When did a member of the British polling council have Labour that low? If ever?!
We need PR, on that poll Reform would win a massive majority on barely more than a third of the vote.
Corbyn just 3% off being leader of the opposition again too but 51% of voters still voting neither for Farage or Corbyn
It would depend which of the three parties fighting for second place had the most efficient vote, but I don't see why it strengthens the case for PR.
We certainly shouldn't have two consecutive governments winning landslide majorities on only a third of the vote.
In 2017 too had Corbyn got a 2-3% higher voteshare he would have got a majority on a minority voteshare
The alternate history where he won that election still intrigues me. The EU/Brexit question, his response to Covid, Russian vax jabs? No vax jabs? Sunspots to blame? The in-fighting alone would have ruined me on popcorn.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
It's clear both the Mail and the Times have for now given up their fixation on Reform - they could switch back nearer the election as they'd rather back a winner but we'll see.
The new groups to be demonised, it seems, is anyone on "welfare" so that includes pensioners I presume, It's a big part of Government expenditure.
However, it needs more than tinkering around with welfare to resolve the public finances and while the Times no doubt wants to see big spending cuts (and tax cuts I imagine), Badenoch hasn't gone that far and no one else has yet publicly committed to the kind of "hard truths" for which the Times is calling.
Yes, I suspect Nigel's tilt towards Leftism has has rather blotted his copybook with some of the media gatekeepers of the British Right. Immigrant bashing plus Thatcherism they could handle; Immigrant bashing plus socialism won't seem like a recipe for successful government. The latter will probably be better for Nigel electorally, of course, but it's unlikely to earn him any long-term friends.
If the media were cynical, which of course they would never be, the Reform rise story is at its least exciting stage for a while so a better story is in a potential Tory revival leading to a proper reform/tory ding-dong.
They also get to test their influence, like a girl playing off one boy against another to see who offers the most sweeties/favours.
Trump on Putin: “I go home and I tell the First Lady, ‘you know I spoke to Putin today, we had a wonderful conversation,’ she says ‘oh really? Another [Ukrainian] city was just hit.’”
This is him saying US foreign policy is now all about his personal whim.
Just in case there remains anybody thinking otherwise.
Not his personal whim. Did you not see his presser today?
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education, part of his bid to shrink the federal government's role in education in favor of more control by the states.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
Post as much as you like, nobody is asking you to reduce your output and nobody should either.
We won’t know if she criticised welfare whilst in cabinet because of collective responsibility so for all we know this was a real problem for her and she is now finding the legs to push in a direction she believes in, but she had zero power to do do anything about it in the short time she was in Caninet.
I think we are entitled to start asking some more granular questions about what a future Conservative Government (no giggling in the cheap seats, please) would do to try to achieve this "fiscal restraint" as the Times calls it.
What would she cut from welfare and how much? What other areas does she see as being open to further "restraint"? Presumably not defence, you'd think and we have to pay our debt interest so where else and to what extent? Perhaps more significantly, what does she need as being the first measure to bring about economic growth?
If we are going to be asked to swallow some "hard truths", what are these truths as Kemi Badenoch sees them?
Apply all this more relevantly to Reform, as they are more likely than the Tories to be in power. You only have to look at Kemi, The Times, Mail, Reform, GB News and a million journalists to know that 'Hard Truths' and 'Spending Cuts' are essential. But even the journalists, who after all have no accountability to anyone, will not spell out what it actually might mean in how much hard cash to which recipients. Until you are that 'granular' level it's all talk.
A fairly small £5billion savings is taking £5000 from 1 million people. Who? How?
Have Reform even said who their Welsh or Scottish leaders would be if they do sweep to victory in next years devolved parliaments?
English cricket urgently needs to find a way to get Test cricket (and all cricket) back on free or free-ish TV, and the nation will fall in love with it again. It is such a pleasant change from the endless, endless football
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
I agree, @Mexicanpete should never feel that he is "posting too much" (nor should anyone else)
Also, he is obsessed with me, and as an Official Narcissist, that pleases me
Pray continue with your chippy plebiean maunderings, @Mexicanpete
@leon you are the backbone of PB. I thought you were thick skinned enough to take my barbs but if you and @boulay are upset I will try to kerb my keyboard. But you do realise you can be very, very annoying, don't you?
Perhaps we can take a leaf out of Donald Trump's book and send Mexicans back from whence they came.
14 July 1933. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler decreed that all political parties in Germany were banned except for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). In less than 6 months after coming to power Hitler had destroyed democracy in Germany.
This was less than 6 months after the Reichstag fire. We maybe have not had that 'Reichstag fire' moment yet in Trump's regime. But the next elections are all of 16 months away. Keep watching.
Someone needs to get Melania pushing him in the right direction on all policies, it took six months but might be the difference for Ukraine, let’s hope she starts pointing out their friends can’t find a gardener for their Mar a Lago Pad as they’ve all been deported.
Why ???
What does it matter how many illegal immigrants Trump deports.
The damage Trump might inflict on foreign and economic policy is far, far more important.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
I agree, @Mexicanpete should never feel that he is "posting too much" (nor should anyone else)
Also, he is obsessed with me, and as an Official Narcissist, that pleases me
Pray continue with your chippy plebiean maunderings, @Mexicanpete
@leon you are the backbone of PB. I thought you were thick skinned enough to take my barbs but if you and @boulay are upset I will try to kerb my keyboard. But you do realise you can be very, very annoying, don't you?
lol. I'm not remotely upset. Are you on the Pimm's? Seriously. This is your tenth slightly odd comment
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education, part of his bid to shrink the federal government's role in education in favor of more control by the states.
It's always slightly disconcerting when Trump does something that sounds even vaguely sensible.
Even when he's doing it for the wrong reasons and with the opposite intention of the headline.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
With all respect, WTF are you on about?
I think MP feels the board has drifted right recently, after a more liberal period during Boris and Truss etc. This is broadly true, as it has a critical focus.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
With all respect, WTF are you on about?
I think MP feels the board has drifted right recently, after a more liberal period during Boris and Truss etc. This is broadly true, as it has a critical focus.
Yes, that's fair. But it varies in accordance with the unpopularity of the government. This board was notably left and very anti Tory for the last few years before the GE in 2024 - and for obvs reasons, the Tories were SHITE and deserved a terrible loss, so the hostility was justified
But now Labour have somehow proved to be even worse, and the anti-Labour factions are now in full throated angry pursuit
TBH I find it quite pathetic how many Labourites have slunk away from PB because they "don't like all the negativity about Starmer and Labour". Grow up
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
I agree, @Mexicanpete should never feel that he is "posting too much" (nor should anyone else)
Also, he is obsessed with me, and as an Official Narcissist, that pleases me
Pray continue with your chippy plebiean maunderings, @Mexicanpete
@leon you are the backbone of PB. I thought you were thick skinned enough to take my barbs but if you and @boulay are upset I will try to kerb my keyboard. But you do realise you can be very, very annoying, don't you?
lol. I'm not remotely upset. Are you on the Pimm's? Seriously. This is your tenth slightly odd comment
But carry on!
Boulay however has registered his disdain for how I parry your posts.But we are not here to upset any apple carts are we?
I've had two black Russians which is a skinfull for me.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
With all respect, WTF are you on about?
I think MP feels the board has drifted right recently, after a more liberal period during Boris and Truss etc. This is broadly true, as it has a critical focus.
To an extent that is true. And this Government's inertia and chaos deserves calling out. But those doing the calling were the ones claiming "Boris got all the big calls right".
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It really is and @Leon appears to have accepted my apology. But to eat more humble pie, sorry I upset Leon, Cookie.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
I agree, @Mexicanpete should never feel that he is "posting too much" (nor should anyone else)
Also, he is obsessed with me, and as an Official Narcissist, that pleases me
Pray continue with your chippy plebiean maunderings, @Mexicanpete
@leon you are the backbone of PB. I thought you were thick skinned enough to take my barbs but if you and @boulay are upset I will try to kerb my keyboard. But you do realise you can be very, very annoying, don't you?
Perhaps we can take a leaf out of Donald Trump's book and send Mexicans back from whence they came.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
I agree, @Mexicanpete should never feel that he is "posting too much" (nor should anyone else)
Also, he is obsessed with me, and as an Official Narcissist, that pleases me
Pray continue with your chippy plebiean maunderings, @Mexicanpete
@leon you are the backbone of PB. I thought you were thick skinned enough to take my barbs but if you and @boulay are upset I will try to kerb my keyboard. But you do realise you can be very, very annoying, don't you?
lol. I'm not remotely upset. Are you on the Pimm's? Seriously. This is your tenth slightly odd comment
But carry on!
Boulay however has registered his disdain for how I parry your posts.But we are not here to upset any apple carts are we?
I've had two black Russians which is a skinfull for me.
Definitely not upset by anything you post and definitively not disdainful of how you “parry” Leon’s posts.
I think sometimes you tend to tilt at windmills but it’s only an internet site and the whole point of it is the different views and ways of expressing them so the more views, the wider insights, the more parry and riposte the better.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
With all respect, WTF are you on about?
I think MP feels the board has drifted right recently, after a more liberal period during Boris and Truss etc. This is broadly true, as it has a critical focus.
Yes, that's fair. But it varies in accordance with the unpopularity of the government. This board was notably left and very anti Tory for the last few years before the GE in 2024 - and for obvs reasons, the Tories were SHITE and deserved a terrible loss, so the hostility was justified
But now Labour have somehow proved to be even worse, and the anti-Labour factions are now in full throated angry pursuit
TBH I find it quite pathetic how many Labourites have slunk away from PB because they "don't like all the negativity about Starmer and Labour". Grow up
I suspect they have retired, not after valid criticism of this government which is thoroughly deserved but down to certain posters who relentlessly post bollocks from the Daily Telegraph and elsewhere. Posting f****' stupid polls three times also doesn't help. It's almost back to the Brexit themed "you lost losers, suck it up" posts of yesteryear.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
I agree, @Mexicanpete should never feel that he is "posting too much" (nor should anyone else)
Also, he is obsessed with me, and as an Official Narcissist, that pleases me
Pray continue with your chippy plebiean maunderings, @Mexicanpete
@leon you are the backbone of PB. I thought you were thick skinned enough to take my barbs but if you and @boulay are upset I will try to kerb my keyboard. But you do realise you can be very, very annoying, don't you?
Perhaps we can take a leaf out of Donald Trump's book and send Mexicans back from whence they came.
Fckn hell, if quivery Leon is the backbone..
Having a memory mattress as our backbone isn’t going to stiffen anything, for sure.
The thing is, the media are obsessed with Reform, too. So to a partial extent, PB is reflecting a trend. John Harris makes the good point in the.Guardian today that the media is not currently that interested in the large numbers of people, surveys are currently showing to have now liberal cultural views - in the 40 to 50 per cent range
14 July 1933. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler decreed that all political parties in Germany were banned except for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). In less than 6 months after coming to power Hitler had destroyed democracy in Germany.
This was less than 6 months after the Reichstag fire. We maybe have not had that 'Reichstag fire' moment yet in Trump's regime. But the next elections are all of 16 months away. Keep watching.
Someone needs to get Melania pushing him in the right direction on all policies, it took six months but might be the difference for Ukraine, let’s hope she starts pointing out their friends can’t find a gardener for their Mar a Lago Pad as they’ve all been deported.
Why ???
What does it matter how many illegal immigrants Trump deports.
The damage Trump might inflict on foreign and economic policy is far, far more important.
He’s not really just deporting illegal imigrants however a large share of the US economy is on the backs of immigrants of varying status and so by mass deportations in quick succession you are removing a large part of the Labour pool with the potential associated problems of inflation with labour shortages and resultant price increases.
The speed and the broad brush nature is a danger to the US economy and its knock on effects on the global economy. That’s why it matters.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
Also, getting upset about a hypothetical party being polled is ridiculous.
Unless they are very stupid, or very poor, both the Labour Party and potential breakaway have been polling privately.
As to the numbers in the poll - what’s not to believe. Left blogs and fora are massively anti-government.
It’s more concentrated on demanding more left wing policies, than the process state paralysis.
A Corbyn blessed breakaway would offer Pure Leftism without any compromise - political, budgetary, practical or even aligned with the laws of physics.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
You should be safe as long as you don’t quote a Scottish subsample.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
With all respect, WTF are you on about?
I think MP feels the board has drifted right recently, after a more liberal period during Boris and Truss etc. This is broadly true, as it has a critical focus.
Yes, that's fair. But it varies in accordance with the unpopularity of the government. This board was notably left and very anti Tory for the last few years before the GE in 2024 - and for obvs reasons, the Tories were SHITE and deserved a terrible loss, so the hostility was justified
But now Labour have somehow proved to be even worse, and the anti-Labour factions are now in full throated angry pursuit
TBH I find it quite pathetic how many Labourites have slunk away from PB because they "don't like all the negativity about Starmer and Labour". Grow up
They might be almost, or even as bad as the last lot. They aren't worse.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
You’re sounding like a bot now!
She couldn’t have done much about it, she wasn’t PM or CofE. Now she is the only senior politician articulating this, and fair play to her for it
Check out the years in which the welfare bill burgeoned. I think you might find Mrs Badenoch was in Cabinet for most of them.
Oh well I suppose she shouldn’t suggest doing anything about it now then, sorry for mentioning it
Get ready to hear this a lot from the Labour voters, especially when they get pushed into third place. But but she was in cabinet, but but Tories in charge, but but but...
They've got a 170 seat majority and can't make a 3% cut to the welfare budget.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It's also due to the nature of the website. It attracts people who gamble on political, sporting and other events in a semi-professional or serious manner with some people's exposure ranging in the tens of thousands at times. That will attract the type of people with the means to hold that level of risk, which will be higher earners who are much more likely to be in favour of lower taxes over higher welfare etc...
They're going to bury that latest series in a lead lined box at the bottom of the Atlantic, aren't they?
Coincidentally a vital process in a classic Fat Duck dish.
Always thought Heston Blumenthal was a bit of an arse but the recent programme on his bipolarity helped me realise there were reasons for the arsery. I ended up finding him very likeable.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
With all respect, WTF are you on about?
I think MP feels the board has drifted right recently, after a more liberal period during Boris and Truss etc. This is broadly true, as it has a critical focus.
Yes, that's fair. But it varies in accordance with the unpopularity of the government. This board was notably left and very anti Tory for the last few years before the GE in 2024 - and for obvs reasons, the Tories were SHITE and deserved a terrible loss, so the hostility was justified
But now Labour have somehow proved to be even worse, and the anti-Labour factions are now in full throated angry pursuit
TBH I find it quite pathetic how many Labourites have slunk away from PB because they "don't like all the negativity about Starmer and Labour". Grow up
They might be almost, or even as bad as the last lot. They aren't worse.
They're definitely worse. It's Liz Truss in slow motion. We're one poorly received fiscal event away from a debt crisis. Whatever you say about Rishi and Hunt they absolutely had the confidence of bond investors, the same isn't true at the moment. I mean the chancellor cried on live TV and it sent bond yields shooting up.
The thing is, the media are obsessed with Reform, too. So to a partial extent, PB is reflecting a trend. John Harris makes the good point in the.Guardian today that the media is not currently that interested in the large numbers of people, surveys are currently showing to have now liberal cultural views - in the 40 to 50 per cent range
'The media' is the totality of the media, and there are tons of examples in every form of media interested in people with liberal cultural views. Who reads/watches/listens to what is of course a matter for each individual. The Guardian itself is not uninterested in that group.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
One thing that PB is missing is the Green's leadership contest. The Greens have quietly got into double figures, and Zack Polanski looks to be way ahead. The Corbyn/Sultana party could well fall at the first hurdle if Zack wins and mops up the youth/Left/Gaza vote as I think he will.
I mean the chancellor cried on live TV and it sent bond yields shooting up.
I sometimes wonder how the markets would react to the Chancellor jumping up from behind the PM mid-PMQs, wild-eyed screaming "we're all fucked" before running out of the chamber never to be seen again.
It's the sort of thing you'd do for a laugh, right?
I mean the chancellor cried on live TV and it sent bond yields shooting up.
I sometimes wonder how the markets would react to the Chancellor jumping up from behind the PM mid-PMQs, wild-eyed screaming "we're all fucked" before running out of the chamber never to be seen again.
It's the sort of thing you'd do for a laugh, right?
Kwasi must have come closest out of any Chancellor.
Find Out Now have done some hypothetical polling to wind everyone up. Appears to only be 650 respondents and is being reported on lbc, but for the giggles, it has
Ref 34 Con 17 Corbyn/Sultana party 15 Labour 15 LD 9 Green 5
*just for fun*
But, if repeated in a regular poll after the new party actually launches will be Labour's lowest ever vote share in a GE VI poll by 3 points
This does assume that Corbyn will i) make a decision and ii) not let his left-wing colleagues down. You know he won't do either.
Zack doesn't have the body language or tone of someone afraid. Indeed I think it's the prospect of Zack winning that has forced Corbyn and Sultana's hand.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
Yes, to a point. There are those for whom it has always been a case of "my Party, right or wrong" while many others on here, whether members, activists or supporters, have often criticised the Party of their support when they have said or sone something with which they don't agree.
I do think in an era of unprecedented volatility there are many who are politically "homeless" though all the polling I ever see suggests there are still broadly two blocs as there are in most countries and whether you call them "right" or "left" or "bourgeois" and "worker" or "red" and "blue" makes little difference. Movement within those blocs is considerable but movement across them less so.
Opinium has Ref/Con at 47% and Lab/LD/Green at 46%. It was 38-53 at the July 2024 election so the swing is 8% but that only tells a fraction of the story.
Zack doesn't have the body language or tone of someone afraid. Indeed I think it's the prospect of Zack winning that has forced Corbyn and Sultana's hand.
You could be right. Although maybe Sultana rather than Jezza - he has basically held back as much as he dares so far.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
I agree, @Mexicanpete should never feel that he is "posting too much" (nor should anyone else)
Also, he is obsessed with me, and as an Official Narcissist, that pleases me
Pray continue with your chippy plebiean maunderings, @Mexicanpete
@leon you are the backbone of PB. I thought you were thick skinned enough to take my barbs but if you and @boulay are upset I will try to kerb my keyboard. But you do realise you can be very, very annoying, don't you?
lol. I'm not remotely upset. Are you on the Pimm's? Seriously. This is your tenth slightly odd comment
But carry on!
You think that's Pexican Mete's tenth slightly odd comment?
Phillips P. OBrien @PhillipsPOBrien · 43m Trump has not guaranteed that he will put sanctions on Russia in 50 days, he has offered Putin protection against additional sanctions for 50 days. And he can always extend beyond that.
Phillips P. OBrien @PhillipsPOBrien · 42m He has basically given Putin a green light to throw the kitchen sink at Ukraine until September.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It's also due to the nature of the website. It attracts people who gamble on political, sporting and other events in a semi-professional or serious manner with some people's exposure ranging in the tens of thousands at times. That will attract the type of people with the means to hold that level of risk, which will be higher earners who are much more likely to be in favour of lower taxes over higher welfare etc...
Agree with that - I've been on this site a long long time - don't comment as I've nothing to say politics wise but keep looking for betting posts - not so many now. This site like our good host has always been predominately lib dem in nature but now posters seem to be mainly rich, privately educated and well travelled. No working class lads - can anyone remember West Ham Paul [hope I got that right] Remember speaking to a London working girl at Nottingham Station who said she didn't know anyone who voted Leave; - well I'm the same for Remain apart from youngest son who just been knocked out of my will - three of my grand daughters who were old enough to vote in 2016 all voted Leave. Always thought it was a good idea for occasionally posters to say who they are voting for at that moment - me Reform or Green
The graduate job market in the UK is becoming increasingly difficult, as job postings decrease and competition increases, exacerbating the over-qualification crisis. So in this video we'll look at this jobs crisis and why vacancies are continuing to fall.
Many are leaving university to find jobs but only on minimum wage.
Which can still be above the threshold to hit the 9% extra income tax rate.
£25k and the threshold is frozen for years to come still, is not a "high" income.
Indeed, work 40 hours per week and minimum wage alone takes you above that threshold. Ridiculous.
A few more years of the threshold frozen and NMW rising and we'll have people working minimum wage on 35-37.5 hours per week paying 9% extra income tax on their minimum wage job.
While this is terrible and unjust, the 9% is only charged on the income above the threshold.
Even worse is that those living on what the state says is the minimum are paying tax and NI on about half of that income.
Ideally, people on minimum wage would be paid enough, and living costs would be low enough, that they could afford to pay some tax and still have a decent standard of living. We want the tax base to be as broad as possible.
Ideally, we would not have a minimum wage at all. It was designed in America as a way to prevent black workers from outcompeting whites. Basic economic theory is that people should be paid according to their productivity. The minimum wage destroys that link, disincentivising people from upskilling and improving their productivity, and increases unemployment into the bargain. It costs small businesses a fortune to demonstrate compliance. And since most people on it are second earners, it's not even a very efficient way of reducing poverty. Some countries like Denmark, which don't have a minimum wage, have lower inequality than we do.
It should never have been introduced. But it's a way for government to tax businesses to pay for welfare spending without increasing tax rates, so they love it.
You can substitute in "lowest-paid 1% of full-time workers" for "people on minimum wage" if you want, and my point still applies.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
One thing that PB is missing is the Green's leadership contest. The Greens have quietly got into double figures, and Zack Polanski looks to be way ahead. The Corbyn/Sultana party could well fall at the first hurdle if Zack wins and mops up the youth/Left/Gaza vote as I think he will.
I am voting for Zack if he loses i will join the Jezza Party. If he wins i am sticking with the Greens but hope they can reach an electoral agreement about who stands where in GE2029
IIRC the highest poll that Change UK polled was 18% and there was a private poll a few weeks before they launched that in a hypothetical poll had them polling 35%.
Yes, yes, yes. All very true.
Hypothetical polls are absolute cobblers.
But still funny.
And - even funnier - some people make decisions on what to do in response to them.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
One thing that PB is missing is the Green's leadership contest. The Greens have quietly got into double figures, and Zack Polanski looks to be way ahead. The Corbyn/Sultana party could well fall at the first hurdle if Zack wins and mops up the youth/Left/Gaza vote as I think he will.
I am voting for Zack if he loses i will join the Jezza Party. If he wins i am sticking with the Greens but hope they can reach an electoral agreement about who stands where in GE2029
Is PB missing the Green leadership election? I've mentioned it several times as have others.
Maybe we need a full bore header?
Lucas is urging a vote for the Ramsey team against Polanski and she retains enormous influence - but the question is how many entrists have there been in last three or so months? Newstatesman reported the other week that it had been substantial and you have high profile figures like Grace Berkeley throwing their lot in with the party. How must they feel now that their "perfect" socialist party is about to be born?
Edit: The popcorn scenario is where a few 1000s lefty corbyn entrists joined the Greens to elect Polanski who then wins and then they all f off and join the real socialist Sultana vehicle leaving the Greens with a leader most don't want.
They're going to bury that latest series in a lead lined box at the bottom of the Atlantic, aren't they?
I really hate the reporting in this sort of stuff. He allegedly said something in a social situation 7 years ago which somebody said they thought could be considered racist but they didn't think the presenter bloke meant it that way, all of which he denies any recollection of. We don’t know exactly what. There is racist and there is racist. And there is one allegation. One.
It not the same as serial trouser dropper while commando Wallace type claims.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
One thing that PB is missing is the Green's leadership contest. The Greens have quietly got into double figures, and Zack Polanski looks to be way ahead. The Corbyn/Sultana party could well fall at the first hurdle if Zack wins and mops up the youth/Left/Gaza vote as I think he will.
I am voting for Zack if he loses i will join the Jezza Party. If he wins i am sticking with the Greens but hope they can reach an electoral agreement about who stands where in GE2029
The left making their launch call in what is, in swing terms, the Greens number 1 target seat was not a collegiate act:
English cricket urgently needs to find a way to get Test cricket (and all cricket) back on free or free-ish TV, and the nation will fall in love with it again. It is such a pleasant change from the endless, endless football
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
One thing that PB is missing is the Green's leadership contest. The Greens have quietly got into double figures, and Zack Polanski looks to be way ahead. The Corbyn/Sultana party could well fall at the first hurdle if Zack wins and mops up the youth/Left/Gaza vote as I think he will.
I am voting for Zack if he loses i will join the Jezza Party. If he wins i am sticking with the Greens but hope they can reach an electoral agreement about who stands where in GE2029
Greens won four seats under the Lucas/Ramsey leadership. If Polanski wins and if Corbyn starts his party then Greens may save Brighton but they will win f all else.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
One thing that PB is missing is the Green's leadership contest. The Greens have quietly got into double figures, and Zack Polanski looks to be way ahead. The Corbyn/Sultana party could well fall at the first hurdle if Zack wins and mops up the youth/Left/Gaza vote as I think he will.
I am voting for Zack if he loses i will join the Jezza Party. If he wins i am sticking with the Greens but hope they can reach an electoral agreement about who stands where in GE2029
Greens won four seats under the Lucas/Ramsey leadership. If Polanski wins and if Corbyn starts his party then Greens may save Brighton but they will win f all else.
It was Denyer/Ramsey in 2024, Lucas had already quit. I agree though, Greens stand to go backwards fast if Jezbollah takes off
The Palestine ReAction Party don't have a name, can't decide who is in charge, have no policies and the likes of Maomentum have said not getting involved. Not taking any notice of any polling until it is even a thing and we find out how bat shit crazy the bat shit crazy policy platform will be.
And for big.lefties, the Green Party already are available.
Anybody remember Gina Miller 2 or 3 goes at a political party.
Phillips P. OBrien @PhillipsPOBrien · 43m Trump has not guaranteed that he will put sanctions on Russia in 50 days, he has offered Putin protection against additional sanctions for 50 days. And he can always extend beyond that.
Phillips P. OBrien @PhillipsPOBrien · 42m He has basically given Putin a green light to throw the kitchen sink at Ukraine until September.
That's my reading of it - and essentially for the planned duration of Russia's summer offensive. Trump's such a prick, but he has most of the media completely cowed now.
The Palestine ReAction Party don't have a name, can't decide who is in charge, have no policies and the likes of Maomentum have said not getting involved. Not taking any notice of any polling until it is even a thing and we find out how bat shit crazy the bat shit crazy policy platform will be.
Anybody remember Gina Miller 2 or 3 goes at a political party.
The Palestine ReAction Party don't have a name, can't decide who is in charge, have no policies and the likes of Maomentum have said not getting involved. Not taking any notice of any polling until it is even a thing and we find out how bat shit crazy the bat shit crazy policy platform will be.
Anybody remember Gina Miller 2 or 3 goes at a political party.
The Veritas of the left
I have already forgotten the names of the Reform splitter parties and they were only announced last week.
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
One thing that PB is missing is the Green's leadership contest. The Greens have quietly got into double figures, and Zack Polanski looks to be way ahead. The Corbyn/Sultana party could well fall at the first hurdle if Zack wins and mops up the youth/Left/Gaza vote as I think he will.
I am voting for Zack if he loses i will join the Jezza Party. If he wins i am sticking with the Greens but hope they can reach an electoral agreement about who stands where in GE2029
Greens won four seats under the Lucas/Ramsey leadership. If Polanski wins and if Corbyn starts his party then Greens may save Brighton but they will win f all else.
Nah, Polanski is very articulate and media savvy. I think they will do well under him.
The Palestine ReAction Party don't have a name, can't decide who is in charge, have no policies and the likes of Maomentum have said not getting involved. Not taking any notice of any polling until it is even a thing and we find out how bat shit crazy the bat shit crazy policy platform will be.
Anybody remember Gina Miller 2 or 3 goes at a political party.
The Veritas of the left
I have already forgotten the names of the Reform splitter parties and they were only announced last week.
A month before the broadcast, an editorial policy adviser at the BBC asked: “Has due diligence been done on those featured to ensure, e.g. the lead boy doesn’t have links in any way to [Hamas]? I’m sure it has…”
The question was never answered, but the programme went ahead.
English cricket urgently needs to find a way to get Test cricket (and all cricket) back on free or free-ish TV, and the nation will fall in love with it again. It is such a pleasant change from the endless, endless football
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
One thing that PB is missing is the Green's leadership contest. The Greens have quietly got into double figures, and Zack Polanski looks to be way ahead. The Corbyn/Sultana party could well fall at the first hurdle if Zack wins and mops up the youth/Left/Gaza vote as I think he will.
I am voting for Zack if he loses i will join the Jezza Party. If he wins i am sticking with the Greens but hope they can reach an electoral agreement about who stands where in GE2029
Greens won four seats under the Lucas/Ramsey leadership. If Polanski wins and if Corbyn starts his party then Greens may save Brighton but they will win f all else.
Nah, Polanski is very articulate and media savvy. I think they will do well under him.
You don't think his career as a hypnotist will count against him?
The Times edging towards coming out for Kemi. I hope they’re right, I still think she could be good
Kemi Badenoch is right that the welfare system is a fiscal disaster
There is an obvious gap in the political market that Ms Badenoch can fill: the cause of fiscal restraint. The Tories should never have given up their belief in a smaller state, but it is welcome to see them return to it. It is ever more likely that the UK is heading for a financial crunch this autumn, as Rachel Reeves’s mishandling of the economy risks creating a vast fiscal black hole. The unsustainable welfare bill is at the heart of the problem and voters now appreciate that it must be tackled. The time for hard truths is fast approaching.
If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it.
Im sure you think that’s a zinger but do share with us how many of those years Kemi was remotely senior enough to have any influence on the Tory government’s direction and overall policies. Junior ministers have little policy power over their own department yet alone wider government policy.
Oh btw, she was only elected in 2017 so had even less time to wield her ginormous influence on Cameron, May, Boris, Liz and Rishi.
The welfare bill is out of control. The welfare bill needs to be cut dramatically. Labour just attempted badly and failed miserably.
My main point stands. She has been in Cabinet during the years the welfare bill ran out of control.
I am well aware you don't approve of me posting on here, but you can't slap me down with a counter factual. She was in Cabinet when the welfare bill grew.
What is your obsession with making crap up about what other posters say/think? It’s up there with your Leon obsession.
Your point about Kemi would be effective if she had been PM or CotE, as she was not she would have absolutely zero control or influence over the growth or not of the Welfare bill during her time in government - you know that but in a desperate attempt to throw out attacks on the enemy you don’t actually use your brain.
Your main point was “ If only she'd been in Government in the last fifteen years, she could have done something about it” which was dumb as pointed out for the fact that she wasn’t in government for the last fifteen years and had no particular influence over government policy. So your main point doesn’t stand and you are trying to shift it because you also realise that your main point was pretty dim.
She was in Cabinet from 2022 until 2024.
She is perfectly entitled to point out that welfare is out of control and that once in Government she plans on doing something about it. However she couches it.in terms of Reeves being responsible. Granted Reeves, Starmer and Kendall made one hell of a mess of their botched Welfare Bill, but they didn't create the initial problem.
My point stands. Did she at any point tell Truss and Sunak. "Blimey the welfare caper, it's out of control don't you know?
And I can't promise, but I'll try to post less frequently. I'm currently on holiday so I've gone a bit mad with the posting, so sorry for that
I disagree with you on many things but read all of your posts when I can and would be very disappointed if you felt you had to reduce posting for any reason other than personal choice.
I also tend to post in bursts, mostly because of work pressures, so understand entirely what it is like to suddenly have the time and the inclination to get stuck in.
To be fair to PB this is a right wing blog, and I have noted that many non- right wingers seem to be posting less frequently than they once did.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
It really isn't 'a right wing blog'. It has posters from across the spectrum, fairly representatively, although Reform are significantly underrepeesented - largely because we are disproportionately mide class (so what we actually have is the full range of middle class opinions). Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place. Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
It would be interesting to do a poll of PB contributors & see where the current centre of gravity lies, both in party & policy terms. Have to make sure it’s not a voodoo poll of course, or else the curse of our good host will descend upon us all.
It depends on whether you weight the PB contributors by number of posts, and include lurkers and low intensity posters.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
I think we are in a situation where most of us are finding our natural parties somewhat if not majorly flawed so we are all grumpy about the mess they are in, all want them to be better at being what we feel they should be and are mostly in a cycle of negative politics, essentially against all the other parties rather than being particularly for your natural party.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
One thing that PB is missing is the Green's leadership contest. The Greens have quietly got into double figures, and Zack Polanski looks to be way ahead. The Corbyn/Sultana party could well fall at the first hurdle if Zack wins and mops up the youth/Left/Gaza vote as I think he will.
I am voting for Zack if he loses i will join the Jezza Party. If he wins i am sticking with the Greens but hope they can reach an electoral agreement about who stands where in GE2029
Greens won four seats under the Lucas/Ramsey leadership. If Polanski wins and if Corbyn starts his party then Greens may save Brighton but they will win f all else.
Nah, Polanski is very articulate and media savvy. I think they will do well under him.
You don't think his career as a hypnotist will count against him?
English cricket urgently needs to find a way to get Test cricket (and all cricket) back on free or free-ish TV, and the nation will fall in love with it again. It is such a pleasant change from the endless, endless football
County championship games are streamed live on YouTube, variable quality but nearly all now seems to have several cameras rather than a single camera feed from one end of the wicket.
English cricket urgently needs to find a way to get Test cricket (and all cricket) back on free or free-ish TV, and the nation will fall in love with it again. It is such a pleasant change from the endless, endless football
Comments
They also get to test their influence, like a girl playing off one boy against another to see who offers the most sweeties/favours.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education, part of his bid to shrink the federal government's role in education in favor of more control by the states.
As it is a right wing blog it is extremely rude of a centrist Dad guest to come along and dump all over Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, oh and @Leon. I have been doing rather a lot of dumping, and if it spoils it for a not insubstantial number of other posters, perhaps I should try to desist a bit more successfully than I have in the past. I can't promise, but I'll try.
"This summer. Club World Cup on top of end of season and pre season friendlies had me tapping out from football. Complete overexposure.
Gave me a chance to really watch this England v India test and be patient, watch, learn and just enjoy it!
Have absolutely loved the different styles, characters, edginess, jeopardy and patience required.
A revelation watching this series, got me organising my day around it!"
https://x.com/StanCollymore/status/1944771685082611949
English cricket urgently needs to find a way to get Test cricket (and all cricket) back on free or free-ish TV, and the nation will fall in love with it again. It is such a pleasant change from the endless, endless football
Perhaps we can take a leaf out of Donald Trump's book and send Mexicans back from whence they came.
What does it matter how many illegal immigrants Trump deports.
The damage Trump might inflict on foreign and economic policy is far, far more important.
Lol "more good news for SKS" the header says!
But carry on!
Even when he's doing it for the wrong reasons and with the opposite intention of the headline.
You were right Starmer isn't very good and I am coming around to your idea for a King of the North resurrection.
Being as you aren't a right winger am I allowed to be chippy to you?
Some left wingers inhabit such a left wing bubble that they find any space in which everyone is NOT left wing 'right wing'. But pb really isn't such a place.
Your constant mentioning of Leon is odd.
But now Labour have somehow proved to be even worse, and the anti-Labour factions are now in full throated angry pursuit
TBH I find it quite pathetic how many Labourites have slunk away from PB because they "don't like all the negativity about Starmer and Labour". Grow up
I've had two black Russians which is a skinfull for me.
Will somebody finally take the record off them?
I think sometimes you tend to tilt at windmills but it’s only an internet site and the whole point of it is the different views and ways of expressing them so the more views, the wider insights, the more parry and riposte the better.
liberal cultural views - in the 40 to 50 per cent range
The speed and the broad brush nature is a danger to the US economy and its knock on effects on the global economy. That’s why it matters.
I intend to.
And good luck to him. Imagine the horror if we all had to post sober
Unless they are very stupid, or very poor, both the Labour Party and potential breakaway have been polling privately.
As to the numbers in the poll - what’s not to believe. Left blogs and fora are massively anti-government.
It’s more concentrated on demanding more left wing policies, than the process state paralysis.
A Corbyn blessed breakaway would offer Pure Leftism without any compromise - political, budgetary, practical or even aligned with the laws of physics.
Mostly we are a male centrist middle aged middle class bunch, with a few notable exceptions. Both far left and far right are sparsely represented, as are a number of other areas, Greens and Islamists for example.
At the moment we are in the summer silly season and there isn't much to bet on, so my interest has dropped.
They aren't worse.
Going well on Masterchef still, I see.
They're going to bury that latest series in a lead lined box at the bottom of the Atlantic, aren't they?
They've got a 170 seat majority and can't make a 3% cut to the welfare budget.
I can’t really think of anyone on here who really thinks “their team” has it nailed at the moment. Tories like me are super frustrated with the past few years and the current malaise, Labourites such as MexicanPete or BJO have issues with Labour of varying extremes, I don’t think any of the reform curious posters are fully bought into the party or policies.
There isn’t any rallying point, a bright shining light. If PB had been arounfpd in say, 1997, there probably would have been quite a large constituency on here that was very positive and energised by New Labour/Blair but at the moment is just us resorting largely to “the best of a bad lot” or trying to keep supporting your team unenthusiastically.
The News Agents
@TheNewsAgents
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4h
“When I heard about Corbyn and Sultana, I was deeply frustrated. I thought: Why are you doing this?”
https://x.com/TheNewsAgents/status/1944799016622895569
Always thought Heston Blumenthal was a bit of an arse but the recent programme on his bipolarity helped me realise there were reasons for the arsery. I ended up finding him very likeable.
It's the sort of thing you'd do for a laugh, right?
I do think in an era of unprecedented volatility there are many who are politically "homeless" though all the polling I ever see suggests there are still broadly two blocs as there are in most countries and whether you call them "right" or "left" or "bourgeois" and "worker" or "red" and "blue" makes little difference. Movement within those blocs is considerable but movement across them less so.
Opinium has Ref/Con at 47% and Lab/LD/Green at 46%. It was 38-53 at the July 2024 election so the swing is 8% but that only tells a fraction of the story.
@PhillipsPOBrien
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43m
Trump has not guaranteed that he will put sanctions on Russia in 50 days, he has offered Putin protection against additional sanctions for 50 days. And he can always extend beyond that.
Phillips P. OBrien
@PhillipsPOBrien
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42m
He has basically given Putin a green light to throw the kitchen sink at Ukraine until September.
https://x.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1944858305379360975
This site like our good host has always been predominately lib dem in nature but now posters seem to be mainly rich, privately educated and well travelled.
No working class lads - can anyone remember West Ham Paul [hope I got that right]
Remember speaking to a London working girl at Nottingham Station who said she didn't know anyone who voted Leave; - well I'm the same for Remain apart from youngest son who just been knocked out of my will - three of my grand daughters who were old enough to vote in 2016 all voted Leave.
Always thought it was a good idea for occasionally posters to say who they are voting for at that moment - me Reform or Green
Hypothetical polls are absolute cobblers.
But still funny.
And - even funnier - some people make decisions on what to do in response to them.
Maybe we need a full bore header?
Lucas is urging a vote for the Ramsey team against Polanski and she retains enormous influence - but the question is how many entrists have there been in last three or so months? Newstatesman reported the other week that it had been substantial and you have high profile figures like Grace Berkeley throwing their lot in with the party. How must they feel now that their "perfect" socialist party is about to be born?
Edit: The popcorn scenario is where a few 1000s lefty corbyn entrists joined the Greens to elect Polanski who then wins and then they all f off and join the real socialist Sultana vehicle leaving the Greens with a leader most don't want.
It not the same as serial trouser dropper while commando Wallace type claims.
https://socialistalternative.info/2025/05/11/huddersfield-conference-of-resistance-makes-call-for-a-new-left-wing-party/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MusyO7J2inM&ab_channel=BBC
(with an honorable mention to SKY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J6eN2cbnoM&ab_channel=SkySportsFootball }
And for big.lefties, the Green Party already are available.
Anybody remember Gina Miller 2 or 3 goes at a political party.
The question was never answered, but the programme went ahead.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/14/bbc-gaza-documentary-declared-clean-of-hamas/
Faisal really pushing him on the reality.
All a bit silly as the whole package seems to be based on Reeves announcing some major change tomorrow at the Mansion House. Which wont happen.
@SpencerHakimian
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53m
*US IMPOSES 17% DUTY ON MOST TOMATO IMPORTS FROM MEXICO
What is the point of this nonsense?
https://x.com/SpencerHakimian/status/1944865590491144527
https://x.com/Rebel44CZ/status/1944759387555328079