So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Similar in Trumpistan.
The US Government banned all flags apart from the Stars and Stripes, State and City flags.
So the Mayor of Salt Lake City* made the Pride flag the City flag (by adding a beehive, the state symbol) and the council unanimously confirmed it.
*slightly surprised for it to be SLC, but America has lots of blue spots even in the reddest states.
Seems a bit silly to go to that much effort, but whatever.
I believe in deomocracry. If the elected officials want to ban the flags then so be it. Vote them out next time. I think we probably have gone a bit mad on days and weeks and flags. Every day seems to the international day of something. Now I guess a lot of that is marketing wheezes, but it’s got out of hand. And as for flags - if you work at a council that bans flags on council sites and wants to show that you support Pride/Swindon Town FC/Israel/Hamas or whatever, you can do it at home.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Given per the article the only flag taken down so far has been the Ukrainian one, possibly you are misrepresenting them.
Are you trusting the Guardian to report accurately?
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Given per the article the only flag taken down so far has been the Ukrainian one, possibly you are misrepresenting them.
Evidence? You have one quote from Kent.
Moreover there have been complaints year in and year out about pride flags etc. so it may not have been seen in the last 3 weeks but that doesn’t mean it was the motivating factor
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Similar in Trumpistan.
The US Government banned all flags apart from the Stars and Stripes, State and City flags.
So the Mayor of Salt Lake City* made the Pride flag the City flag (by adding a beehive, the state symbol) and the council unanimously confirmed it.
*slightly surprised for it to be SLC, but America has lots of blue spots even in the reddest states.
Seems a bit silly to go to that much effort, but whatever.
I believe in deomocracry. If the elected officials want to ban the flags then so be it. Vote them out next time. I think we probably have gone a bit mad on days and weeks and flags. Every day seems to the international day of something. Now I guess a lot of that is marketing wheezes, but it’s got out of hand. And as for flags - if you work at a council that bans flags on council sites and wants to show that you support Pride/Swindon Town FC/Israel/Hamas or whatever, you can do it at home.
World Sex Day on 9th June, not sure if they have a flag. Perhaps just a proud flag pole.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
Palestine and Israel flags sometimes get flown (depending on the Council).
Genuine question, because I really don't know the answer, but has any Council ever flown the Israeli flag (in the absence of a visit from the Israeli Ambassador or similar)? Councils flying the Palestinain flag, probably, but the Israeli flag? I doubt it.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
No it’s misrepresentation by limitation.
It suggests their motive is purely anti-Ukrainian which it isn’t. There’s a whole lot of nastiness going on 😉
If that’s the test, then every political critique of any party policy ever involves misrepresentation by limitation.
For example Starmer’s traitorous sellout of our proud fisherfolk to the voracious Euro trawlermen. Clearly the UK government’s motive for an SPS agreement isn’t purely anti-fisherman. Or Osborne’s evil tax on pasties (it wasnt just aimed at pasties).
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Given per the article the only flag taken down so far has been the Ukrainian one, possibly you are misrepresenting them.
Possibly also they may be getting in ahead of 1 June.
To be clear, I'm not sure there is a legal requirement or simply an MHCLG recommendation to fly the Union Flag. The various national flags of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are generally flown as is the authority or County flag (whether it is the bland Newham flag or the Flag of St Piran).
The "fourth flag" is more at the discretion of the local authority. In Newham, for example, they celebrate the National Day of many of the countries which form the resident population especially India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan but also Jamaica and Barbados. The Progress Rainbow flag was flown to celebrate LGBT History Month in February.
On whatdotheyknow.com, a resident asked Newham which flags had been flown over a five year period and for how long. The Council said they did not have the information.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
Palestine and Israel flags sometimes get flown (depending on the Council).
Genuine question, because I really don't know the answer, but has any Council ever flown the Israeli flag (in the absence of a visit from the Israeli Ambassador or similar)? Councils flying the Palestinain flag, probably, but the Israeli flag? I doubt it.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Similar in Trumpistan.
The US Government banned all flags apart from the Stars and Stripes, State and City flags.
So the Mayor of Salt Lake City* made the Pride flag the City flag (by adding a beehive, the state symbol) and the council unanimously confirmed it.
*slightly surprised for it to be SLC, but America has lots of blue spots even in the reddest states.
Seems a bit silly to go to that much effort, but whatever.
I believe in deomocracry. If the elected officials want to ban the flags then so be it. Vote them out next time. I think we probably have gone a bit mad on days and weeks and flags. Every day seems to the international day of something. Now I guess a lot of that is marketing wheezes, but it’s got out of hand. And as for flags - if you work at a council that bans flags on council sites and wants to show that you support Pride/Swindon Town FC/Israel/Hamas or whatever, you can do it at home.
World Sex Day on 9th June, not sure if they have a flag. Perhaps just a proud flag pole.
I’m waiting to see if my colleague emails the department on June 9th. She’s done every other sodding ‘day’ this year so far.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
Palestine and Israel flags sometimes get flown (depending on the Council).
Childish. Like kids dressing up as Spiderman or Mr. Freeze.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
Palestine and Israel flags sometimes get flown (depending on the Council).
Genuine question, because I really don't know the answer, but has any Council ever flown the Israeli flag (in the absence of a visit from the Israeli Ambassador or similar)? Councils flying the Palestinain flag, probably, but the Israeli flag? I doubt it.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Given per the article the only flag taken down so far has been the Ukrainian one, possibly you are misrepresenting them.
Evidence? You have one quote from Kent.
Moreover there have been complaints year in and year out about pride flags etc. so it may not have been seen in the last 3 weeks but that doesn’t mean it was the motivating factor
Evidence was the article you are complaining about.
Actually the story is a party that happily decries gesture politics in others trips up when indulging in performative flag banning themselves and they don't like it being pointed out.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
Palestine and Israel flags sometimes get flown (depending on the Council).
Genuine question, because I really don't know the answer, but has any Council ever flown the Israeli flag (in the absence of a visit from the Israeli Ambassador or similar)? Councils flying the Palestinain flag, probably, but the Israeli flag? I doubt it.
Hertsmere has flown in the Israeli flag. So have Sheffield, and Barnet.
Thanks Sean. I suppose the question now is "I wonder why?"
Shallow, superficial bullshit - whilst not addressing or fixing any of the underlying problems with discipline, competence and hard work - is the defining feature of politics of our age.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Similar in Trumpistan.
The US Government banned all flags apart from the Stars and Stripes, State and City flags.
So the Mayor of Salt Lake City* made the Pride flag the City flag (by adding a beehive, the state symbol) and the council unanimously confirmed it.
*slightly surprised for it to be SLC, but America has lots of blue spots even in the reddest states.
Seems a bit silly to go to that much effort, but whatever.
I believe in deomocracry. If the elected officials want to ban the flags then so be it. Vote them out next time. I think we probably have gone a bit mad on days and weeks and flags. Every day seems to the international day of something. Now I guess a lot of that is marketing wheezes, but it’s got out of hand. And as for flags - if you work at a council that bans flags on council sites and wants to show that you support Pride/Swindon Town FC/Israel/Hamas or whatever, you can do it at home.
World Sex Day on 9th June, not sure if they have a flag. Perhaps just a proud flag pole.
I’m waiting to see if my colleague emails the department on June 9th. She’s done every other sodding ‘day’ this year so far.
Oh please, take it upon yourself to do it for her if she doesn't! It would show that you are a diligent employee taking these things seriously. And you might get a biscuit with your coffee at the inevitable HR meeting afterwards.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Fucking hell. This country.
'Я' = Ya
Also indicates singular first person pronoun.
R is 'Р' but it has more alveolar pronunciation than an English R.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Similar in Trumpistan.
The US Government banned all flags apart from the Stars and Stripes, State and City flags.
So the Mayor of Salt Lake City* made the Pride flag the City flag (by adding a beehive, the state symbol) and the council unanimously confirmed it.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Personally I think the flag contrversy plays into Reform's hands. The average "Give them a try" voter wants changes that will benefit them, and the lack of those will in time be a much more damaging criticism than whether or not the council flies this or that flag.
Greetings from Crete, by the way, where we're having a delayed honeymoon - temperature today up to 38 centrigrade, Saharan wind and non-stop sun. Too much of a good thing IMHO. But mostly a pleasant 27 degrees, and zillions of nice restaurants.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The reform of APR wasn’t *just* about family farms (indeed that was very clearly not the main target) but it’s been derided as the family farm tax.
The TCA didn’t *just* put a border in the Irish Sea
The Home Office hostile environment didn’t just target the Windrush generation
Etc
That’s how politics works. And one of the most telling parts of Farage’s MAGA-inspired local government policy is banning a symbol of solidarity with an ally in the throes of an invasion by a sworn enemy of the UK.
Not taking your pass off for an attempt at a serious photograph is poor.
Which why the image became famous as balustrade lanyard, and not balustrade flag
I'm so sad I missed this when it happened.
We have the occasional upset about the Scottish Parliament flying the "EU" flag. That flag is actually that of the Council of Europe, which we are very much still a member of. Labour should legislate to have it flown over all public buildings.
Last week, my organisation Fairer Finance published a report showing that by 2040, more than half of retirees will need to use their property to maintain their standard of living in later life.
I’d like to see public information campaigns that start to talk about housing as a key store of wealth that we should be using to help fund retirement. The Government should also look for other ways to incentivise downsizing, such as reducing or even scrapping stamp duty for “last-time” buyers.
The better way to do it is to charge capital gains tax on principal properties but to allow the tax base to be rolled over to a new principal property (ie you pay capital gains on the gains you tax out of the market without impacting your ability to buy an equivalent house).
Then use the proceeds to reduce stamp duty - both at the higher levels (which are a real limitation on transactions) and potentially to advantage downsizing.
The better way to tap housing wealth is simply for the government to buy the home at a fair market price and then allow householders to live there rent-free. I believe this sort of arrangement in the private sector is common in France and possibly elsewhere. Messing around with CGT and stamp duty depends on a greater degree of financial sophistication than most possess.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Fucking hell. This country.
'Я' = Ya
Also indicates singular first person pronoun.
R is 'Р' but it has more alveolar pronunciation than an English R.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Given per the article the only flag taken down so far has been the Ukrainian one, possibly you are misrepresenting them.
Evidence? You have one quote from Kent.
Moreover there have been complaints year in and year out about pride flags etc. so it may not have been seen in the last 3 weeks but that doesn’t mean it was the motivating factor
There is a significantly large propotion of Reform supporters who are strongly anti-Ukraine & strongly pro-Putin.
It is wrong to claim that there has been any misrepresentation.
The proof is in the responses to Q2 in this Ipsos poll: "As you may know, the UK government is providing a range of economic, humanitarian and defensive military assistance to Ukraine, and is imposing additional sanctions on Russia and Belarus. To what extent, if at all, do you support or oppose Britain’s current role in the Ukraine conflict"
Only 9% of Labour voters & 5% of LibDem voters either Tend to Oppose or Strongly Oppose support for Ukraine.
Among Reform voters, 21% Strongly Oppose and a further 7% Tend to Oppose. That's 28% or nearly one-third of Reform voters who oppose support for Ukraine.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Fucking hell. This country.
'Я' = Ya
Also indicates singular first person pronoun.
R is 'Р' but it has more alveolar pronunciation than an English R.
ПБ педантичность
I can see that hand painted on the turret of a T34/85 as it assaults the fascist lair of loose grammar and incorrect usage.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Fucking hell. This country.
'Я' = Ya
Also indicates singular first person pronoun.
R is 'Р' but it has more alveolar pronunciation than an English R.
English alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Russian alphabet А Б C Д Э Ф Г Ҳ И Ж К Л М Н О П Қ Р С Т У В W Х Й З
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Personally I think the flag contrversy plays into Reform's hands. The average "Give them a try" voter wants changes that will benefit them, and the lack of those will in time be a much more damaging criticism than whether or not the council flies this or that flag.
Greetings from Crete, by the way, where we're having a delayed honeymoon - temperature today up to 38 centrigrade, Saharan wind and non-stop sun. Too much of a good thing IMHO. But mostly a pleasant 27 degrees, and zillions of nice restaurants.
Ukraine is one of the cultural/social points that distinguishes Reform '24 voters from Conservative '24 voters. I agree that Labour should not make a big deal of it, but the Conservatives should be punching that message home all the time if they want to stop leaking support to them.
A legal case for indirect discrimination against Kent County Council for failure to provide subtitles for hearing impaired people on their streamed and recorded Council meetings:
It has good commentary, and has a neat summary of indirect discrimination:
"Legal experts now argue this is a textbook case of indirect discrimination under Section 19 of the Act: a seemingly neutral practice—streaming without subtitles—that puts disabled people at a clear disadvantage, without objective justification."
That's a good example of why the Equality Act 2010 is massively important, (never mind definitions of woman ). No subtitles excludes (RNID estimate) 90k people from the democratic process. The case sounds to me like a slam dunk, and I expect the Council to wibble or obfuscate furiously then back down.
This is I think a continuing case, not related to Reform UK now leading Kent Council.
Can they not just use a really simple sound to text service? Zoom provides a transcript on meetings. Surely doesn’t need to be expensive.
Chrome browser can provide simultaneous subtitles. I expect other browsers can do the same. The key is to realise they call them "live captions".
Settings (three dots menu) > settings > accessibility (on left) > live caption
There is even a live translate feature for the adventurous.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Given per the article the only flag taken down so far has been the Ukrainian one, possibly you are misrepresenting them.
Evidence? You have one quote from Kent.
Moreover there have been complaints year in and year out about pride flags etc. so it may not have been seen in the last 3 weeks but that doesn’t mean it was the motivating factor
There is a significantly large propotion of Reform supporters who are strongly anti-Ukraine & strongly pro-Putin.
It is wrong to claim that there has been any misrepresentation.
The proof is in the responses to Q2 in this Ipsos poll: "As you may know, the UK government is providing a range of economic, humanitarian and defensive military assistance to Ukraine, and is imposing additional sanctions on Russia and Belarus. To what extent, if at all, do you support or oppose Britain’s current role in the Ukraine conflict"
Only 9% of Labour voters & 5% of LibDem voters either Tend to Oppose or Strongly Oppose support for Ukraine.
Among Reform voters, 21% Strongly Oppose and a further 7% Tend to Oppose. That's 28% or nearly one-third of Reform voters who oppose support for Ukraine.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Similar in Trumpistan.
The US Government banned all flags apart from the Stars and Stripes, State and City flags.
So the Mayor of Salt Lake City* made the Pride flag the City flag (by adding a beehive, the state symbol) and the council unanimously confirmed it.
*slightly surprised for it to be SLC, but America has lots of blue spots even in the reddest states.
Seems a bit silly to go to that much effort, but whatever.
I believe in deomocracry. If the elected officials want to ban the flags then so be it. Vote them out next time. I think we probably have gone a bit mad on days and weeks and flags. Every day seems to the international day of something. Now I guess a lot of that is marketing wheezes, but it’s got out of hand. And as for flags - if you work at a council that bans flags on council sites and wants to show that you support Pride/Swindon Town FC/Israel/Hamas or whatever, you can do it at home.
World Sex Day on 9th June, not sure if they have a flag. Perhaps just a proud flag pole.
What is World Sex Day, please? Google suggests World Sexual Health day in September.
Last week, my organisation Fairer Finance published a report showing that by 2040, more than half of retirees will need to use their property to maintain their standard of living in later life.
I’d like to see public information campaigns that start to talk about housing as a key store of wealth that we should be using to help fund retirement. The Government should also look for other ways to incentivise downsizing, such as reducing or even scrapping stamp duty for “last-time” buyers.
The better way to do it is to charge capital gains tax on principal properties but to allow the tax base to be rolled over to a new principal property (ie you pay capital gains on the gains you tax out of the market without impacting your ability to buy an equivalent house).
Then use the proceeds to reduce stamp duty - both at the higher levels (which are a real limitation on transactions) and potentially to advantage downsizing.
The better way to tap housing wealth is simply for the government to buy the home at a fair market price and then allow householders to live there rent-free. I believe this sort of arrangement in the private sector is common in France and possibly elsewhere. Messing around with CGT and stamp duty depends on a greater degree of financial sophistication than most possess.
That's a large upfront capital outlay followed presumably by maintenance costs to protect their investment. What's in it for the taxpayers?
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Fucking hell. This country.
'Я' = Ya
Also indicates singular first person pronoun.
R is 'Р' but it has more alveolar pronunciation than an English R.
English alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Russian alphabet А Б C Д Э Ф Г Ҳ И Ж К Л М Н О П Қ Р С Т У В W Х Й З
OK, so why do they put a Z on their tanks and not a 3?
Last week, my organisation Fairer Finance published a report showing that by 2040, more than half of retirees will need to use their property to maintain their standard of living in later life.
I’d like to see public information campaigns that start to talk about housing as a key store of wealth that we should be using to help fund retirement. The Government should also look for other ways to incentivise downsizing, such as reducing or even scrapping stamp duty for “last-time” buyers.
The better way to do it is to charge capital gains tax on principal properties but to allow the tax base to be rolled over to a new principal property (ie you pay capital gains on the gains you tax out of the market without impacting your ability to buy an equivalent house).
Then use the proceeds to reduce stamp duty - both at the higher levels (which are a real limitation on transactions) and potentially to advantage downsizing.
The better way to tap housing wealth is simply for the government to buy the home at a fair market price and then allow householders to live there rent-free. I believe this sort of arrangement in the private sector is common in France and possibly elsewhere. Messing around with CGT and stamp duty depends on a greater degree of financial sophistication than most possess.
That's a large upfront capital outlay followed presumably by maintenance costs to protect their investment. What's in it for the taxpayers?
Less paid in benefits and other social and medical care.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Fucking hell. This country.
'Я' = Ya
Also indicates singular first person pronoun.
R is 'Р' but it has more alveolar pronunciation than an English R.
English alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Russian alphabet А Б C Д Э Ф Г Ҳ И Ж К Л М Н О П Қ Р С Т У В W Х Й З
Is this fucking AI rubbish? It's in the wrong order, missing loads of letters and 'Қ' is only used in non-Slavic languages.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Similar in Trumpistan.
The US Government banned all flags apart from the Stars and Stripes, State and City flags.
So the Mayor of Salt Lake City* made the Pride flag the City flag (by adding a beehive, the state symbol) and the council unanimously confirmed it.
*slightly surprised for it to be SLC, but America has lots of blue spots even in the reddest states.
Seems a bit silly to go to that much effort, but whatever.
I believe in deomocracry. If the elected officials want to ban the flags then so be it. Vote them out next time. I think we probably have gone a bit mad on days and weeks and flags. Every day seems to the international day of something. Now I guess a lot of that is marketing wheezes, but it’s got out of hand. And as for flags - if you work at a council that bans flags on council sites and wants to show that you support Pride/Swindon Town FC/Israel/Hamas or whatever, you can do it at home.
World Sex Day on 9th June, not sure if they have a flag. Perhaps just a proud flag pole.
What is World Sex Day, please? Google suggests World Sexual Health day in September.
I don't think we need to know what it is - all we have to do is lie back and think of England. Or the English flag, at any rate.
From personal experience, it's incredibly hard to suggest to an elderly relative they can no longer manage in the home in which they've lived for years and it would be better for them to be somewhere smaller and easier.
You can see it, the impartial observer can see it but the sentimental and emotional capital invested in the property outweighs all of that.
My parents ended up rattling round in a four bedroom house with a garden they couldn't manage but all their memories were there, it was our family home.
We don't build enough of the kind of properties and communities which would suit older people and it's not just bungalows. It's retirement villages with small self-contained cottages and the accompanying facilities. New Zealand does this so much better.
Even then, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water....
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Fucking hell. This country.
'Я' = Ya
Also indicates singular first person pronoun.
R is 'Р' but it has more alveolar pronunciation than an English R.
English alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Russian alphabet А Б C Д Э Ф Г Ҳ И Ж К Л М Н О П Қ Р С Т У В W Х Й З
OK, so why do they put a Z on their tanks and not a 3?
By the way, IF the 50% US tariff on EU imports sticks around for a while, and especially if the bloc retaliates, we are probably looking at our first actual material Brexit benefit.
One of the arguments for Brexit was the Singapore on Thames idea - poorly understood or articulated, but at its heart the vision of the UK as an entrepôt with low or zero barriers to trade, independence from the big trading blocs, openness to the US, China and EU but geo-economic neutrality.
It was one of the few potentially interesting benefits of leaving the EU but I always felt it at odds with the other arguments - closed borders, protectionism and autarky. It would also have required us to diverge much further and the economic hit from decoupling from the EU would be much greater than the upside. But Trump’s capricious tariff policies are accidentally giving us a bit of the benefit by accident.
If we really wanted to piss off the EU, Japan and Canada and gain a few multinationals we could now unilaterally abandon pillar 2, but I doubt that’s on the table.
From personal experience, it's incredibly hard to suggest to an elderly relative they can no longer manage in the home in which they've lived for years and it would be better for them to be somewhere smaller and easier.
You can see it, the impartial observer can see it but the sentimental and emotional capital invested in the property outweighs all of that.
My parents ended up rattling round in a four bedroom house with a garden they couldn't manage but all their memories were there, it was our family home.
We don't build enough of the kind of properties and communities which would suit older people and it's not just bungalows. It's retirement villages with small self-contained cottages and the accompanying facilities. New Zealand does this so much better.
Even then, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water....
My parents are the opposite. Morbidly premature in their planning for frailty. In their 60s they moved out of the rambling Victorian house into an admittedly very smart 4 bed dormer bungalow in a hamlet, on the basis this would allow for when they can no longer walk upstairs. Now in their late 70s and still very fit and healthy they’re talking about moving into a smaller place in a village centre so they’re not reliant on a car during their twilight years.
They are probably unusual though. Their motto has always been expect the worst and you’ll never be disappointed.
By the way, IF the 50% US tariff on EU imports sticks around for a while, and especially if the bloc retaliates, we are probably looking at our first actual material Brexit benefit.
One of the arguments for Brexit was the Singapore on Thames idea - poorly understood or articulated, but at its heart the vision of the UK as an entrepôt with low or zero barriers to trade, independence from the big trading blocs, openness to the US, China and EU but geo-economic neutrality.
It was one of the few potentially interesting benefits of leaving the EU but I always felt it at odds with the other arguments - closed borders, protectionism and autarky. It would also have required us to diverge much further and the economic hit from decoupling from the EU would be much greater than the upside. But Trump’s capricious tariff policies are accidentally giving us a bit of the benefit by accident.
If we really wanted to piss off the EU, Japan and Canada and gain a few multinationals we could now unilaterally abandon pillar 2, but I doubt that’s on the table.
Isn't the key point your first sentence?
Every time that Trump has announced mega MAGA tariffs like this, he has gone on not to implement them.
From personal experience, it's incredibly hard to suggest to an elderly relative they can no longer manage in the home in which they've lived for years and it would be better for them to be somewhere smaller and easier.
You can see it, the impartial observer can see it but the sentimental and emotional capital invested in the property outweighs all of that.
My parents ended up rattling round in a four bedroom house with a garden they couldn't manage but all their memories were there, it was our family home.
We don't build enough of the kind of properties and communities which would suit older people and it's not just bungalows. It's retirement villages with small self-contained cottages and the accompanying facilities. New Zealand does this so much better.
Even then, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water....
Very much this. Retirement homes and complexes are dreadful in the UK. Nobody wants to downsize to a soulless box where visiting relatives have to sit on each other's laps or worse in some communal area that is 'kept' by extortionate service charges. There's a sense of being left to fade in a cell. But then we don't do affordable housing for the youth or single people/childless couples either. It's all rather naff. Emotion of course does play a part. Dad is still in the house he bought in the early 70s. It's quite small but we grew up there, he can manage it since Mum died (just). It's the only place I'll ever think of as home (i never married and have made some questionable housing choices/forced choices). He'd never sell it, Mum's ghost would kick his bum from here to the sea.
On topic that poll screams REF 30 CON 20 LAB 20 LD 15 GREEN 8 to me and a Reform government with the rest grubbing together 250 seats between them on stupid shares of the vote and a sudden zeal for PR amongst the lot of them
Edit - of course I'm not predicting that is how it will wash out by 2029
By the way, IF the 50% US tariff on EU imports sticks around for a while, and especially if the bloc retaliates, we are probably looking at our first actual material Brexit benefit.
One of the arguments for Brexit was the Singapore on Thames idea - poorly understood or articulated, but at its heart the vision of the UK as an entrepôt with low or zero barriers to trade, independence from the big trading blocs, openness to the US, China and EU but geo-economic neutrality.
It was one of the few potentially interesting benefits of leaving the EU but I always felt it at odds with the other arguments - closed borders, protectionism and autarky. It would also have required us to diverge much further and the economic hit from decoupling from the EU would be much greater than the upside. But Trump’s capricious tariff policies are accidentally giving us a bit of the benefit by accident.
If we really wanted to piss off the EU, Japan and Canada and gain a few multinationals we could now unilaterally abandon pillar 2, but I doubt that’s on the table.
Isn't the key point your first sentence?
Every time that Trump has announced mega MAGA tariffs like this, he has gone on not to implement them.
Yes it is, but there’s a non-zero chance some of this sticks. The Chinese rate has settled higher than before.
On topic that poll screams REF 30 CON 20 LAB 20 LD 15 GREEN 8 to me and a Reform government with the rest grubbing together 250 seats between them on stupid shares of the vote and a sudden zeal for PR amongst the lot of them
Edit - of course I'm not predicting that is how it will wash out by 2029
If Reform do win the next GE, I very much hope it is not done on 30% of the vote. The fact Labour won a landslide majority on a historically small share of the vote is one (though not all) of the reasons the government is struggling for a hearing, IMHO.
If, under our current system, Reform win a majority then so be it; they deserve a chance to govern. But I hope for the sake of some semblance of national unity that they either fall short in that instance and have to make a deal with, say, the rump Tories, or they are able to push their polling into the high 30s, because otherwise I fear the political fallout will be… messy.
From personal experience, it's incredibly hard to suggest to an elderly relative they can no longer manage in the home in which they've lived for years and it would be better for them to be somewhere smaller and easier.
You can see it, the impartial observer can see it but the sentimental and emotional capital invested in the property outweighs all of that.
My parents ended up rattling round in a four bedroom house with a garden they couldn't manage but all their memories were there, it was our family home.
We don't build enough of the kind of properties and communities which would suit older people and it's not just bungalows. It's retirement villages with small self-contained cottages and the accompanying facilities. New Zealand does this so much better.
Even then, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water....
Very much this. Retirement homes and complexes are dreadful in the UK. Nobody wants to downsize to a soulless box where visiting relatives have to sit on each other's laps or worse in some communal area that is 'kept' by extortionate service charges. There's a sense of being left to fade in a cell. But then we don't do affordable housing for the youth or single people/childless couples either. It's all rather naff. Emotion of course does play a part. Dad is still in the house he bought in the early 70s. It's quite small but we grew up there, he can manage it since Mum died (just). It's the only place I'll ever think of as home (i never married and have made some questionable housing choices/forced choices). He'd never sell it, Mum's ghost would kick his bum from here to the sea.
Another point to consider about these Retirement Home complexes is that they are very difficult to re-sell, and the prices are very low. They are one of the few types of housing stock in Britain that are definitely not "investments". My mother lives in an ex McCarthy & Stone development, very happily, but several of the flats have been on sale for months. If and when we have to sell hers, we are unlikely to get back what she paid for it in 2003.
On topic that poll screams REF 30 CON 20 LAB 20 LD 15 GREEN 8 to me and a Reform government with the rest grubbing together 250 seats between them on stupid shares of the vote and a sudden zeal for PR amongst the lot of them
Edit - of course I'm not predicting that is how it will wash out by 2029
If Reform do win the next GE, I very much hope it is not done on 30% of the vote. The fact Labour won a landslide majority on a historically small share of the vote is one (though not all) of the reasons the government is struggling for a hearing, IMHO.
If, under our current system, Reform win a majority then so be it; they deserve a chance to govern. But I hope for the sake of some semblance of national unity that they either fall short in that instance and have to make a deal with, say, the rump Tories, or they are able to push their polling into the high 30s, because otherwise I fear the political fallout will be… messy.
I wonder if some sort of cannibalisation won't happen between Reform and the Tories. If things get ultra bleak I can see the Tories folding and allowing themselves to be eaten in return for something pathetic like the word 'Conservative' being in the new party name (which will be shortened to exclude it in parlance lol) - big boost if so for the LDs as the Tory wets peel off in horror crying and we end up with a situation similar to the pre election 2010 landscape but with a boosted Green vote and a more moribund Labour one
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
They are taking down Ukrainian flags as part of a wider restriction on flags. Given the (understandable) preponderance of Ukrainian flags among those going, you either have to presume the people who came up with this policy were very stupid or they were aware that a lot of Ukrainian flag-flying would cease. I don’t think you can pass this off as some minor, accidental side-effect.
The high percentage of Green and Reform voters saying their parties will make a difference in power is in part a reflection of the fact that unlike Labour, the LDs and Conservatives they haven't been in power since 2010.
If we had PR then Green voters would certainly stick with them but with FPTP if the Greens were not in the top two in their seat last time some will in the end vote Labour to keep out Reform or the LDs to keep out the Tories
From personal experience, it's incredibly hard to suggest to an elderly relative they can no longer manage in the home in which they've lived for years and it would be better for them to be somewhere smaller and easier.
You can see it, the impartial observer can see it but the sentimental and emotional capital invested in the property outweighs all of that.
My parents ended up rattling round in a four bedroom house with a garden they couldn't manage but all their memories were there, it was our family home.
We don't build enough of the kind of properties and communities which would suit older people and it's not just bungalows. It's retirement villages with small self-contained cottages and the accompanying facilities. New Zealand does this so much better.
Even then, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water....
Very much this. Retirement homes and complexes are dreadful in the UK. Nobody wants to downsize to a soulless box where visiting relatives have to sit on each other's laps or worse in some communal area that is 'kept' by extortionate service charges. There's a sense of being left to fade in a cell. But then we don't do affordable housing for the youth or single people/childless couples either. It's all rather naff. Emotion of course does play a part. Dad is still in the house he bought in the early 70s. It's quite small but we grew up there, he can manage it since Mum died (just). It's the only place I'll ever think of as home (i never married and have made some questionable housing choices/forced choices). He'd never sell it, Mum's ghost would kick his bum from here to the sea.
Another point to consider about these Retirement Home complexes is that they are very difficult to re-sell, and the prices are very low. They are one of the few types of housing stock in Britain that are definitely not "investments". My mother lives in an ex McCarthy & Stone development, very happily, but several of the flats have been on sale for months. If and when we have to sell hers, we are unlikely to get back what she paid for it in 2003.
Yes very true. Ironically its the one aspect of them that sort of 'gets it' - not treating property as an ISA but as a home (that latter bit is where it then goes wrong for me). Get that thinking into starter homes and affordable housing too
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
Palestine and Israel flags sometimes get flown (depending on the Council).
Genuine question, because I really don't know the answer, but has any Council ever flown the Israeli flag (in the absence of a visit from the Israeli Ambassador or similar)? Councils flying the Palestinain flag, probably, but the Israeli flag? I doubt it.
I would appreciate if Moonrabbit would answer my question as to whether the Chagos Deal makes the Falklands more or less secure.
Regarding the header, this is simply a measure of awareness. There is no such thing as being aware of this deal and liking it. It's not like welfare where some are in receipt and some are paying, or a tax increase, assisted dying, or the NHS - there are no winners and losers or ideological fault lines. There are just losers.
Those who are in favour are just being reflexively pro-Labour (it's about equal with their poll rating) and are either ignorant about the deal or are acting from partisan loyalty.
My mind is still open on your question. persuade me. 🙂
I would answer, argument it’s less secure is based on precedent has been set by this case. But has a precedent been set, if each situation is unique? Put more specifically, when inhabitants have chosen, have there been instances UN and courts ruled against the choice of inhabitants? That would set a precedent making UK sovereignty of Falklands more insecure, our enemies like Moscow, would line up to game the UN workings, throwing their weight behind a claimant.
I’m not in favour of this Governments Chagos deal. My header was sharing my understanding they chose this option wanting to be seen as a fair and responsible power, rather than simply claiming land outright without international support, on basis this approach brings more leverage to our diplomacy, more influence, friends, more security deals and trade. Which actually is not new - it’s identical reasoning in 1898 British Empire chose to sign a lease on something else. They thought they would get more of the good stuff doing it that way.
I know you disagree. the other day you fully signed up to 1 million years BC diplomacy, Raquel Welch in Faun skins and a club in her hand. Perhaps one day we should have a simple header IS IT BETTER TO BE FEARED OR LOVED? and debate it out underneath. I’m certain it’s not as open and shut as you sure it is.
My personal preference is neither sovereignty or the deal. With either sovereignty or lease, UK gets absolutely nothing in defence and security that isn’t also pooled with others. Let US and India deal and pay this time.. But is that realistic? Was it ever an option?
Two things you unrealistically dismiss Lucky. Keeping sovereignty WILL come with brickbats and loss of influence. When it went into court, no one in the world turned up for us, apart from USA and some little places slipped a backhander to vote with us. No NATO allies, no Canada, no Australia. No one in the Indian Ocean or South China Sea, as India had used our Imperial Squat to whip them all up against doing any business with us.
Secondly, when UK got into base talks back in 1960s, it came hand in hand with interlocking UK defence and security with the US catalogue of expensive kit. Are we in any position to decouple? Seriously?
I don’t mind Reform making same glib mistakes as you, but fear Conservative front bench making the same and being unrealistic about what options actually were. in government or opposition, Lab & Con have been as one in agreement being interlocked with US equipment and security since 1960s. Today in opposition Tories attacking the deal as far too favourable to the US. What exactly is Kemi saying, what exactly is her policy, on interlocked with US on security and key bits of equipment?
What if... Inheritance tax either moves slowly to 100% or keeping the current tax limit.
Those in larger homes who want to stay could use equity release or sell and spend/distribute the capital.
Or go binge spending to improve the economy. Or even use the cash to put into equity trackers.
We do not necessarily need to build more if homes are being underutilised. You can use the tax system to indicate 'good' behaviour and invite people to make their plans to suit under the use it or lose it principle.
WRT the article, the LD voters are the realists; they support a party which is on the whole rational and thoughtful and they believe they would be better than Labour or Tory, but don't believe in magical solutions. Sounds about right.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
They are taking down Ukrainian flags as part of a wider restriction on flags. Given the (understandable) preponderance of Ukrainian flags among those going, you either have to presume the people who came up with this policy were very stupid or they were aware that a lot of Ukrainian flag-flying would cease. I don’t think you can pass this off as some minor, accidental side-effect.
"Preponderance"? Do you have any statistics to back that up? If anything I would expect LGBTQ++ flags to be most affected. Most Ukrainian flags being flown are not on council buildings.
Re the cricket, have they changed the rules regarding umpire's call? Watching the 6 min BBC highlights, they didn't show it on the screen when there was an LBW.
On the subject of Reform policies and their close correlation with Trump policies, do we know what Nigel’s view is on tariffs?
Might a Reform government seek to bring back British manufacturing by whacking 50% duties on imports from the EU?
Given his background as a commodity trader I assume not, but there’s precious little about this in the public domain.
I suspect Farage will do what he thinks boost his chances of getting elected. So unless 50% duties on EU imports is a vote winner probably not.
But liberals seem to be having great difficulty understanding the current zeitgeist. Trump's influence in the UK is over-estimated and the direction of travel is really voter lead not politician lead.
What if... Inheritance tax either moves slowly to 100% or keeping the current tax limit.
Those in larger homes who want to stay could use equity release or sell and spend/distribute the capital.
Or go binge spending to improve the economy. Or even use the cash to put into equity trackers.
We do not necessarily need to build more if homes are being underutilised. You can use the tax system to indicate 'good' behaviour and invite people to make their plans to suit under the use it or lose it principle.
It matters little what you do with IHT as long as it is avoidable by those with most to avoid. Which it is.
The only sane solutions are abolition or an unavoidable but low rate (5-10%).
However, Lincoln's Inn barristers and solicitors, and big time tax planners all have a living to make and starving mouths to feed in the Vale of Taunton and elsewhere. So no change is most likely.
From personal experience, it's incredibly hard to suggest to an elderly relative they can no longer manage in the home in which they've lived for years and it would be better for them to be somewhere smaller and easier.
You can see it, the impartial observer can see it but the sentimental and emotional capital invested in the property outweighs all of that.
My parents ended up rattling round in a four bedroom house with a garden they couldn't manage but all their memories were there, it was our family home.
We don't build enough of the kind of properties and communities which would suit older people and it's not just bungalows. It's retirement villages with small self-contained cottages and the accompanying facilities. New Zealand does this so much better.
Even then, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water....
Very much this. Retirement homes and complexes are dreadful in the UK. Nobody wants to downsize to a soulless box where visiting relatives have to sit on each other's laps or worse in some communal area that is 'kept' by extortionate service charges. There's a sense of being left to fade in a cell. But then we don't do affordable housing for the youth or single people/childless couples either. It's all rather naff. Emotion of course does play a part. Dad is still in the house he bought in the early 70s. It's quite small but we grew up there, he can manage it since Mum died (just). It's the only place I'll ever think of as home (i never married and have made some questionable housing choices/forced choices). He'd never sell it, Mum's ghost would kick his bum from here to the sea.
Another point to consider about these Retirement Home complexes is that they are very difficult to re-sell, and the prices are very low. They are one of the few types of housing stock in Britain that are definitely not "investments". My mother lives in an ex McCarthy & Stone development, very happily, but several of the flats have been on sale for months. If and when we have to sell hers, we are unlikely to get back what she paid for it in 2003.
Mrs C and I 'downsized' on retirement from a 4 bedded house to to a two bedded bungalow. Within five years we had a son and daughter-in-law plus child needing holiday accommodation and within ten that family had grown further. However we've (almost) never regretted making the move; apart from the house itself we now live close to the centre of a very small town with shops, cafes pubs, GP's etc close to hand, whereas before we were on an estate with a long trek to anywhere 'social'.
What if... Inheritance tax either moves slowly to 100% or keeping the current tax limit.
Those in larger homes who want to stay could use equity release or sell and spend/distribute the capital.
Or go binge spending to improve the economy. Or even use the cash to put into equity trackers.
We do not necessarily need to build more if homes are being underutilised. You can use the tax system to indicate 'good' behaviour and invite people to make their plans to suit under the use it or lose it principle.
Every home would very quickly be owned by a family trust if 100% IHT were on the horizon. And 100% on what? Everything? None of Mum's jewellery for you, love, that belongs to the State. Get those mourners out of here, the house clearance guys are coming ........
By the way, IF the 50% US tariff on EU imports sticks around for a while, and especially if the bloc retaliates, we are probably looking at our first actual material Brexit benefit.
One of the arguments for Brexit was the Singapore on Thames idea - poorly understood or articulated, but at its heart the vision of the UK as an entrepôt with low or zero barriers to trade, independence from the big trading blocs, openness to the US, China and EU but geo-economic neutrality.
It was one of the few potentially interesting benefits of leaving the EU but I always felt it at odds with the other arguments - closed borders, protectionism and autarky. It would also have required us to diverge much further and the economic hit from decoupling from the EU would be much greater than the upside. But Trump’s capricious tariff policies are accidentally giving us a bit of the benefit by accident.
If we really wanted to piss off the EU, Japan and Canada and gain a few multinationals we could now unilaterally abandon pillar 2, but I doubt that’s on the table.
We are currently worse off because of Brexit just on the narrow consideration of goods exports, leaving aside other detriments and possible benefits. We have given up protection of the 50% of our goods exports that go to the EU, and now seeing US trade worth a further 16% also squeezed by Trump's tariffs, which best case have increased by 10%.
The question is whether the UK can hold onto more of the US 16% combined with the loss of EU trade, which likely will be exacerbated if we align too closely with the US - compared with being lumped into the same tariffs as the EU.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
But Reform have only had three weeks. Did the LibDems in Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire or Shropshire achieve anything in their first three weeks? Has ANY local authority ever truly done anything in its first three weeks?
Quite. It's desparate stuff.
Nonsense.
It's either desperate, or disparate.
More sense than I usually make on a Saturday morning.
Last week, my organisation Fairer Finance published a report showing that by 2040, more than half of retirees will need to use their property to maintain their standard of living in later life.
I’d like to see public information campaigns that start to talk about housing as a key store of wealth that we should be using to help fund retirement. The Government should also look for other ways to incentivise downsizing, such as reducing or even scrapping stamp duty for “last-time” buyers.
Problem is that they don't want to downsize as "they will have nothing left to pass on to next generation". The only time a house is used for retirement is when Care home fees have to be paid. Care homes will force a sale if the debt gets too large. And Dilnot was suggesting the government (ie OPM) is used for anything over £86K.
There really does need to be a hard-nosed look at all those people who wish to pass on current cost/spending to future generations. The young can only pay (or suffer) so much.
See also the Farmer Farago, where inheritance tax is pretty easily avoided by passing the farm on to the next generation well before death.
None of us enjoys the prospect of impending decrepitude, dependence and broad impotence. The current senior generation seems to be taking it particularly badly, whether that's Biden refusing to shuffle off the stage in good time, or boomers holding on to their money as hard as they can.
They don't want the government taking their house or their farm.
Hence May's dementia tax and Starmer's family farm and business tax were so unpopular
On the subject of Reform policies and their close correlation with Trump policies, do we know what Nigel’s view is on tariffs?
Might a Reform government seek to bring back British manufacturing by whacking 50% duties on imports from the EU?
Given his background as a commodity trader I assume not, but there’s precious little about this in the public domain.
If he rips a part Starmer's deal and leaves the ECHR I would have assumed some sort of trade war with the EU would be inevitable. In all honesty, there's an argument to be made that if you are a Rejoiner a disastrous one-term Farage government might do more for your cause than anything else. If a Reform government is 'doing Brexit properly' then a lot of people will conclude we really are better off in. I half suspect this is why Nick Tyrone wrote that piece in the Spectator backing Farage the other week (i.e. there's no way in hell he seriously thinks Farage would be anything other than a horrible PM).
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
They are taking down Ukrainian flags as part of a wider restriction on flags. Given the (understandable) preponderance of Ukrainian flags among those going, you either have to presume the people who came up with this policy were very stupid or they were aware that a lot of Ukrainian flag-flying would cease. I don’t think you can pass this off as some minor, accidental side-effect.
"Preponderance"? Do you have any statistics to back that up? If anything I would expect LGBTQ++ flags to be most affected. Most Ukrainian flags being flown are not on council buildings.
Why is your icon a Ukrainian flag-inspired picture when you are so hostile to other people showing support for Ukraine?
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
All flags. Not national flags. Its clearly aimed at the various pride flags.
The Kent council leader was explicit about this being the Ukraine flag
The new leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has sparked a backlash over plans to remove the Ukraine flag from the chamber.
Linden Kemkaran made the pledge after she was voted into her new post last Thursday evening, saying the gesture is a “distraction”.
I have no doubt that Reform is both hostile to Ukraine and sympathetic to Putin. They take their lead from Trump.
Polls found most Reform voters would have voted for Trump last year of course. Most Labour, LD, Green and even most Conservative voters would have voted for Harris
WRT the article, the LD voters are the realists; they support a party which is on the whole rational and thoughtful and they believe they would be better than Labour or Tory, but don't believe in magical solutions. Sounds about right.
Their view of their party in govt etc is almost identical to that of the Tories and Labour of theirs. I'm not sure how you can read anything from that. If anything it shows Reform and Green are fanciful dreamers destined for a crushing let down
WRT the article, the LD voters are the realists; they support a party which is on the whole rational and thoughtful and they believe they would be better than Labour or Tory, but don't believe in magical solutions. Sounds about right.
Figures for Labour and Conservative are pretty similar, probably for similar reasons.
It's those who haven't had their specific type of magic tried who are fervently convinced that it will be a big upside with no downside. Well, no downside for anyone important, anyway.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
All flags. Not national flags. Its clearly aimed at the various pride flags.
The Kent council leader was explicit about this being the Ukraine flag
The new leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has sparked a backlash over plans to remove the Ukraine flag from the chamber.
Linden Kemkaran made the pledge after she was voted into her new post last Thursday evening, saying the gesture is a “distraction”.
I have no doubt that Reform is both hostile to Ukraine and sympathetic to Putin. They take their lead from Trump.
Polls found most Reform voters would have voted for Trump last year of course. Most Labour, LD, Green and even most Conservative voters would have voted for Harris
And events have rapidly shown us which group were right.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Sure it that’s not what was said in the original post. also I can see the logic of a “no exceptions” policy - if this then why not the other
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Similar in Trumpistan.
The US Government banned all flags apart from the Stars and Stripes, State and City flags.
So the Mayor of Salt Lake City* made the Pride flag the City flag (by adding a beehive, the state symbol) and the council unanimously confirmed it.
*slightly surprised for it to be SLC, but America has lots of blue spots even in the reddest states.
Seems a bit silly to go to that much effort, but whatever.
I believe in deomocracry. If the elected officials want to ban the flags then so be it. Vote them out next time. I think we probably have gone a bit mad on days and weeks and flags. Every day seems to the international day of something. Now I guess a lot of that is marketing wheezes, but it’s got out of hand. And as for flags - if you work at a council that bans flags on council sites and wants to show that you support Pride/Swindon Town FC/Israel/Hamas or whatever, you can do it at home.
World Sex Day on 9th June, not sure if they have a flag.
Perhaps just a proud flag pole.
I’m waiting to see if my colleague emails the department on June 9th. She’s done every other sodding ‘day’ this year so far.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
What exactly would be the point on a blanket ban of flying all flags of causes célèbres, swapping them for the union flag, if the rule were to be immediately disregarded for really really really really really IMPORTANT ones. There would be special pleading by every group, and they would be flying the flag for gay hedgehog week within months.
This is a sensible and patriotic policy, and Grimes' answer was a good and heartening one.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
All flags. Not national flags. Its clearly aimed at the various pride flags.
The Kent council leader was explicit about this being the Ukraine flag
The new leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has sparked a backlash over plans to remove the Ukraine flag from the chamber.
Linden Kemkaran made the pledge after she was voted into her new post last Thursday evening, saying the gesture is a “distraction”.
I have no doubt that Reform is both hostile to Ukraine and sympathetic to Putin. They take their lead from Trump.
Polls found most Reform voters would have voted for Trump last year of course. Most Labour, LD, Green and even most Conservative voters would have voted for Harris
And events have rapidly shown us which group were right.
Keir wouldn't have had his thousands of job saving mega US hyper deal if Harris had won
“A newly elected Reform UK council has abolished a flooding committee, despite other parties calling for it to be saved.
“Lincolnshire County Council's Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee was axed by the party which took control of the authority in this month's elections.
“The new administration said the change would save money and simplify the council without harming efforts to fight flooding.”
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Given per the article the only flag taken down so far has been the Ukrainian one, possibly you are misrepresenting them.
Evidence? You have one quote from Kent.
Moreover there have been complaints year in and year out about pride flags etc. so it may not have been seen in the last 3 weeks but that doesn’t mean it was the motivating factor
Evidence was the article you are complaining about.
Actually the story is a party that happily decries gesture politics in others trips up when indulging in performative flag banning themselves and they don't like it being pointed out.
The quote fron the article is:
one of Reform’s first acts was to take down the Ukrainian flag – hoisted to show solidarity with the war-besieged nation – and vowed not to fly rainbow-coloured flags in support of LGBTQ+ residents
Which demonstrates that it is not just about Ukraine but a broader campaign of nastiness. Which is exactly my point.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
All flags. Not national flags. Its clearly aimed at the various pride flags.
The Kent council leader was explicit about this being the Ukraine flag
The new leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has sparked a backlash over plans to remove the Ukraine flag from the chamber.
Linden Kemkaran made the pledge after she was voted into her new post last Thursday evening, saying the gesture is a “distraction”.
I have no doubt that Reform is both hostile to Ukraine and sympathetic to Putin. They take their lead from Trump.
Polls found most Reform voters would have voted for Trump last year of course. Most Labour, LD, Green and even most Conservative voters would have voted for Harris
Pretty solid reason not to vote for Reform.
Trump. Putin. By their friends shall you know them
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
What exactly would be the point on a blanket ban of flying all flags of causes célèbres, swapping them for the union flag, if the rule were to be immediately disregarded for really really really really really IMPORTANT ones. There would be special pleading by every group, and they would be flying the flag for gay hedgehog week within months.
This is a sensible and patriotic policy, and Grimes' answer was a good and heartening one.
Exactly. To people who care passionately about it, every single issue is the most important one.
“A newly elected Reform UK council has abolished a flooding committee, despite other parties calling for it to be saved.
“Lincolnshire County Council's Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee was axed by the party which took control of the authority in this month's elections.
“The new administration said the change would save money and simplify the council without harming efforts to fight flooding.”
By the way, IF the 50% US tariff on EU imports sticks around for a while, and especially if the bloc retaliates, we are probably looking at our first actual material Brexit benefit.
One of the arguments for Brexit was the Singapore on Thames idea - poorly understood or articulated, but at its heart the vision of the UK as an entrepôt with low or zero barriers to trade, independence from the big trading blocs, openness to the US, China and EU but geo-economic neutrality.
It was one of the few potentially interesting benefits of leaving the EU but I always felt it at odds with the other arguments - closed borders, protectionism and autarky. It would also have required us to diverge much further and the economic hit from decoupling from the EU would be much greater than the upside. But Trump’s capricious tariff policies are accidentally giving us a bit of the benefit by accident.
If we really wanted to piss off the EU, Japan and Canada and gain a few multinationals we could now unilaterally abandon pillar 2, but I doubt that’s on the table.
Isn't the key point your first sentence?
Every time that Trump has announced mega MAGA tariffs like this, he has gone on not to implement them.
If there is a free and fair Presidential election in 2028, I suspect the Democrats will win by a landslide if Trump carries on doing what he is doing. In which case, much of the tariffs will disappear anyway. If there aren't free and fair US elections in 26 and 28, then having an incredibly close relationship economically and politically with the EU might be a good idea.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Given per the article the only flag taken down so far has been the Ukrainian one, possibly you are misrepresenting them.
Evidence? You have one quote from Kent.
Moreover there have been complaints year in and year out about pride flags etc. so it may not have been seen in the last 3 weeks but that doesn’t mean it was the motivating factor
Evidence was the article you are complaining about.
Actually the story is a party that happily decries gesture politics in others trips up when indulging in performative flag banning themselves and they don't like it being pointed out.
The quote fron the article is:
one of Reform’s first acts was to take down the Ukrainian flag – hoisted to show solidarity with the war-besieged nation – and vowed not to fly rainbow-coloured flags in support of LGBTQ+ residents
Which demonstrates that it is not just about Ukraine but a broader campaign of nastiness. Which is exactly my point.
We're beating this to death but you claimed a factual statement was misrepresentation.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
All flags. Not national flags. Its clearly aimed at the various pride flags.
The Kent council leader was explicit about this being the Ukraine flag
The new leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has sparked a backlash over plans to remove the Ukraine flag from the chamber.
Linden Kemkaran made the pledge after she was voted into her new post last Thursday evening, saying the gesture is a “distraction”.
I have no doubt that Reform is both hostile to Ukraine and sympathetic to Putin. They take their lead from Trump.
Polls found most Reform voters would have voted for Trump last year of course. Most Labour, LD, Green and even most Conservative voters would have voted for Harris
Pretty solid reason not to vote for Reform.
Trump. Putin. By their friends shall you know them
It also demonstrates their competence. Farage thinks Trump is a great leader. Trump is a horrendous leader, incompetent, corrupt and venal. What does this say about Farage’s judgment?
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
All flags. Not national flags. Its clearly aimed at the various pride flags.
The Kent council leader was explicit about this being the Ukraine flag
The new leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has sparked a backlash over plans to remove the Ukraine flag from the chamber.
Linden Kemkaran made the pledge after she was voted into her new post last Thursday evening, saying the gesture is a “distraction”.
I have no doubt that Reform is both hostile to Ukraine and sympathetic to Putin. They take their lead from Trump.
Polls found most Reform voters would have voted for Trump last year of course. Most Labour, LD, Green and even most Conservative voters would have voted for Harris
Pretty solid reason not to vote for Reform.
Trump. Putin. By their friends shall you know them
If Trump takes the US out of NATO, it's pretty much certain Farage will advocate the UK withdraws too. He'll say minus the US is basically the dreaded 'European Army'.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
I fly no flag for Reform but your statement is misleading as it implies they were explicitly banning the flying of the Ukrainian flag. In fact they were banning the flying of all flags except those of England and the UK. Petty and pointless but not specifically targetted against Ukraine.
What is the main other national flag that is currently being flown? It’s Ukraine’s.
All flags. Not national flags. Its clearly aimed at the various pride flags.
The Kent council leader was explicit about this being the Ukraine flag
The new leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has sparked a backlash over plans to remove the Ukraine flag from the chamber.
Linden Kemkaran made the pledge after she was voted into her new post last Thursday evening, saying the gesture is a “distraction”.
I have no doubt that Reform is both hostile to Ukraine and sympathetic to Putin. They take their lead from Trump.
Polls found most Reform voters would have voted for Trump last year of course. Most Labour, LD, Green and even most Conservative voters would have voted for Harris
Pretty solid reason not to vote for Reform.
Trump. Putin. By their friends shall you know them
If Trump takes the US out of NATO, it's pretty much certain Farage will advocate the UK withdraws too. He'll say minus the US is basically the dreaded 'European Army'.
If anyone wants out of NATO, Zack Polanski, who is standing for the Green leadership, is advocating withdrawing from NATO.
“A newly elected Reform UK council has abolished a flooding committee, despite other parties calling for it to be saved.
“Lincolnshire County Council's Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee was axed by the party which took control of the authority in this month's elections.
“The new administration said the change would save money and simplify the council without harming efforts to fight flooding.”
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Fucking hell. This country.
'Я' = Ya
Also indicates singular first person pronoun.
R is 'Р' but it has more alveolar pronunciation than an English R.
English alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Russian alphabet А Б C Д Э Ф Г Ҳ И Ж К Л М Н О П Қ Р С Т У В W Х Й З
OK, so why do they put a Z on their tanks and not a 3?
@AugustusCarp2 , I think they were just signs to denote areas of operation and avoid friendly fire. Similar to the Allied stripes on wings during D-day or the chevrons in the Iraq War. They've since been retconned to mean things like "victory" "peace" etc.
Recall my emphasis on the difference between syntactics and semantics. They don't stand for anything other than "we are in the east and don't fire at me". But because humans crave a story, they invent meaning (semantics) such as "victory" and pretend they meant it all along.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The reform of APR wasn’t *just* about family farms (indeed that was very clearly not the main target) but it’s been derided as the family farm tax.
The TCA didn’t *just* put a border in the Irish Sea
The Home Office hostile environment didn’t just target the Windrush generation
Etc
That’s how politics works. And one of the most telling parts of Farage’s MAGA- inspired local government policy is banning a symbol of solidarity with an ally in the throes of an invasion by a sworn enemy of the UK.
I would appreciate if Moonrabbit would answer my question as to whether the Chagos Deal makes the Falklands more or less secure.
Regarding the header, this is simply a measure of awareness. There is no such thing as being aware of this deal and liking it. It's not like welfare where some are in receipt and some are paying, or a tax increase, assisted dying, or the NHS - there are no winners and losers or ideological fault lines. There are just losers.
Those who are in favour are just being reflexively pro-Labour (it's about equal with their poll rating) and are either ignorant about the deal or are acting from partisan loyalty.
My mind is still open on your question. persuade me. 🙂
I would answer, argument it’s less secure is based on precedent has been set by this case. But has a precedent been set, if each situation is unique? Put more specifically, when inhabitants have chosen, have there been instances UN and courts ruled against the choice of inhabitants? That would set a precedent making UK sovereignty of Falklands more insecure, our enemies like Moscow, would line up to game the UN workings, throwing their weight behind a claimant.
I’m not in favour of this Governments Chagos deal. My header was sharing my understanding they chose this option wanting to be seen as a fair and responsible power, rather than simply claiming land outright without international support, on basis this approach brings more leverage to our diplomacy, more influence, friends, more security deals and trade. Which actually is not new - it’s identical reasoning in 1898 British Empire chose to sign a lease on something else. They thought they would get more of the good stuff doing it that way.
I know you disagree. the other day you fully signed up to 1 million years BC diplomacy, Raquel Welch in Faun skins and a club in her hand. Perhaps one day we should have a simple header IS IT BETTER TO BE FEARED OR LOVED? and debate it out underneath. I’m certain it’s not as open and shut as you sure it is.
My personal preference is neither sovereignty or the deal. With either sovereignty or lease, UK gets absolutely nothing in defence and security that isn’t also pooled with others. Let US and India deal and pay this time.. But is that realistic? Was it ever an option?
Two things you unrealistically dismiss Lucky. Keeping sovereignty WILL come with brickbats and loss of influence. When it went into court, no one in the world turned up for us, apart from USA and some little places slipped a backhander to vote with us. No NATO allies, no Canada, no Australia. No one in the Indian Ocean or South China Sea, as India had used our Imperial Squat to whip them all up against doing any business with us.
Secondly, when UK got into base talks back in 1960s, it came hand in hand with interlocking UK defence and security with the US catalogue of expensive kit. Are we in any position to decouple? Seriously?
I don’t mind Reform making same glib mistakes as you, but fear Conservative front bench making the same and being unrealistic about what options actually were. in government or opposition, Lab & Con have been as one in agreement being interlocked with US equipment and security since 1960s. Today in opposition Tories attacking the deal as far too favourable to the US. What exactly is Kemi saying, what exactly is her policy, on interlocked with US on security and key bits of equipment?
Thanks for the time taken to answer.
It is not about being feared or loved. It is a far simpler calculation of positive and negative consequences on the part of those whose interests clash with ours. We have sent a HUGE signal up not only that we are in giveaway mode even when there is no legal compulsion or military threat, but that we will even bankroll our own disgrace. AND that we don't give a flying fuck about the wishes of the peoples' of the islands and their democratic wishes. The positives of taking on the UK have just become massively more attractive than the perceived downsides, for anyone.
I am happy for the UK be loved - I am not in favour of flouncing around taking delight in upsetting foreign Governments. But we MUST be consistent in defence of our own legitimate interests. We are not being celebrated on the streets of Calcutta with this deal - we were already loathed for the Raj; we have simply added a layer of being despised for being weak and in terminal decline.
Time and again Labour have made the foolish error of thinking that British Governments (usually Tory ones) didn't get anywhere in negotiations with overseas powers because they weren’t being 'nice' enough. It led to Blair giving away much of our EU rebate for a non-existent reform of the CAP, it has led to Starmer giving away 12 years of fishing rights for fuck all, it now leads to this.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
Given per the article the only flag taken down so far has been the Ukrainian one, possibly you are misrepresenting them.
Evidence? You have one quote from Kent.
Moreover there have been complaints year in and year out about pride flags etc. so it may not have been seen in the last 3 weeks but that doesn’t mean it was the motivating factor
There is a significantly large propotion of Reform supporters who are strongly anti-Ukraine & strongly pro-Putin.
It is wrong to claim that there has been any misrepresentation.
The proof is in the responses to Q2 in this Ipsos poll: "As you may know, the UK government is providing a range of economic, humanitarian and defensive military assistance to Ukraine, and is imposing additional sanctions on Russia and Belarus. To what extent, if at all, do you support or oppose Britain’s current role in the Ukraine conflict"
Only 9% of Labour voters & 5% of LibDem voters either Tend to Oppose or Strongly Oppose support for Ukraine.
Among Reform voters, 21% Strongly Oppose and a further 7% Tend to Oppose. That's 28% or nearly one-third of Reform voters who oppose support for Ukraine.
If we really believe in decolonisation shouldn't we be handing the Chagos Islands back to the original settlers there, the French?
I suspect they would have been happy to lease it to the US for about $1bn a year.
You have to look at the needs and wants of all involved. In order of importance and clout:
The US needs their tenure at "Footprint of Freedom" secured without any legal complications for the long term. They want somebody else to pay for this.
The UK government needs to feel liked by the US. They also want to be perceived as the benevolent face of imperialism. The good kind of expropriation and ethnic cleansing. They also still have some regard for international law and complying with it allows them to take their preferred position of impotent sanctimony when other countries violate it like China with its island and reef acquisition spree.
The Mauritius government needs money and wants its anti-colonial credentials burnished.
The Chagoswegians need and want money.
Given all of those various motivations, it's hard to see any other course than the SKS deal. Playing for time or telling everyone to fuck off isn't a viable strategy due to inexorable and irresistible pressure from the US.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
They are taking down Ukrainian flags as part of a wider restriction on flags. Given the (understandable) preponderance of Ukrainian flags among those going, you either have to presume the people who came up with this policy were very stupid or they were aware that a lot of Ukrainian flag- flying would cease. I don’t think you can pass this off as some minor, accidental side-effect.
So far Reform's agenda in local government seems to extend no further than taking down the Ukrainian flag - perhaps unsurprising given Farage's past relationship with Russia Today. The comments from the independent Durham councillor at the end of the article seem quite perceptive. I would guess a Reform government would be quite a disappointment to its supporters. Complex problems are not easily fixed by simplistic solutions.
They are not taking down the Ukrainian flag. They are taking down all flags except the union flag, cross of st. George and county flags.
I’m not a Reform supporter and will never vote for Farage. But this sort of misrepresentation just pisses me when off. This board relies on accurate information / assessment for people to for their betting judgements.
It’s not misrepresentation, it’s precisely what they are doing.
Though the other attitude these defences of Reform show is hardly wholesome: “it’s ok they aren’t targeting Ukraine, just the gays”.
Just how credulous can you be? The ultimate flag-shaggers suddenly have a strop about people flying some flags.
It can only be interpreted as opposition to those movements that are currently represented by flags. The Ukrainian flag is a common symbol of support for Ukraine (my local church flies it); not making an exception for it is all the evidence you need.
My point is it is not *just* about Ukraine and to represent it as such is misleading
The flag policy as a whole? Perhaps.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Fucking hell. This country.
'Я' = Ya
Also indicates singular first person pronoun.
R is 'Р' but it has more alveolar pronunciation than an English R.
English alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Russian alphabet А Б C Д Э Ф Г Ҳ И Ж К Л М Н О П Қ Р С Т У В W Х Й З
Is this fucking AI rubbish? It's in the wrong order, missing loads of letters and 'Қ' is only used in non-Slavic languages.
Comments
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgrrqw1xzdo
A council under new control by Reform UK has taken down an LGBTQ+ Pride flag at its headquarters.
Moreover there have been complaints year in and year out about pride flags etc. so it may not have been seen in the last 3 weeks but that doesn’t mean it was the motivating factor
“It takes time to move those production facilities. What's realistic for Apple?” - Fox News
“I don't know.” - Bessent
https://x.com/SpencerHakimian/status/1925917287921377755
Perhaps just a proud flag pole.
For example Starmer’s traitorous sellout of our proud fisherfolk to the voracious Euro trawlermen. Clearly the UK government’s motive for an SPS agreement isn’t purely anti-fisherman. Or Osborne’s evil tax on pasties (it wasnt just aimed at pasties).
The "fourth flag" is more at the discretion of the local authority. In Newham, for example, they celebrate the National Day of many of the countries which form the resident population especially India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan but also Jamaica and Barbados. The Progress Rainbow flag was flown to celebrate LGBT History Month in February.
On whatdotheyknow.com, a resident asked Newham which flags had been flown over a five year period and for how long. The Council said they did not have the information.
Keeping the ban on the Ukrainian flag, after it has been pointed out to them and it would be trivial to move the line of acceptability? That is absolutely a deliberate decision.
Я is for Яeform. Я is for Яussia.
Not the least extraordinary thing is that he was a Conservative councillor married to 'disgraced' ex SNP mp Natalie McGarry.
Actually the story is a party that happily decries gesture politics in others trips up when indulging in performative flag banning themselves and they don't like it being pointed out.
'Я' = Ya
Also indicates singular first person pronoun.
R is 'Р' but it has more alveolar pronunciation than an English R.
https://source.washu.edu/2020/02/the-divide-between-us-urban-rural-political-differences-rooted-in-geography/
Greetings from Crete, by the way, where we're having a delayed honeymoon - temperature today up to 38 centrigrade, Saharan wind and non-stop sun. Too much of a good thing IMHO. But mostly a pleasant 27 degrees, and zillions of nice restaurants.
The TCA didn’t *just* put a border in the Irish Sea
The Home Office hostile environment didn’t just target the Windrush generation
Etc
That’s how politics works. And one of the most telling parts of Farage’s MAGA-inspired local government policy is banning a symbol of solidarity with an ally in the throes of an invasion by a sworn enemy of the UK.
We have the occasional upset about the Scottish Parliament flying the "EU" flag. That flag is actually that of the Council of Europe, which we are very much still a member of. Labour should legislate to have it flown over all public buildings.
There is a significantly large propotion of Reform supporters who are strongly anti-Ukraine & strongly pro-Putin.
It is wrong to claim that there has been any misrepresentation.
The proof is in the responses to Q2 in this Ipsos poll: "As you may know, the UK government is providing a range of economic, humanitarian and defensive military assistance to Ukraine, and is imposing additional sanctions on Russia and Belarus. To what extent, if at all, do you support or oppose Britain’s current role in the Ukraine conflict"
Only 9% of Labour voters & 5% of LibDem voters either Tend to Oppose or Strongly Oppose support for Ukraine.
Among Reform voters, 21% Strongly Oppose and a further 7% Tend to Oppose. That's 28% or nearly one-third of Reform voters who oppose support for Ukraine.
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/british-public-opinion-about-conflict-ukraine-three-years
https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2025-02/Ipsos_Feb_25_Ukraine_Tables.pdf
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Russian alphabet
А Б C Д Э Ф Г Ҳ И Ж К Л М Н О П Қ Р С Т У В W Х Й З
Settings (three dots menu) > settings > accessibility (on left) > live caption
There is even a live translate feature for the adventurous.
From personal experience, it's incredibly hard to suggest to an elderly relative they can no longer manage in the home in which they've lived for years and it would be better for them to be somewhere smaller and easier.
You can see it, the impartial observer can see it but the sentimental and emotional capital invested in the property outweighs all of that.
My parents ended up rattling round in a four bedroom house with a garden they couldn't manage but all their memories were there, it was our family home.
We don't build enough of the kind of properties and communities which would suit older people and it's not just bungalows. It's retirement villages with small self-contained cottages and the accompanying facilities. New Zealand does this so much better.
Even then, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water....
Might a Reform government seek to bring back British manufacturing by whacking 50% duties on imports from the EU?
Given his background as a commodity trader I assume not, but there’s precious little about this in the public domain.
One of the arguments for Brexit was the Singapore on Thames idea - poorly understood or articulated, but at its heart the vision of the UK as an entrepôt with low or zero barriers to trade, independence from the big trading blocs, openness to the US, China and EU but geo-economic neutrality.
It was one of the few potentially interesting benefits of leaving the EU but I always felt it at odds with the other arguments - closed borders, protectionism and autarky. It would also have required us to diverge much further and the economic hit from decoupling from the EU would be much greater than the upside. But Trump’s capricious tariff policies are accidentally giving us a bit of the benefit by accident.
If we really wanted to piss off the EU, Japan and Canada and gain a few multinationals we could now unilaterally abandon pillar 2, but I doubt that’s on the table.
They are probably unusual though. Their motto has always been expect the worst and you’ll never be disappointed.
Every time that Trump has announced mega MAGA tariffs like this, he has gone on not to implement them.
But then we don't do affordable housing for the youth or single people/childless couples either.
It's all rather naff.
Emotion of course does play a part. Dad is still in the house he bought in the early 70s. It's quite small but we grew up there, he can manage it since Mum died (just). It's the only place I'll ever think of as home (i never married and have made some questionable housing choices/forced choices). He'd never sell it, Mum's ghost would kick his bum from here to the sea.
REF 30
CON 20
LAB 20
LD 15
GREEN 8
to me and a Reform government with the rest grubbing together 250 seats between them on stupid shares of the vote and a sudden zeal for PR amongst the lot of them
Edit - of course I'm not predicting that is how it will wash out by 2029
If, under our current system, Reform win a majority then so be it; they deserve a chance to govern. But I hope for the sake of some semblance of national unity that they either fall short in that instance and have to make a deal with, say, the rump Tories, or they are able to push their polling into the high 30s, because otherwise I fear the political fallout will be… messy.
If we had PR then Green voters would certainly stick with them but with FPTP if the Greens were not in the top two in their seat last time some will in the end vote Labour to keep out Reform or the LDs to keep out the Tories
I suspect they would have been happy to lease it to the US for about $1bn a year.
I would answer, argument it’s less secure is based on precedent has been set by this case. But has a precedent been set, if each situation is unique? Put more specifically, when inhabitants have chosen, have there been instances UN and courts ruled against the choice of inhabitants? That would set a precedent making UK sovereignty of Falklands more insecure, our enemies like Moscow, would line up to game the UN workings, throwing their weight behind a claimant.
I’m not in favour of this Governments Chagos deal. My header was sharing my understanding they chose this option wanting to be seen as a fair and responsible power, rather than simply claiming land outright without international support, on basis this approach brings more leverage to our diplomacy, more influence, friends, more security deals and trade. Which actually is not new - it’s identical reasoning in 1898 British Empire chose to sign a lease on something else. They thought they would get more of the good stuff doing it that way.
I know you disagree. the other day you fully signed up to 1 million years BC diplomacy, Raquel Welch in Faun skins and a club in her hand. Perhaps one day we should have a simple header IS IT BETTER TO BE FEARED OR LOVED? and debate it out underneath. I’m certain it’s not as open and shut as you sure it is.
My personal preference is neither sovereignty or the deal. With either sovereignty or lease, UK gets absolutely nothing in defence and security that isn’t also pooled with others. Let US and India deal and pay this time..
But is that realistic? Was it ever an option?
Two things you unrealistically dismiss Lucky. Keeping sovereignty WILL come with brickbats and loss of influence. When it went into court, no one in the world turned up for us, apart from USA and some little places slipped a backhander to vote with us. No NATO allies, no Canada, no Australia. No one in the Indian Ocean or South China Sea, as India had used our Imperial Squat to whip them all up against doing any business with us.
Secondly, when UK got into base talks back in 1960s, it came hand in hand with interlocking UK defence and security with the US catalogue of expensive kit. Are we in any position to decouple? Seriously?
I don’t mind Reform making same glib mistakes as you, but fear Conservative front bench making the same and being unrealistic about what options actually were. in government or opposition, Lab & Con have been as one in agreement being interlocked with US equipment and security since 1960s. Today in opposition Tories attacking the deal as far too favourable to the US.
What exactly is Kemi saying, what exactly is her policy, on interlocked with US on security and key bits of equipment?
Those in larger homes who want to stay could use equity release or sell and spend/distribute the capital.
Or go binge spending to improve the economy. Or even use the cash to put into equity trackers.
We do not necessarily need to build more if homes are being underutilised. You can use the tax system to indicate 'good' behaviour and invite people to make their plans to suit under the use it or lose it principle.
But liberals seem to be having great difficulty understanding the current zeitgeist. Trump's influence in the UK is over-estimated and the direction of travel is really voter lead not politician lead.
The only sane solutions are abolition or an unavoidable but low rate (5-10%).
However, Lincoln's Inn barristers and solicitors, and big time tax planners all have a living to make and starving mouths to feed in the Vale of Taunton and elsewhere. So no change is most likely.
However we've (almost) never regretted making the move; apart from the house itself we now live close to the centre of a very small town with shops, cafes pubs, GP's etc close to hand, whereas before we were on an estate with a long trek to anywhere 'social'.
And 100% on what? Everything? None of Mum's jewellery for you, love, that belongs to the State. Get those mourners out of here, the house clearance guys are coming ........
The question is whether the UK can hold onto more of the US 16% combined with the loss of EU trade, which likely will be exacerbated if we align too closely with the US - compared with being lumped into the same tariffs as the EU.
More sense than I usually make on a Saturday morning.
Hence May's dementia tax and Starmer's family farm and business tax were so unpopular
In all honesty, there's an argument to be made that if you are a Rejoiner a disastrous one-term Farage government might do more for your cause than anything else. If a Reform government is 'doing Brexit properly' then a lot of people will conclude we really are better off in. I half suspect this is why Nick Tyrone wrote that piece in the Spectator backing Farage the other week (i.e. there's no way in hell he seriously thinks Farage would be anything other than a horrible PM).
It's those who haven't had their specific type of magic tried who are fervently convinced that it will be a big upside with no downside. Well, no downside for anyone important, anyway.
This is a sensible and patriotic policy, and Grimes' answer was a good and heartening one.
https://bsky.app/profile/politicsintheuk.bsky.social/post/3lptteg3mq22c
“Lincolnshire County Council's Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee was axed by the party which took control of the authority in this month's elections.
“The new administration said the change would save money and simplify the council without harming efforts to fight flooding.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg71j9mgdvvo
one of Reform’s first acts was to take down the Ukrainian flag – hoisted to show solidarity with the war-besieged nation – and vowed not to fly rainbow-coloured flags in support of LGBTQ+ residents
Which demonstrates that it is not just about Ukraine but a broader campaign of nastiness. Which is exactly my point.
Trump. Putin. By their friends shall you know them
If there aren't free and fair US elections in 26 and 28, then having an incredibly close relationship economically and politically with the EU might be a good idea.
Recall my emphasis on the difference between syntactics and semantics. They don't stand for anything other than "we are in the east and don't fire at me". But because humans crave a story, they invent meaning (semantics) such as "victory" and pretend they meant it all along.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_(military_symbol)#Purpose
It is not about being feared or loved. It is a far simpler calculation of positive and negative consequences on the part of those whose interests clash with ours. We have sent a HUGE signal up not only that we are in giveaway mode even when there is no legal compulsion or military threat, but that we will even bankroll our own disgrace. AND that we don't give a flying fuck about the wishes of the peoples' of the islands and their democratic wishes. The positives of taking on the UK have just become massively more attractive than the perceived downsides, for anyone.
I am happy for the UK be loved - I am not in favour of flouncing around taking delight in upsetting foreign Governments. But we MUST be consistent in defence of our own legitimate interests. We are not being celebrated on the streets of Calcutta with this deal - we were already loathed for the Raj; we have simply added a layer of being despised for being weak and in terminal decline.
Time and again Labour have made the foolish error of thinking that British Governments (usually Tory ones) didn't get anywhere in negotiations with overseas powers because they weren’t being 'nice' enough. It led to Blair giving away much of our EU rebate for a non-existent reform of the CAP, it has led to Starmer giving away 12 years of fishing rights for fuck all, it now leads to this.
My issue is that the original poster stated it was specifically about the Ukrainian flag. It wasn’t.
People who focus on Reform’s Russian links are focusing on an issue with limited salience.
The US needs their tenure at "Footprint of Freedom" secured without any legal complications for the long term. They want somebody else to pay for this.
The UK government needs to feel liked by the US. They also want to be perceived as the benevolent face of imperialism. The good kind of expropriation and ethnic cleansing. They also still have some regard for international law and complying with it allows them to take their preferred position of impotent sanctimony when other countries violate it like China with its island and reef acquisition spree.
The Mauritius government needs money and wants its anti-colonial credentials burnished.
The Chagoswegians need and want money.
Given all of those various motivations, it's hard to see any other course than the SKS deal. Playing for time or telling everyone to fuck off isn't a viable strategy due to inexorable and irresistible pressure from the US.