Reform are going to sweep to victory in the GE. Unless something radical changes
Labour AND the Tories will be destroyed. Deservedly
Most polls bar FON have a hung parliament and Reform still needing Tory support for a majority, with a few giving Labour, LDs and SNP a majority
The drift of history is towards Reform
Winning lots of seats and even running some councils would be an important milestone to see if they can hold things together, particularly as whilst there is scope for Reform to make some changes, there aren't as many changes to make in local government as they are suggesting, constrained as it is by central government.
Reminds me of an old Guardian piece which came across as lauding the business savvy of Albanian cocaine traffikers, forging good relationships, leveraging a violent reputation, and delivering higher quality for lower prices. Good to see they are still delivering.
The Hellbanianz
"How Albanians came to conquer the UK’s cocaine market is a lesson in criminal savvy; the value of making friends with the world’s most dangerous mafias; and the absolute threat of violence.
It began with a business model that was simple in concept, but sufficiently bold to subvert the existing order. For years cocaine’s international importers worked separately from its wholesalers and the gangs. Pricing structure varied, depending on the drug’s purity; the higher it was, the more it cost.
The Albanians ditched the entire model. They began negotiating directly with the Colombian cartels who control coca production. Huge shipments were arranged direct from South America. Supply chains were kept in-house."
An old mate of mine was an armed response copper in Leicester before he retired. 15 years ago, he said the only people he was truly afraid of were the Albanian and Somali gangs. He said every other criminal in the city were playing at being gangsters, but the Albanians and Somalis were actual, proper gangsters, with no fear of law enforcement or other gangs.
🛑TONIGHT dozens of @metpoliceuk are battling to separate Indian and Pakistani protestors as they hurl abuse at each other. UK Multiculturalism has been a DISASTER!
Has she never seen football fans?
and the attached video doesn't show any battling, just a line of cops looking at the Indian supporters standing around on one side of the street and a line of cops looking at the Pakistani supporters standing around on the other. I can't imagine what she would call an actual riot.
Yeh. Just looked at the vid clip and if that's a riot she has led a sheltered life.
A head teacher attacked his deputy with a wrench after being hit by "overwhelming sexual jealousy" due to a love triangle at the school.
Anthony Felton, 54, admitted attempted grievous bodily harm with intent after the attack at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Comprehensive in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, on 5 March.
Richard Pyke, 51, was treated for minor injuries in hospital after Felton sought him out and attacked him from behind.
Felton, of Penyrheol Road, Gorseinon, Swansea, was sentenced to two years and four months on Friday and Judge Paul Thomas KC said he suspected a head teacher attacking his deputy was "entirely without precedent".
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
A head teacher attacked his deputy with a wrench after being hit by "overwhelming sexual jealousy" due to a love triangle at the school.
Anthony Felton, 54, admitted attempted grievous bodily harm with intent after the attack at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Comprehensive in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, on 5 March.
Richard Pyke, 51, was treated for minor injuries in hospital after Felton sought him out and attacked him from behind.
Felton, of Penyrheol Road, Gorseinon, Swansea, was sentenced to two years and four months on Friday and Judge Paul Thomas KC said he suspected a head teacher attacking his deputy was "entirely without precedent".
Reform are going to sweep to victory in the GE. Unless something radical changes
Labour AND the Tories will be destroyed. Deservedly
Most polls bar FON have a hung parliament and Reform still needing Tory support for a majority, with a few giving Labour, LDs and SNP a majority
The drift of history is towards Reform
For now but this is Farage's last chance probably to become PM. He missed it against Ed Miliband and Cameron in 2015, more narrowly missed it with a few MPs but still miles off in 2024 against Sunak and Starmer and against a now unpopular Starmer and not very visible Badenoch has an open goal to sweep the white working class vote and strong Leave vote. If he misses it and Reform still fail to win most seats then the Tories will likely replace a losing Badenoch with Jenrick backed by Rees Mogg who will hoover back some of the Tory votes lost to Reform and Burnham or Rayner will likely replace North London Starmer too in due course and have more appeal in the redwall seats
Quite possibly. And Farage is beginning to show his age
However the shift in western politics towards the hard right looks unstoppable and inexorable to me, for the foreseeable future
It’s the final and inevitable result of the catastrophic failures of mass migration and multiculturalism. Which are now evident to anyone with a functional brain stem
I don’t see how this secular shift gets reversed anytime soon. The question is: which party benefits?
A more hard right Tory party under Jenrick could prosper
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I have never seen a Reform policy document that suggests it's first draft wasn't in crayons.
The only vaguely credible thing about Reform is Farage.
A head teacher attacked his deputy with a wrench after being hit by "overwhelming sexual jealousy" due to a love triangle at the school.
Anthony Felton, 54, admitted attempted grievous bodily harm with intent after the attack at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Comprehensive in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, on 5 March.
Richard Pyke, 51, was treated for minor injuries in hospital after Felton sought him out and attacked him from behind.
Felton, of Penyrheol Road, Gorseinon, Swansea, was sentenced to two years and four months on Friday and Judge Paul Thomas KC said he suspected a head teacher attacking his deputy was "entirely without precedent".
Reform are going to sweep to victory in the GE. Unless something radical changes
Labour AND the Tories will be destroyed. Deservedly
Most polls bar FON have a hung parliament and Reform still needing Tory support for a majority, with a few giving Labour, LDs and SNP a majority
The drift of history is towards Reform
For now but this is Farage's last chance probably to become PM. He missed it against Ed Miliband and Cameron in 2015, more narrowly missed it with a few MPs but still miles off in 2024 against Sunak and Starmer and against a now unpopular Starmer and not very visible Badenoch has an open goal to sweep the white working class vote and strong Leave vote. If he misses it and Reform still fail to win most seats then the Tories will likely replace a losing Badenoch with Jenrick backed by Rees Mogg who will hoover back some of the Tory votes lost to Reform and Burnham or Rayner will likely replace North London Starmer too in due course and have more appeal in the redwall seats
Quite possibly. And Farage is beginning to show his age
However the shift in western politics towards the hard right looks unstoppable and inexorable to me, for the foreseeable future
It’s the final and inevitable result of the catastrophic failures of mass migration and multiculturalism. Which are now evident to anyone with a functional brain stem
I don’t see how this secular shift gets reversed anytime soon. The question is: which party benefits?
A more hard right Tory party under Jenrick could prosper
I think the opportunity for Farage to team up with Badenoch should be taken. Someone accused of being racist his whole career sharing power with a black woman could be quite unifying.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I have never seen a Reform policy document that suggests it's first draft wasn't in crayons.
The only vaguely credible thing about Reform is Farage.
Cut Council tax and spend more on potholes in Leicestershire is Reform's message!
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
Reform are going to sweep to victory in the GE. Unless something radical changes
Labour AND the Tories will be destroyed. Deservedly
Most polls bar FON have a hung parliament and Reform still needing Tory support for a majority, with a few giving Labour, LDs and SNP a majority
The drift of history is towards Reform
For now but this is Farage's last chance probably to become PM. He missed it against Ed Miliband and Cameron in 2015, more narrowly missed it with a few MPs but still miles off in 2024 against Sunak and Starmer and against a now unpopular Starmer and not very visible Badenoch has an open goal to sweep the white working class vote and strong Leave vote. If he misses it and Reform still fail to win most seats then the Tories will likely replace a losing Badenoch with Jenrick backed by Rees Mogg who will hoover back some of the Tory votes lost to Reform and Burnham or Rayner will likely replace North London Starmer too in due course and have more appeal in the redwall seats
Quite possibly. And Farage is beginning to show his age
However the shift in western politics towards the hard right looks unstoppable and inexorable to me, for the foreseeable future
It’s the final and inevitable result of the catastrophic failures of mass migration and multiculturalism. Which are now evident to anyone with a functional brain stem
I don’t see how this secular shift gets reversed anytime soon. The question is: which party benefits?
A more hard right Tory party under Jenrick could prosper
To an extent but the hard right cannot win without the centre right too. Even Trump only won as leader of the Republican Party, the traditional establishment centre right party in the US not with a new party and Meloni's party in Italy only governs in coalition with centre right Forza Italia.
Le Pen has still fallen short in France as LR voters still prefer Macron's party to hers in runoffs.
So Farage likely needs to win most seats and then form a government with a diminished Badenoch Tories or a 43 year old Jenrick overtakes a 61 year old Farage who again has fallen short of being able to beat Labour
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
Indeed
I’ve seen cyclists shoot red lights near my flat, in the Inner Circle of Regent’s Park, at a junction used by hundreds of kids daily (for the park, the zoo, and schools). There’s no need for the cyclists to do this. It’s not a dangerous junction. They just don’t give a fuck and blaze through it at 25mph
I’ve personally seen them narrowly miss toddlers by inches, they would easily kill a little kid if they collided
If it happens they will deserve a lot worse than 2 years in jail
Reminds me of an old Guardian piece which came across as lauding the business savvy of Albanian cocaine traffikers, forging good relationships, leveraging a violent reputation, and delivering higher quality for lower prices. Good to see they are still delivering.
The Hellbanianz
"How Albanians came to conquer the UK’s cocaine market is a lesson in criminal savvy; the value of making friends with the world’s most dangerous mafias; and the absolute threat of violence.
It began with a business model that was simple in concept, but sufficiently bold to subvert the existing order. For years cocaine’s international importers worked separately from its wholesalers and the gangs. Pricing structure varied, depending on the drug’s purity; the higher it was, the more it cost.
The Albanians ditched the entire model. They began negotiating directly with the Colombian cartels who control coca production. Huge shipments were arranged direct from South America. Supply chains were kept in-house."
An old mate of mine was an armed response copper in Leicester before he retired. 15 years ago, he said the only people he was truly afraid of were the Albanian and Somali gangs. He said every other criminal in the city were playing at being gangsters, but the Albanians and Somalis were actual, proper gangsters, with no fear of law enforcement or other gangs.
This "They began negotiating directly with the Colombian cartels" idea sounds to me like something I remember from Netflix's various Narcos seasons about columbia/mexico/us border but I can't remember the details other than most of them were killed. Usually horribly.
🛑TONIGHT dozens of @metpoliceuk are battling to separate Indian and Pakistani protestors as they hurl abuse at each other. UK Multiculturalism has been a DISASTER!
Has she never seen football fans?
A fucking stupid remark, even by your dismal standards of rank stupidity
Pakistani vs Indian violence will be the centrist's new Tavistock Centre - nothing to see here
I will need a tad more explanation on this one.
If there is trouble between Indian and Pakistanis in the UK as a result of the conflict that looks to be starting between the two countries, it will be downplayed or denied by centrists in the same way they looked the other way at the trans issue. I would use another, better example but, quite aptly, the subject is not allowed to be mentioned
A head teacher attacked his deputy with a wrench after being hit by "overwhelming sexual jealousy" due to a love triangle at the school.
Anthony Felton, 54, admitted attempted grievous bodily harm with intent after the attack at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Comprehensive in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, on 5 March.
Richard Pyke, 51, was treated for minor injuries in hospital after Felton sought him out and attacked him from behind.
Felton, of Penyrheol Road, Gorseinon, Swansea, was sentenced to two years and four months on Friday and Judge Paul Thomas KC said he suspected a head teacher attacking his deputy was "entirely without precedent".
There's a lot to this story: one aspect is that he committed the attack in full view of the CCTV, presumably well aware of where the CCTV camera was. Another was that, afterwards, he wrote an email to the school's staff apologising.
Possibly a moment of stupid hot-headed madness, but I would be unsurprised if he had not had similar moments of hot-headed madness in the past.
Incredible scoop! Career officials inside the Trump administration first viewed the case of Mr. Abrego like any normal case of a wrongful deportation — they began looking for ways to bring him back, as happens normally when ICE makes mistakes.
Then the White House got involved, and blew it up.
A head teacher attacked his deputy with a wrench after being hit by "overwhelming sexual jealousy" due to a love triangle at the school.
Anthony Felton, 54, admitted attempted grievous bodily harm with intent after the attack at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Comprehensive in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, on 5 March.
Richard Pyke, 51, was treated for minor injuries in hospital after Felton sought him out and attacked him from behind.
Felton, of Penyrheol Road, Gorseinon, Swansea, was sentenced to two years and four months on Friday and Judge Paul Thomas KC said he suspected a head teacher attacking his deputy was "entirely without precedent".
There's a lot to this story: one aspect is that he committed the attack in full view of the CCTV, presumably well aware of where the CCTV camera was. Another was that, afterwards, he wrote an email to the school's staff apologising.
Possibly a moment of stupid hot-headed madness, but I would be unsurprised if he had not had similar moments of hot-headed madness in the past.
A classic "Fire and brimstone homophobe caught dogging in the gay district" story if ever there was one
Reminds me of an old Guardian piece which came across as lauding the business savvy of Albanian cocaine traffikers, forging good relationships, leveraging a violent reputation, and delivering higher quality for lower prices. Good to see they are still delivering.
The Hellbanianz
"How Albanians came to conquer the UK’s cocaine market is a lesson in criminal savvy; the value of making friends with the world’s most dangerous mafias; and the absolute threat of violence.
It began with a business model that was simple in concept, but sufficiently bold to subvert the existing order. For years cocaine’s international importers worked separately from its wholesalers and the gangs. Pricing structure varied, depending on the drug’s purity; the higher it was, the more it cost.
The Albanians ditched the entire model. They began negotiating directly with the Colombian cartels who control coca production. Huge shipments were arranged direct from South America. Supply chains were kept in-house."
An old mate of mine was an armed response copper in Leicester before he retired. 15 years ago, he said the only people he was truly afraid of were the Albanian and Somali gangs. He said every other criminal in the city were playing at being gangsters, but the Albanians and Somalis were actual, proper gangsters, with no fear of law enforcement or other gangs.
Putting hard working British gangsters out of work. Buy British!
🚨 #BREAKINGNEWS In an interview with Time magazine Trump claims he wasn't aware the supreme court ruling 9-0 was against deportation without due process. He claims somebody in the administration told him the complete opposite. 🚨
Reminds me of an old Guardian piece which came across as lauding the business savvy of Albanian cocaine traffikers, forging good relationships, leveraging a violent reputation, and delivering higher quality for lower prices. Good to see they are still delivering.
The Hellbanianz
"How Albanians came to conquer the UK’s cocaine market is a lesson in criminal savvy; the value of making friends with the world’s most dangerous mafias; and the absolute threat of violence.
It began with a business model that was simple in concept, but sufficiently bold to subvert the existing order. For years cocaine’s international importers worked separately from its wholesalers and the gangs. Pricing structure varied, depending on the drug’s purity; the higher it was, the more it cost.
The Albanians ditched the entire model. They began negotiating directly with the Colombian cartels who control coca production. Huge shipments were arranged direct from South America. Supply chains were kept in-house."
An old mate of mine was an armed response copper in Leicester before he retired. 15 years ago, he said the only people he was truly afraid of were the Albanian and Somali gangs. He said every other criminal in the city were playing at being gangsters, but the Albanians and Somalis were actual, proper gangsters, with no fear of law enforcement or other gangs.
I believe Liverpool is the one place where they have struggled to get a foot hold. Scousers only want to deal with other Scousers.
Reminds me of an old Guardian piece which came across as lauding the business savvy of Albanian cocaine traffikers, forging good relationships, leveraging a violent reputation, and delivering higher quality for lower prices. Good to see they are still delivering.
The Hellbanianz
"How Albanians came to conquer the UK’s cocaine market is a lesson in criminal savvy; the value of making friends with the world’s most dangerous mafias; and the absolute threat of violence.
It began with a business model that was simple in concept, but sufficiently bold to subvert the existing order. For years cocaine’s international importers worked separately from its wholesalers and the gangs. Pricing structure varied, depending on the drug’s purity; the higher it was, the more it cost.
The Albanians ditched the entire model. They began negotiating directly with the Colombian cartels who control coca production. Huge shipments were arranged direct from South America. Supply chains were kept in-house."
An old mate of mine was an armed response copper in Leicester before he retired. 15 years ago, he said the only people he was truly afraid of were the Albanian and Somali gangs. He said every other criminal in the city were playing at being gangsters, but the Albanians and Somalis were actual, proper gangsters, with no fear of law enforcement or other gangs.
I believe Liverpool is the one place where they have struggled to get a foot hold. Scousers only want to deal with other Scousers.
It's not that, it's just that the Albanians can't understand Scouse!
In her strongest criticisms of the tax to date, Ms Nandy went on to insist that a “fairer” and “more sustainable” funding model must be found, declaring the current system “unenforceable”.
When a politician talks about fairer, that normally results in anything but and at increased cost...her comments scream some sort of media tax on your council tax bill.
They'll just kick the can down the road by announcing some sort of extension to the existing model while a commission is set up to explore other options. In related news, I've had my 7th letter in 6 months in our new house. "The Legal Occupier" is under the final stages of investigation. What investigation? If they ever do send round a telly licence sales assistant, I'll just say "no thanks" and that'll be it. It's just a never ending harrassment, but fortunately I know I'm doing nothing illegal and they just spend licence payers money for nowt.
We've been getting letters like that for ten years. I think they'll twig one day (or maybe not).
The letters can just go unopened into the recycling. You're under no obligation to even read them. Unfortunately, most people don't know that, and think the BBC is an arm of the state with actual enforcement powers. People only get prosecuted because they admit to watching it or let Capita into their house and the sales assistant bullies them into to admitting something. There is no other way they can find out. They mostly prosecute women and the elderly.
I understand that one of the letters they may send informs you that you are being charged in court. If you throw that in the bin unopened you won't reply to refute the charge and you will be found guilty in absentia.
Sorry I don't have a link.
That's just not true. You can't be charged with not having a TV licence unless a Capita employee has knocked on your door and you've told them you watch telly without a licence. Any correspondence after that obviously has to be dealt with properly. You can't just have a letter turn up out of the blue saying you're being prosecuted.
If they turn up at your door you just tell them to take a hike.
🚨 #BREAKINGNEWS In an interview with Time magazine Trump claims he wasn't aware the supreme court ruling 9-0 was against deportation without due process. He claims somebody in the administration told him the complete opposite. 🚨
A head teacher attacked his deputy with a wrench after being hit by "overwhelming sexual jealousy" due to a love triangle at the school.
Anthony Felton, 54, admitted attempted grievous bodily harm with intent after the attack at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Comprehensive in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, on 5 March.
Richard Pyke, 51, was treated for minor injuries in hospital after Felton sought him out and attacked him from behind.
Felton, of Penyrheol Road, Gorseinon, Swansea, was sentenced to two years and four months on Friday and Judge Paul Thomas KC said he suspected a head teacher attacking his deputy was "entirely without precedent".
There's a lot to this story: one aspect is that he committed the attack in full view of the CCTV, presumably well aware of where the CCTV camera was. Another was that, afterwards, he wrote an email to the school's staff apologising.
Possibly a moment of stupid hot-headed madness, but I would be unsurprised if he had not had similar moments of hot-headed madness in the past.
Yes, it's one reason for example I'm convinced Will Smith is likely a violent man in general - his incident at the Oscars was so public, and not an instant reaction, and there were no consequences, what would someone who would act that way do in private, what odds it was the first time he had acted like that?
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
Indeed
I’ve seen cyclists shoot red lights near my flat, in the Inner Circle of Regent’s Park, at a junction used by hundreds of kids daily (for the park, the zoo, and schools). There’s no need for the cyclists to do this. It’s not a dangerous junction. They just don’t give a fuck and blaze through it at 25mph
I’ve personally seen them narrowly miss toddlers by inches, they would easily kill a little kid if they collided
If it happens they will deserve a lot worse than 2 years in jail
I don't really see anything wrong with the new law other than it being unnecessary. If you kill someone while cycling you can still be sentenced to life under manslaughter laws. How many laws are we going to introduce for specific acts rather than being covered by general law? After all a total of just 4 people were killed by cyclists last year. How many other activities resulted in more deaths without specific laws. Just a few days ago someone was sentenced for 4 deaths in one go when waterboarding. There must be so many more deaths for irresponsible behaviour sailing or skiing, yet nobody is asking for specific laws for them.
Where do you draw the line? Why cycling when they cause less deaths?
PS @leon, surprised to see you going for it again tonight having had your arse handed to you spectacularly this afternoon 😁
Someone at Reform has been to the Lib Dem School of Bar Charts
Funny you mention that.
I saw a ‘winning here’ Reform brochure for Reform in a seat in Durham which was all bar charts and ‘only we can win here’ stuff.
I had one like that, using a national poll from February. Not the worst offender I've ever seen, all parties select something most beneficial to them, but it was a classic case.
Reminds me of an old Guardian piece which came across as lauding the business savvy of Albanian cocaine traffikers, forging good relationships, leveraging a violent reputation, and delivering higher quality for lower prices. Good to see they are still delivering.
The Hellbanianz
"How Albanians came to conquer the UK’s cocaine market is a lesson in criminal savvy; the value of making friends with the world’s most dangerous mafias; and the absolute threat of violence.
It began with a business model that was simple in concept, but sufficiently bold to subvert the existing order. For years cocaine’s international importers worked separately from its wholesalers and the gangs. Pricing structure varied, depending on the drug’s purity; the higher it was, the more it cost.
The Albanians ditched the entire model. They began negotiating directly with the Colombian cartels who control coca production. Huge shipments were arranged direct from South America. Supply chains were kept in-house."
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
Not sure how we can possibly know that. These are only locals, and the GE is likely to be some time away.
🚨 #BREAKINGNEWS In an interview with Time magazine Trump claims he wasn't aware the supreme court ruling 9-0 was against deportation without due process. He claims somebody in the administration told him the complete opposite. 🚨
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
Reminds me of an old Guardian piece which came across as lauding the business savvy of Albanian cocaine traffikers, forging good relationships, leveraging a violent reputation, and delivering higher quality for lower prices. Good to see they are still delivering.
The Hellbanianz
"How Albanians came to conquer the UK’s cocaine market is a lesson in criminal savvy; the value of making friends with the world’s most dangerous mafias; and the absolute threat of violence.
It began with a business model that was simple in concept, but sufficiently bold to subvert the existing order. For years cocaine’s international importers worked separately from its wholesalers and the gangs. Pricing structure varied, depending on the drug’s purity; the higher it was, the more it cost.
The Albanians ditched the entire model. They began negotiating directly with the Colombian cartels who control coca production. Huge shipments were arranged direct from South America. Supply chains were kept in-house."
An old mate of mine was an armed response copper in Leicester before he retired. 15 years ago, he said the only people he was truly afraid of were the Albanian and Somali gangs. He said every other criminal in the city were playing at being gangsters, but the Albanians and Somalis were actual, proper gangsters, with no fear of law enforcement or other gangs.
I believe Liverpool is the one place where they have struggled to get a foot hold. Scousers only want to deal with other Scousers.
It's not that, it's just that the Albanians can't understand Scouse!
What ever do you mean?
Alright la, any chance you’ve got a bit of lemo for me pocket, la? Dead sound if you can sort us, lad."
🚨 #BREAKINGNEWS In an interview with Time magazine Trump claims he wasn't aware the supreme court ruling 9-0 was against deportation without due process. He claims somebody in the administration told him the complete opposite. 🚨
Basically, 90% likelihood of a Liberal majority and 10% likelihood of a Hung Parliament. It seems the improving Liberal position in Quebec (at the expense of Bloc Quebecois) and elsewhere (at the expense of the NDP) will be enough to send Carney back to 24 Sussex with a majority of 20-40 seats which would be an incredible turnround from the situation six months ago when Poilievre and the CPC looked on course for a landslide win.
In Australia, a poll of the 20 most marginal electorates has a 3.5% swing to Labor from 2021 which would suggest an increased majority for Albanese but that contrasts with other polling which suggests the Coalition is doing well where it needs to do well especially in Victoria. It's hard to see from the current evidence how Dutton and the LNP win an overall majority but it's possible they might stop Albanese getting a majority on his own.
🚨 #BREAKINGNEWS In an interview with Time magazine Trump claims he wasn't aware the supreme court ruling 9-0 was against deportation without due process. He claims somebody in the administration told him the complete opposite. 🚨
Basically, 90% likelihood of a Liberal majority and 10% likelihood of a Hung Parliament. It seems the improving Liberal position in Quebec (at the expense of Bloc Quebecois) and elsewhere (at the expense of the NDP) will be enough to send Carney back to 24 Sussex with a majority of 20-40 seats which would be an incredible turnround from the situation six months ago when Poilievre and the CPC looked on course for a landslide win.
In Australia, a poll of the 20 most marginal electorates has a 3.5% swing to Labor from 2021 which would suggest an increased majority for Albanese but that contrasts with other polling which suggests the Coalition is doing well where it needs to do well especially in Victoria. It's hard to see from the current evidence how Dutton and the LNP win an overall majority but it's possible they might stop Albanese getting a majority on his own.
Well, i always hope foreign polls are wrong to increase excitement, but i dont mind in what direction.
My (possibly very ill informed) views on the next Pope, for what it’s worth:
- I can’t see it being a shift to a hardline conservative. That rules out candidates like Sarah. - Tagle feels to me quite young and possibly too progressive to be a unifying figure.
- The two I’d see as most likely are Parolin (continuity Francis, but safe pair of hands, and a nod to the Italians by giving them a Pope again after 50 odd years) and the wildcard choice, Pizzaballa (not because he has an amazing name - though he does - but because he seems to tick a lot of boxes (considered soft conservative but not overwhelmingly so, experience in Middle East politics, Italian but international). His only drawback is he’s (relatively) young so they could be getting him for 30 odd years, though it’s been a while since they elected a younger pope and maybe it’s time?
Of course, I know nothing of the internal politics of the Catholic Church or the cardinals, so all to be taken with a huge dose of salt.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
The biggest risk is from electric bikes, which have the speed and mass of mopeds and are ridden with complete contempt for pedestrians.
Thing is, those throttle controlled e bikes are illegal anyway. I've seen coppers in Loughborough walk past 20 food delivery riders, all on illegal bikes as they hang around Loughborough town centre waiting for delivery contracts to come in. The coppers don't appear to want to uphold the law and take illegal machines off the streets before they cause incidents.
A 21-year-old man who died fighting for the Russian army in Ukraine has been identified as the son of a senior official in the CIA.
Michael Gloss was killed on the front line in the eastern Donetsk region in April last year, Important Stories, a Russian investigative outlet, reported.
He was the son of Juliane Gallina, the CIA deputy director for digital innovation, and Larry Gloss, a US navy veteran who took part in Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War of the early 1990s.
Someone at Reform has been to the Lib Dem School of Bar Charts
Funny you mention that.
I saw a ‘winning here’ Reform brochure for Reform in a seat in Durham which was all bar charts and ‘only we can win here’ stuff.
Reform can't win here. Reform's bar charts are disappointingly representative of the polling numbers they aim to portray. Only the Lib Dems can create truly outrageous bar charts that would make Beelzebub blush.
A head teacher attacked his deputy with a wrench after being hit by "overwhelming sexual jealousy" due to a love triangle at the school.
Anthony Felton, 54, admitted attempted grievous bodily harm with intent after the attack at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Comprehensive in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, on 5 March.
Richard Pyke, 51, was treated for minor injuries in hospital after Felton sought him out and attacked him from behind.
Felton, of Penyrheol Road, Gorseinon, Swansea, was sentenced to two years and four months on Friday and Judge Paul Thomas KC said he suspected a head teacher attacking his deputy was "entirely without precedent".
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
The biggest risk is from electric bikes, which have the speed and mass of mopeds and are ridden with complete contempt for pedestrians.
Thing is, those throttle controlled e bikes are illegal anyway. I've seen coppers in Loughborough walk past 20 food delivery riders, all on illegal bikes as they hang around Loughborough town centre waiting for delivery contracts to come in. The coppers don't appear to want to uphold the law and take illegal machines off the streets before they cause incidents.
Its yet another example of letting the small things slip that leads to widespread abuse and knock of effects.
Everybody with half a brain knows that the e-bikes are constructed in such a way that snip of one cable unlocks performance that is way over the legal limit, but nothing is done. Same with supposed having to wear helmets for hiring scooters etc.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
It's dangerous cycling on the dualed pavement that alarms me. Happily not that common.
I have mixed feelings. I prefer bikes to share space with pedestrians with pedestrians having priority because cars kill cyclists but cyclists rarely kill pedestrians.
However having said that, many years ago I cycled in a shared space in Cambridge using clip on. It was a nightmare with pedestrians just leaping out in front of me without looking. I just had to abandon it. It might have been ok without clip ons, but with them I nearly fell off several times so changed my views on bikes and pedestrians sharing space.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
Someone at Reform has been to the Lib Dem School of Bar Charts
Funny you mention that.
I saw a ‘winning here’ Reform brochure for Reform in a seat in Durham which was all bar charts and ‘only we can win here’ stuff.
Reform can't win here. Reform's bar charts are disappointingly representative of the polling numbers they aim to portray. Only the Lib Dems can create truly outrageous bar charts that would make Beelzebub blush.
Well that is clearly untrue for the one just shown here. Since when had 28% been double 20%?
Someone at Reform has been to the Lib Dem School of Bar Charts
Funny you mention that.
I saw a ‘winning here’ Reform brochure for Reform in a seat in Durham which was all bar charts and ‘only we can win here’ stuff.
Reform can't win here. Reform's bar charts are disappointingly representative of the polling numbers they aim to portray. Only the Lib Dems can create truly outrageous bar charts that would make Beelzebub blush.
Well that is clearly untrue for the one just shown here. Since when had 28% been double 20%?
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
Not sure how we can possibly know that. These are only locals, and the GE is likely to be some time away.
Their flier here in Winchcombe indicated their intention to stop the boats.
We are about as far from the sea as it is possible to be in England.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
Not sure how we can possibly know that. These are only locals, and the GE is likely to be some time away.
Their flier here in Winchcombe indicated their intention to stop the boats.
We are about as far from the sea as it is possible to be in England.
Not sure why your distance to the sea is important? The issue is of course that once the people arrive they are then distributed all over the country and that is what concerns a section of the public up and down the country.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
Not sure how we can possibly know that. These are only locals, and the GE is likely to be some time away.
Their flier here in Winchcombe indicated their intention to stop the boats.
We are about as far from the sea as it is possible to be in England.
The furthest place from the sea in the UK is in Derbyshire outside a farm I think. Oddly I Googled it today for a different reason.
🚨 #BREAKINGNEWS In an interview with Time magazine Trump claims he wasn't aware the supreme court ruling 9-0 was against deportation without due process. He claims somebody in the administration told him the complete opposite. 🚨
Someone at Reform has been to the Lib Dem School of Bar Charts
Funny you mention that.
I saw a ‘winning here’ Reform brochure for Reform in a seat in Durham which was all bar charts and ‘only we can win here’ stuff.
Reform can't win here. Reform's bar charts are disappointingly representative of the polling numbers they aim to portray. Only the Lib Dems can create truly outrageous bar charts that would make Beelzebub blush.
Well that is clearly untrue for the one just shown here. Since when had 28% been double 20%?
My (possibly very ill informed) views on the next Pope, for what it’s worth:
- I can’t see it being a shift to a hardline conservative. That rules out candidates like Sarah. - Tagle feels to me quite young and possibly too progressive to be a unifying figure.
- The two I’d see as most likely are Parolin (continuity Francis, but safe pair of hands, and a nod to the Italians by giving them a Pope again after 50 odd years) and the wildcard choice, Pizzaballa (not because he has an amazing name - though he does - but because he seems to tick a lot of boxes (considered soft conservative but not overwhelmingly so, experience in Middle East politics, Italian but international). His only drawback is he’s (relatively) young so they could be getting him for 30 odd years, though it’s been a while since they elected a younger pope and maybe it’s time?
Of course, I know nothing of the internal politics of the Catholic Church or the cardinals, so all to be taken with a huge dose of salt.
Another Italian would be a boring choice though, the growth of the RC church is most strong in Africa and the Philippines and many cardinals will want to reflect that in the new pope especially as more are now from the developing world than Europe, appointed by Latin American Francis
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
The biggest risk is from electric bikes, which have the speed and mass of mopeds and are ridden with complete contempt for pedestrians.
Thing is, those throttle controlled e bikes are illegal anyway. I've seen coppers in Loughborough walk past 20 food delivery riders, all on illegal bikes as they hang around Loughborough town centre waiting for delivery contracts to come in. The coppers don't appear to want to uphold the law and take illegal machines off the streets before they cause incidents.
People want their deliveries promptly, and want their cocaine, so turn a blind eye to illegality.
Basically, 90% likelihood of a Liberal majority and 10% likelihood of a Hung Parliament. It seems the improving Liberal position in Quebec (at the expense of Bloc Quebecois) and elsewhere (at the expense of the NDP) will be enough to send Carney back to 24 Sussex with a majority of 20-40 seats which would be an incredible turnround from the situation six months ago when Poilievre and the CPC looked on course for a landslide win.
In Australia, a poll of the 20 most marginal electorates has a 3.5% swing to Labor from 2021 which would suggest an increased majority for Albanese but that contrasts with other polling which suggests the Coalition is doing well where it needs to do well especially in Victoria. It's hard to see from the current evidence how Dutton and the LNP win an overall majority but it's possible they might stop Albanese getting a majority on his own.
I still think the Teals will hold the balance of power in Australia
🚨 #BREAKINGNEWS In an interview with Time magazine Trump claims he wasn't aware the supreme court ruling 9-0 was against deportation without due process. He claims somebody in the administration told him the complete opposite. 🚨
Actually that is possible. Who wants to tell the leader in the bunker that the 9th army aren't coming.
True, though Trump also constantly pulls the 'I'm a genius who knows more than anyone, but also I had no idea X was going on' gambit.
He was too busy have trade meetings with "200 countries"
including Wakanda, Genovia, Freedonia, Gilead, Lilliput and Madripoor...
Wakanda is very important - hi tech, plus 100% of the world production of a mineral vital to American interests.
And Wakenda—nice people, beautiful mountains, strange customs—but they send us their steel, their textiles, their futuristic hover-bikes—without paying a dime in tariffs. That’s going to change. We’re going to protect American workers, protect our economy, and bring jobs back to places like Ohio, Michigan, Wakenda, Pennsylvania—wait, not Wakenda, we’re not bringing jobs there, okay? We’re bringing them here. That’s the whole point.
And let me tell you something else—Wakenda is gonna pay those tariffs. They’re not gonna like it, but they’re gonna do it. Because they need us. They need our market, our economy, our consumers—the best consumers in the world. And when they come crawling back, begging for a deal? Maybe we talk. Maybe. But we’ll make sure it’s a good deal this time. The best deal.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
Not sure how we can possibly know that. These are only locals, and the GE is likely to be some time away.
Their flier here in Winchcombe indicated their intention to stop the boats.
We are about as far from the sea as it is possible to be in England.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
The biggest risk is from electric bikes, which have the speed and mass of mopeds and are ridden with complete contempt for pedestrians.
Thing is, those throttle controlled e bikes are illegal anyway. I've seen coppers in Loughborough walk past 20 food delivery riders, all on illegal bikes as they hang around Loughborough town centre waiting for delivery contracts to come in. The coppers don't appear to want to uphold the law and take illegal machines off the streets before they cause incidents.
They are doing in Scotland, and making it clear that they are electric motorcycles and whacking the riders with the full suite of motoring offences - insurance, dangerous driving etc etc.
The issue is they haven't actually killed anyone yet (I think) and this crackdown has an indirect race angle to it even as richer, whiter car drivers continue to kill and maim in higher numbers. I actually support the police because nipping this stuff in the bud is by the far the most cost-effective law enforcement.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
The biggest risk is from electric bikes, which have the speed and mass of mopeds and are ridden with complete contempt for pedestrians.
E bikes which are capable of being propelled at more than 15 mph, exceed 40 kg or have a power output of greater than 250W are no longer an electric bike but, under section 185 of the Road Traffic Act a “motor vehicle”. https://www.pattersonlaw.co.uk/motoring-offences/electric-bikes/
So they could already be prosecuted under death or serious injury by dangerous or careless driving laws if the above applied and now the new law will mean they can be prosecuted for dangerous or careless cycling leading to death or injury if that occurs and they are still not motor vehicles
My (possibly very ill informed) views on the next Pope, for what it’s worth:
- I can’t see it being a shift to a hardline conservative. That rules out candidates like Sarah. - Tagle feels to me quite young and possibly too progressive to be a unifying figure.
- The two I’d see as most likely are Parolin (continuity Francis, but safe pair of hands, and a nod to the Italians by giving them a Pope again after 50 odd years) and the wildcard choice, Pizzaballa (not because he has an amazing name - though he does - but because he seems to tick a lot of boxes (considered soft conservative but not overwhelmingly so, experience in Middle East politics, Italian but international). His only drawback is he’s (relatively) young so they could be getting him for 30 odd years, though it’s been a while since they elected a younger pope and maybe it’s time?
Of course, I know nothing of the internal politics of the Catholic Church or the cardinals, so all to be taken with a huge dose of salt.
The biggest threat to the Catholic Church is from Muslim and Evangelicalism. They need someone able to enthuse the punters, not an apparatchik.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
It's dangerous cycling on the dualed pavement that alarms me. Happily not that common.
I have mixed feelings. I prefer bikes to share space with pedestrians with pedestrians having priority because cars kill cyclists but cyclists rarely kill pedestrians.
However having said that, many years ago I cycled in a shared space in Cambridge using clip on. It was a nightmare with pedestrians just leaping out in front of me without looking. I just had to abandon it. It might have been ok without clip ons, but with them I nearly fell off several times so changed my views on bikes and pedestrians sharing space.
Yes, I sympathise. Many years ago some judge ruled that 'a cyclist is entitled to his wobble' but pedestrians just wander, usually lacking any awareness of the sharing aspect.
Apart from the effects of speed and silence, the only really dangerous cycling situations I've encountered personally are where a cyclist is whizzing along unaware that a bus pulled up at or near a bus stop means someone is going to get off in their path.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
Spending lots of money on extra office space for county councils:
Nigel Farage has said Reform UK would end “a work from home culture” at Hertfordshire County Council if his party wins control of the authority in next month’s local elections. Visiting The Red Lion pub in Nash Mills yesterday (Tuesday, 22 April), Reform UK’s leader told a cheering crowd of candidates that a Reform-led county council would tell staff “you either work from the office or you’re gone.”
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
The biggest risk is from electric bikes, which have the speed and mass of mopeds and are ridden with complete contempt for pedestrians.
E bikes which are capable of being propelled at more than 15 mph, exceed 40 kg or have a power output of greater than 250W are no longer an electric bike but, under section 185 of the Road Traffic Act a “motor vehicle”. https://www.pattersonlaw.co.uk/motoring-offences/electric-bikes/
So they could already be prosecuted under death or serious injury by dangerous or careless driving laws if the above applied and now the new law will mean they can be prosecuted for dangerous or careless cycling leading to death or injury if that occurs
A huge problem is the manufacturers make them deliberately OP and its all nudge nudge wink wink. The fact it requires snipping one single wire to unlock full power tells you all you need to know.
My (possibly very ill informed) views on the next Pope, for what it’s worth:
- I can’t see it being a shift to a hardline conservative. That rules out candidates like Sarah. - Tagle feels to me quite young and possibly too progressive to be a unifying figure.
- The two I’d see as most likely are Parolin (continuity Francis, but safe pair of hands, and a nod to the Italians by giving them a Pope again after 50 odd years) and the wildcard choice, Pizzaballa (not because he has an amazing name - though he does - but because he seems to tick a lot of boxes (considered soft conservative but not overwhelmingly so, experience in Middle East politics, Italian but international). His only drawback is he’s (relatively) young so they could be getting him for 30 odd years, though it’s been a while since they elected a younger pope and maybe it’s time?
Of course, I know nothing of the internal politics of the Catholic Church or the cardinals, so all to be taken with a huge dose of salt.
Another Italian would be a boring choice though, the growth of the RC church is most strong in Africa and the Philippines and many cardinals will want to reflect that in the new pope especially as more are now from the developing world than Europe, appointed by Latin American Francis
Quite possibly, though geography is only one factor. I think it definitely played a role in the election of Bergoglio, but I can’t believe it precludes European candidates entirely. I think it’s absolutely true that it’s just a matter of time before an Asian or African pope, the question is whether it’s this time or not.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
Indeed
I’ve seen cyclists shoot red lights near my flat, in the Inner Circle of Regent’s Park, at a junction used by hundreds of kids daily (for the park, the zoo, and schools). There’s no need for the cyclists to do this. It’s not a dangerous junction. They just don’t give a fuck and blaze through it at 25mph
I’ve personally seen them narrowly miss toddlers by inches, they would easily kill a little kid if they collided
If it happens they will deserve a lot worse than 2 years in jail
I don't really see anything wrong with the new law other than it being unnecessary. If you kill someone while cycling you can still be sentenced to life under manslaughter laws. How many laws are we going to introduce for specific acts rather than being covered by general law? After all a total of just 4 people were killed by cyclists last year. How many other activities resulted in more deaths without specific laws. Just a few days ago someone was sentenced for 4 deaths in one go when waterboarding. There must be so many more deaths for irresponsible behaviour sailing or skiing, yet nobody is asking for specific laws for them.
Where do you draw the line? Why cycling when they cause less deaths?
PS @leon, surprised to see you going for it again tonight having had your arse handed to you spectacularly this afternoon 😁
Death by dangerous driving was introduced precisely as juries were reluctant to convict drivers for manslaughter and serious injury by dangerous cycling or death or serious injury by careless cycling would still not have applied even if cyclists could be prosecuted for manslaughter. Whereas they would apply to drivers and motorbikers who caused serious injury driving dangerously or killed driving carelessly.
Far more people cycle in the UK than sail and hardly anyone skis in the UK so far fewer injuries are caused by sailors or skiers here than by cyclists
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
Not sure how we can possibly know that. These are only locals, and the GE is likely to be some time away.
Their flier here in Winchcombe indicated their intention to stop the boats.
We are about as far from the sea as it is possible to be in England.
The furthest place from the sea in the UK is in Derbyshire outside a farm I think. Oddly I Googled it today for a different reason.
Yet the Vikings got their boats to Repton, only eight miles away...
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
Spending lots of money on extra office space for county councils:
Nigel Farage has said Reform UK would end “a work from home culture” at Hertfordshire County Council if his party wins control of the authority in next month’s local elections. Visiting The Red Lion pub in Nash Mills yesterday (Tuesday, 22 April), Reform UK’s leader told a cheering crowd of candidates that a Reform-led county council would tell staff “you either work from the office or you’re gone.”
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
Not sure how we can possibly know that. These are only locals, and the GE is likely to be some time away.
Their flier here in Winchcombe indicated their intention to stop the boats.
We are about as far from the sea as it is possible to be in England.
The furthest place from the sea in the UK is in Derbyshire outside a farm I think. Oddly I Googled it today for a different reason.
Yet the Vikings got their boats to Repton, only eight miles away...
Rivers. Raiding longships had shallow drafts. And can be carried.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
Spending lots of money on extra office space for county councils:
Nigel Farage has said Reform UK would end “a work from home culture” at Hertfordshire County Council if his party wins control of the authority in next month’s local elections. Visiting The Red Lion pub in Nash Mills yesterday (Tuesday, 22 April), Reform UK’s leader told a cheering crowd of candidates that a Reform-led county council would tell staff “you either work from the office or you’re gone.”
🚨 #BREAKINGNEWS In an interview with Time magazine Trump claims he wasn't aware the supreme court ruling 9-0 was against deportation without due process. He claims somebody in the administration told him the complete opposite. 🚨
Actually that is possible. Who wants to tell the leader in the bunker that the 9th army aren't coming.
True, though Trump also constantly pulls the 'I'm a genius who knows more than anyone, but also I had no idea X was going on' gambit.
He was too busy have trade meetings with "200 countries"
including Wakanda, Genovia, Freedonia, Gilead, Lilliput and Madripoor...
Wakanda is very important - hi tech, plus 100% of the world production of a mineral vital to American interests.
And Wakenda—nice people, beautiful mountains, strange customs—but they send us their steel, their textiles, their futuristic hover-bikes—without paying a dime in tariffs. That’s going to change. We’re going to protect American workers, protect our economy, and bring jobs back to places like Ohio, Michigan, Wakenda, Pennsylvania—wait, not Wakenda, we’re not bringing jobs there, okay? We’re bringing them here. That’s the whole point.
And let me tell you something else—Wakenda is gonna pay those tariffs. They’re not gonna like it, but they’re gonna do it. Because they need us. They need our market, our economy, our consumers—the best consumers in the world. And when they come crawling back, begging for a deal? Maybe we talk. Maybe. But we’ll make sure it’s a good deal this time. The best deal.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
Indeed
I’ve seen cyclists shoot red lights near my flat, in the Inner Circle of Regent’s Park, at a junction used by hundreds of kids daily (for the park, the zoo, and schools). There’s no need for the cyclists to do this. It’s not a dangerous junction. They just don’t give a fuck and blaze through it at 25mph
I’ve personally seen them narrowly miss toddlers by inches, they would easily kill a little kid if they collided
If it happens they will deserve a lot worse than 2 years in jail
I don't really see anything wrong with the new law other than it being unnecessary. If you kill someone while cycling you can still be sentenced to life under manslaughter laws. How many laws are we going to introduce for specific acts rather than being covered by general law? After all a total of just 4 people were killed by cyclists last year. How many other activities resulted in more deaths without specific laws. Just a few days ago someone was sentenced for 4 deaths in one go when waterboarding. There must be so many more deaths for irresponsible behaviour sailing or skiing, yet nobody is asking for specific laws for them.
Where do you draw the line? Why cycling when they cause less deaths?
PS @leon, surprised to see you going for it again tonight having had your arse handed to you spectacularly this afternoon 😁
Death by dangerous driving was introduced precisely as juries were reluctant to convict drivers for manslaughter and serious injury by dangerous cycling or death or serious injury by careless cycling would still not have applied even if cyclists could be prosecuted for manslaughter. Whereas they would apply to drivers and motorbikers who caused serious injury driving dangerously or killed driving carelessly.
Far more people cycle in the UK than sail and hardly anyone skis in the UK so far fewer injuries are caused by sailors or skiers here than by cyclists
The problem is, now DBDD exists, they never seem to prosecute for manslaughter. My view is, they should prosecute for both in the most egregious cases and let the jury decide
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
It's dangerous cycling on the dualed pavement that alarms me. Happily not that common.
I have mixed feelings. I prefer bikes to share space with pedestrians with pedestrians having priority because cars kill cyclists but cyclists rarely kill pedestrians.
However having said that, many years ago I cycled in a shared space in Cambridge using clip on. It was a nightmare with pedestrians just leaping out in front of me without looking. I just had to abandon it. It might have been ok without clip ons, but with them I nearly fell off several times so changed my views on bikes and pedestrians sharing space.
Yes, I sympathise. Many years ago some judge ruled that 'a cyclist is entitled to his wobble' but pedestrians just wander, usually lacking any awareness of the sharing aspect.
Apart from the effects of speed and silence, the only really dangerous cycling situations I've encountered personally are where a cyclist is whizzing along unaware that a bus pulled up at or near a bus stop means someone is going to get off in their path.
Why should they be unaware? We are all taught as drivers that if a vehicle has just pulled in, someone may be getting out
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
Not sure how we can possibly know that. These are only locals, and the GE is likely to be some time away.
Their flier here in Winchcombe indicated their intention to stop the boats.
We are about as far from the sea as it is possible to be in England.
The furthest place from the sea in the UK is in Derbyshire outside a farm I think. Oddly I Googled it today for a different reason.
Yet the Vikings got their boats to Repton, only eight miles away...
Rivers. Raiding longships had shallow drafts. And can be carried.
Yep, but it always amuses me that they could get that far up the Trent. Oh, and my parent's house in hilly Derbyshire is seventy feet lower than my house in flat Cambridgeshire...
(I had a rather nice meal at the Bull's Head in Repton last Saturday.)
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
Spending lots of money on extra office space for county councils:
Nigel Farage has said Reform UK would end “a work from home culture” at Hertfordshire County Council if his party wins control of the authority in next month’s local elections. Visiting The Red Lion pub in Nash Mills yesterday (Tuesday, 22 April), Reform UK’s leader told a cheering crowd of candidates that a Reform-led county council would tell staff “you either work from the office or you’re gone.”
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
Compulsory room-temperature milk from a carton. Then withdraw it six months later. Bit of Maggie, bit of spite.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
It's dangerous cycling on the dualed pavement that alarms me. Happily not that common.
I have mixed feelings. I prefer bikes to share space with pedestrians with pedestrians having priority because cars kill cyclists but cyclists rarely kill pedestrians.
However having said that, many years ago I cycled in a shared space in Cambridge using clip on. It was a nightmare with pedestrians just leaping out in front of me without looking. I just had to abandon it. It might have been ok without clip ons, but with them I nearly fell off several times so changed my views on bikes and pedestrians sharing space.
Yes, I sympathise. Many years ago some judge ruled that 'a cyclist is entitled to his wobble' but pedestrians just wander, usually lacking any awareness of the sharing aspect.
Apart from the effects of speed and silence, the only really dangerous cycling situations I've encountered personally are where a cyclist is whizzing along unaware that a bus pulled up at or near a bus stop means someone is going to get off in their path.
Why should they be unaware? We are all taught as drivers that if a vehicle has just pulled in, someone may be getting out
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
Not sure how we can possibly know that. These are only locals, and the GE is likely to be some time away.
Their flier here in Winchcombe indicated their intention to stop the boats.
We are about as far from the sea as it is possible to be in England.
The furthest place from the sea in the UK is in Derbyshire outside a farm I think. Oddly I Googled it today for a different reason.
Yet the Vikings got their boats to Repton, only eight miles away...
Rivers. Raiding longships had shallow drafts. And can be carried.
Yep, but it always amuses me that they could get that far up the Trent. Oh, and my parent's house in hilly Derbyshire is seventy feet lower than my house in flat Cambridgeshire...
(I had a rather nice meal at the Bull's Head in Repton last Saturday.)
The locals probably maintained the Tent for boat passage. Although it has just occurred to me that you have to be a complete nutter to cross the North Sea in a longship, or they turned up in a knarr and built the longships in situ
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
Spending lots of money on extra office space for county councils:
Nigel Farage has said Reform UK would end “a work from home culture” at Hertfordshire County Council if his party wins control of the authority in next month’s local elections. Visiting The Red Lion pub in Nash Mills yesterday (Tuesday, 22 April), Reform UK’s leader told a cheering crowd of candidates that a Reform-led county council would tell staff “you either work from the office or you’re gone.”
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
It's dangerous cycling on the dualed pavement that alarms me. Happily not that common.
I have mixed feelings. I prefer bikes to share space with pedestrians with pedestrians having priority because cars kill cyclists but cyclists rarely kill pedestrians.
However having said that, many years ago I cycled in a shared space in Cambridge using clip on. It was a nightmare with pedestrians just leaping out in front of me without looking. I just had to abandon it. It might have been ok without clip ons, but with them I nearly fell off several times so changed my views on bikes and pedestrians sharing space.
Yes, I sympathise. Many years ago some judge ruled that 'a cyclist is entitled to his wobble' but pedestrians just wander, usually lacking any awareness of the sharing aspect.
Apart from the effects of speed and silence, the only really dangerous cycling situations I've encountered personally are where a cyclist is whizzing along unaware that a bus pulled up at or near a bus stop means someone is going to get off in their path.
Why should they be unaware? We are all taught as drivers that if a vehicle has just pulled in, someone may be getting out
I suppose not all cyclists have learned to drive.
Almost all cyclists are drivers. Or used to be, before they were banned
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
It's dangerous cycling on the dualed pavement that alarms me. Happily not that common.
I have mixed feelings. I prefer bikes to share space with pedestrians with pedestrians having priority because cars kill cyclists but cyclists rarely kill pedestrians.
However having said that, many years ago I cycled in a shared space in Cambridge using clip on. It was a nightmare with pedestrians just leaping out in front of me without looking. I just had to abandon it. It might have been ok without clip ons, but with them I nearly fell off several times so changed my views on bikes and pedestrians sharing space.
Yes, I sympathise. Many years ago some judge ruled that 'a cyclist is entitled to his wobble' but pedestrians just wander, usually lacking any awareness of the sharing aspect.
Apart from the effects of speed and silence, the only really dangerous cycling situations I've encountered personally are where a cyclist is whizzing along unaware that a bus pulled up at or near a bus stop means someone is going to get off in their path.
Why should they be unaware? We are all taught as drivers that if a vehicle has just pulled in, someone may be getting out
I suppose not all cyclists have learned to drive.
I don't think you need a driving license to anticipate that a bus pulling in = pedestrians popping out. However, there is an appreciable difference between cyclists with and without driving licenses, particularly when it comes to indicating. Conversely, I think cycling has made me a much better driver, and I think it would be quite smart for the test to include some cycling (particularly HGV license).
I’ve seen cyclists shoot red lights near my flat, in the Inner Circle of Regent’s Park, at a junction used by hundreds of kids daily (for the park, the zoo, and schools). There’s no need for the cyclists to do this. It’s not a dangerous junction. They just don’t give a fuck and blaze through it at 25mph
On this we agree, my Mum and I are both ZSL members, and we use said traffic lights as pedestrians many times a year.
I am deeply disappointed that @Luckyguy1983 hasn't corrected that awful Americanised headline “A head teacher attacked his deputy with a wrench” with:
Spanner.
Over here it’s not a fucking wrench.
Actually... I've always called the tool that was used a 'plumber's wrench', a spanner being a different sort of tool. Even adjustable spanners are different from wrenches.
I think Americans call spanners and wrenches 'wrenches', whereas we differentiate between the two. And the attacker definitely used a wrench.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
Indeed
I’ve seen cyclists shoot red lights near my flat, in the Inner Circle of Regent’s Park, at a junction used by hundreds of kids daily (for the park, the zoo, and schools). There’s no need for the cyclists to do this. It’s not a dangerous junction. They just don’t give a fuck and blaze through it at 25mph
I’ve personally seen them narrowly miss toddlers by inches, they would easily kill a little kid if they collided
If it happens they will deserve a lot worse than 2 years in jail
I don't really see anything wrong with the new law other than it being unnecessary. If you kill someone while cycling you can still be sentenced to life under manslaughter laws. How many laws are we going to introduce for specific acts rather than being covered by general law? After all a total of just 4 people were killed by cyclists last year. How many other activities resulted in more deaths without specific laws. Just a few days ago someone was sentenced for 4 deaths in one go when waterboarding. There must be so many more deaths for irresponsible behaviour sailing or skiing, yet nobody is asking for specific laws for them.
Where do you draw the line? Why cycling when they cause less deaths?
PS @leon, surprised to see you going for it again tonight having had your arse handed to you spectacularly this afternoon 😁
Death by dangerous driving was introduced precisely as juries were reluctant to convict drivers for manslaughter and serious injury by dangerous cycling or death or serious injury by careless cycling would still not have applied even if cyclists could be prosecuted for manslaughter. Whereas they would apply to drivers and motorbikers who caused serious injury driving dangerously or killed driving carelessly.
Far more people cycle in the UK than sail and hardly anyone skis in the UK so far fewer injuries are caused by sailors or skiers here than by cyclists
Do you think there might be a reason for the lack of convictions? Juries aren't biased towards cyclists after all. Do you think there might be extenuating circumstances in many cases? It is far harder to be aggressive on a bike than in a car. That is not to say some aren't and in those cases juries will convict. There are far more aggressive or drunk drivers.
Think you might find you have the sailing one wrong. 21 died in the 79 Fastnet race for instance. Just one event and racing is competitive and boats collide. People die. Far more than cyclists cause every year and by a significant factor. I take your point on skiing, but worth noting that people have died in the UK skiing and certainly many more abroad than people being hit by cyclists.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
I'm a cyclist, and I can't see a lot wrong with that.
The biggest risk is from electric bikes, which have the speed and mass of mopeds and are ridden with complete contempt for pedestrians.
Thing is, those throttle controlled e bikes are illegal anyway. I've seen coppers in Loughborough walk past 20 food delivery riders, all on illegal bikes as they hang around Loughborough town centre waiting for delivery contracts to come in. The coppers don't appear to want to uphold the law and take illegal machines off the streets before they cause incidents.
Leeds city centre is full of them. Again, no sign of the police doing anything.
Those machines with the big fat tyres seem to be the worst, while others seem to be DIY lash-ups. And I don't see much pedaling going on.
'Cyclists who kill pedestrians by acting dangerously on the road could face life imprisonment under a proposed change to the law.
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
It's dangerous cycling on the dualed pavement that alarms me. Happily not that common.
I have mixed feelings. I prefer bikes to share space with pedestrians with pedestrians having priority because cars kill cyclists but cyclists rarely kill pedestrians.
However having said that, many years ago I cycled in a shared space in Cambridge using clip on. It was a nightmare with pedestrians just leaping out in front of me without looking. I just had to abandon it. It might have been ok without clip ons, but with them I nearly fell off several times so changed my views on bikes and pedestrians sharing space.
Yes, I sympathise. Many years ago some judge ruled that 'a cyclist is entitled to his wobble' but pedestrians just wander, usually lacking any awareness of the sharing aspect.
Apart from the effects of speed and silence, the only really dangerous cycling situations I've encountered personally are where a cyclist is whizzing along unaware that a bus pulled up at or near a bus stop means someone is going to get off in their path.
Why should they be unaware? We are all taught as drivers that if a vehicle has just pulled in, someone may be getting out
I was never taught that, though. Just that I used busses myself, until I was in my 40s.
I am deeply disappointed that @Luckyguy1983 hasn't corrected that awful Americanised headline “A head teacher attacked his deputy with a wrench” with:
Spanner.
Over here it’s not a fucking wrench.
Actually... I've always called the tool that was used a 'plumber's wrench', a spanner being a different sort of tool. Even adjustable spanners are different from wrenches.
I think Americans call spanners and wrenches 'wrenches', whereas we differentiate between the two. And the attacker definitely used a wrench.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
Spending lots of money on extra office space for county councils:
Nigel Farage has said Reform UK would end “a work from home culture” at Hertfordshire County Council if his party wins control of the authority in next month’s local elections. Visiting The Red Lion pub in Nash Mills yesterday (Tuesday, 22 April), Reform UK’s leader told a cheering crowd of candidates that a Reform-led county council would tell staff “you either work from the office or you’re gone.”
Have they sold the council offices and downsized? Unlikely.
If councils have been mothballing and not selling off office space when they are desperate for cash, that seems more unlikely. And probably a bigger scandal. After all, one of the advantages of WFH is that it's considerably cheaper for the employer.
A genuine question for the floor as I've never looked at any of their manifestos etc.
Do Reform actually know with any level of clarity what it is they're going to reform and how they're going to reform it, or are they going to do a Starmer Labour and suddenly wake up in power but with no apparent idea of what they're actually going to do with it?
I suspect there'll be a DOGE thing and pulling out of ECHR; they would be relatively easy to fire off but what they would actually achieve is open to question. Thereafter? A crackdown on mickey-mouse degrees and some 1970s-style picking-winners state funding for parts of the business sector. Daily prayers in school perhaps.
Spending lots of money on extra office space for county councils:
Nigel Farage has said Reform UK would end “a work from home culture” at Hertfordshire County Council if his party wins control of the authority in next month’s local elections. Visiting The Red Lion pub in Nash Mills yesterday (Tuesday, 22 April), Reform UK’s leader told a cheering crowd of candidates that a Reform-led county council would tell staff “you either work from the office or you’re gone.”
Comments
Anthony Felton, 54, admitted attempted grievous bodily harm with intent after the attack at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Comprehensive in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot, on 5 March.
Richard Pyke, 51, was treated for minor injuries in hospital after Felton sought him out and attacked him from behind.
Felton, of Penyrheol Road, Gorseinon, Swansea, was sentenced to two years and four months on Friday and Judge Paul Thomas KC said he suspected a head teacher attacking his deputy was "entirely without precedent".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq80w44jjxpo
Currently, cycling offenders can be imprisoned for no more than two years under an 1861 law originally intended for drivers of horse-drawn carriages.
A government amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is currently going through Parliament - would see cycling offences brought in line with driving offences, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The changes would also mean serious injury caused by dangerous cycling - or death by careless or inconsiderate cycling - could incur punishments of five years in jail, fines, or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling would result in a two-year sentence, a fine or both under the proposed changes.'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0w8g18x9no
However the shift in western politics towards the hard right looks unstoppable and inexorable to me, for the foreseeable future
It’s the final and inevitable result of the catastrophic failures of mass migration and multiculturalism. Which are now evident to anyone with a functional
brain stem
I don’t see how this secular shift gets reversed anytime soon. The question is: which party benefits?
A more hard right Tory party under Jenrick could prosper
The only vaguely credible thing about Reform is Farage.
Le Pen has still fallen short in France as LR voters still prefer Macron's party to hers in runoffs.
So Farage likely needs to win most seats and then form a government with a diminished Badenoch Tories or a 43 year old Jenrick overtakes a 61 year old Farage who again has fallen short of being able to beat Labour
I’ve seen cyclists shoot red lights near my flat, in the Inner Circle of Regent’s Park, at a junction used by hundreds of kids daily (for the park, the zoo, and schools). There’s no need for the cyclists to do this. It’s not a dangerous junction. They just don’t give a fuck and blaze through it at 25mph
I’ve personally seen them narrowly miss toddlers by inches, they would easily kill a little kid if they collided
If it happens they will deserve a lot worse than
2 years in jail
Possibly a moment of stupid hot-headed madness, but I would be unsurprised if he had not had similar moments of hot-headed madness in the past.
Incredible scoop! Career officials inside the Trump administration first viewed the case of Mr. Abrego like any normal case of a wrongful deportation — they began looking for ways to bring him back, as happens normally when ICE makes mistakes.
Then the White House got involved, and blew it up.
https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3lnnpcpi7s223
@FordJohnathan5
🚨 #BREAKINGNEWS In an interview with Time magazine Trump claims he wasn't aware the supreme court ruling 9-0 was against deportation without due process. He claims somebody in the administration told him the complete opposite. 🚨
https://x.com/FordJohnathan5/status/1915778852409819461
I saw a ‘winning here’ Reform brochure for Reform in a seat in Durham which was all bar charts and ‘only we can win here’ stuff.
Where do you draw the line? Why cycling when they cause less deaths?
PS @leon, surprised to see you going for it again tonight having had your arse handed to you spectacularly this afternoon 😁
Alright la, any chance you’ve got a bit of lemo for me pocket, la? Dead sound if you can sort us, lad."
including Wakanda, Genovia, Freedonia, Gilead, Lilliput and Madripoor...
We have the final YouGov MRP for the Canadian GE on Monday.
https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/52070-final-yougov-mrp-for-2025-canadian-federal-election-liberals-likely-to-win-majority-poll
Basically, 90% likelihood of a Liberal majority and 10% likelihood of a Hung Parliament. It seems the improving Liberal position in Quebec (at the expense of Bloc Quebecois) and elsewhere (at the expense of the NDP) will be enough to send Carney back to 24 Sussex with a majority of 20-40 seats which would be an incredible turnround from the situation six months ago when Poilievre and the CPC looked on course for a landslide win.
In Australia, a poll of the 20 most marginal electorates has a 3.5% swing to Labor from 2021 which would suggest an increased majority for Albanese but that contrasts with other polling which suggests the Coalition is doing well where it needs to do well especially in Victoria. It's hard to see from the current evidence how Dutton and the LNP win an overall majority but it's possible they might stop Albanese getting a majority on his own.
- I can’t see it being a shift to a hardline conservative. That rules out candidates like Sarah.
- Tagle feels to me quite young and possibly too progressive to be a unifying figure.
- The two I’d see as most likely are Parolin (continuity Francis, but safe pair of hands, and a nod to the Italians by giving them a Pope again after 50 odd years) and the wildcard choice, Pizzaballa (not because he has an amazing name - though he does - but because he seems to tick a lot of boxes (considered soft conservative but not overwhelmingly so, experience in Middle East politics, Italian but international). His only drawback is he’s (relatively) young so they could be getting him for 30 odd years, though it’s been a while since they elected a younger pope and maybe it’s time?
Of course, I know nothing of the internal politics of the Catholic Church or the cardinals, so all to be taken with a huge dose of salt.
Michael Gloss was killed on the front line in the eastern Donetsk region in April last year, Important Stories, a Russian investigative outlet, reported.
He was the son of Juliane Gallina, the CIA deputy director for digital innovation, and Larry Gloss, a US navy veteran who took part in Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War of the early 1990s.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/04/25/michael-gloss-son-of-cia-director-russian-foot-soldier/
Everybody with half a brain knows that the e-bikes are constructed in such a way that snip of one cable unlocks performance that is way over the legal limit, but nothing is done. Same with supposed having to wear helmets for hiring scooters etc.
However having said that, many years ago I cycled in a shared space in Cambridge using clip on. It was a nightmare with pedestrians just leaping out in front of me without looking. I just had to abandon it. It might have been ok without clip ons, but with them I nearly fell off several times so changed my views on bikes and pedestrians sharing space.
I think that I might be the first
We are about as far from the sea as it is possible to be in England.
If there was no demand there would be no supply.
And on that cheering note, nightynight from Bishkek
And let me tell you something else—Wakenda is gonna pay those tariffs. They’re not gonna like it, but they’re gonna do it. Because they need us. They need our market, our economy, our consumers—the best consumers in the world. And when they come crawling back, begging for a deal? Maybe we talk. Maybe. But we’ll make sure it’s a good deal this time. The best deal.
The issue is they haven't actually killed anyone yet (I think) and this crackdown has an indirect race angle to it even as richer, whiter car drivers continue to kill and maim in higher numbers. I actually support the police because nipping this stuff in the bud is by the far the most cost-effective law enforcement.
https://www.pattersonlaw.co.uk/motoring-offences/electric-bikes/
So they could already be prosecuted under death or serious injury by dangerous or careless driving laws if the above applied and now the new law will mean they can be prosecuted for dangerous or careless cycling leading to death or injury if that occurs and they are still not motor vehicles
Apart from the effects of speed and silence, the only really dangerous cycling situations I've encountered personally are where a cyclist is whizzing along unaware that a bus pulled up at or near a bus stop means someone is going to get off in their path.
Nigel Farage has said Reform UK would end “a work from home culture” at Hertfordshire County Council if his party wins control of the authority in next month’s local elections. Visiting The Red Lion pub in Nash Mills yesterday (Tuesday, 22 April), Reform UK’s leader told a cheering crowd of candidates that a Reform-led county council would tell staff “you either work from the office or you’re gone.”
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/office-youre-gone-farage-tells-062836553.html
Far more people cycle in the UK than sail and hardly anyone skis in the UK so far fewer injuries are caused by sailors or skiers here than by cyclists
(I had a rather nice meal at the Bull's Head in Repton last Saturday.)
Spanner.
Over here it’s not a fucking wrench.
I think Americans call spanners and wrenches 'wrenches', whereas we differentiate between the two. And the attacker definitely used a wrench.
Think you might find you have the sailing one wrong. 21 died in the 79 Fastnet race for instance. Just one event and racing is competitive and boats collide. People die. Far more than cyclists cause every year and by a significant factor. I take your point on skiing, but worth noting that people have died in the UK skiing and certainly many more abroad than people being hit by cyclists.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgq4v1rln0o
Given it 5 years and it will be £20 a night.
Those machines with the big fat tyres seem to be the worst, while others seem to be DIY lash-ups. And I don't see much pedaling going on.
Britannia remains unenslaved, for now.