It's very popular with the groups that Labour is primarily losing voters to - other left wing parties and those lost to DK and will not vote. It's sound politics IMO - the next election is going to be a turnout/tactical game.
It's very popular with the groups that Labour is primarily losing voters to - other left wing parties and those lost to DK and will not vote. It's sound politics IMO - the next election is going to be a turnout/tactical game.
It's so wet. It's mesmerising. After the last six months I had almost forgitten what persistent heavy rain was like. Days like today make be very glad to be a human rather than any other land mammal, and to be in the uniquely fortunate position of living in an era with weatherproof houses.
Easily our wettest day this year, and likely since autumn 2023.
The one good thing is that the reservoirs are empty, so I would hope that flooding is unlikely.
No rain for the rest of the week, mind, so an end to the hosepipe ban is not happening any time soon.
Sudan might have had a happier history if -- on independence -- it had been divided into at least three nations: Sudan, South Sudan, and Darfur. The George W. Bush administration was able to achieve a relatively peaceful separation of South Sudan; the Obama administration ignored the susequent civil war, proving again that-- for leftists -- most black lives don't matter.
It's so wet. It's mesmerising. After the last six months I had almost forgitten what persistent heavy rain was like. Days like today make be very glad to be a human rather than any other land mammal, and to be in the uniquely fortunate position of living in an era with weatherproof houses.
Although in defence of most other land mammals they tend to have decent fur coats that keep the rain out.
My cats look thoroughly pissed off if they end up outside in the rain, waterproof fur coat or not.
It's so wet. It's mesmerising. After the last six months I had almost forgitten what persistent heavy rain was like. Days like today make be very glad to be a human rather than any other land mammal, and to be in the uniquely fortunate position of living in an era with weatherproof houses.
Although in defence of most other land mammals they tend to have decent fur coats that keep the rain out.
My cats look thoroughly pissed off if they end up outside in the rain, waterproof fur coat or not.
One of our cats seems actively to enjoy it.
But she was semi-feral for the first couple of years of her life, before we rescued her.
It's very popular with the groups that Labour is primarily losing voters to - other left wing parties and those lost to DK and will not vote. It's sound politics IMO - the next election is going to be a turnout/tactical game.
I think you have hit the nail on the head
It also happens to bring us in line with most of the rest of the world. It's quite an easy thing to defend - there are plenty of other countries we recognise with evil political leadership.
Would California liberal Newsom beat VP Vance in 2028? Debateable. Would Midwest or rustbelt Buttigieg, Beshear or Shapiro? More likely
You have a touching faith that there'll be an election.
Constitutionally there at least has to be a vote of the Electoral College at the end of Trump's 4 year term, not even the SC can wrangle out of that one.
Of course if Trump had most of the army behind him he could try and enforce his rule beyond that but by that point the US would be heading for a second civil war anyway
Starmer to announce recognition of Palestinian statehood tomorrow
Why are YOU so opposed to recognising Palestine?
Why YOU?
This is not about me but as Sky has said just now the hostages are saying it is a reward to Hamas
It is extremely controversial
I will give you my opinion. Starmer has been weak on Gaza ( his children are Jewish if that has a bearing) but this is a step in the right direction. I am content that recognising Palestine is a positive. Granted it is paying lip service but I am on board alongside many Western Governments.
The family of the hostages are entitled to their opinion. I do not believe Hamas are being rewarded. If I felt they were I would oppose.
Have you not seen what the IDF have done in Bibi's name? Have you seen women and children starving in Gaza? Have you seen what the settlers are doing on the West Bank?
I don't believe you think politics through when you see an opportunity to run down your political opponents.
Starmer to announce recognition of Palestinian statehood tomorrow
Why are YOU so opposed to recognising Palestine?
Why YOU?
This is not about me but as Sky has said just now the hostages are saying it is a reward to Hamas
It is extremely controversial
Without the capitals it's still a valid question. Personally I think it is a meaningless gesture. But, if it is, then why the animus?
Apparently Starmer, to ameliorate the issue, is to announce sanctions on Hamas and they can be no part of the state
As @Eabhal said earlier it is a political move by Starmer to placate his left, and whether it is wise, or relevant, or indeed what it means in practice are fair questions
I think Gaza is the most indescribable tragedy of our times with Netanyahu and Hamas locked in a death spiral that sees no end, and how that is resolved is a question with seemingly no answer
My main thought of Starmer at the moment is: "What a waste!"
He got power with a massive majority and a fundamentally weakened opposition. He had the opportunity to make massive changes to the UK. I may not have agreed with those changes, but the opportunity was there.
Yet he has squandered that inheritance. The government seems as rudderless and immune to ideas as one that has been in power for a decade or more; not one that has been ruling for just a year.
Labour need to get rid of him and replace him with someone who has ideas and can sell those ideas; or at least can develop a team to sell those ideas. But who? And is it too late?
A party leader/PM doesn't need to have the ideas personally; that what the party thinkers are for. Unless SKS has an approach that repels all boarders where ideas are concerned, I assume it's the party that doesn't have any ideas.
And not just the Labour party- nobody else has ideas either. Slogans, yes- ideas, no.
The only "ideas" seem to be...AI will solve it all.....if we just increases keep increasing taxes...or we will just scrap everything and that will save trillions....or we will reheat a scheme from New Labour era.
I was trying out then newest, shiniest, best-in-the-world coding agent from OpenAI today. After 1/2 million 'tokens' and 2hrs it had made an utter, utter mess of the code. The code in question being 'make this table sortable by surname'.
Eventually switched to Anthropic's best-of-the-best Claude model and after an hour, when it had removed all the tests and checks from the codebase and made it even more broken - I asked it to reflect on what had happened.
The doom spiral really accelerated when I started making partial updates to files without showing you the full context, making it impossible for you to track what was happening. If there's a lesson here, it might be that when an AI assistant seems to be overcomplicating things, a quick "stop, why not just do [simple solution]?" could help reset. But honestly, you DID try to reset me multiple times ("Can you stop? Take a deep breath."), and I should have listened better. Your original request was crystal clear. I just overthought it massively.
So... at least it can apologise in a thoughtful way. If not sort a table by surname. I'm sure no-one will use this to write code for an autopilot or something because it's cheap. Almost sure. Pretty sure at least. A bit.
Have you tried using perplexity.ai? The free online version? It's not great, but it's good enough to do bits.
I'm using it in a terminal inside the git project (via codex and claude code). I've found in 'greenfield' stuff - they're great at spiking out the proof-of-concept stuff (ie, demo-mode). And with a lot of help and back-and-forth it can very reliably do a lot of menial tasks. But boy, are they all bad at 'make this change in an existing production codebase'.
And I say this as someone who has spent a career trying to replace themselves with a small shell script.
I once met a rather attractive American woman who was big into kink (she was fairly basic sub)
She told me some hair raising stories, often involving her. eg for a while she was hanging out with a billionaire (he is moderately well known) who kept a harem of women, flying them around the world, Epstein style
He offered her $10,000 to have sex
Only slight downside, it was sex with his Great Dane, while he watched
What's wrong with you all? Why so churlish?
This is the kind of heart-warming PB story - like @Sunil_Prasannan's mum's prize winning veg - that normally accrues dozens of "likes"
Yet, nothing
You got a like from @boulay, what more do you want?
One or two of us assumed the story was just Great Dane testicles.
J L Partners are members of the British Polling Council
Are you accusing them of being a Mickey Mouse polling company?
The questions make the difference. One of the early Yougov's in the Mail asked 'Does Cherie Blair make you more or less likely to vote for Tony Blair?' Completely ridiculous so I asked them what it was all about and they said they had no control on what their clients wanted answers to but they agreed it was not the sort of question they would have wanted to ask.
That's actually a very good question for a political party looking for a way to bring down an opponent. That you can't see it shows that you lack the political brain to understand why people run polls and focus groups.
It's so wet. It's mesmerising. After the last six months I had almost forgitten what persistent heavy rain was like. Days like today make be very glad to be a human rather than any other land mammal, and to be in the uniquely fortunate position of living in an era with weatherproof houses.
Although in defence of most other land mammals they tend to have decent fur coats that keep the rain out.
My cats look thoroughly pissed off if they end up outside in the rain, waterproof fur coat or not.
Mine’s too stupid to notice.
Mine spends half her time in the bath trying to catch the very slow drip I leave the tap on for her. It roughly goes :
- Catch drip on paw - Begin licking water off paw - Next drip lands on head - SURPRISED FACE - Catch drip on paw - .... repeat for years
Starmer to announce recognition of Palestinian statehood tomorrow
Why are YOU so opposed to recognising Palestine?
Why YOU?
This is not about me but as Sky has said just now the hostages are saying it is a reward to Hamas
It is extremely controversial
I will give you my opinion. Starmer has been weak on Gaza ( his children are Jewish if that has a bearing) but this is a step in the right direction. I am content that recognising Palestine is a positive. Granted it is paying lip service but I am on board alongside many Western Governments.
The family of the hostages are entitled to their opinion. I do not believe Hamas are being rewarded. If I felt they were I would oppose.
Have you not seen what the IDF have done in Bibi's name? Have you seen women and children starving in Gaza? Have you seen what the settlers are doing on the West Bank?
I don't believe you think politics through when you see an opportunity to run down your political opponents.
Here's a question for you
Have you been to Israel and the West Bank, because when we went we were there at the time of the Arafat peace accord and our tourist bus of international tourists witnessed a Palestinian Policeman and our Jewish guide, who had survived Auschwitz, embrace on the walls of Jerico to applause and great emotion to all present
We also toured the Golan Heights and witnessed the outrageous settlements on the West Bank
We visited a Kibbutz that was literally on the Lebanese border and you could feel the tension
And please don't insult me by suggesting I have not seen the appalling suffering of the women and children and have cried in our lounge with my wife
Netanyahu and Hamas should be jointly tried for war crimes, but if you know how this tragedy can be stopped then please make your case
Your last sentence can be very much applied to yourself
Starmer to announce recognition of Palestinian statehood tomorrow
Why are YOU so opposed to recognising Palestine?
Why YOU?
This is not about me but as Sky has said just now the hostages are saying it is a reward to Hamas
It is extremely controversial
Without the capitals it's still a valid question. Personally I think it is a meaningless gesture. But, if it is, then why the animus?
Apparently Starmer, to ameliorate the issue, is to announce sanctions on Hamas and they can be no part of the state
As @Eabhal said earlier it is a political move by Starmer to placate his left, and whether it is wise, or relevant, or indeed what it means in practice are fair questions
I think Gaza is the most indescribable tragedy of our times with Netanyahu and Hamas locked in a death spiral that sees no end, and how that is resolved is a question with seemingly no answer
Well. Indeed. It is unimportant. But. Do you support or oppose it? Regardless as to the implications for the Conservative Party?
Starmer to announce recognition of Palestinian statehood tomorrow
Why are YOU so opposed to recognising Palestine?
Why YOU?
This is not about me but as Sky has said just now the hostages are saying it is a reward to Hamas
It is extremely controversial
Without the capitals it's still a valid question. Personally I think it is a meaningless gesture. But, if it is, then why the animus?
Apparently Starmer, to ameliorate the issue, is to announce sanctions on Hamas and they can be no part of the state
As @Eabhal said earlier it is a political move by Starmer to placate his left, and whether it is wise, or relevant, or indeed what it means in practice are fair questions
I think Gaza is the most indescribable tragedy of our times with Netanyahu and Hamas locked in a death spiral that sees no end, and how that is resolved is a question with seemingly no answer
Well. Indeed. It is unimportant. But. Do you support or oppose it? Regardless as to the implications for the Conservative Party?
I am ambivalent to it as it will make no difference and it is pure politics
Starmer to announce recognition of Palestinian statehood tomorrow
Why are YOU so opposed to recognising Palestine?
Why YOU?
This is not about me but as Sky has said just now the hostages are saying it is a reward to Hamas
It is extremely controversial
I will give you my opinion. Starmer has been weak on Gaza ( his children are Jewish if that has a bearing) but this is a step in the right direction. I am content that recognising Palestine is a positive. Granted it is paying lip service but I am on board alongside many Western Governments.
The family of the hostages are entitled to their opinion. I do not believe Hamas are being rewarded. If I felt they were I would oppose.
Have you not seen what the IDF have done in Bibi's name? Have you seen women and children starving in Gaza? Have you seen what the settlers are doing on the West Bank?
I don't believe you think politics through when you see an opportunity to run down your political opponents.
Here's a question for you
Have you been to Israel and the West Bank, because when we went we were there at the time of the Arafat peace accord and our tourist bus of international tourists witnessed a Palestinian Policeman and our Jewish guide, who had survived Auschwitz, embrace on the walls of Jerico to applause and great emotion to all present
We also toured the Golan Heights and witnessed the outrageous settlements on the West Bank
We visited a Kibbutz that was literally on the Lebanese border and you could feel the tension
And please don't insult me by suggesting I have not seen the appalling suffering of the women and children and have cried in our lounge with my wife
Netanyahu and Hamas should be jointly tried for war crimes, but if you know how this tragedy can be stopped then please make your case
Your last sentence can be very much applied to yourself
No I have not been to Israel. I have been to the Middle East on several occasions if that helps.
You counter my accusation with the same back to me. I will extend you the courtesy of an explanation.
I am a student of history and I am well read, but no expert in Middle Eastern politics, I do however believe I understand the mindset of Netanyahu ( I have read the work of military history expert and well known socialist writer Max Hastings) Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.
I have no understanding of the mindset of Hamas. They are simply in my view a wicked death cult. I also understand when very stupid people like Jeremy Corbyn conflate Netanyahu's government with Judaism. Corbyn is not alone, people batting for Bibi quite often make a similar error, but from a symmetrical focus.
Starmer to announce recognition of Palestinian statehood tomorrow
Why are YOU so opposed to recognising Palestine?
Why YOU?
This is not about me but as Sky has said just now the hostages are saying it is a reward to Hamas
It is extremely controversial
Without the capitals it's still a valid question. Personally I think it is a meaningless gesture. But, if it is, then why the animus?
Apparently Starmer, to ameliorate the issue, is to announce sanctions on Hamas and they can be no part of the state
As @Eabhal said earlier it is a political move by Starmer to placate his left, and whether it is wise, or relevant, or indeed what it means in practice are fair questions
I think Gaza is the most indescribable tragedy of our times with Netanyahu and Hamas locked in a death spiral that sees no end, and how that is resolved is a question with seemingly no answer
I didn't suggest that actually, I was just pointing out that it would be quite popular with Labour's most important constituencies. Please don't put words into my mouth.
We can only speculate as to Starmer's motivations. If it is indeed political then he should have done it long ago to avoid losing so much support. He might have believed in it all along and was waiting for the UN summit as a good opportunity to change policy.
Starmer to announce recognition of Palestinian statehood tomorrow
Why are YOU so opposed to recognising Palestine?
Why YOU?
This is not about me but as Sky has said just now the hostages are saying it is a reward to Hamas
It is extremely controversial
I will give you my opinion. Starmer has been weak on Gaza ( his children are Jewish if that has a bearing) but this is a step in the right direction. I am content that recognising Palestine is a positive. Granted it is paying lip service but I am on board alongside many Western Governments.
The family of the hostages are entitled to their opinion. I do not believe Hamas are being rewarded. If I felt they were I would oppose.
Have you not seen what the IDF have done in Bibi's name? Have you seen women and children starving in Gaza? Have you seen what the settlers are doing on the West Bank?
I don't believe you think politics through when you see an opportunity to run down your political opponents.
Here's a question for you
Have you been to Israel and the West Bank, because when we went we were there at the time of the Arafat peace accord and our tourist bus of international tourists witnessed a Palestinian Policeman and our Jewish guide, who had survived Auschwitz, embrace on the walls of Jerico to applause and great emotion to all present
We also toured the Golan Heights and witnessed the outrageous settlements on the West Bank
We visited a Kibbutz that was literally on the Lebanese border and you could feel the tension
And please don't insult me by suggesting I have not seen the appalling suffering of the women and children and have cried in our lounge with my wife
Netanyahu and Hamas should be jointly tried for war crimes, but if you know how this tragedy can be stopped then please make your case
Your last sentence can be very much applied to yourself
No I have not been to Israel. I have been to the Middle East on several occasions if that helps.
You counter my accusation with the same back to me. I will extend you the courtesy of an explanation.
I am a student of history and I am well read, but no expert in Middle Eastern politics, I do however believe I understand the mindset of Netanyahu ( I have read the work of military history expert and well known socialist writer Max Hastings) Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.
I have no understanding of the mindset of Hamas. They are simply in my view a wicked death cult. I also understand when very stupid people like Jeremy Corbyn conflate Netanyahu's government with Judaism. Corbyn is not alone, people batting for Bibi quite often make a similar error, but from a symmetrical focus.
It does help to have visited the places, apart from Gaza, and the greatly disputed Temple Mount with its wailing wall, and listened to lectures and assisted by knowledgeable guides
The west bank is very complex and we were prohibited from visiting Ramallah
The settlements are an afront, and everyone should pray for a solution though it is an insoluble problem of Arab v Jew and to have extreme killing machines on each side is unforgivable and constitutes war crimes by both
A plague on both your houses is my position
To be honest I actually think we are fairly much on the same page and know that we, with millions of others, just want it to stop
Starmer to announce recognition of Palestinian statehood tomorrow
Why are YOU so opposed to recognising Palestine?
Why YOU?
This is not about me but as Sky has said just now the hostages are saying it is a reward to Hamas
It is extremely controversial
Without the capitals it's still a valid question. Personally I think it is a meaningless gesture. But, if it is, then why the animus?
Apparently Starmer, to ameliorate the issue, is to announce sanctions on Hamas and they can be no part of the state
As @Eabhal said earlier it is a political move by Starmer to placate his left, and whether it is wise, or relevant, or indeed what it means in practice are fair questions
I think Gaza is the most indescribable tragedy of our times with Netanyahu and Hamas locked in a death spiral that sees no end, and how that is resolved is a question with seemingly no answer
I didn't suggest that actually, I was just pointing out that it would be quite popular with Labour's most important constituencies. Please don't put words into my mouth.
We can only speculate as to Starmer's motivations. If it is indeed political then he should have done it long ago to avoid losing so much support. He might have believed in it all along and was waiting for the UN summit as a good opportunity to change policy.
I apologise if I misinterpreted you - that would not be my intention
And so, the strategy that worked against Hitler may be appropriate against Hamas.
If you read, for example, Cornelius Ryan's The Last Battle, you will understand that the Nazis could have ended the war by surrendering unconditionally, but chose, instead, to extend the terrible death and suffering in Berlin, and elsewhere.
Chancellor Merz was right when he said that ending Hamas would free the people of Gaza from a tyrannical rule, just as Germany's defeat freed Germany from Hitler.
I should add that I do not expect the leaders of Hamas to do this: Hitler married his mistress, and committed suicide. The Hamas leaders will, no doubt, stay safe in Qatar.
I should add that I do not expect the leaders of Hamas to do this: Hitler married his mistress, and committed suicide. The Hamas leaders will, no doubt, stay safe in Qatar.
To the Israelis, "safe in Qatar" is a relative concept.
Currant Bun so obvious pinch to a mound of salt...
ED Miliband is plotting against Sir Keir Starmer and wants to make a comeback as Labour leader, party insiders say. The Net Zero minister - dubbed Red Ed for his lefty views - has had a spectacular falling out with his former pal the PM.
I should add that I do not expect the leaders of Hamas to do this: Hitler married his mistress, and committed suicide. The Hamas leaders will, no doubt, stay safe in Qatar.
To the Israelis, "safe in Qatar" is a relative concept.
If the Israelis actually got the leaders, it was never clear if they did. Hamas said no, but they said no in the past when it turns out they Israelis had. The whole story just moved on.
And so, the strategy that worked against Hitler may be appropriate against Hamas.
If you read, for example, Cornelius Ryan's The Last Battle, you will understand that the Nazis could have ended the war by surrendering unconditionally, but chose, instead, to extend the terrible death and suffering in Berlin, and elsewhere.
Chancellor Merz was right when he said that ending Hamas would free the people of Gaza from a tyrannical rule, just as Germany's defeat freed Germany from Hitler.
It's not easy to detach the actions of Hamas from the culture of Gazan people, or at least Gazan males. The analyst Ryan McBeth in his Israel/Palestine series points out that Gazans are brought up in a martial culture aimed at Israel and this will not be easy to dislodge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgUzVZiint0&t=75s
Tony Blackburn posted some lovely photos of his 100th birthday lunch on X. All of us of a certain age grew up with Top of the Pops as our weekly dose of the latest music charts on TV growing up as well as Radio One being the only place to hear the latest UK top twenty music hits regularly before MTV and then other music channels and all the new radio stations exploded on to the stage in the last few decades. I still fondly remember my friends and I in 6th year at school trying to make sure that someone could record it if we could not catch Simon Bates 'Our Tune' on his week day show!
Tony Blackburn OBE.@tonyblackburn Had a wonderful time at Pete Murray’s 100th birthday lunch today. Pete is a lovely man and one of my heroes who I used to work with on Radio One a few years ago now. Happy birthday Pete One https://x.com/tonyblackburn/status/1969089819415626104
Most of Africa is a cesspit of war and wealth stealing dictators . The general public’s response to Sudan , Congo or another war ravaged African country is likely a shrug of disdain .
Sorry of this sounds brutal but do Brits have enough empathy bandwidth to deal with countries who have been at war for decades with no good guys just variations of evil .
No
I sometimes wonder why the main news stations even bother to report from the Sudan and other war ravaged African countries . No one’s interested.
I don’t think it’s just Africa. Most people aren’t that interested in the Ukraine war either, and I doubt Ukrainians would be that interested in the ensuing conflict if England invaded the Rep of Ireland. The majority of people switch off from far away nastiness and are just concerned with their own little worlds. I think that’s what ‘The Ones who walk away from Omelas’ by Ursula Le Guin is about
That people don’t care much about wars in places they can’t find on maps, or that is what the book is about? I wouldn’t have said either if I didn’t think them! What a waste of time that would be
Lots of people do care. How many Brits knew the Falklands were there before Argentine invaded? (There's a scene in one of the Adrian Mole books saying that.). Yet people generally accepted going to war to reclaim them.
But there's a wider issue. Problems in other parts of the world that you don't care about can rapidly become our problems. So a war in the Middle East may create refugees that want to escape to a safer place; i.e. Europe and here. A war in Eastern Europe can lead to a much wider war. As we are seeing in Ukraine.
As I see it, your argument would have had us not declare war on Germany in 1939 over Poland. I don't think that delaying the war would have ended well for us or Europe.
Currant Bun so obvious pinch to a mound of salt...
ED Miliband is plotting against Sir Keir Starmer and wants to make a comeback as Labour leader, party insiders say. The Net Zero minister - dubbed Red Ed for his lefty views - has had a spectacular falling out with his former pal the PM.
Bullshit and hatchet job in 2 sentences, both of which are an insult to the intelligence of the reader.
Most of Africa is a cesspit of war and wealth stealing dictators . The general public’s response to Sudan , Congo or another war ravaged African country is likely a shrug of disdain .
Sorry of this sounds brutal but do Brits have enough empathy bandwidth to deal with countries who have been at war for decades with no good guys just variations of evil .
This is a pretty offensive stereotype. Most of Africa is at peace and has been for a long time, and also has democratic governments. Indeed the spread of democracy across Africa, Latin America and non-Communist Asia has been one of the triumphs of the last half century or so.
Mrs Foxy is from Zambia, and it is a lovely safe country to visit, never had significant civil conflict nor been involved in a war, and has always had democratic elections. Neighbouring Botswana is the same. Other countries in Southern and Eastern Africa have made massive strides too. Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar are all at civil peace. South Africa has major problems with crime and social inequality but also a great place to see and visit., as are Lesotho and Eswatini. Zimbabwe has stabilised, albeit not democratic, but is safe to visit, as are Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda.
I am less familiar with West Africa and the Magreb, but loads of progress there too. Sudan is a tragedy, and the war in Eastern DRC has ground on for decades, while the conflict with Islamist insurgents remains a problem across the entire Sahel from Mauritania to Chad. Eritrea has possibly the worst government in the world, one that makes even Afghanistan or North Korea look benign.
Sure, in parts of Africa corruption is a big problem (though Africa is far from unique in that, as we see in Trumpistan) and has big challenges from climate change and rural poverty, but overall there is a great deal to be positive about in Africa.
F1: I'll be making the proper tip plus ramble link soon, but you can back Antonelli boosted on Ladbrokes for a podium at 14 and lay him for a podium on Betfair at 10.
F1: backed Albon for points at 5.2 on Betfair. Yes, he starts not quite last (Ocon got disqualified) but the last time I backed a guy in 19th to score he ended up on the podium (Hulkenberg in Silverstone).
Currant Bun so obvious pinch to a mound of salt...
ED Miliband is plotting against Sir Keir Starmer and wants to make a comeback as Labour leader, party insiders say. The Net Zero minister - dubbed Red Ed for his lefty views - has had a spectacular falling out with his former pal the PM.
Morning, PB.
I'm not surprised, as he cut a huge part of his policy framework that gqve his energy growth plans their orhginal coherence.
Does make me laugh - the journalists who have tried to pretend the LibDems don't exist seem outraged that the LibDems do things to get seen. "Why are people showing this" is the outrage, not the marching band. As for the Last Night of the Proms thing, as plastic patriotism is the schtick of the right, I love their confusion about people waving union flags singing Land of Hope and Glory - how unpatriotic they sa whilst praising people attacking council workers and the police and demanding sanctions be imposed on us.
Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar are all at civil peace.
That's not true as regards Kenya, where al-Shabab and ISIL are active and violence frequently spills over from Somalia, or Mozambique which has had a deadly insurrection in Cabo Delgado for about a decade now. Both of those countries just about keep a lid on the violence there by using methods that wouldn't be considered acceptable in Western Europe - if you can't be bothered to research here is the first paragraph of Amnesty International's report on Kenya 2024:
"Sixty people were killed and hundreds injured when police used excessive and unnecessary force against people protesting a proposed finance bill. Draft legislation threatened to impose further restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. More than 600 protesters were arbitrarily arrested and detained, and dozens were forcibly disappeared. Extrajudicial executions continued to be reported. The government forcibly evicted thousands of people from the Mathare and Mukuru Kwa Njenga settlements, amid heavy rainfall and flooding. At least 97 women were killed between August and October, most as a result of gender-based violence, according to official statistics. Implementation problems with the new Social Health Fund affected some people’s access to healthcare. The government’s digital identification project threatened to undermine the right to privacy."
and Mozambique:
"Police increasingly used excessive and unnecessary force to repress protests, particularly those held by opposition members and supporters, resulting in at least 277 deaths. The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly were severely undermined; journalists faced intimidation, harassment, threats and attacks. At least 20 civilians were killed by armed groups and a government militia in the conflict in Cabo Delgado province. Police failed to protect people from kidnappings by criminals."
This may be "civil peace" by Africa's incredibly low standards, but "at least" 277 deaths is triple the annual average of deaths in the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and nobody would have said that that province during those years was at "civil peace".
Most of Africa is a cesspit of war and wealth stealing dictators . The general public’s response to Sudan , Congo or another war ravaged African country is likely a shrug of disdain .
Sorry of this sounds brutal but do Brits have enough empathy bandwidth to deal with countries who have been at war for decades with no good guys just variations of evil .
This is a pretty offensive stereotype. Most of Africa is at peace and has been for a long time, and also has democratic governments. Indeed the spread of democracy across Africa, Latin America and non-Communist Asia has been one of the triumphs of the last half century or so.
Mrs Foxy is from Zambia, and it is a lovely safe country to visit, never had significant civil conflict nor been involved in a war, and has always had democratic elections. Neighbouring Botswana is the same. Other countries in Southern and Eastern Africa have made massive strides too. Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar are all at civil peace. South Africa has major problems with crime and social inequality but also a great place to see and visit., as are Lesotho and Eswatini. Zimbabwe has stabilised, albeit not democratic, but is safe to visit, as are Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda.
I am less familiar with West Africa and the Magreb, but loads of progress there too. Sudan is a tragedy, and the war in Eastern DRC has ground on for decades, while the conflict with Islamist insurgents remains a problem across the entire Sahel from Mauritania to Chad. Eritrea has possibly the worst government in the world, one that makes even Afghanistan or North Korea look benign.
Sure, in parts of Africa corruption is a big problem (though Africa is far from unique in that, as we see in Trumpistan) and has big challenges from climate change and rural poverty, but overall there is a great deal to be positive about in Africa.
“Civil peace”. You forgot about the Islamist extremists al-Shabaab in Mozambique, which have murdered thousands and displaced over a million people in recent years in Mozambique. They beheaded 6 people just last month near the Total LNG project.
In a recent meeting with a Dfid leader, the discussion turned to the biggest challenge facing sub Sahara right now. The answer given was that it is not corruption, nor climate change nor “Trumpistan”. It is the confluence of very large young/working age populations, with the coming rise of AI taking swathes of employment off the table. We are off our effin rockers to be importing this problem from those states.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I seem to recall that a certain country, namely the US was the most keen on countries like the UK getting out of their colonial and sub-colonial outposts after the war.
Perhaps Americans could reflect that instead of being high handed and focussing on self interest after WW2 and leveraging the likes of the UK and France out of their colonial outposts then the world might suit the US a bit better now.
Perhaps, for example, the Suez region might have been better if the US hadn’t interfered in the UK/French suez mission. I think there are plenty of areas where the hubris of the US having the power over the UK and France post war ultimately has caused the US more trouble long term. But there you go.
May be they could invest in building a governmental agency that supports nation building and humanitarian efforts and use that as a means of wielding soft power in the US’s interest?
Tony Blackburn posted some lovely photos of his 100th birthday lunch on X. All of us of a certain age grew up with Top of the Pops as our weekly dose of the latest music charts on TV growing up as well as Radio One being the only place to hear the latest UK top twenty music hits regularly before MTV and then other music channels and all the new radio stations exploded on to the stage in the last few decades. I still fondly remember my friends and I in 6th year at school trying to make sure that someone could record it if we could not catch Simon Bates 'Our Tune' on his week day show!
Tony Blackburn OBE.@tonyblackburn Had a wonderful time at Pete Murray’s 100th birthday lunch today. Pete is a lovely man and one of my heroes who I used to work with on Radio One a few years ago now. Happy birthday Pete One https://x.com/tonyblackburn/status/1969089819415626104
Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar are all at civil peace.
That's not true as regards Kenya, where al-Shabab and ISIL are active and violence frequently spills over from Somalia, or Mozambique which has had a deadly insurrection in Cabo Delgado for about a decade now. Both of those countries just about keep a lid on the violence there by using methods that wouldn't be considered acceptable in Western Europe - if you can't be bothered to research here is the first paragraph of Amnesty International's report on Kenya 2024:
"Sixty people were killed and hundreds injured when police used excessive and unnecessary force against people protesting a proposed finance bill. Draft legislation threatened to impose further restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. More than 600 protesters were arbitrarily arrested and detained, and dozens were forcibly disappeared. Extrajudicial executions continued to be reported. The government forcibly evicted thousands of people from the Mathare and Mukuru Kwa Njenga settlements, amid heavy rainfall and flooding. At least 97 women were killed between August and October, most as a result of gender-based violence, according to official statistics. Implementation problems with the new Social Health Fund affected some people’s access to healthcare. The government’s digital identification project threatened to undermine the right to privacy."
and Mozambique:
"Police increasingly used excessive and unnecessary force to repress protests, particularly those held by opposition members and supporters, resulting in at least 277 deaths. The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly were severely undermined; journalists faced intimidation, harassment, threats and attacks. At least 20 civilians were killed by armed groups and a government militia in the conflict in Cabo Delgado province. Police failed to protect people from kidnappings by criminals."
This may be "civil peace" by Africa's incredibly low standards, but "at least" 277 deaths is triple the annual average of deaths in the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and nobody would have said that that province during those years was at "civil peace".
Sure, problems remain particularly Islamist insurgencies and resources wars such as Sudan and the Eastern DRC., but both Kenya and Mozambique are much improved on previous decades. Angola and Uganda too.
There is extraordinary ignorance in the West about Africa, because we mostly only hear news from there when it is war, famine or drought, but that reporting bias ignores the massive progress quietly going on across most of the continent.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
“Non consensual union”?
As far as I recall there has been one parliamentary vote and two referenda that have supported joining/remaining part of the Union.
You might not agree with the decision but a majority of your compatriot voters do give their consent
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
Kudos to Ed et al for restraining their profound love of flegs until now. If the LD’s pretendy commitment to federalism ever stops being pretendy, I’d advise not sticking union flags all over the campaign.
Does make me laugh - the journalists who have tried to pretend the LibDems don't exist seem outraged that the LibDems do things to get seen. "Why are people showing this" is the outrage, not the marching band. As for the Last Night of the Proms thing, as plastic patriotism is the schtick of the right, I love their confusion about people waving union flags singing Land of Hope and Glory - how unpatriotic they sa whilst praising people attacking council workers and the police and demanding sanctions be imposed on us.
There are 72 Liberal Democrat MPs in the House of Commons. As third largest, it has a guaranteed two questions to the Prime Minister each week. The party ought to be making news for its policies, and for holding the government to account. Instead, the big news is Ed Davey has banged a drum, waved a flag and changed the LibDem bird logo from yellowy-orange to orange.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
“Non consensual union”?
As far as I recall there has been one parliamentary vote and two referenda that have supported joining/remaining part of the Union.
You might not agree with the decision but a majority of your compatriot voters do give their consent
Which ‘two referenda’ are those then?
EU allows all members to have as many referendums on membership as they want = union of consent. UK decides when its constituent members are ‘allowed’ a referendum on membership = not a union of consent. Hth.
Does make me laugh - the journalists who have tried to pretend the LibDems don't exist seem outraged that the LibDems do things to get seen. "Why are people showing this" is the outrage, not the marching band. As for the Last Night of the Proms thing, as plastic patriotism is the schtick of the right, I love their confusion about people waving union flags singing Land of Hope and Glory - how unpatriotic they sa whilst praising people attacking council workers and the police and demanding sanctions be imposed on us.
There are 72 Liberal Democrat MPs in the House of Commons. As third largest, it has a guaranteed two questions to the Prime Minister each week. The party ought to be making news for its policies, and for holding the government to account. Instead, the big news is Ed Davey has banged a drum, waved a flag and changed the LibDem bird logo from yellowy-orange to orange.
The return of Liberal orange is very welcome news.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
“Non consensual union”?
As far as I recall there has been one parliamentary vote and two referenda that have supported joining/remaining part of the Union.
You might not agree with the decision but a majority of your compatriot voters do give their consent
Which ‘two referenda’ are those then?
EU allows all members to have as many referendums on membership as they want = union of consent. UK decides when its constituent members are ‘allowed’ a referendum on membership = not a union of consent. Hth.
Having checked the 1970s one was devolution not independence.
Spain doesn’t allow referenda at all.
Do you think it would be appropriate to have a vote once a week to check consent?
Does make me laugh - the journalists who have tried to pretend the LibDems don't exist seem outraged that the LibDems do things to get seen. "Why are people showing this" is the outrage, not the marching band. As for the Last Night of the Proms thing, as plastic patriotism is the schtick of the right, I love their confusion about people waving union flags singing Land of Hope and Glory - how unpatriotic they sa whilst praising people attacking council workers and the police and demanding sanctions be imposed on us.
There are 72 Liberal Democrat MPs in the House of Commons. As third largest, it has a guaranteed two questions to the Prime Minister each week. The party ought to be making news for its policies, and for holding the government to account. Instead, the big news is Ed Davey has banged a drum, waved a flag and changed the LibDem bird logo from yellowy-orange to orange.
The return of Liberal orange is very welcome news.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
“Non consensual union”?
As far as I recall there has been one parliamentary vote and two referenda that have supported joining/remaining part of the Union.
You might not agree with the decision but a majority of your compatriot voters do give their consent
I think @Theuniondivvie is referring to the fact that the English and Welsh have been coupled to the feckless Scots for centuries, and with nary a referendum.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
Does make me laugh - the journalists who have tried to pretend the LibDems don't exist seem outraged that the LibDems do things to get seen. "Why are people showing this" is the outrage, not the marching band. As for the Last Night of the Proms thing, as plastic patriotism is the schtick of the right, I love their confusion about people waving union flags singing Land of Hope and Glory - how unpatriotic they sa whilst praising people attacking council workers and the police and demanding sanctions be imposed on us.
There are 72 Liberal Democrat MPs in the House of Commons. As third largest, it has a guaranteed two questions to the Prime Minister each week. The party ought to be making news for its policies, and for holding the government to account. Instead, the big news is Ed Davey has banged a drum, waved a flag and changed the LibDem bird logo from yellowy-orange to orange.
Sure, but a bit of showmanship is needed to grab the attention of the press. Davey uses his questions wisely and astutely, but even politics nerds on PB aren't that interested in PMQ's beyond court politics and gotchas.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
It does, but the forces of reaction are in full cry. It may be diffucult to see at the moment, but it is there.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
Finally you have realised! Glad we agree it’s time to stop flows of migration from some of the world’s most illiberal places.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
It still exists. Don't forget that Farage has something like 59% disapproval.
Political discourse is increasingly bellicose, callous and cruel, but that doesn't mean that other views are not widespread.
Tony Blackburn posted some lovely photos of his 100th birthday lunch on X. All of us of a certain age grew up with Top of the Pops as our weekly dose of the latest music charts on TV growing up as well as Radio One being the only place to hear the latest UK top twenty music hits regularly before MTV and then other music channels and all the new radio stations exploded on to the stage in the last few decades. I still fondly remember my friends and I in 6th year at school trying to make sure that someone could record it if we could not catch Simon Bates 'Our Tune' on his week day show!
Tony Blackburn OBE.@tonyblackburn Had a wonderful time at Pete Murray’s 100th birthday lunch today. Pete is a lovely man and one of my heroes who I used to work with on Radio One a few years ago now. Happy birthday Pete One https://x.com/tonyblackburn/status/1969089819415626104
No-one that old (at the time) would get to present such a programme aimed at younger viewers, nowadays
Who else was there? I suspect Pete Murray got the Top of the Pops gig because he had earlier presented Six-Five Special, the BBC's first pop music show, in the late 1950s and was on Juke Box Jury.
Hold on. Pete Murray was 38 when Top of the Pops started. Current Radio One breakfast host is Greg James (according to Wikipedia) who is 39.
Does make me laugh - the journalists who have tried to pretend the LibDems don't exist seem outraged that the LibDems do things to get seen. "Why are people showing this" is the outrage, not the marching band. As for the Last Night of the Proms thing, as plastic patriotism is the schtick of the right, I love their confusion about people waving union flags singing Land of Hope and Glory - how unpatriotic they sa whilst praising people attacking council workers and the police and demanding sanctions be imposed on us.
There are 72 Liberal Democrat MPs in the House of Commons. As third largest, it has a guaranteed two questions to the Prime Minister each week. The party ought to be making news for its policies, and for holding the government to account. Instead, the big news is Ed Davey has banged a drum, waved a flag and changed the LibDem bird logo from yellowy-orange to orange.
News media have always had to juggle reporting what's important with reporting what's entertaining. Different organisations did that in different ways. The more worthy ones would offer you the sweetie of an "and finally" as a reward for ploughing through all the dull stuff. The less worthy ones would put the boring news on page two- it was there, but nobody ever reads page two.
The need to pay the bills has pushed the balance towards infotainment. Yes there are people who want more and better reporting, but not enough of them to justify the costs. Social media takes that to an even greater extreme, and trolls flat-out lie.
But even when the news tells the truth, it can't tell the whole truth, because that wouldn't fit into a single studio. Editors have to make editorial decisions, and we can't blame any politicians for the decisions that get made.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
Finally you have realised! Glad we agree it’s time to stop flows of migration from some of the world’s most illiberal places.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
The vast, vast majority of the nation were not marching with Tommy. The 24 h news cycle is driven by outrage and extremes - most people are still liberal, decent folk.
But you might also reflect on the reasons for your perceived change. Peoples lives are not improving, the young struggle to buy a house, getting the job you thought Uni was for is currently hard with graduate employment suffering, and populists are doing what they do - lying about the reasons for all this.
If they were trolling Reform, I'd understand but they seem to believe it. Have had dealings with the local party. Some earnest people but mostly those with ideas detached from reality*. They were the NOTA party once but now that position has been usurped, their ideas get more scrutiny now.
* Based on experience of what they are doing locally at great cost to the council. Over budget; have had 2 central government hand-outs, and still late.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
It does, but the forces of reaction are in full cry. It may be diffucult to see at the moment, but it is there.
Reform are noisy and united, whereas their opponents are quiet and scattered. That might be enough for Farage to win, but there's a lot of water still to flow under the bridge.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
“Non consensual union”?
As far as I recall there has been one parliamentary vote and two referenda that have supported joining/remaining part of the Union.
You might not agree with the decision but a majority of your compatriot voters do give their consent
I think @Theuniondivvie is referring to the fact that the English and Welsh have been coupled to the feckless Scots for centuries, and with nary a referendum.
Scotland and rUK is different from an EU member and the EU. It would be ludicrous to simply have a referendum every week (national lottery draw followed by quick phone in vote?) And how do you determine if a referendum is likely to succeed?
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
The vast, vast majority of the nation were not marching with Tommy. The 24 h news cycle is driven by outrage and extremes - most people are still liberal, decent folk.
But you might also reflect on the reasons for your perceived change. Peoples lives are not improving, the young struggle to buy a house, getting the job you thought Uni was for is currently hard with graduate employment suffering, and populists are doing what they do - lying about the reasons for all this.
Though the curious thing is that the largest slice of the Brexit-Reform demographic, and a hefty slice of the Tommyrot demographic are people old enough to have bought a house and who didn't go to university.
It could be that they have enormous concern for poor Tarquin with his useless geography degree, but it seems unlikely.
Sorry to go all Scotch expert on you, but it is the Scottish National Party with the stated aim of gaining independence from this non consensual union. I missed the memo that the LDs were rebranding to the National Liberal and Unionist party.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
I dont think it insincere. Britain has a proud liberal tradition and reclaiming the flag from the far right is the correct thing to do.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
I'm losing faith that this liberal tradition exists right now. The country seems to be going through a pretty ugly transformation
It still exists. Don't forget that Farage has something like 59% disapproval.
Political discourse is increasingly bellicose, callous and cruel, but that doesn't mean that other views are not widespread.
In the last few months I have met two old -now ex- friends separately who said they supported Tommy Robinson. One from advertising one a hairdresser. I couldn't believe it nor understand it. In both instances it felt like the Day of the Triffids. I can't describe how angry it made me or how shocking I found it. But it led me to believe the change was profound
Comments
The one good thing is that the reservoirs are empty, so I would hope that flooding is unlikely.
No rain for the rest of the week, mind, so an end to the hosepipe ban is not happening any time soon.
But she was semi-feral for the first couple of years of her life, before we rescued her.
Personally I think it is a meaningless gesture.
But, if it is, then why the animus?
The latter looks IMO nailed on at the budget , payed for by an increase in gambling taxes
Of course if Trump had most of the army behind him he could try and enforce his rule beyond that but by that point the US would be heading for a second civil war anyway
The family of the hostages are entitled to their opinion. I do not believe Hamas are being rewarded. If I felt they were I would oppose.
Have you not seen what the IDF have done in Bibi's name? Have you seen women and children starving in Gaza? Have you seen what the settlers are doing on the West Bank?
I don't believe you think politics through when you see an opportunity to run down your political opponents.
As @Eabhal said earlier it is a political move by Starmer to placate his left, and whether it is wise, or relevant, or indeed what it means in practice are fair questions
I think Gaza is the most indescribable tragedy of our times with Netanyahu and Hamas locked in a death spiral that sees no end, and how that is resolved is a question with seemingly no answer
I'm using it in a terminal inside the git project (via codex and claude code). I've found in 'greenfield' stuff - they're great at spiking out the proof-of-concept stuff (ie, demo-mode). And with a lot of help and back-and-forth it can very reliably do a lot of menial tasks. But boy, are they all bad at 'make this change in an existing production codebase'.
And I say this as someone who has spent a career trying to replace themselves with a small shell script.
One or two of us assumed the story was just Great Dane testicles.
It helps that iirc Farage supports ending the two child limit.
PB fanbois were still on board through the Pincher crisis. Some still are ...
- Catch drip on paw
- Begin licking water off paw
- Next drip lands on head
- SURPRISED FACE
- Catch drip on paw
- .... repeat for years
Have you been to Israel and the West Bank, because when we went we were there at the time of the Arafat peace accord and our tourist bus of international tourists witnessed a Palestinian Policeman and our Jewish guide, who had survived Auschwitz, embrace on the walls of Jerico to applause and great emotion to all present
We also toured the Golan Heights and witnessed the outrageous settlements on the West Bank
We visited a Kibbutz that was literally on the Lebanese border and you could feel the tension
And please don't insult me by suggesting I have not seen the appalling suffering of the women and children and have cried in our lounge with my wife
Netanyahu and Hamas should be jointly tried for war crimes, but if you know how this tragedy can be stopped then please make your case
Your last sentence can be very much applied to yourself
But. Do you support or oppose it? Regardless as to the implications for the Conservative Party?
It adds to the deficit by 3.5 billion which means the gambling tax does nothing for our net deficit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PSOgmmqqvo
"James Brown, Bobby Bland, B.B King - Blues medley"
You counter my accusation with the same back to me. I will extend you the courtesy of an explanation.
I am a student of history and I am well read, but no expert in Middle Eastern politics, I do however believe I understand the mindset of Netanyahu ( I have read the work of military history expert and well known socialist writer Max Hastings) Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.
I have no understanding of the mindset of Hamas. They are simply in my view a wicked death cult. I also understand when very stupid people like Jeremy Corbyn conflate Netanyahu's government with Judaism. Corbyn is not alone, people batting for Bibi quite often make a similar error, but from a symmetrical focus.
We can only speculate as to Starmer's motivations. If it is indeed political then he should have done it long ago to avoid losing so much support. He might have believed in it all along and was waiting for the UN summit as a good opportunity to change policy.
The west bank is very complex and we were prohibited from visiting Ramallah
The settlements are an afront, and everyone should pray for a solution though it is an insoluble problem of Arab v Jew and to have extreme killing machines on each side is unforgivable and constitutes war crimes by both
A plague on both your houses is my position
To be honest I actually think we are fairly much on the same page and know that we, with millions of others, just want it to stop
And so, the strategy that worked against Hitler may be appropriate against Hamas.
If you read, for example, Cornelius Ryan's The Last Battle, you will understand that the Nazis could have ended the war by surrendering unconditionally, but chose, instead, to extend the terrible death and suffering in Berlin, and elsewhere.
Chancellor Merz was right when he said that ending Hamas would free the people of Gaza from a tyrannical rule, just as Germany's defeat freed Germany from Hitler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX6i_o9V-FA
"59% of Conservative party members say that Boris Johnson should resign"
https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/43078-most-conservative-party-members-want-boris-johnson
ED Miliband is plotting against Sir Keir Starmer and wants to make a comeback as Labour leader, party insiders say. The Net Zero minister - dubbed Red Ed for his lefty views - has had a spectacular falling out with his former pal the PM.
Tony Blackburn OBE.@tonyblackburn
Had a wonderful time at Pete Murray’s 100th birthday lunch today. Pete is a lovely man and one of my heroes who I used to work with on Radio One a few years ago now. Happy birthday Pete One
https://x.com/tonyblackburn/status/1969089819415626104
Tony Blackburn OBE.@tonyblackburn
Great to see my old friends again, David, Jess and Mike.
https://x.com/tonyblackburn/status/1969104972580339944
And finally a nod to Top of the Pops.
Tony Blackburn OBE.@tonyblackburn·16h
Another photo from Pete’s 100th birthday celebration.
https://x.com/tonyblackburn/status/1969325769722662954
But there's a wider issue. Problems in other parts of the world that you don't care about can rapidly become our problems. So a war in the Middle East may create refugees that want to escape to a safer place; i.e. Europe and here. A war in Eastern Europe can lead to a much wider war. As we are seeing in Ukraine.
As I see it, your argument would have had us not declare war on Germany in 1939 over Poland. I don't think that delaying the war would have ended well for us or Europe.
https://x.com/politlcsuk/status/1969466846958002590?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q
F1: looking forward to finding out what I end up betting on given how crazy the grid is...
Mrs Foxy is from Zambia, and it is a lovely safe country to visit, never had significant civil conflict nor been involved in a war, and has always had democratic elections. Neighbouring Botswana is the same. Other countries in Southern and Eastern Africa have made massive strides too. Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar are all at civil peace. South Africa has major problems with crime and social inequality but also a great place to see and visit., as are Lesotho and Eswatini. Zimbabwe has stabilised, albeit not democratic, but is safe to visit, as are Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda.
I am less familiar with West Africa and the Magreb, but loads of progress there too. Sudan is a tragedy, and the war in Eastern DRC has ground on for decades, while the conflict with Islamist insurgents remains a problem across the entire Sahel from Mauritania to Chad. Eritrea has possibly the worst government in the world, one that makes even Afghanistan or North Korea look benign.
Sure, in parts of Africa corruption is a big problem (though Africa is far from unique in that, as we see in Trumpistan) and has big challenges from climate change and rural poverty, but overall there is a great deal to be positive about in Africa.
Betting PostF1: backed Albon for points at 5.2 on Betfair. Yes, he starts not quite last (Ocon got disqualified) but the last time I backed a guy in 19th to score he ended up on the podium (Hulkenberg in Silverstone).
https://morrisf1.blogspot.com/2025/09/azerbaijan-grand-prix-2025-pre-race.html
https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/saltire-waving-nationalist-nicola-sturgeon-35873012
I'm not surprised, as he cut a huge part of his policy framework that gqve his energy growth plans their orhginal coherence.
"Sixty people were killed and hundreds injured when police used excessive and unnecessary force against people protesting a proposed finance bill. Draft legislation threatened to impose further restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. More than 600 protesters were arbitrarily arrested and detained, and dozens were forcibly disappeared. Extrajudicial executions continued to be reported. The government forcibly evicted thousands of people from the Mathare and Mukuru Kwa Njenga settlements, amid heavy rainfall and flooding. At least 97 women were killed between August and October, most as a result of gender-based violence, according to official statistics. Implementation problems with the new Social Health Fund affected some people’s access to healthcare. The government’s digital identification project threatened to undermine the right to privacy."
and Mozambique:
"Police increasingly used excessive and unnecessary force to repress protests, particularly those held by opposition members and supporters, resulting in at least 277 deaths. The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly were severely undermined; journalists faced intimidation, harassment, threats and attacks. At least 20 civilians were killed by armed groups and a government militia in the conflict in Cabo Delgado province. Police failed to protect people from kidnappings by criminals."
This may be "civil peace" by Africa's incredibly low standards, but "at least" 277 deaths is triple the annual average of deaths in the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and nobody would have said that that province during those years was at "civil peace".
In a recent meeting with a Dfid leader, the discussion turned to the biggest challenge facing sub Sahara right now. The answer given was that it is not corruption, nor climate change nor “Trumpistan”. It is the confluence of very large young/working age populations, with the coming rise of AI taking swathes of employment off the table. We are off our effin rockers to be importing this problem from those states.
Apart from anything else one would think Starmer would have proved the limited utility of insincerely wrapping oneself in the flag.
There is extraordinary ignorance in the West about Africa, because we mostly only hear news from there when it is war, famine or drought, but that reporting bias ignores the massive progress quietly going on across most of the continent.
It's not their flag, its our flag.
As far as I recall there has been one parliamentary vote and two referenda that have supported joining/remaining part of the Union.
You might not agree with the decision but a majority of your compatriot voters do give their consent
If the LD’s pretendy commitment to federalism ever stops being pretendy, I’d advise not sticking union flags all over the campaign.
EU allows all members to have as many referendums on membership as they want = union of consent.
UK decides when its constituent members are ‘allowed’ a referendum on membership = not a union of consent.
Hth.
Spain doesn’t allow referenda at all.
Do you think it would be appropriate to have a vote once a week to check consent?
https://www.libdems.org.uk/brand
Political discourse is increasingly bellicose, callous and cruel, but that doesn't mean that other views are not widespread.
Hold on. Pete Murray was 38 when Top of the Pops started. Current Radio One breakfast host is Greg James (according to Wikipedia) who is 39.
The need to pay the bills has pushed the balance towards infotainment. Yes there are people who want more and better reporting, but not enough of them to justify the costs. Social media takes that to an even greater extreme, and trolls flat-out lie.
But even when the news tells the truth, it can't tell the whole truth, because that wouldn't fit into a single studio. Editors have to make editorial decisions, and we can't blame any politicians for the decisions that get made.
NEW THREAD
A childish tweet during President Trump’s state visit was just the latest unseemly insult by a British MP
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09/19/shouting-insults-politicians-like-children/ (£££)
The tweet in question included a photo from last week's state visit, and the text:-
Did Keir Starmer borrow that suit from someone a lot bigger?
Crumpled at the ankles, too long in the cuff, loose enough to get another bloke in there with him.
And someone please tell him about the buttons.
https://x.com/JamesCleverly/status/1968431569359581443
But you might also reflect on the reasons for your perceived change. Peoples lives are not improving, the young struggle to buy a house, getting the job you thought Uni was for is currently hard with graduate employment suffering, and populists are doing what they do - lying about the reasons for all this.
* Based on experience of what they are doing locally at great cost to the council. Over budget; have had 2 central government hand-outs, and still late.
It could be that they have enormous concern for poor Tarquin with his useless geography degree, but it seems unlikely.