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Whatever happened to Rebecca Long-Bailey? She was the future once. – politicalbetting.com

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  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 44,191
    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    The people that didn’t vote for them?
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,938
    eek said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Is the Vanilla embed on the main site down again?

    nope, I'm posting from it
    I'm seeing comments closed?
  • isamisam Posts: 42,128
    GIN1138 said:

    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    Remember, they were elected to "end the chaos" 😂
    We said we will stop the chaos. And we will.

    We said we will turn the page. And we have.

    The work of change begins today.

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1809123938066211032?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,042

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Total net migration in 1997 was 48,000. We're on course for that kind of number from small boats alone this year.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,908
    isam said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    Remember, they were elected to "end the chaos" 😂
    We said we will stop the chaos. And we will.

    We said we will turn the page. And we have.

    The work of change begins today.

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1809123938066211032?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
    "change"

    about all youll be left with when Reeves hikes taxes up again
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,922
    edited July 1
    As so often in Norway, having hiked up a mountain in the daytime drizzle, it’s now gloriously warm and sunny of an evening, and with sunset time here 2305 today, there’s plenty of time for a walk, once my dinner of mixed seafood, roast beef and venison, and almond cake, has settled down.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,779

    https://x.com/WarMonitor3/status/1940095070100705423

    Trump hinting at deporting naturalised citizens in recent speech:
    Trump- “We also have a lot of bad people that have been here for a long time… many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here too"

    An unusual level of self awareness from Trump.
  • eekeek Posts: 30,493
    GIN1138 said:

    eek said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Is the Vanilla embed on the main site down again?

    nope, I'm posting from it
    I'm seeing comments closed?
    That's a wordpress plugin that's separate to the Vanilla embed. If you aren't seeing 100 posts with the most recent first something is wrong on your browser...
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,504

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Total net migration in 1997 was 48,000. We're on course for that kind of number from small boats alone this year.
    A gross figure can't really be close to a net figure. Numbers don't compare like that.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,275
    The Argie surrenders on Court One.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 66,608
    What an epic mess. I like Timms. He seems to spent decades being a welfare minister or shadow minister. It's not his mess.

    This is Reeves.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,938

    Who should Sir Keir be sacking for this debacle?

    I think Rachel will get the chop but when PMs lose their Chancellor it often signals the end is near for them too...
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,275
    AstraZeneca’s chief executive has discussed shifting the company’s stock market listing to the US in a move that would deal a huge blow to London.

    Sir Pascal Soriot has reportedly spoken of his desire to move the listing to the US in private meetings and suggested moving AstraZeneca’s domicile away from the UK.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/07/01/astrazeneca-may-quit-london-in-blow-to-ailing-stock-market/
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,348
    Voting on the amendment now
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,042
    edited July 1
    carnforth said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Total net migration in 1997 was 48,000. We're on course for that kind of number from small boats alone this year.
    A gross figure can't really be close to a net figure. Numbers don't compare like that.

    I assume the small boat figure is net too, unless we have people escaping across the Channel to France.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,889

    Who should Sir Keir be sacking for this debacle?

    Himself. A year ago Labour were elected with such a massive majority that they could have ignored the right wing media and put through policies that would have benefited their natural support. Instead, by being Rishi Mk2, he has lost his support to Reform.
    I have a message for Starmer. You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go
  • isamisam Posts: 42,128
    He definitely needs somebody else to write his tweets


  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 66,608
    GIN1138 said:

    Who should Sir Keir be sacking for this debacle?

    I think Rachel will get the chop but when PMs lose their Chancellor it often signals the end is near for them too...
    She should get the chop, whether she will is another matter.

    Although if Starmer is cynical he has very little to lose dumping her as she is extremely unpopular.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,348
    Amendment fails by miles, now voting on the bill
  • isamisam Posts: 42,128
    Good from Reform

    One year of Starmer, one year of u-turns.

    https://x.com/reformparty_uk/status/1940102452310917203?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q

  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 45,997
    edited July 1
    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    It's the equivalent of another Swindon every six years!
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,042
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    It's the equivalent of another Swindon every six years!
    What's the gender balance like in this New Swindon?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,549

    carnforth said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Total net migration in 1997 was 48,000. We're on course for that kind of number from small boats alone this year.
    A gross figure can't really be close to a net figure. Numbers don't compare like that.

    I assume the small boat figure is net too, unless we have people escaping across the Channel to France.
    Well, presumably some of the people who've arrived by boat in the last few years will have been deported or left of their own accord.
  • berberian_knowsberberian_knows Posts: 116
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    It's the equivalent of another Swindon every six years!
    Oh god, we don't need any more Swindons
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,348
    edited July 1
    42 Labour MPs backed the amendment
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 45,997

    https://x.com/WarMonitor3/status/1940095070100705423

    Trump hinting at deporting naturalised citizens in recent speech:
    Trump- “We also have a lot of bad people that have been here for a long time… many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here too"

    If only he could focus on dealing with the actual 'bad people' in America. It ought to be easy. The biggest of them is right there in the mirror.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 39,003
    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Labour backbenchers have rediscovered that Labour is "a moral crusade or it is nothing." ?

    Sort of implies that other political parties are less moral than Labour.
    One can make that case.
    But, not with sincerity.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 28,105
    OT: An interesting project in National Parks for 'more accessible paths', called "Mile without Stiles".

    They work with 3 levels of "accessibility":

    For All
    Gradients will be no more than 1:10. The surface will be tarmac or compacted stone with a diameter of 10mm or less. Suitable for pushchairs and unassisted wheelchairs.

    Miles without Stiles - Access For Many
    For Many
    Gradients may be up to 1:8 on newly built sections. The surfacing will be stone of 4cm diameter or less. Suitable for assisted wheelchairs and more robust, all-terrain type equipment.

    Miles without Stiles - Access For Some
    For Some
    Slopes greater than 1:8 will have improved surfacing or handrails. Stone surfacing will be less than 10cm in diameter and steps or breaks less than 10cm in height. Suitable for robust all-terrain type equipment and off-road mobility vehicles.


    (I would quibble with those definitions - they need another level at the top with 1:20 hills max and sealed surfaces, but it's good to see some things being done nonetheless.)

    50 Lake District Routes:
    https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/things-to-do/walking/mileswithoutstiles

    20 Peak District Routes:
    https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/visiting/miles-without-stiles
  • LeonLeon Posts: 62,442
    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,348
    Bill passes second reading 335 to 260
    Biggish rebellion
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 45,997

    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    If you think this is bad just wait until the doctors fk Wes Streeting
    Oh no, it's laconic reactionary man of the world time.

    It's almost enough to put me off putting the finishing touches to my summer sausage pasta speciality.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 45,997
    Sean_F said:

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Labour backbenchers have rediscovered that Labour is "a moral crusade or it is nothing." ?

    Sort of implies that other political parties are less moral than Labour.
    One can make that case.
    But, not with sincerity.
    Disagree. I'll give it a shot one day.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 45,997
    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    I have a bunker play lesson lined up. First one ever. Natural talent only takes you so far.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,823
    Never had a doubt :lol:
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 45,997

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    It's the equivalent of another Swindon every six years!
    What's the gender balance like in this New Swindon?
    Yawn. You should have retired for today with your 'indicative vote' quip.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,823
    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    This particular trainspotter voted LEAVE :lol:
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 66,608
    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    Nobody says earning a living is easy. Suck up the flint.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,455

    MattW said:

    Common sense from Le Pen:

    https://x.com/MLP_officiel/status/1940003469487677683

    Air conditioning saves lives.

    Leaving children, the elderly, or vulnerable people to suffer because there is no air conditioning, rather than developing an air conditioning plan, is completely absurd.

    To fail to plan is to plan to fail.

    Which planet is she on?
    Planet normal. Climate austerity is killing people. Every home should have air conditioning.
    Will soon be added to PIP don't worry
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,799
    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    Er. Many of us. You were the mug who voted for them.
  • RandallFlaggRandallFlagg Posts: 1,418
    isam said:

    He definitely needs somebody else to write his tweets


    If it happens... gonna be funny when you try and defend Farage's train wreck of a government in around five years time.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,348
    Starmer caved on just about everything and still had 49 rebels and 100 knocked off his majority.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 62,442
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    I have a bunker play lesson lined up. First one ever. Natural talent only takes you so far.
    I think you’re notably boring and cramped and closeted and middlebrow and sadly incurious. You know this. I’ve never hidden it. Nor have you ever
    hidden your wincing petit bourgeois distaste for my appalling racist blah blah whatever

    Fair enough

    But the truth is this is worse than being on holiday with you. This is like being on holiday with an ultra distilled platinum tipped version of your worst traits, multiplied into a dozen people, and served up with deep frozen trout somehow burned to radioactive blackness in a land full of fresh trout

    I want to go back on heroin. I have three more days to go
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,455
    IanB2 said:

    MikeL said:

    It's very clear - once you start handing money out to people you can't stop.

    Article on the BBC last week said in many (most?) countries, disabled people get their additional costs paid for, ie:

    - if they need equipment, Govt buys the equipment
    - if they need taxis, Govt pays the taxi company

    etc etc.

    That would change the whole dynamic and dramatically reduce amount paid out re mental health.

    Certainly it seems that the well-meaning desire to have mental health issues treated with equivalence to physical ones is a big reason why we’re now in this financial mess. For while there are undoubtedly many people with serious mental health issues meriting treatment and support, it is also easier to fake a mental health condition, as the many videos on social media telling people how to complete their PiP claims clearly indicate, and without any face to face assessment it’s obvious that people who shouldn’t be getting the benefit are slipping through.
    It is pathetic , any tom dick or Harry can get PIP, benefits etc etc. An absolute shambles. how can we hav e26% disabled versus Europe which is less than a quarter of that. Freeloaders is the answer
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,732
    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    I expected them to be a little worse really.

    I'm really impressed with Starmer and Reeves in particular.

    Obviously it's a Labour government, so one has to adjust ones perspective. (And if I put party politics aside for a moment I can honestly say that they are an improvement. Dreadful but an improvement.)

    Party politics still off - they really have the most ghastly set of MPs on their benches.

    Party politics on, and with the mega super battery pack fully charged... The Tories will do far better once they are returned to power.


    We really are in a pickle, and the only really clear and obvious thing is that the whole Farage show (let's call it the FSS) would be far worse. I suspect that there are sensible politicians somewhere in the FSS - they need to do something a bit special. (Habib, Lowe, and anyone so far to have wasted our time are definitely FSS. Worse still are the should-be-in-prison-on-general-principles mob)
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,348
    Tories asking for the bill to be pulled from committee stages next week, speaker refers them to the government for decision.
  • TazTaz Posts: 19,420
    Raise taxes on the productive part of the economy to bankroll the non productive part.

    Well,done Starmer.

    Useless.

    We’re riding for a fall sooner rather than later.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 78,879
    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    Just get pissed ?
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,799
    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    Just get pissed ?
    Too late. I think he already is.
  • TazTaz Posts: 19,420

    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    If you think this is bad just wait until the doctors fk Wes Streeting
    He will just roll over and give them what they want and present it as a win
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,348
    IFS state removing clause 5 (4 point pip thing) means this bill will now INCREASE the welfare bill by 100 million a year
    Utter catastrophe for the government and they still had 49 rebels
  • LeonLeon Posts: 62,442

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    Nobody says earning a living is easy. Suck up the flint.
    True. Whenever, in future, someone says “oh Leon you have an easy life drifting from place to place as other people pay” I shall point them at THIS assignment and say “I too have suffered”

    I should get an extra hardship payment

    The next time a retired Librarian from Newent with his wife Moira says “oh WE never read the daily mail” like it’s some lifetime achievement of BBC-approved beigeness I’m going to take my tiny Bulgarian cutlery and stick it in his f*cking rheumy eyeball
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,275
    Leon, I have DMed you.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,732

    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    If you think this is bad just wait until the doctors fk Wes Streeting
    Compare and contrast the rewards available to Doctors, Tube Drivers and those seeking to work 35 hours a week with 51 weeks holiday in the private sector. Your answer should not contain screaming.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,504
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    Nobody says earning a living is easy. Suck up the flint.
    True. Whenever, in future, someone says “oh Leon you have an easy life drifting from place to place as other people pay” I shall point them at THIS assignment and say “I too have suffered”

    I should get an extra hardship payment

    The next time a retired Librarian from Newent with his wife Moira says “oh WE never read the daily mail” like it’s some lifetime achievement of BBC-approved beigeness I’m going to take my tiny Bulgarian cutlery and stick it in his f*cking rheumy eyeball
    Turn them against each other. Quiet words in ears, false rumours and so on. Then retire and watch the fireworks.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 62,442
    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    Just get pissed ?
    I’m somehow so paralysed with painful boredom I can’t even work up the energy to drink the local moonshine. Or anything

    Tomorrow I may have to try. Either that or I jump down the nearest karstic cave
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 45,997
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    I have a bunker play lesson lined up. First one ever. Natural talent only takes you so far.
    I think you’re notably boring and cramped and closeted and middlebrow and sadly incurious. You know this. I’ve never hidden it. Nor have you ever
    hidden your wincing petit bourgeois distaste for my appalling racist blah blah whatever

    Fair enough

    But the truth is this is worse than being on holiday with you. This is like being on holiday with an ultra distilled platinum tipped version of your worst traits, multiplied into a dozen people, and served up with deep frozen trout somehow burned to radioactive blackness in a land full of fresh trout

    I want to go back on heroin. I have three more days to go
    That was chatbot, wasn't it.

    "Do me 75 words in the style of a pretentious, self-admiring man of a certain age who confuses a vocabulary plus hackneyed reactionary mindset with intellect and originality."
  • LeonLeon Posts: 62,442
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    I have a bunker play lesson lined up. First one ever. Natural talent only takes you so far.
    I think you’re notably boring and cramped and closeted and middlebrow and sadly incurious. You know this. I’ve never hidden it. Nor have you ever
    hidden your wincing petit bourgeois distaste for my appalling racist blah blah whatever

    Fair enough

    But the truth is this is worse than being on holiday with you. This is like being on holiday with an ultra distilled platinum tipped version of your worst traits, multiplied into a dozen people, and served up with deep frozen trout somehow burned to radioactive blackness in a land full of fresh trout

    I want to go back on heroin. I have three more days to go
    That was chatbot, wasn't it.

    "Do me 75 words in the style of a pretentious, self-admiring man of a certain age who confuses a vocabulary plus hackneyed reactionary mindset with intellect and originality."
    Nope, that was 100% hand carved artisanal me, with all its flaws, and served with real human passion

    This is grim. Also, YOGHURT. The only remotely edible food here is the yoghurt
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 78,879
    The usual self serving rubbish from a GOP "moderate" who voted for Trump's latest excrescence.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5379603-murkowski-gop-tax-bill/
    ...Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) labeled the process that brought her to vote for the GOP’s gargantuan tax and spending package “agonizing” and said she hopes more is done to improve the bill, including through both the Senate and House going to conference to finalize it.
    Murkowski told reporters after the vote that she “struggled mightily” with the impact cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could have on vulnerable populations...


    "It's so hard for me; I feel awful about crapping on all you voters".
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 31,934
    isam said:

    He definitely needs somebody else to write his tweets


    Points for honesty though.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,348
    edited July 1
    Im honestly not sure what the market reaction will be to the government showing its fiscal probity by reforming welfare in a way that increases the bill by 100 million a year instead of saving 5 billion
  • LeonLeon Posts: 62,442
    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    Nobody says earning a living is easy. Suck up the flint.
    True. Whenever, in future, someone says “oh Leon you have an easy life drifting from place to place as other people pay” I shall point them at THIS assignment and say “I too have suffered”

    I should get an extra hardship payment

    The next time a retired Librarian from Newent with his wife Moira says “oh WE never read the daily mail” like it’s some lifetime achievement of BBC-approved beigeness I’m going to take my tiny Bulgarian cutlery and stick it in his f*cking rheumy eyeball
    Turn them against each other. Quiet words in ears, false rumours and so on. Then retire and watch the fireworks.
    lol! That’s actually not a bad idea

    There are two slightly interesting guys here. One is a mad tattooed retired hippy from Devizes but he’s weirdly taken to his bed with some “gastric illness”. I suspect he’s faking and he’s fine he just can’t bear it any more
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 40,259
    https://www.financialexpress.com/business/brandwagon-how-jaguars-rebranding-gamble-triggered-a-98-collapse-in-sales-3899142/

    "For decades, Jaguar stood for a blend of British engineering, performance, and luxury, an identity that helped the brand build loyalty among customers who valued refinement and heritage. But in its attempt to reinvent itself for a new era, Jaguar now finds itself facing one of the most severe sales declines seen in the European automotive market. In April 2025, the company registered just 49 vehicles in Europe, a 97.5% drop from 1,961 units sold during the same month the previous year."

    Have we done this yet?

    I'm sure there were some other factors but this is absolutely hilarious. Go woke...
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,922
    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    Just get pissed ?
    I’m somehow so paralysed with painful boredom I can’t even work up the energy to drink the local moonshine. Or anything

    Tomorrow I may have to try. Either that or I jump down the nearest karstic cave
    Go back to your room and practice your kalsarikännit ready for Finland; not that you need any practice, being an expert already from when at home.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 78,879
    edited July 1
    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    Just get pissed ?
    I’m somehow so paralysed with painful boredom I can’t even work up the energy to drink the local moonshine. Or anything

    Tomorrow I may have to try. Either that or I jump down the nearest karstic cave
    I have to confess I'm loving the idea of your bring driven to distraction by a group if harmless septuagenarians.

    Just think of it as a gentle corrective to the belief that the world owes you constant entertainment.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,504
    edited July 1
    MaxPB said:

    https://www.financialexpress.com/business/brandwagon-how-jaguars-rebranding-gamble-triggered-a-98-collapse-in-sales-3899142/

    "For decades, Jaguar stood for a blend of British engineering, performance, and luxury, an identity that helped the brand build loyalty among customers who valued refinement and heritage. But in its attempt to reinvent itself for a new era, Jaguar now finds itself facing one of the most severe sales declines seen in the European automotive market. In April 2025, the company registered just 49 vehicles in Europe, a 97.5% drop from 1,961 units sold during the same month the previous year."

    Have we done this yet?

    I'm sure there were some other factors but this is absolutely hilarious. Go woke...

    The factor is they stopped making cars....

    https://www.topgear.com/car-news/business/jaguar-has-stopped-building-xe-xf-and-f-type-i-pace-and-e-pace-stop-dec
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,821
    tlg86 said:

    I still regret the Tories defeating that other one in Durham. She'd have beaten Starmer and been very entertaining.

    Laura 'Never Kissed a Tory' Pidcock; absolute box office, and would guarantee 1000 year Tory Reich; comedy gold, and a character, for those with long memories of the great days of the Daily Telegraph, a character straight out of Peter Simple.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 45,997
    Nigelb said:

    The usual self serving rubbish from a GOP "moderate" who voted for Trump's latest excrescence.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5379603-murkowski-gop-tax-bill/
    ...Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) labeled the process that brought her to vote for the GOP’s gargantuan tax and spending package “agonizing” and said she hopes more is done to improve the bill, including through both the Senate and House going to conference to finalize it.
    Murkowski told reporters after the vote that she “struggled mightily” with the impact cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could have on vulnerable populations...


    "It's so hard for me; I feel awful about crapping on all you voters".

    "crapping on all you voters"

    That even has the air of taking the piss. Which is actually a non-trivial part of the Trump project.
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 25,043
    edited July 1
    carnforth said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Total net migration in 1997 was 48,000. We're on course for that kind of number from small boats alone this year.
    A gross figure can't really be close to a net figure. Numbers don't compare like that.
    I would assume the net number of people crossing the channel in small boats is pretty damned close to the gross figure, so that's not really an issue to be pedantic.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 62,442
    MaxPB said:

    https://www.financialexpress.com/business/brandwagon-how-jaguars-rebranding-gamble-triggered-a-98-collapse-in-sales-3899142/

    "For decades, Jaguar stood for a blend of British engineering, performance, and luxury, an identity that helped the brand build loyalty among customers who valued refinement and heritage. But in its attempt to reinvent itself for a new era, Jaguar now finds itself facing one of the most severe sales declines seen in the European automotive market. In April 2025, the company registered just 49 vehicles in Europe, a 97.5% drop from 1,961 units sold during the same month the previous year."

    Have we done this yet?

    I'm sure there were some other factors but this is absolutely hilarious. Go woke...

    Ahahahaha

    Thanks for cheering me up

    That is surely the End of Wokeness. That’s it. Right there

    No one wants this shit any more and now it is actively and powerfully hated. I bet my fellow holidaymakers in the Rhodopes thoroughly approve of the new Jaguar branding
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,577

    IFS state removing clause 5 (4 point pip thing) means this bill will now INCREASE the welfare bill by 100 million a year
    Utter catastrophe for the government and they still had 49 rebels

    Hah, so much for saving money.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,979
    carnforth said:

    MaxPB said:

    https://www.financialexpress.com/business/brandwagon-how-jaguars-rebranding-gamble-triggered-a-98-collapse-in-sales-3899142/

    "For decades, Jaguar stood for a blend of British engineering, performance, and luxury, an identity that helped the brand build loyalty among customers who valued refinement and heritage. But in its attempt to reinvent itself for a new era, Jaguar now finds itself facing one of the most severe sales declines seen in the European automotive market. In April 2025, the company registered just 49 vehicles in Europe, a 97.5% drop from 1,961 units sold during the same month the previous year."

    Have we done this yet?

    I'm sure there were some other factors but this is absolutely hilarious. Go woke...

    The factor is they stopped making cars....

    https://www.topgear.com/car-news/business/jaguar-has-stopped-building-xe-xf-and-f-type-i-pace-and-e-pace-stop-dec
    Yes, that does rather adversely impact the sales figures.

  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 25,043
    carnforth said:

    MaxPB said:

    https://www.financialexpress.com/business/brandwagon-how-jaguars-rebranding-gamble-triggered-a-98-collapse-in-sales-3899142/

    "For decades, Jaguar stood for a blend of British engineering, performance, and luxury, an identity that helped the brand build loyalty among customers who valued refinement and heritage. But in its attempt to reinvent itself for a new era, Jaguar now finds itself facing one of the most severe sales declines seen in the European automotive market. In April 2025, the company registered just 49 vehicles in Europe, a 97.5% drop from 1,961 units sold during the same month the previous year."

    Have we done this yet?

    I'm sure there were some other factors but this is absolutely hilarious. Go woke...

    The factor is they stopped making cars....

    https://www.topgear.com/car-news/business/jaguar-has-stopped-building-xe-xf-and-f-type-i-pace-and-e-pace-stop-dec
    Suddenly their rebrand makes sense.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,979

    carnforth said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Total net migration in 1997 was 48,000. We're on course for that kind of number from small boats alone this year.
    A gross figure can't really be close to a net figure. Numbers don't compare like that.
    I would assume the net number of people crossing the channel in small boats is pretty damned close to the gross figure, so that's not really an issue to be pedantic.
    Certainly it's been fine boating weather this spring.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,821

    Im honestly not sure what the market reaction will be to the government showing its fiscal probity by reforming welfare in a way that increases the bill by 100 million a year instead of saving 5 billion

    Is the number of Labour MPs on the media who are sure that welfare must be reformed but have not a single thought as to a single measure which would save a farthing a finite one or is it, as appears, infinite?
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,827
    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    Just get pissed ?
    I’m somehow so paralysed with painful boredom I can’t even work up the energy to drink the local moonshine. Or anything

    Tomorrow I may have to try. Either that or I jump down the nearest karstic cave
    Rakija is quite drinkable (although the best I've had was in Peja, Kosovo, and made from hazelnuts). Bulgarian wine is good, but craft beer probably hasn't made it to the Rhodopes
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,821
    MaxPB said:

    https://www.financialexpress.com/business/brandwagon-how-jaguars-rebranding-gamble-triggered-a-98-collapse-in-sales-3899142/

    "For decades, Jaguar stood for a blend of British engineering, performance, and luxury, an identity that helped the brand build loyalty among customers who valued refinement and heritage. But in its attempt to reinvent itself for a new era, Jaguar now finds itself facing one of the most severe sales declines seen in the European automotive market. In April 2025, the company registered just 49 vehicles in Europe, a 97.5% drop from 1,961 units sold during the same month the previous year."

    Have we done this yet?

    I'm sure there were some other factors but this is absolutely hilarious. Go woke...

    Is this a spoof or true? They did a sort of rebrand recently in pink which elicited some hilarity on PB. I decided on the spot to stick to the 12 year old Micra because I wanted some cred with the gang.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,922
    Europe is awash with record numbers of US tourists this year, says the FT. Certainly my anecdotal experience so far.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 40,259
    IanB2 said:

    Europe is awash with record numbers of US tourists this year, says the FT. Certainly my anecdotal experience so far.

    London is as well, can't move around without bumping into US tourists. It definitely feels more than previous years.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,510

    AstraZeneca’s chief executive has discussed shifting the company’s stock market listing to the US in a move that would deal a huge blow to London.

    Sir Pascal Soriot has reportedly spoken of his desire to move the listing to the US in private meetings and suggested moving AstraZeneca’s domicile away from the UK.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/07/01/astrazeneca-may-quit-london-in-blow-to-ailing-stock-market/

    That would be really bad, but the warning signs for this have been visible for a long while now, not that there's been any evidence of anyone in government particularly noticing, so we could hardly say that it would be a surprise.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 15,661
    IanB2 said:

    Europe is awash with record numbers of US tourists this year, says the FT. Certainly my anecdotal experience so far.

    They’ve all been complaining about the lack of a/c (as has Marine Le Pen).
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,922
    TimS said:

    IanB2 said:

    Europe is awash with record numbers of US tourists this year, says the FT. Certainly my anecdotal experience so far.

    They’ve all been complaining about the lack of a/c (as has Marine Le Pen).
    Unlike many US hotels, ours typically have a window that actually opens
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 5,102
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    I have a bunker play lesson lined up. First one ever. Natural talent only takes you so far.
    My best advice for bunkers is not to hit it in them.

    Easy. That's saved you the £50.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,979
    What brought down Johnson despite his massive majority was sending out ministers to defend the indefensible, only to leave them swinging when he changed the policy. Starmer seems to be copying his modus operandi.

    Is there any one willing to run the "Save Big Donkey" campaign, or will the crown pass to the delightful Ms Rayner? She wouldn't have pushed this bill so incompetently. She is good at politics.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,821
    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    Er. Many of us. You were the mug who voted for them.
    I voted for them too. The troubling thing is that they were and still are the best option for government available.

    Does anyone seriously think that Reform have or will have a workable 10 year plan for sane government? Millions of their voters are from the group most dependent on the welfare state in every aspect.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 15,661
    algarkirk said:

    MaxPB said:

    https://www.financialexpress.com/business/brandwagon-how-jaguars-rebranding-gamble-triggered-a-98-collapse-in-sales-3899142/

    "For decades, Jaguar stood for a blend of British engineering, performance, and luxury, an identity that helped the brand build loyalty among customers who valued refinement and heritage. But in its attempt to reinvent itself for a new era, Jaguar now finds itself facing one of the most severe sales declines seen in the European automotive market. In April 2025, the company registered just 49 vehicles in Europe, a 97.5% drop from 1,961 units sold during the same month the previous year."

    Have we done this yet?

    I'm sure there were some other factors but this is absolutely hilarious. Go woke...

    Is this a spoof or true? They did a sort of rebrand recently in pink which elicited some hilarity on PB. I decided on the spot to stick to the 12 year old Micra because I wanted some cred with the gang.
    It’s true. They just stopped making any new cars. Having a rest.
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 25,043
    Congratulations to the Government for defeating the rebels and cutting the welfare bill by

    £5,000,000,000
    £2,000,000,000

    -£100,000,000
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,979
    MaxPB said:

    IanB2 said:

    Europe is awash with record numbers of US tourists this year, says the FT. Certainly my anecdotal experience so far.

    London is as well, can't move around without bumping into US tourists. It definitely feels more than previous years.
    Can't think why they want to get away from Trumpistan.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,504
    TimS said:

    IanB2 said:

    Europe is awash with record numbers of US tourists this year, says the FT. Certainly my anecdotal experience so far.

    They’ve all been complaining about the lack of a/c (as has Marine Le Pen).
    I booked a week in Lille in August a couple of years ago, forgetting that cheap hotels in Northern France don't have A/C. The room was was unpleasant, and sleep difficult. Decent town, though.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,348
    Foxy said:

    What brought down Johnson despite his massive majority was sending out ministers to defend the indefensible, only to leave them swinging when he changed the policy. Starmer seems to be copying his modus operandi.

    Is there any one willing to run the "Save Big Donkey" campaign, or will the crown pass to the delightful Ms Rayner? She wouldn't have pushed this bill so incompetently. She is good at politics.

    She should very publicly offer him a piece of cake and put her thug life shades on
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 40,259
    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    https://www.financialexpress.com/business/brandwagon-how-jaguars-rebranding-gamble-triggered-a-98-collapse-in-sales-3899142/

    "For decades, Jaguar stood for a blend of British engineering, performance, and luxury, an identity that helped the brand build loyalty among customers who valued refinement and heritage. But in its attempt to reinvent itself for a new era, Jaguar now finds itself facing one of the most severe sales declines seen in the European automotive market. In April 2025, the company registered just 49 vehicles in Europe, a 97.5% drop from 1,961 units sold during the same month the previous year."

    Have we done this yet?

    I'm sure there were some other factors but this is absolutely hilarious. Go woke...

    Ahahahaha

    Thanks for cheering me up

    That is surely the End of Wokeness. That’s it. Right there

    No one wants this shit any more and now it is actively and powerfully hated. I bet my fellow holidaymakers in the Rhodopes thoroughly approve of the new Jaguar branding
    They won't approve of the new branding but they will disapprove of the people who don't like it, whisper to each other about those awful people and their bigoted views.

    This is the story of the games industry, these same types had very loud and public campaigns against "gamers" so the industry changed their output to match the new modern audience demands but it turns out they don't actually play games anyway so the big games publishers are all in trouble after seeing a number of high profile flops while smaller developers ignored it all and continued to make games with sexy female leads like Lara Croft of old and they're seeing huge success. Concord is probably going to be the biggest monetary flop in all media formats of all time for the next decade at least, $400m pissed away with zero revenue.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 128,442
    So a solid enough majority in the end for the Labour government on its welfare reforms but only due to significant concessions
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,510
    IanB2 said:

    Europe is awash with record numbers of US tourists this year, says the FT. Certainly my anecdotal experience so far.

    Tourist figures for year to date to Ireland were in the news here recently. Down overall, but a big drop in British and European tourists offset by an increase in North Americans. Here it is. NA +11%, Britain -9%, Continental Europe -21%, ROW -38%.

    The increase in North American visitors makes sense, since transatlantic airfares are down, because European tourists don't want to risk US border control.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 31,501
    IanB2 said:

    TimS said:

    IanB2 said:

    Europe is awash with record numbers of US tourists this year, says the FT. Certainly my anecdotal experience so far.

    They’ve all been complaining about the lack of a/c (as has Marine Le Pen).
    Unlike many US hotels, ours typically have a window that actually opens
    When it is 30+ outside, opening the window does not cut it.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 15,532
    MaxPB said:

    https://www.financialexpress.com/business/brandwagon-how-jaguars-rebranding-gamble-triggered-a-98-collapse-in-sales-3899142/

    "For decades, Jaguar stood for a blend of British engineering, performance, and luxury, an identity that helped the brand build loyalty among customers who valued refinement and heritage. But in its attempt to reinvent itself for a new era, Jaguar now finds itself facing one of the most severe sales declines seen in the European automotive market. In April 2025, the company registered just 49 vehicles in Europe, a 97.5% drop from 1,961 units sold during the same month the previous year."

    Have we done this yet?

    I'm sure there were some other factors but this is absolutely hilarious. Go woke...

    I'd love to believe that advert got what it deserved, but a 97.5% drop in sales? Does this really pass the sniff test?
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,348

    Congratulations to the Government for defeating the rebels and cutting the welfare bill by

    £5,000,000,000
    £2,000,000,000

    -£100,000,000

    If Kendall doesnt resign by tomorrow there is no shame in this government. No damn shame
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 40,259
    algarkirk said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    Nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats - up 48% on the first six months of 2024. The figure for the first six months of this year is also 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vv4ndl4zo

    Utterly catastrophic

    What a year of government. Dramatic failure on every front

    Who expected them to be THIS bad?
    Er. Many of us. You were the mug who voted for them.
    I voted for them too. The troubling thing is that they were and still are the best option for government available.

    Does anyone seriously think that Reform have or will have a workable 10 year plan for sane government? Millions of their voters are from the group most dependent on the welfare state in every aspect.
    Labour don't have a workable plan for government either, why are you giving them a free pass?
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,799
    IanB2 said:

    Europe is awash with record numbers of US tourists this year, says the FT. Certainly my anecdotal experience so far.

    I met a huge number in Italy (Amalfi) and Spain (Seville/Granada) this May and June. For obvious reasons I don't mention Trump as you have no idea what their views are, however 100% want to make a point of telling you, unprompted, that they want to disassociate themselves with what is happening. I assume that you can probably split the country between those that have passports and those that don't.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 31,934
    Foxy said:

    What brought down Johnson despite his massive majority was sending out ministers to defend the indefensible, only to leave them swinging when he changed the policy. Starmer seems to be copying his modus operandi.

    Is there any one willing to run the "Save Big Donkey" campaign, or will the crown pass to the delightful Ms Rayner? She wouldn't have pushed this bill so incompetently. She is good at politics.

    I favour Wes Streeting. As with any of us of course, I favour him because he appears to match my way of thinking most closely, so I fully accept most Labour supporters probably won't welcome my endorsement.

    I do think Rayner would be better than Sir though. Almost anyone would.
  • maxhmaxh Posts: 1,684
    I'm sure some of you will enjoy this: https://commoncausefoundation.org/to-face-environmental-destruction-the-uk-media-must-help-england-face-its-past/

    "Last week, I attended "Voices from the Amazon: Our Stories, Our Solutions" – an event that brought together Indigenous creatives and activists sharing their experiences with international media. For me, what was clear throughout the event is that much of the UK (specifically English) media, and, indeed, environmental activists' engagement with Indigenous communities around the world continues to be extractive, even when seemingly focussed on 'averting ecological collapse'.

    "Instead of asking Indigenous people what they can teach us, perhaps the role of the media for an English audience is to help it engage with a more fundamental question: What can white Europeans, learn about them/ourselves from our historical commitment to the genocide of Indigenous people, and how might this inform their/our understanding of our role in driving current crises?

    "This isn't about historical guilt – it's about recognising that the same patterns of domination that drove colonialism continue to fuel environmental destruction today. Until we're willing to face this honestly, our responses to climate destruction (and the many interconnected crises, including global impoverishment of peoples, inequality, genocide, white supremacy, etc) will remain superficial."
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,979

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Help

    I’m trapped in the rhodope mountains with a group of septegenarian Remainer trainspotters. It’s fucking ghastly

    I’m basically on holiday with PB. It’s not good. They are so frigging fecking f*cking boring with their tedious little lives and their pathetic little whines and their stupid Remainery moans about “the Tories” and I hate them and I’m going to throw them in a chasm tomorrow. Why are these people so dull???

    It’s like being trapped in a microlight with @kinabalu and @IanB2 for all eternity as the former enthuses about golf and the latter shows photos of his dog’s bottom and the food is cooked by BULGARIANS

    I have a bunker play lesson lined up. First one ever. Natural talent only takes you so far.
    My best advice for bunkers is not to hit it in them.

    Easy. That's saved you the £50.
    It can be very traumatic winding up in a bunker. One German Chancellor shot himself when stuck in one.
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