I am not into US politics but certainly seeing Trump humiliated is excellent but not sure that going from far right to far left is the answer either
Not the right message from yesterday's elections. The blowout winners were moderate Democrat women in purple-ish states... you'd have been a bit surprised to see Republicans win this year in Virginia or New Jersey, but they'd have hoped to be within a few percentage points, not 15% and 13% comfortable margins.
Mamdani won too, by a smaller margin in a weird election against a deeply flawed candidate with big questions around corruption and sexual conduct. But I'd not take that as a wild spring to the left by voters as such - Cuomo was unelectable for reasons much bigger than ideology.
Yup.
Cuomo went Full MAGA in New York. Which squeezed the Republican candidate almost out of existence. An unified, moderate candidate could have won against Mamdani.
Interesting that the NY exit polls have far lower voting disparity across genders and ethnicity. Which would suggest it's a more harmonious society than rest of US or perhaps it's just divided by wealth?
Still pretty divided on ethnicity, Mamdani won 54% of non white voters but just 46% of white voters.
Less divided on gender where Mamdani won 50% of men and 50% of women
Rebuilding our complement of towed artillery (along with a large supply of ammunition) would be a far better investment than Challenger 3.
The Royal Artillery is down to 89 active towed Guns 🇬🇧
What the British Army actually has in the gun sheds today (Nov 2025)
- **89 active L118 Light Guns** - 36 with 7 Para RHA & 29 Commando - 18 with 4/73 (Sphinx) Battery - 18 with King’s Troop RHA - 17 in the training fleet at Larkhill https://x.com/agbdrilling/status/1985985132944077069
Given the war in Ukraine has shown that even mobile artillery needs to be dug in to survive for very long, towed guns are almost as useful as the far more expensive mobile stuff like Archer.
Nope - towed artillery is far less mobile than systems like Archer.
It can't include the autoloaders which allow modern SPGs to fire a mission and be driving off before the first round hits.
In the context of the modern battlefield towed artillery is essentially static. Which is why everyone has got rid of it.
Er, no.
Digging in doesn’t help in an age where strike accuracies are measured in a meter or two.
A towed artillery piece has to be towed into position. Then unlimbered. Then setup. Then manually fired. Which is very slow for 155 - 1 to 4 rounds per minute.
An SPG stops, maybe drops a steadying spade/jack, fires at 6-8 rounds a minute*, and can drive off in a few seconds after the last round is fired.
*in theory, if you wanted to spend money on weight, you could get 60 rounds a minute.
That was true in the first year or so of the war. It isn't any longer. Shoot and scoot now seriously risks getting droned, or bombed etc.
From the recent RUSI report: However, the use of howitzers and mortars has changed markedly owing to the threat from UAVs. They are now almost always operated from closed positions – dug into the ground in tree lines – with mesh screens surrounding the pieces, which are then opened when the system moves forward to fire. Artillery pieces operate independently, rather than in batteries. In addition, fire missions are very rarely more than 10 rounds to complete the fire mission before the piece comes under observation. Before going into action, artillery crews check whether they are under observation from UAVs and only fire if not under observation – unless ordered to do so. Ammunition is stored away from the weapon,17 and resupply is generally done by UGV. Repositioning of guns is carried out periodically or when there is an indication that the firing position has been identified by the enemy and must be covered by other operations. It should be noted that with these precautions, artillery and mortars can be highly survivable. Ukrainian analysts assess that the number of Russian artillery pieces destroyed in Ukrainian UAV strikes is approximately 50% of what is publicly claimed, as many hits against artillery pieces damage rather than destroy their targets and the artillery is subsequently recovered and repaired...
The Met police was informed 6 days after the mistake happened. Hmm I have a feeling he will never be found and could be absolutely anywhere in the UK.
Also this happened on Wednesday 1 day after new release rules were supposedly implemented - it's almost like they may have created the problem...
I would be amazed if Lammy didn't know but if he did then he will come under considerable media pressure to answer why he didn't admit it at the dispatch box
The Met police was informed 6 days after the mistake happened. Hmm I have a feeling he will never be found and could be absolutely anywhere in the UK.
Also this happened on Wednesday 1 day after new release rules were supposedly implemented - it's almost like they may have created the problem...
I would be amazed if Lammy didn't know but if he did then he will come under considerable media pressure to answer why he didn't admit it at the dispatch box
Anyhow, I’m glad we’re all about to be clobbered by more taxes to pay for these wonderful services
I am not into US politics but certainly seeing Trump humiliated is excellent but not sure that going from far right to far left is the answer either
Not the right message from yesterday's elections. The blowout winners were moderate Democrat women in purple-ish states... you'd have been a bit surprised to see Republicans win this year in Virginia or New Jersey, but they'd have hoped to be within a few percentage points, not 15% and 13% comfortable margins.
Mamdani won too, by a smaller margin in a weird election against a deeply flawed candidate with big questions around corruption and sexual conduct. But I'd not take that as a wild spring to the left by voters as such - Cuomo was unelectable for reasons much bigger than ideology.
Yup.
Cuomo went Full MAGA in New York. Which squeezed the Republican candidate almost out of existence. An unified, moderate candidate could have won against Mamdani.
Interesting that the NY exit polls have far lower voting disparity across genders and ethnicity. Which would suggest it's a more harmonious society than rest of US or perhaps it's just divided by wealth?
Still pretty divided on ethnicity, Mamdani won 54% of non white voters but just 46% of white voters.
Less divided on gender where Mamdani won 50% of men and 50% of women
That's not a particularly big ethnic divide, all things said.
The reason for the focus on him is his radical agenda.
In terms of vote he didn't do amazingly well. Against a very flawed alternative he won by less than 9% in a very Democrat city. He clearly didn't unite all never Trump voters.
That’s a crazy read. If anyone in the UK thinks that HS2 has a scope and budget problem, the Americans are way better at scope and budget problems.
Though they can go the other way.
When a critical freeway collapsed in LA (quake), Schwarzenegger (Governor at the time) let a contract to get it replaced. Faster got the company more money - but they had to post a bond to liable for the repairs for several decades.
They got the job done in a ridiculously short period of time, using special concrete, cooling pipes in the concrete etc, working round the clock. It actually turned out to be one of the lowest maintenance pieces of the LA freeway system, IIRC.
No sh!t, Sherlock. Public procurement is basically broken at this point, in both the UK and US.
Watching from somewhere that just gets sh!t done, it’s terrible to see.
You do live in an absolute monarchy, though.
With huge levels of corruption, sex trafficking, etc.
Enough about the UK, what about the sandpit?
No personal income tax, no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax, 5% VAT, 7% corporation tax.
I guess life sucks out here.
Anyone want a spread bet on emigration from UK to UAE in next 12 months?
Fine by me as long as they don't retain access to the NHS, State Pension, benefits and political stability that the UK provides.
Otherwise, they should continue to pay UK tax.
They also keep the vote for an apparently absurd period of time ...
The Met police was informed 6 days after the mistake happened. Hmm I have a feeling he will never be found and could be absolutely anywhere in the UK.
Also this happened on Wednesday 1 day after new release rules were supposedly implemented - it's almost like they may have created the problem...
Of course they have created the problem!
It’s important to note Labour came into power with a policy and position saying “too many people get locked up” so is it any surprise this is happening, if government policy sympathetic to loads more early release rather than justice for victims?
Although it makes headlines in same daft way a small dingy of asylum seekers is top headlines, but jumbo jet after jumbo jet of legal migrants completely ignored, it doesn’t matter here if the prisoner wrongly set free from prison back into the community is illegal immigrant or not, it’s a matter of 262 or more a year criminals being set free by mistake to be at large. It’s got to be a resignation matter for any Justice Secretary and Home Secretary, they have presided over this since Labour came to power, completely unable to get a grip.
I am not into US politics but certainly seeing Trump humiliated is excellent but not sure that going from far right to far left is the answer either
Not the right message from yesterday's elections. The blowout winners were moderate Democrat women in purple-ish states... you'd have been a bit surprised to see Republicans win this year in Virginia or New Jersey, but they'd have hoped to be within a few percentage points, not 15% and 13% comfortable margins.
Mamdani won too, by a smaller margin in a weird election against a deeply flawed candidate with big questions around corruption and sexual conduct. But I'd not take that as a wild spring to the left by voters as such - Cuomo was unelectable for reasons much bigger than ideology.
Yup.
Cuomo went Full MAGA in New York. Which squeezed the Republican candidate almost out of existence. An unified, moderate candidate could have won against Mamdani.
Interesting that the NY exit polls have far lower voting disparity across genders and ethnicity. Which would suggest it's a more harmonious society than rest of US or perhaps it's just divided by wealth?
Still pretty divided on ethnicity, Mamdani won 54% of non white voters but just 46% of white voters.
Less divided on gender where Mamdani won 50% of men and 50% of women
That's not a particularly big ethnic divide, all things said.
The reason for the focus on him is his radical agenda.
In terms of vote he didn't do amazingly well. Against a very flawed alternative he won by less than 9% in a very Democrat city. He clearly didn't unite all never Trump voters.
I'm not sure what broader lessons you can draw from the result: he was also running against a former Democrat standing as an independent. The one thing that does stick out from the results is a massive age divide.
The Met police was informed 6 days after the mistake happened. Hmm I have a feeling he will never be found and could be absolutely anywhere in the UK.
Also this happened on Wednesday 1 day after new release rules were supposedly implemented - it's almost like they may have created the problem...
Of course they have created the problem!
It’s important to note Labour came into power with a policy and position saying “too many people get locked up” so is it any surprise this is happening, if government policy sympathetic to loads more early release rather than justice for victims?
Although it makes headlines in same daft way a small dingy of asylum seekers is top headlines, but jumbo jet after jumbo jet of legal migrants completely ignored, it doesn’t matter here if the prisoner wrongly set free from prison back into the community is illegal immigrant or not, it’s a matter of 262 or more a year criminals being set free by mistake to be at large. It’s got to be a resignation matter for any Justice Secretary and Home Secretary, they have presided over this since Labour came to power, completely unable to get a grip.
Given that the prisons were at capacity in July 2024 and the lead time for a new prison is 2-5 years, what else could the Government do, except release some prisoners.
The Met police was informed 6 days after the mistake happened. Hmm I have a feeling he will never be found and could be absolutely anywhere in the UK.
Also this happened on Wednesday 1 day after new release rules were supposedly implemented - it's almost like they may have created the problem...
I would be amazed if Lammy didn't know but if he did then he will come under considerable media pressure to answer why he didn't admit it at the dispatch box
Did James Cartlidge know, when repeatedly posing the question to Lammy? It looks as if the Speaker turned down a point of order from Cartlidge, who presumably either had planned this stunt or had just been informed himself.
It is plausible Lammy did not know, even though he should have done, as he would probably have been locked in with the PMQ team for hours. If they'd known, they'd surely have a response planned.
The Met police was informed 6 days after the mistake happened. Hmm I have a feeling he will never be found and could be absolutely anywhere in the UK.
Also this happened on Wednesday 1 day after new release rules were supposedly implemented - it's almost like they may have created the problem...
Of course they have created the problem!
It’s important to note Labour came into power with a policy and position saying “too many people get locked up” so is it any surprise this is happening, if government policy sympathetic to loads more early release rather than justice for victims?
Although it makes headlines in same daft way a small dingy of asylum seekers is top headlines, but jumbo jet after jumbo jet of legal migrants completely ignored, it doesn’t matter here if the prisoner wrongly set free from prison back into the community is illegal immigrant or not, it’s a matter of 262 or more a year criminals being set free by mistake to be at large. It’s got to be a resignation matter for any Justice Secretary and Home Secretary, they have presided over this since Labour came to power, completely unable to get a grip.
Given that the prisons were at capacity in July 2024 and the lead time for a new prison is 2-5 years, what else could the Government do, except release some prisoners.
Weren't the Tories also releasing priusoners early?
"Democrats will savour it as the night they got back in business. It has been a thoroughly miserable year for a leaderless party struggling to outmanoeuvre a man who constantly throws the chessboard in the air. Morale has been at rock bottom. The party has been missing in action.
"But while losing elections is bad, misreading the results can be worse. When Democrats narrowly lost the House of Representatives in 2022 but outperformed expectations, they took it as a sign that all was well with the status quo. Instead of challenging Joe Biden, they let him run for a second presidential term and paid the price."
The Met police was informed 6 days after the mistake happened. Hmm I have a feeling he will never be found and could be absolutely anywhere in the UK.
Also this happened on Wednesday 1 day after new release rules were supposedly implemented - it's almost like they may have created the problem...
I would be amazed if Lammy didn't know but if he did then he will come under considerable media pressure to answer why he didn't admit it at the dispatch box
Did James Cartlidge know, when repeatedly posing the question to Lammy? It looks as if the Speaker turned down a point of order from Cartlidge, who presumably either had planned this stunt or had just been informed himself.
It is plausible Lammy did not know, even though he should have done, as he would probably have been locked in with the PMQ team for hours. If they'd known, they'd surely have a response planned.
The timeliness suggest it is not credible that Lammy or Mahood didn't know but certainly the conservatives did
I am not into US politics but certainly seeing Trump humiliated is excellent but not sure that going from far right to far left is the answer either
Not the right message from yesterday's elections. The blowout winners were moderate Democrat women in purple-ish states... you'd have been a bit surprised to see Republicans win this year in Virginia or New Jersey, but they'd have hoped to be within a few percentage points, not 15% and 13% comfortable margins.
Mamdani won too, by a smaller margin in a weird election against a deeply flawed candidate with big questions around corruption and sexual conduct. But I'd not take that as a wild spring to the left by voters as such - Cuomo was unelectable for reasons much bigger than ideology.
Yup.
Cuomo went Full MAGA in New York. Which squeezed the Republican candidate almost out of existence. An unified, moderate candidate could have won against Mamdani.
Interesting that the NY exit polls have far lower voting disparity across genders and ethnicity. Which would suggest it's a more harmonious society than rest of US or perhaps it's just divided by wealth?
Still pretty divided on ethnicity, Mamdani won 54% of non white voters but just 46% of white voters.
Less divided on gender where Mamdani won 50% of men and 50% of women
That's not a particularly big ethnic divide, all things said.
The reason for the focus on him is his radical agenda.
In terms of vote he didn't do amazingly well. Against a very flawed alternative he won by less than 9% in a very Democrat city. He clearly didn't unite all never Trump voters.
I'm not sure what broader lessons you can draw from the result: he was also running against a former Democrat standing as an independent. The one thing that does stick out from the results is a massive age divide.
Smart politics by the conservatives and has left Lammy with serious questions to answer
They could have asked "when did you stop beating your wife". It was such a woeful performance and don't honestly know if the Conservatives can actually get themselves out of the gutter that they followed Reform into.
Equally, if Reeves stays Starmer may not survive if she increases income tax at all levels and breaks the Labour manifesto
I cannot understand why Labour pledged not to raise income tax. They could have said we won't raise it for most people.
Is this really difficult? They wanted to win an election.
Leaving open the possibility of raising tax for a small minority of people wouldn't have threatened Labour's election win, one would have thought.
They have long memories of 1992. They thought if they just shut up and didn't tell people, or simply lied - but of course we're not going to raise tax, tra-la-la, fie you bounder! (raises fan) - and as a result their plans were not interrogated. This enabled them to enter government with not a scooby about what to do or how to do it, except for Ed Miliband, and you know what I think about his policies...
Smart politics by the conservatives and has left Lammy with serious questions to answer
They could have asked "when did you stop beating your wife". It was such a woeful performance and don't honestly know if the Conservatives can actually get themselves out of the gutter that they followed Reform into.
Whose woeful performance are you referring to
Sky now saying Lammy did know so his performance at the dispatch box was completely out of order
"Democrats will savour it as the night they got back in business. It has been a thoroughly miserable year for a leaderless party struggling to outmanoeuvre a man who constantly throws the chessboard in the air. Morale has been at rock bottom. The party has been missing in action.
"But while losing elections is bad, misreading the results can be worse. When Democrats narrowly lost the House of Representatives in 2022 but outperformed expectations, they took it as a sign that all was well with the status quo. Instead of challenging Joe Biden, they let him run for a second presidential term and paid the price."
Anyone know the comparable districts in N Carolina ?
Big shout out to Utah Republicans, who greedily passed a fully gerrymandered map that includes an R+2 and an R+6 district, as they watched Democrats easily overcome those margins all across the country tonight. https://x.com/briantylercohen/status/1985961492064452878
FPT: On Democratic Socialists, including New York's mayor elect: Here's what I asked about Bernie Sanders, years ago: Is he a DEMOCRATIC socialist, or a democratic SOCIALIST?
There are two interesting clues in his history: He spent his honeymoon visiting the Soviet Union. Alexander Solzhenitsyn moved to Vermont in 1976 and lived there until 1994, but Sanders never bothered to meet with him in all those years.
(Incidentally, politics has a good business for Sanders; he's a millionaire, and he and his wife own three houses.)
FPT: On Democratic Socialists, including New York's mayor elect: Here's what I asked about Bernie Sanders, years ago: Is he a DEMOCRATIC socialist, or a democratic SOCIALIST?
There are two interesting clues in his history: He spent his honeymoon visiting the Soviet Union. Alexander Solzhenitsyn moved to Vermont in 1976 and lived there until 1994, but Sanders never bothered to meet with him in all those years.
(Incidentally, politics has a good business for Sanders; he's a millionaire, and he and his wife own three houses.)
Polling for both the governor contests underestimated the Dem vote. Is this significant?
Possibly.
It's certainly cheered up the Dems on X.
YES DONALD, PLEASE DO A SERIOUS REVIEW OF THIS. I HEAR DEAD PEOPLE VOTED AFTER BEING REVIVED WITH A COVID VACCINE. THEIR BALLOTS WERE THEN BLOWN BY WINDMILLS INTO THE HANDS OF MEXICAN ANTIFA WHO PASSED THEM TO A TEAM OF TRANS PIGEONS WHO FLEW THEM TO THE BALLOT BOX. TRUE STORY. https://x.com/AwesomeNewsom/status/1986012360302092435
I am not into US politics but certainly seeing Trump humiliated is excellent but not sure that going from far right to far left is the answer either
Not the right message from yesterday's elections. The blowout winners were moderate Democrat women in purple-ish states... you'd have been a bit surprised to see Republicans win this year in Virginia or New Jersey, but they'd have hoped to be within a few percentage points, not 15% and 13% comfortable margins.
Mamdani won too, by a smaller margin in a weird election against a deeply flawed candidate with big questions around corruption and sexual conduct. But I'd not take that as a wild spring to the left by voters as such - Cuomo was unelectable for reasons much bigger than ideology.
Yup.
Cuomo went Full MAGA in New York. Which squeezed the Republican candidate almost out of existence. An unified, moderate candidate could have won against Mamdani.
Interesting that the NY exit polls have far lower voting disparity across genders and ethnicity. Which would suggest it's a more harmonious society than rest of US or perhaps it's just divided by wealth?
Still pretty divided on ethnicity, Mamdani won 54% of non white voters but just 46% of white voters.
Less divided on gender where Mamdani won 50% of men and 50% of women
That's not a particularly big ethnic divide, all things said.
The reason for the focus on him is his radical agenda.
In terms of vote he didn't do amazingly well. Against a very flawed alternative he won by less than 9% in a very Democrat city. He clearly didn't unite all never Trump voters.
He was the first mayoral candidate in New York to get more than one million votes since 1969.
Raise income tax by 10p for top earners to plug black hole, say economists
Think tank suggests Reeves should break manifesto pledges to show markets she has ‘a credible plan’
Rachel Reeves must raise income tax for high earners by as much as 10p to fill a black hole in Britain’s finances, top economists have warned.
Hiking the higher rate of income tax to as much as 50p in the pound from 40p and increasing the basic rate by 2p to 22p is the best way to raise the money that the Chancellor needs to stabilise the public finances, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
The think tank said this would inflict less harm on growth than raising any of the other major taxes, or a raft of smaller levies.
However, the move would breach Labour’s election manifesto promises to not increase income tax, National Insurance contributions, VAT or corporation tax.
FPT: On Democratic Socialists, including New York's mayor elect: Here's what I asked about Bernie Sanders, years ago: Is he a DEMOCRATIC socialist, or a democratic SOCIALIST?
Polling for both the governor contests underestimated the Dem vote. Is this significant?
Yes. The important thing is why?
If, suppose, there was an enthusiasm gap not picked up fully by the polls, then that might be more consequential at the midterms than at the next Presidential election.
Other reasons might show a different pattern for subsequent elections.
In all important news - turns out Mamdani is an Arsenal fan,
Ugh, Arsenal fans are the worst of humanity.
Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Keir Starmer, Osama bin Laden, and the worst of the worst, Piers Morgan.
Nah, Villa fans are far worse. Including that royal slaphead currently grandstanding at COP30 having his entitled ego stroked and saving the planet by flying over the world, enjoying fine food and pissing about playing beach volleyball.
"Democrats will savour it as the night they got back in business. It has been a thoroughly miserable year for a leaderless party struggling to outmanoeuvre a man who constantly throws the chessboard in the air. Morale has been at rock bottom. The party has been missing in action.
"But while losing elections is bad, misreading the results can be worse. When Democrats narrowly lost the House of Representatives in 2022 but outperformed expectations, they took it as a sign that all was well with the status quo. Instead of challenging Joe Biden, they let him run for a second presidential term and paid the price."
What is this status quo that they're going to try to preserve this time ?? I don't really understand the point being made.
Yes, surely Trump has upended everything, and the Dem stay calm and carry on guys are out with the bins for the moment. Of course Trump and MAGA want to be the new status quo but are finding it more difficult than it looks. I think Trump’s capacity for self deception is so monumental that he actually believes his own bullshit, but there are more calculating people around him.
Good Lord. The episode itself was a bit boring, but the technique was impressive. I assume the AI moving images were generated from contemporary still photographs. It makes me wonder what can be done with, say, computer-generated stills - can we construct entirely fictional[1] episodes ab initio?
The most sickening thing about the prisoner release story is that it's only being highlighted, by the Tories and the media, because the prisoner is 'Algerian'. If he'd been Dave from Dagenham it would probably have made the Dagenham Times, but that's about it.
We are in a depressing place where the activities of miscreants are only worth reporting for most of the media if they are 'foreign' (or ex-royals).
The most sickening thing about the prisoner release story is that it's only being highlighted, by the Tories and the media, because the prisoner is 'Algerian'. If he'd been Dave from Dagenham it would probably have made the Dagenham Times, but that's about it.
We are in a depressing place where the activities of miscreants are only worth reporting for most of the media if they are 'foreign' (or ex-royals).
Ex Royals may well count as foreign to some if they happen to be the son of an immigrant.
Raise income tax by 10p for top earners to plug black hole, say economists
Think tank suggests Reeves should break manifesto pledges to show markets she has ‘a credible plan’
Rachel Reeves must raise income tax for high earners by as much as 10p to fill a black hole in Britain’s finances, top economists have warned.
Hiking the higher rate of income tax to as much as 50p in the pound from 40p and increasing the basic rate by 2p to 22p is the best way to raise the money that the Chancellor needs to stabilise the public finances, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
The think tank said this would inflict less harm on growth than raising any of the other major taxes, or a raft of smaller levies.
However, the move would breach Labour’s election manifesto promises to not increase income tax, National Insurance contributions, VAT or corporation tax.
Well, it's not because there's more violent crime, because there isn't - there's less. So I guess it's due to the macho desire of both main political parties to imprison more offenders, regardless of the consequences, because they think that's what the public want. And they're probably right, sadly.
That’s a crazy read. If anyone in the UK thinks that HS2 has a scope and budget problem, the Americans are way better at scope and budget problems.
Though they can go the other way.
When a critical freeway collapsed in LA (quake), Schwarzenegger (Governor at the time) let a contract to get it replaced. Faster got the company more money - but they had to post a bond to liable for the repairs for several decades.
They got the job done in a ridiculously short period of time, using special concrete, cooling pipes in the concrete etc, working round the clock. It actually turned out to be one of the lowest maintenance pieces of the LA freeway system, IIRC.
"Democrats will savour it as the night they got back in business. It has been a thoroughly miserable year for a leaderless party struggling to outmanoeuvre a man who constantly throws the chessboard in the air. Morale has been at rock bottom. The party has been missing in action.
"But while losing elections is bad, misreading the results can be worse. When Democrats narrowly lost the House of Representatives in 2022 but outperformed expectations, they took it as a sign that all was well with the status quo. Instead of challenging Joe Biden, they let him run for a second presidential term and paid the price."
What is this status quo that they're going to try to preserve this time ?? I don't really understand the point being made.
Those who know the Democrats know that a rather ancient, long term mediocre politician will be wheeled out by the party hierarchy for 2028. Because it’s their turn.
The wins yesterday came from finding candidates with a significant pulse, political skills and voter appeal. Combined with hard work, this led to victory.
It may seem like crazed nihilism, but applying the same methodology to the Presidency might just be an idea.
The most sickening thing about the prisoner release story is that it's only being highlighted, by the Tories and the media, because the prisoner is 'Algerian'. If he'd been Dave from Dagenham it would probably have made the Dagenham Times, but that's about it.
We are in a depressing place where the activities of miscreants are only worth reporting for most of the media if they are 'foreign' (or ex-royals).
This is the reporting on the subject confirming Lammy did know
He should have admitted it and explained the circumstances
Good Lord. The episode itself was a bit boring, but the technique was impressive. I assume the AI moving images were generated from contemporary still photographs. It makes me wonder what can be done with, say, computer-generated stills - can we construct entirely fictional[1] episodes ab initio?
[1] You know what I mean...
Cura telesnaps I believe
I’m sure the ability to make original stories is well under consideration at Big Finish even as we speak 😉
I’m sure it’s heresy but I always found this story to be really dull apart from the last episode. One episode seemed to be mostly Jamie and Kemal on some stairs.
The music stab when the Dalek appears is well done.
Well, it's not because there's more violent crime, because there isn't - there's less. So I guess it's due to the macho desire of both main political parties to imprison more offenders, regardless of the consequences, because they think that's what the public want. And they're probably right, sadly.
There’s an old Monty Python gag. ‘Want to reduce the people in prison, reduce the number of offences’. We’ve gone the other way.
He tells us that he is sending to prison a long row of people who’ve committed very serious offences.
It is my understanding this is true across the justice system. Contrary to popular belief, the prisons aren’t full of people who stole a box of matches.
Well, it's not because there's more violent crime, because there isn't - there's less. So I guess it's due to the macho desire of both main political parties to imprison more offenders, regardless of the consequences, because they think that's what the public want. And they're probably right, sadly.
There’s an old Monty Python gag. ‘Want to reduce the people in prison, reduce the number of offences’. We’ve gone the other way.
IDEA!
Pay the people smuggler gangs to expel the contents of Britain’s prisons to France.
Today, GOP in Congress see they can’t count on Trump to win their elections. The smart ones will do what Marjorie started - save themselves by abandoning Trump's anti-American agenda. And the stupid ones, we’ll be coming for every day til’ 2026.
2010 and gerrymandering: Any long-term discussion of the subject should include the combined effects of the census, and the Republican gains in that year. Republicans took control of enough state legislatures in 2010 so that they could compete with the Democrats in gerrymandering. (Or even, to be fair, just reverse Democratic gerrymandering.) And the census gave them reason to redistrict.
The gains that year were largely a reaction to Obama's political failures. I have long thought that the two men who did the most to grow the Republican Party in recent decades are . . . Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
(American journalists often treated gerrymandering as "boys will be boys"-- when it was mostly done by Democrats, but the journalists became more critical when Republicans began to play the same games.)
That’s a crazy read. If anyone in the UK thinks that HS2 has a scope and budget problem, the Americans are way better at scope and budget problems.
Though they can go the other way.
When a critical freeway collapsed in LA (quake), Schwarzenegger (Governor at the time) let a contract to get it replaced. Faster got the company more money - but they had to post a bond to liable for the repairs for several decades.
They got the job done in a ridiculously short period of time, using special concrete, cooling pipes in the concrete etc, working round the clock. It actually turned out to be one of the lowest maintenance pieces of the LA freeway system, IIRC.
Today, GOP in Congress see they can’t count on Trump to win their elections. The smart ones will do what Marjorie started - save themselves by abandoning Trump's anti-American agenda. And the stupid ones, we’ll be coming for every day til’ 2026.
If the Lincoln Project could have convinced just 10% of Republicans to vote against Trump that would have been sufficient. Whilst they have not been helped by the Dems, the project has sadly been a failure. The orange one is too good at this game.
Deep in the uncanny valley but not bad for enthusiastic amateurs.
A step up,on recons and animations for me, for sure.
Oh yes, but you’d have to be a proper enthusiast to watch a couple of hours of it. Still, it does show progress and there a lot of things that you might eventually want to push through process like that outside of Dr Who. Star Trek: Phase II springs to mind.
That’s a crazy read. If anyone in the UK thinks that HS2 has a scope and budget problem, the Americans are way better at scope and budget problems.
Though they can go the other way.
When a critical freeway collapsed in LA (quake), Schwarzenegger (Governor at the time) let a contract to get it replaced. Faster got the company more money - but they had to post a bond to liable for the repairs for several decades.
They got the job done in a ridiculously short period of time, using special concrete, cooling pipes in the concrete etc, working round the clock. It actually turned out to be one of the lowest maintenance pieces of the LA freeway system, IIRC.
That’s a crazy read. If anyone in the UK thinks that HS2 has a scope and budget problem, the Americans are way better at scope and budget problems.
Though they can go the other way.
When a critical freeway collapsed in LA (quake), Schwarzenegger (Governor at the time) let a contract to get it replaced. Faster got the company more money - but they had to post a bond to liable for the repairs for several decades.
They got the job done in a ridiculously short period of time, using special concrete, cooling pipes in the concrete etc, working round the clock. It actually turned out to be one of the lowest maintenance pieces of the LA freeway system, IIRC.
Well, it's not because there's more violent crime, because there isn't - there's less. So I guess it's due to the macho desire of both main political parties to imprison more offenders, regardless of the consequences, because they think that's what the public want. And they're probably right, sadly.
Is it possible there's less violent crime because violent criminals are spending longer in prison?
I'd also say that one factor is that the country is taking sexual offences a bit more seriously, including historical offences against children, and so you'd expect more people in prison as a result.
Today, GOP in Congress see they can’t count on Trump to win their elections. The smart ones will do what Marjorie started - save themselves by abandoning Trump's anti-American agenda. And the stupid ones, we’ll be coming for every day til’ 2026.
'President Donald Trump said on Wednesday morning that the ongoing government shutdown was partly to blame for Republican election losses on Election Day.
"I think, if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor," Trump told reporters during a breakfast with GOP lawmakers at the White House. "Negative for the Republicans, and that was a big factor."
I am not into US politics but certainly seeing Trump humiliated is excellent but not sure that going from far right to far left is the answer either
Not the right message from yesterday's elections. The blowout winners were moderate Democrat women in purple-ish states... you'd have been a bit surprised to see Republicans win this year in Virginia or New Jersey, but they'd have hoped to be within a few percentage points, not 15% and 13% comfortable margins.
Mamdani won too, by a smaller margin in a weird election against a deeply flawed candidate with big questions around corruption and sexual conduct. But I'd not take that as a wild spring to the left by voters as such - Cuomo was unelectable for reasons much bigger than ideology.
Yup.
Cuomo went Full MAGA in New York. Which squeezed the Republican candidate almost out of existence. An unified, moderate candidate could have won against Mamdani.
Interesting that the NY exit polls have far lower voting disparity across genders and ethnicity. Which would suggest it's a more harmonious society than rest of US or perhaps it's just divided by wealth?
Still pretty divided on ethnicity, Mamdani won 54% of non white voters but just 46% of white voters.
Less divided on gender where Mamdani won 50% of men and 50% of women
That's not a particularly big ethnic divide, all things said.
The reason for the focus on him is his radical agenda.
In terms of vote he didn't do amazingly well. Against a very flawed alternative he won by less than 9% in a very Democrat city. He clearly didn't unite all never Trump voters.
I'm not sure what broader lessons you can draw from the result: he was also running against a former Democrat standing as an independent. The one thing that does stick out from the results is a massive age divide.
18-29 78% 30-44 66% 45-64 43% 65+ 36%
So basically Mamdani is the US Corbyn then, the 2017 and 2019 GEs also saw massive age divides in the UK
Well, it's not because there's more violent crime, because there isn't - there's less. So I guess it's due to the macho desire of both main political parties to imprison more offenders, regardless of the consequences, because they think that's what the public want. And they're probably right, sadly.
Is it possible there's less violent crime because violent criminals are spending longer in prison?
I'd also say that one factor is that the country is taking sexual offences a bit more seriously, including historical offences against children, and so you'd expect more people in prison as a result.
Also lead free petrol. Seriously considered to be a major factor in the decline of violent crime by young male 20-somethings.
Deep in the uncanny valley but not bad for enthusiastic amateurs.
A step up,on recons and animations for me, for sure.
Oh yes, but you’d have to be a proper enthusiast to watch a couple of hours of it. Still, it does show progress and there a lot of things that you might eventually want to push through process like that outside of Dr Who. Star Trek: Phase II springs to mind.
Oh yes, but as with the recons and animations, this really is one for the diehards.
The most sickening thing about the prisoner release story is that it's only being highlighted, by the Tories and the media, because the prisoner is 'Algerian'. If he'd been Dave from Dagenham it would probably have made the Dagenham Times, but that's about it.
We are in a depressing place where the activities of miscreants are only worth reporting for most of the media if they are 'foreign' (or ex-royals).
Ex Royals may well count as foreign to some if they happen to be the son of an immigrant.
Matt Goodwin would consider King Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet, Princess Anne, Andrew and the Duke of Edinburgh all foreign.
Well, it's not because there's more violent crime, because there isn't - there's less. So I guess it's due to the macho desire of both main political parties to imprison more offenders, regardless of the consequences, because they think that's what the public want. And they're probably right, sadly.
Is it possible there's less violent crime because violent criminals are spending longer in prison?
I'd also say that one factor is that the country is taking sexual offences a bit more seriously, including historical offences against children, and so you'd expect more people in prison as a result.
Marital rape wasn't a crime (in the eyes of the law) in the UK til 1991, and spousal violence, whilst illegal, would have been typically viewed as a "domestic" unless extreme.
FPT: On Democratic Socialists, including New York's mayor elect: Here's what I asked about Bernie Sanders, years ago: Is he a DEMOCRATIC socialist, or a democratic SOCIALIST?
There are two interesting clues in his history: He spent his honeymoon visiting the Soviet Union. Alexander Solzhenitsyn moved to Vermont in 1976 and lived there until 1994, but Sanders never bothered to meet with him in all those years.
(Incidentally, politics has a good business for Sanders; he's a millionaire, and he and his wife own three houses.)
Deep in the uncanny valley but not bad for enthusiastic amateurs.
A step up,on recons and animations for me, for sure.
Oh yes, but you’d have to be a proper enthusiast to watch a couple of hours of it. Still, it does show progress and there a lot of things that you might eventually want to push through process like that outside of Dr Who. Star Trek: Phase II springs to mind.
Like political opponents making unpopular statements.
Deep in the uncanny valley but not bad for enthusiastic amateurs.
A step up,on recons and animations for me, for sure.
Oh yes, but you’d have to be a proper enthusiast to watch a couple of hours of it. Still, it does show progress and there a lot of things that you might eventually want to push through process like that outside of Dr Who. Star Trek: Phase II springs to mind.
Oh yes, but as with the recons and animations, this really is one for the diehards.
Controversial viewpoint coming. When I was a young lad, obsessed with Dr Who in the early 1980's all I could get of old Who was the target novelisations. Incredibly they were all the same length irrespective of number of episodes (e.g. The War Games was still the standard length...). And you know what - the mind's eye did the job of creating the images. And then I was able to start buying videos when they came out plus earned some money and they were not always that impressive. And now of course I can watch all extant episodes at will...
There are some lost episodes and stories that fans maintain are superb. Perhaps they would be better left alone?
The most sickening thing about the prisoner release story is that it's only being highlighted, by the Tories and the media, because the prisoner is 'Algerian'. If he'd been Dave from Dagenham it would probably have made the Dagenham Times, but that's about it.
We are in a depressing place where the activities of miscreants are only worth reporting for most of the media if they are 'foreign' (or ex-royals).
Ex Royals may well count as foreign to some if they happen to be the son of an immigrant.
Matt Goodwin would consider King Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet, Princess Anne, Andrew and the Duke of Edinburgh all foreign.
I see you left Meghan out. Is that because he would view her as a level below foreign for some obscure reason?
Well, it's not because there's more violent crime, because there isn't - there's less. So I guess it's due to the macho desire of both main political parties to imprison more offenders, regardless of the consequences, because they think that's what the public want. And they're probably right, sadly.
Is it possible there's less violent crime because violent criminals are spending longer in prison?
I'd also say that one factor is that the country is taking sexual offences a bit more seriously, including historical offences against children, and so you'd expect more people in prison as a result.
The first accidental releasee chap was convicted of a sexual offence that carries a maximum term of 14 years.
Comments
Less divided on gender where Mamdani won 50% of men and 50% of women
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2025-elections/new-york-city-mayor-results#exit-polls
Shoot and scoot now seriously risks getting droned, or bombed etc.
From the recent RUSI report:
However, the use of howitzers and mortars has changed markedly owing to the threat from UAVs. They are now almost always operated from closed positions – dug into the ground in tree lines – with mesh screens surrounding the pieces, which are then opened when the system moves forward to fire. Artillery pieces operate independently, rather than in batteries. In addition, fire missions are very rarely more than 10 rounds to complete the fire mission before the piece comes under observation. Before going into action, artillery crews check whether they are under observation from UAVs and only fire if not under observation – unless ordered to do so. Ammunition is stored away from the weapon,17 and resupply is generally done by UGV. Repositioning of guns is carried out periodically or when there is an indication that the firing position has been identified by the enemy and must be covered by other operations.
It should be noted that with these precautions, artillery and mortars can be highly survivable. Ukrainian analysts assess that the number of Russian artillery pieces destroyed in Ukrainian UAV strikes is approximately 50% of what is publicly claimed, as many hits against artillery pieces damage rather than destroy their targets and the artillery is subsequently recovered and repaired...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5ylvz217ept
The reason for the focus on him is his radical agenda.
In terms of vote he didn't do amazingly well. Against a very flawed alternative he won by less than 9% in a very Democrat city. He clearly didn't unite all never Trump voters.
It’s important to note Labour came into power with a policy and position saying “too many people get locked up” so is it any surprise this is happening, if government policy sympathetic to loads more early release rather than justice for victims?
Although it makes headlines in same daft way a small dingy of asylum seekers is top headlines, but jumbo jet after jumbo jet of legal migrants completely ignored, it doesn’t matter here if the prisoner wrongly set free from prison back into the community is illegal immigrant or not, it’s a matter of 262 or more a year criminals being set free by mistake to be at large. It’s got to be a resignation matter for any Justice Secretary and Home Secretary, they have presided over this since Labour came to power, completely unable to get a grip.
The one thing that does stick out from the results is a massive age divide.
Smart politics by the conservatives and has left Lammy with serious questions to answer
It is plausible Lammy did not know, even though he should have done, as he would probably have been locked in with the PMQ team for hours. If they'd known, they'd surely have a response planned.
"Democrats will savour it as the night they got back in business. It has been a thoroughly miserable year for a leaderless party struggling to outmanoeuvre a man who constantly throws the chessboard in the air. Morale has been at rock bottom. The party has been missing in action.
"But while losing elections is bad, misreading the results can be worse. When Democrats narrowly lost the House of Representatives in 2022 but outperformed expectations, they took it as a sign that all was well with the status quo. Instead of challenging Joe Biden, they let him run for a second presidential term and paid the price."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/05/democrat-election-wins-across-america-caution-around-hope-mamdani-spanberger
It's like asking why pigeons shit on my shed roof. It's just what they do. Mr Sunak is a Northern MP. He is no longer of interest to the Metropolis.
Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Keir Starmer, Osama bin Laden, and the worst of the worst, Piers Morgan.
30-44 66%
45-64 43%
65+ 36%
Sky now saying Lammy did know so his performance at the dispatch box was completely out of order
I don't really understand the point being made.
Big shout out to Utah Republicans, who greedily passed a fully gerrymandered map that includes an R+2 and an R+6 district, as they watched Democrats easily overcome those margins all across the country tonight.
https://x.com/briantylercohen/status/1985961492064452878
Polling for both the governor contests underestimated the Dem vote. Is this significant?
There are two interesting clues in his history: He spent his honeymoon visiting the Soviet Union. Alexander Solzhenitsyn moved to Vermont in 1976 and lived there until 1994, but Sanders never bothered to meet with him in all those years.
(Incidentally, politics has a good business for Sanders; he's a millionaire, and he and his wife own three houses.)
Because we can compare it to the senate/house races.
It's certainly cheered up the Dems on X.
YES DONALD, PLEASE DO A SERIOUS REVIEW OF THIS. I HEAR DEAD PEOPLE VOTED AFTER BEING REVIVED WITH A COVID VACCINE. THEIR BALLOTS WERE THEN BLOWN BY WINDMILLS INTO THE HANDS OF MEXICAN ANTIFA WHO PASSED THEM TO A TEAM OF TRANS PIGEONS WHO FLEW THEM TO THE BALLOT BOX. TRUE STORY.
https://x.com/AwesomeNewsom/status/1986012360302092435
Any other Who fans.
Seen this.
It’s pretty good. Better than Levine’s according to my mate, although this had a couple of years on The Saviour of the Daleks
https://youtu.be/cgoqvYfYcgA?si=klr758zBlE2-dqhq
Think tank suggests Reeves should break manifesto pledges to show markets she has ‘a credible plan’
Rachel Reeves must raise income tax for high earners by as much as 10p to fill a black hole in Britain’s finances, top economists have warned.
Hiking the higher rate of income tax to as much as 50p in the pound from 40p and increasing the basic rate by 2p to 22p is the best way to raise the money that the Chancellor needs to stabilise the public finances, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
The think tank said this would inflict less harm on growth than raising any of the other major taxes, or a raft of smaller levies.
However, the move would breach Labour’s election manifesto promises to not increase income tax, National Insurance contributions, VAT or corporation tax.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/11/05/raise-income-tax-by-10p-for-top-earners-to-plug-black-hole/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/314700/uk-prison-population/
Why so?
If, suppose, there was an enthusiasm gap not picked up fully by the polls, then that might be more consequential at the midterms than at the next Presidential election.
Other reasons might show a different pattern for subsequent elections.
I think Trump’s capacity for self deception is so monumental that he actually believes his own bullshit, but there are more calculating people around him.
[1] You know what I mean...
We are in a depressing place where the activities of miscreants are only worth reporting for most of the media if they are 'foreign' (or ex-royals).
Have you followed his career closely enough to have an opinion on which is more important to him?
(By the way, the most popular politician in Vermont is Phil Scott: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Scott
Dura_Ace might like him; among other things, Scott is stock car racer.)
Predictably - the Trump/Republican response to last night won’t be to try to earn more votes, it will be to suppress the vote.
https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3m4v72rpvs22j
So I guess it's due to the macho desire of both main political parties to imprison more offenders, regardless of the consequences, because they think that's what the public want.
And they're probably right, sadly.
I can see little or no evidence for Sanders abandoning democracy in favour of his favoured policies.
And he's certainly not a communist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogarth_Roundabout
As ever the questions are:
What is prison for?
Does is work?
Fin.
The wins yesterday came from finding candidates with a significant pulse, political skills and voter appeal. Combined with hard work, this led to victory.
It may seem like crazed nihilism, but applying the same methodology to the Presidency might just be an idea.
He should have admitted it and explained the circumstances
https://news.sky.com/liveblog-webview/manhunt-latest-foreign-prisoner-on-the-loose-after-mistaken-release-from-hmp-wandsworth-13464355
I’m sure the ability to make original stories is well under consideration at Big Finish even as we speak 😉
I’m sure it’s heresy but I always found this story to be really dull apart from the last episode. One episode seemed to be mostly Jamie and Kemal on some stairs.
The music stab when the Dalek appears is well done.
He tells us that he is sending to prison a long row of people who’ve committed very serious offences.
It is my understanding this is true across the justice system. Contrary to popular belief, the prisons aren’t full of people who stole a box of matches.
Pay the people smuggler gangs to expel the contents of Britain’s prisons to France.
Today, GOP in Congress see they can’t count on Trump to win their elections. The smart ones will do what Marjorie started - save themselves by abandoning Trump's anti-American agenda. And the stupid ones, we’ll be coming for every day til’ 2026.
https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1986068482883235897
Here's an example of the GOP gains that year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections
The gains that year were largely a reaction to Obama's political failures. I have long thought that the two men who did the most to grow the Republican Party in recent decades are . . . Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
(American journalists often treated gerrymandering as "boys will be boys"-- when it was mostly done by Democrats, but the journalists became more critical when Republicans began to play the same games.)
NEW -- SCHUMER/JEFFRIES call for meeting with legislative leaders on shutdown.
https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1986072880342294702
Should have been buried years ago.
New in AM: The case challenging Trump’s tariffs is on deck at the Supreme Court today
The stakes for Congress are huge. Some R’s already antsy & Dems want to make tariffs key part of midterm messaging
W&M Chair Smith & top Dem Neal both plan to attend arguments.
https://x.com/LauraEWeiss16/status/1986074084409500025
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5h4ur_aSq8NxKIK0TWk6puXu4E1RjT8y
https://x.com/GuidoFawkes/status/1986047029483634934?s=19
Since it would be a shallow tunnel - just below ground - the traffic runs on the actual top of the tunnelling machine.
I'd also say that one factor is that the country is taking sexual offences a bit more seriously, including historical offences against children, and so you'd expect more people in prison as a result.
"I think, if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor," Trump told reporters during a breakfast with GOP lawmakers at the White House. "Negative for the Republicans, and that was a big factor."
Trump added: "And they say that I wasn't on the ballot and was the biggest factor. But I don't know about that. But I was honored that they said that."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-election-results-not-good-republicans-citing-2-possible-reasons
https://x.com/AlexanderSoros/status/1985906188584960502
Vs pop 63m (2010), 58m (1993)
There are some lost episodes and stories that fans maintain are superb. Perhaps they would be better left alone?
Sentencing remarks here - https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/R-v-Hadush-Kebatu-1.pdf