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Restore are keen followers of the betting markets – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 12,960
edited 8:43AM in General
Restore are keen followers of the betting markets – politicalbetting.com

I find it quite astonishing that a party that has never had an MP elected under the Restore banner is attracting quite so many bets, as for the Rupert Lowe as next PM, my eyebrows are so raised they are in the stratosphere.

Read the full story here

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Comments

  • TazTaz Posts: 25,170
    Boom
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 101,378
    Restore will be out of the news within 6 months unless Reform blow up in some kind of civil war, which looks unlikely.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 31,411
    Follow the money.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 22,190
    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 18,934
    kle4 said:

    Restore will be out of the news within 6 months unless Reform blow up in some kind of civil war, which looks unlikely.

    Not if Elon Musk keeps pushing them.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 6,989

    kle4 said:

    Restore will be out of the news within 6 months unless Reform blow up in some kind of civil war, which looks unlikely.

    Not if Elon Musk keeps pushing them.
    The more parties on the right the better . We want the right vote split .
  • TazTaz Posts: 25,170
    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    Cracking insight. The sort of informed commentary that makes PB a must.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 26,720
    PR betting clearly works. More cheap advertising for Restore.

    Bung 50k into the Betfair market and get 500k worth of publicity.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 22,190
    Taz said:

    Andrews Masterplan


    Beware the Green-Eyed Monster
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 101,378
    IanB2 said:

    Worth a read:

    Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade, and why most of Europe – including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – dismissed them. As the fourth anniversary of the invasion approaches and the world enters a new period of geopolitical uncertainty, Europe’s politicians and spy services continue to draw lessons from the failures of 2022

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia

    Even as troops were poised to invade some otherwise sensible people decried the 'warmongering'...of noting there was about to be an invasion.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 101,378
    eek said:

    Eabhal said:

    ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    AnneJGP said:

    HYUFD said:

    Just seen Royal Mail trying to cut Sat deliveries for non 1st class post.
    Meanwhile my postman confirmed there were no deliveries on my round on one day this week Horsham has 18 vacancies that cannot be filled and if a round doesn't happen its cheaper to.pay the fine than deliver the post.

    Something is v wrong if this is true

    If you can't be bothered to pay for a first class stamp why should you expect to see your letter or parcel delivered on a Saturday?
    I normally use 1st class stamps but letters posted in this neck of the woods usually take about a week to be delivered.
    So still can be delivered within the week on a Saturday then if sent first class
    "Horsham has 18 vacancies that cannot be filled"

    And yet millions of young people are sat on the sofa without work or education.

    But there are two further questions.
    Are those unemployed in Horsham?
    And, if not, can they afford to move to Horsham and live there?
    Bear in mind their salaries will need to cover their moving costs.
    Plus a premium for cutting off their friends and family support network.
    if there are job vacancies anywhere in the country and they don't take one then benefits should stop immediately. Not for the state to pay for people to chose where and where not they will live. Lazy barstewards.
    Hmmmm.

    If somebody up your way was offered a job in Dover, but no help with relocation, given the effective death of the affordable rental sector and the disaster that is the housing market I'm not seeing that as entirely equitable.

    If they were offered a job within an hour's bus ride* of where they lived that would be rather different.

    *Approx three miles, in my experience of buses.
    The cut in bus services is the biggest act of self-harm this country has done in decades. If you're disabled, or young, or just poor enough so it's difficult to build up the capital required for even a very basic car, the scope for you to be travel more than a couple of miles from your house has been massively reduced over the last 15 years. And that's before we get to lack of investment in other forms of public transport.

    I think it links into housing costs too because young people in work are severely restricted geographically, so competition is fierce anywhere within walking distance of actual jobs.

    (and Malcolm has betrayed a lack of uncerstanding of UC - because what he describes is exactly what happens).
    The other thing is a lot of young people can’t drive because driving lessons are stupidly expensive relative to their wages.

    Granted getting a test is impossible but imagine what it would be like if the 30% who haven’t learnt to driver were learning to and needed a test.

    And for those 30% you employment choices are where the bus will take you which won’t be the industrial estate on the outskirts of the next town.
    It does seem even worse than when i was learning 20 years ago. I was astonished to hear of how bad delays for tests are.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 22,190
    Taz said:

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    Cracking insight. The sort of informed commentary that makes PB a must.
    Sorry. It requires a tiny knowledge of film and the ability to switch on a radio and go back about 10 mins
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 101,378

    kle4 said:

    Restore will be out of the news within 6 months unless Reform blow up in some kind of civil war, which looks unlikely.

    Not if Elon Musk keeps pushing them.
    There's people who listen to him and he has endless money of course, but he's not that popular here and is distracted by endless other interests.

    Idk, I feel like the main impact of Musk ranting about Farage not being right wing enough would just be to secure Reform's hold over the mainstream right by assuring them they are not extreme, so it weirdly hurts the Tories more.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 77,754
    kle4 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Worth a read:

    Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade, and why most of Europe – including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – dismissed them. As the fourth anniversary of the invasion approaches and the world enters a new period of geopolitical uncertainty, Europe’s politicians and spy services continue to draw lessons from the failures of 2022

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia

    Even as troops were poised to invade some otherwise sensible people decried the 'warmongering'...of noting there was about to be an invasion.
    George Galloway talked about how NATO had provoked Russia by oppressing the people of the Donbas, but Russia wouldn't invade because Putin was as nice as his friends Assad and Saddam.

    Or something.

    But he's not exactly 'sensible.'
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 101,378
    Roger said:

    Taz said:

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    Cracking insight. The sort of informed commentary that makes PB a must.
    Sorry. It requires a tiny knowledge of film and the ability to switch on a radio and go back about 10 mins
    Never seen the film. I've seen it parodied so many times it would probably not really hit for me.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 22,190
    "The gamblers are with us
    The fascists are with us
    And we've got the backing"
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 2,544
    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    He works with the Hoover Institute so is used to sucking up.

    https://www.hoover.org/profiles/h-r-mcmaster
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 101,378
    edited 9:04AM
    Taz said:

    Andrews Masterplan


    Whatever happened to good old fashioned bribery to get out of trouble, eh?

    Oh wait, it went to America and called itself crypto investment, 'settlements', and donations to the Board of Peace.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 101,378
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Worth a read:

    Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade, and why most of Europe – including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – dismissed them. As the fourth anniversary of the invasion approaches and the world enters a new period of geopolitical uncertainty, Europe’s politicians and spy services continue to draw lessons from the failures of 2022

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia

    Even as troops were poised to invade some otherwise sensible people decried the 'warmongering'...of noting there was about to be an invasion.
    George Galloway talked about how NATO had provoked Russia by oppressing the people of the Donbas, but Russia wouldn't invade because Putin was as nice as his friends Assad and Saddam.

    Or something.

    But he's not exactly 'sensible.'
    Not at that level but there were actual sensibles saying it would not happen because that would be crazy of Putin.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 22,190
    Battlebus said:

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    He works with the Hoover Institute so is used to sucking up.

    https://www.hoover.org/profiles/h-r-mcmaster
    A complete loony! So much so it's surprisising NR had him on the BBC flagship news programme
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 101,378
    nico67 said:

    kle4 said:

    Restore will be out of the news within 6 months unless Reform blow up in some kind of civil war, which looks unlikely.

    Not if Elon Musk keeps pushing them.
    The more parties on the right the better . We want the right vote split .
    Splits all around, left right and centre.

    One day people will be able to vote for the centrist party, the moderate party, the middleground party, and the new centrist party.

    The LDs will still be on 10%.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 27,709
    Taz said:

    Andrews Masterplan

    Cartmel or Mountbatten-Windsor?

    😎
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 16,762
    edited 9:17AM
    kle4 said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Worth a read:

    Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade, and why most of Europe – including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – dismissed them. As the fourth anniversary of the invasion approaches and the world enters a new period of geopolitical uncertainty, Europe’s politicians and spy services continue to draw lessons from the failures of 2022

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia

    Even as troops were poised to invade some otherwise sensible people decried the 'warmongering'...of noting there was about to be an invasion.
    George Galloway talked about how NATO had provoked Russia by oppressing the people of the Donbas, but Russia wouldn't invade because Putin was as nice as his friends Assad and Saddam.

    Or something.

    But he's not exactly 'sensible.'
    Not at that level but there were actual sensibles saying it would not happen because that would be crazy of Putin.
    That Guardian story is a great read. What I’d forgotten was quite how in denial Zelenskyy was right up to the end. He was more worried (perhaps reasonably) about inducing panic and population flight than an actual invasion.

    What’s also clear is how heavy the shadow of Iraq hung over the reputation of US and UK intelligence.
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 16,762
    kle4 said:

    kle4 said:

    Restore will be out of the news within 6 months unless Reform blow up in some kind of civil war, which looks unlikely.

    Not if Elon Musk keeps pushing them.
    There's people who listen to him and he has endless money of course, but he's not that popular here and is distracted by endless other interests.

    Idk, I feel like the main impact of Musk ranting about Farage not being right wing enough would just be to secure Reform's hold over the mainstream right by assuring them they are not extreme, so it weirdly hurts the Tories more.
    Yes I agree with this. Lowe is a useful idiot in Farage’s detox plan.

    As always with far right shenanigans, look to France for precedent. Zemmour had the same effect on Le Pen.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 46,686
    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    And he's supposed to be one of the sane ones.
    His point that just because Trump & co have been throwing insults & threats left, right and centre Europe should not rock the boat inclines me to think the general should shove his 3 stars up his arse.
  • TazTaz Posts: 25,170
    Roger said:

    Taz said:

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    Cracking insight. The sort of informed commentary that makes PB a must.
    Sorry. It requires a tiny knowledge of film and the ability to switch on a radio and go back about 10 mins
    And I thought Dr Stranglewank was a GP

    How’s about that then
  • RogerRoger Posts: 22,190

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    And he's supposed to be one of the sane ones.
    His point that just because Trump & co have been throwing insults & threats left, right and centre Europe should not rock the boat inclines me to think the general should shove his 3 stars up his arse.
    I thought his dismissal of SKS with a flick of his fingers was the first bit of good news No10 had had for months. When was the last time Starmer had put himself on the right side of an important decision?
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 15,414
    kle4 said:

    Roger said:

    Taz said:

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    Cracking insight. The sort of informed commentary that makes PB a must.
    Sorry. It requires a tiny knowledge of film and the ability to switch on a radio and go back about 10 mins
    Never seen the film. I've seen it parodied so many times it would probably not really hit for me.
    Watch it. It's an absolute classic. Worth it for the acting alone, but simply as a top class piece of film-making it is top draw, and as watchable now as it ever was.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 15,674
    edited 9:37AM
    Morning all.
    Restore have now put in their application to the Electoral Commission on Feb 20 but its unlikely they get approved in time for May nominations. The local project Great Yarmouth First went in on Feb 3rd and may also miss out in which case he will have to run Indies who later 'defect' but good luck informing the electorate who is Lowe and who is not.
    If he does get GYF on the ballot in the 9 wards for the county council, what effect? Im not sure. It might well take enough off Reform to allow Con or Lab to hold some wards, they might win some, they might clean up. Lowe has an effect locally and Yarmouth has a habit of moving hard when it moves.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 66,647
    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 15,414
    kle4 said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Worth a read:

    Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade, and why most of Europe – including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – dismissed them. As the fourth anniversary of the invasion approaches and the world enters a new period of geopolitical uncertainty, Europe’s politicians and spy services continue to draw lessons from the failures of 2022

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia

    Even as troops were poised to invade some otherwise sensible people decried the 'warmongering'...of noting there was about to be an invasion.
    George Galloway talked about how NATO had provoked Russia by oppressing the people of the Donbas, but Russia wouldn't invade because Putin was as nice as his friends Assad and Saddam.

    Or something.

    But he's not exactly 'sensible.'
    Not at that level but there were actual sensibles saying it would not happen because that would be crazy of Putin.
    It was crazy. In the end though, Ukraine will survive ok, and may well prosper. Russia won't. It's cuffed.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 46,686
    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    'Sorry sir, we're not letting you put that sock in our machines.'
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 15,414
    edited 9:49AM
    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 6,032
    FPT:

    Interesting age splits in the poll:

    18-24: Green 40%, Ref 7%, Lab 18%, DK 2O%
    25-34: Green 34%, Ref 17%, Lab 18%, DK 15%
    35-44: Green 23%, Ref 9%, Lab 17%, DK 37%
    45-54: Green 24%, Ref 22%, Lab 15%, DK 36%
    55-64: Green 15%, Ref 30%, Lab 17%, DK 37%
    65-74: Green 6%, Ref 36%, Lab 17%, DK 37%
    75+: Green 4%, Ref 22%, Lab 28%, DK 43%

    Makes me wonder if Greens are vulnerable to differential turnout as they are low with 65+ who are most likely to turn up

    Although the 18-34 combined subsample is likely a bit small, I think the older DKs here are somewhat statistically significant if you take under and over 34 as your two subsamples.

    Ask yourself who doesn't know, the right winger who has a choice of Reform or Reform, or the left winger who has the choice of Green or Labour. It's clearly the latter (I think Foxy mentioned that the data sets bore this out).

    So a large number of older, probably left leaning, don't knows. Many will have a say.

    I predicted that the Lab + Green vote would be more than double the Reform vote, although the poll doesn't say that, I see in those DKs the voter base for that to happen. I also see how the idea the Greens are at least competitive could lead to something of a domino effect in these older DKs, less clear cut than Caerphilly, but there nonetheless.

    Basically, I see support for my standing prediction (Green 40, Ref 28, Lab 25), confirmation bias perhaps, in the polling data here. And a Reform third place as distinctly possible.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 126,454
    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    As a schoolboy, H.R. McMaster was an absolute God for me, the Battle of 73 Easting, like the Battle of Norfolk had a profound impact on me.

    #NeverMeetYourHeroes
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 16,762
    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    It’s a bit of a classic of the travel writing genre, which presumably is partly why you’re feeling it: getting clothes washed, haircuts and shaves, dealing with telegrams from the publisher, going to the dentist. In the 20th century they were always popping into the poste restante. Then there was a brief period when internet cafes appeared in a few books. Both activities now consigned to the past by smartphones.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,499

    Morning all.
    Restore have now put in their application to the Electoral Commission on Feb 20 but its unlikely they get approved in time for May nominations. The local project Great Yarmouth First went in on Feb 3rd and may also miss out in which case he will have to run Indies who later 'defect' but good luck informing the electorate who is Lowe and who is not.
    If he does get GYF on the ballot in the 9 wards for the county council, what effect? Im not sure. It might well take enough off Reform to allow Con or Lab to hold some wards, they might win some, they might clean up. Lowe has an effect locally and Yarmouth has a habit of moving hard when it moves.

    Lowe is probably best known as having been Chair of Southampton FC. They were an established premier league club when he took over and were about to go into administration by the time he left. So possibly some indicator of his likely impact on the UK, were all his dreams to be realised.
  • TazTaz Posts: 25,170

    Morning all.
    Restore have now put in their application to the Electoral Commission on Feb 20 but its unlikely they get approved in time for May nominations. The local project Great Yarmouth First went in on Feb 3rd and may also miss out in which case he will have to run Indies who later 'defect' but good luck informing the electorate who is Lowe and who is not.
    If he does get GYF on the ballot in the 9 wards for the county council, what effect? Im not sure. It might well take enough off Reform to allow Con or Lab to hold some wards, they might win some, they might clean up. Lowe has an effect locally and Yarmouth has a habit of moving hard when it moves.

    Lowe is probably best known as having been Chair of Southampton FC. They were an established premier league club when he took over and were about to go into administration by the time he left. So possibly some indicator of his likely impact on the UK, were all his dreams to be realised.
    Got through a few managers as well

    Wasn’t he involved in TVS or Southern TV too ?
  • DoctorGDoctorG Posts: 521
    Morning,

    Wales are 8/1 to beat Scotland today... are they really that bad? The last 2 games have been very close
  • LeonLeon Posts: 66,647

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    Excellent book

    One of my favourites - and genuinely useful - is “ibstock”

    An “ibstock” is a perfectly sized length of natural wood - a small branch perhaps - that you find at the beginning of a rural walk, and which functions as an excellent walking stick for the duration of the walk, and is discarded at the end

    There is great pleasure in finding a nice ibstock
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 5,271
    Taz said:

    Morning all.
    Restore have now put in their application to the Electoral Commission on Feb 20 but its unlikely they get approved in time for May nominations. The local project Great Yarmouth First went in on Feb 3rd and may also miss out in which case he will have to run Indies who later 'defect' but good luck informing the electorate who is Lowe and who is not.
    If he does get GYF on the ballot in the 9 wards for the county council, what effect? Im not sure. It might well take enough off Reform to allow Con or Lab to hold some wards, they might win some, they might clean up. Lowe has an effect locally and Yarmouth has a habit of moving hard when it moves.

    Lowe is probably best known as having been Chair of Southampton FC. They were an established premier league club when he took over and were about to go into administration by the time he left. So possibly some indicator of his likely impact on the UK, were all his dreams to be realised.
    Got through a few managers as well

    Wasn’t he involved in TVS or Southern TV too ?
    He's a parasite
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 70,271
    MelonB said:

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    It’s a bit of a classic of the travel writing genre, which presumably is partly why you’re feeling it: getting clothes washed, haircuts and shaves, dealing with telegrams from the publisher, going to the dentist. In the 20th century they were always popping into the poste restante. Then there was a brief period when internet cafes appeared in a few books. Both activities now consigned to the past by smartphones.
    More importantly, we need the travel tale as to why Leon is in a laundrette after only being in the country three days.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,499
    Taz said:

    Morning all.
    Restore have now put in their application to the Electoral Commission on Feb 20 but its unlikely they get approved in time for May nominations. The local project Great Yarmouth First went in on Feb 3rd and may also miss out in which case he will have to run Indies who later 'defect' but good luck informing the electorate who is Lowe and who is not.
    If he does get GYF on the ballot in the 9 wards for the county council, what effect? Im not sure. It might well take enough off Reform to allow Con or Lab to hold some wards, they might win some, they might clean up. Lowe has an effect locally and Yarmouth has a habit of moving hard when it moves.

    Lowe is probably best known as having been Chair of Southampton FC. They were an established premier league club when he took over and were about to go into administration by the time he left. So possibly some indicator of his likely impact on the UK, were all his dreams to be realised.
    Got through a few managers as well

    Wasn’t he involved in TVS or Southern TV too ?
    Don't know, but Wiki has this (which had slipped my memory):

    On 8 August, Lowe posted a picture on X (formerly Twitter) of a small boat off the Norfolk coast, stating: "Dinghies coming into Great Yarmouth, RIGHT NOW. Authorities alerted, and I am urgently chasing. If these are illegal migrants, I will be using every tool at my disposal to ensure these individuals are deported." Great Yarmouth is some 110 miles (175 km) north of Dover, where migrants in small boats usually land, and the same distance from the coast of the Netherlands. It transpired that the boat was a party of volunteers rowing from Land's End to John O'Groats, to raise money for a motor neuron disease charity.

    Mark of the man.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 15,674

    Morning all.
    Restore have now put in their application to the Electoral Commission on Feb 20 but its unlikely they get approved in time for May nominations. The local project Great Yarmouth First went in on Feb 3rd and may also miss out in which case he will have to run Indies who later 'defect' but good luck informing the electorate who is Lowe and who is not.
    If he does get GYF on the ballot in the 9 wards for the county council, what effect? Im not sure. It might well take enough off Reform to allow Con or Lab to hold some wards, they might win some, they might clean up. Lowe has an effect locally and Yarmouth has a habit of moving hard when it moves.

    Lowe is probably best known as having been Chair of Southampton FC. They were an established premier league club when he took over and were about to go into administration by the time he left. So possibly some indicator of his likely impact on the UK, were all his dreams to be realised.
    Indeed.
    Although his profile and knowledge of him in East Norfolk is rather different now. The monthly salary donation to a local charity always hits the local paper and there is the attraction of having a local rabble rouser/pot stirrer.
    The 9 wards in Yarmouth are in 2 halves so different groups to fight for. Broadly (pun), the Yarmouth wards and Caister are Blackpool/Skeggy a bit run down, poorer than the rest of the county, former glory seaside town etc and Ormesby and the Fleggburgh/Flegg wards are sleepy Tory shire Broads villages without the usual LD incursions (it is perhaps no coincidence there is no decent road connection from the Fleggs into the LD dominated North Norfolk next door!)
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 70,271

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    And he's supposed to be one of the sane ones.
    His point that just because Trump & co have been throwing insults & threats left, right and centre Europe should not rock the boat inclines me to think the general should shove his 3 stars up his arse.
    Wasn't his army nickname - Mad Dog?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 66,647
    One of the more poignant examples from “the meaning of liff” is “Glasgow”

    “Glasgow” is the sadness that overcomes you when you unexpectedly walk into a loud crowded room full of noisy, happy people at least fifteen years younger than you

    In the doing of my job I encounter quite a lot of Glasgow, around the world. I’ve devised coping mechanisms, which mainly involve denial
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 70,271

    Morning all.
    Restore have now put in their application to the Electoral Commission on Feb 20 but its unlikely they get approved in time for May nominations. The local project Great Yarmouth First went in on Feb 3rd and may also miss out in which case he will have to run Indies who later 'defect' but good luck informing the electorate who is Lowe and who is not.
    If he does get GYF on the ballot in the 9 wards for the county council, what effect? Im not sure. It might well take enough off Reform to allow Con or Lab to hold some wards, they might win some, they might clean up. Lowe has an effect locally and Yarmouth has a habit of moving hard when it moves.

    Lowe is probably best known as having been Chair of Southampton FC. They were an established premier league club when he took over and were about to go into administration by the time he left. So possibly some indicator of his likely impact on the UK, were all his dreams to be realised.
    Indeed.
    Although his profile and knowledge of him in East Norfolk is rather different now. The monthly salary donation to a local charity always hits the local paper and there is the attraction of having a local rabble rouser/pot stirrer.
    The 9 wards in Yarmouth are in 2 halves so different groups to fight for. Broadly (pun), the Yarmouth wards and Caister are Blackpool/Skeggy a bit run down, poorer than the rest of the county, former glory seaside town etc and Ormesby and the Fleggburgh/Flegg wards are sleepy Tory shire Broads villages without the usual LD incursions (it is perhaps no coincidence there is no decent road connection from the Fleggs into the LD dominated North Norfolk next door!)
    Where are the Gails?
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 15,414
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    Excellent book

    One of my favourites - and genuinely useful - is “ibstock”

    An “ibstock” is a perfectly sized length of natural wood - a small branch perhaps - that you find at the beginning of a rural walk, and which functions as an excellent walking stick for the duration of the walk, and is discarded at the end

    There is great pleasure in finding a nice ibstock
    Everyone has their favorites. I particularly like the doubles, such as Tyne and Wear, where the tyne is the small fiddly thing you drop on the floor and the wear is the heavy piece of furniture it rolls under.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 6,076

    The Greens will continue to hoover up the votes of the under 35s for as long as all other mainstream parties seem entirely uninterested in younger voters.

    It's perverse, because many Green policies, like rent controls and a minimum wage of £15/hour, would devastate the prospects of young adults in particular. The former would deprive them of housing and the latter of work.

    Evidence perhaps that judgement is something that tends to come with experience.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 66,647
    edited 10:07AM

    MelonB said:

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    It’s a bit of a classic of the travel writing genre, which presumably is partly why you’re feeling it: getting clothes washed, haircuts and shaves, dealing with telegrams from the publisher, going to the dentist. In the 20th century they were always popping into the poste restante. Then there was a brief period when internet cafes appeared in a few books. Both activities now consigned to the past by smartphones.
    More importantly, we need the travel tale as to why Leon is in a laundrette after only being in the country three days.
    Constantly changing climate, and packing very lightly in the first place

    I’d rather have light luggage and the odd trip to a laundrette than massive bags with coats and stuff

    Also in places like Bangkok it is trivially easy to get laundry done by the kilo with zero hassle. Not so in Taiwan

  • CookieCookie Posts: 16,928
    Leon said:

    One of the more poignant examples from “the meaning of liff” is “Glasgow”

    “Glasgow” is the sadness that overcomes you when you unexpectedly walk into a loud crowded room full of noisy, happy people at least fifteen years younger than you

    In the doing of my job I encounter quite a lot of Glasgow, around the world. I’ve devised coping mechanisms, which mainly involve denial

    Ooh, are we on the Meaning of Liff? 35 miles after reading it I still chuckle at the memory of it. Most frequently recalled entry, for some reason, is "Todber: A man whose idea of a good time it is to stand behind his hedge, giving surly nods to people he doesn't know". I'm not sure what that says about my life.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 15,674

    Morning all.
    Restore have now put in their application to the Electoral Commission on Feb 20 but its unlikely they get approved in time for May nominations. The local project Great Yarmouth First went in on Feb 3rd and may also miss out in which case he will have to run Indies who later 'defect' but good luck informing the electorate who is Lowe and who is not.
    If he does get GYF on the ballot in the 9 wards for the county council, what effect? Im not sure. It might well take enough off Reform to allow Con or Lab to hold some wards, they might win some, they might clean up. Lowe has an effect locally and Yarmouth has a habit of moving hard when it moves.

    Lowe is probably best known as having been Chair of Southampton FC. They were an established premier league club when he took over and were about to go into administration by the time he left. So possibly some indicator of his likely impact on the UK, were all his dreams to be realised.
    Indeed.
    Although his profile and knowledge of him in East Norfolk is rather different now. The monthly salary donation to a local charity always hits the local paper and there is the attraction of having a local rabble rouser/pot stirrer.
    The 9 wards in Yarmouth are in 2 halves so different groups to fight for. Broadly (pun), the Yarmouth wards and Caister are Blackpool/Skeggy a bit run down, poorer than the rest of the county, former glory seaside town etc and Ormesby and the Fleggburgh/Flegg wards are sleepy Tory shire Broads villages without the usual LD incursions (it is perhaps no coincidence there is no decent road connection from the Fleggs into the LD dominated North Norfolk next door!)
    Where are the Gails?
    Oh we dont have THOSE!
    Nearest is apparently in Ely, Cambs
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 46,686

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    And he's supposed to be one of the sane ones.
    His point that just because Trump & co have been throwing insults & threats left, right and centre Europe should not rock the boat inclines me to think the general should shove his 3 stars up his arse.
    Wasn't his army nickname - Mad Dog?
    Yes, but he wasn't called Sociopathic, Sleepy, Senile, Dribbling, Doubly Incontinent, Paedophiliac McMaster, so by comparison..
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 35,222

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    Before cheap foreign holidays in the 1960s, Fort William was a very popular honeymoon destination. Honeymoons are not supposed to be humdrum.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 60,879

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    As a schoolboy, H.R. McMaster was an absolute God for me, the Battle of 73 Easting, like the Battle of Norfolk had a profound impact on me.

    #NeverMeetYourHeroes
    73 Easting wasn’t so much about command ability, as when the Warsaw Pact doctrine, equipment and training met the US doctrine, equipment and training.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 66,647

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    Excellent book

    One of my favourites - and genuinely useful - is “ibstock”

    An “ibstock” is a perfectly sized length of natural wood - a small branch perhaps - that you find at the beginning of a rural walk, and which functions as an excellent walking stick for the duration of the walk, and is discarded at the end

    There is great pleasure in finding a nice ibstock
    Everyone has their favorites. I particularly like the doubles, such as Tyne and Wear, where the tyne is the small fiddly thing you drop on the floor and the wear is the heavy piece of furniture it rolls under.
    Superb

    My one proper post op transsexual friend is lesbianly married to the sister of the widow of Douglas Adams

    The estate was frigging enormous and still generates ££££££

    A clever chap even if his humour was a bit sophomoric at times. RIP

    I wonder how he’d feel about so many of his sci fi predictions coming true. Eg babelfish.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 46,686
    Just a humble student of history OBVIOUSLY.
    Tbf with that cv he could be Secretary of War in the US.



    https://x.com/reformexposed/status/2025103719051001866?s=20
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 65,542
    Fishing said:

    The Greens will continue to hoover up the votes of the under 35s for as long as all other mainstream parties seem entirely uninterested in younger voters.

    It's perverse, because many Green policies, like rent controls and a minimum wage of £15/hour, would devastate the prospects of young adults in particular. The former would deprive them of housing and the latter of work.

    Evidence perhaps that judgement is something that tends to come with experience.
    A Green government would be a disaster for the young on every level. Older voters save Green voters from themselves.

    Nevertheless, it's not just the policy (bad as that is) but the rhetoric around younger voters that is a big problem.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,558

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    Chorelywood?
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 65,542
    Off topic, I'd say it's virtually certain legislation is now passed to remove Andrew from the line of succession.

    And, although I know papers need selling, it will do no harm to the monarchy.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,937

    Just a humble student of history OBVIOUSLY.
    Tbf with that cv he could be Secretary of War in the US.



    https://x.com/reformexposed/status/2025103719051001866?s=20

    Not even wearing the good SS uniform. Sad.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 15,414
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    Excellent book

    One of my favourites - and genuinely useful - is “ibstock”

    An “ibstock” is a perfectly sized length of natural wood - a small branch perhaps - that you find at the beginning of a rural walk, and which functions as an excellent walking stick for the duration of the walk, and is discarded at the end

    There is great pleasure in finding a nice ibstock
    Everyone has their favorites. I particularly like the doubles, such as Tyne and Wear, where the tyne is the small fiddly thing you drop on the floor and the wear is the heavy piece of furniture it rolls under.
    Superb

    My one proper post op transsexual friend is lesbianly married to the sister of the widow of Douglas Adams

    The estate was frigging enormous and still generates ££££££

    A clever chap even if his humour was a bit sophomoric at times. RIP

    I wonder how he’d feel about so many of his sci fi predictions coming true. Eg babelfish.
    That's good to hear. As you might guess, I'm a fan, but I understand the sophomoric bit. I'd be interested to learn your views of him at greater length. Maybe some other time. I'd say his humour is patchy, but you might say that of many humourists. It's the good bits you remember and with DA they certainly justify the bits that don't work.

    I also find him mildly but pleasantly spiritual, but then I'm smitten.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,937

    Off topic, I'd say it's virtually certain legislation is now passed to remove Andrew from the line of succession.

    And, although I know papers need selling, it will do no harm to the monarchy.

    I wonder if any of the realms will use it as an excuse to ditch the monarchy.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 65,542
    RobD said:

    Off topic, I'd say it's virtually certain legislation is now passed to remove Andrew from the line of succession.

    And, although I know papers need selling, it will do no harm to the monarchy.

    I wonder if any of the realms will use it as an excuse to ditch the monarchy.
    No, I don't think so. This is an Andrew/Epstein thing, not a monarchy thing.

    I'd be very worried if I were Peter Mandelson too.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 32,202
    Good morning all.

    Where are these 86% of bets Roops is waffling about?

    I make it more like 2% on BFX.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 13,467
    edited 10:27AM

    Just a humble student of history OBVIOUSLY.
    Tbf with that cv he could be Secretary of War in the US.



    https://x.com/reformexposed/status/2025103719051001866?s=20

    Shane Gillis does some good stuff about Republican-leaning men flying a little too close to the sun when it comes to WWII history. A good example.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 32,202
    edited 10:29AM

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    Excellent book

    One of my favourites - and genuinely useful - is “ibstock”

    An “ibstock” is a perfectly sized length of natural wood - a small branch perhaps - that you find at the beginning of a rural walk, and which functions as an excellent walking stick for the duration of the walk, and is discarded at the end

    There is great pleasure in finding a nice ibstock
    Everyone has their favorites. I particularly like the doubles, such as Tyne and Wear, where the tyne is the small fiddly thing you drop on the floor and the wear is the heavy piece of furniture it rolls under.
    Superb

    My one proper post op transsexual friend is lesbianly married to the sister of the widow of Douglas Adams

    The estate was frigging enormous and still generates ££££££

    A clever chap even if his humour was a bit sophomoric at times. RIP

    I wonder how he’d feel about so many of his sci fi predictions coming true. Eg babelfish.
    That's good to hear. As you might guess, I'm a fan, but I understand the sophomoric bit. I'd be interested to learn your views of him at greater length. Maybe some other time. I'd say his humour is patchy, but you might say that of many humourists. It's the good bits you remember and with DA they certainly justify the bits that don't work.

    I also find him mildly but pleasantly spiritual, but then I'm smitten.
    It would be a bit larger had he not tried crazily to build a swimming pool in a certain house in Islington.

    Trivia: I'm still surprised by the widespread use of his phrase "Total Existence Failure"; coming soon for the Conservatives.

    An Ibstock is a house brick, by the way.
    https://www.ibstock.co.uk/
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 70,271
    Fishing said:

    The Greens will continue to hoover up the votes of the under 35s for as long as all other mainstream parties seem entirely uninterested in younger voters.

    It's perverse, because many Green policies, like rent controls and a minimum wage of £15/hour, would devastate the prospects of young adults in particular. The former would deprive them of housing and the latter of work.

    Evidence perhaps that judgement is something that tends to come with experience.
    Have they announced how rent controls will work once landlords have been banned?
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 21,681

    Fishing said:

    The Greens will continue to hoover up the votes of the under 35s for as long as all other mainstream parties seem entirely uninterested in younger voters.

    It's perverse, because many Green policies, like rent controls and a minimum wage of £15/hour, would devastate the prospects of young adults in particular. The former would deprive them of housing and the latter of work.

    Evidence perhaps that judgement is something that tends to come with experience.
    A Green government would be a disaster for the young on every level. Older voters save Green voters from themselves.

    Nevertheless, it's not just the policy (bad as that is) but the rhetoric around younger voters that is a big problem.
    It's one of the things that Conservatives used to understand instinctively.

    Ensure everyone has a decent stake in society, so that they fear revolutionaries. It may have cost a fair bit, but good insurance often does.

    Concede reforms if the alternative is a revolution.

    At some point, the Conservatives became a trade union for pensioners and rentiers, which has just pissed off everyone younger. And I'm not sure they have enough strength to survive another change now.

    It's all a bit apres nous, la deluge.
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 5,370
    edited 10:32AM
    deleted
  • RogerRoger Posts: 22,190
    Elon Musk's family in South Africa and their enthusiastic part in the apartheid movement.

    All becomes clear grasshopper...........

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahv3IKzMdHA
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 18,950
    edited 10:41AM
    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    There is a whole philosophy covering this point: Daoism. Zhuangzi is the go-to and unusually for a philosopher, a fun read. This is one of his stories. Keeping knives sharp was a challenge in the Bronze Age:

    Cook Ding was carving an ox carcass for Lord Wenhui. With each touch of his hand, heave of his shoulder, step of his feet, thrust of his knee – whop! whish! – he wielded his knife with a whoosh, and every move was in rhythm. It was as though he were performing the Dance of the Mulberry Grove or keeping to the beat of the Constant Source music.

    “Ah, marvelous!” said Lord Wenhui. “Surely this is the acme of skill!” Cook Ding laid down his knife and replied, “What your servant loves, my lord, is the Dao, and that is a step beyond skill. At the beginning, when I first began carving up oxen, all I could see was the whole carcass. After three years I could no longer see the carcass whole, and now I meet it with my spirit and don’t look with my eyes. Perception and understanding cease and spirit moves as it will. I follow the natural form: slicing the major joints I guide the knife through the big hollows, and by conforming to the inherent contours, no vessels or tendons or tangles of sinews – much less the big bones – block my blade in the least.

    “A good cook changes his knife once a year, but this is mere slicing. An ordinary cook changes his knife once a month, because he hacks. I’ve been using this knife now for nineteen years; it has carved thousands of oxen, yet the blade is as sharp as one fresh off the grindstone. You see, there are gaps between these joints, but the blade edge has no thickness. If a knife with no thickness moves into a gap, then it’s wide as need be and the blade wanders freely with plenty of leeway. That’s why after nineteen years the blade of my knife is as sharp as one fresh off the grindstone.

    “But nevertheless, whenever a tangled knot lies ahead, I spot the challenge and on the alert I focus my sight and slow down my hand – then I flick the blade with the slightest of moves, and before you know it the carcass has fallen apart like earth crumbling to the ground. I stand with knife raised and face all four directions in turn, prancing in place with complete satisfaction. Then I wipe off the knife and put it away.”

    “How fine!” said Lord Wenhui. “Listening to the words of Cook Ding, I have learned how to nurture life!”



    https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iuswrrest/api/core/bitstreams/5dc89a23-c6bf-4190-a1e4-6762dc5359cc/content
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 57,891

    Morning all.
    Restore have now put in their application to the Electoral Commission on Feb 20 but its unlikely they get approved in time for May nominations. The local project Great Yarmouth First went in on Feb 3rd and may also miss out in which case he will have to run Indies who later 'defect' but good luck informing the electorate who is Lowe and who is not.
    If he does get GYF on the ballot in the 9 wards for the county council, what effect? Im not sure. It might well take enough off Reform to allow Con or Lab to hold some wards, they might win some, they might clean up. Lowe has an effect locally and Yarmouth has a habit of moving hard when it moves.

    Lowe is probably best known as having been Chair of Southampton FC. They were an established premier league club when he took over and were about to go into administration by the time he left. So possibly some indicator of his likely impact on the UK, were all his dreams to be realised.
    Indeed.
    Although his profile and knowledge of him in East Norfolk is rather different now. The monthly salary donation to a local charity always hits the local paper and there is the attraction of having a local rabble rouser/pot stirrer.
    The 9 wards in Yarmouth are in 2 halves so different groups to fight for. Broadly (pun), the Yarmouth wards and Caister are Blackpool/Skeggy a bit run down, poorer than the rest of the county, former glory seaside town etc and Ormesby and the Fleggburgh/Flegg wards are sleepy Tory shire Broads villages without the usual LD incursions (it is perhaps no coincidence there is no decent road connection from the Fleggs into the LD dominated North Norfolk next door!)
    Where are the Gails?
    Oh we dont have THOSE!
    Nearest is apparently in Ely, Cambs
    Nearest to Ilford North is in next-door Wanstead.

    But Liverpool Street station Gail's is literally next-door to Greggs!
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 65,542
    Cookie said:

    Fishing said:

    The Greens will continue to hoover up the votes of the under 35s for as long as all other mainstream parties seem entirely uninterested in younger voters.

    It's perverse, because many Green policies, like rent controls and a minimum wage of £15/hour, would devastate the prospects of young adults in particular. The former would deprive them of housing and the latter of work.

    Evidence perhaps that judgement is something that tends to come with experience.
    A Green government would be a disaster for the young on every level. Older voters save Green voters from themselves.

    Nevertheless, it's not just the policy (bad as that is) but the rhetoric around younger voters that is a big problem.
    My daughter will vote Green for one reason and one reason only: tuition fees.
    I don't think adults understand what a massive fuck-off to the young this policy continues to be. England and Wales, along with the USA, is a massuve outlier in the west in starting half its young out in life with tens of thousands of pounds of debt. It's no wonder the young are willing to give the Greens - who in general, I agree with CR, are a bunch of batshit extremists who make Reform look like the Sensible Party - a look.
    Yes, tuition fees are heinous.

    It was such an Osbornite thing to do: screw the young, and protect the old; Cameron totally failed to see around the corner, because he outsourced his thinking on anything fiscal to him.

    It would cost £10bn a year to reverse it (at least, which we don't have) but I'd do it and fund by replacing the triple-lock with the smoothed earnings approach recommended by the IFS.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 36,762
    edited 10:41AM
    My favourite Douglas Adams anecdote concerns an Essex Creative Writing Group, not far from Brentwood, who were discussing their Winter programme. An elderly lady, new to the Group, offered her nephew as a speaker, but was, if not ignored, not taken seriously.

    Until, after about ten minutes of trying to get into the discussion or to be taken seriously she said loudly that "Her nephew was Douglas Adams"!

    You never know!
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 15,674
    Theres new Holyrood polling out from Find Out Now in the National. Lets just say its sub optimal for Tory and Lab!

    Constituency
    SNP 36
    Ref 21
    Lab 12 (lol)
    Green 10
    LD 9
    Con 7 (lol)
    Alba 2

    Regional
    SNP 29
    Ref 20
    Green 14
    Lab 12
    Con 10
    LD 9
    Alba 2

    53 47 for Indy
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 101,378

    Theres new Holyrood polling out from Find Out Now in the National. Lets just say its sub optimal for Tory and Lab!

    Constituency
    SNP 36
    Ref 21
    Lab 12 (lol)
    Green 10
    LD 9
    Con 7 (lol)
    Alba 2

    Regional
    SNP 29
    Ref 20
    Green 14
    Lab 12
    Con 10
    LD 9
    Alba 2

    53 47 for Indy

    Alba still exist?
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 15,674
    kle4 said:

    Theres new Holyrood polling out from Find Out Now in the National. Lets just say its sub optimal for Tory and Lab!

    Constituency
    SNP 36
    Ref 21
    Lab 12 (lol)
    Green 10
    LD 9
    Con 7 (lol)
    Alba 2

    Regional
    SNP 29
    Ref 20
    Green 14
    Lab 12
    Con 10
    LD 9
    Alba 2

    53 47 for Indy

    Alba still exist?
    Find Out Now and Alba both somehow still exist
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 60,879
    a
    MattW said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    Excellent book

    One of my favourites - and genuinely useful - is “ibstock”

    An “ibstock” is a perfectly sized length of natural wood - a small branch perhaps - that you find at the beginning of a rural walk, and which functions as an excellent walking stick for the duration of the walk, and is discarded at the end

    There is great pleasure in finding a nice ibstock
    Everyone has their favorites. I particularly like the doubles, such as Tyne and Wear, where the tyne is the small fiddly thing you drop on the floor and the wear is the heavy piece of furniture it rolls under.
    Superb

    My one proper post op transsexual friend is lesbianly married to the sister of the widow of Douglas Adams

    The estate was frigging enormous and still generates ££££££

    A clever chap even if his humour was a bit sophomoric at times. RIP

    I wonder how he’d feel about so many of his sci fi predictions coming true. Eg babelfish.
    That's good to hear. As you might guess, I'm a fan, but I understand the sophomoric bit. I'd be interested to learn your views of him at greater length. Maybe some other time. I'd say his humour is patchy, but you might say that of many humourists. It's the good bits you remember and with DA they certainly justify the bits that don't work.

    I also find him mildly but pleasantly spiritual, but then I'm smitten.
    It would be a bit larger had he not tried crazily to build a swimming pool in a certain house in Islington.

    Trivia: I'm still surprised by the widespread use of his phrase "Total Existence Failure"; coming soon for the Conservatives.

    An Ibstock is a house brick, by the way.
    https://www.ibstock.co.uk/
    Building a swimming pool in a house isn’t crazy - you just need good engineers and a knowledgable builder.

    I think the best one, that the company I am involved with built, was 20m long.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 15,212


    Con 7 (lol)

    #gokemi

    They are bleeding out in front of our eyes and it's beautiful. 🥀
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 42,533

    isam said:

    …..

    I know he's widely loathed, but I'm not sure it's fair to stick him in a car with James Corden.
    Ed Sheeran is not that widely loathed
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 86,550

    MelonB said:

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    It’s a bit of a classic of the travel writing genre, which presumably is partly why you’re feeling it: getting clothes washed, haircuts and shaves, dealing with telegrams from the publisher, going to the dentist. In the 20th century they were always popping into the poste restante. Then there was a brief period when internet cafes appeared in a few books. Both activities now consigned to the past by smartphones.
    More importantly, we need the travel tale as to why Leon is in a laundrette after only being in the country three days.
    Those socks don't wash themselves.

    But he is right.
    Working out how to use the baffling cash operated launderette in S Korea - something which would just be a source of irritation or frustration back home - was highly enjoyable.
    And made PB perfect by being able to rescue an English couple who arrived both equally baffled, and cashless.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 32,202

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    I would suggest Heckmondwike.

    Or Tissington. Or Hoylandswaine. Or Frome.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 58,066

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    Before cheap foreign holidays in the 1960s, Fort William was a very popular honeymoon destination. Honeymoons are not supposed to be humdrum.
    I was once birdwatching in Scotland and arrived late evening at Fort William expecting it would be easy to find accommodation for the night. Maybe it was the Bethlehem census, but not a room was to be had. Until I found a place where an unneccessarily suspcious B&B owner was ummin and aahing as to whether she had a room. She did - but it was the honeymoon suite. She still thought there was a chance a honeymoon couple would be tipping up unexpectedly at 9.30pm. Eventually she relented and let a single Englishman have the room.

    It was a temple to ruched fabric...
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 86,550
    kle4 said:

    Roger said:

    Taz said:

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    Cracking insight. The sort of informed commentary that makes PB a must.
    Sorry. It requires a tiny knowledge of film and the ability to switch on a radio and go back about 10 mins
    Never seen the film. I've seen it parodied so many times it would probably not really hit for me.
    It's well worth a watch, as it is for the most part played entirely straight.
  • DoctorGDoctorG Posts: 521

    Theres new Holyrood polling out from Find Out Now in the National. Lets just say its sub optimal for Tory and Lab!

    Constituency
    SNP 36
    Ref 21
    Lab 12 (lol)
    Green 10
    LD 9
    Con 7 (lol)
    Alba 2

    Regional
    SNP 29
    Ref 20
    Green 14
    Lab 12
    Con 10
    LD 9
    Alba 2

    53 47 for Indy

    Labour 2 points ahead of a party only standing in around half a dozen seats!

    Reform will be on at least 20 seats on that result, and they'd be taking some constituencies. Tories would be in or close to single figures MSPs
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 15,414
    MattW said:

    Leon said:

    I’m at a laundrette in deepest Tainan, in the tropical south of Taiwan

    There should be an elaborate mandarin phrase for “the peculiar joy of accomplishing humdrum tasks in challengingly exotic environments”

    I had the same feeling when I got a haircut in Odessa during an air raid

    You will no doubt be aware of Douglas Adams' delightful little volume named The Meaning Of Liff in which he connects place names with familiar sentiments which lack a simple satisfactory word. Thus, 'Woking' means to stand in the kitchen wondering why you came in: an 'Ely' is the first inkling that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. And so on.

    I would tentatively offer Fort William for the phenomenon you describe, but am sure other posters can do better.
    I would suggest Heckmondwike.

    Or Tissington. Or Hoylandswaine. Or Frome.
    Frome is good.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 86,550
    kle4 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Worth a read:

    Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade, and why most of Europe – including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – dismissed them. As the fourth anniversary of the invasion approaches and the world enters a new period of geopolitical uncertainty, Europe’s politicians and spy services continue to draw lessons from the failures of 2022

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia

    Even as troops were poised to invade some otherwise sensible people decried the 'warmongering'...of noting there was about to be an invasion.
    There are many interesting takeaways from that article.
    The legacy of scepticism created by US misinformation on Iraq still has huge consequences;
    US overestimation of Russia capacity (which continues today);
    US reluctance to send Ukraine any significant military aid (even greater today);
    A new readiness to plan for extreme events (Canada war gaming US invasion plans);

    This is a fascinating suggestion, and I suspect correct:
    Others suggest that Zelenskyy’s refusal to raise the alarm – even if not by design – could be what saved Ukraine. “If he had started to talk about an oncoming war, had told everyone to prepare, society would have panicked and millions would have fled,” said one HUR general. “The country would most likely have fallen.”..

    The still under appreciated point is that it was as much as anything Ukraine's significant stocks of Cold War artillery which halted the Russian advance on Kyiv.
  • DoctorGDoctorG Posts: 521
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 15,674
    DoctorG said:

    Theres new Holyrood polling out from Find Out Now in the National. Lets just say its sub optimal for Tory and Lab!

    Constituency
    SNP 36
    Ref 21
    Lab 12 (lol)
    Green 10
    LD 9
    Con 7 (lol)
    Alba 2

    Regional
    SNP 29
    Ref 20
    Green 14
    Lab 12
    Con 10
    LD 9
    Alba 2

    53 47 for Indy

    Labour 2 points ahead of a party only standing in around half a dozen seats!

    Reform will be on at least 20 seats on that result, and they'd be taking some constituencies. Tories would be in or close to single figures MSPs
    The inability for many of those saying 'Green' if they cannot then vote for them does rather throw the figures out though
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 57,891
    RobD said:

    Off topic, I'd say it's virtually certain legislation is now passed to remove Andrew from the line of succession.

    And, although I know papers need selling, it will do no harm to the monarchy.

    I wonder if any of the realms will use it as an excuse to ditch the monarchy.
    Jamaica is already thinking about it.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 57,891
    Nigelb said:

    kle4 said:

    Roger said:

    Taz said:

    Roger said:

    OT Gen H R McMaster making Dr Strangelove look like a sane peacenik on radio 4 now with Nick Robinson

    Cracking insight. The sort of informed commentary that makes PB a must.
    Sorry. It requires a tiny knowledge of film and the ability to switch on a radio and go back about 10 mins
    Never seen the film. I've seen it parodied so many times it would probably not really hit for me.
    It's well worth a watch, as it is for the most part played entirely straight.
    Gentlemen, you can't discuss elections in here! This is PB.com!
  • LeonLeon Posts: 66,647
    The famous “garden night market” of Tainan. Said to have the best street food in Taiwan

    I am the only westerner here. There are 7000 stalls. All I want is a gin and tonic


  • DoctorGDoctorG Posts: 521

    DoctorG said:

    Theres new Holyrood polling out from Find Out Now in the National. Lets just say its sub optimal for Tory and Lab!

    Constituency
    SNP 36
    Ref 21
    Lab 12 (lol)
    Green 10
    LD 9
    Con 7 (lol)
    Alba 2

    Regional
    SNP 29
    Ref 20
    Green 14
    Lab 12
    Con 10
    LD 9
    Alba 2

    53 47 for Indy

    Labour 2 points ahead of a party only standing in around half a dozen seats!

    Reform will be on at least 20 seats on that result, and they'd be taking some constituencies. Tories would be in or close to single figures MSPs
    The inability for many of those saying 'Green' if they cannot then vote for them does rather throw the figures out though
    If this is a trend its going to be as bad as it gets for Labour and the Tories

    It appears to be too difficult for pollsters to only give people the constituency option for Green if they have a candidate standing. The turnout will be down for this election but this result would easily give JS at least 50 constituency seats
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