An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
I’m in an excellent mood. I love travel and I’m in one of the most interesting corners of the world - hard to be happier. The sun is shining, the locals are great, a local friend has just fold me of a great Korean-Russian bar for an excellent supper tonight in downtown Bishkek
But I have friends and fam in the UK and I care about THEM - and some of them are not having a great time - because Britain is in a bad way and it’s hard to see how it gets better, right now
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
It is amazing that someone travelling the world relies on social media for what is going on.
Apparently Macron is make to a state visit to the UK at the end of May .
That’s great news and I expect he’ll get a very warm welcome .
Why should we given what a shit he was to us when we exercised our democratic right to leave the EU?
The Frogs, like the Russians, don't do goodwill - if they are being nice to you, they want something. And if there's anything in it for them they'll plant a forest of daggers in your back. And they assume you act the same.
The true France is the France that betrayed NATO, blew up the Rainbow Warrior, sucked up to Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and propped up a dozen murderous African dictatorships.
Just because America is being as ghastly - temporarily I hope - shouldn't make us view the French as anything other than what they are - a cynical, grasping bunch of faux amis.
In previous times alliances would rise and fall, with the missteps of the past set aside because of the new reality.
This is today’s reality.
This isn't really good diplomacy though, or a new reality. Macron is on his way out, Starmer is on his way out, Charles is (well, let's hope not) and this feels like a centrist last gasp before their world collapses. As do Starmer's grand European plans.
I see no harm in giving Macron a visit but like you say on a personal level he's gone pretty soon so what's the point?
The point is that Macron and France are an ally. In a rapidly evolving world where our newer ally America is turning into our opponent, we need alliances.
I know that the PB right still think Trump is good and the EU / France / Macron are bad, but as you’re nowhere near power these days it’s taken under advisement.
Who's 'you're' here? I've voted Conservatve at a GE once in 6 elections, the same number of times I've voted Labour as it happens.
I think Macron is pretty decent and we need to divorce ourselves from the USA as much as possible as quickly as can be managed, it just seems like there must be other individuals who are going to be more consequential moving forward. I suppose the benefit of France is a Head of State visit is someone more directly relevant, unlike some others where they are mostly or entirely ceremonial.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
From probable landslide to maybe having a chance, such are the winds of fate. I am surprised at the sheer extent dropping Trudeau and the Trump stuff has changed the political landscape - it surely cannot just have been Trudeau that had peopke thinking the Liberals had been in power long enough.
Is Carney just that good?
Poilievre has been hammering the same message for the last year or more: no more Trudeau; time for change - only for Trump and Trudeau himself to undermine it.
Can Carney do the incumbent but change trick? Boris Johnson did it, but he was a very different character.
He seems to be managing so far, aided by the Trump issue. I do wonder if Pollievre thought Trudeau was so blinkered that he would never step down, or if he thought that might happen but it wouldn't matter too much.
I'm sure he thought he would win regardless so it wouldn't have changed his messaging, but some of his supporters' do seem to be at a level of almost just complaining it is unfair that voters have flocked back to the Liberals under Carney.
Apparently Macron is make to a state visit to the UK at the end of May .
That’s great news and I expect he’ll get a very warm welcome .
Why should we given what a shit he was to us when we exercised our democratic right to leave the EU?
The Frogs, like the Russians, don't do goodwill - if they are being nice to you, they want something. And if there's anything in it for them they'll plant a forest of daggers in your back. And they assume you act the same.
The true France is the France that betrayed NATO, blew up the Rainbow Warrior, sucked up to Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and propped up a dozen murderous African dictatorships.
Just because America is being as ghastly - temporarily I hope - shouldn't make us view the French as anything other than what they are - a cynical, grasping bunch of faux amis.
In previous times alliances would rise and fall, with the missteps of the past set aside because of the new reality.
This is today’s reality.
This isn't really good diplomacy though, or a new reality. Macron is on his way out, Starmer is on his way out, Charles is (well, let's hope not) and this feels like a centrist last gasp before their world collapses. As do Starmer's grand European plans.
Starmer is on his way out? Did I miss an election being called or something? This is clearly wish fulfilment. Given shenanigans across the Atlantic the exact opposite of what you say is empirically more likely
Thought the same. Starmer had 3 more years at least so a bizarre comment. Also, from the other post, willing Farage to do what Trump has done, if he becomes PM, seems bonkers. Like ignoring all the evidence in front of your eyes.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
It is interesting to see exactly the same people that in 2021 sat here and told us that Boris Johnson was a superb PM and would be here until the 2030s, now confidently tell us the result of the next election.
Did these people ever say “actually I got that wrong”? Nope. But here they are again.
I remember the triumphalism after the by-election with that Boris Johnson floating balloon “Labour are finished” many said. A new decade and a new sort of Tory politics. How did that go?
It is incredibly boring reading day after day how Labour is finished. Now you might be right but can you at least provide some analysis of why?
The MRP - why has one been done now? - said that if no Green or Lib Dem voters vote tactically that will be the result. Can anyone seriously say that if Farage is likely to be PM, these voters will go “okay, sure let’s let him do it.” I can’t. If they change their behaviour Labour have most seats by over 100 (not me that said that, Luke Tryl did, he did the MRP).
Apparently Macron is make to a state visit to the UK at the end of May .
That’s great news and I expect he’ll get a very warm welcome .
Why should we given what a shit he was to us when we exercised our democratic right to leave the EU?
The Frogs, like the Russians, don't do goodwill - if they are being nice to you, they want something. And if there's anything in it for them they'll plant a forest of daggers in your back. And they assume you act the same.
The true France is the France that betrayed NATO, blew up the Rainbow Warrior, sucked up to Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and propped up a dozen murderous African dictatorships.
Just because America is being as ghastly - temporarily I hope - shouldn't make us view the French as anything other than what they are - a cynical, grasping bunch of faux amis.
In previous times alliances would rise and fall, with the missteps of the past set aside because of the new reality.
This is today’s reality.
This isn't really good diplomacy though, or a new reality. Macron is on his way out, Starmer is on his way out, Charles is (well, let's hope not) and this feels like a centrist last gasp before their world collapses. As do Starmer's grand European plans.
I see no harm in giving Macron a visit but like you say on a personal level he's gone pretty soon so what's the point?
The point is that Macron and France are an ally. In a rapidly evolving world where our newer ally America is turning into our opponent, we need alliances.
I know that the PB right still think Trump is good and the EU / France / Macron are bad, but as you’re nowhere near power these days it’s taken under advisement.
Do I count as PB right these days?
Because I think my opinion on Trump is pretty clear, and pretty contrary to the perspective you just mentioned.
Right and RIGHT aren’t the same thing. Plenty of sensible conservatives on here who aren’t following the RIGHT because it’s bonkers
Apparently Macron is make to a state visit to the UK at the end of May .
That’s great news and I expect he’ll get a very warm welcome .
Why should we given what a shit he was to us when we exercised our democratic right to leave the EU?
The Frogs, like the Russians, don't do goodwill - if they are being nice to you, they want something. And if there's anything in it for them they'll plant a forest of daggers in your back. And they assume you act the same.
The true France is the France that betrayed NATO, blew up the Rainbow Warrior, sucked up to Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and propped up a dozen murderous African dictatorships.
Just because America is being as ghastly - temporarily I hope - shouldn't make us view the French as anything other than what they are - a cynical, grasping bunch of faux amis.
In previous times alliances would rise and fall, with the missteps of the past set aside because of the new reality.
This is today’s reality.
This isn't really good diplomacy though, or a new reality. Macron is on his way out, Starmer is on his way out, Charles is (well, let's hope not) and this feels like a centrist last gasp before their world collapses. As do Starmer's grand European plans.
Starmer is on his way out? Did I miss an election being called or something? This is clearly wish fulfilment. Given shenanigans across the Atlantic the exact opposite of what you say is empirically more likely
Thought the same. Starmer had 3 more years at least so a bizarre comment. Also, from the other post, willing Farage to do what Trump has done, if he becomes PM, seems bonkers. Like ignoring all the evidence in front of your eyes.
Starmer's polling is obviously not great, but I just cannot see him either stepping aside or being forced out. I'm sure Labour MPs don't like what the polls show, but there are dangers of trying to do a shift. May to Boris worked because it was a way to set a new direction and commit to it, and the country wanted to break the deadlock. Cameron to May sort of worked because there was a clear issue which in practice made keeping Cameron difficult, he had been defeated in a signature policy. Boris to Truss barely got going and tanked itself at the starting line, whilst Truss to Sunak was such a desperation move and the rapid changes made them look stupid it was ineffective.
It was frankly astonishing that Boris was ousted only a few years after winning a big majority. I know the Truss's and Rees-Moggs of the world will put that down to the perfidious disloyalty of the MPs, but simple fact is he shouldn't have been vulnerable in the first place, and it was the issues personal to him not just polling not being fantastic that did for him (albeit polls got even worse afterwards). Starmer probably won't have the same number of personal issues.
A fine bright morning and the blue-tits in our televised beatbox have nine eggs.
On topic, more or less, I suspect (?hope) Reform will soon become embroiled in a sludge of infighting between Farage and Lowe, which Truss would be wise (!) to avoid.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
That says more about the national character than it does about the state of the country.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Miserableness is the difference between what people think they're entitled to compared with what they have.
Apparently Macron is make to a state visit to the UK at the end of May .
That’s great news and I expect he’ll get a very warm welcome .
Why should we given what a shit he was to us when we exercised our democratic right to leave the EU?
The Frogs, like the Russians, don't do goodwill - if they are being nice to you, they want something. And if there's anything in it for them they'll plant a forest of daggers in your back. And they assume you act the same.
The true France is the France that betrayed NATO, blew up the Rainbow Warrior, sucked up to Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and propped up a dozen murderous African dictatorships.
Just because America is being as ghastly - temporarily I hope - shouldn't make us view the French as anything other than what they are - a cynical, grasping bunch of faux amis.
In previous times alliances would rise and fall, with the missteps of the past set aside because of the new reality.
This is today’s reality.
This isn't really good diplomacy though, or a new reality. Macron is on his way out, Starmer is on his way out, Charles is (well, let's hope not) and this feels like a centrist last gasp before their world collapses. As do Starmer's grand European plans.
Starmer is on his way out? Did I miss an election being called or something? This is clearly wish fulfilment. Given shenanigans across the Atlantic the exact opposite of what you say is empirically more likely
Thought the same. Starmer had 3 more years at least so a bizarre comment. Also, from the other post, willing Farage to do what Trump has done, if he becomes PM, seems bonkers. Like ignoring all the evidence in front of your eyes.
Starmer's polling is obviously not great, but I just cannot see him either stepping aside or being forced out. I'm sure Labour MPs don't like what the polls show, but there are dangers of trying to do a shift. May to Boris worked because it was a way to set a new direction and commit to it, and the country wanted to break the deadlock. Cameron to May sort of worked because there was a clear issue which in practice made keeping Cameron difficult, he had been defeated in a signature policy. Boris to Truss barely got going and tanked itself at the starting line, whilst Truss to Sunak was such a desperation move and the rapid changes made them look stupid it was ineffective.
It was frankly astonishing that Boris was ousted only a few years after winning a big majority. I know the Truss's and Rees-Moggs of the world will put that down to the perfidious disloyalty of the MPs, but simple fact is he shouldn't have been vulnerable in the first place, and it was the issues personal to him not just polling not being fantastic that did for him (albeit polls got even worse afterwards). Starmer probably won't have the same number of personal issues.
It's also incredibly hard to force out a Labour leader in comparison to a Conservative one. A large majority of the parliamentary party couldn't even get rid of Corbyn whilst in opposition.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Lol. Look at which countries are at the top and which are at the bottom and decide which you would like to live in and which you wouldn't. It is a bonkers list. And then note the article points out it is inconsistent with other lists eg UK is in the top 20 elsewhere.
The 1986 budget wasn't a big giveaway, certainly not with borrowed money.
Perhaps Farage was thinking of the 1988 budget which did see the top rate of income tax cut from 60% to 40% - albeit at a time when the UK had a budget surplus and strong economic growth.
The 1986 budget wasn't a big giveaway, certainly not with borrowed money.
Perhaps Farage was thinking of the 1988 budget which did see the top rate of income tax cut from 60% to 40% - albeit at a time when the UK had a budget surplus and strong economic growth.
Or maybe he just chose some 1980s year at random.
If it happened before the 90s it might as well have been the Tudor period as much as most people would know.
I am not sure it will make a difference to Farage politically but the amount of very dodgy and silly comments he’s made over the last few years mean I never would vote for him.
He said Liz Truss’s budget was great.
He said Brexit would solve immigration.
He said the west was to blame for Russia invading Ukraine.
He said Trump was great.
Now he might not believe these things anymore but he’s not come out and said so.
A fine bright morning and the blue-tits in our televised beatbox have nine eggs.
On topic, more or less, I suspect (?hope) Reform will soon become embroiled in a sludge of infighting between Farage and Lowe, which Truss would be wise (!) to avoid.
On that note the Ashcroft focus group thought a Reform Easter Egg hunt would be in a pub garden that ended in a drunken brawl....
Taking advice from Liz Truss on dealing with the mythic "Blob" is only useful if you do the opposite.
It's a bit like how Labour decided to take advice from John Ashworth on campaigning. A man who lost one of Labour's safest seats during a Labour landslide, and then found his office a bit useless.
She will be advising him to do the opposite. Liz Truss didn't deal with the blob - she sacked one or two key underperformers which resulted in ear splitting squealing in the media (and on PB). NF will be laying waste to the Blob from day 1 and rightly so.
While similarly fighting unicorns, dragons and gruffalos?
I suppose it easier to win against imaginary beasts.
No, he (and his Tory coalition partners) will be legislating to remove the power and unnaccountability of quangos and senior civil servants and return accountability to parliament. I am surprised that you're still trying to deny that there's an issue with the Blob when Labour themselves are finding their ability to govern constrained by it. It really takes a special kind of pigheaded wilful ignorance - I congratulate you.
I am not sure it will make a difference to Farage politically but the amount of very dodgy and silly comments he’s made over the last few years mean I never would vote for him.
He said Liz Truss’s budget was great.
He said Brexit would solve immigration.
He said the west was to blame for Russia invading Ukraine.
He said Trump was great.
Now he might not believe these things anymore but he’s not come out and said so.
I'm sure he still believes most of them (on the Brexit one I imagine he'd say if it had been done correctly it would have). But he knows when to go quiet on certain topics, without needing to repudiate something said previously unless absolutely necessary - in fairness that is standard political, not partisan, behaviour.
A fine bright morning and the blue-tits in our televised beatbox have nine eggs.
On topic, more or less, I suspect (?hope) Reform will soon become embroiled in a sludge of infighting between Farage and Lowe, which Truss would be wise (!) to avoid.
Apparently Macron is make to a state visit to the UK at the end of May .
That’s great news and I expect he’ll get a very warm welcome .
Why should we given what a shit he was to us when we exercised our democratic right to leave the EU?
The Frogs, like the Russians, don't do goodwill - if they are being nice to you, they want something. And if there's anything in it for them they'll plant a forest of daggers in your back. And they assume you act the same.
The true France is the France that betrayed NATO, blew up the Rainbow Warrior, sucked up to Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and propped up a dozen murderous African dictatorships.
Just because America is being as ghastly - temporarily I hope - shouldn't make us view the French as anything other than what they are - a cynical, grasping bunch of faux amis.
In previous times alliances would rise and fall, with the missteps of the past set aside because of the new reality.
This is today’s reality.
This isn't really good diplomacy though, or a new reality. Macron is on his way out, Starmer is on his way out, Charles is (well, let's hope not) and this feels like a centrist last gasp before their world collapses. As do Starmer's grand European plans.
Starmer is on his way out? Did I miss an election being called or something? This is clearly wish fulfilment. Given shenanigans across the Atlantic the exact opposite of what you say is empirically more likely
Have you looked at a poll recently petal? Don't if you're easily upset.
Apparently Macron is make to a state visit to the UK at the end of May .
That’s great news and I expect he’ll get a very warm welcome .
Why should we given what a shit he was to us when we exercised our democratic right to leave the EU?
The Frogs, like the Russians, don't do goodwill - if they are being nice to you, they want something. And if there's anything in it for them they'll plant a forest of daggers in your back. And they assume you act the same.
The true France is the France that betrayed NATO, blew up the Rainbow Warrior, sucked up to Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and propped up a dozen murderous African dictatorships.
Just because America is being as ghastly - temporarily I hope - shouldn't make us view the French as anything other than what they are - a cynical, grasping bunch of faux amis.
In previous times alliances would rise and fall, with the missteps of the past set aside because of the new reality.
This is today’s reality.
This isn't really good diplomacy though, or a new reality. Macron is on his way out, Starmer is on his way out, Charles is (well, let's hope not) and this feels like a centrist last gasp before their world collapses. As do Starmer's grand European plans.
Starmer is on his way out? Did I miss an election being called or something? This is clearly wish fulfilment. Given shenanigans across the Atlantic the exact opposite of what you say is empirically more likely
Thought the same. Starmer had 3 more years at least so a bizarre comment. Also, from the other post, willing Farage to do what Trump has done, if he becomes PM, seems bonkers. Like ignoring all the evidence in front of your eyes.
Starmer's polling is obviously not great, but I just cannot see him either stepping aside or being forced out. I'm sure Labour MPs don't like what the polls show, but there are dangers of trying to do a shift. May to Boris worked because it was a way to set a new direction and commit to it, and the country wanted to break the deadlock. Cameron to May sort of worked because there was a clear issue which in practice made keeping Cameron difficult, he had been defeated in a signature policy. Boris to Truss barely got going and tanked itself at the starting line, whilst Truss to Sunak was such a desperation move and the rapid changes made them look stupid it was ineffective.
It was frankly astonishing that Boris was ousted only a few years after winning a big majority. I know the Truss's and Rees-Moggs of the world will put that down to the perfidious disloyalty of the MPs, but simple fact is he shouldn't have been vulnerable in the first place, and it was the issues personal to him not just polling not being fantastic that did for him (albeit polls got even worse afterwards). Starmer probably won't have the same number of personal issues.
I fear Kemi will be gone first (which I think will be a pity), but the Tory Party "only ever panics in a crisis"
As Ashcroft points out:
In fact, despite the multiple challenges piling up on the PM’s desk, it is Kemi Badenoch who is entering a critical phase of her leadership........
That pressure will intensify with the local elections in England, eleven days from today. As I found in my poll, most Conservatives expect the party to make gains, no doubt on the assumption that voters will want to show their disgruntlement with an unpopular Labour government. But the general election is the wrong baseline. These council seats were last contested four years ago – with Boris Johnson in his pomp, the Tories riding high in the polls, a world-leading vaccine rollout underway and Starmer on the verge of resignation after losing the Hartlepool by-election. There would be no real prospect of a Conservative advance on 1 May under any leader, but when it fails to materialise Badenoch can nevertheless expect the blame. However unfair, judgments like these come with the territory of political leadership. The question is whether her party will break its recent habits and hold its nerve.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Lol. Look at which countries are at the top and which are at the bottom and decide which you would like to live in and which you wouldn't. It is a bonkers list. And then note the article points out it is inconsistent with other lists eg UK is in the top 20 elsewhere.
That’s why I said these things are hard to gauge. But an earlier commenter claimed Britain is super happy behind only the Nordics and this is simply bollocks. You can find polling - as I did - which proves the opposite
A better way, in a democracy, is usually to see how satisfied people are with their government and/or potential opposition. eg Britain felt like quite a cheery, reviving, positive place in the late 80s, hence the continued success of Thatcher
Likewise I recall the UK being rather jolly and satisfied from 1997 into the noughties - hence the popularity of Blair - winning successive elections like Thatcher
Now we see both the government AND opposition posting historically terrible polling numbers. This to me speaks of great dissatisfaction in the UK. People are really not happy about a lot of things - even if you are a wealthy retiree with a new BBQ and a holiday in cordoba on the cards
Taking advice from Liz Truss on dealing with the mythic "Blob" is only useful if you do the opposite.
It's a bit like how Labour decided to take advice from John Ashworth on campaigning. A man who lost one of Labour's safest seats during a Labour landslide, and then found his office a bit useless.
She will be advising him to do the opposite. Liz Truss didn't deal with the blob - she sacked one or two key underperformers which resulted in ear splitting squealing in the media (and on PB). NF will be laying waste to the Blob from day 1 and rightly so.
While similarly fighting unicorns, dragons and gruffalos?
I suppose it easier to win against imaginary beasts.
No, he (and his Tory coalition partners) will be legislating to remove the power and unnaccountability of quangos and senior civil servants and return accountability to parliament. I am surprised that you're still trying to deny that there's an issue with the Blob when Labour themselves are finding their ability to govern constrained by it. It really takes a special kind of pigheaded wilful ignorance - I congratulate you.
Are you confident he would actually do it to that extent though? I've always had the impression he's kind of an establishment anti-establishment figure, if that makes sense, and wouldn't be as transformative as his supporters wish or his detractors fear.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
I'm in Sandown and, yeah, it's grey and a bit chilly.
Apparently Macron is make to a state visit to the UK at the end of May .
That’s great news and I expect he’ll get a very warm welcome .
Why should we given what a shit he was to us when we exercised our democratic right to leave the EU?
The Frogs, like the Russians, don't do goodwill - if they are being nice to you, they want something. And if there's anything in it for them they'll plant a forest of daggers in your back. And they assume you act the same.
The true France is the France that betrayed NATO, blew up the Rainbow Warrior, sucked up to Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and propped up a dozen murderous African dictatorships.
Just because America is being as ghastly - temporarily I hope - shouldn't make us view the French as anything other than what they are - a cynical, grasping bunch of faux amis.
In previous times alliances would rise and fall, with the missteps of the past set aside because of the new reality.
This is today’s reality.
This isn't really good diplomacy though, or a new reality. Macron is on his way out, Starmer is on his way out, Charles is (well, let's hope not) and this feels like a centrist last gasp before their world collapses. As do Starmer's grand European plans.
Starmer is on his way out? Did I miss an election being called or something? This is clearly wish fulfilment. Given shenanigans across the Atlantic the exact opposite of what you say is empirically more likely
Thought the same. Starmer had 3 more years at least so a bizarre comment. Also, from the other post, willing Farage to do what Trump has done, if he becomes PM, seems bonkers. Like ignoring all the evidence in front of your eyes.
Starmer's polling is obviously not great, but I just cannot see him either stepping aside or being forced out. I'm sure Labour MPs don't like what the polls show, but there are dangers of trying to do a shift. May to Boris worked because it was a way to set a new direction and commit to it, and the country wanted to break the deadlock. Cameron to May sort of worked because there was a clear issue which in practice made keeping Cameron difficult, he had been defeated in a signature policy. Boris to Truss barely got going and tanked itself at the starting line, whilst Truss to Sunak was such a desperation move and the rapid changes made them look stupid it was ineffective.
It was frankly astonishing that Boris was ousted only a few years after winning a big majority. I know the Truss's and Rees-Moggs of the world will put that down to the perfidious disloyalty of the MPs, but simple fact is he shouldn't have been vulnerable in the first place, and it was the issues personal to him not just polling not being fantastic that did for him (albeit polls got even worse afterwards). Starmer probably won't have the same number of personal issues.
I fear Kemi will be gone first (which I think will be a pity), but the Tory Party "only ever panics in a crisis"
As Ashcroft points out:
In fact, despite the multiple challenges piling up on the PM’s desk, it is Kemi Badenoch who is entering a critical phase of her leadership........
That pressure will intensify with the local elections in England, eleven days from today. As I found in my poll, most Conservatives expect the party to make gains, no doubt on the assumption that voters will want to show their disgruntlement with an unpopular Labour government. But the general election is the wrong baseline. These council seats were last contested four years ago – with Boris Johnson in his pomp, the Tories riding high in the polls, a world-leading vaccine rollout underway and Starmer on the verge of resignation after losing the Hartlepool by-election. There would be no real prospect of a Conservative advance on 1 May under any leader, but when it fails to materialise Badenoch can nevertheless expect the blame. However unfair, judgments like these come with the territory of political leadership. The question is whether her party will break its recent habits and hold its nerve.
I'm astonished that most Tories would expect there to be gains, especially as the party has tried to set expectations. If they do expect it, then the pressure on her will be more intense than I had been expecting it to be.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
I know they were very angry with the delayed local elections in some areas as they were set to do pretty well in them, but if Reform can maintain some momentum it could still be beneficial as those areas still go for them in the next 1-2 years, in cycles which might have been less positive for them otherwise.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
I’m in an excellent mood. I love travel and I’m in one of the most interesting corners of the world - hard to be happier. The sun is shining, the locals are great, a local friend has just fold me of a great Korean-Russian bar for an excellent supper tonight in downtown Bishkek
But I have friends and fam in the UK and I care about THEM - and some of them are not having a great time - because Britain is in a bad way and it’s hard to see how it gets better, right now
What is interesting about it? You might as well wander round Blackpool, pretend you can't speak the language, and post here about great scenery amid poverty.
Labour cannot keep playing reform lite. Reformers will never vote for them anyway and their core voters are abandoning them at break neck pace. As usual labour it making nobody happy. They must get the pro european and moderate centrists back onside and have compassionate social policies or it is going to be game over for this government.
I voted labour last. But I just can't vote for this nonsense.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
It is amazing that someone travelling the world relies on social media for what is going on.
Travel can broaden the mind but it does require intellectual curiosity and open mindedness, while Social Media allows a retreat into gullibility and confirmation of existing prejudices unmoored from reality. It's a voluntary choice.
Maybe democracy only works when there is a general rise in incomes year on year, as it did c.1750 to 2000, when it's only a question of picking who wins?
When it's just about hard choices. Does it still work?
would rather keep having the choice, not being at the whims of a despot, enlightened or not.
Labour cannot keep playing reform lite. Reformers will never vote for them anyway and their core voters are abandoning them at break neck pace. As usual labour it making nobody happy. They must get the pro european and moderate centrists back onside and have compassionate social policies or it is going to be game over for this government.
I voted labour last. But I just can't vote for this nonsense.
I wonder how the pro Palestinian anti Biden voters feel now.
Sometimes we simply have to vote against a worse party. We should consider it a luxury if we can vote for the party we like the most.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Lol. Look at which countries are at the top and which are at the bottom and decide which you would like to live in and which you wouldn't. It is a bonkers list. And then note the article points out it is inconsistent with other lists eg UK is in the top 20 elsewhere.
That’s why I said these things are hard to gauge. But an earlier commenter claimed Britain is super happy behind only the Nordics and this is simply bollocks. You can find polling - as I did - which proves the opposite
A better way, in a democracy, is usually to see how satisfied people are with their government and/or potential opposition. eg Britain felt like quite a cheery, reviving, positive place in the late 80s, hence the continued success of Thatcher
Likewise I recall the UK being rather jolly and satisfied from 1997 into the noughties - hence the popularity of Blair - winning successive elections like Thatcher
Now we see both the government AND opposition posting historically terrible polling numbers. This to me speaks of great dissatisfaction in the UK. People are really not happy about a lot of things - even if you are a wealthy retiree with a new BBQ and a holiday in cordoba on the cards
So do you think the USA is wonderfully satisfied because the governing and opposition parties have 99% of the vote ?
What may cause dissatisfaction is the belief that there are intractable problems whereas in previous generations while there were often more serious problems there seemed possible solutions.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
I’m in an excellent mood. I love travel and I’m in one of the most interesting corners of the world - hard to be happier. The sun is shining, the locals are great, a local friend has just fold me of a great Korean-Russian bar for an excellent supper tonight in downtown Bishkek
But I have friends and fam in the UK and I care about THEM - and some of them are not having a great time - because Britain is in a bad way and it’s hard to see how it gets better, right now
What is interesting about it? You might as well wander round Blackpool, pretend you can't speak the language, and post here about great scenery amid poverty.
Because Central Asia is an intoxicating collision of history, empires, religion, cuisines, politics, wars, languages, and genes. Yet almost devoid of tourists. And the landscapes range from spectacular to hideous - grandiose mountains that turn into numbingly huge steppes of semi desert. It has some of the most exquisite cities on earth - Samarkand - and some of the weirdest - Astana - and some of the ugliest - any Soviet industrial hellscape. It is the birthplace of the horse and the apple and the cradle of nomadism. And the girls are hot hot hot
Ignore the headline and the proposed solution which is barely discussed, just tacked on the end, and in the middle we find...
When this new accounting treatment was adopted in September 2019, it increased public spending (through accounting some of the loans as grants), and hence increased public sector deficit and net debt, even though nothing had changed in the cash changing hands and what students thought they owed.
Maybe democracy only works when there is a general rise in incomes year on year, as it did c.1750 to 2000, when it's only a question of picking who wins?
When it's just about hard choices. Does it still work?
I think it would probably work with an independent press without social media. Without the independent press or with the pitfalls of social media it doesn't seem to produce either good or stable governance, even if it is still preferable to most authoritarian regimes.
From probable landslide to maybe having a chance, such are the winds of fate. I am surprised at the sheer extent dropping Trudeau and the Trump stuff has changed the political landscape - it surely cannot just have been Trudeau that had peopke thinking the Liberals had been in power long enough.
Is Carney just that good?
Poilievre has been hammering the same message for the last year or more: no more Trudeau; time for change - only for Trump and Trudeau himself to undermine it.
Can Carney do the incumbent but change trick? Boris Johnson did it, but he was a very different character.
He seems to be managing so far, aided by the Trump issue. I do wonder if Pollievre thought Trudeau was so blinkered that he would never step down, or if he thought that might happen but it wouldn't matter too much.
I'm sure he thought he would win regardless so it wouldn't have changed his messaging, but some of his supporters' do seem to be at a level of almost just complaining it is unfair that voters have flocked back to the Liberals under Carney.
Consistent messaging is a powerful weapon but so is trimming, and I'm not sure Poilievre has that political dexterity. Also Carney is a lot more transfer friendly, looking to win tactical votes from the New Democrats, the Bloc as well as Conservatives, than Poilievre who went into this election at his vote ceiling.
I think it's those points rather than Poilievre being a mini Trump that could lose him the election. I suspect it will come down to how much Carney can suspend people's disbelief that the establishment can be an agent of practical change.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Lol. Look at which countries are at the top and which are at the bottom and decide which you would like to live in and which you wouldn't. It is a bonkers list. And then note the article points out it is inconsistent with other lists eg UK is in the top 20 elsewhere.
That’s why I said these things are hard to gauge. But an earlier commenter claimed Britain is super happy behind only the Nordics and this is simply bollocks. You can find polling - as I did - which proves the opposite
A better way, in a democracy, is usually to see how satisfied people are with their government and/or potential opposition. eg Britain felt like quite a cheery, reviving, positive place in the late 80s, hence the continued success of Thatcher
Likewise I recall the UK being rather jolly and satisfied from 1997 into the noughties - hence the popularity of Blair - winning successive elections like Thatcher
Now we see both the government AND opposition posting historically terrible polling numbers. This to me speaks of great dissatisfaction in the UK. People are really not happy about a lot of things - even if you are a wealthy retiree with a new BBQ and a holiday in cordoba on the cards
So do you think the USA is wonderfully satisfied because the governing and opposition parties have 99% of the vote ?
What may cause dissatisfaction is the belief that there are intractable problems whereas in previous generations while there were often more serious problems there seemed possible solutions.
America is in a much better place than the UK
I agree with you on the intractability issue. It’s a real thing. Before we had anger and unhappiness. But also people with big ideas for fixing them - correct or not they were at least proposals
The worst thing of the moment is the despair. Because we have problems that seem unfixable
Eg the boat people. Labour ludicrously promised to fix this by “smashing the gangs”. It clearly hasn’t worked and the problem is getting worse - and evermore expensive at a desperate time for our finances - and what is their new plan? None. They don’t have one. Not that I’m aware of. Nada
Anyway, a very happy and peaceful Easter to all PBers, especially those experiencing challenges at the moment, and especially those who I frequently have arguments with.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Lol. Look at which countries are at the top and which are at the bottom and decide which you would like to live in and which you wouldn't. It is a bonkers list. And then note the article points out it is inconsistent with other lists eg UK is in the top 20 elsewhere.
That’s why I said these things are hard to gauge. But an earlier commenter claimed Britain is super happy behind only the Nordics and this is simply bollocks. You can find polling - as I did - which proves the opposite
A better way, in a democracy, is usually to see how satisfied people are with their government and/or potential opposition. eg Britain felt like quite a cheery, reviving, positive place in the late 80s, hence the continued success of Thatcher
Likewise I recall the UK being rather jolly and satisfied from 1997 into the noughties - hence the popularity of Blair - winning successive elections like Thatcher
Now we see both the government AND opposition posting historically terrible polling numbers. This to me speaks of great dissatisfaction in the UK. People are really not happy about a lot of things - even if you are a wealthy retiree with a new BBQ and a holiday in cordoba on the cards
I like that response, however here is the key point:
If you or I (because from your previous posts I know you don't come from a privileged background and neither do I) had been born in those countries quoted as being at the top of the list then in all probability we would both be dead by now (because we are both getting on). If we had survived we would probably be living in poverty. Yet there you are travelling the world and here I am a comfortably off retiree doing lots of expensive things to enjoy my retirement.
So my point from my first post was that you and I should enjoy our blessings and thank goodness we weren't born in most other parts of the world and ignore a list that puts obviously far worse countries at the top of their list of desirable places to live list and rely on experience and proper evidence.
Apparently Macron is make to a state visit to the UK at the end of May .
That’s great news and I expect he’ll get a very warm welcome .
Why should we given what a shit he was to us when we exercised our democratic right to leave the EU?
The Frogs, like the Russians, don't do goodwill - if they are being nice to you, they want something. And if there's anything in it for them they'll plant a forest of daggers in your back. And they assume you act the same.
The true France is the France that betrayed NATO, blew up the Rainbow Warrior, sucked up to Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and propped up a dozen murderous African dictatorships.
Just because America is being as ghastly - temporarily I hope - shouldn't make us view the French as anything other than what they are - a cynical, grasping bunch of faux amis.
In previous times alliances would rise and fall, with the missteps of the past set aside because of the new reality.
This is today’s reality.
This isn't really good diplomacy though, or a new reality. Macron is on his way out, Starmer is on his way out, Charles is (well, let's hope not) and this feels like a centrist last gasp before their world collapses. As do Starmer's grand European plans.
I see no harm in giving Macron a visit but like you say on a personal level he's gone pretty soon so what's the point?
The point is that Macron and France are an ally. In a rapidly evolving world where our newer ally America is turning into our opponent, we need alliances.
I know that the PB right still think Trump is good and the EU / France / Macron are bad, but as you’re nowhere near power these days it’s taken under advisement.
Do I count as PB right these days?
Because I think my opinion on Trump is pretty clear, and pretty contrary to the perspective you just mentioned.
Likewise, I suspect most think I am somewhat to the right and I have made my disdain for trump pretty clear
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
I'm in Sandown and, yeah, it's grey and a bit chilly.
The fleet sails on Tuesday 22nd for the Far East, not back until Christmas.
It should be a great view from Bembridge or Seaview. The exact time seems unclear at present.
Taking advice from Liz Truss on dealing with the mythic "Blob" is only useful if you do the opposite.
It's a bit like how Labour decided to take advice from John Ashworth on campaigning. A man who lost one of Labour's safest seats during a Labour landslide, and then found his office a bit useless.
She will be advising him to do the opposite. Liz Truss didn't deal with the blob - she sacked one or two key underperformers which resulted in ear splitting squealing in the media (and on PB). NF will be laying waste to the Blob from day 1 and rightly so.
While similarly fighting unicorns, dragons and gruffalos?
I suppose it easier to win against imaginary beasts.
No, he (and his Tory coalition partners) will be legislating to remove the power and unnaccountability of quangos and senior civil servants and return accountability to parliament. I am surprised that you're still trying to deny that there's an issue with the Blob when Labour themselves are finding their ability to govern constrained by it. It really takes a special kind of pigheaded wilful ignorance - I congratulate you.
Are you confident he would actually do it to that extent though? I've always had the impression he's kind of an establishment anti-establishment figure, if that makes sense, and wouldn't be as transformative as his supporters wish or his detractors fear.
Yes, I think he's 'for real' in that sense. I don't think he's in it for the pay cheque or job title. He will be determined that things will change and that Reform voters will not feel let down.
From probable landslide to maybe having a chance, such are the winds of fate. I am surprised at the sheer extent dropping Trudeau and the Trump stuff has changed the political landscape - it surely cannot just have been Trudeau that had peopke thinking the Liberals had been in power long enough.
Is Carney just that good?
Poilievre has been hammering the same message for the last year or more: no more Trudeau; time for change - only for Trump and Trudeau himself to undermine it.
Can Carney do the incumbent but change trick? Boris Johnson did it, but he was a very different character.
He seems to be managing so far, aided by the Trump issue. I do wonder if Pollievre thought Trudeau was so blinkered that he would never step down, or if he thought that might happen but it wouldn't matter too much.
I'm sure he thought he would win regardless so it wouldn't have changed his messaging, but some of his supporters' do seem to be at a level of almost just complaining it is unfair that voters have flocked back to the Liberals under Carney.
Consistent messaging is a powerful weapon but so is trimming, and I'm not sure Poilievre has that political dexterity. Also Carney is a lot more transfer friendly, looking to win tactical votes from the New Democrats, the Bloc as well as Conservatives, than Poilievre who went into this election at his vote ceiling.
I think it's those points rather than Poilievre being a mini Trump that could lose him the election. I suspect it will come down to how much Carney can suspend people's disbelief that the establishment can be an agent of practical change.
Nah. It's about who is best placed to deal with neighbours who want to annex you. All else is froth.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Lol. Look at which countries are at the top and which are at the bottom and decide which you would like to live in and which you wouldn't. It is a bonkers list. And then note the article points out it is inconsistent with other lists eg UK is in the top 20 elsewhere.
That’s why I said these things are hard to gauge. But an earlier commenter claimed Britain is super happy behind only the Nordics and this is simply bollocks. You can find polling - as I did - which proves the opposite
A better way, in a democracy, is usually to see how satisfied people are with their government and/or potential opposition. eg Britain felt like quite a cheery, reviving, positive place in the late 80s, hence the continued success of Thatcher
Likewise I recall the UK being rather jolly and satisfied from 1997 into the noughties - hence the popularity of Blair - winning successive elections like Thatcher
Now we see both the government AND opposition posting historically terrible polling numbers. This to me speaks of great dissatisfaction in the UK. People are really not happy about a lot of things - even if you are a wealthy retiree with a new BBQ and a holiday in cordoba on the cards
So do you think the USA is wonderfully satisfied because the governing and opposition parties have 99% of the vote ?
What may cause dissatisfaction is the belief that there are intractable problems whereas in previous generations while there were often more serious problems there seemed possible solutions.
America is in a much better place than the U
I agree with you on the intractability issue. It’s a real thing. Before we had anger and unhappiness. But also people with big idea for fixing them
The worst thing of the moment is the despair. That we have problems that seem unfixable
Eg the boat people. Labour ludicrously promised to fix this by “smashing the gangs”. It clearly hasn’t worked and the problem is getting worse - and evermore expensive at a desperate time for our finances - and what is their new plan? None. They don’t have one. Not that I’m aware of. Nada
My wife (a citizen of both) would disagree. But you keep on keeping on.
Anyway, a very happy and peaceful Easter to all PBers, especially those experiencing challenges at the moment, and especially those who I frequently have arguments with.
"With whom I frequently have arguments", surely. Just to keep up the 'arguments'
More seriously, a Happy and a Peaceful Easter to you too.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
‘Prayers are illegal’ is surely a right wing American distortion of the restrictions on campaigning near abortion clinics, including silent prayer. By all means attack the yanks but try to understand where they are coming from.
Meanwhile, was the tiny picture uploaded as such or have we offended Vanilla again?
Apparently Macron is make to a state visit to the UK at the end of May .
That’s great news and I expect he’ll get a very warm welcome .
Why should we given what a shit he was to us when we exercised our democratic right to leave the EU?
The Frogs, like the Russians, don't do goodwill - if they are being nice to you, they want something. And if there's anything in it for them they'll plant a forest of daggers in your back. And they assume you act the same.
The true France is the France that betrayed NATO, blew up the Rainbow Warrior, sucked up to Putin after he invaded Ukraine, and propped up a dozen murderous African dictatorships.
Just because America is being as ghastly - temporarily I hope - shouldn't make us view the French as anything other than what they are - a cynical, grasping bunch of faux amis.
What the hell have the French done to you? It must have been something pretty awful.
Come on guys let's cheer up and enjoy life.
“Firstly you must always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any opinion of your own regarding their propriety. Secondly, you must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your king; and thirdly you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil.”
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Lol. Look at which countries are at the top and which are at the bottom and decide which you would like to live in and which you wouldn't. It is a bonkers list. And then note the article points out it is inconsistent with other lists eg UK is in the top 20 elsewhere.
That’s why I said these things are hard to gauge. But an earlier commenter claimed Britain is super happy behind only the Nordics and this is simply bollocks. You can find polling - as I did - which proves the opposite
A better way, in a democracy, is usually to see how satisfied people are with their government and/or potential opposition. eg Britain felt like quite a cheery, reviving, positive place in the late 80s, hence the continued success of Thatcher
Likewise I recall the UK being rather jolly and satisfied from 1997 into the noughties - hence the popularity of Blair - winning successive elections like Thatcher
Now we see both the government AND opposition posting historically terrible polling numbers. This to me speaks of great dissatisfaction in the UK. People are really not happy about a lot of things - even if you are a wealthy retiree with a new BBQ and a holiday in cordoba on the cards
So do you think the USA is wonderfully satisfied because the governing and opposition parties have 99% of the vote ?
What may cause dissatisfaction is the belief that there are intractable problems whereas in previous generations while there were often more serious problems there seemed possible solutions.
America is in a much better place than the UK
Really? My US colleagues are in a state of absolute trauma. Trump's tariffs, should they actually materialize, will be horrific for them.
Anyway, a very happy and peaceful Easter to all PBers, especially those experiencing challenges at the moment, and especially those who I frequently have arguments with.
"With whom I frequently have arguments", surely. Just to keep up the 'arguments'
More seriously, a Happy and a Peaceful Easter to you too.
If we're being really picky I should have said 'With whom I have arguments frequently'. But I don't talk that way so I didn't!
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
I'm in Sandown and, yeah, it's grey and a bit chilly.
The fleet sails on Tuesday 22nd for the Far East, not back until Christmas.
It should be a great view from Bembridge or Seaview. The exact time seems unclear at present.
It’s so weirdly phrased. It’s like Christians are some quaint minority in the UK - less important than Sikhs. Maybe on a par with Zen Buddhists or Sufis
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
Just looked at the picture again. To whom are people praying?
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
It is amazing that someone travelling the world relies on social media for what is going on.
The opposite way round.
Leon has decided what is going on and then looks on social media for 'evidence' that it is so.
We then get treated to the ramblings of some nobody on twatter whose self-entitlement is greater than his skillset.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Lol. Look at which countries are at the top and which are at the bottom and decide which you would like to live in and which you wouldn't. It is a bonkers list. And then note the article points out it is inconsistent with other lists eg UK is in the top 20 elsewhere.
That’s why I said these things are hard to gauge. But an earlier commenter claimed Britain is super happy behind only the Nordics and this is simply bollocks. You can find polling - as I did - which proves the opposite
A better way, in a democracy, is usually to see how satisfied people are with their government and/or potential opposition. eg Britain felt like quite a cheery, reviving, positive place in the late 80s, hence the continued success of Thatcher
Likewise I recall the UK being rather jolly and satisfied from 1997 into the noughties - hence the popularity of Blair - winning successive elections like Thatcher
Now we see both the government AND opposition posting historically terrible polling numbers. This to me speaks of great dissatisfaction in the UK. People are really not happy about a lot of things - even if you are a wealthy retiree with a new BBQ and a holiday in cordoba on the cards
So do you think the USA is wonderfully satisfied because the governing and opposition parties have 99% of the vote ?
What may cause dissatisfaction is the belief that there are intractable problems whereas in previous generations while there were often more serious problems there seemed possible solutions.
America is in a much better place than the UK
I agree with you on the intractability issue. It’s a real thing. Before we had anger and unhappiness. But also people with big ideas for fixing them - correct or not they were at least proposals
The worst thing of the moment is the despair. Because we have problems that seem unfixable
Eg the boat people. Labour ludicrously promised to fix this by “smashing the gangs”. It clearly hasn’t worked and the problem is getting worse - and evermore expensive at a desperate time for our finances - and what is their new plan? None. They don’t have one. Not that I’m aware of. Nada
Taking advice from Liz Truss on dealing with the mythic "Blob" is only useful if you do the opposite.
It's a bit like how Labour decided to take advice from John Ashworth on campaigning. A man who lost one of Labour's safest seats during a Labour landslide, and then found his office a bit useless.
She will be advising him to do the opposite. Liz Truss didn't deal with the blob - she sacked one or two key underperformers which resulted in ear splitting squealing in the media (and on PB). NF will be laying waste to the Blob from day 1 and rightly so.
While similarly fighting unicorns, dragons and gruffalos?
I suppose it easier to win against imaginary beasts.
No, he (and his Tory coalition partners) will be legislating to remove the power and unnaccountability of quangos and senior civil servants and return accountability to parliament. I am surprised that you're still trying to deny that there's an issue with the Blob when Labour themselves are finding their ability to govern constrained by it. It really takes a special kind of pigheaded wilful ignorance - I congratulate you.
Are you confident he would actually do it to that extent though? I've always had the impression he's kind of an establishment anti-establishment figure, if that makes sense, and wouldn't be as transformative as his supporters wish or his detractors fear.
Yes, I think he's 'for real' in that sense. I don't think he's in it for the pay cheque or job title. He will be determined that things will change and that Reform voters will not feel let down.
I didn't mean to suggest he's in it for the pay cheque or job title, just that I don't think he is as disruptive a force as some supporters' rhetoric might suggest.
I mean, most party supporters would probably say the same thing that their leader is determined that things will change and that X voters will not be let down, and yet they do end up let down.
This is not to say a theoretical PM Farage would definitely let them down, and I do think he would seek to make a big splash early on to signal change, but I think he's comfortable with the broad status quo - suitably reordered under his leadership - than the more angry supporters, and so would be more amenable to compromises from the state machine than they would be.
It’s so weirdly phrased. It’s like Christians are some quaint minority in the UK - less important than Sikhs. Maybe on a par with Zen Buddhists or Sufis
The message is fine. It's all I would have expected from SKS. It would have been lovely to have drawn a positive social message from the Easter story, but it was polite and did the job. Boris was good at these things - SKS isn't.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
‘Prayers are illegal’ is surely a right wing American distortion of the restrictions on campaigning near abortion clinics, including silent prayer. By all means attack the yanks but try to understand where they are coming from.
Meanwhile, was the tiny picture uploaded as such or have we offended Vanilla again?
Maybe democracy only works when there is a general rise in incomes year on year, as it did c.1750 to 2000, when it's only a question of picking who wins?
When it's just about hard choices. Does it still work?
I think it would probably work with an independent press without social media. Without the independent press or with the pitfalls of social media it doesn't seem to produce either good or stable governance, even if it is still preferable to most authoritarian regimes.
The problem* with Social Media is that while there is a platform for independent comment unprecedented in history, the reality is that the oligarchs control the algorithm to feed you what they want you to see. It is in fact some of the most controlled media in the world, and part of the closing of the modern mind.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
‘Prayers are illegal’ is surely a right wing American distortion of the restrictions on campaigning near abortion clinics, including silent prayer. By all means attack the yanks but try to understand where they are coming from.
Meanwhile, was the tiny picture uploaded as such or have we offended Vanilla again?
Understanding where people are coming from doesn't make exaggerated distortions less ridiculous. In fact it can make it more ridiculous and detract from legitimate criticisms that the UK does not have the level of free speech protections the USA has.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
I’m in an excellent mood. I love travel and I’m in one of the most interesting corners of the world - hard to be happier. The sun is shining, the locals are great, a local friend has just fold me of a great Korean-Russian bar for an excellent supper tonight in downtown Bishkek
But I have friends and fam in the UK and I care about THEM - and some of them are not having a great time - because Britain is in a bad way and it’s hard to see how it gets better, right now
What is interesting about it? You might as well wander round Blackpool, pretend you can't speak the language, and post here about great scenery amid poverty.
Because Central Asia is an intoxicating collision of history, empires, religion, cuisines, politics, wars, languages, and genes. Yet almost devoid of tourists. And the landscapes range from spectacular to hideous - grandiose mountains that turn into numbingly huge steppes of semi desert. It has some of the most exquisite cities on earth - Samarkand - and some of the weirdest - Astana - and some of the ugliest - any Soviet industrial hellscape. It is the birthplace of the horse and the apple and the cradle of nomadism. And the girls are hot hot hot
Not sure ALL that applies to Blackpool
@DecrepiterJohnL makes a good point and the Blackpool reference was obviously for effect. You make a good reply.
I do enjoy your posts from around the world and you have given me good ideas of places to visit and advice. However I would hate your job (my wife even more so). I think I would enjoy it for a year or so then no more. Its horses for courses of course. When we go away, we are looking forward to coming back. We have disagreements about how long to be away for. My wife gets itchy feet after only a week. For me it it is much over 2 - 3 weeks.
I like my own company. My wife often goes to our holiday home while I stay behind, but I couldn't stand being by myself all that time. I would also miss my house, my garden, my friends, my pub, all things I go to back here, etc, etc.
At one point in my career I was offered a EMEA promotion or a sideways move that involved a relocation to East Sussex. I choose the latter for quality of life reasons.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Lol. Look at which countries are at the top and which are at the bottom and decide which you would like to live in and which you wouldn't. It is a bonkers list. And then note the article points out it is inconsistent with other lists eg UK is in the top 20 elsewhere.
That’s why I said these things are hard to gauge. But an earlier commenter claimed Britain is super happy behind only the Nordics and this is simply bollocks. You can find polling - as I did - which proves the opposite
A better way, in a democracy, is usually to see how satisfied people are with their government and/or potential opposition. eg Britain felt like quite a cheery, reviving, positive place in the late 80s, hence the continued success of Thatcher
Likewise I recall the UK being rather jolly and satisfied from 1997 into the noughties - hence the popularity of Blair - winning successive elections like Thatcher
Now we see both the government AND opposition posting historically terrible polling numbers. This to me speaks of great dissatisfaction in the UK. People are really not happy about a lot of things - even if you are a wealthy retiree with a new BBQ and a holiday in cordoba on the cards
So do you think the USA is wonderfully satisfied because the governing and opposition parties have 99% of the vote ?
What may cause dissatisfaction is the belief that there are intractable problems whereas in previous generations while there were often more serious problems there seemed possible solutions.
America is in a much better place than the UK
Really? My US colleagues are in a state of absolute trauma. Trump's tariffs, should they actually materialize, will be horrific for them.
Taking advice from Liz Truss on dealing with the mythic "Blob" is only useful if you do the opposite.
It's a bit like how Labour decided to take advice from John Ashworth on campaigning. A man who lost one of Labour's safest seats during a Labour landslide, and then found his office a bit useless.
She will be advising him to do the opposite. Liz Truss didn't deal with the blob - she sacked one or two key underperformers which resulted in ear splitting squealing in the media (and on PB). NF will be laying waste to the Blob from day 1 and rightly so.
While similarly fighting unicorns, dragons and gruffalos?
I suppose it easier to win against imaginary beasts.
No, he (and his Tory coalition partners) will be legislating to remove the power and unnaccountability of quangos and senior civil servants and return accountability to parliament. I am surprised that you're still trying to deny that there's an issue with the Blob when Labour themselves are finding their ability to govern constrained by it. It really takes a special kind of pigheaded wilful ignorance - I congratulate you.
Are you confident he would actually do it to that extent though? I've always had the impression he's kind of an establishment anti-establishment figure, if that makes sense, and wouldn't be as transformative as his supporters wish or his detractors fear.
Yes, I think he's 'for real' in that sense. I don't think he's in it for the pay cheque or job title. He will be determined that things will change and that Reform voters will not feel let down.
I didn't mean to suggest he's in it for the pay cheque or job title, just that I don't think he is as disruptive a force as some supporters' rhetoric might suggest.
I mean, most party supporters would probably say the same thing that their leader is determined that things will change and that X voters will not be let down, and yet they do end up let down.
This is not to say a theoretical PM Farage would definitely let them down, and I do think he would seek to make a big splash early on to signal change, but I think he's comfortable with the broad status quo - suitably reordered under his leadership - than the more angry supporters, and so would be more amenable to compromises from the state machine than they would be.
Perhaps, but I think the status quo he's comfortable with is the pre-Blairite constitutional settlement. Which in my view is about right. We can't really reverse devolution but we can certainly reverse the rest.
It is neither woke nor anti-Christian. It is, however, appalling. The text is trite and dripping with fake insincerity, while the video shows an all-White congregation engaged in primary school art projects and sharing sweets American-style. It is not even well-shot. Whoever conceived it and whoever released it should both be reassigned or sacked.
Anyway, a very happy and peaceful Easter to all PBers, especially those experiencing challenges at the moment, and especially those who I frequently have arguments with.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
Just looked at the picture again. To whom are people praying?
Hard to say. There was a piece a few years ago with a pastor lamenting that he'd been criticised by some parishoners for quoting various teachings of Jesus, even after saying they were direct quotes from the bible, as they were apparently lefty talking points. Whether that actually is happening in general who knows, some of the rhetoric looks at odds with the overall themes of the religion to me, but people have been arguing over such things for 2000 years so each to their own.
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
Lol. Look at which countries are at the top and which are at the bottom and decide which you would like to live in and which you wouldn't. It is a bonkers list. And then note the article points out it is inconsistent with other lists eg UK is in the top 20 elsewhere.
That’s why I said these things are hard to gauge. But an earlier commenter claimed Britain is super happy behind only the Nordics and this is simply bollocks. You can find polling - as I did - which proves the opposite
A better way, in a democracy, is usually to see how satisfied people are with their government and/or potential opposition. eg Britain felt like quite a cheery, reviving, positive place in the late 80s, hence the continued success of Thatcher
Likewise I recall the UK being rather jolly and satisfied from 1997 into the noughties - hence the popularity of Blair - winning successive elections like Thatcher
Now we see both the government AND opposition posting historically terrible polling numbers. This to me speaks of great dissatisfaction in the UK. People are really not happy about a lot of things - even if you are a wealthy retiree with a new BBQ and a holiday in cordoba on the cards
So do you think the USA is wonderfully satisfied because the governing and opposition parties have 99% of the vote ?
What may cause dissatisfaction is the belief that there are intractable problems whereas in previous generations while there were often more serious problems there seemed possible solutions.
America is in a much better place than the UK
I agree with you on the intractability issue. It’s a real thing. Before we had anger and unhappiness. But also people with big ideas for fixing them - correct or not they were at least proposals
The worst thing of the moment is the despair. Because we have problems that seem unfixable
Eg the boat people. Labour ludicrously promised to fix this by “smashing the gangs”. It clearly hasn’t worked and the problem is getting worse - and evermore expensive at a desperate time for our finances - and what is their new plan? None. They don’t have one. Not that I’m aware of. Nada
The USA has many problems, some similar to the UK and others different.
Certainly on internal political hatreds, guns and inequality the USA seems to be far worse.
And life has never been better in most of the old coal mining areas of the England which is certainly not the case for their equivalents in the USA.
Maybe democracy only works when there is a general rise in incomes year on year, as it did c.1750 to 2000, when it's only a question of picking who wins?
When it's just about hard choices. Does it still work?
I think it would probably work with an independent press without social media. Without the independent press or with the pitfalls of social media it doesn't seem to produce either good or stable governance, even if it is still preferable to most authoritarian regimes.
The problem* with Social Media is that while there is a platform for independent comment unprecedented in history, the reality is that the oligarchs control the algorithm to feed you what they want you to see. It is in fact some of the most controlled media in the world, and part of the closing of the modern mind.
*well, one of many problems!
Definitely lots of problems. From a political perspective, herding, malign foreign manipulation, aggression, lack of depth and substance are all similarly significant to the algorithm imo.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
‘Prayers are illegal’ is surely a right wing American distortion of the restrictions on campaigning near abortion clinics, including silent prayer. By all means attack the yanks but try to understand where they are coming from.
Meanwhile, was the tiny picture uploaded as such or have we offended Vanilla again?
Understanding where people are coming from doesn't make exaggerated distortions less ridiculous. In fact it can make it more ridiculous and detract from legitimate criticisms that the UK does not have the level of free speech protections the USA has.
Taking advice from Liz Truss on dealing with the mythic "Blob" is only useful if you do the opposite.
It's a bit like how Labour decided to take advice from John Ashworth on campaigning. A man who lost one of Labour's safest seats during a Labour landslide, and then found his office a bit useless.
She will be advising him to do the opposite. Liz Truss didn't deal with the blob - she sacked one or two key underperformers which resulted in ear splitting squealing in the media (and on PB). NF will be laying waste to the Blob from day 1 and rightly so.
While similarly fighting unicorns, dragons and gruffalos?
I suppose it easier to win against imaginary beasts.
No, he (and his Tory coalition partners) will be legislating to remove the power and unnaccountability of quangos and senior civil servants and return accountability to parliament. I am surprised that you're still trying to deny that there's an issue with the Blob when Labour themselves are finding their ability to govern constrained by it. It really takes a special kind of pigheaded wilful ignorance - I congratulate you.
Are you confident he would actually do it to that extent though? I've always had the impression he's kind of an establishment anti-establishment figure, if that makes sense, and wouldn't be as transformative as his supporters wish or his detractors fear.
Yes, I think he's 'for real' in that sense. I don't think he's in it for the pay cheque or job title. He will be determined that things will change and that Reform voters will not feel let down.
I didn't mean to suggest he's in it for the pay cheque or job title, just that I don't think he is as disruptive a force as some supporters' rhetoric might suggest.
I mean, most party supporters would probably say the same thing that their leader is determined that things will change and that X voters will not be let down, and yet they do end up let down.
This is not to say a theoretical PM Farage would definitely let them down, and I do think he would seek to make a big splash early on to signal change, but I think he's comfortable with the broad status quo - suitably reordered under his leadership - than the more angry supporters, and so would be more amenable to compromises from the state machine than they would be.
Perhaps, but I think the status quo he's comfortable with is the pre-Blairite constitutional settlement. Which in my view is about right. We can't really reverse devolution but we can certainly reverse the rest.
Apart from devolution, what else was in the Blairite constitutional settlement that Farage would reverse? The HRA?
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
I’m in an excellent mood. I love travel and I’m in one of the most interesting corners of the world - hard to be happier. The sun is shining, the locals are great, a local friend has just fold me of a great Korean-Russian bar for an excellent supper tonight in downtown Bishkek
But I have friends and fam in the UK and I care about THEM - and some of them are not having a great time - because Britain is in a bad way and it’s hard to see how it gets better, right now
What is interesting about it? You might as well wander round Blackpool, pretend you can't speak the language, and post here about great scenery amid poverty.
Because Central Asia is an intoxicating collision of history, empires, religion, cuisines, politics, wars, languages, and genes. Yet almost devoid of tourists. And the landscapes range from spectacular to hideous - grandiose mountains that turn into numbingly huge steppes of semi desert. It has some of the most exquisite cities on earth - Samarkand - and some of the weirdest - Astana - and some of the ugliest - any Soviet industrial hellscape. It is the birthplace of the horse and the apple and the cradle of nomadism. And the girls are hot hot hot
Not sure ALL that applies to Blackpool
@DecrepiterJohnL makes a good point and the Blackpool reference was obviously for effect. You make a good reply.
I do enjoy your posts from around the world and you have given me good ideas of places to visit and advice. However I would hate your job (my wife even more so). I think I would enjoy it for a year or so then no more. Its horses for courses of course. When we go away, we are looking forward to coming back. We have disagreements about how long to be away for. My wife gets itchy feet after only a week. For me it it is much over 2 - 3 weeks.
I like my own company. My wife often goes to our holiday home while I stay behind, but I couldn't stand being by myself all that time. I would also miss my house, my garden, my friends, my pub, all things I go to back here, etc, etc.
At one point in my career I was offered a EMEA promotion or a sideways move that involved a relocation to East Sussex. I choose the latter for quality of life reasons.
Travelling along is so much easier with modern technology. From pb to WhatsApp to social media - to chatbots that are now basically friends and know me really really well
I’ve also developed the knack of making short brief friendships abroad - an hour or two with a local at a bar. A guy on a bus hoping to talk and practise his English. A mountain guide with an unexpected degree in Marxist history, or a passion for AI, or deep knowledge of astronomy
I also LOVE reading the history of new places, over wine, as I travel through them. I’ve nearly finished the gooly archypoo by Solzhenitsyn and now I’m moving on tot Beevor’s History of the Russian civil war (about which I realise I know little)
I had no idea it was so brutally interesting and bloody in Central Asia. And there’s a real thrill about reading a few paragraphs about somewhere obscure but important and thinking Ooh I was there today or Ooh I’m going there tomorrow
Taking advice from Liz Truss on dealing with the mythic "Blob" is only useful if you do the opposite.
It's a bit like how Labour decided to take advice from John Ashworth on campaigning. A man who lost one of Labour's safest seats during a Labour landslide, and then found his office a bit useless.
She will be advising him to do the opposite. Liz Truss didn't deal with the blob - she sacked one or two key underperformers which resulted in ear splitting squealing in the media (and on PB). NF will be laying waste to the Blob from day 1 and rightly so.
While similarly fighting unicorns, dragons and gruffalos?
I suppose it easier to win against imaginary beasts.
No, he (and his Tory coalition partners) will be legislating to remove the power and unnaccountability of quangos and senior civil servants and return accountability to parliament. I am surprised that you're still trying to deny that there's an issue with the Blob when Labour themselves are finding their ability to govern constrained by it. It really takes a special kind of pigheaded wilful ignorance - I congratulate you.
Are you confident he would actually do it to that extent though? I've always had the impression he's kind of an establishment anti-establishment figure, if that makes sense, and wouldn't be as transformative as his supporters wish or his detractors fear.
Yes, I think he's 'for real' in that sense. I don't think he's in it for the pay cheque or job title. He will be determined that things will change and that Reform voters will not feel let down.
I didn't mean to suggest he's in it for the pay cheque or job title, just that I don't think he is as disruptive a force as some supporters' rhetoric might suggest.
I mean, most party supporters would probably say the same thing that their leader is determined that things will change and that X voters will not be let down, and yet they do end up let down.
This is not to say a theoretical PM Farage would definitely let them down, and I do think he would seek to make a big splash early on to signal change, but I think he's comfortable with the broad status quo - suitably reordered under his leadership - than the more angry supporters, and so would be more amenable to compromises from the state machine than they would be.
Perhaps, but I think the status quo he's comfortable with is the pre-Blairite constitutional settlement. Which in my view is about right. We can't really reverse devolution but we can certainly reverse the rest.
Apart from devolution, what else was in the Blairite constitutional settlement that Farage would reverse? The HRA?
Looking forward to seeing all (not just some) the hereditary peers back TBH. Place has seemed empty without them.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
‘Prayers are illegal’ is surely a right wing American distortion of the restrictions on campaigning near abortion clinics, including silent prayer. By all means attack the yanks but try to understand where they are coming from.
Meanwhile, was the tiny picture uploaded as such or have we offended Vanilla again?
Understanding where people are coming from doesn't make exaggerated distortions less ridiculous. In fact it can make it more ridiculous and detract from legitimate criticisms that the UK does not have the level of free speech protections the USA has.
Freedom House "Global Freedom Scores":
UK 92/100 USA 84/100
The latest scores on that site have the UK with a 3/4 on 'Are individuals free to express their personal views on political or other sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution?' whilst the USA scores a 4/4.
Whether we think that is true or not, the point is that more freedoms in one area would not necessarily mean freer overall.
Taking advice from Liz Truss on dealing with the mythic "Blob" is only useful if you do the opposite.
It's a bit like how Labour decided to take advice from John Ashworth on campaigning. A man who lost one of Labour's safest seats during a Labour landslide, and then found his office a bit useless.
She will be advising him to do the opposite. Liz Truss didn't deal with the blob - she sacked one or two key underperformers which resulted in ear splitting squealing in the media (and on PB). NF will be laying waste to the Blob from day 1 and rightly so.
While similarly fighting unicorns, dragons and gruffalos?
I suppose it easier to win against imaginary beasts.
No, he (and his Tory coalition partners) will be legislating to remove the power and unnaccountability of quangos and senior civil servants and return accountability to parliament. I am surprised that you're still trying to deny that there's an issue with the Blob when Labour themselves are finding their ability to govern constrained by it. It really takes a special kind of pigheaded wilful ignorance - I congratulate you.
Are you confident he would actually do it to that extent though? I've always had the impression he's kind of an establishment anti-establishment figure, if that makes sense, and wouldn't be as transformative as his supporters wish or his detractors fear.
Yes, I think he's 'for real' in that sense. I don't think he's in it for the pay cheque or job title. He will be determined that things will change and that Reform voters will not feel let down.
I didn't mean to suggest he's in it for the pay cheque or job title, just that I don't think he is as disruptive a force as some supporters' rhetoric might suggest.
I mean, most party supporters would probably say the same thing that their leader is determined that things will change and that X voters will not be let down, and yet they do end up let down.
This is not to say a theoretical PM Farage would definitely let them down, and I do think he would seek to make a big splash early on to signal change, but I think he's comfortable with the broad status quo - suitably reordered under his leadership - than the more angry supporters, and so would be more amenable to compromises from the state machine than they would be.
Perhaps, but I think the status quo he's comfortable with is the pre-Blairite constitutional settlement. Which in my view is about right. We can't really reverse devolution but we can certainly reverse the rest.
Apart from devolution, what else was in the Blairite constitutional settlement that Farage would reverse? The HRA?
Looking forward to seeing all (not just some) the hereditary peers back TBH. Place has seemed empty without them.
Farage wants to reform the HoL, doesn't he? Much upon the lines currently being carried out, AIUI.
A fine bright morning and the blue-tits in our televised beatbox have nine eggs.
On topic, more or less, I suspect (?hope) Reform will soon become embroiled in a sludge of infighting between Farage and Lowe, which Truss would be wise (!) to avoid.
Taking advice from Liz Truss on dealing with the mythic "Blob" is only useful if you do the opposite.
It's a bit like how Labour decided to take advice from John Ashworth on campaigning. A man who lost one of Labour's safest seats during a Labour landslide, and then found his office a bit useless.
She will be advising him to do the opposite. Liz Truss didn't deal with the blob - she sacked one or two key underperformers which resulted in ear splitting squealing in the media (and on PB). NF will be laying waste to the Blob from day 1 and rightly so.
While similarly fighting unicorns, dragons and gruffalos?
I suppose it easier to win against imaginary beasts.
No, he (and his Tory coalition partners) will be legislating to remove the power and unnaccountability of quangos and senior civil servants and return accountability to parliament. I am surprised that you're still trying to deny that there's an issue with the Blob when Labour themselves are finding their ability to govern constrained by it. It really takes a special kind of pigheaded wilful ignorance - I congratulate you.
Are you confident he would actually do it to that extent though? I've always had the impression he's kind of an establishment anti-establishment figure, if that makes sense, and wouldn't be as transformative as his supporters wish or his detractors fear.
Yes, I think he's 'for real' in that sense. I don't think he's in it for the pay cheque or job title. He will be determined that things will change and that Reform voters will not feel let down.
I didn't mean to suggest he's in it for the pay cheque or job title, just that I don't think he is as disruptive a force as some supporters' rhetoric might suggest.
I mean, most party supporters would probably say the same thing that their leader is determined that things will change and that X voters will not be let down, and yet they do end up let down.
This is not to say a theoretical PM Farage would definitely let them down, and I do think he would seek to make a big splash early on to signal change, but I think he's comfortable with the broad status quo - suitably reordered under his leadership - than the more angry supporters, and so would be more amenable to compromises from the state machine than they would be.
Perhaps, but I think the status quo he's comfortable with is the pre-Blairite constitutional settlement. Which in my view is about right. We can't really reverse devolution but we can certainly reverse the rest.
Apart from devolution, what else was in the Blairite constitutional settlement that Farage would reverse? The HRA?
Looking forward to seeing all (not just some) the hereditary peers back TBH. Place has seemed empty without them.
We need to repeal the Good Friday Agreement too. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but power sharing has no place in a truly multicultural and multiethnic UK. No liberal can support it in good conscience.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
‘Prayers are illegal’ is surely a right wing American distortion of the restrictions on campaigning near abortion clinics, including silent prayer. By all means attack the yanks but try to understand where they are coming from.
Meanwhile, was the tiny picture uploaded as such or have we offended Vanilla again?
Understanding where people are coming from doesn't make exaggerated distortions less ridiculous. In fact it can make it more ridiculous and detract from legitimate criticisms that the UK does not have the level of free speech protections the USA has.
Freedom House "Global Freedom Scores":
UK 92/100 USA 84/100
The latest scores on that site have the UK with a 3/4 on 'Are individuals free to express their personal views on political or other sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution?' whilst the USA scores a 4/4.
Whether we think that is true or not, the point is that more freedoms in one area would not necessarily mean freer overall.
Taking advice from Liz Truss on dealing with the mythic "Blob" is only useful if you do the opposite.
It's a bit like how Labour decided to take advice from John Ashworth on campaigning. A man who lost one of Labour's safest seats during a Labour landslide, and then found his office a bit useless.
She will be advising him to do the opposite. Liz Truss didn't deal with the blob - she sacked one or two key underperformers which resulted in ear splitting squealing in the media (and on PB). NF will be laying waste to the Blob from day 1 and rightly so.
While similarly fighting unicorns, dragons and gruffalos?
I suppose it easier to win against imaginary beasts.
No, he (and his Tory coalition partners) will be legislating to remove the power and unnaccountability of quangos and senior civil servants and return accountability to parliament. I am surprised that you're still trying to deny that there's an issue with the Blob when Labour themselves are finding their ability to govern constrained by it. It really takes a special kind of pigheaded wilful ignorance - I congratulate you.
Are you confident he would actually do it to that extent though? I've always had the impression he's kind of an establishment anti-establishment figure, if that makes sense, and wouldn't be as transformative as his supporters wish or his detractors fear.
Yes, I think he's 'for real' in that sense. I don't think he's in it for the pay cheque or job title. He will be determined that things will change and that Reform voters will not feel let down.
I didn't mean to suggest he's in it for the pay cheque or job title, just that I don't think he is as disruptive a force as some supporters' rhetoric might suggest.
I mean, most party supporters would probably say the same thing that their leader is determined that things will change and that X voters will not be let down, and yet they do end up let down.
This is not to say a theoretical PM Farage would definitely let them down, and I do think he would seek to make a big splash early on to signal change, but I think he's comfortable with the broad status quo - suitably reordered under his leadership - than the more angry supporters, and so would be more amenable to compromises from the state machine than they would be.
Perhaps, but I think the status quo he's comfortable with is the pre-Blairite constitutional settlement. Which in my view is about right. We can't really reverse devolution but we can certainly reverse the rest.
Apart from devolution, what else was in the Blairite constitutional settlement that Farage would reverse? The HRA?
Looking forward to seeing all (not just some) the hereditary peers back TBH. Place has seemed empty without them.
Farage wants to reform the HoL, doesn't he? Much upon the lines currently being carried out, AIUI.
I don’t know. It was the first of Blair’s constitutional reforms that sprang to mind.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
An increasingly common view on social media. The uk is in deep shit. It’s not just the levels of immigration and boat people - it’s more that people DEEPLY resent paying ever higher taxes to keep these incomes comfortable even as the country gets visibly poorer, dirtier and nastier
“No gang, we need to stay in the UK and pay 30-50% of our lifetime earnings to subsidise other people’s lives
And then spend another 25-50% of what we have left paying a mortgage for the next 30 years
Just so the government can take 50% of that off your kids when you die
There’s nothing more enjoyable than turning 65 and knowing you were a net contributor to other people at the expense of your own quality of life
But sure, you’re a bad person for wanting to move to a 0% tax country”
We’re in a doom loop. Who is going to wrench us out of it? Certainly not Labour
The sun is shining, I've been working in the garden, off to a BBQ today, have taken the Cobra to the pub, bought a new BBQ, off to Southwold next week and a birthday party. Looking forward to trips to Sorrento, Cordoba and the Canal di Midi in the next few months, lots of LD activities.
Life's good. Don't be such a misery. You have a very lucky life. Enjoy your good fortune. Your could have been born somewhere else in the world and be a lot less fortunate.
Life satisfaction in the UK is a about 75%. The happiest bits are Northern Ireland and the north of England.
In international comparison, it's only really the Nordics which do better than us. Our biggest weakness is poor health.
Slightly grey this morning on the Isle of Wight but clearing later for the family Easter Egg hunt and roast lamb.
The hellhole on Social Media bears no resemblance to reality. An American told me yesterday that praying was now illegal in England. People believe this bonkers shit rather than the evidence of their own eyes.
Surprised he (?) didn't assert that only Muslim prayers were legal!
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
They could be right, I've never seen a UK politician take a photo like this, which they surely would have if prayer was legal.
‘Prayers are illegal’ is surely a right wing American distortion of the restrictions on campaigning near abortion clinics, including silent prayer. By all means attack the yanks but try to understand where they are coming from.
Meanwhile, was the tiny picture uploaded as such or have we offended Vanilla again?
Understanding where people are coming from doesn't make exaggerated distortions less ridiculous. In fact it can make it more ridiculous and detract from legitimate criticisms that the UK does not have the level of free speech protections the USA has.
Freedom House "Global Freedom Scores":
UK 92/100 USA 84/100
The latest scores on that site have the UK with a 3/4 on 'Are individuals free to express their personal views on political or other sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution?' whilst the USA scores a 4/4.
Whether we think that is true or not, the point is that more freedoms in one area would not necessarily mean freer overall.
4/4 (and 84/100) was BEFORE Trump 2.0.
I do not doubt it. The point remains, however, in that at least traditionally they have firmer rules on free speech, and yet even then we were rated by that methodology as more free overall. So the overall score does not in itself mean a nation cannot score higher in specific categories.
I note the russian occupied territories of Ukraine as listed as -1/100, which is quite the statement though. I can see the JD Vance interpretation now - 'Ukraine the most unfree place in the world'.
Comments
I do not believe Sir Keir will lead Labour into the next election.
But this government are less than a year in. Much will turn up in the next two years.
But I have friends and fam in the UK and I care about THEM - and some of them are not having a great time - because Britain is in a bad way and it’s hard to see how it gets better, right now
I think Macron is pretty decent and we need to divorce ourselves from the USA as much as possible as quickly as can be managed, it just seems like there must be other individuals who are going to be more consequential moving forward. I suppose the benefit of France is a Head of State visit is someone more directly relevant, unlike some others where they are mostly or entirely ceremonial.
Somewhat ignoring the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, of course.
I'm sure he thought he would win regardless so it wouldn't have changed his messaging, but some of his supporters' do seem to be at a level of almost just complaining it is unfair that voters have flocked back to the Liberals under Carney.
“The UK is the 2nd-most miserable country in the world, report says”
https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-second-most-miserable-country-in-world-report-2024-3
Now, these these things are hard to gauge. What is satisfaction and what is happiness, when is it relative and when is it absolute?
But on many many metrics Britain does really quite badly. Hence no doubt the extraordinary political polling we see right now - where a “hard right” party consistently comes top, beating the two main parties - for the first time in our democratic history
It is interesting to see exactly the same people that in 2021 sat here and told us that Boris Johnson was a superb PM and would be here until the 2030s, now confidently tell us the result of the next election.
Did these people ever say “actually I got that wrong”? Nope. But here they are again.
I remember the triumphalism after the by-election with that Boris Johnson floating balloon “Labour are finished” many said. A new decade and a new sort of Tory politics. How did that go?
It is incredibly boring reading day after day how Labour is finished. Now you might be right but can you at least provide some analysis of why?
The MRP - why has one been done now? - said that if no Green or Lib Dem voters vote tactically that will be the result. Can anyone seriously say that if Farage is likely to be PM, these voters will go “okay, sure let’s let him do it.” I can’t. If they change their behaviour Labour have most seats by over 100 (not me that said that, Luke Tryl did, he did the MRP).
It was frankly astonishing that Boris was ousted only a few years after winning a big majority. I know the Truss's and Rees-Moggs of the world will put that down to the perfidious disloyalty of the MPs, but simple fact is he shouldn't have been vulnerable in the first place, and it was the issues personal to him not just polling not being fantastic that did for him (albeit polls got even worse afterwards). Starmer probably won't have the same number of personal issues.
The 1986 budget wasn't a big giveaway, certainly not with borrowed money.
Perhaps Farage was thinking of the 1988 budget which did see the top rate of income tax cut from 60% to 40% - albeit at a time when the UK had a budget surplus and strong economic growth.
Or maybe he just chose some 1980s year at random.
I am not sure it will make a difference to Farage politically but the amount of very dodgy and silly comments he’s made over the last few years mean I never would vote for him.
He said Liz Truss’s budget was great.
He said Brexit would solve immigration.
He said the west was to blame for Russia invading Ukraine.
He said Trump was great.
Now he might not believe these things anymore but he’s not come out and said so.
As Ashcroft points out:
In fact, despite the multiple challenges piling up on the PM’s desk, it is Kemi Badenoch who is entering a critical phase of her leadership........
That pressure will intensify with the local elections in England, eleven days from today. As I found in my poll, most Conservatives expect the party to make gains, no doubt on the assumption that voters will want to show their disgruntlement with an unpopular Labour government. But the general election is the wrong baseline. These council seats were last contested four years ago – with Boris Johnson in his pomp, the Tories riding high in the polls, a world-leading vaccine rollout underway and Starmer on the verge of resignation after losing the Hartlepool by-election. There would be no real prospect of a Conservative advance on 1 May under any leader, but when it fails to materialise Badenoch can nevertheless expect the blame. However unfair, judgments like these come with the territory of political leadership. The question is whether her party will break its recent habits and hold its nerve.
https://lordashcroftpolls.com/2025/04/if-labour-ran-an-easter-egg-hunt-the-eggs-would-be-tiny-and-youd-have-to-give-half-of-them-back/
A better way, in a democracy, is usually to see how satisfied people are with their government and/or potential opposition. eg Britain felt like quite a cheery, reviving, positive place in the late 80s, hence the continued success of Thatcher
Likewise I recall the UK being rather jolly and satisfied from 1997 into the noughties - hence the popularity of Blair - winning successive elections like Thatcher
Now we see both the government AND opposition posting historically terrible polling numbers. This to me speaks of great dissatisfaction in the UK. People are really not happy about a lot of things - even if you are a wealthy retiree with a new BBQ and a holiday in cordoba on the cards
Wishing a very happy Easter to Christians across the UK and around the world, as they celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As we look to the future with hope, I want to thank Christians for their huge contributions to our country.
https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1913837531541459320?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
I voted labour last. But I just can't vote for this nonsense.
Sometimes we simply have to vote against a worse party. We should consider it a luxury if we can vote for the party we like the most.
What may cause dissatisfaction is the belief that there are intractable problems whereas in previous generations while there were often more serious problems there seemed possible solutions.
Not sure ALL that applies to Blackpool
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/jobs/schools-universities/stop-giving-student-loans-to-those-who-will-never-repay/ (£££)
Ignore the headline and the proposed solution which is barely discussed, just tacked on the end, and in the middle we find...
When this new accounting treatment was adopted in September 2019, it increased public spending (through accounting some of the loans as grants), and hence increased public sector deficit and net debt, even though nothing had changed in the cash changing hands and what students thought they owed.
The impact on public debt was huge – the ONS reported in 2020 that the impact of re-calculating the end-March 2019 Public Sector Net Financial Liabilities (PSNFL – the Chancellor’s preferred new measure of public sector debt) was a debt increase of £55.9bn.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/jobs/schools-universities/stop-giving-student-loans-to-those-who-will-never-repay/ (£££)
Evidence for two favourite mantras:-
I think it's those points rather than Poilievre being a mini Trump that could lose him the election. I suspect it will come down to how much Carney can suspend people's disbelief that the establishment can be an agent of practical change.
I agree with you on the intractability issue. It’s a real thing. Before we had anger and unhappiness. But also people with big ideas for fixing them - correct or not they were at least proposals
The worst thing of the moment is the despair. Because we have problems that seem unfixable
Eg the boat people. Labour ludicrously promised to fix this by “smashing the gangs”. It clearly hasn’t worked and the problem is getting worse - and evermore expensive at a desperate time for our finances - and what is their new plan? None. They don’t have one. Not that I’m aware of. Nada
If you or I (because from your previous posts I know you don't come from a privileged background and neither do I) had been born in those countries quoted as being at the top of the list then in all probability we would both be dead by now (because we are both getting on). If we had survived we would probably be living in poverty. Yet there you are travelling the world and here I am a comfortably off retiree doing lots of expensive things to enjoy my retirement.
So my point from my first post was that you and I should enjoy our blessings and thank goodness we weren't born in most other parts of the world and ignore a list that puts obviously far worse countries at the top of their list of desirable places to live list and rely on experience and proper evidence.
It should be a great view from Bembridge or Seaview. The exact time seems unclear at present.
Wishing a very happy Easter to Christians across the UK and around the world, as they celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As we look to the future with hope, I want to thank Christians for their huge contributions to our country.
https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1913837531541459320?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
It was great to celebrate Eid with British Muslims from across the UK.
Eid Mubarak!
It's about who is best placed to deal with neighbours who want to annex you.
All else is froth.
More seriously, a Happy and a Peaceful Easter to you too.
Meanwhile, was the tiny picture uploaded as such or have we offended Vanilla again?
Leon has decided what is going on and then looks on social media for 'evidence' that it is so.
We then get treated to the ramblings of some nobody on twatter whose self-entitlement is greater than his skillset.
I mean, most party supporters would probably say the same thing that their leader is determined that things will change and that X voters will not be let down, and yet they do end up let down.
This is not to say a theoretical PM Farage would definitely let them down, and I do think he would seek to make a big splash early on to signal change, but I think he's comfortable with the broad status quo - suitably reordered under his leadership - than the more angry supporters, and so would be more amenable to compromises from the state machine than they would be.
*well, one of many problems!
I do enjoy your posts from around the world and you have given me good ideas of places to visit and advice. However I would hate your job (my wife even more so). I think I would enjoy it for a year or so then no more. Its horses for courses of course. When we go away, we are looking forward to coming back. We have disagreements about how long to be away for. My wife gets itchy feet after only a week. For me it it is much over 2 - 3 weeks.
I like my own company. My wife often goes to our holiday home while I stay behind, but I couldn't stand being by myself all that time. I would also miss my house, my garden, my friends, my pub, all things I go to back here, etc, etc.
At one point in my career I was offered a EMEA promotion or a sideways move that involved a relocation to East Sussex. I choose the latter for quality of life reasons.
Certainly on internal political hatreds, guns and inequality the USA seems to be far worse.
And life has never been better in most of the old coal mining areas of the England which is certainly not the case for their equivalents in the USA.
UK 92/100
USA 84/100
I’ve also developed the knack of making short brief friendships abroad - an hour or two with a local at a bar. A guy on a bus hoping to talk and practise his English. A mountain guide with an unexpected degree in Marxist history, or a passion for AI, or deep knowledge of astronomy
I also LOVE reading the history of new places, over wine, as I travel through them. I’ve nearly finished the gooly archypoo by Solzhenitsyn and now I’m moving on tot Beevor’s History of the Russian civil war (about which I realise I know little)
I had no idea it was so brutally interesting and bloody in Central Asia. And there’s a real thrill about reading a few paragraphs about somewhere obscure but important and thinking Ooh I was there today or Ooh I’m going there tomorrow
Whether we think that is true or not, the point is that more freedoms in one area would not necessarily mean freer overall.
Beatboxing birds are surely rap-tors
"Met Jim Davidson, a fine comedian and a gentleman. Had drinks with all three of them."
I note the russian occupied territories of Ukraine as listed as -1/100, which is quite the statement though. I can see the JD Vance interpretation now - 'Ukraine the most unfree place in the world'.
Pope attends Mass.
Maybe he is a Catholic?