New: A federal judge has firmly rejected the Trump administration’s argument of her directive that the government “facilitate” the release of a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador only means “removing domestic obstacles” that would impede his ability to return to the US.
“When a wrongfully removed individual from the United States is outside the borders it's not so cut and dry that all you have to do is remove domestic barriers,” US District Judge Paula Xinis said during a hearing Tuesday afternoon.
The administration’s understanding of “facilitate,” Xinis said, “flies in the face of the plain meaning of the word.”
Emery shouldn’t have made those subs . Taking off Rashford in particular looks like a very strange decision and all the momentum seemed to just disappear .
Charities have criticised the government for cutting the amount of funding families in England can access to pay for therapy for adopted children by 40%.
Its another weird decision where it is absolutely buttons in the grand scheme of things. Costs £50m per year, and yes they haven't reduced the total amount, its another thing that even if it went up by 10%, its absolutely nought.
I bet the premium they paid on the coal was more than all of this. David Lammy's private jet bill could pay for this.
Despite all the efforts at selection and screening, about 10% of adoptions wind up with the child back in care. It's very traumatic for all involved, and devastating for the child in particular. Sadly love doesn't conquer all, and many of these kids are heavily traumatised. Some counselling and support seems money well spent to me, to keep this to a minimum.
I heard a horrendous story tonight about a man who had been "dad" to a kid for the last 6 years (she is 7). He is leaving mum and has told her that he has no interest in seeing her ever again. The cruelty and selfishness of some people just sickens me. The consequences for her at school and elsewhere have been simply awful.
I presume the Aster will also be getting an upgrade ? And extra production line, and Raytheon’s sales (which are already subject to Trump’s whim) might take a serious hit.
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
The proposals could mean that high-income households will pay more via the standing charge on their energy bills, while those who are not in work or are on low pay are charged a discounted rate.
Just realised, the 6-3 decision in Trump Vs United States means presidents don't have to pay a blind bit of notice to what the Supreme Court says. Effectively undoes Marbury for presidential actions. Quite astonishing they didn't realise that it gave over 200 years of judicial power and takes the court back to it's pre-Jefferson rather more limited role where any president (Trump at the moment) is concerned.
I said at the time it was the Court’s worst ever decision. Against some fierce competition.
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
Xinis says she's going to force multiple Trump administration officials to sit for depositions over the next 7 days to confirm whether they're complying with the Supreme Court.
I've uploaded the very rough first draft of my essay on Hyperliberalism: specifically, a review of the John Gray book "The New Leviathans", which introduces and explains the term. It is a first draft and will need one or two passes to tidy it up. If you want to be a prereader, please "like" this comment and I'll add you to the toilets.
Something I might be interested to read but being added to the toilets put me off rather.
@AnneJGP , the "toilets" is @MoonRabbit's nickname for a private message space. I thought the term was understood but apparently not. @Andy_JS and @Nigelb have already signed up. Would you like to do so also?
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
The proposals could mean that high-income households will pay more via the standing charge on their energy bills, while those who are not in work or are on low pay are charged a discounted rate.
love to know how they are going to identify who is working or on low pay without a massive data grab.
The obvious data to use would be council tax band I would have thought..
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
The proposals could mean that high-income households will pay more via the standing charge on their energy bills, while those who are not in work or are on low pay are charged a discounted rate.
love to know how they are going to identify who is working or on low pay without a massive data grab.
The obvious data to use would be council tax band I would have thought..
Excellent. I'll take the 25% discount just like on my council tax please.
This will probably be my only comment on COVID vaccines: What is the best situation for an individual? It is to have everyone they come into contact with to be vaccinated, so they can skip the vaccination themselves. (Assuming some minor and uncommon ill effects from the vaccination.)
However -- since that is true for everyone, we should recognize that getting vaccinated benefits everyone we come in contact with. So, if you care about your family, your friends, your community, and your country, you should get vaccinated (assuming, of course, you have an immune system that is working as it should).
(For the record: I have followed my own advice, and have been lucky enough not to have noticed any effects at all, when I got my shots.)
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
The proposals could mean that high-income households will pay more via the standing charge on their energy bills, while those who are not in work or are on low pay are charged a discounted rate.
love to know how they are going to identify who is working or on low pay without a massive data grab.
The obvious data to use would be council tax band I would have thought..
The more electric you use the higher the standing charge?
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
The proposals could mean that high-income households will pay more via the standing charge on their energy bills, while those who are not in work or are on low pay are charged a discounted rate.
love to know how they are going to identify who is working or on low pay without a massive data grab.
The obvious data to use would be council tax band I would have thought..
HMRC have information on income and a fairly reliable mechanism for taxing it. Perhaps they could use that?
Xinis says she's going to force multiple Trump administration officials to sit for depositions over the next 7 days to confirm whether they're complying with the Supreme Court.
In the US, better politicians often put the wealth in a blind trust, before they take office. Could Starmer's use of a savings account be motivated by similar thinking?
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
The proposals could mean that high-income households will pay more via the standing charge on their energy bills, while those who are not in work or are on low pay are charged a discounted rate.
love to know how they are going to identify who is working or on low pay without a massive data grab.
The obvious data to use would be council tax band I would have thought..
HMRC have information on income and a fairly reliable mechanism for taxing it. Perhaps they could use that?
Fucking hell. Birmingham expect to be back to one bin collection a week from the weekend. Our lot aren’t on strike and we don’t even get that…
Until very recently, when wheelie bins became compulsory rather than merely widespread, Birmingham binmen would open your side gate, walk around the back of the house, pick the black bags out of the old aluminum bins and swing them over their shoulder, bolting the side gate on the way back to the lorry. So I have a soft spot for them, inefficient though it was.
If I was PM, or perhaps ‘world king’, I would insist everyone had the same bin collection regime, and everyone had equal access to GPs. Sod immigration, it’s the little things that matter.
Sounds a bit Communist.
Really? Why should Birmingham residents have their bin emptied once a week when mine is once a fortnight? And why should my dad get far better GP access because he lives in a village than I do in a small town?
Because we have local government, and local commissioning of heathcare, and the whole point of local decision making is that different places make different decisions depending on different circumstances.
Nah. As I have said before on here, abolish all local government, job creation for politicians that it is, and standardise all services to be run by Whitehall (largely contacted out) and accountable to a minister. Much better, and cheaper through scale. People treat local elections as a referendum on Westminster anyway.
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
The proposals could mean that high-income households will pay more via the standing charge on their energy bills, while those who are not in work or are on low pay are charged a discounted rate.
love to know how they are going to identify who is working or on low pay without a massive data grab.
The obvious data to use would be council tax band I would have thought..
HMRC have information on income and a fairly reliable mechanism for taxing it. Perhaps they could use that?
Not enough to withdraw child benfit based on household income not just one parent earning more than 40%...
This will probably be my only comment on COVID vaccines: What is the best situation for an individual? It is to have everyone they come into contact with to be vaccinated, so they can skip the vaccination themselves. (Assuming some minor and uncommon ill effects from the vaccination.)
However -- since that is true for everyone, we should recognize that getting vaccinated benefits everyone we come in contact with. So, if you care about your family, your friends, your community, and your country, you should get vaccinated (assuming, of course, you have an immune system that is working as it should).
(For the record: I have followed my own advice, and have been lucky enough not to have noticed any effects at all, when I got my shots.)
I’m not sure you assertion is correct. The vaccines (famously) did not stop transmission, so it’s entirely possible that you, unvaccinated, would contract covid from all the fully vaccinated folk.
Fucking hell. Birmingham expect to be back to one bin collection a week from the weekend. Our lot aren’t on strike and we don’t even get that…
Until very recently, when wheelie bins became compulsory rather than merely widespread, Birmingham binmen would open your side gate, walk around the back of the house, pick the black bags out of the old aluminum bins and swing them over their shoulder, bolting the side gate on the way back to the lorry. So I have a soft spot for them, inefficient though it was.
If I was PM, or perhaps ‘world king’, I would insist everyone had the same bin collection regime, and everyone had equal access to GPs. Sod immigration, it’s the little things that matter.
Sounds a bit Communist.
I always had Turbo down as a closet Soviet.
Well I do work at a Uni. Not many Tories on the staff…
Not that many Tories anywhere, these days.
Although, depending on confidence intervals about as many Labour, Lib Dem’s or Reform voters…
Indeed and I suspect even fewer open Reform than Tory backers on the Uni staff, yet Reform and the Tories combined are on 45% or so in most polls. Academics with leftwing leanings may have ideological disagreements with Tories but Farage's gang are just populist oiks beneath contempt
Bath is an odd place in many ways but it does follow the typical academic mind set most of the time. After the 2019 election a colleague came up to me and said how awful the result was. I disagreed as I could not countenance Corbyn being anywhere near power. What was striking was the assumption my colleague had made about my opinion.
Things people say when they assume no-one in the room could possibly have voted for Brexit are interesting. The things I've heard at my occasional visits to Fen Poly high tables over the past few years would make Roger seem demure.
You don't seriously think anyone actually voted for Brexit, do you?
Fucking hell. Birmingham expect to be back to one bin collection a week from the weekend. Our lot aren’t on strike and we don’t even get that…
Until very recently, when wheelie bins became compulsory rather than merely widespread, Birmingham binmen would open your side gate, walk around the back of the house, pick the black bags out of the old aluminum bins and swing them over their shoulder, bolting the side gate on the way back to the lorry. So I have a soft spot for them, inefficient though it was.
If I was PM, or perhaps ‘world king’, I would insist everyone had the same bin collection regime, and everyone had equal access to GPs. Sod immigration, it’s the little things that matter.
Sounds a bit Communist.
Really? Why should Birmingham residents have their bin emptied once a week when mine is once a fortnight? And why should my dad get far better GP access because he lives in a village than I do in a small town?
Because we have local government, and local commissioning of heathcare, and the whole point of local decision making is that different places make different decisions depending on different circumstances.
Nah. As I have said before on here, abolish all local government, job creation for politicians that it is, and standardise all services to be run by Whitehall (largely contacted out) and accountable to a minister. Much better, and cheaper through scale. People treat local elections as a referendum on Westminster anyway.
Whitehall would love it. And despite all parties talking up how much they love localism in practice there's very little pushing things down and a lot of making them compete for scraps against one another and short term measures, which does not make for effective local government. So if we go by what politicians do, rather than what they say, they might go for it. So long as they can keep regional 'mayors' and the like.
Sorry, but is anyone really having a vaccine debate? We live in a free country with a good health service. If there were any question of vaccine efficacy, we’d have found out. At some point you trust people.
Fucking hell. Birmingham expect to be back to one bin collection a week from the weekend. Our lot aren’t on strike and we don’t even get that…
Until very recently, when wheelie bins became compulsory rather than merely widespread, Birmingham binmen would open your side gate, walk around the back of the house, pick the black bags out of the old aluminum bins and swing them over their shoulder, bolting the side gate on the way back to the lorry. So I have a soft spot for them, inefficient though it was.
If I was PM, or perhaps ‘world king’, I would insist everyone had the same bin collection regime, and everyone had equal access to GPs. Sod immigration, it’s the little things that matter.
Sounds a bit Communist.
Really? Why should Birmingham residents have their bin emptied once a week when mine is once a fortnight? And why should my dad get far better GP access because he lives in a village than I do in a small town?
Because we have local government, and local commissioning of heathcare, and the whole point of local decision making is that different places make different decisions depending on different circumstances.
Nah. As I have said before on here, abolish all local government, job creation for politicians that it is, and standardise all services to be run by Whitehall (largely contacted out) and accountable to a minister. Much better, and cheaper through scale. People treat local elections as a referendum on Westminster anyway.
Sir Humphrey or Jim Hacker?
Disdain for local government unites Whitehall and Westminster, even though(or because) many MPs come from it , and despite backbench MPs being less influential than a local council Leader.
This will probably be my only comment on COVID vaccines: What is the best situation for an individual? It is to have everyone they come into contact with to be vaccinated, so they can skip the vaccination themselves. (Assuming some minor and uncommon ill effects from the vaccination.)
However -- since that is true for everyone, we should recognize that getting vaccinated benefits everyone we come in contact with. So, if you care about your family, your friends, your community, and your country, you should get vaccinated (assuming, of course, you have an immune system that is working as it should).
(For the record: I have followed my own advice, and have been lucky enough not to have noticed any effects at all, when I got my shots.)
I’m not sure you assertion is correct. The vaccines (famously) did not stop transmission, so it’s entirely possible that you, unvaccinated, would contract covid from all the fully vaccinated folk.
Ummm...
Hang on.
You are - rather unusually for you - thinking of this as 1 or 0, rather than as a continuum. If a vaccine does nothing more than reduce viral shedding levels by 50%, it will still significantly reduce transmission.
It might not *stop* transmission, but it would do an incredible job of minimizing it.
Fucking hell. Birmingham expect to be back to one bin collection a week from the weekend. Our lot aren’t on strike and we don’t even get that…
Until very recently, when wheelie bins became compulsory rather than merely widespread, Birmingham binmen would open your side gate, walk around the back of the house, pick the black bags out of the old aluminum bins and swing them over their shoulder, bolting the side gate on the way back to the lorry. So I have a soft spot for them, inefficient though it was.
If I was PM, or perhaps ‘world king’, I would insist everyone had the same bin collection regime, and everyone had equal access to GPs. Sod immigration, it’s the little things that matter.
Sounds a bit Communist.
I always had Turbo down as a closet Soviet.
Well I do work at a Uni. Not many Tories on the staff…
Not that many Tories anywhere, these days.
Although, depending on confidence intervals about as many Labour, Lib Dem’s or Reform voters…
Indeed and I suspect even fewer open Reform than Tory backers on the Uni staff, yet Reform and the Tories combined are on 45% or so in most polls. Academics with leftwing leanings may have ideological disagreements with Tories but Farage's gang are just populist oiks beneath contempt
Bath is an odd place in many ways but it does follow the typical academic mind set most of the time. After the 2019 election a colleague came up to me and said how awful the result was. I disagreed as I could not countenance Corbyn being anywhere near power. What was striking was the assumption my colleague had made about my opinion.
Whilst that is usually an awkward position to be in there can be amusement to be had in such situations. "Actually I didn't mind Boris" "...What?!?!!"
Living in a traditionally deep blue shire county (well, until 1 May possibly) I don't usually come across it in the 'how can people vote Tory?' direction, though it does still crop up occasionally, making me wonder whether the person involved has an even more limited social circle than I do.
This will probably be my only comment on COVID vaccines: What is the best situation for an individual? It is to have everyone they come into contact with to be vaccinated, so they can skip the vaccination themselves. (Assuming some minor and uncommon ill effects from the vaccination.)
However -- since that is true for everyone, we should recognize that getting vaccinated benefits everyone we come in contact with. So, if you care about your family, your friends, your community, and your country, you should get vaccinated (assuming, of course, you have an immune system that is working as it should).
(For the record: I have followed my own advice, and have been lucky enough not to have noticed any effects at all, when I got my shots.)
I’m not sure you assertion is correct. The vaccines (famously) did not stop transmission, so it’s entirely possible that you, unvaccinated, would contract covid from all the fully vaccinated folk.
Ummm...
Hang on.
You are - rather unusually for you - thinking of this as 1 or 0, rather than as a continuum. If a vaccine does nothing more than reduce viral shedding levels by 50%, it will still significantly reduce transmission.
It might not *stop* transmission, but it would do an incredible job of minimizing it.
Yes but the virus only needs to get lucky once to infect Jim.
Steve Rosenberg @BBCSteveR · 35m In Russia today: ▪️ 4 journalists were convicted on extremism charges and sent to prison for 5 ½ years; ▪️ a hairdresser was convicted of spreading false info about the army and jailed for 5 years 2 months. Our latest report from Moscow. Producer @BenTavener
Just realised, the 6-3 decision in Trump Vs United States means presidents don't have to pay a blind bit of notice to what the Supreme Court says. Effectively undoes Marbury for presidential actions. Quite astonishing they didn't realise that it gave over 200 years of judicial power and takes the court back to it's pre-Jefferson rather more limited role where any president (Trump at the moment) is concerned.
I said at the time it was the Court’s worst ever decision. Against some fierce competition.
Despite them being politicians in robes the Court's members do usually come across as reasonably intelligent, as one would hope given their job, and having decades to serve should give them a wider perspective on how to achieve their personal political goals. That decision's direct and indirect implications was astonishing.
Even commentators who were not rabidly optimistic anti-Trumpers seemed amazed at the outcome.
Fucking hell. Birmingham expect to be back to one bin collection a week from the weekend. Our lot aren’t on strike and we don’t even get that…
Until very recently, when wheelie bins became compulsory rather than merely widespread, Birmingham binmen would open your side gate, walk around the back of the house, pick the black bags out of the old aluminum bins and swing them over their shoulder, bolting the side gate on the way back to the lorry. So I have a soft spot for them, inefficient though it was.
If I was PM, or perhaps ‘world king’, I would insist everyone had the same bin collection regime, and everyone had equal access to GPs. Sod immigration, it’s the little things that matter.
Sounds a bit Communist.
Really? Why should Birmingham residents have their bin emptied once a week when mine is once a fortnight? And why should my dad get far better GP access because he lives in a village than I do in a small town?
Because we have local government, and local commissioning of heathcare, and the whole point of local decision making is that different places make different decisions depending on different circumstances.
Nah. As I have said before on here, abolish all local government, job creation for politicians that it is, and standardise all services to be run by Whitehall (largely contacted out) and accountable to a minister. Much better, and cheaper through scale. People treat local elections as a referendum on Westminster anyway.
This will probably be my only comment on COVID vaccines: What is the best situation for an individual? It is to have everyone they come into contact with to be vaccinated, so they can skip the vaccination themselves. (Assuming some minor and uncommon ill effects from the vaccination.)
However -- since that is true for everyone, we should recognize that getting vaccinated benefits everyone we come in contact with. So, if you care about your family, your friends, your community, and your country, you should get vaccinated (assuming, of course, you have an immune system that is working as it should).
(For the record: I have followed my own advice, and have been lucky enough not to have noticed any effects at all, when I got my shots.)
I’m not sure you assertion is correct. The vaccines (famously) did not stop transmission, so it’s entirely possible that you, unvaccinated, would contract covid from all the fully vaccinated folk.
Ummm...
Hang on.
You are - rather unusually for you - thinking of this as 1 or 0, rather than as a continuum. If a vaccine does nothing more than reduce viral shedding levels by 50%, it will still significantly reduce transmission.
It might not *stop* transmission, but it would do an incredible job of minimizing it.
Yes but the virus only needs to get lucky once to infect Jim.
One thing we forget is just how little we knew about the actual physics of airborne virus propagation and transmission. (Recall the early obsession with droplets on surfaces, etc). It's still inadequately understood.
I've uploaded the very rough first draft of my essay on Hyperliberalism: specifically, a review of the John Gray book "The New Leviathans", which introduces and explains the term. It is a first draft and will need one or two passes to tidy it up. If you want to be a prereader, please "like" this comment and I'll add you to the toilets.
Started reading the book but have to admit I haven't finished it yet due to his slightly difficult writing style, as I mentioned before. Prefer to watch him talk, such as the UnHerd videos.
60% of general admission ticket buyers at Coachella used Buy-Now-Pay-Later to finance their tickets, per Billboard.
What if we combined all these Coachella loans and bundled them up into tranches and sell that as investment grade securities.....
I thought for a second you were advocating sending all these Coachella loons into the trenches.
"I've got to tell you - me, an influencer, is just not happy with the quality of this trench."
Imagine being about to go over the top at the Somme and the person next to you is duck-facing into a selfie-stick.
I've just depressed myself.
Eh, put yourself in the other side. If you had to choose between shooting someone who looked scared or shooting someone duckfacing a selfie, who would you fire at first?
60% of general admission ticket buyers at Coachella used Buy-Now-Pay-Later to finance their tickets, per Billboard.
What if we combined all these Coachella loans and bundled them up into tranches and sell that as investment grade securities.....
I thought for a second you were advocating sending all these Coachella loons into the trenches.
"I've got to tell you - me, an influencer, is just not happy with the quality of this trench."
Imagine being about to go over the top at the Somme and the person next to you is duck-facing into a selfie-stick.
I've just depressed myself.
Eh, put yourself in the other side. If you had to choose between shooting someone who looked scared or shooting someone duckfacing a selfie, who would you fire at first?
Duckface, every time.
If I shot the scared person next to the influencer they might post an insta-story about it though. Instant meta-credits.
60% of general admission ticket buyers at Coachella used Buy-Now-Pay-Later to finance their tickets, per Billboard.
What if we combined all these Coachella loans and bundled them up into tranches and sell that as investment grade securities.....
I thought for a second you were advocating sending all these Coachella loons into the trenches.
"I've got to tell you - me, an influencer, is just not happy with the quality of this trench."
Imagine being about to go over the top at the Somme and the person next to you is duck-facing into a selfie-stick.
I've just depressed myself.
Eh, put yourself in the other side. If you had to choose between shooting someone who looked scared or shooting someone duckfacing a selfie, who would you fire at first?
Duckface, every time.
If I shot the scared person next to the influencer they might post an insta-story about it though. Instant meta-credits.
Exposing an influencer to their own mortality? That’s a cancelling.
Sorry, but is anyone really having a vaccine debate? We live in a free country with a good health service. If there were any question of vaccine efficacy, we’d have found out. At some point you trust people.
Anti-vax was Leon's alternative thread last night, so it's a hot topic- unfortunately.
Talking of Leon, what's he having for his dinner this evening? Are the accommodation and company to his liking? Any transport experiences today? I hear everything else about him.
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
The proposals could mean that high-income households will pay more via the standing charge on their energy bills, while those who are not in work or are on low pay are charged a discounted rate.
love to know how they are going to identify who is working or on low pay without a massive data grab.
The obvious data to use would be council tax band I would have thought..
HMRC have information on income and a fairly reliable mechanism for taxing it. Perhaps they could use that?
What and provide it to the general public - HMRC won't even share it with DWP who work in the same building in Newcastle..
Regarding "influencers", i.e. freelance advertisers, someone should have predicted the rise of this occupation. Perhaps somebody did. There are agents who advise aspiring authors on how to find book agents too.
60% of general admission ticket buyers at Coachella used Buy-Now-Pay-Later to finance their tickets, per Billboard.
What if we combined all these Coachella loans and bundled them up into tranches and sell that as investment grade securities.....
I thought for a second you were advocating sending all these Coachella loons into the trenches.
"I've got to tell you - me, an influencer, is just not happy with the quality of this trench."
Imagine being about to go over the top at the Somme and the person next to you is duck-facing into a selfie-stick.
I've just depressed myself.
Eh, put yourself in the other side. If you had to choose between shooting someone who looked scared or shooting someone duckfacing a selfie, who would you fire at first?
Duckface, every time.
I think a fair few influencers have Darwined them selves in the trenches of the East Ukraine over the last few years.
Watching Ch4 get excited that JD Vance might give the UK a trade deal 'Because President Trump feels a strong connection with the UK and the Queen' is making me feel nauseous
Can Starmer resist crawling on all fours and tell them to go f*** themselves?
Why is it bad that the Monarchy is advancing this country's interests by wielding its soft power? That is what it is there for. The former republican Trotskyite/Corbyn/God knows what Starmer should take full advantage.
The late Queen was about the only person in the democratic world who could keep Trump in his place. She served this country for seventy years when she was alive, and is still apparently doing wonders from beyond the grave. Even Joe "God Save the Queen, Man" Biden, no friend to this country, said it was a privilege to have met her.
We were truly lucky to have had her.
It's all bollocks anyway as there is no way that DJT is a teaboo.
Talking of Truss, I caught up with an old University chum for the first time in nearly 30 years on Sunday. He editor of the Oxford Student (OUSU funded rival of Cherwell) and told me of some of the lickspittle surrounding Truss when we were there (we were in the same year as her). I vaguely remembered some of the stories from the time but didn't associate them with her until he reminded me. For once in his existence it appears Leon might be right about something.
lol
It always ends up here
"So it turns out Leon was right about something"
Lab Leak, Covid, THING, China, THING, Nordstream, Biden's decline, on and on
Except you've been conclusively proven wrong about Nordstream: it was the Ukrainians, as the NY Times (and other) have documented.
I always said it would be the US, but using a proxy to provide plausible deniability
The idea that the Ukes did this by themselves without asking for Biden’s permission (and surely some tactical help) is ludicrous
So, what you're saying is that there's no actual evidence that the US is involved? (Other than your gut feeling.)
Seriously. Think about it. You’re not dumb
Do you honestly believe the Ukrainians - entirely dependent on the goodwill of Joe Biden’s admin - went off and torched Nordstream to please themselves, to fuck Germany and Russia, without a care in the world as to what their most important ally and chief armourer, the USA, felt about this assault? An assault on the energy infra and heavy industry of a hugely important NATO ally, Germany? Do you think that’s what happened? A couple of guys in Kyiv bought a dinghy and got pissed and did it for shits and gigs?
Or do you think the Ukrainians read the many many signals of desire from the Biden admin (“we want to end Nordstream”, “if Russian invades Ukraine Nordstream will be finished”) and the Ukes went to DC and said “look, you want Nordstream ended, but you can’t do it because Germany will be pissed as fuck, so give us some assistance and we will do it, and you can deny it forever, so it’s win win for us both?”
Which of those is the most likely scenario?
Again: you have no evidence.
You original assertion was that it was the Americans. Now you say it was the Ukrainians with American connivance. Without evidence.
And use that as example of you being right.
If that is you being right, I'd hate to see what you being wrong looks like.
Also ignoring the fact it didn't need any government backing. Could have easily been carried out by a small group of paramilitaries no more than perhaps 10. It didnt need much. A small boat, a couple of divers used to working at a fairly shallow depth....300 feet iirc and plenty of sport divers dive that deep that are familiar with demolition charges....oh oil rig divers fit that bill nicely.
It didn't need any sophistication or special equipment not easily available
Regarding "influencers", i.e. freelance advertisers, someone should have predicted the rise of this occupation. Perhaps somebody did. There are agents who advise aspiring authors on how to find book agents too.
People say it's more democratic now, because anyone can become an influencer, etc, but I'm not sure it's an improvement on the previous system with gatekeepers.
Regarding "influencers", i.e. freelance advertisers, someone should have predicted the rise of this occupation. Perhaps somebody did. There are agents who advise aspiring authors on how to find book agents too.
People say it's more democratic now, because anyone can become an influencer, etc, but I'm not sure it's an improvement on the previous system with gatekeepers.
Aren't most influencer who actually make big money part of agencies who get them all their deals with blue chip companies, so the gatekeepers are still there.
Talking of Truss, I caught up with an old University chum for the first time in nearly 30 years on Sunday. He editor of the Oxford Student (OUSU funded rival of Cherwell) and told me of some of the lickspittle surrounding Truss when we were there (we were in the same year as her). I vaguely remembered some of the stories from the time but didn't associate them with her until he reminded me. For once in his existence it appears Leon might be right about something.
lol
It always ends up here
"So it turns out Leon was right about something"
Lab Leak, Covid, THING, China, THING, Nordstream, Biden's decline, on and on
Except you've been conclusively proven wrong about Nordstream: it was the Ukrainians, as the NY Times (and other) have documented.
I always said it would be the US, but using a proxy to provide plausible deniability
The idea that the Ukes did this by themselves without asking for Biden’s permission (and surely some tactical help) is ludicrous
So, what you're saying is that there's no actual evidence that the US is involved? (Other than your gut feeling.)
Seriously. Think about it. You’re not dumb
Do you honestly believe the Ukrainians - entirely dependent on the goodwill of Joe Biden’s admin - went off and torched Nordstream to please themselves, to fuck Germany and Russia, without a care in the world as to what their most important ally and chief armourer, the USA, felt about this assault? An assault on the energy infra and heavy industry of a hugely important NATO ally, Germany? Do you think that’s what happened? A couple of guys in Kyiv bought a dinghy and got pissed and did it for shits and gigs?
Or do you think the Ukrainians read the many many signals of desire from the Biden admin (“we want to end Nordstream”, “if Russian invades Ukraine Nordstream will be finished”) and the Ukes went to DC and said “look, you want Nordstream ended, but you can’t do it because Germany will be pissed as fuck, so give us some assistance and we will do it, and you can deny it forever, so it’s win win for us both?”
Which of those is the most likely scenario?
Again: you have no evidence.
You original assertion was that it was the Americans. Now you say it was the Ukrainians with American connivance. Without evidence.
And use that as example of you being right.
If that is you being right, I'd hate to see what you being wrong looks like.
Also ignoring the fact it didn't need any government backing. Could have easily been carried out by a small group of paramilitaries no more than perhaps 10. It didnt need much. A small boat, a couple of divers used to working at a fairly shallow depth....300 feet iirc and plenty of sport divers dive that deep that are familiar with demolition charges....oh oil rig divers fit that bill nicely.
It didn't need any sophistication or special equipment not easily available
This.
My repeated comment has been that the divers I met in the oil industry would have been able to do this - say a half dozen of them (actual divers, riggers and boss to run the show).
Farage broadcast: "Let's take over some of these councils and we will show you what we can do."
We'll know by next GE whether Reform can run a council let alone a country.
It's going to be fun watching them completely and utterly fail.
* that's not just because I think Reform is crap, it's because I think running any council given the current financial options and constraints is utterly impossible even someone who made 100% perfect decisions would have difficulty succeeding.
Farage broadcast: "Let's take over some of these councils and we will show you what we can do."
We'll know by next GE whether Reform can run a council let alone a country.
It's going to be fun watching them completely and utterly fail.
* that's not just because I think Reform is crap, it's because I think running any council given the current financial options and constraints is utterly impossible even someone who made 100% perfect decisions would have difficulty succeeding.
Plus Reform is full of people, who until recently were perched happily on a saloon bar stool, who think it is all so easy and if only their brand of common sense could take charge then a myriad of problems would fade like late April mist.
Farage broadcast: "Let's take over some of these councils and we will show you what we can do."
We'll know by next GE whether Reform can run a council let alone a country.
It's going to be fun watching them completely and utterly fail.
* that's not just because I think Reform is crap, it's because I think running any council given the current financial options and constraints is utterly impossible even someone who made 100% perfect decisions would have difficulty succeeding.
Plus Reform is full of people, who until recently were perched happily on a saloon bar stool, who think it is all so easy and if only their brand of common sense could take charge then a myriad of problems would fade like late April mist.
Farage broadcast: "Let's take over some of these councils and we will show you what we can do."
We'll know by next GE whether Reform can run a council let alone a country.
They’ll just blame central government if it goes tits up.
Overstate what is possible to achieve in local government, and blame central government for any missteps - the traditional local party position.
Demand way too much whilst giving far too little, and blame local government for being hamstrung by rules set by central government - the traditional national party position.
Lacking the local government experience Reform will be in for a rude awakening if they genuinely believe what they are saying.
It feels like a strange slant to take for the main front page article on the BBC website, even if a story on global impacts of tariffs in theory makes sense. More one of their slice of life reports than the more formal language and detached tone I'd expect.
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
The proposals could mean that high-income households will pay more via the standing charge on their energy bills, while those who are not in work or are on low pay are charged a discounted rate.
love to know how they are going to identify who is working or on low pay without a massive data grab.
The obvious data to use would be council tax band I would have thought..
It’s ridiculous. A progressive tax system is a reasonable political decision but it should be transparent - ie through income tax - rather than loading it here and there on things which are not related.
Water is a good supplied. People should pay for it based on usage.
If the government believes the rich should pay more they should tax them more and then make a direct payment to the water company. Then be held accountable for their decisions by voters
Farage broadcast: "Let's take over some of these councils and we will show you what we can do."
We'll know by next GE whether Reform can run a council let alone a country.
It's going to be fun watching them completely and utterly fail.
* that's not just because I think Reform is crap, it's because I think running any council given the current financial options and constraints is utterly impossible even someone who made 100% perfect decisions would have difficulty succeeding.
Plus Reform is full of people, who until recently were perched happily on a saloon bar stool, who think it is all so easy and if only their brand of common sense could take charge then a myriad of problems would fade like late April mist.
Good God!
PB is going into government!
Made me
Put down your keyboards, your gin and tonics and your atlases my comrades and prepare for government.
The opinion polls are looking pretty good for Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
Not that great, even if he is re elected the Coalition still lead on the primary vote and the 2PP is little different from last time. Australian polls also tend to overestimate Labor
The opinion polls are looking pretty good for Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
The curse of the three-year maximum for recent PMs finally coming to an end perhaps.
Scott Morrison was PM for 4 years, the longest serving PM of Australia since John Howard. Albeit still well short of Howard's 11 years as PM and Hawke's 8 years as PM
The opinion polls are looking pretty good for Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
Not that great, even if he is re elected the Coalition still lead on the primary vote and the 2PP is little different from last time. Australian polls also tend to overestimate Labor
Labor also seem to be getting a swing to them in rural seats but the Coalition are getting swings to them in urban and suburban seats and it is the latter where most of the marginal seats are. Rural seats are pretty solidly Coalition anyway so Labor may just reduce majorities there without taking them
The opinion polls are looking pretty good for Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
After a swing to the right in the recent US and German elections it looks like the left is going to strike back in Australia and Canada?
Both look more like little change from last time, at least in terms of the gap between the 2 main parties, in Canada both the Conservatives and Liberals are up on 2021 as they squeeze minor parties
The opinion polls are looking pretty good for Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
After a swing to the right in the recent US and German elections it looks like the left is going to strike back in Australia and Canada?
Although both of those parties are more centrist than left.
Yes, the Canadian Liberals are centrist, the NDP are the Canadian left and have collapsed in the polls to the Liberals benefit. Australian Labor are left if still more socially and fiscally conservative than the Australian Greens
It's three years away and god alone knows what else is going to happen, let alone whether there is an actual 2028 election, but more centrist Dems and middle of the road governors need to wake up to the reality that only AOC/Bernie are leading the charge as far as any visibility goes and they may end up winning a primary on default if no one else does anything.
The opinion polls are looking pretty good for Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
Not that great, even if he is re elected the Coalition still lead on the primary vote and the 2PP is little different from last time. Australian polls also tend to overestimate Labor
The primary vote is completely meaningless.
Australia has compulsory preferential voting & Labor always gets at least 80% of Greens preferences.
Current polling averages are: Labor 33%, Coalition 36%, Greens 12%.
Add in the Greens preferences, and it becomes Labor 43% vs Coalition 36%.
It's three years away and god alone knows what else is going to happen, let alone whether there is an actual 2028 election, but more centrist Dems and middle of the road governors need to wake up to the reality that only AOC/Bernie are leading the charge as far as any visibility goes and they may end up winning a primary on default if no one else does anything.
And they might even win the whole thing if cost of living has surged for most Americans thanks to Trump's tariffs with few extra manufacturing jobs created in response.
It would be rather ironic if electing Trump in 2024 ended up enabling AOC to be elected US President in 2028, she would be the most leftwing US President since FDR and probably left of him too when you take account of her stance on social issues as well as economic ones
It's three years away and god alone knows what else is going to happen, let alone whether there is an actual 2028 election, but more centrist Dems and middle of the road governors need to wake up to the reality that only AOC/Bernie are leading the charge as far as any visibility goes and they may end up winning a primary on default if no one else does anything.
And they might even win the whole thing if cost of living has surged for most Americans thanks to Trump's tariffs with few extra manufacturing jobs created in response.
It would be rather ironic if electing Trump in 2024 ended up enabling AOC to be elected US President in 2028, she would be the most leftwing US President since FDR and probably left of him too when you take account of her stance on social issues as well as economic ones
Yes, but she may believe in the constitution and the rule of law.
The opinion polls are looking pretty good for Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
Not that great, even if he is re elected the Coalition still lead on the primary vote and the 2PP is little different from last time. Australian polls also tend to overestimate Labor
Labor also seem to be getting a swing to them in rural seats but the Coalition are getting swings to them in urban and suburban seats and it is the latter where most of the marginal seats are. Rural seats are pretty solidly Coalition anyway so Labor may just reduce majorities there without taking them
If you read the commentary in the link, the "rural" category includes a number of marginal seats such as Gilmore (held by Labor on 0.2% margin), Hunter (held by Labor on 5%), Eden-Monaro (held by Labor on 6% margin) etc.
Eden-Monaro, in fact, was the traditional bellwether seat.
Seats like these are exactly the seats that the Coalition needs to take back to sieze government & it is very bad if they are getting a swing against them in these places.
The opinion polls are looking pretty good for Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
Not that great, even if he is re elected the Coalition still lead on the primary vote and the 2PP is little different from last time. Australian polls also tend to overestimate Labor
Labor also seem to be getting a swing to them in rural seats but the Coalition are getting swings to them in urban and suburban seats and it is the latter where most of the marginal seats are. Rural seats are pretty solidly Coalition anyway so Labor may just reduce majorities there without taking them
If you read the commentary in the link, the "rural" category includes a number of marginal seats such as Gilmore (held by Labor on 0.2% margin), Hunter (held by Labor on 5%), Eden-Monaro (held by Labor on 6% margin) etc.
Eden-Monaro, in fact, was the traditional bellwether seat.
Seats like these are exactly the seats that the Coalition needs to take back to sieze government & it is very bad if they are getting a swing against them in these places.
In 2010 Eden Monaro stayed Labor but Abbott still got a big swing towards him to get a hung parliament and tie Gillard's Labor on seats (albeit some of the seats he won are now held by the Teals). Hunter was Labor even when the Coalition were in government though Dutton would hope to pick up Gilmore
The opinion polls are looking pretty good for Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
Not that great, even if he is re elected the Coalition still lead on the primary vote and the 2PP is little different from last time. Australian polls also tend to overestimate Labor
The primary vote is completely meaningless.
Australia has compulsory preferential voting & Labor always gets at least 80% of Greens preferences.
Current polling averages are: Labor 33%, Coalition 36%, Greens 12%.
Add in the Greens preferences, and it becomes Labor 43% vs Coalition 36%.
Forgot to add the 20% to the Coalition, so that should be: Labor 43% vs Coalition 38%, but the point still stands.
Anyway, the relevant number is always the 2 Party Preferred, which is Labor 52%, Coalition 48% in the polling averages.
The primary votes only have meaning as a way to estimate the two-party preferred, but it is meaningless whether Labor or Coalition is ahead in the primary vote.
The opinion polls are looking pretty good for Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
Not that great, even if he is re elected the Coalition still lead on the primary vote and the 2PP is little different from last time. Australian polls also tend to overestimate Labor
Labor also seem to be getting a swing to them in rural seats but the Coalition are getting swings to them in urban and suburban seats and it is the latter where most of the marginal seats are. Rural seats are pretty solidly Coalition anyway so Labor may just reduce majorities there without taking them
If you read the commentary in the link, the "rural" category includes a number of marginal seats such as Gilmore (held by Labor on 0.2% margin), Hunter (held by Labor on 5%), Eden-Monaro (held by Labor on 6% margin) etc.
Eden-Monaro, in fact, was the traditional bellwether seat.
Seats like these are exactly the seats that the Coalition needs to take back to sieze government & it is very bad if they are getting a swing against them in these places.
In 2010 Eden Monaro stayed Labor but Abbott still got a big swing towards him to get a hung parliament and tie Gillard's Labor on seats (albeit some of the seats he won are now held by the Teals). Hunter was Labor even when the Coalition were in government though Dutton would hope to pick up Gilmore
Yes, my point was that "Rural" is a broad category & includes a number of highly marginal seats. So, if Labor are getting a swing in these seats, then that doesn't automatically mean that the vote will be wasted without getting any extra seats from the Coalition.
.@POTUS says he'll soon announce a program to help illegals self-deport: "We're going to give them a stipend ... and a plane ticket."
Generally speaking, I think that's a sensible policy.
It is however somewhat open to abuse. I mean some people will treat it as a free plane ride back home for a holiday, before jumping back on the rail car to cross the border again.
Farage broadcast: "Let's take over some of these councils and we will show you what we can do."
We'll know by next GE whether Reform can run a council let alone a country.
It's going to be fun watching them completely and utterly fail.
* that's not just because I think Reform is crap, it's because I think running any council given the current financial options and constraints is utterly impossible even someone who made 100% perfect decisions would have difficulty succeeding.
The smartest thing any council can do is to encourage old people to leave. If you can get the oldies out, with all the social care costs, you *might* be able to balance the books.
In the US, towns (of both political persuasions) have paid for buses and shipped the homeless (and illegal immigrants) across state lines.
Maybe it's time for British councils to do the same with the elderly.
On the previous thread there was a discussion about Covid vaccines, and their danger, etc.
And the funny bit is that I got involved in a "discussion" on this very issue on Substack only the other day. Someone claimed that Covid vaccines killed many times more people than the virus.
Now, there is a basic statistical point that it is entirely possible for Covid vaccines to kill more people than Covid, and yet for them still to be a net positive for mortality.
But I didn't want to go down that rabbit hole.
Instead, I posed the following question: If Covid vaccines killed many more people than the virus could, then any country that was isolated from the virus due to geography, but which had mass Covid vaccinations must have had much worse excess deaths than one that experienced the virus.
It is simply not possible for a country which did not get the virus, but did vaccinate everyone to have better outcomes, if the vaccine caused more death than the virus.
So how come Australia and New Zealand - which both have close to 100% Covid vaccination rates, but which never experienced Covid, due to closure of their borders - had no excess deaths in 2020 or 2021 at all?
There is a very well established connection between covid vaccinations and myocarditis, but there is also a much more common connection between covid infection and myocarditis, and more severe too.
Indeed it wouldn't surprise me if the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications of covid infection are bigger killers now than respiratory complications. There's an increased risk of vascular events for about 6 months after infection.
Australia and New Zealand probably initially escaped the worst (prior immunity to coronoviruses may have played a part too) due to their ridiculous border closure policies but that led to other disastrous economic and social problems..They still ended up with plenty of excess deaths in 2022/3 too..
Yes, those incredibly unpopular border closures with - checks - massive public support.
The claim that Australia has "disastrous economic and social problems" is also total rubbish.
Australia has problems with inflation, but so has every other developed country. Otherwise, the country is perfectly fine.
Also it's worth noting that our Right-wing lunatics (One Nation Party) struggle to reach 10% in polls, and are currently around 8% in the polling averages.
You can't move in Brisbane for cranes, builders, new developments .... If only we had these "disastrous economic and social problems".
Fucking hell. Birmingham expect to be back to one bin collection a week from the weekend. Our lot aren’t on strike and we don’t even get that…
Until very recently, when wheelie bins became compulsory rather than merely widespread, Birmingham binmen would open your side gate, walk around the back of the house, pick the black bags out of the old aluminum bins and swing them over their shoulder, bolting the side gate on the way back to the lorry. So I have a soft spot for them, inefficient though it was.
If I was PM, or perhaps ‘world king’, I would insist everyone had the same bin collection regime, and everyone had equal access to GPs. Sod immigration, it’s the little things that matter.
Sounds a bit Communist.
Really? Why should Birmingham residents have their bin emptied once a week when mine is once a fortnight? And why should my dad get far better GP access because he lives in a village than I do in a small town?
Because we have local government, and local commissioning of heathcare, and the whole point of local decision making is that different places make different decisions depending on different circumstances.
Nah. As I have said before on here, abolish all local government, job creation for politicians that it is, and standardise all services to be run by Whitehall (largely contacted out) and accountable to a minister. Much better, and cheaper through scale. People treat local elections as a referendum on Westminster anyway.
Recipe for gerrymandering - see last government. But taking your argument further, why not get rid of MPs and any local accountability as it would also be cost saving. Or why not outsource the whole government to a third party [insert your choice here]
Comments
https://x.com/magnusllewellin/status/1912241530007339503
New: A federal judge has firmly rejected the Trump administration’s argument of her directive that the government “facilitate” the release of a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador only means “removing domestic obstacles” that would impede his ability to return to the US.
“When a wrongfully removed individual from the United States is outside the borders it's not so cut and dry that all you have to do is remove domestic barriers,” US District Judge Paula Xinis said during a hearing Tuesday afternoon.
The administration’s understanding of “facilitate,” Xinis said, “flies in the face of the plain meaning of the word.”
https://x.com/jimsciutto/status/1912246167917723968
Pretty sure TSE can distinguish between trolling and rsolery. Mostly.
https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/ground-fire
I presume the Aster will also be getting an upgrade ?
And extra production line, and Raytheon’s sales (which are already subject to Trump’s whim) might take a serious hit.
Wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers under new plans to be considered this summer.
The proposals could mean that high-income households will pay more via the standing charge on their energy bills, while those who are not in work or are on low pay are charged a discounted rate.
Against some fierce competition.
Xinis says she's going to force multiple Trump administration officials to sit for depositions over the next 7 days to confirm whether they're complying with the Supreme Court.
https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3lmuwnikuhs2y
The obvious data to use would be council tax band I would have thought..
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NwqLvLmB988
However -- since that is true for everyone, we should recognize that getting vaccinated benefits everyone we come in contact with. So, if you care about your family, your friends, your community, and your country, you should get vaccinated (assuming, of course, you have an immune system that is working as it should).
(For the record: I have followed my own advice, and have been lucky enough not to have noticed any effects at all, when I got my shots.)
Hang on.
You are - rather unusually for you - thinking of this as 1 or 0, rather than as a continuum. If a vaccine does nothing more than reduce viral shedding levels by 50%, it will still significantly reduce transmission.
It might not *stop* transmission, but it would do an incredible job of minimizing it.
Living in a traditionally deep blue shire county (well, until 1 May possibly) I don't usually come across it in the 'how can people vote Tory?' direction, though it does still crop up occasionally, making me wonder whether the person involved has an even more limited social circle than I do.
Steve Rosenberg
@BBCSteveR
·
35m
In Russia today:
▪️ 4 journalists were convicted on extremism charges and sent to prison for 5 ½ years;
▪️ a hairdresser was convicted of spreading false info about the army and jailed for 5 years 2 months.
Our latest report from Moscow. Producer
@BenTavener
Even commentators who were not rabidly optimistic anti-Trumpers seemed amazed at the outcome.
Perhaps Sir Warren Fisher.
What if we combined all these Coachella loans and bundled them up into tranches and sell that as investment grade securities.....
(Recall the early obsession with droplets on surfaces, etc).
It's still inadequately understood.
Imagine being about to go over the top at the Somme and the person next to you is duck-facing into a selfie-stick.
I've just depressed myself.
Duckface, every time.
Are the accommodation and company to his liking?
Any transport experiences today?
I hear everything else about him.
Made me chuckle it decided to generate the same person 3 times in the background.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c05ne2vmd3po
It didn't need any sophistication or special equipment not easily available
We'll know by next GE whether Reform can run a council let alone a country.
My repeated comment has been that the divers I met in the oil industry would have been able to do this - say a half dozen of them (actual divers, riggers and boss to run the show).
* that's not just because I think Reform is crap, it's because I think running any council given the current financial options and constraints is utterly impossible even someone who made 100% perfect decisions would have difficulty succeeding.
In the boondocks of the midlands.
It seems like weeks.
Never seen my little pond this low in April
PB is going into government!
Demand way too much whilst giving far too little, and blame local government for being hamstrung by rules set by central government - the traditional national party position.
Lacking the local government experience Reform will be in for a rude awakening if they genuinely believe what they are saying.
Water is a good supplied. People should pay for it based on usage.
If the government believes the rich should pay more they should tax them more and then make a direct payment to the water company. Then be held accountable for their decisions by voters
Put down your keyboards, your gin and tonics and your atlases my comrades and prepare for government.
https://www.pollbludger.net/2025/04/16/federal-election-minus-17-days-debates-tax-and-housing-polling-regional-breakdowns-open-thread/
Australia has compulsory preferential voting & Labor always gets at least 80% of Greens preferences.
Current polling averages are: Labor 33%, Coalition 36%, Greens 12%.
Add in the Greens preferences, and it becomes Labor 43% vs Coalition 36%.
It would be rather ironic if electing Trump in 2024 ended up enabling AOC to be elected US President in 2028, she would be the most leftwing US President since FDR and probably left of him too when you take account of her stance on social issues as well as economic ones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9wAUkQqaAI
Eden-Monaro, in fact, was the traditional bellwether seat.
Seats like these are exactly the seats that the Coalition needs to take back to sieze government & it is very bad if they are getting a swing against them in these places.
.@POTUS says he'll soon announce a program to help illegals self-deport: "We're going to give them a stipend ... and a plane ticket."
Anyway, the relevant number is always the 2 Party Preferred, which is Labor 52%, Coalition 48% in the polling averages.
The primary votes only have meaning as a way to estimate the two-party preferred, but it is meaningless whether Labor or Coalition is ahead in the primary vote.
A sharp age divide is emerging within Gen Z in the latest @YalePolling data:
🔴 Ages 18–21: R+12
🔵 Ages 22–29: D+6
The youngest voters are breaking sharply from their older Gen Z peers.
It is however somewhat open to abuse. I mean some people will treat it as a free plane ride back home for a holiday, before jumping back on the rail car to cross the border again.
In the US, towns (of both political persuasions) have paid for buses and shipped the homeless (and illegal immigrants) across state lines.
Maybe it's time for British councils to do the same with the elderly.