Starmer is renting his 4-bed house in Kentish Town to his sister in law for less than £10,000 a year. Very generous, market rate must be almost that per month I’d guess
Shocking! Has anyone informed the Durham constabulary yet?
To be honest Starmer renting to a family member at a reduced rent is simply not a story, as many families would do the same in similar circumstances
There is a lot to critise Starmer for but this is not one of them
I understand his family are terrified of this turn of events and the country, no matter of the politics, should unequivocally condemn these attacks and the threat to our democracy
With these threats why would anyone want to stand for public office?
Jesus I didn’t say he’d done anything bad. Starmer supporters are so paranoid!
It’s terrible what’s happened this week, could have been another Jo Cox or David Amess.
Starmer is renting his 4-bed house in Kentish Town to his sister in law for less than £10,000 a year. Very generous, market rate must be almost that per month I’d guess
Shocking! Has anyone informed the Durham constabulary yet?
To be honest Starmer renting to a family member at a reduced rent is simply not a story, as many families would do the same in similar circumstances
There is a lot to critise Starmer for but this is not one of them
I understand his family are terrified of this turn of events and the country, no matter of the politics, should unequivocally condemn these attacks and the threat to our democracy
With these threats why would anyone want to stand for public office?
Yes, I've no issue with Starmer being held accountable for his actions as Prime Minister but this is well beyond that. It's aided and abetted by what I can only describe as a kind of psychosis which has developed against the Prime Minister since last July.
There seems among some an almost unthinking, and I use this word advisedly, "hatred" towards him. It's certainly worse than I recall about Thatcher, Blair or any of the Prime Ministers since 2010. The latest perjorative is "boring" - well, so what? If you want a more exciting Prime Minister, Ed Davey is available - the problem is the Prime Minister often has to say things a lot of people don't want to hear and initiate policies to which a lot of people are strongly opposed but that's politics and whether we like it ot not, Starmer and Labour won a mandate to govern last July.
None of that justifies violence against his home or his family or those connected to him. We've seen too many examples over recent years of politicians being subjected to violent attack and it has to be condemned by anyone and everyone purporting to support democracy.
Last night Robert commented that there is noticeably less homelessness on the streets of San Francisco. Whuch reminded me. I posted this question here in February 2024.
"Anyone know if and where there might be a market for Mayor of San Francisco in November? Asking for a friend. (I really am! I’ve no idea who might be running or who he is interested in backing or if there even is a Mayor an an election for the role)."
Well the person my friend wanted to back was Daniel Lurie. I've just checked. Lurie is now SF Mayor. Anyone know what kind of price he was available to back? Looks a very interesting politician. Could he go further?
Starmer is renting his 4-bed house in Kentish Town to his sister in law for less than £10,000 a year. Very generous, market rate must be almost that per month I’d guess
Shocking! Has anyone informed the Durham constabulary yet?
To be honest Starmer renting to a family member at a reduced rent is simply not a story, as many families would do the same in similar circumstances
There is a lot to critise Starmer for but this is not one of them
I understand his family are terrified of this turn of events and the country, no matter of the politics, should unequivocally condemn these attacks and the threat to our democracy
With these threats why would anyone want to stand for public office?
Yes, I've no issue with Starmer being held accountable for his actions as Prime Minister but this is well beyond that. It's aided and abetted by what I can only describe as a kind of psychosis which has developed against the Prime Minister since last July.
There seems among some an almost unthinking, and I use this word advisedly, "hatred" towards him. It's certainly worse than I recall about Thatcher, Blair or any of the Prime Ministers since 2010. The latest perjorative is "boring" - well, so what? If you want a more exciting Prime Minister, Ed Davey is available - the problem is the Prime Minister often has to say things a lot of people don't want to hear and initiate policies to which a lot of people are strongly opposed but that's politics and whether we like it ot not, Starmer and Labour won a mandate to govern last July.
None of that justifies violence against his home or his family or those connected to him. We've seen too many examples over recent years of politicians being subjected to violent attack and it has to be condemned by anyone and everyone purporting to support democracy.
‘Boring’ was the first pejorative, about five years ago.
Starmer is renting his 4-bed house in Kentish Town to his sister in law for less than £10,000 a year. Very generous, market rate must be almost that per month I’d guess
Shocking! Has anyone informed the Durham constabulary yet?
To be honest Starmer renting to a family member at a reduced rent is simply not a story, as many families would do the same in similar circumstances
There is a lot to critise Starmer for but this is not one of them
I understand his family are terrified of this turn of events and the country, no matter of the politics, should unequivocally condemn these attacks and the threat to our democracy
With these threats why would anyone want to stand for public office?
Yes, I've no issue with Starmer being held accountable for his actions as Prime Minister but this is well beyond that. It's aided and abetted by what I can only describe as a kind of psychosis which has developed against the Prime Minister since last July.
There seems among some an almost unthinking, and I use this word advisedly, "hatred" towards him. It's certainly worse than I recall about Thatcher, Blair or any of the Prime Ministers since 2010. The latest perjorative is "boring" - well, so what? If you want a more exciting Prime Minister, Ed Davey is available - the problem is the Prime Minister often has to say things a lot of people don't want to hear and initiate policies to which a lot of people are strongly opposed but that's politics and whether we like it ot not, Starmer and Labour won a mandate to govern last July.
None of that justifies violence against his home or his family or those connected to him. We've seen too many examples over recent years of politicians being subjected to violent attack and it has to be condemned by anyone and everyone purporting to support democracy.
Whilst I agree with that, it does not mean that all criticism of him is wrong. As for him being boring: that's fine. But it's a problem when he also has terrible communication skills.
This is the most exciting story of the day. It feels a solving-fermat's-last-theorem level of importance. I don't much care that it was accidental, nor that it's far, far too impractical to be useful. I head to work with a spring in my step.
What utter rubbish it was Starmer who invited Trump not the King and indeed Carney has invited the King to open the Canadian parliament as a rebuke to Trump. Albanese also dumped republic talk after losing the Voice referendum.
Indeed if we were a republic we would now likely have our own President Trump ie President Farage
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
His record in government was *not* 'crap'.
I’d be grateful if people could resolve this one. I’ve heard the “his record in government was crap” but it’s not clear if that’s just received wisdom emanating from Republicans or based on a balanced appraisal of his performance.
The roll out of electric charging and rural broadband were two massively funded schemes which were made very little progress during his time in office e.g.
"While appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday (in 2024), host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg, "The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn't that happening more quickly?""
On the other hand, actually building infrastructure in the US appears to be impossibly difficult, so "not much got actually built" is probably the median outcome you get from almost all politicians. I think that's more of a large systemic problem than a Buttigieg problem (though if he had been able to tackle it that would have been a massive plus point for him, since I think it's one of the main things Democrats need to show they can fix rather than make worse).
There is hard to build and there is 7 charging stations in 4 years. How many did Tesla etc put in during that time.
Starmer renting his house to his sister in law isn't remotely interesting. The interesting bit of the story is where do his family actually live on the other hand as it was presumed that is where they were still living as there aren't seen in Downing Street very often. Is it also not a bit weird that Starmer leaves the family car at a house he doesn't live in.
Not really, he probably can't drive it much for security reasons but will have residents' parking outside his house. I am not the #1 Starmer fan but he seems completely honest and reasonable in all his personal and financial dealings, in contrast to at least one of his recent predecessors.
Lord Alli waves....and plenty of lies been told....but yes in comparison to Boris I suppose everything seems completely honest.
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
His record in government was *not* 'crap'.
I’d be grateful if people could resolve this one. I’ve heard the “his record in government was crap” but it’s not clear if that’s just received wisdom emanating from Republicans or based on a balanced appraisal of his performance.
The roll out of electric charging and rural broadband were two massively funded schemes which were made very little progress during his time in office e.g.
"While appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday (in 2024), host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg, "The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn't that happening more quickly?""
On the other hand, actually building infrastructure in the US appears to be impossibly difficult, so "not much got actually built" is probably the median outcome you get from almost all politicians. I think that's more of a large systemic problem than a Buttigieg problem (though if he had been able to tackle it that would have been a massive plus point for him, since I think it's one of the main things Democrats need to show they can fix rather than make worse).
There is hard to build and there is 7 charging stations in 4 years. How many did Tesla etc put in during that time.
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
His record in government was *not* 'crap'.
I’d be grateful if people could resolve this one. I’ve heard the “his record in government was crap” but it’s not clear if that’s just received wisdom emanating from Republicans or based on a balanced appraisal of his performance.
The roll out of electric charging and rural broadband were two massively funded schemes which were made very little progress during his time in office e.g.
"While appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday (in 2024), host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg, "The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn't that happening more quickly?""
On the other hand, actually building infrastructure in the US appears to be impossibly difficult, so "not much got actually built" is probably the median outcome you get from almost all politicians. I think that's more of a large systemic problem than a Buttigieg problem (though if he had been able to tackle it that would have been a massive plus point for him, since I think it's one of the main things Democrats need to show they can fix rather than make worse).
There is hard to build and there is 7 charging stations in 4 years. How many did Tesla etc put in during that time.
I never said they spent $7.5bn which is the lie being fact checked. The interviewer question was poorly worded, but surely nobody thought they actually meant that all that money that had been budgeted had been spent on just 7, rather that was the overall budget, so very well funded and yet they weren't getting spades in the ground.
I said it was incredibly well funded and yet they only managed 7 in 3 years. Even by the fact check....in 4 years...
According to a spokesperson from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), programs linked to the law funded 243 public charging ports that were operational this year across 14 U.S. states.
That is piss poor...and even the spin of 20k are pass the planning stage in so many years is very slow.
If Big Ange in 2029 says well yes that 2 million new homes, we managed 100k, nobody is going to say anything but they failed massively.
Starmer is renting his 4-bed house in Kentish Town to his sister in law for less than £10,000 a year. Very generous, market rate must be almost that per month I’d guess
Shocking! Has anyone informed the Durham constabulary yet?
To be honest Starmer renting to a family member at a reduced rent is simply not a story, as many families would do the same in similar circumstances
There is a lot to critise Starmer for but this is not one of them
I understand his family are terrified of this turn of events and the country, no matter of the politics, should unequivocally condemn these attacks and the threat to our democracy
With these threats why would anyone want to stand for public office?
Yes, I've no issue with Starmer being held accountable for his actions as Prime Minister but this is well beyond that. It's aided and abetted by what I can only describe as a kind of psychosis which has developed against the Prime Minister since last July.
There seems among some an almost unthinking, and I use this word advisedly, "hatred" towards him. It's certainly worse than I recall about Thatcher, Blair or any of the Prime Ministers since 2010. The latest perjorative is "boring" - well, so what? If you want a more exciting Prime Minister, Ed Davey is available - the problem is the Prime Minister often has to say things a lot of people don't want to hear and initiate policies to which a lot of people are strongly opposed but that's politics and whether we like it ot not, Starmer and Labour won a mandate to govern last July.
None of that justifies violence against his home or his family or those connected to him. We've seen too many examples over recent years of politicians being subjected to violent attack and it has to be condemned by anyone and everyone purporting to support democracy.
Is it that much worse, is it social media amplifying the most extreme views?
I think the Miliband stuff is the best example of this, with general polling being positive or ambivalent about his policies, while a glance at Facebook or Twitter... it's astonishing. You'd think half the people in woke Portobello want him dead.
That doesn't mean to say we should ignore it. Once upon a time the crazy guy was just one of 100 in the pub. Now they are 1 of several hundred thousand online, all riling each other up and normalising these views.
He's coherent and gets and speaks to Middle America which is what the Dems need. Shame he's not been a Governor or anything, but his positive characteristics remind me of a young former Governor of Arkansas - though I doubt Pete will be getting into as much trouble with a female intern in the Oval Office if he wins.
Hopefully the world, even America, has moved on enough that his sexual orientation won't be a deal breaker nowadays.
A small bit of Yorkshire - "High Bentham, Low Bentham and Burton in Lonsdale".
Some very nice bits of Yorkshire, those, bacteria aside. Much overlooked. In the hinterland of Lancaster, and in neither the Dales nor the Lakes, so not much visited by tourists - but landscape of this quality would be a National Park elsewhere. Good cycling country.
This is also true of large chunks of Westmorland and Cumberland (Cumbria is now a ceremonial county only, but few have noticed!) that are outside national parks, rather unvisited but God's own country.
What utter rubbish it was Starmer who invited Trump not the King and indeed Carney has invited the King to open the Canadian parliament as a rebuke to Trump. Albanese also dumped republic talk after losing the Voice referendum.
Indeed if we were a republic we would now likely have our own President Trump ie President Farage
Where do we start with this
Starmer only invited Trump with the agreement of the King
Carney inviting the King to open the Canadian Parliament is good for Canada - UK relationships which I fully endorse having a Canadian daughter in law in Vancouver
And to go from the UK as a Republic to a President Farage is on a par with your nonsense devotion to Johnson's return to save the conservative party
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
His record in government was *not* 'crap'.
I’d be grateful if people could resolve this one. I’ve heard the “his record in government was crap” but it’s not clear if that’s just received wisdom emanating from Republicans or based on a balanced appraisal of his performance.
The roll out of electric charging and rural broadband were two massively funded schemes which were made very little progress during his time in office e.g.
"While appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday (in 2024), host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg, "The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn't that happening more quickly?""
On the other hand, actually building infrastructure in the US appears to be impossibly difficult, so "not much got actually built" is probably the median outcome you get from almost all politicians. I think that's more of a large systemic problem than a Buttigieg problem (though if he had been able to tackle it that would have been a massive plus point for him, since I think it's one of the main things Democrats need to show they can fix rather than make worse).
There is hard to build and there is 7 charging stations in 4 years. How many did Tesla etc put in during that time.
And putting aside delivery, $7.5 billion over 4 years is pathetic for a country the size of the US. Ultimately the reason EVs haven't rolled out as fast as we need to them to is because governments won't make the investment necessary.
A small bit of Yorkshire - "High Bentham, Low Bentham and Burton in Lonsdale".
Some very nice bits of Yorkshire, those, bacteria aside. Much overlooked. In the hinterland of Lancaster, and in neither the Dales nor the Lakes, so not much visited by tourists - but landscape of this quality would be a National Park elsewhere. Good cycling country.
This is also true of large chunks of Westmorland and Cumberland (Cumbria is now a ceremonial county only, but few have noticed!) that are outside national parks, rather unvisited but God's own country.
A small bit of Yorkshire - "High Bentham, Low Bentham and Burton in Lonsdale".
Some very nice bits of Yorkshire, those, bacteria aside. Much overlooked. In the hinterland of Lancaster, and in neither the Dales nor the Lakes, so not much visited by tourists - but landscape of this quality would be a National Park elsewhere. Good cycling country.
This is also true of large chunks of Westmorland and Cumberland (Cumbria is now a ceremonial county only, but few have noticed!) that are outside national parks, rather unvisited but God's own country.
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
His record in government was *not* 'crap'.
I’d be grateful if people could resolve this one. I’ve heard the “his record in government was crap” but it’s not clear if that’s just received wisdom emanating from Republicans or based on a balanced appraisal of his performance.
The roll out of electric charging and rural broadband were two massively funded schemes which were made very little progress during his time in office e.g.
"While appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday (in 2024), host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg, "The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn't that happening more quickly?""
On the other hand, actually building infrastructure in the US appears to be impossibly difficult, so "not much got actually built" is probably the median outcome you get from almost all politicians. I think that's more of a large systemic problem than a Buttigieg problem (though if he had been able to tackle it that would have been a massive plus point for him, since I think it's one of the main things Democrats need to show they can fix rather than make worse).
There is hard to build and there is 7 charging stations in 4 years. How many did Tesla etc put in during that time.
And putting aside delivery, $7.5 billion over 4 years is pathetic for a country the size of the US. Ultimately the reason EVs haven't rolled out as fast as we need to them to is because governments won't make the investment necessary.
On that I don't think you can place any blame Mayor Pete, he gets what he is given in that job. But 200 in 4 years actually been completed, I mean come on man....they aren't nuclear power plants.
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
His record in government was *not* 'crap'.
I’d be grateful if people could resolve this one. I’ve heard the “his record in government was crap” but it’s not clear if that’s just received wisdom emanating from Republicans or based on a balanced appraisal of his performance.
The roll out of electric charging and rural broadband were two massively funded schemes which were made very little progress during his time in office e.g.
"While appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday (in 2024), host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg, "The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn't that happening more quickly?""
On the other hand, actually building infrastructure in the US appears to be impossibly difficult, so "not much got actually built" is probably the median outcome you get from almost all politicians. I think that's more of a large systemic problem than a Buttigieg problem (though if he had been able to tackle it that would have been a massive plus point for him, since I think it's one of the main things Democrats need to show they can fix rather than make worse).
There is hard to build and there is 7 charging stations in 4 years. How many did Tesla etc put in during that time.
And putting aside delivery, $7.5 billion over 4 years is pathetic for a country the size of the US. Ultimately the reason EVs haven't rolled out as fast as we need to them to is because governments won't make the investment necessary.
On that I don't think you can place any blame Mayor Pete, he gets what he is given in that job. But 200 in 4 years actually been completed, I mean come on man....they aren't nuclear power plants.
Why is anyone in 2028 going to be making a fuss about delivery under Biden, when DOGE has closed down half of the federal government by then and you have to do your own weather forecasting using a pine cone etc.
What utter rubbish it was Starmer who invited Trump not the King and indeed Carney has invited the King to open the Canadian parliament as a rebuke to Trump. Albanese also dumped republic talk after losing the Voice referendum.
Indeed if we were a republic we would now likely have our own President Trump ie President Farage
Where do we start with this
Starmer only invited Trump with the agreement of the King
Carney inviting the King to open the Canadian Parliament is good for Canada - UK relationships which I fully endorse having a Canadian daughter in law in Vancouver
And to go from the UK as a Republic to a President Farage is on a par with your nonsense devotion to Johnson's return to save the conservative party
Don't let our Essex friend wind you up. Remember the wise words of Lewis Carroll; 'he only does it to annoy, because he know it teases."
Starmer is renting his 4-bed house in Kentish Town to his sister in law for less than £10,000 a year. Very generous, market rate must be almost that per month I’d guess
Shocking! Has anyone informed the Durham constabulary yet?
To be honest Starmer renting to a family member at a reduced rent is simply not a story, as many families would do the same in similar circumstances
There is a lot to critise Starmer for but this is not one of them
I understand his family are terrified of this turn of events and the country, no matter of the politics, should unequivocally condemn these attacks and the threat to our democracy
With these threats why would anyone want to stand for public office?
Yes, I've no issue with Starmer being held accountable for his actions as Prime Minister but this is well beyond that. It's aided and abetted by what I can only describe as a kind of psychosis which has developed against the Prime Minister since last July.
There seems among some an almost unthinking, and I use this word advisedly, "hatred" towards him. It's certainly worse than I recall about Thatcher, Blair or any of the Prime Ministers since 2010. The latest perjorative is "boring" - well, so what? If you want a more exciting Prime Minister, Ed Davey is available - the problem is the Prime Minister often has to say things a lot of people don't want to hear and initiate policies to which a lot of people are strongly opposed but that's politics and whether we like it ot not, Starmer and Labour won a mandate to govern last July.
None of that justifies violence against his home or his family or those connected to him. We've seen too many examples over recent years of politicians being subjected to violent attack and it has to be condemned by anyone and everyone purporting to support democracy.
Is it that much worse, is it social media amplifying the most extreme views?
I think the Miliband stuff is the best example of this, with general polling being positive or ambivalent about his policies, while a glance at Facebook or Twitter... it's astonishing. You'd think half the people in woke Portobello want him dead.
That doesn't mean to say we should ignore it. Once upon a time the crazy guy was just one of 100 in the pub. Now they are 1 of several hundred thousand online, all riling each other up and normalising these views.
Thatcher got dogs abuse from lefty comedians wishing her dead for years, people were laughing she was bombed in Brighton ,when Boris was in intensive care, and Farage had a plane crash. There’s always a cruel section of society ready to dehumanise opponents, they only get noticed when their opponents are your side
What utter rubbish it was Starmer who invited Trump not the King and indeed Carney has invited the King to open the Canadian parliament as a rebuke to Trump. Albanese also dumped republic talk after losing the Voice referendum.
Indeed if we were a republic we would now likely have our own President Trump ie President Farage
Where do we start with this
Starmer only invited Trump with the agreement of the King
Carney inviting the King to open the Canadian Parliament is good for Canada - UK relationships which I fully endorse having a Canadian daughter in law in Vancouver
And to go from the UK as a Republic to a President Farage is on a par with your nonsense devotion to Johnson's return to save the conservative party
Don't let our Essex friend wind you up. Remember the wise words of Lewis Carroll; 'he only does it to annoy, because he know it teases."
Actually I genuinely think he absolutely believes in what he writes and is not a tease
At this moment in time I am politically homeless, and unless the conservative party can move on from it's past then it will be irrelevant leaving me with few choices
In our constituency I want Labour out and as it stands I would vote for Plaid as they have the best chance of the challengers, and I am attracted to some of their policies and they have declared they would not seek independence in their first term
What utter rubbish it was Starmer who invited Trump not the King and indeed Carney has invited the King to open the Canadian parliament as a rebuke to Trump. Albanese also dumped republic talk after losing the Voice referendum.
Indeed if we were a republic we would now likely have our own President Trump ie President Farage
Where do we start with this
Starmer only invited Trump with the agreement of the King
Carney inviting the King to open the Canadian Parliament is good for Canada - UK relationships which I fully endorse having a Canadian daughter in law in Vancouver
And to go from the UK as a Republic to a President Farage is on a par with your nonsense devotion to Johnson's return to save the conservative party
If Starmer wants to invite Trump & if he wants the King to meet with Trump, then the King is expected to accept the PM's "advice".
The King doesn't have a choice in the matter, or at least a choice that he can't exercise without causing a major constitutional incident.
It's absurd to suggest that the King was somehow eager to meet with Trump, as TSE appears to be suggesting. I'm sure the King finds Trump to be a repellant character, but is meeting him out of a sense of duty.
He's coherent and gets and speaks to Middle America which is what the Dems need. Shame he's not been a Governor or anything, but his positive characteristics remind me of a young former Governor of Arkansas - though I doubt Pete will be getting into as much trouble with a female intern in the Oval Office if he wins.
Hopefully the world, even America, has moved on enough that his sexual orientation won't be a deal breaker nowadays.
I've just had £25 on Buttigeig to be POTUS 2028 at 22/1 with Ladbrokes (boosted).
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
His record in government was *not* 'crap'.
I’d be grateful if people could resolve this one. I’ve heard the “his record in government was crap” but it’s not clear if that’s just received wisdom emanating from Republicans or based on a balanced appraisal of his performance.
The roll out of electric charging and rural broadband were two massively funded schemes which were made very little progress during his time in office e.g.
"While appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday (in 2024), host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg, "The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn't that happening more quickly?""
On the other hand, actually building infrastructure in the US appears to be impossibly difficult, so "not much got actually built" is probably the median outcome you get from almost all politicians. I think that's more of a large systemic problem than a Buttigieg problem (though if he had been able to tackle it that would have been a massive plus point for him, since I think it's one of the main things Democrats need to show they can fix rather than make worse).
There is hard to build and there is 7 charging stations in 4 years. How many did Tesla etc put in during that time.
And putting aside delivery, $7.5 billion over 4 years is pathetic for a country the size of the US. Ultimately the reason EVs haven't rolled out as fast as we need to them to is because governments won't make the investment necessary.
On that I don't think you can place any blame Mayor Pete, he gets what he is given in that job. But 200 in 4 years actually been completed, I mean come on man....they aren't nuclear power plants.
Why is anyone in 2028 going to be making a fuss about delivery under Biden, when DOGE has closed down half of the federal government by then and you have to do your own weather forecasting using a pine cone etc.
If you're the Democrats you want to have some positive agenda to offer; relying only on the public continuing to think "Trump is terrible" is very risky (and at best it puts you in Starmer's position of getting elected with a big majority and no idea what you're doing with it or electoral buyin for difficult choices).
I'm on board with Ezra Klein's "Abundance" theory -- the government needs to be much better at delivery and the Democrats need to recognise how they've been unintentionally impeding it.
This is a public forum - so I have to be careful what I say - but I've been shocked in the last week by looking at the set-up of two major government programmes.
On both there is a huge central overhead of checkers, assurers, reporters and monitors but it isn't actually clear why the client organisation exists or what risks they're supposed to be controlling. They have struggled to recruit for client roles (the Prime Minister salary cap is part of it, but they also don't really know what skills they need) so lots are backfilled with consultants. Meanwhile, they try and shunt all risk and liability - which they don't really understand - onto the supply chain which they either can't take, so refuse the work or do so out of desperation, because they need the work, and then go bankrupt the first time it's drawn upon. They jump straight to putting a spade in the ground without taking the time (it can take up to 2 years or more to set a major programme up for success) to design the organisation and the delivery model properly, and run straight into a brick wall.
A surprisingly large number of people are OK with that, and believe it's important. Hard truths are not welcomed and most people invest 90%+ of their time and energy in defending their turf and not doing what's necessary to get the job done well. Because it requires hard work, a bit of moral courage, and making some decisions.
It says everything about our process culture.
That is a not an unfamiliar story. I don't know, however, that I would call this "process culture". There's a post-Thatcherite model that government is bad at doing things, so you have a contracting model. Government contracts out work to the (supposedly) efficient private sector. That pushes the centre into being checkers and monitors, while hollowing out any in-house expertise and increasing reliance on consultants.
Hartley-Brewer bang to rights there. I wonder if anyone on the BBC will crack that type of joke about the attacks on Starmer
Are we trying to equate throwing a milkshake at someone (which I also condemn) with trying to set someone's house and car on fire?
Physical violence against politicians or political people is unjustifiable in a democracy. Yes, shout at them - disagree online or in public but physical assault is crossing the line in my view.
I don't know who these "liberals" are who apparently cheered Farage getting milkshake on his suit - I suppose it's just using the term as a form of abuse.
He's coherent and gets and speaks to Middle America which is what the Dems need. Shame he's not been a Governor or anything, but his positive characteristics remind me of a young former Governor of Arkansas - though I doubt Pete will be getting into as much trouble with a female intern in the Oval Office if he wins.
Hopefully the world, even America, has moved on enough that his sexual orientation won't be a deal breaker nowadays.
I've just had £25 on Buttigeig to be POTUS 2028 at 22/1 with Ladbrokes (boosted).
You can use your winnings to buy a 3-year calendar.
Federal grand jury indicts Wisconsin judge over alleged Ice obstruction
A federal grand jury has indicted a Wisconsin judge who was arrested by the FBI last month on allegations that she helped an undocumented immigrant avoid federal authorities.
Prosecutors charged Dugan in April with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. In the federal criminal justice system, prosecutors can initiate charges against a defendant directly by filing a complaint or present evidence to a grand jury and let that body decide whether to issue charges.
A grand jury still reviews charges brought by complaint to determine whether enough probable cause exists to continue the case as a check on prosecutors’ power. If the grand jury determines there’s probable cause, it issues a written statement of the charges known as an indictment. That’s what happened in Dugan’s case.
This has got the potential to be an entertaining trial. The "she helped the felon to escape bit" doesn't stand up. Based on the FBI's own submitted paperwork, the exit from the jury room - where she dismissed the guy they wanted - was out into the main corridor. Where the FBI agents were. As the person they wanted walked straight past them.
There was only a foot chase because they were too stupid to realise their suspect was right in front of them...
We did this at the time. That was based on a tweet by a far from impartial person which was selective. The doesn't stand up, well we now have a grand jury of 20 people who having vetted the same paperwork and indicted on the basis of that evidence.
I am not saying I agree or there might have been some keystone cop action, but it has taken a further step now.
It's irrelevant, because the Supreme Court has ruled on several occasions that Judges have almost complete immunity in their courtroom.
She can be indited, and she can be prosecuted, but even if there is a conviction, the appeals court will simply throw it out.
The case is hugely strategic. Can the FBI / federal government swoop into state courts and seize suspects from their custody? Can they arrest judges in their own courtroom?
MAGA used to support states rights. Now apparently the preference is states no rights.
But they didn't. They told the judge they were here to arrest a suspect that was going to be attending court, various court officials challenged their right to be there at all, they presented the required paperwork and it was agreed that yes they had the right to be there, but only in the public hallway, and they waited outside for the court proceeding to finish.
Exactly. So they waited in the public hallway and the judge sent the guy out into the public hallway where the agents were.
What's the crime again? "Woke" isn't a crime. Yet.
Starmer is renting his 4-bed house in Kentish Town to his sister in law for less than £10,000 a year. Very generous, market rate must be almost that per month I’d guess
Shocking! Has anyone informed the Durham constabulary yet?
To be honest Starmer renting to a family member at a reduced rent is simply not a story, as many families would do the same in similar circumstances
There is a lot to critise Starmer for but this is not one of them
I understand his family are terrified of this turn of events and the country, no matter of the politics, should unequivocally condemn these attacks and the threat to our democracy
With these threats why would anyone want to stand for public office?
Yes, I've no issue with Starmer being held accountable for his actions as Prime Minister but this is well beyond that. It's aided and abetted by what I can only describe as a kind of psychosis which has developed against the Prime Minister since last July.
There seems among some an almost unthinking, and I use this word advisedly, "hatred" towards him. It's certainly worse than I recall about Thatcher, Blair or any of the Prime Ministers since 2010. The latest perjorative is "boring" - well, so what?
"Boring" isn't really a criticism, other than of his ability to inspire. It's just descriptive. There have been plenty of boring but capable leaders. The jury is still out on the latter quality, as far as he's concerned.
Today is an emergency test in Estonia. We already received the first pre notification through the "Be Ready" App, and at 3PM there will be sirens sounding across the whole country. Paradoxically this is not creating any sense of worry in the Estonian population at large. The fact is that all of the NATO countries that border Russia have been making preparations for civil defence against any Russian attack or incursion for quite some time now. Finland and Poland alone have forces at their disposal that are greater than those of Ukraine. More to the point, Ukraine itself is fighting with a growing sense of confidence that they can now hang on indefinitely, even if Trump follows through on his treachery. With both tactics and equipment, the Ukrainians are matching anything that Putin can throw at them. Even the Baltics, despite their small populations, have equipment -like HIMARS- that would cause any direct Russian attack really serious problems. So the test today seems more like sensible precautions than apocalyptic threat hazard.
The transit across the Russian frontier is still limited- no Russian vehicles are permitted into Estonia anyway, and the direct train or bus now involves getting on a different train or bus after a long border crossing. Interestingly though the "Victory day for the Great Patriotic War" celebrations were noticeably smaller amongst the Russian community, and the rival concerts, for victory day in the Russian border town of Ivangorod, and for Europe Day in the Estonian city of Narva, directly across the river, saw a drastically bigger turn out on the Estonian side. The Russians are keeping their heads down, even for celebrations in Russia. Putin gave a party, and nobody came, at least not in Ivangorod.
So as the klaxons blare out, there is a sense in the chill late spring that although the threat we face remains existential, we will overcome. Ukraine will survive, will become integrated into a wider Europe, and that Putin will not be around forever. It is not yet the certainty of victory, but even as we prepare for the worst, there is not merely determination, but hope in the eerie scream of the emergency sirens.
Hartley-Brewer bang to rights there. I wonder if anyone on the BBC will crack that type of joke about the attacks on Starmer
Are we trying to equate throwing a milkshake at someone (which I also condemn) with trying to set someone's house and car on fire?
Physical violence against politicians or political people is unjustifiable in a democracy. Yes, shout at them - disagree online or in public but physical assault is crossing the line in my view.
I don't know who these "liberals" are who apparently cheered Farage getting milkshake on his suit - I suppose it's just using the term as a form of abuse.
Jo Brand said it was a shame the milk shake wasn’t battery acid. I think we have a good example of people not noticing when it’s not their man
Someone on X is equating Julia Hartley Brewer’s reaction to the two incidents.
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
His record in government was *not* 'crap'.
I’d be grateful if people could resolve this one. I’ve heard the “his record in government was crap” but it’s not clear if that’s just received wisdom emanating from Republicans or based on a balanced appraisal of his performance.
The roll out of electric charging and rural broadband were two massively funded schemes which were made very little progress during his time in office e.g.
"While appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday (in 2024), host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg, "The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn't that happening more quickly?""
On the other hand, actually building infrastructure in the US appears to be impossibly difficult, so "not much got actually built" is probably the median outcome you get from almost all politicians. I think that's more of a large systemic problem than a Buttigieg problem (though if he had been able to tackle it that would have been a massive plus point for him, since I think it's one of the main things Democrats need to show they can fix rather than make worse).
An endemic problem in US government contracts is outright non-delivery.
For example, the FCC subsidised the ISPs to roll out broadband to rural areas. Who took the subsides, then (often) did nothing.
See also the Boeing entry to the quick access to space competition. They won the project with a stupid design. Then took hundreds of millions. Then *Boeing* cancelled their work, on the grounds it wouldn’t work. Delivered nothing but kept the money.
Biden changed to rules on federal subsides for electric car charging points. After it was discovered that many of them had existence issues. And many of the rest were broken all the time. The reason that Tesla won the charging network “war” in the US - their system has become the standard* - was that they have by far the largest network of chargers that actually work.
*the competing standard was backed by all the other manufacturers and the Fed Gov.
The Spectator put up a YouTube post on the Starmer arsonist yesterday. Of the 30-odd comments it attracted, a surprising number suggested it was a false flag operation to distract from the train incident, the coke incident, or the migration speech. I think the first two refer to the same thing.
Video does not show Macron hiding bag of cocaine from photographers The French president was traveling by train with the leaders of Germany and the U.K. to Kyiv, Ukraine, in May 2025. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cocaine-macron-merz-starmer/ Funny thing, social media misinformation.
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
His record in government was *not* 'crap'.
I’d be grateful if people could resolve this one. I’ve heard the “his record in government was crap” but it’s not clear if that’s just received wisdom emanating from Republicans or based on a balanced appraisal of his performance.
The roll out of electric charging and rural broadband were two massively funded schemes which were made very little progress during his time in office e.g.
"While appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday (in 2024), host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg, "The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn't that happening more quickly?""
On the other hand, actually building infrastructure in the US appears to be impossibly difficult, so "not much got actually built" is probably the median outcome you get from almost all politicians. I think that's more of a large systemic problem than a Buttigieg problem (though if he had been able to tackle it that would have been a massive plus point for him, since I think it's one of the main things Democrats need to show they can fix rather than make worse).
There is hard to build and there is 7 charging stations in 4 years. How many did Tesla etc put in during that time.
I never said they spent $7.5bn which is the lie being fact checked. The interviewer question was poorly worded, but surely nobody thought they actually meant that all that money that had been budgeted had been spent on just 7, rather that was the overall budget, so very well funded and yet they weren't getting spades in the ground.
I said it was incredibly well funded and yet they only managed 7 in 3 years. Even by the fact check....in 4 years...
According to a spokesperson from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), programs linked to the law funded 243 public charging ports that were operational this year across 14 U.S. states.
That is piss poor...and even the spin of 20k are pass the planning stage in so many years is very slow.
If Big Ange in 2029 says well yes that 2 million new homes, we managed 100k, nobody is going to say anything but they failed massively.
Hartley-Brewer bang to rights there. I wonder if anyone on the BBC will crack that type of joke about the attacks on Starmer
Are we trying to equate throwing a milkshake at someone (which I also condemn) with trying to set someone's house and car on fire?
Physical violence against politicians or political people is unjustifiable in a democracy. Yes, shout at them - disagree online or in public but physical assault is crossing the line in my view.
I don't know who these "liberals" are who apparently cheered Farage getting milkshake on his suit - I suppose it's just using the term as a form of abuse.
Jo Brand said it was a shame the milk shake wasn’t battery acid
Someone on X is equating Julia Hartley Brewer’s reaction to the two incidents.
Brand was rightly castigated in the media and on here.
I have to say I did crack a smile at JHB's "met Police have 70 million suspects" comment, but if one is all woke and lefty like those upset at Jo Brand and demanding her cancellation, perhaps one may be concerned that the occupants of the house could have burned to death. Under such circumstance LOLZ isn't the obvious response.
Hartley-Brewer bang to rights there. I wonder if anyone on the BBC will crack that type of joke about the attacks on Starmer
Are we trying to equate throwing a milkshake at someone (which I also condemn) with trying to set someone's house and car on fire?
Physical violence against politicians or political people is unjustifiable in a democracy. Yes, shout at them - disagree online or in public but physical assault is crossing the line in my view.
I don't know who these "liberals" are who apparently cheered Farage getting milkshake on his suit - I suppose it's just using the term as a form of abuse.
I don't think it's equating the two -- it's saying that if you do condemn milkshake throwing then you should definitely also condemn firebombing (and that somebody who takes the "milkshake incident bad, setting fire to stuff funny" position is being obviously partisan).
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
Buttigieg has been almost ubiquitous on Fox News: he's their go do Democrat, and he always turns up, and he's always polite, and he often lands a few punches.
There is probably no other Democrat where older Republicans are more likely to say "well, he may be a Democrat, but he's a nice clean cut young man, and a veteran too."
I am sure he is a nice bloke. But his political record is mayor of nowheresville and then a total shitshow in his government job. Now of course Trump, but he was able to sell the outside the swamp, mega mogul at the right time when enough people in the US were sick of the people in suits that sound good on telly.
That description fits Obama almost perfectly: he was an "community organizer"! What does that even mean?
Dear Sir, your astonishment's odd...
It's in the name. A Community Organiser is some who organises communities in pursuit of particular goals. In Obama's case it was even in his job title. He set up (wiki) a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization, amongst others. Things often covered in different ways here, as we have different holes in our society.
In the UK we have called them "social entrepreneurs", and the activity "community development". The best example I have is probably Lord Mawson, who set up the Bromley-by-Bow centre, though Helen Taylor-Thompson is another, or say Adele Blakeborough or Isabelle Clement. They are different from "campaigners" in that they set up an organisations that they leave behind for the longer-term.
Personally I prefer the term "community animator".
Federal grand jury indicts Wisconsin judge over alleged Ice obstruction
A federal grand jury has indicted a Wisconsin judge who was arrested by the FBI last month on allegations that she helped an undocumented immigrant avoid federal authorities.
Prosecutors charged Dugan in April with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. In the federal criminal justice system, prosecutors can initiate charges against a defendant directly by filing a complaint or present evidence to a grand jury and let that body decide whether to issue charges.
A grand jury still reviews charges brought by complaint to determine whether enough probable cause exists to continue the case as a check on prosecutors’ power. If the grand jury determines there’s probable cause, it issues a written statement of the charges known as an indictment. That’s what happened in Dugan’s case.
This has got the potential to be an entertaining trial. The "she helped the felon to escape bit" doesn't stand up. Based on the FBI's own submitted paperwork, the exit from the jury room - where she dismissed the guy they wanted - was out into the main corridor. Where the FBI agents were. As the person they wanted walked straight past them.
There was only a foot chase because they were too stupid to realise their suspect was right in front of them...
We did this at the time. That was based on a tweet by a far from impartial person which was selective. The doesn't stand up, well we now have a grand jury of 20 people who having vetted the same paperwork and indicted on the basis of that evidence.
I am not saying I agree or there might have been some keystone cop action, but it has taken a further step now.
The US has this very different system to us where indictments have to go through a grand jury. (The system originated in England, but is barely used anywhere else in the modern era.) We can see it as a balance against political/elected prosecutors. Many have questioned how well grand juries work. As I understand it, they are presented only with the prosecutor's case. There is no defence presented. It is rare for grand juries not to indict. It's not a very rigorous check.
So, yes, a step along the way for the prosecution case, and there is some evidence that grand juries pay more attention in more political cases, but it's certainly a very long way from a slam dunk. United States v. Joseph (2019) is the key precedent. There, a judge did much more to help a defendant evade capture and the case against the judge was withdrawn (although the judge was referred to disciplinary proceedings).
We should, of course, consider the wider context, which is one of the Trump administration's immigration officials routinely breaking the law and ignoring court judgements.
This is a public forum - so I have to be careful what I say - but I've been shocked in the last week by looking at the set-up of two major government programmes.
On both there is a huge central overhead of checkers, assurers, reporters and monitors but it isn't actually clear why the client organisation exists or what risks they're supposed to be controlling. They have struggled to recruit for client roles (the Prime Minister salary cap is part of it, but they also don't really know what skills they need) so lots are backfilled with consultants. Meanwhile, they try and shunt all risk and liability - which they don't really understand - onto the supply chain which they either can't take, so refuse the work or do so out of desperation, because they need the work, and then go bankrupt the first time it's drawn upon. They jump straight to putting a spade in the ground without taking the time (it can take up to 2 years or more to set a major programme up for success) to design the organisation and the delivery model properly, and run straight into a brick wall.
A surprisingly large number of people are OK with that, and believe it's important. Hard truths are not welcomed and most people invest 90%+ of their time and energy in defending their turf and not doing what's necessary to get the job done well. Because it requires hard work, a bit of moral courage, and making some decisions.
It says everything about our process culture.
That is a not an unfamiliar story. I don't know, however, that I would call this "process culture". There's a post-Thatcherite model that government is bad at doing things, so you have a contracting model. Government contracts out work to the (supposedly) efficient private sector. That pushes the centre into being checkers and monitors, while hollowing out any in-house expertise and increasing reliance on consultants.
My experience of this is in local Government capital works projects so may be somewhat different.
There's a balance between the client and the lead contractor but also political pressure from the Members who want to see "progress" especially if it's a pet project in their division. Indeed, the allocation and prioritisation of capital funding was also determined by those areas where a "spade in the ground" could be seen to happen quickly even if the actual project was 3-5 years duration.
With school capital work, you often only have the school holidays as your window for serious work so late July and August were always frantic for project managers.
Within the Council, there was a complex regime of project management, budget monitoring and endless trackers on spreadsheets showing progress which were reported to the Cabinet member on a weekly basis. The reporting and the monitoring were the most onerous parts of the task for Council Officers - site visits and meetings with contractors less so.
A lot of local Government work is about reporting - producing information for dissemination either within the Council or, more often, to central Government so the latter has a sense of how its largesse is being used and for the compliation of statistical information.
The Spectator put up a YouTube post on the Starmer arsonist yesterday. Of the 30-odd comments it attracted, a surprising number suggested it was a false flag operation to distract from the train incident, the coke incident, or the migration speech. I think the first two refer to the same thing.
Video does not show Macron hiding bag of cocaine from photographers The French president was traveling by train with the leaders of Germany and the U.K. to Kyiv, Ukraine, in May 2025. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cocaine-macron-merz-starmer/ Funny thing, social media misinformation.
Hartley-Brewer bang to rights there. I wonder if anyone on the BBC will crack that type of joke about the attacks on Starmer
Are we trying to equate throwing a milkshake at someone (which I also condemn) with trying to set someone's house and car on fire?
Physical violence against politicians or political people is unjustifiable in a democracy. Yes, shout at them - disagree online or in public but physical assault is crossing the line in my view.
I don't know who these "liberals" are who apparently cheered Farage getting milkshake on his suit - I suppose it's just using the term as a form of abuse.
Jo Brand said it was a shame the milk shake wasn’t battery acid
Someone on X is equating Julia Hartley Brewer’s reaction to the two incidents.
Brand was rightly castigated in the media and on here.
I have to say I did crack a smile at JHB's "met Police have 70 million suspects" comment, but if one is all woke and lefty like those upset at Jo Brand and demanding her cancellation, perhaps one may be concerned that the occupants of the house could have burned to death. Under such circumstance LOLZ isn't the obvious response.
Thank God you scroll past my posts and don’t like to troll!
Hartley-Brewer bang to rights there. I wonder if anyone on the BBC will crack that type of joke about the attacks on Starmer
Are we trying to equate throwing a milkshake at someone (which I also condemn) with trying to set someone's house and car on fire?
Physical violence against politicians or political people is unjustifiable in a democracy. Yes, shout at them - disagree online or in public but physical assault is crossing the line in my view.
I don't know who these "liberals" are who apparently cheered Farage getting milkshake on his suit - I suppose it's just using the term as a form of abuse.
Jo Brand said it was a shame the milk shake wasn’t battery acid
Someone on X is equating Julia Hartley Brewer’s reaction to the two incidents.
Brand was rightly castigated in the media and on here.
I have to say I did crack a smile at JHB's "met Police have 70 million suspects" comment, but if one is all woke and lefty like those upset at Jo Brand and demanding her cancellation, perhaps one may be concerned that the occupants of the house could have burned to death. Under such circumstance LOLZ isn't the obvious response.
Thank God you scroll past my posts and don’t like to troll!
How was that trolling you*? I am suggesting that both are either inappropriate or fine. What is sauce for the goose ...
The Spectator put up a YouTube post on the Starmer arsonist yesterday. Of the 30-odd comments it attracted, a surprising number suggested it was a false flag operation to distract from the train incident, the coke incident, or the migration speech. I think the first two refer to the same thing.
Video does not show Macron hiding bag of cocaine from photographers The French president was traveling by train with the leaders of Germany and the U.K. to Kyiv, Ukraine, in May 2025. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cocaine-macron-merz-starmer/ Funny thing, social media misinformation.
What is the train incident? Did I blink?
Second link. On a train with Merz and Starmer, Macron hid a tissue from a video, and the trolls, possibly Russian, said it was cocaine.
One for politicians suffering online vitriol, or to free up the constabulary from searching for hurty words (and MI5 looking for online radicalisation and terror plots) perhaps.
He strikes me as another Beto. He is going to get hyped up and up and up, but his record in government was crap and his claim to fame is he was nice mayor of a small town in Indiana.
His record in government was *not* 'crap'.
I’d be grateful if people could resolve this one. I’ve heard the “his record in government was crap” but it’s not clear if that’s just received wisdom emanating from Republicans or based on a balanced appraisal of his performance.
The roll out of electric charging and rural broadband were two massively funded schemes which were made very little progress during his time in office e.g.
"While appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday (in 2024), host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg, "The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations have been produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made back in 2021. Why isn't that happening more quickly?""
On the other hand, actually building infrastructure in the US appears to be impossibly difficult, so "not much got actually built" is probably the median outcome you get from almost all politicians. I think that's more of a large systemic problem than a Buttigieg problem (though if he had been able to tackle it that would have been a massive plus point for him, since I think it's one of the main things Democrats need to show they can fix rather than make worse).
As a serious comment, I think the USA has an even more serious case of being "hamstring by history" than we do here, in that everything has to be grafted on to whatever went before. We note how little each new Government can change of things done previously, but in the USA historic rights an that they be preserved has a huge impact.
One good example perhaps is farmers' interest in so many "acre feet" of water for their farms, and the tortuous history of trying to manage the Colorado River.
Starmer is renting his 4-bed house in Kentish Town to his sister in law for less than £10,000 a year. Very generous, market rate must be almost that per month I’d guess
Shocking! Has anyone informed the Durham constabulary yet?
They're not anxious to speak to him because he's such a boring speaker. His interview left them all in a deep korma.
Perhaps it is chance for them to curry favour now he is PM and get back in his good books?
Naan of your sauce.
On curries, and to satisfy Leon's continuing interest in my domestic circumstances, I no longer have a horse in my freezer. Yesterday's dinner was a horse and steak Thai curry- delicious.
Hartley-Brewer bang to rights there. I wonder if anyone on the BBC will crack that type of joke about the attacks on Starmer
Are we trying to equate throwing a milkshake at someone (which I also condemn) with trying to set someone's house and car on fire?
Physical violence against politicians or political people is unjustifiable in a democracy. Yes, shout at them - disagree online or in public but physical assault is crossing the line in my view.
I don't know who these "liberals" are who apparently cheered Farage getting milkshake on his suit - I suppose it's just using the term as a form of abuse.
Jo Brand said it was a shame the milk shake wasn’t battery acid
Someone on X is equating Julia Hartley Brewer’s reaction to the two incidents.
Brand was rightly castigated in the media and on here.
I have to say I did crack a smile at JHB's "met Police have 70 million suspects" comment, but if one is all woke and lefty like those upset at Jo Brand and demanding her cancellation, perhaps one may be concerned that the occupants of the house could have burned to death. Under such circumstance LOLZ isn't the obvious response.
Thank God you scroll past my posts and don’t like to troll!
Throwing milkshake, talking about blocking a road, legitimate strike action "bad", setting fire to an occupied building "lolz/free speech", file under hypocrisy next to taking industrial action for better pay (bad) vs HMRC contested tax avoidance schemes (my accountant advised it).
Am assuming the Starmer related incidents are a lone idiot.
Hartley-Brewer bang to rights there. I wonder if anyone on the BBC will crack that type of joke about the attacks on Starmer
Are we trying to equate throwing a milkshake at someone (which I also condemn) with trying to set someone's house and car on fire?
Physical violence against politicians or political people is unjustifiable in a democracy. Yes, shout at them - disagree online or in public but physical assault is crossing the line in my view.
I don't know who these "liberals" are who apparently cheered Farage getting milkshake on his suit - I suppose it's just using the term as a form of abuse.
Jo Brand said it was a shame the milk shake wasn’t battery acid
Someone on X is equating Julia Hartley Brewer’s reaction to the two incidents.
Brand was rightly castigated in the media and on here.
I have to say I did crack a smile at JHB's "met Police have 70 million suspects" comment, but if one is all woke and lefty like those upset at Jo Brand and demanding her cancellation, perhaps one may be concerned that the occupants of the house could have burned to death. Under such circumstance LOLZ isn't the obvious response.
Thank God you scroll past my posts and don’t like to troll!
How was that trolling you*? I am suggesting that both are either inappropriate or fine. What is sauce for the goose ...
*If that was a troll post, feel free to flag.
Well, “but if one is all woke and lefty like those upset at Jo Brand and demanding her cancellation,” seemed like a troll, but if not fair enough. I say both are wrong, and people excusing one while being angry at the other are making themselves look foolish
The government is abolishing NHS England without a clear plan for how it will be achieved and how it will benefit frontline care, a cross-party group of MPs has warned.
From a research perspective, NHS England is now the source of research data on hospital care (since they swallowed up NHS Digital) so this is a bit concerning from that point of view. The former NHS Digital staff are already overworked, and many I think pretty done with the constant reorganisation. They've lost people, wait times for data have shot up - I have two studies that have been extended by the funder (another part of the NHS) at additional cost because NHS England have failed to provide data anywhere near their advertised timescales. On on one study, it took three years; advertised timescales are less than one year. I'm actively avoiding putting NHS England data in study proposals at the moment as it's such a nightmare from a study management point of view.
We're doing various AI projects, the sorts of things the government says it's very keen on, and we mainly work with private health companies and other sources to get data because it's so difficult getting data from NHS/UKHSA sources.
Hartley-Brewer bang to rights there. I wonder if anyone on the BBC will crack that type of joke about the attacks on Starmer
Are we trying to equate throwing a milkshake at someone (which I also condemn) with trying to set someone's house and car on fire?
Physical violence against politicians or political people is unjustifiable in a democracy. Yes, shout at them - disagree online or in public but physical assault is crossing the line in my view.
I don't know who these "liberals" are who apparently cheered Farage getting milkshake on his suit - I suppose it's just using the term as a form of abuse.
Jo Brand said it was a shame the milk shake wasn’t battery acid
Someone on X is equating Julia Hartley Brewer’s reaction to the two incidents.
Brand was rightly castigated in the media and on here.
I have to say I did crack a smile at JHB's "met Police have 70 million suspects" comment, but if one is all woke and lefty like those upset at Jo Brand and demanding her cancellation, perhaps one may be concerned that the occupants of the house could have burned to death. Under such circumstance LOLZ isn't the obvious response.
Thank God you scroll past my posts and don’t like to troll!
How was that trolling you*? I am suggesting that both are either inappropriate or fine. What is sauce for the goose ...
*If that was a troll post, feel free to flag.
Well, “but if one is all woke and lefty like those upset at Jo Brand and demanding her cancellation,” seemed like a troll, but if not fair enough. I say both are wrong, and people excusing one while being angry at the other are making themselves look foolish
Starmer is renting his 4-bed house in Kentish Town to his sister in law for less than £10,000 a year. Very generous, market rate must be almost that per month I’d guess
That's part of the Starmer enigma, like the field he bought for his mothers donkeys. When left to his own devices he is a nice guy and supportive of his family. Yet he acts like a tosser in his PM role. I think it is imposter syndrome.
Family is the only time he isn't representing a client.
Reform 28% Labour 25% Conservative 20% Lib Dem 14% Green 8%
Which translates as 300 seats, 188, 44, 62.
Compared to the last poll: Labour +2 Cons -1 Reform +1 LibDem -1 SNP -1
Conservatives voters moving to Reform, and LibDem & SNP voters moving to Labour ?
+/-1 movements aren't really worth talking about because it could be based on almost nothing, ie 24.4% vs 24.6%, since the polls nearly always round the numbers. The +/-2s are worth discussing, just about.
Starmer is renting his 4-bed house in Kentish Town to his sister in law for less than £10,000 a year. Very generous, market rate must be almost that per month I’d guess
That's part of the Starmer enigma, like the field he bought for his mothers donkeys. When left to his own devices he is a nice guy and supportive of his family. Yet he acts like a tosser in his PM role. I think it is imposter syndrome.
Family is the only time he isn't representing a client.
I'd really like him to go.
Monday's speech might not have been "rivers of blood" or the Smethwick campaign of 1964, but it was a "citizens of nowhere" redux. There is a scale of vileness and it was certainly at best mid range.
This is a public forum - so I have to be careful what I say - but I've been shocked in the last week by looking at the set-up of two major government programmes.
On both there is a huge central overhead of checkers, assurers, reporters and monitors but it isn't actually clear why the client organisation exists or what risks they're supposed to be controlling. They have struggled to recruit for client roles (the Prime Minister salary cap is part of it, but they also don't really know what skills they need) so lots are backfilled with consultants. Meanwhile, they try and shunt all risk and liability - which they don't really understand - onto the supply chain which they either can't take, so refuse the work or do so out of desperation, because they need the work, and then go bankrupt the first time it's drawn upon. They jump straight to putting a spade in the ground without taking the time (it can take up to 2 years or more to set a major programme up for success) to design the organisation and the delivery model properly, and run straight into a brick wall.
A surprisingly large number of people are OK with that, and believe it's important. Hard truths are not welcomed and most people invest 90%+ of their time and energy in defending their turf and not doing what's necessary to get the job done well. Because it requires hard work, a bit of moral courage, and making some decisions.
I'm on a train to Narbonne. It looks like a lovely town so I've booked an Airbnb flat in the centre for the night
This train travel business is much easier than all that walking lark. Though I do feel a bit like I'm in the Rovers Return. There are two very loud women from Manchester, or thereabouts, behind me on the train - each taking up a four seat table with all their luggage
I've just noticed that Narbonne is twinned with Salford. Although surely just coincidence, the ladies are getting off there too..
“Island of strangers” is about the only evocative phrase that Starmer has uttered in his life, and accurately describes a legitimate anxiety in response to mass immigration.
We've just been filling out the forms for our son's entry to secondary school. It's been fairly easy, as he has no medical complaints, learning difficulties, allergies, etc.
But there's one area that we've carefully considered and not given consent. The school uses fingerprints to access things like the library and canteen, and we don't like the idea of our son's biometric information being used for this. They also include no information of which company provides the biometrics service, or what exactly is being stored (the fingerprint itself, a hash, etc)?
I'd be interested to hear your views on whether we're being stupidly cautious, or whether anyone else's school uses such a system?
To me it sounds very dystopian that a school would be using fingerprints to do things like access rooms, the sort of thing that only a spy agency would have. I don't think you're being stupidly cautious at all. The fact that people have allowed this sort of thing to become normal shocks me a bit. There was no security whatsoever at the schools I was at, and it wasn't exactly a million years ago. I don't remember any problems with security when I was there.
This is a public forum - so I have to be careful what I say - but I've been shocked in the last week by looking at the set-up of two major government programmes.
On both there is a huge central overhead of checkers, assurers, reporters and monitors but it isn't actually clear why the client organisation exists or what risks they're supposed to be controlling. They have struggled to recruit for client roles (the Prime Minister salary cap is part of it, but they also don't really know what skills they need) so lots are backfilled with consultants. Meanwhile, they try and shunt all risk and liability - which they don't really understand - onto the supply chain which they either can't take, so refuse the work or do so out of desperation, because they need the work, and then go bankrupt the first time it's drawn upon. They jump straight to putting a spade in the ground without taking the time (it can take up to 2 years or more to set a major programme up for success) to design the organisation and the delivery model properly, and run straight into a brick wall.
A surprisingly large number of people are OK with that, and believe it's important. Hard truths are not welcomed and most people invest 90%+ of their time and energy in defending their turf and not doing what's necessary to get the job done well. Because it requires hard work, a bit of moral courage, and making some decisions.
It says everything about our process culture.
Whilst I agree with you, I kind of covered this in the last paragraph in Part 5 of my Blob article[50].
"...The academic Dr Abby Innes[51] points out that Thatcherite neoliberalism and late Soviet communism arrived at the same logical point, with governments unable to wield power, instead engaging in bargaining games they couldn’t win with suppliers and taking refuge in process..."
Innes wrote "Late Soviet Britain", a book which I love but is very dense and needs several passes and notes. Broadly, the idea of hiving functions off to the private sector and attempting to control it via oversight, checklists, etc, doesn't work. The reasons for this are numerous but include your observations.
The shortest video presentations of her works are in the notes below.
Reform 28% Labour 25% Conservative 20% Lib Dem 14% Green 8%
Which translates as 300 seats, 188, 44, 62.
Labour seem to be holding up, real gap between Reform and the Tories. As I've said before, the next election is existential for the Tories I think.
If you knock, say, 4% off the Greens, and give it to Labour (likely, IMHO if Reform are real contenders), then you get:
259, 244, 40, 62.
Time for a government of national unity
All the talents? Ref and Con.
No - It needs a coming together across the political divide
Realistically - maybe no
I can't see PM Farage inviting Labour, the Lib Dems or the Greens into the fold.
My conclusion is Jenrick's idea of Cons and Reform making a constituency by constituency pact makes most sense (for them). RefCon landslide and Labour on next to no seats.
“Island of strangers” is about the only evocative phrase that Starmer has uttered in his life, and accurately describes a legitimate anxiety in response to mass immigration.
Reform 28% Labour 25% Conservative 20% Lib Dem 14% Green 8%
Which translates as 300 seats, 188, 44, 62.
Labour seem to be holding up, real gap between Reform and the Tories. As I've said before, the next election is existential for the Tories I think.
If you knock, say, 4% off the Greens, and give it to Labour (likely, IMHO if Reform are real contenders), then you get:
259, 244, 40, 62.
Time for a government of national unity
All the talents? Ref and Con.
No - It needs a coming together across the political divide
Realistically - maybe no
I can't see PM Farage inviting Labour, the Lib Dems or the Greens into the fold.
My conclusion is Jenrick's idea of Cons and Reform making a constituency by constituency pact makes most sense (for them). RefCon landslide and Labour on next to no seats.
In that case you would just get a LD and Green and Labour pact too.
It won't happen and anyway Mel Stride or James Cleverly are more likely to be next Tory leader than Jenrick, if Kemi was removed Tory MPs would try and crown one of the former two a la Howard 2003 or Sunak 2023 without a contest so Jenrick couldn't get to the membership
Reform 28% Labour 25% Conservative 20% Lib Dem 14% Green 8%
Which translates as 300 seats, 188, 44, 62.
Labour seem to be holding up, real gap between Reform and the Tories. As I've said before, the next election is existential for the Tories I think.
On that poll Farage still couldn't become PM without Tory confidence and supply.
The 20% the Tories are still on would also give them 130 MPs with PR, only 44 with FPTP, and a Labour and LD government might introduce PR so Farage could not be certain of Tory support, they could stay neutral and vote issue by issue
Great thread about how a series of daft regulations are hampering housing development in London.
For example, a special (and unaccountable) quango set up post-Grenfell to review developments over 18 metres has essentially resulted in no developments over 18 metres being consented.
London (and Britain) can’t afford this nonsense. Will Sadiq Khan address any of this? Seems doubtful, given his default position of do-nothingism and virtue signalling.
We've just been filling out the forms for our son's entry to secondary school. It's been fairly easy, as he has no medical complaints, learning difficulties, allergies, etc.
But there's one area that we've carefully considered and not given consent. The school uses fingerprints to access things like the library and canteen, and we don't like the idea of our son's biometric information being used for this. They also include no information of which company provides the biometrics service, or what exactly is being stored (the fingerprint itself, a hash, etc)?
I'd be interested to hear your views on whether we're being stupidly cautious, or whether anyone else's school uses such a system?
To me it sounds very dystopian that a school would be using fingerprints to do things like access rooms, the sort of thing that only a spy agency would have. I don't think you're being stupidly cautious at all. The fact that people have allowed this sort of thing to become normal shocks me a bit. There was no security whatsoever at the schools I was at, and it wasn't exactly a million years ago. I don't remember any problems with security when I was there.
In the case of school lunches, it's simply a matter of efficiency. With school budgets pared to the bone, squeezing a few quid out of transaction costs can mean adding a few thousand pounds to the bottom line over the course of a year. I assume something similar is happening with the library keeping track of its stock.
As JJ suggests, it's pretty likely that the information stored is hashed/anonymised - but it's reasonable to check. The school should have a written policy setting out the details somewhere.
Reform 28% Labour 25% Conservative 20% Lib Dem 14% Green 8%
Which translates as 300 seats, 188, 44, 62.
Labour seem to be holding up, real gap between Reform and the Tories. As I've said before, the next election is existential for the Tories I think.
If you knock, say, 4% off the Greens, and give it to Labour (likely, IMHO if Reform are real contenders), then you get:
259, 244, 40, 62.
Time for a government of national unity
All the talents? Ref and Con.
No - It needs a coming together across the political divide
Realistically - maybe no
I can't see PM Farage inviting Labour, the Lib Dems or the Greens into the fold.
My conclusion is Jenrick's idea of Cons and Reform making a constituency by constituency pact makes most sense (for them). RefCon landslide and Labour on next to no seats.
In that case you would just get a LD and Green and Labour pact too.
It won't happen and anyway Mel Stride or James Cleverly are more likely to be next Tory leader than Jenrick, if Kemi was removed Tory MPs would try and crown one of the former two a la Howard 2003 or Sunak 2023 without a contest so Jenrick couldn't get to the membership
Wouldn't that just send all the remaining Tory right wingers over to Farage?
A centre right party would be nice, but with the Conservative Party having soiled itself, certainly since 2019, is it likely to gain any traction?
“Island of strangers” is about the only evocative phrase that Starmer has uttered in his life, and accurately describes a legitimate anxiety in response to mass immigration.
“Island of strangers” is about the only evocative phrase that Starmer has uttered in his life, and accurately describes a legitimate anxiety in response to mass immigration.
Again, the backlash is largely performative.
Starmer should double down.
No, it's "citizens of nowhere" bile.
I guess people read into these phrases whatever they want (and that is part of why the TLA is politically powerful).
To me island of strangers is a pretty accurate and bland description of modern (at least urban) life for most. Pockets of mono-cultural estates/areas within a multi-cultural city can exacerbate that feeling.
“Island of strangers” is about the only evocative phrase that Starmer has uttered in his life, and accurately describes a legitimate anxiety in response to mass immigration.
Again, the backlash is largely performative.
Starmer should double down.
No, it's "citizens of nowhere" bile.
Is it ?
..“Nations depend on rules, fair rules. Sometimes they are written down, often they are not, but either way, they give shape to our values, guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to each other.
“In a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important. Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together...
I can understand people not liking it, but I'm not sure I'd interpret it like that.
CPS aren’t charging Rupert Lowe which means he is going to sue the arse off Farage et al.
Not sure there’s enough popcorn in the world for this.
Rupert Lowe, the former Reform MP who was suspended by the party after allegations of threatening behaviour, will not be charged, says the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Malcolm McHaffie, head of its special crime division, says there is "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction".
"Based on the careful consideration of this evidence, we have decided that our legal test for a criminal prosecution has not been met," he adds.
“Island of strangers” is about the only evocative phrase that Starmer has uttered in his life, and accurately describes a legitimate anxiety in response to mass immigration.
Again, the backlash is largely performative.
Starmer should double down.
But as ever with Starmer it’s not necessarily the words, but the direct contradiction of them in tone, spirit and content to words previously uttered by him. I’ve said it before that all pols do it to a certain extent but I can’t think of many that have made it a defining characteristic the way SKS has. There are a few factors that have contributed to voters’ general cynicism but the impression of politicians being completely untethered from consistent principle is definitely one of them.
Could anyone name a solid Starmer ethical value that he has stuck to since he burst (sad trombone noise) upon the political scene?
“Island of strangers” is about the only evocative phrase that Starmer has uttered in his life, and accurately describes a legitimate anxiety in response to mass immigration.
Again, the backlash is largely performative.
Starmer should double down.
No, it's "citizens of nowhere" bile.
I guess people read into these phrases whatever they want (and that is part of why the TLA is politically powerful).
To me island of strangers is a pretty accurate and bland description of modern (at least urban) life for most. Pockets of mono-cultural estates/areas within a multi-cultural city can exacerbate that feeling.
It's hostile. It's "othering". One would hope for something less racially incendiary from a Labour Prime Minister.
“Island of strangers” is about the only evocative phrase that Starmer has uttered in his life, and accurately describes a legitimate anxiety in response to mass immigration.
Again, the backlash is largely performative.
Starmer should double down.
No, it's "citizens of nowhere" bile.
I guess people read into these phrases whatever they want (and that is part of why the TLA is politically powerful).
To me island of strangers is a pretty accurate and bland description of modern (at least urban) life for most. Pockets of mono-cultural estates/areas within a multi-cultural city can exacerbate that feeling.
It's hostile. It's "othering". One would hope for something less racially incendiary from a Labour Prime Minister.
Who is he actually "othering" in the excerpt I quoted ?
Trump in Saudi Arabia: "What a great place but more importantly, what great people. I want to thank his royal highness the crown prince for that incredible introduction. He's an incredible man. I've known him a long time now. There's nobody like him. Appreciate it very much, my friend." https://x.com/atrupar/status/1922315273329139796
Trump meets the new Syrian President in Saudi Arabia and lifts sanctions on Syria to give them 'a chance for greatness' while encouraging them to build relations with Israel and deport foreign terrorists https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ce3vypz0nd6t
Comments
I most definitely am not a Starmer supporter
There seems among some an almost unthinking, and I use this word advisedly, "hatred" towards him. It's certainly worse than I recall about Thatcher, Blair or any of the Prime Ministers since 2010. The latest perjorative is "boring" - well, so what? If you want a more exciting Prime Minister, Ed Davey is available - the problem is the Prime Minister often has to say things a lot of people don't want to hear and initiate policies to which a lot of people are strongly opposed but that's politics and whether we like it ot not, Starmer and Labour won a mandate to govern last July.
None of that justifies violence against his home or his family or those connected to him. We've seen too many examples over recent years of politicians being subjected to violent attack and it has to be condemned by anyone and everyone purporting to support democracy.
"Anyone know if and where there might be a market for Mayor of San Francisco in November? Asking for a friend. (I really am! I’ve no idea who might be running or who he is interested in backing or if there even is a Mayor an an election for the role)."
Well the person my friend wanted to back was Daniel Lurie. I've just checked. Lurie is now SF Mayor. Anyone know what kind of price he was available to back? Looks a very interesting politician. Could he go further?
Indeed if we were a republic we would now likely have our own President Trump ie President Farage
Bearly Politics
@i_iratus
12h
2024: “Liberals cheering milkshakes should be ashamed.”
2025: “Starmer’s house got firebombed. LOLZ.”
Pick a lane.
https://x.com/i_iratus/status/1922377038175846616
https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/pete-buttigieg-did-not-spend-75-billion-build-8-ev-charging-stations-2024-12-13/
I said it was incredibly well funded and yet they only managed 7 in 3 years. Even by the fact check....in 4 years...
According to a spokesperson from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), programs linked to the law funded 243 public charging ports that were operational this year across 14 U.S. states.
That is piss poor...and even the spin of 20k are pass the planning stage in so many years is very slow.
If Big Ange in 2029 says well yes that 2 million new homes, we managed 100k, nobody is going to say anything but they failed massively.
I think the Miliband stuff is the best example of this, with general polling being positive or ambivalent about his policies, while a glance at Facebook or Twitter... it's astonishing. You'd think half the people in woke Portobello want him dead.
That doesn't mean to say we should ignore it. Once upon a time the crazy guy was just one of 100 in the pub. Now they are 1 of several hundred thousand online, all riling each other up and normalising these views.
He's coherent and gets and speaks to Middle America which is what the Dems need. Shame he's not been a Governor or anything, but his positive characteristics remind me of a young former Governor of Arkansas - though I doubt Pete will be getting into as much trouble with a female intern in the Oval Office if he wins.
Hopefully the world, even America, has moved on enough that his sexual orientation won't be a deal breaker nowadays.
Starmer only invited Trump with the agreement of the King
Carney inviting the King to open the Canadian Parliament is good for Canada - UK relationships which I fully endorse having a Canadian daughter in law in Vancouver
And to go from the UK as a Republic to a President Farage is on a par with your nonsense devotion to Johnson's return to save the conservative party
I used to visit Kirkby a lot in my younger days.
Lovely spot.
At this moment in time I am politically homeless, and unless the conservative party can move on from it's past then it will be irrelevant leaving me with few choices
In our constituency I want Labour out and as it stands I would vote for Plaid as they have the best chance of the challengers, and I am attracted to some of their policies and they have declared they would not seek independence in their first term
In this @HYUFD and I share voting for them !!!!
The King doesn't have a choice in the matter, or at least a choice that he can't exercise without causing a major constitutional incident.
It's absurd to suggest that the King was somehow eager to meet with Trump, as TSE appears to be suggesting. I'm sure the King finds Trump to be a repellant character, but is meeting him out of a sense of duty.
I'm on board with Ezra Klein's "Abundance" theory -- the government needs to be much better at delivery and the Democrats need to recognise how they've been unintentionally impeding it.
Physical violence against politicians or political people is unjustifiable in a democracy. Yes, shout at them - disagree online or in public but physical assault is crossing the line in my view.
I don't know who these "liberals" are who apparently cheered Farage getting milkshake on his suit - I suppose it's just using the term as a form of abuse.
What's the crime again? "Woke" isn't a crime. Yet.
There have been plenty of boring but capable leaders. The jury is still out on the latter quality, as far as he's concerned.
The transit across the Russian frontier is still limited- no Russian vehicles are permitted into Estonia anyway, and the direct train or bus now involves getting on a different train or bus after a long border crossing. Interestingly though the "Victory day for the Great Patriotic War" celebrations were noticeably smaller amongst the Russian community, and the rival concerts, for victory day in the Russian border town of Ivangorod, and for Europe Day in the Estonian city of Narva, directly across the river, saw a drastically bigger turn out on the Estonian side. The Russians are keeping their heads down, even for celebrations in Russia. Putin gave a party, and nobody came, at least not in Ivangorod.
So as the klaxons blare out, there is a sense in the chill late spring that although the threat we face remains existential, we will overcome. Ukraine will survive, will become integrated into a wider Europe, and that Putin will not be around forever. It is not yet the certainty of victory, but even as we prepare for the worst, there is not merely determination, but hope in the eerie scream of the emergency sirens.
Someone on X is equating Julia Hartley Brewer’s reaction to the two incidents.
For example, the FCC subsidised the ISPs to roll out broadband to rural areas. Who took the subsides, then (often) did nothing.
See also the Boeing entry to the quick access to space competition. They won the project with a stupid design. Then took hundreds of millions. Then *Boeing* cancelled their work, on the grounds it wouldn’t work. Delivered nothing but kept the money.
Biden changed to rules on federal subsides for electric car charging points. After it was discovered that many of them had existence issues. And many of the rest were broken all the time. The reason that Tesla won the charging network “war” in the US - their system has become the standard* - was that they have by far the largest network of chargers that actually work.
*the competing standard was backed by all the other manufacturers and the Fed Gov.
Man arrested after fires at Starmer’s home
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJMC-44oT9l97ra5iemDPiA/community?lb=UgkxDNHYYkjjJ_Mbvhr1WUnmTV6THaF1avaq
Video does not show Macron hiding bag of cocaine from photographers
The French president was traveling by train with the leaders of Germany and the U.K. to Kyiv, Ukraine, in May 2025.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cocaine-macron-merz-starmer/
Funny thing, social media misinformation.
All the federal government can do is make available the funds (most of which weren't spent).
https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-electric-vehicle-charging-stations-75-billion-buttigieg-1ddcd6ee193fc1847e5401c95c016ec3
I have to say I did crack a smile at JHB's "met Police have 70 million suspects" comment, but if one is all woke and lefty like those upset at Jo Brand and demanding her cancellation, perhaps one may be concerned that the occupants of the house could have burned to death. Under such circumstance LOLZ isn't the obvious response.
It's in the name. A Community Organiser is some who organises communities in pursuit of particular goals. In Obama's case it was even in his job title. He set up (wiki) a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization, amongst others. Things often covered in different ways here, as we have different holes in our society.
In the UK we have called them "social entrepreneurs", and the activity "community development". The best example I have is probably Lord Mawson, who set up the Bromley-by-Bow centre, though Helen Taylor-Thompson is another, or say Adele Blakeborough or Isabelle Clement. They are different from "campaigners" in that they set up an organisations that they leave behind for the longer-term.
Personally I prefer the term "community animator".
So, yes, a step along the way for the prosecution case, and there is some evidence that grand juries pay more attention in more political cases, but it's certainly a very long way from a slam dunk. United States v. Joseph (2019) is the key precedent. There, a judge did much more to help a defendant evade capture and the case against the judge was withdrawn (although the judge was referred to disciplinary proceedings).
We should, of course, consider the wider context, which is one of the Trump administration's immigration officials routinely breaking the law and ignoring court judgements.
There's a balance between the client and the lead contractor but also political pressure from the Members who want to see "progress" especially if it's a pet project in their division. Indeed, the allocation and prioritisation of capital funding was also determined by those areas where a "spade in the ground" could be seen to happen quickly even if the actual project was 3-5 years duration.
With school capital work, you often only have the school holidays as your window for serious work so late July and August were always frantic for project managers.
Within the Council, there was a complex regime of project management, budget monitoring and endless trackers on spreadsheets showing progress which were reported to the Cabinet member on a weekly basis. The reporting and the monitoring were the most onerous parts of the task for Council Officers - site visits and meetings with contractors less so.
A lot of local Government work is about reporting - producing information for dissemination either within the Council or, more often, to central Government so the latter has a sense of how its largesse is being used and for the compliation of statistical information.
*That is a Labour Government by the way. Starmer should be planning his succession.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/14/nearly-half-of-foreign-nhs-nurses-plan-quit-starmer-britain/#:~:text=Almost half of foreign nurses,health service and social care.
*If that was a troll post, feel free to flag.
Here is the video. It is around the 30-second mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGHhXLDjf0g&t=31s
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-14707323/Arsenal-social-media-abuse-Signify.html
One for politicians suffering online vitriol, or to free up the constabulary from searching for hurty words (and MI5 looking for online radicalisation and terror plots) perhaps.
One good example perhaps is farmers' interest in so many "acre feet" of water for their farms, and the tortuous history of trying to manage the Colorado River.
Am assuming the Starmer related incidents are a lone idiot.
Reform 28%
Labour 25%
Conservative 20%
Lib Dem 14%
Green 8%
Which translates as 300 seats, 188, 44, 62.
That should be a seminal moment in Starmer's premiership, and not in a good way.
Labour +2
Cons -1
Reform +1
LibDem -1
SNP -1
Conservatives voters moving to Reform, and LibDem & SNP voters moving to Labour ?
259, 244, 40, 62.
Monday's speech might not have been "rivers of blood" or the Smethwick campaign of 1964, but it was a "citizens of nowhere" redux. There is a scale of vileness and it was certainly at best mid range.
I listened to most, if not all of it, and don't recall anything particularly unreasonable let alone hostile.
Realistically - maybe no
This train travel business is much easier than all that walking lark. Though I do feel a bit like I'm in the Rovers Return. There are two very loud women from Manchester, or thereabouts, behind me on the train - each taking up a four seat table with all their luggage
I've just noticed that Narbonne is twinned with Salford. Although surely just coincidence, the ladies are getting off there too..
Again, the backlash is largely performative.
Starmer should double down.
"...The academic Dr Abby Innes[51] points out that Thatcherite neoliberalism and late Soviet communism arrived at the same logical point, with governments unable to wield power, instead engaging in bargaining games they couldn’t win with suppliers and taking refuge in process..."
Innes wrote "Late Soviet Britain", a book which I love but is very dense and needs several passes and notes. Broadly, the idea of hiving functions off to the private sector and attempting to control it via oversight, checklists, etc, doesn't work. The reasons for this are numerous but include your observations.
The shortest video presentations of her works are in the notes below.
Notes
My conclusion is Jenrick's idea of Cons and Reform making a constituency by constituency pact makes most sense (for them). RefCon landslide and Labour on next to no seats.
It won't happen and anyway Mel Stride or James Cleverly are more likely to be next Tory leader than Jenrick, if Kemi was removed Tory MPs would try and crown one of the former two a la Howard 2003 or Sunak 2023 without a contest so Jenrick couldn't get to the membership
The 20% the Tories are still on would also give them 130 MPs with PR, only 44 with FPTP, and a Labour and LD government might introduce PR so Farage could not be certain of Tory support, they could stay neutral and vote issue by issue
For example, a special (and unaccountable) quango set up post-Grenfell to review developments over 18 metres has essentially resulted in no developments over 18 metres being consented.
https://x.com/antbreach/status/1922549697631187022?s=46&t=L9g_woCIqbo1MTuBFCK0xg
London (and Britain) can’t afford this nonsense.
Will Sadiq Khan address any of this? Seems doubtful, given his default position of do-nothingism and virtue signalling.
With school budgets pared to the bone, squeezing a few quid out of transaction costs can mean adding a few thousand pounds to the bottom line over the course of a year.
I assume something similar is happening with the library keeping track of its stock.
As JJ suggests, it's pretty likely that the information stored is hashed/anonymised - but it's reasonable to check. The school should have a written policy setting out the details somewhere.
A centre right party would be nice, but with the Conservative Party having soiled itself, certainly since 2019, is it likely to gain any traction?
To me island of strangers is a pretty accurate and bland description of modern (at least urban) life for most. Pockets of mono-cultural estates/areas within a multi-cultural city can exacerbate that feeling.
..“Nations depend on rules, fair rules. Sometimes they are written down, often they are not, but either way, they give shape to our values, guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to each other.
“In a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important. Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together...
I can understand people not liking it, but I'm not sure I'd interpret it like that.
Not sure there’s enough popcorn in the world for this.
Rupert Lowe, the former Reform MP who was suspended by the party after allegations of threatening behaviour, will not be charged, says the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Malcolm McHaffie, head of its special crime division, says there is "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction".
"Based on the careful consideration of this evidence, we have decided that our legal test for a criminal prosecution has not been met," he adds.
https://news.sky.com/story/politics-latest-local-elections-labour-reform-starmer-farage-tories-lib-dems-greens-12593360?postid=9581502#liveblog-body
Could anyone name a solid Starmer ethical value that he has stuck to since he burst (sad trombone noise) upon the political scene?
Where does Lowe go to now ?
Trump in Saudi Arabia: "What a great place but more importantly, what great people. I want to thank his royal highness the crown prince for that incredible introduction. He's an incredible man. I've known him a long time now. There's nobody like him. Appreciate it very much, my friend."
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1922315273329139796
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ce3vypz0nd6t
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c071gjd311xo