'President Donald Trump has said that he will withhold funding for New York City if presumptive Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor after November’s general election and doesn’t do the “right thing.”
O/T, and because some posters kindly expressed an interest last week, here is my weekly pic of our self-build. And, oh my, it's exciting - we now have a floor (well sub-floor). Woo-hoo!
Thought Matthew Syed's piece in the Times today deserves wider circulation. He hits the nail on the head.
"Our only chance is for more people — pundits, politicians, informed voters — to stop pussyfooting around and call out the root cause of the crisis in democracy. It isn’t hopeless leaders or weak PMs but the denialism and entitlement of the people who put them there. The more we make this case, explain it, expound it, the higher the probability that the delusion will be exposed and the electorate will come to see what was true all along. Fairies don’t exist at the bottom of the garden, state payouts can’t keep rising faster than growth (any more than rights can keep outpacing responsibilities) and no matter how much you shut your eyes and wish it were so, two plus two will never equal five."
As I am here I should also add that Palestine is nowhere near the most pressing issue facing this country regardless of how many Islamists we elect to parliament or how many trendies parade around in their black and white scarves.
Yes and no. Certainly there is little attempt to explain honestly the situation, $15bn black hole nonsense when you borrow more than that in a month. However, the economy hasn't been growing for years, until it does, you are never going to escape the cycle even if you do cut back the state somewhat.
I am not sure the electorate are close to wanting to hear the truth though. See the reaction to the suggestion at the GE that perhaps we shouldn't send quite so many kids to university...and now the WFA or benefit cuts, when the pension went up more than the WFA cut and the benefit cuts would effect people but aren't that large in terms of the overall budgets.
I agree this is 'yes and no'. Syed isn't blaming 'hopeless leaders or weak PMs', he isn't blaming himself as he is one of the enlightened, he isn't blaming his readers who are clearly 'we' and not 'they' and also amonmg the illuminati. He can't point the finger at PBers who are as well.
What's left? Some other rather unnamed people who are a bit dim, entitled and in denial. Gosh.
It seems to me that dealing with unreality and getting people to where they are not very willing to go is exactly what the claim to legitimate leadership is about. Most of us don't think we are up to it, at PM/CoE level. Those that are there are making that claim to leadership. Syed absolves them too fast. I cannot see how else his wish can be fulfilled except by outstanding leadership.
The People have forfeit the confidence of The Political Class
Like all things that go wrong, it's a confluence of factors.
Being a politician is shit. Therefore it doesn't attract the talent it used to. Therefore, we get shit leaders. Therefore the world gets a little worse, and we trust politicians a little less.
Rinse and repeat until we get someone really awful
Indeed.
It’s just farcical when the clowns think the problem is audience.
The audience does become the problem when it becomes impossible to deliver what it wants. The current audience demands more of everything paid for by somebody else. Short of an economic miracle no government is going to satisfy the current audience.
We have sadly got to the state where a government can only get elected by lying to the voters. It should therefore come as no surprise that we get the governments that we do and deservedly so.
And this is what the Tories need to do now, lay the groundwork for being the economic sanity party. Tell people the difficult things they don't want to hear. Make the case for sound finance and not borrowing hundreds of billions per year to keep the lights on.
The SiC semiconductor market - which was to have been a driver of industry growth in the west - seems to have to gone the same way as solar. China has pretty well wiped out the competition.
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
What needed to be explained to the people was, what changed in 2004? How did we ever cope without huge levels of immigration?
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
Drivel. Net immigration to the UK from the EU was positive from 2016 to 2021 and thereafter negative in tiny numbers. No replacement was involved. Augmentation, possibly.
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
Sunak tightened the rules and net immigration is now declining
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
Drivel. Net immigration to the UK from the EU was positive from 2016 to 2021 and thereafter negative in tiny numbers. No replacement was involved. Augmentation, possibly.
How very dare you.
I suspect statistics will suggest that Eastern Europeans have returned in droves since 2019 until today. The dates you have picked (i.e from the Referendum) do not make sense in the context of the Starmerwave.
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
Sunak tightened the rules and net immigration is now declining
Why are you Tories claiming net immigration is bad when Sir Boris told you what he was going to do and why he did it? You are all picking random dates to make your point that net immigration under the Tories was under control by the end. I am suggesting it was under control since 2019, but not for the reasons you are all suggesting.
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
Drivel. Net immigration to the UK from the EU was positive from 2016 to 2021 and thereafter negative in tiny numbers. No replacement was involved. Augmentation, possibly.
How very dare you.
I suspect statistics will suggest that Eastern Europeans have returned in droves since 2019 until today. The dates you have picked (i.e from the Referendum) do not make sense in the context of the Starmerwave.
Let's ask the ONS:
Net positive until 2021, then small net negative. Were it not for covid, it probably would have been net positive all along.
Points for using "how very dare you" unironically though. Recherché.
'President Donald Trump has said that he will withhold funding for New York City if presumptive Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor after November’s general election and doesn’t do the “right thing.”
I just tried to like a TSE comment from earlier (about tongue in cheek lawyer loving posts), and Vanilla had to verify that I'm human
Yes, it's a new thing. It'll be interesting to see which posters suddenly drop off the site because it will probably be those that were not human.
I have a list of names I'm particularly tracking. Would not (before you ask) dream of disclosing it. But let's see how many on my list survive.
How many lists do you have?
Wasn't Peter Lilley the last politician to have a little list?
(Would any ambitious politician dare do a Gilbert and Sullivan parody these days?)
Finally someone has found my cultural reference point. Sir Kier could appear as King Gama from Princess Ida:
Each little fault of temper and each social defect In my erring fellow-creatures, I endeavour to correct. To all their little weaknesses I open people's eyes; And little plans to snub the self-sufficient I devise; I love my fellow creatures — I do all the good I can — Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man! And I can't think why!
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
Drivel. Net immigration to the UK from the EU was positive from 2016 to 2021 and thereafter negative in tiny numbers. No replacement was involved. Augmentation, possibly.
How very dare you.
I suspect statistics will suggest that Eastern Europeans have returned in droves since 2019 until today. The dates you have picked (i.e from the Referendum) do not make sense in the context of the Starmerwave.
Let's ask the ONS:
Net positive until 2021, then small net negative. Were it not for covid, it probably would have been net positive all along.
Points for using "how very dare you" unironically though. Recherché.
Yes, but the EU net figure needs to be post 2019 and from 2020 we see a clear decline.
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
Drivel. Net immigration to the UK from the EU was positive from 2016 to 2021 and thereafter negative in tiny numbers. No replacement was involved. Augmentation, possibly.
How very dare you.
I suspect statistics will suggest that Eastern Europeans have returned in droves since 2019 until today. The dates you have picked (i.e from the Referendum) do not make sense in the context of the Starmerwave.
Let's ask the ONS:
Net positive until 2021, then small net negative. Were it not for covid, it probably would have been net positive all along.
Points for using "how very dare you" unironically though. Recherché.
Yes, but the EU net figure needs to be post 2019 and from 2020 we see a clear decline.
A million boriswave was needed to "replace" 50000 lost europeans?
The proposals themselves do sound very condescending - the idea people are not engaged with politics because of the Commons says Divisions is silly - but it does sound like when people focus on very small things they can change, as a substitute for tacking big issues they know they cannot, and fool themselves they are achieving great things.
You want to change the terminology, fine, but that it alienates the public is just stupid; most of the public don't know who parliament even works - nor do many MPs for that matter! - so they don't know about the termonology to be confused by it.
The proposals themselves do sound very condescending - the idea people are not engaged with politics because of the Commons says Divisions is silly - but it does sound like when people focus on very small things they can change, as a substitute for tacking big issues they know they cannot, and fool themselves they are achieving great things.
You want to change the terminology, fine, but that it alienates the public is just stupid; most of the public don't know who parliament even works - nor do many MPs for that matter! - so they don't know about the termonology to be confused by it.
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
Drivel. Net immigration to the UK from the EU was positive from 2016 to 2021 and thereafter negative in tiny numbers. No replacement was involved. Augmentation, possibly.
How very dare you.
I suspect statistics will suggest that Eastern Europeans have returned in droves since 2019 until today. The dates you have picked (i.e from the Referendum) do not make sense in the context of the Starmerwave.
Let's ask the ONS:
Net positive until 2021, then small net negative. Were it not for covid, it probably would have been net positive all along.
Points for using "how very dare you" unironically though. Recherché.
Yes, but the EU net figure needs to be post 2019 and from 2020 we see a clear decline.
A million boriswave was needed to "replace" 50000 lost europeans?
Evidently. Don't blame me, ask Sir Boris why it was needed. And Starmerwave please. How do you expect a Boris redux if you are blaming him for mass immigration?
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
I had streaky sweet smoked bacon, slowly baked so the meat stays chewy and the fat goes crispy, with mushroom pâté and Dijon mustard in crispy white rolls
It was delicious and I'm definitely doing it again
And is it so remote that people tie dead rats to fences?
I’m in the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria. It was a five hour drive from Sofia to my hotel. On increasingly insane roads - the last hour - OMG
It really is one of the last pockets of untouched wilderness in Europe. Lots of bears and wolves. Lynx. Superb birdlife. Incredible variety of flora - 60% of Europe’s flower species can be found here
It feels more like a remote place in the Caucasus than “Europe”
I'm going on Saturday.
My wife is originally from there and Bulgaria is remarkably overlooked by Britons, especially Plovdiv which is beautiful.
Hunt is by far the most intelligent and capable person left in the Tory party but I very much doubt if he could hold the party together. I am not sure anyone can.
The proposals themselves do sound very condescending - the idea people are not engaged with politics because of the Commons says Divisions is silly - but it does sound like when people focus on very small things they can change, as a substitute for tacking big issues they know they cannot, and fool themselves they are achieving great things.
You want to change the terminology, fine, but that it alienates the public is just stupid; most of the public don't know who parliament even works - nor do many MPs for that matter! - so they don't know about the termonology to be confused by it.
Displacement activity
Indeed. But this one is particularly weird to me - do they really think the word Bill is confusing to people? And if they do, why would 'proposed law' be any better, since no doubt people would be just as confused by the word Law?
This is like Douglas Carswell acting like a populist hero for Periscoping (remember that?) things in Parliament.
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
Drivel. Net immigration to the UK from the EU was positive from 2016 to 2021 and thereafter negative in tiny numbers. No replacement was involved. Augmentation, possibly.
How very dare you.
I suspect statistics will suggest that Eastern Europeans have returned in droves since 2019 until today. The dates you have picked (i.e from the Referendum) do not make sense in the context of the Starmerwave.
Let's ask the ONS:
Net positive until 2021, then small net negative. Were it not for covid, it probably would have been net positive all along.
Points for using "how very dare you" unironically though. Recherché.
Yes, but the EU net figure needs to be post 2019 and from 2020 we see a clear decline.
A million boriswave was needed to "replace" 50000 lost europeans?
Evidently. Don't blame me, ask Sir Boris why it was needed. And Starmerwave please. How do you expect a Boris redux if you are blaming him for mass immigration?
Who says I'm against immigration? Even mass immigration? Just pointing out that the "Brexodus" was largely nonsense.
Who won the F1 championship by one point in 1976? Who is the best qualified person to be the Tory leader but isn't going to be? Who led the 1953 Everest expedition? Who played Jamie Buchman in Mad About You?
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
"William Sitwell All that’s left of Wimbledon is AI, no line judges and a strawberry sandwich As M&S and the All England Club join the cult of soulless modern innovations, another part of tennis tradition is lost" (£)
Hunt is by far the most intelligent and capable person left in the Tory party but I very much doubt if he could hold the party together. I am not sure anyone can.
They've not solved the mix of those who wish they were Reform and those who hate Reform. Probably will just end up merging and the latter will fade away into irrelevance. Only question then is whether the new entity keeps the brand or mergers that too - the Conservative and Unionist Reform party.
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
There is a bit of a flaw in this assessment....finding a half competent to be put in charge of the pennies. Yvette Cooper is the only one I can think of.
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
He was rather disappointing as CoE.
He stabilised the economy after Truss and Kwarteng.
He isn't the right leader now but if Starmer was replaced by Rayner as Labour leader then a Hunt led Tories would be the main centrist party again between Rayner Labour on the left and Farage's Reform on the right. He could also win back some LDs in the home counties to the Tories from Davey
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
He was rather disappointing as CoE.
He stabilised the economy after Truss and Kwarteng.
He isn't the right leader now but if Starmer was replaced by Rayner as Labour leader then a Hunt led Tories would be the main centre party again between Rayner Labour on the left and Farage's Reform on the right. He could also win back some LDs in the home counties from Davey
Far too many political wheezes for my liking rather than addressing some crucial issues. It felt all a bit Gordon Brown at times.
And is it so remote that people tie dead rats to fences?
I’m in the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria. It was a five hour drive from Sofia to my hotel. On increasingly insane roads - the last hour - OMG
It really is one of the last pockets of untouched wilderness in Europe. Lots of bears and wolves. Lynx. Superb birdlife. Incredible variety of flora - 60% of Europe’s flower species can be found here
It feels more like a remote place in the Caucasus than “Europe”
I'm going on Saturday.
My wife is originally from there and Bulgaria is remarkably overlooked by Britons, especially Plovdiv which is beautiful.
Plovdiv is nice, has some good Roman remains and a nice town centre with restaurants and some craft beer bars
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
He was rather disappointing as CoE.
I don't think he was.
He did actual Tory stuff, aside from dropping the 45p rate to the 100k tax trap cut-off point.
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
He was rather disappointing as CoE.
He came in to raise Corporation Tax from 19% to 25%, when his true belief was that it should be 15%. That wasn't a great start, though it's true that that start wasn't really of his own choosing.
He also seems like a nice guy and fairly able.
He isn't the man to lead the Tories, but he would absolutely do a better job than Mel Stride as Shadow COTE.
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
There is a bit of a flaw in this assessment....finding a half competent to be put in charge of the pennies. Yvette Cooper is the only one I can think of.
Why do people keep saying cooper is competent...the only thing I can think of she has piloted was hips and that was hardly a resounding success apart from that what has she ever accomplished?
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
There is a bit of a flaw in this assessment....finding a half competent to be put in charge of the pennies. Yvette Cooper is the only one I can think of.
Why do people keep saying cooper is competent...the only thing I can think of she has piloted was hips and that was hardly a resounding success apart from that what has she ever accomplished?
As if Lewis Goodall wouldn't be in favour of letting a million people in in any other circumstance.
It is a spurious argument as the UK needed immigrant workers to keep the wheels turning after the baddies from the East of Europe returned home after Brexit. Sir Boris was very candid that the shortfall could be replaced by our friends from the Indian Subcontinent. At the time it was a Brexit necessity.
What needed to be explained to the people was, what changed in 2004? How did we ever cope without huge levels of immigration?
The pure energy harvested from muttering about the weather.
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
Yes. Hunt understands the core economic problem this country faces, and I think could carve out a solid political space and a credible team to do something about it.
He's also got a book out now, which is very much future focused, which is a clear sign he's still in the game.
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
There is a bit of a flaw in this assessment....finding a half competent to be put in charge of the pennies. Yvette Cooper is the only one I can think of.
Why do people keep saying cooper is competent...the only thing I can think of she has piloted was hips and that was hardly a resounding success apart from that what has she ever accomplished?
We have lowered the bar to half competent....
Hips doesn't even hit the bar for half competent it was a catastrophuck
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
Yes. Hunt understands the core economic problem this country faces, and I think could carve out a solid political space and a credible team to do something about it.
He's also got a book out now, which is very much future focused, which is a clear sign he's still in the game.
The Tory Party is the team. There are only 100 MPs - the Shadow Cabinet is going to look very similar regardless of who runs it.
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
There is a bit of a flaw in this assessment....finding a half competent to be put in charge of the pennies. Yvette Cooper is the only one I can think of.
Why do people keep saying cooper is competent...the only thing I can think of she has piloted was hips and that was hardly a resounding success apart from that what has she ever accomplished?
We have lowered the bar to half competent....
Hips doesn't even hit the bar for half competent it was a catastrophuck
I thinking more her time as Chief Secretary to the Treasury when all the shit was hitting the fan. But I realise there is serious barrel scraping going on.
Who else? None of them have experience of business, hardly any with an economics background....We have done Dodds and now Reeves.
I just tried to like a TSE comment from earlier (about tongue in cheek lawyer loving posts), and Vanilla had to verify that I'm human
Yes, it's a new thing. It'll be interesting to see which posters suddenly drop off the site because it will probably be those that were not human.
I have a list of names I'm particularly tracking. Would not (before you ask) dream of disclosing it. But let's see how many on my list survive.
I can't tell if you're being droll or not. Do you really think there are regular posters who are artificial?
I've been artificial since 2005.
[He still hasn't figured it out yet]
I know I'm artificial But don't put the blame on me I was reared with appliances In a consumer society When I put on my make-up The pretty little mask not me That's the way a girl should be
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
There is a bit of a flaw in this assessment....finding a half competent to be put in charge of the pennies. Yvette Cooper is the only one I can think of.
Why do people keep saying cooper is competent...the only thing I can think of she has piloted was hips and that was hardly a resounding success apart from that what has she ever accomplished?
We have lowered the bar to half competent....
Hips doesn't even hit the bar for half competent it was a catastrophuck
I thinking more her time as Chief Secretary to the Treasury when all the shit was hitting the fan. But I realise there is serious barrel scraping going on.
Who else? None of them have experience of business, hardly any with an economics background....
And what were her achievements there because I cant think of one
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
He was rather disappointing as CoE.
He came in to raise Corporation Tax from 19% to 25%, when his true belief was that it should be 15%. That wasn't a great start, though it's true that that start wasn't really of his own choosing.
He also seems like a nice guy and fairly able.
He isn't the man to lead the Tories, but he would absolutely do a better job than Mel Stride as Shadow COTE.
He's someone who recognises fiscal conservatism comes first and then, when you've got spending and the budget under control, you can do the stuff you really like.
NEW: Keir Starmer plans to win back “authoritarian leaning” voters by increasing Labour’s messaging on crime and controlling immigration
Number 10’s strategy team recommended advertising in supermarkets, on buses, and with social media influencers
Seems a bit Soviet to have government propaganda in the supermarket as you do your weekly shop.
Social media influencers? KSI is going to tell everybody Starmer's a great bloke, tough on crime and going to have less foreigners coming in?
I imagine most social media influencers will run a mile as the whole thing of being a influencer this faux independence, I am your mate, you can trust me, para-social relationship. Now obviously they are just brand-deal whores (YouTube / TikTok revenue doesn't pay the big bills these days), but being successful at it you work hard to seem grounded and independent.
'Wounded PM gone in a year say allies of Angela Rayner'
'Allies of Angela Rayner expect Sir Keir Starmer to be ousted within 12 months – with the Deputy Prime Minister most likely to succeed him in No 10.
Last week's humiliating Government U-turn over planned £5 billion cuts to welfare has left the Prime Minister 'gravely wounded' and unlikely to lead the party into the next election, the allies said.
After rebel MPs forced Sir Keir to row back on the reforms, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been left with a further £3 billion black hole in her finances, raising the prospect of more tax rises in the autumn...
The turmoil – ahead of Sir Keir's first anniversary as Prime Minister on Saturday – comes as a poll for today's Mail on Sunday found that 61 per cent of voters think Sir Keir should quit as Prime Minister.
According to the survey by Find Out Now, only 25 per cent think Sir Keir will still be in Downing Street by the next election, with even Labour supporters split 50/50 on the question. Futhermore, a total of 64 per cent think that Ms Reeves should be fired by Sir Keir.
Ms Rayner tops the list of ministerial candidates to succeed Sir Keir among all voters – and boasts commanding support from the party and union members who would vote in a leadership contest.
The Rayner ally told The Mail on Sunday: 'I think Angela will be the leader. "
I'm not sure quite how Labour would 'oust' a sitting leader in the next few months. Unless he reads out his own resignation having not read it first, of course.
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
What is the point of the Conservatives changing leaders right now, being the leader of the Opposition after you have been well and truely sacked by the electorate is always going to be an utterly thankless task that first couple of years because the voters are just not going to give you a hearing? It really wouldn't matter who we had elected, especially with Reform being seen as the anti establishment party and virtually having their own 24 news channel platform. Changing leaders right now would be a really stupid own goal and deliver the kind of negative publicity the party needs like a hole in the head, and just while Keir Starmer's Premiership is totally imploding.
I like plain speaking Kemi Badenoch and I think the party made the right choice, and I think that she is growing into the role of leader and needs to be given the space to rebuild the party from the bottom up just as Cameron got to do despite a lot of similar early criticism. And we have no idea yet who is even going to be leading the Labour Government or even Reform come the next GE.
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
There is a bit of a flaw in this assessment....finding a half competent to be put in charge of the pennies. Yvette Cooper is the only one I can think of.
Why do people keep saying cooper is competent...the only thing I can think of she has piloted was hips and that was hardly a resounding success apart from that what has she ever accomplished?
We have lowered the bar to half competent....
Hips doesn't even hit the bar for half competent it was a catastrophuck
I thinking more her time as Chief Secretary to the Treasury when all the shit was hitting the fan. But I realise there is serious barrel scraping going on.
Who else? None of them have experience of business, hardly any with an economics background....
And what were her achievements there because I cant think of one
The stationary was always ordered on time. Very rare to find a printer, photocopier of fax in want of paper.
Attention to detail like that is what we need in these troubled times.
Even in Norway they're experiencing computer errors.
"Scores of Norwegians thought they had become millionaires after receiving a notification from the state-owned gambling company saying they had won eye-watering sums - until it turned out it was a mistake.
"Several thousand" people who won prizes in the Eurojackpot were notified of incorrect amounts on Friday, Norsk Tipping said. The company declined to confirm the exact number of those impacted to the BBC.
Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen apologised and resigned a day later."
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
He was rather disappointing as CoE.
He came in to raise Corporation Tax from 19% to 25%, when his true belief was that it should be 15%. That wasn't a great start, though it's true that that start wasn't really of his own choosing.
He also seems like a nice guy and fairly able.
He isn't the man to lead the Tories, but he would absolutely do a better job than Mel Stride as Shadow COTE.
He's someone who recognises fiscal conservatism comes first and then, when you've got spending and the budget under control, you can do the stuff you really like.
That tax hike will end up costing the exchequer money in the medium term. Ireland has far lower rates of CT and makes a lot more in CT receipts than the UK. Raising CT isn't a money-maker, as Hunt himself knew, hence his platform in the leadership election being to reduce it to 15%.
He chose to sacrifice that principle to get the gig. I don't necessarily blame him for that - if he hadn't done it, someone else would. But let's not pretend it was a wise economic move, because it wasn't.
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
There is a bit of a flaw in this assessment....finding a half competent to be put in charge of the pennies. Yvette Cooper is the only one I can think of.
Why do people keep saying cooper is competent...the only thing I can think of she has piloted was hips and that was hardly a resounding success apart from that what has she ever accomplished?
We have lowered the bar to half competent....
Hips doesn't even hit the bar for half competent it was a catastrophuck
I thinking more her time as Chief Secretary to the Treasury when all the shit was hitting the fan. But I realise there is serious barrel scraping going on.
Who else? None of them have experience of business, hardly any with an economics background....
And what were her achievements there because I cant think of one
The stationary was always ordered on time. Very rare to find a printer, photocopier of fax in want of paper.
Attention to detail like that is what we need in these troubled times.
I would hope details like that dont really ever cross the chief secretary of the treasuries desk for starters so I am assuming you cant actually think of a concrete example of what she achieved either
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
He was rather disappointing as CoE.
He came in to raise Corporation Tax from 19% to 25%, when his true belief was that it should be 15%. That wasn't a great start, though it's true that that start wasn't really of his own choosing.
He also seems like a nice guy and fairly able.
He isn't the man to lead the Tories, but he would absolutely do a better job than Mel Stride as Shadow COTE.
He's someone who recognises fiscal conservatism comes first and then, when you've got spending and the budget under control, you can do the stuff you really like.
I'm pretty confident that that is his underlying belief.
Shame he spoiled it with those NI cuts... The fiscal situation really didn't justify them.
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
What is the point of the Conservatives changing leaders right now, being the leader of the Opposition after you have been well and truely sacked by the electorate is always going to be an utterly thankless task that first couple of years because the voters are just not going to give you a hearing? It really wouldn't matter who we had elected, especially with Reform being seen as the anti establishment party and virtually having their own 24 news channel platform. Changing leaders right now would be a really stupid own goal and deliver the kind of negative publicity the party needs like a hole in the head, and just while Keir Starmer's Premiership is totally imploding.
I like plain speaking Kemi Badenoch and I think the party made the right choice, and I think that she is growing into the role of leader and needs to be given the space to rebuild the party from the bottom up just as Cameron got to do despite a lot of similar early criticism. And we have no idea yet who is even going to be leading the Labour Government or even Reform come the next GE.
Probably one of the tax cuts that'd be the biggest drivers of growth is removing the 100k cliff edge, including the childcare voucher removal, just because it would ensure that many people who currently do 3 or 4 days a week to stay beneath it would suddenly find it worth their while to do 5 days or take a new job in the 100-125k band and we'd get a major economic boost.
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
There is a bit of a flaw in this assessment....finding a half competent to be put in charge of the pennies. Yvette Cooper is the only one I can think of.
Why do people keep saying cooper is competent...the only thing I can think of she has piloted was hips and that was hardly a resounding success apart from that what has she ever accomplished?
I'd forgotten about Hips. Utter pointlessness. Hard to believe that got off the ground.
Do you remember Yvette's terrible graphics in the 2015 leadership contest?
Probably one of the tax cuts that'd be the biggest drivers of growth is removing the 100k cliff edge, including the childcare voucher removal, just because it would ensure that many people who currently do 3 or 4 days a week to stay beneath it would suddenly find it worth their while to do 5 days or take a new job in the 100-125k band and we'd get a major economic boost.
The fact no government has sorted this for donkey years is crazy. Yes they will get the "tax break for the rich" headline, but 2-3 years down the line they would be able to demonstrate it raises more revenue.
There was a tax change that Osborne made (which I can't remember exact details), he got the same incoming and then the next year should up and was able to say it now raises more revenue and that was the end of that. So much so I can't even remember the change.
The proposals themselves do sound very condescending - the idea people are not engaged with politics because of the Commons says Divisions is silly - but it does sound like when people focus on very small things they can change, as a substitute for tacking big issues they know they cannot, and fool themselves they are achieving great things.
You want to change the terminology, fine, but that it alienates the public is just stupid; most of the public don't know who parliament even works - nor do many MPs for that matter! - so they don't know about the termonology to be confused by it.
Displacement activity
Indeed. But this one is particularly weird to me - do they really think the word Bill is confusing to people? And if they do, why would 'proposed law' be any better, since no doubt people would be just as confused by the word Law?
This is like Douglas Carswell acting like a populist hero for Periscoping (remember that?) things in Parliament.
Perhaps they had a focus group and the group said they didn't know what Parliament did?
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
He was rather disappointing as CoE.
He came in to raise Corporation Tax from 19% to 25%, when his true belief was that it should be 15%. That wasn't a great start, though it's true that that start wasn't really of his own choosing.
He also seems like a nice guy and fairly able.
He isn't the man to lead the Tories, but he would absolutely do a better job than Mel Stride as Shadow COTE.
He's someone who recognises fiscal conservatism comes first and then, when you've got spending and the budget under control, you can do the stuff you really like.
That tax hike will end up costing the exchequer money in the medium term. Ireland has far lower rates of CT and makes a lot more in CT receipts than the UK. Raising CT isn't a money-maker, as Hunt himself knew, hence his platform in the leadership election being to reduce it to 15%.
He chose to sacrifice that principle to get the gig. I don't necessarily blame him for that - if he hadn't done it, someone else would. But let's not pretend it was a wise economic move, because it wasn't.
The dumb (and cowardly) one is how no Government has had the balls to deal with the 100k cliff edge, which they seem to think fixing would be akin to another poll tax - it wouldn't - or impactful enough - it would.
The 100k threshold was set in 2009. That's worth less than 63k today, adjusted for inflation to 2025 prices.
Probably one of the tax cuts that'd be the biggest drivers of growth is removing the 100k cliff edge, including the childcare voucher removal, just because it would ensure that many people who currently do 3 or 4 days a week to stay beneath it would suddenly find it worth their while to do 5 days or take a new job in the 100-125k band and we'd get a major economic boost.
The fact no government has sorted this for donkey years is crazy. Yes they will get the "tax break for the rich" headline, but 2-3 years down the line they would be able to demonstrate it raises more revenue.
There was a tax change that Osborne made (which I can't remember exact details), he got the same incoming and then the next year should up and was able to say it now raises more revenue and that was the end of that. So much so I can't even remember the change.
The proposals themselves do sound very condescending - the idea people are not engaged with politics because of the Commons says Divisions is silly - but it does sound like when people focus on very small things they can change, as a substitute for tacking big issues they know they cannot, and fool themselves they are achieving great things.
You want to change the terminology, fine, but that it alienates the public is just stupid; most of the public don't know who parliament even works - nor do many MPs for that matter! - so they don't know about the termonology to be confused by it.
Whether you call it a division or a vote is immaterial. If they want to modernise, make it an electronic vote in 30 seconds, rather than missing about for 20 minutes trooping through the lobbies.
Probably one of the tax cuts that'd be the biggest drivers of growth is removing the 100k cliff edge, including the childcare voucher removal, just because it would ensure that many people who currently do 3 or 4 days a week to stay beneath it would suddenly find it worth their while to do 5 days or take a new job in the 100-125k band and we'd get a major economic boost.
The fact no government has sorted this for donkey years is crazy. Yes they will get the "tax break for the rich" headline, but 2-3 years down the line they would be able to demonstrate it raises more revenue.
There was a tax change that Osborne made (which I can't remember exact details), he got the same incoming and then the next year should up and was able to say it now raises more revenue and that was the end of that. So much so I can't even remember the change.
Also, the Tories have got to learn that people are going to say this about them anyway, no matter what they do, even if they went round Bootle dressed in rags whilst whipping themselves raw whilst chanting Marx and throwing around every last gold sovereign they had.
No-one really cares.
So, they may as well accept it and double-down on the one area where they can rebuild a brand: fiscal and economic competence.
I hope he can be convinced to run for leader when Kemi gets deposed after the conference. I'd take Jenrick at a push because he clearly knows how to work social media and say the right things, Hunt would actually be a good leader IMO.
He was rather disappointing as CoE.
He came in to raise Corporation Tax from 19% to 25%, when his true belief was that it should be 15%. That wasn't a great start, though it's true that that start wasn't really of his own choosing.
He also seems like a nice guy and fairly able.
He isn't the man to lead the Tories, but he would absolutely do a better job than Mel Stride as Shadow COTE.
He's someone who recognises fiscal conservatism comes first and then, when you've got spending and the budget under control, you can do the stuff you really like.
That tax hike will end up costing the exchequer money in the medium term. Ireland has far lower rates of CT and makes a lot more in CT receipts than the UK. Raising CT isn't a money-maker, as Hunt himself knew, hence his platform in the leadership election being to reduce it to 15%.
He chose to sacrifice that principle to get the gig. I don't necessarily blame him for that - if he hadn't done it, someone else would. But let's not pretend it was a wise economic move, because it wasn't.
The dumb (and cowardly) one is how no Government has had the balls to deal with the 100k cliff edge, which they seem to think fixing would be akin to another poll tax - it wouldn't - or impactful enough - it would.
The 100k threshold was set in 2009. That's worth less than 63k today, adjusted for inflation to 2025 prices.
Comments
Trump called Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, a “pure communist.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/trump-says-he-ll-withhold-money-from-new-york-if-mamdani-becomes-mayor-and-doesn-t-do-the-right-thing/ar-AA1HE8nJ?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=fce3447812d44657ae4a39949d9eb57e&ei=9
Ooh my goodness.
LOL
LBC
@LBC
‘You don’t let in a million people by mistake… A mistake is me forgetting my keys.’
https://x.com/LBC/status/1939277090932597213
eta snap StuartinRomford !
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgx3ekkw1eo
I suspect statistics will suggest that Eastern Europeans have returned in droves since 2019 until today. The dates you have picked (i.e from the Referendum) do not make sense in the context of the Starmerwave.
Net positive until 2021, then small net negative. Were it not for covid, it probably would have been net positive all along.
Points for using "how very dare you" unironically though. Recherché.
Each little fault of temper and each social defect
In my erring fellow-creatures, I endeavour to correct.
To all their little weaknesses I open people's eyes;
And little plans to snub the self-sufficient I devise;
I love my fellow creatures — I do all the good I can —
Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man! And I can't think why!
You want to change the terminology, fine, but that it alienates the public is just stupid; most of the public don't know who parliament even works - nor do many MPs for that matter! - so they don't know about the termonology to be confused by it.
These performers - they're just children, really. Much of what they say will be irritating, none of it needs reporting on.
BIS flashing the warning light at the government. I think market appetite for UK sovereign debt is much lower than is currently being priced by the OBR/Treasury.
Things could get very messy, very quickly and Starmer will be forced to sack Reeves and put someone half competent in charge to restore confidence and push through a £150bn package of spending cuts and tax rises.
I had streaky sweet smoked bacon, slowly baked so the meat stays chewy and the fat goes crispy, with mushroom pâté and Dijon mustard in crispy white rolls
It was delicious and I'm definitely doing it again
My wife is originally from there and Bulgaria is remarkably overlooked by Britons, especially Plovdiv which is beautiful.
This is like Douglas Carswell acting like a populist hero for Periscoping (remember that?) things in Parliament.
Who is the best qualified person to be the Tory leader but isn't going to be?
Who led the 1953 Everest expedition?
Who played Jamie Buchman in Mad About You?
All that’s left of Wimbledon is AI, no line judges and a strawberry sandwich
As M&S and the All England Club join the cult of soulless modern innovations, another part of tennis tradition is lost" (£)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2025/06/29/wimbledon-tennis-ai-technology/
Do they have an Obelisk of Light at Glastonbury, as well?
He isn't the right leader now but if Starmer was replaced by Rayner as Labour leader then a Hunt led Tories would be the main centrist party again between Rayner Labour on the left and Farage's Reform on the right. He could also win back some LDs in the home counties to the Tories from Davey
He did actual Tory stuff, aside from dropping the 45p rate to the 100k tax trap cut-off point.
He also seems like a nice guy and fairly able.
He isn't the man to lead the Tories, but he would absolutely do a better job than Mel Stride as Shadow COTE.
I blame global warming for our current malaise.
Centre court: Fognini v Alcaraz, Badosa v Boulter, Rinderknech v Zverev
Number 1 court: Sabalenka v Branstine, Fearnley v Fonseca, Raducanu v Xu
https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/schedule/index.html
He's also got a book out now, which is very much future focused, which is a clear sign he's still in the game.
[He still hasn't figured it out yet]
https://x.com/politlcsuk/status/1939397481810239664
NEW: Keir Starmer plans to win back “authoritarian leaning” voters by increasing Labour’s messaging on crime and controlling immigration
Number 10’s strategy team recommended advertising in supermarkets, on buses, and with social media influencers
Who else? None of them have experience of business, hardly any with an economics background....We have done Dodds and now Reeves.
But don't put the blame on me
I was reared with appliances
In a consumer society
When I put on my make-up
The pretty little mask not me
That's the way a girl should be
great song
Social media influencers? KSI is going to tell everybody Starmer's a great bloke, tough on crime and going to have less foreigners coming in?
I imagine most social media influencers will run a mile as the whole thing of being a influencer this faux independence, I am your mate, you can trust me, para-social relationship. Now obviously they are just brand-deal whores (YouTube / TikTok revenue doesn't pay the big bills these days), but being successful at it you work hard to seem grounded and independent.
I like plain speaking Kemi Badenoch and I think the party made the right choice, and I think that she is growing into the role of leader and needs to be given the space to rebuild the party from the bottom up just as Cameron got to do despite a lot of similar early criticism. And we have no idea yet who is even going to be leading the Labour Government or even Reform come the next GE.
Attention to detail like that is what we need in these troubled times.
"Scores of Norwegians thought they had become millionaires after receiving a notification from the state-owned gambling company saying they had won eye-watering sums - until it turned out it was a mistake.
"Several thousand" people who won prizes in the Eurojackpot were notified of incorrect amounts on Friday, Norsk Tipping said. The company declined to confirm the exact number of those impacted to the BBC.
Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen apologised and resigned a day later."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c15wn70v7z8o
He chose to sacrifice that principle to get the gig. I don't necessarily blame him for that - if he hadn't done it, someone else would. But let's not pretend it was a wise economic move, because it wasn't.
Shame he spoiled it with those NI cuts... The fiscal situation really didn't justify them.
Do you remember Yvette's terrible graphics in the 2015 leadership contest?
There was a tax change that Osborne made (which I can't remember exact details), he got the same incoming and then the next year should up and was able to say it now raises more revenue and that was the end of that. So much so I can't even remember the change.
Who knows.
It is almost at Cones Hotline level.
The 100k threshold was set in 2009. That's worth less than 63k today, adjusted for inflation to 2025 prices.
He cut the top rate from 50p to 45p.
No-one really cares.
So, they may as well accept it and double-down on the one area where they can rebuild a brand: fiscal and economic competence.