Whether Oxford or Cambridge, the girls (and later the guys) have worked immensely hard for this opportunity. The strength required - physical and mental - to do this is quite something. A DQ would ruin the event for both sides.
That kind of coxing is idiotic. I’ve rowed that course, multiple times, in both directions. Most recently a Head Race
There is enough good water to row side by side the whole way - though 2/3rds of the width of the river is not usable.
A Head Race is a time trial - we had 824 boats heading down the river at 15 second intervals. So there is plenty of overtaking. No clashes reported by the umpires, I believe.
A race qualified cox can keep his/her boats blades 3 feet from the oppositions blades all day.
Aside from the risk of disqualification, someone could have got seriously hurt.
Nearly 10 years since Oxford won the women's race, we need relegate Oxford and let a better university compete, The University of Hull, your time has come.
Nearly 10 years since Oxford won the women's race, we need relegate Oxford and let a better university compete, The University of Hull, your time has come.
Ah, the halcyon days on here when there were choruses of Israel would never strike a hospital. Presumably the IDF have already prepared CG maps of a 14 floor Hamas control centre beneath this hospital.
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Do you think politically allying with Trump’s terminology is wise though? When the biggest barrier to voting Reform is that Farage is up his arse?
Do you really think people who see local services getting worse and their council tax increasing substantially year on year and tempted to vote Reform will really think, oh he’s used a Trump term, I’ll stick with the same lot who’ve failed for the last four years.
I don’t think they’ll care and the people who do care won’t vote for them anyway.
If you look at recent polls, I would struggle to conclude that Reform hasn’t peaked. They’re now down on where they were a few weeks ago, even with the pollster that always puts them ahead.
The graph on the Wki page shows they have dropped back slightly. But they are now ahead as Labour have dropped back more. The LibDems and Greens are up a bit, the Tories stabilised.
I wouldn't call that a "peak" though, just a temporary movement in the numbers. They are likely to get good headlines out of the Locals and that will lead to better opinion poll scoring.
At the moment, the voters seem willing to vote for a party they know f*** all about. The peak will come when they find out how shit they are at running local councils and when there are a lot more Reform office holders to be exposed as grufters and racists
That’s a good response and I think you’ve convinced me that I am wrong.
They will get a rise of some kind post election - because whenever a party is perceived to win they seem to go up.
But the thrust of my view I still think is right. Reform will peak and then it will be downhill.
Labour will benefit from that and much will be driven by their moves on immigration. If they cut that, it will be a different conversation IMHO.
I think the peak could be quite a high one, and I think their trajectory will be similar to that of Sinn Fein, in the last Irish Parliament.
At one point, they had a very clear lead as the protest party of choice, before falling back in the year coming up to the general election, while still achieving a fairly good result, at the end.
I expect that Electoral Calculus is broadly right, and by 2027, Reform might easily have c.2,000 councillors, and have control of quite a few authorities. They'll probably win Runcorn, and other by-elections, in that period.
Yeah good response.
It is interesting that we both agree on their being a peak, just not exactly how high or when it will be.
Labour is in the fortunate position of having a lot of time.
If we are to play the optimistic game - of which I am happy to be called stupid - things may look very different by 2029.
Imagine that the economy has grown some, there’s a budget surplus, immigration has been cut, waiting lists have come down, Trump has destroyed any popularity for populism…
What exactly will be the reasons to vote for Reform then? And that’s before we analyse their policies.
Feels all very Lib Dem Joe Swinson to me, was popular until people worked out how stupid her cancel Brexit policy was.
Economic growth *ought* to be reasonable, between now and 2029, simply because external shocks have kept it so anaemic, in the first half of the decade. The economy grew by 1%, between November and February, which is decent enough (although it also grew by similar number from November 2023 to February 2024, before stalling). Waiting lists *ought* to fall somewhat, and immigration ought to fall quite markedly.
The big known unknown is the impact of a trade war, and then of course, there are unknown unknowns. And, the voters are not in a mood to give governments credit for anything.
If you look at recent polls, I would struggle to conclude that Reform hasn’t peaked. They’re now down on where they were a few weeks ago, even with the pollster that always puts them ahead.
The graph on the Wki page shows they have dropped back slightly. But they are now ahead as Labour have dropped back more. The LibDems and Greens are up a bit, the Tories stabilised.
I wouldn't call that a "peak" though, just a temporary movement in the numbers. They are likely to get good headlines out of the Locals and that will lead to better opinion poll scoring.
At the moment, the voters seem willing to vote for a party they know f*** all about. The peak will come when they find out how shit they are at running local councils and when there are a lot more Reform office holders to be exposed as grufters and racists
That’s a good response and I think you’ve convinced me that I am wrong.
They will get a rise of some kind post election - because whenever a party is perceived to win they seem to go up.
But the thrust of my view I still think is right. Reform will peak and then it will be downhill.
Labour will benefit from that and much will be driven by their moves on immigration. If they cut that, it will be a different conversation IMHO.
I think the peak could be quite a high one, and I think their trajectory will be similar to that of Sinn Fein, in the last Irish Parliament.
At one point, they had a very clear lead as the protest party of choice, before falling back in the year coming up to the general election, while still achieving a fairly good result, at the end.
I expect that Electoral Calculus is broadly right, and by 2027, Reform might easily have c.2,000 councillors, and have control of quite a few authorities. They'll probably win Runcorn, and other by-elections, in that period.
Yeah good response.
It is interesting that we both agree on their being a peak, just not exactly how high or when it will be.
Labour is in the fortunate position of having a lot of time.
If we are to play the optimistic game - of which I am happy to be called stupid - things may look very different by 2029.
Imagine that the economy has grown some, there’s a budget surplus, immigration has been cut, waiting lists have come down, Trump has destroyed any popularity for populism…
What exactly will be the reasons to vote for Reform then? And that’s before we analyse their policies.
Feels all very Lib Dem Joe Swinson to me, was popular until people worked out how stupid her cancel Brexit policy was.
Economic growth *ought* to be reasonable, between now and 2029, simply because external shocks have kept it so anaemic, in the first half of the decade. The economy grew by 1%, between November and February, which is decent enough (although it also grew by similar number from November 2023 to February 2024, before stalling). Waiting lists *ought* to fall somewhat, and immigration ought to fall quite markedly.
The big known unknown is the impact of a trade war, and then of course, there are unknown unknowns. And, the voters are not in a mood to give governments credit for anything.
Not giving credit is very different to actively voting against I suppose.
Personally I think the next election is between Labour win or minority government. What do you think?
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Where I disagree with Reform, and I’ve discussed this with some of their candidates, is they would ‘audit’ spend.
Who would do the audit ? They cannot say how it would be carried out and if they could get any money back.
I suspect all that would happen would be the auditors would make some money and the council tax payer would pay for it and we won’t get a penny back. Like Labours pathetic PPE audit which I doubt will yield anything for the taxpayer.
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Do you think politically allying with Trump’s terminology is wise though? When the biggest barrier to voting Reform is that Farage is up his arse?
Do you really think people who see local services getting worse and their council tax increasing substantially year on year and tempted to vote Reform will really think, oh he’s used a Trump term, I’ll stick with the same lot who’ve failed for the last four years.
I don’t think they’ll care and the people who do care won’t vote for them anyway.
It’s whether there is a ceiling to Reform support. Not whether it puts off existing voters. I think you right that this won’t bother their current voters.
But I think Farage is playing a risky game by continuing to ally with Farage so openly. This is why I think he will struggle to do much better than he is now.
If you look at recent polls, I would struggle to conclude that Reform hasn’t peaked. They’re now down on where they were a few weeks ago, even with the pollster that always puts them ahead.
The graph on the Wki page shows they have dropped back slightly. But they are now ahead as Labour have dropped back more. The LibDems and Greens are up a bit, the Tories stabilised.
I wouldn't call that a "peak" though, just a temporary movement in the numbers. They are likely to get good headlines out of the Locals and that will lead to better opinion poll scoring.
At the moment, the voters seem willing to vote for a party they know f*** all about. The peak will come when they find out how shit they are at running local councils and when there are a lot more Reform office holders to be exposed as grufters and racists
That’s a good response and I think you’ve convinced me that I am wrong.
They will get a rise of some kind post election - because whenever a party is perceived to win they seem to go up.
But the thrust of my view I still think is right. Reform will peak and then it will be downhill.
Labour will benefit from that and much will be driven by their moves on immigration. If they cut that, it will be a different conversation IMHO.
I think the peak could be quite a high one, and I think their trajectory will be similar to that of Sinn Fein, in the last Irish Parliament.
At one point, they had a very clear lead as the protest party of choice, before falling back in the year coming up to the general election, while still achieving a fairly good result, at the end.
I expect that Electoral Calculus is broadly right, and by 2027, Reform might easily have c.2,000 councillors, and have control of quite a few authorities. They'll probably win Runcorn, and other by-elections, in that period.
Yeah good response.
It is interesting that we both agree on their being a peak, just not exactly how high or when it will be.
Labour is in the fortunate position of having a lot of time.
If we are to play the optimistic game - of which I am happy to be called stupid - things may look very different by 2029.
Imagine that the economy has grown some, there’s a budget surplus, immigration has been cut, waiting lists have come down, Trump has destroyed any popularity for populism…
What exactly will be the reasons to vote for Reform then? And that’s before we analyse their policies.
Feels all very Lib Dem Joe Swinson to me, was popular until people worked out how stupid her cancel Brexit policy was.
Economic growth *ought* to be reasonable, between now and 2029, simply because external shocks have kept it so anaemic, in the first half of the decade. The economy grew by 1%, between November and February, which is decent enough (although it also grew by similar number from November 2023 to February 2024, before stalling). Waiting lists *ought* to fall somewhat, and immigration ought to fall quite markedly.
The big known unknown is the impact of a trade war, and then of course, there are unknown unknowns. And, the voters are not in a mood to give governments credit for anything.
The last sentence is key. The mood music is that the LabourToryLibDems are all useless and collectively responsible for the state of things.
Whether Oxford or Cambridge, the girls (and later the guys) have worked immensely hard for this opportunity. The strength required - physical and mental - to do this is quite something. A DQ would ruin the event for both sides.
That kind of coxing is idiotic. I’ve rowed that course, multiple times, in both directions. Most recently a Head Race
There is enough good water to row side by side the whole way - though 2/3rds of the width of the river is not usable.
A Head Race is a time trial - we had 824 boats heading down the river at 15 second intervals. So there is plenty of overtaking. No clashes reported by the umpires, I believe.
A race qualified cox can keep his/her boats blades 3 feet from the oppositions blades all day.
Aside from the risk of disqualification, someone could have got seriously hurt.
No excuse.
I don't disagree with that; but there are nine people in each boat. A DQ would have ruined the event for everyone in both boats. It would have been a great shame.
Interestingly, ?Pinsent? seemed to say just on TV that if Oxford had won the restarted race, he would have to consider whether the clash had unfairly influenced the result. (Hope that's a correct recollection...). So i guess if it had been a narrow Oxford win, and one of the Cambridge crew claimed minor injury or damage to oars, he could have awarded it the other way?
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Do you think politically allying with Trump’s terminology is wise though? When the biggest barrier to voting Reform is that Farage is up his arse?
Do you really think people who see local services getting worse and their council tax increasing substantially year on year and tempted to vote Reform will really think, oh he’s used a Trump term, I’ll stick with the same lot who’ve failed for the last four years.
I don’t think they’ll care and the people who do care won’t vote for them anyway.
It’s whether there is a ceiling to Reform support. Not whether it puts off existing voters. I think you right that this won’t bother their current voters.
But I think Farage is playing a risky game by continuing to ally with Farage so openly. This is why I think he will struggle to do much better than he is now.
There’s a ceiling to every parties support
I don’t really see them as allying to Trump so much now either.
O/T the Canadian elections, oddly, the Conservatives' vote share would be enough to win, in normal circumstances, at c.39% on average. It's just, the circumstances are not normal, and the non-Conservative vote has collapsed to the Liberals.
One wonders, if people here are choosing between Reform and Labour, will people really vote for the Greens?
One wonders, if people here are choosing between Reform and Green, will people really vote for Labour? And if they are choosing between Reform and the LibDems, will they really vote Tory?
Same thing happened with the Elizabeth Line too. Are the metrics the government uses to justify rail lines just fundamentally broken? Perhaps we should be building far more rail transport if the demand predictions are this out of whack.
Yep - the numbers from Manchester to London alone are wrong because demand is currently restricted by supply
It then didn't estimate extra demand and missed out all the benefits of extra capacity on the existing routes.
Problem is the costs look high because 30+ years of necessary but skipped improvements have had to be included in the HS2 costs.
There have been many improvements to the main Manchester to London route over the last thirty years. The entire West Coast Main Line Upgrade package was near the start of that period; it cost ten times over budget, took years longer than expected, and did not deliver everything (though line speed and capacity was increased).
But the idea that improvements were 'skipped' is ridiculous.
But the WCML Upgrade package shows exactly why HS2 is needed, and why the "just improve the existing route!" are wrong.
(I won't even mention the "reopen the Great Central!" nutters, as they are utterly clueless fuckwits who should be ut in stocks and laughed at by passers-by...
Is it really possible that the Treasury are using models for infrastructure usage that don’t deal with demand being restricted by supply?
Perhaps they believe in Phlogiston?
I don't know what the issue is, but when it comes to transport, it seems they often underestimate usage. Certainly on rail, and AIUI on big road schemes as well. I would have thought they would have investigated why this is, but I haven't heard of them doing so.
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Do you think politically allying with Trump’s terminology is wise though? When the biggest barrier to voting Reform is that Farage is up his arse?
Do you really think people who see local services getting worse and their council tax increasing substantially year on year and tempted to vote Reform will really think, oh he’s used a Trump term, I’ll stick with the same lot who’ve failed for the last four years.
I don’t think they’ll care and the people who do care won’t vote for them anyway.
It’s whether there is a ceiling to Reform support. Not whether it puts off existing voters. I think you right that this won’t bother their current voters.
But I think Farage is playing a risky game by continuing to ally with Farage so openly. This is why I think he will struggle to do much better than he is now.
There’s a ceiling to every parties support
I don’t really see them as allying to Trump so much now either.
Farage said we need DOGE here, this morning.
There is a ceiling you are right. But it’s where you think the ceiling is. I assume you think it’s much higher than me.
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Where I disagree with Reform, and I’ve discussed this with some of their candidates, is they would ‘audit’ spend.
Who would do the audit ? They cannot say how it would be carried out and if they could get any money back.
I suspect all that would happen would be the auditors would make some money and the council tax payer would pay for it and we won’t get a penny back. Like Labours pathetic PPE audit which I doubt will yield anything for the taxpayer.
At an abstract level, there is definitely scope for auditing in local government.
The various council financial collapses indicate that there are orders of magnitude more that are just on the edge.
The real problem is the complete disconnection between revenue sources, service provision and obligations.
I find this government rather odd. Starmer as a stated lifetime socialist was all about nationalisation of things when he ran for leadership and even after that. Now there is here something that is prime for nationalisation, but they are only sort of nationalising and I imagine the majority of the public could see this as for the greater good, but they are tip toeing around actually committing to nationalisation and also claiming they are going to try and find a private sector buyer (when last time the only option was the Chinese and now they have already ruled out any Chinese company from bidding).
I can't work out the logic politically or even economically.
Its like the unwillingness to find any extra fiver for a new super high tech AstraZeneca facility in the North West.
They have no theory of the world other than "do Thatcherism more politely" and "stupid Green stuff". Literally. The impression I got from "Taken as Red" and "Get In" is that they don't have any political theory other than crowd pleasing headlines and metropolitan elite nostrums. They think the machine works without their involvement, whereas it's a full-time job just trying to make sure the wheels don't come off.
Or, as I put it, they don't know how to fly the plane.
There is a 'thing' though, shared in my opinion by the British civil service, and to be fair by some within the Tory Party, that Britain's national interest is bad and dirty, and that actually the admirable course of action is to kick the lumpen proles of Blighty in the gonads and call it high-minded fairness and competition.
I think it went into overdrive after Brexit, when in my opinion, a great many people in administration decided that Britain's national interest was Brexit's national interest, which they actively loathed, so they would do all they could to undermine the country. The long term plan being to return us suitably chastened to the bosom of Europe.
A more prosaic possibility or perhaps added dimension is that a lot of people are at it.
Either way, they all have to go, the Labour Party of course but a complete gutting of institutions is required too.
Yes. A Reform-led government is necessary but not sufficient. What we need is a Trump-style revolution (without the crazy economics, foolish foreign policy and basic weirdness). Trump did well with his initial 50 days in completely shattering the confidence of the Woke left and dismantling decades of Woke bureauwank
We need the same. Sack half the judges, for a start. Destroy the quangos. Make it illegal to work for migration and asylum cases. Repeal the Equality Act. Repeal any DEI crap. Swift deportations of all foreign criminals. Prohibit the seeking of asylum unless in exceptional cases (HK, Ukraine). Leave the ECHR
And on and on. Basically we need a coup d’etat
At the moment I honestly do not regard this Labour government as legitimate and I feel no moral requirement to obey British laws. It cannot defend our borders, it cannot defend our citizens, it actively and racially discriminates against me as a British white male and against my daughters for merely being white
So the United Kingdom government and all its agencies can go fuck itself
O/T the Canadian elections, oddly, the Conservatives' vote share would be enough to win, in normal circumstances, at c.39% on average. It's just, the circumstances are not normal, and the non-Conservative vote has collapsed to the Liberals.
One wonders, if people here are choosing between Reform and Labour, will people really vote for the Greens?
One wonders, if people here are choosing between Reform and Green, will people really vote for Labour? And if they are choosing between Reform and the LibDems, will they really vote Tory?
Ultimately it will be do you want Labour back in office or not. Everything else is really immaterial.
At the moment I think most - not me - think Labour will not be back in office.
Nearly 10 years since Oxford won the women's race, we need relegate Oxford and let a better university compete, The University of Hull, your time has come.
Two birds, one stone - the Welsh Rugby Union team takes the place of Oxford, thus freeing up a slot for Georgia in the 6N.
Same thing happened with the Elizabeth Line too. Are the metrics the government uses to justify rail lines just fundamentally broken? Perhaps we should be building far more rail transport if the demand predictions are this out of whack.
Yep - the numbers from Manchester to London alone are wrong because demand is currently restricted by supply
It then didn't estimate extra demand and missed out all the benefits of extra capacity on the existing routes.
Problem is the costs look high because 30+ years of necessary but skipped improvements have had to be included in the HS2 costs.
There have been many improvements to the main Manchester to London route over the last thirty years. The entire West Coast Main Line Upgrade package was near the start of that period; it cost ten times over budget, took years longer than expected, and did not deliver everything (though line speed and capacity was increased).
But the idea that improvements were 'skipped' is ridiculous.
But the WCML Upgrade package shows exactly why HS2 is needed, and why the "just improve the existing route!" are wrong.
(I won't even mention the "reopen the Great Central!" nutters, as they are utterly clueless fuckwits who should be ut in stocks and laughed at by passers-by...
Is it really possible that the Treasury are using models for infrastructure usage that don’t deal with demand being restricted by supply?
Perhaps they believe in Phlogiston?
I don't know what the issue is, but when it comes to transport, it seems they often underestimate usage. Certainly on rail, and AIUI on big road schemes as well. I would have thought they would have investigated why this is, but I haven't heard of them doing so.
Well, exactly.
What I’d be doing is commission a PhD (probably half a dozen, in parallel) on analysing why the model keeps getting it wrong. And fixing it.
Cost would be about half a fart in a thunderstorm.
I find this government rather odd. Starmer as a stated lifetime socialist was all about nationalisation of things when he ran for leadership and even after that. Now there is here something that is prime for nationalisation, but they are only sort of nationalising and I imagine the majority of the public could see this as for the greater good, but they are tip toeing around actually committing to nationalisation and also claiming they are going to try and find a private sector buyer (when last time the only option was the Chinese and now they have already ruled out any Chinese company from bidding).
I can't work out the logic politically or even economically.
Its like the unwillingness to find any extra fiver for a new super high tech AstraZeneca facility in the North West.
They have no theory of the world other than "do Thatcherism more politely" and "stupid Green stuff". Literally. The impression I got from "Taken as Red" and "Get In" is that they don't have any political theory other than crowd pleasing headlines and metropolitan elite nostrums. They think the machine works without their involvement, whereas it's a full-time job just trying to make sure the wheels don't come off.
Or, as I put it, they don't know how to fly the plane.
There is a 'thing' though, shared in my opinion by the British civil service, and to be fair by some within the Tory Party, that Britain's national interest is bad and dirty, and that actually the admirable course of action is to kick the lumpen proles of Blighty in the gonads and call it high-minded fairness and competition.
I think it went into overdrive after Brexit, when in my opinion, a great many people in administration decided that Britain's national interest was Brexit's national interest, which they actively loathed, so they would do all they could to undermine the country. The long term plan being to return us suitably chastened to the bosom of Europe.
A more prosaic possibility or perhaps added dimension is that a lot of people are at it.
Either way, they all have to go, the Labour Party of course but a complete gutting of institutions is required too.
Yes. A Reform-led government is necessary but not sufficient. What we need is a Trump-style revolution (without the crazy economics, foolish foreign policy and basic weirdness). Trump did well with his initial 50 days in completely shattering the confidence of the Woke left and dismantling decades of Woke bureauwank
We need the same. Sack half the judges, for a start. Destroy the quangos. Make it illegal to work for migration and asylum cases. Repeal the Equality Act. Repeal any DEI crap. Swift deportations of all foreign criminals. Prohibit the seeking of asylum unless in exceptional cases (HK, Ukraine). Leave the ECHR
And on and on. Basically we need a coup d’etat
At the moment I honestly do not regard this Labour government as legitimate and I feel no moral requirement to obey British laws. It cannot defend our borders, it cannot defend our citizens, it actively and racially discriminates against me as a British white male and against my daughters for merely being white
So the United Kingdom government and all its agencies can go fuck itself
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Where I disagree with Reform, and I’ve discussed this with some of their candidates, is they would ‘audit’ spend.
Who would do the audit ? They cannot say how it would be carried out and if they could get any money back.
I suspect all that would happen would be the auditors would make some money and the council tax payer would pay for it and we won’t get a penny back. Like Labours pathetic PPE audit which I doubt will yield anything for the taxpayer.
Possible ways money is being lost:
1 Outright fraud, of the sort that did seem to happen at the peak of COVID; both the PPE panic and the business support schemes.
2 Government business systems could be restructured to deliver a better service at lower cost. Perhaps, though the upfront cost is always an issue and public sector admin tends to be pretty shoestring.
3 Government is spending money on bad things. That's essentially the Charlotte Gill argument, as I understand it. It's an easy case to make if you go through lists of humanities research grants. However, even as a total, it barely moves the national needle. As we have seen with DOGE-US. For all the sound and fury, the savings are peanuts compared with the total budget.
Besides, county and unitary councils have approximately zero discretion about their spending. Once they have done the things that they have to do by law (social care, bins, libraries), there is roughly zero money left.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
A Liberal Democrat MP has been refused entry to Hong Kong to visit her newborn grandson.
Wera Hobhouse, 65, flew to the Chinese region — a British territory until 1997 — on Thursday but was held at airport security, questioned and put on the first flight home five hours later.
She had her passport confiscated, was asked about her job and purpose of her trip, had her luggage searched and swabbed, and was then escorted to the boarding gate by four immigration officers.
Hobhouse said she had been “shocked” and was “very close to tears” when she was refused entry. She said she had not been able to hug her son who, was waiting for her in the arrivals hall. Hobhouse, elected in Bath in 2017, was given no explanation as to why her entry was refused but she believes it is because she is an MP.
She is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international group of politicians that scrutinises Beijing’s approach to human rights and the rules-based order. She has criticised the crackdown on free speech in Hong Kong.
Members of a parliamentary committee were told they would be barred from Hong Kong when they announced they intended to visit in 2014 as part of an inquiry, but Hobhouse is the first MP known to have been refused entry on arrival since 1997.
What a load of whining bollocks. How many right wing people has the UK piously refused to allow into the country - including politicians - because they offended Establishment Woke Sensitivities
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
O/T the Canadian elections, oddly, the Conservatives' vote share would be enough to win, in normal circumstances, at c.39% on average. It's just, the circumstances are not normal, and the non-Conservative vote has collapsed to the Liberals.
One wonders, if people here are choosing between Reform and Labour, will people really vote for the Greens?
If Reform are still in 2nd place or leading at the time of the next general election, then yes, it is very likely that the Greens vote will collapse and most Greens voters will prefer to vote Labour, Lib Dem or even Tory, to try to stop Reform from forming government.
Greens and Reform are total polar opposites, and a Reform government would be the "nightmare scenario" for the typical Greens voter.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
I wasn't talking about him. I was talking about the IRA veteran author that Malmesbury mentioned.
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Do you think politically allying with Trump’s terminology is wise though? When the biggest barrier to voting Reform is that Farage is up his arse?
Do you really think people who see local services getting worse and their council tax increasing substantially year on year and tempted to vote Reform will really think, oh he’s used a Trump term, I’ll stick with the same lot who’ve failed for the last four years.
I don’t think they’ll care and the people who do care won’t vote for them anyway.
It’s whether there is a ceiling to Reform support. Not whether it puts off existing voters. I think you right that this won’t bother their current voters.
But I think Farage is playing a risky game by continuing to ally with Farage so openly. This is why I think he will struggle to do much better than he is now.
There’s a ceiling to every parties support
I don’t really see them as allying to Trump so much now either.
Farage said we need DOGE here, this morning.
There is a ceiling you are right. But it’s where you think the ceiling is. I assume you think it’s much higher than me.
Well you know the old saying about assume, but in this case it’s you not me. 😘
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
I've thought of an idea to avoid the problem of juries being reluctant to convict people if it would mean condeming them to death.
We could make a range of crimes eligible for the death penalty, but instead of it being a sentence handed down by a judge, it could be handled as a kind of honours system in reverse, with the PM announcing a New Year death list. If we happen to have a PM who disagrees with the death penalty, then they simply don't announce any executions while in office.
PB brains trust: Have any one you stayed over on the Isle of Wight? Any recommendations for a decent hotel for a 3-4 day break (a family of three)?
Depends on your criteria, as ever. Excellent, expensive places to stay: The Terrace, Ventnor; The Seaview, Seaview; The George, Yarmouth; Foresters Hall, Cowes; Royal Hotel, Ventnor. Mid-range: The Hambrough, Ventnor; the Wight Mouse, Chale, Wellington, Ventnor. Cheaper places to stay: The Brunswick, Shanklin; the Crab & Lobster, Bembridge; Luccombe Manor, Luccombe
If you are coming by car, check out the parking arrangements - a few of the above have limited options
I stayed in the Trouville Hotel in Sandown for a week, which was fine and on the seafront but quite traditional. You can get there by rail - I cycled across the island, which was fine. There are quite a few rail stations.
Currently the Trouville looks like £100-120 a night, before you exercise your discounting skills.
PB brains trust: Have any one you stayed over on the Isle of Wight? Any recommendations for a decent hotel for a 3-4 day break (a family of three)?
Depends on your criteria, as ever. Excellent, expensive places to stay: The Terrace, Ventnor; The Seaview, Seaview; The George, Yarmouth; Foresters Hall, Cowes; Royal Hotel, Ventnor. Mid-range: The Hambrough, Ventnor; the Wight Mouse, Chale, Wellington, Ventnor. Cheaper places to stay: The Brunswick, Shanklin; the Crab & Lobster, Bembridge; Luccombe Manor, Luccombe
If you are coming by car, check out the parking arrangements - a few of the above have limited options
I stayed in the Trouville Hotel in Sandown for a week, which was fine and on the seafront but quite traditional. You can get there by rail - I cycled across the island, which was fine. There are quite a few rail stations.
Currently the Trouville looks like £100-120 a night, before you exercise your discounting skills.
Sandown is a dump, just to bear in mind.
I booked a hotel in Sandown. When my wife saw the nylon sheets we were on the last ferry back to Pompey and in the Holiday Inn Express on the A27 before the clock struck midnight.
Do you mean recently? I'm shocked. Nylon sheets were a thing decades ago. I haven't heard of them for decades.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
I wouldn’t be so sure - the PIRA was Catholic *community* origin, but had plenty of atheists and non-Church goers. And plenty of Marxists, of course.
IIRC it wasn’t his book - he was one of the supporting cast for The Big Fish. Can’t remember who that was, though. He was this huddled over figure sitting at a table in the corner.
Just to comment on Farage's car crash of an interview this morning. The man and his Party clearly have only the most superficial knowledge of what local Government does and how it works.
Many of the activities he wuld consider "a waste" are statutory functions obligated by legislation. There is no real "money" in, for example, adult education or library or youth centre provision. You could argue Trading Standards are a waste if you really want to and as for Smallholdings, well, you can question their validity now a century on from their inception.
Indeed, most Councils are zealous in trying to keep costs under control as they have little or no budget headroom. Creating a useless DOGE-type function would be throwing good money after bad. To his credit, Farage did acknowledge the problems Counties have had with care for vulnerable adults and children as well as SEN provision but I didn't hear much in terms of practical solutions.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
I've thought of an idea to avoid the problem of juries being reluctant to convict people if it would mean condeming them to death.
We could make a range of crimes eligible for the death penalty, but instead of it being a sentence handed down by a judge, it could be handled as a kind of honours system in reverse, with the PM announcing a New Year death list. If we happen to have a PM who disagrees with the death penalty, then they simply don't announce any executions while in office.
Just to comment on Farage's car crash of an interview this morning. The man and his Party clearly have only the most superficial knowledge of what local Government does and how it works. .
It would be like putting Leon - or indeed Trump - in charge. Sooner or later someone with experience and intelligence will be left to clear up the mess.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
I've thought of an idea to avoid the problem of juries being reluctant to convict people if it would mean condeming them to death.
We could make a range of crimes eligible for the death penalty, but instead of it being a sentence handed down by a judge, it could be handled as a kind of honours system in reverse, with the PM announcing a New Year death list. If we happen to have a PM who disagrees with the death penalty, then they simply don't announce any executions while in office.
I like it
But even better we could put all of the death row inmates in a Big Brother house, or maybe The Traitors Castle, every autumn, and one by one the British TV viewer gets to vote them off to the gallows
The “winner” will be the most likeable charming mass murderer and will return to jail, perhaps even given a shortened sentence and free Uber Eats
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
I've thought of an idea to avoid the problem of juries being reluctant to convict people if it would mean condeming them to death.
We could make a range of crimes eligible for the death penalty, but instead of it being a sentence handed down by a judge, it could be handled as a kind of honours system in reverse, with the PM announcing a New Year death list. If we happen to have a PM who disagrees with the death penalty, then they simply don't announce any executions while in office.
I like it
But even better we could put all of the death row inmates in a Big Brother house, or maybe The Traitors Castle, every autumn, and one by one the British TV viewer gets to vote them off to the gallows
The “winner” will be the most likeable charming mass murderer and will return to jail, perhaps even given a shortened sentence and free Uber Eats
I find this government rather odd. Starmer as a stated lifetime socialist was all about nationalisation of things when he ran for leadership and even after that. Now there is here something that is prime for nationalisation, but they are only sort of nationalising and I imagine the majority of the public could see this as for the greater good, but they are tip toeing around actually committing to nationalisation and also claiming they are going to try and find a private sector buyer (when last time the only option was the Chinese and now they have already ruled out any Chinese company from bidding).
I can't work out the logic politically or even economically.
Its like the unwillingness to find any extra fiver for a new super high tech AstraZeneca facility in the North West.
They have no theory of the world other than "do Thatcherism more politely" and "stupid Green stuff". Literally. The impression I got from "Taken as Red" and "Get In" is that they don't have any political theory other than crowd pleasing headlines and metropolitan elite nostrums. They think the machine works without their involvement, whereas it's a full-time job just trying to make sure the wheels don't come off.
Or, as I put it, they don't know how to fly the plane.
There is a 'thing' though, shared in my opinion by the British civil service, and to be fair by some within the Tory Party, that Britain's national interest is bad and dirty, and that actually the admirable course of action is to kick the lumpen proles of Blighty in the gonads and call it high-minded fairness and competition.
I think it went into overdrive after Brexit, when in my opinion, a great many people in administration decided that Britain's national interest was Brexit's national interest, which they actively loathed, so they would do all they could to undermine the country. The long term plan being to return us suitably chastened to the bosom of Europe.
A more prosaic possibility or perhaps added dimension is that a lot of people are at it.
Either way, they all have to go, the Labour Party of course but a complete gutting of institutions is required too.
Yes. A Reform-led government is necessary but not sufficient. What we need is a Trump-style revolution (without the crazy economics, foolish foreign policy and basic weirdness). Trump did well with his initial 50 days in completely shattering the confidence of the Woke left and dismantling decades of Woke bureauwank
We need the same. Sack half the judges, for a start. Destroy the quangos. Make it illegal to work for migration and asylum cases. Repeal the Equality Act. Repeal any DEI crap. Swift deportations of all foreign criminals. Prohibit the seeking of asylum unless in exceptional cases (HK, Ukraine). Leave the ECHR
And on and on. Basically we need a coup d’etat
At the moment I honestly do not regard this Labour government as legitimate and I feel no moral requirement to obey British laws. It cannot defend our borders, it cannot defend our citizens, it actively and racially discriminates against me as a British white male and against my daughters for merely being white
So the United Kingdom government and all its agencies can go fuck itself
Were you struggling to keep your right hand from involuntarily doing a nazi salute while typing that. Peter Sellers would be proud of that performance.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
I've thought of an idea to avoid the problem of juries being reluctant to convict people if it would mean condeming them to death.
We could make a range of crimes eligible for the death penalty, but instead of it being a sentence handed down by a judge, it could be handled as a kind of honours system in reverse, with the PM announcing a New Year death list. If we happen to have a PM who disagrees with the death penalty, then they simply don't announce any executions while in office.
I like it
But even better we could put all of the death row inmates in a Big Brother house, or maybe The Traitors Castle, every autumn, and one by one the British TV viewer gets to vote them off to the gallows
The “winner” will be the most likeable charming mass murderer and will return to jail, perhaps even given a shortened sentence and free Uber Eats
I find this government rather odd. Starmer as a stated lifetime socialist was all about nationalisation of things when he ran for leadership and even after that. Now there is here something that is prime for nationalisation, but they are only sort of nationalising and I imagine the majority of the public could see this as for the greater good, but they are tip toeing around actually committing to nationalisation and also claiming they are going to try and find a private sector buyer (when last time the only option was the Chinese and now they have already ruled out any Chinese company from bidding).
I can't work out the logic politically or even economically.
Its like the unwillingness to find any extra fiver for a new super high tech AstraZeneca facility in the North West.
They have no theory of the world other than "do Thatcherism more politely" and "stupid Green stuff". Literally. The impression I got from "Taken as Red" and "Get In" is that they don't have any political theory other than crowd pleasing headlines and metropolitan elite nostrums. They think the machine works without their involvement, whereas it's a full-time job just trying to make sure the wheels don't come off.
Or, as I put it, they don't know how to fly the plane.
There is a 'thing' though, shared in my opinion by the British civil service, and to be fair by some within the Tory Party, that Britain's national interest is bad and dirty, and that actually the admirable course of action is to kick the lumpen proles of Blighty in the gonads and call it high-minded fairness and competition.
I think it went into overdrive after Brexit, when in my opinion, a great many people in administration decided that Britain's national interest was Brexit's national interest, which they actively loathed, so they would do all they could to undermine the country. The long term plan being to return us suitably chastened to the bosom of Europe.
A more prosaic possibility or perhaps added dimension is that a lot of people are at it.
Either way, they all have to go, the Labour Party of course but a complete gutting of institutions is required too.
Yes. A Reform-led government is necessary but not sufficient. What we need is a Trump-style revolution (without the crazy economics, foolish foreign policy and basic weirdness). Trump did well with his initial 50 days in completely shattering the confidence of the Woke left and dismantling decades of Woke bureauwank
We need the same. Sack half the judges, for a start. Destroy the quangos. Make it illegal to work for migration and asylum cases. Repeal the Equality Act. Repeal any DEI crap. Swift deportations of all foreign criminals. Prohibit the seeking of asylum unless in exceptional cases (HK, Ukraine). Leave the ECHR
And on and on. Basically we need a coup d’etat
At the moment I honestly do not regard this Labour government as legitimate and I feel no moral requirement to obey British laws. It cannot defend our borders, it cannot defend our citizens, it actively and racially discriminates against me as a British white male and against my daughters for merely being white
So the United Kingdom government and all its agencies can go fuck itself
Were you struggling to keep your right hand from involuntarily doing a nazi salute while typing that. Peter Sellers would be proud of that performance.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
What with their being separate legal systems and all, it would be for Scots and Wanglish voters to decide separately. Don’t think the Norns really need a death penalty in their particular heady brew.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
Israel has not executed anyone since 1962. The only two people ever executed in Israel are Meir Tobianski, for treason in 1948, and Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
Also, if Reform are serious about wanting to form the next government, then they need to reassure the public that they won't behave like fascistic lunatics when they gain power.
If Reform run on the death penalty as a main campaign issue, then Labour will be able to easily exploit this and argue that Reform want the death penalty back not just to hang murderers, but to also hang their political opponents.
If the Oxford Rowing Club were a dog you'd take them out and shoot them.
We will really need to relegate Oxford and let better universities compete.
A few decades ago it was briefly discussed to allow University of London’s crew to join in the fun but was shut down when people thought about the sheer number of GB and other Olympic oarsmen who made up the UL ranks and how neither Oxford and Cambridge would likely never win their big race again.
I find this government rather odd. Starmer as a stated lifetime socialist was all about nationalisation of things when he ran for leadership and even after that. Now there is here something that is prime for nationalisation, but they are only sort of nationalising and I imagine the majority of the public could see this as for the greater good, but they are tip toeing around actually committing to nationalisation and also claiming they are going to try and find a private sector buyer (when last time the only option was the Chinese and now they have already ruled out any Chinese company from bidding).
I can't work out the logic politically or even economically.
Its like the unwillingness to find any extra fiver for a new super high tech AstraZeneca facility in the North West.
They have no theory of the world other than "do Thatcherism more politely" and "stupid Green stuff". Literally. The impression I got from "Taken as Red" and "Get In" is that they don't have any political theory other than crowd pleasing headlines and metropolitan elite nostrums. They think the machine works without their involvement, whereas it's a full-time job just trying to make sure the wheels don't come off.
Or, as I put it, they don't know how to fly the plane.
There is a 'thing' though, shared in my opinion by the British civil service, and to be fair by some within the Tory Party, that Britain's national interest is bad and dirty, and that actually the admirable course of action is to kick the lumpen proles of Blighty in the gonads and call it high-minded fairness and competition.
I think it went into overdrive after Brexit, when in my opinion, a great many people in administration decided that Britain's national interest was Brexit's national interest, which they actively loathed, so they would do all they could to undermine the country. The long term plan being to return us suitably chastened to the bosom of Europe.
A more prosaic possibility or perhaps added dimension is that a lot of people are at it.
Either way, they all have to go, the Labour Party of course but a complete gutting of institutions is required too.
Yes. A Reform-led government is necessary but not sufficient. What we need is a Trump-style revolution (without the crazy economics, foolish foreign policy and basic weirdness). Trump did well with his initial 50 days in completely shattering the confidence of the Woke left and dismantling decades of Woke bureauwank
We need the same. Sack half the judges, for a start. Destroy the quangos. Make it illegal to work for migration and asylum cases. Repeal the Equality Act. Repeal any DEI crap. Swift deportations of all foreign criminals. Prohibit the seeking of asylum unless in exceptional cases (HK, Ukraine). Leave the ECHR
And on and on. Basically we need a coup d’etat
At the moment I honestly do not regard this Labour government as legitimate and I feel no moral requirement to obey British laws. It cannot defend our borders, it cannot defend our citizens, it actively and racially discriminates against me as a British white male and against my daughters for merely being white
So the United Kingdom government and all its agencies can go fuck itself
Were you struggling to keep your right hand from involuntarily doing a nazi salute while typing that. Peter Sellers would be proud of that performance.
Remember, a couple of weeks ago Leon was commending China on the way they dealt with their Muslim population.
Correction camps for everyone Leon doesn't like...
If the Oxford Rowing Club were a dog you'd take them out and shoot them.
We will really need to relegate Oxford and let better universities compete.
A few decades ago it was briefly discussed to allow University of London’s crew to join in the fun but was shut down when people thought about the sheer number of GB and other Olympic oarsmen who made up the UL ranks and how neither Oxford and Cambridge would likely never win their big race again.
Rowing 3 side by side on the Tideway wouldn’t work. The usable channel isn’t wide enough for more than half the course.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
Israel has not executed anyone since 1962. The only two people ever executed in Israel are Meir Tobianski, for treason in 1948, and Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
Also, if Reform are serious about wanting to form the next government, then they need to reassure the public that they won't behave like fascistic lunatics when they gain power.
If Reform run on the death penalty as a main campaign issue, then Labour will be able to easily exploit this and argue that Reform want the death penalty back not just to hang murderers, but to also hang their political opponents.
Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations is a 2018 book by Ronen Bergman about the history of targeted assassinations by Israel's intelligence services.[1] Its author writes that Israel has assassinated more people than any western country since World War II.
I find this government rather odd. Starmer as a stated lifetime socialist was all about nationalisation of things when he ran for leadership and even after that. Now there is here something that is prime for nationalisation, but they are only sort of nationalising and I imagine the majority of the public could see this as for the greater good, but they are tip toeing around actually committing to nationalisation and also claiming they are going to try and find a private sector buyer (when last time the only option was the Chinese and now they have already ruled out any Chinese company from bidding).
I can't work out the logic politically or even economically.
Its like the unwillingness to find any extra fiver for a new super high tech AstraZeneca facility in the North West.
They have no theory of the world other than "do Thatcherism more politely" and "stupid Green stuff". Literally. The impression I got from "Taken as Red" and "Get In" is that they don't have any political theory other than crowd pleasing headlines and metropolitan elite nostrums. They think the machine works without their involvement, whereas it's a full-time job just trying to make sure the wheels don't come off.
Or, as I put it, they don't know how to fly the plane.
There is a 'thing' though, shared in my opinion by the British civil service, and to be fair by some within the Tory Party, that Britain's national interest is bad and dirty, and that actually the admirable course of action is to kick the lumpen proles of Blighty in the gonads and call it high-minded fairness and competition.
I think it went into overdrive after Brexit, when in my opinion, a great many people in administration decided that Britain's national interest was Brexit's national interest, which they actively loathed, so they would do all they could to undermine the country. The long term plan being to return us suitably chastened to the bosom of Europe.
A more prosaic possibility or perhaps added dimension is that a lot of people are at it.
Either way, they all have to go, the Labour Party of course but a complete gutting of institutions is required too.
Yes. A Reform-led government is necessary but not sufficient. What we need is a Trump-style revolution (without the crazy economics, foolish foreign policy and basic weirdness). Trump did well with his initial 50 days in completely shattering the confidence of the Woke left and dismantling decades of Woke bureauwank
We need the same. Sack half the judges, for a start. Destroy the quangos. Make it illegal to work for migration and asylum cases. Repeal the Equality Act. Repeal any DEI crap. Swift deportations of all foreign criminals. Prohibit the seeking of asylum unless in exceptional cases (HK, Ukraine). Leave the ECHR
And on and on. Basically we need a coup d’etat
At the moment I honestly do not regard this Labour government as legitimate and I feel no moral requirement to obey British laws. It cannot defend our borders, it cannot defend our citizens, it actively and racially discriminates against me as a British white male and against my daughters for merely being white
So the United Kingdom government and all its agencies can go fuck itself
Were you struggling to keep your right hand from involuntarily doing a nazi salute while typing that. Peter Sellers would be proud of that performance.
No, Sellars would be pointing out that it was derivative and completely unoriginal.
The 10 year US Treasury bond is probably the most important single bond in the world. Last Friday the return on that bond increased from 4.0 to 4.5%. This is a massive change for the gold standard of debt in a single day.
It's why Trump panicked and reversed course once again on electronic tariffs. But the return did not fall. For a country as indebted as the US this is a disaster and it may very well cause a recession, making investment less attractive, mortgages more expensive and the outflow of cash from the US even higher. It also hurts us because our gilt rates tend to take their mark from the Treasury rates and our equivalent is now at 4.75%.
Is it Tariffwang that's driving up US Bond rates? Or is it simply unfunded tax cuts for oligarchs and a further rise in the debt ceiling?
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Do you think politically allying with Trump’s terminology is wise though? When the biggest barrier to voting Reform is that Farage is up his arse?
Do you really think people who see local services getting worse and their council tax increasing substantially year on year and tempted to vote Reform will really think, oh he’s used a Trump term, I’ll stick with the same lot who’ve failed for the last four years.
I don’t think they’ll care and the people who do care won’t vote for them anyway.
It’s whether there is a ceiling to Reform support. Not whether it puts off existing voters. I think you right that this won’t bother their current voters.
But I think Farage is playing a risky game by continuing to ally with Farage so openly. This is why I think he will struggle to do much better than he is now.
There’s a ceiling to every parties support
I don’t really see them as allying to Trump so much now either.
Farage said we need DOGE here, this morning.
There is a ceiling you are right. But it’s where you think the ceiling is. I assume you think it’s much higher than me.
I am not entirely sure Redwallers voting Reform are aware Farage is a Trump finger puppet.
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Where I disagree with Reform, and I’ve discussed this with some of their candidates, is they would ‘audit’ spend.
Who would do the audit ? They cannot say how it would be carried out and if they could get any money back.
I suspect all that would happen would be the auditors would make some money and the council tax payer would pay for it and we won’t get a penny back. Like Labours pathetic PPE audit which I doubt will yield anything for the taxpayer.
Possible ways money is being lost:
3 Government is spending money on bad things. That's essentially the Charlotte Gill argument, as I understand it. It's an easy case to make if you go through lists of humanities research grants. However, even as a total, it barely moves the national needle. As we have seen with DOGE-US. For all the sound and fury, the savings are peanuts compared with the total budget.
Charlotte Gill has an argument ?
WTF happened?
Of all the knees jerking in chorus in the Telegraph, she's one of the most obsessive.
The last I heard from her, she was trying to set up a fabricated "disabled people vs walking and cycling" narrative.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
Israel has not executed anyone since 1962. The only two people ever executed in Israel are Meir Tobianski, for treason in 1948, and Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
Also, if Reform are serious about wanting to form the next government, then they need to reassure the public that they won't behave like fascistic lunatics when they gain power.
If Reform run on the death penalty as a main campaign issue, then Labour will be able to easily exploit this and argue that Reform want the death penalty back not just to hang murderers, but to also hang their political opponents.
Israel does extrajudicial execution, though.
A number of ambulance drivers a fortnight ago, for example.
Though arguably "murder" is a better word in the circumstances.
They have real problems, many stemming from afaics Netanyahu's attempts to use political controversy and political decisions to avoid facing the music.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
Israel has not executed anyone since 1962. The only two people ever executed in Israel are Meir Tobianski, for treason in 1948, and Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
Also, if Reform are serious about wanting to form the next government, then they need to reassure the public that they won't behave like fascistic lunatics when they gain power.
If Reform run on the death penalty as a main campaign issue, then Labour will be able to easily exploit this and argue that Reform want the death penalty back not just to hang murderers, but to also hang their political opponents.
Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations is a 2018 book by Ronen Bergman about the history of targeted assassinations by Israel's intelligence services.[1] Its author writes that Israel has assassinated more people than any western country since World War II.
I am appalled by the attack of three brave officers at HMP Frankland today. My thoughts are with them and their families.
The police are now investigating. I will be pushing for the strongest possible punishment. Violence against our staff will never be tolerated.
The strongest possible punishment being imprisonment? Hmm.
Meanwhile, if he threw boiling oil over them, perhaps it is time to revisit the guidelines on who can work in prison kitchens.
They could put him in solitary confinement. It seems somewhat justified in the circumstances.
Just execute him. Enough. He killed dozens of young girls. He’s 100% guilty. He’s now injuring more
Hang him
He is serving a 55 year jail sentence anyway
Which, from the prison officer's point of view, is a nightmare because they simply have no means to control him and he can take any opportunity given to hurt more people. I mean, not giving him access to hot oil seems the start of a plan but how do you manage someone like that? Just imagine going to work every day supervising a psychopath like that with absolutely nothing to lose. It's not a job I would fancy.
People want long sentences for monsters like this, and rightly so, but boy do we create a problem for the Prison Service.
Just put him in solitary for 6 months, they have done it for Tommy Robinson for much less
And then? For the next 54 years?
The Israelis put their worst terrorists and murderers in solitary cells underground and never let them out until they are dead
It's quite a while since I read the New Testament - but that doesn't really chime with what I remember the overall message being.
I am not completely up on this religion thing but I don't think that the Israelis are particularly up on the New Testament. I'm pretty sure that was the point of it all.
I was faintly remembering HY as a Christian. It seemed like a rather un-Christian thought - even to project onto others.
I always find it amusing when someone says that someone is acting in an “unchristian”, “unislamic”, “unhindu” manner. Etc.
Especially when there are example of famous adherents to the various religious behaving exactly thus. Often within living memory.
Unchristian is a strange one, as the most unchristian people I've ever met go to church most often and are often high up in the Deanery / Diocese.
Many years ago, I went to a book signing thing by an ex (ha!) PIRA guy. I discussed the bombings that he’d been involved with. It became clear he wanted forgiveness and absolution from the world without the slightest expression of regret for what he had done. Old, doddery and evidently an alcoholic.
One of the people organising the event was shocked by my statement of a lack of forgiveness. “That isn’t very Christian of you”.
She was almost speechless when I replied that I wasn’t a Christian.
The guy who'd written the book was almost certainly one though.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
What do we gain from keeping this monster in prison for 55 years? He will take every chance to kill and maim again - so the only way to control him IS the Israeli method. Solitary confinement like Hannibal Lecter for the rest of his life. Which will be extremely expensive - and is not guaranteed to work
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
Israel has not executed anyone since 1962. The only two people ever executed in Israel are Meir Tobianski, for treason in 1948, and Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
Also, if Reform are serious about wanting to form the next government, then they need to reassure the public that they won't behave like fascistic lunatics when they gain power.
If Reform run on the death penalty as a main campaign issue, then Labour will be able to easily exploit this and argue that Reform want the death penalty back not just to hang murderers, but to also hang their political opponents.
Sure. Of course. Whatever you say
Actual polling data:
“A majority of Britons now support bringing back capital punishment, a shock new poll has found in the wake of Axel Rudakubana's sentencing.
Pollsters at More in Common revealed that 55 per cent of the public believe the death penalty should be reintroduced for certain crimes, up from 50 per cent in autumn 2023”
The Trump love is still strong with this arsehole.
It's a tricky position he's in.
The "cutting woke waste" fairy is the only way anyone has of resolving the high tax/poor services dilemma that everyone is struggling with.
Once you have a Union Flag flying outside County Hall and rejigged planning policy so that Ed Milliband can overturn your solar farm refusals, what is the distinctively Reform way of running the county council?
It becomes less of a fairy if the party highlighting it have done their homework, which it appears Reform have.
Have any of the other parties who stand to gain councillors not lose them (Lib Dems, Greens) been looking into potential savings and bothered their arses doing FOI requests to identify waste?
Do you think politically allying with Trump’s terminology is wise though? When the biggest barrier to voting Reform is that Farage is up his arse?
Do you really think people who see local services getting worse and their council tax increasing substantially year on year and tempted to vote Reform will really think, oh he’s used a Trump term, I’ll stick with the same lot who’ve failed for the last four years.
I don’t think they’ll care and the people who do care won’t vote for them anyway.
It’s whether there is a ceiling to Reform support. Not whether it puts off existing voters. I think you right that this won’t bother their current voters.
But I think Farage is playing a risky game by continuing to ally with Farage so openly. This is why I think he will struggle to do much better than he is now.
There’s a ceiling to every parties support
I don’t really see them as allying to Trump so much now either.
Farage said we need DOGE here, this morning.
There is a ceiling you are right. But it’s where you think the ceiling is. I assume you think it’s much higher than me.
I am not entirely sure Redwallers voting Reform are aware Farage is a Trump finger puppet.
I don't think they care much, but Farages endorsement does make them more inclined to Trump.
In truth, much of what the government has unveiled since Trump brandished his tariffs card in the Rose Garden would have been announced anyway. The easing of electric vehicle targets was in the pipeline already. As was the go-ahead for a giant Universal studios theme park in Bedfordshire.
I mean, I'm not picking on Sir Keir in particular, but is that sort of stuff really the best we can come up with?
In truth, much of what the government has unveiled since Trump brandished his tariffs card in the Rose Garden would have been announced anyway. The easing of electric vehicle targets was in the pipeline already. As was the go-ahead for a giant Universal studios theme park in Bedfordshire.
I mean, I'm not picking on Sir Keir in particular, but is that sort of stuff really the best we can come up with?
At the same time we binned off a super computer that would have been the only one of its kind outside of the US and China (given the geo-political environment would have been even more bonus for the UK), a big research biomedical research centre, while throwing our lot in with an very strange AI datacentre company that is a minor player with what appears to be vaporware tech.
They let Newport steel production shut down, but now rushing to pseudo temporarily nationalise the Scunthorpe plant but already saying they want a buyer but not Chinese despite none existing. But the leadership say they are life-long socialists who believe in nationalised industries.
As I said down thread, there seems no consistent well thought out plan or philosophy. Its all over the map.
Even the EV car change is neither really one thing or the other. Reynolds was saying he was against these fines for ICE producers, but all that actually happened was reduced the fine for a few £k, while he kept saying in interviews he was against it.
I seem to have caused consternation in the “Cloud Bar” on floor 6 of the Aisha Hotel and Spa here in Astana, aka Nur-Sultan, aka the “Singapore of the Steppes”
Perhaps it is because they are frankly overwhelmed by custom
British police warn an elderly, partially-deaf man that saying "speak English" is a hate crime.
Yeah except that isn't true is it. Why not post what actually happened rather than post lies.
He said 'Some people could potentially perceive that to be a hate crime'
Note the words 'Some people', 'potentially' and 'perceive'.
It is people like you who stir up hatred.
And that kind of passive aggressive language is what upsets people more.
Russell: Listen, some people, not me. But some people, they're a little concerned. Some people, not me. They think that you might— Hoffa: I might—? Russell: You might be demonstrating a failure to show appreciation. Hoffa: I'm not showing appreciation? Russell: According to, you know, some people.
In truth, much of what the government has unveiled since Trump brandished his tariffs card in the Rose Garden would have been announced anyway. The easing of electric vehicle targets was in the pipeline already. As was the go-ahead for a giant Universal studios theme park in Bedfordshire.
I mean, I'm not picking on Sir Keir in particular, but is that sort of stuff really the best we can come up with?
At the same time we binned off a super computer that would have been the only one of its kind outside of the US and China (given the geo-political environment would have been even more bonus for the UK), a big research biomedical research centre, while throwing our lot in with an very strange AI datacentre company that is a minor player with what appears to be vaporware tech.
They let Newport steel production shut down, but now rushing to pseudo temporarily nationalise the Scunthorpe plant but already saying they want a buyer but not Chinese despite none existing. But the leadership say they are life-long socialists who believe in nationalised industries.
As I said down thread, there seems no consistent well thought out plan or philosophy. Its all over the map.
Even the EV car change is neither really one thing or the other. Reynolds was saying he was against these fines for ICE producers, but all that actually happened was reduced the fine for a few £k, while he kept saying in interviews he was against it.
(I like the tactic of stopping to ask what the problem is when someone hoots at you for being exactly where you are supposed to be on the lane in a pinch-point.)
In truth, much of what the government has unveiled since Trump brandished his tariffs card in the Rose Garden would have been announced anyway. The easing of electric vehicle targets was in the pipeline already. As was the go-ahead for a giant Universal studios theme park in Bedfordshire.
I mean, I'm not picking on Sir Keir in particular, but is that sort of stuff really the best we can come up with?
At the same time we binned off a super computer that would have been the only one of its kind outside of the US and China (given the geo-political environment would have been even more bonus for the UK), a big research biomedical research centre, while throwing our lot in with an very strange AI datacentre company that is a minor player with what appears to be vaporware tech.
They let Newport steel production shut down, but now rushing to pseudo temporarily nationalise the Scunthorpe plant but already saying they want a buyer but not Chinese despite none existing. But the leadership say they are life-long socialists who believe in nationalised industries.
As I said down thread, there seems no consistent well thought out plan or philosophy. Its all over the map.
Even the EV car change is neither really one thing or the other. Reynolds was saying he was against these fines for ICE producers, but all that actually happened was reduced the fine for a few £k, while he kept saying in interviews he was against it.
The fine was reduced by 20% which is pathetic.
I genuinely find it all really confusing. On some things they really want to use the levers of power, others they run away from, nationalise the railways, set up a nationalised energy company, but don't want to nationalise steel production.
Its all about growth, growth, growth, AI, AI, AI, oh no we aren't having a super computer or a state of the art biomedical research facility, but we have got you a new theme park....
Where are we now with tariff on Chinese EVs these days? Because having seen BYDs in Asia, Western car companies aren't ready to compete.
The whole long thread is almost completely delusional. It is describing China 20 years ago. See the telltale reference to “DVDs”
DVDs??? China is now making humanoid robots for sale - better than any other country. It is AHEAD of the west in several major tech areas
And yet these fools think it is basically the USSR with a couple of skyscrapers
It's delusion
New research from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) shows that China is now leading the way in 57 out of the 64 technologies assessed by its Critical Technology Tracker, which has now been updated to cover the last 20 years.
The other delusion is that China did it all by stealing Western IP. This one is a massively harmful comfort blanket. They actually did it by planning long-term and investing shedloads of money in R&D. Until we acknowledge that, the Chinese will continue to power ahead.
The theft of IP is the one accurate accusation in that thread. They did do a lot of that - but they don’t do so much any more, simply because they don’t have to. They are often ahead of us - as you note
I think this bloke talked to some 80 year old exec who was last in China in 2003 (note he says his info source is “retired”)
Anyone who’s spent more than an hour travelling around China in the last decade knows that this is all nonsense. And dangerous nonsense if it is believed by many in the USA
Reverse engineering existing technology is just good science. You think Apple and Samsung aren’t taking apart each other’s products? Why reinvent the wheel?
IP theft only exists where IP does. For a long time, Western companies did not bother to register patents and trademarks in China. Therefore, they had no IP there. This is not to whitewash Chinese IP theft, but we need to get real about why China is storming ahead. We have basically allowed them to do it. Just as we allowed them to develop vital and deep trading links with so many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and Latin America. None of it was inevitable. The West was just massively, hubristically complacent.
Wasn’t that because the Chinese patent office was stealing their ip…
British police warn an elderly, partially-deaf man that saying "speak English" is a hate crime.
Incredible!
A policeman somewhat off the rails there, and wasting his own time.
Somewhere in a 1920s London commuter suburb, I'd say - from the architecture.
Out of interest, what organization does the 'Let's Make Britain Great Again' slogan on the guy's shirt relate to?
The video is watermarked "Turning Point UK", maybe it's them ? The kind of stuff William's Twitter feed is full of, anyway
Is the video, irrespective of where it’s come from, acceptable though. I’m not sure some gormless plod should be doing this. Quite frankly if we clamped down on anything anyone may ‘perceive’ as a hate crime that won’t leave an awful lot to say.
British police warn an elderly, partially-deaf man that saying "speak English" is a hate crime.
Yeah except that isn't true is it. Why not post what actually happened rather than post lies.
He said 'Some people could potentially perceive that to be a hate crime'
Note the words 'Some people', 'potentially' and 'perceive'.
It is people like you who stir up hatred.
Can you describe the mechanism by which that stirs up hatred in more detail? Hatred against whom? The police?
Actually, I am going to take this one on, because it is a very important point.
When the Guardian runs a story about a family woman, a mother of three, and a pillar in the community that got her visa revoked, then (all too often) the story will not reflect reality. It will turn out, for example, that she lied on her visa application or committed a crime, for example.
The Guardian, by choosing to hide the nuance, is stirring up hatred, by implying that the government is acting capriciously. And hundreds of thousands of people read the story and are incensed.
And this is similar: you've summarized a video where a policeman said 'Some people could potentially perceive that to be a hate crime', to "British police warn an elderly, partially-deaf man that saying "speak English" is a hate crime".
We're all suckers for cognitive dissonance. We love stories that make us feel morally superior, and allow us to fixate on an enemy.
By taking away the nuance, you are radicalizing people.
British police warn an elderly, partially-deaf man that saying "speak English" is a hate crime.
Incredible!
A policeman somewhat off the rails there, and wasting his own time.
Somewhere in a 1920s London commuter suburb, I'd say - from the architecture.
Out of interest, what organization does the 'Let's Make Britain Great Again' slogan on the guy's shirt relate to?
The video is watermarked "Turning Point UK", maybe it's them ? The kind of stuff William's Twitter feed is full of, anyway
Is the video, irrespective of where it’s come from, acceptable though. I’m not sure some gormless plod should be doing this. Quite frankly if we clamped down on anything anyone may ‘perceive’ as a hate crime that won’t leave an awful lot to say.
That's certainly true.
At the same time, taking a single video posted on Twitter, and implying that elderly partially deaf people who say "speak English" are going to be committing hate crimes, is a distortion too.
The police and the CPS have agreed the following definition for identifying and flagging hate crimes:
"Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a person's disability or perceived disability; race or perceived race; or religion or perceived religion; or sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation or transgender identity or perceived transgender identity."
There is no legal definition of hostility so we use the everyday understanding of the word which includes ill-will, spite, contempt, prejudice, unfriendliness, antagonism, resentment and dislike.
The police and the CPS have agreed the following definition for identifying and flagging hate crimes:
"Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a person's disability or perceived disability; race or perceived race; or religion or perceived religion; or sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation or transgender identity or perceived transgender identity."
There is no legal definition of hostility so we use the everyday understanding of the word which includes ill-will, spite, contempt, prejudice, unfriendliness, antagonism, resentment and dislike.
So, it has to be a crime already to be a hate crime, by that definition.
Comments
There is enough good water to row side by side the whole way - though 2/3rds of the width of the river is not usable.
A Head Race is a time trial - we had 824 boats heading down the river at 15 second intervals. So there is plenty of overtaking. No clashes reported by the umpires, I believe.
A race qualified cox can keep his/her boats blades 3 feet from the oppositions blades all day.
Aside from the risk of disqualification, someone could have got seriously hurt.
No excuse.
Nearly 10 years since Oxford won the women's race, we need relegate Oxford and let a better university compete, The University of Hull, your time has come.
Labour leaflets should focus on what they are going to do locally to improve people’s day to day lives.
Presumably the IDF have already prepared CG maps of a 14 floor Hamas control centre beneath this hospital.
I don’t think they’ll care and the people who do care won’t vote for them anyway.
The big known unknown is the impact of a trade war, and then of course, there are unknown unknowns. And, the voters are not in a mood to give governments credit for anything.
Personally I think the next election is between Labour win or minority government. What do you think?
Who would do the audit ? They cannot say how it would be carried out and if they could get any money back.
I suspect all that would happen would be the auditors would make some money and the council tax payer would pay for it and we won’t get a penny back. Like Labours pathetic PPE audit which I doubt will yield anything for the taxpayer.
But I think Farage is playing a risky game by continuing to ally with Farage so openly. This is why I think he will struggle to do much better than he is now.
Interestingly, ?Pinsent? seemed to say just on TV that if Oxford had won the restarted race, he would have to consider whether the clash had unfairly influenced the result. (Hope that's a correct recollection...). So i guess if it had been a narrow Oxford win, and one of the Cambridge crew claimed minor injury or damage to oars, he could have awarded it the other way?
I don’t really see them as allying to Trump so much now either.
There is a ceiling you are right. But it’s where you think the ceiling is. I assume you think it’s much higher than me.
The various council financial collapses indicate that there are orders of magnitude more that are just on the edge.
The real problem is the complete disconnection between revenue sources, service provision and obligations.
At the moment I think most - not me - think Labour will not be back in office.
What I’d be doing is commission a PhD (probably half a dozen, in parallel) on analysing why the model keeps getting it wrong. And fixing it.
Cost would be about half a fart in a thunderstorm.
1 Outright fraud, of the sort that did seem to happen at the peak of COVID; both the PPE panic and the business support schemes.
2 Government business systems could be restructured to deliver a better service at lower cost. Perhaps, though the upfront cost is always an issue and public sector admin tends to be pretty shoestring.
3 Government is spending money on bad things. That's essentially the Charlotte Gill argument, as I understand it. It's an easy case to make if you go through lists of humanities research grants. However, even as a total, it barely moves the national needle. As we have seen with DOGE-US. For all the sound and fury, the savings are peanuts compared with the total budget.
Besides, county and unitary councils have approximately zero discretion about their spending. Once they have done the things that they have to do by law (social care, bins, libraries), there is roughly zero money left.
I wonder whether he knew of any desire for forgiveness on the part of, say, the shooters who let rip on Bloody Sunday.
https://en.rti.org.tw/news/view/id/2010404
We need to get over our squeamishness about the death penalty. Execute him
Reform should put a referendum on the death penalty in their manifesto. Let the British voters decide
Greens and Reform are total polar opposites, and a Reform government would be the "nightmare scenario" for the typical Greens voter.
We could make a range of crimes eligible for the death penalty, but instead of it being a sentence handed down by a judge, it could be handled as a kind of honours system in reverse, with the PM announcing a New Year death list. If we happen to have a PM who disagrees with the death penalty, then they simply don't announce any executions while in office.
IIRC it wasn’t his book - he was one of the supporting cast for The Big Fish. Can’t remember who that was, though. He was this huddled over figure sitting at a table in the corner.
Just to comment on Farage's car crash of an interview this morning. The man and his Party clearly have only the most superficial knowledge of what local Government does and how it works.
Many of the activities he wuld consider "a waste" are statutory functions obligated by legislation. There is no real "money" in, for example, adult education or library or youth centre provision. You could argue Trading Standards are a waste if you really want to and as for Smallholdings, well, you can question their validity now a century on from their inception.
Indeed, most Councils are zealous in trying to keep costs under control as they have little or no budget headroom. Creating a useless DOGE-type function would be throwing good money after bad. To his credit, Farage did acknowledge the problems Counties have had with care for vulnerable adults and children as well as SEN provision but I didn't hear much in terms of practical solutions.
But even better we could put all of the death row inmates in a Big Brother house, or maybe The Traitors Castle, every autumn, and one by one the British TV viewer gets to vote them off to the gallows
The “winner” will be the most likeable charming mass murderer and will return to jail, perhaps even given a shortened sentence and free Uber Eats
https://youtu.be/n74ibtuN9I4?si=5oKEKEVvNV-mfn2u
If the Oxford Rowing Club were a dog you'd take them out and shoot them.
We will really need to relegate Oxford and let better universities compete.
Don’t think the Norns really need a death penalty in their particular heady brew.
Also, if Reform are serious about wanting to form the next government, then they need to reassure the public that they won't behave like fascistic lunatics when they gain power.
If Reform run on the death penalty as a main campaign issue, then Labour will be able to easily exploit this and argue that Reform want the death penalty back not just to hang murderers, but to also hang their political opponents.
Correction camps for everyone Leon doesn't like...
And I think that's 4-0 this year to Cambridge in all the races.
That’s why the Head Races are time trials.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_and_Kill_First
What is assassination but execution?
Higher prices > higher inflation
Higher inflation > “higher for longer” rates
Higher rates > higher yields
Higher yields > lower bond prices
WTF happened?
Of all the knees jerking in chorus in the Telegraph, she's one of the most obsessive.
The last I heard from her, she was trying to set up a fabricated "disabled people vs walking and cycling" narrative.
British police warn an elderly, partially-deaf man that saying "speak English" is a hate crime.
A number of ambulance drivers a fortnight ago, for example.
Though arguably "murder" is a better word in the circumstances.
They have real problems, many stemming from afaics Netanyahu's attempts to use political controversy and political decisions to avoid facing the music.
As I mentioned re a prior subject, western hypocrisy js appalling and getting worse
Actual polling data:
“A majority of Britons now support bringing back capital punishment, a shock new poll has found in the wake of Axel Rudakubana's sentencing.
Pollsters at More in Common revealed that 55 per cent of the public believe the death penalty should be reintroduced for certain crimes, up from 50 per cent in autumn 2023”
https://www.gbnews.com/news/death-penalty-majority-british-public-support-capital-punishment-new-poll
He said 'Some people could potentially perceive that to be a hate crime'
Note the words 'Some people', 'potentially' and 'perceive'.
It is people like you who stir up hatred.
In truth, much of what the government has unveiled since Trump brandished his tariffs card in the Rose Garden would have been announced anyway. The easing of electric vehicle targets was in the pipeline already. As was the go-ahead for a giant Universal studios theme park in Bedfordshire.
I mean, I'm not picking on Sir Keir in particular, but is that sort of stuff really the best we can come up with?
They let Newport steel production shut down, but now rushing to pseudo temporarily nationalise the Scunthorpe plant but already saying they want a buyer but not Chinese despite none existing. But the leadership say they are life-long socialists who believe in nationalised industries.
As I said down thread, there seems no consistent well thought out plan or philosophy. Its all over the map.
Even the EV car change is neither really one thing or the other. Reynolds was saying he was against these fines for ICE producers, but all that actually happened was reduced the fine for a few £k, while he kept saying in interviews he was against it.
Somewhere in a 1920s London commuter suburb, I'd say - from the architecture.
Perhaps it is because they are frankly overwhelmed by custom
Russell: Listen, some people, not me. But some people, they're a little concerned. Some people, not me. They think that you might—
Hoffa: I might—?
Russell: You might be demonstrating a failure to show appreciation.
Hoffa: I'm not showing appreciation?
Russell: According to, you know, some people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQxlEDVVWT0
(I like the tactic of stopping to ask what the problem is when someone hoots at you for being exactly where you are supposed to be on the lane in a pinch-point.)
Its all about growth, growth, growth, AI, AI, AI, oh no we aren't having a super computer or a state of the art biomedical research facility, but we have got you a new theme park....
Where are we now with tariff on Chinese EVs these days? Because having seen BYDs in Asia, Western car companies aren't ready to compete.
MEGA
Or, indeed, Europe - for the same reason
https://x.com/DeItaone/status/1911407401221104076
Is this reliable source? As if true, back on the market rollercoaster.
When the Guardian runs a story about a family woman, a mother of three, and a pillar in the community that got her visa revoked, then (all too often) the story will not reflect reality. It will turn out, for example, that she lied on her visa application or committed a crime, for example.
The Guardian, by choosing to hide the nuance, is stirring up hatred, by implying that the government is acting capriciously. And hundreds of thousands of people read the story and are incensed.
And this is similar: you've summarized a video where a policeman said 'Some people could potentially perceive that to be a hate crime', to "British police warn an elderly, partially-deaf man that saying "speak English" is a hate crime".
We're all suckers for cognitive dissonance. We love stories that make us feel morally superior, and allow us to fixate on an enemy.
By taking away the nuance, you are radicalizing people.
At the same time, taking a single video posted on Twitter, and implying that elderly partially deaf people who say "speak English" are going to be committing hate crimes, is a distortion too.
Interesting the debate here is attack William and look at where the video is from rather than critique the content.
https://x.com/defiantls/status/1911369465331147252?s=61
The police and the CPS have agreed the following definition for identifying and flagging hate crimes:
"Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a person's disability or perceived disability; race or perceived race; or religion or perceived religion; or sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation or transgender identity or perceived transgender identity."
There is no legal definition of hostility so we use the everyday understanding of the word which includes ill-will, spite, contempt, prejudice, unfriendliness, antagonism, resentment and dislike.
I’d be amazed if these come back.
The bond market has battered Trump whatever his fans may claim he lost bigly this week