The Government is working on plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Brits from the Middle East More than 76,000 Brits have registered their location and contact details with the Foreign Office
UAE British population is estimated at 250k.
If anyone does know people in the Gulf who are affected by the situation here, please make sure they register themselves with the British embassy. It might help with getting on flights when they do reopen.
I'm starting to think Trump has played a blinder here:
Zapped a few high-profile baddies. Kept MAGA happy by avoiding a Lefty invasion-of-Iraq situation. Tested some hardware. Reconstructed the news cycle on after several weeks of non-optimal headlines.
Every single expert as far as I know thinks the operation will be counterproductive to those strategic aims. But maybe Trump doesn't care. He has shown scant interest in what's good for America so far. He'll be gone by the time the massive bills he's racking up need to be paid. So what about the short term partisan advantages you suggest? Fire up the MAGA base and distract from domestic woes.
Not obviously benefiting even on those. American public support for the Iran operation is about 20%. Highly sceptical reporting from normally supportive channels like Fox. Maybe if he extracts the US from Iran with minimal damage to his own military and the American economy it will be broadly neutral to his own position. There doesn't seem to be a lot of upside for him.
If it’s truly appalling shouldn’t he just be revealing it now?
Why do I get the feeling this is going to be like that Major Lib Dem Announcement from a few weeks back (what actually was that in the end?)
The Lib Dems proposed replacing the Treasury with the Department of Growth.
So, replacing the Department of Contraction with the Department of Growth. It will only work if they destroy the top several layers and replace them with people with a basic knowledge of the advantages of economic growth.
If the Lib Dems want to encourage growth, then ceasing to stand in the way of growth would be a good first step.
I like liberalism and should naturally be a Lib Dem, but they are the most NIMBY party of all 3 traditional parties.
Until the curse of NIMBYism and opposition to growth and development is removed from our body politic, getting growth is not going to happen.
Masquerading as a potential Lib Dem is more convincing when you actually know what their policies are.
The policy of replacing the Treasury with a department of growth is the kind of radical change that is needed, which is likely to work, and may even end up genuinely popular.
Just a reminder that It was the Lib Dems that first advocated the independence of the Bank of England, and Labour opposed it throughout the 1997 campaign, before actually doing it within a few days of coming to power.
While the Greens and reform plan economic chaos, and the Tories and Labour economic mediocrity, the Lib Dems are the only party that is thinking constructively about how real change can actually be delivered.
This kid does seem to get some exclusives, so maybe it’s going to happen
EXCLUSIVE: Prime Minister Keir Starmer is planning to remove Wes Streeting as Health Secretary.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing to remove Wes Streeting from his position as Health Secretary, viewing him privately as his most significant potential leadership challenger within the Labour Party.
Sources close to Downing Street indicate that the ongoing escalation in the Middle East conflict, including direct involvement in regional tensions with Iran, has dominated media coverage in recent days. This shift in attention is said to have created an opportune moment for the Prime Minister to address internal threats without facing intense public scrutiny.
Members of Starmer's inner circle have described the current international situation as a "blessing in disguise." It has diverted focus away from the recent disastrous by-election result in Gorton and Denton, where Labour was pushed into third place behind the Green Party and Reform UK-a humiliating defeat in a formerly safe seat. Insiders suggest that this distraction allows No. 10 to move against Streeting with minimal immediate damage to the Prime Minister's approval ratings.
The plans extend beyond Streeting. There are also discussions about removing other Cabinet ministers perceived as disloyal to Starmer. This broader reshuffle is framed by Downing Street as an effort to strengthen the government and prevent internal rebellion during a challenging period for the administration.
Sources familiar with the Prime Minister's team have expressed gratitude for the way the Middle East crisis has redirected media attention away from what they describe as difficulties in Starmer's premiership.
What an we do to avoid Wes mounting a leadership challenge?
I know - if we sack him, he'll be good as gold.
Fecking clueless.
The Labour Party doesn’t have a problem with internal loyalty. What this government has is a problem with formulating what needs to be done and doing it.
An objective 'needs to be done' proposition eludes all governments because there's no such thing. Ask any 10 people what it looks like and you'll get 10 different answers. The problem is comms, political acumen and the persona of the leader.
There is no such thing as objective.
What is needed is a subjective 'needs to be done' proposition, followed by getting your hands dirty and doing it.
Which means telling some people that what they want doing is not your priority.
If you prioritise everything, you prioritise nothing.
Yep. But would people would retain this view if it turned out the priorities didn't match theirs. I think we know the answer to that.
Yes.
That is literally the whole point of representative democracy.
Set out your stall on your priorities and in office implement them.
If someone objects, they can vote for someone else.
Starmer is failing to do that, and its not even as if that failure is causing him to be popular.
Yes, yes, but I'm posing a different question.
Which of these - this is the question - would you prefer to see from this government:
A ruthless focus on some priorities that you happen to disagree with?
A 'boring' management of the status quo, not changing much?
Translation: I am bum hurt after badly losing a by election because I was personally a shit candidate and if Reform lose the next election, we will not accept the result
I'm starting to think Trump has played a blinder here:
Zapped a few high-profile baddies. Kept MAGA happy by avoiding a Lefty invasion-of-Iraq situation. Tested some hardware. Reconstructed the news cycle on after several weeks of non-optimal headlines.
Every single expert as far as I know thinks the operation will be counterproductive to those strategic aims. But maybe Trump doesn't care. He has shown scant interest in what's good for America so far. He'll be gone by the time the massive bills he's racking up need to be paid. So what about the short term partisan advantages you suggest? Fire up the MAGA base and distract from domestic woes.
Not obviously benefiting even on those. American public support for the Iran operation is about 20%. Highly sceptical reporting from normally supportive channels like Fox. Maybe if he extracts the US from Iran with minimal damage to his own military and the American economy it will be broadly neutral to his own position. There doesn't seem to be a lot of upside for him.
"Every single expert ... "
... bullshit!
Why do Carney and Albanese, both no fans of Trump, both whose election victory was the public thumbing their noses at Trump, wholeheartedly support this?
Hmmm. Counted the potholes on the walk home this evening, and the last 200m of my tiny lane (about 5m wide) has between 20 and 25 which I think meet the repair standard of more than 40mm deep.
I need to return with a 50cm x 50cm block and a camera.
This is on a "no traffic except for access" lane which has hundreds and hundreds of rat runners every day.
But I think I can now find a way to Op SNAP some of them.
I'm starting to think Trump has played a blinder here:
Zapped a few high-profile baddies. Kept MAGA happy by avoiding a Lefty invasion-of-Iraq situation. Tested some hardware. Reconstructed the news cycle on after several weeks of non-optimal headlines.
Every single expert as far as I know thinks the operation will be counterproductive to those strategic aims. But maybe Trump doesn't care. He has shown scant interest in what's good for America so far. He'll be gone by the time the massive bills he's racking up need to be paid. So what about the short term partisan advantages you suggest? Fire up the MAGA base and distract from domestic woes.
Not obviously benefiting even on those. American public support for the Iran operation is about 20%. Highly sceptical reporting from normally supportive channels like Fox. Maybe if he extracts the US from Iran with minimal damage to his own military and the American economy it will be broadly neutral to his own position. There doesn't seem to be a lot of upside for him.
It reminds me, very much, of TSE's famous example of chaos theory when Bill Clinton tried to distract from Lewinsky by bombing Kabul.
'Man unzips fly in Washington, people die in Afghanistan.'
Slightly modified:
'Man revealed to have been bitten by teenager in Florida, Iranian government wiped out.'
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
He made Theresa May look good.
Edit - in all seriousness, he was a really important figure in rallying western support for Ukraine and it's not hard to imagine the Russians would have been rapidly victorious without his help.
And his government did make a decent fist of the vaccine rollout.
That's not negligible, although I wouldn't call it a success that counterbalances the many catastrophic errors.
The Government is working on plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Brits from the Middle East More than 76,000 Brits have registered their location and contact details with the Foreign Office
UAE British population is estimated at 250k.
If anyone does know people in the Gulf who are affected by the situation here, please make sure they register themselves with the British embassy. It might help with getting on flights when they do reopen.
The Government is working on plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Brits from the Middle East More than 76,000 Brits have registered their location and contact details with the Foreign Office
UAE British population is estimated at 250k.
If anyone does know people in the Gulf who are affected by the situation here, please make sure they register themselves with the British embassy. It might help with getting on flights when they do reopen.
This kid does seem to get some exclusives, so maybe it’s going to happen
EXCLUSIVE: Prime Minister Keir Starmer is planning to remove Wes Streeting as Health Secretary.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing to remove Wes Streeting from his position as Health Secretary, viewing him privately as his most significant potential leadership challenger within the Labour Party.
Sources close to Downing Street indicate that the ongoing escalation in the Middle East conflict, including direct involvement in regional tensions with Iran, has dominated media coverage in recent days. This shift in attention is said to have created an opportune moment for the Prime Minister to address internal threats without facing intense public scrutiny.
Members of Starmer's inner circle have described the current international situation as a "blessing in disguise." It has diverted focus away from the recent disastrous by-election result in Gorton and Denton, where Labour was pushed into third place behind the Green Party and Reform UK-a humiliating defeat in a formerly safe seat. Insiders suggest that this distraction allows No. 10 to move against Streeting with minimal immediate damage to the Prime Minister's approval ratings.
The plans extend beyond Streeting. There are also discussions about removing other Cabinet ministers perceived as disloyal to Starmer. This broader reshuffle is framed by Downing Street as an effort to strengthen the government and prevent internal rebellion during a challenging period for the administration.
Sources familiar with the Prime Minister's team have expressed gratitude for the way the Middle East crisis has redirected media attention away from what they describe as difficulties in Starmer's premiership.
What an we do to avoid Wes mounting a leadership challenge?
I know - if we sack him, he'll be good as gold.
Fecking clueless.
The Labour Party doesn’t have a problem with internal loyalty. What this government has is a problem with formulating what needs to be done and doing it.
An objective 'needs to be done' proposition eludes all governments because there's no such thing. Ask any 10 people what it looks like and you'll get 10 different answers. The problem is comms, political acumen and the persona of the leader.
There is no such thing as objective.
What is needed is a subjective 'needs to be done' proposition, followed by getting your hands dirty and doing it.
Which means telling some people that what they want doing is not your priority.
If you prioritise everything, you prioritise nothing.
Yep. But would people would retain this view if it turned out the priorities didn't match theirs. I think we know the answer to that.
Yes.
That is literally the whole point of representative democracy.
Set out your stall on your priorities and in office implement them.
If someone objects, they can vote for someone else.
Starmer is failing to do that, and its not even as if that failure is causing him to be popular.
Yes, yes, but I'm posing a different question.
Which of these - this is the question - would you prefer to see from this government:
A ruthless focus on some priorities that you happen to disagree with?
A 'boring' management of the status quo, not changing much?
The former.
At least then they might get something done.
And I am a big believer, as you know, in both chaos and evolution.
Changing governments, with changing priorities, means different issues get prioritised and addressed.
A healthy Labour government might fix issues that are not important to the Tories and vice versa.
Over time good developments should be kept, and bad ones dumped.
The Government is working on plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Brits from the Middle East More than 76,000 Brits have registered their location and contact details with the Foreign Office
UAE British population is estimated at 250k.
If anyone does know people in the Gulf who are affected by the situation here, please make sure they register themselves with the British embassy. It might help with getting on flights when they do reopen.
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
Got Brexit done.
Vaccines.
Support for Ukraine.
Can you name 3 comparably significant achievements for Starmer?
The Government is working on plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Brits from the Middle East More than 76,000 Brits have registered their location and contact details with the Foreign Office
UAE British population is estimated at 250k.
If anyone does know people in the Gulf who are affected by the situation here, please make sure they register themselves with the British embassy. It might help with getting on flights when they do reopen.
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
He made Theresa May look good.
Edit - in all seriousness, he was a really important figure in rallying western support for Ukraine and it's not hard to imagine the Russians would have been rapidly victorious without his help.
And his government did make a decent fist of the vaccine rollout.
That's not negligible, although I wouldn't call it a success that counterbalances the many catastrophic errors.
Doubtless Johnson's support for Ukraine was unequivocal. Cynics would say it was a last roll of the dice to overcome his manifold scandals. Whatever the reason I'll give him that, but was he really as influential as he claims in rallying Biden and the Europeas?
World War III on the horizon, most imporant thing to do, get selfie with Noel Gallagher. Who doesn't like you.
Jack Whitehall told a good gag at their expense...oh look Andy Burnham, legend, only party he is allowed into these days, there is Lisa Nandy, must be the politicians table, I am sure I saw Peter Mandelson down on the list...oh sorry wrong list.
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
Got Brexit done.
Vaccines.
Support for Ukraine.
Can you name 3 comparably significant achievements for Starmer?
Free Breakfast Clubs....Free Breakfast Clubs.....and Free Breakfast Clubs.....Did I also mention I am the son of a toolmarker?
All this Iranian stuff reminds me of this video from a couple of weeks back, which opened arguing that contrary to generally public opinion, it's not quite as simple as thinking everyone would now get nukes as the only way to get safe, since it turns out very few nations have even tried that despite th epotential upside, because it is such an expensive and risky path to actually get there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJAcvqmWuv4&t=126s
Seems shooter in Austin, African immmigrant who has long criminal history and record of being mentally unstable, was wearing Iranian symbols and shouting Allah Akbar.
I am sure Trump won't have anything to say about that.
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
The Government is working on plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Brits from the Middle East More than 76,000 Brits have registered their location and contact details with the Foreign Office
UAE British population is estimated at 250k.
If anyone does know people in the Gulf who are affected by the situation here, please make sure they register themselves with the British embassy. It might help with getting on flights when they do reopen.
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
We know TACO. There was a reason why the rest of us were being less gung-ho about this than you were!
What reason is that?
Forced choice, between no action or limited action removing the Supreme Leader, many commanders and much military hardware . . . Of course what has already happened is already better than nothing and a win of sorts.
It is just a terrible lack of ambition to pull out now when a much more considerable victory is on the cards.
Over a hundred civilians dead and economic turmoil. Is that a price worth paying for no regime change?
The Government is working on plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Brits from the Middle East More than 76,000 Brits have registered their location and contact details with the Foreign Office
UAE British population is estimated at 250k.
If anyone does know people in the Gulf who are affected by the situation here, please make sure they register themselves with the British embassy. It might help with getting on flights when they do reopen.
They choose to live there they should get themselves out.
Dubai to Dover is a long way in a small boat.
Not long enough Red, bloody parasites, tax avoiding no marks should be told to F Off.
Well, they remain citizens of this country.
so what , tax avoiding fuckwits who left for greed, , citizens of the country my ARSE. They can use their ill gotten gains to get back and pony up when they get here. No sympathy with the greedy creeps.
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
The EU taking a very stern line with Iran, on a Sunday too.
I presume the civil servants involved will make the time back in the week and finish on Wednesday instead of Thursday.
‘ Iran’s attacks of a number of countries in the Middle East are inexcusable.
The events must not lead to further escalation that could threaten the region, Europe and beyond, with unpredictable consequences.
We are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of EU citizens in the region.
The EU expresses its solidarity with partners that have been attacked or affected. We will continue to contribute to all diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and bring about a lasting solution to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Statement on behalf of the EU → link.europa.eu/vgvXNT’
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
BREAKING: Trump says Iran war timeline is around 'four weeks or so'
Leon is going to get stuck in China for the rest of the month.....I am back on my own travels in a couple of weeks, so I would rather hope they wrap it up early.
The Government is working on plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Brits from the Middle East More than 76,000 Brits have registered their location and contact details with the Foreign Office
UAE British population is estimated at 250k.
If anyone does know people in the Gulf who are affected by the situation here, please make sure they register themselves with the British embassy. It might help with getting on flights when they do reopen.
They choose to live there they should get themselves out.
Dubai to Dover is a long way in a small boat.
Not long enough Red, bloody parasites, tax avoiding no marks should be told to F Off.
Well, they remain citizens of this country.
I need to be careful tarring everyone with the same brush, for example we’re dog sitting for a couple who’ve got stranded in Doha in their way back from Sri Lanka. But, let’s face it, we all know the sort of rich classless “expat” Dubai knobs I’m talking about.
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
This kid does seem to get some exclusives, so maybe it’s going to happen
EXCLUSIVE: Prime Minister Keir Starmer is planning to remove Wes Streeting as Health Secretary.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing to remove Wes Streeting from his position as Health Secretary, viewing him privately as his most significant potential leadership challenger within the Labour Party.
Sources close to Downing Street indicate that the ongoing escalation in the Middle East conflict, including direct involvement in regional tensions with Iran, has dominated media coverage in recent days. This shift in attention is said to have created an opportune moment for the Prime Minister to address internal threats without facing intense public scrutiny.
Members of Starmer's inner circle have described the current international situation as a "blessing in disguise." It has diverted focus away from the recent disastrous by-election result in Gorton and Denton, where Labour was pushed into third place behind the Green Party and Reform UK-a humiliating defeat in a formerly safe seat. Insiders suggest that this distraction allows No. 10 to move against Streeting with minimal immediate damage to the Prime Minister's approval ratings.
The plans extend beyond Streeting. There are also discussions about removing other Cabinet ministers perceived as disloyal to Starmer. This broader reshuffle is framed by Downing Street as an effort to strengthen the government and prevent internal rebellion during a challenging period for the administration.
Sources familiar with the Prime Minister's team have expressed gratitude for the way the Middle East crisis has redirected media attention away from what they describe as difficulties in Starmer's premiership.
What can we do to avoid Wes mounting a leadership challenge?
I know - if we sack him, he'll be good as gold.
Fecking clueless.
Also:
"Thank heavens the media have stopped talking about the war at the top of the Labour Party, and moved on to the possibility of WW3 over Iran.
Now would therefore be an excellent moment to sack half the cabinet for plotting against the prime minister. That should get the internal war in the Labour Party back on the front pages in no time. Remember boys, all publicity is good publicity... "
Not only is Team Starmer absolutely terrible at running the country, they're absolutely terrible at politics too.
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
He made Theresa May look good.
Edit - in all seriousness, he was a really important figure in rallying western support for Ukraine and it's not hard to imagine the Russians would have been rapidly victorious without his help.
And his government did make a decent fist of the vaccine rollout.
That's not negligible, although I wouldn't call it a success that counterbalances the many catastrophic errors.
Doubtless Johnson's support for Ukraine was unequivocal. Cynics would say it was a last roll of the dice to overcome his manifold scandals. Whatever the reason I'll give him that, but was he really as influential as he claims in rallying Biden and the Europeas?
For some reason bloody vanilla has swallowed my reply. Second time it's done that in the last two weeks.
What I was trying to say, was that Biden's response to the invasion was to offer Zelensky a ride out and asylum in the US. Hence Zelensky's famous retort, 'I need ammunition, not a ride.'
The response of Germany was to try and avoid placing any sanctions at all on Russia so they could keep buying their gas.
Johnson, on the contrary, was full throated in his support from Ukraine from the very very beginning, and he not only got the sanctions and the supplies but even shamed the Germans into modifying their stance.
It also wasn't just a flash in the pan as he had been quite important in making sure that Ukrainian military capability had been built up through additional training and technical resources provided by the British army in the years leading up to the invasion, without which the point would have been moot anyway.
I'm quite happy to believe that Johnson's motive was to live out of a Churchillian fantasy of resisting aggression, but whatever his motives it was a definite achievement and I do not think we should downplay it.
This kid does seem to get some exclusives, so maybe it’s going to happen
EXCLUSIVE: Prime Minister Keir Starmer is planning to remove Wes Streeting as Health Secretary.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing to remove Wes Streeting from his position as Health Secretary, viewing him privately as his most significant potential leadership challenger within the Labour Party.
Sources close to Downing Street indicate that the ongoing escalation in the Middle East conflict, including direct involvement in regional tensions with Iran, has dominated media coverage in recent days. This shift in attention is said to have created an opportune moment for the Prime Minister to address internal threats without facing intense public scrutiny.
Members of Starmer's inner circle have described the current international situation as a "blessing in disguise." It has diverted focus away from the recent disastrous by-election result in Gorton and Denton, where Labour was pushed into third place behind the Green Party and Reform UK-a humiliating defeat in a formerly safe seat. Insiders suggest that this distraction allows No. 10 to move against Streeting with minimal immediate damage to the Prime Minister's approval ratings.
The plans extend beyond Streeting. There are also discussions about removing other Cabinet ministers perceived as disloyal to Starmer. This broader reshuffle is framed by Downing Street as an effort to strengthen the government and prevent internal rebellion during a challenging period for the administration.
Sources familiar with the Prime Minister's team have expressed gratitude for the way the Middle East crisis has redirected media attention away from what they describe as difficulties in Starmer's premiership.
grandpa just says things, even CENTCOM doesn't see a viable path to this (believe me if they could they would)
again, we don't even have a MEU in the region/the nearest one is 2 weeks sail time away, and pushing actual substantial ground forces would be a 6 month endeavor, so the plan is nothing beyond bomb stuff and see what happens
BREAKING: Trump says Iran war timeline is around 'four weeks or so'
Leon is going to get stuck in China for the rest of the month.....I am back on my own travels in a couple of weeks, so I would rather hope they wrap it up early.
I mean at some point you just travel the other way round...
This kid does seem to get some exclusives, so maybe it’s going to happen
EXCLUSIVE: Prime Minister Keir Starmer is planning to remove Wes Streeting as Health Secretary.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing to remove Wes Streeting from his position as Health Secretary, viewing him privately as his most significant potential leadership challenger within the Labour Party.
Sources close to Downing Street indicate that the ongoing escalation in the Middle East conflict, including direct involvement in regional tensions with Iran, has dominated media coverage in recent days. This shift in attention is said to have created an opportune moment for the Prime Minister to address internal threats without facing intense public scrutiny.
Members of Starmer's inner circle have described the current international situation as a "blessing in disguise." It has diverted focus away from the recent disastrous by-election result in Gorton and Denton, where Labour was pushed into third place behind the Green Party and Reform UK-a humiliating defeat in a formerly safe seat. Insiders suggest that this distraction allows No. 10 to move against Streeting with minimal immediate damage to the Prime Minister's approval ratings.
The plans extend beyond Streeting. There are also discussions about removing other Cabinet ministers perceived as disloyal to Starmer. This broader reshuffle is framed by Downing Street as an effort to strengthen the government and prevent internal rebellion during a challenging period for the administration.
Sources familiar with the Prime Minister's team have expressed gratitude for the way the Middle East crisis has redirected media attention away from what they describe as difficulties in Starmer's premiership.
What can we do to avoid Wes mounting a leadership challenge?
I know - if we sack him, he'll be good as gold.
Fecking clueless.
Also:
"Thank heavens the media have stopped talking about the war at the top of the Labour Party, and moved on to the possibility of WW3 over Iran.
Now would therefore be an excellent moment to sack half the cabinet for plotting against the prime minister. That should get the internal war in the Labour Party back on the front pages in no time. Remember boys, all publicity is good publicity... "
Not only is Team Starmer absolutely terrible at running the country, they're absolutely terrible at politics too.
Well, that only follows if Simpson's reporting proves accurate, which doesn't seem that likely.
He is doing it isn't he. He's genuinely blaming the voters for his loss. Bad voters, bad!
Well, they are to blame. Their decision not to vote for him meant he didn't win.
Their decision was entirely rational and based on him being a Fascist, an Uitlander and an arsehole, possibly not in that order, but it was the reason he lost.
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
Its a far bigger threat to democracy to not accept election results than unconfirmed reports of "family voting".
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
He is doing it isn't he. He's genuinely blaming the voters for his loss. Bad voters, bad!
Well, they are to blame. Their decision not to vote for him meant he didn't win.
Their decision was entirely rational and based on him being a Fascist, an Uitlander and an arsehole, possibly not in that order, but it was the reason he lost.
Besides, he was one of those media-academic types that we're always being warned about.
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
Is it churlish to be ever so slightly miffed at the tax I pay being used to repatriate people who left to avoid paying tax?
I'm sure there were some other reasons. Maybe. Possibly.
Didn’t the ex premier league footballer nitwit say it was because his kids were no longer safe in the IK only last week? Which was nice.
James Vince of Hampshire moved after some nutter threatened to burn down his home. But that's cricket, not football.
It is also the absolutely perfect location if you are on the T20 franchise circuit. Remeber Fred Flintoff moved there with exactly that plan before his knee exploded.
What has James Vince ever done to anybody to have people threatening to burn his house down? Or have I missed something?
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
He made Theresa May look good.
Edit - in all seriousness, he was a really important figure in rallying western support for Ukraine and it's not hard to imagine the Russians would have been rapidly victorious without his help.
And his government did make a decent fist of the vaccine rollout.
That's not negligible, although I wouldn't call it a success that counterbalances the many catastrophic errors.
Doubtless Johnson's support for Ukraine was unequivocal. Cynics would say it was a last roll of the dice to overcome his manifold scandals. Whatever the reason I'll give him that, but was he really as influential as he claims in rallying Biden and the Europeas?
For some reason bloody vanilla has swallowed my reply. Second time it's done that in the last two weeks.
What I was trying to say, was that Biden's response to the invasion was to offer Zelensky a ride out and asylum in the US. Hence Zelensky's famous retort, 'I need ammunition, not a ride.'
The response of Germany was to try and avoid placing any sanctions at all on Russia so they could keep buying their gas.
Johnson, on the contrary, was full throated in his support from Ukraine from the very very beginning, and he not only got the sanctions and the supplies but even shamed the Germans into modifying their stance.
It also wasn't just a flash in the pan as he had been quite important in making sure that Ukrainian military capability had been built up through additional training and technical resources provided by the British army in the years leading up to the invasion, without which the point would have been moot anyway.
I'm quite happy to believe that Johnson's motive was to live out of a Churchillian fantasy of resisting aggression, but whatever his motives it was a definite achievement and I do not think we should downplay it.
Indeed; Boris Johnson deserves an enormous amount of credit for his Ukraine stance.
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
Sorry, but this is a lie. Reform did not make up the accusations of fraud - an independent and respected organisation reported it. I'm not a fan of this Tweet, but you can do better than flagrant misreporting of the facts.
The Government is working on plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Brits from the Middle East More than 76,000 Brits have registered their location and contact details with the Foreign Office
UAE British population is estimated at 250k.
If anyone does know people in the Gulf who are affected by the situation here, please make sure they register themselves with the British embassy. It might help with getting on flights when they do reopen.
grandpa just says things, even CENTCOM doesn't see a viable path to this (believe me if they could they would)
again, we don't even have a MEU in the region/the nearest one is 2 weeks sail time away, and pushing actual substantial ground forces would be a 6 month endeavor, so the plan is nothing beyond bomb stuff and see what happens
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
FFS, why?
Ireland went independent well over a century ago.
Time to end this bullshit.
I imagine one would have to renegotiate the GFA. It is a silly anomaly that citizens of any territory that once belonged to the British empire should have the right to vote here.
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
He made Theresa May look good.
Edit - in all seriousness, he was a really important figure in rallying western support for Ukraine and it's not hard to imagine the Russians would have been rapidly victorious without his help.
And his government did make a decent fist of the vaccine rollout.
That's not negligible, although I wouldn't call it a success that counterbalances the many catastrophic errors.
Following on from your point about his role in rallying support for Ukraine and potentially changing the outcome of those first few weeks, a question, which I feel dirty even asking... If Trump's misadventures in Iran provoke WW3, should we ask Boris back in as our wartime leader?
(Yes, yes, I know he is probably irredeemably compromised by the cameras in Lebedev's villa, but apart from that...)
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
He made Theresa May look good.
Edit - in all seriousness, he was a really important figure in rallying western support for Ukraine and it's not hard to imagine the Russians would have been rapidly victorious without his help.
And his government did make a decent fist of the vaccine rollout.
That's not negligible, although I wouldn't call it a success that counterbalances the many catastrophic errors.
Doubtless Johnson's support for Ukraine was unequivocal. Cynics would say it was a last roll of the dice to overcome his manifold scandals. Whatever the reason I'll give him that, but was he really as influential as he claims in rallying Biden and the Europeas?
For some reason bloody vanilla has swallowed my reply. Second time it's done that in the last two weeks.
What I was trying to say, was that Biden's response to the invasion was to offer Zelensky a ride out and asylum in the US. Hence Zelensky's famous retort, 'I need ammunition, not a ride.'
The response of Germany was to try and avoid placing any sanctions at all on Russia so they could keep buying their gas.
Johnson, on the contrary, was full throated in his support from Ukraine from the very very beginning, and he not only got the sanctions and the supplies but even shamed the Germans into modifying their stance.
It also wasn't just a flash in the pan as he had been quite important in making sure that Ukrainian military capability had been built up through additional training and technical resources provided by the British army in the years leading up to the invasion, without which the point would have been moot anyway.
I'm quite happy to believe that Johnson's motive was to live out of a Churchillian fantasy of resisting aggression, but whatever his motives it was a definite achievement and I do not think we should downplay it.
I am sure you are right, but I'll stick to my narrative that as Foreign Secretary he attended a party thrown by the KGB.
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
FFS, why?
Ireland went independent well over a century ago.
Time to end this bullshit.
I imagine one would have to renegotiate the GFA. It is a silly anomaly that citizens of any territory that once belonged to the British empire should have the right to vote here.
Why? As far as I know it is not reciprocal, and British citizens in Ireland can't vote.
I would be content to see Irish citizens in Northern Ireland voting, for obvious reasons, but in England, Scotland or Wales? No.
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
Reform aren't claiming that any of this lot cost them Gordon and Denton - I heard one of their spokesmen (probably Zia Yusuf) explicitly deny this when questioned about it on Radio 4 on Friday.
Considering the points in turn, they don't seem particularly unreasonable:
End mass postal voting - lots of big problems with postal voting, from coercion of family members to outright fraud (*cough* Tower Hamlets *cough*). It's fundamentally incompatible with a secret ballot. No reasonable reason not to go back to the old system where you needed to have a good reason (eg long-term illness) to get a postal vote.
Clamp down on family voting - credible reports this was a real issue in Gordon and Denton. It's already against the law, so it's only a question of actually unholding the law as it stands.
Ban cousin marriage - not got anything to do with voting, but an excellent idea in the context of the genetic disaster that repeated cousin marriage causes in certain communities.
Only British citizens can vote - perfectly reasonable position to take. Why should those who are foreign nationals (and thus notionally allied to a different nation) get to help choose the British Government?
End Commonwealth voting - see the above.
Enacting that lot would all be good for the country.
It's very hard to change a regime by bombing alone.
At the end of the first Gulf War, it was assumed that with Saddam's army mostly destroyed and the no fly zone, he would be rapidly overthrown.
It didn't happen.
Despite utterly destroying German cities, the Nazis never came close to capitulating.
And most recently, Russia's constant missile and drone attacks on Ukraine have not caused the collapse of the country.
The US has killed Iran's Supreme Leader. It has neutered any ability of theirs to project force, and shown their missiles to be useless.
But it has not come anywhere near unseating the Islamic Government.
These Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps f****** are probably more invested in their cause than Saddam's disparate rabble, and they caused no end of carnage.
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
Got Brexit done.
Vaccines.
Support for Ukraine.
Can you name 3 comparably significant achievements for Starmer?
Despite my dislike of Labour and Starmer it would be a bit weird if he Got Brexit done, brought in vaccines and stopped his support of Ukraine as these things are long past or not an issue.
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
FFS, why?
Ireland went independent well over a century ago.
Time to end this bullshit.
I imagine one would have to renegotiate the GFA. It is a silly anomaly that citizens of any territory that once belonged to the British empire should have the right to vote here.
The Commonwealth issue is subtly differnt to the Ireland issue, in that Irish citizens are not considered 'aliens', and have the same rights as British citizens.
The former -the Commonwealth issue- is all the more anomolous, in that a British citizen living lawfully in India with a visa has no right to vote there. As far as I am aware, there would be no treaty issues associated with ending the right of Commonwealth citizens to vote, and -simply- if you want to vote... become a British citizen.
Ireland is harder, because I believe we've enshrined the rights of Irish citiziens in the UK in that agreement. It's probably worth revisiting, but feels less .. urgent. One could probably also find a compomise that fits inside the the spirit of the GFA, perhaps allowing Irish citizens resident in Northern Ireland (or vice versa) to continue to exercise the right to vote, while eliminating from those who are not Northern irish.
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
Sorry, but this is a lie. Reform did not make up the accusations of fraud - an independent and respected organisation reported it. I'm not a fan of this Tweet, but you can do better than flagrant misreporting of the facts.
I think, to be fair to bondegezou, they meant the other claims of fraud.
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
Got Brexit done.
Vaccines.
Support for Ukraine.
Can you name 3 comparably significant achievements for Starmer?
Despite my dislike of Labour and Starmer it would be a bit weird if he Got Brexit done, brought in vaccines and stopped his support of Ukraine as these things are long past or not an issue.
Which would be why I said comparably significant.
Obviously it would not be the same, but what comparably significant achievements has Starmer to his name?
Failing that, can you name 3 achievements, even if nit as significant, that he has?
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
FFS, why?
Ireland went independent well over a century ago.
Time to end this bullshit.
One of the Acts in (I think) 1948 states that "Ireland is in no way a foreign country". The separation was entirely justified but was also traumatic and people needed time to work it out.
There is a shit-ton of Irish, Irish-descended or Irish-identified people in GB and the first party to suggest removing their vote involuntarily loses big time. There is a shit-ton of Irish, Irish-descended, Irish-identified, British, British-descended or British-identified people in NI and the first party to suggest removing their vote involuntarily (without a referendum) spends the rest of their life looking under their car with a mirror. Even Goodwin isn't that stupid.
It's very hard to change a regime by bombing alone.
At the end of the first Gulf War, it was assumed that with Saddam's army mostly destroyed and the no fly zone, he would be rapidly overthrown.
It didn't happen.
Despite utterly destroying German cities, the Nazis never came close to capitulating.
And most recently, Russia's constant missile and drone attacks on Ukraine have not caused the collapse of the country.
The US has killed Iran's Supreme Leader. It has neutered any ability of theirs to project force, and shown their missiles to be useless.
But it has not come anywhere near unseating the Islamic Government.
Japan?
We had invaded Okinawa, and had amassed a multi million force, and had dropped a couple of nuclear bombs.
Are we prepared to drop nukes of Tehran or Esfahan or Shiraz (which are the cities which -ironically- the biggest critics of the regime live), while leaving the Islamist countryside alone? Because that's the other problem: it's the cities that are full of the irreligous opponents of the regime.
Trump murdered Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former president of Iran, who - whatever you think of him - was a civilian, not in the military, and so it was murder, plain and simple. As illegal and as murderous as Iran bombing and killing, say, George W Bush at his home in Dallas.
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
Reform aren't claiming that any of this lot cost them Gordon and Denton - I heard one of their spokesmen (probably Zia Yusuf) explicitly deny this when questioned about it on Radio 4 on Friday.
Considering the points in turn, they don't seem particularly unreasonable:
End mass postal voting - lots of big problems with postal voting, from coercion of family members to outright fraud (*cough* Tower Hamlets *cough*). It's fundamentally incompatible with a secret ballot. No reasonable reason not to go back to the old system where you needed to have a good reason (eg long-term illness) to get a postal vote.
Clamp down on family voting - credible reports this was a real issue in Gordon and Denton. It's already against the law, so it's only a question of actually unholding the law as it stands.
Ban cousin marriage - not got anything to do with voting, but an excellent idea in the context of the genetic disaster that repeated cousin marriage causes in certain communities.
Only British citizens can vote - perfectly reasonable position to take. Why should those who are foreign nationals (and thus notionally allied to a different nation) get to help choose the British Government?
End Commonwealth voting - see the above.
Enacting that lot would all be good for the country.
There are a couple of points on this.
You are right to say cousin marriage has absolutely nothing to do with this, and Goodwin weakens his argument disastrously by chucking it in. He may as well bring in halal meat and the call to prayer - it reduces the whole thing to an all purpose anti-muslim rant.
Secondly, what does Goodwin hope to achieve - he cannot 'crack down' on any of this stuff. Reform need to concentrate on what they can actually do - make a noise and demand police action on the breaches of current law.
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
FFS, why?
Ireland went independent well over a century ago.
Time to end this bullshit.
I imagine one would have to renegotiate the GFA. It is a silly anomaly that citizens of any territory that once belonged to the British empire should have the right to vote here.
The Commonwealth issue is subtly differnt to the Ireland issue, in that Irish citizens are not considered 'aliens', and have the same rights as British citizens.
The former -the Commonwealth issue- is all the more anomolous, in that a British citizen living lawfully in India with a visa has no right to vote there. As far as I am aware, there would be no treaty issues associated with ending the right of Commonwealth citizens to vote, and -simply- if you want to vote... become a British citizen.
Ireland is harder, because I believe we've enshrined the rights of Irish citiziens in the UK in that agreement. It's probably worth revisiting, but feels less .. urgent. One could probably also find a compomise that fits inside the the spirit of the GFA, perhaps allowing Irish citizens resident in Northern Ireland (or vice versa) to continue to exercise the right to vote, while eliminating from those who are not Northern irish.
Yes, in Northern Ireland is reasonable, since that allows both sides to effectively claim it while allowing citizens to choose either.
But in Britain? No, and I don't know of any Treaty issue.
As far as I know its not reciprocal there either. As far as I know, if I moved to the Republic of Ireland I would not be able to vote. If I am wrong and its reciprocal then fair enough, but if it is not it is well past time to end it.
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
FFS, why?
Ireland went independent well over a century ago.
Time to end this bullshit.
One of the Acts in (I think) 1948 states that "Ireland is in no way a foreign country". The separation was entirely justified but was also traumatic and people needed time to work it out.
There is a shit-ton of Irish, Irish-descended or Irish-identified people in GB and the first party to suggest removing their vote involuntarily loses big time. There is a shit-ton of Irish, Irish-descended, Irish-identified, British, British-descended or British-identified people in NI and the first party to suggest removing their vote involuntarily (without a referendum) spends the rest of their life looking under their car with a mirror. Even Goodwin isn't that stupid.
Starmer is a better PM than Sunak and Truss. However that is it.
C'mon- better than Johnson as well.
Which takes us back to May, who is probably the closest to rhyming historically with Starmer; in a better-functioning system, they would have topped out one step lower, and been basically fine.
Johnson achieved more. However he was a truly horrendous man and was always going to end up a failure.
What did Johnson actually achieve? Positives only please.
He made Theresa May look good.
Edit - in all seriousness, he was a really important figure in rallying western support for Ukraine and it's not hard to imagine the Russians would have been rapidly victorious without his help.
And his government did make a decent fist of the vaccine rollout.
That's not negligible, although I wouldn't call it a success that counterbalances the many catastrophic errors.
Following on from your point about his role in rallying support for Ukraine and potentially changing the outcome of those first few weeks, a question, which I feel dirty even asking... If Trump's misadventures in Iran provoke WW3, should we ask Boris back in as our wartime leader?
(Yes, yes, I know he is probably irredeemably compromised by the cameras in Lebedev's villa, but apart from that...)
Parody post of the century!
Although if one reads the Churchill Factor, or Winston Churchill, My Part in his Victory, Johnson did, thank God, manage to channel his winning strategy through the mists of time to Churchill
It's very hard to change a regime by bombing alone.
At the end of the first Gulf War, it was assumed that with Saddam's army mostly destroyed and the no fly zone, he would be rapidly overthrown.
It didn't happen.
Despite utterly destroying German cities, the Nazis never came close to capitulating.
And most recently, Russia's constant missile and drone attacks on Ukraine have not caused the collapse of the country.
The US has killed Iran's Supreme Leader. It has neutered any ability of theirs to project force, and shown their missiles to be useless.
But it has not come anywhere near unseating the Islamic Government.
Indeed it took US and allied ground troops to remove Saddam's regime and US and allied ground troops to remove the Taliban and in the latter case they returned as soon as Biden withdrew them.
Only when there is already a mass rebel insurgency and protests on the streets as in Libya when Gaddaffi fell do western airstrikes alone work and it has gone somewhat quiet in terms of the Tehran student protests. Assad was removed by rebels without western intervention
This is the Trump playbook to a T. Make up claims of voter fraud and "threats to democracy". Reform have been compliaining about the wrong sort of postal voting for years, but have never produced any actual evidence of fraud. Goodwin didn't lose because of Commonwealth citizens voting. I remain lost what role cousin marriages supposedly played in his defeat.
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
FFS, why?
Ireland went independent well over a century ago.
Time to end this bullshit.
One of the Acts in (I think) 1948 states that "Ireland is in no way a foreign country". The separation was entirely justified but was also traumatic and people needed time to work it out.
There is a shit-ton of Irish, Irish-descended or Irish-identified people in GB and the first party to suggest removing their vote involuntarily loses big time. There is a shit-ton of Irish, Irish-descended, Irish-identified, British, British-descended or British-identified people in NI and the first party to suggest removing their vote involuntarily (without a referendum) spends the rest of their life looking under their car with a mirror. Even Goodwin isn't that stupid.
Acts can be repealed. Ireland is a foreign country.
Absolutely in NI it is logical to accept either citizenship, special circumstances. But in Britain? No.
Been out with the family all day. The Giants exhibition at the National Museum in Edinburgh is worth a visit if you’re in the area. Anyhoo, what’ve I missed?
Comments
Every single expert as far as I know thinks the operation will be counterproductive to those strategic aims. But maybe Trump doesn't care. He has shown scant interest in what's good for America so far. He'll be gone by the time the massive bills he's racking up need to be paid. So what about the short term partisan advantages you suggest? Fire up the MAGA base and distract from domestic woes.
Not obviously benefiting even on those. American public support for the Iran operation is about 20%. Highly sceptical reporting from normally supportive channels like Fox. Maybe if he extracts the US from Iran with minimal damage to his own military and the American economy it will be broadly neutral to his own position. There doesn't seem to be a lot of upside for him.
To change the policies would take firing a number of senior people. You would be going to war with a culture that is convinced that it is right.
Is that what you expect a Lib Dem government to do?
Which of these - this is the question - would you prefer to see from this government:
A ruthless focus on some priorities that you happen to disagree with?
A 'boring' management of the status quo, not changing much?
Not an affliction that’s possible in these social media days for centrists, but used to be the case.
... bullshit!
Why do Carney and Albanese, both no fans of Trump, both whose election victory was the public thumbing their noses at Trump, wholeheartedly support this?
Because it is the right thing to do.
'Man unzips fly in Washington, people die in Afghanistan.'
Slightly modified:
'Man revealed to have been bitten by teenager in Florida, Iranian government wiped out.'
Edit - in all seriousness, he was a really important figure in rallying western support for Ukraine and it's not hard to imagine the Russians would have been rapidly victorious without his help.
And his government did make a decent fist of the vaccine rollout.
That's not negligible, although I wouldn't call it a success that counterbalances the many catastrophic errors.
I’m amazed at the amount of nations where foreign students are able to vote in our elections.
I cannot see why.
SKS plans auto voter registration too for the next election.
https://x.com/charlottecgill/status/1920220947526922431?s=61
At least then they might get something done.
And I am a big believer, as you know, in both chaos and evolution.
Changing governments, with changing priorities, means different issues get prioritised and addressed.
A healthy Labour government might fix issues that are not important to the Tories and vice versa.
Over time good developments should be kept, and bad ones dumped.
Evolution in action.
I wouldn't rule out boots on the ground to take control of the nukes.
Steven Swinford
@Steven_Swinford
Nearly 100,000 Britons in Gulf countries, predominantly in the United Arab Emirates, have now registered their contact details with the government
A total of 94,000 people have now registered as ministers draw up plans for mass evacuation via Saudi Arabia if airspace continues to be closed elsewhere
https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/2028196788818337814
Vaccines.
Support for Ukraine.
Can you name 3 comparably significant achievements for Starmer?
https://x.com/lisanandy/status/2028162238930886951
Jack Whitehall told a good gag at their expense...oh look Andy Burnham, legend, only party he is allowed into these days, there is Lisa Nandy, must be the politicians table, I am sure I saw Peter Mandelson down on the list...oh sorry wrong list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJAcvqmWuv4&t=126s
Not sure I'd be too happy if my children were in the US military or if I was a no Middle Eastern wars MAGA.
I am sure Trump won't have anything to say about that.
I presume the civil servants involved will make the time back in the week and finish on Wednesday instead of Thursday.
‘ Iran’s attacks of a number of countries in the Middle East are inexcusable.
The events must not lead to further escalation that could threaten the region, Europe and beyond, with unpredictable consequences.
We are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of EU citizens in the region.
The EU expresses its solidarity with partners that have been attacked or affected. We will continue to contribute to all diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and bring about a lasting solution to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Statement on behalf of the EU → link.europa.eu/vgvXNT’
https://x.com/kajakallas/status/2028192157811565032?s=61
BREAKING: Trump says Iran war timeline is around 'four weeks or so'
(Also, Reform have clarified that their policy of only British citizens can vote isn't actually that only British citizens should be able to vote. They want to keep the vote for Irish citizens.)
"Thank heavens the media have stopped talking about the war at the top of the Labour Party, and moved on to the possibility of WW3 over Iran.
Now would therefore be an excellent moment to sack half the cabinet for plotting against the prime minister. That should get the internal war in the Labour Party back on the front pages in no time. Remember boys, all publicity is good publicity... "
Not only is Team Starmer absolutely terrible at running the country, they're absolutely terrible at politics too.
What I was trying to say, was that Biden's response to the invasion was to offer Zelensky a ride out and asylum in the US. Hence Zelensky's famous retort, 'I need ammunition, not a ride.'
The response of Germany was to try and avoid placing any sanctions at all on Russia so they could keep buying their gas.
Johnson, on the contrary, was full throated in his support from Ukraine from the very very beginning, and he not only got the sanctions and the supplies but even shamed the Germans into modifying their stance.
It also wasn't just a flash in the pan as he had been quite important in making sure that Ukrainian military capability had been built up through additional training and technical resources provided by the British army in the years leading up to the invasion, without which the point would have been moot anyway.
I'm quite happy to believe that Johnson's motive was to live out of a Churchillian fantasy of resisting aggression, but whatever his motives it was a definite achievement and I do not think we should downplay it.
lol what
grandpa just says things, even CENTCOM doesn't see a viable path to this (believe me if they could they would)
again, we don't even have a MEU in the region/the nearest one is 2 weeks sail time away, and pushing actual substantial ground forces would be a 6 month endeavor, so the plan is nothing beyond bomb stuff and see what happens
there won't be any targets left after 2 weeks
https://bsky.app/profile/mikeblack114.bsky.social/post/3mfzlwqufi52f
BREAKING: The UK, France and Germany announce they may join military action against Iran.
The joint statement says they may take "proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source."
https://bsky.app/profile/adamjschwarz.bsky.social/post/3mfzm43eha22z
Their decision was entirely rational and based on him being a Fascist, an Uitlander and an arsehole, possibly not in that order, but it was the reason he lost.
You won't get any thanks.
Ireland went independent well over a century ago.
Time to end this bullshit.
What has James Vince ever done to anybody to have people threatening to burn his house down? Or have I missed something?
Gaza shows there can be plenty of targets left even after 2 weeks. 💥
At the end of the first Gulf War, it was assumed that with Saddam's army mostly destroyed and the no fly zone, he would be rapidly overthrown.
It didn't happen.
Despite utterly destroying German cities, the Nazis never came close to capitulating.
And most recently, Russia's constant missile and drone attacks on Ukraine have not caused the collapse of the country.
The US has killed Iran's Supreme Leader. It has neutered any ability of theirs to project force, and shown their missiles to be useless.
But it has not come anywhere near unseating the Islamic Government.
(Yes, yes, I know he is probably irredeemably compromised by the cameras in Lebedev's villa, but apart from that...)
(I'm discounting Brixian who appears to be a thoroughly unconvincing comedy act)
I would be content to see Irish citizens in Northern Ireland voting, for obvious reasons, but in England, Scotland or Wales? No.
Considering the points in turn, they don't seem particularly unreasonable:
End mass postal voting - lots of big problems with postal voting, from coercion of family members to outright fraud (*cough* Tower Hamlets *cough*). It's fundamentally incompatible with a secret ballot.
No reasonable reason not to go back to the old system where you needed to have a good reason (eg long-term illness) to get a postal vote.
Clamp down on family voting - credible reports this was a real issue in Gordon and Denton. It's already against the law, so it's only a question of actually unholding the law as it stands.
Ban cousin marriage - not got anything to do with voting, but an excellent idea in the context of the genetic disaster that repeated cousin marriage causes in certain communities.
Only British citizens can vote - perfectly reasonable position to take. Why should those who are foreign nationals (and thus notionally allied to a different nation) get to help choose the British Government?
End Commonwealth voting - see the above.
Enacting that lot would all be good for the country.
The former -the Commonwealth issue- is all the more anomolous, in that a British citizen living lawfully in India with a visa has no right to vote there. As far as I am aware, there would be no treaty issues associated with ending the right of Commonwealth citizens to vote, and -simply- if you want to vote... become a British citizen.
Ireland is harder, because I believe we've enshrined the rights of Irish citiziens in the UK in that agreement. It's probably worth revisiting, but feels less .. urgent. One could probably also find a compomise that fits inside the the spirit of the GFA, perhaps allowing Irish citizens resident in Northern Ireland (or vice versa) to continue to exercise the right to vote, while eliminating from those who are not Northern irish.
Obviously it would not be the same, but what comparably significant achievements has Starmer to his name?
Failing that, can you name 3 achievements, even if nit as significant, that he has?
There is a shit-ton of Irish, Irish-descended or Irish-identified people in GB and the first party to suggest removing their vote involuntarily loses big time. There is a shit-ton of Irish, Irish-descended, Irish-identified, British, British-descended or British-identified people in NI and the first party to suggest removing their vote involuntarily (without a referendum) spends the rest of their life looking under their car with a mirror. Even Goodwin isn't that stupid.
Are we prepared to drop nukes of Tehran or Esfahan or Shiraz (which are the cities which -ironically- the biggest critics of the regime live), while leaving the Islamist countryside alone? Because that's the other problem: it's the cities that are full of the irreligous opponents of the regime.
https://x.com/mehdirhasan/status/2028166299013005376?s=20
You are right to say cousin marriage has absolutely nothing to do with this, and Goodwin weakens his argument disastrously by chucking it in. He may as well bring in halal meat and the call to prayer - it reduces the whole thing to an all purpose anti-muslim rant.
Secondly, what does Goodwin hope to achieve - he cannot 'crack down' on any of this stuff. Reform need to concentrate on what they can actually do - make a noise and demand police action on the breaches of current law.
And is Ben Kingsley really 82 ?
But in Britain? No, and I don't know of any Treaty issue.
As far as I know its not reciprocal there either. As far as I know, if I moved to the Republic of Ireland I would not be able to vote. If I am wrong and its reciprocal then fair enough, but if it is not it is well past time to end it.
Although if one reads the Churchill Factor, or Winston Churchill, My Part in his Victory, Johnson did, thank God, manage to channel his winning strategy through the mists of time to Churchill
* You edited that posts moments before my gotcha!
Only when there is already a mass rebel insurgency and protests on the streets as in Libya when Gaddaffi fell do western airstrikes alone work and it has gone somewhat quiet in terms of the Tehran student protests. Assad was removed by rebels without western intervention
Absolutely in NI it is logical to accept either citizenship, special circumstances. But in Britain? No.
https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/2028213832380826047
Anyhoo, what’ve I missed?