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Size isn’t important, it’s what you do with it that counts – politicalbetting.com

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  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    It'll come down to the ground game rather than the air game. Reform may have the BBC in it's pocket but these guys have a motivated and usually educated following who can put an argument across in non-Daily Mail ways. It's also a convenient place for Labour to send those on the naughty step.

    Hardly, GB news may be in Reform’s pocket but the BBC is firmly Starmer Labour
    Have you watched the BBC lately? Nigel Farage is on every 10 minutes.
    His party is leading in the polls, they just won the local elex, and they are - as things stand - likely to be the next government (or part of it)

    So, yeah, Farage is going to be justifiably treated as de facto LOTO
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    edited July 25
    Stokes is done for. Readjust all your Ashes betting.

    The commentators keep saying its cramp, bollocks is it cramp. If it was, they would have the trainer out, do the usual leg straighten exercise.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 36,522
    edited July 25
    Stokes retires hurt 66.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,933
    Stokes has retired hurt.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425
    edited July 25

    Stokes is done for. Readjust all your Ashes betting.

    And yet he walked off smiling and also quite easily

    I pray this is just him being sensibly cautious. England are totally dominant. No point in risking a deeper injury. We've got five more wickets to get 100 more runs, should be do-able
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 36,522
    Good idea to get Smith in to hit a few boundaries.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    edited July 25
    Leon said:

    Stokes is done for. Readjust all your Ashes betting.

    And yet he walked off smiling and also quite easily

    I pray this is just him being sensibly cautious. England are totally dominant. No point in risking a deeper injury. We've got five more wickets to get 100 more runs, should be do-able
    That is exactly how he used to be when it locked up before and he used to do it with the same shot trying to force a sweep / reverse sweep. Always claiming no biggie, when it was / is something very serious as he had to have 9 months out of the game in order to get to a stage to bowl properly again.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425

    Leon said:

    Stokes is done for. Readjust all your Ashes betting.

    And yet he walked off smiling and also quite easily

    I pray this is just him being sensibly cautious. England are totally dominant. No point in risking a deeper injury. We've got five more wickets to get 100 more runs, should be do-able
    That is exactly how he used to be when it locked up before. Always claiming no biggie, when it was / is something very serious as he had to have 9 months out of the game in order to get to a stage to bowl properly again.
    Who appointed you Captain Cheery-pants?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,933
    I am sure I have watched a movie with this plot line.

    A pair of teachers who had sex in classrooms during a two-year affair have been temporarily barred from the profession.

    Liyarna Beamish, a married deputy head teacher, had a secret relationship with Gareth Collins, an art teacher, at an all-girls’ grammar school.

    The pair admitted to having sex in classrooms and locked cupboards during the school day at Ribston Hall High School in Gloucester.

    Mrs Beamish, 39, and Mr Collins, 45, have now been banned from teaching after they were found to have committed unacceptable professional conduct.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/25/teachers-who-had-sex-in-classrooms-struck-off/?recomm_id=c1b2afbd-79f7-4632-a032-306d44786c78
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 6,086
    edited July 25

    nunu2 said:

    This is a stunning poll! And a Yougov poll to boot!


    🟡 SNP – 29% (-1)
    ➡️ REF – 22% (+15)
    🔴 LAB – 19% (-16)
    🟠 LD – 11% (+1)
    🔵 CON – 10% (-3)
    🟢 GRN – 7% (+3)

    Via
    @YouGov
    /
    @ScotVoting
    , 13-19 Jun (+/- vs GE24)

    https://x.com/LeftieStats/status/1948706156353819074

    Not much evidence of that much loved Yoon meme of SNP transfers to Reform.
    SLab otoh..
    SLAB deserve to be in freefall. Not only are they part of the worst Labour government ever, they have sidelined the only MP who tried to help his constituency. In Holyrood, they still haven’t learned their lessons of 2007. They still think they are entitled to the Scottish vote for doing nothing except cronyism. Fuck them! I would sooner see Reform as the official opposition than that bunch of charlatans.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,368
    Andy_JS said:

    I always think 20 mins is too short for the tea break. By the time the players get back in the dressing room there's only about 10 left and they need to be on the field a few mins before play begins, so they probably only get about 5 mins. It's also too short for spectators to stand in queues for drinks.

    And in that 5 mins they somehow have to deal with a plate of cucumber sandwiches and a slice of cake.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 10,528
    edited July 25

    I am sure I have watched a movie with this plot line.

    A pair of teachers who had sex in classrooms during a two-year affair have been temporarily barred from the profession.

    Liyarna Beamish, a married deputy head teacher, had a secret relationship with Gareth Collins, an art teacher, at an all-girls’ grammar school.

    The pair admitted to having sex in classrooms and locked cupboards during the school day at Ribston Hall High School in Gloucester.

    Mrs Beamish, 39, and Mr Collins, 45, have now been banned from teaching after they were found to have committed unacceptable professional conduct.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/25/teachers-who-had-sex-in-classrooms-struck-off/?recomm_id=c1b2afbd-79f7-4632-a032-306d44786c78

    One of the other staff must have heard the cupboard slammimg up and down, so to speak.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 52,477
    Leon said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    It'll come down to the ground game rather than the air game. Reform may have the BBC in it's pocket but these guys have a motivated and usually educated following who can put an argument across in non-Daily Mail ways. It's also a convenient place for Labour to send those on the naughty step.

    Hardly, GB news may be in Reform’s pocket but the BBC is firmly Starmer Labour
    Have you watched the BBC lately? Nigel Farage is on every 10 minutes.
    His party is leading in the polls, they just won the local elex, and they are - as things stand - likely to be the next government (or part of it)

    So, yeah, Farage is going to be justifiably treated as de facto LOTO
    That’s not how the BBC is supposed - and required - to work.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    Today was my last day at No 10 as the Prime Minister’s Adviser on AI. It’s been a privilege to serve over the last year
    https://x.com/matthewclifford/status/1948762299776278594
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 36,522
    "Was out doing some gardening earlier when I too came across a stubborn root that I just couldn't get out. So I know how India must be feeling right now.

    Gary, Norfolk"

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/live/clyq59w7qyxt#LiveReporting
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 129,093
    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    It'll come down to the ground game rather than the air game. Reform may have the BBC in it's pocket but these guys have a motivated and usually educated following who can put an argument across in non-Daily Mail ways. It's also a convenient place for Labour to send those on the naughty step.

    Hardly, GB news may be in Reform’s pocket but the BBC is firmly Starmer Labour
    Have you watched the BBC lately? Nigel Farage is on every 10 minutes.
    His party is leading in the polls, they just won the local elex, and they are - as things stand - likely to be the next government (or part of it)

    So, yeah, Farage is going to be justifiably treated as de facto LOTO
    That’s not how the BBC is supposed - and required - to work.
    Yes, they must be the nation’s left liberal conscience and treat anybody right of Jeremy Hunt with withering contempt. Though licence fee payers who vote Reform would be even more annoyed with the BBC as a result
  • dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,321
    https://x.com/MattCartoonist/status/1948778761643569480

    The Corbyn Project - aka Reelect The Right.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    Andy_JS said:

    "Was out doing some gardening earlier when I too came across a stubborn root that I just couldn't get out. So I know how India must be feeling right now.

    Gary, Norfolk"

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/live/clyq59w7qyxt#LiveReporting

    Off to Conservative Home for you....
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,368
    edited July 25
    I hope 'NP' either flop entirely or do incredibly well and win lots of seats. No breakthrough but polling enough to hand power to Farage is the worst outcome from my pov.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,089
    Root started to walk, but the ump called a review.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,089
    He’s out. A great 150.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 10,528
    Yournew party, use the app here.

    It sounds like a friendly app.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425
    YES!!!!

    It's just cramp
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 129,093
    edited July 25
    dr_spyn said:

    https://x.com/MattCartoonist/status/1948778761643569480

    The Corbyn Project - aka Reelect The Right.

    It is perfectly possible to vote for Corbyn’s new party in inner London, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Oxford, Bristol, Cambridge, Liverpool, Brighton etc with no risk of electing a rightwing MP.

    Only if you live in a marginal seat could a vote for Corbyn elect a Reform or Tory MP
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,794
    sarissa said:

    nunu2 said:

    This is a stunning poll! And a Yougov poll to boot!


    🟡 SNP – 29% (-1)
    ➡️ REF – 22% (+15)
    🔴 LAB – 19% (-16)
    🟠 LD – 11% (+1)
    🔵 CON – 10% (-3)
    🟢 GRN – 7% (+3)

    Via
    @YouGov
    /
    @ScotVoting
    , 13-19 Jun (+/- vs GE24)

    https://x.com/LeftieStats/status/1948706156353819074

    Almost perfect fragmentation of Unionist vote.
    I agree that such a result would be great for the SNP (and on this @Leon is quite wrong).

    However, it's quite hard to know exactly how it would play out, because we don't know how concentrated the Reform vote will be, because it's not been tested yet. What we do know, though, is that the LibDems will almost certainly win the same six seats that they have now, simply because their vote is incredibly concentrated.

    We also know that Labour would lose most of their two-way seats to the SNP. I suspect it probably wouldn't be *quite* as bad as predicted. But it would be bad.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425
    rcs1000 said:

    sarissa said:

    nunu2 said:

    This is a stunning poll! And a Yougov poll to boot!


    🟡 SNP – 29% (-1)
    ➡️ REF – 22% (+15)
    🔴 LAB – 19% (-16)
    🟠 LD – 11% (+1)
    🔵 CON – 10% (-3)
    🟢 GRN – 7% (+3)

    Via
    @YouGov
    /
    @ScotVoting
    , 13-19 Jun (+/- vs GE24)

    https://x.com/LeftieStats/status/1948706156353819074

    Almost perfect fragmentation of Unionist vote.
    I agree that such a result would be great for the SNP (and on this @Leon is quite wrong).

    However, it's quite hard to know exactly how it would play out, because we don't know how concentrated the Reform vote will be, because it's not been tested yet. What we do know, though, is that the LibDems will almost certainly win the same six seats that they have now, simply because their vote is incredibly concentrated.

    We also know that Labour would lose most of their two-way seats to the SNP. I suspect it probably wouldn't be *quite* as bad as predicted. But it would be bad.
    So, you don't actually know if I am wrong, then
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 36,522
    Brilliant article in the New Statesman.

    "The MoD’s Afghan data breach shows us who we really are
    The British state remains in thrall to New Labour’s brutal adventurism.
    By Oliver Eagleton

    This sequence of events unfolded not just in Britain but across the Global North, as governments joined foreign wars and delegated authority to big business. It soon gave rise to a paradoxical situation. New forms of international dependency were created, with impoverished client states becoming completely reliant on the imperial powers. At the same time, those powers themselves became dependent on predatory investors and asset-stripping corporations, with dire results for states and wider societies. So, as elites in Kabul looked to Western governments to stabilise their rule, they realised that the latter were grappling with their own set of instabilities, caused by the forward march of neoliberalism. Politicians in the developed world had forfeited their own sovereignty while trying to assert it over others." (£)

    https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2025/07/afghan-data-breach-shows-us-who-we-really-are
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 79,570
    Severe malnutrition among under-5s in Gaza City has tripled in two weeks, charity says
    MSF says number of people needing care for malnutrition has quadrupled since May and blames Israeli ‘policy of starvation’
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/25/severe-malnutrition-under-5s-gaza-city--tripled-two-weeks-charity-msf
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 129,093
    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    sarissa said:

    nunu2 said:

    This is a stunning poll! And a Yougov poll to boot!


    🟡 SNP – 29% (-1)
    ➡️ REF – 22% (+15)
    🔴 LAB – 19% (-16)
    🟠 LD – 11% (+1)
    🔵 CON – 10% (-3)
    🟢 GRN – 7% (+3)

    Via
    @YouGov
    /
    @ScotVoting
    , 13-19 Jun (+/- vs GE24)

    https://x.com/LeftieStats/status/1948706156353819074

    Almost perfect fragmentation of Unionist vote.
    I agree that such a result would be great for the SNP (and on this @Leon is quite wrong).

    However, it's quite hard to know exactly how it would play out, because we don't know how concentrated the Reform vote will be, because it's not been tested yet. What we do know, though, is that the LibDems will almost certainly win the same six seats that they have now, simply because their vote is incredibly concentrated.

    We also know that Labour would lose most of their two-way seats to the SNP. I suspect it probably wouldn't be *quite* as bad as predicted. But it would be bad.
    So, you don't actually know if I am wrong, then
    And unless they hold the balance of power in the Commons, Westminster elections are largely irrelevant for the SNP anyway beyond SNP MPs enjoying their expense accounts in the Westminster bars and restaurants
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 36,522
    "Over 200 MPs sign cross-party letter demanding Starmer recognise Palestine as a state"

    https://news.sky.com/story/mass-cross-party-letter-demands-starmer-recognise-palestine-as-a-state-13401496
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 33,294
    kinabalu said:

    I hope 'NP' either flop entirely or do incredibly well and win lots of seats. No breakthrough but polling enough to hand power to Farage is the worst outcome from my pov.

    But that is Corbyn's USP. Vote Corbyn, vote Conservative government.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425
    Stokes needs to come out again and slap 50
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    edited July 25
    Leon said:

    Stokes needs to come out again and slap 50

    Not buying he has just got a bit of cramp. Its been an hour since he went off the field and several wickets have fallen, yet we are sending in the tailenders.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 67,010
    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    It'll come down to the ground game rather than the air game. Reform may have the BBC in it's pocket but these guys have a motivated and usually educated following who can put an argument across in non-Daily Mail ways. It's also a convenient place for Labour to send those on the naughty step.

    Hardly, GB news may be in Reform’s pocket but the BBC is firmly Starmer Labour
    Have you watched the BBC lately? Nigel Farage is on every 10 minutes.
    His party is leading in the polls, they just won the local elex, and they are - as things stand - likely to be the next government (or part of it)

    So, yeah, Farage is going to be justifiably treated as de facto LOTO
    That’s not how the BBC is supposed - and required - to work.
    And the irony is a Farage led government would end the BBC as a public funded broadcaster.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,794
    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    sarissa said:

    nunu2 said:

    This is a stunning poll! And a Yougov poll to boot!


    🟡 SNP – 29% (-1)
    ➡️ REF – 22% (+15)
    🔴 LAB – 19% (-16)
    🟠 LD – 11% (+1)
    🔵 CON – 10% (-3)
    🟢 GRN – 7% (+3)

    Via
    @YouGov
    /
    @ScotVoting
    , 13-19 Jun (+/- vs GE24)

    https://x.com/LeftieStats/status/1948706156353819074

    Almost perfect fragmentation of Unionist vote.
    I agree that such a result would be great for the SNP (and on this @Leon is quite wrong).

    However, it's quite hard to know exactly how it would play out, because we don't know how concentrated the Reform vote will be, because it's not been tested yet. What we do know, though, is that the LibDems will almost certainly win the same six seats that they have now, simply because their vote is incredibly concentrated.

    We also know that Labour would lose most of their two-way seats to the SNP. I suspect it probably wouldn't be *quite* as bad as predicted. But it would be bad.
    So, you don't actually know if I am wrong, then
    Well, I'm playing the probabilities here.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425
    edited July 25

    Leon said:

    Stokes needs to come out again and slap 50

    Not buying he has just got a bit of cramp. Its been an hour since he went off the field and several wickets have fallen, yet we are sending in the tailenders.
    Jeez, you're determined to think the worst!

    We don't really need Stokes, if the tail can hit 50 from here, that's a great result, then get the Indian tail in for a few overs

    Or bat to the end, then maybe Stokes can come back tomorrow
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 52,477
    HYUFD said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    It'll come down to the ground game rather than the air game. Reform may have the BBC in it's pocket but these guys have a motivated and usually educated following who can put an argument across in non-Daily Mail ways. It's also a convenient place for Labour to send those on the naughty step.

    Hardly, GB news may be in Reform’s pocket but the BBC is firmly Starmer Labour
    Have you watched the BBC lately? Nigel Farage is on every 10 minutes.
    His party is leading in the polls, they just won the local elex, and they are - as things stand - likely to be the next government (or part of it)

    So, yeah, Farage is going to be justifiably treated as de facto LOTO
    That’s not how the BBC is supposed - and required - to work.
    Yes, they must be the nation’s left liberal conscience and treat anybody right of Jeremy Hunt with withering contempt. Though licence fee payers who vote Reform would be even more annoyed with the BBC as a result
    You know very well that the BBC is obliged to take account of the balance of representation in parliament, and of substantive results of actual elections, and not just the latest passing poll
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 129,093
    edited July 25
    IanB2 said:

    HYUFD said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    It'll come down to the ground game rather than the air game. Reform may have the BBC in it's pocket but these guys have a motivated and usually educated following who can put an argument across in non-Daily Mail ways. It's also a convenient place for Labour to send those on the naughty step.

    Hardly, GB news may be in Reform’s pocket but the BBC is firmly Starmer Labour
    Have you watched the BBC lately? Nigel Farage is on every 10 minutes.
    His party is leading in the polls, they just won the local elex, and they are - as things stand - likely to be the next government (or part of it)

    So, yeah, Farage is going to be justifiably treated as de facto LOTO
    That’s not how the BBC is supposed - and required - to work.
    Yes, they must be the nation’s left liberal conscience and treat anybody right of Jeremy Hunt with withering contempt. Though licence fee payers who vote Reform would be even more annoyed with the BBC as a result
    You know very well that the BBC is obliged to take account of the balance of representation in parliament, and of substantive results of actual elections, and not just the latest passing poll
    Like May’s local elections where Reform won most votes and control of ten county councils? Or the Runcorn parliamentary by election Reform won?
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,681
    We've done really well today but it would be really good if we can get another 40, 50 or so in this innings, as that will be so much easier than having to get those runs as part of a chase in the 4th innings
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425

    We've done really well today but it would be really good if we can get another 40, 50 or so in this innings, as that will be so much easier than having to get those runs as part of a chase in the 4th innings

    Yes, another 35 would give us a lead of 200. Surely we can do that with 3 wickets (minus Stokes)
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 15,065

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    It'll come down to the ground game rather than the air game. Reform may have the BBC in it's pocket but these guys have a motivated and usually educated following who can put an argument across in non-Daily Mail ways. It's also a convenient place for Labour to send those on the naughty step.

    Hardly, GB news may be in Reform’s pocket but the BBC is firmly Starmer Labour
    Have you watched the BBC lately? Nigel Farage is on every 10 minutes.
    His party is leading in the polls, they just won the local elex, and they are - as things stand - likely to be the next government (or part of it)

    So, yeah, Farage is going to be justifiably treated as de facto LOTO
    That’s not how the BBC is supposed - and required - to work.
    And the irony is a Farage led government would end the BBC as a public funded broadcaster.
    I am not convinced that Farage would do this. It's fine as a 2024 policy for a party that can't win; less convincing as a 2029 policy for a party that might be the government. Await the manifesto.

    I think the BBC is an organisation which, as the decision of defunding arrived, would suddenly find it had about 30 million supporters including a very large number of Reform voters.

    And then there is a smaller number of people who notice how PSB works in Russia, and in the USA, and may conclude that we are not so badly off.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,176
    Andy_JS said:

    "Over 200 MPs sign cross-party letter demanding Starmer recognise Palestine as a state"

    https://news.sky.com/story/mass-cross-party-letter-demands-starmer-recognise-palestine-as-a-state-13401496

    On which boundaries?

    Pretty important question if it doesn't match what Palestinian Authorities claim, for example.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 12,079
    HYUFD said:

    dr_spyn said:

    https://x.com/MattCartoonist/status/1948778761643569480

    The Corbyn Project - aka Reelect The Right.

    It is perfectly possible to vote for Corbyn’s new party in inner London, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Oxford, Bristol, Cambridge, Liverpool, Brighton etc with no risk of electing a rightwing MP.

    Only if you live in a marginal seat could a vote for Corbyn elect a Reform or Tory MP
    Presumably if the New Party attracts support it will be a net benefit to Labour's opponents. But it's not an entirely straightforward situation. Strange as it sounds, to some extent Corbyn will be fishing in the same pool as Farage, particularly in the "Red Wall".
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,176
    edited July 25
    IanB2 said:

    HYUFD said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    It'll come down to the ground game rather than the air game. Reform may have the BBC in it's pocket but these guys have a motivated and usually educated following who can put an argument across in non-Daily Mail ways. It's also a convenient place for Labour to send those on the naughty step.

    Hardly, GB news may be in Reform’s pocket but the BBC is firmly Starmer Labour
    Have you watched the BBC lately? Nigel Farage is on every 10 minutes.
    His party is leading in the polls, they just won the local elex, and they are - as things stand - likely to be the next government (or part of it)

    So, yeah, Farage is going to be justifiably treated as de facto LOTO
    That’s not how the BBC is supposed - and required - to work.
    Yes, they must be the nation’s left liberal conscience and treat anybody right of Jeremy Hunt with withering contempt. Though licence fee payers who vote Reform would be even more annoyed with the BBC as a result
    You know very well that the BBC is obliged to take account of the balance of representation in parliament, and of substantive results of actual elections, and not just the latest passing poll
    This is a manufactured disagreement so I assume people are just having fun.

    Given the political climate it is not surprising Farage gets plenty of airtime, and it's just a rehash of the old argument that being on TV causes his support rather than the reverse to moan about it. But moaning about them not being actually treated like they have the electoral track record that their polling suggests they might get is equally as silly.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 36,522
    Nice thought but no.

    "More than 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for Birmingham Airport to be renamed as 'Ozzy Osbourne International'."

    https://www.itv.com/news/central/2025-07-25/thousands-call-for-airport-to-be-renamed-ozzy-osbourne-international
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,176
    Andy_JS said:

    Brilliant article in the New Statesman.

    "The MoD’s Afghan data breach shows us who we really are
    The British state remains in thrall to New Labour’s brutal adventurism.
    By Oliver Eagleton

    This sequence of events unfolded not just in Britain but across the Global North, as governments joined foreign wars and delegated authority to big business. It soon gave rise to a paradoxical situation. New forms of international dependency were created, with impoverished client states becoming completely reliant on the imperial powers. At the same time, those powers themselves became dependent on predatory investors and asset-stripping corporations, with dire results for states and wider societies. So, as elites in Kabul looked to Western governments to stabilise their rule, they realised that the latter were grappling with their own set of instabilities, caused by the forward march of neoliberalism. Politicians in the developed world had forfeited their own sovereignty while trying to assert it over others." (£)

    https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2025/07/afghan-data-breach-shows-us-who-we-really-are

    We're still trying to push Global North/South? What a nonsense, I thought that one had died away already.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 79,570
    I offer this to TSE as an alternative to giving us the Farage header photo again.
    https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1948562247950995669
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,176
    HYUFD said:

    IanB2 said:

    HYUFD said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    It'll come down to the ground game rather than the air game. Reform may have the BBC in it's pocket but these guys have a motivated and usually educated following who can put an argument across in non-Daily Mail ways. It's also a convenient place for Labour to send those on the naughty step.

    Hardly, GB news may be in Reform’s pocket but the BBC is firmly Starmer Labour
    Have you watched the BBC lately? Nigel Farage is on every 10 minutes.
    His party is leading in the polls, they just won the local elex, and they are - as things stand - likely to be the next government (or part of it)

    So, yeah, Farage is going to be justifiably treated as de facto LOTO
    That’s not how the BBC is supposed - and required - to work.
    Yes, they must be the nation’s left liberal conscience and treat anybody right of Jeremy Hunt with withering contempt. Though licence fee payers who vote Reform would be even more annoyed with the BBC as a result
    You know very well that the BBC is obliged to take account of the balance of representation in parliament, and of substantive results of actual elections, and not just the latest passing poll
    Like May’s local elections where Reform won most votes and control of ten county councils? Or the Runcorn parliamentary by election Reform won?
    Which is why they get plent of attention. Just not to the level of being as though they were the official opposition.

    So what are you even complaining about here?
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 36,522
    When I said England could get 700 earlier I wasn't being entirely serious but it now looks possible.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425
    Stokes!

    He needs to hit 30 fast, then we're done
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,681
    Andy_JS said:

    When I said England could get 700 earlier I wasn't being entirely serious but it now looks possible.

    I would be very pleased if we get to 600 from here
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 36,522
    edited July 25
    "Chris Packham and other outraged campaigners are calling on the education regulator to withdraw "dangerous" training materials that link autism to radicalisation."

    https://www.private-eye.co.uk/in-the-back
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425

    Andy_JS said:

    When I said England could get 700 earlier I wasn't being entirely serious but it now looks possible.

    I would be very pleased if we get to 600 from here
    Quite, seems unlikely. 550 would be ok
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    Hobble hobble....
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425

    Hobble hobble....

    That's surely not a fucked hamstring, however
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,996
    Leon said:

    Andy_JS said:

    When I said England could get 700 earlier I wasn't being entirely serious but it now looks possible.

    I would be very pleased if we get to 600 from here
    Quite, seems unlikely. 550 would be ok
    As long as Stokes is fit to bowl. Which seems unlikely. I think England need all the runs they can get here. Knocking over India again without Stokes just might prove tricky.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    edited July 25
    Leon said:

    Hobble hobble....

    That's surely not a fucked hamstring, however
    The whole thing is identical to how his knee used to go 2 years ago and had surgery on. He tries to sweep, it pops in some way, it then locks up if he gets in a certain position and is in general discomfort. He can do somethings, it can't do others.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 74,438
    If Stokes is crocked for the ashes, one question that might be worth looking at is, who do you make captain?

    Do you keep faith with Pope, the deputy who has stepped up with to put it mildly mixed success?

    Do you give it to Brook, who is the heir apparent?

    Or do you have a left field selection and pick Duckett?
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,900
    Andy_JS said:

    Nice thought but no.

    "More than 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for Birmingham Airport to be renamed as 'Ozzy Osbourne International'."

    https://www.itv.com/news/central/2025-07-25/thousands-call-for-airport-to-be-renamed-ozzy-osbourne-international

    "Flying High Again"

    They could rename New Street to Crazy Train
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 25,308
    Andy_JS said:

    Brilliant article in the New Statesman.

    "The MoD’s Afghan data breach shows us who we really are
    The British state remains in thrall to New Labour’s brutal adventurism.
    By Oliver Eagleton

    This sequence of events unfolded not just in Britain but across the Global North, as governments joined foreign wars and delegated authority to big business. It soon gave rise to a paradoxical situation. New forms of international dependency were created, with impoverished client states becoming completely reliant on the imperial powers. At the same time, those powers themselves became dependent on predatory investors and asset-stripping corporations, with dire results for states and wider societies. So, as elites in Kabul looked to Western governments to stabilise their rule, they realised that the latter were grappling with their own set of instabilities, caused by the forward march of neoliberalism. Politicians in the developed world had forfeited their own sovereignty while trying to assert it over others." (£)

    https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2025/07/afghan-data-breach-shows-us-who-we-really-are

    "...If the government’s main foreign policy ambition is to act as Washington’s henchman, this is in part because its domestic policy is not designed to reclaim the sovereignty that was relinquished during the neoliberal period; it is characterised by the same mix of deregulation and deference to private interests. In this sense, the data leak offers a glimpse of a much wider problem: the ability of Blairism to survive amid the wreckage it has made..."
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    ydoethur said:

    If Stokes is crocked for the ashes, one question that might be worth looking at is, who do you make captain?

    Do you keep faith with Pope, the deputy who has stepped up with to put it mildly mixed success?

    Do you give it to Brook, who is the heir apparent?

    Or do you have a left field selection and pick Duckett?

    Crawley ;-)
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,681
    DavidL said:

    Leon said:

    Andy_JS said:

    When I said England could get 700 earlier I wasn't being entirely serious but it now looks possible.

    I would be very pleased if we get to 600 from here
    Quite, seems unlikely. 550 would be ok
    As long as Stokes is fit to bowl. Which seems unlikely. I think England need all the runs they can get here. Knocking over India again without Stokes just might prove tricky.
    We don't want to have to chase more than 200. Getting the runs in the 4th innings at Old Trafford is not always straightforward.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425
    Can we please stop signing Ben Stokes' death warrant, thanks
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    I was worried Stokes would break down with all the bowling he was doing. Apparently he has worked on his run-up and delivery to try and reduce strain on his knee. Looks like instead it was a reverse sweep.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 52,477
    edited July 25
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    sarissa said:

    nunu2 said:

    This is a stunning poll! And a Yougov poll to boot!


    🟡 SNP – 29% (-1)
    ➡️ REF – 22% (+15)
    🔴 LAB – 19% (-16)
    🟠 LD – 11% (+1)
    🔵 CON – 10% (-3)
    🟢 GRN – 7% (+3)

    Via
    @YouGov
    /
    @ScotVoting
    , 13-19 Jun (+/- vs GE24)

    https://x.com/LeftieStats/status/1948706156353819074

    Almost perfect fragmentation of Unionist vote.
    I agree that such a result would be great for the SNP (and on this @Leon is quite wrong).

    However, it's quite hard to know exactly how it would play out, because we don't know how concentrated the Reform vote will be, because it's not been tested yet. What we do know, though, is that the LibDems will almost certainly win the same six seats that they have now, simply because their vote is incredibly concentrated.

    We also know that Labour would lose most of their two-way seats to the SNP. I suspect it probably wouldn't be *quite* as bad as predicted. But it would be bad.
    So, you don't actually know if I am wrong, then
    Well, I'm playing the probabilities here.
    It's usually a sound working assumption

    And also often a solid betting proposition
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 74,438

    ydoethur said:

    If Stokes is crocked for the ashes, one question that might be worth looking at is, who do you make captain?

    Do you keep faith with Pope, the deputy who has stepped up with to put it mildly mixed success?

    Do you give it to Brook, who is the heir apparent?

    Or do you have a left field selection and pick Duckett?

    Crawley ;-)
    You are Rob Key and I claim my £5.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    Local Ashfield residents and ‘anti-racism’ protesters clash outside a church as demonstrators march to demand an end to illegal migration

    https://x.com/GBPolitcs/status/1948784888682885315
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 74,438

    I was worried Stokes would break down with all the bowling he was doing. Apparently he has worked on his run-up and delivery to try and reduce strain on his knee. Looks like instead it was a reverse sweep.

    Who was the cricketer who severed a tendon picking up a plate?

    (Mind you, I did something to my shoulder lifting up a very light shopping bag this morning.)
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    If Stokes is crocked for the ashes, one question that might be worth looking at is, who do you make captain?

    Do you keep faith with Pope, the deputy who has stepped up with to put it mildly mixed success?

    Do you give it to Brook, who is the heir apparent?

    Or do you have a left field selection and pick Duckett?

    Crawley ;-)
    You are Rob Key and I claim my £5.
    Oh shcucks, I have doxed myself.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 25,308
    This video is by RyanMcBeth, an American security analyst. The video details how the break in Iran's internet during the recent war resulted in lots of Scottish Independence advocates on X going dark, revealing their actual identity as Iranian disinformation agents.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz8whKktkQg
  • MattWMattW Posts: 28,547
    Battlebus said:
    Hmmm. Are they any skeletons in the cupboard?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    Sky still pushing this "cramp" line....they are like Comical Ali.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,176
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 5,686

    nico67 said:

    Labour have no chance whilst Starmer remains PM . The loathing of him by friends who were previously staunch Labour is off the scale . Historically Labour have not been ruthless when it comes to removing leaders .

    Why is he so loathed?
    It’s a range of things , Gaza , his Trump arselicking , and the final straw was Palestine Action being classed as a terrorist organisation . And we’re not talking about them being fans of Corbyn when he was the leader . That should really worry the party .
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 52,295
    Andy_JS said:

    Nice thought but no.

    "More than 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for Birmingham Airport to be renamed as 'Ozzy Osbourne International'."

    https://www.itv.com/news/central/2025-07-25/thousands-call-for-airport-to-be-renamed-ozzy-osbourne-international

    It is a sort of Hole in the Sky...

    https://youtu.be/xbyohIKIsoU?si=Vt06ZwTmWZY8VenE
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 52,477
    edited July 25
    kle4 said:
    The answer being the national, centrally funded, care service that Labour has shunted off until its prospective second term.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    edited July 25
    nico67 said:

    nico67 said:

    Labour have no chance whilst Starmer remains PM . The loathing of him by friends who were previously staunch Labour is off the scale . Historically Labour have not been ruthless when it comes to removing leaders .

    Why is he so loathed?
    It’s a range of things , Gaza , his Trump arselicking , and the final straw was Palestine Action being classed as a terrorist organisation . And we’re not talking about them being fans of Corbyn when he was the leader . That should really worry the party .
    Personally I thought his handling of Trump was one of his better actions as PM. Very sticky wicket.
  • TazTaz Posts: 19,905
    Andy_JS said:

    Nice thought but no.

    "More than 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for Birmingham Airport to be renamed as 'Ozzy Osbourne International'."

    https://www.itv.com/news/central/2025-07-25/thousands-call-for-airport-to-be-renamed-ozzy-osbourne-international

    It should be named Noddy Holder international airport. I know he’s a yam yam but all this revisionist twaddle about Black Sabbath. FFS
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,023
    Sultana claiming YourParty now has 300k sign-ups. They have got Maomentum...
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 1,230

    I am sure I have watched a movie with this plot line.

    A pair of teachers who had sex in classrooms during a two-year affair have been temporarily barred from the profession.

    Liyarna Beamish, a married deputy head teacher, had a secret relationship with Gareth Collins, an art teacher, at an all-girls’ grammar school.

    The pair admitted to having sex in classrooms and locked cupboards during the school day at Ribston Hall High School in Gloucester.

    Mrs Beamish, 39, and Mr Collins, 45, have now been banned from teaching after they were found to have committed unacceptable professional conduct.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/25/teachers-who-had-sex-in-classrooms-struck-off/?recomm_id=c1b2afbd-79f7-4632-a032-306d44786c78

    One of the other staff must have heard the cupboard slammimg up and down, so to speak.
    Who would be a teacher when your every mistake is available online forever.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/teacher-misconduct
  • Stark_DawningStark_Dawning Posts: 10,216
    Taz said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Nice thought but no.

    "More than 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for Birmingham Airport to be renamed as 'Ozzy Osbourne International'."

    https://www.itv.com/news/central/2025-07-25/thousands-call-for-airport-to-be-renamed-ozzy-osbourne-international

    It should be named Noddy Holder international airport. I know he’s a yam yam but all this revisionist twaddle about Black Sabbath. FFS
    What revisionism has been happening about Black Sabbath?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,176
    IanB2 said:

    kle4 said:
    The answer being the national, centrally funded, care service that Labour has shunted off until its prospective second term.
    A terrible decision, though in fairness to them all the party's ahve been promising to have solutions for years but never seem to advance them (or stop quickly).
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 52,295
    kle4 said:

    IanB2 said:

    kle4 said:
    The answer being the national, centrally funded, care service that Labour has shunted off until its prospective second term.
    A terrible decision, though in fairness to them all the party's ahve been promising to have solutions for years but never seem to advance them (or stop quickly).
    The reason being that they cannot handle the truth: that the cost requires major tax rises.

  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,425
    Actually, very clever from England

    Leave India totally dispirited. Knock a brisk 50 tomorrow

    England 230 ahead, with almost two days to go
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 1,230
    viewcode said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Brilliant article in the New Statesman.

    "The MoD’s Afghan data breach shows us who we really are
    The British state remains in thrall to New Labour’s brutal adventurism.
    By Oliver Eagleton

    This sequence of events unfolded not just in Britain but across the Global North, as governments joined foreign wars and delegated authority to big business. It soon gave rise to a paradoxical situation. New forms of international dependency were created, with impoverished client states becoming completely reliant on the imperial powers. At the same time, those powers themselves became dependent on predatory investors and asset-stripping corporations, with dire results for states and wider societies. So, as elites in Kabul looked to Western governments to stabilise their rule, they realised that the latter were grappling with their own set of instabilities, caused by the forward march of neoliberalism. Politicians in the developed world had forfeited their own sovereignty while trying to assert it over others." (£)

    https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2025/07/afghan-data-breach-shows-us-who-we-really-are

    "...If the government’s main foreign policy ambition is to act as Washington’s henchman, this is in part because its domestic policy is not designed to reclaim the sovereignty that was relinquished during the neoliberal period; it is characterised by the same mix of deregulation and deference to private interests. In this sense, the data leak offers a glimpse of a much wider problem: the ability of Blairism to survive amid the wreckage it has made..."
    A Word salad masquerading as a thought piece.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 28,547
    edited July 25

    Local Ashfield residents and ‘anti-racism’ protesters clash outside a church as demonstrators march to demand an end to illegal migration

    https://x.com/GBPolitcs/status/1948784888682885315

    That's the Roman Catholic church of St Joseph the Worker. It is here:

    https://maps.app.goo.gl/KELnGgg59ZmWFkDg9

    I have no idea why they would be there, it's just a road junction. Other than that there's an 850 pupil school nearby, it is soon after school closing time, and it is a hot Friday afternoon in summer. It is vaguely the same side of town as where the alleged offence was committed on 30 June, but about half a mile from the nearest park entrance..

    There's a GP surgery and a small hotel if you spin the view to the right. The hotel is a tiny one star with double rooms at about £60 b&b, and maybe 15-20 rooms, so I don't think the Home Office will have taken it.

    I'd put this down to Agent Anderson's shit-stirring. That man is a disgrace.
  • TazTaz Posts: 19,905

    Taz said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Nice thought but no.

    "More than 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for Birmingham Airport to be renamed as 'Ozzy Osbourne International'."

    https://www.itv.com/news/central/2025-07-25/thousands-call-for-airport-to-be-renamed-ozzy-osbourne-international

    It should be named Noddy Holder international airport. I know he’s a yam yam but all this revisionist twaddle about Black Sabbath. FFS
    What revisionism has been happening about Black Sabbath?
    That they’re in any way, shape, or form good.

    Adam Boulton has had some good stuff about them on his Twitter.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,993
    Leon said:

    Actually, very clever from England

    Leave India totally dispirited. Knock a brisk 50 tomorrow

    England 230 ahead, with almost two days to go

    2 result game and India winning ain't one of them
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,672
    algarkirk said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    It'll come down to the ground game rather than the air game. Reform may have the BBC in it's pocket but these guys have a motivated and usually educated following who can put an argument across in non-Daily Mail ways. It's also a convenient place for Labour to send those on the naughty step.

    Hardly, GB news may be in Reform’s pocket but the BBC is firmly Starmer Labour
    Have you watched the BBC lately? Nigel Farage is on every 10 minutes.
    His party is leading in the polls, they just won the local elex, and they are - as things stand - likely to be the next government (or part of it)

    So, yeah, Farage is going to be justifiably treated as de facto LOTO
    That’s not how the BBC is supposed - and required - to work.
    And the irony is a Farage led government would end the BBC as a public funded broadcaster.
    I am not convinced that Farage would do this. It's fine as a 2024 policy for a party that can't win; less convincing as a 2029 policy for a party that might be the government. Await the manifesto.

    I think the BBC is an organisation which, as the decision of defunding arrived, would suddenly find it had about 30 million supporters including a very large number of Reform voters.

    And then there is a smaller number of people who notice how PSB works in Russia, and in the USA, and may conclude that we are not so badly off.
    BBC also disproportionately an old folks' thing - as is Reform. Also, in any case, part of the blurry mythical era of wartime, empire, Commando comics and weird square fruit pies in British Rail buffets.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 33,294
    ...
    Andy_JS said:

    "Chris Packham and other outraged campaigners are calling on the education regulator to withdraw "dangerous" training materials that link autism to radicalisation."

    https://www.private-eye.co.uk/in-the-back

    Is Gregg Wallace now Chief Inspector at Ofsted?

    Disgusting!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 74,438

    Leon said:

    Actually, very clever from England

    Leave India totally dispirited. Knock a brisk 50 tomorrow

    England 230 ahead, with almost two days to go

    2 result game and India winning ain't one of them
    If we lose from here, you and @Andy_JS are watching Mad Nad talking about Massive Johnson on a loop for 15 whole minutes.
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 1,230
    kle4 said:
    The government is to ditch plans to scrap up to 4,000 EU laws by the end of the year after a private meeting with Brexiter MPs. It now aims to remove 800 statutes and regulations, instead of 3,700 laws it had lined up for a “bonfire” of EU law in December, threatening everything from passenger rights and compensation for cancelled flights, to equality employment law and environmental standards and protections.


    To change it requires a bonfire of laws (as proposed by Kemi who did nothing about it)
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 11,306
    Getting a bit breezy up here. Stunning views of the Forth though; surprising number of seabirds at this altitude.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 12,993
    ydoethur said:

    Leon said:

    Actually, very clever from England

    Leave India totally dispirited. Knock a brisk 50 tomorrow

    England 230 ahead, with almost two days to go

    2 result game and India winning ain't one of them
    If we lose from here, you and @Andy_JS are watching Mad Nad talking about Massive Johnson on a loop for 15 whole minutes.
    If we lose from here I'm in the starting XI for the fifth test
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 10,426

    HYUFD said:

    nunu2 said:

    This is a stunning poll! And a Yougov poll to boot!


    🟡 SNP – 29% (-1)
    ➡️ REF – 22% (+15)
    🔴 LAB – 19% (-16)
    🟠 LD – 11% (+1)
    🔵 CON – 10% (-3)
    🟢 GRN – 7% (+3)

    Via
    @YouGov
    /
    @ScotVoting
    , 13-19 Jun (+/- vs GE24)

    https://x.com/LeftieStats/status/1948706156353819074

    Reform plus Tories ahead of SNP in Scotland now
    Labour + LibDem ahead of SNP too.

    Green + Conservative ahead of LibDem.

    Sorry, what is this game where we randomly add two parties' vote share together?
    Mornington Crescent
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,672
    Eabhal said:

    Getting a bit breezy up here. Stunning views of the Forth though; surprising number of seabirds at this altitude.

    Atop the Bridge? I'd be worried about slipping on the shite.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,176
    Foxy said:

    kle4 said:

    IanB2 said:

    kle4 said:
    The answer being the national, centrally funded, care service that Labour has shunted off until its prospective second term.
    A terrible decision, though in fairness to them all the party's ahve been promising to have solutions for years but never seem to advance them (or stop quickly).
    The reason being that they cannot handle the truth: that the cost requires major tax rises.

    Which would be a tough sell already, but as it is taxes are pretty darn high and yet we're seemingly broke and everything is slow, old, or crappy, so convincing the public to bring in more is tough.

    So we just get promises of magical reform to bring out tens of billions easily or taxes which magically won't affect anybody we care about.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 52,295
    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Nice thought but no.

    "More than 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for Birmingham Airport to be renamed as 'Ozzy Osbourne International'."

    https://www.itv.com/news/central/2025-07-25/thousands-call-for-airport-to-be-renamed-ozzy-osbourne-international

    It should be named Noddy Holder international airport. I know he’s a yam yam but all this revisionist twaddle about Black Sabbath. FFS
    What revisionism has been happening about Black Sabbath?
    That they’re in any way, shape, or form good.

    Adam Boulton has had some good stuff about them on his Twitter.
    Its all a matter of taste, but they were one of the most influential bands of the Seventies, and inspired a whole musical genre.

    I don't think much of his solo stuff, but with Black Sabbath he was a true great. Not really well suited to the role of national treasure in those days.

    I saw them on a couple of their farewell tours, including once at Download.
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