people are dunking on this but $65 million fighter jets only do this when they're very distressed
It's been a hell of a cruise for the Truman. They've crashed into a Panamanian bulk carrier, had a Super Hornet shot down by the Gettysburg, tossed one out of an elevator and now driven one off the end of the deck. I am quite surprised the Captain has not been relieved.
The Houthis have a cunning plan of sitting back while the USN chucks planes in the sea.
'The government will make it a crime to climb on Winston Churchill's statue in Parliament Square, it will be announced today.
Offenders could face up to three months in prison and a £1,000 fine for desecrating the monument to Britain's wartime leader.
The Churchill statue is not officially classified as one of the UK's war memorials, but Home Secretary Yvette Cooper plans to add it to the list of statues and monuments which it will soon become a criminal offence to climb.
These will include the Cenotaph in Whitehall, the Royal Artillery Memorial in Hyde Park, and many other famous structures across Britain commemorating the service of the armed forces in the First and Second World Wars. The new law is contained in the flagship Crime and Policing Bill currently progressing through Parliament.' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdded9rqd2do
UK is saved
Indeed it is. There is nothing our society needs more than several new unenforceable and unenforced laws.
How could Badenoch fail to score this week in particular at PMQs?
She didn’t go near the Indian trade deal because her so called outrage was just for the right wing papers.
No, it’s almost certainly because - as with Chagos - Starmer would turn around and say “the Tory government negotiated 90% of this deal, including the visa and tax details, we have simply delivered it, which they didn’t”
Remember, the Tories gave us the Boriswave. They probably thought this deal was a great idea too. See Dan Hannan
The Tories are fucked by their record, Labour are fucked by their venal incompetence, Farage will win in 2028
In 2029 surely.
May 3rd 2029. Get on now so you can’t be arrested for insider dealing if you leave it till the last days before it’s called.
So the Brexiters were saying we can make new trade deals and as soon as one arrives they don’t like it .
And of course the media has failed to report what the deal actually means and that we have the same social security arrangements with a host of countries .
So really why bother with new trade deals , it’s just not worth it .
Dowden, Hannan and the Daily Telegraph leader are all on board.
However Farage isn't and that is all that matters on broadcast media.
On the face of it, I think it's a reasonable deal.
But, I suspect that my opinion matters far less than Farage's.
Spin is criticised, and often rightly so, but I suspect the government are going to gravely suffer here for having poor communications.
Government Comms are dreadful.
When a big trade win is reported as a failure of immigration by a two tier anti-white racist government by a party of racists the game should be up for Morgan McSweeney.
Ok, can you explain to me how it is impossible, under this deal, for tens of thousands of Indians to come to Britain and take British jobs, seeing as the Indians are now much cheaper to hire
This is not a gotcha. It’s a sincere q. If you can explain it - thankyou. And if you can, the government should hire you ASAFP coz you’d clearly do a better job than them
The gotcha on you is so obvious Leon. So many UK businesses from care, building, high street, hospitality, are crying out to bring people in, you are saying No! Those jobs for British workers - zero movement.
Can’t you see how utterly stupid that sounds?
But British companies can’t benefit from the NI tax break, only Indian companies can.
Isn’t it symmetric? UK employees temporarily posted to India by their employers will pay NI in the UK on the same basis.
Quote from the business & trade secretary: ““We have 17 of these agreements with the EU, with South Korea, with the US and a whole range of partners, and what it is about is making sure when people are inter-company transfers between the UK and India – so for our people in India and Indian people in the UK – they don’t simultaneously pay into both social security systems,”
Given that the Indian equivalent of NI appears to be roughly at the same level as in the UK, there’s no net tax benefit here /if/ everything is above board. That if is something of a big one though.
So the Brexiters were saying we can make new trade deals and as soon as one arrives they don’t like it .
And of course the media has failed to report what the deal actually means and that we have the same social security arrangements with a host of countries .
So really why bother with new trade deals , it’s just not worth it .
Dowden, Hannan and the Daily Telegraph leader are all on board.
However Farage isn't and that is all that matters on broadcast media.
On the face of it, I think it's a reasonable deal.
But, I suspect that my opinion matters far less than Farage's.
Spin is criticised, and often rightly so, but I suspect the government are going to gravely suffer here for having poor communications.
Government Comms are dreadful.
When a big trade win is reported as a failure of immigration by a two tier anti-white racist government by a party of racists the game should be up for Morgan McSweeney.
Ok, can you explain to me how it is impossible, under this deal, for tens of thousands of Indians to come to Britain and take British jobs, seeing as the Indians are now much cheaper to hire
This is not a gotcha. It’s a sincere q. If you can explain it - thankyou. And if you can, the government should hire you ASAFP coz you’d clearly do a better job than them
The gotcha on you is so obvious Leon. So many UK businesses from care, building, high street, hospitality, are crying out to bring people in, you are saying No! Those jobs for British workers - zero movement.
Can’t you see how utterly stupid that sounds?
But British companies can’t benefit from the NI tax break, only Indian companies can.
For how many thousands of jobs for what period of time? The bottom line is everything about this India deal is INCONSEQUENTIAL. 0.1%
Government and opposition trying to make out there’s any consequential points from this mere inconsequential memorandum of understanding is silly.
Almost as important as that Australian one that was going to make us all rich.
people are dunking on this but $65 million fighter jets only do this when they're very distressed
It's been a hell of a cruise for the Truman. They've crashed into a Panamanian bulk carrier, had a Super Hornet shot down by the Gettysburg, tossed one out of an elevator and now driven one off the end of the deck. I am quite surprised the Captain has not been relieved.
So the Brexiters were saying we can make new trade deals and as soon as one arrives they don’t like it .
And of course the media has failed to report what the deal actually means and that we have the same social security arrangements with a host of countries .
So really why bother with new trade deals , it’s just not worth it .
Dowden, Hannan and the Daily Telegraph leader are all on board.
However Farage isn't and that is all that matters on broadcast media.
On the face of it, I think it's a reasonable deal.
But, I suspect that my opinion matters far less than Farage's.
Farage is the only voice that matters this week. Even if he is talking bollocks the mainstream news can't get enough of the gurning twat.
Nigel needs to be asked the perfectly reasonable question: when you're PM will you unilaterally pull out of the India trade deal? 'No' and that will kill his objections stone dead; 'Yes' and he's Britain Trump with all the political problems that will entail.
I would bet a gill of milkshake to an avoirdupois pound of gammon that he will not rescind it when in government.
I really must insist on "if" instead of "when" there.
2029 hasn't even got out of bed yet.
You refused to believe Trump would win because you didn't want to. Same.
I don't feel quite as confident about this. Farage PM is a lot more likely than it ought to be but it's not like a fast train coming with the points fixed. No way I'm giving it to him yet.
To me it is pretty certain it will be Farage (not necessarily Reform) vs Labour, with Farage favourite and Labour needing positive global economic news despite a loon in the White House trying to wreck everything.
IMO the next election is shaping up as a choice between Labour or Reform, and if so I think Labour would win that. But let's be honest it's years away and the outcome is impossible to be confident of.
People can say Farage WILL win or he will NOT win but this is principally a way of talking to be vivid and interesting. He very well might but he's far from nailed on.
Fwiw I don't massively disagree with the 'most seats' market which has them at around 2.7 joint favs. So maybe a one in three chance of Farage PM. Oh god. That's easily high enough to be fretting about.
I think Reform are a lay at 2.7. The prospect of Farage as PM will focus minds and squeeze the green/Lib dem vote for Labour. Reform placed second in ~100 seats. That means they would have to come from 3rd/4th a lot to win most seats. And then there's the possibility of Tories getting their act together over next few years also.
That only works if Labour are the beneficiary of tactical voting. That could flip very quickly if the Lib Dems are on 20% and the Greens are in the mid-teens.
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
How could Badenoch fail to score this week in particular at PMQs?
She didn’t go near the Indian trade deal because her so called outrage was just for the right wing papers.
No, it’s almost certainly because - as with Chagos - Starmer would turn around and say “the Tory government negotiated 90% of this deal, including the visa and tax details, we have simply delivered it, which they didn’t”
Remember, the Tories gave us the Boriswave. They probably thought this deal was a great idea too. See Dan Hannan
The Tories are fucked by their record, Labour are fucked by their venal incompetence, Farage will win in 2028
In 2029 surely.
May 3rd 2029. Get on now so you can’t be arrested for insider dealing if you leave it till the last days before it’s called.
You think they will have recovered enough for an early election? Thursday 9th August.
See that's almost 2030 before we have to worry about Farage.
Don;t think Pakistan has a prayer if India really gets going. 7 times the population, and I make it 340 million men between 20 and 50 compared to 50 million for Pakistan. India 10 times the defense budget of Pakistan too... (USD 78 Bn vs 7.8 Bn) Neither side is in NATO, though India is in BRICS. Can't really see any external actors getting overly involved though (A big difference to Ukr/Russia) other than the usual "urging of restraint". If push and shove come they've got rough parity on nukes, though I'd fancy the Indian ones to have a more reliable launch system than Pakistan given India's space (Which is to my mind nuclear launch adjacent) program is miles ahead of Pakistan. India's got a considerable area/number of big cities advantage too.
One for Pakistan to try and de-escalate immediately to my mind, as they are doing.
It'll depend on what India's end-game in all of this is. If it is occupation of all of Pakistan, then they'll be in a world of pain, as American and Russian experience in Afghanistan shows. If it is to grab disputed areas, they'll have much more chance. If it is just a statement of strength after the terrorist attack, then I'll expect Pakistan to give a smaller response and the whole thing to die down.
But the Pakistani PM is addressing parliament as well, so we might know more in a few minutes.
Lol it definitely isn't occupation of Pakistan, who the fuck wants that shithole anyway? It's forcing an end to Pakistan's state sponsoring of terrorists and handing over the guilty people to India for prosecution. Pakistan is a terrorist state and India has every right to demand they stop funding and facilitating terrorist attacks against Indians. We did the same when Putin was funding similar groups in Eastern Ukraine and Georgia.
India is a terrorist state when it suits it - see the murder of that Sikh guy in Canada and its sponsoring of Tamil terrorism during the Sri Lankan civil war. It's also a regional bully not much better than Russia.
Ever since we left it's been a choice of evils between India and Pakistan.
people are dunking on this but $65 million fighter jets only do this when they're very distressed
It's been a hell of a cruise for the Truman. They've crashed into a Panamanian bulk carrier, had a Super Hornet shot down by the Gettysburg, tossed one out of an elevator and now driven one off the end of the deck. I am quite surprised the Captain has not been relieved.
The commanding officer was relieved of his command & transferred to a desk job after the collision.
I guess they’re waiting for the post-accident investigations before deciding what to do about the aircraft losses.
So the Brexiters were saying we can make new trade deals and as soon as one arrives they don’t like it .
And of course the media has failed to report what the deal actually means and that we have the same social security arrangements with a host of countries .
So really why bother with new trade deals , it’s just not worth it .
Dowden, Hannan and the Daily Telegraph leader are all on board.
However Farage isn't and that is all that matters on broadcast media.
On the face of it, I think it's a reasonable deal.
But, I suspect that my opinion matters far less than Farage's.
Spin is criticised, and often rightly so, but I suspect the government are going to gravely suffer here for having poor communications.
Government Comms are dreadful.
When a big trade win is reported as a failure of immigration by a two tier anti-white racist government by a party of racists the game should be up for Morgan McSweeney.
Ok, can you explain to me how it is impossible, under this deal, for tens of thousands of Indians to come to Britain and take British jobs, seeing as the Indians are now much cheaper to hire
This is not a gotcha. It’s a sincere q. If you can explain it - thankyou. And if you can, the government should hire you ASAFP coz you’d clearly do a better job than them
The gotcha on you is so obvious Leon. So many UK businesses from care, building, high street, hospitality, are crying out to bring people in, you are saying No! Those jobs for British workers - zero movement.
Can’t you see how utterly stupid that sounds?
But British companies can’t benefit from the NI tax break, only Indian companies can.
Isn’t it symmetric? UK employees temporarily posted to India by their employers will pay NI in the UK on the same basis.
Quote from the business & trade secretary: ““We have 17 of these agreements with the EU, with South Korea, with the US and a whole range of partners, and what it is about is making sure when people are inter-company transfers between the UK and India – so for our people in India and Indian people in the UK – they don’t simultaneously pay into both social security systems,”
Given that the Indian equivalent of NI appears to be roughly at the same level as in the UK, there’s no net tax benefit here /if/ everything is above board. That if is something of a big one though.
The deal might - or might not - be symmetric. But will the numbers be symmetric? Highly unlikely
Given that I STILL haven’t seen any signs of a legal numerical cap on numbers it seems quite possible if not probable that tens of thousands of Indians come here for higher wages, taking British jobs as they are now cheaper to hire, and a few hundred Brits go the other way
Which for a government pledging to lower migration is calamitous. Two Tier Kier and his Two Tier Taxes
I see that three of the Darren Grimes Family are now Durham County Councillors - mum and 2 sons. That must have been an interesting "after" conversation.
It turns out Darren Grimes’ mam Jacqueline Teasdale was a paper candidate in the local elections, and his brother Craig Marshall was too.
Don;t think Pakistan has a prayer if India really gets going. 7 times the population, and I make it 340 million men between 20 and 50 compared to 50 million for Pakistan. India 10 times the defense budget of Pakistan too... (USD 78 Bn vs 7.8 Bn) Neither side is in NATO, though India is in BRICS. Can't really see any external actors getting overly involved though (A big difference to Ukr/Russia) other than the usual "urging of restraint". If push and shove come they've got rough parity on nukes, though I'd fancy the Indian ones to have a more reliable launch system than Pakistan given India's space (Which is to my mind nuclear launch adjacent) program is miles ahead of Pakistan. India's got a considerable area/number of big cities advantage too.
One for Pakistan to try and de-escalate immediately to my mind, as they are doing.
It'll depend on what India's end-game in all of this is. If it is occupation of all of Pakistan, then they'll be in a world of pain, as American and Russian experience in Afghanistan shows. If it is to grab disputed areas, they'll have much more chance. If it is just a statement of strength after the terrorist attack, then I'll expect Pakistan to give a smaller response and the whole thing to die down.
But the Pakistani PM is addressing parliament as well, so we might know more in a few minutes.
Lol it definitely isn't occupation of Pakistan, who the fuck wants that shithole anyway? It's forcing an end to Pakistan's state sponsoring of terrorists and handing over the guilty people to India for prosecution. Pakistan is a terrorist state and India has every right to demand they stop funding and facilitating terrorist attacks against Indians. We did the same when Putin was funding similar groups in Eastern Ukraine and Georgia.
India is a terrorist state when it suits it - see the murder of that Sikh guy in Canada and its sponsoring of Tamil terrorism during the Sri Lankan civil war. It's also a regional bully not much better than Russia.
Ever since we left it's been a choice of evils between India and Pakistan.
So much better when we were the chief source of evil in that part of the world.
So skirting around the shouting and hysterics, it turns out that the India deal is about effectively making it easier for mainly seconded type staff, rather than *&^$£%$%!! (&^&%$^&!!!! (*&&^%$^!!!!!! TIDAL WAVES OF IMMIGRATION !!!!!!!, and it is estimated to be a 0.1% boost to GDP in 15 years,
Fairy nuff.
So that makes the various trade deals add up to a benefit of maybe 0.5% to 1% of GDP, which is worth having.
But which highlights that Starmer is correct also to focus heavily on EU relations.
And we can perhaps save some money not putting in place some of the stuff that the Cons did not get round to doing, despite being required to do it by a treaty they had signed. I think there were some multiply-delayed things in that category (but I'm open to correction ).
Don;t think Pakistan has a prayer if India really gets going. 7 times the population, and I make it 340 million men between 20 and 50 compared to 50 million for Pakistan. India 10 times the defense budget of Pakistan too... (USD 78 Bn vs 7.8 Bn) Neither side is in NATO, though India is in BRICS. Can't really see any external actors getting overly involved though (A big difference to Ukr/Russia) other than the usual "urging of restraint". If push and shove come they've got rough parity on nukes, though I'd fancy the Indian ones to have a more reliable launch system than Pakistan given India's space (Which is to my mind nuclear launch adjacent) program is miles ahead of Pakistan. India's got a considerable area/number of big cities advantage too.
One for Pakistan to try and de-escalate immediately to my mind, as they are doing.
It'll depend on what India's end-game in all of this is. If it is occupation of all of Pakistan, then they'll be in a world of pain, as American and Russian experience in Afghanistan shows. If it is to grab disputed areas, they'll have much more chance. If it is just a statement of strength after the terrorist attack, then I'll expect Pakistan to give a smaller response and the whole thing to die down.
But the Pakistani PM is addressing parliament as well, so we might know more in a few minutes.
Lol it definitely isn't occupation of Pakistan, who the fuck wants that shithole anyway? It's forcing an end to Pakistan's state sponsoring of terrorists and handing over the guilty people to India for prosecution. Pakistan is a terrorist state and India has every right to demand they stop funding and facilitating terrorist attacks against Indians. We did the same when Putin was funding similar groups in Eastern Ukraine and Georgia.
India is a terrorist state when it suits it - see the murder of that Sikh guy in Canada and its sponsoring of Tamil terrorism during the Sri Lankan civil war. It's also a regional bully not much better than Russia.
Ever since we left it's been a choice of evils between India and Pakistan.
So much better when we were the chief source of evil in that part of the world.
Now now. It's not evil if it's done by Good Chaps.
How could Badenoch fail to score this week in particular at PMQs?
She didn’t go near the Indian trade deal because her so called outrage was just for the right wing papers.
Obviously I fucking hate Kemi for many completely sound reasons but the aspect of her leadership I find truly puzzling is the sheer torpor.
SKS has the benefits of both time and incumbency, KB has neither. She should be shitposting 24/7 and saying anything to grab views/clicks. Her speed of politics seems to be rooted in the 70s with glacially slow policy development. She has zero rizz and therefore needs to compensate with energy and activity.
How could Badenoch fail to score this week in particular at PMQs?
She didn’t go near the Indian trade deal because her so called outrage was just for the right wing papers.
No, it’s almost certainly because - as with Chagos - Starmer would turn around and say “the Tory government negotiated 90% of this deal, including the visa and tax details, we have simply delivered it, which they didn’t”
Remember, the Tories gave us the Boriswave. They probably thought this deal was a great idea too. See Dan Hannan
The Tories are fucked by their record, Labour are fucked by their venal incompetence, Farage will win in 2028
In 2029 surely.
May 3rd 2029. Get on now so you can’t be arrested for insider dealing if you leave it till the last days before it’s called.
You think they will have recovered enough for an early election? Thursday 9th August.
See that's almost 2030 before we have to worry about Farage.
You can’t hold an election 9th August. First week of July is about limit before losing extra votes from the summer holiday timing.
What I think is a good idea - not have voting on Thursdays anymore. Open Saturday and Sunday (the Sunday till about 6pm) and then start counting.
How could Badenoch fail to score this week in particular at PMQs?
She didn’t go near the Indian trade deal because her so called outrage was just for the right wing papers.
No, it’s almost certainly because - as with Chagos - Starmer would turn around and say “the Tory government negotiated 90% of this deal, including the visa and tax details, we have simply delivered it, which they didn’t”
Remember, the Tories gave us the Boriswave. They probably thought this deal was a great idea too. See Dan Hannan
The Tories are fucked by their record, Labour are fucked by their venal incompetence, Farage will win in 2028
In 2029 surely.
May 3rd 2029. Get on now so you can’t be arrested for insider dealing if you leave it till the last days before it’s called.
All my knowledge, intuition, and general political punditing nous tells me it's the 17th.
It's a shame Sean is no longer here to defend having just had Dan Hannan hand Sean his arse.
If someone had told me in 2016 that in 2024 Dan Hannan wouldn't be the most idiotic protagonist in an argument I would genuinely have not believed you. It's like how now Dick Cheyney is one of the good guys. Crazy times!
How could Badenoch fail to score this week in particular at PMQs?
She didn’t go near the Indian trade deal because her so called outrage was just for the right wing papers.
No, it’s almost certainly because - as with Chagos - Starmer would turn around and say “the Tory government negotiated 90% of this deal, including the visa and tax details, we have simply delivered it, which they didn’t”
Remember, the Tories gave us the Boriswave. They probably thought this deal was a great idea too. See Dan Hannan
The Tories are fucked by their record, Labour are fucked by their venal incompetence, Farage will win in 2028
In 2029 surely.
May 3rd 2029. Get on now so you can’t be arrested for insider dealing if you leave it till the last days before it’s called.
All my knowledge, intuition, and general political punditing nous tells me it's the 17th.
The locals set for May 3rd. Did you factor that in?
All you need to know about the Indian NIC agreement is that the UK government carefully left it out of the press release trumpeting the deal
QED
Read the room, Leon.
It’s quite bizarre that PB complains about my posting on PB so much they demand links to read tweets that are allegedly ALSO by me so they can complain about those as well. In fact, it’s laughably ridiculous. But flattering
Of course this spectator dude is not me, just some sad plagiarist who keeps stealing my ideas
So the Brexiters were saying we can make new trade deals and as soon as one arrives they don’t like it .
And of course the media has failed to report what the deal actually means and that we have the same social security arrangements with a host of countries .
So really why bother with new trade deals , it’s just not worth it .
Dowden, Hannan and the Daily Telegraph leader are all on board.
However Farage isn't and that is all that matters on broadcast media.
On the face of it, I think it's a reasonable deal.
But, I suspect that my opinion matters far less than Farage's.
Spin is criticised, and often rightly so, but I suspect the government are going to gravely suffer here for having poor communications.
Government Comms are dreadful.
When a big trade win is reported as a failure of immigration by a two tier anti-white racist government by a party of racists the game should be up for Morgan McSweeney.
Ok, can you explain to me how it is impossible, under this deal, for tens of thousands of Indians to come to Britain and take British jobs, seeing as the Indians are now much cheaper to hire
This is not a gotcha. It’s a sincere q. If you can explain it - thankyou. And if you can, the government should hire you ASAFP coz you’d clearly do a better job than them
The gotcha on you is so obvious Leon. So many UK businesses from care, building, high street, hospitality, are crying out to bring people in, you are saying No! Those jobs for British workers - zero movement.
Can’t you see how utterly stupid that sounds?
But British companies can’t benefit from the NI tax break, only Indian companies can.
Isn’t it symmetric? UK employees temporarily posted to India by their employers will pay NI in the UK on the same basis.
Quote from the business & trade secretary: ““We have 17 of these agreements with the EU, with South Korea, with the US and a whole range of partners, and what it is about is making sure when people are inter-company transfers between the UK and India – so for our people in India and Indian people in the UK – they don’t simultaneously pay into both social security systems,”
Given that the Indian equivalent of NI appears to be roughly at the same level as in the UK, there’s no net tax benefit here /if/ everything is above board. That if is something of a big one though.
The deal might - or might not - be symmetric. But will the numbers be symmetric? Highly unlikely
Given that I STILL haven’t seen any signs of a legal numerical cap on numbers it seems quite possible if not probable that tens of thousands of Indians come here for higher wages, taking British jobs as they are now cheaper to hire, and a few hundred Brits go the other way
Which for a government pledging to lower migration is calamitous. Two Tier Kier and his Two Tier Taxes
Well we'll have the evidence as to whether we've been swamped by Indians in gainful employment in time for 17th May 2029, won't we.
All you need to know about the Indian NIC agreement is that the UK government carefully left it out of the press release trumpeting the deal
QED
Read the room, Leon.
It’s quite bizarre that PB complains about my posting on PB so much they demand links to read tweets that are allegedly ALSO by me so they can complain about those as well. In fact, it’s laughably ridiculous. But flattering
Of course this spectator dude is not me, just some sad plagiarist who keeps stealing my ideas
The room is Leon, waiting for a defence from you of Reforms Immigration Policy.
Putting out vibes UK can do zero immigration - jobs for British workers and lovely incomes too - is exactly the vibes and promises what got the Conservatives in such a hole and created this latest temporary Faragasm.
SUCH IDEALISM HITS SUCH REALITY VOTERS FEEL THEY HAVE BEEN LIED TOO.
As things heat up as we get closer to a General Election, Reforms unrealistic, dishonest, Borisesque Immigration Policy, is going to be torn apart by every political opponent, business leader, economist, industrialist, newspaper and media outlet isn’t it?
Can you explain why you think Farage bangs on about getting the birth rate up, he loves kissing baby’s on the campaign trail?
How could Badenoch fail to score this week in particular at PMQs?
She didn’t go near the Indian trade deal because her so called outrage was just for the right wing papers.
No, it’s almost certainly because - as with Chagos - Starmer would turn around and say “the Tory government negotiated 90% of this deal, including the visa and tax details, we have simply delivered it, which they didn’t”
Remember, the Tories gave us the Boriswave. They probably thought this deal was a great idea too. See Dan Hannan
The Tories are fucked by their record, Labour are fucked by their venal incompetence, Farage will win in 2028
In 2029 surely.
May 3rd 2029. Get on now so you can’t be arrested for insider dealing if you leave it till the last days before it’s called.
You think they will have recovered enough for an early election? Thursday 9th August.
See that's almost 2030 before we have to worry about Farage.
All you need to know about the Indian NIC agreement is that the UK government carefully left it out of the press release trumpeting the deal
QED
Read the room, Leon.
It’s quite bizarre that PB complains about my posting on PB so much they demand links to read tweets that are allegedly ALSO by me so they can complain about those as well. In fact, it’s laughably ridiculous. But flattering
Of course this spectator dude is not me, just some sad plagiarist who keeps stealing my ideas
The room is Leon, waiting for a defence from you of Reforms Immigration Policy.
Putting out vibes UK can do zero immigration - jobs for British workers and lovely incomes too - is exactly the vibes and promises what got the Conservatives in such a hole and created this latest temporary Faragasm.
SUCH IDEALISM HITS SUCH REALITY VOTERS FEEL THEY HAVE BEEN LIED TOO.
As things heat up as we get closer to a General Election, Reforms unrealistic, dishonest, Borisesque Immigration Policy, is going to be torn apart by every political opponent, business leader, economist, industrialist, newspaper and media outlet isn’t it?
Can you explain why you think Farage bangs on about getting the birth rate up, he loves kissing baby’s on the campaign trail?
Anecdote alert. My friend in the Green Party told me, Norman Tibet came upon a mother and baby on the campaign trail in the 1980’s, and ate the baby.
I wouldn't go sniffing around your previous India / NIC posts then.
That’s just brilliant. How did you come up with a zinger like that? If I was the cynical kind I’d have suspicions you hired a crack team of zinger-makers, recruited from across the world, dedicated to the art of crushing rejoinders. Because this is sensational
Let’s break it down. I lost my sense of smell. It came back. In less than an hour you worked out this devastating reply:
“I wouldn’t go sniffing around your previous India / NIC posts then”
Seriously. Have you thought of going professional - maybe even a career on stage? The genius of the idea that certain comments about tax changes and trade policy will have a kind of metaphorical fragrance which will become apparent to the post-anosmic recuperee in a perhaps unsettling or perplexing way - it’s gold. It’s gold dust. And yet you’re just giving away your material on here for nothing
So skirting around the shouting and hysterics, it turns out that the India deal is about effectively making it easier for mainly seconded type staff, rather than *&^$£%$%!! (&^&%$^&!!!! (*&&^%$^!!!!!! TIDAL WAVES OF IMMIGRATION !!!!!!!, and it is estimated to be a 0.1% boost to GDP in 15 years,
Fairy nuff.
Are you familiar with the business model of Mrs Sunak's company?
Would any of the PB Tories be happy if their only income were the state pension - triple locked or not? Would they consider themselves wealthy?
You've conflated income and wealth. The difficulty with all this is some pensioners can be sat on millions in property wealth while having no other pension income.
At risk of sounding stupid...why are they reactivating Alcatraz? The American prison system is outstandingly good at keeping prisoners imprisoned. Is this just vibes?
Trump stupidity , he likely watched a movie. Only a nutter would think it could be updated and used, would cost a fortune.
So the Brexiters were saying we can make new trade deals and as soon as one arrives they don’t like it .
And of course the media has failed to report what the deal actually means and that we have the same social security arrangements with a host of countries .
So really why bother with new trade deals , it’s just not worth it .
Dowden, Hannan and the Daily Telegraph leader are all on board.
However Farage isn't and that is all that matters on broadcast media.
On the face of it, I think it's a reasonable deal.
But, I suspect that my opinion matters far less than Farage's.
Spin is criticised, and often rightly so, but I suspect the government are going to gravely suffer here for having poor communications.
Government Comms are dreadful.
When a big trade win is reported as a failure of immigration by a two tier anti-white racist government by a party of racists the game should be up for Morgan McSweeney.
Ok, can you explain to me how it is impossible, under this deal, for tens of thousands of Indians to come to Britain and take British jobs, seeing as the Indians are now much cheaper to hire
This is not a gotcha. It’s a sincere q. If you can explain it - thankyou. And if you can, the government should hire you ASAFP coz you’d clearly do a better job than them
The gotcha on you is so obvious Leon. So many UK businesses from care, building, high street, hospitality, are crying out to bring people in, you are saying No! Those jobs for British workers - zero movement.
Can’t you see how utterly stupid that sounds?
But British companies can’t benefit from the NI tax break, only Indian companies can.
Isn’t it symmetric? UK employees temporarily posted to India by their employers will pay NI in the UK on the same basis.
Quote from the business & trade secretary: ““We have 17 of these agreements with the EU, with South Korea, with the US and a whole range of partners, and what it is about is making sure when people are inter-company transfers between the UK and India – so for our people in India and Indian people in the UK – they don’t simultaneously pay into both social security systems,”
Given that the Indian equivalent of NI appears to be roughly at the same level as in the UK, there’s no net tax benefit here /if/ everything is above board. That if is something of a big one though.
The deal might - or might not - be symmetric. But will the numbers be symmetric? Highly unlikely
Given that I STILL haven’t seen any signs of a legal numerical cap on numbers it seems quite possible if not probable that tens of thousands of Indians come here for higher wages, taking British jobs as they are now cheaper to hire, and a few hundred Brits go the other way
Which for a government pledging to lower migration is calamitous. Two Tier Kier and his Two Tier Taxes
Well we'll have the evidence as to whether we've been swamped by Indians in gainful employment in time for 17th May 2029, won't we.
May 3rd. You can’t schedule a GE poll 2 weeks after the locals one. Not just waste of time and money, but overlapping campaigns with a nations verdict known two weeks before a General Election one?
All you need to know about the Indian NIC agreement is that the UK government carefully left it out of the press release trumpeting the deal
QED
Read the room, Leon.
It’s quite bizarre that PB complains about my posting on PB so much they demand links to read tweets that are allegedly ALSO by me so they can complain about those as well. In fact, it’s laughably ridiculous. But flattering
Of course this spectator dude is not me, just some sad plagiarist who keeps stealing my ideas
The room is Leon, waiting for a defence from you of Reforms Immigration Policy.
Putting out vibes UK can do zero immigration - jobs for British workers and lovely incomes too - is exactly the vibes and promises what got the Conservatives in such a hole and created this latest temporary Faragasm.
SUCH IDEALISM HITS SUCH REALITY VOTERS FEEL THEY HAVE BEEN LIED TOO.
As things heat up as we get closer to a General Election, Reforms unrealistic, dishonest, Borisesque Immigration Policy, is going to be torn apart by every political opponent, business leader, economist, industrialist, newspaper and media outlet isn’t it?
Can you explain why you think Farage bangs on about getting the birth rate up, he loves kissing baby’s on the campaign trail?
Anecdote alert. My friend in the Green Party told me, Norman Tibet came upon a mother and baby on the campaign trail in the 1980’s, and ate the baby.
How could Badenoch fail to score this week in particular at PMQs?
She didn’t go near the Indian trade deal because her so called outrage was just for the right wing papers.
No, it’s almost certainly because - as with Chagos - Starmer would turn around and say “the Tory government negotiated 90% of this deal, including the visa and tax details, we have simply delivered it, which they didn’t”
Remember, the Tories gave us the Boriswave. They probably thought this deal was a great idea too. See Dan Hannan
The Tories are fucked by their record, Labour are fucked by their venal incompetence, Farage will win in 2028
In 2029 surely.
May 3rd 2029. Get on now so you can’t be arrested for insider dealing if you leave it till the last days before it’s called.
All my knowledge, intuition, and general political punditing nous tells me it's the 17th.
The locals set for May 3rd. Did you factor that in?
Ah really. So ok, the 3rd then. Four years for Nigel Farage to keep people het up about foreigners. Got to be possible. He's managed it for a decade already.
Would any of the PB Tories be happy if their only income were the state pension - triple locked or not? Would they consider themselves wealthy?
You've conflated income and wealth. The difficulty with all this is some pensioners can be sat on millions in property wealth while having no other pension income.
You cannot eat a house
You can, though, downsize. We actually have more bedrooms per person in the UK than we had in 1980 but we distribute them much worse - we have lots of pensioners with lots of spare bedrooms and lots of twenty somethings in shared houses.
It's a shame Sean is no longer here to defend having just had Dan Hannan hand Sean his arse.
If someone had told me in 2016 that in 2024 Dan Hannan wouldn't be the most idiotic protagonist in an argument I would genuinely have not believed you. It's like how now Dick Cheyney is one of the good guys. Crazy times!
Obviously I fucking hate Kemi for many completely sound reasons but the aspect of her leadership I find truly puzzling is the sheer torpor.
SKS has the benefits of both time and incumbency, KB has neither. She should be shitposting 24/7 and saying anything to grab views/clicks. Her speed of politics seems to be rooted in the 70s with glacially slow policy development. She has zero rizz and therefore needs to compensate with energy and activity.
TBF to Kemi, zero rizz is not the worst that can happen
JD Vance broke the National Championship trophy, then visited the Pope who died the next day, then visited India and a terrorist attack happened and war broke out, then endorsed his brother for mayor who lost 83-11%.
My belief that you couldn't do worse than Sarwar and Findlay as opposition leaders is about to be tested. Even though Reform don't yet have a Scottish leader they will inevitably be absolute dogshit. Just for the visual 'vibes' I hope it's this guy.
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
Bet it never even went completely. Bet you could have smelt say TCP if you'd tried.
Would any of the PB Tories be happy if their only income were the state pension - triple locked or not? Would they consider themselves wealthy?
You've conflated income and wealth. The difficulty with all this is some pensioners can be sat on millions in property wealth while having no other pension income.
You cannot eat a house
You can, though, downsize. We actually have more bedrooms per person in the UK than we had in 1980 but we distribute them much worse - we have lots of pensioners with lots of spare bedrooms and lots of twenty somethings in shared houses.
The abolition of inheritance tax would achieve this, I suspect....
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
Bet it never even went completely. Bet you could have smelt say TCP if you'd tried.
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
Bet it never even went completely. Bet you could have smelt say TCP if you'd tried.
Rather pathetic episode.
Yes possibly
I am prone to medical catastrophizing - it’s my own fondness of hyperbole coming back to haunt me
I remember a few months ago in Thailand I saw a weird red mark near my lips. I looked at it. Looked again. I thought “that’s never been there before, that looks like skin cancer. In fact, malignant skin cancer”
From there I reeled into a mind space where I was certain to die within 1-2 years and - this is no joke - I worked out the words I would use to tell my kids of my imminent death
Then I thought “hold on am I certain about this” and I went back and washed my face and the red mark turned out to be a small piece of chili pepper
My belief that you couldn't do worse than Sarwar and Findlay as opposition leaders is about to be tested. Even though Reform don't yet have a Scottish leader they will inevitably be absolute dogshit. Just for the visual 'vibes' I hope it's this guy.
So SNP still down 6 seats on the 2021 Holyrood election, Cons down 18, SLab down 4, Greens unchanged.
Reform by far the biggest gainers with 21 new MSPs and LDs make a few gains too up 6.
According to Yougov today Reform are now ahead UK wide and in the top 2 parties in every UK region or nation, including Scotland, apart from London which is the only English region where Labour and the Conservatives remain the top 2 parties. Indeed in London Reform are only on 14% a massive 12% below their second worst part of the UK, Scotland, where the subsample has them on 26% and 30% UK wide https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/VotingIntention_MRP_250506_w.pdf
So the Brexiters were saying we can make new trade deals and as soon as one arrives they don’t like it .
And of course the media has failed to report what the deal actually means and that we have the same social security arrangements with a host of countries .
So really why bother with new trade deals , it’s just not worth it .
Dowden, Hannan and the Daily Telegraph leader are all on board.
However Farage isn't and that is all that matters on broadcast media.
On the face of it, I think it's a reasonable deal.
But, I suspect that my opinion matters far less than Farage's.
Spin is criticised, and often rightly so, but I suspect the government are going to gravely suffer here for having poor communications.
Government Comms are dreadful.
When a big trade win is reported as a failure of immigration by a two tier anti-white racist government by a party of racists the game should be up for Morgan McSweeney.
Ok, can you explain to me how it is impossible, under this deal, for tens of thousands of Indians to come to Britain and take British jobs, seeing as the Indians are now much cheaper to hire
This is not a gotcha. It’s a sincere q. If you can explain it - thankyou. And if you can, the government should hire you ASAFP coz you’d clearly do a better job than them
The gotcha on you is so obvious Leon. So many UK businesses from care, building, high street, hospitality, are crying out to bring people in, you are saying No! Those jobs for British workers - zero movement.
Can’t you see how utterly stupid that sounds?
But British companies can’t benefit from the NI tax break, only Indian companies can.
Isn’t it symmetric? UK employees temporarily posted to India by their employers will pay NI in the UK on the same basis.
Quote from the business & trade secretary: ““We have 17 of these agreements with the EU, with South Korea, with the US and a whole range of partners, and what it is about is making sure when people are inter-company transfers between the UK and India – so for our people in India and Indian people in the UK – they don’t simultaneously pay into both social security systems,”
Given that the Indian equivalent of NI appears to be roughly at the same level as in the UK, there’s no net tax benefit here /if/ everything is above board. That if is something of a big one though.
The deal might - or might not - be symmetric. But will the numbers be symmetric? Highly unlikely
Given that I STILL haven’t seen any signs of a legal numerical cap on numbers it seems quite possible if not probable that tens of thousands of Indians come here for higher wages, taking British jobs as they are now cheaper to hire, and a few hundred Brits go the other way
Which for a government pledging to lower migration is calamitous. Two Tier Kier and his Two Tier Taxes
Well we'll have the evidence as to whether we've been swamped by Indians in gainful employment in time for 17th May 2029, won't we.
May 3rd. You can’t schedule a GE poll 2 weeks after the locals one. Not just waste of time and money, but overlapping campaigns with a nations verdict known two weeks before a General Election one?
Yes, May 3rd. I wrote that before processing your correction.
Would any of the PB Tories be happy if their only income were the state pension - triple locked or not? Would they consider themselves wealthy?
You've conflated income and wealth. The difficulty with all this is some pensioners can be sat on millions in property wealth while having no other pension income.
You cannot eat a house
You can, though, downsize. We actually have more bedrooms per person in the UK than we had in 1980 but we distribute them much worse - we have lots of pensioners with lots of spare bedrooms and lots of twenty somethings in shared houses.
The abolition of inheritance tax would achieve this, I suspect....
With the VOA coming under the auspices of HMRC, I suspect some form of Land Value Tax might be in the offing. Since building land and housing are in short supply, it makes sense to use the Tax system to signal the direction the economy needs to take to better utilise resources.
Would any of the PB Tories be happy if their only income were the state pension - triple locked or not? Would they consider themselves wealthy?
You've conflated income and wealth. The difficulty with all this is some pensioners can be sat on millions in property wealth while having no other pension income.
You cannot eat a house
You can, though, downsize. We actually have more bedrooms per person in the UK than we had in 1980 but we distribute them much worse - we have lots of pensioners with lots of spare bedrooms and lots of twenty somethings in shared houses.
The abolition of inheritance tax would achieve this, I suspect....
And the abolition of stamp duty. And a proportional council tax.
All you need to know about the Indian NIC agreement is that the UK government carefully left it out of the press release trumpeting the deal
QED
Read the room, Leon.
It’s quite bizarre that PB complains about my posting on PB so much they demand links to read tweets that are allegedly ALSO by me so they can complain about those as well. In fact, it’s laughably ridiculous. But flattering
Of course this spectator dude is not me, just some sad plagiarist who keeps stealing my ideas
The room is Leon, waiting for a defence from you of Reforms Immigration Policy.
Putting out vibes UK can do zero immigration - jobs for British workers and lovely incomes too - is exactly the vibes and promises what got the Conservatives in such a hole and created this latest temporary Faragasm.
SUCH IDEALISM HITS SUCH REALITY VOTERS FEEL THEY HAVE BEEN LIED TOO.
As things heat up as we get closer to a General Election, Reforms unrealistic, dishonest, Borisesque Immigration Policy, is going to be torn apart by every political opponent, business leader, economist, industrialist, newspaper and media outlet isn’t it?
Can you explain why you think Farage bangs on about getting the birth rate up, he loves kissing baby’s on the campaign trail?
I have slept with a girl whose mother was kissed by Hitler (as a baby)
So I am three intimate moments away from Hitler. I know this will come as a shock to many
And this again. More genius. PB is on fucking FIRE. Are you all on meth??? What’s going on??
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
If I said that I’d consider retirement. Because it’s not going to get better than that is it?
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
I’m actually… stunned.
No, I disagree – this is a minor pb highlight. Like the – what was it – supermarket trolleys having gone downhill since the golden age? Like the furious argument about packet rice. Like Bondegezou’s wry observation this morning about the slyness of Sumerian politicians. This is another example of a site which can care about EVERYTHING.
My belief that you couldn't do worse than Sarwar and Findlay as opposition leaders is about to be tested. Even though Reform don't yet have a Scottish leader they will inevitably be absolute dogshit. Just for the visual 'vibes' I hope it's this guy.
So SNP still down 6 seats on the 2021 Holyrood election, Cons down 18, SLab down 4, Greens unchanged.
Reform by far the biggest gainers with 21 new MSPs and LDs make a few gains too up 6.
According to Yougov today Reform are now ahead UK wide and in the top 2 parties in every UK region or nation, including Scotland, apart from London which is the only English region where Labour and the Conservatives remain the top 2 parties. Indeed in London Reform are only on 14% a massive 12% below their second worst part of the UK, Scotland, where the subsample has them on 26% and 30% UK wide https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/VotingIntention_MRP_250506_w.pdf
Sorry Reform are on 30% England wide, 29% UK wide with Yougov
It's a shame Sean is no longer here to defend having just had Dan Hannan hand Sean his arse.
If someone had told me in 2016 that in 2024 Dan Hannan wouldn't be the most idiotic protagonist in an argument I would genuinely have not believed you. It's like how now Dick Cheyney is one of the good guys. Crazy times!
Yep. Eg what wouldn't we give for Nixon back.
Yes, the ghost of Tricky Dicky must be scratching his head in hell right now.
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
Bet it never even went completely. Bet you could have smelt say TCP if you'd tried.
Rather pathetic episode.
Yes possibly
I am prone to medical catastrophizing - it’s my own fondness of hyperbole coming back to haunt me
I remember a few months ago in Thailand I saw a weird red mark near my lips. I looked at it. Looked again. I thought “that’s never been there before, that looks like skin cancer. In fact, malignant skin cancer”
From there I reeled into a mind space where I was certain to die within 1-2 years and - this is no joke - I worked out the words I would use to tell my kids of my imminent death
Then I thought “hold on am I certain about this” and I went back and washed my face and the red mark turned out to be a small piece of chili pepper
I'm prone too. I was on a plane once and there was an odd smell. It bothered me and I got to thinking it was nerve gas - but it turned out to be coming from the advancing catering trolley. Some sort of soup.
Obviously I fucking hate Kemi for many completely sound reasons but the aspect of her leadership I find truly puzzling is the sheer torpor.
SKS has the benefits of both time and incumbency, KB has neither. She should be shitposting 24/7 and saying anything to grab views/clicks. Her speed of politics seems to be rooted in the 70s with glacially slow policy development. She has zero rizz and therefore needs to compensate with energy and activity.
TBF to Kemi, zero rizz is not the worst that can happen
JD Vance broke the National Championship trophy, then visited the Pope who died the next day, then visited India and a terrorist attack happened and war broke out, then endorsed his brother for mayor who lost 83-11%.
After the monster bunch last week we have just 2 local by-elections tomorrow. There is a Lab defence in Calderdale and a LD defence in Eastleigh. Anything could happen these days but Eastleigh should be a LD hold but Calderdale is a free for all.
Feast or famine when it comes to rainfall. At this point last year it was the wettest year since daily records (1932) for the England Wales precipitation series began. Currently we're at the 8th driest after an entirely unremarkable January and February.
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
Bet it never even went completely. Bet you could have smelt say TCP if you'd tried.
Rather pathetic episode.
Yes possibly
I am prone to medical catastrophizing - it’s my own fondness of hyperbole coming back to haunt me
I remember a few months ago in Thailand I saw a weird red mark near my lips. I looked at it. Looked again. I thought “that’s never been there before, that looks like skin cancer. In fact, malignant skin cancer”
From there I reeled into a mind space where I was certain to die within 1-2 years and - this is no joke - I worked out the words I would use to tell my kids of my imminent death
Then I thought “hold on am I certain about this” and I went back and washed my face and the red mark turned out to be a small piece of chili pepper
I'm prone too. I was on a plane once and there was an odd smell. It bothered me and I got to thinking it was nerve gas - but it turned out to be coming from the advancing catering trolley. Some sort of soup.
I suddenly had a vision of you and Leon fighting over the TV remote in a nursing home. In fact, what a brilliant premise for a sitcom. Maybe with Luckyguy1983 as a peripheral character who polices people's use of idioms and an indecipherable weegie called Malcolm whose only intelligible word is Turnips.
And this again. More genius. PB is on fucking FIRE. Are you all on meth??? What’s going on??
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
If I said that I’d consider retirement. Because it’s not going to get better than that is it?
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
I’m actually… stunned.
No, I disagree – this is a minor pb highlight. Like the – what was it – supermarket trolleys having gone downhill since the golden age? Like the furious argument about packet rice. Like Bondegezou’s wry observation this morning about the slyness of Sumerian politicians. This is another example of a site which can care about EVERYTHING.
I'm surprised by the depth of most bodies of water. I assume they are roughly proportional to the surrounding hills - 1,000m deep in Scotland. Only Loch Morar comes close to expectations.
And this again. More genius. PB is on fucking FIRE. Are you all on meth??? What’s going on??
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
If I said that I’d consider retirement. Because it’s not going to get better than that is it?
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
I’m actually… stunned.
No, I disagree – this is a minor pb highlight. Like the – what was it – supermarket trolleys having gone downhill since the golden age? Like the furious argument about packet rice. Like Bondegezou’s wry observation this morning about the slyness of Sumerian politicians. This is another example of a site which can care about EVERYTHING.
I agree. I was only teasing @MattW - I rather like his parochial profundities
The remark you are half recalling was this. Still maybe the greatest moment on pb:
“I don’t know about you, but I think supermarket tannoy announcements have gone really downhill in the last few years”
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
Bet it never even went completely. Bet you could have smelt say TCP if you'd tried.
Rather pathetic episode.
Yes possibly
I am prone to medical catastrophizing - it’s my own fondness of hyperbole coming back to haunt me
I remember a few months ago in Thailand I saw a weird red mark near my lips. I looked at it. Looked again. I thought “that’s never been there before, that looks like skin cancer. In fact, malignant skin cancer”
From there I reeled into a mind space where I was certain to die within 1-2 years and - this is no joke - I worked out the words I would use to tell my kids of my imminent death
Then I thought “hold on am I certain about this” and I went back and washed my face and the red mark turned out to be a small piece of chili pepper
I'm prone too. I was on a plane once and there was an odd smell. It bothered me and I got to thinking it was nerve gas - but it turned out to be coming from the advancing catering trolley. Some sort of soup.
I suddenly had a vision of you and Leon fighting over the TV remote in a nursing home. In fact, what a brilliant premise for a sitcom. Maybe with Luckyguy1983 as a peripheral character who polices people's use of idioms and an indecipherable weegie called Malcolm whose only intelligible word is Turnips.
I will have you know I am not a weegie or even near it. Ayrshire born and bred , a jolly plough boy.
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
Bet it never even went completely. Bet you could have smelt say TCP if you'd tried.
Rather pathetic episode.
Yes possibly
I am prone to medical catastrophizing - it’s my own fondness of hyperbole coming back to haunt me
I remember a few months ago in Thailand I saw a weird red mark near my lips. I looked at it. Looked again. I thought “that’s never been there before, that looks like skin cancer. In fact, malignant skin cancer”
From there I reeled into a mind space where I was certain to die within 1-2 years and - this is no joke - I worked out the words I would use to tell my kids of my imminent death
Then I thought “hold on am I certain about this” and I went back and washed my face and the red mark turned out to be a small piece of chili pepper
I'm prone too. I was on a plane once and there was an odd smell. It bothered me and I got to thinking it was nerve gas - but it turned out to be coming from the advancing catering trolley. Some sort of soup.
I suddenly had a vision of you and Leon fighting over the TV remote in a nursing home. In fact, what a brilliant premise for a sitcom. Maybe with Luckyguy1983 as a peripheral character who polices people's use of idioms and an indecipherable weegie called Malcolm whose only intelligible word is Turnips.
Perhaps a remake of Father Ted, with @kinabalu in the Father Ted role, @malcolmg as Father Jack and of course @Leon as Father Dougal. The role of Mrs Doyle would be for @TSE.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
Bet it never even went completely. Bet you could have smelt say TCP if you'd tried.
Rather pathetic episode.
Yes possibly
I am prone to medical catastrophizing - it’s my own fondness of hyperbole coming back to haunt me
I remember a few months ago in Thailand I saw a weird red mark near my lips. I looked at it. Looked again. I thought “that’s never been there before, that looks like skin cancer. In fact, malignant skin cancer”
From there I reeled into a mind space where I was certain to die within 1-2 years and - this is no joke - I worked out the words I would use to tell my kids of my imminent death
Then I thought “hold on am I certain about this” and I went back and washed my face and the red mark turned out to be a small piece of chili pepper
I'm prone too. I was on a plane once and there was an odd smell. It bothered me and I got to thinking it was nerve gas - but it turned out to be coming from the advancing catering trolley. Some sort of soup.
I suddenly had a vision of you and Leon fighting over the TV remote in a nursing home. In fact, what a brilliant premise for a sitcom. Maybe with Luckyguy1983 as a peripheral character who polices people's use of idioms and an indecipherable weegie called Malcolm whose only intelligible word is Turnips.
I don’t think we need a vision of a sitcom
This is what PB basically is, now. A nursing home
Even Aleister Crowley ended up eating baby food in Hastings
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
Bet it never even went completely. Bet you could have smelt say TCP if you'd tried.
Rather pathetic episode.
Yes possibly
I am prone to medical catastrophizing - it’s my own fondness of hyperbole coming back to haunt me
I remember a few months ago in Thailand I saw a weird red mark near my lips. I looked at it. Looked again. I thought “that’s never been there before, that looks like skin cancer. In fact, malignant skin cancer”
From there I reeled into a mind space where I was certain to die within 1-2 years and - this is no joke - I worked out the words I would use to tell my kids of my imminent death
Then I thought “hold on am I certain about this” and I went back and washed my face and the red mark turned out to be a small piece of chili pepper
I'm prone too. I was on a plane once and there was an odd smell. It bothered me and I got to thinking it was nerve gas - but it turned out to be coming from the advancing catering trolley. Some sort of soup.
I suddenly had a vision of you and Leon fighting over the TV remote in a nursing home. In fact, what a brilliant premise for a sitcom. Maybe with Luckyguy1983 as a peripheral character who polices people's use of idioms and an indecipherable weegie called Malcolm whose only intelligible word is Turnips.
I will have you know I am not a weegie or even near it. Ayrshire born and bred , a jolly plough boy.
Yes as a Fifer I am well aware of that but I'm applying artistic license. The finer distinctions of west coast identity are lost on most people.
All you need to know about the Indian NIC agreement is that the UK government carefully left it out of the press release trumpeting the deal
QED
Read the room, Leon.
It’s quite bizarre that PB complains about my posting on PB so much they demand links to read tweets that are allegedly ALSO by me so they can complain about those as well. In fact, it’s laughably ridiculous. But flattering
Of course this spectator dude is not me, just some sad plagiarist who keeps stealing my ideas
The room is Leon, waiting for a defence from you of Reforms Immigration Policy.
Putting out vibes UK can do zero immigration - jobs for British workers and lovely incomes too - is exactly the vibes and promises what got the Conservatives in such a hole and created this latest temporary Faragasm.
SUCH IDEALISM HITS SUCH REALITY VOTERS FEEL THEY HAVE BEEN LIED TOO.
As things heat up as we get closer to a General Election, Reforms unrealistic, dishonest, Borisesque Immigration Policy, is going to be torn apart by every political opponent, business leader, economist, industrialist, newspaper and media outlet isn’t it?
Can you explain why you think Farage bangs on about getting the birth rate up, he loves kissing baby’s on the campaign trail?
I have slept with a girl whose mother was kissed by Hitler (as a baby)
So I am three intimate moments away from Hitler. I know this will come as a shock to many
Looks like it’s over to someone else to explain how the unreality of Reforms Immigration policy isn’t its weakest electoral facet.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
I note a young female Labour councillor has resigned amid allegations of anti Semitism
And this again. More genius. PB is on fucking FIRE. Are you all on meth??? What’s going on??
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
If I said that I’d consider retirement. Because it’s not going to get better than that is it?
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
I’m actually… stunned.
No, I disagree – this is a minor pb highlight. Like the – what was it – supermarket trolleys having gone downhill since the golden age? Like the furious argument about packet rice. Like Bondegezou’s wry observation this morning about the slyness of Sumerian politicians. This is another example of a site which can care about EVERYTHING.
I agree. I was only teasing @MattW - I rather like his parochial profundities
The remark you are half recalling was this. Still maybe the greatest moment on pb:
“I don’t know about you, but I think supermarket tannoy announcements have gone really downhill in the last few years”
AND SOMEONE ACTUALLY TOOK UP THIS ARGUMENT
I’m chuckling even as I write this
Best argument I saw on pb was back in 2008, I think, when two pb-ers (can't remember who) were discussing their recent respective visits to Ground Zero, the site of the Twin Towers. One said visiting was a spiritual experience. The other said it was a building site. And all hell broke loose.
And this again. More genius. PB is on fucking FIRE. Are you all on meth??? What’s going on??
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
If I said that I’d consider retirement. Because it’s not going to get better than that is it?
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
I’m actually… stunned.
Quite poetic actually. Canals are curious things.
I catch my train, ignored. Canal and clouds and colleges subside Slowly from view.
I listen to money singing. It’s like looking down From long french windows at a provincial town, The slums, the canal, the churches ornate and mad In the evening sun. It is intensely sad.
Ok my sense of smell is returning. 24 hours of anosmia not a lifetime of desensitised nihilism. This is what happened last time I had Covid. If I have Covid. It was very brief
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
Bet it never even went completely. Bet you could have smelt say TCP if you'd tried.
Rather pathetic episode.
Yes possibly
I am prone to medical catastrophizing - it’s my own fondness of hyperbole coming back to haunt me
I remember a few months ago in Thailand I saw a weird red mark near my lips. I looked at it. Looked again. I thought “that’s never been there before, that looks like skin cancer. In fact, malignant skin cancer”
From there I reeled into a mind space where I was certain to die within 1-2 years and - this is no joke - I worked out the words I would use to tell my kids of my imminent death
Then I thought “hold on am I certain about this” and I went back and washed my face and the red mark turned out to be a small piece of chili pepper
I'm prone too. I was on a plane once and there was an odd smell. It bothered me and I got to thinking it was nerve gas - but it turned out to be coming from the advancing catering trolley. Some sort of soup.
I suddenly had a vision of you and Leon fighting over the TV remote in a nursing home. In fact, what a brilliant premise for a sitcom. Maybe with Luckyguy1983 as a peripheral character who polices people's use of idioms and an indecipherable weegie called Malcolm whose only intelligible word is Turnips.
I don’t think we need a vision of a sitcom
This is what PB basically is, now. A nursing home
Even Aleister Crowley ended up eating baby food in Hastings
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
I note a young female Labour councillor has resigned amid allegations of anti Semitism
I'd never seek to make light of racism or any bigotry but the really big issue is the threat of violence. It isn't that long ago that the Speaker of the House cancelled a vote due to fear of the mob.
Not sure a 'threat of violence' is such a concern. Those intent on violence rarely advertise the use of it. They just do it - which is why such unprovoked violence should be dealt with in the most severe way.
I'd rather people turned their minds to dealing with the upsurge of domestic violence in the UK and the effects it has on families and children - mainly the children.
Comments
Quote from the business & trade secretary: ““We have 17 of these agreements with the EU, with South Korea, with the US and a whole range of partners, and what it is about is making sure when people are inter-company transfers between the UK and India – so for our people in India and Indian people in the UK – they don’t simultaneously pay into both social security systems,”
Given that the Indian equivalent of NI appears to be roughly at the same level as in the UK, there’s no net tax benefit here /if/ everything is above board. That if is something of a big one though.
QED
And people say I catastrophise. Pah! What do they know they are all doomed to hell by their ignorance
See that's almost 2030 before we have to worry about Farage.
Ever since we left it's been a choice of evils between India and Pakistan.
I guess they’re waiting for the post-accident investigations before deciding what to do about the aircraft losses.
Given that I STILL haven’t seen any signs of a legal numerical cap on numbers it seems quite possible if not probable that tens of thousands of Indians come here for higher wages, taking British jobs as they are now cheaper to hire, and a few hundred Brits go the other way
Which for a government pledging to lower migration is calamitous. Two Tier Kier and his Two Tier Taxes
Fairy nuff.
So that makes the various trade deals add up to a benefit of maybe 0.5% to 1% of GDP, which is worth having.
But which highlights that Starmer is correct also to focus heavily on EU relations.
And we can perhaps save some money not putting in place some of the stuff that the Cons did not get round to doing, despite being required to do it by a treaty they had signed. I think there were some multiply-delayed things in that category (but I'm open to correction
(Edited to remove rogue split infinitive.)
SKS has the benefits of both time and incumbency, KB has neither. She should be shitposting 24/7 and saying anything to grab views/clicks. Her speed of politics seems to be rooted in the 70s with glacially slow policy development. She has zero rizz and therefore needs to compensate with energy and activity.
What I think is a good idea - not have voting on Thursdays anymore. Open Saturday and Sunday (the Sunday till about 6pm) and then start counting.
It's like how now Dick Cheyney is one of the good guys.
Crazy times!
Of course this spectator dude is not me, just some sad plagiarist who keeps stealing my ideas
The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF1rxHsG6IE
Putting out vibes UK can do zero immigration - jobs for British workers and lovely incomes too - is exactly the vibes and promises what got the Conservatives in such a hole and created this latest temporary Faragasm.
SUCH IDEALISM HITS SUCH REALITY VOTERS FEEL THEY HAVE BEEN LIED TOO.
As things heat up as we get closer to a General Election, Reforms unrealistic, dishonest, Borisesque Immigration Policy, is going to be torn apart by every political opponent, business leader, economist, industrialist, newspaper and media outlet isn’t it?
Can you explain why you think Farage bangs on about getting the birth rate up, he loves kissing baby’s on the campaign trail?
Let’s break it down. I lost my sense of smell. It came back. In less than an hour you worked out this devastating reply:
“I wouldn’t go sniffing around your previous India / NIC posts then”
Seriously. Have you thought of going professional - maybe even a career on stage? The genius of the idea that certain comments about tax changes and trade policy will have a kind of metaphorical fragrance which will become apparent to the post-anosmic recuperee in a perhaps unsettling or perplexing way - it’s gold. It’s gold dust. And yet you’re just giving away your material on here for nothing
I'm having dinner with a friend there tomorrow, which is of course VE Day.
I plan to tell the waiter that I expect the meal to be free given the sacrifices we made 80 years ago.
What do you think are my chances for a decent amount of gratitude for the heroic contribution I didn't make?
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
If I said that I’d consider retirement. Because it’s not going to get better than that is it?
“The shallowness of most canals still sometimes surprises me.”
I’m actually… stunned.
https://x.com/DanielJHannan/status/1919828966762021130
We actually have more bedrooms per person in the UK than we had in 1980 but we distribute them much worse - we have lots of pensioners with lots of spare bedrooms and lots of twenty somethings in shared houses.
JD Vance has negative rizz
@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social
JD Vance broke the National Championship trophy, then visited the Pope who died the next day, then visited India and a terrorist attack happened and war broke out, then endorsed his brother for mayor who lost 83-11%.
What’s next on the agenda?
Kieran Andrews
@KieranPAndrews
👀 New poll by @Survation
for True North has @ReformUKScot
as main oppo at Holyrood w/ @theSNP
winning comfortably
@WhatScotsThink
seat projections
Con 13
Lab 18
LibDem 10
SNP 58
Green 8
Reform 21
https://x.com/KieranPAndrews/status/1920085999620603927
"Co-op shelves left empty by 'sustained, malicious' cyber attack"
https://news.sky.com/story/money-news-interest-rate-mortgages-latest-sky-news-13040934
Rather pathetic episode.
I'm not in the habit of falling in any
I am prone to medical catastrophizing - it’s my own fondness of hyperbole coming back to haunt me
I remember a few months ago in Thailand I saw a weird red mark near my lips. I looked at it. Looked again. I thought “that’s never been there before, that looks like skin cancer. In fact, malignant skin cancer”
From there I reeled into a mind space where I was certain to die within 1-2 years and - this is no joke - I worked out the words I would use to tell my kids of my imminent death
Then I thought “hold on am I certain about this” and I went back and washed my face and the red mark turned out to be a small piece of chili pepper
Reform by far the biggest gainers with 21 new MSPs and LDs make a few gains too up 6.
According to Yougov today Reform are now ahead UK wide and in the top 2 parties in every UK region or nation, including Scotland, apart from London which is the only English region where Labour and the Conservatives remain the top 2 parties. Indeed in London Reform are only on 14% a massive 12% below their second worst part of the UK, Scotland, where the subsample has them on 26% and 30% UK wide
https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/VotingIntention_MRP_250506_w.pdf
So I am three intimate moments away from Hitler. I know this will come as a shock to many
That goes for everyone.
Currently we're at the 8th driest after an entirely unremarkable January and February.
A convenient excuse, I accept ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbkUnfZtZnw
The remark you are half recalling was this. Still maybe the greatest moment on pb:
“I don’t know about you, but I think supermarket tannoy announcements have gone really downhill in the last few years”
AND SOMEONE ACTUALLY TOOK UP THIS ARGUMENT
I’m chuckling even as I write this
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
This is what PB basically is, now. A nursing home
Even Aleister Crowley ended up eating baby food in Hastings
Looks like it’s over to someone else to explain how the unreality of Reforms Immigration policy isn’t its weakest electoral facet.
I note a young female Labour councillor has resigned amid allegations of anti Semitism
https://x.com/daisyblakemore/status/1919345147172581692?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw
One said visiting was a spiritual experience.
The other said it was a building site.
And all hell broke loose.
I catch my train, ignored.
Canal and clouds and colleges subside
Slowly from view.
I listen to money singing. It’s like looking down
From long french windows at a provincial town,
The slums, the canal, the churches ornate and mad
In the evening sun. It is intensely sad.
NEW THREAD
I'd rather people turned their minds to dealing with the upsurge of domestic violence in the UK and the effects it has on families and children - mainly the children.