I see some eulogising of what is frankly nonsense from Rupert Lowe.
Of course, we’d all like safety, security, prosperity and opportunity - everyone wants to live in a land of milk and honey where no one has the wobbles.
The trouble with milk, honey and a wobble free world is it costs. As with so much else in life, you can have as many or as few Police, jobs and GPs as you want or are willing to pay for. 500,000 extra Police, 10,000 extra GPs and you can have your utopia but who are these people and from where do they come?
I suppose we could recruit new Police from the young Eritrean, Afghani or Sudanese men turning up on our shores but that may not be universally popular.
1) I found an old email from 2008 with the government responding to a petition from back then against the previous ID cards proposition on an old gov.uk website (no longer active). Funny thinking I'm signing a petition almost 36 that I last signed aged 18.
2) The petition is now over 1.9 million and the third largest petition on the current website dating back to 2010. The two higher ranked ones were Brexit related and are a long way off.
3) We will reach over 2 million today with certainty. Most likely by around 9pm - give or take half an hour.
There's a bit of an odd thing with people that are against digital IDs going out of their way to register their digital ID opposition to digital IDs.
Not really, since our opposition isn't linked to a state issued ID, thank goodness!
Long may it stay that way.
Not sure I get your meaning. Could you elaborate?
(Wow a huge prize gong went off there. Apparently in 475* years of PB history I was the first to ever ask another poster to elaborate)
*475 is an estimate, very little is known about the early exchange of letters than preceded PB. However the Penny Black soon became the Tuppeny Blue after a very heavy loading on their outgoing services by some bloke in Camden.
LOL.
If your request for elaboration is serious, then if as many have suggested a state-issued digital ID were required for signing petitions then the state could get a register of people opposed to its policies, which would be a terrible thing for an authoritarian state to have in its power.
Currently signing this requires only an email address, thank goodness. An authoritarian state can't go round up anyone who signed this petition.
The request was entirely serious.
I'm not sure I see the peril ahead, at least beyond what we have already. My instincts are on your side, but in practice there seems little difference.
Whatever the sense or nonsense there simply isn't an authoritarian threat to the UK currently. Farage and his merry men are hopeless. We may have to put up with them in government. Corbyn's authoritarian threat has mostly gone away, although I sort of get the hint that Burnhams antics are not about him being the next Labour leader, but more about schmoozing Corbyn.
1) I found an old email from 2008 with the government responding to a petition from back then against the previous ID cards proposition on an old gov.uk website (no longer active). Funny thinking I'm signing a petition almost 36 that I last signed aged 18.
2) The petition is now over 1.9 million and the third largest petition on the current website dating back to 2010. The two higher ranked ones were Brexit related and are a long way off.
3) We will reach over 2 million today with certainty. Most likely by around 9pm - give or take half an hour.
The question is whether it runs out of steam after 2 million.
Perhaps not - I've got one friend working on some code that will fill it out using bogus details at a "inconspicuous rate", and another digging into whether that is a crime or not.
An interesting test would be to see how it increases by hour during the day/night; I would expect to see few signatories between (say) 23.00 and 06.00, and perhaps lots in the early evening. If the number of signatories continues to be high in the early hours, that would signal suspicious traffic patterns.
is it possible to get that data?
It was certainly at a lower rate, although still clocking up, early this mornign
This probably sums up how a lot of people opposed to ID cards feel.
"Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10 British people don’t ask for much, really. A chance to raise a family in a safe town, with a good job and an opportunity to build a bit of security for the future. A place for their children at a solid school, the odd GP appointment when they need one and a police force that will actually turn up if there is ever trouble.
In short - we just want to get on with our lives in peace, with as little interference from the state as possible.
That really isn’t too much to ask, is it?
Please just leave us alone. That’s the British way. I like it like that.
Instead, we are being dragged into a world where the Government wants to track, log, and verify every aspect of our existence. I don’t want that. The British people don’t want that. We certainly didn't vote for it.
Let’s be clear. This has got absolutely sod all to do with illegal immigration.
I’m not even going to discuss that.
It’s about control. That’s it. The slow creep of a surveillance state that says you cannot live, work, or travel without proving yourself to the system first.
It happened once, during COVID. It was a disaster, as many of us said at the time.
Putting aside the morality behind the scheme, the Government will NOT be able to do it. These people are incompetent, the state is incompetent, it is all incompetent.
Do you trust them to effectively run such a scheme? Without leaks, breaches and cyber attacks?
It will be an unrelenting shitshow - I promise you that.
And what? We don’t have anything else to be focusing on? The country is such a utopia that vast amounts of Government time, energy and resource will now be spent fighting to implement this scheme? Really?
When it is introduced, it will grow and grow. We will never get rid of it.
We must draw a line in the sand, now. Sign the petition, write to your MP, make your voice heard. It does matter.
As an MP, I will do everything in my power to fight this - in Parliament and through Restore Britain, where plans are already underway to expose and fight the plans."
What does Lowe think was the disaster during COVID-19?
The stay at home orders and then the COVID passport or whatever it was called, presumably.
The sight of people losing their jobs in care homes because they weren't vaccinated felt very un-British. (Not saying I had a better answer to the issue).
So, he was one of those people who just wanted to pretend that there wasn’t a problem? Stiff upper lip and let the bodies pile up?
It was possible to acknowledge there was a problem, without such a terrible infringement on our liberties. As Sweden did so much better than us.
Lots of countries managed COVID-19 better than us, lots managed worse than us. Did Lowe have any concrete suggestions for how to manage better? (I know your ideas. You were in the let the bodies pile up camp.)
Sweden fared badly compared to its neighbours and introduced more restrictions as time went on. If you want countries that did better, it’s weird to keep saying Sweden. Look to Japan or Taiwan. Japan had no national lockdown and much lower infection rates. Of course, they did have local lockdowns and restrictions on infected individuals, and a better funded public health system.
This probably sums up how a lot of people opposed to ID cards feel.
"Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10 British people don’t ask for much, really. A chance to raise a family in a safe town, with a good job and an opportunity to build a bit of security for the future. A place for their children at a solid school, the odd GP appointment when they need one and a police force that will actually turn up if there is ever trouble.
In short - we just want to get on with our lives in peace, with as little interference from the state as possible.
That really isn’t too much to ask, is it?
Please just leave us alone. That’s the British way. I like it like that.
Instead, we are being dragged into a world where the Government wants to track, log, and verify every aspect of our existence. I don’t want that. The British people don’t want that. We certainly didn't vote for it.
Let’s be clear. This has got absolutely sod all to do with illegal immigration.
I’m not even going to discuss that.
It’s about control. That’s it. The slow creep of a surveillance state that says you cannot live, work, or travel without proving yourself to the system first.
It happened once, during COVID. It was a disaster, as many of us said at the time.
Putting aside the morality behind the scheme, the Government will NOT be able to do it. These people are incompetent, the state is incompetent, it is all incompetent.
Do you trust them to effectively run such a scheme? Without leaks, breaches and cyber attacks?
It will be an unrelenting shitshow - I promise you that.
And what? We don’t have anything else to be focusing on? The country is such a utopia that vast amounts of Government time, energy and resource will now be spent fighting to implement this scheme? Really?
When it is introduced, it will grow and grow. We will never get rid of it.
We must draw a line in the sand, now. Sign the petition, write to your MP, make your voice heard. It does matter.
As an MP, I will do everything in my power to fight this - in Parliament and through Restore Britain, where plans are already underway to expose and fight the plans."
Interesting. In fact Lowe is simply embracing McSweeneyism: give us a go because we're nicer and more competent than the previous bunch of rotters. That's a shift because hitherto Reform claimed to have all the magic (albeit unsayable answers): all our problems are due to hoards of immigrants and PC government waste. Why the shift? Expectation management?
Lowe isn't even in Reform you loon.
Comma missing?
Sorry.
Lowe isn't even, in Reform you loon.
Off to the sidings for our most famous PB locomotive!?
Are you suggesting he has a reputation for Deltic utterance?
Do you think the US Ryder cup people are thinking that maybe the whole over the top nonsense is biting them on their adequate backsides this year? Trump will be going mental if they get a thrashing.
I observed GHF’s relief operations firsthand. What I saw was not a textbook distribution — because no textbook exists for a war zone such as Gaza, where terrorist combatants hide among civilians. Instead, I saw GHF using unconventional means to successfully deliver food to civilians on a staggering scale under nearly impossible circumstances. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good.
Gary Geipel concluded that the UN has made precise claims -- for which it has no evidence:
The exquisite precision of “1,373” and “2,146” notwithstanding, the OHCHR has dispensed entirely with evidence and sources for its Gaza claims. Instead, it hung its entire late-July press release on the word “reportedly,” and offered no external attribution whatsoever in its subsequent updates. That was deemed sufficient by far too many people in today’s information environment, especially after the claims are laundered through credulous “news media.”
(For the record: I am "pro-Gazans", just as I would have been "pro-Germans" in the final battles in 1945. I think the people of Gaza should be freed from the Islamo-Nazis who rule them, just as Chancellor Merz thinks the Germans were freed from the Nazis. In 1945, the suffering was ended by the unconditional surrender of the Nazi regime; those who want to end the suffering in Gaza will urge Hamas to give up the hostages, and surrender, unconditionally.)
I observed GHF’s relief operations firsthand. What I saw was not a textbook distribution — because no textbook exists for a war zone such as Gaza, where terrorist combatants hide among civilians. Instead, I saw GHF using unconventional means to successfully deliver food to civilians on a staggering scale under nearly impossible circumstances. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good.
Gary Geipel concluded that the UN has made precise claims -- for which it has no evidence:
The exquisite precision of “1,373” and “2,146” notwithstanding, the OHCHR has dispensed entirely with evidence and sources for its Gaza claims. Instead, it hung its entire late-July press release on the word “reportedly,” and offered no external attribution whatsoever in its subsequent updates. That was deemed sufficient by far too many people in today’s information environment, especially after the claims are laundered through credulous “news media.”
(For the record: I am "pro-Gazans", just as I would have been "pro-Germans" in the final battles in 1945. I think the people of Gaza should be freed from the Islamo-Nazis who rule them, just as Chancellor Merz thinks the Germans were freed from the Nazis. In 1945, the suffering was ended by the unconditional surrender of the Nazi regime; those who want to end the suffering in Gaza will urge Hamas to give up the hostages, and surrender, unconditionally.)
This probably sums up how a lot of people opposed to ID cards feel.
"Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10 British people don’t ask for much, really. A chance to raise a family in a safe town, with a good job and an opportunity to build a bit of security for the future. A place for their children at a solid school, the odd GP appointment when they need one and a police force that will actually turn up if there is ever trouble.
In short - we just want to get on with our lives in peace, with as little interference from the state as possible.
That really isn’t too much to ask, is it?
Please just leave us alone. That’s the British way. I like it like that.
Instead, we are being dragged into a world where the Government wants to track, log, and verify every aspect of our existence. I don’t want that. The British people don’t want that. We certainly didn't vote for it.
Let’s be clear. This has got absolutely sod all to do with illegal immigration.
I’m not even going to discuss that.
It’s about control. That’s it. The slow creep of a surveillance state that says you cannot live, work, or travel without proving yourself to the system first.
It happened once, during COVID. It was a disaster, as many of us said at the time.
Putting aside the morality behind the scheme, the Government will NOT be able to do it. These people are incompetent, the state is incompetent, it is all incompetent.
Do you trust them to effectively run such a scheme? Without leaks, breaches and cyber attacks?
It will be an unrelenting shitshow - I promise you that.
And what? We don’t have anything else to be focusing on? The country is such a utopia that vast amounts of Government time, energy and resource will now be spent fighting to implement this scheme? Really?
When it is introduced, it will grow and grow. We will never get rid of it.
We must draw a line in the sand, now. Sign the petition, write to your MP, make your voice heard. It does matter.
As an MP, I will do everything in my power to fight this - in Parliament and through Restore Britain, where plans are already underway to expose and fight the plans."
What does Lowe think was the disaster during COVID-19?
The stay at home orders and then the COVID passport or whatever it was called, presumably.
The sight of people losing their jobs in care homes because they weren't vaccinated felt very un-British. (Not saying I had a better answer to the issue).
So, he was one of those people who just wanted to pretend that there wasn’t a problem? Stiff upper lip and let the bodies pile up?
It was possible to acknowledge there was a problem, without such a terrible infringement on our liberties. As Sweden did so much better than us.
Lots of countries managed COVID-19 better than us, lots managed worse than us. Did Lowe have any concrete suggestions for how to manage better? (I know your ideas. You were in the let the bodies pile up camp.)
Sweden fared badly compared to its neighbours and introduced more restrictions as time went on. If you want countries that did better, it’s weird to keep saying Sweden. Look to Japan or Taiwan. Japan had no national lockdown and much lower infection rates. Of course, they did have local lockdowns and restrictions on infected individuals, and a better funded public health system.
Part of Japans success is the strong sense of social obligation, so people voluntarily complied in order to protect each other. Theirs isnt a toxic libertarianism.
Do you think the US Ryder cup people are thinking that maybe the whole over the top nonsense is biting them on their adequate backsides this year? Trump will be going mental if they get a thrashing.
Is that the icing on the cake, or the cake itself?
Do you think the US Ryder cup people are thinking that maybe the whole over the top nonsense is biting them on their adequate backsides this year? Trump will be going mental if they get a thrashing.
As someone who strongly believes in staying in humble until you've won, there's nothing worse than winding up your opponents and making them play better.
These Yanks are more annoying than Arsenal fans, who act like Real Madrid but are more like Blackburn.
Fun fact of the day, Tottenham Hotspur have won more European trophies than Arsenal.
1) I found an old email from 2008 with the government responding to a petition from back then against the previous ID cards proposition on an old gov.uk website (no longer active). Funny thinking I'm signing a petition almost 36 that I last signed aged 18.
2) The petition is now over 1.9 million and the third largest petition on the current website dating back to 2010. The two higher ranked ones were Brexit related and are a long way off.
3) We will reach over 2 million today with certainty. Most likely by around 9pm - give or take half an hour.
There's a bit of an odd thing with people that are against digital IDs going out of their way to register their digital ID opposition to digital IDs.
Not really, since our opposition isn't linked to a state issued ID, thank goodness!
Long may it stay that way.
Not sure I get your meaning. Could you elaborate?
(Wow a huge prize gong went off there. Apparently in 475* years of PB history I was the first to ever ask another poster to elaborate)
*475 is an estimate, very little is known about the early exchange of letters than preceded PB. However the Penny Black soon became the Tuppeny Blue after a very heavy loading on their outgoing services by some bloke in Camden.
LOL.
If your request for elaboration is serious, then if as many have suggested a state-issued digital ID were required for signing petitions then the state could get a register of people opposed to its policies, which would be a terrible thing for an authoritarian state to have in its power.
Currently signing this requires only an email address, thank goodness. An authoritarian state can't go round up anyone who signed this petition.
The request was entirely serious.
I'm not sure I see the peril ahead, at least beyond what we have already. My instincts are on your side, but in practice there seems little difference.
Whatever the sense or nonsense there simply isn't an authoritarian threat to the UK currently. Farage and his merry men are hopeless. We may have to put up with them in government. Corbyn's authoritarian threat has mostly gone away, although I sort of get the hint that Burnhams antics are not about him being the next Labour leader, but more about schmoozing Corbyn.
'preparing' carries some weight there. I expect Putin has had his generals "preparing" to sweep through Poland and Germany to Paris but that doesn't mean it will happen IRL.
The report, written by JP Spencer, Labour Together’s director of devolution policy, calls for mayors to be able to appoint commissioners to oversee a wide range of public services, from health to criminal justice. These commissioners would mirror the work being done by police and crime commissioners, a role introduced by the coalition government to oversee local policing.
The report argues: “This will allow places to deliver public services in a different way, more accountable to their users via their democratic representatives.”
At its most radical, this vision could even mean the abolition of large numbers of government departments. Before he left government, the former prime minister Gordon Brown launched an initiative he called “total place” to refocus government’s resources away from traditional departments and towards local authorities.
Labour Together’s report also calls for big changes to the way mayors’ budgets are set, calling for a version of the Barnett formula that already sets funding for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland based on the UK government’s spending plans.
The government is not going to back those funding proposals, some of which have already been rejected by Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
But Steve Reed, the newly appointed local government secretary and a close ally of the prime minister, is one of many at the top of government who believe they should go further than the changes included in the devolution bill, which is going through parliament.
Reed has not been in position long, but is understood to be open to the idea of handing over much more power to mayors, whether in health, education or criminal justice. He believes that doing so will allow locally elected politicians to emulate the “co-operative council” reforms he launched as leader of Lambeth council, which gave local people the power to design the services they needed...
All excellent except for one thing. There should alwas be the closest possible link between the power to spend the money and the responsibility to raise the money by taxation and to decide how much it shall be.
Everything (there are no exceptions which come to mind) which does not observe this rule becomes a tedious exercise in blame transference, and keeps Radio 4 'Today' in business with money spenders turning up to ask for more from the money raisers.
Congrats to the English ladies Rugby. I’m thinking it must be a “me” problem but I have more enjoyment for this than the Lionesses efforts and I think it’s down to the lack of hype about them. I do look forward to hearing which tube line Khan is naming after them having won the World Cup three times. Only fair and all that.
Agree about all that. It may just be that rugby is an inherently better sport. Even women's football isn't totally immune to the inherent shitness that infects football.
Ellie Kildunne has actually drifted in the SPotY betting since the final whistle. I guess there must be doubts as to whether she or a teammate will be nominated.
'preparing' carries some weight there. I expect Putin has had his generals "preparing" to sweep through Poland and Germany to Paris but that doesn't mean it will happen IRL.
Agreed, I’m preparing to spend next weekend with Salma Hayek, I’m told by people who suck up to me it’s possible.
'preparing' carries some weight there. I expect Putin has had his generals "preparing" to sweep through Poland and Germany to Paris but that doesn't mean it will happen IRL.
Agreed, I’m preparing to spend next weekend with Salma Hayek, I’m told by people who suck up to me it’s possible.
Do you think the US Ryder cup people are thinking that maybe the whole over the top nonsense is biting them on their adequate backsides this year? Trump will be going mental if they get a thrashing.
As someone who strongly believes in staying in humble until you've won, there's nothing worse than winding up your opponents and making them play better.
These Yanks are more annoying than Arsenal fans, who act like Real Madrid but are more like Blackburn.
Fun fact of the day, Tottenham Hotspur have won more European trophies than Arsenal.
I think Arsenal will cope with the ups and downs of football, as they continue in their 106th consecutive season in the top division.
'preparing' carries some weight there. I expect Putin has had his generals "preparing" to sweep through Poland and Germany to Paris but that doesn't mean it will happen IRL.
Agreed, I’m preparing to spend next weekend with Salma Hayek, I’m told by people who suck up to me it’s possible.
Alice Roberts.
I do hope it's a physical rather than a political attraction, Sunil.
Do you think the US Ryder cup people are thinking that maybe the whole over the top nonsense is biting them on their adequate backsides this year? Trump will be going mental if they get a thrashing.
As someone who strongly believes in staying in humble until you've won, there's nothing worse than winding up your opponents and making them play better.
These Yanks are more annoying than Arsenal fans, who act like Real Madrid but are more like Blackburn.
Fun fact of the day, Tottenham Hotspur have won more European trophies than Arsenal.
I think Arsenal will cope with the ups and downs of football, as they continue in their 106th consecutive season in the top division.
Top domestic division, they weren't in the Champions League which is effectively the top division nowadays in 2018.
Do you think the US Ryder cup people are thinking that maybe the whole over the top nonsense is biting them on their adequate backsides this year? Trump will be going mental if they get a thrashing.
As someone who strongly believes in staying in humble until you've won, there's nothing worse than winding up your opponents and making them play better.
These Yanks are more annoying than Arsenal fans, who act like Real Madrid but are more like Blackburn.
Fun fact of the day, Tottenham Hotspur have won more European trophies than Arsenal.
I think Arsenal will cope with the ups and downs of football, as they continue in their 106th consecutive season in the top division.
The Woolwich only got into the top division due to bribery/corruption.
The report, written by JP Spencer, Labour Together’s director of devolution policy, calls for mayors to be able to appoint commissioners to oversee a wide range of public services, from health to criminal justice. These commissioners would mirror the work being done by police and crime commissioners, a role introduced by the coalition government to oversee local policing.
The report argues: “This will allow places to deliver public services in a different way, more accountable to their users via their democratic representatives.”
At its most radical, this vision could even mean the abolition of large numbers of government departments. Before he left government, the former prime minister Gordon Brown launched an initiative he called “total place” to refocus government’s resources away from traditional departments and towards local authorities.
Labour Together’s report also calls for big changes to the way mayors’ budgets are set, calling for a version of the Barnett formula that already sets funding for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland based on the UK government’s spending plans.
The government is not going to back those funding proposals, some of which have already been rejected by Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
But Steve Reed, the newly appointed local government secretary and a close ally of the prime minister, is one of many at the top of government who believe they should go further than the changes included in the devolution bill, which is going through parliament.
Reed has not been in position long, but is understood to be open to the idea of handing over much more power to mayors, whether in health, education or criminal justice. He believes that doing so will allow locally elected politicians to emulate the “co-operative council” reforms he launched as leader of Lambeth council, which gave local people the power to design the services they needed...
All excellent except for one thing. There should alwas be the closest possible link between the power to spend the money and the responsibility to raise the money by taxation and to decide how much it shall be.
Everything (there are no exceptions which come to mind) which does not observe this rule becomes a tedious exercise in blame transference, and keeps Radio 4 'Today' in business with money spenders turning up to ask for more from the money raisers.
There is an answer there, but I'm pretty sure it is one that the Treasury, Thatcherites and the right in general won't like.
'preparing' carries some weight there. I expect Putin has had his generals "preparing" to sweep through Poland and Germany to Paris but that doesn't mean it will happen IRL.
Agreed, I’m preparing to spend next weekend with Salma Hayek, I’m told by people who suck up to me it’s possible.
On this site I imagine many here have more in common with Martin Short and Steve Martin than Selena Gomez.
He failed to take Ukraine despite the outrageous help from Belarus.
The problem is that his obvious weakness combined with his aggression suggests only that he wants to get onto his strong ground. And that is he has a lot of nuclear weapons, most of which are in poor shape and he doesn't want to keep around. Decommissioning them will bankrupt the state.
We had tinfoil hats earlier, but I think lead underpants may need to be discussed in the future on pb.
'preparing' carries some weight there. I expect Putin has had his generals "preparing" to sweep through Poland and Germany to Paris but that doesn't mean it will happen IRL.
Agreed, I’m preparing to spend next weekend with Salma Hayek, I’m told by people who suck up to me it’s possible.
On this site I imagine many here have more in common with Martin Short and Steve Martin than Selena Gomez.
I feel closest to Jiminy Glick. Or maybe Clifford.
'preparing' carries some weight there. I expect Putin has had his generals "preparing" to sweep through Poland and Germany to Paris but that doesn't mean it will happen IRL.
Agreed, I’m preparing to spend next weekend with Salma Hayek, I’m told by people who suck up to me it’s possible.
Alice Roberts.
I do hope it's a physical rather than a political attraction, Sunil.
1) I found an old email from 2008 with the government responding to a petition from back then against the previous ID cards proposition on an old gov.uk website (no longer active). Funny thinking I'm signing a petition almost 36 that I last signed aged 18.
2) The petition is now over 1.9 million and the third largest petition on the current website dating back to 2010. The two higher ranked ones were Brexit related and are a long way off.
3) We will reach over 2 million today with certainty. Most likely by around 9pm - give or take half an hour.
The question is whether it runs out of steam after 2 million.
It's already ~halved in pace from yesterday. My assumption is that continues.
I guess it peaks at 3 million or so. But will take significantly longer to get there.
It makes literally no difference. After it passes 100k it is automatically eligible for a debate and the Committee very rarely says no. Any signatures above that is just window dressing.
1) I found an old email from 2008 with the government responding to a petition from back then against the previous ID cards proposition on an old gov.uk website (no longer active). Funny thinking I'm signing a petition almost 36 that I last signed aged 18.
2) The petition is now over 1.9 million and the third largest petition on the current website dating back to 2010. The two higher ranked ones were Brexit related and are a long way off.
3) We will reach over 2 million today with certainty. Most likely by around 9pm - give or take half an hour.
There's a bit of an odd thing with people that are against digital IDs going out of their way to register their digital ID opposition to digital IDs.
Not really, since our opposition isn't linked to a state issued ID, thank goodness!
Long may it stay that way.
Not sure I get your meaning. Could you elaborate?
(Wow a huge prize gong went off there. Apparently in 475* years of PB history I was the first to ever ask another poster to elaborate)
*475 is an estimate, very little is known about the early exchange of letters than preceded PB. However the Penny Black soon became the Tuppeny Blue after a very heavy loading on their outgoing services by some bloke in Camden.
LOL.
If your request for elaboration is serious, then if as many have suggested a state-issued digital ID were required for signing petitions then the state could get a register of people opposed to its policies, which would be a terrible thing for an authoritarian state to have in its power.
Currently signing this requires only an email address, thank goodness. An authoritarian state can't go round up anyone who signed this petition.
The request was entirely serious.
I'm not sure I see the peril ahead, at least beyond what we have already. My instincts are on your side, but in practice there seems little difference.
Whatever the sense or nonsense there simply isn't an authoritarian threat to the UK currently. Farage and his merry men are hopeless. We may have to put up with them in government. Corbyn's authoritarian threat has mostly gone away, although I sort of get the hint that Burnhams antics are not about him being the next Labour leader, but more about schmoozing Corbyn.
There is always an authoritarian threat.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Authoritarian threat - I'm not sure there is. Ask yourself whether you'd want to dictate the lives of others. I imagine the answer is no.
I don't want to negotiate liberty, I don't want to negotiate freedom. I also don't think these things are rights.
We have no rights in my view. We embrace freedom and liberty.
This probably sums up how a lot of people opposed to ID cards feel.
"Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10 British people don’t ask for much, really. A chance to raise a family in a safe town, with a good job and an opportunity to build a bit of security for the future. A place for their children at a solid school, the odd GP appointment when they need one and a police force that will actually turn up if there is ever trouble.
In short - we just want to get on with our lives in peace, with as little interference from the state as possible.
That really isn’t too much to ask, is it?
Please just leave us alone. That’s the British way. I like it like that.
Instead, we are being dragged into a world where the Government wants to track, log, and verify every aspect of our existence. I don’t want that. The British people don’t want that. We certainly didn't vote for it.
Let’s be clear. This has got absolutely sod all to do with illegal immigration.
I’m not even going to discuss that.
It’s about control. That’s it. The slow creep of a surveillance state that says you cannot live, work, or travel without proving yourself to the system first.
It happened once, during COVID. It was a disaster, as many of us said at the time.
Putting aside the morality behind the scheme, the Government will NOT be able to do it. These people are incompetent, the state is incompetent, it is all incompetent.
Do you trust them to effectively run such a scheme? Without leaks, breaches and cyber attacks?
It will be an unrelenting shitshow - I promise you that.
And what? We don’t have anything else to be focusing on? The country is such a utopia that vast amounts of Government time, energy and resource will now be spent fighting to implement this scheme? Really?
When it is introduced, it will grow and grow. We will never get rid of it.
We must draw a line in the sand, now. Sign the petition, write to your MP, make your voice heard. It does matter.
As an MP, I will do everything in my power to fight this - in Parliament and through Restore Britain, where plans are already underway to expose and fight the plans."
What does Lowe think was the disaster during COVID-19?
The stay at home orders and then the COVID passport or whatever it was called, presumably.
The sight of people losing their jobs in care homes because they weren't vaccinated felt very un-British. (Not saying I had a better answer to the issue).
So, he was one of those people who just wanted to pretend that there wasn’t a problem? Stiff upper lip and let the bodies pile up?
It was possible to acknowledge there was a problem, without such a terrible infringement on our liberties. As Sweden did so much better than us.
Lots of countries managed COVID-19 better than us, lots managed worse than us. Did Lowe have any concrete suggestions for how to manage better? (I know your ideas. You were in the let the bodies pile up camp.)
Sweden fared badly compared to its neighbours and introduced more restrictions as time went on. If you want countries that did better, it’s weird to keep saying Sweden. Look to Japan or Taiwan. Japan had no national lockdown and much lower infection rates. Of course, they did have local lockdowns and restrictions on infected individuals, and a better funded public health system.
Part of Japans success is the strong sense of social obligation, so people voluntarily complied in order to protect each other. Theirs isnt a toxic libertarianism.
in truth, a lot of Covid deaths came down to "how fat you are as a nation"
Britain is a tubby place, so we did quite badly, American is even fatter, they did worse, Peru is a nation of waddlers, etc
Whereas the Japanese have some of the lowest obesity rates on the planet
1) I found an old email from 2008 with the government responding to a petition from back then against the previous ID cards proposition on an old gov.uk website (no longer active). Funny thinking I'm signing a petition almost 36 that I last signed aged 18.
2) The petition is now over 1.9 million and the third largest petition on the current website dating back to 2010. The two higher ranked ones were Brexit related and are a long way off.
3) We will reach over 2 million today with certainty. Most likely by around 9pm - give or take half an hour.
There's a bit of an odd thing with people that are against digital IDs going out of their way to register their digital ID opposition to digital IDs.
Not really, since our opposition isn't linked to a state issued ID, thank goodness!
Long may it stay that way.
Not sure I get your meaning. Could you elaborate?
(Wow a huge prize gong went off there. Apparently in 475* years of PB history I was the first to ever ask another poster to elaborate)
*475 is an estimate, very little is known about the early exchange of letters than preceded PB. However the Penny Black soon became the Tuppeny Blue after a very heavy loading on their outgoing services by some bloke in Camden.
LOL.
If your request for elaboration is serious, then if as many have suggested a state-issued digital ID were required for signing petitions then the state could get a register of people opposed to its policies, which would be a terrible thing for an authoritarian state to have in its power.
Currently signing this requires only an email address, thank goodness. An authoritarian state can't go round up anyone who signed this petition.
The request was entirely serious.
I'm not sure I see the peril ahead, at least beyond what we have already. My instincts are on your side, but in practice there seems little difference.
Whatever the sense or nonsense there simply isn't an authoritarian threat to the UK currently. Farage and his merry men are hopeless. We may have to put up with them in government. Corbyn's authoritarian threat has mostly gone away, although I sort of get the hint that Burnhams antics are not about him being the next Labour leader, but more about schmoozing Corbyn.
There is always an authoritarian threat.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Authoritarian threat - I'm not sure there is. Ask yourself whether you'd want to dictate the lives of others. I imagine the answer is no.
I don't want to negotiate liberty, I don't want to negotiate freedom. I also don't think these things are rights.
We have no rights in my view. We embrace freedom and liberty.
Do I want to dictate the lives of others? No.
Do too many others want to dictate the lives of others? Yes, absolutely.
We saw that during Covid, and too many other times too.
'preparing' carries some weight there. I expect Putin has had his generals "preparing" to sweep through Poland and Germany to Paris but that doesn't mean it will happen IRL.
Agreed, I’m preparing to spend next weekend with Salma Hayek, I’m told by people who suck up to me it’s possible.
Alice Roberts.
No, she never seems to change her clothes, seen her on tv spend weeks in Orkney wearing the same gym paints, t-shirt and leather jacket. Possibly a bit pungent.
Yes I know they prob have loads of the same outfit for continuity but would never feel sure.
Reform UK is on course to win a majority at the next general election, according to a poll that predicts Labour is heading for its worst electoral defeat since 1931 and will win fewer than 100 seats.
A survey of almost 20,000 people, the biggest seat-by-seat poll carried out in this parliament, says Nigel Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. This would hand Reform a majority of 96, slightly larger than the Conservatives’ 2019 majority of 80 under Boris Johnson.
Conducted by the think tank More in Common between August 8 and September 15, the poll of 19,520 voters is believed to be the first to predict an outright majority for Reform, which at present has only five MPs.
I am getting tickets for Adare Manor in 2027 and I'll spend the entire weekend chanting to the Yanks 'Your President is a paedo'.
For all the bad things he’s done, I can’t recall anyone ever presenting any evidence he was shagging under aged girls. Probably best to just stick with “your president is Trump” equally hurtful but factually proven.
1) I found an old email from 2008 with the government responding to a petition from back then against the previous ID cards proposition on an old gov.uk website (no longer active). Funny thinking I'm signing a petition almost 36 that I last signed aged 18.
2) The petition is now over 1.9 million and the third largest petition on the current website dating back to 2010. The two higher ranked ones were Brexit related and are a long way off.
3) We will reach over 2 million today with certainty. Most likely by around 9pm - give or take half an hour.
The question is whether it runs out of steam after 2 million.
It's already ~halved in pace from yesterday. My assumption is that continues.
I guess it peaks at 3 million or so. But will take significantly longer to get there.
It makes literally no difference. After it passes 100k it is automatically eligible for a debate and the Committee very rarely says no. Any signatures above that is just window dressing.
Yes, but surely it is going to have several parliamentary debates already, so what's the point?
1) I found an old email from 2008 with the government responding to a petition from back then against the previous ID cards proposition on an old gov.uk website (no longer active). Funny thinking I'm signing a petition almost 36 that I last signed aged 18.
2) The petition is now over 1.9 million and the third largest petition on the current website dating back to 2010. The two higher ranked ones were Brexit related and are a long way off.
3) We will reach over 2 million today with certainty. Most likely by around 9pm - give or take half an hour.
The question is whether it runs out of steam after 2 million.
It's already ~halved in pace from yesterday. My assumption is that continues.
I guess it peaks at 3 million or so. But will take significantly longer to get there.
It makes literally no difference. After it passes 100k it is automatically eligible for a debate and the Committee very rarely says no. Any signatures above that is just window dressing.
Yes, but surely it is going to have several parliamentary debates already, so what's the point?
Reform UK is on course to win a majority at the next general election, according to a poll that predicts Labour is heading for its worst electoral defeat since 1931 and will win fewer than 100 seats.
A survey of almost 20,000 people, the biggest seat-by-seat poll carried out in this parliament, says Nigel Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. This would hand Reform a majority of 96, slightly larger than the Conservatives’ 2019 majority of 80 under Boris Johnson.
Conducted by the think tank More in Common between August 8 and September 15, the poll of 19,520 voters is believed to be the first to predict an outright majority for Reform, which at present has only five MPs.
Did Keir Starmer give land to his parents via a trust, guaranteeing their estate, of which he was beneficiary, would never pay inheritance tax on its eventual value?
Legal experts say yes.
Curiously No10 will not answer - despite having a list of straightforward questions for weeks and Starmer retaining a leading tax KC following our original approach. @DanNeidle, @manumidolo, @venetiamenzies and I have done our detective work regardless. Read the Sunday Times and Tax Policy Associates tomorrow to find out more!
The report, written by JP Spencer, Labour Together’s director of devolution policy, calls for mayors to be able to appoint commissioners to oversee a wide range of public services, from health to criminal justice. These commissioners would mirror the work being done by police and crime commissioners, a role introduced by the coalition government to oversee local policing.
The report argues: “This will allow places to deliver public services in a different way, more accountable to their users via their democratic representatives.”
At its most radical, this vision could even mean the abolition of large numbers of government departments. Before he left government, the former prime minister Gordon Brown launched an initiative he called “total place” to refocus government’s resources away from traditional departments and towards local authorities.
Labour Together’s report also calls for big changes to the way mayors’ budgets are set, calling for a version of the Barnett formula that already sets funding for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland based on the UK government’s spending plans.
The government is not going to back those funding proposals, some of which have already been rejected by Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
But Steve Reed, the newly appointed local government secretary and a close ally of the prime minister, is one of many at the top of government who believe they should go further than the changes included in the devolution bill, which is going through parliament.
Reed has not been in position long, but is understood to be open to the idea of handing over much more power to mayors, whether in health, education or criminal justice. He believes that doing so will allow locally elected politicians to emulate the “co-operative council” reforms he launched as leader of Lambeth council, which gave local people the power to design the services they needed...
All excellent except for one thing. There should alwas be the closest possible link between the power to spend the money and the responsibility to raise the money by taxation and to decide how much it shall be.
Everything (there are no exceptions which come to mind) which does not observe this rule becomes a tedious exercise in blame transference, and keeps Radio 4 'Today' in business with money spenders turning up to ask for more from the money raisers.
There is an answer there, but I'm pretty sure it is one that the Treasury, Thatcherites and the right in general won't like.
Devolve the power and the responsibility.
True of course. Retaining this dissonance seems to suit far too many vested interests. Including that fatal combination of control freaks, spending enthusiasts and believers in low taxation.
Governor Tina Kotek @GovTinaKotek · 1h My office is reaching out to the White House and Homeland Security for more information. We have been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission. There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm.
Reform UK is on course to win a majority at the next general election, according to a poll that predicts Labour is heading for its worst electoral defeat since 1931 and will win fewer than 100 seats.
A survey of almost 20,000 people, the biggest seat-by-seat poll carried out in this parliament, says Nigel Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. This would hand Reform a majority of 96, slightly larger than the Conservatives’ 2019 majority of 80 under Boris Johnson.
Conducted by the think tank More in Common between August 8 and September 15, the poll of 19,520 voters is believed to be the first to predict an outright majority for Reform, which at present has only five MPs.
I suppose one question that jumps out, other than who the hell 360-odd of those Reform MPs would actually be, is how many MPs an opposition need to be an *effective* opposition.
This probably sums up how a lot of people opposed to ID cards feel.
"Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10 British people don’t ask for much, really. A chance to raise a family in a safe town, with a good job and an opportunity to build a bit of security for the future. A place for their children at a solid school, the odd GP appointment when they need one and a police force that will actually turn up if there is ever trouble.
In short - we just want to get on with our lives in peace, with as little interference from the state as possible.
That really isn’t too much to ask, is it?
Please just leave us alone. That’s the British way. I like it like that.
Instead, we are being dragged into a world where the Government wants to track, log, and verify every aspect of our existence. I don’t want that. The British people don’t want that. We certainly didn't vote for it.
Let’s be clear. This has got absolutely sod all to do with illegal immigration.
I’m not even going to discuss that.
It’s about control. That’s it. The slow creep of a surveillance state that says you cannot live, work, or travel without proving yourself to the system first.
It happened once, during COVID. It was a disaster, as many of us said at the time.
Putting aside the morality behind the scheme, the Government will NOT be able to do it. These people are incompetent, the state is incompetent, it is all incompetent.
Do you trust them to effectively run such a scheme? Without leaks, breaches and cyber attacks?
It will be an unrelenting shitshow - I promise you that.
And what? We don’t have anything else to be focusing on? The country is such a utopia that vast amounts of Government time, energy and resource will now be spent fighting to implement this scheme? Really?
When it is introduced, it will grow and grow. We will never get rid of it.
We must draw a line in the sand, now. Sign the petition, write to your MP, make your voice heard. It does matter.
As an MP, I will do everything in my power to fight this - in Parliament and through Restore Britain, where plans are already underway to expose and fight the plans."
What does Lowe think was the disaster during COVID-19?
The stay at home orders and then the COVID passport or whatever it was called, presumably.
The sight of people losing their jobs in care homes because they weren't vaccinated felt very un-British. (Not saying I had a better answer to the issue).
So, he was one of those people who just wanted to pretend that there wasn’t a problem? Stiff upper lip and let the bodies pile up?
It was possible to acknowledge there was a problem, without such a terrible infringement on our liberties. As Sweden did so much better than us.
Lots of countries managed COVID-19 better than us, lots managed worse than us. Did Lowe have any concrete suggestions for how to manage better? (I know your ideas. You were in the let the bodies pile up camp.)
Sweden fared badly compared to its neighbours and introduced more restrictions as time went on. If you want countries that did better, it’s weird to keep saying Sweden. Look to Japan or Taiwan. Japan had no national lockdown and much lower infection rates. Of course, they did have local lockdowns and restrictions on infected individuals, and a better funded public health system.
Part of Japans success is the strong sense of social obligation, so people voluntarily complied in order to protect each other. Theirs isnt a toxic libertarianism.
in truth, a lot of Covid deaths came down to "how fat you are as a nation"
Britain is a tubby place, so we did quite badly, American is even fatter, they did worse, Peru is a nation of waddlers, etc
Whereas the Japanese have some of the lowest obesity rates on the planet
On the other hand, they're old, lots of people smoke (or smoked), and Tokyo is one of the most crowded places on earth.
On the other other hand, they were keen on masking even before Covid.
Reform UK is on course to win a majority at the next general election, according to a poll that predicts Labour is heading for its worst electoral defeat since 1931 and will win fewer than 100 seats.
A survey of almost 20,000 people, the biggest seat-by-seat poll carried out in this parliament, says Nigel Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. This would hand Reform a majority of 96, slightly larger than the Conservatives’ 2019 majority of 80 under Boris Johnson.
Conducted by the think tank More in Common between August 8 and September 15, the poll of 19,520 voters is believed to be the first to predict an outright majority for Reform, which at present has only five MPs.
Did Keir Starmer give land to his parents via a trust, guaranteeing their estate, of which he was beneficiary, would never pay inheritance tax on its eventual value?
Legal experts say yes.
Curiously No10 will not answer - despite having a list of straightforward questions for weeks and Starmer retaining a leading tax KC following our original approach. @DanNeidle, @manumidolo, @venetiamenzies and I have done our detective work regardless. Read the Sunday Times and Tax Policy Associates tomorrow to find out more!
Reform UK is on course to win a majority at the next general election, according to a poll that predicts Labour is heading for its worst electoral defeat since 1931 and will win fewer than 100 seats.
A survey of almost 20,000 people, the biggest seat-by-seat poll carried out in this parliament, says Nigel Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. This would hand Reform a majority of 96, slightly larger than the Conservatives’ 2019 majority of 80 under Boris Johnson.
Conducted by the think tank More in Common between August 8 and September 15, the poll of 19,520 voters is believed to be the first to predict an outright majority for Reform, which at present has only five MPs.
Reform UK is on course to win a majority at the next general election, according to a poll that predicts Labour is heading for its worst electoral defeat since 1931 and will win fewer than 100 seats.
A survey of almost 20,000 people, the biggest seat-by-seat poll carried out in this parliament, says Nigel Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. This would hand Reform a majority of 96, slightly larger than the Conservatives’ 2019 majority of 80 under Boris Johnson.
Conducted by the think tank More in Common between August 8 and September 15, the poll of 19,520 voters is believed to be the first to predict an outright majority for Reform, which at present has only five MPs.
I suppose one question that jumps out, other than who the hell 360-odd of those Reform MPs would actually be, is how many MPs an opposition need to be an *effective* opposition.
Given current attrition rates I reckon with 12 months of the next general election the official opposition might be MPs who have left Reform.
Narrator: 40% of Reform MPs who were elected at the 2024 GE are now sitting as independents.
While the PB Centrist Dorks were moaning about Starmer being unfairly maligned on here, and not that bad, and the PB rightwing is unfairly mean, and "most people think he's OK", I notice this polling has gone unmentioned
"Starmer is least popular PM on record, poll finds
"Only 13 per cent of voters are satisfied with Prime Minister, the fewest of any leader since 1970s"
Did Keir Starmer give land to his parents via a trust, guaranteeing their estate, of which he was beneficiary, would never pay inheritance tax on its eventual value?
Legal experts say yes.
Curiously No10 will not answer - despite having a list of straightforward questions for weeks and Starmer retaining a leading tax KC following our original approach. @DanNeidle, @manumidolo, @venetiamenzies and I have done our detective work regardless. Read the Sunday Times and Tax Policy Associates tomorrow to find out more!
Governor Tina Kotek @GovTinaKotek · 1h My office is reaching out to the White House and Homeland Security for more information. We have been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission. There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm.
Did Keir Starmer give land to his parents via a trust, guaranteeing their estate, of which he was beneficiary, would never pay inheritance tax on its eventual value?
Legal experts say yes.
Curiously No10 will not answer - despite having a list of straightforward questions for weeks and Starmer retaining a leading tax KC following our original approach. @DanNeidle, @manumidolo, @venetiamenzies and I have done our detective work regardless. Read the Sunday Times and Tax Policy Associates tomorrow to find out more!
Have we have reached the point where the word 'trust' simply implies 'dodgy' and where transactions within families are automatically suspect?
The perfectly normal joint ownership of a house creates a trust. Most people are probably entirely unaware of their trustee status in this regard. Family transactions aimed at planning for the future including IHT minimisation are completely routine. A couple with children and assets deciding to own a house worth £350,000 are making a substantial tax avoiding decision.
Non charitable trusts have their own tax regime. They are not some miraculous immunity.
It’s an odd dislocation. In my experience and listening to them being interviewed, Yanks can be some of the politest people out there, all ‘sirs’, ma’ams’ and ‘great to be here’, yet when the USA chants start…
I see some eulogising of what is frankly nonsense from Rupert Lowe.
Of course, we’d all like safety, security, prosperity and opportunity - everyone wants to live in a land of milk and honey where no one has the wobbles.
The trouble with milk, honey and a wobble free world is it costs. As with so much else in life, you can have as many or as few Police, jobs and GPs as you want or are willing to pay for. 500,000 extra Police, 10,000 extra GPs and you can have your utopia but who are these people and from where do they come?
I suppose we could recruit new Police from the young Eritrean, Afghani or Sudanese men turning up on our shores but that may not be universally popular.
There has never been the slightest difficulty in recruiting police officers. The pay vs required qualifications has always been good. If fact, until the recent increases, all forces were 100% for Specials - unpaid volunteer police officers. This is because people waiting for a training slot were advised to do that while waiting.
We currently have the comedy of trained GPs who can’t get a job plus a shortage of GPs.
The number of medical staff trained in this country is controlled by a cap on university places. There is a further, deliberate limit on the number of training hospital places. Both are vastly lower than demand. Medical courses are generally full.
Did Keir Starmer give land to his parents via a trust, guaranteeing their estate, of which he was beneficiary, would never pay inheritance tax on its eventual value?
Legal experts say yes.
Curiously No10 will not answer - despite having a list of straightforward questions for weeks and Starmer retaining a leading tax KC following our original approach. @DanNeidle, @manumidolo, @venetiamenzies and I have done our detective work regardless. Read the Sunday Times and Tax Policy Associates tomorrow to find out more!
Have we have reached the point where the word 'trust' simply implies 'dodgy' and where transactions within families are automatically suspect?
The perfectly normal joint ownership of a house creates a trust. Most people are probably entirely unaware of their trustee status in this regard. Family transactions aimed at planning for the future including IHT minimisation are completely routine. A couple with children and assets deciding to own a house worth £350,000 are making a substantial tax avoiding decision.
Non charitable trusts have their own tax regime. They are not some miraculous immunity.
I think we should wait and see.
Labour are reaping their own whirlwind, for decades they've demonised people who engage in lawful tax minimisation strategies.
"Sir Keir Starmer is the least popular prime minister on record, a poll has shown.
Rachel Reeves is now also the least popular chancellor since records began, it found.
The finding will be a blow to Sir Keir on the eve of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Sunday."
The main thing for the country that SKS can do is keep Reeves as chancellor during Labour's full term. She's so much better than any alternative that Labour might offer.
Reform UK is on course to win a majority at the next general election, according to a poll that predicts Labour is heading for its worst electoral defeat since 1931 and will win fewer than 100 seats.
A survey of almost 20,000 people, the biggest seat-by-seat poll carried out in this parliament, says Nigel Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. This would hand Reform a majority of 96, slightly larger than the Conservatives’ 2019 majority of 80 under Boris Johnson.
Conducted by the think tank More in Common between August 8 and September 15, the poll of 19,520 voters is believed to be the first to predict an outright majority for Reform, which at present has only five MPs.
Jesus F C this is indescribably bad polling for Starmer and Labour, and so exquisitely timed before their Conference
"The Ipsos poll gives Reform UK a 12-point lead over Labour in Westminster voting intention, with Nigel Farage’s party on 34 per cent and Labour down three points on the same time last month to 22 per cent"
"With just 13 per cent of people satisfied with Sir Keir and 79 per cent dissatisfied, the Prime Minister has a net satisfaction rating of minus 66."
"When it comes to the question of who would make the most capable prime minister, 25 per cent say Mr Farage, 19 per cent Sir Keir, 9 per cent Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and 31 per cent express no preference."
For the Tories, ouch ouch ouch
"The news is even worse for the Tories. Just 14 per cent of those polled said they intend to vote Conservative at the next election, the lowest number since Ipsos began asking the question in 1976."
Right, but unless the national media starts caring about Wales...
Do you think he was pro-Russian or just pro-Money?
I have no idea, and your guess is as good as mine, but if you push me I would suspect the latter, although hasn't that nice Sir Nigel got form for previously eulogising the nice Mr Putin. Of course, didn't Mr Farage once work for RT?
Ron Davies was scandalised for weeks a couple of decades ago for being mugged at knifepoint "in a moment of madness" on Clapham Common. We were interested in Welsh politicians then.
Right, but unless the national media starts caring about Wales...
Do you think he was pro-Russian or just pro-Money?
I have no idea, and your guess is as good as mine, but if you push me I would suspect the latter, although hasn't that nice Sir Nigel got form for previously eulogising the nice Mr Putin. Of course, didn't Mr Farage once work for RT?
Governor Tina Kotek @GovTinaKotek · 1h My office is reaching out to the White House and Homeland Security for more information. We have been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission. There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm.
Right, but unless the national media starts caring about Wales...
Do you think he was pro-Russian or just pro-Money?
I have no idea, and your guess is as good as mine, but if you push me I would suspect the latter, although hasn't that nice Sir Nigel got form for previously eulogising the nice Mr Putin. Of course, didn't Mr Farage once work for RT?
Never been into golf, but the sight of Europeans whopping the arses of Trumpite America on its own soil is most gratifying.
You know what that means. Trump becomes Ryder Cup Captain for 2027.
He could organise a fixture against North Korea, so he could play against his old mate, Kim Jong Un, who local reports suggest has a pretty decent record on the fairway.
Never been into golf, but the sight of Europeans whopping the arses of Trumpite America on its own soil is most gratifying.
You know what that means. Trump becomes Ryder Cup Captain for 2027.
He could organise a fixture against North Korea, so he could play against his old mate, Kim Jong Un, who local reports suggest has a pretty decent record on the fairway.
I am also very good at golf, I have handicap of 14, per hole.
Reform UK is on course to win a majority at the next general election, according to a poll that predicts Labour is heading for its worst electoral defeat since 1931 and will win fewer than 100 seats.
A survey of almost 20,000 people, the biggest seat-by-seat poll carried out in this parliament, says Nigel Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. This would hand Reform a majority of 96, slightly larger than the Conservatives’ 2019 majority of 80 under Boris Johnson.
Conducted by the think tank More in Common between August 8 and September 15, the poll of 19,520 voters is believed to be the first to predict an outright majority for Reform, which at present has only five MPs.
People are sick of the "process state". That's why Farage is heading for no 10.
People won't like it better when it is a process-free state, with Farage signing off executive orders like a down market Trump.
The point is that the modern Process State is straight out of James Burnham.
Its priority is the process, the people are fodder to be fed to it. It is inhumane in the deepest sense.
The latest idea, to commoditise The Headcount and sell their lives to Peter Thiel, is more of the same.
Reform being a shower of shit and not the answer, doesn’t change that.
I know its a bit of an obsession of yours, but what is the alternative to a state that follows a process?
It seems to me the alternative is a state that makes capricious decisions, without a process. It sounds like a recipie for corruption and cronyism, with politicians bunging contracts to their mates, over-riding legal objections and arbitrary actions. In short it sounds like tyranny.
Reform UK is on course to win a majority at the next general election, according to a poll that predicts Labour is heading for its worst electoral defeat since 1931 and will win fewer than 100 seats.
A survey of almost 20,000 people, the biggest seat-by-seat poll carried out in this parliament, says Nigel Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. This would hand Reform a majority of 96, slightly larger than the Conservatives’ 2019 majority of 80 under Boris Johnson.
Conducted by the think tank More in Common between August 8 and September 15, the poll of 19,520 voters is believed to be the first to predict an outright majority for Reform, which at present has only five MPs.
People are sick of the "process state". That's why Farage is heading for no 10.
People won't like it better when it is a process-free state, with Farage signing off executive orders like a down market Trump.
The point is that the modern Process State is straight out of James Burnham.
Its priority is the process, the people are fodder to be fed to it. It is inhumane in the deepest sense.
The latest idea, to commoditise The Headcount and sell their lives to Peter Thiel, is more of the same.
Reform being a shower of shit and not the answer, doesn’t change that.
I know its a bit of an obsession of yours, but what is the alternative to a state that follows a process?
It seems to me the alternative is a state that makes capricious decisions, without a process. It sounds like a recipie for corruption and cronyism, with politicians bunging contracts to their mates, over-riding legal objections and arbitrary actions. In short it sounds like tyranny.
Comments
Get in
I see some eulogising of what is frankly nonsense from Rupert Lowe.
Of course, we’d all like safety, security, prosperity and opportunity - everyone wants to live in a land of milk and honey where no one has the wobbles.
The trouble with milk, honey and a wobble free world is it costs. As with so much else in life, you can have as many or as few Police, jobs and GPs as you want or are willing to pay for. 500,000 extra Police, 10,000 extra GPs and you can have your utopia but who are these people and from where do they come?
I suppose we could recruit new Police from the young Eritrean, Afghani or Sudanese men turning up on our shores but that may not be universally popular.
I'm not sure I see the peril ahead, at least beyond what we have already. My instincts are on your side, but in practice there seems little difference.
Whatever the sense or nonsense there simply isn't an authoritarian threat to the UK currently. Farage and his merry men are hopeless. We may have to put up with them in government. Corbyn's authoritarian threat has mostly gone away, although I sort of get the hint that Burnhams antics are not about him being the next Labour leader, but more about schmoozing Corbyn.
This can't be true, can it?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/27/putin-preparing-to-attack-another-european-country-zelenskyy-says
Sweden fared badly compared to its neighbours and introduced more restrictions as time went on. If you want countries that did better, it’s weird to keep saying Sweden. Look to Japan or Taiwan. Japan had no national lockdown and much lower infection rates. Of course, they did have local lockdowns and restrictions on infected individuals, and a better funded public health system.
Review of Sweden’s approach here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apa.16535
The Yanks are awful people.
Edit - here's the footage
https://x.com/lionslibra/status/1971990982267957567
Gary Geipel concluded that the UN has made precise claims -- for which it has no evidence: And that many journalists, for whatever reasons, accepted and transmitted those claims.
https://quillette.com/2025/09/10/gaza-and-the-collapse-of-truth-seeking-united-nations/
(For the record: I am "pro-Gazans", just as I would have been "pro-Germans" in the final battles in 1945. I think the people of Gaza should be freed from the Islamo-Nazis who rule them, just as Chancellor Merz thinks the Germans were freed from the Nazis. In 1945, the suffering was ended by the unconditional surrender of the Nazi regime; those who want to end the suffering in Gaza will urge Hamas to give up the hostages, and surrender, unconditionally.)
source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/09/25/gaza-humanitarian-foundation-food-aid/
Gary Geipel concluded that the UN has made precise claims -- for which it has no evidence: And that many journalists, for whatever reasons, accepted and transmitted those claims.
https://quillette.com/2025/09/10/gaza-and-the-collapse-of-truth-seeking-united-nations/
(For the record: I am "pro-Gazans", just as I would have been "pro-Germans" in the final battles in 1945. I think the people of Gaza should be freed from the Islamo-Nazis who rule them, just as Chancellor Merz thinks the Germans were freed from the Nazis. In 1945, the suffering was ended by the unconditional surrender of the Nazi regime; those who want to end the suffering in Gaza will urge Hamas to give up the hostages, and surrender, unconditionally.)
Completely agreed.
Incidentally, thanks Yorkshire.
Thorkshire.
These Yanks are more annoying than Arsenal fans, who act like Real Madrid but are more like Blackburn.
Fun fact of the day, Tottenham Hotspur have won more European trophies than Arsenal.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Everything (there are no exceptions which come to mind) which does not observe this rule becomes a tedious exercise in blame transference, and keeps Radio 4 'Today' in business with money spenders turning up to ask for more from the money raisers.
Devolve the power and the responsibility.
The problem is that his obvious weakness combined with his aggression suggests only that he wants to get onto his strong ground. And that is he has a lot of nuclear weapons, most of which are in poor shape and he doesn't want to keep around. Decommissioning them will bankrupt the state.
We had tinfoil hats earlier, but I think lead underpants may need to be discussed in the future on pb.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/09/27/george-galloway-detained-under-terrorism-act/
I don't want to negotiate liberty, I don't want to negotiate freedom. I also don't think these things are rights.
We have no rights in my view. We embrace freedom and liberty.
Britain is a tubby place, so we did quite badly, American is even fatter, they did worse, Peru is a nation of waddlers, etc
Whereas the Japanese have some of the lowest obesity rates on the planet
Do too many others want to dictate the lives of others? Yes, absolutely.
We saw that during Covid, and too many other times too.
Meanwhile, protests at Parc Y Scarlets complaining about the WRU's reduction of regional teams from 4 to 2.
We are so over politicians in Wales hawking themselves out to Russia.
Yes I know they prob have loads of the same outfit for continuity but would never feel sure.
Reform UK is on course to win a majority at the next general election, according to a poll that predicts Labour is heading for its worst electoral defeat since 1931 and will win fewer than 100 seats.
A survey of almost 20,000 people, the biggest seat-by-seat poll carried out in this parliament, says Nigel Farage would become prime minister with 373 MPs if an election were held tomorrow. This would hand Reform a majority of 96, slightly larger than the Conservatives’ 2019 majority of 80 under Boris Johnson.
Conducted by the think tank More in Common between August 8 and September 15, the poll of 19,520 voters is believed to be the first to predict an outright majority for Reform, which at present has only five MPs.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/mrp-polling-reform-majority-labour-next-general-election-bzt5mpmn6
The Duke of York is listed as a passenger on the disgraced financier’s aircraft, according to documents released by the US House oversight committee
https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/andrew-flew-on-jeffrey-epsteins-jet-and-paid-200-for-massages-8gx90ftlf
@BillKristol
Just FYI: Portland as a war zone is horseshit, and deploying federal troops is horseshit.
https://x.com/BillKristol/status/1971979470543507868
The flight was well after the conviction though, and was "Prince Andrew" alongside both Epstein and Maxwell.
Did Keir Starmer give land to his parents via a trust, guaranteeing their estate, of which he was beneficiary, would never pay inheritance tax on its eventual value?
Legal experts say yes.
Curiously No10 will not answer - despite having a list of straightforward questions for weeks and Starmer retaining a leading tax KC following our original approach. @DanNeidle, @manumidolo, @venetiamenzies and I have done our detective work regardless. Read the Sunday Times and Tax Policy Associates tomorrow to find out more!
https://x.com/Gabriel_Pogrund/status/1971998843039560071
@GovTinaKotek
·
1h
My office is reaching out to the White House and Homeland Security for more information. We have been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission. There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm.
https://x.com/GovTinaKotek/status/1971983803880296857
On the other other hand, they were keen on masking even before Covid.
Surely this is part of Starmer's plot of digital ID?
We should be told.
Narrator: 40% of Reform MPs who were elected at the 2024 GE are now sitting as independents.
"Starmer is least popular PM on record, poll finds
"Only 13 per cent of voters are satisfied with Prime Minister, the fewest of any leader since 1970s"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/09/27/starmer-least-popular-uk-prime-minister-poll/
So, STFU, we are right
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Gill
"Sir Keir Starmer is the least popular prime minister on record, a poll has shown.
Rachel Reeves is now also the least popular chancellor since records began, it found.
The finding will be a blow to Sir Keir on the eve of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Sunday."
The perfectly normal joint ownership of a house creates a trust. Most people are probably entirely unaware of their trustee status in this regard. Family transactions aimed at planning for the future including IHT minimisation are completely routine. A couple with children and assets deciding to own a house worth £350,000 are making a substantial tax avoiding decision.
Non charitable trusts have their own tax regime. They are not some miraculous immunity.
I think we should wait and see.
Do you think he was pro-Russian or just pro-Money?
We currently have the comedy of trained GPs who can’t get a job plus a shortage of GPs.
The number of medical staff trained in this country is controlled by a cap on university places. There is a further, deliberate limit on the number of training hospital places. Both are vastly lower than demand. Medical courses are generally full.
https://x.com/MrMirth/status/1970577637660639509
"The Ipsos poll gives Reform UK a 12-point lead over Labour in Westminster voting intention, with Nigel Farage’s party on 34 per cent and Labour down three points on the same time last month to 22 per cent"
"With just 13 per cent of people satisfied with Sir Keir and 79 per cent dissatisfied, the Prime Minister has a net satisfaction rating of minus 66."
"When it comes to the question of who would make the most capable prime minister, 25 per cent say Mr Farage, 19 per cent Sir Keir, 9 per cent Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and 31 per cent express no preference."
For the Tories, ouch ouch ouch
"The news is even worse for the Tories. Just 14 per cent of those polled said they intend to vote Conservative at the next election, the lowest number since Ipsos began asking the question in 1976."
Its priority is the process, the people are fodder to be fed to it. It is inhumane in the deepest sense.
The latest idea, to commoditise The Headcount and sell their lives to Peter Thiel, is more of the same.
Reform being a shower of shit and not the answer, doesn’t change that.
Ron Davies was scandalised for weeks a couple of decades ago for being mugged at knifepoint "in a moment of madness" on Clapham Common. We were interested in Welsh politicians then.
It seems to me the alternative is a state that makes capricious decisions, without a process. It sounds like a recipie for corruption and cronyism, with politicians bunging contracts to their mates, over-riding legal objections and arbitrary actions. In short it sounds like tyranny.
Am I reading it correct that a poll tonight makes Starmer worst PM ever
Including Truss????
If so that is astounding
So it turns out that British voters don't mind this, at all
It sounds like…America