Pathetic turnout but another bad day for Starmer as Labour members back Burnham’s preferred candidate Lucy Powell over his preferred candidate Bridget Philippson
No evidence that Starmer preferred either of them. None of this makes a difference to Starmer's standing. In some ways things are looking up for him. Farage is looking sleazy and flakey and Kemi is beyond doubt a no-hoper.
So a perfect time for a Starmer reset which he needs and of all the leaders he's the one who holds the stage
How many resets does a Prime Minister need in a week?
Just when Starmer demonstrates his facile incompetence, Boris Johnson rocks up to the COVID Inquiry as a reminder that things could be even worse.
I expect the median voter would now bring back Boris as PM tomorrow. Heck, I expect the median voter would even bring back Rishi as PM tomorrow now
Starmer and Sunak are considered two cheeks of the same useless arse, and the median voter does not want a Johnson redux. You are wishcasting.
The median voter is now voting Reform
To an extent you have me there. But I would equally assume given the choice of Johnson or Brave Sir Nigel, Farage takes it by a country mile.
Caerphilly might question your Reform voting logic.
Caerphilly was fascinating. It does completely change the Reform narrative in my mind. Being the most popular party might turn out to be meaningless if you are also the most hated party. And Reform certainly sit in that strange spot in the political Venn Diagram right now.
Being the most loved and most hated worked for Mrs Thatcher.
Against a deeply unpopular Labour government in 1979, a hard left leader of the opposition in 1983 and an opposition divided between Labour and the SDP Alliance in 1983 and 1987.
Kinnock would probably have beaten Thatcher in 1992 though, only the more centrist Major got the Conservatives the win in 1992 having also scrapped Thatcher’s poll tax
Was Major perceived as centrist compared to Mrs Thatcher in 1992?
Checking, the last round of voting when he became leader was between Michael Heseltine, Douglas Hurd, and John Major.
Of those three was John Major not the "not wet" one on the Right, being iirc the Chief Secretary to the Treasury?
Polls in 1990 had both Major and Heseltine beating Kinnock but Thatcher trailing Kinnock.
Major was able to become PM therefore with the votes of Thatcher loyalists and MPs who wanted rid of Thatcher to save their seats but hated Heseltine and his uber Europhile views.
By 1995 though many of the Thatcherites had switched to Redwood when he challenged Major to be Conservative leader and the Lady was known to be sympathetic to the Vulcan (but really wanted Portillo as Thatcher's heir had he activated his phonelines and stood) while Major ironically had gained the backing of Heseltine's and Hurd's former backers to stop Redwood
Amazing to think that the euro-sceptics believed they could get anywhere under Spock. Ultimately, of course, they needed the carpet-bagger and trickster Boris to deliver their dreams (such as they turned out to be).
Indeed but as I said Portillo was really the Thatcherite Messiah until he lost his seat in 1997 and started going wobbly and liberal and then by 2001 many of the Thatcherite right switched to IDS, as indeed did the Lady herself once IDS faced Clarke in the final 2 and Portillo had been knocked out.
Boris of course let us not forget started off a One Nation Clarkeite, backing Ken Clarke for leader in 2001, then a Cameroon in 2005 then once his ambition took hold of him and he had Mayor of London as a platform to challenge to be PM he positioned himself as a 'Brexity Hezza' in his own words and backed Leave in 2016 and the rest is history....
Pathetic turnout but another bad day for Starmer as Labour members back Burnham’s preferred candidate Lucy Powell over his preferred candidate Bridget Philippson
No evidence that Starmer preferred either of them. None of this makes a difference to Starmer's standing. In some ways things are looking up for him. Farage is looking sleazy and flakey and Kemi is beyond doubt a no-hoper.
So a perfect time for a Starmer reset which he needs and of all the leaders he's the one who holds the stage
How many resets does a Prime Minister need in a week?
Just when Starmer demonstrates his facile incompetence, Boris Johnson rocks up to the COVID Inquiry as a reminder that things could be even worse.
I expect the median voter would now bring back Boris as PM tomorrow. Heck, I expect the median voter would even bring back Rishi as PM tomorrow now
Starmer and Sunak are considered two cheeks of the same useless arse, and the median voter does not want a Johnson redux. You are wishcasting.
The median voter is now voting Reform
To an extent you have me there. But I would equally assume given the choice of Johnson or Brave Sir Nigel, Farage takes it by a country mile.
Caerphilly might question your Reform voting logic.
Caerphilly was fascinating. It does completely change the Reform narrative in my mind. Being the most popular party might turn out to be meaningless if you are also the most hated party. And Reform certainly sit in that strange spot in the political Venn Diagram right now.
Being the most loved and most hated worked for Mrs Thatcher.
Against a deeply unpopular Labour government in 1979, a hard left leader of the opposition in 1983 and an opposition divided between Labour and the SDP Alliance in 1983 and 1987.
Kinnock would probably have beaten Thatcher in 1992 though, only the more centrist Major got the Conservatives the win in 1992 having also scrapped Thatcher’s poll tax
Was Major perceived as centrist compared to Mrs Thatcher in 1992?
Checking, the last round of voting when he became leader was between Michael Heseltine, Douglas Hurd, and John Major.
Of those three was John Major not the "not wet" one on the Right, being iirc the Chief Secretary to the Treasury?
Polls in 1990 had both Major and Heseltine beating Kinnock but Thatcher trailing Kinnock.
Major was able to become PM therefore with the votes of Thatcher loyalists and MPs who wanted rid of Thatcher to save their seats but hated Heseltine and his uber Europhile views.
By 1995 though many of the Thatcherites had switched to Redwood when he challenged Major to be Conservative leader and the Lady was known to be sympathetic to the Vulcan (but really wanted Portillo as Thatcher's heir had he activated his phonelines and stood) while Major ironically had gained the backing of Heseltine's and Hurd's former backers to stop Redwood
Amazing to think that the euro-sceptics believed they could get anywhere under Spock. Ultimately, of course, they needed the carpet-bagger and trickster Boris to deliver their dreams (such as they turned out to be).
Indeed but as I said Portillo was really the Thatcherite Messiah until he lost his seat in 1997 and started going wobbly and liberal and then by 2001 many of the Thatcherite right switched to IDS, as indeed did the Lady herself once IDS faced Clarke in the final 2 and Portillo had been knocked out.
Boris of course let us not forget started off a One Nation Clarkeite, backing Ken Clarke for leader in 2001, then a Cameroon in 2005 then once his ambition took hold of him and he had Mayor of London as a platform to challenge to be PM he positioned himself as a 'Brexity Hezza' in his own words and backed Leave in 2016 and the rest is history....
Boris Johnson has always taken whatever position is in the best interest of Boris Johnson.
This applies in journalism, business, money and perhaps in other fields...
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
If only the dark powers of Woke hadn't prevented Conor McGregor from standing.
Gavan Reilly @gavreilly · 38m 🚨 Heather Humphreys has told RTÉ she concedes the Presidential Election and has congratulated Catherine Connolly on her victory. @virginmedianews
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Given Reform swept the board in the county councils which held elections last year with the LDs coming second on seats won, both Labour and Conservative county councillors would rather not have the chop in elections next year but start afresh in unitary elections in a few years if they can get selected for a seat and they hope the Reform surge has died down.
Most county councillors should be able to get selected for a unitary seat and maybe a third of district councillors
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Hasn't he been flirting with Reform?
He has made clear he remains a Tory and backs Kemi but policy wise has much in common with Reform
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Hasn't he been flirting with Reform?
He has made clear he remains a Tory and backs Kemi but policy wise has much in common with Reform
That's the magic debt black hole isn't it? The dark lights version of the magic money tree.
Rees-Mogg appears to me to have become drug crazed at some point.
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Hasn't he been flirting with Reform?
He has made clear he remains a Tory and backs Kemi but policy wise has much in common with Reform
That's the magic debt black hole isn't it? The dark lights version of the magic money tree.
Rees-Mogg appears to me to have become drug crazed at some point.
I don't think he needs to do drugs. He's able to get high on his own supply at will.
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Hasn't he been flirting with Reform?
He has made clear he remains a Tory and backs Kemi but policy wise has much in common with Reform
That's the magic debt black hole isn't it? The dark lights version of the magic money tree.
Rees-Mogg appears to me to have become drug crazed at some point.
I don't think he needs to do drugs. He's able to get high on his own supply at will.
Once upon a time I thought quite highly of him. He had, then, a very accurate and precise mode of thought. Now just a rambling loon.
"RFK Jr to urge Americans to eat more saturated fats, alarming health experts Guidance from health and human services secretary contradicts decades of dietary recommendations"
BREAKING: Independent candidate Catherine Connolly is set to become Ireland's next president after her rival, Heather Humphreys, conceded.
Connolly is a leftwinger who has made positive comments about Brexit in the past, so the populist wave now even reaches Ireland.
Humphreys was the candidate of the centre right pro EU Irish government
Lenin's "useful idiot" label could have been invented for Catherine Connolly.
Indeed, so much for the brilliantly apolitical ceremonial Irish President as head of state as a role model for UK republicans, Ireland has now effectively elected a female Jeremy Corbyn as head of state.
Even more reason to keep our constitutional monarchy
BREAKING: Independent candidate Catherine Connolly is set to become Ireland's next president after her rival, Heather Humphreys, conceded.
Connolly is a leftwinger who has made positive comments about Brexit in the past, so the populist wave now even reaches Ireland.
Humphreys was the candidate of the centre right pro EU Irish government
Lenin's "useful idiot" label could have been invented for Catherine Connolly.
Indeed, so much for the brilliantly apolitical ceremonial Irish President as head of state as a role model for UK republicans, Ireland has now effectively elected a female Jeremy Corbyn as head of state.
Even more reason to keep our constitutional monarchy
Ireland is likely to cause the EU endless grief in much the same way they've done to us.
BREAKING: Independent candidate Catherine Connolly is set to become Ireland's next president after her rival, Heather Humphreys, conceded.
Connolly is a leftwinger who has made positive comments about Brexit in the past, so the populist wave now even reaches Ireland.
Humphreys was the candidate of the centre right pro EU Irish government
Lenin's "useful idiot" label could have been invented for Catherine Connolly.
Indeed, so much for the brilliantly apolitical ceremonial Irish President as head of state as a role model for UK republicans, Ireland has now effectively elected a female Jeremy Corbyn as head of state.
Even more reason to keep our constitutional monarchy
Ireland is likely to cause the EU endless grief in much the same way they've done to us.
Certainly if Connolly's win is followed by SF winning the next Irish general election
Pathetic turnout but another bad day for Starmer as Labour members back Burnham’s preferred candidate Lucy Powell over his preferred candidate Bridget Philippson
No evidence that Starmer preferred either of them. None of this makes a difference to Starmer's standing. In some ways things are looking up for him. Farage is looking sleazy and flakey and Kemi is beyond doubt a no-hoper.
So a perfect time for a Starmer reset which he needs and of all the leaders he's the one who holds the stage
How many resets does a Prime Minister need in a week?
Just when Starmer demonstrates his facile incompetence, Boris Johnson rocks up to the COVID Inquiry as a reminder that things could be even worse.
I expect the median voter would now bring back Boris as PM tomorrow. Heck, I expect the median voter would even bring back Rishi as PM tomorrow now
Starmer and Sunak are considered two cheeks of the same useless arse, and the median voter does not want a Johnson redux. You are wishcasting.
The median voter is now voting Reform
No, the modal voter is voting Reform,
If we arrange people on a left-right scale, Reform get 29%, then Tories get 18%, so we’re 47% along. Next come the LibDems maybe, so the median voter is LibDem.
Latest FON poll has Tories and Reform on 49% combined in UK, so almost certainly over 50% in England alone.
Pathetic turnout but another bad day for Starmer as Labour members back Burnham’s preferred candidate Lucy Powell over his preferred candidate Bridget Philippson
No evidence that Starmer preferred either of them. None of this makes a difference to Starmer's standing. In some ways things are looking up for him. Farage is looking sleazy and flakey and Kemi is beyond doubt a no-hoper.
So a perfect time for a Starmer reset which he needs and of all the leaders he's the one who holds the stage
How many resets does a Prime Minister need in a week?
Just when Starmer demonstrates his facile incompetence, Boris Johnson rocks up to the COVID Inquiry as a reminder that things could be even worse.
I expect the median voter would now bring back Boris as PM tomorrow. Heck, I expect the median voter would even bring back Rishi as PM tomorrow now
Starmer and Sunak are considered two cheeks of the same useless arse, and the median voter does not want a Johnson redux. You are wishcasting.
The median voter is now voting Reform
No, the modal voter is voting Reform,
If we arrange people on a left-right scale, Reform get 29%, then Tories get 18%, so we’re 47% along. Next come the LibDems maybe, so the median voter is LibDem.
Latest FON poll has Tories and Reform on 49% combined in UK, so almost certainly over 50% in England alone.
On Labour's DL election, I think the 16% turnout is rather misleading. Around 160k votes were cast. Labour membership last year was c. 300k, though I'm confident that it's significantly lower than that now, with an exodus of members to Greens, YP or nowhere. I suspect very few of the TU-affiliated members voted. So, as a proportion of actual Labour Party members, the turnout wasn't that bad. I'd guess around 40-50% of those who've paid their subs voted.
True. But it was over 60% llast time, presumably because the unions were much more interested?
Hmm, he's missed a couple of points. The drawings were pretty good at portraying their subjects, especially the aircraft and vehicles - whereas the artists on some others couldn't even draw a convincing cube. And even museums - or one anyway - are cooperating with Commando these days, as I noticed the other day. Though the Tank Museum also has a decent range of Tank Girl for the millennials.
Yes Commando Book artwork was always pretty good in a vivid way. Links to them keep popping up on FB which I guess indicates my interests. The most recent one showed an accurately depicted Valentine firing its pop gun at a similarly recognisable Tiger I in the Western desert which I’m guessing ends with British pluck prevailing. Probably a more likely encounter in Russia than N.Africa I think.
Edit: ha, that’s exactly the cover I was thinking about in your link!
Would I think be perfectly correct for N Africa, now you mention it (at least geographically - can't say if any such battle happened). Perhaps not so much 8th Army but First Army, which did have them in Algeria etc. under Torch, vs the Tiger detachment in Tunisia. THis sort of era, though the film is about the OQF 17 pdr - a very nice period piece anyway.
This, of course, is another lie - they have no such immunity - but it is a very dangerous one.
Stephen Miller on Fox threatens to arrest JB Pritzker for "seditious conspiracy" and says, "to all ICE officers: you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. And anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop or obstruct you is committing a felony." https://x.com/atrupar/status/1981816700627554547
Does Kemi still see ICE as a model ?
Don't they?
In my recollection American Police have general immunity in the conduct of their duties, which is a major issue.
I imagine ICE might have similar.
I think they have qualified immunity, which means they cannot be individually sued by individuals for an act committed on duty.
They do not have immunity from criminal prosecution if they break the law. Exhibit A - the officer who murdered George Floyd.
So if an ICE unit take somebody who should not be taken, without the lawful authority of the state governor or a judge, I think they would still be up before a judge on a charge of kidnapping.
Indeed, so they do have qualified immunity, so its not wrong to say they have immunity, albeit a qualified and not blanket one.
I would prefer to see it repealed and abolished, but they do have it, unfortunately.
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Hasn't he been flirting with Reform?
The idea of Rees-Mogg flirting: he gets his nanny to deliver a note saying "I love you..."
Ridiculous that we've accepted these into service.
Ajax AFV – Non-Denial, Denial
https://www.defenceeye.co.uk/2025/10/24/ajax-afv-non-denial-denial/ Defence Eye has heard that as part of the plan to now allocate the Ares armoured personnel carrier to former Warrior-equipped armoured infantry battalions, there was a series of exercises undertaken this Summer, mainly June/July (August tends to be block leave). And one piece of news from several observers of these exercises/trials was that there was a very high prevalence of tinnitus, serious headaches and loss of balance/motion issues, with some hospitalisations, at least for checks and observation...
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Hasn't he been flirting with Reform?
The idea of Rees-Mogg flirting: he gets his nanny to deliver a note saying "I love you..."
Rees Mogg doesn't flirt, he is a strict Roman Catholic who as far as I am aware was a virgin until he married his wife, with whom he now has numerous children. They seem devoted to each other
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Hasn't he been flirting with Reform?
The idea of Rees-Mogg flirting: he gets his nanny to deliver a note saying "I love you..."
Rees Mogg doesn't flirt, he is a strict Roman Catholic who as far as I am aware was a virgin until he married his wife, with whom he now has numerous children. They seem devoted to each other
Absolutely brilliant. Only you could have the depth of inside knowledge of your party to surmise that Rees-Mogg was a virgin until he married his wife.
Though, given what we know and can see of the chap, it would come as no surprise.
Ridiculous that we've accepted these into service.
Ajax AFV – Non-Denial, Denial
https://www.defenceeye.co.uk/2025/10/24/ajax-afv-non-denial-denial/ Defence Eye has heard that as part of the plan to now allocate the Ares armoured personnel carrier to former Warrior-equipped armoured infantry battalions, there was a series of exercises undertaken this Summer, mainly June/July (August tends to be block leave). And one piece of news from several observers of these exercises/trials was that there was a very high prevalence of tinnitus, serious headaches and loss of balance/motion issues, with some hospitalisations, at least for checks and observation...
Rather than politics and the constant rearrangement of deckchairs in the Number 10 private office, I stick to my earlier prediction that Starmer will follow Wilson into early retirement. There was what seemed to be at least one more verbal flub last PMQs.
This, of course, is another lie - they have no such immunity - but it is a very dangerous one.
Stephen Miller on Fox threatens to arrest JB Pritzker for "seditious conspiracy" and says, "to all ICE officers: you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. And anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop or obstruct you is committing a felony." https://x.com/atrupar/status/1981816700627554547
Does Kemi still see ICE as a model ?
Don't they?
In my recollection American Police have general immunity in the conduct of their duties, which is a major issue.
I imagine ICE might have similar.
I think they have qualified immunity, which means they cannot be individually sued by individuals for an act committed on duty.
They do not have immunity from criminal prosecution if they break the law. Exhibit A - the officer who murdered George Floyd.
So if an ICE unit take somebody who should not be taken, without the lawful authority of the state governor or a judge, I think they would still be up before a judge on a charge of kidnapping.
Indeed, so they do have qualified immunity, so its not wrong to say they have immunity, albeit a qualified and not blanket one.
I would prefer to see it repealed and abolished, but they do have it, unfortunately.
It is wrong to say they have ‘federal immunity,’ which outside the fantasies of Trump’s Supreme Court regarding the office of the President is not a concept in American law.
I’m sure it was probably mentioned yesterday, but credit where it’s due to whoever arranged for a bunch of Ukranians to be outside Downing St to meet with Zelensky.
Ridiculous that we've accepted these into service.
Ajax AFV – Non-Denial, Denial
https://www.defenceeye.co.uk/2025/10/24/ajax-afv-non-denial-denial/ Defence Eye has heard that as part of the plan to now allocate the Ares armoured personnel carrier to former Warrior-equipped armoured infantry battalions, there was a series of exercises undertaken this Summer, mainly June/July (August tends to be block leave). And one piece of news from several observers of these exercises/trials was that there was a very high prevalence of tinnitus, serious headaches and loss of balance/motion issues, with some hospitalisations, at least for checks and observation...
What Ukraine has shown is that there is a need for
1) Armoured wheeled vehicles. Interestingly, the extremely obsolete Saracen has been popular as a light vehicle behind the front lines - drone and small arms resistant 2) Tracked lightly armoured to act as missile carriers. 3) Massively armoured infantry assault vehicles - something like the Israeli Namer.
More likely, he still hasn't got the politics bug out of his nature.
I would forecast that Kimi will find this something of a mixed blessing. Firstly, he is a lot brighter and more articulate, secondly, he has the advantage of experience and now Olympian perspective, thirdly I very much doubt that he will have any problem in saying where his former party are going wrong. He will no doubt be contemptuous of Starmer and he just might make the Tories sound a little more relevant again but there will be a price to pay.
The fact is that for all his faults and limitations he was a much better leader than she is and it may become increasingly obvious that that is the case. We are vanishingly unlikely to be able to compare their Premierships.
I’m sure it was probably mentioned yesterday, but credit where it’s due to whoever arranged for a bunch of Ukranians to be outside Downing St to meet with Zelensky.
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Hasn't he been flirting with Reform?
The idea of Rees-Mogg flirting: he gets his nanny to deliver a note saying "I love you..."
Rees Mogg doesn't flirt, he is a strict Roman Catholic who as far as I am aware was a virgin until he married his wife, with whom he now has numerous children. They seem devoted to each other
This is the same Jacob Rees-Mogg who wiped quipped at the Oxford Union that "it's not premarital sex if you never get married?"
Hardly his fault if they can't get their act together. Is he supposed to make a nuisance of himself by insisting he shouldn't be released?
But I thought released prisoners got changed back into their own clothes, rather than heading for freedom still in the prison tracksuit thing.
From the interview, it sounds like he really was making a nuisance of himself asking where to go to be deported. It does not sound like he realised he had been released.
This, of course, is another lie - they have no such immunity - but it is a very dangerous one.
Stephen Miller on Fox threatens to arrest JB Pritzker for "seditious conspiracy" and says, "to all ICE officers: you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. And anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop or obstruct you is committing a felony." https://x.com/atrupar/status/1981816700627554547
Does Kemi still see ICE as a model ?
Don't they?
In my recollection American Police have general immunity in the conduct of their duties, which is a major issue.
I imagine ICE might have similar.
I think they have qualified immunity, which means they cannot be individually sued by individuals for an act committed on duty.
They do not have immunity from criminal prosecution if they break the law. Exhibit A - the officer who murdered George Floyd.
So if an ICE unit take somebody who should not be taken, without the lawful authority of the state governor or a judge, I think they would still be up before a judge on a charge of kidnapping.
Indeed, so they do have qualified immunity, so its not wrong to say they have immunity, albeit a qualified and not blanket one.
I would prefer to see it repealed and abolished, but they do have it, unfortunately.
It is wrong to say they have ‘federal immunity,’ which outside the fantasies of Trump’s Supreme Court regarding the office of the President is not a concept in American law.
Qualified immunity is a federal law, underpinned by SCOTUS.
Ridiculous that we've accepted these into service.
Ajax AFV – Non-Denial, Denial
https://www.defenceeye.co.uk/2025/10/24/ajax-afv-non-denial-denial/ Defence Eye has heard that as part of the plan to now allocate the Ares armoured personnel carrier to former Warrior-equipped armoured infantry battalions, there was a series of exercises undertaken this Summer, mainly June/July (August tends to be block leave). And one piece of news from several observers of these exercises/trials was that there was a very high prevalence of tinnitus, serious headaches and loss of balance/motion issues, with some hospitalisations, at least for checks and observation...
What Ukraine has shown is that there is a need for
1) Armoured wheeled vehicles. Interestingly, the extremely obsolete Saracen has been popular as a light vehicle behind the front lines - drone and small arms resistant 2) Tracked lightly armoured to act as missile carriers. 3) Massively armoured infantry assault vehicles - something like the Israeli Namer.
Ajax is silly compromise.
Not so much massively armoured, as able to weather multiple small FOV drone strikes. Which isn't exactly the same thing.
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Hasn't he been flirting with Reform?
The idea of Rees-Mogg flirting: he gets his nanny to deliver a note saying "I love you..."
Rees Mogg doesn't flirt, he is a strict Roman Catholic who as far as I am aware was a virgin until he married his wife, with whom he now has numerous children. They seem devoted to each other
This is the same Jacob Rees-Mogg who wiped quipped at the Oxford Union that "it's not premarital sex if you never get married?"
Wispr Flow does not understand corrections during dictation?
Is he trying to challenge Goerge Osborne for the number of jobs done simultaneously by a former senior government minister?
At least Rishi has not buzzed off to a Californian hedge fund as many predicted.
I don't quite see what it is in it for him to stay as a backbench MP. If I understand correctly all these jobs he has taken on he donates the money to charity.
This, of course, is another lie - they have no such immunity - but it is a very dangerous one.
Stephen Miller on Fox threatens to arrest JB Pritzker for "seditious conspiracy" and says, "to all ICE officers: you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. And anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop or obstruct you is committing a felony." https://x.com/atrupar/status/1981816700627554547
Does Kemi still see ICE as a model ?
Don't they?
In my recollection American Police have general immunity in the conduct of their duties, which is a major issue.
I imagine ICE might have similar.
I think they have qualified immunity, which means they cannot be individually sued by individuals for an act committed on duty.
They do not have immunity from criminal prosecution if they break the law. Exhibit A - the officer who murdered George Floyd.
So if an ICE unit take somebody who should not be taken, without the lawful authority of the state governor or a judge, I think they would still be up before a judge on a charge of kidnapping.
Indeed, so they do have qualified immunity, so its not wrong to say they have immunity, albeit a qualified and not blanket one.
I would prefer to see it repealed and abolished, but they do have it, unfortunately.
It is wrong to say they have ‘federal immunity,’ which outside the fantasies of Trump’s Supreme Court regarding the office of the President is not a concept in American law.
Qualified immunity is a federal law, underpinned by SCOTUS.
No, it isn't. It's a doctrine introduced by the court in the 60s, and further expanded by them in the last couple of decades. There's no underlying statute.
Is he trying to challenge Goerge Osborne for the number of jobs done simultaneously by a former senior government minister?
At least Rishi has not buzzed off to a Californian hedge fund as many predicted.
I don't quite see what it is in it for him to stay as a backbench MP. If I understand correctly all these jobs he has taken on he donates the money to charity.
He's got more money than he knows what to do with. What he needs in his life is purpose and relevance. Being PM and leading the UK back to sanity sadly (both for him and us) really didn't work out. What does he do now? I'm not sure he has found the answer yet.
Is he trying to challenge Goerge Osborne for the number of jobs done simultaneously by a former senior government minister?
At least Rishi has not buzzed off to a Californian hedge fund as many predicted.
I don't quite see what it is in it for him to stay as a backbench MP. If I understand correctly all these jobs he has taken on he donates the money to charity.
He's got more money than he knows what to do with. What he needs in his life is purpose and relevance. Being PM and leading the UK back to sanity sadly (both for him and us) really didn't work out. What does he do now? I'm not sure he has found the answer yet.
If I was him (probably my personal bias) but all this innovation and exciting developments in silicon valley. Its changing the world forever.
BREAKING: Independent candidate Catherine Connolly is set to become Ireland's next president after her rival, Heather Humphreys, conceded.
Connolly is a leftwinger who has made positive comments about Brexit in the past, so the populist wave now even reaches Ireland.
Humphreys was the candidate of the centre right pro EU Irish government
Lenin's "useful idiot" label could have been invented for Catherine Connolly.
Indeed, so much for the brilliantly apolitical ceremonial Irish President as head of state as a role model for UK republicans, Ireland has now effectively elected a female Jeremy Corbyn as head of state.
Even more reason to keep our constitutional monarchy
Ireland is likely to cause the EU endless grief in much the same way they've done to us.
And in the face of our centuries of benevolent generosity towards Ireland.
Is he trying to challenge Goerge Osborne for the number of jobs done simultaneously by a former senior government minister?
At least Rishi has not buzzed off to a Californian hedge fund as many predicted.
I don't quite see what it is in it for him to stay as a backbench MP. If I understand correctly all these jobs he has taken on he donates the money to charity.
He's got more money than he knows what to do with. What he needs in his life is purpose and relevance. Being PM and leading the UK back to sanity sadly (both for him and us) really didn't work out. What does he do now? I'm not sure he has found the answer yet.
Rishi has two young daughters at school, so it may be that they are the focus now and a series of part-time roles while remaining in the Commons suits him ideally. Or possibly he is adrift, as is not unknown for former Prime Ministers.
Is he trying to challenge Goerge Osborne for the number of jobs done simultaneously by a former senior government minister?
At least Rishi has not buzzed off to a Californian hedge fund as many predicted.
I don't quite see what it is in it for him to stay as a backbench MP. If I understand correctly all these jobs he has taken on he donates the money to charity.
He's got more money than he knows what to do with. What he needs in his life is purpose and relevance. Being PM and leading the UK back to sanity sadly (both for him and us) really didn't work out. What does he do now? I'm not sure he has found the answer yet.
Rishi has two young daughters at school, so it may be that they are the focus now and a series of part-time roles while remaining in the Commons suits him ideally. Or possibly he is adrift, as is not unknown for former Prime Ministers.
To his credit he hasn't fallen into the trap of Tessie May (and many other former PMs) of sticking his oar in every 2 minutes.
Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and a major financial backer of President Trump, is the anonymous private donor who gave $130 million to the U.S. government to help pay troops during the shutdown, according to two people familiar with the matter.
What, O US experts, are the chances of SCOTUS striking down the same sex marriage legislation and what was the point/intent of the challenge being brought.
The thing with Sunak as well not only didn't it work out for him as PM, I think he knows it isn't a job for him and really hated it by the end. Thus unlike say a Boris who was always looking ways to engineer his way back into front line politics, that isn't going to be Sunak.
Ridiculous that we've accepted these into service.
Ajax AFV – Non-Denial, Denial
https://www.defenceeye.co.uk/2025/10/24/ajax-afv-non-denial-denial/ Defence Eye has heard that as part of the plan to now allocate the Ares armoured personnel carrier to former Warrior-equipped armoured infantry battalions, there was a series of exercises undertaken this Summer, mainly June/July (August tends to be block leave). And one piece of news from several observers of these exercises/trials was that there was a very high prevalence of tinnitus, serious headaches and loss of balance/motion issues, with some hospitalisations, at least for checks and observation...
Hmm, tinnitus is a warning symptom of ear damage and permanent hearing loss if it is allowed to continue.
The other symptoms sound very bad too, especially if they are worse than being bounced around in the back of FV432 Trojan and FV510 Warrior which always seemed grim enough to me.
That’s just standard, when councils are reorganised into new ones.
To be fair to Mogg - and I feel terrible even saying that - at the moment I am very far from confident that these unitarisation gigs will be going ahead on time. In Gloucestershire they still haven't agreed on a set of proposals for full consultation. I think Staffordshire hasn't even got that far.
So he does have a point about elections being postponed.
One minor point. Isn't this almost exclusively to the benefit of the Rees-Mogg Conservative Party?
Hasn't he been flirting with Reform?
The idea of Rees-Mogg flirting: he gets his nanny to deliver a note saying "I love you..."
Rees Mogg doesn't flirt, he is a strict Roman Catholic who as far as I am aware was a virgin until he married his wife, with whom he now has numerous children. They seem devoted to each other
If the Moggster is a strict RC, what sort of Papist is Bozo?
BREAKING: Independent candidate Catherine Connolly is set to become Ireland's next president after her rival, Heather Humphreys, conceded.
Connolly is a leftwinger who has made positive comments about Brexit in the past, so the populist wave now even reaches Ireland.
Humphreys was the candidate of the centre right pro EU Irish government
Lenin's "useful idiot" label could have been invented for Catherine Connolly.
Indeed, so much for the brilliantly apolitical ceremonial Irish President as head of state as a role model for UK republicans, Ireland has now effectively elected a female Jeremy Corbyn as head of state.
Even more reason to keep our constitutional monarchy
Ireland is likely to cause the EU endless grief in much the same way they've done to us.
And in the face of our centuries of benevolent generosity towards Ireland.
The thing with Sunak as well not only didn't it work out for him as PM, I think he knows it isn't a job for him and really hated it by the end. Thus unlike say a Boris who was always looking ways to engineer his way back into front line politics, that isn't going to be Sunak.
He could be polishing his CV for a seat in the Lords.
So, back on topic, what does Starmer do with Powell now? Bring her back into the Cabinet weeks after he sacked her for not being very good? Ignore her?
Not going to be easy with comments like this: "We must give a stronger sense of our purpose, whose side we are on and of our Labour values and beliefs,' she said.
'People feel that this government is not being bold enough in delivering the kind of change we promised.'
And she thinks she is being supportive at this point!
The thing with Sunak as well not only didn't it work out for him as PM, I think he knows it isn't a job for him and really hated it by the end. Thus unlike say a Boris who was always looking ways to engineer his way back into front line politics, that isn't going to be Sunak.
He could be polishing his CV for a seat in the Lords.
Also the Tory Party could conceivably be desperate to avoid a by-election. Last election it was almost half Tory, quarter Labour, sixth Reform. So ...
The thing with Sunak as well not only didn't it work out for him as PM, I think he knows it isn't a job for him and really hated it by the end. Thus unlike say a Boris who was always looking ways to engineer his way back into front line politics, that isn't going to be Sunak.
He could be polishing his CV for a seat in the Lords.
The thing with Sunak as well not only didn't it work out for him as PM, I think he knows it isn't a job for him and really hated it by the end. Thus unlike say a Boris who was always looking ways to engineer his way back into front line politics, that isn't going to be Sunak.
He could be polishing his CV for a seat in the Lords.
Automatic for ex-PMs who want it.
Not a club he's likely to want to join, made up as it is of also-runs as pm
Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and a major financial backer of President Trump, is the anonymous private donor who gave $130 million to the U.S. government to help pay troops during the shutdown, according to two people familiar with the matter.
NY Times
I know more than a few charities this side of the pond who could do with a million ($ or £) each.
This, of course, is another lie - they have no such immunity - but it is a very dangerous one.
Stephen Miller on Fox threatens to arrest JB Pritzker for "seditious conspiracy" and says, "to all ICE officers: you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. And anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop or obstruct you is committing a felony." https://x.com/atrupar/status/1981816700627554547
Does Kemi still see ICE as a model ?
Don't they?
In my recollection American Police have general immunity in the conduct of their duties, which is a major issue.
I imagine ICE might have similar.
I think they have qualified immunity, which means they cannot be individually sued by individuals for an act committed on duty.
They do not have immunity from criminal prosecution if they break the law. Exhibit A - the officer who murdered George Floyd.
So if an ICE unit take somebody who should not be taken, without the lawful authority of the state governor or a judge, I think they would still be up before a judge on a charge of kidnapping.
Indeed, so they do have qualified immunity, so its not wrong to say they have immunity, albeit a qualified and not blanket one.
I would prefer to see it repealed and abolished, but they do have it, unfortunately.
It is wrong to say they have ‘federal immunity,’ which outside the fantasies of Trump’s Supreme Court regarding the office of the President is not a concept in American law.
Qualified immunity is a federal law, underpinned by SCOTUS.
No, it isn't. It's a doctrine introduced by the court in the 60s, and further expanded by them in the last couple of decades. There's no underlying statute.
The US is a Common Law nation, like the UK. There does not need to be an underlying statute for it to be the law.
Case law, as determined by the courts, means that it is the law. I wish it weren't, but it is.
The thing with Sunak as well not only didn't it work out for him as PM, I think he knows it isn't a job for him and really hated it by the end. Thus unlike say a Boris who was always looking ways to engineer his way back into front line politics, that isn't going to be Sunak.
He could be polishing his CV for a seat in the Lords.
Also the Tory Party could conceivably be desperate to avoid a by-election. Last election it was almost half Tory, quarter Labour, sixth Reform. So ...
If Richmondshire falls then it is over for the Tories. May as well put the lights out.
So, back on topic, what does Starmer do with Powell now? Bring her back into the Cabinet weeks after he sacked her for not being very good? Ignore her?
Not going to be easy with comments like this: "We must give a stronger sense of our purpose, whose side we are on and of our Labour values and beliefs,' she said.
'People feel that this government is not being bold enough in delivering the kind of change we promised.'
And she thinks she is being supportive at this point!
Comments
Boris of course let us not forget started off a One Nation Clarkeite, backing Ken Clarke for leader in 2001, then a Cameroon in 2005 then once his ambition took hold of him and he had Mayor of London as a platform to challenge to be PM he positioned himself as a 'Brexity Hezza' in his own words and backed Leave in 2016 and the rest is history....
Oh, not that sort of Independent?
Humphreys was the candidate of the centre right pro EU Irish government
This applies in journalism, business, money and perhaps in other fields...
Gavan Reilly
@gavreilly
·
38m
🚨 Heather Humphreys has told RTÉ she concedes the Presidential Election and has congratulated Catherine Connolly on her victory. @virginmedianews
Most county councillors should be able to get selected for a unitary seat and maybe a third of district councillors
TMI
Rees-Mogg appears to me to have become drug crazed at some point.
Even more reason to keep our constitutional monarchy
Quite a long video
Watch: Witness describes confusion outside prison
https://news.sky.com/video/share-13457128
Disabled by a 6lbr shot, April 1943, North Africa
I would prefer to see it repealed and abolished, but they do have it, unfortunately.
Ajax AFV – Non-Denial, Denial
https://www.defenceeye.co.uk/2025/10/24/ajax-afv-non-denial-denial/
Defence Eye has heard that as part of the plan to now allocate the Ares armoured personnel carrier to former Warrior-equipped armoured infantry battalions, there was a series of exercises undertaken this Summer, mainly June/July (August tends to be block leave). And one piece of news from several observers of these exercises/trials was that there was a very high prevalence of tinnitus, serious headaches and loss of balance/motion issues, with some hospitalisations, at least for checks and observation...
Though, given what we know and can see of the chap, it would come as no surprise.
https://www.news.co.uk/latest-news/rishi-sunak-joins-the-sunday-times-as-a-columnist/
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/article/mod-faces-2bn-overspend-as-chiefs-told-to-make-cuts-vfj9b2jtz
Past time to re-review the defence review.
https://www.news.co.uk/latest-news/rishi-sunak-joins-the-sunday-times-as-a-columnist/
More likely he just needs something to do.
... may Trump inspire moderators to pardon all PBers now in the sin bin
https://x.com/bricktop_nafo/status/1981744686810152999
But I thought released prisoners got changed back into their own clothes, rather than heading for freedom still in the prison tracksuit thing.
1) Armoured wheeled vehicles. Interestingly, the extremely obsolete Saracen has been popular as a light vehicle behind the front lines - drone and small arms resistant
2) Tracked lightly armoured to act as missile carriers.
3) Massively armoured infantry assault vehicles - something like the Israeli Namer.
Ajax is silly compromise.
I would forecast that Kimi will find this something of a mixed blessing. Firstly, he is a lot brighter and more articulate, secondly, he has the advantage of experience and now Olympian perspective, thirdly I very much doubt that he will have any problem in saying where his former party are going wrong. He will no doubt be contemptuous of Starmer and he just might make the Tories sound a little more relevant again but there will be a price to pay.
The fact is that for all his faults and limitations he was a much better leader than she is and it may become increasingly obvious that that is the case. We are vanishingly unlikely to be able to compare their Premierships.
Which isn't exactly the same thing.
It's a doctrine introduced by the court in the 60s, and further expanded by them in the last couple of decades. There's no underlying statute.
It's the UK in a low growth era with maxed out public finances. What do they expect ... milk and honey and thundering herds of wildebeest?
Massive protests against the Russian-backed government of Hungary, with Peter Magyar absolutely destroying Orban in the polls.
If Orban allows a free election, it's over for Putin's puppet.
https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1982031644887277772
NY Times
tia
The other symptoms sound very bad too, especially if they are worse than being bounced around in the back of FV432 Trojan and FV510 Warrior which always seemed grim enough to me.
It's entirely possible.
The June protests were certainly smaller - but now they're in the hundreds of thousands.
The Epping migrant accidentally released after sexually assaulting a girl tried “four or five times” to return to prison, it has been claimed.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/25/buck-stops-with-starmer-in-migrant-jail-blunder-says-epping/
Not going to be easy with comments like this:
"We must give a stronger sense of our purpose, whose side we are on and of our Labour values and beliefs,' she said.
'People feel that this government is not being bold enough in delivering the kind of change we promised.'
And she thinks she is being supportive at this point!
Case law, as determined by the courts, means that it is the law. I wish it weren't, but it is.