Unbelievable. Farage gets in at PMQS, and again goes on the Chagos Islands. He's either given up on Gorton and Denton or is deliberately trying to lose it.
Hang on, 48 hours ago they were all complaining that he was having a week in the Maldives, with a big nudge-nudge that he was staying in some fancy resort…
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
You are entitled to your opinion.
I call out lies, she is a liar.
I call out arrogance, she is arrogant.
I call out hypocrisy You are utterly hypocritical, you say and others say far worse about Labour politicicians.
It is the typical act of bullies that they can dish it out, but they can't take it.
There are a lot of very nasty comments made about Starmer, so wake ip and smell the coffee, you dish crap out, you might just get some back.
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
With respect, he's just an anonymous poster on an Internet forum. You don't have to be a one man rebuttal unit every time an adverse comment is made against Kemi Badenoch.
There will be justified criticism - you can ask about her record in the previous Conservative administrations. You can ask questions about the policy ideas and how they will be funded and you can legitimately ask about the relationship between the Conservatives and Reform.
Have Labour tried attacking the Greens or just trying to pretend only they can stop Reform in Gorton and Denton?
I think, like with the Lib Dem’s, they’re friendly enemies.
They oppose Reform and the Tories more so my enemies enemy is my friend. They will learn a hard lesson.
Actually I've just found a piece that states Labour have been quite shocked at the Greens turning themselves into a hideous George Galloway/Respect tribute act.
James Frayne in Telegraph is pointing out how hard the Greens are going to find keeping their new found tribe together when it is increasingly a mix of very socially conservative muslim voters who want action on Gaza etc and the young corbyn lefty ultra progressives who want to talk about trans rights all day long.
The same mindset that sees Green supporters as late rising, lentil munching, chai drinking devotees of Tantric sex #fingeronthepulse
I can think of one subject over which they’ll find lots of common ground.
Unbelievable. Farage gets in at PMQS, and again goes on the Chagos Islands. He's either given up on Gorton and Denton or is deliberately trying to lose it.
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
Of course Labour have form for banging on about paedophiles. Wasn't it old fatty Tom Watson who made unfounded claims about Tories based on the lies of a known liar Carl Beech? Sauce for the goose and all.
Yes, and to this day it shames our politics that this piece of shit was elevated to the Lords.
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
You are entitled to your opinion.
I call out lies, she is a liar.
I call out arrogance, she is arrogant.
I call out hypocrisy You are utterly hypocritical, you say and others say far worse about Labour politicicians.
It is the typical act of bullies that they can dish it out, but they can't take it.
There are a lot of very nasty comments made about Starmer, so wake ip and smell the coffee, you dish crap out, you might just get some back.
Hang on, most people don't say nasty things about Starmer. They say that he isn't very good at being PM, that he's wooden. You could say far worse things.
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
With respect, he's just an anonymous poster on an Internet forum. You don't have to be a one man rebuttal unit every time an adverse comment is made against Kemi Badenoch.
There will be justified criticism - you can ask about her record in the previous Conservative administrations. You can ask questions about the policy ideas and how they will be funded and you can legitimately ask about the relationship between the Conservatives and Reform.
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
You are entitled to your opinion.
I call out lies, she is a liar.
I call out arrogance, she is arrogant.
I call out hypocrisy You are utterly hypocritical, you say and others say far worse about Labour politicicians.
It is the typical act of bullies that they can dish it out, but they can't take it.
There are a lot of very nasty comments made about Starmer, so wake ip and smell the coffee, you dish crap out, you might just get some back.
More relevant, and more obvious, is that you’re entirely shilling for Labour, and probably have some skin in the game. This site has plenty of party supporters, of varying degrees of commitment, but prefers analysis from as dispassionate a perspective as possible in the circumstances. Even our HY has managed to stand back a bit since his early days on the site.
Ben Judah, former adviser to Lammy on the media round suggesting Chagos legislation should be put on ice. Strong rumours a parliamentary statement later today will do just that..... If so it would be, in normal times, a resigning matter for the PM
Why?
A PM unable to get an international treaty he has agreed through parliament when he has a landslide majority because that treaty is incompatible with an existing one and has strained the relationship with our foremost military ally and was giving away our sovereign territory. If thats not a resigning matter, nothing is
You could send Michael Crick on a six month fact finding mission to every bingo hall laundrette bar pub restaurant football stadium nightclub prison factory swimming pool park museum art gallery and brothel in the country and you wouldn't find a single person male female or trans who would mention the Chagos Islands. It is something only spoken about amongst a weird subset of PBers
You should get out more.
Chagos, like Mandelbrot, the Prince formerly known as Andrew and Epstein, has entered the non-political discourse. Coffee machine banter.
“We are paying to give away these islands. How fucked is that?”
Goes with
“We are ruled by nonces and thieves. Bet they are sweating now, though. Ha ha.”
They're imagining an island with a 25 bed luxury chateau and swimming pool with cocktails and masseuses.
Not the radio active one that looks like Chernobyl.
Chagos isn't radioactive and doesn't look like Chernobyl.
You are thinking of the nuclear tests sites in the Pacific.
This is what Chagos looks like
I wouldn’t want a 99 year lease on an island that, based on Trump’s views on climate change, will be underwater in 99 years time.
It is a coral island. The coral grows at a certain depth. If the sea level rises, the coral will rise with it, growing on the old skeletons.
The island will only sink if the natural process is stopped (eg, by putting concrete on it).
The same applies to the Maldives, BTW
The Bahamas have survived about 300 million years of climate change and nearly 4000m of local sea level change.
But, using your figures, that's only about 0.01mm a year, compared with 4mm per year at the moment.
(I know that's silly maths but the point about climate change is just how quickly it is happening, and whether we are able to keep up with that without massive economic costs, war, famine, sinking etc etc. I'm not sure if the coral can keep pace with 4mm + lots more storms).
The end of the last ice age happened on the second Tuesday in Lent, as my friend in the field says. It was very very fast, and probably faster than current climate change predictions.
But if you destroy the coral habitat and/or sweep away the debris after a storm to keep the roads or runways clear...there's no adaptation at all.
It will be the same with our own coastline. Just building walls doesn't work. Does anyone do warping any more?
Ben Judah, former adviser to Lammy on the media round suggesting Chagos legislation should be put on ice. Strong rumours a parliamentary statement later today will do just that..... If so it would be, in normal times, a resigning matter for the PM
Why?
A PM unable to get an international treaty he has agreed through parliament when he has a landslide majority because that treaty is incompatible with an existing one and has strained the relationship with our foremost military ally and was giving away our sovereign territory. If thats not a resigning matter, nothing is
Looking at the technical side of your answer to Stodge.
All the Labour MPs and LibDems MPs are in favour of voting for it. Soon as it’s in the Commons it’s a slam dunk.
The Conservative delaying tactic in the Lords has failed.
And to rely so much on what Trump posts on Truth Social, just hours after his State Department rubber stamped it, is not the firm ground of US rejection its been bigged up to be.
The argument is done and dusted, ambitious Mauritius ARE in bed with US and India. The 99 year lease idea Mauritius offered US in 2019 before UK even knew about it!
Did everyone notice Mauritius leader gave Trump authority to bomb Iran from Chagos, and urged him to get on with Iran Regime Change? Cheeky doesn’t even cover it. Once Chagos deal goes through commons in May, it’s hard to know what UK role in Chagos is going forward, I confidently predict Mauritius will completely ignore and by pass UK and go straight to US and India for sucking up and orders, whilst gorging on the billions we are giving them! How can I be so sure? It’s what they’ve already been doing!
Do we know what Mauritius is like as a holiday destination, do we need to send our man from Knappers Gazette?
I would suggest you look at who is opposing it in the Lords
Lord Callanan - conservative
Lord West - crossbench - labour peer
Lord Purvis - liberal
The reason this is being withdrawn is cross party support in the HOL against the deal
It will not be coming back anytime soon due to cross party opposition
Also speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, reported Mandelson's flight risk to the police
“ The reason this is being withdrawn is cross party support in the HOL against the deal It will not be coming back anytime soon due to cross party opposition”
Are you agreeing with Wooly Labour have abandoned the Chagos agreement?
On what evidence? The Lords can’t stop or even delay it any more, now fact proven it’s legal under international law (those once arguing ignore international where you want to, tried to use international law to block it). And in the HoC Lab+LibDem it sails through on ginormous majority.
It has a cut off point of 21st May when Chagos deal legislation dies, as in end of term lost bills. Labour won’t push it before the votes in May out the way, after that it sails through Parliament - I can even give you the exact minute it passes Parliament, to measure my analysis by, Chagos deal passes through the commons at 19:21 on May 19th 2026.
It’s all because, just as Wooly pointed out in this thread, it’s absolute humiliation for Labour government if the Chagos bill dies on Thursday May 21st - and a massive triumph for Kemi’s front bench. On top of that a hugely angry India, Mauritius and US beyond Trumps fickle transactional mind not amazingly pleased too, so a huge diplomatic mess. Those are the two reasons why it’s certain to pass Parliament in May.
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
You are entitled to your opinion.
I call out lies, she is a liar.
I call out arrogance, she is arrogant.
I call out hypocrisy You are utterly hypocritical, you say and others say far worse about Labour politicicians.
It is the typical act of bullies that they can dish it out, but they can't take it.
There are a lot of very nasty comments made about Starmer, so wake ip and smell the coffee, you dish crap out, you might just get some back.
Hang on, most people don't say nasty things about Starmer. They say that he isn't very good at being PM, that he's wooden. You could say far worse things.
TBF, there are lots of salacious rumours about him, some quite nasty stuff. None of it mentioned or hinted at by the LotO,
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
You are entitled to your opinion.
I call out lies, she is a liar.
I call out arrogance, she is arrogant.
I call out hypocrisy You are utterly hypocritical, you say and others say far worse about Labour politicicians.
It is the typical act of bullies that they can dish it out, but they can't take it.
There are a lot of very nasty comments made about Starmer, so wake ip and smell the coffee, you dish crap out, you might just get some back.
More relevant, and more obvious, is that you’re entirely shilling for Labour, and probably have some skin in the game. This site has plenty of party supporters, of varying degrees of commitment, but prefers analysis from as dispassionate a perspective as possible in the circumstances. Even our HY has managed to stand back a bit since his early days on the site.
I'm actually finding the outbreak of hostilities over something as meaningless as PMQs quite entertaining.
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
You are entitled to your opinion.
I call out lies, she is a liar.
I call out arrogance, she is arrogant.
I call out hypocrisy You are utterly hypocritical, you say and others say far worse about Labour politicicians.
It is the typical act of bullies that they can dish it out, but they can't take it.
There are a lot of very nasty comments made about Starmer, so wake ip and smell the coffee, you dish crap out, you might just get some back.
Hang on, most people don't say nasty things about Starmer. They say that he isn't very good at being PM, that he's wooden. You could say far worse things.
TBF, there are lots of salacious rumours about him, some quite nasty stuff. None of it mentioned or hinted at by the LotO,
very snide and sloppy of Kemi Badenoch to claim that Rachel Reeves worked “in customer services” at the Bank of England when she was in fact an economist there #pmqs
Have Labour tried attacking the Greens or just trying to pretend only they can stop Reform in Gorton and Denton?
I think, like with the Lib Dem’s, they’re friendly enemies.
They oppose Reform and the Tories more so my enemies enemy is my friend. They will learn a hard lesson.
Actually I've just found a piece that states Labour have been quite shocked at the Greens turning themselves into a hideous George Galloway/Respect tribute act.
James Frayne in Telegraph is pointing out how hard the Greens are going to find keeping their new found tribe together when it is increasingly a mix of very socially conservative muslim voters who want action on Gaza etc and the young corbyn lefty ultra progressives who want to talk about trans rights all day long.
In my part of the world, the Newham Independents are filling that gap. They get their main support from the Muslim community and support for "Palestine" is a big part of their message along with the pie in the sky stuff you'd expect (freezing Council Tax and restoring the free permit for a first car) without being able to say how any of this will be funded by a bankrupt council.
They get the younger vote with the former and the older vote with the latter. I suspect IF the NIP win, there will be a big clearout of senior officers.
The Greens are entrenched in Stratford and have some possibilities in other areas with lower Muslim populations but I can't see how a coalition with the NIP works except it gets Labour out.
Making a pitch for Grange Villa, New Kyo and The Avenues.
I’ve cycled round all three. All very poor and deprived areas with people there turning to Reform, so obviously hated by the centrists here (people like Rochdale will know these sort of areas and not judge) and blamed for their own poverty.
If SKS and Luke can help these areas fantastic and I hope they get recognised for it.
Sad truth is that these communities have been abandoned by politicians of all colours for decades, left to rot after coal and steel were taken away. Lived in Houghton-le-Spring for a few ywars and wifey lived in Pelton for a while. Proud communities with not a lot left going for them.
Sad reality is that (a) many of them will turn to Reform out of desperation and (b) Reform will leave them to rot anyway
Have Labour tried attacking the Greens or just trying to pretend only they can stop Reform in Gorton and Denton?
I think, like with the Lib Dem’s, they’re friendly enemies.
They oppose Reform and the Tories more so my enemies enemy is my friend. They will learn a hard lesson.
Actually I've just found a piece that states Labour have been quite shocked at the Greens turning themselves into a hideous George Galloway/Respect tribute act.
James Frayne in Telegraph is pointing out how hard the Greens are going to find keeping their new found tribe together when it is increasingly a mix of very socially conservative muslim voters who want action on Gaza etc and the young corbyn lefty ultra progressives who want to talk about trans rights all day long.
Ironically, the one thing they have in common is a lack of any real interest in the environment, other than as a stick to beat capitalism.
Essentially the "Green" brand has been hi-jacked by a strange combination of students, tankies, and Gaza supporters. At some point the middle-class RSPB supporters who sent them to Westminster from deepest Herefordshire and Suffolk will wake up to this.
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
The Trump administration has formally warned Ukraine not to strike targets within Russia that could hit US economic interests, according to Kyiv’s ambassador to Washington @StefanishynaO.
very snide and sloppy of Kemi Badenoch to claim that Rachel Reeves worked “in customer services” at the Bank of England when she was in fact an economist there #pmqs
Ben Judah, former adviser to Lammy on the media round suggesting Chagos legislation should be put on ice. Strong rumours a parliamentary statement later today will do just that..... If so it would be, in normal times, a resigning matter for the PM
Why?
A PM unable to get an international treaty he has agreed through parliament when he has a landslide majority because that treaty is incompatible with an existing one and has strained the relationship with our foremost military ally and was giving away our sovereign territory. If thats not a resigning matter, nothing is
Looking at the technical side of your answer to Stodge.
All the Labour MPs and LibDems MPs are in favour of voting for it. Soon as it’s in the Commons it’s a slam dunk.
The Conservative delaying tactic in the Lords has failed.
And to rely so much on what Trump posts on Truth Social, just hours after his State Department rubber stamped it, is not the firm ground of US rejection its been bigged up to be.
The argument is done and dusted, ambitious Mauritius ARE in bed with US and India. The 99 year lease idea Mauritius offered US in 2019 before UK even knew about it!
Did everyone notice Mauritius leader gave Trump authority to bomb Iran from Chagos, and urged him to get on with Iran Regime Change? Cheeky doesn’t even cover it. Once Chagos deal goes through commons in May, it’s hard to know what UK role in Chagos is going forward, I confidently predict Mauritius will completely ignore and by pass UK and go straight to US and India for sucking up and orders, whilst gorging on the billions we are giving them! How can I be so sure? It’s what they’ve already been doing!
Do we know what Mauritius is like as a holiday destination, do we need to send our man from Knappers Gazette?
I would suggest you look at who is opposing it in the Lords
Lord Callanan - conservative
Lord West - crossbench - labour peer
Lord Purvis - liberal
The reason this is being withdrawn is cross party support in the HOL against the deal
It will not be coming back anytime soon due to cross party opposition
Also speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, reported Mandelson's flight risk to the police
“ The reason this is being withdrawn is cross party support in the HOL against the deal It will not be coming back anytime soon due to cross party opposition”
Are you agreeing with Wooly Labour have abandoned the Chagos agreement?
On what evidence? The Lords can’t stop or even delay it any more, now fact proven it’s legal under international law (those once arguing ignore international where you want to, tried to use international law to block it). And in the HoC Lab+LibDem it sails through on ginormous majority.
It has a cut off point of 21st May when Chagos deal legislation dies, as in end of term lost bills. Labour won’t push it before the votes in May out the way, after that it sails through Parliament - I can even give you the exact minute it passes Parliament, to measure my analysis by, Chagos deal passes through the commons at 19:21 on May 19th 2026.
It’s all because, just as Wooly pointed out in this thread, it’s absolute humiliation for Labour government if the Chagos bill dies on Thursday May 21st - and a massive triumph for Kemi’s front bench. On top of that a hugely angry India, Mauritius and US beyond Trumps fickle transactional mind not amazingly pleased too, so a huge diplomatic mess. Those are the two reasons why it’s certain to pass Parliament in May.
Let me be clear I do not like Farage at all, but in his urgent question just now he has claimed that Maldives has a greater claim and will be submitting their claim to international court in the next few days
As far as the Commons is concerned it has to get through the Lords where it has stalled
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
You are entitled to your opinion.
I call out lies, she is a liar.
I call out arrogance, she is arrogant.
I call out hypocrisy You are utterly hypocritical, you say and others say far worse about Labour politicicians.
It is the typical act of bullies that they can dish it out, but they can't take it.
There are a lot of very nasty comments made about Starmer, so wake ip and smell the coffee, you dish crap out, you might just get some back.
Hang on, most people don't say nasty things about Starmer. They say that he isn't very good at being PM, that he's wooden. You could say far worse things.
TBF, there are lots of salacious rumours about him, some quite nasty stuff. None of it mentioned or hinted at by the LotO,
Yep, that's up there with "I'm hearing that" and "Rumours on Twitter say...".
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
Im considering rejoining the party for the first time since 2010 (as a member) so i'm probably as herd adjacent as ive been in a long time
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
With respect, he's just an anonymous poster on an Internet forum. You don't have to be a one man rebuttal unit every time an adverse comment is made against Kemi Badenoch.
There will be justified criticism - you can ask about her record in the previous Conservative administrations. You can ask questions about the policy ideas and how they will be funded and you can legitimately ask about the relationship between the Conservatives and Reform.
I have no problem with that
It was his last sentence that was unnecessary
It's a common phrase and widely used.
It's far less aggressive than threatening to shoot someone
Making a pitch for Grange Villa, New Kyo and The Avenues.
I’ve cycled round all three. All very poor and deprived areas with people there turning to Reform, so obviously hated by the centrists here (people like Rochdale will know these sort of areas and not judge) and blamed for their own poverty.
If SKS and Luke can help these areas fantastic and I hope they get recognised for it.
Sad truth is that these communities have been abandoned by politicians of all colours for decades, left to rot after coal and steel were taken away. Lived in Houghton-le-Spring for a few ywars and wifey lived in Pelton for a while. Proud communities with not a lot left going for them.
Sad reality is that (a) many of them will turn to Reform out of desperation and (b) Reform will leave them to rot anyway
I agree but where do they go then ? Let’s face it these communities are fucked and no party is ever going to do anything for them.
I’m sandwiched between the two, it’s not any better now.
Time for the Speaker to resign? Pretty bloody disgraceful I'd say and shows up the establishment to be close to corrupt.. What a loathsome creature Hoyle is.
Time for the Speaker to resign? Pretty bloody disgraceful I'd say and shows up the establishment to be close on corrupt.. What a loathsome creature Hoyle is.
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
I think the Conservatives see a way back via Labour unpopularity, Farage and Reform imploding and Restore perhaps nicking a few votes from Farage and Tice.
Imagine 2029 as:
Conservatives 30% Labour 25% Reform 15% Liberal Democrats 15% Greens: 10%
Baxter those numbers and it's a Conservative majority of 24.
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
I think the Conservatives see a way back via Labour unpopularity, Farage and Reform imploding and Restore perhaps nicking a few votes from Farage and Tice.
Imagine 2029 as:
Conservatives 30% Labour 25% Reform 15% Liberal Democrats 15% Greens: 10%
Baxter those numbers and it's a Conservative majority of 24.
An interesting tweak of the latest Baxter model input is its much more desperate to give the Tories South Norfolk, Waveney Valley and Brecon They must have outperformed or the holders undrrperformed there in the latest data
Why would Mandelson go to the BVI in an attempt to avoid British justice ?
You’d surely need to go to a country without an extradition treaty with the UK .
Exactly. Ludicrous. When the self appointed establishment start behaving like that you wonder what kind iof state we live in. Like Kemi getting a colleague expelled. Equally loathesome
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
As do some others, in a different way
Trouble is that Kemi voted to make a bad system worse (Plan 2 is bad for graduates, Plan 5 is evil), and that her "solution" seems likely to make the same mistake.
I see that energy bills are coming down again from the next quarter by 7%, or an estimated £117, in cash terms from April, or 10% in real terms as we have 3% inflation.
That's the Government's Manifesto's £300 reduction in energy bills by 2030 pledge relative to 2023 more than met four years early, using the "typical household" number.
Minus another 20% or £400+ if we are talking in real terms, since inflation has done 20% since then.
What are the odds that the Govt talk about it in such sotto voce terms in such obscure places so rarely that no one notices, and the shouty Right just move on to the next item on their Whinge List (which TBF is their job)?
I have also just had a note from Octopus that the price for electricity units I export from my solar panels is dropping from 15.5p to 12.5p (which will cost me about £100 per annum).
Good morning
Same with us on our solar panels
The problem with saying energy bills are coming down is the consumers are not recognising it
Until they see it it will remain an issue
Yes - the energy bills are more in the nature of a permawhinge.
Even without the solar payments, my total energy bills are still substantially (about 25%) lower in cash terms than they were in 2013 when I moved in, never mind inflation.
And I still have to switch the central heating from a Gas Boiler to A2A heat pump.
Must be great down south , that is certainly not the case in Scotland , mine is at least double what it was some years ago.
very snide and sloppy of Kemi Badenoch to claim that Rachel Reeves worked “in customer services” at the Bank of England when she was in fact an economist there #pmqs
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
I think the Conservatives see a way back via Labour unpopularity, Farage and Reform imploding and Restore perhaps nicking a few votes from Farage and Tice.
Imagine 2029 as:
Conservatives 30% Labour 25% Reform 15% Liberal Democrats 15% Greens: 10%
Baxter those numbers and it's a Conservative majority of 24.
By 2029, I'd go more like:
Conservatives 32% Labour 24% Greens: 15% Liberal Democrats 13% Reform 11%
very snide and sloppy of Kemi Badenoch to claim that Rachel Reeves worked “in customer services” at the Bank of England when she was in fact an economist there #pmqs
very snide and sloppy of Kemi Badenoch to claim that Rachel Reeves worked “in customer services” at the Bank of England when she was in fact an economist there #pmqs
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
I think the Conservatives see a way back via Labour unpopularity, Farage and Reform imploding and Restore perhaps nicking a few votes from Farage and Tice.
Imagine 2029 as:
Conservatives 30% Labour 25% Reform 15% Liberal Democrats 15% Greens: 10%
Baxter those numbers and it's a Conservative majority of 24.
By 2029, I'd go more like:
Conservatives 32% Labour 24% Greens: 15% Liberal Democrats 13% Reform 11%
I think somethimg like
Con 26 Lab 26 Ref 19 Grn 10 LD 10 Restore 2 YP/Indies 2 Others 1 SNP 3 PC 1
Might be where we end up. With some chaotic results
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
Some polling evidence, or even better actual votes cast suggesting that they're back up somewhere close to the level of their worst electoral performance in history might help.
The Conservatives did more than anyone to make the student loans system a regressive as it is. But Badenoch is putting Starmer under pressure over it. She’s again making the running. And he has no real answer. They should have got ahead of it- grads a core part of Lab coalition.
Coming from Lewis Goodall Kemi will be very pleased
He answered her and some.
She's going om one miniscule measure.
He completely destroyed her by repeatedly listing far far greater improvements in cost of living
She then resorted to puerile abuse referring to paedophiles.
She isn't worthy to be labelled a bit of shit on your shoe
You are simply a nasty individual who seems to be triggered by Kemi
You are entitled to your opinion.
I call out lies, she is a liar.
I call out arrogance, she is arrogant.
I call out hypocrisy You are utterly hypocritical, you say and others say far worse about Labour politicicians.
It is the typical act of bullies that they can dish it out, but they can't take it.
There are a lot of very nasty comments made about Starmer, so wake ip and smell the coffee, you dish crap out, you might just get some back.
More relevant, and more obvious, is that you’re entirely shilling for Labour, and probably have some skin in the game. This site has plenty of party supporters, of varying degrees of commitment, but prefers analysis from as dispassionate a perspective as possible in the circumstances. Even our HY has managed to stand back a bit since his early days on the site.
Okay, to show the way, dispassionate top drawer analysis from me on this student loans business.
A Repayment cap ruled out by Kemi. Another stealth tax same as the one blighting the last Conservative government - as inflation lifts wages, it traps more into the tax threshold. Cutting the interest could work. But the politics is dangerous. I would argue find a pot of money to pay for it that is an unpopular pot of money - otherwise it’s a transfer from xx type of taxpayer to the students - just as Kemi framed it at PMQs “stealing this hard earned money to fund benefit street scroungers” it can be spun all ways. And the losers will moan. I would also advise the cutting interest rates policy to be selective on which student gain. Higher earners to gain nothing at all I advise, only middle to lower earners to gain from the scheme. And it must be a notable gain, other than 25p.
Politically the Conservatives want and need to broaden their vote from pensioners. However, if Kemi does come up with good workable policy, if it’s popular and warmly received - it doesn’t go into the next Conservative manifesto - the government will simply photocopy and implement it now. That’s advantage of government over the difficulties of opposition.
Martin Lewis telling politicians what to do again? The mess of not providing a problematic solution to this Martin Lewis has been getting into this himself. I don’t like him and his big mouth, largely because he is unaccountable, has no one to answer to when he is wrong, and with the expensive energy payments money hand outs to everyone scheme he pushed he was wrong, and there were superior ways of helping - Martin Lewis brought down a government nearly destroyed our country. I wouldn’t go near him with a barge pole - with him it all starts with angry incredulous voice “politicians must do something to help” and ends up with politicians doing something naff.
I see that energy bills are coming down again from the next quarter by 7%, or an estimated £117, in cash terms from April, or 10% in real terms as we have 3% inflation.
That's the Government's Manifesto's £300 reduction in energy bills by 2030 pledge relative to 2023 more than met four years early, using the "typical household" number.
Minus another 20% or £400+ if we are talking in real terms, since inflation has done 20% since then.
What are the odds that the Govt talk about it in such sotto voce terms in such obscure places so rarely that no one notices, and the shouty Right just move on to the next item on their Whinge List (which TBF is their job)?
I have also just had a note from Octopus that the price for electricity units I export from my solar panels is dropping from 15.5p to 12.5p (which will cost me about £100 per annum).
Good morning
Same with us on our solar panels
The problem with saying energy bills are coming down is the consumers are not recognising it
Until they see it it will remain an issue
Yes - the energy bills are more in the nature of a permawhinge.
Even without the solar payments, my total energy bills are still substantially (about 25%) lower in cash terms than they were in 2013 when I moved in, never mind inflation.
And I still have to switch the central heating from a Gas Boiler to A2A heat pump.
Must be great down south , that is certainly not the case in Scotland , mine is at least double what it was some years ago.
I'm not down South.
But I have reduced the amount of energy I use by more than half.
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
I think the Conservatives see a way back via Labour unpopularity, Farage and Reform imploding and Restore perhaps nicking a few votes from Farage and Tice.
Imagine 2029 as:
Conservatives 30% Labour 25% Reform 15% Liberal Democrats 15% Greens: 10%
Baxter those numbers and it's a Conservative majority of 24.
By 2029, I'd go more like:
Conservatives 32% Labour 24% Greens: 15% Liberal Democrats 13% Reform 11%
Only chance of that is if a one nation Tory like Cleverly or Mirdaunt is in charge.
I've heard Kemi will block any Tory Association offering Penny a seat.
Why would Mandelson go to the BVI in an attempt to avoid British justice ?
You’d surely need to go to a country without an extradition treaty with the UK .
Perhaps as a first step. Claim its a holiday. Then move.
Tax haven. Follow the money
I found it really funny that a man whose downfall in politics (several times) was because of a desperate need for money (well perhaps for a lifestyle beyond his means) claimed he was never motivated by money around Epstein.
I see that energy bills are coming down again from the next quarter by 7%, or an estimated £117, in cash terms from April, or 10% in real terms as we have 3% inflation.
That's the Government's Manifesto's £300 reduction in energy bills by 2030 pledge relative to 2023 more than met four years early, using the "typical household" number.
Minus another 20% or £400+ if we are talking in real terms, since inflation has done 20% since then.
What are the odds that the Govt talk about it in such sotto voce terms in such obscure places so rarely that no one notices, and the shouty Right just move on to the next item on their Whinge List (which TBF is their job)?
I have also just had a note from Octopus that the price for electricity units I export from my solar panels is dropping from 15.5p to 12.5p (which will cost me about £100 per annum).
Good morning
Same with us on our solar panels
The problem with saying energy bills are coming down is the consumers are not recognising it
Until they see it it will remain an issue
Yes - the energy bills are more in the nature of a permawhinge.
Even without the solar payments, my total energy bills are still substantially (about 25%) lower in cash terms than they were in 2013 when I moved in, never mind inflation.
And I still have to switch the central heating from a Gas Boiler to A2A heat pump.
Must be great down south , that is certainly not the case in Scotland , mine is at least double what it was some years ago.
I'm not down South.
But I have reduced the amount of energy I use by more than half.
very snide and sloppy of Kemi Badenoch to claim that Rachel Reeves worked “in customer services” at the Bank of England when she was in fact an economist there #pmqs
Have Labour tried attacking the Greens or just trying to pretend only they can stop Reform in Gorton and Denton?
I think, like with the Lib Dem’s, they’re friendly enemies.
They oppose Reform and the Tories more so my enemies enemy is my friend. They will learn a hard lesson.
Actually I've just found a piece that states Labour have been quite shocked at the Greens turning themselves into a hideous George Galloway/Respect tribute act.
James Frayne in Telegraph is pointing out how hard the Greens are going to find keeping their new found tribe together when it is increasingly a mix of very socially conservative muslim voters who want action on Gaza etc and the young corbyn lefty ultra progressives who want to talk about trans rights all day long.
The same mindset that sees Green supporters as late rising, lentil munching, chai drinking devotees of Tantric sex #fingeronthepulse
I can think of one subject over which they’ll find lots of common ground.
The same mix did seem to cause problems for Your Party.
While the lentil muncher is very much outdated, the Greens also have a large constituency of fairly conservative conservationists.
Holding together a broad coalition is a LOT more difficult these days, and surely even more so if you're a party that has 'purer' moral positions.
very snide and sloppy of Kemi Badenoch to claim that Rachel Reeves worked “in customer services” at the Bank of England when she was in fact an economist there #pmqs
I trust there are many posters balls deep on Tory largest Party at the next GE. The odds are enticing and their crystal balls are confounding the wisdom of crowds. And all polling.
I trust there are many posters balls deep on Tory largest Party at the next GE. The odds are enticing and their crystal balls are confounding the wisdom of crowds.
I dont bet more than pennies on individual consustencies
Why would Mandelson go to the BVI in an attempt to avoid British justice ?
You’d surely need to go to a country without an extradition treaty with the UK .
Perhaps as a first step. Claim its a holiday. Then move.
Tax haven. Follow the money
I found it really funny that a man whose downfall in politics (several times) was because of a desperate need for money (well perhaps for a lifestyle beyond his means) claimed he was never motivated by money around Epstein.
Also that a former prosecutor took somebody with a clear motivation to lie and a long record of being slippery and dishonest at his word.
Apparently the most gullible and incompetent prosecutor ever, and in classic public sector, failing upwards way, he ends up as Prime Minister, with a knighthood and with his own pension by Act of Parliament.
Even Yes Minister would reject that as too extreme for satire.
Ben Judah, former adviser to Lammy on the media round suggesting Chagos legislation should be put on ice. Strong rumours a parliamentary statement later today will do just that..... If so it would be, in normal times, a resigning matter for the PM
Why?
A PM unable to get an international treaty he has agreed through parliament when he has a landslide majority because that treaty is incompatible with an existing one and has strained the relationship with our foremost military ally and was giving away our sovereign territory. If thats not a resigning matter, nothing is
Looking at the technical side of your answer to Stodge.
All the Labour MPs and LibDems MPs are in favour of voting for it. Soon as it’s in the Commons it’s a slam dunk.
The Conservative delaying tactic in the Lords has failed.
And to rely so much on what Trump posts on Truth Social, just hours after his State Department rubber stamped it, is not the firm ground of US rejection its been bigged up to be.
The argument is done and dusted, ambitious Mauritius ARE in bed with US and India. The 99 year lease idea Mauritius offered US in 2019 before UK even knew about it!
Did everyone notice Mauritius leader gave Trump authority to bomb Iran from Chagos, and urged him to get on with Iran Regime Change? Cheeky doesn’t even cover it. Once Chagos deal goes through commons in May, it’s hard to know what UK role in Chagos is going forward, I confidently predict Mauritius will completely ignore and by pass UK and go straight to US and India for sucking up and orders, whilst gorging on the billions we are giving them! How can I be so sure? It’s what they’ve already been doing!
Do we know what Mauritius is like as a holiday destination, do we need to send our man from Knappers Gazette?
I would suggest you look at who is opposing it in the Lords
Lord Callanan - conservative
Lord West - crossbench - labour peer
Lord Purvis - liberal
The reason this is being withdrawn is cross party support in the HOL against the deal
It will not be coming back anytime soon due to cross party opposition
Also speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, reported Mandelson's flight risk to the police
“ The reason this is being withdrawn is cross party support in the HOL against the deal It will not be coming back anytime soon due to cross party opposition”
Are you agreeing with Wooly Labour have abandoned the Chagos agreement?
On what evidence? The Lords can’t stop or even delay it any more, now fact proven it’s legal under international law (those once arguing ignore international where you want to, tried to use international law to block it). And in the HoC Lab+LibDem it sails through on ginormous majority.
It has a cut off point of 21st May when Chagos deal legislation dies, as in end of term lost bills. Labour won’t push it before the votes in May out the way, after that it sails through Parliament - I can even give you the exact minute it passes Parliament, to measure my analysis by, Chagos deal passes through the commons at 19:21 on May 19th 2026.
It’s all because, just as Wooly pointed out in this thread, it’s absolute humiliation for Labour government if the Chagos bill dies on Thursday May 21st - and a massive triumph for Kemi’s front bench. On top of that a hugely angry India, Mauritius and US beyond Trumps fickle transactional mind not amazingly pleased too, so a huge diplomatic mess. Those are the two reasons why it’s certain to pass Parliament in May.
Let me be clear I do not like Farage at all, but in his urgent question just now he has claimed that Maldives has a greater claim and will be submitting their claim to international court in the next few days
As far as the Commons is concerned it has to get through the Lords where it has stalled
It’s got nothing to do with international courts annd their rulings. India want Mauritius to have it, and US have warmed to the idea over the last 7 years. That’s the only driver to tackle if anyone wants to stop this. 🤷♀️
My latest paper, for @the_tpa, on how local government is being bankrupted by Westminster's increasingly Enron-like efforts to keep parts of the welfare state off the books, was published this weekend.
"Local government has become a mechanism through which central government has sought to manage welfare spending pressures while avoiding direct fiscal accountability."
very snide and sloppy of Kemi Badenoch to claim that Rachel Reeves worked “in customer services” at the Bank of England when she was in fact an economist there #pmqs
I don’t think people calling for Hoyle to resign are going to get much traction given that this relates, of course, to that fine upstanding fellow Lord Mandelson, who I would also point out, is not a member of the Commons.
Have Labour tried attacking the Greens or just trying to pretend only they can stop Reform in Gorton and Denton?
I think, like with the Lib Dem’s, they’re friendly enemies.
They oppose Reform and the Tories more so my enemies enemy is my friend. They will learn a hard lesson.
Actually I've just found a piece that states Labour have been quite shocked at the Greens turning themselves into a hideous George Galloway/Respect tribute act.
James Frayne in Telegraph is pointing out how hard the Greens are going to find keeping their new found tribe together when it is increasingly a mix of very socially conservative muslim voters who want action on Gaza etc and the young corbyn lefty ultra progressives who want to talk about trans rights all day long.
The same mindset that sees Green supporters as late rising, lentil munching, chai drinking devotees of Tantric sex #fingeronthepulse
I can think of one subject over which they’ll find lots of common ground.
The same mix did seem to cause problems for Your Party.
While the lentil muncher is very much outdated, the Greens also have a large constituency of fairly conservative conservationists.
Holding together a broad coalition is a LOT more difficult these days, and surely even more so if you're a party that has 'purer' moral positions.
I think the main problem Your Party faced/faces is Zarah Sultana's toxicity combined with Jeremy Corbyn's dithering.
Time for the Speaker to resign? Pretty bloody disgraceful I'd say and shows up the establishment to be close on corrupt.. What a loathsome creature Hoyle is.
Why
He's become as bad as Bercow.
Some very good deputys in place and a Speaker who seems to think he had to be biased to be unbiased is not good.
I see that energy bills are coming down again from the next quarter by 7%, or an estimated £117, in cash terms from April, or 10% in real terms as we have 3% inflation.
That's the Government's Manifesto's £300 reduction in energy bills by 2030 pledge relative to 2023 more than met four years early, using the "typical household" number.
Minus another 20% or £400+ if we are talking in real terms, since inflation has done 20% since then.
What are the odds that the Govt talk about it in such sotto voce terms in such obscure places so rarely that no one notices, and the shouty Right just move on to the next item on their Whinge List (which TBF is their job)?
I have also just had a note from Octopus that the price for electricity units I export from my solar panels is dropping from 15.5p to 12.5p (which will cost me about £100 per annum).
Good morning
Same with us on our solar panels
The problem with saying energy bills are coming down is the consumers are not recognising it
Until they see it it will remain an issue
Yes - the energy bills are more in the nature of a permawhinge.
Even without the solar payments, my total energy bills are still substantially (about 25%) lower in cash terms than they were in 2013 when I moved in, never mind inflation.
And I still have to switch the central heating from a Gas Boiler to A2A heat pump.
Must be great down south , that is certainly not the case in Scotland , mine is at least double what it was some years ago.
I'm not down South.
But I have reduced the amount of energy I use by more than half.
You’re south of Ayrshire.
Ayrshire is in the far North.
We are called The Midlands, which by definition is the centre of everything.
Have Labour tried attacking the Greens or just trying to pretend only they can stop Reform in Gorton and Denton?
I think, like with the Lib Dem’s, they’re friendly enemies.
They oppose Reform and the Tories more so my enemies enemy is my friend. They will learn a hard lesson.
Actually I've just found a piece that states Labour have been quite shocked at the Greens turning themselves into a hideous George Galloway/Respect tribute act.
James Frayne in Telegraph is pointing out how hard the Greens are going to find keeping their new found tribe together when it is increasingly a mix of very socially conservative muslim voters who want action on Gaza etc and the young corbyn lefty ultra progressives who want to talk about trans rights all day long.
The same mindset that sees Green supporters as late rising, lentil munching, chai drinking devotees of Tantric sex #fingeronthepulse
I can think of one subject over which they’ll find lots of common ground.
The same mix did seem to cause problems for Your Party.
While the lentil muncher is very much outdated, the Greens also have a large constituency of fairly conservative conservationists.
Holding together a broad coalition is a LOT more difficult these days, and surely even more so if you're a party that has 'purer' moral positions.
I think the main problem Your Party faced/faces is Zarah Sultana's toxicity combined with Jeremy Corbyn's dithering.
Zarah Sultana is one of those politicians (of which there are some in every party) who very much thinks that her influence and political talents are far greater than they actually are.
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
Im considering rejoining the party for the first time since 2010 (as a member) so i'm probably as herd adjacent as ive been in a long time
Looking at the YouGov data tables, there has been some reversal in the move of 2024 Conservative voters to Reform but it's still just over a quarter. The Conservatives are retaining 63% of their 2024 vote and have picked up tiny amounts from other parties.
The move from Conservative to Reform is matched by the 20% of 2024 Labour voters who have gone to the Greens (and exceeded numerically).
The YouGov sub sample (go on, I don't care) for England has Reform on 24%, Conservative 20%, Labour 19%, Green 19% and LD 15%.
That's Reform +9, Conservative -6, Labour -15, Green +12 and LD +2 which isn't a huge surprise.
Looking ahead to May and you'd not be surprised by the thought both Conservatives and Labour are going to take a beating from the voters - Labour have much more to lose as they are defending 2,196 or more than 40% of the seats being contested while the Conservatives are defending 1,134 (more than 20%).
I'd throw out 500 Labour losses and 250 Conservative losses as a first thought.
My latest paper, for @the_tpa, on how local government is being bankrupted by Westminster's increasingly Enron-like efforts to keep parts of the welfare state off the books, was published this weekend.
"Local government has become a mechanism through which central government has sought to manage welfare spending pressures while avoiding direct fiscal accountability."
(Interesting - and short - read thank you)
People who insist that Britain is not broken tend to ignore things like this. The passing of statutory duties to local authorities without the funding to perform them is killing local authorities. The government, of whatever stripe, just keep adding regulations, complications and benefits far past the point they can be funded and borrowing more and more to do it.
This is one of my reasons for deprecating Starmer: his inner belief that all that is needed is to follow the law and be nice and ignore broken Britain just doesn't work in the 2020s. I'm growing increasingly disaffected with Labourites who think for partisan reasons that he should continue to be PM. At some level they must know he's not up to the job.
My latest paper, for @the_tpa, on how local government is being bankrupted by Westminster's increasingly Enron-like efforts to keep parts of the welfare state off the books, was published this weekend.
"Local government has become a mechanism through which central government has sought to manage welfare spending pressures while avoiding direct fiscal accountability."
Why would Mandelson go to the BVI in an attempt to avoid British justice ?
You’d surely need to go to a country without an extradition treaty with the UK .
Perhaps as a first step. Claim its a holiday. Then move.
Tax haven. Follow the money
I found it really funny that a man whose downfall in politics (several times) was because of a desperate need for money (well perhaps for a lifestyle beyond his means) claimed he was never motivated by money around Epstein.
Also that a former prosecutor took somebody with a clear motivation to lie and a long record of being slippery and dishonest at his word.
Apparently the most gullible and incompetent prosecutor ever, and in classic public sector, failing upwards way, he ends up as Prime Minister, with a knighthood and with his own pension by Act of Parliament.
Even Yes Minister would reject that as too extreme for satire.
Yet somehow nothing contentious ever crossed his desk, whether it was Jimmy Savile or yesterday’s admission on Phil Shiner.
My latest paper, for @the_tpa, on how local government is being bankrupted by Westminster's increasingly Enron-like efforts to keep parts of the welfare state off the books, was published this weekend.
"Local government has become a mechanism through which central government has sought to manage welfare spending pressures while avoiding direct fiscal accountability."
Is that convincing when SEND, which is Henry Hill's primary example of "Welfare" expenditure being made by local authorities, is just been transferred to the Central Government books (AIUI)?
But then it is the TPA, so credibility is a little bit optional.
(I agree that an ever higher of local Govt expenditure being Statutory is an issue, but half of the answer to that is probably to have not cut resources to local authorities by about 1/3 in real terms since 2010-11.)
Doesn't smell right. Unless the collective view is vote SNP to stop Reform. But that being the case would Reform win 25 list seats?
Vote SNP to stop Reform didn't reduce the number of Reform votes, which is what delivers them list seats - and even more list seats the more perks vote SNP on the lists where those votes are wasted of the SNP sweep the constituencies.
The voting system in Scotland really is a pretty awful Frankenstein mess of a voting system.
Still, it doesn't deliver a 'landslide' majority on 34% of the vote.
I'd choose it every time over FPTP, but I aspire to better.
The Trump administration has formally warned Ukraine not to strike targets within Russia that could hit US economic interests, according to Kyiv’s ambassador to Washington @StefanishynaO.
Trump seems to believe that he is due a cut of all oil revenue generated globally, and I guess it's useful for Putin to encourage that belief in relation to post-war Russian oil revenue.
Every day there seems to be new grounds to impeach Trump and remove him from office for betraying his country.
I see that energy bills are coming down again from the next quarter by 7%, or an estimated £117, in cash terms from April, or 10% in real terms as we have 3% inflation.
That's the Government's Manifesto's £300 reduction in energy bills by 2030 pledge relative to 2023 more than met four years early, using the "typical household" number.
Minus another 20% or £400+ if we are talking in real terms, since inflation has done 20% since then.
What are the odds that the Govt talk about it in such sotto voce terms in such obscure places so rarely that no one notices, and the shouty Right just move on to the next item on their Whinge List (which TBF is their job)?
I have also just had a note from Octopus that the price for electricity units I export from my solar panels is dropping from 15.5p to 12.5p (which will cost me about £100 per annum).
Good morning
Same with us on our solar panels
The problem with saying energy bills are coming down is the consumers are not recognising it
Until they see it it will remain an issue
Yes - the energy bills are more in the nature of a permawhinge.
Even without the solar payments, my total energy bills are still substantially (about 25%) lower in cash terms than they were in 2013 when I moved in, never mind inflation.
And I still have to switch the central heating from a Gas Boiler to A2A heat pump.
Must be great down south , that is certainly not the case in Scotland , mine is at least double what it was some years ago.
I'm not down South.
But I have reduced the amount of energy I use by more than half.
You’re south of Ayrshire.
Ayrshire is in the far North.
We are called The Midlands, which by definition is the centre of everything.
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
Im considering rejoining the party for the first time since 2010 (as a member) so i'm probably as herd adjacent as ive been in a long time
Looking at the YouGov data tables, there has been some reversal in the move of 2024 Conservative voters to Reform but it's still just over a quarter. The Conservatives are retaining 63% of their 2024 vote and have picked up tiny amounts from other parties.
The move from Conservative to Reform is matched by the 20% of 2024 Labour voters who have gone to the Greens (and exceeded numerically).
The YouGov sub sample (go on, I don't care) for England has Reform on 24%, Conservative 20%, Labour 19%, Green 19% and LD 15%.
That's Reform +9, Conservative -6, Labour -15, Green +12 and LD +2 which isn't a huge surprise.
Looking ahead to May and you'd not be surprised by the thought both Conservatives and Labour are going to take a beating from the voters - Labour have much more to lose as they are defending 2,196 or more than 40% of the seats being contested while the Conservatives are defending 1,134 (more than 20%).
I'd throw out 500 Labour losses and 250 Conservative losses as a first thought.
I suspect you're being too kind to them both for May
1000 plus Lab losses and 500 Tory with the latter ameliorated by some gains from Labour in parts London and England elsewhere for a net minus 400 perhaps?
NEV of 24 20 19 19 15 would make the counties very interesting
I see that energy bills are coming down again from the next quarter by 7%, or an estimated £117, in cash terms from April, or 10% in real terms as we have 3% inflation.
That's the Government's Manifesto's £300 reduction in energy bills by 2030 pledge relative to 2023 more than met four years early, using the "typical household" number.
Minus another 20% or £400+ if we are talking in real terms, since inflation has done 20% since then.
What are the odds that the Govt talk about it in such sotto voce terms in such obscure places so rarely that no one notices, and the shouty Right just move on to the next item on their Whinge List (which TBF is their job)?
I have also just had a note from Octopus that the price for electricity units I export from my solar panels is dropping from 15.5p to 12.5p (which will cost me about £100 per annum).
Good morning
Same with us on our solar panels
The problem with saying energy bills are coming down is the consumers are not recognising it
Until they see it it will remain an issue
Yes - the energy bills are more in the nature of a permawhinge.
Even without the solar payments, my total energy bills are still substantially (about 25%) lower in cash terms than they were in 2013 when I moved in, never mind inflation.
And I still have to switch the central heating from a Gas Boiler to A2A heat pump.
Must be great down south , that is certainly not the case in Scotland , mine is at least double what it was some years ago.
I'm not down South.
But I have reduced the amount of energy I use by more than half.
You’re south of Ayrshire.
Ayrshire is in the far North.
We are called The Midlands, which by definition is the centre of everything.
(Clachan is one of about 3 places on Raasay with populations greater than four).
Having grown up in Solihull, with Meriden just round the corner, I’m fully aware of what makes the Midlands. 👍
Good.
But do you support the armed re-annexation of the bits of Derbyshire stolen by Yorkshire, which is necessary to be truly respectable?
This will involve making @TSE a POW or Refugee, and letting someone have his house who says things like "Is thou in good spirit, today?" and "Where's mi Bakewell Pudding?".
very snide and sloppy of Kemi Badenoch to claim that Rachel Reeves worked “in customer services” at the Bank of England when she was in fact an economist there #pmqs
There is much there to agree with. But, sadly, there is also much that she has not delivered on in office. To suggest that she "lectured at Harvard" because she was some sort of recognised international economist is frankly nonsense.
I don't know whether we should read too much into it but it's interesting to see the Tory 'Herd' make a comeback. It's been building for a few weeks now. Big G is the most obvious followed by Taz. Moon Rabbit too though I sense she could turn into a fifth columnist at the slightest flick of Kemi's eyelash. Quite what LuckyGuy thinks he's doing taking PMQ's off is something I can\'t understand though Wooiedyed is proving an able stand in.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
Im considering rejoining the party for the first time since 2010 (as a member) so i'm probably as herd adjacent as ive been in a long time
Looking at the YouGov data tables, there has been some reversal in the move of 2024 Conservative voters to Reform but it's still just over a quarter. The Conservatives are retaining 63% of their 2024 vote and have picked up tiny amounts from other parties.
The move from Conservative to Reform is matched by the 20% of 2024 Labour voters who have gone to the Greens (and exceeded numerically).
The YouGov sub sample (go on, I don't care) for England has Reform on 24%, Conservative 20%, Labour 19%, Green 19% and LD 15%.
That's Reform +9, Conservative -6, Labour -15, Green +12 and LD +2 which isn't a huge surprise.
Looking ahead to May and you'd not be surprised by the thought both Conservatives and Labour are going to take a beating from the voters - Labour have much more to lose as they are defending 2,196 or more than 40% of the seats being contested while the Conservatives are defending 1,134 (more than 20%).
I'd throw out 500 Labour losses and 250 Conservative losses as a first thought.
The problem for the Tories is that they are still leaking even voters who voted for them in 2024. Yet Kemi is not picking up swing voters who voted Labour or LD in 2024 having voted Conservative in 2019 and now lean Reform or LD with a few still backing Labour and who she needs to compensate if she cannot win back all the 2024 Tories now backing Reform.
Cleverly might have a bit more appeal to those swing voters so Kemi needs to ensure a second place for the Tories ahead of Labour in May to secure her position
My latest paper, for @the_tpa, on how local government is being bankrupted by Westminster's increasingly Enron-like efforts to keep parts of the welfare state off the books, was published this weekend.
"Local government has become a mechanism through which central government has sought to manage welfare spending pressures while avoiding direct fiscal accountability."
(Interesting - and short - read thank you)
People who insist that Britain is not broken tend to ignore things like this. The passing of statutory duties to local authorities without the funding to perform them is killing local authorities. The government, of whatever stripe, just keep adding regulations, complications and benefits far past the point they can be funded and borrowing more and more to do it.
This is one of my reasons for deprecating Starmer: his inner belief that all that is needed is to follow the law and be nice and ignore broken Britain just doesn't work in the 2020s. I'm growing increasingly disaffected with Labourites who think for partisan reasons that he should continue to be PM. At some level they must know he's not up to the job.
This didn't start with Starmer - the transfer of Public Health information responsibility from the NHS to local councils under the Coalition was done without any concomitant transfer of resources so it wasn't just taking on the function, it was taking on the staff carrying out the function and having to accommodate them.
Compared to what has happened with spending on vulnerable adults and children, SEN and housing, that was small potatoes but nonetheless indicative of what decentralisation actually means in practice - a straight transfer of accountability and responsibility without any resources.
Successive Governments have and continue to duck adult social care but there's also the care of vulnerable children, children with conditions which not so long ago would have meant a slow and agonising death but now mean a slow and agonising life with round the clock care.
Nor, in all this, do we talk much about Carers - not those who work in residential homes for the elderly or residential homes for children or care for those with mental and physical disabilties but unpaid family carers - individuals who have foregone their life and career prospects to care not only for older relatives but younger ones too because that's what you do - you take care of your own.
I'm ambivalent toward a National Care Service - it COULD work if it were set up properly and adequately funded and covered all aspects of care.
As to the housing issue, building brand new flats in Barking and Ilford which none of the people on the housing list can ever hope to afford can't be the answer. We need to stop building dwellings to make profits for property developers - we need housing as it used to be, a public provision so we can get the poorest into decent accommodation and out of the ravages of the poorly-regulated private rented sector.
My latest paper, for @the_tpa, on how local government is being bankrupted by Westminster's increasingly Enron-like efforts to keep parts of the welfare state off the books, was published this weekend.
"Local government has become a mechanism through which central government has sought to manage welfare spending pressures while avoiding direct fiscal accountability."
(Interesting - and short - read thank you)
People who insist that Britain is not broken tend to ignore things like this. The passing of statutory duties to local authorities without the funding to perform them is killing local authorities. The government, of whatever stripe, just keep adding regulations, complications and benefits far past the point they can be funded and borrowing more and more to do it.
This is one of my reasons for deprecating Starmer: his inner belief that all that is needed is to follow the law and be nice and ignore broken Britain just doesn't work in the 2020s. I'm growing increasingly disaffected with Labourites who think for partisan reasons that he should continue to be PM. At some level they must know he's not up to the job.
This didn't start with Starmer - the transfer of Public Health information responsibility from the NHS to local councils under the Coalition was done without any concomitant transfer of resources so it wasn't just taking on the function, it was taking on the staff carrying out the function and having to accommodate them.
Compared to what has happened with spending on vulnerable adults and children, SEN and housing, that was small potatoes but nonetheless indicative of what decentralisation actually means in practice - a straight transfer of accountability and responsibility without any resources.
Successive Governments have and continue to duck adult social care but there's also the care of vulnerable children, children with conditions which not so long ago would have meant a slow and agonising death but now mean a slow and agonising life with round the clock care.
Nor, in all this, do we talk much about Carers - not those who work in residential homes for the elderly or residential homes for children or care for those with mental and physical disabilties but unpaid family carers - individuals who have foregone their life and career prospects to care not only for older relatives but younger ones too because that's what you do - you take care of your own.
I'm ambivalent toward a National Care Service - it COULD work if it were set up properly and adequately funded and covered all aspects of care.
As to the housing issue, building brand new flats in Barking and Ilford which none of the people on the housing list can ever hope to afford can't be the answer. We need to stop building dwellings to make profits for property developers - we need housing as it used to be, a public provision so we can get the poorest into decent accommodation and out of the ravages of the poorly-regulated private rented sector.
In London would such developments not have a 50% affordable / social quota (approximately)?
My latest paper, for @the_tpa, on how local government is being bankrupted by Westminster's increasingly Enron-like efforts to keep parts of the welfare state off the books, was published this weekend.
"Local government has become a mechanism through which central government has sought to manage welfare spending pressures while avoiding direct fiscal accountability."
(Interesting - and short - read thank you)
People who insist that Britain is not broken tend to ignore things like this. The passing of statutory duties to local authorities without the funding to perform them is killing local authorities. The government, of whatever stripe, just keep adding regulations, complications and benefits far past the point they can be funded and borrowing more and more to do it.
This is one of my reasons for deprecating Starmer: his inner belief that all that is needed is to follow the law and be nice and ignore broken Britain just doesn't work in the 2020s. I'm growing increasingly disaffected with Labourites who think for partisan reasons that he should continue to be PM. At some level they must know he's not up to the job.
This didn't start with Starmer - the transfer of Public Health information responsibility from the NHS to local councils under the Coalition was done without any concomitant transfer of resources so it wasn't just taking on the function, it was taking on the staff carrying out the function and having to accommodate them.
Compared to what has happened with spending on vulnerable adults and children, SEN and housing, that was small potatoes but nonetheless indicative of what decentralisation actually means in practice - a straight transfer of accountability and responsibility without any resources.
Successive Governments have and continue to duck adult social care but there's also the care of vulnerable children, children with conditions which not so long ago would have meant a slow and agonising death but now mean a slow and agonising life with round the clock care.
Nor, in all this, do we talk much about Carers - not those who work in residential homes for the elderly or residential homes for children or care for those with mental and physical disabilties but unpaid family carers - individuals who have foregone their life and career prospects to care not only for older relatives but younger ones too because that's what you do - you take care of your own.
I'm ambivalent toward a National Care Service - it COULD work if it were set up properly and adequately funded and covered all aspects of care.
As to the housing issue, building brand new flats in Barking and Ilford which none of the people on the housing list can ever hope to afford can't be the answer. We need to stop building dwellings to make profits for property developers - we need housing as it used to be, a public provision so we can get the poorest into decent accommodation and out of the ravages of the poorly-regulated private rented sector.
Comments
I call out lies, she is a liar.
I call out arrogance, she is arrogant.
I call out hypocrisy
You are utterly hypocritical, you say and others say far worse about Labour politicicians.
It is the typical act of bullies that they can dish it out, but they can't take it.
There are a lot of very nasty comments made about Starmer, so wake ip and smell the coffee, you dish crap out, you might just get some back.
There will be justified criticism - you can ask about her record in the previous Conservative administrations. You can ask questions about the policy ideas and how they will be funded and you can legitimately ask about the relationship between the Conservatives and Reform.
I can think of one subject over which they’ll find lots of common ground.
It was his last sentence that was unnecessary
But if you destroy the coral habitat and/or sweep away the debris after a storm to keep the roads or runways clear...there's no adaptation at all.
It will be the same with our own coastline. Just building walls doesn't work. Does anyone do warping any more?
It will not be coming back anytime soon due to cross party opposition”
Are you agreeing with Wooly Labour have abandoned the Chagos agreement?
On what evidence? The Lords can’t stop or even delay it any more, now fact proven it’s legal under international law (those once arguing ignore international where you want to, tried to use international law to block it). And in the HoC Lab+LibDem it sails through on ginormous majority.
It has a cut off point of 21st May when Chagos deal legislation dies, as in end of term lost bills. Labour won’t push it before the votes in May out the way, after that it sails through Parliament - I can even give you the exact minute it passes Parliament, to measure my analysis by, Chagos deal passes through the commons at 19:21 on May 19th 2026.
It’s all because, just as Wooly pointed out in this thread, it’s absolute humiliation for Labour government if the Chagos bill dies on Thursday May 21st - and a massive triumph for Kemi’s front bench. On top of that a hugely angry India, Mauritius and US beyond Trumps fickle transactional mind not amazingly pleased too, so a huge diplomatic mess. Those are the two reasons why it’s certain to pass Parliament in May.
None of it mentioned or hinted at by the LotO,
The starting point is all Cabinet Ministers, is it not - for life.
A bit rich for someone who claims to have had a University offer from the US when the relavant place has no record of it.
A bit rich when the former Governor of the Bank of England now Canadian PM and Harvard Business School call her a foremost global economist.
Kemi Badenoch did not mis speak
She read from a script a pre prepared script a bare faced lie.
She should be dragged back to apologise.
They get the younger vote with the former and the older vote with the latter. I suspect IF the NIP win, there will be a big clearout of senior officers.
The Greens are entrenched in Stratford and have some possibilities in other areas with lower Muslim populations but I can't see how a coalition with the NIP works except it gets Labour out.
Sad reality is that (a) many of them will turn to Reform out of desperation and (b) Reform will leave them to rot anyway
Essentially the "Green" brand has been hi-jacked by a strange combination of students, tankies, and Gaza supporters. At some point the middle-class RSPB supporters who sent them to Westminster from deepest Herefordshire and Suffolk will wake up to this.
Time to remove the R.I.P from Kemi's Tories perhaps?
Meanwhile, the Trump admin has barely said anything about Russia’s many more strikes on US businesses in Ukraine.
https://x.com/ChristopherJM/status/2026411433404031009
What US interests ?
As far as the Commons is concerned it has to get through the Lords where it has stalled
An obscure part of student loan system that Tory Government implemented and destroyed and abuse.
It's far less aggressive than threatening to shoot someone
I’m sandwiched between the two, it’s not any better now.
Imagine 2029 as:
Conservatives 30%
Labour 25%
Reform 15%
Liberal Democrats 15%
Greens: 10%
Baxter those numbers and it's a Conservative majority of 24.
Farage's position aiui is preservation of the base, which means that said person would not be allowed to resettle.
As usual, Farage is a cynical flim-flam man.
You’d surely need to go to a country without an extradition treaty with the UK .
They must have outperformed or the holders undrrperformed there in the latest data
Posted for interest only, not predictively
Trouble is that Kemi voted to make a bad system worse (Plan 2 is bad for graduates, Plan 5 is evil), and that her "solution" seems likely to make the same mistake.
Still, positive headlines, eh?
Conservatives 32%
Labour 24%
Greens: 15%
Liberal Democrats 13%
Reform 11%
Can we not improve on that number ?
WIll that do?
Ring Harvard Business School where she lectured
Both regard her as a globally recognised ecomomist
Con 26
Lab 26
Ref 19
Grn 10
LD 10
Restore 2
YP/Indies 2
Others 1
SNP 3
PC 1
Might be where we end up. With some chaotic results
Blair ahead of the game? "I knew he was a wrong 'un..."
Perhaps BVI is a short ferry ride away from the US Virigin Islands, where Mandy could prevail upon his chum Trump not to send him back?
However the validity of the story fails totally on this point.
Speaker Hoyle really is way way past his sell by date.
A Repayment cap ruled out by Kemi. Another stealth tax same as the one blighting the last Conservative government - as inflation lifts wages, it traps more into the tax threshold. Cutting the interest could work. But the politics is dangerous. I would argue find a pot of money to pay for it that is an unpopular pot of money - otherwise it’s a transfer from xx type of taxpayer to the students - just as Kemi framed it at PMQs “stealing this hard earned money to fund benefit street scroungers” it can be spun all ways. And the losers will moan.
I would also advise the cutting interest rates policy to be selective on which student gain. Higher earners to gain nothing at all I advise, only middle to lower earners to gain from the scheme. And it must be a notable gain, other than 25p.
Politically the Conservatives want and need to broaden their vote from pensioners. However, if Kemi does come up with good workable policy, if it’s popular and warmly received - it doesn’t go into the next Conservative manifesto - the government will simply photocopy and implement it now. That’s advantage of government over the difficulties of opposition.
Martin Lewis telling politicians what to do again? The mess of not providing a problematic solution to this Martin Lewis has been getting into this himself. I don’t like him and his big mouth, largely because he is unaccountable, has no one to answer to when he is wrong, and with the expensive energy payments money hand outs to everyone scheme he pushed he was wrong, and there were superior ways of helping - Martin Lewis brought down a government nearly destroyed our country. I wouldn’t go near him with a barge pole - with him it all starts with angry incredulous voice “politicians must do something to help” and ends up with politicians doing something naff.
But I have reduced the amount of energy I use by more than half.
I've heard Kemi will block any Tory Association offering Penny a seat.
While the lentil muncher is very much outdated, the Greens also have a large constituency of fairly conservative conservationists.
Holding together a broad coalition is a LOT more difficult these days, and surely even more so if you're a party that has 'purer' moral positions.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-22-et-bates22-story.html
The odds are enticing and their crystal balls are confounding the wisdom of crowds.
And all polling.
Apparently the most gullible and incompetent prosecutor ever, and in classic public sector, failing upwards way, he ends up as Prime Minister, with a knighthood and with his own pension by Act of Parliament.
Even Yes Minister would reject that as too extreme for satire.
https://x.com/HCH_Hill/status/2026384693562605629
My latest paper, for @the_tpa, on how local government is being bankrupted by Westminster's increasingly Enron-like efforts to keep parts of the welfare state off the books, was published this weekend.
"Local government has become a mechanism through which central government has sought to manage welfare spending pressures while avoiding direct fiscal accountability."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isARpnKGnhY
Some very good deputys in place and a Speaker who seems to think he had to be biased to be unbiased is not good.
Time for some fresh blood.
Tory turn surely.
We are called The Midlands, which by definition is the centre of everything.
Unless you are in eg Raasay, with the roadsigns saying "The North".
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UcW9cWkhzF8TmjgPA
(Clachan is one of about 3 places on Raasay with populations greater than four).
Whatever your politics, whatever your bias, a truly inspirational man
Respect to him
The move from Conservative to Reform is matched by the 20% of 2024 Labour voters who have gone to the Greens (and exceeded numerically).
The YouGov sub sample (go on, I don't care) for England has Reform on 24%, Conservative 20%, Labour 19%, Green 19% and LD 15%.
That's Reform +9, Conservative -6, Labour -15, Green +12 and LD +2 which isn't a huge surprise.
Looking ahead to May and you'd not be surprised by the thought both Conservatives and Labour are going to take a beating from the voters - Labour have much more to lose as they are defending 2,196 or more than 40% of the seats being contested while the Conservatives are defending 1,134 (more than 20%).
I'd throw out 500 Labour losses and 250 Conservative losses as a first thought.
People who insist that Britain is not broken tend to ignore things like this. The passing of statutory duties to local authorities without the funding to perform them is killing local authorities. The government, of whatever stripe, just keep adding regulations, complications and benefits far past the point they can be funded and borrowing more and more to do it.
This is one of my reasons for deprecating Starmer: his inner belief that all that is needed is to follow the law and be nice and ignore broken Britain just doesn't work in the 2020s. I'm growing increasingly disaffected with Labourites who think for partisan reasons that he should continue to be PM. At some level they must know he's not up to the job.
https://taxpayersalliance.com/content/files/2026/02/The-statutory-spending-straitjacket.pdf
But then it is the TPA, so credibility is a little bit optional.
(I agree that an ever higher of local Govt expenditure being Statutory is an issue, but half of the answer to that is probably to have not cut resources to local authorities by about 1/3 in real terms since 2010-11.)
shake it all about.
You do the hockey cokey
and you turn around,
that's what it's all about!
Every day there seems to be new grounds to impeach Trump and remove him from office for betraying his country.
1000 plus Lab losses and 500 Tory with the latter ameliorated by some gains from Labour in parts London and England elsewhere for a net minus 400 perhaps?
NEV of 24 20 19 19 15 would make the counties very interesting
But do you support the armed re-annexation of the bits of Derbyshire stolen by Yorkshire, which is necessary to be truly respectable?
This will involve making @TSE a POW or Refugee, and letting someone have his house who says things like "Is thou in good spirit, today?" and "Where's mi Bakewell Pudding?".
NEW THREAD
It wasn't the worst speech: https://labour.org.uk/updates/press-releases/rachel-reeves-mais-lecture/
There is much there to agree with. But, sadly, there is also much that she has not delivered on in office. To suggest that she "lectured at Harvard" because she was some sort of recognised international economist is frankly nonsense.
Cleverly might have a bit more appeal to those swing voters so Kemi needs to ensure a second place for the Tories ahead of Labour in May to secure her position
Compared to what has happened with spending on vulnerable adults and children, SEN and housing, that was small potatoes but nonetheless indicative of what decentralisation actually means in practice - a straight transfer of accountability and responsibility without any resources.
Successive Governments have and continue to duck adult social care but there's also the care of vulnerable children, children with conditions which not so long ago would have meant a slow and agonising death but now mean a slow and agonising life with round the clock care.
Nor, in all this, do we talk much about Carers - not those who work in residential homes for the elderly or residential homes for children or care for those with mental and physical disabilties but unpaid family carers - individuals who have foregone their life and career prospects to care not only for older relatives but younger ones too because that's what you do - you take care of your own.
I'm ambivalent toward a National Care Service - it COULD work if it were set up properly and adequately funded and covered all aspects of care.
As to the housing issue, building brand new flats in Barking and Ilford which none of the people on the housing list can ever hope to afford can't be the answer. We need to stop building dwellings to make profits for property developers - we need housing as it used to be, a public provision so we can get the poorest into decent accommodation and out of the ravages of the poorly-regulated private rented sector.
The Tories fucked it up.
We are Tories we ate beyond criticising
We never apologise
We only had 14 years
We entitled
Labour have had 2 years.
They haven't sorted it.
It's all the fault of Starmer
Tory play book
Always has been
Always will be
The arrogance of the entitled.