomb under share prices, and raising long term interest rates. Nobody got rich by making their own country a worse place to do business in, and driving away foreign consumers.
Prioritising the rust belt, over every other part of the USA, especially the parts that make profits by selling goods and services abroad, is the epitome of stupidity.
It was the rust belt that elected Trump.
Yes, Wall Street and Tech and government workers may be hit but they and Hollywood and DC backed Harris on the whole anyway as did coastal America.
It was rustbelt middle America who elected Trump and their America has been in relative decline for years, so they took a gamble on Trump to revive manufacturing and produce for America first, they don't care about the liberal coasts, they are also fed up of foreign wars and immigration they want an isolationist US.
Trump's gamble is more US manufacturing jobs will be created than the rise in cost of living hitting swing voters and that more consumers will switch to US goods from imports
Coastal states that voted for Trump: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska. Which is 137 electoral votes.
Not to mention that there are millions of people who voted for Trump, working in tech, and export-oriented businesses.
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
A Moldovan business associate of mine does business in Kazakhstan. I've presented to Kazak businessmen with him. It sounds like a fascinating country!
Nah, just unconstitutional. Casting out Truss and Rees-Mogg was the voters' job.
Jesus isn't MAGA anyway. In America he'd clearly back Bernie, and here I've always seen him as a LibDem - bearded, well meaning and sandal-wearing, but spouting pious, muddled and impractical crap.
If only MAGA and the LibDems were more like Jesus, i.e. non-existent.
Whatever your religious opinions are, one thing that is certain is that the person now known as Jesus of Nazareth" was a genuine person and certainly was not "non-existant".
People who don't accept this are on the same level as people who don't accept the moon landings.
As the biggest and staunchest atheist in the world, I do believe Jesus existed.
I also think his message of peace, hope and love for the world and fellow humans was much to be admired.
Christians who follow his message, and the New Testament, are the proper way. Those who believe in the Old Testament and 'bashing babies against rocks' (Psalm 137:9) are wrong and should be ignored.
I find it hard to see how America can draw a line under the catastrophe that it's insane president has unleashed without removing Trump from office. We're rapidly approaching the point where the destruction of US credibility means a simple reversal of tariffs won't be enough
The arrogance of these people is off the charts. They have a certain image of America and regard it as America’s duty to live up to it.
Aye. Complete bastards. How dare they think they should form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America?
That's all very well, but tonight I have to eat a actual horse
That's not very impressive (I suspect many of us have eaten horse) unless you are eating the whole horse. If you are that would be very impressive indeed.
I have (some) horse in the freezer with the pheasants, the pigeons, the (checks) ostriches, and the chuckleberries.
Never heard of a chuckleberry. Looked it up and it sounds fantastic.
Mine came from here wholesale, as very good value compared to blueberries, redcurrants etc. I now have a freezer draw full of them, loose, having bought a 12kg box to get a ludicrous price (£3 per kilo). The other items tend to be £15-20 for 2.5 kilos, depending on timing.
Be warned, the stuff about surprisingly sweet is mainly baloney. They are less tart than a gooseberry, but still quite sharp. Sweetener required.
Since they are a hybrid you are probably a better judge:
Chuckleberries were bred by Chas Welch in Norfolk, England, by crossing a redcurrant, a gooseberry, and a jostaberry (a hybrid of a gooseberry and blackcurrant).
I usually order enough of berries (£60 I think) to get free carriage, which is significant.
As PB's answer to Mr Crump * (see James Herriott), you might like to give it a go.
If you happen to drive down the M1 past Alfreton (M1 J28) and you want a smaller sample I could happily barter some from my 12kg (how much do you need for a trial?) for 3-4 bottles of Vintage Taz Selection.
As you are a cheerleader for the swiveleyed populist right, is it causing you to have a rethink?
Bozo, Truss, Trump: all egomaniacs who are too stupid to recognise their own limitations that inevitably leads to their own demise with inexorable damage to the reputations of their parties and their country. Shakespeare would have had a field day with all three.
I'm not even sure Trump is populist right. He's more uniquely Trumpite
My positions on Woke, asylum, migration, Islamism, etc etc etc - are not changed one jot
That was not the question. The question was whether you recant your previous enthusiasm for Donald Trump and your previous -slightly weird- obsession with Liz Truss.
BTW, have you done the culinary scene in the Faroes?
Nah, just unconstitutional. Casting out Truss and Rees-Mogg was the voters' job.
Jesus isn't MAGA anyway. In America he'd clearly back Bernie, and here I've always seen him as a LibDem - bearded, well meaning and sandal-wearing, but spouting pious, muddled and impractical crap.
If only MAGA and the LibDems were more like Jesus, i.e. non-existent.
Whatever your religious opinions are, one thing that is certain is that the person now known as Jesus of Nazareth" was a genuine person and certainly was not "non-existant".
People who don't accept this are on the same level as people who don't accept the moon landings.
As the biggest and staunchest atheist in the world, I do believe Jesus existed.
I also think his message of peace, hope and love for the world and fellow humans was much to be admired.
Christians who follow his message, and the New Testament, are the proper way. Those who believe in the Old Testament and 'bashing babies against rocks' (Psalm 137:9) are wrong and should be ignored.
That must have been the additional verse on the 12" version of Boney M's hit. I don't remember bashing baby heads against rocks on the version on the album.
That's all very well, but tonight I have to eat a actual horse
That's not very impressive (I suspect many of us have eaten horse) unless you are eating the whole horse. If you are that would be very impressive indeed.
I have (some) horse in the freezer with the pheasants, the pigeons, the (checks) ostriches, and the chuckleberries.
Never heard of a chuckleberry. Looked it up and it sounds fantastic.
Mine came from here wholesale, as very good value compared to blueberries, redcurrants etc. I now have a freezer draw full of them, loose, having bought a 12kg box to get a ludicrous price (£3 per kilo). The other items tend to be £15-20 for 2.5 kilos, depending on timing.
Be warned, the stuff about surprisingly sweet is mainly baloney. They are less tart than a gooseberry, but still quite sharp. Sweetener required.
Since they are a hybrid you are probably a better judge:
Chuckleberries were bred by Chas Welch in Norfolk, England, by crossing a redcurrant, a gooseberry, and a jostaberry (a hybrid of a gooseberry and blackcurrant).
I usually order enough of berries (£60 I think) to get free carriage, which is significant.
As PB's answer to Mr Crump * (see James Herriott), you might like to give it a go.
If you happen to drive down the M1 past Alfreton (M1 J28) and you want a smaller sample I could happily barter some from my 12kg (how much do you need for a trial?) for 3-4 bottles of Vintage Taz Selection.
China has the upper hand in this battle. Why? Because China is NOT reliant on exports to the US. China learned very quickly that being too reliant on one country (especially a one that continuously attacks, sanctions, and tariffs you) would be way too risky. So what did China do? They diversified.
China trades more with SE Asian countries than the USA. China has close relations with 52 nations in Africa, China leads trade in the Middle East and vast majority of developing countries around the globe.
Meanwhile the US is screwed without Chinese manufacturing. Walk through your house and see how many products are Made in China. If Trump doesn't swallow his pride and immediately reverse positions (he won't his ego is WAY too big) then this is the end of the US economy.
The first 100 days of Trump's presidency couldn't have gone any worse. Absolute disaster for the United States
Not a terribly convincing argument that Trump is doing the wrong thing, is it?
Really?
Murica thinks it holds the whip hand over China China doesn't need to export to America American consumers expect to be able to buy stuff at Chinese prices
The T-Shirt example given upthread illustrates the point. Lets assume a MAGA industrialist starts to make Tshirts that retail at $10 a pop. Great - no more imports from China of the $5 ones. Only problem is that US consumers now pay double the price.
Which for Trump voters is still worth it if more US manufacturing jobs are created
As a wise man once put it:
“It is the theory of the Protectionist that imports are an evil. He thinks that if you shut out the foreign imported manufactured goods you will make these goods yourselves, in addition to the goods which you make now, including those goods which we make to exchange for the foreign goods that come in. If a man can believe that he can believe anything. We Free-traders say it is not true. To think you can make a man richer by putting on a tax is like a man thinking that he can stand in a bucket and lift himself up by the handle”.
He’s about to be proven right. Again. To all our cost.
The EU’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs on all of America’s trading partners may be less aggressive than expected, but it does show some creativity in its bid to hit the U.S. where it will hurt the most.
According to an internal document seen by POLITICO, the Commission is considering slapping tariffs of up to 25 percent on a broad range of exports from the U.S. worth around €22.1 billion based on the EU’s 2024 imports.
The list features run-of-the-mill agricultural and industrial commodities such as soybeans, meat, tobacco, iron, steel and aluminum — to hit the American sectors that rely most on transatlantic exports.
Dig deeper, and it turns out the EU’s trade nerds have stirred some unaccustomed creativity into their expert knowledge of obscure customs codes, while channeling a helping of passive aggression to inflict pain on Trump’s base.
Let’s start with the EU’s No. 1 target — soybeans, the most valuable item on the bloc’s hit list, a product whose economic and symbolic significance for the Republican Party's heartlands cannot be overstated.
The EU is also targeting beef from Kansas and Nebraska, poultry from Louisiana, car parts from Michigan, cigarettes from Florida, and wood products from North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
While the Commission ended up dropping whiskey from the final draft after successful lobbying from France, Italy and Ireland, it did include other more niche items designed to cause the greatest pain to exporters in Republican states.
Soya beans are massively symbolic. The USA used to own much of the Chinese soya bean import market, then last time round in Trump One they were a retaliatory sanction.
That let Brazil take over the USA parts of the Chinese market. And the USA has never got back in.
That's all very well, but tonight I have to eat a actual horse
That's not very impressive (I suspect many of us have eaten horse) unless you are eating the whole horse. If you are that would be very impressive indeed.
I have (some) horse in the freezer with the pheasants, the pigeons, the (checks) ostriches, and the chuckleberries.
Never heard of a chuckleberry. Looked it up and it sounds fantastic.
Mine came from here wholesale, as very good value compared to blueberries, redcurrants etc. I now have a freezer draw full of them, loose, having bought a 12kg box to get a ludicrous price (£3 per kilo). The other items tend to be £15-20 for 2.5 kilos, depending on timing.
Be warned, the stuff about surprisingly sweet is mainly baloney. They are less tart than a gooseberry, but still quite sharp. Sweetener required.
Since they are a hybrid you are probably a better judge:
Chuckleberries were bred by Chas Welch in Norfolk, England, by crossing a redcurrant, a gooseberry, and a jostaberry (a hybrid of a gooseberry and blackcurrant).
I usually order enough of berries (£60 I think) to get free carriage, which is significant.
As PB's answer to Mr Crump * (see James Herriott), you might like to give it a go.
If you happen to drive down the M1 past Alfreton (M1 J28) and you want a smaller sample I could happily barter some from my 12kg (how much do you need for a trial?) for 3-4 bottles of Vintage Taz Selection.
But that would only yield 6 bottles. I brew in 5 litre batches. Happily let you have two or three when done.
I used to come off at J28 when I worked at Bombardier in Derby.
I may be down in Tamworth end of the month, visiting a friend. May drop you a line. Would be driving back Monday 30th
OK. PM me !
We could maybe do lunch out. There are places.
The world economy reverts to barter...
Do you want some chuckleberries as well?
The post-Taz price is now 5 bottles of wine per kg on credit (ie turning the chuckleberies into wine to come back later), or 3 bottles of wine per kg on the nail.
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
A Moldovan business associate of mine does business in Kazakhstan. I've presented to Kazak businessmen with him. It sounds like a fascinating country!
I've only seen Almaty - so far
But Almaty is good fun. There isn't much to do, but that's part of the appeal. No pressure to do sight seeing
It's a weirdly laid back, youthful, languid, surprisingly prosperous old Soviet City, ennobled by the great Tien Shan mountains right next door
The people are fun loving and friendly, they like a drink, there is zero religious madness
It is also fucking huge. I was sorely tempted to drive to Semipelatinsk to go see the old Soviet nuke testing sight. Looked near on the map. Must have tons of Dark Noom?!
Turns out it's an 18 HOUR drive. Everything is 18 hours away, Apart from the Tien Shan and some canyons which I'm gonna go see tomorrow
That's all very well, but tonight I have to eat a actual horse
That's not very impressive (I suspect many of us have eaten horse) unless you are eating the whole horse. If you are that would be very impressive indeed.
I have (some) horse in the freezer with the pheasants, the pigeons, the (checks) ostriches, and the chuckleberries.
Never heard of a chuckleberry. Looked it up and it sounds fantastic.
Mine came from here wholesale, as very good value compared to blueberries, redcurrants etc. I now have a freezer draw full of them, loose, having bought a 12kg box to get a ludicrous price (£3 per kilo). The other items tend to be £15-20 for 2.5 kilos, depending on timing.
Be warned, the stuff about surprisingly sweet is mainly baloney. They are less tart than a gooseberry, but still quite sharp. Sweetener required.
Since they are a hybrid you are probably a better judge:
Chuckleberries were bred by Chas Welch in Norfolk, England, by crossing a redcurrant, a gooseberry, and a jostaberry (a hybrid of a gooseberry and blackcurrant).
I usually order enough of berries (£60 I think) to get free carriage, which is significant.
As PB's answer to Mr Crump * (see James Herriott), you might like to give it a go.
If you happen to drive down the M1 past Alfreton (M1 J28) and you want a smaller sample I could happily barter some from my 12kg (how much do you need for a trial?) for 3-4 bottles of Vintage Taz Selection.
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
A Moldovan business associate of mine does business in Kazakhstan. I've presented to Kazak businessmen with him. It sounds like a fascinating country!
I've only seen Almaty - so far
But Almaty is good fun. There isn't much to do, but that's part of the appeal. No pressure to do sight seeing
It's a weirdly laid back, youthful, languid, surprisingly prosperous old Soviet City, ennobled by the great Tien Shan mountains right next door
The people are fun loving and friendly, they like a drink, there is zero religious madness
It is also fucking huge. I was sorely tempted to drive to Semipelatinsk to go see the old Soviet nuke testing sight. Looked near on the map. Must have tons of Dark Noom?!
Turns out it's an 18 HOUR drive. Everything is 18 hours away, Apart from the Tien Shan and some canyons which I'm gonna go see tomorrow
One of the things I've found almost universal is that the places that broke away from the Soviet Union feel so much more prosperous than those that stayed.
Then, we come to global financial crisis management. In 2008, the global financial crisis was contained by the G-20 that convened in the United States, but today Trump is the sole cause of the crisis and he does not want to stop it, so he cannot be part of such an event. The main financial force of stopping a financial crisis is usually the US Federal Reserve. It might still be independent, but it can hardly stand up against a US president that favors crisis./13 10:36 PM · Apr 8, 2025 · 21.6K
That's all very well, but tonight I have to eat a actual horse
That's not very impressive (I suspect many of us have eaten horse) unless you are eating the whole horse. If you are that would be very impressive indeed.
I have (some) horse in the freezer with the pheasants, the pigeons, the (checks) ostriches, and the chuckleberries.
Never heard of a chuckleberry. Looked it up and it sounds fantastic.
Mine came from here wholesale, as very good value compared to blueberries, redcurrants etc. I now have a freezer draw full of them, loose, having bought a 12kg box to get a ludicrous price (£3 per kilo). The other items tend to be £15-20 for 2.5 kilos, depending on timing.
Be warned, the stuff about surprisingly sweet is mainly baloney. They are less tart than a gooseberry, but still quite sharp. Sweetener required.
I like tart (read carefully). I would have a go at growing them. I do grow gooseberries and blackcurrants as well as a whole host of other tart fruits. I will look out for them.
The obvious conclusion is that this economic and financial crisis is likely to become much worse and proceed much further than the global financial crisis in 2008-9./14 10:37 PM · Apr 8, 2025 · 20.8K Views
As you are a cheerleader for the swiveleyed populist right, is it causing you to have a rethink?
Bozo, Truss, Trump: all egomaniacs who are too stupid to recognise their own limitations that inevitably leads to their own demise with inexorable damage to the reputations of their parties and their country. Shakespeare would have had a field day with all three.
I'm not even sure Trump is populist right. He's more uniquely Trumpite
My positions on Woke, asylum, migration, Islamism, etc etc etc - are not changed one jot
That was not the question. The question was whether you recant your previous enthusiasm for Donald Trump and your previous -slightly weird- obsession with Liz Truss.
BTW, have you done the culinary scene in the Faroes?
For the trillionth time, I said before the election that I would not ever vote for Trump because - much as I love his anti-Woke stuff (and I really really love it) - the chance he was serious about tariffs etc was far too big a risk to take. I compared him to a polar bear on a melting ice floe, you deal with the bear first by shooting it, as he is the proximal danger- then worry about your ice floe melting over time
Turns out my worries about tariffs were justified. Unfortunately
As for the Faroes I hope to go there this summer. I have an invite, but got to finalise deets. I'm keen - it sounds deliciously mad as a destination
It's interesting, because this is another one of Trump’s standoffs. He has one with China, but he also now has one with corporate America. They want Trump’s tariffs (and ideally Trump too) gone, so they will be absolutely opposed to making any noises toward on-shoring their manufacturing. Unless he can convince them that tariffs are a thing that are at least in place for the rest of his Presidential term, then potentially the dam could crack.
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
A Moldovan business associate of mine does business in Kazakhstan. I've presented to Kazak businessmen with him. It sounds like a fascinating country!
I've only seen Almaty - so far
But Almaty is good fun. There isn't much to do, but that's part of the appeal. No pressure to do sight seeing
It's a weirdly laid back, youthful, languid, surprisingly prosperous old Soviet City, ennobled by the great Tien Shan mountains right next door
The people are fun loving and friendly, they like a drink, there is zero religious madness
It is also fucking huge. I was sorely tempted to drive to Semipelatinsk to go see the old Soviet nuke testing sight. Looked near on the map. Must have tons of Dark Noom?!
Turns out it's an 18 HOUR drive. Everything is 18 hours away, Apart from the Tien Shan and some canyons which I'm gonna go see tomorrow
One of the things I've found almost universal is that the places that broke away from the Soviet Union feel so much more prosperous than those that stayed.
That's a nice line, but it isn't true
The Baltics are doing really well (but they joined the EU and as a consequence lost 1/3 of their populations, was it worth it?)
Azerbaijan is doing fine - but that's oil
Armenia is an impoverished dump
Uzbekistan is poor
Ukraine was poor, now even poorer
Georgia is OK but war-torn
Kazakhstan is quite well off
Kyrgyzstan is poor
There are too many variables to make your statement
"Go back to your constituencies, and prepare for an Ed Davey slapstick meme!"
Serious mode on.
I thought what Ed Davey did during the election campaign was interesting and effective. Make a prat of yourself every day, usually with some kind of point if you looked hard enough, and crucially get some exposure. It did its job. Add in the unusual circumstances and the Lib Dems surged to a great result.
But what's next?
I think the Lib Dems need to stop trying to be all things to all men. Oppose any hint of new house building in your constituency whilst nationally campaigning for more housing. Realise that government is hard as Labour are suddenly finding out. Stop pretending that they can get away with saying "we're not like them" comparing with other politicians.
Time to say what they would do. Time, perhaps to embrace the call of the EU again. If you believe that Britain should be in the EU have the courage of your convictions. Make the case. Explain how you will grow the economy. What you will do about immigration, be it small boats or jets into Heathrow.
Until they do then they are surely doomed to be what they are now. 4th.
There is a chance right now, but Davey needs to make the case. And it won't be via a waterslide or by playing crazy golf in speedos.
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
A Moldovan business associate of mine does business in Kazakhstan. I've presented to Kazak businessmen with him. It sounds like a fascinating country!
I've only seen Almaty - so far
But Almaty is good fun. There isn't much to do, but that's part of the appeal. No pressure to do sight seeing
It's a weirdly laid back, youthful, languid, surprisingly prosperous old Soviet City, ennobled by the great Tien Shan mountains right next door
The people are fun loving and friendly, they like a drink, there is zero religious madness
It is also fucking huge. I was sorely tempted to drive to Semipelatinsk to go see the old Soviet nuke testing sight. Looked near on the map. Must have tons of Dark Noom?!
Turns out it's an 18 HOUR drive. Everything is 18 hours away, Apart from the Tien Shan and some canyons which I'm gonna go see tomorrow
One of the things I've found almost universal is that the places that broke away from the Soviet Union feel so much more prosperous than those that stayed.
A fun fact that I discovered from Wikipedia:
Kazakhstan was actually the last Republic to break away from the Soviet Union, and for 4 days, the USSR consisted entirely of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.
As you are a cheerleader for the swiveleyed populist right, is it causing you to have a rethink?
Bozo, Truss, Trump: all egomaniacs who are too stupid to recognise their own limitations that inevitably leads to their own demise with inexorable damage to the reputations of their parties and their country. Shakespeare would have had a field day with all three.
I'm not even sure Trump is populist right. He's more uniquely Trumpite
My positions on Woke, asylum, migration, Islamism, etc etc etc - are not changed one jot
That was not the question. The question was whether you recant your previous enthusiasm for Donald Trump and your previous -slightly weird- obsession with Liz Truss.
BTW, have you done the culinary scene in the Faroes?
For the trillionth time, I said before the election that I would not ever vote for Trump because - much as I love his anti-Woke stuff (and I really really love it) - the chance he was serious about tariffs etc was far too big a risk to take. I compared him to a polar bear on a melting ice floe, you deal with the bear first by shooting it, as he is the proximal danger- then worry about your ice floe melting over time
Turns out my worries about tariffs were justified. Unfortunately
As for the Faroes I hope to go there this summer. I have an invite, but got to finalise deets. I'm keen - it sounds deliciously mad as a destination
"Go back to your constituencies, and prepare for an Ed Davey slapstick meme!"
Serious mode on.
I thought what Ed Davey did during the election campaign was interesting and effective. Make a prat of yourself every day, usually with some kind of point if you looked hard enough, and crucially get some exposure. It did its job. Add in the unusual circumstances and the Lib Dems surged to a great result.
But what's next?
I think the Lib Dems need to stop trying to be all things to all men. Oppose any hint of new house building in your constituency whilst nationally campaigning for more housing. Realise that government is hard as Labour are suddenly finding out. Stop pretending that they can get away with saying "we're not like them" comparing with other politicians.
Time to say what they would do. Time, perhaps to embrace the call of the EU again. If you believe that Britain should be in the EU have the courage of your convictions. Make the case. Explain how you will grow the economy. What you will do about immigration, be it small boats or jets into Heathrow.
Until they do then they are surely doomed to be what they are now. 4th.
There is a chance right now, but Davey needs to make the case. And it won't be via a waterslide or by playing crazy golf in speedos.
How are the Lib Dems fourth at the moment? They're currently the third biggest party.
That's all very well, but tonight I have to eat a actual horse
That's not very impressive (I suspect many of us have eaten horse) unless you are eating the whole horse. If you are that would be very impressive indeed.
I have (some) horse in the freezer with the pheasants, the pigeons, the (checks) ostriches, and the chuckleberries.
Never heard of a chuckleberry. Looked it up and it sounds fantastic.
Mine came from here wholesale, as very good value compared to blueberries, redcurrants etc. I now have a freezer draw full of them, loose, having bought a 12kg box to get a ludicrous price (£3 per kilo). The other items tend to be £15-20 for 2.5 kilos, depending on timing.
Be warned, the stuff about surprisingly sweet is mainly baloney. They are less tart than a gooseberry, but still quite sharp. Sweetener required.
Since they are a hybrid you are probably a better judge:
Chuckleberries were bred by Chas Welch in Norfolk, England, by crossing a redcurrant, a gooseberry, and a jostaberry (a hybrid of a gooseberry and blackcurrant).
I usually order enough of berries (£60 I think) to get free carriage, which is significant.
As PB's answer to Mr Crump * (see James Herriott), you might like to give it a go.
If you happen to drive down the M1 past Alfreton (M1 J28) and you want a smaller sample I could happily barter some from my 12kg (how much do you need for a trial?) for 3-4 bottles of Vintage Taz Selection.
Looking at the damage to the police cars I have to assume that they tried a box manoeuvre and it went badly wrong.
It looks like 4 traffic cars and an unmarked vehicle (perhaps following) stopping a criminal.
There's hysterical early reporting - "pile up", "one car had its roof torn off", when it looks like the crim tried to force his way out and lost control, and one police car needed the Jaws of Life to cut the pillars to get the officers out carefully.
"Go back to your constituencies, and prepare for an Ed Davey slapstick meme!"
Serious mode on.
I thought what Ed Davey did during the election campaign was interesting and effective. Make a prat of yourself every day, usually with some kind of point if you looked hard enough, and crucially get some exposure. It did its job. Add in the unusual circumstances and the Lib Dems surged to a great result.
But what's next?
I think the Lib Dems need to stop trying to be all things to all men. Oppose any hint of new house building in your constituency whilst nationally campaigning for more housing. Realise that government is hard as Labour are suddenly finding out. Stop pretending that they can get away with saying "we're not like them" comparing with other politicians.
Time to say what they would do. Time, perhaps to embrace the call of the EU again. If you believe that Britain should be in the EU have the courage of your convictions. Make the case. Explain how you will grow the economy. What you will do about immigration, be it small boats or jets into Heathrow.
Until they do then they are surely doomed to be what they are now. 4th.
There is a chance right now, but Davey needs to make the case. And it won't be via a waterslide or by playing crazy golf in speedos.
How are the Lib Dems fourth at the moment? They're currently the third biggest party.
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
A Moldovan business associate of mine does business in Kazakhstan. I've presented to Kazak businessmen with him. It sounds like a fascinating country!
I've only seen Almaty - so far
But Almaty is good fun. There isn't much to do, but that's part of the appeal. No pressure to do sight seeing
It's a weirdly laid back, youthful, languid, surprisingly prosperous old Soviet City, ennobled by the great Tien Shan mountains right next door
The people are fun loving and friendly, they like a drink, there is zero religious madness
It is also fucking huge. I was sorely tempted to drive to Semipelatinsk to go see the old Soviet nuke testing sight. Looked near on the map. Must have tons of Dark Noom?!
Turns out it's an 18 HOUR drive. Everything is 18 hours away, Apart from the Tien Shan and some canyons which I'm gonna go see tomorrow
One of the things I've found almost universal is that the places that broke away from the Soviet Union feel so much more prosperous than those that stayed.
That's a nice line, but it isn't true
The Baltics are doing really well (but they joined the EU and as a consequence lost 1/3 of their populations, was it worth it?)
Azerbaijan is doing fine - but that's oil
Armenia is an impoverished dump
Uzbekistan is poor
Ukraine was poor, now even poorer
Georgia is OK but war-torn
Kazakhstan is quite well off
Kyrgyzstan is poor
There are too many variables to make your statement
As you are a cheerleader for the swiveleyed populist right, is it causing you to have a rethink?
Bozo, Truss, Trump: all egomaniacs who are too stupid to recognise their own limitations that inevitably leads to their own demise with inexorable damage to the reputations of their parties and their country. Shakespeare would have had a field day with all three.
I'm not even sure Trump is populist right. He's more uniquely Trumpite
My positions on Woke, asylum, migration, Islamism, etc etc etc - are not changed one jot
That was not the question. The question was whether you recant your previous enthusiasm for Donald Trump and your previous -slightly weird- obsession with Liz Truss.
BTW, have you done the culinary scene in the Faroes?
For the trillionth time, I said before the election that I would not ever vote for Trump because - much as I love his anti-Woke stuff (and I really really love it) - the chance he was serious about tariffs etc was far too big a risk to take. I compared him to a polar bear on a melting ice floe, you deal with the bear first by shooting it, as he is the proximal danger- then worry about your ice floe melting over time
Turns out my worries about tariffs were justified. Unfortunately
As for the Faroes I hope to go there this summer. I have an invite, but got to finalise deets. I'm keen - it sounds deliciously mad as a destination
Bartiromo to Bessent: "You're talking about $6 trillion in market value lost in a week. You're talking about CEOs now unwilling to give guidance for 2025. Is there a response or a backup plan for what seems to be corporate America shutting down corporate activity?"
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
A Moldovan business associate of mine does business in Kazakhstan. I've presented to Kazak businessmen with him. It sounds like a fascinating country!
I've only seen Almaty - so far
But Almaty is good fun. There isn't much to do, but that's part of the appeal. No pressure to do sight seeing
It's a weirdly laid back, youthful, languid, surprisingly prosperous old Soviet City, ennobled by the great Tien Shan mountains right next door
The people are fun loving and friendly, they like a drink, there is zero religious madness
It is also fucking huge. I was sorely tempted to drive to Semipelatinsk to go see the old Soviet nuke testing sight. Looked near on the map. Must have tons of Dark Noom?!
Turns out it's an 18 HOUR drive. Everything is 18 hours away, Apart from the Tien Shan and some canyons which I'm gonna go see tomorrow
One of the things I've found almost universal is that the places that broke away from the Soviet Union feel so much more prosperous than those that stayed.
That's a nice line, but it isn't true
The Baltics are doing really well (but they joined the EU and as a consequence lost 1/3 of their populations, was it worth it?)
Azerbaijan is doing fine - but that's oil
Armenia is an impoverished dump
Uzbekistan is poor
Ukraine was poor, now even poorer
Georgia is OK but war-torn
Kazakhstan is quite well off
Kyrgyzstan is poor
There are too many variables to make your statement
Kazakhstan is also rich because of oil & gas.
There's an interesting argument to be had, that the adoption of communism by Russia was a way of Moscow keeping the Russian Empire - ie the USSR - all the way through the post-colonial era, which they did. The Empire broke up long after the British, French, Dutch empires
Even now "Russia" contains multiple regions which are very definitely not "Russian": Dagestan, Chechnya, the Far East and so on
SPOTTED: Speaker Johnson, on his phone and checking out the Drudge Report during Trump’s speech last night. The website’s headline at the time was about … the stock market crash
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this morning floated the notion of striking tariff deals with friendly countries then pivoting to China. Talks with Japan are first on his agenda, he said.
“We can probably reach a deal with our allies, with the other countries that have been, long-term -- they’ve been good military allies, not perfect economic allies, and then we can approach China as a group," he said at the American Bankers Association conference today.
Bartiromo to Bessent: "You're talking about $6 trillion in market value lost in a week. You're talking about CEOs now unwilling to give guidance for 2025. Is there a response or a backup plan for what seems to be corporate America shutting down corporate activity?"
Looking at the damage to the police cars I have to assume that they tried a box manoeuvre and it went badly wrong.
The penalties for attempting to evade the police with a motor vehicle need to be much harsher. I don't think it's taken nearly seriously enough.
There's precious little evidence that harsher sentences would do anything, except clog our prisons up still further.
What really makes the difference is the probability of being caught.
I agree on the probability of being caught ie restore police funding as step one, and perhaps restore traffic policing as a specialism (cancelled by Tony Blair in around 2002 - one thing NuLab got wrong).
Since box manoeuvres are used often to target suspected perps, with the option of a "hard stop" ie crash it off if authorised for high risk, I'd argue for add it as an aggravating factor in general sentencing guidelines, and perhaps also in motoring crimes (eg DUI, joyriding) which are lower level overall than say drug running or gun crimes to try and discourage fleeing by the perp.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this morning floated the notion of striking tariff deals with friendly countries then pivoting to China. Talks with Japan are first on his agenda, he said.
“We can probably reach a deal with our allies, with the other countries that have been, long-term -- they’ve been good military allies, not perfect economic allies, and then we can approach China as a group," he said at the American Bankers Association conference today.
"Go back to your constituencies, and prepare for an Ed Davey slapstick meme!"
Serious mode on.
I thought what Ed Davey did during the election campaign was interesting and effective. Make a prat of yourself every day, usually with some kind of point if you looked hard enough, and crucially get some exposure. It did its job. Add in the unusual circumstances and the Lib Dems surged to a great result.
But what's next?
I think the Lib Dems need to stop trying to be all things to all men. Oppose any hint of new house building in your constituency whilst nationally campaigning for more housing. Realise that government is hard as Labour are suddenly finding out. Stop pretending that they can get away with saying "we're not like them" comparing with other politicians.
Time to say what they would do. Time, perhaps to embrace the call of the EU again. If you believe that Britain should be in the EU have the courage of your convictions. Make the case. Explain how you will grow the economy. What you will do about immigration, be it small boats or jets into Heathrow.
Until they do then they are surely doomed to be what they are now. 4th.
There is a chance right now, but Davey needs to make the case. And it won't be via a waterslide or by playing crazy golf in speedos.
I feel like their problem is almost the opposite - that they've become too focussed on winning over soft Tories, to the exclusion of almost everything else. All their messaging seems to be about paying more benefits to wealthy retirees or reducing tax on wealthy landowners.
I accept that that's partly down to the nature of this year's local election battleground, but they really will need to broaden their offer if they're ever going to attract more votes from people who are of working age and don't expect to ever inherit more than a million pounds' worth of land.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this morning floated the notion of striking tariff deals with friendly countries then pivoting to China. Talks with Japan are first on his agenda, he said.
“We can probably reach a deal with our allies, with the other countries that have been, long-term -- they’ve been good military allies, not perfect economic allies, and then we can approach China as a group," he said at the American Bankers Association conference today.
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
A Moldovan business associate of mine does business in Kazakhstan. I've presented to Kazak businessmen with him. It sounds like a fascinating country!
I've only seen Almaty - so far
But Almaty is good fun. There isn't much to do, but that's part of the appeal. No pressure to do sight seeing
It's a weirdly laid back, youthful, languid, surprisingly prosperous old Soviet City, ennobled by the great Tien Shan mountains right next door
The people are fun loving and friendly, they like a drink, there is zero religious madness
It is also fucking huge. I was sorely tempted to drive to Semipelatinsk to go see the old Soviet nuke testing sight. Looked near on the map. Must have tons of Dark Noom?!
Turns out it's an 18 HOUR drive. Everything is 18 hours away, Apart from the Tien Shan and some canyons which I'm gonna go see tomorrow
One of the things I've found almost universal is that the places that broke away from the Soviet Union feel so much more prosperous than those that stayed.
That's a nice line, but it isn't true
The Baltics are doing really well (but they joined the EU and as a consequence lost 1/3 of their populations, was it worth it?)
Azerbaijan is doing fine - but that's oil
Armenia is an impoverished dump
Uzbekistan is poor
Ukraine was poor, now even poorer
Georgia is OK but war-torn
Kazakhstan is quite well off
Kyrgyzstan is poor
There are too many variables to make your statement
Video 1: what is left of Shakhtar stadium in Russian-occupied Donetsk.
Video 2: destroyed Avdiivka Coke Plant in Donetsk region.
"Go back to your constituencies, and prepare for an Ed Davey slapstick meme!"
Serious mode on.
I thought what Ed Davey did during the election campaign was interesting and effective. Make a prat of yourself every day, usually with some kind of point if you looked hard enough, and crucially get some exposure. It did its job. Add in the unusual circumstances and the Lib Dems surged to a great result.
But what's next?
I think the Lib Dems need to stop trying to be all things to all men. Oppose any hint of new house building in your constituency whilst nationally campaigning for more housing. Realise that government is hard as Labour are suddenly finding out. Stop pretending that they can get away with saying "we're not like them" comparing with other politicians.
Time to say what they would do. Time, perhaps to embrace the call of the EU again. If you believe that Britain should be in the EU have the courage of your convictions. Make the case. Explain how you will grow the economy. What you will do about immigration, be it small boats or jets into Heathrow.
Until they do then they are surely doomed to be what they are now. 4th.
There is a chance right now, but Davey needs to make the case. And it won't be via a waterslide or by playing crazy golf in speedos.
Equally serious mode on….
No one is asking Reform or Farage what they would be doing now were they in Government and the polls put them in a more likely position to be leading a minority Government than the LDs.
However, it’s a specious line of reasoning as we were less than a year from an election and a minimum of three years from another General Election.
Indeed, one could argue it’s far from clear what a future Conservative Government would do yet it seems the LDs are the ones who have to play their hand while the other parties are still looking at their cards.
One could also argue those opposed to the LDs for whatever reason are simply frustrated at the ability of the party to seemingly do so much with so little. To be blunt for a Wednesday afternoon, the Conservatives made an unholy mess of their 14 years leading the Government, and they deserved the defeat handed them by the electorate last year.
As their vote fragmented, including the large numbers of ex-Tories who stayed at home, the political map was redefined. Yet there are two sides to the question - why did the Conservatives lose seats like Chichester? Why did the Liberal Democrats win seats like Chichester? You have to answer both questions.
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
A Moldovan business associate of mine does business in Kazakhstan. I've presented to Kazak businessmen with him. It sounds like a fascinating country!
I've only seen Almaty - so far
But Almaty is good fun. There isn't much to do, but that's part of the appeal. No pressure to do sight seeing
It's a weirdly laid back, youthful, languid, surprisingly prosperous old Soviet City, ennobled by the great Tien Shan mountains right next door
The people are fun loving and friendly, they like a drink, there is zero religious madness
It is also fucking huge. I was sorely tempted to drive to Semipelatinsk to go see the old Soviet nuke testing sight. Looked near on the map. Must have tons of Dark Noom?!
Turns out it's an 18 HOUR drive. Everything is 18 hours away, Apart from the Tien Shan and some canyons which I'm gonna go see tomorrow
One of the things I've found almost universal is that the places that broke away from the Soviet Union feel so much more prosperous than those that stayed.
That's a nice line, but it isn't true
The Baltics are doing really well (but they joined the EU and as a consequence lost 1/3 of their populations, was it worth it?)
Azerbaijan is doing fine - but that's oil
Armenia is an impoverished dump
Uzbekistan is poor
Ukraine was poor, now even poorer
Georgia is OK but war-torn
Kazakhstan is quite well off
Kyrgyzstan is poor
There are too many variables to make your statement
Kazakhstan is also rich because of oil & gas.
There's an interesting argument to be had, that the adoption of communism by Russia was a way of Moscow keeping the Russian Empire - ie the USSR - all the way through the post-colonial era, which they did. The Empire broke up long after the British, French, Dutch empires
Even now "Russia" contains multiple regions which are very definitely not "Russian": Dagestan, Chechnya, the Far East and so on
Trotsky admitted that the Reds could not have won the civil war without the support of thousands of ex-Tsarist army officers, and they kept that support by promising to keep the Russian Empire in being.
The Soviet Union was probably the most harsh of all the European colonial empires, at least in that last hundred years. It was the only one that continued to practise slavery, well into the twentieth century.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this morning floated the notion of striking tariff deals with friendly countries then pivoting to China. Talks with Japan are first on his agenda, he said.
“We can probably reach a deal with our allies, with the other countries that have been, long-term -- they’ve been good military allies, not perfect economic allies, and then we can approach China as a group," he said at the American Bankers Association conference today.
I believe sub $60 is starts to get bad for Russia.
Maybe this is Trump's cunning plan.
Well they aren't happy,
Russia has accused the US of flouting international trade rules by imposing 104% charges on imports from China.
“Washington doesn’t seem itself binded by the norms of international trade law,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova says.
When Donald Trump raised border taxes on Chinese goods by 10% in February, China complained to the World Trade Organization (WTO), which settles trade disputes.
Zakharova says the tariff decisions taken by Trump “violate the fundamental rule of the WTO”.
Russia has been spared from the list of over 60 countries hit by Trump’s latest tariffs, but the foreign ministry spokesperson tells reporters that the country is taking steps to minimise any possible damage by increasing its interactions with China.
Russia’s problem is that with the rest of the world also talking to China, Russia is nowhere near as important to China for trade as it was a week ago
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
A Moldovan business associate of mine does business in Kazakhstan. I've presented to Kazak businessmen with him. It sounds like a fascinating country!
I've only seen Almaty - so far
But Almaty is good fun. There isn't much to do, but that's part of the appeal. No pressure to do sight seeing
It's a weirdly laid back, youthful, languid, surprisingly prosperous old Soviet City, ennobled by the great Tien Shan mountains right next door
The people are fun loving and friendly, they like a drink, there is zero religious madness
It is also fucking huge. I was sorely tempted to drive to Semipelatinsk to go see the old Soviet nuke testing sight. Looked near on the map. Must have tons of Dark Noom?!
Turns out it's an 18 HOUR drive. Everything is 18 hours away, Apart from the Tien Shan and some canyons which I'm gonna go see tomorrow
One of the things I've found almost universal is that the places that broke away from the Soviet Union feel so much more prosperous than those that stayed.
That's a nice line, but it isn't true
The Baltics are doing really well (but they joined the EU and as a consequence lost 1/3 of their populations, was it worth it?)
Azerbaijan is doing fine - but that's oil
Armenia is an impoverished dump
Uzbekistan is poor
Ukraine was poor, now even poorer
Georgia is OK but war-torn
Kazakhstan is quite well off
Kyrgyzstan is poor
There are too many variables to make your statement
Kazakhstan is also rich because of oil & gas.
There's an interesting argument to be had, that the adoption of communism by Russia was a way of Moscow keeping the Russian Empire - ie the USSR - all the way through the post-colonial era, which they did. The Empire broke up long after the British, French, Dutch empires
Even now "Russia" contains multiple regions which are very definitely not "Russian": Dagestan, Chechnya, the Far East and so on
"Mainland" France stretches to South America and the Pacific.
As you are a cheerleader for the swiveleyed populist right, is it causing you to have a rethink?
Bozo, Truss, Trump: all egomaniacs who are too stupid to recognise their own limitations that inevitably leads to their own demise with inexorable damage to the reputations of their parties and their country. Shakespeare would have had a field day with all three.
I'm not even sure Trump is populist right. He's more uniquely Trumpite
My positions on Woke, asylum, migration, Islamism, etc etc etc - are not changed one jot
That was not the question. The question was whether you recant your previous enthusiasm for Donald Trump and your previous -slightly weird- obsession with Liz Truss.
BTW, have you done the culinary scene in the Faroes?
For the trillionth time, I said before the election that I would not ever vote for Trump because - much as I love his anti-Woke stuff (and I really really love it) - the chance he was serious about tariffs etc was far too big a risk to take. I compared him to a polar bear on a melting ice floe, you deal with the bear first by shooting it, as he is the proximal danger- then worry about your ice floe melting over time
Turns out my worries about tariffs were justified. Unfortunately
As for the Faroes I hope to go there this summer. I have an invite, but got to finalise deets. I'm keen - it sounds deliciously mad as a destination
I thought you wouldn’t visit the Faroes due to them killing dolphins ?
At the time of the election I was saying exactly the same on tariffs and it was why I was rooting for the useless Harris. 🥃🥃
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this morning floated the notion of striking tariff deals with friendly countries then pivoting to China. Talks with Japan are first on his agenda, he said.
“We can probably reach a deal with our allies, with the other countries that have been, long-term -- they’ve been good military allies, not perfect economic allies, and then we can approach China as a group," he said at the American Bankers Association conference today.
Comments
Everything, including my ISA rip
The markets will not thank him by having a restored confidence in the economy. Other countries will assume that SQA may be changed again on a whim with no notice - and thus largely carry on as if the tariffs are in place.
And politically? He's screamed about how terrible the core fundamentals of the US economy are, and then made things worse.
We know from recent events that political lies do not defeat lived reality. All those Tory voters were not convinced by Huntsunak saying "we've cut your taxes" because when they looked at their payslip they could see the tax increase. Will be the same, even for a MAGA zealot - you can only be told "don't look up" so many times before you do and then you can't ignore the reality.
If the SPD refused to work with the Union the only alternative would be a Union and AfD deal
Btw I'm still waiting for you to offer an opinion of your own about anything at all.
Here's another chance:
Do you think Trump's latest round of tariffs are a good idea? I'll take a simple "yes" or "no" if you're busy.
Full disclosure: my answer is "no".
According to an internal document seen by POLITICO, the Commission is considering slapping tariffs of up to 25 percent on a broad range of exports from the U.S. worth around €22.1 billion based on the EU’s 2024 imports.
The list features run-of-the-mill agricultural and industrial commodities such as soybeans, meat, tobacco, iron, steel and aluminum — to hit the American sectors that rely most on transatlantic exports.
Dig deeper, and it turns out the EU’s trade nerds have stirred some unaccustomed creativity into their expert knowledge of obscure customs codes, while channeling a helping of passive aggression to inflict pain on Trump’s base.
Let’s start with the EU’s No. 1 target — soybeans, the most valuable item on the bloc’s hit list, a product whose economic and symbolic significance for the Republican Party's heartlands cannot be overstated.
The EU is also targeting beef from Kansas and Nebraska, poultry from Louisiana, car parts from Michigan, cigarettes from Florida, and wood products from North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
While the Commission ended up dropping whiskey from the final draft after successful lobbying from France, Italy and Ireland, it did include other more niche items designed to cause the greatest pain to exporters in Republican states.
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-tariffs-trade-war-donald-trump-republican-states/
If you’re talking about the GE, they got fewer votes than 2019 but also a much smaller share of the votes than polls suggested less than six months previously. I suggest that the clues were there in Blackpool, and also other by elections that the mid forties was never going to happen.
But that would only yield 6 bottles. I brew in 5 litre batches. Happily let you have two or three when done.
I used to come off at J28 when I worked at Bombardier in Derby.
I may be down in Tamworth end of the month, visiting a friend. May drop you a line. Would be driving back Monday 30th
That is steeply going up this afternoon, doesn't look great
What are the tariff rates now? Any change in the last thirty minutes?
Five people in hospital after multiple police cars crash near Newcastle
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/09/five-people-in-hospital-after-multiple-police-cars-crash-near-newcastle
Washington: 17 warheads
Kansas City: 3 warheads
Omaha: 5 warheads
etc
Have no doubts - we are at economic war with the USA. They want to kill as much of our economy as they can.
Sometimes in a crisis the best action is no action - wait for the chaos to sweep past you and then assess what to do. In this case I do not think so. Dial up the reciprocal targeting of the US economy and balance that off by doing more trade with notAmerica.
@biancoresearch
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7h
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@biancoresearch
By the way the US Treasury has an auction of $39 billion of 10-year notes on Wednesday and $22 billion of 30-year bonds on Thursday.
Should be "interesting" to see who wants these Treasuries in the middle of this chaos.
Trump's was supposed to deliver "dinner remarks" to the NRCC and he has now been speaking for one hour and 20 minutes and counting..
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1909773443198771683
Really hope I don't regret this
Sudden effusive praise for a brutal Chinese capitalist system and condemnation of fat Americans with their bathroom breaks and drug issues doesn't immediately tally with their views on the horiffic cruelty of 'austerity' in the UK and 'welfare cuts' in the UK.
Whether that means 'creative' accounting methods will be found to pretend that those goods aren't really from China, no siree, they're from the United Kingdom; or whether just out and out smuggling will make a massive comeback remains to be seen.
Larry Kudlow with a HUGE market prediction:
"If you can get a couple—three—deals in the next three, four, five weeks, I don’t know many weeks, maybe six weeks, that’s going to trigger a tremendous rally in the stock market. Because people are going to say, you know what, the Trump people were right, and this is exactly how it’s playing out."
"Frankly, at this point, to me, all this recession talk—it’s the greatest recession that never happened."
The deals are being done. This is going to be HUGE.
https://x.com/devorydarkins/status/1909680022153314749
Six weeks, they will be lucky to last six days...
But the way I see it, Kazakhstan can't be worse than - or even as bad as - Armenia. Driving in Armenia is insanely scary and perilous, and I did that for a week - including a rush hour dash through the centre of Yerevan to reach the airport. Oh my fucking god
I came through that, I can do Kazakhstan
I also think his message of peace, hope and love for the world and fellow humans was much to be admired.
Christians who follow his message, and the New Testament, are the proper way. Those who believe in the Old Testament and 'bashing babies against rocks' (Psalm 137:9) are wrong and should be ignored.
Oh wait.........
We could maybe do lunch out. There are places.
BTW, have you done the culinary scene in the Faroes?
“It is the theory of the Protectionist that imports are an evil. He thinks that if you shut out the foreign imported manufactured goods you will make these goods yourselves, in addition to the goods which you make now, including those goods which we make to exchange for the foreign goods that come in. If a man can believe that he can believe anything. We Free-traders say it is not true. To think you can make a man richer by putting on a tax is like a man thinking that he can stand in a bucket and lift himself up by the handle”.
He’s about to be proven right. Again. To all our cost.
That let Brazil take over the USA parts of the Chinese market. And the USA has never got back in.
Now they risk losing Europe as well.
The post-Taz price is now 5 bottles of wine per kg on credit (ie turning the chuckleberies into wine to come back later), or 3 bottles of wine per kg on the nail.
But Almaty is good fun. There isn't much to do, but that's part of the appeal. No pressure to do sight seeing
It's a weirdly laid back, youthful, languid, surprisingly prosperous old Soviet City, ennobled by the great Tien Shan mountains right next door
The people are fun loving and friendly, they like a drink, there is zero religious madness
It is also fucking huge. I was sorely tempted to drive to Semipelatinsk to go see the old Soviet nuke testing sight. Looked near on the map. Must have tons of Dark Noom?!
Turns out it's an 18 HOUR drive. Everything is 18 hours away, Apart from the Tien Shan and some canyons which I'm gonna go see tomorrow
Then, we come to global financial crisis management. In 2008, the global financial crisis was contained by the G-20 that convened in the United States, but today Trump is the sole cause of the crisis and he does not want to stop it, so he cannot be part of such an event. The main financial force of stopping a financial crisis is usually the US Federal Reserve. It might still be independent, but it can hardly stand up against a US president that favors crisis./13
10:36 PM · Apr 8, 2025
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21.6K
https://x.com/anders_aslund/status/1909722070982033865
I also make very bitter marmalade.
10:37 PM · Apr 8, 2025
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Turns out my worries about tariffs were justified. Unfortunately
As for the Faroes I hope to go there this summer. I have an invite, but got to finalise deets. I'm keen - it sounds deliciously mad as a destination
The Baltics are doing really well (but they joined the EU and as a consequence lost 1/3 of their populations, was it worth it?)
Azerbaijan is doing fine - but that's oil
Armenia is an impoverished dump
Uzbekistan is poor
Ukraine was poor, now even poorer
Georgia is OK but war-torn
Kazakhstan is quite well off
Kyrgyzstan is poor
There are too many variables to make your statement
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1909740854287249548
@NickTimiraos
Bessent: "There is a little uncertainty, but in general the companies I've spoken to…tell me the economy is very solid."
"We are in pretty good shape."
https://x.com/NickTimiraos/status/1909952743986331744
I thought what Ed Davey did during the election campaign was interesting and effective. Make a prat of yourself every day, usually with some kind of point if you looked hard enough, and crucially get some exposure. It did its job. Add in the unusual circumstances and the Lib Dems surged to a great result.
But what's next?
I think the Lib Dems need to stop trying to be all things to all men. Oppose any hint of new house building in your constituency whilst nationally campaigning for more housing. Realise that government is hard as Labour are suddenly finding out. Stop pretending that they can get away with saying "we're not like them" comparing with other politicians.
Time to say what they would do. Time, perhaps to embrace the call of the EU again. If you believe that Britain should be in the EU have the courage of your convictions. Make the case. Explain how you will grow the economy. What you will do about immigration, be it small boats or jets into Heathrow.
Until they do then they are surely doomed to be what they are now. 4th.
There is a chance right now, but Davey needs to make the case. And it won't be via a waterslide or by playing crazy golf in speedos.
Kazakhstan was actually the last Republic to break away from the Soviet Union, and for 4 days, the USSR consisted entirely of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/kazakhstan-not-russia-was-last-republic-leave-ussr-195400
There's hysterical early reporting - "pile up", "one car had its roof torn off", when it looks like the crim tried to force his way out and lost control, and one police car needed the Jaws of Life to cut the pillars to get the officers out carefully.
What really makes the difference is the probability of being caught.
The bond market shows capital flight from the United States, with people selling off US debt.
It’s the opposite of what usually happens during economic turmoil, when people buy US debt because they think it’s the safest asset in the world.
The US-led global economic system is dead. By suicide.
https://bsky.app/profile/nicholasgrossman.bsky.social/post/3lmew7wl45s2c
Bartiromo to Bessent: "You're talking about $6 trillion in market value lost in a week. You're talking about CEOs now unwilling to give guidance for 2025. Is there a response or a backup plan for what seems to be corporate America shutting down corporate activity?"
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lmf3odtvqk2y
Even now "Russia" contains multiple regions which are very definitely not "Russian": Dagestan, Chechnya, the Far East and so on
SPOTTED: Speaker Johnson, on his phone and checking out the Drudge Report during Trump’s speech last night. The website’s headline at the time was about … the stock market crash
https://x.com/Alex_Roarty/status/1909925538375807163
@josh_wingrove
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this morning floated the notion of striking tariff deals with friendly countries then pivoting to China. Talks with Japan are first on his agenda, he said.
“We can probably reach a deal with our allies, with the other countries that have been, long-term -- they’ve been good military allies, not perfect economic allies, and then we can approach China as a group," he said at the American Bankers Association conference today.
https://x.com/josh_wingrove/status/1909958742189224154
Since box manoeuvres are used often to target suspected perps, with the option of a "hard stop" ie crash it off if authorised for high risk, I'd argue for add it as an aggravating factor in general sentencing guidelines, and perhaps also in motoring crimes (eg DUI, joyriding) which are lower level overall than say drug running or gun crimes to try and discourage fleeing by the perp.
I accept that that's partly down to the nature of this year's local election battleground, but they really will need to broaden their offer if they're ever going to attract more votes from people who are of working age and don't expect to ever inherit more than a million pounds' worth of land.
Shows what the elected Republicans really think of Trump.
Video 2: destroyed Avdiivka Coke Plant in Donetsk region.
This is what Russia does. This is what it would like to do to more countries if it has the opportunity.
https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1909333679286910989
No one is asking Reform or Farage what they would be doing now were they in Government and the polls put them in a more likely position to be leading a minority Government than the LDs.
However, it’s a specious line of reasoning as we were less than a year from an election and a minimum of three years from another General Election.
Indeed, one could argue it’s far from clear what a future Conservative Government would do yet it seems the LDs are the ones who have to play their hand while the other parties are still looking at their cards.
One could also argue those opposed to the LDs for whatever reason are simply frustrated at the ability of the party to seemingly do so much with so little. To be blunt for a Wednesday afternoon, the Conservatives made an unholy mess of their 14 years leading the Government, and they deserved the defeat handed them by the electorate last year.
As their vote fragmented, including the large numbers of ex-Tories who stayed at home, the political map was redefined. Yet there are two sides to the question - why did the Conservatives lose seats like Chichester? Why did the Liberal Democrats win seats like Chichester? You have to answer both questions.
The Soviet Union was probably the most harsh of all the European colonial empires, at least in that last hundred years. It was the only one that continued to practise slavery, well into the twentieth century.
https://x.com/annmarie/status/1909964118540353966
At the time of the election I was saying exactly the same on tariffs and it was why I was rooting for the useless Harris. 🥃🥃
https://bsky.app/profile/jamellebouie.net/post/3lmf35pyqhk24
Time to set off Vance in grovelling mode.