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10 months to go and there is still no Betfair market on the Holyrood election, this is very disappoi

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  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,725
    The further splitting of the Unionist vote by the arrival of Reform is looking like a life saver for the SNP at the moment, despite them losing roughly 1/3rd of their own vote.

    Its a tad frustrating. Scotland seriously needs a change of government to restore some sort of civic society. We have had so long with SNP placemen filling every vacancy that it would take more than a decade to clear them out. But Scottish Labour are there to make Starmer look good.

    Sigh.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 35,140

    England 25-3 now.

    Chances of rain are?????

    Less than CON GAIN BOOTLE
    Con gain anywhere ATM I would have thought!
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,308
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,904

    Cookie said:

    FPT @Gallowgate and his perfectly reasonable quibble:

    dixiedean said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I think Labour have bitten off more than they can chew with this:

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35671855/wes-streeting-more-access-fab-jabs-economy/

    BRITAIN will be “fat free” within a decade, paving the way for tax cuts worth billions of pounds, Wes Streeting declared yesterday.

    People will be fat free or dead if the jabs have some inherent vice only revealed by Streetings mass beta test.
    People have got overweight and under-fit by eating crap between meals - that only builds appetite not stops it - and zero exercise. And there’s some simple cheat that makes them fit and well?

    Nope. God has told us over and over there are no simple “cheats” to wellness and resilience - if you want happiness it must be earned.
    Living in LA, almost everyone is on ozempic. And one of the things I've noticed is that people taking it often cut their drinking back massively, and start exercising. When you are already overweight, exercise is tough and uncomfortable. Once you've lost a few kilograms (thanks to the magic of semiglutide), exercise becomes that much easier.
    I'm pretty thin and I still can't be arsed.
    I'm actually reasonably fit for a 50 year old - I cycled the width of England on Saturday - yet I'm still a massive fat bastard.
    Actually, I saw the number '14' in the 'st' column on the scales this morning for the first time in over a decade. But that's mainly because I've been ill for three days. It'll go back on as soon as I resume eating three meals a day.
    You cycled more than the width: you could have made your life a whole bunch easier by starting at Gretna Green.
    I think I did it as optimally as I could. I reckon it to be 56 miles from Rockcliffe on the Eden estuary (between Carlisle and Gretna) to Wylam on the Tyne estuary west of Newcastle, by the most direct route. Which is pretty much the route I took. Almost all traffic-minimal (tractors more common than cars) and quite a lot of traffic free. Which is a challenge, but a surprisingly short distance given it’s a trip you can practically see on the scale of a globe.
    Plus the four miles or so from Carlisle of Gretna to Rockcliffe at the start (there’s not much in it it terms of which is closer but I chose Carlisle because there is a direct train from Manchester – and indeed from Newcastle), and the ten miles or so from Wylam to Newcastle at the end (you could just get on a train at Wylam but the ten miles is flat and off road and easy). I made it 72 miles in total for the route I went. (Plus 6 miles at the start and end from my home suburb to the relevant Central Manchester stations).
    Enough to feel pleased with yourself but surprisingly doable. I recommend it. You can even choose which way around you do it depending on the wind direction on the day.
    Point of order.
    Wylam is a long way from an estuary.
    And it's 25 miles from the coast.
    Technically, the 'coast' starts where the tidal part of the river starts. On an OS map, this is depicted by the river being bounded by a black line rather than a blue line. Thus, on lists of 'which county has the longest coastline', you get unlikely entrants like 'Cambridgeshire'. The tidal bit of the Tyne - hence the 'estuary' - starts at Wylam, just by Wylam station:
    https://www.bing.com/maps/?cp=54.977184~-1.81471&lvl=13.6&style=s

    I fully accept this isn't what the common man understands by 'the Tyne estuary'.


    The tidal bit of the Thames starts at Teddington....
    Does the Thames estuary become the sea at the London Stone on the Isle of Grain or at Shoeburyness? Is the part between Teddington and the Thames Barrier generally referred to as the tidal Thames and the Thames Estuary below the barrier?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 55,440

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT @Gallowgate and his perfectly reasonable quibble:

    dixiedean said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I think Labour have bitten off more than they can chew with this:

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35671855/wes-streeting-more-access-fab-jabs-economy/

    BRITAIN will be “fat free” within a decade, paving the way for tax cuts worth billions of pounds, Wes Streeting declared yesterday.

    People will be fat free or dead if the jabs have some inherent vice only revealed by Streetings mass beta test.
    People have got overweight and under-fit by eating crap between meals - that only builds appetite not stops it - and zero exercise. And there’s some simple cheat that makes them fit and well?

    Nope. God has told us over and over there are no simple “cheats” to wellness and resilience - if you want happiness it must be earned.
    Living in LA, almost everyone is on ozempic. And one of the things I've noticed is that people taking it often cut their drinking back massively, and start exercising. When you are already overweight, exercise is tough and uncomfortable. Once you've lost a few kilograms (thanks to the magic of semiglutide), exercise becomes that much easier.
    I'm pretty thin and I still can't be arsed.
    I'm actually reasonably fit for a 50 year old - I cycled the width of England on Saturday - yet I'm still a massive fat bastard.
    Actually, I saw the number '14' in the 'st' column on the scales this morning for the first time in over a decade. But that's mainly because I've been ill for three days. It'll go back on as soon as I resume eating three meals a day.
    You cycled more than the width: you could have made your life a whole bunch easier by starting at Gretna Green.
    I think I did it as optimally as I could. I reckon it to be 56 miles from Rockcliffe on the Eden estuary (between Carlisle and Gretna) to Wylam on the Tyne estuary west of Newcastle, by the most direct route. Which is pretty much the route I took. Almost all traffic-minimal (tractors more common than cars) and quite a lot of traffic free. Which is a challenge, but a surprisingly short distance given it’s a trip you can practically see on the scale of a globe.
    Plus the four miles or so from Carlisle of Gretna to Rockcliffe at the start (there’s not much in it it terms of which is closer but I chose Carlisle because there is a direct train from Manchester – and indeed from Newcastle), and the ten miles or so from Wylam to Newcastle at the end (you could just get on a train at Wylam but the ten miles is flat and off road and easy). I made it 72 miles in total for the route I went. (Plus 6 miles at the start and end from my home suburb to the relevant Central Manchester stations).
    Enough to feel pleased with yourself but surprisingly doable. I recommend it. You can even choose which way around you do it depending on the wind direction on the day.
    Point of order.
    Wylam is a long way from an estuary.
    And it's 25 miles from the coast.
    Technically, the 'coast' starts where the tidal part of the river starts. On an OS map, this is depicted by the river being bounded by a black line rather than a blue line. Thus, on lists of 'which county has the longest coastline', you get unlikely entrants like 'Cambridgeshire'. The tidal bit of the Tyne - hence the 'estuary' - starts at Wylam, just by Wylam station:
    https://www.bing.com/maps/?cp=54.977184~-1.81471&lvl=13.6&style=s

    I fully accept this isn't what the common man understands by 'the Tyne estuary'.


    The tidal bit of the Thames starts at Teddington....
    Yes.
    So the estuary starts at Teddington? Seriously?
    Yes.
    Can I have some of what you're smoking? :lol:
    That’s the formal definition of the Tideway - everything below Teddington
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,381

    England 25-3 now.

    Chances of rain are?????

    Less than CON GAIN BOOTLE
    Con gain anywhere ATM I would have thought!
    Newark West tonight ;)
    Kemis been campaigning there today which suggests they think they've a sniff of taking it back from Reform
  • Penddu2Penddu2 Posts: 785
    Dont forget that there will be a Senedd election as well - and with current polling and the new election system there should be plenty of betting opportunities.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,381
    Penddu2 said:

    Dont forget that there will be a Senedd election as well - and with current polling and the new election system there should be plenty of betting opportunities.

    Labour's punishment beating will be a joy to bet on. They might hold on to third in seats
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,308
    Penddu2 said:

    Dont forget that there will be a Senedd election as well - and with current polling and the new election system there should be plenty of betting opportunities.

    Plaid have got my vote, and I'm not even Welsh :neutral:
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 78,927
    CatMan said:

    Nigelb said:

    Can someone explain why French and UK forces are able to shoot down Iranian drones and missiles over Israel, but can't do the same in Ukraine?

    Why is the former not considered an escalation, while the latter would be?

    https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1940760389064823062

    Nukes I guess
    Turkey shot down a Russian jet.
    No reaction.

    I really don't see how NATO jets shooting down Russian drones, targeted at civilians, over Ukraine is "escalatory".
    It's not going to invite a nuclear response that's for sure.

    "Nukes" isn't an argument.
    Israel has nukes; Iran still threw a load of missiles at them.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 5,102

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT @Gallowgate and his perfectly reasonable quibble:

    dixiedean said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I think Labour have bitten off more than they can chew with this:

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35671855/wes-streeting-more-access-fab-jabs-economy/

    BRITAIN will be “fat free” within a decade, paving the way for tax cuts worth billions of pounds, Wes Streeting declared yesterday.

    People will be fat free or dead if the jabs have some inherent vice only revealed by Streetings mass beta test.
    People have got overweight and under-fit by eating crap between meals - that only builds appetite not stops it - and zero exercise. And there’s some simple cheat that makes them fit and well?

    Nope. God has told us over and over there are no simple “cheats” to wellness and resilience - if you want happiness it must be earned.
    Living in LA, almost everyone is on ozempic. And one of the things I've noticed is that people taking it often cut their drinking back massively, and start exercising. When you are already overweight, exercise is tough and uncomfortable. Once you've lost a few kilograms (thanks to the magic of semiglutide), exercise becomes that much easier.
    I'm pretty thin and I still can't be arsed.
    I'm actually reasonably fit for a 50 year old - I cycled the width of England on Saturday - yet I'm still a massive fat bastard.
    Actually, I saw the number '14' in the 'st' column on the scales this morning for the first time in over a decade. But that's mainly because I've been ill for three days. It'll go back on as soon as I resume eating three meals a day.
    You cycled more than the width: you could have made your life a whole bunch easier by starting at Gretna Green.
    I think I did it as optimally as I could. I reckon it to be 56 miles from Rockcliffe on the Eden estuary (between Carlisle and Gretna) to Wylam on the Tyne estuary west of Newcastle, by the most direct route. Which is pretty much the route I took. Almost all traffic-minimal (tractors more common than cars) and quite a lot of traffic free. Which is a challenge, but a surprisingly short distance given it’s a trip you can practically see on the scale of a globe.
    Plus the four miles or so from Carlisle of Gretna to Rockcliffe at the start (there’s not much in it it terms of which is closer but I chose Carlisle because there is a direct train from Manchester – and indeed from Newcastle), and the ten miles or so from Wylam to Newcastle at the end (you could just get on a train at Wylam but the ten miles is flat and off road and easy). I made it 72 miles in total for the route I went. (Plus 6 miles at the start and end from my home suburb to the relevant Central Manchester stations).
    Enough to feel pleased with yourself but surprisingly doable. I recommend it. You can even choose which way around you do it depending on the wind direction on the day.
    Point of order.
    Wylam is a long way from an estuary.
    And it's 25 miles from the coast.
    Technically, the 'coast' starts where the tidal part of the river starts. On an OS map, this is depicted by the river being bounded by a black line rather than a blue line. Thus, on lists of 'which county has the longest coastline', you get unlikely entrants like 'Cambridgeshire'. The tidal bit of the Tyne - hence the 'estuary' - starts at Wylam, just by Wylam station:
    https://www.bing.com/maps/?cp=54.977184~-1.81471&lvl=13.6&style=s

    I fully accept this isn't what the common man understands by 'the Tyne estuary'.


    The tidal bit of the Thames starts at Teddington....
    Yes.
    So the estuary starts at Teddington? Seriously?
    Yes.
    Can I have some of what you're smoking? :lol:
    That’s the formal definition of the Tideway - everything below Teddington
    The spring tide reaches Doncaster, albeit down an artificial channel. I would hardly call it coastal, just flat...
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,945
    CatMan said:

    Penddu2 said:

    Dont forget that there will be a Senedd election as well - and with current polling and the new election system there should be plenty of betting opportunities.

    Plaid have got my vote, and I'm not even Welsh :neutral:
    Treading in the footsteps of our English HY
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 128,479
    From today's Popbitch

    'Grindr threw a very swanky PR party in Mayfair last week, which was, judging by the competition for guest-list, the place to be.

    But if you’re not on the list you’re not getting in, sadly. Kemi Badenoch and her team apparently discovered this to their utter despair.

    They tried to get their names on the list but we’re told absolutely not. The suspicion is that while Kemi herself was, as usual, blissfully unaware of everything going on around her, CCHQ staffers were trying to use her names to get in for themselves.'
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 78,927
    8 hours and counting.

    Jeffries stalls final vote on Trump megabill with marathon floor speech
    https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5383376-jeffries-marathon-speech-trump-bill/
  • Penddu2Penddu2 Posts: 785

    Penddu2 said:

    Dont forget that there will be a Senedd election as well - and with current polling and the new election system there should be plenty of betting opportunities.

    Labour's punishment beating will be a joy to bet on. They might hold on to third in seats
    Labour should hold third place - only because of the utter train wreck that is the Welsh Conservative party.
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,308
    edited July 3
    Nigelb said:

    CatMan said:

    Nigelb said:

    Can someone explain why French and UK forces are able to shoot down Iranian drones and missiles over Israel, but can't do the same in Ukraine?

    Why is the former not considered an escalation, while the latter would be?

    https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1940760389064823062

    Nukes I guess
    Turkey shot down a Russian jet.
    No reaction.

    I really don't see how NATO jets shooting down Russian drones, targeted at civilians, over Ukraine is "escalatory".
    It's not going to invite a nuclear response that's for sure.

    "Nukes" isn't an argument.
    Israel has nukes; Iran still threw a load of missiles at them.
    Turkey's argument was that the jet had entered their airspace, a NATO country. It might have only been for a very short time, but they had a reasonable excuse for shooting it down.

    In regards to Iran, they were the aggressor. It might have been different if *they* had nukes.

    Edit: I agree though that if we did help shoot down drones over Ukraine, Russia probably wouldn't dare respond, at least not directly.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,945
    Italy! 1:0
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,381
    Penddu2 said:

    Penddu2 said:

    Dont forget that there will be a Senedd election as well - and with current polling and the new election system there should be plenty of betting opportunities.

    Labour's punishment beating will be a joy to bet on. They might hold on to third in seats
    Labour should hold third place - only because of the utter train wreck that is the Welsh Conservative party.
    Yes. If the Tories get their shit in any way together it gets interesting. They've only 6 points to make up. That however, is a big ask with them right now
  • Penddu2Penddu2 Posts: 785
    Unfortunately the Welsh Lib Dems are too disorganised and spead too thin to knock WCon into fifth place.....that would be funny....
  • DoctorGDoctorG Posts: 88
    DavidL said:

    The further splitting of the Unionist vote by the arrival of Reform is looking like a life saver for the SNP at the moment, despite them losing roughly 1/3rd of their own vote.

    Its a tad frustrating. Scotland seriously needs a change of government to restore some sort of civic society. We have had so long with SNP placemen filling every vacancy that it would take more than a decade to clear them out. But Scottish Labour are there to make Starmer look good.

    Sigh.

    When the Scottish parliament was set up, Slab were accused of fielding a 'B' team at holyrood, when Robin Cook, Gordon Brown etc were down south serving in Blair's cabinet.

    I think current polling reflects public attitude towards the parties - ambivalence, but John swinney is seen as the safer pair of hands.

    High turnover with a lot of SNP MSPs standing down, the unknown quantity of Reform and a real lack of talent coming through won't help the level of debate in Holyrood next term.

    I think the public want change but there are no seriously inspirational figures to deliver it
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,297
    edited July 3
    Draper set down, break down....Don't panic Captain Mainwaring.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 31,511
    IanB2 said:

    Italy! 1:0

    Ladies' soccerball? The summer of sport continues. Wimbledon, test cricket, Euros, British Lions tour down under.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,904

    Penddu2 said:

    Dont forget that there will be a Senedd election as well - and with current polling and the new election system there should be plenty of betting opportunities.

    Labour's punishment beating will be a joy to bet on. They might hold on to third in seats
    Remember, folks, lt’s a year to the elections and look where we’ve travelled in the last year. Don’t panic Capt. Mainwaring!
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,297
    Some farms will be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

    Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of the post Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan will be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 35,140

    Cookie said:

    FPT @Gallowgate and his perfectly reasonable quibble:

    dixiedean said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I think Labour have bitten off more than they can chew with this:

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35671855/wes-streeting-more-access-fab-jabs-economy/

    BRITAIN will be “fat free” within a decade, paving the way for tax cuts worth billions of pounds, Wes Streeting declared yesterday.

    People will be fat free or dead if the jabs have some inherent vice only revealed by Streetings mass beta test.
    People have got overweight and under-fit by eating crap between meals - that only builds appetite not stops it - and zero exercise. And there’s some simple cheat that makes them fit and well?

    Nope. God has told us over and over there are no simple “cheats” to wellness and resilience - if you want happiness it must be earned.
    Living in LA, almost everyone is on ozempic. And one of the things I've noticed is that people taking it often cut their drinking back massively, and start exercising. When you are already overweight, exercise is tough and uncomfortable. Once you've lost a few kilograms (thanks to the magic of semiglutide), exercise becomes that much easier.
    I'm pretty thin and I still can't be arsed.
    I'm actually reasonably fit for a 50 year old - I cycled the width of England on Saturday - yet I'm still a massive fat bastard.
    Actually, I saw the number '14' in the 'st' column on the scales this morning for the first time in over a decade. But that's mainly because I've been ill for three days. It'll go back on as soon as I resume eating three meals a day.
    You cycled more than the width: you could have made your life a whole bunch easier by starting at Gretna Green.
    I think I did it as optimally as I could. I reckon it to be 56 miles from Rockcliffe on the Eden estuary (between Carlisle and Gretna) to Wylam on the Tyne estuary west of Newcastle, by the most direct route. Which is pretty much the route I took. Almost all traffic-minimal (tractors more common than cars) and quite a lot of traffic free. Which is a challenge, but a surprisingly short distance given it’s a trip you can practically see on the scale of a globe.
    Plus the four miles or so from Carlisle of Gretna to Rockcliffe at the start (there’s not much in it it terms of which is closer but I chose Carlisle because there is a direct train from Manchester – and indeed from Newcastle), and the ten miles or so from Wylam to Newcastle at the end (you could just get on a train at Wylam but the ten miles is flat and off road and easy). I made it 72 miles in total for the route I went. (Plus 6 miles at the start and end from my home suburb to the relevant Central Manchester stations).
    Enough to feel pleased with yourself but surprisingly doable. I recommend it. You can even choose which way around you do it depending on the wind direction on the day.
    Point of order.
    Wylam is a long way from an estuary.
    And it's 25 miles from the coast.
    Technically, the 'coast' starts where the tidal part of the river starts. On an OS map, this is depicted by the river being bounded by a black line rather than a blue line. Thus, on lists of 'which county has the longest coastline', you get unlikely entrants like 'Cambridgeshire'. The tidal bit of the Tyne - hence the 'estuary' - starts at Wylam, just by Wylam station:
    https://www.bing.com/maps/?cp=54.977184~-1.81471&lvl=13.6&style=s

    I fully accept this isn't what the common man understands by 'the Tyne estuary'.


    The tidal bit of the Thames starts at Teddington....
    Does the Thames estuary become the sea at the London Stone on the Isle of Grain or at Shoeburyness? Is the part between Teddington and the Thames Barrier generally referred to as the tidal Thames and the Thames Estuary below the barrier?
    There's something similar on the beach at Westcliff-on-Sea, about a mile West of Southend Pier.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 31,511
    NHS update. Saw the quack at lunchtime. Email just arrived to confirm referral but I have to log in to NHS to get the date. I'm to be scanned in a shopping centre because a lot of diagnostics has been quietly privatised.

    Because it's the private sector, the actual firm has been taken over and the new website is a screaming mess with at least one 404 but that's not the minister's fault and that's the main thing.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 36,106
    stodge said:

    More pointless speculation about the next GE but it makes the world (or rather this forum) go round...

    The Fulham Town by election is the one which interests me and is of significance to Labour, Reform, the Conservatives and the LDs.

    The Conservatives won the two seats in 2022 with Labour and the LDs not far behind - Reform were of course not involved then and are the unknown factor.

    LD gain because of swing from Con to Ref and Lab to LD. My prediction.
  • eekeek Posts: 30,509

    Some farms will be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

    Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of the post Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan will be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.

    Love to know how that will play out in those National Parks that look like they do because of the farming done there....
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,297
    edited July 3
    eek said:

    Some farms will be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

    Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of the post Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan will be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.

    Love to know how that will play out in those National Parks that look like they do because of the farming done there....
    It sounds very much like a rehash of the idiotic plan under Boris. The man from Whitehall knows best what land should be farmed and which shouldn't.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 35,140

    Cookie said:

    FPT @Gallowgate and his perfectly reasonable quibble:

    dixiedean said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I think Labour have bitten off more than they can chew with this:

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35671855/wes-streeting-more-access-fab-jabs-economy/

    BRITAIN will be “fat free” within a decade, paving the way for tax cuts worth billions of pounds, Wes Streeting declared yesterday.

    People will be fat free or dead if the jabs have some inherent vice only revealed by Streetings mass beta test.
    People have got overweight and under-fit by eating crap between meals - that only builds appetite not stops it - and zero exercise. And there’s some simple cheat that makes them fit and well?

    Nope. God has told us over and over there are no simple “cheats” to wellness and resilience - if you want happiness it must be earned.
    Living in LA, almost everyone is on ozempic. And one of the things I've noticed is that people taking it often cut their drinking back massively, and start exercising. When you are already overweight, exercise is tough and uncomfortable. Once you've lost a few kilograms (thanks to the magic of semiglutide), exercise becomes that much easier.
    I'm pretty thin and I still can't be arsed.
    I'm actually reasonably fit for a 50 year old - I cycled the width of England on Saturday - yet I'm still a massive fat bastard.
    Actually, I saw the number '14' in the 'st' column on the scales this morning for the first time in over a decade. But that's mainly because I've been ill for three days. It'll go back on as soon as I resume eating three meals a day.
    You cycled more than the width: you could have made your life a whole bunch easier by starting at Gretna Green.
    I think I did it as optimally as I could. I reckon it to be 56 miles from Rockcliffe on the Eden estuary (between Carlisle and Gretna) to Wylam on the Tyne estuary west of Newcastle, by the most direct route. Which is pretty much the route I took. Almost all traffic-minimal (tractors more common than cars) and quite a lot of traffic free. Which is a challenge, but a surprisingly short distance given it’s a trip you can practically see on the scale of a globe.
    Plus the four miles or so from Carlisle of Gretna to Rockcliffe at the start (there’s not much in it it terms of which is closer but I chose Carlisle because there is a direct train from Manchester – and indeed from Newcastle), and the ten miles or so from Wylam to Newcastle at the end (you could just get on a train at Wylam but the ten miles is flat and off road and easy). I made it 72 miles in total for the route I went. (Plus 6 miles at the start and end from my home suburb to the relevant Central Manchester stations).
    Enough to feel pleased with yourself but surprisingly doable. I recommend it. You can even choose which way around you do it depending on the wind direction on the day.
    Point of order.
    Wylam is a long way from an estuary.
    And it's 25 miles from the coast.
    Technically, the 'coast' starts where the tidal part of the river starts. On an OS map, this is depicted by the river being bounded by a black line rather than a blue line. Thus, on lists of 'which county has the longest coastline', you get unlikely entrants like 'Cambridgeshire'. The tidal bit of the Tyne - hence the 'estuary' - starts at Wylam, just by Wylam station:
    https://www.bing.com/maps/?cp=54.977184~-1.81471&lvl=13.6&style=s

    I fully accept this isn't what the common man understands by 'the Tyne estuary'.


    The tidal bit of the Thames starts at Teddington....
    Does the Thames estuary become the sea at the London Stone on the Isle of Grain or at Shoeburyness? Is the part between Teddington and the Thames Barrier generally referred to as the tidal Thames and the Thames Estuary below the barrier?
    There's something similar on the beach at Westcliff-on-Sea, about a mile West of Southend Pier.
    Memory clicked. Marker's called the Crowstone.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,297
    Jack Draper looks in big trouble here.
  • DoctorGDoctorG Posts: 88

    Some farms will be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

    Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of the post Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan will be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.

    Pretty much saying what they were doing by stealth.

    Loads of productive land will also be removed due to the increasingly prolific number of solar farms being approved. A lot of these will be done via rental agreements rather than energy companies buying the land
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 5,102
    eek said:

    Some farms will be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

    Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of the post Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan will be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.

    Love to know how that will play out in those National Parks that look like they do because of the farming done there....
    Rewilding and conservation grazing.

    The Lakes are an upland desert except in a few inaccessible places where the sheep can't reach (eg East face of Helvellyn) where a few remnant arctic/alpines remain.

    See Ennerdale (or Glen Feshie).

    I would worry about marginal land in other areas though. Going to be a wind farm gold rush
  • CookieCookie Posts: 15,536

    eek said:

    Some farms will be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

    Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of the post Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan will be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.

    Love to know how that will play out in those National Parks that look like they do because of the farming done there....
    It sounds very much like a rehash of the idiotic plan under Boris. The man from Whitehall knows best what land should be farmed and which shouldn't.
    To be fair, that's already the case in the example of those farms which are only farms because they are subsidised by the state.
    I love sheep farming, because it makes the landscape I love most look the way it does. But sheep farming doesn't, I don't think, make much economic sense. And we do far more of it in England and Wales than they do in most of Europe.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 31,511

    NHS update. Saw the quack at lunchtime. Email just arrived to confirm referral but I have to log in to NHS to get the date. I'm to be scanned in a shopping centre because a lot of diagnostics has been quietly privatised.

    Because it's the private sector, the actual firm has been taken over and the new website is a screaming mess with at least one 404 but that's not the minister's fault and that's the main thing.

    The place of my appointment does not appear on the provider's website!
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,904
    edited July 3




    The tidal bit of the Thames starts at Teddington....
    Does the Thames estuary become the sea at the London Stone on the Isle of Grain or at Shoeburyness? Is the part between Teddington and the Thames Barrier generally referred to as the tidal Thames and the Thames Estuary below the barrier?

    There's something similar on the beach at Westcliff-on-Sea, about a mile West of Southend Pier.

    Cookie said:

    FPT @Gallowgate and his perfectly reasonable quibble:

    dixiedean said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I think Labour have bitten off more than they can chew with this:

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35671855/wes-streeting-more-access-fab-jabs-economy/

    BRITAIN will be “fat free” within a decade, paving the way for tax cuts worth billions of pounds, Wes Streeting declared yesterday.

    People will be fat free or dead if the jabs have some inherent vice only revealed by Streetings mass beta test.
    People have got overweight and under-fit by eating crap between meals - that only builds appetite not stops it - and zero exercise. And there’s some simple cheat that makes them fit and well?

    Nope. God has told us over and over there are no simple “cheats” to wellness and resilience - if you want happiness it must be earned.
    Living in LA, almost everyone is on ozempic. And one of the things I've noticed is that people taking it often cut their drinking back massively, and start exercising. When you are already overweight, exercise is tough and uncomfortable. Once you've lost a few kilograms (thanks to the magic of semiglutide), exercise becomes that much easier.
    I'm pretty thin and I still can't be arsed.
    I'm actually reasonably fit for a 50 year old - I cycled the width of England on Saturday - yet I'm still a massive fat bastard.
    Actually, I saw the number '14' in the 'st' column on the scales this morning for the first time in over a decade. But that's mainly because I've been ill for three days. It'll go back on as soon as I resume eating three meals a day.
    You cycled more than the width: you could have made your life a whole bunch easier by starting at Gretna Green.
    I think I did it as optimally as I could. I reckon it to be 56 miles from Rockcliffe on the Eden estuary (between Carlisle and Gretna) to Wylam on the Tyne estuary west of Newcastle, by the most direct route. Which is pretty much the route I took. Almost all traffic-minimal (tractors more common than cars) and quite a lot of traffic free. Which is a challenge, but a surprisingly short distance given it’s a trip you can practically see on the scale of a globe.
    Plus the four miles or so from Carlisle of Gretna to Rockcliffe at the start (there’s not much in it it terms of which is closer but I chose Carlisle because there is a direct train from Manchester – and indeed from Newcastle), and the ten miles or so from Wylam to Newcastle at the end (you could just get on a train at Wylam but the ten miles is flat and off road and easy). I made it 72 miles in total for the route I went. (Plus 6 miles at the start and end from my home suburb to the relevant Central Manchester stations).
    Enough to feel pleased with yourself but surprisingly doable. I recommend it. You can even choose which way around you do it depending on the wind direction on the day.
    Point of order.
    Wylam is a long way from an estuary.
    And it's 25 miles from the coast.
    Technically, the 'coast' starts where the tidal part of the river starts. On an OS map, this is depicted by the river being bounded by a black line rather than a blue line. Thus, on lists of 'which county has the longest coastline', you get unlikely entrants like 'Cambridgeshire'. The tidal bit of the Tyne - hence the 'estuary' - starts at Wylam, just by Wylam station:
    https://www.bing.com/maps/?cp=54.977184~-1.81471&lvl=13.6&style=s

    I fully accept this isn't what the common man understands by 'the Tyne estuary'.


    The tidal bit of the Thames starts at Teddington....
    Does the Thames estuary become the sea at the London Stone on the Isle of Grain or at Shoeburyness? Is the part between Teddington and the Thames Barrier generally referred to as the tidal Thames and the Thames Estuary below the barrier?
    There's something similar on the beach at Westcliff-on-Sea, about a mile West of Southend Pier.

    Cookie said:

    FPT @Gallowgate and his perfectly reasonable quibble:

    dixiedean said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I think Labour have bitten off more than they can chew with this:

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35671855/wes-streeting-more-access-fab-jabs-economy/

    BRITAIN will be “fat free” within a decade, paving the way for tax cuts worth billions of pounds, Wes Streeting declared yesterday.

    People will be fat free or dead if the jabs have some inherent vice only revealed by Streetings mass beta test.
    People have got overweight and under-fit by eating crap between meals - that only builds appetite not stops it - and zero exercise. And there’s some simple cheat that makes them fit and well?

    Nope. God has told us over and over there are no simple “cheats” to wellness and resilience - if you want happiness it must be earned.
    Living in LA, almost everyone is on ozempic. And one of the things I've noticed is that people taking it often cut their drinking back massively, and start exercising. When you are already overweight, exercise is tough and uncomfortable. Once you've lost a few kilograms (thanks to the magic of semiglutide), exercise becomes that much easier.
    I'm pretty thin and I still can't be arsed.
    I'm actually reasonably fit for a 50 year old - I cycled the width of England on Saturday - yet I'm still a massive fat bastard.
    Actually, I saw the number '14' in the 'st' column on the scales this morning for the first time in over a decade. But that's mainly because I've been ill for three days. It'll go back on as soon as I resume eating three meals a day.
    You cycled more than the width: you could have made your life a whole bunch easier by starting at Gretna Green.
    I think I did it as optimally as I could. I reckon it to be 56 miles from Rockcliffe on the Eden estuary (between Carlisle and Gretna) to Wylam on the Tyne estuary west of Newcastle, by the most direct route. Which is pretty much the route I took. Almost all traffic-minimal (tractors more common than cars) and quite a lot of traffic free. Which is a challenge, but a surprisingly short distance given it’s a trip you can practically see on the scale of a globe.
    Plus the four miles or so from Carlisle of Gretna to Rockcliffe at the start (there’s not much in it it terms of which is closer but I chose Carlisle because there is a direct train from Manchester – and indeed from Newcastle), and the ten miles or so from Wylam to Newcastle at the end (you could just get on a train at Wylam but the ten miles is flat and off road and easy). I made it 72 miles in total for the route I went. (Plus 6 miles at the start and end from my home suburb to the relevant Central Manchester stations).
    Enough to feel pleased with yourself but surprisingly doable. I recommend it. You can even choose which way around you do it depending on the wind direction on the day.
    Point of order.
    Wylam is a long way from an estuary.
    And it's 25 miles from the coast.
    Technically, the 'coast' starts where the tidal part of the river starts. On an OS map, this is depicted by the river being bounded by a black line rather than a blue line. Thus, on lists of 'which county has the longest coastline', you get unlikely entrants like 'Cambridgeshire'. The tidal bit of the Tyne - hence the 'estuary' - starts at Wylam, just by Wylam station:
    https://www.bing.com/maps/?cp=54.977184~-1.81471&lvl=13.6&style=s

    I fully accept this isn't what the common man understands by 'the Tyne estuary'.


    The tidal bit of the Thames starts at Teddington....
    Does the Thames estuary become the sea at the London Stone on the Isle of Grain or at Shoeburyness? Is the part between Teddington and the Thames Barrier generally referred to as the tidal Thames and the Thames Estuary below the barrier?
    There's something similar on the beach at Westcliff-on-Sea, about a mile West of Southend Pier.
    They marked the end of the City of London’s jurisdiction over the Thames. There is another at Staines to mark the upper boundary.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,297
    edited July 3
    Oh FFS, BBC commentators talk absolute bullshit about machine learning models for predicting sports outcomes on the tennis....talking about they don't understand "match-ups". That is exactly what they f##king do.

    Do they not realise that the likes of Bet365 have incredible real time models for predicting tennis. It makes them a fortune. As did the courtsiders.
  • DoctorGDoctorG Posts: 88

    eek said:

    Some farms will be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

    Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of the post Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan will be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.

    Love to know how that will play out in those National Parks that look like they do because of the farming done there....
    Rewilding and conservation grazing.

    The Lakes are an upland desert except in a few inaccessible places where the sheep can't reach (eg East face of Helvellyn) where a few remnant arctic/alpines remain.

    See Ennerdale (or Glen Feshie).

    I would worry about marginal land in other areas though. Going to be a wind farm gold rush
    Yes, what subsidy schemes are left are all going that way (nature restoration). National parks will likely still be largely wind farm free, the rest of the uplands will be deemed fair game for turbines.

    The average age of farmers is a lot older in the uplands and hills. The government know those guys without successors won't be there forever, plus it'll save a bit of money long term if there are less upland farms and nature takes its course.

    Quite a few villages in southern Scotland now have more wind farms in the vicinity than human residents
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,904
    DoctorG said:

    DavidL said:

    The further splitting of the Unionist vote by the arrival of Reform is looking like a life saver for the SNP at the moment, despite them losing roughly 1/3rd of their own vote.

    Its a tad frustrating. Scotland seriously needs a change of government to restore some sort of civic society. We have had so long with SNP placemen filling every vacancy that it would take more than a decade to clear them out. But Scottish Labour are there to make Starmer look good.

    Sigh.

    When the Scottish parliament was set up, Slab were accused of fielding a 'B' team at holyrood, when Robin Cook, Gordon Brown etc were down south serving in Blair's cabinet.

    I think current polling reflects public attitude towards the parties - ambivalence, but John swinney is seen as the safer pair of hands.

    High turnover with a lot of SNP MSPs standing down, the unknown quantity of Reform and a real lack of talent coming through won't help the level of debate in Holyrood next term.

    I think the public want change but there are no seriously inspirational figures to deliver it
    Are there any inspirational figures in any field, in the UK at least?
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,519
    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,297
    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Not the lovely Emma?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,029
    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Not yet. Back to win in 5 is feasible in this sort of match.
  • DoctorGDoctorG Posts: 88

    DoctorG said:

    DavidL said:

    The further splitting of the Unionist vote by the arrival of Reform is looking like a life saver for the SNP at the moment, despite them losing roughly 1/3rd of their own vote.

    Its a tad frustrating. Scotland seriously needs a change of government to restore some sort of civic society. We have had so long with SNP placemen filling every vacancy that it would take more than a decade to clear them out. But Scottish Labour are there to make Starmer look good.

    Sigh.

    When the Scottish parliament was set up, Slab were accused of fielding a 'B' team at holyrood, when Robin Cook, Gordon Brown etc were down south serving in Blair's cabinet.

    I think current polling reflects public attitude towards the parties - ambivalence, but John swinney is seen as the safer pair of hands.

    High turnover with a lot of SNP MSPs standing down, the unknown quantity of Reform and a real lack of talent coming through won't help the level of debate in Holyrood next term.

    I think the public want change but there are no seriously inspirational figures to deliver it
    Are there any inspirational figures in any field, in the UK at least?
    Maybe not, but i think the calibre of politician has dropped in the UK over the past 30 years. Ordinary people don't want to do it, easier and better money elsewhere.

    Seems to be a lot of PPE grads wanting to go straight into parliament once they graduate, before starting work elsewhere. A little more life experience for some candidates would do no harm
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,381
    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Its like the good old days of Jeremy Bates. Can we get one player to limp into week 2?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,057

    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Its like the good old days of Jeremy Bates. Can we get one player to limp into week 2?
    The Durie’s out.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,297
    kinabalu said:

    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Not yet. Back to win in 5 is feasible in this sort of match.
    Draper has never done it before.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,010
    edited July 3
    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,831

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT @Gallowgate and his perfectly reasonable quibble:

    dixiedean said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Cookie said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I think Labour have bitten off more than they can chew with this:

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35671855/wes-streeting-more-access-fab-jabs-economy/

    BRITAIN will be “fat free” within a decade, paving the way for tax cuts worth billions of pounds, Wes Streeting declared yesterday.

    People will be fat free or dead if the jabs have some inherent vice only revealed by Streetings mass beta test.
    People have got overweight and under-fit by eating crap between meals - that only builds appetite not stops it - and zero exercise. And there’s some simple cheat that makes them fit and well?

    Nope. God has told us over and over there are no simple “cheats” to wellness and resilience - if you want happiness it must be earned.
    Living in LA, almost everyone is on ozempic. And one of the things I've noticed is that people taking it often cut their drinking back massively, and start exercising. When you are already overweight, exercise is tough and uncomfortable. Once you've lost a few kilograms (thanks to the magic of semiglutide), exercise becomes that much easier.
    I'm pretty thin and I still can't be arsed.
    I'm actually reasonably fit for a 50 year old - I cycled the width of England on Saturday - yet I'm still a massive fat bastard.
    Actually, I saw the number '14' in the 'st' column on the scales this morning for the first time in over a decade. But that's mainly because I've been ill for three days. It'll go back on as soon as I resume eating three meals a day.
    You cycled more than the width: you could have made your life a whole bunch easier by starting at Gretna Green.
    I think I did it as optimally as I could. I reckon it to be 56 miles from Rockcliffe on the Eden estuary (between Carlisle and Gretna) to Wylam on the Tyne estuary west of Newcastle, by the most direct route. Which is pretty much the route I took. Almost all traffic-minimal (tractors more common than cars) and quite a lot of traffic free. Which is a challenge, but a surprisingly short distance given it’s a trip you can practically see on the scale of a globe.
    Plus the four miles or so from Carlisle of Gretna to Rockcliffe at the start (there’s not much in it it terms of which is closer but I chose Carlisle because there is a direct train from Manchester – and indeed from Newcastle), and the ten miles or so from Wylam to Newcastle at the end (you could just get on a train at Wylam but the ten miles is flat and off road and easy). I made it 72 miles in total for the route I went. (Plus 6 miles at the start and end from my home suburb to the relevant Central Manchester stations).
    Enough to feel pleased with yourself but surprisingly doable. I recommend it. You can even choose which way around you do it depending on the wind direction on the day.
    Point of order.
    Wylam is a long way from an estuary.
    And it's 25 miles from the coast.
    Technically, the 'coast' starts where the tidal part of the river starts. On an OS map, this is depicted by the river being bounded by a black line rather than a blue line. Thus, on lists of 'which county has the longest coastline', you get unlikely entrants like 'Cambridgeshire'. The tidal bit of the Tyne - hence the 'estuary' - starts at Wylam, just by Wylam station:
    https://www.bing.com/maps/?cp=54.977184~-1.81471&lvl=13.6&style=s

    I fully accept this isn't what the common man understands by 'the Tyne estuary'.


    The tidal bit of the Thames starts at Teddington....
    Yes.
    So the estuary starts at Teddington? Seriously?
    Yes.
    Can I have some of what you're smoking? :lol:
    That’s the formal definition of the Tideway - everything below Teddington
    Central London is on the Thames Estuary? Westminster? Tower Bridge?
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,519
    edited July 3

    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Not the lovely Emma?
    She'd probably sack the torch.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,010
    Holyrood does seem like it could be reasonably interesting a contest given how much the unionist vote will be split.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 128,479
    DoctorG said:

    DoctorG said:

    DavidL said:

    The further splitting of the Unionist vote by the arrival of Reform is looking like a life saver for the SNP at the moment, despite them losing roughly 1/3rd of their own vote.

    Its a tad frustrating. Scotland seriously needs a change of government to restore some sort of civic society. We have had so long with SNP placemen filling every vacancy that it would take more than a decade to clear them out. But Scottish Labour are there to make Starmer look good.

    Sigh.

    When the Scottish parliament was set up, Slab were accused of fielding a 'B' team at holyrood, when Robin Cook, Gordon Brown etc were down south serving in Blair's cabinet.

    I think current polling reflects public attitude towards the parties - ambivalence, but John swinney is seen as the safer pair of hands.

    High turnover with a lot of SNP MSPs standing down, the unknown quantity of Reform and a real lack of talent coming through won't help the level of debate in Holyrood next term.

    I think the public want change but there are no seriously inspirational figures to deliver it
    Are there any inspirational figures in any field, in the UK at least?
    Maybe not, but i think the calibre of politician has dropped in the UK over the past 30 years. Ordinary people don't want to do it, easier and better money elsewhere.

    Seems to be a lot of PPE grads wanting to go straight into parliament once they graduate, before starting work elsewhere. A little more life experience for some candidates would do no harm
    I doubt you will find many PPE grads and ex SPADs and MPs researchers from the large new Reform intake of MPs polls project at the next GE.

    Indeed you will likely find plenty who never went to university at all and have worked in the provinces and barely set foot in London
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,029

    kinabalu said:

    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Not yet. Back to win in 5 is feasible in this sort of match.
    Draper has never done it before.
    Yes but he's much improved. And Cilic is old. Let's see.

    3.6 on betfair
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,297
    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    None.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 128,479
    DavidL said:

    The further splitting of the Unionist vote by the arrival of Reform is looking like a life saver for the SNP at the moment, despite them losing roughly 1/3rd of their own vote.

    Its a tad frustrating. Scotland seriously needs a change of government to restore some sort of civic society. We have had so long with SNP placemen filling every vacancy that it would take more than a decade to clear them out. But Scottish Labour are there to make Starmer look good.

    Sigh.

    Given the SNP vote is down over 10% since 202 in Holyrood polls, Reform have clearly taken some SNP voters not just Unionists
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,381
    Andy_JS said:

    stodge said:

    More pointless speculation about the next GE but it makes the world (or rather this forum) go round...

    The Fulham Town by election is the one which interests me and is of significance to Labour, Reform, the Conservatives and the LDs.

    The Conservatives won the two seats in 2022 with Labour and the LDs not far behind - Reform were of course not involved then and are the unknown factor.

    LD gain because of swing from Con to Ref and Lab to LD. My prediction.
    I think a similar pattern but Greens standing will impact the LD vote enough for the hold
    Otoh I see the other two seats being Con losses to Ref and Green (Gedling, Suffolk)
    LD easy hold in Bath and God knows in Wales, I'll leave it as LD hold
    Reform hold in Durham and given Kemi has been campaigning in Newark West today, Con gain from Reform but I'm not putting my shirt on that
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,010
    Nigelb said:

    8 hours and counting.

    Jeffries stalls final vote on Trump megabill with marathon floor speech
    https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5383376-jeffries-marathon-speech-trump-bill/

    I don't know if it is the different procedures or different cultures, but the US legislature seems to have many more of these type of opportunities for dramatic gestures and crunch votes.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,010
    edited July 3

    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    None.
    Too bad, it is there in digital and so now accepted fact, there was a huge backlash.

    I don't think society has really caught up with the idea that a handful of noisy people can be ignored, from politics to games to news to tv shows, you'd think any small number of loony lefties or right wing radicals or just plain nutters of no ideology are massive issues, but they rarely are.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,381

    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Not the lovely Emma?
    Sonny Kartal has more chance playing a non seed.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,904
    HYUFD said:

    DavidL said:

    The further splitting of the Unionist vote by the arrival of Reform is looking like a life saver for the SNP at the moment, despite them losing roughly 1/3rd of their own vote.

    Its a tad frustrating. Scotland seriously needs a change of government to restore some sort of civic society. We have had so long with SNP placemen filling every vacancy that it would take more than a decade to clear them out. But Scottish Labour are there to make Starmer look good.

    Sigh.

    Given the SNP vote is down over 10% since 202 in Holyrood polls, Reform have clearly taken some SNP voters not just Unionists
    There were a number of SNP voters who want a totally independent Scotland, not in the Union, Europe or NATO. They may vote Reform and hope for the last two of those choices.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,010
    Penddu2 said:

    Unfortunately the Welsh Lib Dems are too disorganised and spead too thin to knock WCon into fifth place.....that would be funny....

    Wasn't that many years ago they were dreaming (however realisitcally) of finally dislodging WLab. Fun times.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 6,392
    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    One of the suggestions is Iconic British Buildings which I think would be the best choice as there is a limit to any culture war about them and also, I’m guessing, we aren’t going to find out that St Pancras Station had been kiddy fiddling all along so low risk.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,010
    boulay said:

    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    One of the suggestions is Iconic British Buildings which I think would be the best choice as there is a limit to any culture war about them and also, I’m guessing, we aren’t going to find out that St Pancras Station had been kiddy fiddling all along so low risk.
    The cheesegrater it is.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,381
    kle4 said:

    Penddu2 said:

    Unfortunately the Welsh Lib Dems are too disorganised and spead too thin to knock WCon into fifth place.....that would be funny....

    Wasn't that many years ago they were dreaming (however realisitcally) of finally dislodging WLab. Fun times.
    WCon and WLab are in a titanic struggle for the all important participation certificate now
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,297
    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Well done....
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,904

    Andy_JS said:

    stodge said:

    More pointless speculation about the next GE but it makes the world (or rather this forum) go round...

    The Fulham Town by election is the one which interests me and is of significance to Labour, Reform, the Conservatives and the LDs.

    The Conservatives won the two seats in 2022 with Labour and the LDs not far behind - Reform were of course not involved then and are the unknown factor.

    LD gain because of swing from Con to Ref and Lab to LD. My prediction.
    I think a similar pattern but Greens standing will impact the LD vote enough for the hold
    Otoh I see the other two seats being Con losses to Ref and Green (Gedling, Suffolk)
    LD easy hold in Bath and God knows in Wales, I'll leave it as LD hold
    Reform hold in Durham and given Kemi has been campaigning in Newark West today, Con gain from Reform but I'm not putting my shirt on that
    It will be embarrassing for Kemi and Jenrick if they don’t win the seat. I still don’t want Reform to win it, though.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,988
    Sandpit said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    Extraordinarily low birthrates are being recorded in 2025.

    Demographers define "ultra-low fertility" as below 1.3 births/woman -- some 29 countries were that low.

    Countries at ~1.0 or less: Lithuania, Poland, Costa Rica, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore.

    https://x.com/MoreBirths/status/1940541818023956663

    Macau at 0.52...

    Despite the very high prevalance of Catholicism in Italy, the birthrate there has dropped to 1.11.

    The continued collapse of birthrates around the world is literally the biggest story in our lifetimes, and yet people seem bizarrely unaware of it.
    It’s house prices. Cities haven’t built enough houses as ever more jobs move into them. A decade and a half of zero interest rates only made things considerably worse.
    A bit simplistic. Fertility rates are plunging everywhere, even places like Columbia or Costa Ricawith low house prices.

    The Atlantic has a very good story on it. Every few years the fertility rates go down, despite predictions of plateaus. Peak world population is now likely to be in the 2050s, rather than 2080s, possibly even sooner.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/birth-rate-population-decline/683333/?gift=Q2xxhS27Csx4yHsp7QhJgaf3AJAIu4-ncebpPhfm1Bc&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

    Indeed, while Britain's is below replacement level, ours is not declining as much as elsewhere. While the ageing population is the underlying cause of much of our financial situation, it's even grimmer in middle income countries. At some point the concept of retirement will be seen as a curious historical fad. There won't be anyone else to do the work.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,057
    edited July 3
    Interesting column from @viewcode ’s favourite Mary Harrington.

    https://unherd.com/2025/07/what-is-wrong-with-the-right/

    What is wrong with the Right?
    Too many mavericks, not enough radicals
  • TazTaz Posts: 19,448
    Gerald Harper, who had a long acting career, has died.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,297
    edited July 3
    I quite like the idea of iconic landscapes / buildings of the UK for the notes. I think Canadian notes at one point included similar things on one side, plus "problematic" people of the past.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,519

    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Well done....
    I shall have to start praying for rain next.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 6,392
    kle4 said:

    boulay said:

    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    One of the suggestions is Iconic British Buildings which I think would be the best choice as there is a limit to any culture war about them and also, I’m guessing, we aren’t going to find out that St Pancras Station had been kiddy fiddling all along so low risk.
    The cheesegrater it is.
    £5 Liver buildings
    £10 Caernarfon castle
    £20 something nice in Edinburgh.
    £50 St Paul’s Cathedral

    Shame you don’t have pound notes as would suit something in Manchester.

    All bland choices that shouldn’t give any particular tribe the vapours.
  • DoctorGDoctorG Posts: 88

    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Well done....
    Draper has a chance here, he's more resilient than he was 12-18 months ago. Can Cilic last if it goes to 5 sets?
  • CookieCookie Posts: 15,536
    For anyone who's interested in how far into the mouth of a river the 'sea' goes:

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/marine-licensing-definitions?utm_source=chatgpt.com

    What do we mean by ‘The Sea’?

    ‘Sea’ includes any area which is submerged at Mean High Water Springs. It also includes the waters of every estuary, river or channel where the tide flows at Mean High Water Spring tide up to the Normal Tidal Limit.


    @Sunil_Prasannan @Gallowgate @rcs1000

  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 25,063
    Cookie said:

    eek said:

    Some farms will be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

    Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of the post Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan will be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.

    Love to know how that will play out in those National Parks that look like they do because of the farming done there....
    It sounds very much like a rehash of the idiotic plan under Boris. The man from Whitehall knows best what land should be farmed and which shouldn't.
    To be fair, that's already the case in the example of those farms which are only farms because they are subsidised by the state.
    I love sheep farming, because it makes the landscape I love most look the way it does. But sheep farming doesn't, I don't think, make much economic sense. And we do far more of it in England and Wales than they do in most of Europe.
    We should do what the New Zealanders did and liberate farming by eliminating all subsidies and entrusting farmers to do what they think is sensible with their own land. Or sell it to someone else to do something else if they don't want to farm it.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,010
    boulay said:

    kle4 said:

    boulay said:

    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    One of the suggestions is Iconic British Buildings which I think would be the best choice as there is a limit to any culture war about them and also, I’m guessing, we aren’t going to find out that St Pancras Station had been kiddy fiddling all along so low risk.
    The cheesegrater it is.
    £5 Liver buildings
    £10 Caernarfon castle
    £20 something nice in Edinburgh.
    £50 St Paul’s Cathedral

    Shame you don’t have pound notes as would suit something in Manchester.

    All bland choices that shouldn’t give any particular tribe the vapours.
    Oh I see, England gets the highest note and most common note, whilst Scotland is relegated to second place? Offensive.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,381

    Andy_JS said:

    stodge said:

    More pointless speculation about the next GE but it makes the world (or rather this forum) go round...

    The Fulham Town by election is the one which interests me and is of significance to Labour, Reform, the Conservatives and the LDs.

    The Conservatives won the two seats in 2022 with Labour and the LDs not far behind - Reform were of course not involved then and are the unknown factor.

    LD gain because of swing from Con to Ref and Lab to LD. My prediction.
    I think a similar pattern but Greens standing will impact the LD vote enough for the hold
    Otoh I see the other two seats being Con losses to Ref and Green (Gedling, Suffolk)
    LD easy hold in Bath and God knows in Wales, I'll leave it as LD hold
    Reform hold in Durham and given Kemi has been campaigning in Newark West today, Con gain from Reform but I'm not putting my shirt on that
    It will be embarrassing for Kemi and Jenrick if they don’t win the seat. I still don’t want Reform to win it, though.
    Yep. They need a win over Reform to work from. I doubt they'll get another realistic chance at a gain from them until next year
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,904

    Cookie said:

    eek said:

    Some farms will be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

    Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of the post Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan will be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.

    Love to know how that will play out in those National Parks that look like they do because of the farming done there....
    It sounds very much like a rehash of the idiotic plan under Boris. The man from Whitehall knows best what land should be farmed and which shouldn't.
    To be fair, that's already the case in the example of those farms which are only farms because they are subsidised by the state.
    I love sheep farming, because it makes the landscape I love most look the way it does. But sheep farming doesn't, I don't think, make much economic sense. And we do far more of it in England and Wales than they do in most of Europe.
    We should do what the New Zealanders did and liberate farming by eliminating all subsidies and entrusting farmers to do what they think is sensible with their own land. Or sell it to someone else to do something else if they don't want to farm it.
    Build a new town on Rannoch Moor and move the Treasury there. It’s even got rail access and a through train to London
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,831
    Cookie said:

    For anyone who's interested in how far into the mouth of a river the 'sea' goes:

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/marine-licensing-definitions?utm_source=chatgpt.com

    What do we mean by ‘The Sea’?

    ‘Sea’ includes any area which is submerged at Mean High Water Springs. It also includes the waters of every estuary, river or channel where the tide flows at Mean High Water Spring tide up to the Normal Tidal Limit.


    @Sunil_Prasannan @Gallowgate @rcs1000

    Westminster is on the Thames Estuary???
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 25,097
    Here is an advert for an Amazon Prime series called "The Assassin"

    Without peeking, tell me who the female lead is

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX_d3NKDYc
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,029

    Interesting column from @viewcode ’s favourite Mary Harrington.

    https://unherd.com/2025/07/what-is-wrong-with-the-right/

    What is wrong with the Right?
    Too many mavericks, not enough radicals

    And what are you, William? A maverick or a radical?
  • boulayboulay Posts: 6,392
    kle4 said:

    boulay said:

    kle4 said:

    boulay said:

    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    One of the suggestions is Iconic British Buildings which I think would be the best choice as there is a limit to any culture war about them and also, I’m guessing, we aren’t going to find out that St Pancras Station had been kiddy fiddling all along so low risk.
    The cheesegrater it is.
    £5 Liver buildings
    £10 Caernarfon castle
    £20 something nice in Edinburgh.
    £50 St Paul’s Cathedral

    Shame you don’t have pound notes as would suit something in Manchester.

    All bland choices that shouldn’t give any particular tribe the vapours.
    Oh I see, England gets the highest note and most common note, whilst Scotland is relegated to second place? Offensive.
    They have their own notes on which they can reverse the order if they are bored.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,519
    I see we clap double faults now. When did that become ok?
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,831
    kinabalu said:

    Interesting column from @viewcode ’s favourite Mary Harrington.

    https://unherd.com/2025/07/what-is-wrong-with-the-right/

    What is wrong with the Right?
    Too many mavericks, not enough radicals

    And what are you, William? A maverick or a radical?
    Raderick
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 25,063
    DoctorG said:

    eek said:

    Some farms will be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

    Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of the post Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan will be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.

    Love to know how that will play out in those National Parks that look like they do because of the farming done there....
    Rewilding and conservation grazing.

    The Lakes are an upland desert except in a few inaccessible places where the sheep can't reach (eg East face of Helvellyn) where a few remnant arctic/alpines remain.

    See Ennerdale (or Glen Feshie).

    I would worry about marginal land in other areas though. Going to be a wind farm gold rush
    Yes, what subsidy schemes are left are all going that way (nature restoration). National parks will likely still be largely wind farm free, the rest of the uplands will be deemed fair game for turbines.

    The average age of farmers is a lot older in the uplands and hills. The government know those guys without successors won't be there forever, plus it'll save a bit of money long term if there are less upland farms and nature takes its course.

    Quite a few villages in southern Scotland now have more wind farms in the vicinity than human residents
    Nowt wrong with that.

    Plenty of space for turbines, its a productive use of land. And if upland, plenty of wind too.

    Very sensible.
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 25,063
    kle4 said:

    boulay said:

    kle4 said:

    boulay said:

    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    One of the suggestions is Iconic British Buildings which I think would be the best choice as there is a limit to any culture war about them and also, I’m guessing, we aren’t going to find out that St Pancras Station had been kiddy fiddling all along so low risk.
    The cheesegrater it is.
    £5 Liver buildings
    £10 Caernarfon castle
    £20 something nice in Edinburgh.
    £50 St Paul’s Cathedral

    Shame you don’t have pound notes as would suit something in Manchester.

    All bland choices that shouldn’t give any particular tribe the vapours.
    Oh I see, England gets the highest note and most common note, whilst Scotland is relegated to second place? Offensive.
    Scotland has their own notes, they can copy the scheme and add the turd building if they want to do that.
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,308

    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    None.
    We should join the Euro. Then we wouldn't have to worry about this sort of thing...
  • DoctorGDoctorG Posts: 88
    carnforth said:

    I see we clap double faults now. When did that become ok?

    Reminds me of the raucous crowd in the murray gasquet match - 2008?
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 25,063
    viewcode said:

    Here is an advert for an Amazon Prime series called "The Assassin"

    Without peeking, tell me who the female lead is

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX_d3NKDYc

    Without peeking, Jodie Comer.

    She seems to be in everything lately.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,519
    CatMan said:

    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    None.
    We should join the Euro. Then we wouldn't have to worry about this sort of thing...
    Banning cash would be easier.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,029

    carnforth said:

    Draper's shafted. Norrie will have to carry the torch.

    Not the lovely Emma?
    Sonny Kartal has more chance playing a non seed.
    If Em can beat Sab she'll be one of the favs for the title.

    They're my 2 tourny bets as it happens. Em at 80 and Sab at 4.
  • carnforth said:

    CatMan said:

    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    None.
    We should join the Euro. Then we wouldn't have to worry about this sort of thing...
    Banning cash would be easier.
    Ban Bill Cash, and achieve both ?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,057
    kinabalu said:

    Interesting column from @viewcode ’s favourite Mary Harrington.

    https://unherd.com/2025/07/what-is-wrong-with-the-right/

    What is wrong with the Right?
    Too many mavericks, not enough radicals

    And what are you, William? A maverick or a radical?
    Probably a moderate.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 25,097

    viewcode said:

    Here is an advert for an Amazon Prime series called "The Assassin"

    Without peeking, tell me who the female lead is

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX_d3NKDYc

    Without peeking, Jodie Comer.

    She seems to be in everything lately.
    Er, when I said "without peeking", I meant "without looking at the credits". You are allowed to look at the trailer. My point is that whether thru cosmetic surgery or the aging process she looks unlike her past appearances
  • viewcode said:

    Here is an advert for an Amazon Prime series called "The Assassin"

    Without peeking, tell me who the female lead is

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX_d3NKDYc

    She's looking good for someone my age. Blimey.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,029

    kinabalu said:

    Interesting column from @viewcode ’s favourite Mary Harrington.

    https://unherd.com/2025/07/what-is-wrong-with-the-right/

    What is wrong with the Right?
    Too many mavericks, not enough radicals

    And what are you, William? A maverick or a radical?
    Probably a moderate.
    Well that's no use to this vibrant new right.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 78,927
    CatMan said:

    Nigelb said:

    CatMan said:

    Nigelb said:

    Can someone explain why French and UK forces are able to shoot down Iranian drones and missiles over Israel, but can't do the same in Ukraine?

    Why is the former not considered an escalation, while the latter would be?

    https://x.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1940760389064823062

    Nukes I guess
    Turkey shot down a Russian jet.
    No reaction.

    I really don't see how NATO jets shooting down Russian drones, targeted at civilians, over Ukraine is "escalatory".
    It's not going to invite a nuclear response that's for sure.

    "Nukes" isn't an argument.
    Israel has nukes; Iran still threw a load of missiles at them.
    Turkey's argument was that the jet had entered their airspace, a NATO country. It might have only been for a very short time, but they had a reasonable excuse for shooting it down.

    In regards to Iran, they were the aggressor. It might have been different if *they* had nukes.

    Edit: I agree though that if we did help shoot down drones over Ukraine, Russia probably wouldn't dare respond, at least not directly.
    Russia is the aggressor, trespassing on Ukrainian soil and airspace.
    They must take the consequences of that.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,029
    CatMan said:

    kle4 said:

    I question this - I remember a ridiculous amount of media hyping a backlash, but how many actual human beings were that het up about it?

    Banknotes issued by the Bank of England are about to get their first major redesign in more than 50 years...At times the choices have landed the Bank in hot water. The absence of any women, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, on notes in 2013 prompted a huge backlash.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4nn1d2vzxo

    None.
    We should join the Euro. Then we wouldn't have to worry about this sort of thing...
    No, we need the freedom to debase our own currency!
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 25,097

    viewcode said:

    Here is an advert for an Amazon Prime series called "The Assassin"

    Without peeking, tell me who the female lead is

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX_d3NKDYc

    She's looking good for someone my age. Blimey.
    She's 49. You don't get to look that different at that age without some kind of work having been done, or illness or dental work (or Ozempic?). I genuinely thought she was a different actress
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,831

    kinabalu said:

    Interesting column from @viewcode ’s favourite Mary Harrington.

    https://unherd.com/2025/07/what-is-wrong-with-the-right/

    What is wrong with the Right?
    Too many mavericks, not enough radicals

    And what are you, William? A maverick or a radical?
    Probably a moderate.
    Not a Mavical?
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 19,039

    Cookie said:

    For anyone who's interested in how far into the mouth of a river the 'sea' goes:

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/marine-licensing-definitions?utm_source=chatgpt.com

    What do we mean by ‘The Sea’?

    ‘Sea’ includes any area which is submerged at Mean High Water Springs. It also includes the waters of every estuary, river or channel where the tide flows at Mean High Water Spring tide up to the Normal Tidal Limit.


    @Sunil_Prasannan @Gallowgate @rcs1000

    Westminster is on the Thames Estuary???
    Not the river- it's the sea!
    Westminster's on the Thames est'ree!
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