Hearing that Labour canvassers in Gorton are surprisingly chipper.
Voters scared of the Greens & Reform, the squeeze message appears to be working for Labour - given overwhelming representation in the area (almost all cllrs, 2024 victory margin)...
Labour MPs have told Keir Starmer that they have been branded "paedo lovers" on the doorsteps
I'm sure that's true but only by people who hate him and never had the slightest intention of voting for him anyway. It beats having to think about policies and anything difficult like that.
My favorite doorstop explanation was a voter who couldn't vote for Neil Kinnock because he had red hair. I'm sure you have met similar.
Bit unfair as he never had much of it.
Well, he went on to elaborate that he would be vulnerable to sunburn, and foreign visits would be difficult for him because the top of his head would get scorched. You get the idea? No, neither did I.
The serious point of this silly anecdote is simply that a lot of people hold firm views for which they then find some justification, no matter how spurious. Starmer is no more a 'paedo lover' than you and I, but if someone hates him anyway, that'll do nicely.
Todays Local election musing from me for London is...... could Labour lose control of the entirety of Outer London? Of Boroughs bordering the outer edge, Labour currently gave majorities in Hounslow, Barnet, Enfield, Walthsm Forest and Redbridge and Croydon is very marginal.
I dont expect Labour to recapture Croydon given their position and history of bankrupting it nor to be anywhere near the LDs in the SW or take back much if any ground in Havering, Bexley, Hillingdon, Harrow or Bromley. Can they lose the rest? There was a sizeable swing in Hounslow against Labour in August and both Con and Ref will be looking to make ground. Barnet and Enfield are both Con targets and Labour have small najorities in each where loss of 6 or 7 seats loses the majority. I expect them to lose both - Barnet to Con, Enfield to NoC. Hounslow might well slip into NoC Waltham Forest and Redbridge are more problematic - the Lab majorities in Leyton and Walthsmstow etc are absolutely massive. In Redbridge the majorities are smaller but the majority on the council is very dominant, but has the close run in Ilford and the Gaza issue cracked it?
My feeling is, in outer London, Labour will be left with just Waltham Forest (which is a straddler between inner and outer really) and a narrow grip on Redbridge. I suspect the Tories and LDs will both control more of outer London. Not impossible Reform will too
Reform are likely to make inroads in Waltham Forest and Redbridge in the wards closer to the Essex border
Unlikely in Redbridge. Result in 2022:
58 Labour 5 Tory.
Those 5 Tory seats could certainly go Reform on a big swing.
In 2014 UKIP also got over 19% of the vote in Labour held Fullwell and Hainault wards and 14% in Wanstead which will also be Reform targets
NEW: Furious female Labour MPs have told Keir Starmer to appoint a woman as his de facto deputy to oversee a “complete culture change” in Downing Street after a series of scandals they say exposed a No 10 “boy’s club”.
Harriet Harman urged the PM to revive the role of first secretary of state, a post previously occupied by Peter Mandelson under Gordon Brown. But she insisted the role must be held by a woman to “transform the political culture in government around women and girls”.
If the problems of the Labour government are so simple as to be resolved merely by breaking up a boys club atmosphere then they will be very fortunate indeed. I suspect things go a little deeper than that though.
BBC leading with Andrew rather than Starmer. I appreciate they are between a rock and hard place on this sort of thing but I think the PM is more significant than Andrew.
He is, but his sins were of omission rather than commission. They don't have quite the same odour.
No one is saying Starmer is comparable with any alleged perpetrators. It smacks of the BBC not wanting to pile the pressure on the PM because that would be a bit unfair. This latest revelation is as serious as last week's if not more.
It is for us nerds. Lord Doyle isn't a household name though, or at least not in the households that read the Sun, the Mail, the Mirror and so on.
Never mind. When you are Chief Political Editor at the Beeb you will be able to choose which stories to lead with, and I am sure the world will be a better place as a result.
Chris Pincher wasn't a household name either.
Boris was though, and was a serial offender. Our man Starmer isn't in the same league.
Meanwhile, in "quality advice and contacts attracted people to Epstein" news,
Jeffrey Epstein Advised an Elon Musk Associate on Taking Tesla Private The financier recommended adding Margaret Thatcher to Tesla’s board even though she had been dead for five years.
Thinks who the f##k is using Mistral crap models*...checks article...governments.
* absolutely miles behind all the US and Chinese players.
We've been benchmarking real time speech to text, and the latest Mistral model is the first to beat OpenAI's Whisper. We're probably going to switch over to it.
Their LLMs are way behind the curve mind, although Devstral Mini is used by a couple of devs on their MacBooks.
At this point, for pure coding tasks, if you aren't using Claude Code with Opus complete with Super Max Sub you are just a wally.
I think this is for when they are away from internet connections, and/or just want smart auto complete.
'I mean, the UK has been colonised. It's costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn't it? I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it's 70 million. That's 12 million people. - Jim Ratcliffe.
Thats going to cause a stir. One of the few big business people to back Labour at the GE.
Though the main thing it shows is that top businessmen can be wrong.
From the Sky report on that interview,
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimates that the population of the UK was 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024.
The UK population was estimated at 58.9 million in 2000.
Meanwhile, in "quality advice and contacts attracted people to Epstein" news,
Jeffrey Epstein Advised an Elon Musk Associate on Taking Tesla Private The financier recommended adding Margaret Thatcher to Tesla’s board even though she had been dead for five years.
I think Andrew is in the news, as the Met Police announced today they are in discussion with the CPS about AMW
However there is no getting way from Starmer's problem that he appointed two senior labour figures to important roles who had known connections with paedophiles
Kemi started it at PMQs, then Ed Davey was coruscating resulting in Starmer blowing his top, and to cap it all the SNP made it a triple attack which goaded Starmer into commenting on a live criminal case which resulted in a rebuke by the speaker, and all this from an ex DPP
It is not just labour woman who are outraged, but women more generally and Starmer's lack of any awareness made PMQ's all about him and his angry whataboutery
It is the first time I have seen the three leaders act together on the same subject and cornering Starmer, that just made him lose it
Meanwhile, in "quality advice and contacts attracted people to Epstein" news,
Jeffrey Epstein Advised an Elon Musk Associate on Taking Tesla Private The financier recommended adding Margaret Thatcher to Tesla’s board even though she had been dead for five years.
Meanwhile, in "quality advice and contacts attracted people to Epstein" news,
Jeffrey Epstein Advised an Elon Musk Associate on Taking Tesla Private The financier recommended adding Margaret Thatcher to Tesla’s board even though she had been dead for five years.
Apparently he was not a very good financier, it is a complete mystery why so many rich and powerful people nonetheless loved hanging around with him.
I suspect the inside information gave him pretty good returns.
Not necessarily the case if someone is incompetent enough.
Take a situation like FTX and Alameda Research, where the latter was given all sorts of advantages to others trading on the crypto exchange and still managed to lose billions, which ended up revealing the massive fraud that was taking place.
BBC leading with Andrew rather than Starmer. I appreciate they are between a rock and hard place on this sort of thing but I think the PM is more significant than Andrew.
He is, but his sins were of omission rather than commission. They don't have quite the same odour.
No one is saying Starmer is comparable with any alleged perpetrators. It smacks of the BBC not wanting to pile the pressure on the PM because that would be a bit unfair. This latest revelation is as serious as last week's if not more.
It is for us nerds. Lord Doyle isn't a household name though, or at least not in the households that read the Sun, the Mail, the Mirror and so on.
Never mind. When you are Chief Political Editor at the Beeb you will be able to choose which stories to lead with, and I am sure the world will be a better place as a result.
BBC leading with Andrew rather than Starmer. I appreciate they are between a rock and hard place on this sort of thing but I think the PM is more significant than Andrew.
He is, but his sins were of omission rather than commission. They don't have quite the same odour.
No one is saying Starmer is comparable with any alleged perpetrators. It smacks of the BBC not wanting to pile the pressure on the PM because that would be a bit unfair. This latest revelation is as serious as last week's if not more.
It is for us nerds. Lord Doyle isn't a household name though, or at least not in the households that read the Sun, the Mail, the Mirror and so on.
Never mind. When you are Chief Political Editor at the Beeb you will be able to choose which stories to lead with, and I am sure the world will be a better place as a result.
Doyle is worse than Mandelson potentially because its a quadruple error - the appointment without apparent due diligence, not pulling the peerage after the media story, lying about nkt being able to pull the peerage, not withdrawing the whip despite knowing. Thats why he was angry today.... no pants and a chill wind
If Doyle was a Russian whose father was a KGB Agent who funded the Tory Party a was responsible for Mass murdee, the Tory Party would be telling us nothing to see here. Backed by the right wing media.
BBC leading with Andrew rather than Starmer. I appreciate they are between a rock and hard place on this sort of thing but I think the PM is more significant than Andrew.
He is, but his sins were of omission rather than commission. They don't have quite the same odour.
No one is saying Starmer is comparable with any alleged perpetrators. It smacks of the BBC not wanting to pile the pressure on the PM because that would be a bit unfair. This latest revelation is as serious as last week's if not more.
It is for us nerds. Lord Doyle isn't a household name though, or at least not in the households that read the Sun, the Mail, the Mirror and so on.
Never mind. When you are Chief Political Editor at the Beeb you will be able to choose which stories to lead with, and I am sure the world will be a better place as a result.
Chris Pincher wasn't a household name either.
Boris was though, and was a serial offender. Our man Starmer isn't in the same league.
Starmer is literally a serial offender on this very serious issue.
Yes Ratcliffe needs to check his facts. 58 million in 2000, 26 years ago. Also population of people over 65 is soaring and accounts for much if not nearly all the change. Quite pronounced in the over 80 group.These people who are held up as notaries and come up with this nonsense should not be listened to.
Yes Ratcliffe needs to check his facts. 58 million in 2000, 26 years ago. Also population of people over 65 is soaring and accounts for much if not nearly all the change. Quite pronounced in the over 80 group.These people who are held up as notaries and come up with this nonsense should not be listened to.
The vast majority of the population increase since 2000 is attributable to immigration. Does anyone seriously dispute this?
Yes Ratcliffe needs to check his facts. 58 million in 2000, 26 years ago. Also population of people over 65 is soaring and accounts for much if not nearly all the change. Quite pronounced in the over 80 group.These people who are held up as notaries and come up with this nonsense should not be listened to.
The vast majority of the population increase since 2000 is attributable to immigration. Does anyone seriously dispute this?
No-one who's looking at the facts would dispute it.
The Tory PPB probably the best of the bunch so far.
It’s a low bar, admittedly.
Definite ‘strivers v shivers’ narrative emerging and they attack both Reform and Labour but not the Lib Dem’s.
The Tories definitely have a distinctive offer.
How they get from 20% to 35% I don't know, though.
Farage caught with a dead girl or live boy?
Seems unlikely.
The Right would be straight back into power at the next GE without this stupid split.
Neither can back down this side of a GE however - the contest has gone too far, and even if one side looks like winning out the other is incentivised to do the other damage by continuing on until the next parliament, to demonstrate why their faction must be well accomodated.
The Tory PPB probably the best of the bunch so far.
It’s a low bar, admittedly.
Definite ‘strivers v shivers’ narrative emerging and they attack both Reform and Labour but not the Lib Dem’s.
The Tories definitely have a distinctive offer.
How they get from 20% to 35% I don't know, though.
Farage caught with a dead girl or live boy?
Seems unlikely.
The Right would be straight back into power at the next GE without this stupid split.
A split right is one of the reasons why Labour's coalition is also fragmenting. Unite the right and you get an equal and opposite reaction on the left.
BBC leading with Andrew rather than Starmer. I appreciate they are between a rock and hard place on this sort of thing but I think the PM is more significant than Andrew.
He is, but his sins were of omission rather than commission. They don't have quite the same odour.
No one is saying Starmer is comparable with any alleged perpetrators. It smacks of the BBC not wanting to pile the pressure on the PM because that would be a bit unfair. This latest revelation is as serious as last week's if not more.
It is for us nerds. Lord Doyle isn't a household name though, or at least not in the households that read the Sun, the Mail, the Mirror and so on.
Never mind. When you are Chief Political Editor at the Beeb you will be able to choose which stories to lead with, and I am sure the world will be a better place as a result.
BBC leading with Andrew rather than Starmer. I appreciate they are between a rock and hard place on this sort of thing but I think the PM is more significant than Andrew.
He is, but his sins were of omission rather than commission. They don't have quite the same odour.
No one is saying Starmer is comparable with any alleged perpetrators. It smacks of the BBC not wanting to pile the pressure on the PM because that would be a bit unfair. This latest revelation is as serious as last week's if not more.
It is for us nerds. Lord Doyle isn't a household name though, or at least not in the households that read the Sun, the Mail, the Mirror and so on.
Never mind. When you are Chief Political Editor at the Beeb you will be able to choose which stories to lead with, and I am sure the world will be a better place as a result.
Doyle is worse than Mandelson potentially because its a quadruple error - the appointment without apparent due diligence, not pulling the peerage after the media story, lying about nkt being able to pull the peerage, not withdrawing the whip despite knowing. Thats why he was angry today.... no pants and a chill wind
If Doyle was a Russian whose father was a KGB Agent who funded the Tory Party a was responsible for Mass murdee, the Tory Party would be telling us nothing to see here. Backed by the right wing media.
Doyle is a mere footnote.
Russian thugs are not
Your problem is nobody is buying this whataboutery
Starmer is the one in the cross hairs with no answer other than 'they lied to me'
Doyle has just made matters a whole lot worse, and the headlines are terrible across all the media which is about labour and paedophiles
The Tory PPB probably the best of the bunch so far.
It’s a low bar, admittedly.
Definite ‘strivers v shivers’ narrative emerging and they attack both Reform and Labour but not the Lib Dem’s.
The Tories definitely have a distinctive offer.
How they get from 20% to 35% I don't know, though.
Farage caught with a dead girl or live boy?
Seems unlikely.
The Right would be straight back into power at the next GE without this stupid split.
A split right is one of the reasons why Labour's coalition is also fragmenting. Unite the right and you get an equal and opposite reaction on the left.
This is true. But I still think the numbers tell the other way.
Thinks who the f##k is using Mistral crap models*...checks article...governments.
* absolutely miles behind all the US and Chinese players.
We've been benchmarking real time speech to text, and the latest Mistral model is the first to beat OpenAI's Whisper. We're probably going to switch over to it.
I thought Inworld had the best model these days.
Mistral no where near on LLM, coding, text to image / video, etc. They are surviiving because EU governments are buying their services, not because the best, but because of this French push to get away from US dominance.
We are truly in the future. We have supranational blocs competing with each other, each advised by their own national AIs.
Yes Ratcliffe needs to check his facts. 58 million in 2000, 26 years ago. Also population of people over 65 is soaring and accounts for much if not nearly all the change. Quite pronounced in the over 80 group.These people who are held up as notaries and come up with this nonsense should not be listened to.
The vast majority of the population increase since 2000 is attributable to immigration. Does anyone seriously dispute this?
As I said, the only acceptable Liberal reaction is to cheer this and argue if, anything, there's not enough of it.
To do anything else risks being labelled a racist, which is fatal socially and professionally.
Irish citizen, married to a US citizen and living there for 20 years with his own business and a valid work permit, held in one of Trump's concentration camps for 5 months, Camp East Montana. He was arrested in Boston, and is held in Texas. He has been outside less than 10 times whilst imprisoned.
Report by Phil Moorhouse, who is a lefty Youtuber but this is a straight report.
It seems he has been to court, where it was revealed that he entered the US on a visa waiver program which allowed him to stay 90 days, but has never left. He is, therefore, in the country illegally.
Irish citizen, married to a US citizen and living there for 20 years with his own business and a valid work permit, held in one of Trump's concentration camps for 5 months, Camp East Montana. He was arrested in Boston, and is held in Texas. He has been outside less than 10 times whilst imprisoned.
Report by Phil Moorhouse, who is a lefty Youtuber but this is a straight report.
It seems he has been to court, where it was revealed that he entered the US on a visa waiver program which allowed him to stay 90 days, but has never left. He is, therefore, in the country illegally.
Thinks who the f##k is using Mistral crap models*...checks article...governments.
* absolutely miles behind all the US and Chinese players.
We've been benchmarking real time speech to text, and the latest Mistral model is the first to beat OpenAI's Whisper. We're probably going to switch over to it.
I thought Inworld had the best model these days.
Mistral no where near on LLM, coding, text to image / video, etc. They are surviiving because EU governments are buying their services, not because the best, but because of this French push to get away from US dominance.
We are truly in the future. We have supranational blocs competing with each other, each advised by their own national AIs.
Or the less optimistic idea (or more optimistic on AI capability perhaps):
In 20 years time, life on earth will come to resemble the myths of the ancient Greeks. A pantheon of super intelligent beings will watch over us using human agents to meddle in our affairs. John Greer
NEW: Furious female Labour MPs have told Keir Starmer to appoint a woman as his de facto deputy to oversee a “complete culture change” in Downing Street after a series of scandals they say exposed a No 10 “boy’s club”.
Harriet Harman urged the PM to revive the role of first secretary of state, a post previously occupied by Peter Mandelson under Gordon Brown. But she insisted the role must be held by a woman to “transform the political culture in government around women and girls”.
Reading the full article the headline rather sums up their thoughts on McSweeney
The fact 4 females have mow assumed the number 10 roles that are free suggests change.
The obvious person Hattie is talking about is Ange.
It's part of her old role. The fact though that Lucy Powell attends Political Cabinet rather overplays the hand a little.
Does Ange want this new role?
The other obvious wrong he could right on the soft left would be to bring in Emily Thornberry
I'm a big fan of Thornberry. One of Starmers big mistakes keeping her out
At the risk of asking a loaded question, what is it about the North London elite lawyer that you like?
Her gravitas and articulation
And yet you are not a fan of the superbly eloquent Jacob Rees Mogg?
The Tory PPB probably the best of the bunch so far.
It’s a low bar, admittedly.
Definite ‘strivers v shivers’ narrative emerging and they attack both Reform and Labour but not the Lib Dem’s.
The Tories definitely have a distinctive offer.
How they get from 20% to 35% I don't know, though.
Farage resigns as Reform leader, JRM is elected Tory leader?
Though they might leak a few to Labour and the LDs at the same time
You are so amusing at times
Tories get back up in the polls by doing what they’ve always done to get back up in the polls: promise big tax cuts. Then find some bits of public infrastructure to shave to pay for them.
The Tory PPB probably the best of the bunch so far.
It’s a low bar, admittedly.
Definite ‘strivers v shivers’ narrative emerging and they attack both Reform and Labour but not the Lib Dem’s.
The Tories definitely have a distinctive offer.
How they get from 20% to 35% I don't know, though.
They dont before the next GE. 26 to 27% if we remain in 5 party politics is top end
Which wins. Maybe.
Largest party possibility territory if Ref and Lab are in the mid 20s too. Tories second in seats a more likely result and 'target' if the % recovers to 2024plus
Irish citizen, married to a US citizen and living there for 20 years with his own business and a valid work permit, held in one of Trump's concentration camps for 5 months, Camp East Montana. He was arrested in Boston, and is held in Texas. He has been outside less than 10 times whilst imprisoned.
Report by Phil Moorhouse, who is a lefty Youtuber but this is a straight report.
It seems he has been to court, where it was revealed that he entered the US on a visa waiver program which allowed him to stay 90 days, but has never left. He is, therefore, in the country illegally.
It's a little bit more complex than that: did he disclose prior immigration sins when he got his visa?
CBC notices that Canadians are questioning why they are willfully ignoring solid stories from families of the shooter and victims of the Tumbler Ridge shooting
"We know at CBC News that there are people online who are talking about the possible suspect and other details surrounding this case."
"But this information has not been confirmed to us by either sources or law enforcement, and we want to stick to confirmed details only."
Todays Local election musing from me for London is...... could Labour lose control of the entirety of Outer London? Of Boroughs bordering the outer edge, Labour currently gave majorities in Hounslow, Barnet, Enfield, Walthsm Forest and Redbridge and Croydon is very marginal.
I dont expect Labour to recapture Croydon given their position and history of bankrupting it nor to be anywhere near the LDs in the SW or take back much if any ground in Havering, Bexley, Hillingdon, Harrow or Bromley. Can they lose the rest? There was a sizeable swing in Hounslow against Labour in August and both Con and Ref will be looking to make ground. Barnet and Enfield are both Con targets and Labour have small najorities in each where loss of 6 or 7 seats loses the majority. I expect them to lose both - Barnet to Con, Enfield to NoC. Hounslow might well slip into NoC Waltham Forest and Redbridge are more problematic - the Lab majorities in Leyton and Walthsmstow etc are absolutely massive. In Redbridge the majorities are smaller but the majority on the council is very dominant, but has the close run in Ilford and the Gaza issue cracked it?
My feeling is, in outer London, Labour will be left with just Waltham Forest (which is a straddler between inner and outer really) and a narrow grip on Redbridge. I suspect the Tories and LDs will both control more of outer London. Not impossible Reform will too
Reform are likely to make inroads in Waltham Forest and Redbridge in the wards closer to the Essex border
Unlikely in Redbridge. Result in 2022:
58 Labour 5 Tory.
Those 5 Tory seats could certainly go Reform on a big swing.
In 2014 UKIP also got over 19% of the vote in Labour held Fullwell and Hainault wards and 14% in Wanstead which will also be Reform targets
Reform might do well in a handful of the north eastern wards of the Borough, but they won’t get far in Wanstead, or anywhere much in the south or west. The Greens stand more chance of winning in Wanstead.
Yes I seriously dispute the assumption some here are making about the rise in the population, as explained. But of course in my opinion this does not gel with the usual misinformation or half truths that get put out. It is not mainly immigration.
Some of this is becoming identity politics tbh. And a lot of it is a displacement activity. The issue isn’t whether the de facto deputy PM is a woman or not. It’s the decisions that the PM made. That’s something only the PM can be held accountable for. https://nitter.poast.org/residentadviser/status/2021619765287293172#m
Is it wrong that I am getting an almost sexual thrill from the possibility that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor might get arrested, charged, and end up in prison?
Talking of colonisation is quite disgusting by the loathsome Ratcliffe . This country is fxcked if Reform get in , it will descend completely into a cesspit of hate and division as they continue to other groups to appease the baying mob !
"There’s a lot of evidence that it might be a very special night for the Dems in the midterms."
What midterms?
We're only in mid February and it's already increasingly clear that a fair midterms would be a bloodbath for the Republicans.
Ideas of "hey lets use ICE thugs to scare voters away" assumes there are only a few pockets of seats where the threat is. But we're seeing big swings in all kinds of unlikely places.
The only winning move for Trump is not to play. National Emergency. Seditious traitors everywhere trying to overturn the immortal republic. So to protect it we have to suspend the election, especially in states where the voters have elected traitors to illegally run corrupt elections. You can have a federal election - run by me DJT where I'll win - or I will suspend the state-run elections until the traitors can be removed from office and brought to justice.
Never going to happen. They kept elections going even through the actual Civil War.
There is no proviso in America to cancel elections.
You know the xkcd cartoon on the subject, I'm sure;
Is it wrong that I am getting an almost sexual thrill from the possibility that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor might get arrested, charged, and end up in prison?
Tumescence would be wrong, but unaccountable being held to account is reasonable to be excited about.
I doubt it will go that far, however, even though it probably should.
Is it wrong that I am getting an almost sexual thrill from the possibility that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor might get arrested, charged, and end up in prison?
As a Con supporter, doesn’t it worry you they might? Look at Starmer’s unrecoverable public satisfaction ratings that all gets wiped clean with “New Manager Bounce”. 😕
The nightmare scenario is "Truss 2 - this time it's Socialist":
Contested leadership elections only work in opposition. There, the candidates throw red meat to their base and then spend a few years resiling from their positions before the GE to persuade the moderates - exactly as Starmer did.
Truss, with her Johnson-era majority behind her, threw red meat and was IMMEDIATELY able to act (Luckily the Tory deadman switch kicked in before we were all resolutely stuffed - there is no Labour deadman switch). Imagine Rayner vs Miliband in a contested election after Starmer quits/is VONCed - what will they promise to their members, and then have the power to deliver - Wealth tax? UBI? WASPI? Massive welfare increases? you name it.
I'm a Tory and am hoping that SKS stays in power for the next three years - or engineers a coronation.
Thanks Berbe. I’m not alone. There’s two of us who understand it’s okay for Kemi to demand Starmer’s immediate resignation, but I don’t think any Tory supporters should be sure it helps the Conservative Party or that the Con strategy is actually expecting it to happen. This is a parliamentary term where the economy and cost of living is certain to improve, and come May 3rd 2029 the government will have many other positive metrics to point to, improved on what they inherited. Starmer’s satisfaction ratings so low with voters, unrecoverable, and his reputation for competence and probity so hollowed out now, he has to be an asset to all the opposition parties while PM, dragging down what Labour could be polling and how popular they can be under a better communicator.
Starmer’s demise has been underwritten for a long time, as he’s just not a very good communicator. Rooms don’t warm to him or motivated by his motivational speeches. There’s emotional and psychological disconnect between Starmer in Downing Street bunker and party members and voters too. This is really helpful to the opposition parties - once Starmer is gone they unlikely get such help from the next Labour leader. Don’t forget - just like “Pincher” didn’t cost Boris the job - the real story underneath right now is so much more substantial, Starmer was in trouble, talk of leadership bid, even before recent tranche of peado island emails, it’s not actually Mandleson story which has brought him low - most attack on Starmer over Mandelson is using nothing more substantial than benefit of hindsight, by people not speaking out about it at the time decision made.
We all need to recognise the MPs eventual move against Starmer is not because there is an AngFaction or WesFaction ripping the party apart to install their favourite as leader, who is then immediately unpopular with losers faction - the push would be driven by wanting a change to revive their parties electoral fortunes. Without accepting the Labour Parties ability to achieve this, there is on PB and wider media very glib understanding what happens when Starmer resigns will always benefit the other parties. If Starmer doesn’t make it to the election, the next Labour Leader could be party membership favourite Jones, or strong communicator as good as Blair was in Murray, or fearless rising star who would get backing of unions and unite all wings of Labour party like Fahnbulleh.
An actual removal of Starmer in next couple of years could really work in Labours favour, making the next election a clear “chance change with Reform or stick with Labour government” election for voters to coalesce around.
Talking of colonisation is quite disgusting by the loathsome Ratcliffe . This country is fxcked if Reform get in , it will descend completely into a cesspit of hate and division as they continue to other groups to appease the baying mob !
I'm not concerned by people being concerned about immigration being too high, but the number of comments online in the last year pushing a racialised view of national identity worries me.
Is it wrong that I am getting an almost sexual thrill from the possibility that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor might get arrested, charged, and end up in prison?
Some of this is becoming identity politics tbh. And a lot of it is a displacement activity. The issue isn’t whether the de facto deputy PM is a woman or not. It’s the decisions that the PM made. That’s something only the PM can be held accountable for. https://nitter.poast.org/residentadviser/status/2021619765287293172#m
Harriet Harman has been boring the fuck out of everyone on this for about 40 years.
She probably has a point that the Labour Party prefers its leaders to have a penis (no chuckling at the back, please) but is entirely the wrong person to make it, since she talks to everyone like they're 5.
Thinks who the f##k is using Mistral crap models*...checks article...governments.
* absolutely miles behind all the US and Chinese players.
We've been benchmarking real time speech to text, and the latest Mistral model is the first to beat OpenAI's Whisper. We're probably going to switch over to it.
I thought Inworld had the best model these days.
Mistral no where near on LLM, coding, text to image / video, etc. They are surviiving because EU governments are buying their services, not because the best, but because of this French push to get away from US dominance.
We are truly in the future. We have supranational blocs competing with each other, each advised by their own national AIs.
Or the less optimistic idea (or more optimistic on AI capability perhaps):
In 20 years time, life on earth will come to resemble the myths of the ancient Greeks. A pantheon of super intelligent beings will watch over us using human agents to meddle in our affairs. John Greer
Still more optimistic than the future where they ignore us as they set about converting the solar system to pure Computronium.
Talking of colonisation is quite disgusting by the loathsome Ratcliffe . This country is fxcked if Reform get in , it will descend completely into a cesspit of hate and division as they continue to other groups to appease the baying mob !
I'm not concerned by people being concerned about immigration being too high, but the number of comments online in the last year pushing a racialised view of national identity worries me.
True . I don’t have an issue with people being concerned by the recent levels of immigration. Clearly that wasn’t sustainable but it’s the language used by some which seems to want to dehumanise people and just try and stir up hate.
Talking of colonisation is quite disgusting by the loathsome Ratcliffe . This country is fxcked if Reform get in , it will descend completely into a cesspit of hate and division as they continue to other groups to appease the baying mob !
I'm not concerned by people being concerned about immigration being too high, but the number of comments online in the last year pushing a racialised view of national identity worries me.
In about a fortnight the city where I work could elect an MP who says I'm not British.
Yes I seriously dispute the assumption some here are making about the rise in the population, as explained. But of course in my opinion this does not gel with the usual misinformation or half truths that get put out. It is not mainly immigration.
I'd understood that we've been below the replacement birth rate for some time. Hence the need for immigration.
Feck, absolutely loved him in the Rules of Attraction.
James Van Der Beek, the actor known for playing Dawson Leary on “Dawson’s Creek” and for numerous other TV and film roles, died on Wednesday. He was 48.
Van Der Beek was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2023 and made his diagnosis public in 2024.
As a Con supporter, doesn’t it worry you they might? Look at Starmer’s unrecoverable public satisfaction ratings that all gets wiped clean with “New Manager Bounce”. 😕
The nightmare scenario is "Truss 2 - this time it's Socialist":
Contested leadership elections only work in opposition. There, the candidates throw red meat to their base and then spend a few years resiling from their positions before the GE to persuade the moderates - exactly as Starmer did.
Truss, with her Johnson-era majority behind her, threw red meat and was IMMEDIATELY able to act (Luckily the Tory deadman switch kicked in before we were all resolutely stuffed - there is no Labour deadman switch). Imagine Rayner vs Miliband in a contested election after Starmer quits/is VONCed - what will they promise to their members, and then have the power to deliver - Wealth tax? UBI? WASPI? Massive welfare increases? you name it.
I'm a Tory and am hoping that SKS stays in power for the next three years - or engineers a coronation.
Thanks Berbe. I’m not alone. There’s two of us who understand it’s okay for Kemi to demand Starmer’s immediate resignation, but I don’t think any Tory supporters should be sure it helps the Conservative Party or that the Con strategy is actually expecting it to happen. This is a parliamentary term where the economy and cost of living is certain to improve, and come May 3rd 2029 the government will have many other positive metrics to point to, improved on what they inherited. Starmer’s satisfaction ratings so low with voters, unrecoverable, and his reputation for competence and probity so hollowed out now, he has to be an asset to all the opposition parties while PM, dragging down what Labour could be polling and how popular they can be under a better communicator.
Starmer’s demise has been underwritten for a long time, as he’s just not a very good communicator. Rooms don’t warm to him or motivated by his motivational speeches. There’s emotional and psychological disconnect between Starmer in Downing Street bunker and party members and voters too. This is really helpful to the opposition parties - once Starmer is gone they unlikely get such help from the next Labour leader. Don’t forget - just like “Pincher” didn’t cost Boris the job - the real story underneath right now is so much more substantial, Starmer was in trouble, talk of leadership bid, even before recent tranche of peado island emails, it’s not actually Mandleson story which has brought him low - most attack on Starmer over Mandelson is using nothing more substantial than benefit of hindsight, by people not speaking out about it at the time decision made.
We all need to recognise the MPs eventual move against Starmer is not because there is an AngFaction or WesFaction ripping the party apart to install their favourite as leader, who is then immediately unpopular with losers faction - the push would be driven by wanting a change to revive their parties electoral fortunes. Without accepting the Labour Parties ability to achieve this, there is on PB and wider media very glib understanding what happens when Starmer resigns will always benefit the other parties. If Starmer doesn’t make it to the election, the next Labour Leader could be party membership favourite Jones, or strong communicator as good as Blair was in Murray, or fearless rising star who would get backing of unions and unite all wings of Labour party like Fahnbulleh.
An actual removal of Starmer in next couple of years could really work in Labours favour, making the next election a clear “chance change with Reform or stick with Labour government” election for voters to coalesce around.
Well, yes and what will bring that about is the kind of polling which did for Thatcher and gave us Johnson in the first place back in 2019.
IF there is clear and undeniable polling evidence A.N Other would lead Labour to a second term and Starmer would lead them to defeat and disaster, 200-250 Labour backbench MPs are going to desert Starmer just as those Conservative MPs abandoned Thatcher in 1990.
It may be hypothetical polling but a change of leader in early 2028 might be what happens if it seems Starmer himself is the biggest negative -if it makes no difference who is Prime Minister, Starmer will survive. There's no point changing leader if it makes no difference as the Conservatives themselves have discovered on more than one occasion. Indeed, the challengers would then sit back and watch the leader take the fall and the blame and start the rebuilding with a clean slate.
Is it wrong that I am getting an almost sexual thrill from the possibility that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor might get arrested, charged, and end up in prison?
As a Con supporter, doesn’t it worry you they might? Look at Starmer’s unrecoverable public satisfaction ratings that all gets wiped clean with “New Manager Bounce”. 😕
The nightmare scenario is "Truss 2 - this time it's Socialist":
Contested leadership elections only work in opposition. There, the candidates throw red meat to their base and then spend a few years resiling from their positions before the GE to persuade the moderates - exactly as Starmer did.
Truss, with her Johnson-era majority behind her, threw red meat and was IMMEDIATELY able to act (Luckily the Tory deadman switch kicked in before we were all resolutely stuffed - there is no Labour deadman switch). Imagine Rayner vs Miliband in a contested election after Starmer quits/is VONCed - what will they promise to their members, and then have the power to deliver - Wealth tax? UBI? WASPI? Massive welfare increases? you name it.
I'm a Tory and am hoping that SKS stays in power for the next three years - or engineers a coronation.
Thanks Berbe. I’m not alone. There’s two of us who understand it’s okay for Kemi to demand Starmer’s immediate resignation, but I don’t think any Tory supporters should be sure it helps the Conservative Party or that the Con strategy is actually expecting it to happen. This is a parliamentary term where the economy and cost of living is certain to improve, and come May 3rd 2029 the government will have many other positive metrics to point to, improved on what they inherited. Starmer’s satisfaction ratings so low with voters, unrecoverable, and his reputation for competence and probity so hollowed out now, he has to be an asset to all the opposition parties while PM, dragging down what Labour could be polling and how popular they can be under a better communicator.
Starmer’s demise has been underwritten for a long time, as he’s just not a very good communicator. Rooms don’t warm to him or motivated by his motivational speeches. There’s emotional and psychological disconnect between Starmer in Downing Street bunker and party members and voters too. This is really helpful to the opposition parties - once Starmer is gone they unlikely get such help from the next Labour leader. Don’t forget - just like “Pincher” didn’t cost Boris the job - the real story underneath right now is so much more substantial, Starmer was in trouble, talk of leadership bid, even before recent tranche of peado island emails, it’s not actually Mandleson story which has brought him low - most attack on Starmer over Mandelson is using nothing more substantial than benefit of hindsight, by people not speaking out about it at the time decision made.
We all need to recognise the MPs eventual move against Starmer is not because there is an AngFaction or WesFaction ripping the party apart to install their favourite as leader, who is then immediately unpopular with losers faction - the push would be driven by wanting a change to revive their parties electoral fortunes. Without accepting the Labour Parties ability to achieve this, there is on PB and wider media very glib understanding what happens when Starmer resigns will always benefit the other parties. If Starmer doesn’t make it to the election, the next Labour Leader could be party membership favourite Jones, or strong communicator as good as Blair was in Murray, or fearless rising star who would get backing of unions and unite all wings of Labour party like Fahnbulleh.
An actual removal of Starmer in next couple of years could really work in Labours favour, making the next election a clear “chance change with Reform or stick with Labour government” election for voters to coalesce around.
Some of this is becoming identity politics tbh. And a lot of it is a displacement activity. The issue isn’t whether the de facto deputy PM is a woman or not. It’s the decisions that the PM made. That’s something only the PM can be held accountable for. https://nitter.poast.org/residentadviser/status/2021619765287293172#m
That's true but a very narrow perspective. A wider perspective perhaps shows that the whole sorry saga is the behaviour of men in powerful positions. An apparently obvious antidote to that is to ensure more women achieve positions of power. Not infallible, but perhaps worth a try.
Once upon a time, Ian and Roald were besties. Ian wrote a book about his car, his friend turned it into a magical film. Ian wrote a set of books about a debonair British spy, inspired and based on his friends career being that debonair British spy.
Who has spies? Everybody. Where does everybody base them? In their Embassies. It’s a law universally acknowledged, Embassy and Spies go together like strawberries and champagne at the wining and dining.
Roald, recovering from his war wounds, was playing tennis with people in or close to the US Administration, and was feeding back exactly what their state of mind was. Yes. USA is at war with UK. At same time as UK was at war with France in the forties - and our history books in school classrooms still teach that France and USA were our allies. If anything, our war with US intensified in the later forties and throughout the fifties.
Jeffrey virtually had a key to Buckingham Palace, and the UK Business Secretary actually leaking straight to him out of UK cabinet meetings. He had so many influential Americans, politicians, captains of industry groomed and in his pocket, but he also had links to Israel, and Moscow.
As head of any of those four countries Security Agencies, of course you want to know what the fuck is going on. Whose side is he on? Is he gathering information assets? Without doubt! Then what is he doing with these? Just like Roald in the forties - who can match those special characteristics to be our Perfect Spy on the inside? We badly need to recruit someone inside this game, because we need answers.
So when Starmer nasally moans at Kemi across the dispatch box “there was nothing the Security Services provided that told me not to appoint Peter as US Ambassador. The Security Services let me down.” I’m saying we don’t have to believe our Security Services held nothing, and didn’t know what was really going on, and didn’t think to want to know. Thanks to my insightful understanding of how these things work, we now know better.
All we need to believe, is that there is always a lot more beneath every story.
I stand by this theory too. We may never be told to what great extent Peter Mandelson was actually James Bond or the Night Manager.
Is it wrong that I am getting an almost sexual thrill from the possibility that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor might get arrested, charged, and end up in prison?
As a Con supporter, doesn’t it worry you they might? Look at Starmer’s unrecoverable public satisfaction ratings that all gets wiped clean with “New Manager Bounce”. 😕
The nightmare scenario is "Truss 2 - this time it's Socialist":
Contested leadership elections only work in opposition. There, the candidates throw red meat to their base and then spend a few years resiling from their positions before the GE to persuade the moderates - exactly as Starmer did.
Truss, with her Johnson-era majority behind her, threw red meat and was IMMEDIATELY able to act (Luckily the Tory deadman switch kicked in before we were all resolutely stuffed - there is no Labour deadman switch). Imagine Rayner vs Miliband in a contested election after Starmer quits/is VONCed - what will they promise to their members, and then have the power to deliver - Wealth tax? UBI? WASPI? Massive welfare increases? you name it.
I'm a Tory and am hoping that SKS stays in power for the next three years - or engineers a coronation.
Thanks Berbe. I’m not alone. There’s two of us who understand it’s okay for Kemi to demand Starmer’s immediate resignation, but I don’t think any Tory supporters should be sure it helps the Conservative Party or that the Con strategy is actually expecting it to happen. This is a parliamentary term where the economy and cost of living is certain to improve, and come May 3rd 2029 the government will have many other positive metrics to point to, improved on what they inherited. Starmer’s satisfaction ratings so low with voters, unrecoverable, and his reputation for competence and probity so hollowed out now, he has to be an asset to all the opposition parties while PM, dragging down what Labour could be polling and how popular they can be under a better communicator.
Starmer’s demise has been underwritten for a long time, as he’s just not a very good communicator. Rooms don’t warm to him or motivated by his motivational speeches. There’s emotional and psychological disconnect between Starmer in Downing Street bunker and party members and voters too. This is really helpful to the opposition parties - once Starmer is gone they unlikely get such help from the next Labour leader. Don’t forget - just like “Pincher” didn’t cost Boris the job - the real story underneath right now is so much more substantial, Starmer was in trouble, talk of leadership bid, even before recent tranche of peado island emails, it’s not actually Mandleson story which has brought him low - most attack on Starmer over Mandelson is using nothing more substantial than benefit of hindsight, by people not speaking out about it at the time decision made.
We all need to recognise the MPs eventual move against Starmer is not because there is an AngFaction or WesFaction ripping the party apart to install their favourite as leader, who is then immediately unpopular with losers faction - the push would be driven by wanting a change to revive their parties electoral fortunes. Without accepting the Labour Parties ability to achieve this, there is on PB and wider media very glib understanding what happens when Starmer resigns will always benefit the other parties. If Starmer doesn’t make it to the election, the next Labour Leader could be party membership favourite Jones, or strong communicator as good as Blair was in Murray, or fearless rising star who would get backing of unions and unite all wings of Labour party like Fahnbulleh.
An actual removal of Starmer in next couple of years could really work in Labours favour, making the next election a clear “chance change with Reform or stick with Labour government” election for voters to coalesce around.
Well, yes and what will bring that about is the kind of polling which did for Thatcher and gave us Johnson in the first place back in 2019.
IF there is clear and undeniable polling evidence A.N Other would lead Labour to a second term and Starmer would lead them to defeat and disaster, 200-250 Labour backbench MPs are going to desert Starmer just as those Conservative MPs abandoned Thatcher in 1990.
It may be hypothetical polling but a change of leader in early 2028 might be what happens if it seems Starmer himself is the biggest negative -if it makes no difference who is Prime Minister, Starmer will survive. There's no point changing leader if it makes no difference as the Conservatives themselves have discovered on more than one occasion. Indeed, the challengers would then sit back and watch the leader take the fall and the blame and start the rebuilding with a clean slate.
Unfortunately that polling suggests Andy Burnham. So Labour have snookered themselves. Well played Starmer/McSweeney/NEC.
Talking of colonisation is quite disgusting by the loathsome Ratcliffe . This country is fxcked if Reform get in , it will descend completely into a cesspit of hate and division as they continue to other groups to appease the baying mob !
I'm not concerned by people being concerned about immigration being too high, but the number of comments online in the last year pushing a racialised view of national identity worries me.
In about a fortnight the city where I work could elect an MP who says I'm not British.
Some of this is becoming identity politics tbh. And a lot of it is a displacement activity. The issue isn’t whether the de facto deputy PM is a woman or not. It’s the decisions that the PM made. That’s something only the PM can be held accountable for. https://nitter.poast.org/residentadviser/status/2021619765287293172#m
That's true but a very narrow perspective. A wider perspective perhaps shows that the whole sorry saga is the behaviour of men in powerful positions. An apparently obvious antidote to that is to ensure more women achieve positions of power. Not infallible, but perhaps worth a try.
It shouldn't be ruled out, sure, and almost half of the PLP being women it's presumably moving more towards that regardless of what happens with Starmer.
Is a terrible line when you’ve forced the guy whose advice you took to resign
True, although when you are a flunkey taking the fall is part of the job at times, though you expect to be defended up to a point and to be remembered down the line.
Feck, absolutely loved him in the Rules of Attraction.
James Van Der Beek, the actor known for playing Dawson Leary on “Dawson’s Creek” and for numerous other TV and film roles, died on Wednesday. He was 48.
Van Der Beek was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2023 and made his diagnosis public in 2024.
At 5:00pm today The New Statement posted a podcast (grr). It told you that the problem with the Left is that it has no answers to 21st century problems and past solutions don't work now. The link is here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl3tl-YV6QE
You don't pay me enough.
Journalists have been cribbing from PB for years, View.
The Private Eye guys "borrowed" one of my comments from here in their recent 2025 review of the year, more or less word for word. I'm glad I could contribute to political satire.
Yes I seriously dispute the assumption some here are making about the rise in the population, as explained. But of course in my opinion this does not gel with the usual misinformation or half truths that get put out. It is not mainly immigration.
I'd understood that we've been below the replacement birth rate for some time. Hence the need for immigration.
Bit of a myth that below replacement birth rate means population levels should be falling.
People do not die the year they are born, generally.
Births have exceeded deaths almost every year for the past half a century.
McDonald is asked to expand with more information on the suspect.
He says that the suspect identified as an 18-year-old female, by the name of Jesse. There is a history of police attendance at the suspect's family residence, he says, with some calls related to mental health issues.
McDonald confirms that the two people found dead at a local residence were related to the suspect. The adult female victim is Rootselaar's mother, the male youth is Rootselaar's step-brother, he says.
Yes Ratcliffe needs to check his facts. 58 million in 2000, 26 years ago. Also population of people over 65 is soaring and accounts for much if not nearly all the change. Quite pronounced in the over 80 group.These people who are held up as notaries and come up with this nonsense should not be listened to.
Population UK:
59 million in 2001 63 million in 2011 67 million in 2021
As a Con supporter, doesn’t it worry you they might? Look at Starmer’s unrecoverable public satisfaction ratings that all gets wiped clean with “New Manager Bounce”. 😕
The nightmare scenario is "Truss 2 - this time it's Socialist":
Contested leadership elections only work in opposition. There, the candidates throw red meat to their base and then spend a few years resiling from their positions before the GE to persuade the moderates - exactly as Starmer did.
Truss, with her Johnson-era majority behind her, threw red meat and was IMMEDIATELY able to act (Luckily the Tory deadman switch kicked in before we were all resolutely stuffed - there is no Labour deadman switch). Imagine Rayner vs Miliband in a contested election after Starmer quits/is VONCed - what will they promise to their members, and then have the power to deliver - Wealth tax? UBI? WASPI? Massive welfare increases? you name it.
I'm a Tory and am hoping that SKS stays in power for the next three years - or engineers a coronation.
Thanks Berbe. I’m not alone. There’s two of us who understand it’s okay for Kemi to demand Starmer’s immediate resignation, but I don’t think any Tory supporters should be sure it helps the Conservative Party or that the Con strategy is actually expecting it to happen. This is a parliamentary term where the economy and cost of living is certain to improve, and come May 3rd 2029 the government will have many other positive metrics to point to, improved on what they inherited. Starmer’s satisfaction ratings so low with voters, unrecoverable, and his reputation for competence and probity so hollowed out now, he has to be an asset to all the opposition parties while PM, dragging down what Labour could be polling and how popular they can be under a better communicator.
Starmer’s demise has been underwritten for a long time, as he’s just not a very good communicator. Rooms don’t warm to him or motivated by his motivational speeches. There’s emotional and psychological disconnect between Starmer in Downing Street bunker and party members and voters too. This is really helpful to the opposition parties - once Starmer is gone they unlikely get such help from the next Labour leader. Don’t forget - just like “Pincher” didn’t cost Boris the job - the real story underneath right now is so much more substantial, Starmer was in trouble, talk of leadership bid, even before recent tranche of peado island emails, it’s not actually Mandleson story which has brought him low - most attack on Starmer over Mandelson is using nothing more substantial than benefit of hindsight, by people not speaking out about it at the time decision made.
We all need to recognise the MPs eventual move against Starmer is not because there is an AngFaction or WesFaction ripping the party apart to install their favourite as leader, who is then immediately unpopular with losers faction - the push would be driven by wanting a change to revive their parties electoral fortunes. Without accepting the Labour Parties ability to achieve this, there is on PB and wider media very glib understanding what happens when Starmer resigns will always benefit the other parties. If Starmer doesn’t make it to the election, the next Labour Leader could be party membership favourite Jones, or strong communicator as good as Blair was in Murray, or fearless rising star who would get backing of unions and unite all wings of Labour party like Fahnbulleh.
An actual removal of Starmer in next couple of years could really work in Labours favour, making the next election a clear “chance change with Reform or stick with Labour government” election for voters to coalesce around.
Well, yes and what will bring that about is the kind of polling which did for Thatcher and gave us Johnson in the first place back in 2019.
IF there is clear and undeniable polling evidence A.N Other would lead Labour to a second term and Starmer would lead them to defeat and disaster, 200-250 Labour backbench MPs are going to desert Starmer just as those Conservative MPs abandoned Thatcher in 1990.
It may be hypothetical polling but a change of leader in early 2028 might be what happens if it seems Starmer himself is the biggest negative -if it makes no difference who is Prime Minister, Starmer will survive. There's no point changing leader if it makes no difference as the Conservatives themselves have discovered on more than one occasion. Indeed, the challengers would then sit back and watch the leader take the fall and the blame and start the rebuilding with a clean slate.
Unfortunately that polling suggests Andy Burnham. So Labour have snookered themselves. Well played Starmer/McSweeney/NEC.
Not necessarily. 1990 showed it can be someone else in Government who can be the alternative candidate. It depends on whether the problem is the party or the Prime Minister. In 1990, it was the latter not the former but by 1995 for example, the party had become the problem and arguably the same was true in 2022.
Starmer can do Labour a big favour and carry the burden of its sins into the wilderness (the analogy with the Day of Atonement is apposite) with his departure leaving his successor untainted but that only works if the backdrop is more positive - e.g: an improving economy and immigration not having the salience it "enjoys" now.
McDonald is asked to expand with more information on the suspect.
He says that the suspect identified as an 18-year-old female, by the name of Jesse. There is a history of police attendance at the suspect's family residence, he says, with some calls related to mental health issues.
McDonald confirms that the two people found dead at a local residence were related to the suspect. The adult female victim is Rootselaar's mother, the male youth is Rootselaar's step-brother, he says.
McDonald is asked to expand with more information on the suspect.
He says that the suspect identified as an 18-year-old female, by the name of Jesse. There is a history of police attendance at the suspect's family residence, he says, with some calls related to mental health issues.
McDonald confirms that the two people found dead at a local residence were related to the suspect. The adult female victim is Rootselaar's mother, the male youth is Rootselaar's step-brother, he says.
McDonald is asked to expand with more information on the suspect.
He says that the suspect identified as an 18-year-old female, by the name of Jesse. There is a history of police attendance at the suspect's family residence, he says, with some calls related to mental health issues.
McDonald confirms that the two people found dead at a local residence were related to the suspect. The adult female victim is Rootselaar's mother, the male youth is Rootselaar's step-brother, he says.
McDonald is asked to expand with more information on the suspect.
He says that the suspect identified as an 18-year-old female, by the name of Jesse. There is a history of police attendance at the suspect's family residence, he says, with some calls related to mental health issues.
McDonald confirms that the two people found dead at a local residence were related to the suspect. The adult female victim is Rootselaar's mother, the male youth is Rootselaar's step-brother, he says.
McDonald is asked to expand with more information on the suspect.
He says that the suspect identified as an 18-year-old female, by the name of Jesse. There is a history of police attendance at the suspect's family residence, he says, with some calls related to mental health issues.
McDonald confirms that the two people found dead at a local residence were related to the suspect. The adult female victim is Rootselaar's mother, the male youth is Rootselaar's step-brother, he says.
McDonald is asked to expand with more information on the suspect.
He says that the suspect identified as an 18-year-old female, by the name of Jesse. There is a history of police attendance at the suspect's family residence, he says, with some calls related to mental health issues.
McDonald confirms that the two people found dead at a local residence were related to the suspect. The adult female victim is Rootselaar's mother, the male youth is Rootselaar's step-brother, he says.
McDonald is asked to expand with more information on the suspect.
He says that the suspect identified as an 18-year-old female, by the name of Jesse. There is a history of police attendance at the suspect's family residence, he says, with some calls related to mental health issues.
McDonald confirms that the two people found dead at a local residence were related to the suspect. The adult female victim is Rootselaar's mother, the male youth is Rootselaar's step-brother, he says.
As a Con supporter, doesn’t it worry you they might? Look at Starmer’s unrecoverable public satisfaction ratings that all gets wiped clean with “New Manager Bounce”. 😕
The nightmare scenario is "Truss 2 - this time it's Socialist":
Contested leadership elections only work in opposition. There, the candidates throw red meat to their base and then spend a few years resiling from their positions before the GE to persuade the moderates - exactly as Starmer did.
Truss, with her Johnson-era majority behind her, threw red meat and was IMMEDIATELY able to act (Luckily the Tory deadman switch kicked in before we were all resolutely stuffed - there is no Labour deadman switch). Imagine Rayner vs Miliband in a contested election after Starmer quits/is VONCed - what will they promise to their members, and then have the power to deliver - Wealth tax? UBI? WASPI? Massive welfare increases? you name it.
I'm a Tory and am hoping that SKS stays in power for the next three years - or engineers a coronation.
Thanks Berbe. I’m not alone. There’s two of us who understand it’s okay for Kemi to demand Starmer’s immediate resignation, but I don’t think any Tory supporters should be sure it helps the Conservative Party or that the Con strategy is actually expecting it to happen. This is a parliamentary term where the economy and cost of living is certain to improve, and come May 3rd 2029 the government will have many other positive metrics to point to, improved on what they inherited. Starmer’s satisfaction ratings so low with voters, unrecoverable, and his reputation for competence and probity so hollowed out now, he has to be an asset to all the opposition parties while PM, dragging down what Labour could be polling and how popular they can be under a better communicator.
Starmer’s demise has been underwritten for a long time, as he’s just not a very good communicator. Rooms don’t warm to him or motivated by his motivational speeches. There’s emotional and psychological disconnect between Starmer in Downing Street bunker and party members and voters too. This is really helpful to the opposition parties - once Starmer is gone they unlikely get such help from the next Labour leader. Don’t forget - just like “Pincher” didn’t cost Boris the job - the real story underneath right now is so much more substantial, Starmer was in trouble, talk of leadership bid, even before recent tranche of peado island emails, it’s not actually Mandleson story which has brought him low - most attack on Starmer over Mandelson is using nothing more substantial than benefit of hindsight, by people not speaking out about it at the time decision made.
We all need to recognise the MPs eventual move against Starmer is not because there is an AngFaction or WesFaction ripping the party apart to install their favourite as leader, who is then immediately unpopular with losers faction - the push would be driven by wanting a change to revive their parties electoral fortunes. Without accepting the Labour Parties ability to achieve this, there is on PB and wider media very glib understanding what happens when Starmer resigns will always benefit the other parties. If Starmer doesn’t make it to the election, the next Labour Leader could be party membership favourite Jones, or strong communicator as good as Blair was in Murray, or fearless rising star who would get backing of unions and unite all wings of Labour party like Fahnbulleh.
An actual removal of Starmer in next couple of years could really work in Labours favour, making the next election a clear “chance change with Reform or stick with Labour government” election for voters to coalesce around.
You're right, and there's another thing.
I don't know how many vetrans there are of the late 80's/early 90's here, but the fall of Thatcher had some odd effects. Lefties I knew were obviously glad to see the back of her, but there was also an element of 'those Tory bastards have shot our fox'... Without Maggie as a focus, there wasn't so much to oppose. That changed as Major got more tired and battered, but it got the Conservatives over the line in 1992.
One of the not-so-curious things about Starmer is how visceral the hatred of him is, in a way that didn't really apply to most of his predecessors. Only Boris has come close, really. Just by having someone new, without the baggage of Brexit, Jeremy and Boris, is likely to be a meaningful boost to the government.
The question is- when should Labour play their Joker? Some want to do it now, and Kemi is doing her job in demanding it now. But I reckon Labour are better off holding off, for a few reasons. The main reason is that there is a bit more worse before it gets clearly better, and Starmer might as well soak up that poison. There's also the inevitable entropy of government- the ideal would be a fresh face with a year before they seek their own mandate, but not much more.
Finally, the front runners both look pretty flawed to me. And the current second tier aren't much better. It's possible that another eighteen months will allow someone better to emerge. But then again, I'm instinctively conservative (just not currently a Conservative, partly because of the sense that the party hates people like me), and happy with the concept that unless it's essential to change, it's good not to change.
Comments
The serious point of this silly anecdote is simply that a lot of people hold firm views for which they then find some justification, no matter how spurious. Starmer is no more a 'paedo lover' than you and I, but if someone hates him anyway, that'll do nicely.
Starmer now: I kicked Jeremy Corbyn out of the party
https://x.com/SaulStaniforth/status/2021579151539364126?s=20
In 2014 UKIP also got over 19% of the vote in Labour held Fullwell and Hainault wards and 14% in Wanstead which will also be Reform targets
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Redbridge_London_Borough_Council_election
The only acceptable response for any Liberal on the subject of immigration is that it's absolutely great and, if anything, there's not enough of it.
That's how professional and social acceptance works at elite levels, even if many may secretly have private doubts about its levels.
However there is no getting way from Starmer's problem that he appointed two senior labour figures to important roles who had known connections with paedophiles
Kemi started it at PMQs, then Ed Davey was coruscating resulting in Starmer blowing his top, and to cap it all the SNP made it a triple attack which goaded Starmer into commenting on a live criminal case which resulted in a rebuke by the speaker, and all this from an ex DPP
It is not just labour woman who are outraged, but women more generally and Starmer's lack of any awareness made PMQ's all about him and his angry whataboutery
It is the first time I have seen the three leaders act together on the same subject and cornering Starmer, that just made him lose it
How they get from 20% to 35% I don't know, though.
Seems unlikely.
Take a situation like FTX and Alameda Research, where the latter was given all sorts of advantages to others trading on the crypto exchange and still managed to lose billions, which ended up revealing the massive fraud that was taking place.
Doyle is a mere footnote.
Russian thugs are not
They could also end up damaged if (for example) they underperform in Scotland and London
Problem is, I can't think of a name for the group…
Also population of people over 65 is soaring and accounts for much if not nearly all the change.
Quite pronounced in the over 80 group.These people who are held up as notaries and come up with this nonsense should not be listened to.
Starmer is the one in the cross hairs with no answer other than 'they lied to me'
Doyle has just made matters a whole lot worse, and the headlines are terrible across all the media which is about labour and paedophiles
It is no wonder labour women are on the warpath
To do anything else risks being labelled a racist, which is fatal socially and professionally.
Though they might leak a few to Labour and the LDs at the same time
In 20 years time, life on earth will come to resemble the myths of the ancient Greeks. A pantheon of super intelligent beings will watch over us using human agents to meddle in our affairs.
John Greer
Janet Mills
@JanetMillsforME
Thirty years of concern. Never enough courage.
https://x.com/JanetMillsforME/status/2021577661487718801
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/school-shooting-ten-dead-british-columbia-9.7084222
https://x.com/i/status/2021655814579319078
Tories second in seats a more likely result and 'target' if the % recovers to 2024plus
CBC notices that Canadians are questioning why they are willfully ignoring solid stories from families of the shooter and victims of the Tumbler Ridge shooting
"We know at CBC News that there are people online who are talking about the possible suspect and other details surrounding this case."
"But this information has not been confirmed to us by either sources or law enforcement, and we want to stick to confirmed details only."
It is not mainly immigration.
Some of this is becoming identity politics tbh. And a lot of it is a displacement activity. The issue isn’t whether the de facto deputy PM is a woman or not. It’s the decisions that the PM made. That’s something only the PM can be held accountable for.
https://nitter.poast.org/residentadviser/status/2021619765287293172#m
What they have is a completely unfunded list of right wing policy to make the rich richer.
It will cost north of 60 billion
Thats 3x the usual black hole they leave behind.
Maybe they will just spend the imaginary 20 billion that they haven't got 3 times over.
They have history for that.
They want take the electorate for mugs fever again.
Talking of colonisation is quite disgusting by the loathsome Ratcliffe . This country is fxcked if Reform get in , it will descend completely into a cesspit of hate and division as they continue to other groups to appease the baying mob !
I regularly post (well the original version of) that.
First time I have had it posted back.
I doubt it will go that far, however, even though it probably should.
Starmer’s demise has been underwritten for a long time, as he’s just not a very good communicator. Rooms don’t warm to him or motivated by his motivational speeches. There’s emotional and psychological disconnect between Starmer in Downing Street bunker and party members and voters too. This is really helpful to the opposition parties - once Starmer is gone they unlikely get such help from the next Labour leader. Don’t forget - just like “Pincher” didn’t cost Boris the job - the real story underneath right now is so much more substantial, Starmer was in trouble, talk of leadership bid, even before recent tranche of peado island emails, it’s not actually Mandleson story which has brought him low - most attack on Starmer over Mandelson is using nothing more substantial than benefit of hindsight, by people not speaking out about it at the time decision made.
We all need to recognise the MPs eventual move against Starmer is not because there is an AngFaction or WesFaction ripping the party apart to install their favourite as leader, who is then immediately unpopular with losers faction - the push would be driven by wanting a change to revive their parties electoral fortunes. Without accepting the Labour Parties ability to achieve this, there is on PB and wider media very glib understanding what happens when Starmer resigns will always benefit the other parties. If Starmer doesn’t make it to the election, the next Labour Leader could be party membership favourite Jones, or strong communicator as good as Blair was in Murray, or fearless rising star who would get backing of unions and unite all wings of Labour party like Fahnbulleh.
An actual removal of Starmer in next couple of years could really work in Labours favour, making the next election a clear “chance change with Reform or stick with Labour government” election for voters to coalesce around.
She probably has a point that the Labour Party prefers its leaders to have a penis (no chuckling at the back, please) but is entirely the wrong person to make it, since she talks to everyone like they're 5.
Really?
Fun times ahead.
James Van Der Beek, the actor known for playing Dawson Leary on “Dawson’s Creek” and for numerous other TV and film roles, died on Wednesday. He was 48.
Van Der Beek was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2023 and made his diagnosis public in 2024.
https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/james-van-der-beek-dead-dawsons-creek-1236659888/
(This is a joke, and also I did spell gonorrhea that way the first time)
IF there is clear and undeniable polling evidence A.N Other would lead Labour to a second term and Starmer would lead them to defeat and disaster, 200-250 Labour backbench MPs are going to desert Starmer just as those Conservative MPs abandoned Thatcher in 1990.
It may be hypothetical polling but a change of leader in early 2028 might be what happens if it seems Starmer himself is the biggest negative -if it makes no difference who is Prime Minister, Starmer will survive. There's no point changing leader if it makes no difference as the Conservatives themselves have discovered on more than one occasion. Indeed, the challengers would then sit back and watch the leader take the fall and the blame and start the rebuilding with a clean slate.
Nailed it
So Labour have snookered themselves.
Well played Starmer/McSweeney/NEC.
Is a terrible line when you’ve forced the guy whose advice you took to resign
He was great as a guest star on How I Met Your Mother.
People do not die the year they are born, generally.
Births have exceeded deaths almost every year for the past half a century.
McDonald is asked to expand with more information on the suspect.
He says that the suspect identified as an 18-year-old female, by the name of Jesse. There is a history of police attendance at the suspect's family residence, he says, with some calls related to mental health issues.
McDonald confirms that the two people found dead at a local residence were related to the suspect. The adult female victim is Rootselaar's mother, the male youth is Rootselaar's step-brother, he says.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cr5lnzqdr5pt
What a bizarre way of framing it. Can I identify as an 75 year old to get a free bus pass?
59 million in 2001
63 million in 2011
67 million in 2021
Starmer can do Labour a big favour and carry the burden of its sins into the wilderness (the analogy with the Day of Atonement is apposite) with his departure leaving his successor untainted but that only works if the backdrop is more positive - e.g: an improving economy and immigration not having the salience it "enjoys" now.
Identified as female?
Identified as Jesse?
Hmmm ...
I don't know how many vetrans there are of the late 80's/early 90's here, but the fall of Thatcher had some odd effects. Lefties I knew were obviously glad to see the back of her, but there was also an element of 'those Tory bastards have shot our fox'... Without Maggie as a focus, there wasn't so much to oppose. That changed as Major got more tired and battered, but it got the Conservatives over the line in 1992.
One of the not-so-curious things about Starmer is how visceral the hatred of him is, in a way that didn't really apply to most of his predecessors. Only Boris has come close, really. Just by having someone new, without the baggage of Brexit, Jeremy and Boris, is likely to be a meaningful boost to the government.
The question is- when should Labour play their Joker? Some want to do it now, and Kemi is doing her job in demanding it now. But I reckon Labour are better off holding off, for a few reasons. The main reason is that there is a bit more worse before it gets clearly better, and Starmer might as well soak up that poison. There's also the inevitable entropy of government- the ideal would be a fresh face with a year before they seek their own mandate, but not much more.
Finally, the front runners both look pretty flawed to me. And the current second tier aren't much better. It's possible that another eighteen months will allow someone better to emerge. But then again, I'm instinctively conservative (just not currently a Conservative, partly because of the sense that the party hates people like me), and happy with the concept that unless it's essential to change, it's good not to change.