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.
Wouldn't that lead to a risk of resurrecting the troubles?
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.
TBF the US score on 'Are individuals free to express their personal views on political or other sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution?' has plummeted since the start of the year and the official numbers probably haven't been updated yet. I would say probably 2/4 now when it was an undoubted 4/4 before.
* And probably a big drop overall on last year's Freedom index score of 84/100
He’s an avowed atheist with a lot of Muslim marginals
I imagine deep down he disapproves of Christianity BECAUSE it is generally white and European and western. Maybe it’s so deep in him he’s unaware of it himself
Same way he fundamentally dislikes Britain and British people
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.
Fundamentally it's because growth is hard to come by now and neither is it any better distributed. There's no realistic political solution to the first and there's no appetite for radical change to the second. So politics (in government) has become all about managing disappointment. Great news for populists peddling their tat.
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.
80% twatter ramblings. 19% AI hallucinations. 1% world travel photos.
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
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.
I mean economically
Economically it was - you clearly don't understand what the impacts of the tariffs will be...
I can see the point he's trying to make, but it doesn't seem worth getting into a spat over it, because the questions just keep coming back as basically 'ok, so what did you find so appalling?' and he doesn't seem to be getting in to that as far as I can see. So he's saying it is misleading but not getting in to much detail what he did mean instead.
@RhonddaBryant It’s misleading because the Mail has added the words in brackets [kle4 note - he is referring to Steve Race MP referring to the EHRC CHair being appalling, and the Mail's interpretation of what that meant]. They were not in the original.
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.
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?
They are cult nutters
Vanilla, god knows, has many faults, but I seriously doubt they have cult followers.
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
Exactly as @leon said. It’s like the PM of Pakistan addressing Muslims on an Islamic holiday as he were talking to tourists visiting for the weekend
How? It is clearly a sincere celebration of the holiday from an excellent PM. Your shoehorning of some casual dog-whistle Islamophobia in there tells one all we need to know about your motivations here.
As for @leon - even a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist thinks he’s a loser. Safely ignored.
Edit: sorry - he never won the Nobel Prize. Point stands though.
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
I enjoyed the King's coronation and the religiosity of it, and even more the apparent surprise from many people about it being so religious. I guess sometimes it is so understated people forget.
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
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
I agree it is weirdly phrased, and I wonder why he bothered saying it.
On Christians being a quaint minority, depending on how you define them (regular church goers? People who have been chisterned/confirmed? People who would describe themselves as Christian?), they quite possibly are.
He’s an avowed atheist with a lot of Muslim marginals
I imagine deep down he disapproves of Christianity BECAUSE it is generally white and European and western. Maybe it’s so deep in him he’s unaware of it himself
Same way he fundamentally dislikes Britain and British people
You and SKS have something in common after all. Your posts display exactly the same sentiments - it’s why you spend so much time abroad. No wonder you voted for him.
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
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.
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.
Given the extra-legal penalties attaching to some political speech in the US recently, that 4/4 seems a fraction generous.
Both countries have backslid over the last decade.
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
I'm not offended by it but disappointed that something so obviously flawed in both conception and execution could have seen the light of day. Most weeks I wonder if Kemi is being deliberately undermined by CCHQ. Now it is Labour's turn.
Exactly as @leon said. It’s like the PM of Pakistan addressing Muslims on an Islamic holiday as he were talking to tourists visiting for the weekend
How? It is clearly a sincere celebration of the holiday from an excellent PM. Your shoehorning of some casual dog-whistle Islamophobia in there tells one all we need to know about your motivations here.
As for @leon - even a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist thinks he’s a loser. Safely ignored.
Edit: sorry - he never won the Nobel Prize. Point stands though.
I’ve been dissed by a near Nobel prize winner or are you having another spazzout?!
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.
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
I'm not offended by it but disappointed that something so obviously flawed in both conception and execution could have seen the light of day. Most weeks I wonder if Kemi is being deliberately undermined by CCHQ. Now it is Labour's turn.
I'm not seeing anything flawed, its polite and friendly, what more is wanted?
Given that Starmer is not a practicing Christian (like the majority of the country) it would be dishonest if he'd pretended he was, and people would be castigating him for dishonesty if he had.
In an attempt at agreeing with those one disagrees with most often I am posting in agreement with @Luckyguy1983 re 'the blob'. I don't have a solution and I don't think I agree with @Luckyguy1983 solutions, but I want to put that agreement out there.
As a liberal I want reduced state interference anyway as much as possible. I have always felt the civil service has too much power and having been involved in one of the injustice campaigns for the last 12 years I know it to be so (I have the foi replies to prove it).
Our system of appointing ministers is appalling. Very few have any experience of the ministry they are supposedly managing and few stay long enough to get that experience. Too much stuff hits their desk that they have to sign off on that they have little time to check any of it. And the civil servants want the status quo so they are biased and want to close stuff down (hence scandals like the Post Office, Blood scandal, taking years to resolve if at all)
So I did an foi on something I am involved in and saw the minister's replies to all the letters. Each letter was drafted by a civil servant with some backing material sent to the minister. Not a single minister, from any party (it covers all 3) ever went back to a civil servant querying anything and the minister's letter went out unaltered from the civil servants draft. In most cases (because I know the subject), the letters were inaccurate. Replies pointing out the inaccuracies resulted in letters saying we have already replied.
I don't know how you do this, but it feels like it would be better if people were appointed to head departments with actual knowledge and did not move on every 5 minutes and there were enough of them to cover their briefs properly so it doesn't allow civil servants to get away this stuff. Maybe political appointments but not from MPs, but regularly scrutinised by MPs or the cabinet eg DWP cabinet minister overseeing politically appointed professional ministers for each of the DWP ministers like the Pension Minister.
I can see the point he's trying to make, but it doesn't seem worth getting into a spat over it, because the questions just keep coming back as basically 'ok, so what did you find so appalling?' and he doesn't seem to be getting in to that as far as I can see. So he's saying it is misleading but not getting in to much detail what he did mean instead.
@RhonddaBryant It’s misleading because the Mail has added the words in brackets [kle4 note - he is referring to Steve Race MP referring to the EHRC CHair being appalling, and the Mail's interpretation of what that meant]. They were not in the original.
Never mind banning schoolchildren from social media, MI5 should confiscate all politicians' smartphones to stop them using WhatsApp, and the Pentagon likewise in America.
Even Modi managed a better more sincere Easter message than Starmer
“Wishing everyone a blessed and joyous Easter. This Easter is special because world over, the Jubilee Year is being observed with immense fervour. May this sacred occasion inspire hope, renewal and compassion in every person. May there be joy and harmony all around.”
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
Exactly as @leon said. It’s like the PM of Pakistan addressing Muslims on an Islamic holiday as he were talking to tourists visiting for the weekend
How? It is clearly a sincere celebration of the holiday from an excellent PM. Your shoehorning of some casual dog-whistle Islamophobia in there tells one all we need to know about your motivations here.
As for @leon - even a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist thinks he’s a loser. Safely ignored.
Edit: sorry - he never won the Nobel Prize. Point stands though.
I’ve been dissed by a near Nobel prize winner or are you having another spazzout?!
Despite his undoubted intelligence, Hawking was modest about his gifts. When asked in a 2004 interview with The New York Times what his IQ is, Hawking gave a curt reply: "I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers."
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
Exactly as @leon said. It’s like the PM of Pakistan addressing Muslims on an Islamic holiday as he were talking to tourists visiting for the weekend
How? It is clearly a sincere celebration of the holiday from an excellent PM. Your shoehorning of some casual dog-whistle Islamophobia in there tells one all we need to know about your motivations here.
As for @leon - even a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist thinks he’s a loser. Safely ignored.
Edit: sorry - he never won the Nobel Prize. Point stands though.
I’ve been dissed by a near Nobel prize winner or are you having another spazzout?!
Despite his undoubted intelligence, Hawking was modest about his gifts. When asked in a 2004 interview with The New York Times what his IQ is, Hawking gave a curt reply: "I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers."
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
I'm not offended by it but disappointed that something so obviously flawed in both conception and execution could have seen the light of day. Most weeks I wonder if Kemi is being deliberately undermined by CCHQ. Now it is Labour's turn.
I'm not seeing anything flawed, its polite and friendly, what more is wanted?
Given that Starmer is not a practicing Christian (like the majority of the country) it would be dishonest if he'd pretended he was, and people would be castigating him for dishonesty if he had.
PMs should stay off social media full stop. It debases the office. Be more Jupiterian.
In an attempt at agreeing with those one disagrees with most often I am posting in agreement with @Luckyguy1983 re 'the blob'. I don't have a solution and I don't think I agree with @Luckyguy1983 solutions, but I want to put that agreement out there.
As a liberal I want reduced state interference anyway as much as possible. I have always felt the civil service has too much power and having been involved in one of the injustice campaigns for the last 12 years I know it to be so (I have the foi replies to prove it).
Our system of appointing ministers is appalling. Very few have any experience of the ministry they are supposedly managing and few stay long enough to get that experience. Too much stuff hits their desk that they have to sign off on that they have little time to check any of it. And the civil servants want the status quo so they are biased and want to close stuff down (hence scandals like the Post Office, Blood scandal, taking years to resolve if at all)
So I did an foi on something I am involved in and saw the minister's replies to all the letters. Each letter was drafted by a civil servant with some backing material sent to the minister. Not a single minister, from any party (it covers all 3) ever went back to a civil servant querying anything and the minister's letter went out unaltered from the civil servants draft. In most cases (because I know the subject), the letters were inaccurate. Replies pointing out the inaccuracies resulted in letters saying we have already replied.
I don't know how you do this, but it feels like it would be better if people were appointed to head departments with actual knowledge and did not move on every 5 minutes and there were enough of them to cover their briefs properly so it doesn't allow civil servants to get away this stuff. Maybe political appointments but not from MPs, but regularly scrutinised by MPs or the cabinet eg DWP cabinet minister overseeing politically appointed professional ministers for each of the DWP ministers like the Pension Minister.
Sounds like US style confirmations would be needed, though as seen that no longer works either.
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
Exactly as @leon said. It’s like the PM of Pakistan addressing Muslims on an Islamic holiday as he were talking to tourists visiting for the weekend
How? It is clearly a sincere celebration of the holiday from an excellent PM. Your shoehorning of some casual dog-whistle Islamophobia in there tells one all we need to know about your motivations here.
As for @leon - even a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist thinks he’s a loser. Safely ignored.
Edit: sorry - he never won the Nobel Prize. Point stands though.
I’ve been dissed by a near Nobel prize winner or are you having another spazzout?!
I believe that was Hawking's description of those who go on about IQ, notably their own.
I don't think he ever expressed an opinion on your writing, though.
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
Exactly as @leon said. It’s like the PM of Pakistan addressing Muslims on an Islamic holiday as he were talking to tourists visiting for the weekend
How? It is clearly a sincere celebration of the holiday from an excellent PM. Your shoehorning of some casual dog-whistle Islamophobia in there tells one all we need to know about your motivations here.
As for @leon - even a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist thinks he’s a loser. Safely ignored.
Edit: sorry - he never won the Nobel Prize. Point stands though.
I’ve been dissed by a near Nobel prize winner or are you having another spazzout?!
Despite his undoubted intelligence, Hawking was modest about his gifts. When asked in a 2004 interview with The New York Times what his IQ is, Hawking gave a curt reply: "I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers."
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?
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
To access the required outrage you need to hold the view that our white Christian heritage is being eroded by incomers and that this is both a sad thing and a bad thing.
"We're losing our country. We want it back."
This sentiment (along with "it's all fucked, let's try something new") lies at the heart of Reform's appeal.
In an attempt at agreeing with those one disagrees with most often I am posting in agreement with @Luckyguy1983 re 'the blob'. I don't have a solution and I don't think I agree with @Luckyguy1983 solutions, but I want to put that agreement out there.
As a liberal I want reduced state interference anyway as much as possible. I have always felt the civil service has too much power and having been involved in one of the injustice campaigns for the last 12 years I know it to be so (I have the foi replies to prove it).
Our system of appointing ministers is appalling. Very few have any experience of the ministry they are supposedly managing and few stay long enough to get that experience. Too much stuff hits their desk that they have to sign off on that they have little time to check any of it. And the civil servants want the status quo so they are biased and want to close stuff down (hence scandals like the Post Office, Blood scandal, taking years to resolve if at all)
So I did an foi on something I am involved in and saw the minister's replies to all the letters. Each letter was drafted by a civil servant with some backing material sent to the minister. Not a single minister, from any party (it covers all 3) ever went back to a civil servant querying anything and the minister's letter went out unaltered from the civil servants draft. In most cases (because I know the subject), the letters were inaccurate. Replies pointing out the inaccuracies resulted in letters saying we have already replied.
I don't know how you do this, but it feels like it would be better if people were appointed to head departments with actual knowledge and did not move on every 5 minutes and there were enough of them to cover their briefs properly so it doesn't allow civil servants to get away this stuff. Maybe political appointments but not from MPs, but regularly scrutinised by MPs or the cabinet eg DWP cabinet minister overseeing politically appointed professional ministers for each of the DWP ministers like the Pension Minister.
It's depressing to realise that I'd probably make a better minister than at least half the cabinet members of the last decade.
Exactly as @leon said. It’s like the PM of Pakistan addressing Muslims on an Islamic holiday as he were talking to tourists visiting for the weekend
How? It is clearly a sincere celebration of the holiday from an excellent PM. Your shoehorning of some casual dog-whistle Islamophobia in there tells one all we need to know about your motivations here.
As for @leon - even a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist thinks he’s a loser. Safely ignored.
Edit: sorry - he never won the Nobel Prize. Point stands though.
I’ve been dissed by a near Nobel prize winner or are you having another spazzout?!
Despite his undoubted intelligence, Hawking was modest about his gifts. When asked in a 2004 interview with The New York Times what his IQ is, Hawking gave a curt reply: "I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers."
Exactly as @leon said. It’s like the PM of Pakistan addressing Muslims on an Islamic holiday as he were talking to tourists visiting for the weekend
How? It is clearly a sincere celebration of the holiday from an excellent PM. Your shoehorning of some casual dog-whistle Islamophobia in there tells one all we need to know about your motivations here.
As for @leon - even a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist thinks he’s a loser. Safely ignored.
Edit: sorry - he never won the Nobel Prize. Point stands though.
I’ve been dissed by a near Nobel prize winner or are you having another spazzout?!
Despite his undoubted intelligence, Hawking was modest about his gifts. When asked in a 2004 interview with The New York Times what his IQ is, Hawking gave a curt reply: "I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers."
I met Hawking about a decade ago, not long before his death. It was a very surreal experience because he was exactly as you would expect him to be, in the way some celebs and some famous landmarks are - hyperreal.
And the accent, if that’s what you could call the computer generated voice, was instantly recognisable as his.
What I’d not really appreciated but seems patently obvious in hindsight is how slow a conversation with him would be. I only asked one question. Each sentence took a good 5 minutes to construct.
Even Modi managed a better more sincere Easter message than Starmer
“Wishing everyone a blessed and joyous Easter. This Easter is special because world over, the Jubilee Year is being observed with immense fervour. May this sacred occasion inspire hope, renewal and compassion in every person. May there be joy and harmony all around.”
The jubilee year only applies to the Catholic church so that would have been a pretty stupid thing for Starmer to have mentioned.
Even Modi managed a better more sincere Easter message than Starmer
“Wishing everyone a blessed and joyous Easter. This Easter is special because world over, the Jubilee Year is being observed with immense fervour. May this sacred occasion inspire hope, renewal and compassion in every person. May there be joy and harmony all around.”
The jubilee year only applies to the Catholic church so that would have been a pretty stupid thing for Starmer to have mentioned.
Er, there are quite a lot of catholics in the UK. And we were once a catholic country. Indeed the whole point of Anglicanism is that in some ways we still are - it is a quintessentially English compromise between Catholicism and full Reformation
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
To access the required outrage you need to hold the view that our white Christian heritage is being eroded by incomers and that this is both a sad thing and a bad thing.
"We're losing our country. We want it back."
This sentiment (along with "it's all fucked, let's try something new") lies at the heart of Reform's appeal.
Also not going to church while bemoaning its demise very much part of the package.
Even Modi managed a better more sincere Easter message than Starmer
“Wishing everyone a blessed and joyous Easter. This Easter is special because world over, the Jubilee Year is being observed with immense fervour. May this sacred occasion inspire hope, renewal and compassion in every person. May there be joy and harmony all around.”
Well Starmer is a confirmed atheist and puritan so not much surprise, I suspect his children got one Easter egg between then.
Kemi and Davey at least managed to mention Christ on the day of his resurrection unlike the PM 'As Christians celebrate Easter together, we are reminded of the unity and shared hope that this sacred time brings.
At this time of year, I reflect on those who are unable to celebrate their faith’s most important festival with their families. Many Christians still face persecution for their beliefs or live in war zones like Ukraine. Their extraordinary faith is a testament to how Christ’s life, death, and resurrection continue to inspire hope, even in the most difficult circumstances, across the world.
This same faith defines and enriches our culture and heritage in the UK. It brings about everyday acts of kindness and sacrifice in our communities, making us richer in every sense. I am grateful for the Christian inheritance that makes the UK such a blessed place to call home.
Farage too called Easter 'the most important Christian festival of the year' and got in an anti woke message saying our country was built on 'Judaeo Christian culture' https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1913857667258277962
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
I'm not offended by it but disappointed that something so obviously flawed in both conception and execution could have seen the light of day. Most weeks I wonder if Kemi is being deliberately undermined by CCHQ. Now it is Labour's turn.
I'm not seeing anything flawed, its polite and friendly, what more is wanted?
Given that Starmer is not a practicing Christian (like the majority of the country) it would be dishonest if he'd pretended he was, and people would be castigating him for dishonesty if he had.
Or any of our writers' views on the plodding script.
And why is Starmer handing out sweets while children (all White because heaven knows it is hard to find Asian or Black Christians in North London) seem to be doing a junior school art project? Couldn't they have found at least one child to take an egg?
Even Modi managed a better more sincere Easter message than Starmer
“Wishing everyone a blessed and joyous Easter. This Easter is special because world over, the Jubilee Year is being observed with immense fervour. May this sacred occasion inspire hope, renewal and compassion in every person. May there be joy and harmony all around.”
Fun fact: roughly 20% of my native Kerala's population are Christian, some 7 million people.
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
I'm not offended by it but disappointed that something so obviously flawed in both conception and execution could have seen the light of day. Most weeks I wonder if Kemi is being deliberately undermined by CCHQ. Now it is Labour's turn.
I'm not seeing anything flawed, its polite and friendly, what more is wanted?
Given that Starmer is not a practicing Christian (like the majority of the country) it would be dishonest if he'd pretended he was, and people would be castigating him for dishonesty if he had.
Or any of our writers' views on the plodding script.
And why is Starmer handing out sweets while children (all White because heaven knows it is hard to find Asian or Black Christians in North London) seem to be doing a junior school art project? Couldn't they have found at least one child to take an egg?
It is just not very good.
As a part time writer for the Gazette I can say the writing is bloody awful
Ed’s whole thread worth reading but this on the level of uncertainty our MRP model produces when you have 3 parties tied is striking - 200 seats within 5%, some 3 way splits. FPTP would produce some really odd results and small margins could shift a lot.
All this MRP really confirms is no party is very popular. Despite what some on Pb seem to think, Reform is not popular. The Tories are not popular. Labour is not popular.
But the next election will come down to, how much do Green and Lib Dem voters really want Labour out.
As for Sir Keir’s Easter message, the people that have always hated him hate it. Surprising then.
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
I'm not offended by it but disappointed that something so obviously flawed in both conception and execution could have seen the light of day. Most weeks I wonder if Kemi is being deliberately undermined by CCHQ. Now it is Labour's turn.
I'm not seeing anything flawed, its polite and friendly, what more is wanted?
Given that Starmer is not a practicing Christian (like the majority of the country) it would be dishonest if he'd pretended he was, and people would be castigating him for dishonesty if he had.
Or any of our writers' views on the plodding script.
And why is Starmer handing out sweets while children (all White because heaven knows it is hard to find Asian or Black Christians in North London) seem to be doing a junior school art project? Couldn't they have found at least one child to take an egg?
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
I'm not offended by it but disappointed that something so obviously flawed in both conception and execution could have seen the light of day. Most weeks I wonder if Kemi is being deliberately undermined by CCHQ. Now it is Labour's turn.
I'm not seeing anything flawed, its polite and friendly, what more is wanted?
Given that Starmer is not a practicing Christian (like the majority of the country) it would be dishonest if he'd pretended he was, and people would be castigating him for dishonesty if he had.
Or any of our writers' views on the plodding script.
And why is Starmer handing out sweets while children (all White because heaven knows it is hard to find Asian or Black Christians in North London) seem to be doing a junior school art project? Couldn't they have found at least one child to take an egg?
It is just not very good.
As a part time writer for the Gazette I can say the writing is bloody awful
In that case, the Gazette needs to invest in some new writers (ba-dum-tish).
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
To access the required outrage you need to hold the view that our white Christian heritage is being eroded by incomers and that this is both a sad thing and a bad thing.
"We're losing our country. We want it back."
This sentiment (along with "it's all fucked, let's try something new") lies at the heart of Reform's appeal.
I’m freshly back from France this morning, my probably written-off car still sitting in a bodyshop outside Macon.
I can cheerfully report that the French are notably more downbeat and miserable about life and the world than the British, and equally depressed by Trump. They too fear emmerdification of public services, though from a higher starting point.
I can’t give a meaningful view about the relative popularity of Le Pen and the RN because my neighbours there are all on the liberal to left spectrum (it’s an arty but understated area - think a sort of French Totnes or Holt). The Le Pen court case didn’t come up in conversation.
It wouldn't matter if everyone in that video was all white (and in a Church at Easter Sunday I'd expect the congregation to be disproportionately white naturally anyway) but I count 2 non-white children and 1 non-white adult in that video.
Even Modi managed a better more sincere Easter message than Starmer
“Wishing everyone a blessed and joyous Easter. This Easter is special because world over, the Jubilee Year is being observed with immense fervour. May this sacred occasion inspire hope, renewal and compassion in every person. May there be joy and harmony all around.”
Well Starmer is a confirmed atheist and puritan so not much surprise, I suspect his children got one Easter egg between then.
Kemi and Davey at least managed to mention Christ on the day of his resurrection unlike the PM 'As Christians celebrate Easter together, we are reminded of the unity and shared hope that this sacred time brings.
At this time of year, I reflect on those who are unable to celebrate their faith’s most important festival with their families. Many Christians still face persecution for their beliefs or live in war zones like Ukraine. Their extraordinary faith is a testament to how Christ’s life, death, and resurrection continue to inspire hope, even in the most difficult circumstances, across the world.
This same faith defines and enriches our culture and heritage in the UK. It brings about everyday acts of kindness and sacrifice in our communities, making us richer in every sense. I am grateful for the Christian inheritance that makes the UK such a blessed place to call home.
Farage too called Easter 'the most important Christian festival of the year' and got in an anti woke message saying our country was built on 'Judaeo Christian culture' https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1913857667258277962
The Badenoch one is decent, though I do wonder if the first draft said “war zones like Syria” or “war zones like Gaza” and then CCHQ though better of it and substituted Ukraine given the politically loaded context of the others (open to accusations of islamophobia or antisemitism respectively.)
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
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
To access the required outrage you need to hold the view that our white Christian heritage is being eroded by incomers and that this is both a sad thing and a bad thing.
"We're losing our country. We want it back."
This sentiment (along with "it's all fucked, let's try something new") lies at the heart of Reform's appeal.
Also not going to church while bemoaning its demise very much part of the package.
If you’re referring to me, in part, then I go to church all the time. I do it at home and on my travels - last time I was in church was about a week ago - when I went into the famous “wooden cathedral” in Almaty
I usually cross myself and often light a candle and say a little prayer
About five or six times a year I attend an actual service. The most memorable of my recent services was taking communion in the shrine of the archangel Michael in Mont Sant’Angelo on the Gargano peninsula in Italy last autumn
Amazing place
I’ve noticed the frequency of my service-attending has edged up over the years. Age? Maybe
I still wouldn’t categorise myself as a churchgoing Christian but I definitely go to churches and not just as a tourist or writer
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
It wouldn't matter if everyone in that video was all white (and in a Church at Easter Sunday I'd expect the congregation to be disproportionately white naturally anyway) but I count 2 non-white children and 1 non-white adult in that video.
Ed’s whole thread worth reading but this on the level of uncertainty our MRP model produces when you have 3 parties tied is striking - 200 seats within 5%, some 3 way splits. FPTP would produce some really odd results and small margins could shift a lot.
All this MRP really confirms is no party is very popular. Despite what some on Pb seem to think, Reform is not popular. The Tories are not popular. Labour is not popular.
But the next election will come down to, how much do Green and Lib Dem voters really want Labour out.
As for Sir Keir’s Easter message, the people that have always hated him hate it. Surprising then.
And with that, fin.
Indeed, Labour could still scrape a minority government by squeezing the Green vote to keep out Farage and Badenoch with LD and SNP support but I think the chance of another Labour majority government has now gone bar a dramatic change
The right to open a cheese market on Easter Sunday is in paragraph III of clause XXXCVII of the Magna Carta.
The history is interesting - a group of Welsh mercenaries held a castle against mercenaries hired by Prince John’s Groom of The Stool, by throwing everything they had. On Easter Sunday, they only had moldy cheese left. Which caused an outbreak of disease that collapsed the siege. The minor miracle was celebrated in a stained glass window in the Chapel of Judas College Oxford. Unfortunately this survived the Reformation, only to be broken during looting by Cromwell’s soldiers, after the defeat and death of Sir Harry Essen.
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
To access the required outrage you need to hold the view that our white Christian heritage is being eroded by incomers and that this is both a sad thing and a bad thing.
"We're losing our country. We want it back."
This sentiment (along with "it's all fucked, let's try something new") lies at the heart of Reform's appeal.
Also not going to church while bemoaning its demise very much part of the package.
If you’re referring to me, in part, then I go to church all the time. I do it at home and on my travels - last time I was in church was about a week ago - when I went into the famous “wooden cathedral” in Almaty
I usually cross myself and often light a candle and say a little prayer
About five or six times a year I attend an actual service. The most memorable of my recent services was taking communion in the shrine of the archangel Michael in Mont Sant’Angelo on the Gargano peninsula in Italy last autumn
Amazing place
I’ve noticed the frequency of my service-attending has edged up over the years. Age? Maybe
I still wouldn’t categorise myself as a churchgoing Christian but I definitely go to churches and not just as a tourist or writer
Not everything is about you!
I had a pee in St John's in Valletta (in the unisex toilets in case anyone was worrying about a blasphemous act), does that count?
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
To access the required outrage you need to hold the view that our white Christian heritage is being eroded by incomers and that this is both a sad thing and a bad thing.
"We're losing our country. We want it back."
This sentiment (along with "it's all fucked, let's try something new") lies at the heart of Reform's appeal.
Also not going to church while bemoaning its demise very much part of the package.
Yes the "White" is perhaps weightier than the "Christian" when it comes down to it. For some anyway.
Even Modi managed a better more sincere Easter message than Starmer
“Wishing everyone a blessed and joyous Easter. This Easter is special because world over, the Jubilee Year is being observed with immense fervour. May this sacred occasion inspire hope, renewal and compassion in every person. May there be joy and harmony all around.”
The jubilee year only applies to the Catholic church so that would have been a pretty stupid thing for Starmer to have mentioned.
Er, there are quite a lot of catholics in the UK. And we were once a catholic country. Indeed the whole point of Anglicanism is that in some ways we still are - it is a quintessentially English compromise between Catholicism and full Reformation
Indeed, a third of the congregation of the rural churches we attend is Roman Catholic as there are no RC churches in the area, the nearest are in Harlow, Ongar and Epping.
Our village and hamlet churches are medieval and of course were Catholic pre Reformation anyway
It wouldn't matter if everyone in that video was all white (and in a Church at Easter Sunday I'd expect the congregation to be disproportionately white naturally anyway) but I count 2 non-white children and 1 non-white adult in that video.
“No photo op. No public blessing. Just a cold shoulder—and a firm reminder from the Vatican about who the Catholic Church stands with.” - I love this for him
Pope Ghosts JD Vance at Vatican, Sends Top Cardinal to Lecture VP on Compassion
By the way, Leon, thanks for recommending the Ritter chocolate yesterday, just had some and it's quite nice.
Please don't; you'll only encourage him.
I want to encourage discussions like the one on dark chocolate yesterday. It enables us to see each other as real people while we bash each other with heavy politics. Talking of that, is this thing about a new colour complete bollocks? If it's not I would be fascinated to learn more.
By using a laser to stimulate very specific parts of the retina, they have induced a new visual sensation in the small number of volunteers in the study. If you think of colour as a perception, then one can say they have created a new colour. If you think of colour as a thing in the external world, then you might not consider it a new colour.
Colour is perception, light is just a mix of wavelengths.
Any animal with colour perception has a more than one type of coloured sensing cells in its visual system. The number varies; humans have three types (some shrimps have five times that - and do perceive a far larger number of 'colours')
In humans, the sensitivity of the three types of cells to wavelengths of light overlaps. So when you perceive a colour, it's the result of signals from a mix of types of cells.
What the experiment did was to very precisely (using laser pulses) stimulate only one type of cell. So the subjects 'saw' a colour signal they could never experience in nature.
It's almost as if the world we perceive isn't solid and real.
That's quite true. Our perceptions are only an approximation of the reality around us. The way we perceive time is odder still.
I recall an earnest discussion back in grammar school (therefore an extremely long time ago) about whether anyone could actually discern indigo and whether it was really just the same as violet. Were we hung up on the idea of seven spectral colours because it seemed to be the 'right' number, divinely ordained? Is there any anthropological research into how other cultures perceive colours? For example, the word 'glas' in Welsh seems to mean either blue or green (or turquoise or teal) according to taste:
Even Modi managed a better more sincere Easter message than Starmer
“Wishing everyone a blessed and joyous Easter. This Easter is special because world over, the Jubilee Year is being observed with immense fervour. May this sacred occasion inspire hope, renewal and compassion in every person. May there be joy and harmony all around.”
The jubilee year only applies to the Catholic church so that would have been a pretty stupid thing for Starmer to have mentioned.
Er, there are quite a lot of catholics in the UK. And we were once a catholic country. Indeed the whole point of Anglicanism is that in some ways we still are - it is a quintessentially English compromise between Catholicism and full Reformation
Indeed, a third of the congregation of the rural churches we attend is Roman Catholic as there are no RC churches in the area, the nearest are in Harlow and Epping.
Our village and hamlet churches are medieval and of course were Catholic pre Reformation anyway
Have to admit I'm not feeling the outrage on the Starmer Easter tweet, possibly as I too am an athiest.
To access the required outrage you need to hold the view that our white Christian heritage is being eroded by incomers and that this is both a sad thing and a bad thing.
"We're losing our country. We want it back."
This sentiment (along with "it's all fucked, let's try something new") lies at the heart of Reform's appeal.
Also not going to church while bemoaning its demise very much part of the package.
If you’re referring to me, in part, then I go to church all the time. I do it at home and on my travels - last time I was in church was about a week ago - when I went into the famous “wooden cathedral” in Almaty
I usually cross myself and often light a candle and say a little prayer
About five or six times a year I attend an actual service. The most memorable of my recent services was taking communion in the shrine of the archangel Michael in Mont Sant’Angelo on the Gargano peninsula in Italy last autumn
Amazing place
I’ve noticed the frequency of my service-attending has edged up over the years. Age? Maybe
I still wouldn’t categorise myself as a churchgoing Christian but I definitely go to churches and not just as a tourist or writer
I normally attend the local Church - though only only on Election Day
Seriously, notable Churches I've been to in recent years include: Westminster Cathedral, La Sagrada Familia, Durham, York, Ely, and Southwark.
Even Modi managed a better more sincere Easter message than Starmer
“Wishing everyone a blessed and joyous Easter. This Easter is special because world over, the Jubilee Year is being observed with immense fervour. May this sacred occasion inspire hope, renewal and compassion in every person. May there be joy and harmony all around.”
The jubilee year only applies to the Catholic church so that would have been a pretty stupid thing for Starmer to have mentioned.
Er, there are quite a lot of catholics in the UK. And we were once a catholic country. Indeed the whole point of Anglicanism is that in some ways we still are - it is a quintessentially English compromise between Catholicism and full Reformation
And so what.
Merely emphasising a Catholic aspect such as the jubilee year would lead to people who want something to complain about having something to complain about.
Which after all is the underlying reason you're complaining about what Starmer said.
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.
Farage wants an elected upper house, ideally with Reform having most members
It wouldn't matter if everyone in that video was all white (and in a Church at Easter Sunday I'd expect the congregation to be disproportionately white naturally anyway) but I count 2 non-white children and 1 non-white adult in that video.
“No photo op. No public blessing. Just a cold shoulder—and a firm reminder from the Vatican about who the Catholic Church stands with.” - I love this for him
Pope Ghosts JD Vance at Vatican, Sends Top Cardinal to Lecture VP on Compassion
You don't need the hocus-pocus in order to take on board the political and social message of Jesus.
Completely overlooking the fact that many abhor the political and social message of Jesus and want to have only the hocus-pocus combined with the elements of Paul and Leviticus they want without being bothered by such pesky things as his social messages.
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.
Trumpvangelicals are bonkers and their heads are filled with shit.
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.
I totally agree, but I'm just trying to read the tea leaves of how the population at large may see it.
I have discovered a grave lack in the global lexicon
Bishkek is one of those places where in Late April it’s boiling hot in the sun and you want to be in shorts, but as soon as you step into shade it’s cold and you need a thick coat
Why?
It is a result of low humidity + high solar angle + thin mountain air:
• The sun is strong, especially at altitude (Bishkek’s ~800m), so it heats the skin directly
• But the air temperature remains low - so as soon as you’re out of the direct sun, you feel the actual chill
• No ambient heat is held in the air the way it is in more humid or maritime places.
There is no word for this in English. What’s more, there is no word for it in any language that I can find:
In German, they sometimes call this “Schattenkälte” – “shade-cold” – the sudden chill of stepping out of the sun.
In Japanese, there’s hinata-bokko (日向ぼっこ), which refers to the joy of basking in the sun on a cold day
But even these words don’t describe the overall feeling and scenario. To lexical arms, citoyens!
If there is a word in some language I’d be grateful to learn it from any knowledgeable PBer
It wouldn't matter if everyone in that video was all white (and in a Church at Easter Sunday I'd expect the congregation to be disproportionately white naturally anyway) but I count 2 non-white children and 1 non-white adult in that video.
The UK really is a game of two halves. Urban and non-urban. If anyone wants to draw anything conclusive then there must be a segmentation.
I mean I did the other day wrt representation of non-white people in washing powder ads (approx 50%).
Now, black people constitute under 4% of the UK's population but the proportion of black people in Malmesbury and the proportion of black people in Willesden will be different. Same for Jews in West Cambourne and Golders Green.
Exactly as @leon said. It’s like the PM of Pakistan addressing Muslims on an Islamic holiday as he were talking to tourists visiting for the weekend
How? It is clearly a sincere celebration of the holiday from an excellent PM. Your shoehorning of some casual dog-whistle Islamophobia in there tells one all we need to know about your motivations here.
As for @leon - even a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist thinks he’s a loser. Safely ignored.
Edit: sorry - he never won the Nobel Prize. Point stands though.
Islamophobia! How boring
My motivation was that it seemed an strange way to address a country that until very recently considered itself Christian, and only doesn't now because of a mass immigration of non Christians that the Christians neither asked for or like much.
Every Easter I get faked out by TV ads that make hot cross buns look absolutely delicious, buy a pack in anticipation, have a couple and then go "meh". And every year I forget that happened last year.
Comments
https://x.com/RhonddaBryant/status/1913855848499073447
* And probably a big drop overall on last year's Freedom index score of 84/100
He’s an avowed atheist with a lot of Muslim marginals
I imagine deep down he disapproves of Christianity BECAUSE it is generally white and European and western. Maybe it’s so deep in him he’s unaware of it himself
Same way he fundamentally dislikes Britain and British people
Do you really prefer the sectarian ones ?
Happy Easter.
19% AI hallucinations.
1% world travel photos.
@RhonddaBryant
It’s misleading because the Mail has added the words in brackets [kle4 note - he is referring to Steve Race MP referring to the EHRC CHair being appalling, and the Mail's interpretation of what that meant]. They were not in the original.
@JurassicParkTho
Replying to @RhonddaBryant @ElliotHammerSR @soniasodha
The words in square brackets are context clarifications, Chris. So that the readers know EXACTLY what it is you’re so appalled by. 🙄
@RhonddaBryant
No. They put words in our mouths
There is no majority religion in this country.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/religionenglandandwales/census2021
Alleluia, Christ is risen, bang!
As for @leon - even a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist thinks he’s a loser. Safely ignored.
Edit: sorry - he never won the Nobel Prize. Point stands though.
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own Personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who's there
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1xrNaTO1bI
On Christians being a quaint minority, depending on how you define them (regular church goers? People who have been chisterned/confirmed? People who would describe themselves as Christian?), they quite possibly are.
Both countries have backslid over the last decade.
I think I prefer Starmer's atheism, if that's what it is.
Given that Starmer is not a practicing Christian (like the majority of the country) it would be dishonest if he'd pretended he was, and people would be castigating him for dishonesty if he had.
As a liberal I want reduced state interference anyway as much as possible. I have always felt the civil service has too much power and having been involved in one of the injustice campaigns for the last 12 years I know it to be so (I have the foi replies to prove it).
Our system of appointing ministers is appalling. Very few have any experience of the ministry they are supposedly managing and few stay long enough to get that experience. Too much stuff hits their desk that they have to sign off on that they have little time to check any of it. And the civil servants want the status quo so they are biased and want to close stuff down (hence scandals like the Post Office, Blood scandal, taking years to resolve if at all)
So I did an foi on something I am involved in and saw the minister's replies to all the letters. Each letter was drafted by a civil servant with some backing material sent to the minister. Not a single minister, from any party (it covers all 3) ever went back to a civil servant querying anything and the minister's letter went out unaltered from the civil servants draft. In most cases (because I know the subject), the letters were inaccurate. Replies pointing out the inaccuracies resulted in letters saying we have already replied.
I don't know how you do this, but it feels like it would be better if people were appointed to head departments with actual knowledge and did not move on every 5 minutes and there were enough of them to cover their briefs properly so it doesn't allow civil servants to get away this stuff. Maybe political appointments but not from MPs, but regularly scrutinised by MPs or the cabinet eg DWP cabinet minister overseeing politically appointed professional ministers for each of the DWP ministers like the Pension Minister.
“Wishing everyone a blessed and joyous Easter. This Easter is special because world over, the Jubilee Year is being observed with immense fervour. May this sacred occasion inspire hope, renewal and compassion in every person. May there be joy and harmony all around.”
https://www.newsweek.com/what-stephen-hawkings-iq-score-late-physicist-called-people-who-care-losers-843895
He’s right. You’re also monumentally dumb.
I don't think he ever expressed an opinion on your writing, though.
"We're losing our country. We want it back."
This sentiment (along with "it's all fucked, let's try something new") lies at the heart of Reform's appeal.
And I don't think I'd be very good at it.
That’s the loving spirit of Easter, right there
And the accent, if that’s what you could call the computer generated voice, was instantly recognisable as his.
What I’d not really appreciated but seems patently obvious in hindsight is how slow a conversation with him would be. I only asked one question. Each sentence took a good 5 minutes to construct.
“Blessed are the cheese makers”
Kemi and Davey at least managed to mention Christ on the day of his resurrection unlike the PM 'As Christians celebrate Easter together, we are reminded of the unity and shared hope that this sacred time brings.
At this time of year, I reflect on those who are unable to celebrate their faith’s most important festival with their families. Many Christians still face persecution for their beliefs or live in war zones like Ukraine. Their extraordinary faith is a testament to how Christ’s life, death, and resurrection continue to inspire hope, even in the most difficult circumstances, across the world.
This same faith defines and enriches our culture and heritage in the UK. It brings about everyday acts of kindness and sacrifice in our communities, making us richer in every sense. I am grateful for the Christian inheritance that makes the UK such a blessed place to call home.
Wishing everyone in the UK and around the world a very happy Easter.'
https://x.com/KemiBadenoch/status/1913878432099745810
Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Easter.
'For those of us who are Christian, it’s a time to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice and the hope and redemption of his resurrection.
Happy Easter.'
https://x.com/EdwardJDavey/status/1913865415723307077
Farage too called Easter 'the most important Christian festival of the year' and got in an anti woke message saying our country was built on 'Judaeo Christian culture'
https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1913857667258277962
https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1913837531541459320?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
Or any of our writers' views on the plodding script.
And why is Starmer handing out sweets while children (all White because heaven knows it is hard to find Asian or Black Christians in North London) seem to be doing a junior school art project? Couldn't they have found at least one child to take an egg?
It is just not very good.
https://x.com/luketryl/status/1913907633846632831
Ed’s whole thread worth reading but this on the level of uncertainty our MRP model produces when you have 3 parties tied is striking - 200 seats within 5%, some 3 way splits. FPTP would produce some really odd results and small margins could shift a lot.
All this MRP really confirms is no party is very popular. Despite what some on Pb seem to think, Reform is not popular. The Tories are not popular. Labour is not popular.
But the next election will come down to, how much do Green and Lib Dem voters really want Labour out.
As for Sir Keir’s Easter message, the people that have always hated him hate it. Surprising then.
And with that, fin.
I can cheerfully report that the French are notably more downbeat and miserable about life and the world than the British, and equally depressed by Trump. They too fear emmerdification of public services, though from a higher starting point.
I can’t give a meaningful view about the relative popularity of Le Pen and the RN because my neighbours there are all on the liberal to left spectrum (it’s an arty but understated area - think a sort of French Totnes or Holt). The Le Pen court case didn’t come up in conversation.
Some people will believe any old shite.
You don't need the hocus-pocus in order to take on board the political and social message of Jesus.
https://x.com/SkyNews/status/1913892351157686774
I usually cross myself and often light a candle and say a little prayer
About five or six times a year I attend an actual
service. The most memorable of my recent services was taking communion in the shrine of the archangel Michael in Mont Sant’Angelo on the Gargano peninsula in Italy last autumn
Amazing place
I’ve noticed the frequency of my service-attending has edged up over the years. Age? Maybe
I still wouldn’t categorise myself as a churchgoing Christian but I definitely go to churches and not just as a tourist or writer
The word majority is used if its 50%+1, plurality is only used for minorities.
https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/talking-jesus-the-growing-number-of-christians-of-colour
The history is interesting - a group of Welsh mercenaries held a castle against mercenaries hired by Prince John’s Groom of The Stool, by throwing everything they had. On Easter Sunday, they only had moldy cheese left. Which caused an outbreak of disease that collapsed the siege. The minor miracle was celebrated in a stained glass window in the Chapel of Judas College Oxford. Unfortunately this survived the Reformation, only to be broken during looting by Cromwell’s soldiers, after the defeat and death of Sir Harry Essen.
I had a pee in St John's in Valletta (in the unisex toilets in case anyone was worrying about a blasphemous act), does that count?
Our village and hamlet churches are medieval and of course were Catholic pre Reformation anyway
Still, its not all-white, and I imagine that percentage varies from Church to Church.
“No photo op. No public blessing. Just a cold shoulder—and a firm reminder from the Vatican about who the Catholic Church stands with.”
- I love this for him
Pope Ghosts JD Vance at Vatican, Sends Top Cardinal to Lecture VP on Compassion
https://x.com/JayMallow3/status/1913706078510174623
Seriously, notable Churches I've been to in recent years include: Westminster Cathedral, La Sagrada Familia, Durham, York, Ely, and Southwark.
"contribution Christians have made to this country"? Just weird.
Merely emphasising a Catholic aspect such as the jubilee year would lead to people who want something to complain about having something to complain about.
Which after all is the underlying reason you're complaining about what Starmer said.
Something to do with narratives perhaps - i find i take on board morals and such through novels and movies etc better than just pure argument.
Entirely unsurprising when you consider levels of religiosity in various countries round the world.
Despotism would be far worse.
Bishkek is one of those places where in Late April it’s boiling hot in the sun and you want to be in shorts, but as soon as you step into shade it’s cold and you need a thick coat
Why?
It is a result of low humidity + high solar angle + thin mountain air:
• The sun is strong, especially at altitude (Bishkek’s ~800m), so it heats the skin directly
• But the air temperature remains low - so as soon as you’re out of the direct sun, you feel the actual chill
• No ambient heat is held in the air the way it is in more humid or maritime places.
There is no word for this in English. What’s more, there is no word for it in any language that I can find:
In German, they sometimes call this “Schattenkälte” – “shade-cold” – the sudden chill of stepping out of the sun.
In Japanese, there’s hinata-bokko (日向ぼっこ), which refers to the joy of basking in the sun on a cold day
But even these words don’t describe the overall feeling and scenario. To lexical arms, citoyens!
If there is a word in some language I’d be grateful to learn it from any knowledgeable PBer
I mean I did the other day wrt representation of non-white people in washing powder ads (approx 50%).
Now, black people constitute under 4% of the UK's population but the proportion of black people in Malmesbury and the proportion of black people in Willesden will be different. Same for Jews in West Cambourne and Golders Green.
My motivation was that it seemed an strange way to address a country that until very recently considered itself Christian, and only doesn't now because of a mass immigration of non Christians that the Christians neither asked for or like much.