A senior nurse at Lucy Letby’s hospital warned she was facing her “worst nightmare” after deadly bacteria was found on several taps in the “over-capacity” baby unit, leaked emails show.
Eirian Powell, the manager of the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, argued the department was “taking too many risks” and “compromising patient safety”.
The email was sent to senior managers in December 2015, the middle of the period in which there was a spike of baby deaths at the unit, for which Letby was convicted of murder.
Former Estates Management staff at the hospital also told The Telegraph that nappy pads were placed in the ceiling of the unit to prevent sewage leaking through.
As I have said, I don't know very much about the details of the Letby case, but it does seems like the place was a shit show....literally.
It is entirely plausible that senior consultants in the department meme-ed themselves into believing that Letby was killing babies instead of facing up to the possibility that their own department was killing them left & right.
It is also extremely possible that Letby is guilty. And that it wasn’t noticed for so long because of a high death rate.
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
If you watch Zacks Social Media, Green issues are front and centre, and incidentally he is a very good communicator, exuding vision and belief:
https://bsky.app/profile/zackpolanski.bsky.social/post/3lvdbvdctn22b ... (Incidentally, wasn't his hypnotism treatment of women's breasts aimed at them having a better internal body image rather than actual actual breast enlargement? As he is gay, I expect his interest in women's breasts is not lacivious)
According to the Sun, it was real breast enlargement. I can't detect whether it was tabloid satire with Zack as walk-on entertainer. His communication is - to me - largely new age wibble; the 2013 version of a blue pyramid:
ZACK POLANSKI SAYS: “The brain is the most complicated computer we know of.
“Our unconscious knows how to run our bodies better than we do. Essentially, I am looking to utilise the unconscious process to make changes to the body. We don’t exactly know what is changing because of the complexities of the unconscious.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Short version: crime in general genuinely appears to be down, but the crimes visible to people in their everyday lives (petty theft, shoplifting etc etc) are up significantly, by a factor of 2 or more in some cases, over recent years.
As I have said before, the issue is also that detection rates of lots of "shitty" crimes is through the floor, single digit. So people are a victim of these crimes and then the police don't / can't do anything. Which leads to a feeling of helplessness. It is why broken window theory led to people having a more positive outlook, shitty crimes cracked down on and a focus on finding and punishing those who do it.
I would also like to know how much things like shoplifting doesn't go reported (and how will the crime survey pick that up). I saw it the other week, guy stole a rucksack full of stuff from a supermarket, the security chased him down, slipped in a few kicks, grabbed the rucksack and went back in the shop. No police called.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
If you watch Zacks Social Media, Green issues are front and centre, and incidentally he is a very good communicator, exuding vision and belief:
https://bsky.app/profile/zackpolanski.bsky.social/post/3lvdbvdctn22b ... (Incidentally, wasn't his hypnotism treatment of women's breasts aimed at them having a better internal body image rather than actual actual breast enlargement? As he is gay, I expect his interest in women's breasts is not lacivious)
According to the Sun, it was real breast enlargement. I can't detect whether it was tabloid satire with Zack as walk-on entertainer. His communication is - to me - largely new age wibble; the 2013 version of a blue pyramid:
ZACK POLANSKI SAYS: “The brain is the most complicated computer we know of.
“Our unconscious knows how to run our bodies better than we do. Essentially, I am looking to utilise the unconscious process to make changes to the body. We don’t exactly know what is changing because of the complexities of the unconscious.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
So am I, and as our family have roots in Scotland, Wales and England we also describe ourselves as British
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
It seems that, fundamentally, civil servants and policymakers in London object to farmers actually farming.
Or teachers teaching, or businesses making money...
(Although, that said, solar farms do make money.)
They do object to the farming. Which is why the solar farming is such an attractive option. Especially when you combine it with renting the land for sheep. Which combined certain advantages of being “in agriculture” with not actually doing much farming.
The actual percentage of land used for solar farms vs food is tiny, by the way.
And there are two reasons that solar panels make far more sense on the ground.
1) Working at height is expensive. It is the lost expensive thing about a solar install, domestically. 2) Covering a roof gets you a limited amount of power. Mine covers the aircon and a bit over. Covering a few fields and your into serious watts. Because of scaling of the power electronics vs the panels, the comics say you get cheaper power with lots of panels per installation.
We should require new builds to have solar panels and farmland should be mainly for food production and crops
Rare PB agreement - not sure about requiring but surely it should just be the norm. Just make the south facing rooves out of them - almost as cheap as tiles now Shirley.
Only if the solar panels are not rent-a-roof which, I am sure, will happen and in a few years time if they are then there will be howls from people unable to sell due to the onerous contracts from solar rent a roof companies.
The problem with putting solar panels on houses is that the payback is a long, long time. The solar cells are about as expensive as plywood. The issue is the power electronics and the rest of the install - which will come to thousands.
Basically - most home installations are too small to make sense. Mine is more of a technology interest, plus runs the aircon in summer.
Stuff that does make sense is building a canopy over an outdoor carpark, or covering a factory/warehouse roof. You need scale for the economics to work.
I don't that holds for roofs. Paybacks of 7 years or so are fine, and on a new house the marginal panel cost is little or nothing - as you are replacing up to half of the total roof covering (spending on orientation, whether it is "to edge" etc), and they are quicker to install than a trad roof. It needs a membrane, but so does a normal roof.
Depending on design and details, they may well be cheaper on a newbuild.
My solar pays for my residual electricity bills (having reduced it by about 1/3 anyway through the generated lecky), and pays for the gas as well.
I'm getting about £450 per annum from Octopus for exported units @15.5p, and ~£700 from Feed in Tariffs. Both those numbers can be improved by perhaps 10% once I have cleaned my panels. FITs do not apply now, and we were quite late, but costs are also far less now.
The other half of it is low energy housing - which newbuilds now basically meet, and have done for a few years now. For a conventional house from say pre-2010 the need is to cut energy consumption by perhaps 1/3 to 1/2, which is not very difficult. I've cut mine by that amount since 2013, separate from all the other items.
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
If you watch Zacks Social Media, Green issues are front and centre, and incidentally he is a very good communicator, exuding vision and belief: ...
Exuding vision and belief is exactly what charlatans do.
Polanski joined the Lib Dems in the coalition years, and only left when he failed to get shortlisted for the Richmond Park by-election. The "hypnotise your tits bigger" story is funny... but also indicative of a chancer who will say and do anything for what he sees as his own short term advantage.
In short, he's a Green Johnson. I think they'll go for him... and live to deeply regret it.
I am pretty certain that he will win. Whether he is a Green Johnson we will see, but there was one thing that Johnson was good at, and it was winning elections. The Greens would have to form a government before we could see whether Zack encompassed Johnson's incompetences as well as his competencies, and that doesn't seem likely any time soon.
I do wonder if Polanski could win the Mayoralty in London, in a similar way to Johnson. It would up his profile significantly.
He may well win as it seems there have been a load of ex-corbyn type entrists who have joined in recent months just to vote for him e.g Grace Berkeley. They will leave now and go and join the real sultanas rather than stick with a watermelon. The Greens will be stuck with Polanski. What a mess.
I'm fairly certain that a Polanski-led GPEW would be able come to some sort of arrangement with the Corbynites.
And, in the medium term, there would some strong positives for both sides. The Greens have an established support base, and a constituency machine (albeit of fairly variable quality). Corbyn would bring his experience with running a national-level campaign.
There would inevitably be issues with managing egos / personality clashes, but the bigger problem would be sorting out which side of the pact would take the lead in each individual campaign. If anything, there's too much overlap between Polanski supporters and the Corbynites.
How did the SDP / Liberal alliance work out which of the two would stand in each constituency in the mid 80s?
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
I would be interested in your thoughts on the speech if you have any.
Kruger says the next Archbishop must go to war on woke, which he says is the Great threat to Christianity as it undermines the nation, family and community.
He sees Islam as a lesser threat as he agrees with Muslims in opposing euthanasia and supporting the traditional family.
The next Archbishop of Canterbury may be more pro Parish as Kruger would back but they will likely still be at least partly woke
Well it could always be Cherry Vann, the new Archbishop of Wales celebrating her pride in being gay
I highly doubt it, conservative evangelicals would veto her and as the Archbishop of Canterbury is still nominal headvof the Anglican communion the conservative African churches would not accept her either.
You might just about get a female heterosexual married Archbishop of Canterbury eg the Bishops of Chelmsford or London accepted by the crown nominations commission but an LGBT Archbishop is very unlikely, not least as the Church of England still does not perform same sex marriages only PLF and even that only just got through Synod despite evangelical opposition
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
If you watch Zacks Social Media, Green issues are front and centre, and incidentally he is a very good communicator, exuding vision and belief:
For the Greens to move to major party status they face the same problem as Reform. Both parties need to move from being a single issue pressure group to having policy positions across all domains of government that mesh together into a coherent whole. In the Greens case this is that tackling the environmental crisis requires social inequality, an internationalist approach and a change of lifestyle to adjust to and halt climate change.
(Incidentally, wasn't his hypnotism treatment of women's breasts aimed at them having a better internal body image rather than actual actual breast enlargement? As he is gay, I expect his interest in women's breasts is not lacivious)
I've been thinking that people's comments on this seem to have missed the essential question, which is: Did it work? Your incidental comment sounds much more reasonable.
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
I would be interested in your thoughts on the speech if you have any.
Kruger says the next Archbishop must go to war on woke, which he says is the Great threat to Christianity as it undermines the nation, family and community.
He sees Islam as a lesser threat as he agrees with Muslims in opposing euthanasia and supporting the traditional family.
The next Archbishop of Canterbury may be more pro Parish as Kruger would back but they will likely still be at least partly woke
Well it could always be Cherry Vann, the new Archbishop of Wales celebrating her pride in being gay
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Price of farmland in the south-east once it gets planning permission - £2m/acre or more. Price of farmland as farmland - maybe £5k-10k/acre. Even the most economically unaware dimwit must see what the price mechanism is telling us there. There is no shortage of food, in fact if anything the obesity epidemic suggests there is too much, but there is a huge shortage of housing where people want to live..
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
Interesting. I didn't realise she came to Britain aged 16 when the economy in Nigeria collapsed. She should be able to understand the plight of economic migrants better than most. Maybe Y&R can upgrade their UNHCR Ad..........
I've already voted for ZP because the other two seem a bit too fond of the old parliamentary democracy and Ramsay was spineless on trans issues.
Les Verts didn't go anywhere near any of the other trot infested left-of-Labour projects (Respect, TUSC, etc.) and it'll be no different with Your Party.
The party might not, but a lot of the members and voters will.
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
And if it isn't required for food production, it should be rewilded.
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
It seems that, fundamentally, civil servants and policymakers in London object to farmers actually farming.
Or teachers teaching, or businesses making money...
(Although, that said, solar farms do make money.)
They do object to the farming. Which is why the solar farming is such an attractive option. Especially when you combine it with renting the land for sheep. Which combined certain advantages of being “in agriculture” with not actually doing much farming.
The actual percentage of land used for solar farms vs food is tiny, by the way.
And there are two reasons that solar panels make far more sense on the ground.
1) Working at height is expensive. It is the lost expensive thing about a solar install, domestically. 2) Covering a roof gets you a limited amount of power. Mine covers the aircon and a bit over. Covering a few fields and your into serious watts. Because of scaling of the power electronics vs the panels, the comics say you get cheaper power with lots of panels per installation.
We should require new builds to have solar panels and farmland should be mainly for food production and crops
Rare PB agreement - not sure about requiring but surely it should just be the norm. Just make the south facing rooves out of them - almost as cheap as tiles now Shirley.
Only if the solar panels are not rent-a-roof which, I am sure, will happen and in a few years time if they are then there will be howls from people unable to sell due to the onerous contracts from solar rent a roof companies.
The problem with putting solar panels on houses is that the payback is a long, long time. The solar cells are about as expensive as plywood. The issue is the power electronics and the rest of the install - which will come to thousands.
Basically - most home installations are too small to make sense. Mine is more of a technology interest, plus runs the aircon in summer.
Stuff that does make sense is building a canopy over an outdoor carpark, or covering a factory/warehouse roof. You need scale for the economics to work.
I went to a local shopping centre recently and noticed the car park there now has a portion where there are solar panels.
I’d personally not buy any property, new or otherwise, with rent a roof panels.
Labour is mandating all new build have them. I’m not sure how efficient that will be. Some new build round here already has them.
I looked at one of those once, which had been stuck in the market for 18 months, and was 10-20% below market.
The upside is in the recovery of value when the scheme ends, as the rent-a-roofer will either transfer panel ownership or have to remove them, and if they have gone bust they will be yours as the removal cost is too great. Schemes will be 20-25 years, so that date will be 2035 or later roughly.
I talked to the company, and to buy it out was basically an NPV of 20 years of FIT payments.
The window is closing as the market starts to give value to solar panels, and energy prices go up -just as it does for higher EPC values.
Up until recently, an early set of FIT panels (say 2011-13) could be an extra 1% on a rental return.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Price of farmland in the south-east once it gets planning permission - £2m/acre or more. Price of farmland as farmland - maybe £5k-10k/acre. Even the most economically unaware dimwit must see what the price mechanism is telling us there. There is no shortage of food, in fact if anything the obesity epidemic suggests there is too much, but there is a huge shortage of housing where people want to live..
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
If the war in Ukraine, Trump's trade wars and lockdown have shown us anything is we cannot rely on food imports alone
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
Like Trump and Vance he is anti abortion, anti Trans and anti euthanasia though
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Price of farmland in the south-east once it gets planning permission - £2m/acre or more. Price of farmland as farmland - maybe £5k-10k/acre. Even the most economically unaware dimwit must see what the price mechanism is telling us there. There is no shortage of food, in fact if anything the obesity epidemic suggests there is too much, but there is a huge shortage of housing where people want to live..
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
If the war in Ukraine, Trump's trade wars and lockdown have shown us anything is we cannot rely on food imports alone
True. But we've never been self-sufficient in the modern era. Not even close in WWII.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
The denial of the existence of English identity is both interesting and problematic.
It becomes outright funny when it comes from other sub-U.K. nationalisms.
With nationalisms, outsiders don’t get to control their existence. Though they can make them more toxic with hostility.
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
Yes, it is a feature of cultural and political discourse that both right and left take a few extreme posts off Tiktok, Bluesky or Twitter and mentally construct a fictitious enemy to be opposed by any means. We saw it with the Jeans advert where a few posts provoked an extreme over reaction. The pattern is repeated again and again against these straw men.
In large part the coarsening of debate* is down to social media algorithms that push extremists views as a way to drive engagement and further clicks.
* debate isn't really the right word as debate involves listening and reason, but I can't think of a more apposite one.
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
I would be interested in your thoughts on the speech if you have any.
Kruger says the next Archbishop must go to war on woke, which he says is the Great threat to Christianity as it undermines the nation, family and community.
He sees Islam as a lesser threat as he agrees with Muslims in opposing euthanasia and supporting the traditional family.
The next Archbishop of Canterbury may be more pro Parish as Kruger would back but they will likely still be at least partly woke
Well it could always be Cherry Vann, the new Archbishop of Wales celebrating her pride in being gay
I don't see that. In addition to the woman bishop controversy internationally, it's too big a jump.
Cherry Vann has been Bishop of Monmouth since 2020, and ABW on top which is an extra hat for an existing Bishop in Wales. That's very close to Rowan Williams, who had had the two same positions for 2 years - and was thought not to be effective enough as a top manager for the worldwide Anglican Communion when he became ABC.
Controversy aside, I think Justin Welby has been better at that part of the role, for various reasons (one of which - amongst others such as a senior position in a multinational - will have been 20 years of foundation laying mentoring by Sandy Millar at HTB, where they were the centre of several worldwide movements.)
Add in navigating the Church of England, and I don't see Cherry Vann being successful - unless someone pulls a surprise.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
If we are going down this root then I assume that like the other nationalities, place of borth would be the decider.
That said I think all of the 'British' nationalities are a matter of culture rather than genetics so I have no problem with someone born on another continent considering themselves 'English' if they have settled into English culture and society. After all, it is the basis for American nationality (for example)
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
The denial of the existence of English identity is both interesting and problematic.
It becomes outright funny when it comes from other sub-U.K. nationalisms.
With nationalisms, outsiders don’t get to control their existence. Though they can make them more toxic with hostility.
There's a difference, however, between being English and being English in a legal sense. The point is that it's the UK state itself that in a sense denies Englishness, but also, for example, Scottishness. The UKG doesn't regard me as Scottish, in the sense that I can't get a Scottish passport or anything issued by the UK Government (and, IIRC, the Scottish GMT) that says I'm 'Scottish' by birth or residence or whatever. The nearest is the tax regime (etc) I fall under. Just the same with 'English'.
Not a moan - just a curious anomaly.
As usual NI is a separate and different case given the dual nationality ...
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
Yes, it is a feature of cultural and political discourse that both right and left take a few extreme posts off Tiktok, Bluesky or Twitter and mentally construct a fictitious enemy to be opposed by any means. We saw it with the Jeans advert where a few posts provoked an extreme over reaction. The pattern is repeated again and again against these straw men.
In large part the coarsening of debate* is down to social media algorithms that push extremists views as a way to drive engagement and further clicks.
* debate isn't really the right word as debate involves listening and reason, but I can't think of a more apposite one.
Which is why sane debate on the problem of social media needs to deal with the algorithms.
One suggestion, in the US, is that content platforms become publishers (in legal terms) if they use an algorithm more complex than time ordered. Without section 230 protection, they would be in the same boat at as the newspapers and broadcasters.
I would advocate something similar here - the algorithms rearrange content *and* create content by context. So algorithms are creating content and the algorithm owners are owners of the content they create - and should be legally responsible for publishing it.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Its just self ID.
I was born in Wigan, but Identify as Leicester. I am also English by birth, as were my parents, but prefer to identify as British about half my ancestry is from Scotland, Wales and Ireland (and their diasporas in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Jamaica).
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
We need comparative studies - how many generations does it take a Somali family in Scotland before their arms shorten and their pockets deepen?
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
Yes, it is a feature of cultural and political discourse that both right and left take a few extreme posts off Tiktok, Bluesky or Twitter and mentally construct a fictitious enemy to be opposed by any means. We saw it with the Jeans advert where a few posts provoked an extreme over reaction. The pattern is repeated again and again against these straw men.
In large part the coarsening of debate* is down to social media algorithms that push extremists views as a way to drive engagement and further clicks.
* debate isn't really the right word as debate involves listening and reason, but I can't think of a more apposite one.
Which is why sane debate on the problem of social media needs to deal with the algorithms.
One suggestion, in the US, is that content platforms become publishers (in legal terms) if they use an algorithm more complex than time ordered. Without section 230 protection, they would be in the same boat at as the newspapers and broadcasters.
I would advocate something similar here - the algorithms rearrange content *and* create content by context. So algorithms are creating content and the algorithm owners are owners of the content they create - and should be legally responsible for publishing it.
Yes, that is a useful distinction. PB comments are time ordered, so the publication of us as individuals, but anything served up by algorithm counts as editorial action by the media company.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
Like Trump and Vance he is anti abortion, anti Trans and anti euthanasia though
Yes - but tone and nuance is massively different US vs UK, so any attempt to transfer values and policies and practices is high risk politically.
Within abortion say - taking an extreme example, here he would get away with wanting a reduction in abortion time to say 14 or 18 weeks; that is a rational argument about that. In the USA there are states where there are aims to get access to other states medical records, so they can prosecute women who went across the border for an abortion using criminal law.
They need to take a lot of care.
But I'll aim to come back once I have had a listen.
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
Yes, it is a feature of cultural and political discourse that both right and left take a few extreme posts off Tiktok, Bluesky or Twitter and mentally construct a fictitious enemy to be opposed by any means. We saw it with the Jeans advert where a few posts provoked an extreme over reaction. The pattern is repeated again and again against these straw men.
In large part the coarsening of debate* is down to social media algorithms that push extremists views as a way to drive engagement and further clicks.
* debate isn't really the right word as debate involves listening and reason, but I can't think of a more apposite one.
Which is why sane debate on the problem of social media needs to deal with the algorithms.
One suggestion, in the US, is that content platforms become publishers (in legal terms) if they use an algorithm more complex than time ordered. Without section 230 protection, they would be in the same boat at as the newspapers and broadcasters.
I would advocate something similar here - the algorithms rearrange content *and* create content by context. So algorithms are creating content and the algorithm owners are owners of the content they create - and should be legally responsible for publishing it.
Yes, that is a useful distinction. PB comments are time ordered, so the publication of us as individuals, but anything served up by algorithm counts as editorial action by the media company.
Perhaps as importantly, it gets to the heart of the problem - the radicalisation spiral.
We see it here - posters get served a story by their favourite social media. The story is picked for them by the algorithm - which is trained to match up stories by the amount of activity it creates. Firing up @SeanT is the business plan.
It’s also legally clear - you can make laws around that.
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
I would be interested in your thoughts on the speech if you have any.
Kruger says the next Archbishop must go to war on woke, which he says is the Great threat to Christianity as it undermines the nation, family and community.
He sees Islam as a lesser threat as he agrees with Muslims in opposing euthanasia and supporting the traditional family.
The next Archbishop of Canterbury may be more pro Parish as Kruger would back but they will likely still be at least partly woke
Well it could always be Cherry Vann, the new Archbishop of Wales celebrating her pride in being gay
I don't see that. In addition to the woman bishop controversy internationally, it's too big a jump.
Cherry Vann has been Bishop of Monmouth since 2020, and ABW on top which is an extra hat for an existing Bishop in Wales. That's very close to Rowan Williams, who had had the two same positions for 2 years - and was thought not to be effective enough as a top manager for the worldwide Anglican Communion when he became ABC.
Controversy aside, I think Justin Welby has been better at that part of the role, for various reasons (one of which - amongst others such as a senior position in a multinational - will have been 20 years of foundation laying mentoring by Sandy Millar at HTB, where they were the centre of several worldwide movements.)
Add in navigating the Church of England, and I don't see Cherry Vann being successful - unless someone pulls a surprise.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
Is this a rock that the race-baiting Right might run aground on, as they go round in circles?
I hate to think how many of our Prime Minister since Walpole this would render as "furreigners". Also, how many of our Kings and Queens.
We already have half of Nigel Farage's children not being "White British" enough for Matt Goodwin (if I am following this correctly), in that they have a German mother.
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
Yes, it is a feature of cultural and political discourse that both right and left take a few extreme posts off Tiktok, Bluesky or Twitter and mentally construct a fictitious enemy to be opposed by any means. We saw it with the Jeans advert where a few posts provoked an extreme over reaction. The pattern is repeated again and again against these straw men.
In large part the coarsening of debate* is down to social media algorithms that push extremists views as a way to drive engagement and further clicks.
* debate isn't really the right word as debate involves listening and reason, but I can't think of a more apposite one.
Which is why sane debate on the problem of social media needs to deal with the algorithms.
One suggestion, in the US, is that content platforms become publishers (in legal terms) if they use an algorithm more complex than time ordered. Without section 230 protection, they would be in the same boat at as the newspapers and broadcasters.
I would advocate something similar here - the algorithms rearrange content *and* create content by context. So algorithms are creating content and the algorithm owners are owners of the content they create - and should be legally responsible for publishing it.
Yes, that is a useful distinction. PB comments are time ordered, so the publication of us as individuals, but anything served up by algorithm counts as editorial action by the media company.
Perhaps as importantly, it gets to the heart of the problem - the radicalisation spiral.
We see it here - posters get served a story by their favourite social media. The story is picked for them by the algorithm - which is trained to match up stories by the amount of activity it creates...
Even the Trump administration has recognised this, and is taking steps to regulate algorithmic fairness, as judged by ... a Trump appointee.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
Is this a rock that the race-baiting Right might run aground on, as they go round in circles?
I hate to think how many of our Prime Minister since Walpole this would render as "furreigners". Also, how many of our Kings and Queens.
We already have half of Nigel Farage's children not being "White British" enough for Matt Goodwin (if I am following this correctly), in that they have a German mother.
Where will this debate end up?
I don't think I would qualify for political office, under Ant Middleton's stupid test.
In general, I'd say that people are British if they identify as such. Immigrants who acquire British citizenship are obviously making a commitment to this country, especially as human rights laws do much to erase any distinction between citizens and non-citizens.
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
Yes, it is a feature of cultural and political discourse that both right and left take a few extreme posts off Tiktok, Bluesky or Twitter and mentally construct a fictitious enemy to be opposed by any means. We saw it with the Jeans advert where a few posts provoked an extreme over reaction. The pattern is repeated again and again against these straw men.
In large part the coarsening of debate* is down to social media algorithms that push extremists views as a way to drive engagement and further clicks.
* debate isn't really the right word as debate involves listening and reason, but I can't think of a more apposite one.
Which is why sane debate on the problem of social media needs to deal with the algorithms.
One suggestion, in the US, is that content platforms become publishers (in legal terms) if they use an algorithm more complex than time ordered. Without section 230 protection, they would be in the same boat at as the newspapers and broadcasters.
I would advocate something similar here - the algorithms rearrange content *and* create content by context. So algorithms are creating content and the algorithm owners are owners of the content they create - and should be legally responsible for publishing it.
Yes, that is a useful distinction. PB comments are time ordered, so the publication of us as individuals, but anything served up by algorithm counts as editorial action by the media company.
Perhaps as importantly, it gets to the heart of the problem - the radicalisation spiral.
We see it here - posters get served a story by their favourite social media. The story is picked for them by the algorithm - which is trained to match up stories by the amount of activity it creates...
Even the Trump administration has recognised this, and is taking steps to regulate algorithmic fairness, as judged by ... a Trump appointee.
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Price of farmland in the south-east once it gets planning permission - £2m/acre or more. Price of farmland as farmland - maybe £5k-10k/acre. Even the most economically unaware dimwit must see what the price mechanism is telling us there. There is no shortage of food, in fact if anything the obesity epidemic suggests there is too much, but there is a huge shortage of housing where people want to live..
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
If the war in Ukraine, Trump's trade wars and lockdown have shown us anything is we cannot rely on food imports alone
True. But we've never been self-sufficient in the modern era. Not even close in WWII.
When I worked for Defra (as PPS) the long-standing rule was that Britain should be 70% self-sufficient - I assumed that this reflected a belief that the "missing" 30% could be made up by *some* imports or in the worst case we could manage to survive on 70%. I've not seen any indication that this IMO fairly reasonable figure has changed.
I get that there's more than one possible view, but it seems to be Holy Writ that we should all aim for at least semi-detached houses, and it's better to have nothing than a flat in a nice, convenient block.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Is Ian Wright deserving ridicule for being proud to be English ?
Given it hit over 50°C in Turkey last week, and much of Europe is now boiling in the Summer - including ours being about 5-6°C warmer and drier than it used to be - you'd think they'd be more interested in the green stuff.
But for these misguided folk it's a social and political religious movement, and they don't understand the science, technology and engineering that'd actually be required to achieve it.
In fact, they reject it all.
They're communists.
On a very tenuously-related note, Danny Kruger made a speech (a while ago, but I'm only just aware) about Christianity and the new woke religion that was brilliant and worth a watch.
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
Yes, it is a feature of cultural and political discourse that both right and left take a few extreme posts off Tiktok, Bluesky or Twitter and mentally construct a fictitious enemy to be opposed by any means. We saw it with the Jeans advert where a few posts provoked an extreme over reaction. The pattern is repeated again and again against these straw men.
In large part the coarsening of debate* is down to social media algorithms that push extremists views as a way to drive engagement and further clicks.
* debate isn't really the right word as debate involves listening and reason, but I can't think of a more apposite one.
A debate is meant to involve both parties coming to it, believing in what they say, representing the other person's POV correctly, and hoping to persuade the other of at least some of the merits of their case - or at least, working out where they agree to differ.
That is not a typical "debate" on social media, which so often involves ad hominem attacks, attacking straw men, mocking the other party's grammar and spelling, assuming bad faith, and trolling.
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Price of farmland in the south-east once it gets planning permission - £2m/acre or more. Price of farmland as farmland - maybe £5k-10k/acre. Even the most economically unaware dimwit must see what the price mechanism is telling us there. There is no shortage of food, in fact if anything the obesity epidemic suggests there is too much, but there is a huge shortage of housing where people want to live..
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
If the war in Ukraine, Trump's trade wars and lockdown have shown us anything is we cannot rely on food imports alone
True. But we've never been self-sufficient in the modern era. Not even close in WWII.
When I worked for Defra (as PPS) the long-standing rule was that Britain should be 70% self-sufficient - I assumed that this reflected a belief that the "missing" 30% could be made up by *some* imports or in the worst case we could manage to survive on 70%. I've not seen any indication that this IMO fairly reasonable figure has changed.
I get that there's more than one possible view, but it seems to be Holy Writ that we should all aim for at least semi-detached houses, and it's better to have nothing than a flat in a nice, convenient block.
We don’t seem to have rejected tower blocks “in all cities”.
Tons of towers (above 8 floors) in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester….
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Price of farmland in the south-east once it gets planning permission - £2m/acre or more. Price of farmland as farmland - maybe £5k-10k/acre. Even the most economically unaware dimwit must see what the price mechanism is telling us there. There is no shortage of food, in fact if anything the obesity epidemic suggests there is too much, but there is a huge shortage of housing where people want to live..
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
If the war in Ukraine, Trump's trade wars and lockdown have shown us anything is we cannot rely on food imports alone
True. But we've never been self-sufficient in the modern era. Not even close in WWII.
When I worked for Defra (as PPS) the long-standing rule was that Britain should be 70% self-sufficient - I assumed that this reflected a belief that the "missing" 30% could be made up by *some* imports or in the worst case we could manage to survive on 70%. I've not seen any indication that this IMO fairly reasonable figure has changed.
I get that there's more than one possible view, but it seems to be Holy Writ that we should all aim for at least semi-detached houses, and it's better to have nothing than a flat in a nice, convenient block.
I think we could get by on 70% + some imports, although if it were a war situation, the military and key workers would need to be prioritised, meaning the rest would at least lose weight, even if they were not suffering malnutrition.
Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ I am going on tour next month to speak to the British and English people about the dire state of our country and how we can fix it
I will be speaking at the following locations. If you’d like to come along I will share details shortly (http://mattgoodwin.org)
Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ I am going on tour next month to speak to the British and English people about the dire state of our country and how we can fix it
I will be speaking at the following locations. If you’d like to come along I will share details shortly (http://mattgoodwin.org)
We don’t seem to have rejected tower blocks “in all cities”.
Tons of towers (above 8 floors) in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester….
That's right - but they seem focused on the luxury end of the market where they aren't slum housing, and reasonably-priced tower blocks in smaller towns are virtually unknown here, and effectively ruled out by planning regulations.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
For Yorkshire, it's about 21 generations. If you don't have an ancestor who invaded Scotland with the Percys you don't count.
Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ I am going on tour next month to speak to the British and English people about the dire state of our country and how we can fix it
I will be speaking at the following locations. If you’d like to come along I will share details shortly (http://mattgoodwin.org)
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ I am going on tour next month to speak to the British and English people about the dire state of our country and how we can fix it
I will be speaking at the following locations. If you’d like to come along I will share details shortly (http://mattgoodwin.org)
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Price of farmland in the south-east once it gets planning permission - £2m/acre or more. Price of farmland as farmland - maybe £5k-10k/acre. Even the most economically unaware dimwit must see what the price mechanism is telling us there. There is no shortage of food, in fact if anything the obesity epidemic suggests there is too much, but there is a huge shortage of housing where people want to live..
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
If the war in Ukraine, Trump's trade wars and lockdown have shown us anything is we cannot rely on food imports alone
True. But we've never been self-sufficient in the modern era. Not even close in WWII.
When I worked for Defra (as PPS) the long-standing rule was that Britain should be 70% self-sufficient - I assumed that this reflected a belief that the "missing" 30% could be made up by *some* imports or in the worst case we could manage to survive on 70%. I've not seen any indication that this IMO fairly reasonable figure has changed.
I get that there's more than one possible view, but it seems to be Holy Writ that we should all aim for at least semi-detached houses, and it's better to have nothing than a flat in a nice, convenient block.
Get rid of leasehold. Every government, going back at least the last couple of decades, has known this was important yet here we are probably still decades from it happening.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Is Ian Wright deserving ridicule for being proud to be English ?
No, but context is everything. I am a fan of Ian Wright. I love the way he wears his heart on his sleeve. He is proud to be English when England are playing, but equally proud to be British when Britain are playing in something or other. And he seems like a nice guy that would have your back.
I support England/Britain in competitive events, yet I'm not nationalistic at all.
So in this context it is fine. The Tommy Robinson context not so much.
All politicians thread the needle of being proud English/Brits while trying to avoid straying into nationalistic tendencies. It is a difficult act that most of us don't have to worry about. For the left I guess it is trying not to sound unpatriotic and for the right it is ensuring you sound proud without straying into jingoistic language. Difficult.
A senior nurse at Lucy Letby’s hospital warned she was facing her “worst nightmare” after deadly bacteria was found on several taps in the “over-capacity” baby unit, leaked emails show.
Eirian Powell, the manager of the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, argued the department was “taking too many risks” and “compromising patient safety”.
The email was sent to senior managers in December 2015, the middle of the period in which there was a spike of baby deaths at the unit, for which Letby was convicted of murder.
Former Estates Management staff at the hospital also told The Telegraph that nappy pads were placed in the ceiling of the unit to prevent sewage leaking through.
As I have said, I don't know very much about the details of the Letby case, but it does seems like the place was a shit show....literally.
It is entirely plausible that senior consultants in the department meme-ed themselves into believing that Letby was killing babies instead of facing up to the possibility that their own department was killing them left & right.
but in that case why did the deaths in the unit stop when Letby was taken off duty?
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Price of farmland in the south-east once it gets planning permission - £2m/acre or more. Price of farmland as farmland - maybe £5k-10k/acre. Even the most economically unaware dimwit must see what the price mechanism is telling us there. There is no shortage of food, in fact if anything the obesity epidemic suggests there is too much, but there is a huge shortage of housing where people want to live..
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
If the war in Ukraine, Trump's trade wars and lockdown have shown us anything is we cannot rely on food imports alone
True. But we've never been self-sufficient in the modern era. Not even close in WWII.
When I worked for Defra (as PPS) the long-standing rule was that Britain should be 70% self-sufficient - I assumed that this reflected a belief that the "missing" 30% could be made up by *some* imports or in the worst case we could manage to survive on 70%. I've not seen any indication that this IMO fairly reasonable figure has changed...
Isn't that more of a target than a 'rule' ?
I don't think we've got anywhere close to that in recent years ? The peak in self sufficiency was back in the 80s.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
Is this a rock that the race-baiting Right might run aground on, as they go round in circles?
I hate to think how many of our Prime Minister since Walpole this would render as "furreigners". Also, how many of our Kings and Queens.
We already have half of Nigel Farage's children not being "White British" enough for Matt Goodwin (if I am following this correctly), in that they have a German mother.
Where will this debate end up?
---- Broken quotes ----
Perhaps it will get adapted to where people were raised rather than their ancestry. Which would rule out one, err Ant Middleton, who was raised in France.
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Price of farmland in the south-east once it gets planning permission - £2m/acre or more. Price of farmland as farmland - maybe £5k-10k/acre. Even the most economically unaware dimwit must see what the price mechanism is telling us there. There is no shortage of food, in fact if anything the obesity epidemic suggests there is too much, but there is a huge shortage of housing where people want to live..
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
If the war in Ukraine, Trump's trade wars and lockdown have shown us anything is we cannot rely on food imports alone
True. But we've never been self-sufficient in the modern era. Not even close in WWII.
When I worked for Defra (as PPS) the long-standing rule was that Britain should be 70% self-sufficient - I assumed that this reflected a belief that the "missing" 30% could be made up by *some* imports or in the worst case we could manage to survive on 70%. I've not seen any indication that this IMO fairly reasonable figure has changed.
I get that there's more than one possible view, but it seems to be Holy Writ that we should all aim for at least semi-detached houses, and it's better to have nothing than a flat in a nice, convenient block.
Get rid of leasehold. Every government, going back at least the last couple of decades, has known this was important yet here we are probably still decades from it happening.
Wasn't it Lloyd George and 'Houses for Heros' after WW1 who contributed to that.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
Known from now on as the Middleton Test. Will be formalised in statute if Reform get into power.
Middleton, like SYL ,is another ex con, currently now also dealing with a serious allegation of tax fraud.
Again, since when were criminal thugs supposed to have the same respect as genuine public servants? His nasty views should have no credence with anyone, but certain media use people amplify him for their own insidious ends.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Is Ian Wright deserving ridicule for being proud to be English ?
No, but context is everything. I am a fan of Ian Wright. I love the way he wears his heart on his sleeve. He is proud to be English when England are playing, but equally proud to be British when Britain are playing in something or other. And he seems like a nice guy that would have your back.
I support England/Britain in competitive events, yet I'm not nationalistic at all.
So in this context it is fine. The Tommy Robinson context not so much.
All politicians thread the needle of being proud English/Brits while trying to avoid straying into nationalistic tendencies. It is a difficult act that most of us don't have to worry about. For the left I guess it is trying not to sound unpatriotic and for the right it is ensuring you sound proud without straying into jingoistic language. Difficult.
Whether person x is a fan of person y shouldn't impact the ability of y to express their identity without inviting ridicule for it.
There was nothing wrong with what Kemi said, it is probably honest (at least by politician standards) and it feels out of order for others to ridicule her over it or decide for her that she should feel British rather than English.
Kemi Badenoch, December 2024[1] Badenoch is, however, ready to fight. Her Nigerian heritage often comes up in conversations about her straight-talking style. But she says this misses the point. ‘I find it interesting that everybody defines me as being Nigerian. I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity [Yoruba]. That’s what I really am. I have nothing in common with the people from the north of the country, the Boko Haram where the Islamism is, those were our ethnic enemies and yet you end up being lumped in with those people.’
Badenoch is proud of her Yoruba heritage. It’s given her a ‘very strong identity about who you are, where you come from, traditions and so on’ – including her maiden name, Adegoke. ‘Somebody once told me when I was very young that my surname was a name for people who were the warriors. They protected the crown and that’s what I see myself as doing. I am here to protect and I will die protecting this country because I know what’s out there.’
Kemi Badenoch, August 2025[2][3] Sky News reports "Speaking to former MP and television presenter Gyles Brandreth on the Rosebud podcast, Ms Badenoch said as most of her life has been in the UK, she "does not identify" as Nigerian."
"I'm Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents... but by identity I'm not really," the North West Essex MP said. "...I have not renewed my Nigerian passport, I think, not since the early 2000s..." Ms Badenoch added that her home is now where her family is, which includes her extended political family. On Nigeria, she said: "...I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I'm very interested in what happens there..." and "...But home is where my now family is, and my now family is my children, it's my husband and my brother and his children, in-laws. The Conservative Party is very much part of my family - my extended family, I call it..." she added.
In fairness to Kemi, these are Sky quotes from the Rosebud podcast. I haven't listened to the podcast and can't vouch against any misquoting/misrepresentation from Sky.
When I worked for Defra (as PPS) the long-standing rule was that Britain should be 70% self-sufficient - I assumed that this reflected a belief that the "missing" 30% could be made up by *some* imports or in the worst case we could manage to survive on 70%. I've not seen any indication that this IMO fairly reasonable figure has changed...
Isn't that more of a target than a 'rule' ?
I don't think we've got anywhere close to that in recent years ? The peak in self sufficiency was back in the 80s.
True, it seems to be 60% of all food, though 73% of food that we *could* produce locally:
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
A senior nurse at Lucy Letby’s hospital warned she was facing her “worst nightmare” after deadly bacteria was found on several taps in the “over-capacity” baby unit, leaked emails show.
Eirian Powell, the manager of the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, argued the department was “taking too many risks” and “compromising patient safety”.
The email was sent to senior managers in December 2015, the middle of the period in which there was a spike of baby deaths at the unit, for which Letby was convicted of murder.
Former Estates Management staff at the hospital also told The Telegraph that nappy pads were placed in the ceiling of the unit to prevent sewage leaking through.
As I have said, I don't know very much about the details of the Letby case, but it does seems like the place was a shit show....literally.
It is entirely plausible that senior consultants in the department meme-ed themselves into believing that Letby was killing babies instead of facing up to the possibility that their own department was killing them left & right.
It is also extremely possible that Letby is guilty. And that it wasn’t noticed for so long because of a high death rate.
The deaths were of an unusual nature. Even Letby's defence agreed that some cases had to be attempted murder as they involved babies being injected with insulin. These cannot be explained away as being caused by a high infection rate.
Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ I am going on tour next month to speak to the British and English people about the dire state of our country and how we can fix it
I will be speaking at the following locations. If you’d like to come along I will share details shortly (http://mattgoodwin.org)
Both have a serious problem: Campaigning with television ads is terribly expensive, and most of the money is wasted, since Seattle viewers are a minority of the audience; perhaps as little as one-tenth of those who see the ads can vote in Seattle.
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
I find that an odd distinction. Think how it wouldn't work applied to another country. If you were a 2nd generation immigrant in Ireland, would you be Irish or not? In Poland, would you be Polish or not?
Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ I am going on tour next month to speak to the British and English people about the dire state of our country and how we can fix it
I will be speaking at the following locations. If you’d like to come along I will share details shortly (http://mattgoodwin.org)
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
Interesting walk through the Kent countryside yesterday. Signs saying no to new homes and solar farms. More and more acreage put over to vines.
Do we have a shortage of the latter and surpluses of the former? Strange
I still think it's ecologically dumb to take fields out of producing food before we've put solar panels on every single roof in the country.
I can understand why farmers do it - it makes excellent financial sense for them - but it's still a policy failure at a national level.
If only there were a mechanism that persuaded individual profit-seekers how to allocate land, labour and capital to achieve the best results for themselves, through increased revenues, and society, through the Invisible Hand.
You could almost call it "the price mechanism" or "the market" or something.
Instead of course we have the absurd spectacle of government preventing the most socially beneficial use of farmland, namely for housing, while competing branches of it subsidise its inefficient uses for solar panels and farming.
Ridiculous, but it's where almost a century of Whitehall knows best lunacy has got us. And people are so brainwashed by it that they can't imagine government getting out of land ownership and letting individuals decide how best to man age their own property.
The most efficient use of farmland is food production you can't eat homes. New housing should be focused on brownfield sites and wasteland
Price of farmland in the south-east once it gets planning permission - £2m/acre or more. Price of farmland as farmland - maybe £5k-10k/acre. Even the most economically unaware dimwit must see what the price mechanism is telling us there. There is no shortage of food, in fact if anything the obesity epidemic suggests there is too much, but there is a huge shortage of housing where people want to live..
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
If the war in Ukraine, Trump's trade wars and lockdown have shown us anything is we cannot rely on food imports alone
True. But we've never been self-sufficient in the modern era. Not even close in WWII.
When I worked for Defra (as PPS) the long-standing rule was that Britain should be 70% self-sufficient - I assumed that this reflected a belief that the "missing" 30% could be made up by *some* imports or in the worst case we could manage to survive on 70%. I've not seen any indication that this IMO fairly reasonable figure has changed.
I get that there's more than one possible view, but it seems to be Holy Writ that we should all aim for at least semi-detached houses, and it's better to have nothing than a flat in a nice, convenient block.
Get rid of leasehold. Every government, going back at least the last couple of decades, has known this was important yet here we are probably still decades from it happening.
Wasn't it Lloyd George and 'Houses for Heros' after WW1 who contributed to that.
Mind, the 1920s and 1930s council houses hereabouts have generous gardens. Came in very useful in the Depression of the 1930s, and again in 1939 onwards, but that didn't stop the public park from being ploughed up and turned into allotments!
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
I find that an odd distinction. Think how it wouldn't work applied to another country. If you were a 2nd generation immigrant in Ireland, would you be Irish or not? In Poland, would you be Polish or not?
I find the spectacle of people gatekeeping other people’s personal perception of loyalties and nationalisms quite revealing.
Why is it that Badenoch isn’t supposed to say “I’m English”, but is supposed to say “I’m British”?
Who’s in charge of these decisions? Do they work for a properly organised agency - Richard Rogers designed office building, expensive abstract art, 6 figure Chief Executive? Or is this one of those amateur orgs?
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
Even “English” is identifying with foreign invaders…
True, but the Celts probably weren't the original inhabitants of these islands either.
But British is ambiguous when it comes to folk who live in NI.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
That's just silly. Living in England doesn't make you English, just as living in Yorkshire doesn't make me a Yorkshireman.
Hm, how many generations does one's family have to have lived in the Ridings before one becomes a Yorkshireman complete with heart of Millstone Grit?
4 generations in racist nutter world it would appear (and even then..)
Ant Middleton @antmiddleton 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised. Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british). Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧 Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline Last edited 5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
Leon's social housing plan also went back 3 generations. So, yeah, 4 generations does do the trick in racist nutter land.
++++++ I might extend it to 40, and it has to be provable
This would make me one of the few people in Britain eligible for social housing, as I have a provable written descent from Anglo-Saxon royalty and Welsh nobility
Unfortunately, the charge of "racism" is so powerful -- in some circles -- that it is used inappropriately more often than not. It should be obvious, for example, that neither Christians nor Muslims are races.
Unfortunately, the charge of "racism" is so powerful -- in some circles -- that it is used inappropriately more often than not. It should be obvious, for example, that neither Christians nor Muslims are races.
Races don't exist. They are a concept invented by racists. Racism is just discrimination against other groups and "Christians" or "Muslims" are often used to define other groups. The people railing against Muslims aren't carrying out a considered theological analysis of Islamic doctrine. No, they're just hating on brown people.
Unfortunately, the charge of "racism" is so powerful -- in some circles -- that it is used inappropriately more often than not. It should be obvious, for example, that neither Christians nor Muslims are races.
On the UK Right (of various stripes), "Muslim" is used today as an acceptable proxy for "Paki" or similar. That's been the case for a long time.
Sometimes "Islamist" will change to "Islamic" in the same paragraph, and may be associated with "Pakistani Muslims".
They mean "people who are observably not like us for whom we can generate loathing to build and coalesce our support".
If that involves lying ... eg on sex crime about the amount of rape and sex crimes which are done by "asylum seekers" compared to those done within family and friend circles ... then they lie.
That's just the playbook, and I think it will persist in some measure until the politics built on it fail.
Unfortunately, the charge of "racism" is so powerful -- in some circles -- that it is used inappropriately more often than not. It should be obvious, for example, that neither Christians nor Muslims are races.
Don’t know about the USA but in Europe the charge of “racism” is fast losing its impact, partly because it has been hurled so often and with such incaution it feels meaningless
I’ve noticed that the Guardian has almost stopped doing those “such and such is racist” articles (eg maths, gardening, rain, your nan, a dildo, music)
I sense several reasons. They ran out of targets, they get so repetitive people stopped reading them - or caring, they began to sound mad
When they do them now they are much more muted, less strident, lacking vigour and confidence. Good
Unfortunately, the charge of "racism" is so powerful -- in some circles -- that it is used inappropriately more often than not. It should be obvious, for example, that neither Christians nor Muslims are races.
Races don't exist. They are a concept invented by racists. Racism is just discrimination against other groups and "Christians" or "Muslims" are often used to define other groups. The people railing against Muslims aren't carrying out a considered theological analysis of Islamic doctrine. No, they're just hating on brown people.
Nobody listens to your pitiful whining nonsense any more. But do carry on, you sad sterile lunatic
"Kemi Badenoch says she no longer identifies as Nigerian The Tory leader said she is "interested" in the country she grew up in, but her home is with her family and the Conservative Party"
One moment she identifies as Yoruba. Now she identifies as British. I assume this switch was driven by nothing more than Conservative polling less than 20% instead of a personal journey, which diminishes her twice.
I don't think identities need to be exclusive, it is perfectly possible for different identities to simply reflect different facets of a person.
Badenoch, or any other person of colour, saying "I'm English" simply invites ridicule. Saying "I'm British" though is perfectly reasonable. I'm of mixed (English/Welsh) parentage and describe myself as British.
I find that an odd distinction. Think how it wouldn't work applied to another country. If you were a 2nd generation immigrant in Ireland, would you be Irish or not? In Poland, would you be Polish or not?
I find the spectacle of people gatekeeping other people’s personal perception of loyalties and nationalisms quite revealing.
Why is it that Badenoch isn’t supposed to say “I’m English”, but is supposed to say “I’m British”?
Who’s in charge of these decisions? Do they work for a properly organised agency - Richard Rogers designed office building, expensive abstract art, 6 figure Chief Executive? Or is this one of those amateur orgs?
I think it's funny, as well as tragic and a little depressing.
The BNP tried the British racial identities thing around Civic British vs Indigenous British and other bits and pieces, tied themselves in knots covered in BS, and they went pop.
Part 1: He delves into the history of the chamber, esp the original use of the chamber as St Stephen's Chapel.
Part 2: He says that there is yearning in Britain for meaning. He points out that secular states cannot provide this and it can go horribly wrong.
Part 3: The intercedent (name?) points out that the multifaith society we have is made possible by Britain being a Christian state as it provides the framework for secular/non-Christian spaces
Part 4: he points out that two religions are moving in: Islam and Woke. He skips over Islam but attacks Woke as a power hostile to family, communities and nations, and belives with some force that it should be destroyed and it should be a function of Parliament to destroy it
Part 5: He says that the strong gods are back, that worship of the Christian god is necessary to underpin rights and the nation
Part 6: A religious revival is necessary and that the state should be explicitly based on Christian teaching.
My first response is
Part 1: I disagree that the Church of England is the religion of "the country", as every Scot can attest. I'm not sure that England was the first Christian nation. He elides Britain and England.
Part 2: I agree that there is a yearning in Britain for meaning. I'm not sure that a secular state cannot provide this. I agree it can go horribly wrong.
Part 3: I was interested in this. It's plausible, but I don't know if it's true
Part 4: I disagree that Woke should be destroyed. I disagree that it should be a function of the state to destroy it.
Part 5: If pressed, I'd disagree with this
Part 6: I'd disagree with this. Give Caesar that which is Caesar's, give God that which is God's
Overall: Christian Nationalism in Britain, with Islam taking the place of Judaism as "tolerated ally" in the American version.
The speech deserves a longer response which I may not be in a position to give. Normally I would consider an article but RSS Conference is in September and I have no headspace. In the meantime I refer you to @Hyufd and @MattW's comments below[1][2]
Comments
But it's not 'right'.
I would also like to know how much things like shoplifting doesn't go reported (and how will the crime survey pick that up). I saw it the other week, guy stole a rucksack full of stuff from a supermarket, the security chased him down, slipped in a few kicks, grabbed the rucksack and went back in the shop. No police called.
Depending on design and details, they may well be cheaper on a newbuild.
My solar pays for my residual electricity bills (having reduced it by about 1/3 anyway through the generated lecky), and pays for the gas as well.
I'm getting about £450 per annum from Octopus for exported units @15.5p, and ~£700 from Feed in Tariffs. Both those numbers can be improved by perhaps 10% once I have cleaned my panels. FITs do not apply now, and we were quite late, but costs are also far less now.
The other half of it is low energy housing - which newbuilds now basically meet, and have done for a few years now. For a conventional house from say pre-2010 the need is to cut energy consumption by perhaps 1/3 to 1/2, which is not very difficult. I've cut mine by that amount since 2013, separate from all the other items.
And, in the medium term, there would some strong positives for both sides. The Greens have an established support base, and a constituency machine (albeit of fairly variable quality). Corbyn would bring his experience with running a national-level campaign.
There would inevitably be issues with managing egos / personality clashes, but the bigger problem would be sorting out which side of the pact would take the lead in each individual campaign. If anything, there's too much overlap between Polanski supporters and the Corbynites.
How did the SDP / Liberal alliance work out which of the two would stand in each constituency in the mid 80s?
You might just about get a female heterosexual married Archbishop of Canterbury eg the Bishops of Chelmsford or London accepted by the crown nominations commission but an LGBT Archbishop is very unlikely, not least as the Church of England still does not perform same sex marriages only PLF and even that only just got through Synod despite evangelical opposition
https://deer.social/profile/did:plc:vszw3ess46odfhnzdsy4huae/post/3lvfm7c34tk2w
If I knew how to do it, I would create a version of the photo of the chap turning round to look at the other woman:
Lefty, Green Party, Your Party.
Time for a new environmentalist party.
*Just thought of that. "Jeremy Corbyn's waiting, talking Italian"
There's also ... this:
https://x.com/dieworkwear/status/1951475776496505237
That sounds similar to a couple from US Natcons I posted last year at this time, and noted that it was a philosophy eg Miriam Cates was following.
It sounds without listening that he is defining himself over and against a "woke religion" that he has largely constructed in his head as a religion. And therefore will lock himself into a set of values based on what he thinks he opposes, rather than what he believes. That is a perilous position to occupy.
That imo is where the USA Natcons, and at a more populist level the MAGAs, have gone off the rails. They needed a religion which justifies the actions they are carrying out - creating a police state, destroying their constitution, rejecting the Christian values of charity and caring for the stranger, accepting that greed is good, corruption can be justified, sex abuse can be ignored, and the rest - so they invented one.
IMO it was also why Trump and Vance reacted as they did when Bishop Budde reminded them that mercy is a practical basic to be lived out, as well as a word in the Bible.
It's fine to build on some brownfield sites or wasteland, but there isn't much of either left where people actually want to live, and what there is is often unsuitable for a number of reasons or needs extensive and expensive preparation. Whereas farmland by comparison is virtually free.
We transformed steppe into suburb for centuries until the disastrous Attlee government of the 1940s and should continue to do so.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=unhcr+cinema+ad+with+tune+'where+have+all+the+flowers+gone'#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:3d0bb448,vid:S5n0DLYbYqc,st:0
https://deer.social/profile/did:plc:ks3gpa6ftoyaq7hmf6c4qx4c/post/3lvf5vgcdts2h
The upside is in the recovery of value when the scheme ends, as the rent-a-roofer will either transfer panel ownership or have to remove them, and if they have gone bust they will be yours as the removal cost is too great. Schemes will be 20-25 years, so that date will be 2035 or later roughly.
I talked to the company, and to buy it out was basically an NPV of 20 years of FIT payments.
The window is closing as the market starts to give value to solar panels, and energy prices go up -just as it does for higher EPC values.
Up until recently, an early set of FIT panels (say 2011-13) could be an extra 1% on a rental return.
And also there is a perfectly workable and neutral definition of English now, which there wasn't before, and which, more importantly, is of functional significance. It's someome who has a UK passport and doesn't come under the Welsh, Scottish, NI, Manx or CI administrations, e.g. for tax, health and so on.
I'm sure I've seen it on a recent tick box list in that sort of context.
It would apply perfectly well to Ms Badenoch.
But we've never been self-sufficient in the modern era. Not even close in WWII.
Crazy.
Pure entrists paradise.
It becomes outright funny when it comes from other sub-U.K. nationalisms.
With nationalisms, outsiders don’t get to control their existence. Though they can make them more toxic with hostility.
In large part the coarsening of debate* is down to social media algorithms that push extremists views as a way to drive engagement and further clicks.
* debate isn't really the right word as debate involves listening and reason, but I can't think of a more apposite one.
Cherry Vann has been Bishop of Monmouth since 2020, and ABW on top which is an extra hat for an existing Bishop in Wales. That's very close to Rowan Williams, who had had the two same positions for 2 years - and was thought not to be effective enough as a top manager for the worldwide Anglican Communion when he became ABC.
Controversy aside, I think Justin Welby has been better at that part of the role, for various reasons (one of which - amongst others such as a senior position in a multinational - will have been 20 years of foundation laying mentoring by Sandy Millar at HTB, where they were the centre of several worldwide movements.)
Add in navigating the Church of England, and I don't see Cherry Vann being successful - unless someone pulls a surprise.
That said I think all of the 'British' nationalities are a matter of culture rather than genetics so I have no problem with someone born on another continent considering themselves 'English' if they have settled into English culture and society. After all, it is the basis for American nationality (for example)
Not a moan - just a curious anomaly.
As usual NI is a separate and different case given the dual nationality ...
One suggestion, in the US, is that content platforms become publishers (in legal terms) if they use an algorithm more complex than time ordered. Without section 230 protection, they would be in the same boat at as the newspapers and broadcasters.
I would advocate something similar here - the algorithms rearrange content *and* create content by context. So algorithms are creating content and the algorithm owners are owners of the content they create - and should be legally responsible for publishing it.
I was born in Wigan, but Identify as Leicester. I am also English by birth, as were my parents, but prefer to identify as British about half my ancestry is from Scotland, Wales and Ireland (and their diasporas in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Jamaica).
Ant Middleton
@antmiddleton
1st, 2nd & 3rd generation immigrants SHOULD NOT hold top tier government positions! Our great nation, our culture and our great people are not naturally at the forefront of their hearts & minds! It’s just not in their nature or DNA! Patriotism can not be taught or bought and needs to run through the veins of those at the very top to ensure our country and our peoples needs and demands are not only understood but prioritised.
Khan is a prime example of this and as witnessed over time his true alliances have come out and his innate nature and culture naturally surfaces and takes precedent! (Which we all know is very un-british).
Our Capital City of our Christian country needs to be run by a native Brit with generational Christian values, principles and morals coursing through their veins from which our very society was built, thrived and was forged upon. 🫡🇬🇧
Look what has happened since we stopped this practice! #asteadydecline
Last edited
5:52 pm · 31 Jul 2025
https://x.com/antmiddleton/status/1950962852363215195
Within abortion say - taking an extreme example, here he would get away with wanting a reduction in abortion time to say 14 or 18 weeks; that is a rational argument about that. In the USA there are states where there are aims to get access to other states medical records, so they can prosecute women who went across the border for an abortion using criminal law.
They need to take a lot of care.
But I'll aim to come back once I have had a listen.
We see it here - posters get served a story by their favourite social media. The story is picked for them by the algorithm - which is trained to match up stories by the amount of activity it creates. Firing up @SeanT is the business plan.
It’s also legally clear - you can make laws around that.
Ye Gods, there'd be an earthquake in Nigeria !
A cryptocurrency company made an ad making fun of the mess Britain finds itself. The ad was banned by the ASA
I hate to think how many of our Prime Minister since Walpole this would render as "furreigners". Also, how many of our Kings and Queens.
We already have half of Nigel Farage's children not being "White British" enough for Matt Goodwin (if I am following this correctly), in that they have a German mother.
Where will this debate end up?
Morning PB.
I hate to think how many of our Prime Minister since Walpole this would render as "furreigners". Also, how many of our Kings and Queens.
We already have half of Nigel Farage's children not being "White British" enough for Matt Goodwin (if I am following this correctly), in that they have a German mother.
Where will this debate end up?
I don't think I would qualify for political office, under Ant Middleton's stupid test.
In general, I'd say that people are British if they identify as such. Immigrants who acquire British citizenship are obviously making a commitment to this country, especially as human rights laws do much to erase any distinction between citizens and non-citizens.
That said, I think that the British passion for detached and semi-detached homes (which is implicit in most planning policies) needs to be challenged, since we're AFAIK the only country in Europe to reject tower blocks in all cities, insisting instead on expanding over the countryside with all the associated access issues. Sure, it's nice to be in a detached home, but if it means a price difference of 30, 40 or 50%?? I grew up on the 8th floor of a block with balconies front and back and immediate access to town, village and train and it's easily the nicest place I've ever lived in. Current price is £583,000 for 4 rooms. https://www.boligsiden.dk/adresse/lehwaldsvej-5-8-l-2800-kongens-lyngby-01730505___5__8___l?udbud=ce4d7595-fbd5-40fe-8ab5-16d720eceade . That gets you a 2-bed semi-detached house in Wallington: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/161657666#/?channel=RES_BUY or a 3-bed terraced house in Suton: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/164700146#/?channel=RES_BUY
I get that there's more than one possible view, but it seems to be Holy Writ that we should all aim for at least semi-detached houses, and it's better to have nothing than a flat in a nice, convenient block.
That is not a typical "debate" on social media, which so often involves ad hominem attacks, attacking straw men, mocking the other party's grammar and spelling, assuming bad faith, and trolling.
Tons of towers (above 8 floors) in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester….
Matt Goodwin
@GoodwinMJ
I am going on tour next month to speak to the British and English people about the dire state of our country and how we can fix it
I will be speaking at the following locations. If you’d like to come along I will share details shortly (http://mattgoodwin.org)
Bognor Regis
Southampton
Southend
Bexley & Sidcup
Wearside
Halifax
Wigan
Sussex
Tower Hamlets
Medway
Sevenoaks
Eastbourne
Or you can be very good at holding territory. Which is how Boycott got in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-nd2S5-sWI
Will you have to provide an Ariemachweiss to gain entry.
Known from now on as the Middleton Test. Will be formalised in statute if Reform get into power.
I support England/Britain in competitive events, yet I'm not nationalistic at all.
So in this context it is fine. The Tommy Robinson context not so much.
All politicians thread the needle of being proud English/Brits while trying to avoid straying into nationalistic tendencies. It is a difficult act that most of us don't have to worry about. For the left I guess it is trying not to sound unpatriotic and for the right it is ensuring you sound proud without straying into jingoistic language. Difficult.
I don't think we've got anywhere close to that in recent years ?
The peak in self sufficiency was back in the 80s.
Is this a rock that the race-baiting Right might run aground on, as they go round in circles?
I hate to think how many of our Prime Minister since Walpole this would render as "furreigners". Also, how many of our Kings and Queens.
We already have half of Nigel Farage's children not being "White British" enough for Matt Goodwin (if I am following this correctly), in that they have a German mother.
Where will this debate end up?
---- Broken quotes ----
Perhaps it will get adapted to where people were raised rather than their ancestry. Which would rule out one, err Ant Middleton, who was raised in France.
Middleton, like SYL ,is another ex con, currently now also dealing with a serious allegation of tax fraud.
Again, since when were criminal thugs supposed to have the same respect as genuine public servants? His nasty views should have no credence with anyone, but certain media use people amplify him for their own insidious ends.
There was nothing wrong with what Kemi said, it is probably honest (at least by politician standards) and it feels out of order for others to ridicule her over it or decide for her that she should feel British rather than English.
Badenoch is, however, ready to fight. Her Nigerian heritage often comes up in conversations about her straight-talking style. But she says this misses the point. ‘I find it interesting that everybody defines me as being Nigerian. I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity [Yoruba]. That’s what I really am. I have nothing in common with the people from the north of the country, the Boko Haram where the Islamism is, those were our ethnic enemies and yet you end up being lumped in with those people.’
Badenoch is proud of her Yoruba heritage. It’s given her a ‘very strong identity about who you are, where you come from, traditions and so on’ – including her maiden name, Adegoke. ‘Somebody once told me when I was very young that my surname was a name for people who were the warriors. They protected the crown and that’s what I see myself as doing. I am here to protect and I will die protecting this country because I know what’s out there.’
Kemi Badenoch, August 2025[2][3]
Sky News reports "Speaking to former MP and television presenter Gyles Brandreth on the Rosebud podcast, Ms Badenoch said as most of her life has been in the UK, she "does not identify" as Nigerian."
"I'm Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents... but by identity I'm not really," the North West Essex MP said. "...I have not renewed my Nigerian passport, I think, not since the early 2000s..." Ms Badenoch added that her home is now where her family is, which includes her extended political family. On Nigeria, she said: "...I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I'm very interested in what happens there..." and "...But home is where my now family is, and my now family is my children, it's my husband and my brother and his children, in-laws. The Conservative Party is very much part of my family - my extended family, I call it..." she added.
In fairness to Kemi, these are Sky quotes from the Rosebud podcast. I haven't listened to the podcast and can't vouch against any misquoting/misrepresentation from Sky.
[1] https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/i-will-die-protecting-this-country-kemi-badenoch-on-where-she-plans-to-take-the-tories/
[2] https://news.sky.com/story/kemi-badenoch-says-she-no-longer-identifies-as-nigerian-13405449
[3] https://shows.acast.com/rosebud-with-gyles-brandreth-new/episodes/kemi-badenoch
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-food-security-index-2024/uk-food-security-index-2024
Fruit is the main gap (18%).
Wow. Has anyone told them about the current King? Or his likely successor?
https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voters/helpful-information/current-election-information
https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/elections/election-information/2025/august-primary
The most interesting race is for Seattle mayor. The two leading candidates are incumbent Bruce Harrell and challenger Katie Wilson.
https://www.bruceforseattle.com/
https://www.wilsonforseattle.com/
Harrell is the more interesting of the two; he's the son of an African-American man and a Japanese-American woman who was interned in WW II: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Harrell#Electoral_history
Both have a serious problem: Campaigning with television ads is terribly expensive, and most of the money is wasted, since Seattle viewers are a minority of the audience; perhaps as little as one-tenth of those who see the ads can vote in Seattle.
https://morrisf1.blogspot.com/2025/08/hungarian-grand-prix-2025-pre-qualifying.html
I don't think Middleton's 'requirments' applied to Johnson, did they?
Leon's social housing plan also went back 3 generations. So, yeah, 4 generations does do the trick in racist nutter land.
Why is it that Badenoch isn’t supposed to say “I’m English”, but is supposed to say “I’m British”?
Who’s in charge of these decisions? Do they work for a properly organised agency - Richard Rogers designed office building, expensive abstract art, 6 figure Chief Executive? Or is this one of those amateur orgs?
++++++
I might extend it to 40, and it has to be provable
This would make me one of the few people in Britain eligible for social housing, as I have a provable written descent from Anglo-Saxon royalty and Welsh nobility
Sometimes "Islamist" will change to "Islamic" in the same paragraph, and may be associated with "Pakistani Muslims".
They mean "people who are observably not like us for whom we can generate loathing to build and coalesce our support".
If that involves lying ... eg on sex crime about the amount of rape and sex crimes which are done by "asylum seekers" compared to those done within family and friend circles ... then they lie.
That's just the playbook, and I think it will persist in some measure until the politics built on it fail.
I’ve noticed that the Guardian has almost stopped doing those “such and such is racist” articles (eg maths, gardening, rain, your nan, a dildo, music)
I sense several reasons. They ran out of targets, they get so repetitive people stopped reading them - or caring, they began to sound mad
When they do them now they are much more muted, less strident, lacking vigour and confidence. Good
The BNP tried the British racial identities thing around Civic British vs Indigenous British and other bits and pieces, tied themselves in knots covered in BS, and they went pop.
Will they ever learn?
BNP Constitution, if anyone wants a look:
https://bnp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EDITION-15-BNP-Constitution.pdf
- Part 1: He delves into the history of the chamber, esp the original use of the chamber as St Stephen's Chapel.
- Part 2: He says that there is yearning in Britain for meaning. He points out that secular states cannot provide this and it can go horribly wrong.
- Part 3: The intercedent (name?) points out that the multifaith society we have is made possible by Britain being a Christian state as it provides the framework for secular/non-Christian spaces
- Part 4: he points out that two religions are moving in: Islam and Woke. He skips over Islam but attacks Woke as a power hostile to family, communities and nations, and belives with some force that it should be destroyed and it should be a function of Parliament to destroy it
- Part 5: He says that the strong gods are back, that worship of the Christian god is necessary to underpin rights and the nation
- Part 6: A religious revival is necessary and that the state should be explicitly based on Christian teaching.
My first response is- Part 1: I disagree that the Church of England is the religion of "the country", as every Scot can attest. I'm not sure that England was the first Christian nation. He elides Britain and England.
- Part 2: I agree that there is a yearning in Britain for meaning. I'm not sure that a secular state cannot provide this. I agree it can go horribly wrong.
- Part 3: I was interested in this. It's plausible, but I don't know if it's true
- Part 4: I disagree that Woke should be destroyed. I disagree that it should be a function of the state to destroy it.
- Part 5: If pressed, I'd disagree with this
- Part 6: I'd disagree with this. Give Caesar that which is Caesar's, give God that which is God's
Overall: Christian Nationalism in Britain, with Islam taking the place of Judaism as "tolerated ally" in the American version.The speech deserves a longer response which I may not be in a position to give. Normally I would consider an article but RSS Conference is in September and I have no headspace. In the meantime I refer you to @Hyufd and @MattW's comments below[1][2]
[1] https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/5282045/#Comment_5282045
[2] https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/5282116/#Comment_5282116