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Unquiet flows the Don – politicalbetting.com

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  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,635
    Dura_Ace said:

    ydoethur said:

    I would like to thank last night's bot for having, quite fortuitously, given me a chance to flag up the awesome and subtle pun in the headline.

    The title of the book is "Тихий Дон" so the correct translation of the title is (The) Quiet Don, with the definite article being implied by context.

    "And Quiet Flows the Don" was the title given a literary flourish by the publishers of Stephens' translation because they felt a western audience wouldn't know the Don was river and the title would make no sense. Hence the addition of "Flows".

    My Dad used to call himself "the quiet Don", which was an excellent pun on multiple levels
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,454
    algarkirk said:

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Yes. An even more fundamental problem is that the old factions of the old Tory party - One Nation, professionals, blue collar, IEA types, populists, faith family flag etc - have grown apart that they cannot find a leader to cohere it all. Nor do they have a front bench of characters that are memorable or can talk like statesmen.
    Not quite - there's an old political adage (Stodge's Ninth Law I believe) - "nothing unites like success". It's amazing how easily factions work together when everything is going well and especially if power looks within reach.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 3,393

    Sending a few hundred people to an El Salvadorean hell-hole now means that everyone will get due process. Trump pissing off the Supreme Court to the point where they give judgements against him was one of the more unexpected outcomes of the first three months.

    Due process?

    Grab people off the street at random
    Deport them
    Courts complain
    El Salvador says you can't have them back
    Trump pays El Savador for their services.

    That is the established process. What are the courts going to do about it?
    Well, put a bunch of DoJ lawyers in jail for contempt.

    Do a jail release when El Salvador plays ball.
    Sadly I doubt that Mr Trump cares anything for the welfare of his own supporters, any more than he does for strangers.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,858
    ydoethur said:

    I would like to thank last night's bot for having, quite fortuitously, given me a chance to flag up the awesome and subtle pun in the headline.

    Always approve of literary references, here cleverly linking the gangster in the White House with Russia.

    Kudos.
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 9,007
    edited April 16

    geoffw said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    FT:

    "UK housebuilding risks being held up by brick shortage. Is wood the answer?"

    https://www.ft.com/content/29d81d8e-9299-4af2-9ca9-3d499eb2d13d

    Bricks have failed. Wood is expensive. Build houses out of STRAW.

    I built a car port last year (no planning permission, lol). Mrs DA wanted a wooden one because she saw one on some bollocks TV program and liked it. The oak beams I used to make the roof trusses were 500 QUID each.

    Wood is expensive.
    Short supply. A huuge amount of oak went into rebuilding the roof of Notre Dame. Europe's forests, especially France's, may take a long while to recover. On iPlayer "Rebuilding Notre Dame" is quite an eye-opener, albeit presented by Lucy Worsley

    Never seen 'albeit' used to mean 'especially because' before.
    In my normal vocab - late middle English says my dicionary
    p.s. synonym to "although"
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,568
    edited April 16

    MattW said:

    FT:

    "UK housebuilding risks being held up by brick shortage. Is wood the answer?"

    https://www.ft.com/content/29d81d8e-9299-4af2-9ca9-3d499eb2d13d

    Bricks have failed. Wood is expensive. Build houses out of STRAW.

    Is it's a short-term crisis, long-term option 1 or long-term option 2 is not much of an answer :smile: .

    IMO there's a fair bit of positional bollocks in that story. eg

    Timber construction has long been widely used in North America, Scandinavia and Scotland, but has struggled for traction in England — where houses are typically still built by hand out of bricks and blocks.

    In fact the timber frame share in England has been increasing over time. It is now moving towards 25%, and is up by about 10% in a decade - which is quite a change.
    I think most new Premier Inns are timberframed now. I remember doing a fire inspection visit in the Loughborough construction site years ago.
    Yes - they have been building that sort of hotel from "room modules" for about 20 years for medium rise, and longer for fewer stories.

    Here's a case study from 2015 of a 6 storey Premier Inn, where the whole project took 10 weeks.
    https://www.kingspantimbersolutions.co.uk/case-studies/premier-inn

    It is based on medium rise timber frame research project TF2000 done inside a hangar at Cardington in the late 1990s by BRE & TRADA amongst others, in the Government Partners in Innovation programme.

    https://www.ttjonline.com/news/tf2000-passes-building-regs-fire-requirements/

    Regs were tightened after I think the Worcester Park fire & Grenfell Tower - around issues such as required rigour of workmanship for cavity-closers.

    McDonalds have been sending out their new branches as kits of parts to be build in a very few weeks for years and years now.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 18,316
    stodge said:

    algarkirk said:

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Yes. An even more fundamental problem is that the old factions of the old Tory party - One Nation, professionals, blue collar, IEA types, populists, faith family flag etc - have grown apart that they cannot find a leader to cohere it all. Nor do they have a front bench of characters that are memorable or can talk like statesmen.
    Not quite - there's an old political adage (Stodge's Ninth Law I believe) - "nothing unites like success". It's amazing how easily factions work together when everything is going well and especially if power looks within reach.
    Normally, I'd agree with you. Which is what makes the behaviour of the Conservatives in the 2010s (when ideology and personality came to matter much more than staying in government) so peculiar. I'm not shocked that Labour are doing it now, but part of the point of the Conservatives is (was?) to focus on the prize.

    And the corollary of Stodge IX is that failure divides. Since division leads to failure, that's a feedback that needs special leadership (or more likely good luck) to break out of.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,249
    edited April 16
    FF43 said:

    ydoethur said:

    I would like to thank last night's bot for having, quite fortuitously, given me a chance to flag up the awesome and subtle pun in the headline.

    Always approve of literary references, here cleverly linking the gangster in the White House with Russia.

    Kudos.
    Depressing reminder of when Russian authors won the Nobel, will there ever be another?
    Sholokhov remarkably sure footed when leavening his toadying to Stalin with occasionally standing up to him. Surprising that he survived to die of natural causes really.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,896
    Trump has ended US involvement in the Ukraine war and got a ceasefire in Gaza.

    He has imposed 10% tariffs on all imports to the US and more on China. Musk is also slashing the size of the US government perhaps even more than Trump wants.

    In 2028 he cannot run again anyway, so Vance or Trump jr will likely be GOP candidate
  • Eabhal said:

    MattW said:

    FT:

    "UK housebuilding risks being held up by brick shortage. Is wood the answer?"

    https://www.ft.com/content/29d81d8e-9299-4af2-9ca9-3d499eb2d13d

    Bricks have failed. Wood is expensive. Build houses out of STRAW.

    Is it's a short-term crisis, long-term option 1 or long-term option 2 is not much of an answer :smile: .

    IMO there's a fair bit of positional bollocks in that story. eg

    Timber construction has long been widely used in North America, Scandinavia and Scotland, but has struggled for traction in England — where houses are typically still built by hand out of bricks and blocks.

    In fact the timber frame share in England has been increasing over time. It is now moving towards 25%, and is up by about 10% in a decade - which is quite a change.
    I think most new Premier Inns are timberframed now. I remember doing a fire inspection visit in the Loughborough construction site years ago.
    I guess a modern timber frame hotel is just as safe (or not) as any other?

    We're currently getting a new flat door installed. Fire service/council have been doing a survey and we're told our current one will make excellent kindling.
    Timber framed buildings are as safe as any other construction if building regs are followed. They're a bit vulnerable during construction, so open flames and welding need to be strictly controlled. Obviously, if any work gets done post construction, you need to ensure the integrity of compartments, but that's the same for any building.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,717

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Although what is the point of Farage when the Tories have Honest Bob (although the opposite is equally applicable)?
    Farage offers NOTA. The old parties have failed, try my new panacea (see also Brexit). Jenrick personifies that history of failure – for Farage, for voters, and for Keir Starmer at PMQs.

    Jenrick's latest pronouncements are against Islamist gangs running prisons, which, as Starmer will remind everyone, started under the Conservatives, along with prison overcrowding, access to boiling oil and so on and so forth.

    Most damning of all, Jenrick is a Cambridge-educated lawyer.
    Jenrick would solve some problems for the Conservatives. He is undoubtedly less lazy than Badenoch, and has a surer finger on the pulse of what Conservative-inclined voters care about.

    Set against that, there's the whole Tawdry Bob thing.

    But the big issues would remain. He was part of the 2019-24 government, and that failed utterly. Farage wasn't. Furthermore, Nigel has started quality in a way that is in a different league.
    There's also the "likeability" factor. It's possible to like Jenrick but you have to work very hard to get there and voters are lazy. Most will assume that he is what he appears to be - a smarmy careerist and nasty with it.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,204
    edited April 16
    On the final part of Ydoethur's piece, the Supreme Court itself handed back pretty much all the jurisdiction it took with Marbury vs Maddison ( For presidential actions) with it's decision in Trump vs United States.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,765
    HYUFD said:

    Trump has ended US involvement in the Ukraine war and got a ceasefire in Gaza.

    He has imposed 10% tariffs on all imports to the US and more on China. Musk is also slashing the size of the US government perhaps even more than Trump wants.

    In 2028 he cannot run again anyway, so Vance or Trump jr will likely be GOP candidate

    A ceasefire in Gaza? Has Trump told Israel?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,896

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Although what is the point of Farage when the Tories have Honest Bob (although the opposite is equally applicable)?
    Farage offers NOTA. The old parties have failed, try my new panacea (see also Brexit). Jenrick personifies that history of failure – for Farage, for voters, and for Keir Starmer at PMQs.

    Jenrick's latest pronouncements are against Islamist gangs running prisons, which, as Starmer will remind everyone, started under the Conservatives, along with prison overcrowding, access to boiling oil and so on and so forth.

    Most damning of all, Jenrick is a Cambridge-educated lawyer.
    Jenrick would solve some problems for the Conservatives. He is undoubtedly less lazy than Badenoch, and has a surer finger on the pulse of what Conservative-inclined voters care about.

    Set against that, there's the whole Tawdry Bob thing.

    But the big issues would remain. He was part of the 2019-24 government, and that failed utterly. Farage wasn't. Furthermore, Nigel has started quality in a way that is in a different league.
    Farage can't become PM without Tory support and if he fails at the next general election to do that then Rees Mogg looks like winning the likely by election in North Somerset and Hainham post Dan Norris recall or departure from Parliament.

    Mogg would then replace Jenrick as the frontrunner to reunite the right as next Tory leader if Kemi fails to win the next general election or share power with Farage
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,380
    edited April 16

    HYUFD said:

    Trump has ended US involvement in the Ukraine war and got a ceasefire in Gaza.

    He has imposed 10% tariffs on all imports to the US and more on China. Musk is also slashing the size of the US government perhaps even more than Trump wants.

    In 2028 he cannot run again anyway, so Vance or Trump jr will likely be GOP candidate

    A ceasefire in Gaza? Has Trump told Israel?
    I was thinking as well, has anyone explained about the exemptions (including to the 10% tariffs) plus Trump's ongoing engagement in the Ukraine war, but now openly on Putin's side?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,380
    FF43 said:

    ydoethur said:

    I would like to thank last night's bot for having, quite fortuitously, given me a chance to flag up the awesome and subtle pun in the headline.

    Always approve of literary references, here cleverly linking the gangster in the White House with Russia.

    Kudos.
    Glad somebody spotted the subtext...
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,765
    kinabalu said:

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Although what is the point of Farage when the Tories have Honest Bob (although the opposite is equally applicable)?
    Farage offers NOTA. The old parties have failed, try my new panacea (see also Brexit). Jenrick personifies that history of failure – for Farage, for voters, and for Keir Starmer at PMQs.

    Jenrick's latest pronouncements are against Islamist gangs running prisons, which, as Starmer will remind everyone, started under the Conservatives, along with prison overcrowding, access to boiling oil and so on and so forth.

    Most damning of all, Jenrick is a Cambridge-educated lawyer.
    Jenrick would solve some problems for the Conservatives. He is undoubtedly less lazy than Badenoch, and has a surer finger on the pulse of what Conservative-inclined voters care about.

    Set against that, there's the whole Tawdry Bob thing.

    But the big issues would remain. He was part of the 2019-24 government, and that failed utterly. Farage wasn't. Furthermore, Nigel has started quality in a way that is in a different league.
    There's also the "likeability" factor. It's possible to like Jenrick but you have to work very hard to get there and voters are lazy. Most will assume that he is what he appears to be - a smarmy careerist and nasty with it.
    Jenrick and Farage would be competing for the same voters, with the possibility that Jenrick would outflank Farage to the right if current discourse is anything to go by.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 30,085
    The Supreme Court is due to rule on women shortly. Various news organisations will cover it live.

  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 7,298

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1912401098616324457

    No one wants to spend their Easter weekend stuck in traffic.

    So we're lifting more than a thousand miles of roadworks over Easter.

    And to save you money, we've frozen fuel duty and delivered record funding to fix potholes.

    Drivers — I'm on your side.

    I thought Rishi would take some beating in the cringe stakes, but Starmer really gives him a run for his money.
  • DopermeanDopermean Posts: 923

    Foxy said:

    Uncle Sam abruptly turns off funding for CVE program
    https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/16/homeland_security_funding_for_cve/

    The US government today ends its funding for the CVE database, that is the classification of computer security holes. With a bit of luck someone else will step in, cybersecurity being fairly important in the modern world.

    The Defence IT security team have all been DOGE'ed too.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/15/pentagons-digital-resignations-00290930
    Another day on the champers over at the Kremlin then.
    Quite literally "Fuck this for a game of soldiers" :)
    I'd guess the whole team is moving as a unit to the private sector for a lot more money.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,118

    DougSeal said:

    FT:

    "UK housebuilding risks being held up by brick shortage. Is wood the answer?"

    https://www.ft.com/content/29d81d8e-9299-4af2-9ca9-3d499eb2d13d

    Bricks have failed. Wood is expensive. Build houses out of STRAW.

    Brick ovens are actually pretty simple tech. Adding capacity should be months, not years.

    That’s assuming we can get the 3000 page reports on nothing written in time.

    The biggest problem will be the high price of industrial electricity.
    We could demolish some buildings and recycle the bricks?
    That's done in many cases, particularly for old or historically/architecturally interesting bricks. I used to know a lady who worked for an architectural salvage firm who used to get very excited by old plug sockets, for some reason. I can understand light switches, which might be reusable, but old two-pin sockets?

    But cleaning mortar of bricks is not easy. You soon get fed up with the chisel and hammer.

    Edit: although I do like the idea of a architectural 'savage' firm...
    In London, any vaguely reusable bricks (except the modern horrible shite) get recycled through specialist outfits that can match the brick on your house for repairs/extensions.
  • CiceroCicero Posts: 3,390

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Although what is the point of Farage when the Tories have Honest Bob (although the opposite is equally applicable)?
    Farage offers NOTA. The old parties have failed, try my new panacea (see also Brexit). Jenrick personifies that history of failure – for Farage, for voters, and for Keir Starmer at PMQs.

    Jenrick's latest pronouncements are against Islamist gangs running prisons, which, as Starmer will remind everyone, started under the Conservatives, along with prison overcrowding, access to boiling oil and so on and so forth.

    Most damning of all, Jenrick is a Cambridge-educated lawyer.
    Jenrick would solve some problems for the Conservatives. He is undoubtedly less lazy than Badenoch, and has a surer finger on the pulse of what Conservative-inclined voters care about.

    Set against that, there's the whole Tawdry Bob thing.

    But the big issues would remain. He was part of the 2019-24 government, and that failed utterly. Farage wasn't. Furthermore, Nigel has started quality in a way that is in a different league.
    The problem is that the star quality that Farage has is eerily similar to that of Jeffrey Archer. He has charisma, but he also has no real anchor, neither personal, political, nor-lets face it- moral.

    This is a guy who has taken the money to front the Russian state propaganda channel, who has burned through several political parties and eventually fallen out with all his colleagues. He lacks gravitas as much as he lacks anything except the most facile solutions to the mostly fake problems that he identifies, so he is a media creation, not a statesman.

    After Trump, I think the danger of these media creations is now far more evident, so although I can certainly see a scenario where Farage does well in the short term, this is more to do with the ongoing death rattle of the Tories than any particular virtues, or lack of them, that Farage has.

    In short, am unconvinced that Farage can control his own destiny, and at 61, time is against him.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,380
    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,310

    DougSeal said:

    FT:

    "UK housebuilding risks being held up by brick shortage. Is wood the answer?"

    https://www.ft.com/content/29d81d8e-9299-4af2-9ca9-3d499eb2d13d

    Bricks have failed. Wood is expensive. Build houses out of STRAW.

    Brick ovens are actually pretty simple tech. Adding capacity should be months, not years.

    That’s assuming we can get the 3000 page reports on nothing written in time.

    The biggest problem will be the high price of industrial electricity.
    We could demolish some buildings and recycle the bricks?
    That's done in many cases, particularly for old or historically/architecturally interesting bricks. I used to know a lady who worked for an architectural salvage firm who used to get very excited by old plug sockets, for some reason. I can understand light switches, which might be reusable, but old two-pin sockets?

    But cleaning mortar of bricks is not easy. You soon get fed up with the chisel and hammer.

    Edit: although I do like the idea of a architectural 'savage' firm...
    In London, any vaguely reusable bricks (except the modern horrible shite) get recycled through specialist outfits that can match the brick on your house for repairs/extensions.
    Yep, architectural salvage; there're a fair few about, e.g. https://www.solopark.co.uk/products/bricks/

    A few are open to the public, and can be fascinating to walk around. I bet they make more money off the 'unsexy' things like bricks and tiles than they do off the 'sexy' things like old radiators and light fittings...
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 38,050
    @lizziedearden
    ·
    51s
    Breaking: The UK Supreme Court has ruled that trans women do not meet the definition of "women" under Britain's Equality Act

    Lord Hodge said judges unanimously decided the law refers to "biological women and biological sex"
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,635
    Cicero said:

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Although what is the point of Farage when the Tories have Honest Bob (although the opposite is equally applicable)?
    Farage offers NOTA. The old parties have failed, try my new panacea (see also Brexit). Jenrick personifies that history of failure – for Farage, for voters, and for Keir Starmer at PMQs.

    Jenrick's latest pronouncements are against Islamist gangs running prisons, which, as Starmer will remind everyone, started under the Conservatives, along with prison overcrowding, access to boiling oil and so on and so forth.

    Most damning of all, Jenrick is a Cambridge-educated lawyer.
    Jenrick would solve some problems for the Conservatives. He is undoubtedly less lazy than Badenoch, and has a surer finger on the pulse of what Conservative-inclined voters care about.

    Set against that, there's the whole Tawdry Bob thing.

    But the big issues would remain. He was part of the 2019-24 government, and that failed utterly. Farage wasn't. Furthermore, Nigel has started quality in a way that is in a different league.
    The problem is that the star quality that Farage has is eerily similar to that of Jeffrey Archer. He has charisma, but he also has no real anchor, neither personal, political, nor-lets face it- moral.

    This is a guy who has taken the money to front the Russian state propaganda channel, who has burned through several political parties and eventually fallen out with all his colleagues. He lacks gravitas as much as he lacks anything except the most facile solutions to the mostly fake problems that he identifies, so he is a media creation, not a statesman.

    After Trump, I think the danger of these media creations is now far more evident, so although I can certainly see a scenario where Farage does well in the short term, this is more to do with the ongoing death rattle of the Tories than any particular virtues, or lack of them, that Farage has.

    In short, am unconvinced that Farage can control his own destiny, and at 61, time is against him.
    What preposterous bollox

    Farage is nothing like Jeffrey fecking Archer

    Farage - like it or not - is a deeply skilled politician who changed British history - by securing Brexit - and now threatens to do it again by taking a new party to second or even first place in a general election

    Jeffrey Archer became chairman of the Tory party, wrote some books, went to jail
  • pm215pm215 Posts: 1,234
    TimS said:

    geoffw said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    FT:

    "UK housebuilding risks being held up by brick shortage. Is wood the answer?"

    https://www.ft.com/content/29d81d8e-9299-4af2-9ca9-3d499eb2d13d

    Bricks have failed. Wood is expensive. Build houses out of STRAW.

    I built a car port last year (no planning permission, lol). Mrs DA wanted a wooden one because she saw one on some bollocks TV program and liked it. The oak beams I used to make the roof trusses were 500 QUID each.

    Wood is expensive.
    Short supply. A huuge amount of oak went into rebuilding the roof of Notre Dame. Europe's forests, especially France's, may take a long while to recover. On iPlayer "Rebuilding Notre Dame" is quite an eye-opener, albeit presented by Lucy Worsley

    Opportunity for me to use my daily photo.



    I’m at my French place this week. See that wooden construction? An oak lean-to my neighbour got built last year, with rather fetching traditional wooden roof tiles.

    Her being into all things eco and artisanal (and having lots of contacts in that world through her career in street theatre), she got it built by artisans who had spent the previous 2 years working on the new roof for notre dame.

    Apparently it was an absolute bonanza for the global woodcraft and stone masonry fraternity. People came from all over the world to work for months or years on what was the biggest project of their lives.
    Perhaps we should set fire to a cathedral from time to time, pour encourager les artisans?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,118

    DougSeal said:

    FT:

    "UK housebuilding risks being held up by brick shortage. Is wood the answer?"

    https://www.ft.com/content/29d81d8e-9299-4af2-9ca9-3d499eb2d13d

    Bricks have failed. Wood is expensive. Build houses out of STRAW.

    Brick ovens are actually pretty simple tech. Adding capacity should be months, not years.

    That’s assuming we can get the 3000 page reports on nothing written in time.

    The biggest problem will be the high price of industrial electricity.
    We could demolish some buildings and recycle the bricks?
    That's done in many cases, particularly for old or historically/architecturally interesting bricks. I used to know a lady who worked for an architectural salvage firm who used to get very excited by old plug sockets, for some reason. I can understand light switches, which might be reusable, but old two-pin sockets?

    But cleaning mortar of bricks is not easy. You soon get fed up with the chisel and hammer.

    Edit: although I do like the idea of a architectural 'savage' firm...
    In London, any vaguely reusable bricks (except the modern horrible shite) get recycled through specialist outfits that can match the brick on your house for repairs/extensions.
    Yep, architectural salvage; there're a fair few about, e.g. https://www.solopark.co.uk/products/bricks/

    A few are open to the public, and can be fascinating to walk around. I bet they make more money off the 'unsexy' things like bricks and tiles than they do off the 'sexy' things like old radiators and light fittings...
    They very often have the original molds for the plaster work and the cast decoration around windows and doors.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,635
    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,896
    ydoethur said:

    HYUFD said:

    Trump has ended US involvement in the Ukraine war and got a ceasefire in Gaza.

    He has imposed 10% tariffs on all imports to the US and more on China. Musk is also slashing the size of the US government perhaps even more than Trump wants.

    In 2028 he cannot run again anyway, so Vance or Trump jr will likely be GOP candidate

    A ceasefire in Gaza? Has Trump told Israel?
    I was thinking as well, has anyone explained about the exemptions (including to the 10% tariffs) plus Trump's ongoing engagement in the Ukraine war, but now openly on Putin's side?
    There has been no formal resumption of the war in Gaza and most hostages were released. The exemptions are mainly to Chinese imports as they are higher than the global 10% and steel and car imports globally are still at 25% tariff.

    If Trump was on Putin's side he would be sending arms to Russia
  • FossFoss Posts: 1,394
    pm215 said:

    TimS said:

    geoffw said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    FT:

    "UK housebuilding risks being held up by brick shortage. Is wood the answer?"

    https://www.ft.com/content/29d81d8e-9299-4af2-9ca9-3d499eb2d13d

    Bricks have failed. Wood is expensive. Build houses out of STRAW.

    I built a car port last year (no planning permission, lol). Mrs DA wanted a wooden one because she saw one on some bollocks TV program and liked it. The oak beams I used to make the roof trusses were 500 QUID each.

    Wood is expensive.
    Short supply. A huuge amount of oak went into rebuilding the roof of Notre Dame. Europe's forests, especially France's, may take a long while to recover. On iPlayer "Rebuilding Notre Dame" is quite an eye-opener, albeit presented by Lucy Worsley

    Opportunity for me to use my daily photo.



    I’m at my French place this week. See that wooden construction? An oak lean-to my neighbour got built last year, with rather fetching traditional wooden roof tiles.

    Her being into all things eco and artisanal (and having lots of contacts in that world through her career in street theatre), she got it built by artisans who had spent the previous 2 years working on the new roof for notre dame.

    Apparently it was an absolute bonanza for the global woodcraft and stone masonry fraternity. People came from all over the world to work for months or years on what was the biggest project of their lives.
    Perhaps we should set fire to a cathedral from time to time, pour encourager les artisans?
    Building more Cathedral-like things feels slightly more productive.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,404
    edited April 16
    Good prog about Nick Leeson (on now). Thatcher and her gang really do send the shivers down you.

    The UK's version of the US under Trunmp and co now.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,380
    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    QED
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 10,098
    Prediction: there is going to be an avalanche of anti-trans abuse after this ruling, and a great deal of *shocked Pikachu* when it turns out such abuse remains illegal under things like the Public Order Act.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 5,059
    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    The Supreme Court isn’t interested in vibe shifts and has made a fair judgement based on the law .
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,121
    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,496
    HYUFD said:

    Trump has ended US involvement in the Ukraine war and got a ceasefire in Gaza.

    He has imposed 10% tariffs on all imports to the US and more on China. Musk is also slashing the size of the US government perhaps even more than Trump wants.

    In 2028 he cannot run again anyway, so Vance or Trump jr will likely be GOP candidate

    Musk promised to cut federal spending by two TRILLION dollars.

    Do you know how much it has actually been 'slashed' by ?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,635

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,121
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    Boring
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,190

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    It does raise the question of what is the purpose and function of a gender recognition certificate (GRC)? If the rights of a person before a GRC are the same as a person after a GRC, then what is its function?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,118
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    I thought it was the BNP who wanted to nationalise (destroy) the RNLI ?
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,783
    Leon said:

    Cicero said:

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Although what is the point of Farage when the Tories have Honest Bob (although the opposite is equally applicable)?
    Farage offers NOTA. The old parties have failed, try my new panacea (see also Brexit). Jenrick personifies that history of failure – for Farage, for voters, and for Keir Starmer at PMQs.

    Jenrick's latest pronouncements are against Islamist gangs running prisons, which, as Starmer will remind everyone, started under the Conservatives, along with prison overcrowding, access to boiling oil and so on and so forth.

    Most damning of all, Jenrick is a Cambridge-educated lawyer.
    Jenrick would solve some problems for the Conservatives. He is undoubtedly less lazy than Badenoch, and has a surer finger on the pulse of what Conservative-inclined voters care about.

    Set against that, there's the whole Tawdry Bob thing.

    But the big issues would remain. He was part of the 2019-24 government, and that failed utterly. Farage wasn't. Furthermore, Nigel has started quality in a way that is in a different league.
    The problem is that the star quality that Farage has is eerily similar to that of Jeffrey Archer. He has charisma, but he also has no real anchor, neither personal, political, nor-lets face it- moral.

    This is a guy who has taken the money to front the Russian state propaganda channel, who has burned through several political parties and eventually fallen out with all his colleagues. He lacks gravitas as much as he lacks anything except the most facile solutions to the mostly fake problems that he identifies, so he is a media creation, not a statesman.

    After Trump, I think the danger of these media creations is now far more evident, so although I can certainly see a scenario where Farage does well in the short term, this is more to do with the ongoing death rattle of the Tories than any particular virtues, or lack of them, that Farage has.

    In short, am unconvinced that Farage can control his own destiny, and at 61, time is against him.
    What preposterous bollox

    Farage is nothing like Jeffrey fecking Archer

    Farage - like it or not - is a deeply skilled politician who changed British history - by securing Brexit - and now threatens to do it again by taking a new party to second or even first place in a general election

    Jeffrey Archer became chairman of the Tory party, wrote some books, went to jail
    Also, I think, was quite good at sprinting. So there's that.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,747
    Cicero said:

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Although what is the point of Farage when the Tories have Honest Bob (although the opposite is equally applicable)?
    Farage offers NOTA. The old parties have failed, try my new panacea (see also Brexit). Jenrick personifies that history of failure – for Farage, for voters, and for Keir Starmer at PMQs.

    Jenrick's latest pronouncements are against Islamist gangs running prisons, which, as Starmer will remind everyone, started under the Conservatives, along with prison overcrowding, access to boiling oil and so on and so forth.

    Most damning of all, Jenrick is a Cambridge-educated lawyer.
    Jenrick would solve some problems for the Conservatives. He is undoubtedly less lazy than Badenoch, and has a surer finger on the pulse of what Conservative-inclined voters care about.

    Set against that, there's the whole Tawdry Bob thing.

    But the big issues would remain. He was part of the 2019-24 government, and that failed utterly. Farage wasn't. Furthermore, Nigel has started quality in a way that is in a different league.
    The problem is that the star quality that Farage has is eerily similar to that of Jeffrey Archer. He has charisma, but he also has no real anchor, neither personal, political, nor-lets face it- moral.

    This is a guy who has taken the money to front the Russian state propaganda channel, who has burned through several political parties and eventually fallen out with all his colleagues. He lacks gravitas as much as he lacks anything except the most facile solutions to the mostly fake problems that he identifies, so he is a media creation, not a statesman.

    After Trump, I think the danger of these media creations is now far more evident, so although I can certainly see a scenario where Farage does well in the short term, this is more to do with the ongoing death rattle of the Tories than any particular virtues, or lack of them, that Farage has.

    In short, am unconvinced that Farage can control his own destiny, and at 61, time is against him.
    I don't think he ever fronted RT. He just appeared as a guest.

    Do you give him any credit for the way he handled Elon Musk?
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,291

    FF43 said:

    ydoethur said:

    I would like to thank last night's bot for having, quite fortuitously, given me a chance to flag up the awesome and subtle pun in the headline.

    Always approve of literary references, here cleverly linking the gangster in the White House with Russia.

    Kudos.
    Depressing reminder of when Russian authors won the Nobel, will there ever be another?
    Sholokhov remarkably sure footed when leavening his toadying to Stalin with occasionally standing up to him. Surprising that he survived to die of natural causes really.
    Svetlana Alexievich won it in 2014.
  • Nunu3Nunu3 Posts: 265

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    I thought it was the BNP who wanted to nationalise (destroy) the RNLI ?
    that is never a reason not to enact a policy.
    If the BNP wanted to ban smoking pubs would that mean we should bring back smoking in pubs?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,568

    DougSeal said:

    FT:

    "UK housebuilding risks being held up by brick shortage. Is wood the answer?"

    https://www.ft.com/content/29d81d8e-9299-4af2-9ca9-3d499eb2d13d

    Bricks have failed. Wood is expensive. Build houses out of STRAW.

    Brick ovens are actually pretty simple tech. Adding capacity should be months, not years.

    That’s assuming we can get the 3000 page reports on nothing written in time.

    The biggest problem will be the high price of industrial electricity.
    We could demolish some buildings and recycle the bricks?
    That's done in many cases, particularly for old or historically/architecturally interesting bricks. I used to know a lady who worked for an architectural salvage firm who used to get very excited by old plug sockets, for some reason. I can understand light switches, which might be reusable, but old two-pin sockets?

    But cleaning mortar of bricks is not easy. You soon get fed up with the chisel and hammer.

    Edit: although I do like the idea of a architectural 'savage' firm...
    In London, any vaguely reusable bricks (except the modern horrible shite) get recycled through specialist outfits that can match the brick on your house for repairs/extensions.
    Yep, architectural salvage; there're a fair few about, e.g. https://www.solopark.co.uk/products/bricks/

    A few are open to the public, and can be fascinating to walk around. I bet they make more money off the 'unsexy' things like bricks and tiles than they do off the 'sexy' things like old radiators and light fittings...
    They are everywhere.

    I used to live within walking distance of one in EC2 - LASSCO. They used to have the gold Muse Statues from the Barbican looking over their wall.

    AS were the mainstay of the places "Drew" used to visit in his TV series.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,190
    edited April 16
    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    It does raise the question of what is the purpose and function of a gender recognition certificate (GRC)? If the rights of a person before a GRC are the same as a person after a GRC, then what is its function?
    Judgement here:
    https://supremecourt.uk/uploads/uksc_2024_0042_judgment_aea6c48cee.pdf

    It's 87 pages long so I'm not going to read it quickly, but one fragment that stood out was this (some bits redacted for clarity):

    "...a trans man with a GRC (a biological female but legally male...) is a woman for the purposes of section 11 [of the Equality Act] and a trans woman with a GRC (biologically male but legally female...), is a is a man and not entitled to be treated as a woman under the [Equality Act]..."
    - paragraph 264 of the judgement.
  • Nunu3Nunu3 Posts: 265

    The Supreme Court is due to rule on women shortly. Various news organisations will cover it live.

    " due to rule on women".
    how progressive. lol
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,635

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    Our son puts his life on the line to save lives at sea in weather you wouldn't believe, and he does it entirely free and that is only because he is part of the RNLI which is highly respected and any normal person would see your comment as utterly distasteful
    It’s a frigging joke. I’m making a joke that I’m so dementedly antiWoke I’m determined to crush the communist running dogs manning the lifeboats
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,291


    Sholokhov remarkably sure footed when leavening his toadying to Stalin with occasionally standing up to him. Surprising that he survived to die of natural causes really.

    Sholokov is not pb.com compliant. In Quiet Don, the Ukrainians are there for derision and comic relief, viz, the lack-witted but officious grain counter. Still better than the Poles who seem to exist to provide milk maids to be 'laid out' (ie gang raped) by the cossacks.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,190
    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    It does raise the question of what is the purpose and function of a gender recognition certificate (GRC)? If the rights of a person before a GRC are the same as a person after a GRC, then what is its function?
    Judgement here:
    https://supremecourt.uk/uploads/uksc_2024_0042_judgment_aea6c48cee.pdf

    It's 87 pages long so I'm not going to read it quickly, but one fragment that stood out was this (some bits redacted for clarity):

    "...a trans man with a GRC (a biological female but legally male...) is a woman for the purposes of section 11 [of the Equality Act] and a trans woman with a GRC (biologically male but legally female...), is a is a man and not entitled to be treated as a woman under the [Equality Act]..."
    - paragraph 264 of the judgement.
    If I read this correctly, the concept of transsexuality no longer functionally exists in law and the only rights trans people possess are not to be fired or thumped because trans. I think that's rather a big change.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 5,059
    The government could of course change the Equalities Act but politically this would be problematic to say the least !
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,190
    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    I don't see how a verdict on a case with two opposing factions can be anything but a triumph for one side over another.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,204
    nico67 said:

    The government could of course change the Equalities Act but politically this would be problematic to say the least !

    But equalities legislation does need looking at in order to stop beggaring councils and so on.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,118
    viewcode said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    I don't see how a verdict on a case with two opposing factions can be anything but a triumph for one side over another.
    A legal ruling is not necessarily binary (ha!)

    Compromise is not a dirty word, Blackadder.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,190
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    Insofar as you are capable of having a friend, I believe you have a friend who is a trans woman. If she comes back to the UK, which toilets should she use?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,380
    Dura_Ace said:


    Sholokhov remarkably sure footed when leavening his toadying to Stalin with occasionally standing up to him. Surprising that he survived to die of natural causes really.

    Sholokov is not pb.com compliant. In Quiet Don, the Ukrainians are there for derision and comic relief, viz, the lack-witted but officious grain counter. Still better than the Poles who seem to exist to provide milk maids to be 'laid out' (ie gang raped) by the cossacks.
    So very appropriate for Trump?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,635
    Dura_Ace said:


    Sholokhov remarkably sure footed when leavening his toadying to Stalin with occasionally standing up to him. Surprising that he survived to die of natural causes really.

    Sholokov is not pb.com compliant. In Quiet Don, the Ukrainians are there for derision and comic relief, viz, the lack-witted but officious grain counter. Still better than the Poles who seem to exist to provide milk maids to be 'laid out' (ie gang raped) by the cossacks.
    Isn’t it also “actually quite shit”, the Quiet Don? That was the eventual opinion of my Pa, who read a lot of this stuff

    My time in jail - which is the ONLY place one should read Russian novels - wasn’t long enough for me to reach the 20th century. Only got as far as Turgenev
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,249
    edited April 16
    Dura_Ace said:

    FF43 said:

    ydoethur said:

    I would like to thank last night's bot for having, quite fortuitously, given me a chance to flag up the awesome and subtle pun in the headline.

    Always approve of literary references, here cleverly linking the gangster in the White House with Russia.

    Kudos.
    Depressing reminder of when Russian authors won the Nobel, will there ever be another?
    Sholokhov remarkably sure footed when leavening his toadying to Stalin with occasionally standing up to him. Surprising that he survived to die of natural causes really.
    Svetlana Alexievich won it in 2014.
    Ashamed to say I’ve not read her, but I think I read reviews/features on her Zinky Boys in the Guardian or similar.
    May save her ‘Enchanted by Death’, a book about attempted and completed suicides after the downfall of the Soviet Union, for when I suffer from an attack of unbridled optimism.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,717
    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    It does raise the question of what is the purpose and function of a gender recognition certificate (GRC)? If the rights of a person before a GRC are the same as a person after a GRC, then what is its function?
    Yes that's worth thinking about. Also the less covered male aspect. If transwomen are not women it presumably means that transmen are. So what is "transitioning" in this new and clarified context? What rights and protections (if any) come with it?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,635
    viewcode said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    I don't see how a verdict on a case with two opposing factions can be anything but a triumph for one side over another.
    Indeed and, to be serious, this DOES feel like a tremor in the vibequake

    I predict within 5-10 years huge swathes of Woke legislation - from the equality act to asylum rights to hate speech laws and much else - will have been repealed and reversed. It’s coming

  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 31,201
    stodge said:

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I don't know what the term "exponential change" means in this context. If you mean the two parties would swap polling numbers that won't make a lot of difference.

    I have no clue what a Jenrick-led Conservative Party would be like, neither do you and neither, I suspect, does he. Jenrick would soon find out you can't out-Reform Reform and it would be a dutch auction between the two parties to see who could come up with the most ludicrous policy on immigration, housing, the economy etc.

    Badenoch's problem (which Jenrick would share) is at the moment she comes over as a one-dimensional whiny, angry person. She's always cross and upset with everything - she needs to smile, have a little humour and not take herself so seriously at times. Even Margaret Thatcher had the occasional laugh - remember the pro-Europe jumper from 1975?

    Yes so Reform drop back to singles figures and Jenrick Tories return to high thirties. To my mind there is just shy of 50% of the "angry" vote to harvest. My belief is Jenrick has a more effective "nasty" party delivery whilst Badenoch comes across as merely grumpy. Surely people will soon tire of Farage's low rent Trump act.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,501
    I think he means "peasants" Vance.

    "China wants to see a number of steps from President Donald Trump’s administration before it will agree to trade talks, including showing more respect by reining in disparaging remarks by members of his cabinet..."
    https://x.com/TheStalwart/status/1912435449886355841
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,487
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    Our son puts his life on the line to save lives at sea in weather you wouldn't believe, and he does it entirely free and that is only because he is part of the RNLI which is highly respected and any normal person would see your comment as utterly distasteful
    It’s a frigging joke. I’m making a joke that I’m so dementedly antiWoke I’m determined to crush the communist running dogs manning the lifeboats
    How about actually doing something for society by volunteering yourself rather than just moaning about it all the time. Those that moan most often seem to be those that give the least.

    And I know every time I say this, you say you pay loads in tax. So does everyone else.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,502
    edited April 16
    Nigelb said:

    I think he means "peasants" Vance.

    "China wants to see a number of steps from President Donald Trump’s administration before it will agree to trade talks, including showing more respect by reining in disparaging remarks by members of his cabinet..."
    https://x.com/TheStalwart/status/1912435449886355841

    The fact they are open to talks alone has seen the S&P futures rise 100 points.

    Hopefully both sides looking for a climb down where both can save face ?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,717
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    Our son puts his life on the line to save lives at sea in weather you wouldn't believe, and he does it entirely free and that is only because he is part of the RNLI which is highly respected and any normal person would see your comment as utterly distasteful
    It’s a frigging joke. I’m making a joke that I’m so dementedly antiWoke I’m determined to crush the communist running dogs manning the lifeboats
    If we want jokes we'll seek out some comedy sites.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,502
    Jolyon not taking the Supreme Court Judgement well

    https://x.com/tonydowson5/status/1912439059579814218?s=61
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 65,011
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    Our son puts his life on the line to save lives at sea in weather you wouldn't believe, and he does it entirely free and that is only because he is part of the RNLI which is highly respected and any normal person would see your comment as utterly distasteful
    It’s a frigging joke. I’m making a joke that I’m so dementedly antiWoke I’m determined to crush the communist running dogs manning the lifeboats
    It's not a joke in our family who have had several members drowned at sea over the years, and experienced the pain of a loved one never being found or returned to them and who value the RNLI with a passion
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,288
    "A senior Birmingham councillor has sparked a row with Labour’s biggest union backer after saying binmen don’t deserve more pay.

    Leaked messages seen by The Telegraph show that Rob Pocock, a member of the council’s cabinet, complained that refuse workers were demanding pay the “job simply does not merit”."

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/15/rob-pocock-councillor-hr-chief-birmingham-binmen-strike-pay/
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 31,201

    Tommy Robinson loses his appeal.

    Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

    Steven Yaxley -Lennon or Tommy Ten Names please.

    I'm just calling Mr Vance for his consideration of this outrage...
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,291

    stodge said:

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I don't know what the term "exponential change" means in this context. If you mean the two parties would swap polling numbers that won't make a lot of difference.

    I have no clue what a Jenrick-led Conservative Party would be like, neither do you and neither, I suspect, does he. Jenrick would soon find out you can't out-Reform Reform and it would be a dutch auction between the two parties to see who could come up with the most ludicrous policy on immigration, housing, the economy etc.

    Badenoch's problem (which Jenrick would share) is at the moment she comes over as a one-dimensional whiny, angry person. She's always cross and upset with everything - she needs to smile, have a little humour and not take herself so seriously at times. Even Margaret Thatcher had the occasional laugh - remember the pro-Europe jumper from 1975?

    Yes so Reform drop back to singles figures and Jenrick Tories return to high thirties. To my mind there is just shy of 50% of the "angry" vote to harvest. My belief is Jenrick has a more effective "nasty" party delivery whilst Badenoch comes across as merely grumpy. Surely people will soon tire of Farage's low rent Trump act.
    The Kemster could get away with being a semi-permanently irritated termagant if she had some demonstrated capacity in any other aspect of electoral politics. But she doesn't, so she can't.

    Farage has been the dominant figure in British politics for the last 15 years. The idea that the Sports Direct wearing classes are suddenly going to tire of him is ludicrous.
  • ydoethur said:

    The Supreme Court is due to rule on women shortly. Various news organisations will cover it live.

    I hope @Cyclefree is doing OK and well enough to follow it.
    Well said.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,502
    For any fans of cult TV there is a new ITV YouTube channel called ITV retro.

    Not much at the moment but lots to come, hopefully.

    https://youtu.be/KXYQoi18LdM?si=hIylB6Inu3tCf88z
  • vikvik Posts: 247
    nico67 said:

    The government could of course change the Equalities Act but politically this would be problematic to say the least !

    It's a worrying sign for democracy in the UK that the government is too scared to change the law & is willing to cede its power to the courts.

    The USA is not a good example to be followed.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,501

    Tommy Robinson loses his appeal.

    Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

    Steven Yaxley -Lennon or Tommy Ten Names please.

    I'm just calling Mr Vance for his consideration of this outrage...
    Peasant.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 18,316

    Tommy Robinson loses his appeal.

    Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

    Just checking, is that another vibeshift?
    That's the thing about vibrations- they go one way, then they go back...
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,190
    Taz said:

    Jolyon not taking the Supreme Court Judgement well

    https://x.com/tonydowson5/status/1912439059579814218?s=61

    Well, yes
    https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xurjtu2wa2akyi64gab34ahg/post/3lmw7wy3pa22l

    I think my question above is more cogent: under this ruling, what is the function of a GRC? If a person before a GRC has the same rights as a person after a GRC, then what is its function in law?
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,204
    Andy_JS said:

    "A senior Birmingham councillor has sparked a row with Labour’s biggest union backer after saying binmen don’t deserve more pay.

    Leaked messages seen by The Telegraph show that Rob Pocock, a member of the council’s cabinet, complained that refuse workers were demanding pay the “job simply does not merit”."

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/15/rob-pocock-councillor-hr-chief-birmingham-binmen-strike-pay/

    My comeback whenever the workshop start trying to pump me for information that I don't have when they're complaining about their wages is "I'm not HR".

    I do not think Rob Pocock has this particular excuse in this hole the metaphorical size of Australia he's dug for himself here.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 31,201

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    Our son puts his life on the line to save lives at sea in weather you wouldn't believe, and he does it entirely free and that is only because he is part of the RNLI which is highly respected and any normal person would see your comment as utterly distasteful
    It’s a frigging joke. I’m making a joke that I’m so dementedly antiWoke I’m determined to crush the communist running dogs manning the lifeboats
    It's not a joke in our family who have had several members drowned at sea over the years, and experienced the pain of a loved one never being found or returned to them and who value the RNLI with a passion
    The sun is over the yardarm in some far flung banana republic so this is the quality of comment to be expected at this time of day. Whenever you see the moniker "Leon" scroll past*.

    * Important safety tip
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,717
    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    I don't see how a verdict on a case with two opposing factions can be anything but a triumph for one side over another.
    Indeed and, to be serious, this DOES feel like a tremor in the vibequake

    I predict within 5-10 years huge swathes of Woke legislation - from the equality act to asylum rights to hate speech laws and much else - will have been repealed and reversed. It’s coming
    That's not a logical extrapolation of this ruling. This was about a conflict between the EA and the GRA. The integrity of the EA was deemed the more important. The GRA must now take a look at itself and decide where it goes from here.
  • PJHPJH Posts: 807

    Roger said:

    Good prog about Nick Leeson (on now). Thatcher and her gang really do send the shivers down you.

    The UK's version of the US under Trunmp and co now.

    Far be it for me to defend "Mrs Fatch", but to be fair to her she didn't attempt a dictatorial coup and she walked when she was told to walk.
    She did though, abolish the GLC and Metropolitan Counties because she knew she was going to be thumped at the next elections. We're still paying the price for lack of co-ordination now.

    And one of the reasons why I will never vote Tory - took my first vote away.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,434
    vik said:

    nico67 said:

    The government could of course change the Equalities Act but politically this would be problematic to say the least !

    It's a worrying sign for democracy in the UK that the government is too scared to change the law & is willing to cede its power to the courts.

    The USA is not a good example to be followed.
    Eh? Someone or group took a case to the Court and they simply clarified the meaning of the law. How is that ceding power to the court?
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,087
    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    I don't see how a verdict on a case with two opposing factions can be anything but a triumph for one side over another.
    Indeed and, to be serious, this DOES feel like a tremor in the vibequake

    I predict within 5-10 years huge swathes of Woke legislation - from the equality act to asylum rights to hate speech laws and much else - will have been repealed and reversed. It’s coming

    I which case clearly it isn't going anywhere.

    Indeed the mango Mussolini is likely laying the foundations of a counter revolution right now
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,434
    Andy_JS said:

    "A senior Birmingham councillor has sparked a row with Labour’s biggest union backer after saying binmen don’t deserve more pay.

    Leaked messages seen by The Telegraph show that Rob Pocock, a member of the council’s cabinet, complained that refuse workers were demanding pay the “job simply does not merit”."

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/15/rob-pocock-councillor-hr-chief-birmingham-binmen-strike-pay/

    My understanding is they are not asking for more pay they are objecting to a pay cut.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,371
    edited April 16
    Connor Rouse - The 28-year-old, who is standing in a Norfolk by-election next month, once appeared on Channel 4 dating show Naked Attraction.

    Well you can't accuse them of not being committed to full transparency....I'll get my coat.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,464
    Leon said:

    Cicero said:

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Although what is the point of Farage when the Tories have Honest Bob (although the opposite is equally applicable)?
    Farage offers NOTA. The old parties have failed, try my new panacea (see also Brexit). Jenrick personifies that history of failure – for Farage, for voters, and for Keir Starmer at PMQs.

    Jenrick's latest pronouncements are against Islamist gangs running prisons, which, as Starmer will remind everyone, started under the Conservatives, along with prison overcrowding, access to boiling oil and so on and so forth.

    Most damning of all, Jenrick is a Cambridge-educated lawyer.
    Jenrick would solve some problems for the Conservatives. He is undoubtedly less lazy than Badenoch, and has a surer finger on the pulse of what Conservative-inclined voters care about.

    Set against that, there's the whole Tawdry Bob thing.

    But the big issues would remain. He was part of the 2019-24 government, and that failed utterly. Farage wasn't. Furthermore, Nigel has started quality in a way that is in a different league.
    The problem is that the star quality that Farage has is eerily similar to that of Jeffrey Archer. He has charisma, but he also has no real anchor, neither personal, political, nor-lets face it- moral.

    This is a guy who has taken the money to front the Russian state propaganda channel, who has burned through several political parties and eventually fallen out with all his colleagues. He lacks gravitas as much as he lacks anything except the most facile solutions to the mostly fake problems that he identifies, so he is a media creation, not a statesman.

    After Trump, I think the danger of these media creations is now far more evident, so although I can certainly see a scenario where Farage does well in the short term, this is more to do with the ongoing death rattle of the Tories than any particular virtues, or lack of them, that Farage has.

    In short, am unconvinced that Farage can control his own destiny, and at 61, time is against him.
    What preposterous bollox

    Farage is nothing like Jeffrey fecking Archer

    Farage - like it or not - is a deeply skilled politician who changed British history - by securing Brexit - and now threatens to do it again by taking a new party to second or even first place in a general election

    Jeffrey Archer became chairman of the Tory party, wrote some books, went to jail
    Farage very nearly crashed the Brexit vote with his illl-judged poster campaign that was all about Me! Me! Me! Frage trying to wrest attention away from the person who REALLY delivered Brexit. Which was Boris Johnson.

    A Brexit fronted by Farage would have failed.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 30,085

    Roger said:

    Good prog about Nick Leeson (on now). Thatcher and her gang really do send the shivers down you.

    The UK's version of the US under Trunmp and co now.

    Far be it for me to defend "Mrs Fatch", but to be fair to her she didn't attempt a dictatorial coup and she walked when she was told to walk.
    Mrs Thatcher abolishing the GLC because Ken Livingstone's banners annoyed her was peevish at best.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,404

    Roger said:

    Good prog about Nick Leeson (on now). Thatcher and her gang really do send the shivers down you.

    The UK's version of the US under Trunmp and co now.

    Far be it for me to defend "Mrs Fatch", but to be fair to her she didn't attempt a dictatorial coup and she walked when she was told to walk.
    All true. But a 25 year old trader at a bank was able to make a mistake which would have cost the bank $20,000 but which escalated to a loss of £850,000,000 bringing down the UKs oldest bank because of her and Nigel Lawson turning the financial system into a free-for-all for spivs.

    But as you say still well short of Trump and his cronies shenanigans...
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,635
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    I don't see how a verdict on a case with two opposing factions can be anything but a triumph for one side over another.
    Indeed and, to be serious, this DOES feel like a tremor in the vibequake

    I predict within 5-10 years huge swathes of Woke legislation - from the equality act to asylum rights to hate speech laws and much else - will have been repealed and reversed. It’s coming
    That's not a logical extrapolation of this ruling. This was about a conflict between the EA and the GRA. The integrity of the EA was deemed the more important. The GRA must now take a look at itself and decide where it goes from here.
    I’m extrapolating. It’s my thing

    A crucial feature of cultural shifts is that each individual movement can be justified in and of itself, and means nothing. Like an individual starling flying to the left

    But then you step back and you see the murmuration. A million glorious starlings flying to the horizon where woke goes to die

    It’s happening so you might as well thrill to the spectacle
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,635

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    Our son puts his life on the line to save lives at sea in weather you wouldn't believe, and he does it entirely free and that is only because he is part of the RNLI which is highly respected and any normal person would see your comment as utterly distasteful
    It’s a frigging joke. I’m making a joke that I’m so dementedly antiWoke I’m determined to crush the communist running dogs manning the lifeboats
    It's not a joke in our family who have had several members drowned at sea over the years, and experienced the pain of a loved one never being found or returned to them and who value the RNLI with a passion
    Is this true?? You have family members who work in the lifeboats???
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,288
    Anyone else disturbed by the concept of "protected characteristics"? Seems like the opposite of equality.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,464

    Roger said:

    Good prog about Nick Leeson (on now). Thatcher and her gang really do send the shivers down you.

    The UK's version of the US under Trunmp and co now.

    Far be it for me to defend "Mrs Fatch", but to be fair to her she didn't attempt a dictatorial coup and she walked when she was told to walk.
    Mrs Thatcher abolishing the GLC because Ken Livingstone's banners annoyed her was peevish at best.
    "peevish" is hardly a one-way trip to El Salvador without legal recourse though, is it?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,635

    Leon said:

    Cicero said:

    Foxy said:



    Latest MIC leadership polling. Amongst 2024 Tory voters barely a third think Badenoch best PM. Farage next most popular, but surprising support for Starmer too.

    I suspect if the Tories replaced Badenoch with Honest Bobby J. we would see an exponential change between Ref and Con.
    I doubt it. The Conservatives' fundamental problems are:-
    • they have hardly any MPs left (about 120; they lost 250 MPs last July)
    • Boris purged a lot of the experienced ones
    • almost every criticism of Labour at PMQs can be knocked back by Starmer saying the Tories started it (whatever "it" is)
    None of that changes under Jenrick.
    Although what is the point of Farage when the Tories have Honest Bob (although the opposite is equally applicable)?
    Farage offers NOTA. The old parties have failed, try my new panacea (see also Brexit). Jenrick personifies that history of failure – for Farage, for voters, and for Keir Starmer at PMQs.

    Jenrick's latest pronouncements are against Islamist gangs running prisons, which, as Starmer will remind everyone, started under the Conservatives, along with prison overcrowding, access to boiling oil and so on and so forth.

    Most damning of all, Jenrick is a Cambridge-educated lawyer.
    Jenrick would solve some problems for the Conservatives. He is undoubtedly less lazy than Badenoch, and has a surer finger on the pulse of what Conservative-inclined voters care about.

    Set against that, there's the whole Tawdry Bob thing.

    But the big issues would remain. He was part of the 2019-24 government, and that failed utterly. Farage wasn't. Furthermore, Nigel has started quality in a way that is in a different league.
    The problem is that the star quality that Farage has is eerily similar to that of Jeffrey Archer. He has charisma, but he also has no real anchor, neither personal, political, nor-lets face it- moral.

    This is a guy who has taken the money to front the Russian state propaganda channel, who has burned through several political parties and eventually fallen out with all his colleagues. He lacks gravitas as much as he lacks anything except the most facile solutions to the mostly fake problems that he identifies, so he is a media creation, not a statesman.

    After Trump, I think the danger of these media creations is now far more evident, so although I can certainly see a scenario where Farage does well in the short term, this is more to do with the ongoing death rattle of the Tories than any particular virtues, or lack of them, that Farage has.

    In short, am unconvinced that Farage can control his own destiny, and at 61, time is against him.
    What preposterous bollox

    Farage is nothing like Jeffrey fecking Archer

    Farage - like it or not - is a deeply skilled politician who changed British history - by securing Brexit - and now threatens to do it again by taking a new party to second or even first place in a general election

    Jeffrey Archer became chairman of the Tory party, wrote some books, went to jail
    Farage very nearly crashed the Brexit vote with his illl-judged poster campaign that was all about Me! Me! Me! Frage trying to wrest attention away from the person who REALLY delivered Brexit. Which was Boris Johnson.

    A Brexit fronted by Farage would have failed.
    But Brexit only happened because Farage took UKIP to the top in euro elex, terrifying Tories into a vote
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,487
    edited April 16
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rules the term sex refers to 'biological women'
    published at 10:02
    10:02
    Breaking
    UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge announces that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

    He counsels not to see this as a triumph for one side over another and stresses the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.


    (some hope on the last point)

    Another straw in the wind of the vibeshift
    Only for people who never understood the vibe.

    An entirely reasonable and understandable judgment and doesn’t take away from woke at all.
    TOTAL VICTORY FOR TERFS

    Now we have to bring down the RNLI
    Our son puts his life on the line to save lives at sea in weather you wouldn't believe, and he does it entirely free and that is only because he is part of the RNLI which is highly respected and any normal person would see your comment as utterly distasteful
    It’s a frigging joke. I’m making a joke that I’m so dementedly antiWoke I’m determined to crush the communist running dogs manning the lifeboats
    It's not a joke in our family who have had several members drowned at sea over the years, and experienced the pain of a loved one never being found or returned to them and who value the RNLI with a passion
    Is this true?? You have family members who work in the lifeboats???
    @Big_G_NorthWales has mentioned it many times before. It is an impressive thing to do.
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