Do any PBers think one of the reasons the new pope has been selected is because he's been having twitter arguments with JD Vance? Maybe they like the idea of having a pope who's sort of an alternative power base to those in the white house.
He may be American but he is head of the global Roman Catholic church now and while Pope Leo is critical of the Trump administration's immigration and climate change policies he is still firmly anti abortion along with the GOP and takes a traditional line on sexuality
Being a saddo, I've just read the Hansard transcripts following Alexander's statement on the US deal. Most of the Tories who spoke were broadly supportive of it, recognising that we hadn't made concessions on farming standards, digital taxes or online safety. I'm not at all convinced that Kemi's view that we've been "shafted" is shared by many of her colleagues, which could spell trouble for her. For what it's worth, Douglas Alexander's responses to questions were quite impressive.
Next Foreign Sec.
Reshuffle this summer, although Lammy may last until next reshuffle.
Two Labour MPs have been impressive this week. Douglas Alexander and Louise Haigh. I'd be happy to see either replace the pusillanimous Foreign Sec.
Do any PBers think one of the reasons the new pope has been selected is because he's been having twitter arguments with JD Vance? Maybe they like the idea of having a pope who's sort of an alternative power base to those in the white house.
He may be American but he is head of the global Roman Catholic church now and while Pope Leo is critical of the Trump administration's immigration and climate change policies he is still firmly anti abortion along with the GOP and takes a traditional line on sexuality
Yes, indeed. I'm just trying to understand why someone who was only a 2% chance with punters was elected pope.
The deal is passable but there could still be trouble ahead though with pharmaceuticals and the film industry .
Slightly disappointing is the cap on just 100,000 vehicles to the USA at the lower tariff rate . The UK exported 101,000 cars last year so this doesn’t allow for an expansion for UK carmakers there .
Against expectations of many commentators there was no reduction in the DST . The red line on chlorinated chicken and hormone beef remains so this doesn’t complicate any EU deal .
Of course good news for UK steel with the zero tariff and Rolls Royce although the media made little of the latter .
I think the problem for Starmer is what deals the US cuts with other countries , especially the EU . As they will be compared with what the UK agreed to.
And the key measure is whether the 10% tariff base tariff remains . If it does then he might come away looking okay .
Well yes. But without Brexit we would have less need for the deal. Brexit has clobbered British exporters relative to other G7 countries, who are then hit by the Trump tariffs.
It is a necessary deal but also a somewhat desperate one.
Brexit took 5.2% from us. The India Super Deal was worth 0.1 and Trump deal likely less than that!
The key take away, a bigger Super Deal with USA cannot happen because although Starmer has bottled taking us back into EU, the deal he is making with EU restricts scope for a bigger trade deal with others. This is Farage and Kemi’s point and source of their genuine political anger this evening. Don’t knock clear blue water politics like Starmer has handed his opponents today - Labours EU wheeler dealing puts Brexit freedoms, such as to get the big super big Trade agreement with USA, through the shredder. Where does that now leave 2016 Brexit vote?
Do any PBers think one of the reasons the new pope has been selected is because he's been having twitter arguments with JD Vance? Maybe they like the idea of having a pope who's sort of an alternative power base to those in the white house.
He may be American but he is head of the global Roman Catholic church now and while Pope Leo is critical of the Trump administration's immigration and climate change policies he is still firmly anti abortion along with the GOP and takes a traditional line on sexuality
Yes, indeed. I'm just trying to understand why someone who was only a 2% chance with punters was elected pope.
I think this latest conclave has reminded us how little knowledge anyone has about the process. You’re essentially trying to get into the heads of 130-odd men. You have no insight into the various meetings they’ve had, how they got on, what their inner thoughts are. You just hear who the media think the favourites are, and what they think the trends should be. But this has I think shown that they’re not really in the know.
It was the same last time. Nobody had really called the conclave for Bergoglio either.
Do any PBers think one of the reasons the new pope has been selected is because he's been having twitter arguments with JD Vance? Maybe they like the idea of having a pope who's sort of an alternative power base to those in the white house.
He may be American but he is head of the global Roman Catholic church now and while Pope Leo is critical of the Trump administration's immigration and climate change policies he is still firmly anti abortion along with the GOP and takes a traditional line on sexuality
If you look at the areas he's disagreed with MAGA on, they're firstly often the basic Catholic doctrine (much as Vance, the zealot convert, tried to make up that it isn't) of helping and charity for the unfortunate.
Secondly, the Catholic Church has many more members (and its best growth prospects) in countries with citizens that are harmed by Vance and Trump's policies and attitudes, than it does in America. So of course a Pope is going to favour them over the feelings of a gang of right-wing loonies who are so thin-skinned and America-brained that they don't realise others have interests and agency.
In the case of the Catholic Church its interests are going to bump up against cutting off aid to the world's poor, dehumanising immigrants, and not tackling climate change, given some of the countries who may bear the brunt of it.
But yeah, of course he's going to be more aligned with the right on other social issues as the Church is.
Do any PBers think one of the reasons the new pope has been selected is because he's been having twitter arguments with JD Vance? Maybe they like the idea of having a pope who's sort of an alternative power base to those in the white house.
He may be American but he is head of the global Roman Catholic church now and while Pope Leo is critical of the Trump administration's immigration and climate change policies he is still firmly anti abortion along with the GOP and takes a traditional line on sexuality
If you look at the areas he's disagreed with MAGA on, they're firstly often the basic Catholic doctrine (much as Vance, the zealot convert, tried to make up that it isn't) of helping and charity for the unfortunate.
Secondly, the Catholic Church has many more members (and its best growth prospects) in countries with citizens that are harmed by Vance and Trump's policies and attitudes, than it does in America. So of course a Pope is going to favour them over the feelings of a gang of right-wing loonies who are so thin-skinned and America-brained that they don't realise others have interests and agency.
In the case of the Catholic Church its interests are going to bump up against cutting off aid to the world's poor, dehumanising immigrants, and not tackling climate change, given some of the countries who may bear the brunt of it.
But yeah, of course he's going to be more aligned with the right on other social issues as the Church is.
Indeed:
It's perfectly possible to be simultaneously:
- in favor of vaccines for children in the third world - worried about economic development in Latin America - concerned about climate change, and in particular how it affects the poorest And - in favor of traditional marriages - opposed to abortion
A lot of people on the US right seem to think Jesus would care only about pronouns and abortion, and not at all about racism, poverty and the environment.
Do any PBers think one of the reasons the new pope has been selected is because he's been having twitter arguments with JD Vance? Maybe they like the idea of having a pope who's sort of an alternative power base to those in the white house.
He may be American but he is head of the global Roman Catholic church now and while Pope Leo is critical of the Trump administration's immigration and climate change policies he is still firmly anti abortion along with the GOP and takes a traditional line on sexuality
Yes, indeed. I'm just trying to understand why someone who was only a 2% chance with punters was elected pope.
It's still 5 ballots:
Randomly comes third in the first couple of ballots, after two more polarising candidates
Cardinals think: he'd be fine, I suppose. Takes the lead in the next two.
Well yes. But without Brexit we would have less need for the deal. Brexit has clobbered British exporters relative to other G7 countries, who are then hit by the Trump tariffs.
It is a necessary deal but also a somewhat desperate one.
Brexit took 5.2% from us. The India Super Deal was worth 0.1 and Trump deal likely less than that!
The key take away, a bigger Super Deal with USA cannot happen because although Starmer has bottled taking us back into EU, the deal he is making with EU restricts scope for a bigger trade deal with others. This is Farage and Kemi’s point and source of their genuine political anger this evening. Don’t knock clear blue water politics like Starmer has handed his opponents today - Labours EU wheeler dealing puts Brexit freedoms, such as to get the big super big Trade agreement with USA, through the shredder. Where does that now leave 2016 Brexit vote?
Starmer fans please explain.
Trump has proven to be totally unreliable and today’s deal was really just trying to mitigate damage done by him. Any full deal with the USA is likely to have an unpalatable amount of concessions and will complicate our relationship with the EU which is by far still our biggest trading partner . Building bridges and reducing trade barriers with them is much more important to our economy as well as much closer defence and security co-operation.
Well yes. But without Brexit we would have less need for the deal. Brexit has clobbered British exporters relative to other G7 countries, who are then hit by the Trump tariffs.
It is a necessary deal but also a somewhat desperate one.
Brexit took 5.2% from us. The India Super Deal was worth 0.1 and Trump deal likely less than that!
The key take away, a bigger Super Deal with USA cannot happen because although Starmer has bottled taking us back into EU, the deal he is making with EU restricts scope for a bigger trade deal with others. This is Farage and Kemi’s point and source of their genuine political anger this evening. Don’t knock clear blue water politics like Starmer has handed his opponents today - Labours EU wheeler dealing puts Brexit freedoms, such as to get the big super big Trade agreement with USA, through the shredder. Where does that now leave 2016 Brexit vote?
Starmer fans please explain.
I thought Farage had broadly welcomed the "deal" ( as a start) along with several Conservatives and former Conservatives like Connor Burns.
Kemi of course saw what no one else saw, namely that after all the hullabaloo this afternoon tariffs are still at 10% whereas when she was Trade .Minister they were zero.
The deal is passable but there could still be trouble ahead though with pharmaceuticals and the film industry .
Slightly disappointing is the cap on just 100,000 vehicles to the USA at the lower tariff rate . The UK exported 101,000 cars last year so this doesn’t allow for an expansion for UK carmakers there .
Against expectations of many commentators there was no reduction in the DST . The red line on chlorinated chicken and hormone beef remains so this doesn’t complicate any EU deal .
Of course good news for UK steel with the zero tariff and Rolls Royce although the media made little of the latter .
I think the problem for Starmer is what deals the US cuts with other countries , especially the EU . As they will be compared with what the UK agreed to.
And the key measure is whether the 10% tariff base tariff remains . If it does then he might come away looking okay .
Is the 100K cap a problem? Trumpski probably thinks it's a win as he kept a lid on those pesky british motors coming into his land and costing him personally some of his trade deficit.
But, a lot of UK imports are, iirc, the luxury end of things like Range Rover and so maybe less bothered by being in the 100K+ camp with a bit more tariff as not price sensitive??
So passes a very bad day for Starmer and his government. We learnt Business Investment growth has collapsed by 50% from 3% to 1.5 - as Labours sneaky tax gamble massively back fires. But even worse indicator of UK dramatically weakening economy is Export growth has gone from 3% to absolutely nothing. Zero export growth.
Worst of all though, BoE have gone hawkish on future interest rate cuts - what the markets believed would happen next has been replaced by high interest rates and inflation set to stay for the foreseeable. See the front of FT if you don’t believe me.
The politics of this is basis of Farage telling us he is PM by end of 2027, because UK economic and fiscal slump - which clearly is happening - though it’s hard to see a Labour Party with such a majority failing to hold on till 2029, the economic indicators released today I share above, are pointing to Starmer and Reeves removed in 2027 - as their economic plan will have clearly failed by then, their poll ratings matching the failure and end of their political careers. So if you hate Starmer (though not possible to hate him as much as Blanchey does) you may only have 20 months of him left to endure.
Looking at the quite eye opening amount of populist left descent being publicly voiced by Labour MPs last couple of weeks, the removal of failures Reeves and Starmer in 2027 almost certainly shifts Labour leftwards on policy and economics, two years of which buries them in 2029.
Tonight might be a watershed day in UK politics, where such outcomes illuminate in front of us.
Well yes. But without Brexit we would have less need for the deal. Brexit has clobbered British exporters relative to other G7 countries, who are then hit by the Trump tariffs.
It is a necessary deal but also a somewhat desperate one.
Brexit took 5.2% from us. The India Super Deal was worth 0.1 and Trump deal likely less than that!
The key take away, a bigger Super Deal with USA cannot happen because although Starmer has bottled taking us back into EU, the deal he is making with EU restricts scope for a bigger trade deal with others. This is Farage and Kemi’s point and source of their genuine political anger this evening. Don’t knock clear blue water politics like Starmer has handed his opponents today - Labours EU wheeler dealing puts Brexit freedoms, such as to get the big super big Trade agreement with USA, through the shredder. Where does that now leave 2016 Brexit vote?
Starmer fans please explain.
Trump has proven to be totally unreliable and today’s deal was really just trying to mitigate damage done by him. Any full deal with the USA is likely to have an unpalatable amount of concessions and will complicate our relationship with the EU which is by far still our biggest trading partner . Building bridges and reducing trade barriers with them is much more important to our economy as well as much closer defence and security co-operation.
Okay, but what do Reform, the Conservatives, and Brexit supporting voters everywhere make of the view you just posted?
A clear argument has just opened up here - Farage and Kemi straightaway highlighting this clear blue water very troublesome for Labour.
Lib Dem’s have their diamond, Reform a keep right sign, and Labour their red rose of Lancashire, but why are the Conservatives reduced to just a blue blob?
Lib Dem’s have their diamond, Reform a keep right sign, and Labour their red rose of Lancashire, but why are the Conservatives reduced to just a blue blob?
These are emojis, not arbitrary images. They are internationally standardised:
Lib Dem’s have their diamond, Reform a keep right sign, and Labour their red rose of Lancashire, but why are the Conservatives reduced to just a blue blob?
These are emojis, not arbitrary images. They are internationally standardised:
But, a lot of UK imports are, iirc, the luxury end of things like Range Rover and so maybe less bothered by being in the 100K+ camp with a bit more tariff as not price sensitive??
JLR is the only volume manufacturer, Mini is dying on its arse on North America. Then you've got a sprinkling of RR, Bentley, Aston and McLaren who don't do volume. If they get close to the cap, the OEMs will just tweak the product mix toward the high margin models and restrict supply.
Brain genuinely recovering after last night's crash / epiphany. Have done a load of work to get my life - and finances - better organised. But epic stress has gone to work - to quote Scotty “I’ve had a wee bout…”
Well, had suggests past tense 😬
You'll be fine, friend
Share it on here. I'm serious
Sharing is halving, or quartering
You surely know I was a heroin addict and nearly died. But then I went to NA. And NA - like AA, its genesis - works by sharing. Group therapy WORKS. I suspect it works because of some atavistic memory of the tribe/clan/family sitting around a fire in a cave - about 15-40 people - talking it out. That is what humans are meant to do, and it HEALS
Bottling it up and being English and stiff upper lip and macho definitely has a role, but if you have a genuinely serious problem, then SHARE. One of the first great things about it is - you will find someone else with the exact same issue. And they will say "I hear you brother, I am the same", and you feel less alone and less weird, which is brilliant
Group therapy is incredible. It saved my life. If PB can be a kind of group therapy, go for it
At the end of my NA days I realised that it takes the best of Quakerism, Islam, Protesant Evangelism, the pub and Old Skool Jazz and makes it something new but old, and very very effective
I get what you say, Leon, and we are a community here, but why would you bare your soul here when there are some assholes here who would gladly throw it back at you at a future date ?
I had an extremely anxious and stressful start to the week. Incredibly anxious. Would seem trivial however the mind is a strange thing…… wouldn’t dream of sharing it TBH. Fine now it’s gone.
Because I genuinely believe that - despite all the bile and abuse we throw at each other (yes, I am one of the worst) - that is just banter, venting, online anger, or bored people having a laugh or seeking a joust, or actual debate of genuine opinions on politics, cheese, trains, music, pies. There IS a community here, and it is valuable, and we have compared it to a local pub for a good reason.
eg I am constantly mocking @kinabalu but one reason for that is he seems pretty stable and well set and we disagree completely, plus he has money and he's quite eloquent and likes a debate. If he came on here and spoke of terrible illness or bad mental health I would change my tune entirely and try to help - until he signalled that he wanted a return to banter. As, I hope, would he, if it was me in a bad way
But, a lot of UK imports are, iirc, the luxury end of things like Range Rover and so maybe less bothered by being in the 100K+ camp with a bit more tariff as not price sensitive??
JLR is the only volume manufacturer, Mini is dying on its arse on North America. Then you've got a sprinkling of RR, Bentley, Aston and McLaren who don't do volume. If they get close to the cap, the OEMs will just tweak the product mix toward the high margin models and restrict supply.
Plus, the defender isn't in the quota because they're made in Slovakia. So that'll be in whatever quota or deal the EU negotiate, no?
Lib Dem’s have their diamond, Reform a keep right sign, and Labour their red rose of Lancashire, but why are the Conservatives reduced to just a blue blob?
These are emojis, not arbitrary images. They are internationally standardised:
You either use the emoji for the Tories or round blobs for everyone.
There isn't one. There isn't a Labour or lib dem or refuk one either. They're repurposed. But yes, you could use blobs for everyone. If there's a light blue blob, I haven't checked.
Lib Dem’s have their diamond, Reform a keep right sign, and Labour their red rose of Lancashire, but why are the Conservatives reduced to just a blue blob?
These are emojis, not arbitrary images. They are internationally standardised:
You either use the emoji for the Tories or round blobs for everyone.
There isn't one. There isn't a Labour or lib dem or refuk one either. They're repurposed. But yes, you could use blobs for everyone. If there's a light blue blob, I haven't checked.
Guardian would probably end up using the brown blob for Reform if they started tweeting poll results.
There doesn't appear to have been any previous discussion here about the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Scottish Parliament byelection on 5 June 2025, so I'm posting my thoughts below.
I've put a small $50 bet on Reform winning the byelection at odds of 11.0
At the 2021 election, the constituency votes were SNP 46%, Lab 34%, Cons 18%, LD 3% (only 4 candidates stood for the constituency). The regional votes were SNP 41%, Lab 25%, Cons 22%, Lib Dem 2%, Greens 5%, Others 5%.
There is a large field of 10 candidates for the byelection, so possibly, the 2025 byelection votes might be closer to the regional 2021 votes, meaning part of Labour vote getting spread between Greens & others.
Reform have been making rapid gains in the opinion polls for the next Scottish Parliament election, and the most recent Survation poll from 2-5 May puts them at 19%. It's possible that by June, they may be even higher than 19%. The SNP meanwhile has been on a downward trajectory from the 48% constituency vote in 2021 to 33% currently. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_Scottish_Parliament_election )
I think it's possible that Reform could pull off another result similar to Runcorn & outperform both SNP & Labour in a byelection. It could even be easier compared to Runcorn, if the "anti-Reform" vote is split between SNP & Labour.
Reading this news article in the Daily Record, I struck by this comment from the Reform candidate. He clearly "gets it" in terms of appealing to potential Reform voters unhappy about the UK's decline:
Visiting Hamilton with Councillor Kerr, [Reform candidate Ross Lambie] showed closed shops along Quarry Street plus the prominent former Marks & Spencer unit in the Regent Centre plus the long-vacant Bairds department store, saying the latter “stands as one of many neglected eyesores in our town centre. Why did the SNP vote against spending the money to save it?”
Talks with Russia/Ukraine continue. The U.S. calls for, ideally, a 30-day unconditional ceasefire. Hopefully, an acceptable ceasefire will be observed, and both Countries will be held accountable for respecting the sanctity of these direct negotiations. If the ceasefire is not respected, the U.S. and its partners will impose further sanctions. Thousands of young soldiers are dying on a weekly basis, and everybody should want it to STOP. I do, and the United States of America does, also. As President, I will stay committed to securing Peace between Russia and Ukraine, together with the Europeans, and a Lasting Peace it will be! This ceasefire must ultimately build toward a Peace Agreement. It can all be done very quickly, and I will be available on a moment's notice if my services are needed. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
"endearing" - are you now reduced to hoping we think of Trump as a toddler? That would be an insult to toddlers.
The NHS in England is planning "previously unthinkable" cuts to try to balance the books, health bosses say.
Services including diabetes care for young people, rehab centres and talking therapies are in the firing line, according to NHS Providers, which represents health managers.
Staff, including doctors and nurses, also face the axe - and some NHS trusts are stopping overtime for doctors, putting the drive to cut the hospital waiting lists at risk.
NHS Providers said some of the savings were "eye-watering", but the Department of Health and Social Care said NHS services should focus on cutting bureaucracy and driving up productivity.
The figures come after initial accounts for 2025-26 suggested frontline NHS organisations were going to go nearly £7bn over budget, an overspend nearly 5% above what they have been given by government, despite ministers increasing funding by £22bn over two years.
Trump: "Sean Connery was a friend of mine. Great guy."
Any evidence this is true?
Errrr: Trump said it. Hello.
Why would he say something if it wasn't true?
Trump is a well known scottish hotel owner thought, so maybe he has met Sean.
With a shared love of golf, it’s easy to imagine how they could at least have met.
iirc Sean Connery helped Trump with Turnberry. Trump and Connery will presumably have known each other (at least on nodding terms) from the sports/celebrity/charity circuit for decades.
Talks with Russia/Ukraine continue. The U.S. calls for, ideally, a 30-day unconditional ceasefire. Hopefully, an acceptable ceasefire will be observed, and both Countries will be held accountable for respecting the sanctity of these direct negotiations. If the ceasefire is not respected, the U.S. and its partners will impose further sanctions. Thousands of young soldiers are dying on a weekly basis, and everybody should want it to STOP. I do, and the United States of America does, also. As President, I will stay committed to securing Peace between Russia and Ukraine, together with the Europeans, and a Lasting Peace it will be! This ceasefire must ultimately build toward a Peace Agreement. It can all be done very quickly, and I will be available on a moment's notice if my services are needed. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
"endearing" - are you now reduced to hoping we think of Trump as a toddler? That would be an insult to toddlers.
On Reform, I'm not sure it's in their interests to make the jump to a majority government in one go. As opposed to becoming the Official Opposition to a Labour-Lib Dem grouping first.
1) They have absolutely no government, opposition or parliamentary experience in which to draw on. None. And governing effectively is a fuck-tonne more work and requires different skills to campaigning against incumbents. Labour has found this to some degree, but Reform would be starting from a much worse position.
2) Rising fast - and then failing in government - could see an equally precipitous fall from grace. Whereas if there has been 5 years of Tory irrelevance as fourth party first (while Reform is opposition), it will be harder for the Tories to rebound quickly.
I don't deny Reform are well placed and could make this jump to government from a handful of seats. But it does no guarantee their longevity. The UK is facing various structural headwinds and governing is hard. It would not surprise me if their failure was pretty dramatic in nature.
Well, it is in Nigel Farage's interest because he will be 65 at the time of the next general election. He won't get a second chance, and that assumes he is still in charge in 2029.
The NHS in England is planning "previously unthinkable" cuts to try to balance the books, health bosses say.
Services including diabetes care for young people, rehab centres and talking therapies are in the firing line, according to NHS Providers, which represents health managers.
Staff, including doctors and nurses, also face the axe - and some NHS trusts are stopping overtime for doctors, putting the drive to cut the hospital waiting lists at risk.
NHS Providers said some of the savings were "eye-watering", but the Department of Health and Social Care said NHS services should focus on cutting bureaucracy and driving up productivity.
The figures come after initial accounts for 2025-26 suggested frontline NHS organisations were going to go nearly £7bn over budget, an overspend nearly 5% above what they have been given by government, despite ministers increasing funding by £22bn over two years.
You say this like unplanned panic cuts are a bad thing. Have we learned nothing from Elon's chainsaw? Sack the doctors! Wait, rehire the doctors!
Except this is Britain. Stop the overtime! Hire a US-owned private sector firm to take routine cases off the waiting list – using the same bloody doctors and nurses. It costs the NHS more but it proves the private sector is best and anyway the money comes from a different budget.
Being a saddo, I've just read the Hansard transcripts following Alexander's statement on the US deal. Most of the Tories who spoke were broadly supportive of it, recognising that we hadn't made concessions on farming standards, digital taxes or online safety. I'm not at all convinced that Kemi's view that we've been "shafted" is shared by many of her colleagues, which could spell trouble for her. For what it's worth, Douglas Alexander's responses to questions were quite impressive.
Next Foreign Sec.
Reshuffle this summer, although Lammy may last until next reshuffle.
Two Labour MPs have been impressive this week. Douglas Alexander and Louise Haigh. I'd be happy to see either replace the pusillanimous Foreign Sec.
Opinions like that which mean we get second rate no users running the country. Alexander is a dud and the other one cannot even find her phone, says it all.
Lib Dem’s have their diamond, Reform a keep right sign, and Labour their red rose of Lancashire, but why are the Conservatives reduced to just a blue blob?
These are emojis, not arbitrary images. They are internationally standardised:
You either use the emoji for the Tories or round blobs for everyone.
There isn't one. There isn't a Labour or lib dem or refuk one either. They're repurposed. But yes, you could use blobs for everyone. If there's a light blue blob, I haven't checked.
Guardian would probably end up using the brown blob for Reform if they started tweeting poll results.
The NHS in England is planning "previously unthinkable" cuts to try to balance the books, health bosses say.
Services including diabetes care for young people, rehab centres and talking therapies are in the firing line, according to NHS Providers, which represents health managers.
Staff, including doctors and nurses, also face the axe - and some NHS trusts are stopping overtime for doctors, putting the drive to cut the hospital waiting lists at risk.
NHS Providers said some of the savings were "eye-watering", but the Department of Health and Social Care said NHS services should focus on cutting bureaucracy and driving up productivity.
I keep hearing this from government ministries.
Has it never occurred to them that they are the ones who, y'know, actually impose the fucking bureaucracy?
If they want to reduce it, it's up to them to do so. Not lecture others that they should.
And here's another point - you reduce the paperwork *first*, then get rid of the people who were doing it. Because otherwise you just increase the workload on frontline staff.
DEI is a classic example. Fire all the diversity officers? Well, if you must. But if you don't get rid of the framework that requires DEI impact assessments, that's not actually going to help matters.
I'm starting to get worried that Ref could actually win a majority at the next election.
You'll vote for a centre-left party to stop them, as you always do.
I think we should stop calling them the centre left. Labour and the Lib Dems attitudes on immigration, Net Zero, gender and taxation are loony left by any meaningful long-term measure.
Being a saddo, I've just read the Hansard transcripts following Alexander's statement on the US deal. Most of the Tories who spoke were broadly supportive of it, recognising that we hadn't made concessions on farming standards, digital taxes or online safety. I'm not at all convinced that Kemi's view that we've been "shafted" is shared by many of her colleagues, which could spell trouble for her. For what it's worth, Douglas Alexander's responses to questions were quite impressive.
Next Foreign Sec.
Reshuffle this summer, although Lammy may last until next reshuffle.
Two Labour MPs have been impressive this week. Douglas Alexander and Louise Haigh. I'd be happy to see either replace the pusillanimous Foreign Sec.
The NHS in England is planning "previously unthinkable" cuts to try to balance the books, health bosses say.
Services including diabetes care for young people, rehab centres and talking therapies are in the firing line, according to NHS Providers, which represents health managers.
Staff, including doctors and nurses, also face the axe - and some NHS trusts are stopping overtime for doctors, putting the drive to cut the hospital waiting lists at risk.
NHS Providers said some of the savings were "eye-watering", but the Department of Health and Social Care said NHS services should focus on cutting bureaucracy and driving up productivity.
I keep hearing this from government ministries.
Has it never occurred to them that they are the ones who, y'know, actually impose the fucking bureaucracy?
If they want to reduce it, it's up to them to do so. Not lecture others that they should.
And here's another point - you reduce the paperwork *first*, then get rid of the people who were doing it. Because otherwise you just increase the workload on frontline staff.
DEI is a classic example. Fire all the diversity officers? Well, if you must. But if you don't get rid of the framework that requires DEI impact assessments, that's not actually going to help matters.
They also happily waved off out the country those rich fuckers who actually, you know, funded the NHS.
Reform seem to have started calling Net Zero 'Net stupid Zero'. It's very crude, but they seem to understand this is the biggest sacred cow they need to get rid of, and this might be an effective rhetorical device that will be picked up and repeated.
Being a saddo, I've just read the Hansard transcripts following Alexander's statement on the US deal. Most of the Tories who spoke were broadly supportive of it, recognising that we hadn't made concessions on farming standards, digital taxes or online safety. I'm not at all convinced that Kemi's view that we've been "shafted" is shared by many of her colleagues, which could spell trouble for her. For what it's worth, Douglas Alexander's responses to questions were quite impressive.
Next Foreign Sec.
Reshuffle this summer, although Lammy may last until next reshuffle.
What we don't know, or what I don't know, is how involved the Foreign Secretary has been in Starmer's (or the government's) recent dealings with foreign leaders. I'd not want to write off Lammy without knowing that. Perhaps the Sundays will fill in the background.
Lib Dem’s have their diamond, Reform a keep right sign, and Labour their red rose of Lancashire, but why are the Conservatives reduced to just a blue blob?
These are emojis, not arbitrary images. They are internationally standardised:
You either use the emoji for the Tories or round blobs for everyone.
There isn't one. There isn't a Labour or lib dem or refuk one either. They're repurposed. But yes, you could use blobs for everyone. If there's a light blue blob, I haven't checked.
Guardian would probably end up using the brown blob for Reform if they started tweeting poll results.
They save the brown blob for the Opinion pages.
Perhaps we could use the brown turd as the symbol for reform, you know, call a spade a spade.
The NHS in England is planning "previously unthinkable" cuts to try to balance the books, health bosses say.
Services including diabetes care for young people, rehab centres and talking therapies are in the firing line, according to NHS Providers, which represents health managers.
Staff, including doctors and nurses, also face the axe - and some NHS trusts are stopping overtime for doctors, putting the drive to cut the hospital waiting lists at risk.
NHS Providers said some of the savings were "eye-watering", but the Department of Health and Social Care said NHS services should focus on cutting bureaucracy and driving up productivity.
I keep hearing this from government ministries.
Has it never occurred to them that they are the ones who, y'know, actually impose the fucking bureaucracy?
If they want to reduce it, it's up to them to do so. Not lecture others that they should.
And here's another point - you reduce the paperwork *first*, then get rid of the people who were doing it. Because otherwise you just increase the workload on frontline staff.
DEI is a classic example. Fire all the diversity officers? Well, if you must. But if you don't get rid of the framework that requires DEI impact assessments, that's not actually going to help matters.
You miss the obvious bit, you can't get rid of the paperwork as that's a colleague of the Civil Servant losing their job and that won't do.
That is an utterly terrible result for Labour - I don't think they'd have even lost it last week.
And not only no Green squeeze but no LD squeeze either.
I know the housing types across most of this ward and looking at the EC map, and I'm struggling to think of the Reform demographic in this Halifax ward at all - a couple of terraces east of the A629, some less grand houses on the main road through Copley village, it doesn't even extend to the town centre terraces.
It is substantially the sort of mock Tudor around parkland that wouldn't be out of place in Surrey, but which has trended left over the last couple of decades. Can only think it is a remnant of old Tory votes.
I knew the housing in Longdendale ward in Tameside where Reform prevailed by 20% last month. This is a far worse result than that.
Reform seem to have started calling Net Zero 'Net stupid Zero'. It's very crude, but they seem to understand this is the biggest sacred cow they need to get rid of, and this might be an effective rhetorical device that will be picked up and repeated.
Net Zero is starting to now run into economic reality with electric cars and deindustrialisation in a way it wasn't in the 2010s.
To go further, we will have to accept real economic damage being done now, with the hope that our global leadership on it galvanises a faster transition to Net Zero worldwide.
It is extraordinary to think that the future could be one of Reform v LibDem - an almost exact analog of France.
Everything is starting to point in that direction. Ed v Nigel.
No, I expect to see changes in both Con and Lab leadership before then.
2029 is far away, and these leaders are small.
In the Cons case at least, how will that help? Whoever they choose, the voters they've lost to Reform will remember the previous Tory government consistently talking right and governing left. They are unlikely to suddenly believe them if they start talking right again.
Meanwhile every time they raise the current government's disastrous stupidity at the dispatch box, they will just get "you had 14 years to fix this" shouted back at them.
Labour may get a bounce out of a well timed leader change, and it may be that salvages the next election for them, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I was on the red team - it's a good chance that Starmer and Reeves drive their poll ratings do far under water no-one can get them back in time.
The NHS in England is planning "previously unthinkable" cuts to try to balance the books, health bosses say.
Services including diabetes care for young people, rehab centres and talking therapies are in the firing line, according to NHS Providers, which represents health managers.
Staff, including doctors and nurses, also face the axe - and some NHS trusts are stopping overtime for doctors, putting the drive to cut the hospital waiting lists at risk.
NHS Providers said some of the savings were "eye-watering", but the Department of Health and Social Care said NHS services should focus on cutting bureaucracy and driving up productivity.
I keep hearing this from government ministries.
Has it never occurred to them that they are the ones who, y'know, actually impose the fucking bureaucracy?
If they want to reduce it, it's up to them to do so. Not lecture others that they should.
And here's another point - you reduce the paperwork *first*, then get rid of the people who were doing it. Because otherwise you just increase the workload on frontline staff.
DEI is a classic example. Fire all the diversity officers? Well, if you must. But if you don't get rid of the framework that requires DEI impact assessments, that's not actually going to help matters.
They also happily waved off out the country those rich fuckers who actually, you know, funded the NHS.
Still, class war, hey!
Dumb as bricks.
Plenty here, like Ben Pointer, welcomed them going too as well.
Comments
Popes keep getting younger.
Slightly disappointing is the cap on just 100,000 vehicles to the USA at the lower tariff rate . The UK exported 101,000 cars last year so this doesn’t allow for an expansion for UK carmakers there .
Against expectations of many commentators there was no reduction in the DST . The red line on chlorinated chicken and hormone beef remains so this doesn’t complicate any EU deal .
Of course good news for UK steel with the zero tariff and Rolls Royce although the media made little of the latter .
I think the problem for Starmer is what deals the US cuts with other countries , especially the EU . As they will be compared with what the UK agreed to.
And the key measure is whether the 10% tariff base tariff remains . If it does then he might come away looking okay .
The key take away, a bigger Super Deal with USA cannot happen because although Starmer has bottled taking us back into EU, the deal he is making with EU restricts scope for a bigger trade deal with others. This is Farage and Kemi’s point and source of their genuine political anger this evening. Don’t knock clear blue water politics like Starmer has handed his opponents today - Labours EU wheeler dealing puts Brexit freedoms, such as to get the big super big Trade agreement with USA, through the shredder. Where does that now leave 2016 Brexit vote?
Starmer fans please explain.
It was the same last time. Nobody had really called the conclave for Bergoglio either.
Secondly, the Catholic Church has many more members (and its best growth prospects) in countries with citizens that are harmed by Vance and Trump's policies and attitudes, than it does in America. So of course a Pope is going to favour them over the feelings of a gang of right-wing loonies who are so thin-skinned and America-brained that they don't realise others have interests and agency.
In the case of the Catholic Church its interests are going to bump up against cutting off aid to the world's poor, dehumanising immigrants, and not tackling climate change, given some of the countries who may bear the brunt of it.
But yeah, of course he's going to be more aligned with the right on other social issues as the Church is.
It's perfectly possible to be simultaneously:
- in favor of vaccines for children in the third world
- worried about economic development in Latin America
- concerned about climate change, and in particular how it affects the poorest
And
- in favor of traditional marriages
- opposed to abortion
A lot of people on the US right seem to think Jesus would care only about pronouns and abortion, and not at all about racism, poverty and the environment.
Kemi of course saw what no one else saw, namely that after all the hullabaloo this afternoon tariffs are still at 10% whereas when she was Trade .Minister they were zero.
But, a lot of UK imports are, iirc, the luxury end of things like Range Rover and so maybe less bothered by being in the 100K+ camp with a bit more tariff as not price sensitive??
"@aldc
BY ELECTION RESULT
Eastleigh DC: Eastleigh Central
🔶 LD: 1020 - 46.6% (+9.2)
➡️ RefUK: 611 - 27.9% (+20.0)
🌹 Lab: 319 - 14.6% (-18.8)
🔵 Con: 149 - 6.8% (-7.00)
⬜ Ind: 90 - 4.1% (new)
Lib Dem HOLD"
x.com/ALDC/status/1920614907059249467
Worst of all though, BoE have gone hawkish on future interest rate cuts - what the markets believed would happen next has been replaced by high interest rates and inflation set to stay for the foreseeable. See the front of FT if you don’t believe me.
The politics of this is basis of Farage telling us he is PM by end of 2027, because UK economic and fiscal slump - which clearly is happening - though it’s hard to see a Labour Party with such a majority failing to hold on till 2029, the economic indicators released today I share above, are pointing to Starmer and Reeves removed in 2027 - as their economic plan will have clearly failed by then, their poll ratings matching the failure and end of their political careers. So if you hate Starmer (though not possible to hate him as much as Blanchey does) you may only have 20 months of him left to endure.
Looking at the quite eye opening amount of populist left descent being publicly voiced by Labour MPs last couple of weeks, the removal of failures Reeves and Starmer in 2027 almost certainly shifts Labour leftwards on policy and economics, two years of which buries them in 2029.
Tonight might be a watershed day in UK politics, where such outcomes illuminate in front of us.
A clear argument has just opened up here - Farage and Kemi straightaway highlighting this clear blue water very troublesome for Labour.
BY ELECTION RESULT
Calderdale MBC, Skircoat
➡️ RefUK: 1392 - 36.8% (new)
🌹 Lab: 1059 - 28% (-23.11)
🟢 Grn: 566 - 14.96 (+0.2)
🔶 LD: 411 - 10.9% (+2.7)
🔵 Con: 355 - 9.4% (-15.7)
Reform GAIN from Labour"
https://x.com/ALDC/status/1920621345034862616
https://unicode.org/emoji/charts/full-emoji-list.html
I've put a small $50 bet on Reform winning the byelection at odds of 11.0
Current bookie odds range from 8 to 11.0 ( https://www.oddschecker.com/politics/european-politics/scottish-politics/hamilton-larkhall-and-stonehouse-by-election ).
At the 2021 election, the constituency votes were SNP 46%, Lab 34%, Cons 18%, LD 3% (only 4 candidates stood for the constituency). The regional votes were SNP 41%, Lab 25%, Cons 22%, Lib Dem 2%, Greens 5%, Others 5%.
There is a large field of 10 candidates for the byelection, so possibly, the 2025 byelection votes might be closer to the regional 2021 votes, meaning part of Labour vote getting spread between Greens & others.
Reform have been making rapid gains in the opinion polls for the next Scottish Parliament election, and the most recent Survation poll from 2-5 May puts them at 19%. It's possible that by June, they may be even higher than 19%. The SNP meanwhile has been on a downward trajectory from the 48% constituency vote in 2021 to 33% currently. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_Scottish_Parliament_election )
I think it's possible that Reform could pull off another result similar to Runcorn & outperform both SNP & Labour in a byelection. It could even be easier compared to Runcorn, if the "anti-Reform" vote is split between SNP & Labour.
Reading this news article in the Daily Record, I struck by this comment from the Reform candidate. He clearly "gets it" in terms of appealing to potential Reform voters unhappy about the UK's decline: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/in-your-area/lanarkshire/party-leaders-campaign-hamilton-ahead-35186956
2029 is far away, and these leaders are small.
The NHS in England is planning "previously unthinkable" cuts to try to balance the books, health bosses say.
Services including diabetes care for young people, rehab centres and talking therapies are in the firing line, according to NHS Providers, which represents health managers.
Staff, including doctors and nurses, also face the axe - and some NHS trusts are stopping overtime for doctors, putting the drive to cut the hospital waiting lists at risk.
NHS Providers said some of the savings were "eye-watering", but the Department of Health and Social Care said NHS services should focus on cutting bureaucracy and driving up productivity.
The figures come after initial accounts for 2025-26 suggested frontline NHS organisations were going to go nearly £7bn over budget, an overspend nearly 5% above what they have been given by government, despite ministers increasing funding by £22bn over two years.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgle2xkg3wpo
Ah, here we go. From 2018:-
Donald Trump 'claims Sir Sean Connery helped him win approval for Turnberry golf course'
The US President reportedly quipped to Theresa May: "James Bond was better than my approvals lawyer"
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/donald-trump-claims-sir-sean-12920695
Trump continually hiring from his TV favorites, like a 5 year old staffing up with muppets.
Except this is Britain. Stop the overtime! Hire a US-owned private sector firm to take routine cases off the waiting list – using the same bloody doctors and nurses. It costs the NHS more but it proves the private sector is best and anyway the money comes from a different budget.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/may/09/sadiq-khan-to-announce-plans-to-build-houses-on-london-green-belt
On the one hand, we should build new towns up north and in declining areas rather than add fuel to an already overheated London.
But on the other hand, I have previously suggested building (houses, solar or wind farms) in unused land near railways and motorways, so...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/08/good-riddance-to-carla-denyer-wrong-about-everything/ (£££)
I'm putting the Telegraph down as a ‘maybe’.
The LibDems don't have the reach or breadth to become the main challenger nationwide.
That could one day potentially change, but not in this Parliament.
Has it never occurred to them that they are the ones who, y'know, actually impose the fucking bureaucracy?
If they want to reduce it, it's up to them to do so. Not lecture others that they should.
And here's another point - you reduce the paperwork *first*, then get rid of the people who were doing it. Because otherwise you just increase the workload on frontline staff.
DEI is a classic example. Fire all the diversity officers? Well, if you must. But if you don't get rid of the framework that requires DEI impact assessments, that's not actually going to help matters.
Still, class war, hey!
Dumb as bricks.
NEW THREAD
And not only no Green squeeze but no LD squeeze either.
I know the housing types across most of this ward and looking at the EC map, and I'm struggling to think of the Reform demographic in this Halifax ward at all - a couple of terraces east of the A629, some less grand houses on the main road through Copley village, it doesn't even extend to the town centre terraces.
It is substantially the sort of mock Tudor around parkland that wouldn't be out of place in Surrey, but which has trended left over the last couple of decades. Can only think it is a remnant of old Tory votes.
I knew the housing in Longdendale ward in Tameside where Reform prevailed by 20% last month. This is a far worse result than that.
We are entering the era of peak Reform?
To go further, we will have to accept real economic damage being done now, with the hope that our global leadership on it galvanises a faster transition to Net Zero worldwide.
Will we?
Meanwhile every time they raise the current government's disastrous stupidity at the dispatch box, they will just get "you had 14 years to fix this" shouted back at them.
Labour may get a bounce out of a well timed leader change, and it may be that salvages the next election for them, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I was on the red team - it's a good chance that Starmer and Reeves drive their poll ratings do far under water no-one can get them back in time.