A hotel migrant who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in Epping was apparently seen walking around a town centre hours after he was released from prison by mistake.
It’s ok though. According to posters like Tres on this very site, this isn’t a child molestor. They only touched a knee (lol!). And were only prosecuted and subsequently jailed due purely to the colour of their skin and the inherent prejudice of the judicial system.
It must be a “cultural” thing I’m unaware of and I must understand and be educated more to alleviate my unconscious bias against child abuse.
I've been hearing rumours he has actually released on purpose by a RNLI member.
That’s brilliant! Well done you! Let us know on PB the next time you get to fondle a 14 year old. We can inform the authorities accordingly.
It wasn’t just knee fondling. He proposed sex, children, marriage and a move to Nigeria, to a fourteen year old
I’m waiting for the Safeguarding Minister to tell us that it sounds just like a night out in Birmingham
Birmingham notwithstanding - and it’s a curious place. But yes. Absolutely. Which makes Tres’s comment earlier all the more reprehensible - and their/his/her attempt to make light of the charges the individual convened was found guilty of and imprisoned for all the more nauseating. And that individual is now roaming who knows where. Laughing at us. Laughing at our judicial system and laughing at our law.
But for Tres he just touched a knee. So what’s the fuss?
don't give yourself an aneurysm, it's just words on a screen
“Words on a screen” can lead to all sorts of issues For reference I’d recommend that you avoid touching 14 year old girls knees. Even if you think that that’s ok, or think RNLI members can in any way be brought into thiis conversation for reasons only known to your peculiar mind
As I say. If you really do want to do either of the above I’m sure your “words on a screen” can be of use to anyone wanting to demonstrate your “unique” mindset.
Turns on R5, random member of the public brought on to the show...what are they worried about...racist migrant hotel protests.
The problem is political activists are far more likely to phone in to these shows. For many years I didn't realise that and thought they were just average people.
No denial that it was a corrupt act. And btw, the felon pled guilty.
Reporter: On the pardon, Binance has significant business interests with the President’s family’s crypto company. How do you respond to allegations that this is a corrupt act?
Leavitt: The President is exercising his constitutional authority to grant clemency requests. This was an overly prosecuted case by the Biden administration. https://x.com/Acyn/status/1981417027442266367
I never understood why this power even exists. Its is just open for corruption and has been repeatedly.
It exists because it's in the constitution.
The framers were not omniscient or infallible, and I guess the idea of Washington issuing pardons in return for massive bribes just didn't even occur to them. It was literally unthinkable.
I understand this, but what was the thinking behind it in the first place?
It is just, I think, a prerogative power they copied from us.
“It is not to be doubted, that a single man of prudence and good sense is better fitted, in delicate conjunctures, to balance the motives which may plead for and against the remission of the punishment, than any numerous body whatever.”
Which rather assumes that the imprudent, of no sense whatsoever, would never occupy the office.
As I said, not omniscient.
They devised a system with multiple checks (the pardon power itself was seen as a check on the judiciary) and failsafes, with the option to amend and improve, but no system is infallible.
Turns on R5, random member of the public brought on to the show...what are they worried about...racist migrant hotel protests.
The problem is political activists are far more likely to phone in to these shows. For many years I didn't realise that and thought they were just average people.
More than that, call-screeners ask them first and select the juicy calls. See also Voxpops and the editing thereof.
Google is so shit these days it won't tell me who said "Editing is a medium" but it's true.
A hotel migrant who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in Epping was apparently seen walking around a town centre hours after he was released from prison by mistake.
It’s ok though. According to posters like Tres on this very site, this isn’t a child molestor. They only touched a knee (lol!). And were only prosecuted and subsequently jailed due purely to the colour of their skin and the inherent prejudice of the judicial system.
It must be a “cultural” thing I’m unaware of and I must understand and be educated more to alleviate my unconscious bias against child abuse.
I've been hearing rumours he has actually released on purpose by a RNLI member.
That’s brilliant! Well done you! Let us know on PB the next time you get to fondle a 14 year old. We can inform the authorities accordingly.
It wasn’t just knee fondling. He proposed sex, children, marriage and a move to Nigeria, to a fourteen year old
I’m waiting for the Safeguarding Minister to tell us that it sounds just like a night out in Birmingham
Birmingham notwithstanding - and it’s a curious place. But yes. Absolutely. Which makes Tres’s comment earlier all the more reprehensible - and their/his/her attempt to make light of the charges the individual convened was found guilty of and imprisoned for all the more nauseating. And that individual is now roaming who knows where. Laughing at us. Laughing at our judicial system and laughing at our law.
But for Tres he just touched a knee. So what’s the fuss?
Birmingham isn't curious at all, it's the most run-of-the-mill, average, typical big town you could imagine.
Turns on R5, random member of the public brought on to the show...what are they worried about...racist migrant hotel protests.
The problem is political activists are far more likely to phone in to these shows. For many years I didn't realise that and thought they were just average people.
More than that, call-screeners ask them first and select the juicy calls. See also Voxpops and the editing thereof.
Google is so shit these days it won't tell me who said "Editing is a medium" but it's true.
When Dad was a senior police officer his comments to camera were notoriously bland and uninteresting. So much so that they were never broadcast…
A hotel migrant who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in Epping was apparently seen walking around a town centre hours after he was released from prison by mistake.
It’s ok though. According to posters like Tres on this very site, this isn’t a child molestor. They only touched a knee (lol!). And were only prosecuted and subsequently jailed due purely to the colour of their skin and the inherent prejudice of the judicial system.
It must be a “cultural” thing I’m unaware of and I must understand and be educated more to alleviate my unconscious bias against child abuse.
I've been hearing rumours he has actually released on purpose by a RNLI member.
That’s brilliant! Well done you! Let us know on PB the next time you get to fondle a 14 year old. We can inform the authorities accordingly.
It wasn’t just knee fondling. He proposed sex, children, marriage and a move to Nigeria, to a fourteen year old
I’m waiting for the Safeguarding Minister to tell us that it sounds just like a night out in Birmingham
Birmingham notwithstanding - and it’s a curious place. But yes. Absolutely. Which makes Tres’s comment earlier all the more reprehensible - and their/his/her attempt to make light of the charges the individual convened was found guilty of and imprisoned for all the more nauseating. And that individual is now roaming who knows where. Laughing at us. Laughing at our judicial system and laughing at our law.
But for Tres he just touched a knee. So what’s the fuss?
Birmingham isn't curious at all, it's the most run-of-the-mill, average, typical big town you could imagine.
I was at the Uni there in the late nineties. “Curious” was the best word I could think of other than “shithole” And Sellly Oak in the 90s was a shithole. Unless you were pissed and went to the Dome nightclub. Which I did on worryingly regular occasions.
Turns on R5, random member of the public brought on to the show...what are they worried about...racist migrant hotel protests.
The problem is political activists are far more likely to phone in to these shows. For many years I didn't realise that and thought they were just average people.
More than that, call-screeners ask them first and select the juicy calls. See also Voxpops and the editing thereof.
Google is so shit these days it won't tell me who said "Editing is a medium" but it's true.
This any good? (IA have recently introduced a text mode)
Turns on R5, random member of the public brought on to the show...what are they worried about...racist migrant hotel protests.
The problem is political activists are far more likely to phone in to these shows. For many years I didn't realise that and thought they were just average people.
More than that, call-screeners ask them first and select the juicy calls. See also Voxpops and the editing thereof.
Google is so shit these days it won't tell me who said "Editing is a medium" but it's true.
This any good? (IA have recently introduced a text mode)
Turns on R5, random member of the public brought on to the show...what are they worried about...racist migrant hotel protests.
The problem is political activists are far more likely to phone in to these shows. For many years I didn't realise that and thought they were just average people.
More than that, call-screeners ask them first and select the juicy calls. See also Voxpops and the editing thereof.
Google is so shit these days it won't tell me who said "Editing is a medium" but it's true.
Turns on R5, random member of the public brought on to the show...what are they worried about...racist migrant hotel protests.
The problem is political activists are far more likely to phone in to these shows. For many years I didn't realise that and thought they were just average people.
More than that, call-screeners ask them first and select the juicy calls. See also Voxpops and the editing thereof.
Google is so shit these days it won't tell me who said "Editing is a medium" but it's true.
This any good? (IA have recently introduced a text mode)
In before SKS tweets abour how ID Cards and AI will solve this problem.
"Ever had to transfer a prisoner and not sure which which ones you are moving to the maximum security prison and which you're giving a lift to the train station?
With digital ID there's no need to go rummaging round for old paperwork. Just check our simple unhackable-we-promise Digital ID database and you'll avoid being on the front pages."
In before SKS tweets abour how ID Cards and AI will solve this problem.
"Ever had to transfer a prisoner and not sure which which ones you are moving to the maximum security prison and which you're giving a lift to the train station?
With digital ID there's no need to go rummaging round for old paperwork. Just check our simple unhackable-we-promise Digital ID database and you'll avoid being on the front pages."
ID cards in France and Germany don't seem to help much in dealing with illegal immigration.
Turns on R5, random member of the public brought on to the show...what are they worried about...racist migrant hotel protests.
The problem is political activists are far more likely to phone in to these shows. For many years I didn't realise that and thought they were just average people.
More than that, call-screeners ask them first and select the juicy calls. See also Voxpops and the editing thereof.
Google is so shit these days it won't tell me who said "Editing is a medium" but it's true.
Try Bing
I have only used Bing when transiting through Shanghai. They obey Chinese law; Google refuse and are blocked.
In before SKS tweets abour how ID Cards and AI will solve this problem.
"Ever had to transfer a prisoner and not sure which which ones you are moving to the maximum security prison and which you're giving a lift to the train station?
With digital ID there's no need to go rummaging round for old paperwork. Just check our simple unhackable-we-promise Digital ID database and you'll avoid being on the front pages."
ID cards in France and Germany don't seem to help much in dealing with illegal immigration.
This week the Government's failure to find a solution to the Maccabi ban was then overshadowed by the revelation a small boat migrant had returned after less than a month, which in turn was overshadowed by the collapse of the rape gang inquiry, which in turn was overshadowed by Labour's collapse in Wales, which in turn was overshadowed by the conclusive proof Starmer lied over China, which in turn has been overshadowed by the revelation the Epping sex offender is on the loose. One week. One. Week.
This week the Government's failure to find a solution to the Maccabi ban was then overshadowed by the revelation a small boat migrant had returned after less than a month, which in turn was overshadowed by the collapse of the rape gang inquiry, which in turn was overshadowed by Labour's collapse in Wales, which in turn was overshadowed by the conclusive proof Starmer lied over China, which in turn has been overshadowed by the revelation the Epping sex offender is on the loose. One week. One. Week.
Bless. Spare a thought for these MPs. They are still coming to terms with the idea that they might not be in Parliament for very long. I think a lot of them expected the heady days of 1997.
About the escape or the fact his party is going to be obliterated beyond hope come the next election?
The Justice department can't cope because it has been cut to the bone since Cameron.
“Can’t cope” - you mean - not let convicted criminals go free? Not exactly sure what Cameron has to do with a prisoner beingl given liberty. Does more money mean the prison service don’t let the prisoners under their custody out? Shall we bung them a few more quid to ensure prisoners aren’t just let go? What’s the bite point in pay for prison service officers between “let them go” and “we’d better not let them escape”? An extra 50p per hour?
Turns on R5, random member of the public brought on to the show...what are they worried about...racist migrant hotel protests.
The problem is political activists are far more likely to phone in to these shows. For many years I didn't realise that and thought they were just average people.
More than that, call-screeners ask them first and select the juicy calls. See also Voxpops and the editing thereof.
Google is so shit these days it won't tell me who said "Editing is a medium" but it's true.
I heard recently that Google deliberately made its search worse, so that you would have to repeat your search a few times, instead of finding what you were looking for first time, and therefore they'd increase their ad revenue, because they'd make ad revenue each time you adjusted your search to try and find what you were after. Now that's enshittification.
I can't work out what the angle is with crap driving directions though.
Congratulations to Eric Lu, who just won the Chopin competition:
Eric Lu, a 27-year-old pianist from Massachusetts, won the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, becoming the first American since 1970 to receive the top honor in a contest regarded by some as the Olympics of classical music.
Wow. The fiasco with the freed prisoner is mind blowing. This is probably the most infamous detainee in the country right now. Why wasn't everyone on the staff from the governor downwards overseeing every millisecond of the handover? (When I worked for the Benefits Agency we'd pull out all the stops just to ensure that the old pensioner who'd turned a hundred hadn't croaked before he received his telegram from the Queen.) Lammy (or even Sir Keir for that matter) should fall on his sword, if only to give an inkling that someone somewhere has a scrap of pride.
Axel Rudabakana aside, in PR terms this is probably the last prisoner the government would want to be mistakenly released
Santa Claus checks his list twice. You might expect the prison service to make sure they get this sort of thing right.
This week the Government's failure to find a solution to the Maccabi ban was then overshadowed by the revelation a small boat migrant had returned after less than a month, which in turn was overshadowed by the collapse of the rape gang inquiry, which in turn was overshadowed by Labour's collapse in Wales, which in turn was overshadowed by the conclusive proof Starmer lied over China, which in turn has been overshadowed by the revelation the Epping sex offender is on the loose. One week. One. Week.
This week the Government's failure to find a solution to the Maccabi ban was then overshadowed by the revelation a small boat migrant had returned after less than a month, which in turn was overshadowed by the collapse of the rape gang inquiry, which in turn was overshadowed by Labour's collapse in Wales, which in turn was overshadowed by the conclusive proof Starmer lied over China, which in turn has been overshadowed by the revelation the Epping sex offender is on the loose. One week. One. Week.
They found a solution to the Maccabi ban, maccabi declined their ticket allocation after fan violence at one of their domestic games and the intelligence that they have a minority(?) of violent racist travelling fans was leaked. The small boat migrant will go straight back to France, CPS responsible for dropping the spying case, it was a by-election, so that just leaves the Justice dept screw up.
He's still to explain, as far as I'm aware, why that's relevant when the alleged offences were committed before Starmer was in government.
Anyone ?
Because the issue isn't that offences were committed, but the reason why the prosecution collapsed.
He says prosecutors were asking 'not what the then Government was prepared to do, or did, say in public about China (whether framed as its policy or otherwise, and whether as a matter of fact true or not), but rather whether China was - as a matter of fact - an active threat to national security'
The statements provided to them were quite clear about China being a threat to national security.
I don't understand why the DPP hasn't resigned. They've completely fucked this up and they're desperately trying to blame the government for it, but the witness statements are available to read and they seem pretty clear to me - China is a threat to Britain.
The Metropolitan Police is reviewing 9,000 cases in a huge new grooming gangs probe despite Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s previous denials any operated in the capital.
The announcement comes after an Express/MyLondon investigation exposed several potential grooming gang cases in London appeared to have been overlooked. Khan has repeatedly stated there were “no reports” or “indications” that London was blighted by the type of abuse that affected towns like Rochdale and Rotherham.
But on Friday evening, the Met revealed it has 9,000 cases to reassess.
In a letter from Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to the Mayor, London’s top cop tells Khan he is “responding to questions about child sexual exploitation” adding that “any sexual offending against children is abhorrent but group-based offending, including that characterised as ‘Grooming Gangs’, is particularly insidious. And devastating in its profound impact on the children affected.”
You would have to be an idiot of the highest order to believe that the largest city in the country would be immune to a type of offence that has been so prevalent everywhere else in the country. What is wrong with people?
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
He should enjoy while he can. The next Democrat President will almost certainly remodel again to some extent and wlll rename the ballroom after someone Trump would hate.
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
...whilst using Ionos and Ground News and playing War Thunder and Evony: The King's Return...
(seriously, has anybody ever used Manscaped? Why in the name of the Lord above would you want to? Is anybody's scrotum so attractive that you wish to display it shorn?)
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
...whilst using Ionos and Ground News and playing War Thunder and Evony: The King's Return...
(seriously, has anybody ever used Manscaped? Why in the name of the Lord above would you want to? Is anybody's scrotum so attractive that you wish to display it shorn?)
Their products aren't even their own "innovatative" design, its just cheap Chinese products repackaged.
Most other companies that tried this for other products have blown up pretty quickly.
Welcome to Hotel Hamas: 150 dangerous terrorists released by Israel under Gaza peace deal are staying at five-star luxury resort alongside unsuspecting Western tourists
Rachel Reeves is preparing to give more than a million low-paid workers a pay rise in the budget, despite warnings from businesses that she risks “pricing jobs out of existence”.
The Times has been told that the chancellor is likely to confirm a rise in the national living wage of about 4 per cent, from £12.21 to at least £12.70, in an effort to deliver on her pledge to improve living standards.
The government will also commit itself to extending the living wage to people between the ages of 18 and 21 as part of a commitment to “raise the floor” on wages.
Rachel Reeves is preparing to give more than a million low-paid workers a pay rise in the budget, despite warnings from businesses that she risks “pricing jobs out of existence”.
The Times has been told that the chancellor is likely to confirm a rise in the national living wage of about 4 per cent, from £12.21 to at least £12.70, in an effort to deliver on her pledge to improve living standards.
The government will also commit itself to extending the living wage to people between the ages of 18 and 21 as part of a commitment to “raise the floor” on wages.
Funny how those who drivel on endlessly about copying Denmark never mention that it doesn't have a minimum wage.
The minimum wage should be scrapped, not raised, as it distorts the labour market by forcing business to pay people more than they're worth, raising unemployment, reducing competitiveness and the incentive to increase productivity amongst those who need it most, increasing compliance costs and inflation. In fact it's hard to think of a more damaging policy (though the looking through the current government's actions gives a pretty long list of them).
But understanding the harm done needs politicians and journalists to think things through for thirty seconds, so we're stuck with it unfortunately.
Welcome to Hotel Hamas: 150 dangerous terrorists released by Israel under Gaza peace deal are staying at five-star luxury resort alongside unsuspecting Western tourists
Welcome to Hotel Hamas: 150 dangerous terrorists released by Israel under Gaza peace deal are staying at five-star luxury resort alongside unsuspecting Western tourists
Welcome to Hotel Hamas: 150 dangerous terrorists released by Israel under Gaza peace deal are staying at five-star luxury resort alongside unsuspecting Western tourists
The Metropolitan Police is reviewing 9,000 cases in a huge new grooming gangs probe despite Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s previous denials any operated in the capital.
The announcement comes after an Express/MyLondon investigation exposed several potential grooming gang cases in London appeared to have been overlooked. Khan has repeatedly stated there were “no reports” or “indications” that London was blighted by the type of abuse that affected towns like Rochdale and Rotherham.
But on Friday evening, the Met revealed it has 9,000 cases to reassess.
In a letter from Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to the Mayor, London’s top cop tells Khan he is “responding to questions about child sexual exploitation” adding that “any sexual offending against children is abhorrent but group-based offending, including that characterised as ‘Grooming Gangs’, is particularly insidious. And devastating in its profound impact on the children affected.”
You would have to be an idiot of the highest order to believe that the largest city in the country would be immune to a type of offence that has been so prevalent everywhere else in the country. What is wrong with people?
Well, if you believe the offenders are from a specific small part of Pakistan, then the problem should be isolated to wherever they settled which is up north, not up North London. If on the other hand it turns out others are at it as well, then you will be accused by some of diluting or even wrecking the national inquiry. Especially if the Met review is forecast to last years and cost millions, as in your link:-
Rachel Reeves is preparing to give more than a million low-paid workers a pay rise in the budget, despite warnings from businesses that she risks “pricing jobs out of existence”.
The Times has been told that the chancellor is likely to confirm a rise in the national living wage of about 4 per cent, from £12.21 to at least £12.70, in an effort to deliver on her pledge to improve living standards.
The government will also commit itself to extending the living wage to people between the ages of 18 and 21 as part of a commitment to “raise the floor” on wages.
Someone should compile a bingo card of all the measures the press (or other parties) have told us will be in the budget. One month to the budget; two months to Christmas.
Congratulations to Eric Lu, who just won the Chopin competition:
Eric Lu, a 27-year-old pianist from Massachusetts, won the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, becoming the first American since 1970 to receive the top honor in a contest regarded by some as the Olympics of classical music.
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
He should enjoy while he can. The next Democrat President will almost certainly remodel again to some extent and wlll rename the ballroom after someone Trump would hate.
'The Letitia James Integrity Ballroom' has a certain ring to it.
Welcome to Hotel Hamas: 150 dangerous terrorists released by Israel under Gaza peace deal are staying at five-star luxury resort alongside unsuspecting Western tourists
No denial that it was a corrupt act. And btw, the felon pled guilty.
Reporter: On the pardon, Binance has significant business interests with the President’s family’s crypto company. How do you respond to allegations that this is a corrupt act?
Leavitt: The President is exercising his constitutional authority to grant clemency requests. This was an overly prosecuted case by the Biden administration. https://x.com/Acyn/status/1981417027442266367
I never understood why this power even exists. Its is just open for corruption and has been repeatedly.
It exists because it's in the constitution.
The framers were not omniscient or infallible, and I guess the idea of Washington issuing pardons in return for massive bribes just didn't even occur to them. It was literally unthinkable.
I understand this, but what was the thinking behind it in the first place?
The USA was designed as U.K. 2.0
Hence the replacement of the Squirearchy with elected offices (judges, Sheriffs)
The unelected senate was the House of Lords, but appointed by the States.
The President was supposed to be a replaceable Constitutional Monarch. Think George III, but local and elected.
The power of pardon by The King is something from before history.
There are many ironies about the American Revolution; that it was the best event in human history for thirteen colonies to break away but deplorable treason for eleven states to do so a few decades later, that it was backed by the much more despotic French king, ruined himself financially and ended up guillotined partly as a result, that its promise of liberty had a strange lacuna when it came to slaves, that it was a taxpayer's revolt that was weirdly intolerant when its own taxpayers revolted a few years later, that it was founded on treason and tax evasion but condemned many for precisely those offences...
But perhaps the most cherishable is that a rebellion supposedly against despotism has ended up with a much more absolute head of state and government than the country it was rebelling against.
Of course most Americans are congenitally opposed to thinking things through and are mulishly obstinate in their conviction that their country's system of government is the best ever and unable to see themselves as others do so you won't get them acknowledging any of that. But I still find it amusing to reflect on from time to time...
Welcome to Hotel Hamas: 150 dangerous terrorists released by Israel under Gaza peace deal are staying at five-star luxury resort alongside unsuspecting Western tourists
Sad that Tom Walker (Jonathan Pie) can't find the motivation to do his ranty videos about Labour the way he did about the Tories. From his tweets he has massive buyer remorse, most recently about ID cards, but can't find it to do the vids.
He’s not alone either. Led By Donkeys among others were so happy to tell truth to power when the Tories were in charge. Now they’re neutered
Shouldn’t that be a simple question for a Tory - not Badenoch. Point of order: ask the speaker to request the PM to either (a) correct his misstatement in the house or (b) sack the DPP for lying
Sad that Tom Walker (Jonathan Pie) can't find the motivation to do his ranty videos about Labour the way he did about the Tories. From his tweets he has massive buyer remorse, most recently about ID cards, but can't find it to do the vids.
He’s not alone either. Led By Donkeys among others were so happy to tell truth to power when the Tories were in charge. Now they’re neutered
Arnie did a lot of 80's classics: Terminator, Commando, Predator. Total Recall even, if you ignore it was 1990. But Running Man was down there with Red Heat. It's not bad, it's just not very good.
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
Seems reasonable. When all this is over, America is going to need something from the Trump Era to remain as a warning from history.
Sad that Tom Walker (Jonathan Pie) can't find the motivation to do his ranty videos about Labour the way he did about the Tories. From his tweets he has massive buyer remorse, most recently about ID cards, but can't find it to do the vids.
He’s not alone either. Led By Donkeys among others were so happy to tell truth to power when the Tories were in charge. Now they’re neutered
It’s almost as if they were astroturf groups
Obviously Led By Donkeys are. But Tom Walker / Jonathan Pie is more disappointing, he has a great.character, but he clearly cant find it in himself to do it with the current government. Where as things like Thick of It, absolutely nobody was off limits. Mark Thomas back in the day loved to take the piss out of Social Worker types despite being on the march with them.
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
Sad that Tom Walker (Jonathan Pie) can't find the motivation to do his ranty videos about Labour the way he did about the Tories. From his tweets he has massive buyer remorse, most recently about ID cards, but can't find it to do the vids.
He’s not alone either. Led By Donkeys among others were so happy to tell truth to power when the Tories were in charge. Now they’re neutered
It’s almost as if they were astroturf groups
Obviously Led By Donkeys are. But Tom Walker / Jonathan Pie is more disappointing, he has a great.character, but he clearly cant find it in himself to do it with the current government. Where as things like Thick of It, absolutely nobody was off limits. Mark Thomas back in the day loved to take the piss out of Social Worker types despite being on the march with them.
I'm going to blame the culture wars being on a hot war footing. I'm not keen to get into who and why that is so, but I believe it to be the case.
In peacetime, taking the mickey out of your side is healthy and normal. In an actual war, it's treachery.
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
He should enjoy while he can. The next Democrat President will almost certainly remodel again to some extent and wlll rename the ballroom after someone Trump would hate.
'The Letitia James Integrity Ballroom' has a certain ring to it.
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
He should enjoy while he can. The next Democrat President will almost certainly remodel again to some extent and wlll rename the ballroom after someone Trump would hate.
'The Letitia James Integrity Ballroom' has a certain ring to it.
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
He should enjoy while he can. The next Democrat President will almost certainly remodel again to some extent and wlll rename the ballroom after someone Trump would hate.
'The Letitia James Integrity Ballroom' has a certain ring to it.
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
Seems reasonable. When all this is over, America is going to need something from the Trump Era to remain as a warning from history.
I expect most of it will be destroyed in the coming civil war.
Rachel Reeves is preparing to give more than a million low-paid workers a pay rise in the budget, despite warnings from businesses that she risks “pricing jobs out of existence”.
The Times has been told that the chancellor is likely to confirm a rise in the national living wage of about 4 per cent, from £12.21 to at least £12.70, in an effort to deliver on her pledge to improve living standards.
The government will also commit itself to extending the living wage to people between the ages of 18 and 21 as part of a commitment to “raise the floor” on wages.
Funny how those who drivel on endlessly about copying Denmark never mention that it doesn't have a minimum wage.
The minimum wage should be scrapped, not raised, as it distorts the labour market by forcing business to pay people more than they're worth, raising unemployment, reducing competitiveness and the incentive to increase productivity amongst those who need it most, increasing compliance costs and inflation. In fact it's hard to think of a more damaging policy (though the looking through the current government's actions gives a pretty long list of them).
But understanding the harm done needs politicians and journalists to think things through for thirty seconds, so we're stuck with it unfortunately.
The counter to that is we've had massive immigration and yet we haven't see massive unemployment - indeed, the minimum wage serves as a disincentive for firms to rely on cheap labour. As long as Labour keep cutting migration (and targets dodgy outfits swerving the rule) then I can't see that changing to a large degree.
In terms of the benefits bill, in theory you need wages at the lower end to rise pretty quickly to provide an incentive for people to work (in reality I don't think you can see this effect too much because the marginal utlity of cash for someone on UC means they can tolerate fairly low wages and still want to work - conditions are much more important IMO).
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
The Epstein Ballroom is the name doing the rounds
I hear the Epstein Ballroom will be illuminated solely by gaslighting.
Rachel Reeves is preparing to give more than a million low-paid workers a pay rise in the budget, despite warnings from businesses that she risks “pricing jobs out of existence”.
The Times has been told that the chancellor is likely to confirm a rise in the national living wage of about 4 per cent, from £12.21 to at least £12.70, in an effort to deliver on her pledge to improve living standards.
The government will also commit itself to extending the living wage to people between the ages of 18 and 21 as part of a commitment to “raise the floor” on wages.
Funny how those who drivel on endlessly about copying Denmark never mention that it doesn't have a minimum wage.
The minimum wage should be scrapped, not raised, as it distorts the labour market by forcing business to pay people more than they're worth, raising unemployment, reducing competitiveness and the incentive to increase productivity amongst those who need it most, increasing compliance costs and inflation. In fact it's hard to think of a more damaging policy (though the looking through the current government's actions gives a pretty long list of them).
But understanding the harm done needs politicians and journalists to think things through for thirty seconds, so we're stuck with it unfortunately.
The counter to that is we've had massive immigration and yet we haven't see massive unemployment - indeed, the minimum wage serves as a disincentive for firms to rely on cheap labour. As long as Labour keep cutting migration (and targets dodgy outfits swerving the rule) then I can't see that changing to a large degree.
In terms of the benefits bill, in theory you need wages at the lower end to rise pretty quickly to provide an incentive for people to work (in reality I don't think you can see this effect too much because the marginal utlity of cash for someone on UC means they can tolerate fairly low wages and still want to work - conditions are much more important IMO).
Indeed, if we take @Fishing's argument to its logical conclusion, slavery should never have been abolished.
It seems there is a pool of people unable to find work for whatever reason (and there may be several) who chase jobs, apply and get nowhere. That's not people who are making no effort (a different group) but those who cannot even get their foot in the door of employment whether it's through lack of qualifications, lack of experience or a lack of something else.
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
In the same way Trump was able to knock down the East Wing without anyone stopping him renaming the ballroom the second someone who isn't Trump becomes President is fair game.
Problem is all appropriate names for the Ballroom can't be associated with the White House so the eventually name will be very bland.
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
He should enjoy while he can. The next Democrat President will almost certainly remodel again to some extent and wlll rename the ballroom after someone Trump would hate.
'The Letitia James Integrity Ballroom' has a certain ring to it.
In more optimistic news, a lot of "please, take this electricity off us" this weekend.
Wonder how frequent such situations have to be for a serious industry to develop to exploit free, but very intermittent, energy?
Not so intermittent up north, of course. And we were discussing the other day that Scots engineer whose approach to high winds was to actually design the wind turbines to cope with anything up to a hurricane.
The issue is, I suspect, as much a matter of local pricing (or lack thereof).
I see the "escape" of the Epping asylum seeker has started to reveal some serious flaws in our prison management system for which both the current and previous Governments can stand culpable.
We all know the prisons were neglected under the Conservatives and the actual number of new prison spaces provided over 14 years of administration laughable. Labour inherited a prison system bursting at the seams and unfit for purpose. The early release of prisoners was, I imagine, an attempt to try to resolve capacity issues pending the construction or creation of additional prison capacity.
I suspect what happened with this individual has happened before and possibly on a number of occasions but because of who he is, what he did and the current background, he was about the last person who shouldn have been accidentally (let's hope it was accidental) released.
Some were calling for the heads of the Justice Secretary and even the Prime Minister last evening - an over-reaction. However, serious questions do need to be asked and disciplinary action taken against those responsible for the "error". It's also an opportunity to take a long hard look at the prison service and what it does and why it does it. There's a growing view those incarcerated who were not born here should be returned to their point of origin to serve their time - about 10,800 people apparently and that would serve only to reduce the pressure slightly - we have over 87,000 people in prison. We should, if we think it's the right approach, be asking how to create an infrastructure for 100,000 prisoners.
He's still to explain, as far as I'm aware, why that's relevant when the alleged offences were committed before Starmer was in government.
Anyone ?
Because the issue isn't that offences were committed, but the reason why the prosecution collapsed.
He says prosecutors were asking 'not what the then Government was prepared to do, or did, say in public about China (whether framed as its policy or otherwise, and whether as a matter of fact true or not), but rather whether China was - as a matter of fact - an active threat to national security'
The statements provided to them were quite clear about China being a threat to national security.
I don't understand why the DPP hasn't resigned. They've completely fucked this up and they're desperately trying to blame the government for it, but the witness statements are available to read and they seem pretty clear to me - China is a threat to Britain.
If you actually read the law they were being prosecuted under, it literally says that giving secrets to *anyone* is illegal.
So if you gave secrets to your maiden aunt in Tunbridge Wells, you’ve broken the Official Secrets Act.
He's still to explain, as far as I'm aware, why that's relevant when the alleged offences were committed before Starmer was in government.
Anyone ?
Because the issue isn't that offences were committed, but the reason why the prosecution collapsed.
He says prosecutors were asking 'not what the then Government was prepared to do, or did, say in public about China (whether framed as its policy or otherwise, and whether as a matter of fact true or not), but rather whether China was - as a matter of fact - an active threat to national security'
The statements provided to them were quite clear about China being a threat to national security.
I don't understand why the DPP hasn't resigned. They've completely fucked this up and they're desperately trying to blame the government for it, but the witness statements are available to read and they seem pretty clear to me - China is a threat to Britain.
If you actually read the law they were being prosecuted under, it literally says that giving secrets to *anyone* is illegal.
So if you gave secrets to your maiden aunt in Tunbridge Wells, you’ve broken the Official Secrets Act.
85 mins till we find out that the right wing☆ Labour Northern woman has beaten the right wing northern woman to become deputy to the right wing leader. ☆In traditional Labour terms
He's still to explain, as far as I'm aware, why that's relevant when the alleged offences were committed before Starmer was in government.
Anyone ?
Because the issue isn't that offences were committed, but the reason why the prosecution collapsed.
He says prosecutors were asking 'not what the then Government was prepared to do, or did, say in public about China (whether framed as its policy or otherwise, and whether as a matter of fact true or not), but rather whether China was - as a matter of fact - an active threat to national security'
I still don't see the relevance.
Because either Starmer has lied to the House of Commons or the DPP is lying
No denial that it was a corrupt act. And btw, the felon pled guilty.
Reporter: On the pardon, Binance has significant business interests with the President’s family’s crypto company. How do you respond to allegations that this is a corrupt act?
Leavitt: The President is exercising his constitutional authority to grant clemency requests. This was an overly prosecuted case by the Biden administration. https://x.com/Acyn/status/1981417027442266367
I never understood why this power even exists. Its is just open for corruption and has been repeatedly.
It exists in the UK as well. It’s designed to correct gross miscarriages of justice or to reward specific acts (eg the Fishmongers Hall guy was pardoned 9 months before his parole was due to come up for review).
It’s been mildly abused by Presidents since the days of Clinton at least (Marc Rich anyone?) but Trump has taken it to a whole new level
Rachel Reeves is preparing to give more than a million low-paid workers a pay rise in the budget, despite warnings from businesses that she risks “pricing jobs out of existence”.
The Times has been told that the chancellor is likely to confirm a rise in the national living wage of about 4 per cent, from £12.21 to at least £12.70, in an effort to deliver on her pledge to improve living standards.
The government will also commit itself to extending the living wage to people between the ages of 18 and 21 as part of a commitment to “raise the floor” on wages.
Funny how those who drivel on endlessly about copying Denmark never mention that it doesn't have a minimum wage.
The minimum wage should be scrapped, not raised, as it distorts the labour market by forcing business to pay people more than they're worth, raising unemployment, reducing competitiveness and the incentive to increase productivity amongst those who need it most, increasing compliance costs and inflation. In fact it's hard to think of a more damaging policy (though the looking through the current government's actions gives a pretty long list of them).
But understanding the harm done needs politicians and journalists to think things through for thirty seconds, so we're stuck with it unfortunately.
The counter to that is we've had massive immigration and yet we haven't see massive unemployment - indeed, the minimum wage serves as a disincentive for firms to rely on cheap labour. As long as Labour keep cutting migration (and targets dodgy outfits swerving the rule) then I can't see that changing to a large degree.
In terms of the benefits bill, in theory you need wages at the lower end to rise pretty quickly to provide an incentive for people to work (in reality I don't think you can see this effect too much because the marginal utlity of cash for someone on UC means they can tolerate fairly low wages and still want to work - conditions are much more important IMO).
Indeed, if we take @Fishing's argument to its logical conclusion, slavery should never have been abolished.
It seems there is a pool of people unable to find work for whatever reason (and there may be several) who chase jobs, apply and get nowhere. That's not people who are making no effort (a different group) but those who cannot even get their foot in the door of employment whether it's through lack of qualifications, lack of experience or a lack of something else.
That latter group is large and by far the biggest issue. Often, they just aren't the kind of person who is particularly employable unless you have a highly tolerant and benevolent employer. And the jobs tend to be quite rubbish frankly - if we could offer everyone a job in a call centre that's a 20 minute walk away from their flat then we'd be in a much better place.
It's actually quite rare for the financial incentive to be a problem - even if their EMTR is something like 70% people still tend to want to work because 1) they don't run their lives with spreadsheets like PBers 2) the value of additional income is far higher than for the typical PBer, because it's often the difference between food on the table or not 3) people do recognise that living on benefits forever is not a source of happiness, particularly given the sanctions and other tribulations that DWP have in place.
(You do get the occasional instance EMTR of over 100%, typically because of non-tapered benefits that rely on UC as a qualifying condition. In that case, the likes of rcs1000 and BartholomewRoberts are correct that needs fixing urgently. )
In more optimistic news, a lot of "please, take this electricity off us" this weekend.
Wonder how frequent such situations have to be for a serious industry to develop to exploit free, but very intermittent, energy?
Not so intermittent up north, of course. And we were discussing the other day that Scots engineer whose approach to high winds was to actually design the wind turbines to cope with anything up to a hurricane.
The issue is, I suspect, as much a matter of local pricing (or lack thereof).
Yes, why set up to take advantage of that free/cheap energy only to be charged full whack for it. Mystifying why the Lab government doesn’t want to make Scotland an extremely attractive destination for business.
He's still to explain, as far as I'm aware, why that's relevant when the alleged offences were committed before Starmer was in government.
Anyone ?
Because the issue isn't that offences were committed, but the reason why the prosecution collapsed.
He says prosecutors were asking 'not what the then Government was prepared to do, or did, say in public about China (whether framed as its policy or otherwise, and whether as a matter of fact true or not), but rather whether China was - as a matter of fact - an active threat to national security'
The statements provided to them were quite clear about China being a threat to national security.
I don't understand why the DPP hasn't resigned. They've completely fucked this up and they're desperately trying to blame the government for it, but the witness statements are available to read and they seem pretty clear to me - China is a threat to Britain.
If you actually read the law they were being prosecuted under, it literally says that giving secrets to *anyone* is illegal.
So if you gave secrets to your maiden aunt in Tunbridge Wells, you’ve broken the Official Secrets Act.
He's still to explain, as far as I'm aware, why that's relevant when the alleged offences were committed before Starmer was in government.
Anyone ?
Because the issue isn't that offences were committed, but the reason why the prosecution collapsed.
He says prosecutors were asking 'not what the then Government was prepared to do, or did, say in public about China (whether framed as its policy or otherwise, and whether as a matter of fact true or not), but rather whether China was - as a matter of fact - an active threat to national security'
I still don't see the relevance.
Because either Starmer has lied to the House of Commons or the DPP is lying
Trump plans to name his $300million ballroom after himself after demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House. Officials are referring to the grandiose building as The President Donald J Trump Ballroom, according to ABC News. Trump is set to keep the name when construction is finished.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
In the same way Trump was able to knock down the East Wing without anyone stopping him renaming the ballroom the second someone who isn't Trump becomes President is fair game.
Problem is all appropriate names for the Ballroom can't be associated with the White House so the eventually name will be very bland.
A future President will run on demolishing it and sweep 40 odd states
Comments
As I say. If you really do want to do either of the above I’m sure your “words on a screen” can be of use to anyone wanting to demonstrate your “unique” mindset.
As I said, not omniscient.
They devised a system with multiple checks (the pardon power itself was seen as a check on the judiciary) and failsafes, with the option to amend and improve, but no system is infallible.
Google is so shit these days it won't tell me who said "Editing is a medium" but it's true.
And Sellly Oak in the 90s was a shithole. Unless you were pissed and went to the Dome nightclub. Which I did on worryingly regular occasions.
https://archive.org/search?query="editing+is+a+medium"&sin=TXT
https://boessen.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/vansijll-editingandtime.pdf
With digital ID there's no need to go rummaging round for old paperwork. Just check our simple unhackable-we-promise Digital ID database and you'll avoid being on the front pages."
Do these open railway turnstiles?
https://x.com/SkyNews/status/1981820015159455752
What a week this has been. This is the difference a Labour Government makes.
https://x.com/Jess4Lowestoft/status/1981730264423280730
But he lost his head.
Glad to have the grown ups back in charge
This week the Government's failure to find a solution to the Maccabi ban was then overshadowed by the revelation a small boat migrant had returned after less than a month, which in turn was overshadowed by the collapse of the rape gang inquiry, which in turn was overshadowed by Labour's collapse in Wales, which in turn was overshadowed by the conclusive proof Starmer lied over China, which in turn has been overshadowed by the revelation the Epping sex offender is on the loose. One week. One. Week.
https://x.com/dpjhodges/status/1981761305015910871?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
https://youtu.be/P9xuTYrfrWM?si=X998vjh_PrIu2oap&t=96
service don’t let the prisoners under their custody out? Shall we bung them a few more quid to ensure prisoners aren’t just let go? What’s the bite point in pay for prison service officers between “let them go” and “we’d better not let them escape”? An extra 50p per hour?
I can't work out what the angle is with crap driving directions though.
source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/10/22/chopin-piano-competition-eric-lu/
https://www.chopincompetition.pl/
It gives the impression of no-one giving a shit.
I don't understand why the DPP hasn't resigned. They've completely fucked this up and they're desperately trying to blame the government for it, but the witness statements are available to read and they seem pretty clear to me - China is a threat to Britain.
I suppose is slightly better than the Sofi Manscaped Harley Davison Prime Energy Donald J Trump Ballrom brought to you in asociation with our official webhosting Squarespace, VPN provider NordVPN....
(seriously, has anybody ever used Manscaped? Why in the name of the Lord above would you want to? Is anybody's scrotum so attractive that you wish to display it shorn?)
Most other companies that tried this for other products have blown up pretty quickly.
Welcome to Hotel Hamas: 150 dangerous terrorists released by Israel under Gaza peace deal are staying at five-star luxury resort alongside unsuspecting Western tourists
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15223429/Hamas-dangerous-terrorists-released-Israel-staying-luxury-resort.html
The Times has been told that the chancellor is likely to confirm a rise in the national living wage of about 4 per cent, from £12.21 to at least £12.70, in an effort to deliver on her pledge to improve living standards.
The government will also commit itself to extending the living wage to people between the ages of 18 and 21 as part of a commitment to “raise the floor” on wages.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/pay-rise-autumn-budget-rachel-reeves-wddm8cnrd
The minimum wage should be scrapped, not raised, as it distorts the labour market by forcing business to pay people more than they're worth, raising unemployment, reducing competitiveness and the incentive to increase productivity amongst those who need it most, increasing compliance costs and inflation. In fact it's hard to think of a more damaging policy (though the looking through the current government's actions gives a pretty long list of them).
But understanding the harm done needs politicians and journalists to think things through for thirty seconds, so we're stuck with it unfortunately.
Rowley [the Metropolitan Police Commissioner] said there were so many cases that a full review was “going to be many, many, many millions of pounds" and last several years.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2125659/met-police-grooming-gang-cases-reopen
• 1st Prize – Eric Lu (USA)
• 2nd Prize – Kevin Chen (Canada)
• 3rd Prize – Zitong Wang (China)
• 4th Prize – Tianyao Lyu (China); Shiori Kuwahara (Japan)
• 5th Prize – Piotr Alexewicz (Poland); Vincent Ong (Malaysia)
• 6th Prize – William Yang (USA)
https://www.chopincompetition.pl/en/newsroom/eric-lu-wins-the-19th-chopin-competition?id=131&type=news
But perhaps the most cherishable is that a rebellion supposedly against despotism has ended up with a much more absolute head of state and government than the country it was rebelling against.
Of course most Americans are congenitally opposed to thinking things through and are mulishly obstinate in their conviction that their country's system of government is the best ever and unable to see themselves as others do so you won't get them acknowledging any of that. But I still find it amusing to reflect on from time to time...
F1: no bet but a quick roundup of the first two practice sessions. Looking iffy for Piastri:
https://morrisf1.blogspot.com/2025/10/mexican-grand-prix-2025-pre-qualifying.html
https://data.justice.gov.uk/prisons/additional/releases-in-error
Its got much worse in the last year or so, probably down to the chaotic early release programme caused by the prison overcrowding.
Another total banger
In peacetime, taking the mickey out of your side is healthy and normal. In an actual war, it's treachery.
The voters knew.
It isn’t a good look for a country.
In terms of the benefits bill, in theory you need wages at the lower end to rise pretty quickly to provide an incentive for people to work (in reality I don't think you can see this effect too much because the marginal utlity of cash for someone on UC means they can tolerate fairly low wages and still want to work - conditions are much more important IMO).
Wonder how frequent such situations have to be for a serious industry to develop to exploit free, but very intermittent, energy?
It seems there is a pool of people unable to find work for whatever reason (and there may be several) who chase jobs, apply and get nowhere. That's not people who are making no effort (a different group) but those who cannot even get their foot in the door of employment whether it's through lack of qualifications, lack of experience or a lack of something else.
Problem is all appropriate names for the Ballroom can't be associated with the White House so the eventually name will be very bland.
Criticism as council set to spend £75,000 on flags
(Guess which party is in power.)
The issue is, I suspect, as much a matter of local pricing (or lack thereof).
I see the "escape" of the Epping asylum seeker has started to reveal some serious flaws in our prison management system for which both the current and previous Governments can stand culpable.
We all know the prisons were neglected under the Conservatives and the actual number of new prison spaces provided over 14 years of administration laughable. Labour inherited a prison system bursting at the seams and unfit for purpose. The early release of prisoners was, I imagine, an attempt to try to resolve capacity issues pending the construction or creation of additional prison capacity.
I suspect what happened with this individual has happened before and possibly on a number of occasions but because of who he is, what he did and the current background, he was about the last person who shouldn have been accidentally (let's hope it was accidental) released.
Some were calling for the heads of the Justice Secretary and even the Prime Minister last evening - an over-reaction. However, serious questions do need to be asked and disciplinary action taken against those responsible for the "error". It's also an opportunity to take a long hard look at the prison service and what it does and why it does it. There's a growing view those incarcerated who were not born here should be returned to their point of origin to serve their time - about 10,800 people apparently and that would serve only to reduce the pressure slightly - we have over 87,000 people in prison. We should, if we think it's the right approach, be asking how to create an infrastructure for 100,000 prisoners.
So if you gave secrets to your maiden aunt in Tunbridge Wells, you’ve broken the Official Secrets Act.
☆In traditional Labour terms
It’s ages since I was called a c**t, wanker, racist, Nazi and prick. And Leon wasn’t even around then!
It’s been mildly abused by Presidents since the days of Clinton at least (Marc Rich anyone?) but Trump has taken it to a whole new level
It's actually quite rare for the financial incentive to be a problem - even if their EMTR is something like 70% people still tend to want to work because 1) they don't run their lives with spreadsheets like PBers 2) the value of additional income is far higher than for the typical PBer, because it's often the difference between food on the table or not 3) people do recognise that living on benefits forever is not a source of happiness, particularly given the sanctions and other tribulations that DWP have in place.
(You do get the occasional instance EMTR of over 100%, typically because of non-tapered benefits that rely on UC as a qualifying condition. In that case, the likes of rcs1000 and BartholomewRoberts are correct that needs fixing urgently. )
Israeli settler in the West Bank clubbing a Palestinian grandmother down, from ITV News
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m3xpgteqy22a