Good Morning Britain viewers have enjoyed many a storm-off over the years, but on Monday morning they were treated to what must surely have been the show’s first storm-in. When you’re watching Kemi Badenoch doing her best to launch her new student debt policy with Ed Balls and Susanna Reid, you just don’t expect human voucher code Martin Lewis to explode in from the locker room area like Ric Flair at Wrestlemania VIII.
It was so sudden there wasn’t even time to play his entrance music (Price Tag by Jessie J, obviously). He just appeared, apparently midway through one of his own sentences, like a man sitting at home shouting at the TV had somehow suddenly appeared on it.
[…]
When the two of them were out of the ring, they were straight on their phones. After the broadcast, Lewis went on social media to apologise to Badenoch for, he said, “gate-crashing your interview”, before, in his next sentence, reverting to his trademark certainty that he was right. There’s already talk of a rematch, with Badenoch having invited herself on to Lewis’s show to discuss the subject further.
Beneath the shock of the moment, a valuable piece of public service broadcasting had taken place by accident. In an increasingly secular country, the idea that Martin Lewis might be wrong is as close as it gets to heresy. The nation’s most perfectly self-polished halo has lost just a fraction of its lustre.
Valdo Calocane was not sectioned following a violent psychotic attack because mental health workers had considered the “over representation of young black men in custody.”
Trump says reports that the Pentagon is warning him against attacking Iran are "100% incorrect," and if the U.S. military goes to war with Iran "it will be something easily won."
So what is the coward waiting for then?
Presumably Trump has tasked the Pentagon with a copycat operation to capture Khamenei and they in turn have tasked a poor sap to explain to him in capitalised monosyllables that Venezuela and Eye-Rann are different places.
Convert it to something readable by programmers aged under 60, I'm assuming. I'm sure Anthropic is correct and Claude can convert the code, but the reason old COBOL programmers get paid big bucks is because the systems using that code are critical systems dating back to the 60s that nobody messes with - bank transaction processing, health records, airline bookings, etc. They can't be permitted to fail and are full of quirks and legacy architectures that trip up anyone who isn't experienced with them.
Nobody with a brain cell is letting an AI loose on stuff like that. At the very least you still need experienced COBOL programmers to validate the output, set up testbenches and run isolated functional tests.
The difficult part of software engineering has never been programming. That's the bit people are actually good at and enjoy doing. Requirements analysis, specification, documentation, testing, and maintenance are the killers.
I've got this horrible feeling that it's only a matter of time until something really important is vibe coded into something that no person understands, with disasterous conseqeunces in the long term.
The willingness to break things and mess up can be useful sometimes, but the people keenest to do that sort of thing don't seem to have any consideration of certain things being too important to break.
Trump says reports that the Pentagon is warning him against attacking Iran are "100% incorrect," and if the U.S. military goes to war with Iran "it will be something easily won."
Valdo Calocane was not sectioned following a violent psychotic attack because mental health workers had considered the “over representation of young black men in custody.”
Trump says reports that the Pentagon is warning him against attacking Iran are "100% incorrect," and if the U.S. military goes to war with Iran "it will be something easily won."
They easily won in Iraq...
Now where did I put that "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" banner.....
I assume it means "convert it to another programming language"
Hmm. If it can convert, say, Cobol code on an IBM3090 or VAX straight to, say, C++ on a mini or Python on a server in the cloud, then all the old mainframes go overnight. Yay!...
...but. Are there really any of those old big white/blue boxes left? Y2K was a quarter of a century ago, and COVID was six years ago, and everybody who knows how to run them are retired. IBM hasn't done mainframes for decades. Yes I know about legacy systems and old infrastructure bods and life insurers with century-long databases and drug cartels running old unhackable boxes in the jungle, but it's industrial archaeology at this point. What's the market?
Am I being stupid? I'd love a convert-cobol-to-python contract - six figures here I come - but it's not going to happen.
I retired nearly 20 years ago, I was never a high-flying software engineer compared to many, but when I had my first brush with maintaining Cobol having only 4 or 5 other languages and no previous encounter with Cobol, it was a doddle to debug (where the Cobol people couldn't). That wouldn't always be the case of course but it does show that converting a coder to Cobol isn't necessarily a big challenge.
I quite liked reading Cobol - but hated writing it. Almost the direct opposite to my time as a Perl programmer.
Perl has been described, in a parody of a famous remark about lex(1), as the Swiss-Army chainsaw of Unix programming. Though Perl is very useful, it would be a stretch to describe it as pretty or elegant;
I saw a post recently that more or less described the death of programming as an art to the fact that almost nobody uses LISP anymore
Outsider question:
How much of the problem is that there's less need to be artful now, because it's easier to brute force things with more cheap memory and cheap/fast processing?
(I've got to work out how to teach numerical integration to some engineering students soon, and I've concluded that there's no point going beyond the trapezium rule. Sure, there are more elegant things, but if they want better results, it's easier to just add more rows to the spreadsheet.)
Good code is reusable, modular and maintainable. 99% of code doesn't need bleeding edge optimisation in performance, memory usage or the rest.
Thanks to everyone for the nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Trump says reports that the Pentagon is warning him against attacking Iran are "100% incorrect," and if the U.S. military goes to war with Iran "it will be something easily won."
So what is the coward waiting for then?
Presumably Trump has tasked the Pentagon with a copycat operation to capture Khamenei and they in turn have tasked a poor sap to explain to him in capitalised monosyllables that Venezuela and Eye-Rann are different places.
I think it’s more so that if it goes badly, he can say, “We should have never been in Iran. The Department of War is incompetent. Who put the idiot Hegseth in charge?”
Trump was recorded on a phone call to the winning US men's ice hockey team saying he would also need to invite the winning US women's team to the Whitehouse
The women have told him to fuck off
Now Flavor Flav (who was in Cortina) has invited the women to Vegas instead
Convert it to something readable by programmers aged under 60, I'm assuming. I'm sure Anthropic is correct and Claude can convert the code, but the reason old COBOL programmers get paid big bucks is because the systems using that code are critical systems dating back to the 60s that nobody messes with - bank transaction processing, health records, airline bookings, etc. They can't be permitted to fail and are full of quirks and legacy architectures that trip up anyone who isn't experienced with them.
Nobody with a brain cell is letting an AI loose on stuff like that. At the very least you still need experienced COBOL programmers to validate the output, set up testbenches and run isolated functional tests.
The difficult part of software engineering has never been programming. That's the bit people are actually good at and enjoy doing. Requirements analysis, specification, documentation, testing, and maintenance are the killers.
I've got this horrible feeling that it's only a matter of time until something really important is vibe coded into something that no person understands, with disasterous conseqeunces in the long term.
In my experience, it was the developmental programming part that was most highly valued, however.
Valdo Calocane was not sectioned following a violent psychotic attack because mental health workers had considered the “over representation of young black men in custody.”
He’s right. But he was in the govt when this happened. These decisions and these mindsets were prevalent under Tory rule.
Chris Philp
The gaffe that keeps giving.
The gaffe is creating an environment where severely mentally ill people are not sectioned due to sensitivities about their race, in this case allowing one of them to murder three people
Valdo Calocane was not sectioned following a violent psychotic attack because mental health workers had considered the “over representation of young black men in custody.”
Kemi is trying to show the Conservatives are a team rather than just a leader with no one backing them up. She increasingly shares the spotlight and mentions her collesgues. This must be to draw a line in the sand with Reform I think
It was refreshing on GMB to see her accept Lewis May have a point and offer to discuss it with him, rather than trot out rehearsed line in order to block him out. I hope she does well. Good to see her sticking to her guns on the two child cap
Lifting the two-child benefit cap is as unfair as it is unaffordable.
Convert it to something readable by programmers aged under 60, I'm assuming. I'm sure Anthropic is correct and Claude can convert the code, but the reason old COBOL programmers get paid big bucks is because the systems using that code are critical systems dating back to the 60s that nobody messes with - bank transaction processing, health records, airline bookings, etc. They can't be permitted to fail and are full of quirks and legacy architectures that trip up anyone who isn't experienced with them.
Nobody with a brain cell is letting an AI loose on stuff like that. At the very least you still need experienced COBOL programmers to validate the output, set up testbenches and run isolated functional tests.
The difficult part of software engineering has never been programming. That's the bit people are actually good at and enjoy doing. Requirements analysis, specification, documentation, testing, and maintenance are the killers.
I've got this horrible feeling that it's only a matter of time until something really important is vibe coded into something that no person understands, with disasterous conseqeunces in the long term.
In my experience, it was the developmental programming part that was most highly valued, however.
Yes, businesses value making something more than they do designing it, or making sure that it works correctly, or maintaining it. That's probably similary true for a whole lot of different fields. The programming is seen as creating value, and all that other stuff is cost that is best minimised.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
A really difficult day. Got a copy of a Victim Impact Statement by a 17 year old who was raped at 14 by a fucking monster. Her life has been destroyed by something so horrific it is hard to come to come to terms with. The statement said nice things about me and my contributions to the conviction but FFS, the evidence is that this 14 year old child had almost no help whatsoever.
I honestly feel sick, Our society is sick. We have really weird priorities. WFA or care for children like this? I mean, how do we even have to ask the question? Some more wine is called for.
A powerful post. I came across this by an American commentator on why the Democrats lost and will probably lose again because they can't see the immorality of one of their leading lights signing bombs aimed at Gaza whatever the race of the children being bombed.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
Hodges says Farage is simply making mistakes one after the other at the moment.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
Hodges says Farage is simply making mistakes one after the other at the moment.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I don't think any of this old shite will register until the NHS is sold to Cedars Sinae Healthcare for a dollar and all employments rights and Trade Unions are swept away. Proof turkeys vote for Christmas. Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone, they paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.
Still, it's probably all worth it to demonstrate some performative cruelty to darker toned people than me. Today's exclusive that ICE is coming to Blighty should do the trick.
A Labour win in Gorton and Denton is of course the best possible result for Labour, though the caveat would be that that those who think Starmer is a barrier to electoral success will have a slightly harder time making their case - so potentially bad news for those in the cabinet who want rid of him.
A Reform win would be the next best result for Labour - it would reinforce Reform's self-declared status as 'actual opposition', and Farage, Goodwin et al are much more compelling bogeymen for your average Labour activist/voter than the likes of Badenoch, Stride and Cleverly. If the next general election is between Labour and Reform, then Labour will probably remain in government.
A Green win would be the worst possible result (of the three plausible outcomes) for Labour as it would paint the Greens as a viable alternative, a Reform of the left. Labour may feel, in response, that the key to success is to behave more like the Greens - and this would make Labour less likely to win the plurality of the vote in the next general election.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
Hodges says Farage is simply making mistakes one after the other at the moment.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
I guess it was felt they were at a tipping point where they were almost ready to replace the Tories in the public mind, and so the benefits of having 'experienced' people on board (plus just the benefit of having known individuals defect from the Tories, making them look weak) outweighed the risk of it making them look, well, just like every one else.
They are still going to easily beat the Tories at the next set of elections, so I guess it makes sense, but it still feels a bit unnecessary.
A Labour win in Gorton and Denton is of course the best possible result for Labour, though the caveat would be that that those who think Starmer is a barrier to electoral success will have a slightly harder time making their case - so potentially bad news for those in the cabinet who want rid of him.
A Reform win would be the next best result for Labour - it would reinforce Reform's self-declared status as 'actual opposition', and Farage, Goodwin et al are much more compelling bogeymen for your average Labour activist/voter than the likes of Badenoch, Stride and Cleverly. If the next general election is between Labour and Reform, then Labour will probably remain in government.
A Green win would be the worst possible result (of the three plausible outcomes) for Labour as it would paint the Greens as a viable alternative, a Reform of the left. Labour may feel, in response, that the key to success is to behave more like the Greens - and this would make Labour less likely to win the plurality of the vote in the next general election.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
Hodges says Farage is simply making mistakes one after the other at the moment.
Well, if Hodge says it.
"Hodges". Like ARP Warden Hodges in Dad's Army.
We were all eulogising his transformation from New Labour fanboi to Daily Mail truthsayer yesterday and trying to get one of our lefty number booted off site (we'll get rid of them all one day!) for an unfortunate comment on Hodges longstanding eye injury.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
Possibility one: Becoming a Thatcherite tribute act has always been the plan, and Red Wallers who hoped for a stern nanny state party have been bamboozled.
Possibly two: We're at the "Springtime for Hitler" stage of The Producers, with Nigel trying increasingly desperately to not be top of the polls.
Possibility three: Zia, Robert, Suella and the rest of them aren't as good at the populism/opposition game as Nigel. They think they should be launching loads of policies, even though they're stupid and unworkable.
Yes, his opponents and enemies have been asking him for ages- what are your actual policies, Nigel? But that doesn't mean he should give them what they want. If anything, he should do the opposite.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
Hodges says Farage is simply making mistakes one after the other at the moment.
Well, if Hodge says it.
He said Ed M was crap every day for five years.
The notion of a stopped clock applies (twice every day for five years).
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
When's the last time anyone was charged with treason in the UK? Lord Haw-Haw maybe.
That fellow that tried to shoot the Queen with a crossbow on the instruction of his AI girlfriend in 2021. There was a programme with Hannah Fry on about him earlier this evening on BBC2.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
It's the Equality Act - not Equalities. No wonder there's been so much misinformation about it when people can't even get its name right.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
And a golliwog on every jam jar.
Soon women will get sectioned for not obeying their husbands or popping out enough white babies ! Talking out of turn at dinner parties will also be frowned upon !
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
With those pushing Assisted Dying having undermined the arguments against capital punishment. After all, if a few grannies coerced into killing themselves is a price worth paying to give others choice, why should society worry about innocent people being hanged if that's what's needed to punish the guilty?
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
Possibility one: Becoming a Thatcherite tribute act has always been the plan, and Red Wallers who hoped for a stern nanny state party have been bamboozled.
Possibly two: We're at the "Springtime for Hitler" stage of The Producers, with Nigel trying increasingly desperately to not be top of the polls.
Possibility three: Zia, Robert, Suella and the rest of them aren't as good at the populism/opposition game as Nigel. They think they should be launching loads of policies, even though they're stupid and unworkable.
Yes, his opponents and enemies have been asking him for ages- what are your actual policies, Nigel? But that doesn't mean he should give them what they want. If anything, he should do the opposite.
Not giving policies should have a good British name when Reform are doing it.
I suggest the Armitage Shanks Sanitary Ware strategy, don't break it, keep the shit inside.
None of that poncey foreign Ming Vase muck for Reform.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
And a golliwog on every jam jar.
Soon women will get sectioned for not obeying their husbands or popping out enough white babies ! Talking out of turn at dinner parties will also be frowned upon !
My father in law worked at (insert dinosaur business here) and when they had a round of redundancies they got rid of all the married women first.
After all, surely their husbands would provide for them...
At least women were allowed to work, which might still be too much for some.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
With those pushing Assisted Dying having undermined the arguments against capital punishment. After all, if a few grannies coerced into killing themselves is a price worth paying to give others choice, why should society worry about innocent people being hanged if that's what's needed to punish the guilty?
Because one is about free choice and the other is state compulsion.
If granny chooses to end her own life, then that is her choice. You don't like it, clearly, but you should show her some respect and let her make her own choice.
The state killing people against their will is an entirely different kettle of fish.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
And a golliwog on every jam jar.
I think Farage has reached his peak which is three years too early. It feels like he's deflating in front of our eyes. The most interesting question is who will be Labour's opposition at the next election. Could it be the Tories again?
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
With those pushing Assisted Dying having undermined the arguments against capital punishment. After all, if a few grannies coerced into killing themselves is a price worth paying to give others choice, why should society worry about innocent people being hanged if that's what's needed to punish the guilty?
Because one is about free choice and the other is state compulsion.
If granny chooses to end her own life, then that is her choice. You don't like it, clearly, but you should show her some respect and let her make her own choice.
The state killing people against their will is an entirely different kettle of fish.
In principle it is granny's choice. In practice? I'm not convinced every family out there will be acting in her best interests.
I'm not keen on prolonging agony either but a lot of people are (in general) not great.
Kemi is trying to show the Conservatives are a team rather than just a leader with no one backing them up. She increasingly shares the spotlight and mentions her collesgues. This must be to draw a line in the sand with Reform I think
It was refreshing on GMB to see her accept Lewis May have a point and offer to discuss it with him, rather than trot out rehearsed line in order to block him out. I hope she does well. Good to see her sticking to her guns on the two child cap
Lifting the two-child benefit cap is as unfair as it is unaffordable.
Kemi is trying to show the Conservatives are a team rather than just a leader with no one backing them up. She increasingly shares the spotlight and mentions her collesgues. This must be to draw a line in the sand with Reform I think
It was refreshing on GMB to see her accept Lewis May have a point and offer to discuss it with him, rather than trot out rehearsed line in order to block him out. I hope she does well. Good to see her sticking to her guns on the two child cap
Lifting the two-child benefit cap is as unfair as it is unaffordable.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
With those pushing Assisted Dying having undermined the arguments against capital punishment. After all, if a few grannies coerced into killing themselves is a price worth paying to give others choice, why should society worry about innocent people being hanged if that's what's needed to punish the guilty?
Because one is about free choice and the other is state compulsion.
If granny chooses to end her own life, then that is her choice. You don't like it, clearly, but you should show her some respect and let her make her own choice.
The state killing people against their will is an entirely different kettle of fish.
In principle it is granny's choice. In practice? I'm not convinced every family out there will be acting in her best interests.
I'm not keen on prolonging agony either but a lot of people are (in general) not great.
Which is why we need compulsory living wills. Personally I'd like to be euthanised if I lose my mind to dementia. I'm not sure quite why other people's Catholicism, feelz or opinion ought to carry any weight whatsoever on that.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
With those pushing Assisted Dying having undermined the arguments against capital punishment. After all, if a few grannies coerced into killing themselves is a price worth paying to give others choice, why should society worry about innocent people being hanged if that's what's needed to punish the guilty?
These really are two separate issues and I think it’s wrong to conflate them .
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
With those pushing Assisted Dying having undermined the arguments against capital punishment. After all, if a few grannies coerced into killing themselves is a price worth paying to give others choice, why should society worry about innocent people being hanged if that's what's needed to punish the guilty?
Because one is about free choice and the other is state compulsion.
If granny chooses to end her own life, then that is her choice. You don't like it, clearly, but you should show her some respect and let her make her own choice.
The state killing people against their will is an entirely different kettle of fish.
In principle it is granny's choice. In practice? I'm not convinced every family out there will be acting in her best interests.
I'm not keen on prolonging agony either but a lot of people are (in general) not great.
Which is why we need compulsory living wills. Personally I'd like to be euthanised if I lose my mind to dementia. I'm not sure quite why other people's Catholicism, feelz or opinion ought to carry any weight whatsoever on that.
My mother in law told us as much when she was able but continues to suffer and is no longer able to communicate except in the style of a 1 year old.
It is tempting to put her in a home as they'd probably kill her off quite quickly but deliberate maltreatment doesn't really seem like the humane option.
So I'm all for it in principle.
But I do think Cyclefree has a point, unfortunately.
The question is I suppose what we are prepared to accept as collateral damage, either way.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
With those pushing Assisted Dying having undermined the arguments against capital punishment. After all, if a few grannies coerced into killing themselves is a price worth paying to give others choice, why should society worry about innocent people being hanged if that's what's needed to punish the guilty?
Because one is about free choice and the other is state compulsion.
If granny chooses to end her own life, then that is her choice. You don't like it, clearly, but you should show her some respect and let her make her own choice.
The state killing people against their will is an entirely different kettle of fish.
In principle it is granny's choice. In practice? I'm not convinced every family out there will be acting in her best interests.
I'm not keen on prolonging agony either but a lot of people are (in general) not great.
Which is why we need compulsory living wills. Personally I'd like to be euthanised if I lose my mind to dementia. I'm not sure quite why other people's Catholicism, feelz or opinion ought to carry any weight whatsoever on that.
My mother in law told us as much when she was able but continues to suffer and is no longer able to communicate except in the style of a 1 year old.
It is tempting to put her in a home as they'd probably kill her off quite quickly but deliberate maltreatment doesn't really seem like the humane option.
So I'm all for it in principle.
But I do think Cyclefree has a point, unfortunately.
The question is I suppose what we are prepared to accept as collateral damage, either way.
I had a grandparent who spent their last years bedridden with dementia and osteoporosis, incommunicative, in pain and desperate for death, on the other side a grandparents' sibling, a brilliant intellect lost to dementia, and now a parent, who'd clearly expressed a wish for euthanasia, who cannot hold a conversation, read a book or follow a story, sleeping 14-16 hours a day, pacing the corridors at night, physically fit but their brain slowly dying, living out their last years anxious, frightened and in utter boredom. If it happens to me I'd like to end it while I can still bid my farewells to friends and family. Why should someone else's personal religious or misplaced morality deny me, or have denied them, that choice and dignity?
A really difficult day. Got a copy of a Victim Impact Statement by a 17 year old who was raped at 14 by a fucking monster. Her life has been destroyed by something so horrific it is hard to come to come to terms with. The statement said nice things about me and my contributions to the conviction but FFS, the evidence is that this 14 year old child had almost no help whatsoever.
I honestly feel sick, Our society is sick. We have really weird priorities. WFA or care for children like this? I mean, how do we even have to ask the question? Some more wine is called for.
On that score, this article will not improve your mood.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
That's because that little lot between it is: - making it impossible to do anything that will actually let us stop the boats - about to destroy the entire rental market, and make obtaining a new tenancy completely impossible - about to destroy the job market, particularly for people with dubious employment histories - allowing virtually anything to be delayed indefinitely by judicial review, thus making doing almost anything of any value impossible.
It's all got lofty sounding titles and good intentions, but the harsh reality is that it all needs to go for the country to become governable again. Reform are bang on the money here, it's all got to go.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
With those pushing Assisted Dying having undermined the arguments against capital punishment. After all, if a few grannies coerced into killing themselves is a price worth paying to give others choice, why should society worry about innocent people being hanged if that's what's needed to punish the guilty?
Because one is about free choice and the other is state compulsion.
If granny chooses to end her own life, then that is her choice. You don't like it, clearly, but you should show her some respect and let her make her own choice.
The state killing people against their will is an entirely different kettle of fish.
In principle it is granny's choice. In practice? I'm not convinced every family out there will be acting in her best interests.
I'm not keen on prolonging agony either but a lot of people are (in general) not great.
Which is why we need compulsory living wills. Personally I'd like to be euthanised if I lose my mind to dementia. I'm not sure quite why other people's Catholicism, feelz or opinion ought to carry any weight whatsoever on that.
My mother in law told us as much when she was able but continues to suffer and is no longer able to communicate except in the style of a 1 year old.
It is tempting to put her in a home as they'd probably kill her off quite quickly but deliberate maltreatment doesn't really seem like the humane option.
So I'm all for it in principle.
But I do think Cyclefree has a point, unfortunately.
The question is I suppose what we are prepared to accept as collateral damage, either way.
I had a grandparent who spent their last years bedridden with dementia and osteoporosis, incommunicative, in pain and desperate for death, on the other side a grandparents' sibling, a brilliant intellect lost to dementia, and now a parent, who'd clearly expressed a wish for euthanasia, who cannot hold a conversation, read a book or follow a story, sleeping 14-16 hours a day, pacing the corridors at night, physically fit but their brain slowly dying, living out their last years anxious, frightened and in utter boredom. If it happens to me I'd like to end it while I can still bid my farewells to friends and family. Why should someone else's personal religious or misplaced morality deny me, or have denied them, that choice and dignity?
Bingo.
Dementia is a rotten, wretched disease and it robs people of agency and ability to make decisions once they have it.
Which is why we should absolutely have living wills which are respected.
If Cyclefree wants to sign a living will saying that she opposes assisted dying and would not want it under any circumstances, that should be her prerogative and it should be respected.
If you or I want to sign a living will saying we would rather die than live bedridden with dementia, then if the worst should happen we should have our choices respected.
Assisted dying is a little bit like drugs, prostitution, abortion, and gambling.
It's something that it would probably be best if it didn't exist. But given it's going to exist -in one way or another- is it better to have it legal and regulated, or is it better to go down the moral route, and simply ban it?
Right now, like with much 'soft' drugs, we settle for this pseduo decriminalisation - we basically don't enforce the law as far as assisted dying. No one is prosecuted for helping a friend head of to Switzerland for a one way trip to Dignitas. There is a blind eye turned to allowing morphine doses to euthanize those in severe pain and near end of life.
We would be much better being honest: is this something we find acceptable, and we seek to mitigate risks as much as possible? Or is it so morally repugnant that it should be illegal. And if it is illegal, we need to enforce the law.
I am in the former camp. Having seen my mother struggle terribly with dementia, I would never want to go through that. She is unhappier than she has ever been in her life. But she is also way beyond a point where she could make a decision about ending it. I would rather leave life on my own terms than be reduced to the shell she is.
Other people may have different views, of course.
But right now, the reality is that assisted dying is legal for me. Because I have the means to head to Switzerland should I desire it. It is grossly unfair that we allow the well off to make these decisions for themselves, and not those of lesser means.
Assisted dying is a little bit like drugs, prostitution, abortion, and gambling.
It's something that it would probably be best if it didn't exist. But given it's going to exist -in one way or another- is it better to have it legal and regulated, or is it better to go down the moral route, and simply ban it?
Right now, like with much 'soft' drugs, we settle for this pseduo decriminalisation - we basically don't enforce the law as far as assisted dying. No one is prosecuted for helping a friend head of to Switzerland for a one way trip to Dignitas. There is a blind eye turned to allowing morphine doses to euthanize those in severe pain and near end of life.
We would be much better being honest: is this something we find acceptable, and we seek to mitigate risks as much as possible? Or is it so morally repugnant that it should be illegal. And if it is illegal, we need to enforce the law.
I am in the former camp. Having seen my mother struggle terribly with dementia, I would never want to go through that. She is unhappier than she has ever been in her life. But she is also way beyond a point where she could make a decision about ending it. I would rather leave life on my own terms than be reduced to the shell she is.
Other people may have different views, of course.
But right now, the reality is that assisted dying is legal for me. Because I have the means to head to Switzerland should I desire it. It is grossly unfair that we allow the well off to make these decisions for themselves, and not those of lesser means.
I fall on your side of the argument too, but I cannot deny that Cyclefree makes powerful counter arguments which it's not easy to rebut. It is a hard problem.
In my own case, I willingly helped my mother look after my father through his last decade of dementia, which took a heavy toll on her and the family. The thought of not doing so would not even have occurred to her - and my father was certainly not someone who would have made the end of life decision that you or I might make.
The only thing that can be says with certainty is that we must respect everyone's own beliefs on this.
My opinion on the by-election is somewhat swayed by the continued green ramping and Mandy's arrest.
However, Starmer's confidence to visit in person pulls me the other way. And Labour's ground game will be impeccable, and its connections with the Muslim community run very deep.
Both Labour and the Greens need to project confidence at this stage, to try to being progressives from the other side over.
Reform on the other hand do not need to project confidence - if anything they need to be seeming to lose momentum, to lower the turnout on the other side. If they looked like they were walking it, it would mobilise more opposition. Right now they look like the underdog - that's good for them.
It is a brilliantly nailbiting contest.
I think Labour have lost a lot of the Muslim vote over Gaza nationally. Not sure that can come back under Keir Starmer.
Valdo Calocane was not sectioned following a violent psychotic attack because mental health workers had considered the “over representation of young black men in custody.”
It is a complex issue to balance the risk of harm to other people (the vast majority of the mentally ill are more at risk to themselves) with person centered care that is in the best interests of the individual concerned.
There are a number of possible reasons to explain why there are more Black men being "sectioned":
1) There is a higher rate of mental illness in Black people in Britain. Certainly this is possible, despite rates being lower in Caribbean or African countries, as it is recognised that people with schizophrenia are over represented in migrant populations generally. The counter argument is that there is little evidence for this in other populations that have migrated here such as from South Asia.
2) That the experience of being Black in Britain is the cause. Systemic racism from teachers, police , social workers, doctors and others in authority. This alienates young Black men and prevents them from seeking early intervention.
3) Widespread use of cannabis at a young age inducing psychosis.
These issues are complex and formed the life's work of Dr Aggrey Burke (who died a few months ago).
I would hope that the enquiry into the Nottingham killings explores the wider issues rather than simply tries to pin the blame on individual CPN's in the team.
A good presentation of different views of the Chagos dispute and the history. I was not familiar with the binding 2021 decisino under UNCLOS. I don't think there is any good way out of this - much downside on either outcome.
Four years ago today, Ukraine was waking up to a renewed war with Russia. A war that continues to this day, and has resulted in the deaths of a hundred thousand Ukranians.
Prayers with Ukraine today, along with grateful thanks to everyone who is helping with weapons and intelligence, as well as those trying to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Convert it to something readable by programmers aged under 60, I'm assuming. I'm sure Anthropic is correct and Claude can convert the code, but the reason old COBOL programmers get paid big bucks is because the systems using that code are critical systems dating back to the 60s that nobody messes with - bank transaction processing, health records, airline bookings, etc. They can't be permitted to fail and are full of quirks and legacy architectures that trip up anyone who isn't experienced with them.
Nobody with a brain cell is letting an AI loose on stuff like that. At the very least you still need experienced COBOL programmers to validate the output, set up testbenches and run isolated functional tests.
Well quite.
Using an AI to analyse old code might make the job of the developer getting a City-lawyer-sized hourly rate a little more efficient, but it’s sure as Hell not replacing the old boy any time soon given the nature of the systems running COBOL.
The banks don’t care how much it costs or how long it takes, their requirement is for there to be no bugs in the system. Ask the Post Office what happens when buggy transactional software ends up in production.
Four years ago today, Ukraine was waking up to a renewed war with Russia. A war that continues to this day, and has resulted in the deaths of a hundred thousand Ukranians.
Prayers with Ukraine today, along with grateful thanks to everyone who is helping with weapons and intelligence, as well as those trying to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Slava Ukraini. 🇺🇦
It does seem that Ukraine is enjoying considerable success in Zaparozhiya. The ISW estimates they’ve regained 2-400 km, in recent days.
Four years ago today, Ukraine was waking up to a renewed war with Russia. A war that continues to this day, and has resulted in the deaths of a hundred thousand Ukranians.
Prayers with Ukraine today, along with grateful thanks to everyone who is helping with weapons and intelligence, as well as those trying to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Slava Ukraini. 🇺🇦
It does seem that Ukraine is enjoying considerable success in Zaparozhiya. The ISW estimates they’ve regained 2-400 km, in recent days.
Yes they’ve had a good few days pushing the front lines back. The enemy is spread too thin and still suffering from communications problems. Also a few good days with the Flamingos taking out Russian O&G facilities.
Third GOP congresswoman to call for his resignation.
The Speaker is still defending him.
A young woman is dead. Regina Santos-Aviles took her own life.
The allegations against Congressman Tony Gonzales are deeply disturbing: a sitting Member of Congress accused of soliciting explicit photos from a staffer and subjecting her to graphic sexual texts. This is an abuse of power.
Congressional staff serve their country. They should never have to endure predatory behavior from the people they work for.
My opinion on the by-election is somewhat swayed by the continued green ramping and Mandy's arrest.
However, Starmer's confidence to visit in person pulls me the other way. And Labour's ground game will be impeccable, and its connections with the Muslim community run very deep.
Both Labour and the Greens need to project confidence at this stage, to try to being progressives from the other side over.
Reform on the other hand do not need to project confidence - if anything they need to be seeming to lose momentum, to lower the turnout on the other side. If they looked like they were walking it, it would mobilise more opposition. Right now they look like the underdog - that's good for them.
It is a brilliantly nailbiting contest.
I think Labour have lost a lot of the Muslim vote over Gaza nationally. Not sure that can come back under Keir Starmer.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Well the latter two are certainly a step in the right direction. Neither will help those they claim to be helping those they set out to help both will be counterproductive.a bit like raising the minimum wage for under 21s.
Removal from the ECHR, so what. We will still have our rights. They didn’t magically appear once we joined. If we leave we leave, if we don’t we don’t, can’t say it’s a big issue either way.
I think the Greens will come to regret their drug policy .
They’re still favourites for the by-election but the policy really will harm them in the long run .
The argument for legalising cannabis is less toxic and I’d fully support that but not drugs like heroin and crack .
Reform and the fascists on the Right have managed to shift public debate so that "remigrating" hundreds of thousands of people who are living and working perfectly legally in Britain is now policy for a party with ~30% of the vote.
If you want to change the country you don't shy away from policies that might be contentious, you work out ways to advocate for them and to change people's minds.
One of the reasons the Left is in such a dire place right now is that it has spent decades not advocating for its point of view, not taking on hard arguments, and so it has only been the Right that has had the ambition to change people's opinions. And so the centre ground has moved to the Right.
I don't wholly agree - you could argue when Corbyn was Labour leader, he advocated strongly for contentious policies but was vilified in the media in a way the remigration policy for example hasn't.
Labour discovered in 2019, as they had in 1983, there's no point being socialist in Britain - it's not 1945. Social Democracy, on the other hand, which you can argue has been the default political policy for much of the post war period, can be sold time and again whether you call it Butskellism, the Third Way. Thatcherism with a Human Face, liberal conservatism or whatever.
Truss's attempt to break the social democratic mould failed because it didn't meet the "fairness" test.
'Fairness' has been around since 13th centaury, the first stirrings of equity in English law. Seems we may always have been social democrats - along with other common law jurisdictions.
I assume it means "convert it to another programming language"
Hmm. If it can convert, say, Cobol code on an IBM3090 or VAX straight to, say, C++ on a mini or Python on a server in the cloud, then all the old mainframes go overnight. Yay!...
...but. Are there really any of those old big white/blue boxes left? Y2K was a quarter of a century ago, and COVID was six years ago, and everybody who knows how to run them are retired. IBM hasn't done mainframes for decades. Yes I know about legacy systems and old infrastructure bods and life insurers with century-long databases and drug cartels running old unhackable boxes in the jungle, but it's industrial archaeology at this point. What's the market?
Am I being stupid? I'd love a convert-cobol-to-python contract - six figures here I come - but it's not going to happen.
I retired nearly 20 years ago, I was never a high-flying software engineer compared to many, but when I had my first brush with maintaining Cobol having only 4 or 5 other languages and no previous encounter with Cobol, it was a doddle to debug (where the Cobol people couldn't). That wouldn't always be the case of course but it does show that converting a coder to Cobol isn't necessarily a big challenge.
Heh. I landed straight out of University into maintaining a telephone exchange with all the software written in Assembly Language, using octal numbers.
Oddly enough, Erlang which was designed by/for the telephone companies is now powering Discord via Elixir which sits ontop of the original erlang BEAM runtime/vm.
This is all completely incomprehensible to me. I just thank god there are people who can do this stuff.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
I really can't understand the strategy. Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff. Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why? He's never needed any of that before.
Hodges says Farage is simply making mistakes one after the other at the moment.
Well, if Hodge says it.
He said Ed M was crap every day for five years.
He was right and it persists with Miliband's ludicrous energy policy
Let's be crystal clear about Martin Lewis intervention on GMB this morning.
Enraged by Badenoch either telling lies or completely misunderstanding her subject matter and having been angry for years about Tory Policy on Student Loans, he made an unscripted intervention.
He stood over Badenoch and outed her lack of knowledge and lies.
He later apologised.
Not for the subject matter, not for getting any facts wrong, he's adamant he's right, she's wrong.
He merely apologised for losing his temper and storming on to the set.
He has suggested they meet in private so that he can explain why she is wrong, her policy is wrong and she is deceiving herself and the electorate.
To ramp, spin, surf it any other way is a gross misrepresentation of the facts
You might be the first to have debilitating Kemi Derangement Syndromde
I'd like to claim being first. You can thank me later.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
With those pushing Assisted Dying having undermined the arguments against capital punishment. After all, if a few grannies coerced into killing themselves is a price worth paying to give others choice, why should society worry about innocent people being hanged if that's what's needed to punish the guilty?
Because one is about free choice and the other is state compulsion.
If granny chooses to end her own life, then that is her choice. You don't like it, clearly, but you should show her some respect and let her make her own choice.
The state killing people against their will is an entirely different kettle of fish.
In principle it is granny's choice. In practice? I'm not convinced every family out there will be acting in her best interests.
I'm not keen on prolonging agony either but a lot of people are (in general) not great.
Which is why we need compulsory living wills. Personally I'd like to be euthanised if I lose my mind to dementia. I'm not sure quite why other people's Catholicism, feelz or opinion ought to carry any weight whatsoever on that.
My mother in law told us as much when she was able but continues to suffer and is no longer able to communicate except in the style of a 1 year old.
It is tempting to put her in a home as they'd probably kill her off quite quickly but deliberate maltreatment doesn't really seem like the humane option.
So I'm all for it in principle.
But I do think Cyclefree has a point, unfortunately.
The question is I suppose what we are prepared to accept as collateral damage, either way.
I had a grandparent who spent their last years bedridden with dementia and osteoporosis, incommunicative, in pain and desperate for death, on the other side a grandparents' sibling, a brilliant intellect lost to dementia, and now a parent, who'd clearly expressed a wish for euthanasia, who cannot hold a conversation, read a book or follow a story, sleeping 14-16 hours a day, pacing the corridors at night, physically fit but their brain slowly dying, living out their last years anxious, frightened and in utter boredom. If it happens to me I'd like to end it while I can still bid my farewells to friends and family. Why should someone else's personal religious or misplaced morality deny me, or have denied them, that choice and dignity?
Bingo.
Dementia is a rotten, wretched disease and it robs people of agency and ability to make decisions once they have it.
Which is why we should absolutely have living wills which are respected.
If Cyclefree wants to sign a living will saying that she opposes assisted dying and would not want it under any circumstances, that should be her prerogative and it should be respected.
If you or I want to sign a living will saying we would rather die than live bedridden with dementia, then if the worst should happen we should have our choices respected.
Death is not the worst that can happen.
100% agree
We already have the "do not resusitate" option, there should definitely be a similar "always try to resusitate" option and a similar pair of options re assisted dying, yes or definietly no.
In the same way as the "opt in" to giving blood debate being changed to the "opt out" both resusitation and the right to request or absolutely be against assisted dying option should be available in a Living Will and more people should be encouraged, assisted and facilitated to make a living will.
In better news to wake up to, Peter Mandelson arrested LOL.
MANDY WAS TUCKED UP BACK IN HIS OWN BED BY 2AM!
As suggested, I think the arrangement was made to arrest b=him at a time conducive to his Legal Representaion being available so that they could use the maximum 24 hour window if needed.
It would appear that he was in and out of Custody within a very short 8 hour window, including booking in and out, so really a legal formality.
What happens next is probably going to be long drawn out.
In better news to wake up to, Peter Mandelson arrested LOL.
MANDY WAS TUCKED UP BACK IN HIS OWN BED BY 2AM!
As suggested, I think the arrangement was made to arrest b=him at a time conducive to his Legal Representaion being available so that they could use the maximum 24 hour window if needed.
It would appear that he was in and out of Custody within a very short 8 hour window, including booking in and out, so really a legal formality.
What happens next is probably going to be long drawn out.
When one considers what damage Mandelson has done over the years with his use of the dark arts, one would not be sorry to see him suffer similarly. Its not a Christian thing to say but its hard not to feel such disgust.
Kemi is trying to show the Conservatives are a team rather than just a leader with no one backing them up. She increasingly shares the spotlight and mentions her collesgues. This must be to draw a line in the sand with Reform I think
It was refreshing on GMB to see her accept Lewis May have a point and offer to discuss it with him, rather than trot out rehearsed line in order to block him out. I hope she does well. Good to see her sticking to her guns on the two child cap
Lifting the two-child benefit cap is as unfair as it is unaffordable.
Assisted dying is a little bit like drugs, prostitution, abortion, and gambling.
It's something that it would probably be best if it didn't exist. But given it's going to exist -in one way or another- is it better to have it legal and regulated, or is it better to go down the moral route, and simply ban it?
Right now, like with much 'soft' drugs, we settle for this pseduo decriminalisation - we basically don't enforce the law as far as assisted dying. No one is prosecuted for helping a friend head of to Switzerland for a one way trip to Dignitas. There is a blind eye turned to allowing morphine doses to euthanize those in severe pain and near end of life.
We would be much better being honest: is this something we find acceptable, and we seek to mitigate risks as much as possible? Or is it so morally repugnant that it should be illegal. And if it is illegal, we need to enforce the law.
I am in the former camp. Having seen my mother struggle terribly with dementia, I would never want to go through that. She is unhappier than she has ever been in her life. But she is also way beyond a point where she could make a decision about ending it. I would rather leave life on my own terms than be reduced to the shell she is.
Other people may have different views, of course.
But right now, the reality is that assisted dying is legal for me. Because I have the means to head to Switzerland should I desire it. It is grossly unfair that we allow the well off to make these decisions for themselves, and not those of lesser means.
I fall on your side of the argument too, but I cannot deny that Cyclefree makes powerful counter arguments which it's not easy to rebut. It is a hard problem.
In my own case, I willingly helped my mother look after my father through his last decade of dementia, which took a heavy toll on her and the family. The thought of not doing so would not even have occurred to her - and my father was certainly not someone who would have made the end of life decision that you or I might make.
The only thing that can be says with certainty is that we must respect everyone's own beliefs on this.
@Cyclefree is very articulate. And the problems she describes are very real ones.
But when I read her, I don't get the feeling that there are any safeguards that would satisfy her. Her opposition to any form of legal assisted dying feels absolute.
Assisted dying is a little bit like drugs, prostitution, abortion, and gambling.
It's something that it would probably be best if it didn't exist. But given it's going to exist -in one way or another- is it better to have it legal and regulated, or is it better to go down the moral route, and simply ban it?
Right now, like with much 'soft' drugs, we settle for this pseduo decriminalisation - we basically don't enforce the law as far as assisted dying. No one is prosecuted for helping a friend head of to Switzerland for a one way trip to Dignitas. There is a blind eye turned to allowing morphine doses to euthanize those in severe pain and near end of life.
We would be much better being honest: is this something we find acceptable, and we seek to mitigate risks as much as possible? Or is it so morally repugnant that it should be illegal. And if it is illegal, we need to enforce the law.
I am in the former camp. Having seen my mother struggle terribly with dementia, I would never want to go through that. She is unhappier than she has ever been in her life. But she is also way beyond a point where she could make a decision about ending it. I would rather leave life on my own terms than be reduced to the shell she is.
Other people may have different views, of course.
But right now, the reality is that assisted dying is legal for me. Because I have the means to head to Switzerland should I desire it. It is grossly unfair that we allow the well off to make these decisions for themselves, and not those of lesser means.
I fall on your side of the argument too, but I cannot deny that Cyclefree makes powerful counter arguments which it's not easy to rebut. It is a hard problem.
In my own case, I willingly helped my mother look after my father through his last decade of dementia, which took a heavy toll on her and the family. The thought of not doing so would not even have occurred to her - and my father was certainly not someone who would have made the end of life decision that you or I might make.
The only thing that can be says with certainty is that we must respect everyone's own beliefs on this.
@Cyclefree is very articulate. And the problems she describes are very real ones.
But when I read her, I don't get the feeling that there are any safeguards that would satisfy her. Her opposition to any form of legal assisted dying feels absolute.
My viewpoint is allow others to do to their family as you would do for your dog
Assisted dying is a little bit like drugs, prostitution, abortion, and gambling.
It's something that it would probably be best if it didn't exist. But given it's going to exist -in one way or another- is it better to have it legal and regulated, or is it better to go down the moral route, and simply ban it?
Right now, like with much 'soft' drugs, we settle for this pseduo decriminalisation - we basically don't enforce the law as far as assisted dying. No one is prosecuted for helping a friend head of to Switzerland for a one way trip to Dignitas. There is a blind eye turned to allowing morphine doses to euthanize those in severe pain and near end of life.
We would be much better being honest: is this something we find acceptable, and we seek to mitigate risks as much as possible? Or is it so morally repugnant that it should be illegal. And if it is illegal, we need to enforce the law.
I am in the former camp. Having seen my mother struggle terribly with dementia, I would never want to go through that. She is unhappier than she has ever been in her life. But she is also way beyond a point where she could make a decision about ending it. I would rather leave life on my own terms than be reduced to the shell she is.
Other people may have different views, of course.
But right now, the reality is that assisted dying is legal for me. Because I have the means to head to Switzerland should I desire it. It is grossly unfair that we allow the well off to make these decisions for themselves, and not those of lesser means.
I fall on your side of the argument too, but I cannot deny that Cyclefree makes powerful counter arguments which it's not easy to rebut. It is a hard problem.
In my own case, I willingly helped my mother look after my father through his last decade of dementia, which took a heavy toll on her and the family. The thought of not doing so would not even have occurred to her - and my father was certainly not someone who would have made the end of life decision that you or I might make.
The only thing that can be says with certainty is that we must respect everyone's own beliefs on this.
@Cyclefree is very articulate. And the problems she describes are very real ones.
But when I read her, I don't get the feeling that there are any safeguards that would satisfy her. Her opposition to any form of legal assisted dying feels absolute.
My viewpoint is allow others to do to their family as you would do for your dog
Trump says reports that the Pentagon is warning him against attacking Iran are "100% incorrect," and if the U.S. military goes to war with Iran "it will be something easily won."
So what is the coward waiting for then?
A decision to go to war is not about individual bravery
Valdo Calocane was not sectioned following a violent psychotic attack because mental health workers had considered the “over representation of young black men in custody.”
He’s right. But he was in the govt when this happened. These decisions and these mindsets were prevalent under Tory rule.
Chris Philp
The gaffe that keeps giving.
The gaffe is creating an environment where severely mentally ill people are not sectioned due to sensitivities about their race, in this case allowing one of them to murder three people
And a lot of people are more interested in in blaming the opposition for their prior mistakes than in fixing the problem
Kemi is trying to show the Conservatives are a team rather than just a leader with no one backing them up. She increasingly shares the spotlight and mentions her collesgues. This must be to draw a line in the sand with Reform I think
It was refreshing on GMB to see her accept Lewis May have a point and offer to discuss it with him, rather than trot out rehearsed line in order to block him out. I hope she does well. Good to see her sticking to her guns on the two child cap
Lifting the two-child benefit cap is as unfair as it is unaffordable.
Trump says reports that the Pentagon is warning him against attacking Iran are "100% incorrect," and if the U.S. military goes to war with Iran "it will be something easily won."
So what is the coward waiting for then?
A decision to go to war is not about individual bravery
Indeed, it takes collective bravery to stand up and fight for what is right.
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
Too late to effect the by-election but seriously they want to get rid of the Equalities Act , remove us from the ECHR and now rip up the Employment Rights Act together with the rent reforms .
One wonders what will be next .
Hanging, flogging and the revival of half-timbered cars.
I expect capital punishment to make an entrance soon . The next lever to pull to appease the baying mob.
And a golliwog on every jam jar.
Soon women will get sectioned for not obeying their husbands or popping out enough white babies ! Talking out of turn at dinner parties will also be frowned upon !
Johnny Vegas is superb in this raw, atmospheric portrait of Thatcher’s Britain Jim Cartwright’s seminal drama Road is revived in an immersive new staging that captures the despair and dark humour of 1980s Lancashire ... A highlight of the theatre’s 50th anniversary season, this production of Road is poignant, uproarious and, ultimately, in a moving closing scene, a testament to the redemptive power of the music of Otis Redding.
Irrelevant Degrees Sub Standard Recipients of Degrees Lack of the old "Degree Pathway" many major Companies had.
A Degree used to mean a lot! many still do, but whereas major Companies in all sectors would take someone on to a Degree Pathway ar 22 / 23, now far fewer do.
Too often we see, hear , know of kids who have done a 3-4 year Course with little or no idea of the "end job" or "probability of an "end job offer"
Even back in the late 70's early 80's my sister had a falir for "languages" - she was A / A Star . top grade and got 2 Honours Degrees in French and German. She walked in to a then growing European based business with a major UK base did very well, met and married and had a career change transfering to missionary work in Tanzania, guess what , learnt Swahili and othe African languagues came back and has used those skills since.
The only degree qualifications I was really interested in was History or Geography, where would that have led me, Teaching, did I want to be a teacher, NOPE! The only possible interest that did sort of entice was to combine it with my sporting prowess so that 5 days a week I could be a back up sports teacher playing football / rugby or cricket but that didn't swing it.
WE NEED every degree to have a CLEAR pathway! WE NEED more technical degrees relevant to the jobs market
WE HAVE massive gaps and shortfall in what were considered "blue collar" jobs but which can now be very technical or very much offer a long and seriously good income "the trades"
Blair intrioduced the "degree culture" it was relevant and worthy then IT IS NOT NOW and actually the political Right, on this subject are right to question the system and what it produces!
Trump says reports that the Pentagon is warning him against attacking Iran are "100% incorrect," and if the U.S. military goes to war with Iran "it will be something easily won."
So what is the coward waiting for then?
A decision to go to war is not about individual bravery
Indeed, it takes collective bravery to stand up and fight for what is right.
You accused the president of cowardice for debate g a decision to go to war. It’s a decision that needs to be carefully considered and thought through.
Assisted dying is a little bit like drugs, prostitution, abortion, and gambling.
It's something that it would probably be best if it didn't exist. But given it's going to exist -in one way or another- is it better to have it legal and regulated, or is it better to go down the moral route, and simply ban it?
Right now, like with much 'soft' drugs, we settle for this pseduo decriminalisation - we basically don't enforce the law as far as assisted dying. No one is prosecuted for helping a friend head of to Switzerland for a one way trip to Dignitas. There is a blind eye turned to allowing morphine doses to euthanize those in severe pain and near end of life.
We would be much better being honest: is this something we find acceptable, and we seek to mitigate risks as much as possible? Or is it so morally repugnant that it should be illegal. And if it is illegal, we need to enforce the law.
I am in the former camp. Having seen my mother struggle terribly with dementia, I would never want to go through that. She is unhappier than she has ever been in her life. But she is also way beyond a point where she could make a decision about ending it. I would rather leave life on my own terms than be reduced to the shell she is.
Other people may have different views, of course.
But right now, the reality is that assisted dying is legal for me. Because I have the means to head to Switzerland should I desire it. It is grossly unfair that we allow the well off to make these decisions for themselves, and not those of lesser means.
I fall on your side of the argument too, but I cannot deny that Cyclefree makes powerful counter arguments which it's not easy to rebut. It is a hard problem.
In my own case, I willingly helped my mother look after my father through his last decade of dementia, which took a heavy toll on her and the family. The thought of not doing so would not even have occurred to her - and my father was certainly not someone who would have made the end of life decision that you or I might make.
The only thing that can be says with certainty is that we must respect everyone's own beliefs on this.
@Cyclefree is very articulate. And the problems she describes are very real ones.
But when I read her, I don't get the feeling that there are any safeguards that would satisfy her. Her opposition to any form of legal assisted dying feels absolute.
@Cyclefree is a great observer and commentator on how supposed safeguards are often ignored and unenforceable against public bodies who consider themselves morally virtuous and too important to challenge. You only have to look at the Post Office to see how that works. There have been enough NHS scandals to see that sections of it are capable of having that mindset. When the proposal is state sanctioned taking of a life I don't think there are any safeguards that would satisfy me either.
I fully accept that I arrive at that conclusion from a particular set of circumstances involving my loved ones though so I feel no hate or anger towards people who reach another conclusion.
Comments
It was so sudden there wasn’t even time to play his entrance music (Price Tag by Jessie J, obviously). He just appeared, apparently midway through one of his own sentences, like a man sitting at home shouting at the TV had somehow suddenly appeared on it.
[…]
When the two of them were out of the ring, they were straight on their phones. After the broadcast, Lewis went on social media to apologise to Badenoch for, he said, “gate-crashing your interview”, before, in his next sentence, reverting to his trademark certainty that he was right. There’s already talk of a rematch, with Badenoch having invited herself on to Lewis’s show to discuss the subject further.
Beneath the shock of the moment, a valuable piece of public service broadcasting had taken place by accident. In an increasingly secular country, the idea that Martin Lewis might be wrong is as close as it gets to heresy. The nation’s most perfectly self-polished halo has lost just a fraction of its lustre.
https://www.thetimes.com/article/0788fc52-82f6-47d7-ba02-5ce53399fd13?shareToken=a76a56a8bf9c3a042b0452418c81de6a
The gaffe that keeps giving.
Decisions that do not reference systemic racism issues are systemically racist.
You can’t always win. Awful for the decision makers and utterly catastrophic for the families.
Just bring it back to Europe this year, eh?
The women have told him to fuck off
Now Flavor Flav (who was in Cortina) has invited the women to Vegas instead
I know Wolfgang Wolf once managed Wolfsburg.
It was refreshing on GMB to see her accept Lewis May have a point and offer to discuss it with him, rather than trot out rehearsed line in order to block him out. I hope she does well. Good to see her sticking to her guns on the two child cap
Lifting the two-child benefit cap is as unfair as it is unaffordable.
@Helen_Whately is leading the fight for the @Conservatives against Labour on this.
We back work, responsibility and a welfare system that’s a safety net, not a way of life.
https://x.com/kemibadenoch/status/2026047987059740712?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
Not enough made of Arsene at Arsenal or Mancini at Man City for me
🚨 NEW: Richard Tice will announce Reform UK's plans to introduce a "Great Repeal Bill" tomorrow that will scrap Labour's Employment Rights' Act and rent reforms
@jamesrball.com
This is the single best piece of news Keir Starmer has had since July 2024.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn7BItMVBFk
Things were going swimmingly well for Farage. A massive poll lead just by carping on about stuff.
Suddenly, he decides he needs lots of Tory retreads a shadow Cabinet and policies. Why?
He's never needed any of that before.
Still, it's probably all worth it to demonstrate some performative cruelty to darker toned people than me. Today's exclusive that ICE is coming to Blighty should do the trick.
P.S. The Chagos stunt went well I see.
A Reform win would be the next best result for Labour - it would reinforce Reform's self-declared status as 'actual opposition', and Farage, Goodwin et al are much more compelling bogeymen for your average Labour activist/voter than the likes of Badenoch, Stride and Cleverly. If the next general election is between Labour and Reform, then Labour will probably remain in government.
A Green win would be the worst possible result (of the three plausible outcomes) for Labour as it would paint the Greens as a viable alternative, a Reform of the left. Labour may feel, in response, that the key to success is to behave more like the Greens - and this would make Labour less likely to win the plurality of the vote in the next general election.
They are still going to easily beat the Tories at the next set of elections, so I guess it makes sense, but it still feels a bit unnecessary.
We were all eulogising his transformation from New Labour fanboi to Daily Mail truthsayer yesterday and trying to get one of our lefty number booted off site (we'll get rid of them all one day!) for an unfortunate comment on Hodges longstanding eye injury.
Possibly two: We're at the "Springtime for Hitler" stage of The Producers, with Nigel trying increasingly desperately to not be top of the polls.
Possibility three: Zia, Robert, Suella and the rest of them aren't as good at the populism/opposition game as Nigel. They think they should be launching loads of policies, even though they're stupid and unworkable.
Yes, his opponents and enemies have been asking him for ages- what are your actual policies, Nigel? But that doesn't mean he should give them what they want. If anything, he should do the opposite.
One wonders what will be next .
I suggest the Armitage Shanks Sanitary Ware strategy, don't break it, keep the shit inside.
None of that poncey foreign Ming Vase muck for Reform.
After all, surely their husbands would provide for them...
At least women were allowed to work, which might still be too much for some.
He does invective like no other. Such elan.
https://www.facebook.com/100044531825467/posts/1450143323146715/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
If granny chooses to end her own life, then that is her choice. You don't like it, clearly, but you should show her some respect and let her make her own choice.
The state killing people against their will is an entirely different kettle of fish.
https://vote-2012.proboards.com/post/1716303/thread
I'm not keen on prolonging agony either but a lot of people are (in general) not great.
Captain of various England age group teams up to 18 and made fistvteam debut at 16.
A succession of injuries ruined his senior playing career but he had thrived as a Coach
Personally I'd like to be euthanised if I lose my mind to dementia.
I'm not sure quite why other people's Catholicism, feelz or opinion ought to carry any weight whatsoever on that.
It is tempting to put her in a home as they'd probably kill her off quite quickly but deliberate maltreatment doesn't really seem like the humane option.
So I'm all for it in principle.
But I do think Cyclefree has a point, unfortunately.
The question is I suppose what we are prepared to accept as collateral damage, either way.
In fact, it’s probably going to make our lives much, much worse
By Séamas O'Reilly"
https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/2026/02/ai-will-not-save-us
If it happens to me I'd like to end it while I can still bid my farewells to friends and family.
Why should someone else's personal religious or misplaced morality deny me, or have denied them, that choice and dignity?
I am a 15-year-old girl. Let me show you the vile misogyny that confronts me on social media every day
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/23/15-year-old-girl-misogyny-social-media-online-abuse
If that is at all representative of girls' experience, then we have an even bigger problem with social media (and growing misogyny) than we thought.
- making it impossible to do anything that will actually let us stop the boats
- about to destroy the entire rental market, and make obtaining a new tenancy completely impossible
- about to destroy the job market, particularly for people with dubious employment histories
- allowing virtually anything to be delayed indefinitely by judicial review, thus making doing almost anything of any value impossible.
It's all got lofty sounding titles and good intentions, but the harsh reality is that it all needs to go for the country to become governable again. Reform are bang on the money here, it's all got to go.
Dementia is a rotten, wretched disease and it robs people of agency and ability to make decisions once they have it.
Which is why we should absolutely have living wills which are respected.
If Cyclefree wants to sign a living will saying that she opposes assisted dying and would not want it under any circumstances, that should be her prerogative and it should be respected.
If you or I want to sign a living will saying we would rather die than live bedridden with dementia, then if the worst should happen we should have our choices respected.
Death is not the worst that can happen.
It's something that it would probably be best if it didn't exist. But given it's going to exist -in one way or another- is it better to have it legal and regulated, or is it better to go down the moral route, and simply ban it?
Right now, like with much 'soft' drugs, we settle for this pseduo decriminalisation - we basically don't enforce the law as far as assisted dying. No one is prosecuted for helping a friend head of to Switzerland for a one way trip to Dignitas. There is a blind eye turned to allowing morphine doses to euthanize those in severe pain and near end of life.
We would be much better being honest: is this something we find acceptable, and we seek to mitigate risks as much as possible? Or is it so morally repugnant that it should be illegal. And if it is illegal, we need to enforce the law.
I am in the former camp. Having seen my mother struggle terribly with dementia, I would never want to go through that. She is unhappier than she has ever been in her life. But she is also way beyond a point where she could make a decision about ending it. I would rather leave life on my own terms than be reduced to the shell she is.
Other people may have different views, of course.
But right now, the reality is that assisted dying is legal for me. Because I have the means to head to Switzerland should I desire it. It is grossly unfair that we allow the well off to make these decisions for themselves, and not those of lesser means.
It is a hard problem.
In my own case, I willingly helped my mother look after my father through his last decade of dementia, which took a heavy toll on her and the family. The thought of not doing so would not even have occurred to her - and my father was certainly not someone who would have made the end of life decision that you or I might make.
The only thing that can be says with certainty is that we must respect everyone's own beliefs on this.
https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/health/mental-health/detentions-under-the-mental-health-act/latest/
This has been recognieed for a long time. It doesn't seem to be the case that Black people experience more mental illness in majority Black countries.
https://www.mind.org.uk/about-us/our-policy-work/mental-health-act-reform/independent-review-of-the-mental-health-act-faqs/mental-health-act-blog-series/race-and-mental-health-tipping-the-scale/
There is some evidence that the coercion required to treat against their will in itself makes outcomes worse.
https://www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/black-mens-experiences-detention-expose-widespread-mental-health-system
It is a complex issue to balance the risk of harm to other people (the vast majority of the mentally ill are more at risk to themselves) with person centered care that is in the best interests of the individual concerned.
There are a number of possible reasons to explain why there are more Black men being "sectioned":
1) There is a higher rate of mental illness in Black people in Britain. Certainly this is possible, despite rates being lower in Caribbean or African countries, as it is recognised that people with schizophrenia are over represented in migrant populations generally. The counter argument is that there is little evidence for this in other populations that have migrated here such as from South Asia.
2) That the experience of being Black in Britain is the cause. Systemic racism from teachers, police , social workers, doctors and others in authority. This alienates young Black men and prevents them from seeking early intervention.
3) Widespread use of cannabis at a young age inducing psychosis.
These issues are complex and formed the life's work of Dr Aggrey Burke (who died a few months ago).
I would hope that the enquiry into the Nottingham killings explores the wider issues rather than simply tries to pin the blame on individual CPN's in the team.
Daily Telegraph Battle Lines. 30 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVep_k2iH0I&list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk
Prayers with Ukraine today, along with grateful thanks to everyone who is helping with weapons and intelligence, as well as those trying to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Slava Ukraini. 🇺🇦
Using an AI to analyse old code might make the job of the developer getting a City-lawyer-sized hourly rate a little more efficient, but it’s sure as Hell not replacing the old boy any time soon given the nature of the systems running COBOL.
The banks don’t care how much it costs or how long it takes, their requirement is for there to be no bugs in the system. Ask the Post Office what happens when buggy transactional software ends up in production.
The Speaker is still defending him.
A young woman is dead. Regina Santos-Aviles took her own life.
The allegations against Congressman Tony Gonzales are deeply disturbing: a sitting Member of Congress accused of soliciting explicit photos from a staffer and subjecting her to graphic sexual texts. This is an abuse of power.
Congressional staff serve their country. They should never have to endure predatory behavior from the people they work for.
Congressman Gonzales must address these allegations and resign.
https://x.com/NancyMace/status/2026059962368311677
Removal from the ECHR, so what. We will still have our rights. They didn’t magically appear once we joined. If we leave we leave, if we don’t we don’t, can’t say it’s a big issue either way.
The End of Baseload Power as We Know It | OilPrice.com https://share.google/AoKEK2XBmF9EIj1fp
I just thank god there are people who can do this stuff.
We already have the "do not resusitate" option, there should definitely be a similar "always try to resusitate" option and a similar pair of options re assisted dying, yes or definietly no.
In the same way as the "opt in" to giving blood debate being changed to the "opt out" both resusitation and the right to request or absolutely be against assisted dying option should be available in a Living Will and more people should be encouraged, assisted and facilitated to make a living will.
As suggested, I think the arrangement was made to arrest b=him at a time conducive to his Legal Representaion being available so that they could use the maximum 24 hour window if needed.
It would appear that he was in and out of Custody within a very short 8 hour window, including booking in and out, so really a legal formality.
What happens next is probably going to be long drawn out.
Its not a Christian thing to say but its hard not to feel such disgust.
But when I read her, I don't get the feeling that there are any safeguards that would satisfy her. Her opposition to any form of legal assisted dying feels absolute.
"UK economy warning light on the dashboard...
Job vacancies for university leavers - down **45%** in January 2026 compared with January 2025."
https://x.com/ajcdeane/status/2025854443841790207?s=20
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-66113524
Jim Cartwright’s seminal drama Road is revived in an immersive new staging that captures the despair and dark humour of 1980s Lancashire
...
A highlight of the theatre’s 50th anniversary season, this production of Road is poignant, uproarious and, ultimately, in a moving closing scene, a testament to the redemptive power of the music of Otis Redding.
At Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre until March 14; royalexchange.co.uk
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/road-review-johnny-vegas-manchester-royal-exchange/ (£££)
In case northern PBers fancy a night of culture in the next few weeks.
Sub Standard Recipients of Degrees
Lack of the old "Degree Pathway" many major Companies had.
A Degree used to mean a lot! many still do, but whereas major Companies in all sectors would take someone on to a Degree Pathway ar 22 / 23, now far fewer do.
Too often we see, hear , know of kids who have done a 3-4 year Course with little or no idea of the "end job" or "probability of an "end job offer"
Even back in the late 70's early 80's my sister had a falir for "languages" - she was A / A Star . top grade and got 2 Honours Degrees in French and German. She walked in to a then growing European based business with a major UK base did very well, met and married and had a career change transfering to missionary work in Tanzania, guess what , learnt Swahili and othe African languagues came back and has used those skills since.
The only degree qualifications I was really interested in was History or Geography, where would that have led me, Teaching, did I want to be a teacher, NOPE! The only possible interest that did sort of entice was to combine it with my sporting prowess so that 5 days a week I could be a back up sports teacher playing football / rugby or cricket but that didn't swing it.
WE NEED every degree to have a CLEAR pathway!
WE NEED more technical degrees relevant to the jobs market
WE HAVE massive gaps and shortfall in what were considered "blue collar" jobs but which can now be very technical or very much offer a long and seriously good income "the trades"
Blair intrioduced the "degree culture" it was relevant and worthy then IT IS NOT NOW and actually the political Right, on this subject are right to question the system and what it produces!
Life isn’t black and white
I fully accept that I arrive at that conclusion from a particular set of circumstances involving my loved ones though so I feel no hate or anger towards people who reach another conclusion.
YouGov this week (22-23 Feb) sees all 5 parties within 10%
Ref 24 (=)
Con 18 (=)
Lab 18 (-1)
Grn 17 (=)
LD 14 (+1)