Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
An international version of the bubble employed at Southampton v Portsmouth matches is probably where this ends up.
I only get to a few away games a season, and tend to pick the local ones as I dont want to occupy the whole day so have been to Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Coventry City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Of these the only one where heavy policing was needed was vs Coventry, and I was quite happy to be marched back to our busses under police escort to get home.
At Leicester home games generally its a positive atmosphere but there are some away sides that the police prefer to escort to the trains and busses.
Isn't this the same with Arsenal at more heated games?
Only once have I experienced a police escort after a game in this country. September 2015, League Cup tie at Spurs. And what an utterly stupid decision that was. We got kettled out on to the High Road only for Spurs fans to burst through a side gate from the back garden of a pub. Of course, they were massively outnumbered so ran back inside.
In Europe, well. An hour lock in is not unusual. Got tear gassed by the old bill on the Paris Metro in May. Delightful.
While we have some significant rivalries with other teams, its only Coventry matches that seem to bring their and our nutters to real violence. There were quite a number of police snatch squads grabbing troublemakers before our recent home game, I didn't see whether home or away fans.
A solid series of by election results in the new "heartland" of Surrey for the LDs with gains at both County and District/Borough level.
The County Council now has 39 Conservative and 42 non-Conservative Councillors and it will be interesting to see, IF the elections for the Shadow Authorities due to take place next year are postponed a year, whether some of the remaining County Councillors will fancy serving up to a seven year term.
That's how to suspend democracy - not through authoritarianism but reorganisation.
I do wonder if the UK is heading towards a French type election, which pits the Liberal Democrats against Reform.
They don't seem to overlap. Reform are/have found themselves in Red Wall territory mainly because the Conservatives 'one-nation' Tories have been gutted from the party by Boris. LibDems have the largest share of the leafy shires constituencies. How Reform can pivot from the left behind to bank managers (see previous quote) will be difficult especially since they are a one-man band.
Labour have a spread throughout the spectrum from RW to LS but it's definitely weaker at the RW end and stronger at the LS end. Kemi's chasing the Reform rhetoric will simply reinforce the damage done by Boris. Have I mentioned she's a dud*.
* It would be more appropriate to say she was the least-worst option for LOTO though that penny hasn't dropped yet. She has an unusually high opinion of her own abilities.
As a conservative I am content that Badenoch is the best leader for the party and she had an excellent conference and is appearing more in the media
Her "excellent Conference" was mainly excellent because it has been talked up by loyalists like yourself. The fact it wasn't the anticipated clown show (much the same as Labour- no coughing, no letters falling off sign boards) it was deemed a win.
Most commentators were complimentary and general it is accepted she had a good conference
Most commentators said Starmer had a good conference until Farage offered his withering right to reply, which was given more of an airing and gained more traction than Starmer's original. And after that, polled voters stated they hated Starmer and his speech, even as mainstream commentators were still nodding in approval with Starmer.
I may have misplaced the timeline, but wasn't that the conference which was overshadowed with Angela Rayner resigning? Fairly sure it was a bit of a shambles?
No that was the "reset".
The Conference was widely anticipated to be a disaster as King over the Water Burnham arrived to claim his crown. He left early with his tail between his legs and Starmer made a dreary but gaff- free speech which was hailed because contrary to expectations the wheels remained on the Labour bus. Then Farage struck like a Cobra...
Politics would be so much easier without opposition politicians criticising. Nobly, Labour never did that when they were in opposition
For shame.
Starmer, in opposition, took an unexpected interest in biology and tried to name a variant of a new species in honour the Prime Minister
I suspect an awful lot of Starmer hatred stems from his being nasty to poor Boris, our King of Hearts
Who knows quite how and why Starmer became the very unpopular figure that he now seems to be. (Perhaps best to get away from 'hatred')
He's obviously done little to endear himself to the nation, but it seems that somehow, for inexplicable reasons, he has tipped many otherwise sensible people over the edge.
I remember having a conversation with a chap called Gary from Yorkshire - he didn't care about facts, he just hated Maggie. I think time has proved him rather misguided - Thatcher is probably our greatest ever PM. So perhaps this seemingly unfounded disapproval might actually mean that Starmer is set to become a great PM too.
Whatever one thinks of Thatcher and her politics, she did at least have a vision of what she wanted to do, and stuck to it. I imagine Starmer going to the breakfast buffet and changing his mind on the way back to the table.
Number 10 has asked West Midlands to set out what extra resource they need to police the game.
The IDF?
What the Luftwaffe did to Birmingham is not dissimilar to what the IDF did to Gaza.
Let's hope the Gazans have better luck with their town planners
Had the Luftwaffe possessed that capability, we'd likely have lost the war.
Birmingham's former Debenhams building suggests we might have lost the war. We wouldn't have done that to ourselves, would we?
I went to a local history exhibition a while ago and looked at photos of my town from just after the war. I commented to an old boy that it was a shame that a lot of the Victorian buildings had been torn down. He seemed indifferent and said "Maybe but at the time we just saw them as old, run down and dirty". It made me think that the problem with post war architecture wasn't the intention but the cheap materials and lack of infrastructure mandated by cash strapped local councils.
Concrete was seen as a wonderful building medium. Sadly old concrete just looks shit. I’m sure the Ziggurats at UEA looked great in 1968. When I worked there in the early years of this century they looked awful.
A solid series of by election results in the new "heartland" of Surrey for the LDs with gains at both County and District/Borough level.
The County Council now has 39 Conservative and 42 non-Conservative Councillors and it will be interesting to see, IF the elections for the Shadow Authorities due to take place next year are postponed a year, whether some of the remaining County Councillors will fancy serving up to a seven year term.
That's how to suspend democracy - not through authoritarianism but reorganisation.
I do wonder if the UK is heading towards a French type election, which pits the Liberal Democrats against Reform.
They don't seem to overlap. Reform are/have found themselves in Red Wall territory mainly because the Conservatives 'one-nation' Tories have been gutted from the party by Boris. LibDems have the largest share of the leafy shires constituencies. How Reform can pivot from the left behind to bank managers (see previous quote) will be difficult especially since they are a one-man band.
Labour have a spread throughout the spectrum from RW to LS but it's definitely weaker at the RW end and stronger at the LS end. Kemi's chasing the Reform rhetoric will simply reinforce the damage done by Boris. Have I mentioned she's a dud*.
* It would be more appropriate to say she was the least-worst option for LOTO though that penny hasn't dropped yet. She has an unusually high opinion of her own abilities.
As a conservative I am content that Badenoch is the best leader for the party and she had an excellent conference and is appearing more in the media
Her "excellent Conference" was mainly excellent because it has been talked up by loyalists like yourself. The fact it wasn't the anticipated clown show (much the same as Labour- no coughing, no letters falling off sign boards) it was deemed a win.
Most commentators were complimentary and general it is accepted she had a good conference
Most commentators said Starmer had a good conference until Farage offered his withering right to reply, which was given more of an airing and gained more traction than Starmer's original. And after that, polled voters stated they hated Starmer and his speech, even as mainstream commentators were still nodding in approval with Starmer.
I may have misplaced the timeline, but wasn't that the conference which was overshadowed with Angela Rayner resigning? Fairly sure it was a bit of a shambles?
No that was the "reset".
The Conference was widely anticipated to be a disaster as King over the Water Burnham arrived to claim his crown. He left early with his tail between his legs and Starmer made a dreary but gaff- free speech which was hailed because contrary to expectations the wheels remained on the Labour bus. Then Farage struck like a Cobra...
Politics would be so much easier without opposition politicians criticising. Nobly, Labour never did that when they were in opposition
For shame.
Starmer, in opposition, took an unexpected interest in biology and tried to name a variant of a new species in honour the Prime Minister
I suspect an awful lot of Starmer hatred stems from his being nasty to poor Boris, our King of Hearts
Who knows quite how and why Starmer became the very unpopular figure that he now seems to be. (Perhaps best to get away from 'hatred')
He's obviously done little to endear himself to the nation, but it seems that somehow, for inexplicable reasons, he has tipped many otherwise sensible people over the edge.
I remember having a conversation with a chap called Gary from Yorkshire - he didn't care about facts, he just hated Maggie. I think time has proved him rather misguided - Thatcher is probably our greatest ever PM. So perhaps this seemingly unfounded disapproval might actually mean that Starmer is set to become a great PM too.
Whatever one thinks of Thatcher and her politics, she did at least have a vision of what she wanted to do, and stuck to it. I imagine Starmer going to the breakfast buffet and changing his mind on the way back to the table.
I do not.
He would get a text message saying the Supreme Court had ruled that breakfast was now a bad thing.
And drop his plate on the floor then and there, as an instant convert to BreakfastIsBad.
It's remarkable that this story isn't much higher profile. But it happens so regularly. We just shrug our collective shoulders and move on. Middle Eastern nutter does Middle Eastern nutter thing, what you gonna do?
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
If the question had been phrased "Police have told Jews to stay away from Birmingham because they don't want to protect them from anti-Semiites. Do you approve?" the result may have been different.
But change it to "Police have told especially violent ultras to stay away from Birmingham because they don't think they can manage the resulting fights. Do you approve?" and you would get a different sort of push polling.
And that's the problem. It would be lovely to separate the world into Goodies and Baddies. People who are purely victims and people who are purely opressors. But most people are much more messed up than that. What unites Corbyn and Robinson is their insitence that the world has pure friends and pure enemies. It's just a shame that they disagree on who is who.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
If the question had been phrased "Police have told Jews to stay away from Birmingham because they don't want to protect them from anti-Semiites. Do you approve?" the result may have been different.
But change it to "Police have told especially violent ultras to stay away from Birmingham because they don't think they can manage the resulting fights. Do you approve?" and you would get a different sort of push polling.
And that's the problem. It would be lovely to separate the world into Goodies and Baddies. People who are purely victims and people who are purely opressors. But most people are much more messed up than that. What unites Corbyn and Robinson is their insitence that the world has pure friends and pure enemies. It's just a shame that they disagree on who is who.
They are not telling ultras to stay away. They are saying that Jews are not welcome, caving in to the demands of "Independent" MPs and their fellow travellers.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Most of the public will be thinking this makes life easier for that particular day and stops some violence between two groups they look down on. Which is all true, but it sets a dangerous precedent. Ministers have to consider that in a way the person on the omnibus doesn't.
ps Governing by public opinion polling has been terrible for us. Lets not encourage it!
Shock horror! The British public are more sensible than the average PBer!
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
His predecessor, Hollande, was so unpopular that he didn't even try to run for re-election. And his predecessor, Sarkozy, is shortly going to jail.
Maybe France is simply ungovernable? Or is it that people's expectations there, here, and most places in the democratic world, are now so unrealistic that the slide to populism/authoritarianism is unavoidable? We (UK & France & USA) avoided it in the 30's. Maybe not so lucky this time?
That’s a perceptive article. Political disillusionment is surely the product of expectations x delivery.
France like Britain and the US suffers from exceptionalism. France should be the greatest country on earth, by divine right. That it falls somewhat short (though it is still one of the best countries on the planet) must therefore be the fault of the politicians.
France is the greatest country on earth! Best food and wine. Proper lunchtimes. Disregard for authority. Even Scotland is only a close second.
A quite extraordinary statement here from PCS union: "To add insult to injury, the government’s recent cuts to the overseas aid budget will not only lead to job losses and a loss of valuable expertise, but could cost hundreds of thousands of lives overseas."
Equating a few thousand job losses with the deaths of 100x more people abroad.
As an aside, I know quite a few people at FCDO desperately hoping for redundancy. Department is a shitshow and they'd be delighted to get paid to leave. Ironic in a way their union is desperately fighting to prevent his.
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
The idea that the Greens 'smashed it out of the park' is simply ludicrous. I'll now have to watch the QT episode, but really!
Polanski is the latest media created super amazeballs mega hero.
He is good at media, and getting noticed, hence the recent poll with Greens outpolling Labour.
He is quite explicit in wanting to replace Labour.
Advance is quite explicit about replacing Reform. Ain't happening any time soon. Polanski is the shiny new toy, it will be Sultana and Jezza by Christmas
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
There are serious questions about Virginia Giuffre, whether specifically underage or not she was 23 years younger than him, a teenager barely over age and being trafficked.
he does, and always would, deny anything but he's not got good form for being the most honest of people
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
If the question had been phrased "Police have told Jews to stay away from Birmingham because they don't want to protect them from anti-Semiites. Do you approve?" the result may have been different.
But change it to "Police have told especially violent ultras to stay away from Birmingham because they don't think they can manage the resulting fights. Do you approve?" and you would get a different sort of push polling.
And that's the problem. It would be lovely to separate the world into Goodies and Baddies. People who are purely victims and people who are purely opressors. But most people are much more messed up than that. What unites Corbyn and Robinson is their insitence that the world has pure friends and pure enemies. It's just a shame that they disagree on who is who.
They haven't told ultras to stay away, they have said every fan of the Jewish club is not welcome.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
The filthy war criminals genocided some sacred Palestinian flags. They deserved to be Jew-hunted
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
If the question had been phrased "Police have told Jews to stay away from Birmingham because they don't want to protect them from anti-Semiites. Do you approve?" the result may have been different.
But change it to "Police have told especially violent ultras to stay away from Birmingham because they don't think they can manage the resulting fights. Do you approve?" and you would get a different sort of push polling.
And that's the problem. It would be lovely to separate the world into Goodies and Baddies. People who are purely victims and people who are purely opressors. But most people are much more messed up than that. What unites Corbyn and Robinson is their insitence that the world has pure friends and pure enemies. It's just a shame that they disagree on who is who.
They are not telling ultras to stay away. They are saying that Jews are not welcome, caving in to the demands of "Independent" MPs and their fellow travellers.
It's a ban on Maccabi fans, not Jews. Jewish Villa fans are welcome.
I think bussing them directly from airport to game and back under police escort would be fine.
It's remarkable that this story isn't much higher profile. But it happens so regularly. We just shrug our collective shoulders and move on. Middle Eastern nutter does Middle Eastern nutter thing, what you gonna do?
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
The idea that the Greens 'smashed it out of the park' is simply ludicrous. I'll now have to watch the QT episode, but really!
Polanski is the latest media created super amazeballs mega hero.
He is good at media, and getting noticed, hence the recent poll with Greens outpolling Labour.
He is quite explicit in wanting to replace Labour.
Advance is quite explicit about replacing Reform. Ain't happening any time soon. Polanski is the shiny new toy, it will be Sultana and Jezza by Christmas
Advance isnt matching or out polling Reform though is it?
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Most of the public will be thinking this makes life easier for that particular day and stops some violence between two groups they look down on. Which is all true, but it sets a dangerous precedent. Ministers have to consider that in a way the person on the omnibus doesn't.
ps Governing by public opinion polling has been terrible for us. Lets not encourage it!
Shock horror! The British public are more sensible than the average PBer!
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Most of the public will be thinking this makes life easier for that particular day and stops some violence between two groups they look down on. Which is all true, but it sets a dangerous precedent. Ministers have to consider that in a way the person on the omnibus doesn't.
ps Governing by public opinion polling has been terrible for us. Lets not encourage it!
Shock horror! The British public are more sensible than the average PBer!
I think Barney Ronay nails the situation in the Guardian.
It's remarkable that this story isn't much higher profile. But it happens so regularly. We just shrug our collective shoulders and move on. Middle Eastern nutter does Middle Eastern nutter thing, what you gonna do?
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
Probably best to actually look into what happened in Amsterdam first really.
Read the Barney Ronay article I posted - I know you are a Polanski fan boy right now but possibly he’s not the Messiah.
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
It's remarkable that this story isn't much higher profile. But it happens so regularly. We just shrug our collective shoulders and move on. Middle Eastern nutter does Middle Eastern nutter thing, what you gonna do?
A quite extraordinary statement here from PCS union: "To add insult to injury, the government’s recent cuts to the overseas aid budget will not only lead to job losses and a loss of valuable expertise, but could cost hundreds of thousands of lives overseas."
Equating a few thousand job losses with the deaths of 100x more people abroad.
As an aside, I know quite a few people at FCDO desperately hoping for redundancy. Department is a shitshow and they'd be delighted to get paid to leave. Ironic in a way their union is desperately fighting to prevent his.
The USAID cuts are forecast to cause several million deaths:
Our programmes are smaller so the number of deaths will be smaller numbers, but behind every statistic is a tragic story. Here's Myanmar, where Rohingya are literally dying of starvation.
A quite extraordinary statement here from PCS union: "To add insult to injury, the government’s recent cuts to the overseas aid budget will not only lead to job losses and a loss of valuable expertise, but could cost hundreds of thousands of lives overseas."
Equating a few thousand job losses with the deaths of 100x more people abroad.
As an aside, I know quite a few people at FCDO desperately hoping for redundancy. Department is a shitshow and they'd be delighted to get paid to leave. Ironic in a way their union is desperately fighting to prevent his.
The FCDO has had two oversubscribed rounds of VES (Voluntary Exit Scheme) this year. Couldn't comment on the shit show...
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
The idea that the Greens 'smashed it out of the park' is simply ludicrous. I'll now have to watch the QT episode, but really!
Polanski is the latest media created super amazeballs mega hero.
He is good at media, and getting noticed, hence the recent poll with Greens outpolling Labour.
He is quite explicit in wanting to replace Labour.
Advance is quite explicit about replacing Reform. Ain't happening any time soon. Polanski is the shiny new toy, it will be Sultana and Jezza by Christmas
Advance isnt matching or out polling Reform though is it?
What Advance is showing us is the limits of Elon Musk and X/Twitter's power.
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
The idea that the Greens 'smashed it out of the park' is simply ludicrous. I'll now have to watch the QT episode, but really!
Polanski is the latest media created super amazeballs mega hero.
He is good at media, and getting noticed, hence the recent poll with Greens outpolling Labour.
He is quite explicit in wanting to replace Labour.
Advance is quite explicit about replacing Reform. Ain't happening any time soon. Polanski is the shiny new toy, it will be Sultana and Jezza by Christmas
Advance isnt matching or out polling Reform though is it?
Nor are the Greens vis a vis Labour aside from one poll with one pollster They had a little new leader bounce and hes flavour of the month. They are very unlikely to get into double figures in seats.
It's remarkable that this story isn't much higher profile. But it happens so regularly. We just shrug our collective shoulders and move on. Middle Eastern nutter does Middle Eastern nutter thing, what you gonna do?
VOTE REFORM
VOTE OFFICIAL MONSTER RAVING LOONY PARTY!
Are they still a thing?
Indeed, I drink with the party leader a couple of times a week
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
The idea that the Greens 'smashed it out of the park' is simply ludicrous. I'll now have to watch the QT episode, but really!
Polanski is the latest media created super amazeballs mega hero.
He is good at media, and getting noticed, hence the recent poll with Greens outpolling Labour.
He is quite explicit in wanting to replace Labour.
Advance is quite explicit about replacing Reform. Ain't happening any time soon. Polanski is the shiny new toy, it will be Sultana and Jezza by Christmas
Advance isnt matching or out polling Reform though is it?
What Advance is showing us is the limits of Elon Musk and X/Twitter's power.
They need to stand a few candidates, see what sort of actual vote they can achieve. Not much id imagine
A solid series of by election results in the new "heartland" of Surrey for the LDs with gains at both County and District/Borough level.
The County Council now has 39 Conservative and 42 non-Conservative Councillors and it will be interesting to see, IF the elections for the Shadow Authorities due to take place next year are postponed a year, whether some of the remaining County Councillors will fancy serving up to a seven year term.
That's how to suspend democracy - not through authoritarianism but reorganisation.
I do wonder if the UK is heading towards a French type election, which pits the Liberal Democrats against Reform.
They don't seem to overlap. Reform are/have found themselves in Red Wall territory mainly because the Conservatives 'one-nation' Tories have been gutted from the party by Boris. LibDems have the largest share of the leafy shires constituencies. How Reform can pivot from the left behind to bank managers (see previous quote) will be difficult especially since they are a one-man band.
Labour have a spread throughout the spectrum from RW to LS but it's definitely weaker at the RW end and stronger at the LS end. Kemi's chasing the Reform rhetoric will simply reinforce the damage done by Boris. Have I mentioned she's a dud*.
* It would be more appropriate to say she was the least-worst option for LOTO though that penny hasn't dropped yet. She has an unusually high opinion of her own abilities.
As a conservative I am content that Badenoch is the best leader for the party and she had an excellent conference and is appearing more in the media
Her "excellent Conference" was mainly excellent because it has been talked up by loyalists like yourself. The fact it wasn't the anticipated clown show (much the same as Labour- no coughing, no letters falling off sign boards) it was deemed a win.
Most commentators were complimentary and general it is accepted she had a good conference
Most commentators said Starmer had a good conference until Farage offered his withering right to reply, which was given more of an airing and gained more traction than Starmer's original. And after that, polled voters stated they hated Starmer and his speech, even as mainstream commentators were still nodding in approval with Starmer.
I may have misplaced the timeline, but wasn't that the conference which was overshadowed with Angela Rayner resigning? Fairly sure it was a bit of a shambles?
No that was the "reset".
The Conference was widely anticipated to be a disaster as King over the Water Burnham arrived to claim his crown. He left early with his tail between his legs and Starmer made a dreary but gaff- free speech which was hailed because contrary to expectations the wheels remained on the Labour bus. Then Farage struck like a Cobra...
Politics would be so much easier without opposition politicians criticising. Nobly, Labour never did that when they were in opposition
For shame.
Starmer, in opposition, took an unexpected interest in biology and tried to name a variant of a new species in honour the Prime Minister
I suspect an awful lot of Starmer hatred stems from his being nasty to poor Boris, our King of Hearts
You are saying that the Green/Fruit&Nut Part types are motivated by him dissing Boris? Or the Labour membership?
Starmer is simply a C- Prime Minister - a tin ear for politics and no leadership skills
Zack isn't the Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, GBNews, etc, etc and the Johnson loving cohort on PB. Starmer was nasty to the greatest Prime Minister of all of time.
Starmer is still is a very poor politician but the unhinged hatred is quite remarkable. If you don't believe me read Allister Heath and Allison Pearson in the Telegraph. The vitriol is palpable.
Although on the other hand Starmer did stab St. Jeremy in the front, so you may have a point.
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
The idea that the Greens 'smashed it out of the park' is simply ludicrous. I'll now have to watch the QT episode, but really!
Polanski is the latest media created super amazeballs mega hero.
He is good at media, and getting noticed, hence the recent poll with Greens outpolling Labour.
He is quite explicit in wanting to replace Labour.
Advance is quite explicit about replacing Reform. Ain't happening any time soon. Polanski is the shiny new toy, it will be Sultana and Jezza by Christmas
Advance isnt matching or out polling Reform though is it?
What Advance is showing us is the limits of Elon Musk and X/Twitter's power.
They need to stand a few candidates, see what sort of actual vote they can achieve. Not much id imagine
Indeed: they have no identifiable leader, and no obvious policy edge over Reform. The only things they have are Tommy Robinson and the support of Elon Musk.
I do wonder if their existence is actually a boon to Reform.
If anyone needs cheering up about the state of the country - ie all of us - I’ve just landed at LHR from Seattle and as I disembarked three cute American girls were excitedly discussing how glad they were to be in london (first time, I surmised) and their chances of falling in love with a British guy (they seemed really keen on this idea)
So, someone still fancies us, for all our problems
I'm tired of all the whining.
Britain is a f-king awesome place, and we're a great people.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
It's remarkable that this story isn't much higher profile. But it happens so regularly. We just shrug our collective shoulders and move on. Middle Eastern nutter does Middle Eastern nutter thing, what you gonna do?
VOTE REFORM
VOTE OFFICIAL MONSTER RAVING LOONY PARTY!
Are they still a thing?
Indeed, I drink with the party leader a couple of times a week
Any policies you are trying to influence them to adopt?!
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
Two sides to every story. Vastly more arrests for ‘home’ fans, and evidence that ‘jew hunting’ was planned in advance of any bad behaviour by Maccabi fans. The fans are not being banned because they are bad, it’s because of the threats to them. If you can’t see that, I despair.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
An international version of the bubble employed at Southampton v Portsmouth matches is probably where this ends up.
I only get to a few away games a season, and tend to pick the local ones as I dont want to occupy the whole day so have been to Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Coventry City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Of these the only one where heavy policing was needed was vs Coventry, and I was quite happy to be marched back to our busses under police escort to get home.
At Leicester home games generally its a positive atmosphere but there are some away sides that the police prefer to escort to the trains and busses.
Isn't this the same with Arsenal at more heated games?
Only once have I experienced a police escort after a game in this country. September 2015, League Cup tie at Spurs. And what an utterly stupid decision that was. We got kettled out on to the High Road only for Spurs fans to burst through a side gate from the back garden of a pub. Of course, they were massively outnumbered so ran back inside.
In Europe, well. An hour lock in is not unusual. Got tear gassed by the old bill on the Paris Metro in May. Delightful.
I cycle past the Millwall ground on my way to work and "fuck Wrexham" is spray painted on the path outside, presumably to welcome some visiting fans. We're friendly like that in SE London.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
The age of consent in NY was 18 - that apparently triggered issues around trafficking across state lines
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
She wasn't just "the new girl in the office" was she? Not that workplace sexual harassment is acceptable!
It's worth a read of her autobiography of the incident:
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
Two sides to every story. Vastly more arrests for ‘home’ fans, and evidence that ‘jew hunting’ was planned in advance of any bad behaviour by Maccabi fans. The fans are not being banned because they are bad, it’s because of the threats to them. If you can’t see that, I despair.
It's clearly both. The Maccabi ultras are racist scumbags who chanted anti Arab slogans (Amsterdam has a large Arab population). There were also local anti-semites involved. We have a right to not let people in who are going to cause trouble, that's why we have a border.
A solid series of by election results in the new "heartland" of Surrey for the LDs with gains at both County and District/Borough level.
The County Council now has 39 Conservative and 42 non-Conservative Councillors and it will be interesting to see, IF the elections for the Shadow Authorities due to take place next year are postponed a year, whether some of the remaining County Councillors will fancy serving up to a seven year term.
That's how to suspend democracy - not through authoritarianism but reorganisation.
I do wonder if the UK is heading towards a French type election, which pits the Liberal Democrats against Reform.
They don't seem to overlap. Reform are/have found themselves in Red Wall territory mainly because the Conservatives 'one-nation' Tories have been gutted from the party by Boris. LibDems have the largest share of the leafy shires constituencies. How Reform can pivot from the left behind to bank managers (see previous quote) will be difficult especially since they are a one-man band.
Labour have a spread throughout the spectrum from RW to LS but it's definitely weaker at the RW end and stronger at the LS end. Kemi's chasing the Reform rhetoric will simply reinforce the damage done by Boris. Have I mentioned she's a dud*.
* It would be more appropriate to say she was the least-worst option for LOTO though that penny hasn't dropped yet. She has an unusually high opinion of her own abilities.
As a conservative I am content that Badenoch is the best leader for the party and she had an excellent conference and is appearing more in the media
Her "excellent Conference" was mainly excellent because it has been talked up by loyalists like yourself. The fact it wasn't the anticipated clown show (much the same as Labour- no coughing, no letters falling off sign boards) it was deemed a win.
Most commentators were complimentary and general it is accepted she had a good conference
Most commentators said Starmer had a good conference until Farage offered his withering right to reply, which was given more of an airing and gained more traction than Starmer's original. And after that, polled voters stated they hated Starmer and his speech, even as mainstream commentators were still nodding in approval with Starmer.
I may have misplaced the timeline, but wasn't that the conference which was overshadowed with Angela Rayner resigning? Fairly sure it was a bit of a shambles?
No that was the "reset".
The Conference was widely anticipated to be a disaster as King over the Water Burnham arrived to claim his crown. He left early with his tail between his legs and Starmer made a dreary but gaff- free speech which was hailed because contrary to expectations the wheels remained on the Labour bus. Then Farage struck like a Cobra...
Politics would be so much easier without opposition politicians criticising. Nobly, Labour never did that when they were in opposition
For shame.
Starmer, in opposition, took an unexpected interest in biology and tried to name a variant of a new species in honour the Prime Minister
I suspect an awful lot of Starmer hatred stems from his being nasty to poor Boris, our King of Hearts
You are saying that the Green/Fruit&Nut Part types are motivated by him dissing Boris? Or the Labour membership?
Starmer is simply a C- Prime Minister - a tin ear for politics and no leadership skills
Zack isn't the Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, GBNews, etc, etc and the Johnson loving cohort on PB. Starmer was nasty to the greatest Prime Minister of all of time.
Starmer is still is a very poor politician but the unhinged hatred is quite remarkable. If you don't believe me read Allister Heath and Allison Pearson in the Telegraph. The vitriol is palpable.
Although on the other hand Starmer did stab St. Jeremy in the front, so you may have a point.
Unhinged hatred?
I can recall Labour MPs celebrating the attempted murder of a Conservative PM.
You don’t seem to get that people won’t love the Labour Party and its leader just because.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
An international version of the bubble employed at Southampton v Portsmouth matches is probably where this ends up.
I only get to a few away games a season, and tend to pick the local ones as I dont want to occupy the whole day so have been to Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Coventry City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Of these the only one where heavy policing was needed was vs Coventry, and I was quite happy to be marched back to our busses under police escort to get home.
At Leicester home games generally its a positive atmosphere but there are some away sides that the police prefer to escort to the trains and busses.
Isn't this the same with Arsenal at more heated games?
Only once have I experienced a police escort after a game in this country. September 2015, League Cup tie at Spurs. And what an utterly stupid decision that was. We got kettled out on to the High Road only for Spurs fans to burst through a side gate from the back garden of a pub. Of course, they were massively outnumbered so ran back inside.
In Europe, well. An hour lock in is not unusual. Got tear gassed by the old bill on the Paris Metro in May. Delightful.
I cycle past the Millwall ground on my way to work and "fuck Wrexham" is spray painted on the path outside, presumably to welcome some visiting fans. We're friendly like that in SE London.
The first time I went to Upton Park, in 1977, someone had spray-painted “Hitler was Right, Gas the Jews”, along with a couple of swastikas, above one of the entrances.
There was a whole bunch of people selling newspapers for the NF and British Movement.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
Two sides to every story. Vastly more arrests for ‘home’ fans, and evidence that ‘jew hunting’ was planned in advance of any bad behaviour by Maccabi fans. The fans are not being banned because they are bad, it’s because of the threats to them. If you can’t see that, I despair.
It's clearly both. The Maccabi ultras are racist scumbags who chanted anti Arab slogans (Amsterdam has a large Arab population). There were also local anti-semites involved. We have a right to not let people in who are going to cause trouble, that's why we have a border.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
A solid series of by election results in the new "heartland" of Surrey for the LDs with gains at both County and District/Borough level.
The County Council now has 39 Conservative and 42 non-Conservative Councillors and it will be interesting to see, IF the elections for the Shadow Authorities due to take place next year are postponed a year, whether some of the remaining County Councillors will fancy serving up to a seven year term.
That's how to suspend democracy - not through authoritarianism but reorganisation.
I do wonder if the UK is heading towards a French type election, which pits the Liberal Democrats against Reform.
They don't seem to overlap. Reform are/have found themselves in Red Wall territory mainly because the Conservatives 'one-nation' Tories have been gutted from the party by Boris. LibDems have the largest share of the leafy shires constituencies. How Reform can pivot from the left behind to bank managers (see previous quote) will be difficult especially since they are a one-man band.
Labour have a spread throughout the spectrum from RW to LS but it's definitely weaker at the RW end and stronger at the LS end. Kemi's chasing the Reform rhetoric will simply reinforce the damage done by Boris. Have I mentioned she's a dud*.
* It would be more appropriate to say she was the least-worst option for LOTO though that penny hasn't dropped yet. She has an unusually high opinion of her own abilities.
As a conservative I am content that Badenoch is the best leader for the party and she had an excellent conference and is appearing more in the media
Her "excellent Conference" was mainly excellent because it has been talked up by loyalists like yourself. The fact it wasn't the anticipated clown show (much the same as Labour- no coughing, no letters falling off sign boards) it was deemed a win.
Most commentators were complimentary and general it is accepted she had a good conference
Most commentators said Starmer had a good conference until Farage offered his withering right to reply, which was given more of an airing and gained more traction than Starmer's original. And after that, polled voters stated they hated Starmer and his speech, even as mainstream commentators were still nodding in approval with Starmer.
I may have misplaced the timeline, but wasn't that the conference which was overshadowed with Angela Rayner resigning? Fairly sure it was a bit of a shambles?
No that was the "reset".
The Conference was widely anticipated to be a disaster as King over the Water Burnham arrived to claim his crown. He left early with his tail between his legs and Starmer made a dreary but gaff- free speech which was hailed because contrary to expectations the wheels remained on the Labour bus. Then Farage struck like a Cobra...
Politics would be so much easier without opposition politicians criticising. Nobly, Labour never did that when they were in opposition
For shame.
Starmer, in opposition, took an unexpected interest in biology and tried to name a variant of a new species in honour the Prime Minister
I suspect an awful lot of Starmer hatred stems from his being nasty to poor Boris, our King of Hearts
You are saying that the Green/Fruit&Nut Part types are motivated by him dissing Boris? Or the Labour membership?
Starmer is simply a C- Prime Minister - a tin ear for politics and no leadership skills
Zack isn't the Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, GBNews, etc, etc and the Johnson loving cohort on PB. Starmer was nasty to the greatest Prime Minister of all of time.
Starmer is still is a very poor politician but the unhinged hatred is quite remarkable. If you don't believe me read Allister Heath and Allison Pearson in the Telegraph. The vitriol is palpable.
Although on the other hand Starmer did stab St. Jeremy in the front, so you may have a point.
I struggle to comprehend how people can 'hate' others so readily. Hate is a very strong emotion requiring serious energy. So is anger, come to that.
Sometimes it seems what's actually going on is that the 'hated' person is a scapegoat or whipping boy.
If anyone needs cheering up about the state of the country - ie all of us - I’ve just landed at LHR from Seattle and as I disembarked three cute American girls were excitedly discussing how glad they were to be in london (first time, I surmised) and their chances of falling in love with a British guy (they seemed really keen on this idea)
So, someone still fancies us, for all our problems
I'm tired of all the whining.
Britain is a f-king awesome place, and we're a great people.
Testify.
New PB rule.
You slag off Britain you're getting exiled to ConHome for five years.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
Two sides to every story. Vastly more arrests for ‘home’ fans, and evidence that ‘jew hunting’ was planned in advance of any bad behaviour by Maccabi fans. The fans are not being banned because they are bad, it’s because of the threats to them. If you can’t see that, I despair.
It's clearly both. The Maccabi ultras are racist scumbags who chanted anti Arab slogans (Amsterdam has a large Arab population). There were also local anti-semites involved. We have a right to not let people in who are going to cause trouble, that's why we have a border.
Corbyn disagrees with you there.
I'm sure that Corbyn and I disagree on many things.
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
And now, having spent an hour watching the QT episode I can without fear of even the slightest contradiction say that the Greens were just their usual useless selves. The whole programme was dispiriting - all the panellists were very poor.
Polanski is pure schoolkid politics. I really worry if you think he's anything other than that. The best performance came from Zia Yusef, and I struggle to agree with him. Quite what the Tories and Labour are doing fielding such awful people in front of the media escapes me.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
Two sides to every story. Vastly more arrests for ‘home’ fans, and evidence that ‘jew hunting’ was planned in advance of any bad behaviour by Maccabi fans. The fans are not being banned because they are bad, it’s because of the threats to them. If you can’t see that, I despair.
It's clearly both. The Maccabi ultras are racist scumbags who chanted anti Arab slogans (Amsterdam has a large Arab population). There were also local anti-semites involved. We have a right to not let people in who are going to cause trouble, that's why we have a border.
The point is the Maccabi ultras are the only ones excluded. Many other European clubs still retain their dickheads yet there is no question of stopping them. That’s the point of difference.
Yes managing the situation may be tough, but tough shit, you signed up for hard jobs mr policeman. (Not you, clearly).
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
She wasn't just "the new girl in the office" was she? Not that workplace sexual harassment is acceptable!
It's worth a read of her autobiography of the incident:
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
She wasn't just "the new girl in the office" was she? Not that workplace sexual harassment is acceptable!
It's worth a read of her autobiography of the incident:
If anyone needs cheering up about the state of the country - ie all of us - I’ve just landed at LHR from Seattle and as I disembarked three cute American girls were excitedly discussing how glad they were to be in london (first time, I surmised) and their chances of falling in love with a British guy (they seemed really keen on this idea)
So, someone still fancies us, for all our problems
I'm tired of all the whining.
Britain is a f-king awesome place, and we're a great people.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
Two sides to every story. Vastly more arrests for ‘home’ fans, and evidence that ‘jew hunting’ was planned in advance of any bad behaviour by Maccabi fans. The fans are not being banned because they are bad, it’s because of the threats to them. If you can’t see that, I despair.
It's clearly both. The Maccabi ultras are racist scumbags who chanted anti Arab slogans (Amsterdam has a large Arab population). There were also local anti-semites involved. We have a right to not let people in who are going to cause trouble, that's why we have a border.
A shame we confine our efforts at the border to keeping out troublemaking visitors who are only here for a night or two.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
Two sides to every story. Vastly more arrests for ‘home’ fans, and evidence that ‘jew hunting’ was planned in advance of any bad behaviour by Maccabi fans. The fans are not being banned because they are bad, it’s because of the threats to them. If you can’t see that, I despair.
It's clearly both. The Maccabi ultras are racist scumbags who chanted anti Arab slogans (Amsterdam has a large Arab population). There were also local anti-semites involved. We have a right to not let people in who are going to cause trouble, that's why we have a border.
The point is the Maccabi ultras are the only ones excluded. Many other European clubs still retain their dickheads yet there is no question of stopping them. That’s the point of difference.
Yes managing the situation may be tough, but tough shit, you signed up for hard jobs mr policeman. (Not you, clearly).
I think it's entirely reasonable for the police to look at what happened in Amsterdam and say, no thanks. Whether you think that was 50:50 in terms of blame or 80:20 either way the obvious solution is to keep the foreign element out, since the domestic element is a given. I'd perhaps give more of a shit if I didn't think Israeli teams shouldn't be in the competition anyway. Their governments recent actions put them beyond the pale in my view, just as with Russia. We certainly don't need their thuggish fans over here looking for trouble.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
I quite enjoyed Dan Carlin's series about WW1. Quite grim - but very well done (IMHO). I think this is the series :
There is an episode almost entirely given over to the rapid advance of artillery and machine guns if I remember correctly. I had no idea of the 'progress' before I listened to it.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
She wasn't just "the new girl in the office" was she? Not that workplace sexual harassment is acceptable!
It's worth a read of her autobiography of the incident:
In which she alleges that Andrew did have sex with underage girls.
And he said he didn’t.
Indeed.
But @boulay said, "Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women." And, while certainly not proven, there is an explicit allegation of that.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
She wasn't just "the new girl in the office" was she? Not that workplace sexual harassment is acceptable!
It's worth a read of her autobiography of the incident:
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
I quite enjoyed Dan Carlin's series about WW1. Quite grim - but very well done (IMHO). I think this is the series :
There is an episode almost entirely given over to the rapid advance of artillery and machine guns if I remember correctly. I had no idea of the 'progress' before I listened to it.
What’s fascinating is just how much the lessons learned in WW1 governed how we fought in the second war. People get distracted by mechanisation and tanks, but generals like Monty fought huge set piece WW1 battles. Surprise, huge bombardment, limited gains, defend against counter attack. Perhaps only Patton in the West really fought differently.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
She wasn't just "the new girl in the office" was she? Not that workplace sexual harassment is acceptable!
It's worth a read of her autobiography of the incident:
In which she alleges that Andrew did have sex with underage girls.
And he said he didn’t.
Indeed.
But @boulay said, "Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women." And, while certainly not proven, there is an explicit allegation of that.
Giuffre was allegedly paid by Epstein. Sex with a prostitute under 18 is an offence, although I'm not sure if it was then
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
More than weird.
Behaviour that was winked at in the Seventies and Eighties is simply not acceptable in the modern workplace, and rightly so.
As a lot of TV celebrities in UK, USA and elsewhere are finding out.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Here is what the public think. It looks as if Starmer is out of step with public opinion, and so is a lot of PB.
Maccabi Tel Aviv have notorious Ultras spoiling for trouble.
If they want to be at the game then they should be bussed directly from the airport and directly home again, not to parade and smash up the city centre.
Many sides have ‘ultras’ more interested in violence than the actual game. Yet only the Israeli side has had a situation so dire that the police cannot guarantee safety. Smells decidedly iffy to me.
After what Maccabi got up to in Amsterdam last year I can see why the ban.
Two sides to every story. Vastly more arrests for ‘home’ fans, and evidence that ‘jew hunting’ was planned in advance of any bad behaviour by Maccabi fans. The fans are not being banned because they are bad, it’s because of the threats to them. If you can’t see that, I despair.
I have little doubt you are correct that there is a particular concern here about antisemitism in Birmingham, and that affecting the safety of Tel Aviv Maccabi fans. And the police should provide the protection required to make sure no harm comes to them, rather than banning them. At the very least, it should be possible to organise (and protect) buses into the stadium
But I would note - as @tlg86 has pointed out - that some Macabbi fans (like pretty much any soccer fans) use the game as an excuse for a fight. The Maccabi v Hapoel derby in Tel Aviv rarely passes off without at least some hospitalisations and arrests. And I'm not sure that the burning of Palestinian flags by visiting Maccabi fans in Amsterdam werre the actions of a group who just wanted to watch the game.
Number 10 has asked West Midlands to set out what extra resource they need to police the game.
The IDF?
What the Luftwaffe did to Birmingham is not dissimilar to what the IDF did to Gaza.
Let's hope the Gazans have better luck with their town planners
Had the Luftwaffe possessed that capability, we'd likely have lost the war.
Birmingham's former Debenhams building suggests we might have lost the war. We wouldn't have done that to ourselves, would we?
Mind you The Square Peg, in the former Rackhams, is a great place to go.
My last visit to Rackhams was during the death throws of House of Fraser. It reflected the sad decline of Corporation Street. I'd not even heard of the Square Peg. I have been on the tram through. Somewhat ironic as I remember them digging up the pre war tram lines on the Bristol Road in the 1980s because they decided they didn't need trams with the coming of age of the car.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Errr... Sun Page 3 was not looked at solely by men in their 20s. (And didn't Samantha Fox appear on her 18th birthday?)
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Errr... Sun Page 3 was not looked at solely by men in their 20s. (And didn't Samantha Fox appear on her 18th birthday?)
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
16th birthday, I think.
But like I said, what was considered acceptable in the Eighties is not now and rightly so. Page 3 has been consigned to the dustbin of history years ago.
I am on my Friday train. it was rammed packed at the beginning, so I had to sit in First 'cos I couldn't get to the other coaches. But now it's thinned out so I'm back in Second with the other poors. First has got a shit-ton more legroom and elbow-room, I'll tell you that.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Errr... Sun Page 3 was not looked at solely by men in their 20s. (And didn't Samantha Fox appear on her 18th birthday?)
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
A solid series of by election results in the new "heartland" of Surrey for the LDs with gains at both County and District/Borough level.
The County Council now has 39 Conservative and 42 non-Conservative Councillors and it will be interesting to see, IF the elections for the Shadow Authorities due to take place next year are postponed a year, whether some of the remaining County Councillors will fancy serving up to a seven year term.
That's how to suspend democracy - not through authoritarianism but reorganisation.
I do wonder if the UK is heading towards a French type election, which pits the Liberal Democrats against Reform.
They don't seem to overlap. Reform are/have found themselves in Red Wall territory mainly because the Conservatives 'one-nation' Tories have been gutted from the party by Boris. LibDems have the largest share of the leafy shires constituencies. How Reform can pivot from the left behind to bank managers (see previous quote) will be difficult especially since they are a one-man band.
Labour have a spread throughout the spectrum from RW to LS but it's definitely weaker at the RW end and stronger at the LS end. Kemi's chasing the Reform rhetoric will simply reinforce the damage done by Boris. Have I mentioned she's a dud*.
* It would be more appropriate to say she was the least-worst option for LOTO though that penny hasn't dropped yet. She has an unusually high opinion of her own abilities.
As a conservative I am content that Badenoch is the best leader for the party and she had an excellent conference and is appearing more in the media
Her "excellent Conference" was mainly excellent because it has been talked up by loyalists like yourself. The fact it wasn't the anticipated clown show (much the same as Labour- no coughing, no letters falling off sign boards) it was deemed a win.
Most commentators were complimentary and general it is accepted she had a good conference
Most commentators said Starmer had a good conference until Farage offered his withering right to reply, which was given more of an airing and gained more traction than Starmer's original. And after that, polled voters stated they hated Starmer and his speech, even as mainstream commentators were still nodding in approval with Starmer.
I may have misplaced the timeline, but wasn't that the conference which was overshadowed with Angela Rayner resigning? Fairly sure it was a bit of a shambles?
No that was the "reset".
The Conference was widely anticipated to be a disaster as King over the Water Burnham arrived to claim his crown. He left early with his tail between his legs and Starmer made a dreary but gaff- free speech which was hailed because contrary to expectations the wheels remained on the Labour bus. Then Farage struck like a Cobra...
Politics would be so much easier without opposition politicians criticising. Nobly, Labour never did that when they were in opposition
For shame.
Starmer, in opposition, took an unexpected interest in biology and tried to name a variant of a new species in honour the Prime Minister
I suspect an awful lot of Starmer hatred stems from his being nasty to poor Boris, our King of Hearts
You are saying that the Green/Fruit&Nut Part types are motivated by him dissing Boris? Or the Labour membership?
Starmer is simply a C- Prime Minister - a tin ear for politics and no leadership skills
Zack isn't the Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, GBNews, etc, etc and the Johnson loving cohort on PB. Starmer was nasty to the greatest Prime Minister of all of time.
Starmer is still is a very poor politician but the unhinged hatred is quite remarkable. If you don't believe me read Allister Heath and Allison Pearson in the Telegraph. The vitriol is palpable.
Although on the other hand Starmer did stab St. Jeremy in the front, so you may have a point.
Unhinged hatred?
I can recall Labour MPs celebrating the attempted murder of a Conservative PM.
You don’t seem to get that people won’t love the Labour Party and its leader just because.
Are you talking about the Brighton Bomb? My, you have a long memory.
Your post has almost proven my point.
Where have I demanded love for the Labour Party? I haven't had anything to do with the Labour Party since 2010. I do prefer them to your lot though. I have no particular concern as to whether the Labour Party survive or die. I suspect I am far less partisan than you.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Errr... Sun Page 3 was not looked at solely by men in their 20s. (And didn't Samantha Fox appear on her 18th birthday?)
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
Sam Fox appeared on Page 3 aged 16 years and 10 months, the youngest model to do so at the time. This was legal then, but is now illegal (the age for such content having been raised to 18), meaning it is illegal to posses some copies of The Sun from the 1980s.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Errr... Sun Page 3 was not looked at solely by men in their 20s. (And didn't Samantha Fox appear on her 18th birthday?)
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
16th birthday, I think.
But like I said, what was considered acceptable in the Eighties is not now and rightly so. Page 3 has been consigned to the dustbin of history years ago.
And an awful lot of the reaction we are seeing now boils down to "it was acceptable in the eighties". It really wasn't.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Errr... Sun Page 3 was not looked at solely by men in their 20s. (And didn't Samantha Fox appear on her 18th birthday?)
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
Sam Fox appeared on Page 3 aged 16 years and 10 months, the youngest model to do so at the time. This was legal then, but is now illegal (the age for such content having been raised to 18), meaning it is illegal to posses some copies of The Sun from the 1980s.
It's remarkable that this story isn't much higher profile. But it happens so regularly. We just shrug our collective shoulders and move on. Middle Eastern nutter does Middle Eastern nutter thing, what you gonna do?
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
It’s really not. Human men are turned on by how women look. Most men in their early thirties wont actually want to date those girls, but they will find them sexually attractive.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
It's remarkable that this story isn't much higher profile. But it happens so regularly. We just shrug our collective shoulders and move on. Middle Eastern nutter does Middle Eastern nutter thing, what you gonna do?
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
I quite enjoyed Dan Carlin's series about WW1. Quite grim - but very well done (IMHO). I think this is the series :
There is an episode almost entirely given over to the rapid advance of artillery and machine guns if I remember correctly. I had no idea of the 'progress' before I listened to it.
What’s fascinating is just how much the lessons learned in WW1 governed how we fought in the second war. People get distracted by mechanisation and tanks, but generals like Monty fought huge set piece WW1 battles. Surprise, huge bombardment, limited gains, defend against counter attack. Perhaps only Patton in the West really fought differently.
...plus the Wehrmacht in 1940. Basically, get lots of light tanks, go thru woods, then go "whee" when you get to the countryside. By the time the French got set up for their set pieces, ze Germans had won.
Ukraine's really changed things. TheChieftain is insistent that the tank still has a place, but tanks on their own can only do blitzkriegs. If they move to the supporting infantry role as per "Fury", the tanks are safe, but the infantry are getting dead lots. Their hopes are in speed and anti-drone things.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
A little known fact is that Lloyd George sent the Welsh Guards to countries with plenty of sheep.
Comments
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
He would get a text message saying the Supreme Court had ruled that breakfast was now a bad thing.
And drop his plate on the floor then and there, as an instant convert to BreakfastIsBad.
And that's the problem. It would be lovely to separate the world into Goodies and Baddies. People who are purely victims and people who are purely opressors. But most people are much more messed up than that. What unites Corbyn and Robinson is their insitence that the world has pure friends and pure enemies. It's just a shame that they disagree on who is who.
This is anti-Semites threatening Jews. And the police response is to tell the Jews to stay away.
He is quite explicit in wanting to replace Labour.
A quite extraordinary statement here from PCS union:
"To add insult to injury, the government’s recent cuts to the overseas aid budget will not only lead to job losses and a loss of valuable expertise, but could cost hundreds of thousands of lives overseas."
Equating a few thousand job losses with the deaths of 100x more people abroad.
As an aside, I know quite a few people at FCDO desperately hoping for redundancy. Department is a shitshow and they'd be delighted to get paid to leave. Ironic in a way their union is desperately fighting to prevent his.
Ain't happening any time soon.
Polanski is the shiny new toy, it will be Sultana and Jezza by Christmas
he does, and always would, deny anything but he's not got good form for being the most honest of people
I think bussing them directly from airport to game and back under police escort would be fine.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/oct/17/maccabi-tel-aviv-fans-banned-aston-villa
Not the position people might expect a high profile Guardian writer to take.
Read the Barney Ronay article I posted - I know you are a Polanski fan boy right now but possibly he’s not the Messiah.
Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz!
https://www.loonyparty.com/
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01186-9/fulltext
Our programmes are smaller so the number of deaths will be smaller numbers, but behind every statistic is a tragic story. Here's Myanmar, where Rohingya are literally dying of starvation.
https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-usaid-thailand-trump-rubio-aid-7f6919a1863ceea2ddf6708e47bb88f0
They had a little new leader bounce and hes flavour of the month. They are very unlikely to get into double figures in seats.
Starmer is still is a very poor politician but the unhinged hatred is quite remarkable. If you don't believe me read Allister Heath and Allison Pearson in the Telegraph. The vitriol is palpable.
Although on the other hand Starmer did stab St. Jeremy in the front, so you may have a point.
I do wonder if their existence is actually a boon to Reform.
Britain is a f-king awesome place, and we're a great people.
He could still be King of the Jungle.
It's worth a read of her autobiography of the incident:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/15/prince-andrew-virginia-giuffre-abuse-epstein-maxwell?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
I can recall Labour MPs celebrating the attempted murder of a Conservative PM.
You don’t seem to get that people won’t love the Labour Party and its leader just because.
There was a whole bunch of people selling newspapers for the NF and British Movement.
Sometimes it seems what's actually going on is that the 'hated' person is a scapegoat or whipping boy.
New PB rule.
You slag off Britain you're getting exiled to ConHome for five years.
And now, having spent an hour watching the QT episode I can without fear of even the slightest contradiction say that the Greens were just their usual useless selves. The whole programme was dispiriting - all the panellists were very poor.
Polanski is pure schoolkid politics. I really worry if you think he's anything other than that. The best performance came from Zia Yusef, and I struggle to agree with him. Quite what the Tories and Labour are doing fielding such awful people in front of the media escapes me.
Yes managing the situation may be tough, but tough shit, you signed up for hard jobs mr policeman. (Not you, clearly).
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
https://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-50-blueprint-for-armageddon-i/
There is an episode almost entirely given over to the rapid advance of artillery and machine guns if I remember correctly. I had no idea of the 'progress' before I listened to it.
But @boulay said, "Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women." And, while certainly not proven, there is an explicit allegation of that.
Under multiple US political jurisdictions and controlling parties, over a number of years, no charges.
Just Epstein and Maxwell.
Not a single “guest”
Behaviour that was winked at in the Seventies and Eighties is simply not acceptable in the modern workplace, and rightly so.
As a lot of TV celebrities in UK, USA and elsewhere are finding out.
And it should be called out when it occurs.
But I would note - as @tlg86 has pointed out - that some Macabbi fans (like pretty much any soccer fans) use the game as an excuse for a fight. The Maccabi v Hapoel derby in Tel Aviv rarely passes off without at least some hospitalisations and arrests. And I'm not sure that the burning of Palestinian flags by visiting Maccabi fans in Amsterdam werre the actions of a group who just wanted to watch the game.
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
But like I said, what was considered acceptable in the Eighties is not now and rightly so. Page 3 has been consigned to the dustbin of history years ago.
There's a street in Fort William (Earl of Inverness Road) ready and waiting for you. Also, will the new DoY become heritor of 10,000 men?
Your post has almost proven my point.
Where have I demanded love for the Labour Party? I haven't had anything to do with the Labour Party since 2010. I do prefer them to your lot though. I have no particular concern as to whether the Labour Party survive or die. I suspect I am far less partisan than you.
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
https://www.yourparty.uk/
Ukraine's really changed things. TheChieftain is insistent that the tank still has a place, but tanks on their own can only do blitzkriegs. If they move to the supporting infantry role as per "Fury", the tanks are safe, but the infantry are getting dead lots. Their hopes are in speed and anti-drone things.