So, just how badly is the Mad King going to shaft his ex best bud now?
300% tariffs on all EVs from any manufacturer whose name starts with a T?
All SpaceX contracts transferred to Boeing?
Starlink illegal in all 50 states?
Maybe just deport him to South Africa...
What Musk did at Doge was highly illegal and he doesn't have the protection of office. On the other hand he's rich enough to pay for any number of lawyers.
What if he was renditioned to a El Salvador prison?
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
If Starmer had any leadership skills and vision he'd stand up in the Commons tomorrow, make an impassioned speech about how our way of life and the ongoing meaningful existence of our country is now under threat like never before and say he's going to immediately add 2p to income tax at all levels and our defence spending to 3.5% of GDP. A sacrifice, and a very hard one at this time, but essential to secure our freedom.
There is not a moment to waste.
Totally agree on the latter. Whether income tax is the right vehicle is another question.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Something like this is, sadly, more likely than not
Why? Because various advances in tech mean that very shortly one power is going to achieve total full spectrum, all domain dominance over the other. It is likely to be the USA, but there is a pretty good chance it will be China
Whichever power fears being crushed will move first. If China is that fearful power - again, likely - a move against Taiwan is not only desirable but obvious to the point of necessity, as it will stall or halt western tech progress (all those chipmakers)
If China does this then it will surely do it in concert with Russia, as described, so as to distract the West and dilute its response
Some years ago, I observed that those who followed the Loser risked losing their money, their health, or even their freedom. Musk is smart enough so that he should have been able to come to the same conclusion.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
If Starmer had any leadership skills and vision he'd stand up in the Commons tomorrow, make an impassioned speech about how our way of life and the ongoing meaningful existence of our country is now under threat like never before and say he's going to immediately add 2p to income tax at all levels and our defence spending to 3.5% of GDP. A sacrifice, and a very hard one at this time, but essential to secure our freedom.
There is not a moment to waste.
It would be interesting to see who would vote against it, and their reasons.
But I'd also like to see it ringfenced for ' defence' (ha!)
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
If Starmer had any leadership skills and vision he'd stand up in the Commons tomorrow, make an impassioned speech about how our way of life and the ongoing meaningful existence of our country is now under threat like never before and say he's going to immediately add 2p to income tax at all levels and our defence spending to 3.5% of GDP. A sacrifice, and a very hard one at this time, but essential to secure our freedom.
There is not a moment to waste.
Yes, I agree, indeed put it up by more and pump the extra into “tech”
And of course it would also be the perfect excuse to suspend asylum, pause most immigration, all those things that would be massively popular AND sensible - “this is a moment of maximum emergency”
So he’d fix his tax and migration problem, in one go, while pleasing America and the voters, and suddenly Labour are back in the 30s as he looks decisive and patriotic - genuinely leading Europe instead of cowering and giving away all our fishing for 300 years
However, this is Sir Keir Traitor, so he won’t do any of this, he will continue his attempts to give the Chagos Islands to China along with eleventy trillion quid
@ZiaYusufUK 11 months ago I became Chairman of Reform. I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30%, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results.
I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.
Over the burqa row?
Could be. Maybe Nigel communicated that Reform were going to go with it, but no one else was even consulted.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 5m Suspect there’s a lot more to be revealed about this. But in the short term it will be seen as a victory for those demanding Reform adopts more extreme positions.
One of the tensions within Reform currently is the extent to which they should welcome joiners from the Tory party, where those people have been active members or elected officials. Inevitably, those who joined earlier and took the gamble of the new party not getting anywhere look with some scepticism on those Tories now considering jumping ship merely because their own ship is sinking and they want to save their career.
It’s an issue that affected the SDP during its heyday, with a fair few Labour defectors appearing to be more interested in their career than the principles of the new party and its alliance with the Liberals. Once Blair came along and restored Labour’s fortunes, a lot of those people slunk straight back, and now and again you find one of them in the Lords or with some other Labour sinecure. Higher profile defectors seem like good news and everyone enjoys the day of the announcement; thereafter they can often prove to bring with them a whole lot of trouble.
Whatever else he is, Nigel is a pro at this sort of thing.
And "dispose of X, then praise X" is standard divide-and-rule office politics. If this is a victory for the racist wing of Reform, it must be made clear to than that they haven't really won.
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
If Starmer had any leadership skills and vision he'd stand up in the Commons tomorrow, make an impassioned speech about how our way of life and the ongoing meaningful existence of our country is now under threat like never before and say he's going to immediately add 2p to income tax at all levels and our defence spending to 3.5% of GDP. A sacrifice, and a very hard one at this time, but essential to secure our freedom.
There is not a moment to waste.
Totally agree on the latter. Whether income tax is the right vehicle is another question.
It's the quickest and most effective way of raising revenue.
It will hurt us all, mind. Still think we've got to do it.
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
"Suella Braverman Women should not be veiling their faces in Western society Even the ECHR agrees that burqas are not compatible with Western culture and can be banned"
"Suella Braverman Women should not be veiling their faces in Western society Even the ECHR agrees that burqas are not compatible with Western culture and can be banned"
@ZiaYusufUK 11 months ago I became Chairman of Reform. I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30%, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results.
I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.
Lmao, feedback from Hamilton must be stunning
To be generous he might have had a spasm of principle over Farage’s racist dog whistling in Hamilton.
9-0 rulings in US Supreme Court, especially when overturning lower courts, are quite rare. It shows how extreme the DEI agenda in the US had got. No wonder Trump won.
"Suella Braverman Women should not be veiling their faces in Western society Even the ECHR agrees that burqas are not compatible with Western culture and can be banned"
(Imagine if they actually managed to win it after all this)
On C4 news the other day they had a Hamilton man who had switched from Labour and voted Reform as the Labour leader was 'for the Pakistani community' apparently. So I am not sure if today's news will damage Reform much, with certain segments of the white working class in Hamilton it might even boost their vote sadly
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Is it? The same Russia that is three years into a three day war against just one country? This is not the Warsaw Pact of hundreds of armoured divisions to dread.
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Is it? The same Russia that is three years into a three day war against just one country? This is not the Warsaw Pact of hundreds of armoured divisions to dread.
The same Russia that has no problem with throwing hundreds of thousands of its men into a meatgrinder on such exotic weapons as motorbikes, bicycles and even mules? Yes, the same. Estonia has only 1.4 million people; Latvia 1.9 million. Ukraine had 37 million. Russia, even in its weakened state, could roll over some of those small Baltic countries with relative ease - if Putin does not mind losing many, many of his own men. And Putin evidently does not mind.
I doubt he would whilst Ukraine is still ongoing. But don't underestimate his willingness to kill his own people for his own vision of Russia's future stronkiness.
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Something like this is, sadly, more likely than not
Why? Because various advances in tech mean that very shortly one power is going to achieve total full spectrum, all domain dominance over the other. It is likely to be the USA, but there is a pretty good chance it will be China
Whichever power fears being crushed will move first. If China is that fearful power - again, likely - a move against Taiwan is not only desirable but obvious to the point of necessity, as it will stall or halt western tech progress (all those chipmakers)
If China does this then it will surely do it in concert with Russia, as described, so as to distract the West and dilute its response
On the whole, I think that calls for a
BRACE
I would like to have seen Montana...
Yeah, me too
If we are all gonna cop it, I have a few regrets, then again too few to mention, OK I’ll mention them
1. Never experienced zero gravity. Let alone zero gravity sex
2. Er
3. More time with kids etc
4. Should have had more sex. I had a lot, but even more would have been great. At least I had more than Sir John Betjeman
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
If Starmer had any leadership skills and vision he'd stand up in the Commons tomorrow, make an impassioned speech about how our way of life and the ongoing meaningful existence of our country is now under threat like never before and say he's going to immediately add 2p to income tax at all levels and our defence spending to 3.5% of GDP. A sacrifice, and a very hard one at this time, but essential to secure our freedom.
There is not a moment to waste.
Better would be a joint statement to that effect from Starmer, Badenoch and Farage. Put the politics to one side for a minute.
At a stroke it would take the political risk out of it, make it a much more credible deterrent for Russia et al, and show us plebs that politicians can be grown ups at times.
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
If he didn't see Reform moving in a more white nationalist direction, then he's absolutely stupid.
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Just get the Liz Line or HRXPRSS to Paddo and then go by rail?! Surely?
I see that Reform are doubling down on 'ban the burqa'/'don't be allowed to conceal face in public' nonsense.
Curious if they'd propose the banning of motorcycle helmets then?
The burqa is a horrid, misogynistic garment but we shouldn't ban that which we dislike, and its not illegal to wear a balaclava or motorcycle helmet or otherwise conceal the face in most public situations.
I was surprised Agent Anderson my MP jumped on this.
To frame a ban about the burqa purely about 'knowing who people are' and security does not really hold unless you address all face coverings - balaclavas -big thing for ASB youths, motorcycle helmets as you say, costumes worn by football mascots, and the rest.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Something like this is, sadly, more likely than not
Why? Because various advances in tech mean that very shortly one power is going to achieve total full spectrum, all domain dominance over the other. It is likely to be the USA, but there is a pretty good chance it will be China
Whichever power fears being crushed will move first. If China is that fearful power - again, likely - a move against Taiwan is not only desirable but obvious to the point of necessity, as it will stall or halt western tech progress (all those chipmakers)
If China does this then it will surely do it in concert with Russia, as described, so as to distract the West and dilute its response
On the whole, I think that calls for a
BRACE
I would like to have seen Montana...
Yeah, me too
If we are all gonna cop it, I have a few regrets, then again too few to mention, OK I’ll mention them
1. Never experienced zero gravity. Let alone zero gravity sex
2. Er
3. More time with kids etc
4. Should have had more sex. I had a lot, but even more would have been great. At least I had more than Sir John Betjeman
5. I would like to have seen Wyoming
Meh, you'd have said the same (BRACE) as the Soviet Union was collapsing. That turned out okay for a bit.
I suspect we'll be fine. The odds aren't quite as nailed on as I'd like them to be, though.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Is it? The same Russia that is three years into a three day war against just one country? This is not the Warsaw Pact of hundreds of armoured divisions to dread.
It's a scenario. Not completely impossible, of course, but the military love their worst case events. Drives funding.
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Does Heathrow have any public transport that doesn’t force you back into London first?
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Just get the Liz Line or HRXPRSS to Paddo and then go by rail?! Surely?
My line comes out of Waterloo, so I'd have to go all the way back into central London and out again.
However, as is becoming clear, that would have been quicker than these bus wankers.
I think the way things are shaping up with Reform there stand to be some epic LD vs Con fights in the Home Counties and Golden Arch, I can't see Ban the Burqa/No Yusuf Reform being anything more than a minor player there. Tories probably need to go very very hard on a Blue Wall and London strategy for 2029 whilst holding on to as many 'rurals' as they can. LDs look to hold on to as much as possible and make any progress available in response. Let Lab and Ref slug it out in the Red Wall and Wales etc
A timely reminder today, I think, that Farage is not very good at keeping friends.
He may still succeed in spite of all these things. I doubt the developments today will do more than cause a tiny wobble in support (if that). But he has 4 years to go, and a lot of enemies he can make.
Arthur Delaney 🇺🇸 @ArthurDelaneyHP · 6m Trump has played this well. He used Elon as a rocket booster, won office, and is now discarding him like a rocket booster, and the only question is if Elon will gently descend or explode
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Just get the Liz Line or HRXPRSS to Paddo and then go by rail?! Surely?
My line comes out of Waterloo, so I'd have to go all the way back into central London and out again.
However, as is becoming clear, that would have been quicker than these bus wankers.
Going anywhere but London out of LHR on public transport has always been a nightmare. However the Liz Line does make that option cheap and quick, then you go to your preferred station
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Just get the Liz Line or HRXPRSS to Paddo and then go by rail?! Surely?
My line comes out of Waterloo, so I'd have to go all the way back into central London and out again.
However, as is becoming clear, that would have been quicker than these bus wankers.
Going anywhere but London out of LHR on public transport has always been a nightmare. However the Liz Line does make that option cheap and quick, then you go to your preferred station
You can now get a bus to Basingstoke via Bagshot, Camberley and Frimley
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Something like this is, sadly, more likely than not
Why? Because various advances in tech mean that very shortly one power is going to achieve total full spectrum, all domain dominance over the other. It is likely to be the USA, but there is a pretty good chance it will be China
Whichever power fears being crushed will move first. If China is that fearful power - again, likely - a move against Taiwan is not only desirable but obvious to the point of necessity, as it will stall or halt western tech progress (all those chipmakers)
If China does this then it will surely do it in concert with Russia, as described, so as to distract the West and dilute its response
On the whole, I think that calls for a
BRACE
I would like to have seen Montana...
Yeah, me too
If we are all gonna cop it, I have a few regrets, then again too few to mention, OK I’ll mention them
1. Never experienced zero gravity. Let alone zero gravity sex
2. Er
3. More time with kids etc
4. Should have had more sex. I had a lot, but even more would have been great. At least I had more than Sir John Betjeman
5. I would like to have seen Wyoming
Meh, you'd have said the same (BRACE) as the Soviet Union was collapsing. That turned out okay for a bit.
I suspect we'll be fine. The odds aren't quite as nailed on as I'd like them to be, though.
The coming years are way more dangerous than the breakup of the USSR
Indeed they are almost certainly the most dangerous we have ever faced, as a species
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Is it? The same Russia that is three years into a three day war against just one country? This is not the Warsaw Pact of hundreds of armoured divisions to dread.
It's a scenario. Not completely impossible, of course, but the military love their worst case events. Drives funding.
If Europe can’t defend Europe from Russia without the US then we deserve it. Good grief. It wouldn’t be a two-front war for us
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Just get the Liz Line or HRXPRSS to Paddo and then go by rail?! Surely?
My line comes out of Waterloo, so I'd have to go all the way back into central London and out again.
However, as is becoming clear, that would have been quicker than these bus wankers.
Going anywhere but London out of LHR on public transport has always been a nightmare. However the Liz Line does make that option cheap and quick, then you go to your preferred station
I have been involved with our family tonight as one of our grandson's attended his last day at school before starting on a course at our local technical college
I don't suppose anything has happened tonight, has it ?
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Just get the Liz Line or HRXPRSS to Paddo and then go by rail?! Surely?
My line comes out of Waterloo, so I'd have to go all the way back into central London and out again.
However, as is becoming clear, that would have been quicker than these bus wankers.
Going anywhere but London out of LHR on public transport has always been a nightmare. However the Liz Line does make that option cheap and quick, then you go to your preferred station
Well, I worked hard on it.
You did! And it's a noble thing
You can sincerely be proud, you made the lives of a lot of people just that little bit better
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
If he didn't see Reform moving in a more white nationalist direction, then he's absolutely stupid.
And, in particular, Yusuf seems to have been rather slow in recognising that a lot of Reform supporters really don't like Muslims, of which he is one.
His parting statement, in particular "no longer a good use of my time", is subtly savage. No best wishes or hope for electoral success there. Looks like a serious rift to me, especially as I think he was primarily responsible for professionalising Reform and softening its edges.
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Just get the Liz Line or HRXPRSS to Paddo and then go by rail?! Surely?
My line comes out of Waterloo, so I'd have to go all the way back into central London and out again.
However, as is becoming clear, that would have been quicker than these bus wankers.
Going anywhere but London out of LHR on public transport has always been a nightmare. However the Liz Line does make that option cheap and quick, then you go to your preferred station
It's not every ex-PM that gets a rail line named after them.
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Just get the Liz Line or HRXPRSS to Paddo and then go by rail?! Surely?
My line comes out of Waterloo, so I'd have to go all the way back into central London and out again.
However, as is becoming clear, that would have been quicker than these bus wankers.
Going anywhere but London out of LHR on public transport has always been a nightmare. However the Liz Line does make that option cheap and quick, then you go to your preferred station
You can now get a bus to Basingstoke via Bagshot, Camberley and Frimley
Basingstoke is doable by rail-only, though probably a bit slow on the slow side:
Heathrow to Hayes & Harlington Hayes & Harlington to Reading (could change at Slough first for a faster train) Reading to Basingtoke
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
If he didn't see Reform moving in a more white nationalist direction, then he's absolutely stupid.
And, in particular, Yusuf seems to have been rather slow in recognising that a lot of Reform supporters really don't like Muslims, of which he is one.
His parting statement, in particular "no longer a good use of my time", is subtly savage. No best wishes or hope for electoral success there. Looks like a serious rift to me, especially as I think he was primarily responsible for professionalising Reform and softening its edges.
Farage and Oakeshott are insinuating his departure is due to the role being too much for him if you read their tweetings. Seems odd in that case that he randomly exploded on a Thursday afternoon of a by election day rather than agreeing a step back with everyone
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Is it? The same Russia that is three years into a three day war against just one country? This is not the Warsaw Pact of hundreds of armoured divisions to dread.
It's a scenario. Not completely impossible, of course, but the military love their worst case events. Drives funding.
If Europe can’t defend Europe from Russia without the US then we deserve it. Good grief. It wouldn’t be a two-front war for us
There's a compelling case against 3% - Ukraine, one of the poorest countries in Europe, has managed to hold Russia to a defensive line and knock out 1/3rd of it's strategic bombers.
I understand that we've provided lots of support, but our really snazzy stuff like attack submarines and a half decent air force have not been used. I think we'd wipe the floor with them in an actual war - which wouldn't happen anyway because of all the nukes.
The actual issue is the Russians hacking the Co-op/M&S and cutting off our wind power and gas from Norway. The answer to the latter is simple - a new doctrine where we sink anything that looks a bit dodgy within our EEZ, which is already well within our capability. We just don't have the balls to do it.
If they invade Estonia, declare the Russian troops there "insurgents" and wipe them out without declaring war.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Something like this is, sadly, more likely than not
Why? Because various advances in tech mean that very shortly one power is going to achieve total full spectrum, all domain dominance over the other. It is likely to be the USA, but there is a pretty good chance it will be China
Whichever power fears being crushed will move first. If China is that fearful power - again, likely - a move against Taiwan is not only desirable but obvious to the point of necessity, as it will stall or halt western tech progress (all those chipmakers)
If China does this then it will surely do it in concert with Russia, as described, so as to distract the West and dilute its response
On the whole, I think that calls for a
BRACE
I would like to have seen Montana...
Yeah, me too
If we are all gonna cop it, I have a few regrets, then again too few to mention, OK I’ll mention them
1. Never experienced zero gravity. Let alone zero gravity sex
2. Er
3. More time with kids etc
4. Should have had more sex. I had a lot, but even more would have been great. At least I had more than Sir John Betjeman
5. I would like to have seen Wyoming
Meh, you'd have said the same (BRACE) as the Soviet Union was collapsing. That turned out okay for a bit.
I suspect we'll be fine. The odds aren't quite as nailed on as I'd like them to be, though.
The coming years are way more dangerous than the breakup of the USSR
Indeed they are almost certainly the most dangerous we have ever faced, as a species
I'm not sure. I've not read up on the history enough so may be wrong, but my impression is that the breakup of USSR was incredibly messy and there must have been many small actors set to lose their fiefdoms (and possibly their lives) with the ability to access and use nuclear warheads. It's impressive that none have gone off since.
By contrast the next few years feel like an inevitable slide into the grasp of a highly authoritarian and disciplined Chinese state (yes I know about the aging population but I suspect that will be overcome). I doubt there will be a point of crisis that would prompt a global war - it is just not in China's interest to stoke this. Instead I suspect that we will all wake up one day to realise we have become a satellite state of China, learning Mandarin in schools and using Chinese tech with accompanying surveillance.
It will be unutterably shit if you're an out-of-favour minority but for most people it will be hard to generate the necessary outrage to spark a major conflict.
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
If he didn't see Reform moving in a more white nationalist direction, then he's absolutely stupid.
And, in particular, Yusuf seems to have been rather slow in recognising that a lot of Reform supporters really don't like Muslims, of which he is one.
His parting statement, in particular "no longer a good use of my time", is subtly savage. No best wishes or hope for electoral success there. Looks like a serious rift to me, especially as I think he was primarily responsible for professionalising Reform and softening its edges.
All of this, plus that ridiculous question at PMQs, makes me rather glad I resisted voting Reform in the locals to kick Labour.
Can I just put in a word for Seth Rogan’s “The Studio” being a work of TV genius?
Episode 2, with its layers of meta and irony which nonetheless manages to be narratively pleasing, highly observant, loving and wry and very funny, is some of the best TV comedy-drama I have ever seen, up there with the best episodes of Community
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Is it? The same Russia that is three years into a three day war against just one country? This is not the Warsaw Pact of hundreds of armoured divisions to dread.
It's a scenario. Not completely impossible, of course, but the military love their worst case events. Drives funding.
If Europe can’t defend Europe from Russia without the US then we deserve it. Good grief. It wouldn’t be a two-front war for us
There's a compelling case against 3% - Ukraine, one of the poorest countries in Europe, has managed to hold Russia to a defensive line and knock out 1/3rd of it's strategic bombers.
I understand that we've provided lots of support, but our really snazzy stuff like attack submarines and a half decent air force have not been used. I think we'd wipe the floor with them in an actual war - which wouldn't happen anyway because of all the nukes.
The actual issue is the Russians hacking the Co-op/M&S and cutting off our wind power and gas from Norway. The answer to the latter is simple - a new doctrine where we sink anything that looks a bit dodgy within our EEZ, which is already well within our capability. We just don't have the balls to do it.
If they invade Estonia, declare the Russian troops there "insurgents" and wipe them out without declaring war.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Something like this is, sadly, more likely than not
Why? Because various advances in tech mean that very shortly one power is going to achieve total full spectrum, all domain dominance over the other. It is likely to be the USA, but there is a pretty good chance it will be China
Whichever power fears being crushed will move first. If China is that fearful power - again, likely - a move against Taiwan is not only desirable but obvious to the point of necessity, as it will stall or halt western tech progress (all those chipmakers)
If China does this then it will surely do it in concert with Russia, as described, so as to distract the West and dilute its response
On the whole, I think that calls for a
BRACE
I would like to have seen Montana...
Yeah, me too
If we are all gonna cop it, I have a few regrets, then again too few to mention, OK I’ll mention them
1. Never experienced zero gravity. Let alone zero gravity sex
2. Er
3. More time with kids etc
4. Should have had more sex. I had a lot, but even more would have been great. At least I had more than Sir John Betjeman
5. I would like to have seen Wyoming
Meh, you'd have said the same (BRACE) as the Soviet Union was collapsing. That turned out okay for a bit.
I suspect we'll be fine. The odds aren't quite as nailed on as I'd like them to be, though.
The coming years are way more dangerous than the breakup of the USSR
Indeed they are almost certainly the most dangerous we have ever faced, as a species
I'm not sure. I've not read up on the history enough so may be wrong, but my impression is that the breakup of USSR was incredibly messy and there must have been many small actors set to lose their fiefdoms (and possibly their lives) with the ability to access and use nuclear warheads. It's impressive that none have gone off since.
By contrast the next few years feel like an inevitable slide into the grasp of a highly authoritarian and disciplined Chinese state (yes I know about the aging population but I suspect that will be overcome). I doubt there will be a point of crisis that would prompt a global war - it is just not in China's interest to stoke this. Instead I suspect that we will all wake up one day to realise we have become a satellite state of China, learning Mandarin in schools and using Chinese tech with accompanying surveillance.
It will be unutterably shit if you're an out-of-favour minority but for most people it will be hard to generate the necessary outrage to spark a major conflict.
You really don’t understand what I am talking about. Ask @viewcode
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
If he didn't see Reform moving in a more white nationalist direction, then he's absolutely stupid.
And, in particular, Yusuf seems to have been rather slow in recognising that a lot of Reform supporters really don't like Muslims, of which he is one.
His parting statement, in particular "no longer a good use of my time", is subtly savage. No best wishes or hope for electoral success there. Looks like a serious rift to me, especially as I think he was primarily responsible for professionalising Reform and softening its edges.
Farage and Oakeshott are insinuating his departure is due to the role being too much for him if you read their tweetings. Seems odd in that case that he randomly exploded on a Thursday afternoon of a by election day rather than agreeing a step back with everyone
Quite. If Farage and Oakeshott are right, then Yusuf's parting line makes no sense: I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office. If that's not a bloke who's seriously pissed off, I don't know what is.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
"Elon was wearing thin, I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!"
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Something like this is, sadly, more likely than not
Why? Because various advances in tech mean that very shortly one power is going to achieve total full spectrum, all domain dominance over the other. It is likely to be the USA, but there is a pretty good chance it will be China
Whichever power fears being crushed will move first. If China is that fearful power - again, likely - a move against Taiwan is not only desirable but obvious to the point of necessity, as it will stall or halt western tech progress (all those chipmakers)
If China does this then it will surely do it in concert with Russia, as described, so as to distract the West and dilute its response
On the whole, I think that calls for a
BRACE
I would like to have seen Montana...
Yeah, me too
If we are all gonna cop it, I have a few regrets, then again too few to mention, OK I’ll mention them
1. Never experienced zero gravity. Let alone zero gravity sex
2. Er
3. More time with kids etc
4. Should have had more sex. I had a lot, but even more would have been great. At least I had more than Sir John Betjeman
5. I would like to have seen Wyoming
Meh, you'd have said the same (BRACE) as the Soviet Union was collapsing. That turned out okay for a bit.
I suspect we'll be fine. The odds aren't quite as nailed on as I'd like them to be, though.
The coming years are way more dangerous than the breakup of the USSR
Indeed they are almost certainly the most dangerous we have ever faced, as a species
I'm not sure. I've not read up on the history enough so may be wrong, but my impression is that the breakup of USSR was incredibly messy and there must have been many small actors set to lose their fiefdoms (and possibly their lives) with the ability to access and use nuclear warheads. It's impressive that none have gone off since.
By contrast the next few years feel like an inevitable slide into the grasp of a highly authoritarian and disciplined Chinese state (yes I know about the aging population but I suspect that will be overcome). I doubt there will be a point of crisis that would prompt a global war - it is just not in China's interest to stoke this. Instead I suspect that we will all wake up one day to realise we have become a satellite state of China, learning Mandarin in schools and using Chinese tech with accompanying surveillance.
It will be unutterably shit if you're an out-of-favour minority but for most people it will be hard to generate the necessary outrage to spark a major conflict.
You really don’t understand what I am talking about. Ask @viewcode
Yeah now I look back I missed the tech reference in your first post. Sorry.
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
If he didn't see Reform moving in a more white nationalist direction, then he's absolutely stupid.
And, in particular, Yusuf seems to have been rather slow in recognising that a lot of Reform supporters really don't like Muslims, of which he is one.
His parting statement, in particular "no longer a good use of my time", is subtly savage. No best wishes or hope for electoral success there. Looks like a serious rift to me, especially as I think he was primarily responsible for professionalising Reform and softening its edges.
Farage and Oakeshott are insinuating his departure is due to the role being too much for him if you read their tweetings. Seems odd in that case that he randomly exploded on a Thursday afternoon of a by election day rather than agreeing a step back with everyone
Quite. If Farage and Oakeshott are right, then Yusuf's parting line makes no sense: I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office. If that's not a bloke who's seriously pissed off, I don't know what is.
My very amateur sleuthing says Andersons 'onwards and upwards' and his earlier full fat support for Pochin tells me the Whip and the Chairman had a humdinger of a row today and that provoked the quit
Arthur Delaney 🇺🇸 @ArthurDelaneyHP · 6m Trump has played this well. He used Elon as a rocket booster, won office, and is now discarding him like a rocket booster, and the only question is if Elon will gently descend or explode
I think 'rapid unscheduled disassembly' is the proper Elonite term for explode.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
"Suella Braverman Women should not be veiling their faces in Western society Even the ECHR agrees that burqas are not compatible with Western culture and can be banned"
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
If he didn't see Reform moving in a more white nationalist direction, then he's absolutely stupid.
I don't think banning the Burqa is a particularly 'white' or 'nationalist' position.
I say that as someone with no fixed views on the subject.
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Is it? The same Russia that is three years into a three day war against just one country? This is not the Warsaw Pact of hundreds of armoured divisions to dread.
It's a scenario. Not completely impossible, of course, but the military love their worst case events. Drives funding.
If Europe can’t defend Europe from Russia without the US then we deserve it. Good grief. It wouldn’t be a two-front war for us
There's a compelling case against 3% - Ukraine, one of the poorest countries in Europe, has managed to hold Russia to a defensive line and knock out 1/3rd of it's strategic bombers.
I understand that we've provided lots of support, but our really snazzy stuff like attack submarines and a half decent air force have not been used. I think we'd wipe the floor with them in an actual war - which wouldn't happen anyway because of all the nukes.
The actual issue is the Russians hacking the Co-op/M&S and cutting off our wind power and gas from Norway. The answer to the latter is simple - a new doctrine where we sink anything that looks a bit dodgy within our EEZ, which is already well within our capability. We just don't have the balls to do it.
If they invade Estonia, declare the Russian troops there "insurgents" and wipe them out without declaring war.
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
If he didn't see Reform moving in a more white nationalist direction, then he's absolutely stupid.
And, in particular, Yusuf seems to have been rather slow in recognising that a lot of Reform supporters really don't like Muslims, of which he is one.
His parting statement, in particular "no longer a good use of my time", is subtly savage. No best wishes or hope for electoral success there. Looks like a serious rift to me, especially as I think he was primarily responsible for professionalising Reform and softening its edges.
Farage and Oakeshott are insinuating his departure is due to the role being too much for him if you read their tweetings. Seems odd in that case that he randomly exploded on a Thursday afternoon of a by election day rather than agreeing a step back with everyone
It's odd that he randomly exploded on a Thursday after finding £500m of "savings" at Kent County Council yesterday.
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Just get the Liz Line or HRXPRSS to Paddo and then go by rail?! Surely?
My line comes out of Waterloo, so I'd have to go all the way back into central London and out again.
However, as is becoming clear, that would have been quicker than these bus wankers.
Going anywhere but London out of LHR on public transport has always been a nightmare. However the Liz Line does make that option cheap and quick, then you go to your preferred station
Well, I worked hard on it.
You did! And it's a noble thing
You can sincerely be proud, you made the lives of a lot of people just that little bit better
"We could end up with the axis powers — Russia and China, supported potentially by Iran and North Korea — collaborating to create a war on two fronts.
“It would start with a large-scale confrontation in the Indo-Pacific, like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which draws off what remains of US forces in Europe. An opportunistic Russia would then move against some part of a Nato territory where they know they can actually win by achieving local dominance, like the Baltics or somewhere in the high north like Svalbard."
Is it? The same Russia that is three years into a three day war against just one country? This is not the Warsaw Pact of hundreds of armoured divisions to dread.
It's a scenario. Not completely impossible, of course, but the military love their worst case events. Drives funding.
If we had a sensible plan on what may still be viable in a few years time it would make sense to fund things.
You can sort of see why we've gone all in on submarines - currently they seem to be the only thing that can't be destroyed by a cheap drone smuggled somewhere local and left waiting for the ideal hour.
"Elon was wearing thin, I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!"
The public transport from Heathrow to the South and South West is monumentally shite.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
Just get the Liz Line or HRXPRSS to Paddo and then go by rail?! Surely?
My line comes out of Waterloo, so I'd have to go all the way back into central London and out again.
However, as is becoming clear, that would have been quicker than these bus wankers.
Going anywhere but London out of LHR on public transport has always been a nightmare. However the Liz Line does make that option cheap and quick, then you go to your preferred station
Well, I worked hard on it.
You did! And it's a noble thing
You can sincerely be proud, you made the lives of a lot of people just that little bit better
Thanks. Me and tens of thousands of others.
The same is true of many heroic battles, indeed many great feats of mankind. It takes a LOT of people, and they should all be proud
As a society, for example, we are far too quick to praise (and overpay) wanker lawyers like Starmer and Hermer, and far too reluctant to praise the quiet engineers and workers that actually get shit done
i mean, why is Hermer a “Lord”? WTF has he done but screw the country? Why is Starmer a Sir, he is a scrote with a squeaky voice. UGH
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
If he didn't see Reform moving in a more white nationalist direction, then he's absolutely stupid.
And, in particular, Yusuf seems to have been rather slow in recognising that a lot of Reform supporters really don't like Muslims, of which he is one.
His parting statement, in particular "no longer a good use of my time", is subtly savage. No best wishes or hope for electoral success there. Looks like a serious rift to me, especially as I think he was primarily responsible for professionalising Reform and softening its edges.
Farage and Oakeshott are insinuating his departure is due to the role being too much for him if you read their tweetings. Seems odd in that case that he randomly exploded on a Thursday afternoon of a by election day rather than agreeing a step back with everyone
Quite. If Farage and Oakeshott are right, then Yusuf's parting line makes no sense: I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office. If that's not a bloke who's seriously pissed off, I don't know what is.
The whole burqa dispute is a presenting issue of a much deeper dilemma.
FWIW I think Farage has decided he wants to be PM, and can only do so on an agenda which relies on the following credentials:
Trust us because we have not failed unlike all others.
We are in fact Christian democrats supporting post WWII big spend social welfare democracy, not UK as Singapore. That was a front. We want what the dimmer people of Clacton and 90% of voters want - free stuff. For now we need you to believe we can do it a lot cheaper, but you will find out later that we can't.
We are GB nationalists and want almost closed borders BUT we are not opposed to any group among the present lawfully resident population because the ultra right alternative is too violent to contemplate.
Opposition to the burqa trashes Farage's current intentions.
Yusuf might already be in a Tory safe house singing like a bird! He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
Oh dear! Clearly it's all been kicking off at Reform Towers whilst I've been too busy to look at PB!
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
Yusuf resigned after a Reform MP called for the burka to be banned.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
If he didn't see Reform moving in a more white nationalist direction, then he's absolutely stupid.
And, in particular, Yusuf seems to have been rather slow in recognising that a lot of Reform supporters really don't like Muslims, of which he is one.
His parting statement, in particular "no longer a good use of my time", is subtly savage. No best wishes or hope for electoral success there. Looks like a serious rift to me, especially as I think he was primarily responsible for professionalising Reform and softening its edges.
Farage and Oakeshott are insinuating his departure is due to the role being too much for him if you read their tweetings. Seems odd in that case that he randomly exploded on a Thursday afternoon of a by election day rather than agreeing a step back with everyone
It's odd that he randomly exploded on a Thursday after finding £500m of "savings" at Kent County Council yesterday.
I think it's possible that the pressure was affecting his health. The £500mn savings could have been a factor - actually the new Head of KCC seems extremely good and sensible, and doesn't appear to want to overpromise, so perhaps she politely told him to back off? https://youtu.be/La9ZlDkxXT4?si=hCaqbpZvVij7Jvz6
I think a bigger 'misspeak' might have been his £7bn (was that it?) DEI savings in a Youtube interview, then saying he'd back it up later and apparently not being able to. He looked fairly shattered too.
He has been very vocal on the thing we don't discuss on PB that rhymes with booming bangs, so I don't think he necesarily fits into a pro-Burqa stereotype. I would imagine he is at least comfortable with different views on it.
Can I just put in a word for Seth Rogan’s “The Studio” being a work of TV genius?
Episode 2, with its layers of meta and irony which nonetheless manages to be narratively pleasing, highly observant, loving and wry and very funny, is some of the best TV comedy-drama I have ever seen, up there with the best episodes of Community
Best thing I've seen on Apple TV+. Apple TV+ doesn't have a lot but they sure as hell do spend a lot of money on the shows they make, and when they are good as well they are some of the best shows on TV/streaming today.
I wasn't even interested in the show until I heard the review on Kermode & Mayo, and when I realised Catherine O'Hara and Kathryn Hahn were in it I thought I'd better check it out. Not only did it live up to the hype I think it exceeded it for me at least.
OK, so who will be the next Reform big-wig to resign?
Anderson must have itchy feet by now
I'm not sure if I see that.
I don't think he would won't want to be out of GB News - if that could happen - as imo he is building his retirement fund, and would want to be secure within one more term.
Comments
He was a Tory party member till last summer.......
https://x.com/nattyfried/status/1930671744865477103
Nathaniel Fried
@nattyfried
I have a huge amount of respect for the work that the councils are doing to save tax payer money, and reduce wastage.
@ZiaYusufUK
got me in and I believe it is appropriate for me to leave with him.
I have absolute confidence that the reform DOGE will succeed without me.
He thought it was very odd that he was involved with this stuff to begin with.
But I'd also like to see it ringfenced for ' defence' (ha!)
And of course it would also be the perfect excuse to suspend asylum, pause most immigration, all those things that would be massively popular AND sensible - “this is a moment of maximum emergency”
So he’d fix his tax and migration problem, in one go, while pleasing America and the voters, and suddenly Labour are back in the 30s as he looks decisive and patriotic - genuinely leading Europe instead of cowering and giving away all our fishing for 300 years
However, this is Sir Keir Traitor, so he won’t do any of this, he will continue his attempts to give the Chagos Islands to China along with eleventy trillion quid
It’s an issue that affected the SDP during its heyday, with a fair few Labour defectors appearing to be more interested in their career than the principles of the new party and its alliance with the Liberals. Once Blair came along and restored Labour’s fortunes, a lot of those people slunk straight back, and now and again you find one of them in the Lords or with some other Labour sinecure. Higher profile defectors seem like good news and everyone enjoys the day of the announcement; thereafter they can often prove to bring with them a whole lot of trouble.
I have always been very impressed with Zia Yusuf - with a couple of exceptions, the Rupert Lowe episode (not saying Lowe was entirely in the right either) being the main one.
He interviews really well, and seemed to bave real ambitions for Reform and the country. Wonder what happened - it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt over Lowe...
It will hurt us all, mind. Still think we've got to do it.
We can't risk everything.
Clearly he could see Reform was moving in a more white nationalist direction and didn't like it
Women should not be veiling their faces in Western society
Even the ECHR agrees that burqas are not compatible with Western culture and can be banned"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/05/burqa-inconsistent-with-integration-islam-culture-uk-west/
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-discrimination-lawsuit-ohio-205f07a2d47d7a46cfc96a5fefdf9269
(Imagine if they actually managed to win it after all this)
For the Tories.
10/1 was still a great value bet.
A bus to Woking and Guildford every 30 minutes, if you're lucky, that can take up to one hour and a half just to get to Woking. I'm one of the mugs on it with 9 other desperate people because I don't have a car today.
How on earth is this acceptable?
I doubt he would whilst Ukraine is still ongoing. But don't underestimate his willingness to kill his own people for his own vision of Russia's future stronkiness.
https://heathrowrail.com/
If we are all gonna cop it, I have a few regrets, then again too few to mention, OK I’ll mention them
1. Never experienced zero gravity. Let alone zero gravity sex
2. Er
3. More time with kids etc
4. Should have had more sex. I had a lot, but even more would have been great. At least I had more than Sir John Betjeman
5. I would like to have seen Wyoming
At a stroke it would take the political risk out of it, make it a much more credible deterrent for Russia et al, and show us plebs that politicians can be grown ups at times.
To frame a ban about the burqa purely about 'knowing who people are' and security does not really hold unless you address all face coverings - balaclavas -big thing for ASB youths, motorcycle helmets as you say, costumes worn by football mascots, and the rest.
I suspect we'll be fine. The odds aren't quite as nailed on as I'd like them to be, though.
Not completely impossible, of course, but the military love their worst case events. Drives funding.
However, as is becoming clear, that would have been quicker than these bus wankers.
Let Lab and Ref slug it out in the Red Wall and Wales etc
He may still succeed in spite of all these things. I doubt the developments today will do more than cause a tiny wobble in support (if that). But he has 4 years to go, and a lot of enemies he can make.
@ArthurDelaneyHP
·
6m
Trump has played this well. He used Elon as a rocket booster, won office, and is now discarding him like a rocket booster, and the only question is if Elon will gently descend or explode
Indeed they are almost certainly the most dangerous we have ever faced, as a species
I have been involved with our family tonight as one of our grandson's attended his last day at school before starting on a course at our local technical college
I don't suppose anything has happened tonight, has it ?
https://x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1930620651183673677
Anderson has merely posted 'onwards and upwards'
You can sincerely be proud, you made the lives of a lot of people just that little bit better
His parting statement, in particular "no longer a good use of my time", is subtly savage. No best wishes or hope for electoral success there. Looks like a serious rift to me, especially as I think he was primarily responsible for professionalising Reform and softening its edges.
Heathrow to Hayes & Harlington
Hayes & Harlington to Reading (could change at Slough first for a faster train)
Reading to Basingtoke
Seems odd in that case that he randomly exploded on a Thursday afternoon of a by election day rather than agreeing a step back with everyone
I understand that we've provided lots of support, but our really snazzy stuff like attack submarines and a half decent air force have not been used. I think we'd wipe the floor with them in an actual war - which wouldn't happen anyway because of all the nukes.
The actual issue is the Russians hacking the Co-op/M&S and cutting off our wind power and gas from Norway. The answer to the latter is simple - a new doctrine where we sink anything that looks a bit dodgy within our EEZ, which is already well within our capability. We just don't have the balls to do it.
If they invade Estonia, declare the Russian troops there "insurgents" and wipe them out without declaring war.
By contrast the next few years feel like an inevitable slide into the grasp of a highly authoritarian and disciplined Chinese state (yes I know about the aging population but I suspect that will be overcome). I doubt there will be a point of crisis that would prompt a global war - it is just not in China's interest to stoke this. Instead I suspect that we will all wake up one day to realise we have become a satellite state of China, learning Mandarin in schools and using Chinese tech with accompanying surveillance.
It will be unutterably shit if you're an out-of-favour minority but for most people it will be hard to generate the necessary outrage to spark a major conflict.
Episode 2, with its layers of meta and irony which nonetheless manages to be narratively pleasing, highly observant, loving and wry and very funny, is some of the best TV comedy-drama I have ever seen, up there with the best episodes of Community
Also @rcs1000 is the spit of S Rogan
I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.
If that's not a bloke who's seriously pissed off, I don't know what is.
You are right though, Blair, Brown and Starmer dropped the ball after the Berlin Wall fell.
"Elon was wearing thin, I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!"
https://x.com/SawyerMerritt/status/1930696602341212542
Lots of cherished spending projects will have to be sacrificed to keep Europe safe
I say that as someone with no fixed views on the subject.
You can sort of see why we've gone all in on submarines - currently they seem to be the only thing that can't be destroyed by a cheap drone smuggled somewhere local and left waiting for the ideal hour.
If the people "voted for tariffs" then they certainly also voted for taking away the EV Mandate.
I'm just amazed that Elon was stupid enough to think he could get Trump (and Republicans) to like Electric Vehicles.
Republicans hate EV's. They're not going to start liking EV's just because one EV company owner starts backing Trump.
As a society, for example, we are far too quick to praise (and overpay) wanker lawyers like Starmer and Hermer, and far too reluctant to praise the quiet engineers and workers that actually get shit done
i mean, why is Hermer a “Lord”? WTF has he done but screw the country? Why is Starmer a Sir, he is a scrote with a squeaky voice. UGH
FWIW I think Farage has decided he wants to be PM, and can only do so on an agenda which relies on the following credentials:
Trust us because we have not failed unlike all others.
We are in fact Christian democrats supporting post WWII big spend social welfare democracy, not UK as Singapore. That was a front. We want what the dimmer people of Clacton and 90% of voters want - free stuff. For now we need you to believe we can do it a lot cheaper, but you will find out later that we can't.
We are GB nationalists and want almost closed borders BUT we are not opposed to any group among the present lawfully resident population because the ultra right alternative is too violent to contemplate.
Opposition to the burqa trashes Farage's current intentions.
https://youtu.be/La9ZlDkxXT4?si=hCaqbpZvVij7Jvz6
I think a bigger 'misspeak' might have been his £7bn (was that it?) DEI savings in a Youtube interview, then saying he'd back it up later and apparently not being able to. He looked fairly shattered too.
He has been very vocal on the thing we don't discuss on PB that rhymes with booming bangs, so I don't think he necesarily fits into a pro-Burqa stereotype. I would imagine he is at least comfortable with different views on it.
I wasn't even interested in the show until I heard the review on Kermode & Mayo, and when I realised Catherine O'Hara and Kathryn Hahn were in it I thought I'd better check it out. Not only did it live up to the hype I think it exceeded it for me at least.
I don't think he would won't want to be out of GB News - if that could happen - as imo he is building his retirement fund, and would want to be secure within one more term.