Not many happy Lab people this week but here's one:
Luke Akehurst @lukeakehurst · 1h Labour gain from Reform tonight in byelection for Murton Ward, Durham County Council. This ward is in Easington constituency.
Not many happy Lab people this week but here's one:
Luke Akehurst @lukeakehurst · 1h Labour gain from Reform tonight in byelection for Murton Ward, Durham County Council. This ward is in Easington constituency.
The first comment is some MAGA bot asking Grok for a demographic breakdown of the seat, and you can feel the disappointment and disbelief when they’re told it’s very white and non-diverse.
Are Depeche Mode as dreary as they were 40 years ago? Buffy Sainte- Marie? Now you're talking.
I was surprised to hear that she got cancelled for allegedly faking her Native American ancestry.
From the early 1960s, Sainte-Marie claimed Indigenous Canadian ancestry, but a 2023 CBC News investigation confirmed she was born in the United States, and is of Italian and English descent.[1] Some Indigenous musicians and organizations called for awards she won while falsely claiming an Indigenous identity to be rescinded.[7][8][9][10][11] Many of her awards and honours were subsequently revoked, including her membership in the Order of Canada, her induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, her Juno Awards, and her Polaris Music Prizes.[12][13][14]
On Topic: I think refusing to side with Trump over Iran, could give a polling boost to Labour and the PM... If they were competent enough to play it the right way.
Unfortunately Starmer is not!
What could be seen a strong PM standing up to a bullying, domineering President will actually be viewed as a weak, cowardly and dithering PM doing what he always does... consulting his lawyers before being able to make any decision.
Shame,
If he had gone full Hugh Grant in Love Actually then it might have worked but he just looks like a confused spectator at the moment. And weirdly reminds me of Penfold in Dangermouse.
Penfold (voiced well by Terry Scott) had an interesting voice. Starmer has a voice that is so annoying I genuinely have difficulty retaining what he says and am left vaguely rageful but unsure as to why.
BREAKING: Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Hungary has taken seven Ukrainian citizens “hostage” in Budapest and demanded their immediate release.
The detained men are employees of the state-owned Oschadbank who were transporting cash between Austria and Ukraine in armored bank vehicles as part of routine operations between state banks.
Kyiv says it does NOT know why they were detained, what condition they are in, or whether they can contact anyone. Sybiha called Hungary’s actions “state terrorism and racketeering” and said Ukraine has sent a diplomatic note demanding their release and will ask the EU to assess the situation.
TSE will be along to say "Well, that's the problem with cash..." in 5, 4, 3....
No more forever wars in Middle East killing and maiming our kids from MiddleNowhere Ohio latest:
Aaron Rupar @atrupar Hegseth: "We have only just begun to fight and fight decisively. If you think you've seen something, just wait. The amount of combat power that's still flowing, that's still coming, that we'll be able to project over Iran is multiples of what it is right now when you add up our capabilities and those of Israel."
It's hard not to wish them ill and I'm afraid I can't quite manage it.
The trouble is that it really will be the 22 year olds from Noname Nebraska etc who will come home in a body bag and not any fucking former Fox News presenters.
Never mind the civilians all over the middle east.
Sadly true. The best hope is voter revolt in the US. However I don't think Trump even cares much about that. He's there, he's in, and he's going to keep abusing the power of the presidency to titillate and enrich himself. It won't stop until one way or another he's gone.
Ultimately, the problem is that the Supreme Court has become the third, and most powerful chamber of the legislature.
As I pointed out to my American relatives (liberals all) the problem with that is if the Court gets captured. That couldn't happen, they told me. The law is progressive,
To which I asked, who decides which way it is to progress?
The answer, it seems is that a large chunk of the American judicial system has been systematically captured. Trump delivered the judges for Roe vs Wade. And the Judges he delivered are delivering for him.
Which, without making any wider parallels, is a key lesson from the late Weimar period. It was having effective political support from the judiciary that allowed Hitler to systemically and quickly take apart the apparatus of a democratic state and turn it into a dictatorship. Having a legal system that is strong, robust, and as free from political influence as possible really is the key to maintaining liberal democracy - hence why where this didn’t exist - for example in Russia post-1990 - this proved impossible.
I don't think you are being entirely fair to Kemi Badenoch here, she has a duty as the leader of the Opposition to hold this Labour government to account when they make bad decisions and to loyally get behind them in times of crisis especially on Foreign policy when they make the right decisions to protect UK military assets/bases and civilians. And it is now quite clear that has not happened, in fact this Labour government under the stewardship of Keir Starmer has failed in its duty of care to protect and assist both our citizens and military assets/bases in this region over the last week.
I have no problem with the current Labour UK government not getting proactively involved in the US/Israeli military action against Iran, and if the news reports are correct they were never asked too. I would have been quite happy if we continued to carry on our defensive air support in the region from our military bases to protect our own citizens and that of our allies in the region if they came under attack from Iran as a result.
But I think it was utterly wrong for Starmer and his Labout government to refuse the US the use of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia weeks ago, and espeically in light of their dereliction of duty to give the go ahead to prepare and plan to deploy a Royal Navy fleet of ships to this region to assist and protect our citizens and military assets/bases as a precaution in light of that request which indicated military action maybe imminent. That we are now having to humiliatingly rely on other countries in this region to achieve this is entirely down to the poor decisions made by this awful Labour government who put domestic party politics before our national interests. They should hang their heads in shame.
As a woman, I would not mourn the demise of the brutal Iranian regime after seeing so many brave women there being tortured and murdered over the last 40 years, but I also still blame Donald Trump for setting in motion the train of events that led to the chaotic and tragic events that unfolded in Afghanistan under the weak chaotic Biden adminstration when they did their midnight flit to exit the country and which has left the girls and women there living under such horrific and brutal conditions today.
I don't think you are being entirely fair to Kemi Badenoch here, she has a duty as the leader of the Opposition to hold this Labour government to account when they make bad decisions and to loyally get behind them in times of crisis especially on Foreign policy when they make the right decisions to protect UK military assets/bases and civilians. And it is now quite clear that has not happened, in fact this Labour government under the stewardship of Keir Starmer has failed in its duty of care to protect and assist both our citizens and military assets/bases in this region over the last week.
I have no problem with the current Labour UK government not getting proactively involved in the US/Israeli military action against Iran, and if the news reports are correct they were never asked too. I would have been quite happy if we continued to carry on our defensive air support in the region from our military bases to protect our own citizens and that of our allies in the region if they came under attack from Iran as a result.
But I think it was utterly wrong for Starmer and his Labout government to refuse the US the use of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia weeks ago, and espeically in light of their dereliction of duty to give the go ahead to prepare and plan to deploy a Royal Navy fleet of ships to this region to assist and protect our citizens and military assets/bases as a precaution in light of that request which indicated military action maybe imminent. That we are now having to humiliatingly rely on other countries in this region to achieve this is entirely down to the poor decisions made by this awful Labour government who put domestic party politics before our national interests. They should hang their heads in shame.
As a woman, I would not mourn the demise of the brutal Iranian regime after seeing so many brave women there being tortured and murdered over the last 40 years, but I also still blame Donald Trump for setting in motion the train of events that led to the chaotic and tragic events that unfolded in Afghanistan under the weak chaotic Biden adminstration when they did their midnight flit to exit the country and which has left the girls and women there living under such horrific and brutal conditions today.
Starmer is weak weak week It shoukd be no surprise that he stuttered initially. He has sent 4 jets to the region not 4 squadrons.
The Tories are partially to blame but Labour is equally culpable.
Brown's decision to waste billions on aircraft carriers which don't function properly was equally stupid
Stop.paying benefits worth more than people get for working and start defending the Country.
I don't think you are being entirely fair to Kemi Badenoch here, she has a duty as the leader of the Opposition to hold this Labour government to account when they make bad decisions and to loyally get behind them in times of crisis especially on Foreign policy when they make the right decisions to protect UK military assets/bases and civilians. And it is now quite clear that has not happened, in fact this Labour government under the stewardship of Keir Starmer has failed in its duty of care to protect and assist both our citizens and military assets/bases in this region over the last week.
I have no problem with the current Labour UK government not getting proactively involved in the US/Israeli military action against Iran, and if the news reports are correct they were never asked too. I would have been quite happy if we continued to carry on our defensive air support in the region from our military bases to protect our own citizens and that of our allies in the region if they came under attack from Iran as a result.
But I think it was utterly wrong for Starmer and his Labout government to refuse the US the use of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia weeks ago, and espeically in light of their dereliction of duty to give the go ahead to prepare and plan to deploy a Royal Navy fleet of ships to this region to assist and protect our citizens and military assets/bases as a precaution in light of that request which indicated military action maybe imminent. That we are now having to humiliatingly rely on other countries in this region to achieve this is entirely down to the poor decisions made by this awful Labour government who put domestic party politics before our national interests. They should hang their heads in shame.
As a woman, I would not mourn the demise of the brutal Iranian regime after seeing so many brave women there being tortured and murdered over the last 40 years, but I also still blame Donald Trump for setting in motion the train of events that led to the chaotic and tragic events that unfolded in Afghanistan under the weak chaotic Biden adminstration when they did their midnight flit to exit the country and which has left the girls and women there living under such horrific and brutal conditions today.
Starmer is weak weak week It shoukd be no surprise that he stuttered initially. He has sent 4 jets to the region not 4 squadrons.
The Tories are partially to blame but Labour is equally culpable.
Brown's decision to waste billions on aircraft carriers which don't function properly was equally stupid
Stop.paying benefits worth more than people get for working and start defending the Country.
How the hell are the Conservatives partially to blame for not putting the proper planning and preparation in place weeks ago to deploy an even limited Royal Navy task force to the region to protect our military assets/bases and citizens?! And while and I agree consecutive governments have underfunded our military to the point its been hollowed out over the last few decades, I still think that a Conservative government would have taken a different position which would have spared us the humiliation of the US no longer sharing intelligence with us and would have also left us with even a limited presence to protect our own interests in the region!
Seriously, did Starmer and his Labour government put his weakened leadership among the Labour Parliamentary Party and that Gorton and Denton by-election ahead of the national interests of the country and our military and citizens in the Middle East when we should have been planning ahead and deploying a naval prescence in the area far sooner ?
I don't think you are being entirely fair to Kemi Badenoch here, she has a duty as the leader of the Opposition to hold this Labour government to account when they make bad decisions and to loyally get behind them in times of crisis especially on Foreign policy when they make the right decisions to protect UK military assets/bases and civilians. And it is now quite clear that has not happened, in fact this Labour government under the stewardship of Keir Starmer has failed in its duty of care to protect and assist both our citizens and military assets/bases in this region over the last week.
I have no problem with the current Labour UK government not getting proactively involved in the US/Israeli military action against Iran, and if the news reports are correct they were never asked too. I would have been quite happy if we continued to carry on our defensive air support in the region from our military bases to protect our own citizens and that of our allies in the region if they came under attack from Iran as a result.
But I think it was utterly wrong for Starmer and his Labout government to refuse the US the use of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia weeks ago, and espeically in light of their dereliction of duty to give the go ahead to prepare and plan to deploy a Royal Navy fleet of ships to this region to assist and protect our citizens and military assets/bases as a precaution in light of that request which indicated military action maybe imminent. That we are now having to humiliatingly rely on other countries in this region to achieve this is entirely down to the poor decisions made by this awful Labour government who put domestic party politics before our national interests. They should hang their heads in shame.
As a woman, I would not mourn the demise of the brutal Iranian regime after seeing so many brave women there being tortured and murdered over the last 40 years, but I also still blame Donald Trump for setting in motion the train of events that led to the chaotic and tragic events that unfolded in Afghanistan under the weak chaotic Biden adminstration when they did their midnight flit to exit the country and which has left the girls and women there living under such horrific and brutal conditions today.
Starmer is weak weak week It shoukd be no surprise that he stuttered initially. He has sent 4 jets to the region not 4 squadrons.
The Tories are partially to blame but Labour is equally culpable.
Brown's decision to waste billions on aircraft carriers which don't function properly was equally stupid
Stop.paying benefits worth more than people get for working and start defending the Country.
How the hell are the Conservatives partially to blame for not putting the proper planning and preparation in place weeks ago to deploy an even limited Royal Navy task force to the region to protect our military assets/bases and citizens?! And while and I agree consecutive governments have underfunded our military to the point its been hollowed out over the last few decades, I still think that a Conservative government would have taken a different position which would have spared us the humiliation of the US no longer sharing intelligence with us and would have also left us with even a limited presence to protect our own interests in the region!
Seriously, did Starmer and his Labour government put his weakened leadership among the Labour Parliamentary Party and that Gorton and Denton by-election ahead of the national interests of the country and our military and citizens in the Middle East when we should have been planning ahead and deploying a naval prescence in the area far sooner ?
Complete and utter after timing hogwash
Next you'll be predicting the winner of the 4.38 at Thurles yesterday.
We are dealing with 2 war mongering nut cases in Trump and Netanyahu.
Thank God we have a PM and Government who have learnt past lessons and not getting involved in someone elses war. The UK cannot be responsible for every UK citizen around the gLobs, it cannot be responsible for places like Cyprus any more.
The final paragraph about benefits and defence is risible.
WHO HOLLOWED OUT DEFENCE SPENDING WHO INCREASED WELFARE SPENDING THROUGH THE ROOF WHO SPENT BILLIONS TO DEFEND UKRAINE!
The Special Relationsihip may npt be dead, it is certainly dormant.
One one person to blame for that.
Donald Trump!
History also tells us one other lesson.
Who failed to adequately defend the Falklands until it was too late MARGARET HILDA THATCHER! Who failed to come to our aid - The United fucking States
The Tamworth result is cloudied by a masive anti Pincher by election vote in 2023 that carried forward to 2024 and actually helped remove neighbouring Fabricant in Lichfield. Tamworth has had a very significant Reform vote since 2018.
F1: I'll start writing the pre-qualifying tosh but as FP2 just finished it'll likely be up hours down the line. May well avoid betting but there's plenty of interesting things to consider.
Can you please quantify the number of flights France / Germany / Italy etc have got out of the region
Supercillious twat Nick Ferrari belly aching that billionaire, millionaires, ex pats and thousands who don't pay UK tax have to find a way out of a warzone.
Meanwhile equally twatish Nigel and Kemi moan as half the RAF scrambled to defend Cyprus after ONE one fucking drone actually hits the Island, the size of which you could probably mail order for same day delivery at Argos.
Same old Right Wing bullcrap...
"Ali lets buy a drone and fly it to Cyprus"
Kemi "the island of Cyprus is under attack, we must declare global war"
Seriously, I am calling it, we have the worst party leader and Prime Minister and government leading the country in my adult lifetime currently running the country! Even worse, I genuinely thought there was no Westminster government of any party that could match the incompetent and politically corrupt SNP administration up here in Holyrood over the last 19 years, but this Labour Government under Keir Starmer have literally said hold my beer because I can do far worse damage to the UK economy and our standing on the global stage!!
Did anyone have Keir Starmer proving to be an even worse party leader and Prime Minister than Liz Truss on their bingo card, anyone?!
F1: I'll start writing the pre-qualifying tosh but as FP2 just finished it'll likely be up hours down the line. May well avoid betting but there's plenty of interesting things to consider.
Seriously, I am calling it, we have the worst party leader and Prime Minister and government leading the country in my adult lifetime currently running the country! Even worse, I genuinely thought there was no Westminster government of any party that could match the incompetent and politically corrupt SNP administration up here in Holyrood over the last 19 years, but this Labour Government under Keir Starmer have literally said hold my beer because I can do far worse damage to the UK economy and our standing on the global stage!!
Did anyone have Keir Starmer proving to be an even worse party leader and Prime Minister than Liz Truss on their bingo card, anyone?!
No.
Sadly I believed he would be dull but competent. Same with Reeves.
He’s utterly hopeless.
But he’s the best Labour has. The others would be worse.
F1: I'll start writing the pre-qualifying tosh but as FP2 just finished it'll likely be up hours down the line. May well avoid betting but there's plenty of interesting things to consider.
F1: I'll start writing the pre-qualifying tosh but as FP2 just finished it'll likely be up hours down the line. May well avoid betting but there's plenty of interesting things to consider.
Also, remember Bottas has a grid penalty.
I've a hunch Verstappen is sandbagging...wait til they turn the wick up!
If Ferrari have the startline advantage everyone thinks I also wonder if tactically you'd be better off to start behind them then reel them in, as opposed to having them roaring past you off the start and possible mayhem! You have to finish to get points no point crashing in first 100 yards.
Seriously, I am calling it, we have the worst party leader and Prime Minister and government leading the country in my adult lifetime currently running the country! Even worse, I genuinely thought there was no Westminster government of any party that could match the incompetent and politically corrupt SNP administration up here in Holyrood over the last 19 years, but this Labour Government under Keir Starmer have literally said hold my beer because I can do far worse damage to the UK economy and our standing on the global stage!!
Did anyone have Keir Starmer proving to be an even worse party leader and Prime Minister than Liz Truss on their bingo card, anyone?!
No.
Sadly I believed he would be dull but competent. Same with Reeves.
He’s utterly hopeless.
But he’s the best Labour has. The others would be worse.
At least we are not at war with all of our available planes and ships attacking Iran under the stewardship of Trump and Bibi.
For that alone, Farage and Bandenoch should be consigned to history and roundly thrashed at the Polls. The treasonable act of Farage and Pritti running to Donald for istructions, or should that be destructions , is the most shameful act of treason since Oswold Moseley!
F1: I'll start writing the pre-qualifying tosh but as FP2 just finished it'll likely be up hours down the line. May well avoid betting but there's plenty of interesting things to consider.
Also, remember Bottas has a grid penalty.
I've a hunch Verstappen is sandbagging...wait til they turn the wick up!
If Ferrari have the startline advantage everyone thinks I also wonder if tactically you'd be better off to start behind them then reel them in, as opposed to having them roaring past you off the start and possible mayhem! You have to finish to get points no point crashing in first 100 yards.
Verstappen may be sandbagging, but so may Mercedes.
The Ferrari starting advantage could persist but the new blue light at the start (indicating when turbos should be started) will reduce that. It'll be interesting to see how they, and Haas, get off the line.
Seriously, I am calling it, we have the worst party leader and Prime Minister and government leading the country in my adult lifetime currently running the country! Even worse, I genuinely thought there was no Westminster government of any party that could match the incompetent and politically corrupt SNP administration up here in Holyrood over the last 19 years, but this Labour Government under Keir Starmer have literally said hold my beer because I can do far worse damage to the UK economy and our standing on the global stage!!
Did anyone have Keir Starmer proving to be an even worse party leader and Prime Minister than Liz Truss on their bingo card, anyone?!
No.
Sadly I believed he would be dull but competent. Same with Reeves.
He’s utterly hopeless.
But he’s the best Labour has. The others would be worse.
At least we are not at war with all of our available planes and ships attacking Iran under the stewardship of Trump and Bibi.
For that alone, Farage and Bandenoch should be consigned to history and roundly thrashed at the Polls. The treasonable act of Farage and Pritti running to Donald for istructions, or should that be destructions , is the most shameful act of treason since Oswold Moseley!
We should give thanks to every one of the aithna eashar 'imaman / الاثنا عشر إمامًا that Johnson wasn't minding the shop when all this kicked off. He'd have been in it up to his quivering balls. I'll take Starmer's Putinesque and ponderous legal probity over that any time.
F1: I'll start writing the pre-qualifying tosh but as FP2 just finished it'll likely be up hours down the line. May well avoid betting but there's plenty of interesting things to consider.
Also, remember Bottas has a grid penalty.
I've a hunch Verstappen is sandbagging...wait til they turn the wick up!
If Ferrari have the startline advantage everyone thinks I also wonder if tactically you'd be better off to start behind them then reel them in, as opposed to having them roaring past you off the start and possible mayhem! You have to finish to get points no point crashing in first 100 yards.
Verstappen may be sandbagging, but so may Mercedes.
The Ferrari starting advantage could persist but the new blue light at the start (indicating when turbos should be started) will reduce that. It'll be interesting to see how they, and Haas, get off the line.
The thought of Toto fucking Wolf and second rate George Russell gurning all year after 4 seasons of joyous reprise is nagging like the worst kind of toothache!
F1: I'll start writing the pre-qualifying tosh but as FP2 just finished it'll likely be up hours down the line. May well avoid betting but there's plenty of interesting things to consider.
Also, remember Bottas has a grid penalty.
I've a hunch Verstappen is sandbagging...wait til they turn the wick up!
If Ferrari have the startline advantage everyone thinks I also wonder if tactically you'd be better off to start behind them then reel them in, as opposed to having them roaring past you off the start and possible mayhem! You have to finish to get points no point crashing in first 100 yards.
Verstappen may be sandbagging, but so may Mercedes.
The Ferrari starting advantage could persist but the new blue light at the start (indicating when turbos should be started) will reduce that. It'll be interesting to see how they, and Haas, get off the line.
The thought of Toto fucking Wolf and second rate George Russell gurning all year after 4 seasons of joyous reprise is nagging like the worst kind of toothache!
On the bright side, a Russell-Verstappen title battle is a genuine possibility. And, unlike last season's mostly McLaren affair, it'd have more needle than an acupuncture bed emporium.
Now it's started, the war needs to continue until the existing Iranian regime is utterly defeated - and all its enriched nuclear material is secure and seized.
Seriously, I am calling it, we have the worst party leader and Prime Minister and government leading the country in my adult lifetime currently running the country! Even worse, I genuinely thought there was no Westminster government of any party that could match the incompetent and politically corrupt SNP administration up here in Holyrood over the last 19 years, but this Labour Government under Keir Starmer have literally said hold my beer because I can do far worse damage to the UK economy and our standing on the global stage!!
Did anyone have Keir Starmer proving to be an even worse party leader and Prime Minister than Liz Truss on their bingo card, anyone?!
Worse than Truss? Worse than Johnson?
Worse than Eden, or Churchill in his alcoholic and demented stage?
Now it's started, the war needs to continue until the existing Iranian regime is utterly defeated - and all its enriched nuclear material is secure and seized.
We're in a hole - pass me a spade? Doesn't seem sensible. Thank God we are not involved.
Seriously, I am calling it, we have the worst party leader and Prime Minister and government leading the country in my adult lifetime currently running the country! Even worse, I genuinely thought there was no Westminster government of any party that could match the incompetent and politically corrupt SNP administration up here in Holyrood over the last 19 years, but this Labour Government under Keir Starmer have literally said hold my beer because I can do far worse damage to the UK economy and our standing on the global stage!!
Did anyone have Keir Starmer proving to be an even worse party leader and Prime Minister than Liz Truss on their bingo card, anyone?!
Worse than Truss? Worse than Johnson?
Worse than Eden, or Churchill in his alcoholic and demented stage?
Some of us have woken up all hyperbolical this morning.
Starmer isn't ever going anywhere near the upper end of the PM tables, but he's got some serious competition to beat before he hits the bottom.
Mirroring MoonRabbit calling some PBer’s and Kemi Badenoch’s Shadow Government treasonous, Defence Secretary Healy now calls the Conservative Party UNPATRIOTIC.
Judging by the crowd from Kettering on QT the polling looks pretty accurate in terms of what the public think .
Kettering is hardly some lefty liberal area and Cleverly looked pained as he tried to justify Badenochs position on Iran .
Pointless extrapolation. The BBC doesn't even try to maje the audience representative. Its full.of lefties. Pointless watching it as you know what is going to be said.
So rather than deploy our own destroyers in advance of the start of military operations, we didn’t bother as the US had destroyers in the Med. So, it was hoped or expected that US destroyers would protect Cyprus while denying the US the use of UK bases?
How UNPROTECTED did the UK government leave Cyprus, Willy?
If they didn’t leave it unprotected, what you are pushing here is not just an untruth, a myth, it is unpatriotic and treasonous.
The protection in place all week, In the air: Six F-35B Lightning II Stealth Jets, 10 Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4, Two Wildcat HMA2 Helicopters equipped with Martlet, three Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft and two MQ-9B Protector RG1 - on the ground the Sky Sabre Missile System, Giraffe AMB radar and CAMM missiles {capable of tracking multiple targets and intercepting threats at ranges of up to 25km} ORCUS Counter-UAS System {specialized electronic warfare suite specially designed to detect and jam drones} All that is hardly a nothing that lets drones and missiles fly in at will.
How many drones and missiles have actually hit Akrotiri? I’ve seen lots told reports about one drone that hit a hanger.
Even with the best air defence network the occasional assault will get through
Seriously, I am calling it, we have the worst party leader and Prime Minister and government leading the country in my adult lifetime currently running the country! Even worse, I genuinely thought there was no Westminster government of any party that could match the incompetent and politically corrupt SNP administration up here in Holyrood over the last 19 years, but this Labour Government under Keir Starmer have literally said hold my beer because I can do far worse damage to the UK economy and our standing on the global stage!!
Did anyone have Keir Starmer proving to be an even worse party leader and Prime Minister than Liz Truss on their bingo card, anyone?!
Worse than Truss? Worse than Johnson?
Worse than Eden, or Churchill in his alcoholic and demented stage?
Some of us have woken up all hyperbolical this morning.
Starmer isn't ever going anywhere near the upper end of the PM tables, but he's got some serious competition to beat before he hits the bottom.
He's on course to be the worst Labour PM this century but could still finish in the top half overall People need to get their meds checked. It's not like he's evacuated a plane load of stray dogs rather than people.
Judging by the crowd from Kettering on QT the polling looks pretty accurate in terms of what the public think .
Kettering is hardly some lefty liberal area and Cleverly looked pained as he tried to justify Badenochs position on Iran .
Pointless extrapolation. The BBC doesn't even try to maje the audience representative. Its full.of lefties. Pointless watching it as you know what is going to be said.
The audiences of such shows are bound to be gamed despite the best efforts of the organisers to ensure a 'representative sample', whatever that may look like. It's one reason I don't bother with them any more. How would you know which are the authentic voices?
I much prefer PB for my politics. I know who the authentic voices are here.
JUST OUT: Trump’s strategy from Venezuela to Iran, a State Department official me and @VeraMBergen, can be called “Decapitate and Delegate.”
Trump’s approach reflects both his desire to avoid “forever wars” and nation building.
If DC’s anointed new leaders fall short for admin, Trump will just hit the reset button.
It’s “a new model: We’re going to give you a shot. You decide what you want to do,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham. “If they elect a new crowd that wants to kill Americans, we’ll kill them.”
There is a twisted logic here, I suppose. The US military is the most awesome killing machine ever constructed. It's cost them about ten trillion dollars in todays money and it's many many times bigger and more powerful than is needed for boring old defence and deterrence. You just can't justify that level of spend unless you use it for something special, so why not for international extortion, terror and feeding the ego of the deranged narcissist you've elected as your president?
The US is going to drive so many countries into the arms of China. Donald Trump being re-elected is probably the best thing to happen to China for at least a hundred years. American hubris is at an all time high, and is causing them irreparable harm.
There is no evidence for that assertion.
What there is evidence of is that Iran's regime was not just utterly evil but closely aligned to Putin's Russia, supplying Russia with munitions that were killing Ukranians.
Attacking Iran does not just potentially liberate Iran and neutralise the biggest threat to the Middle East, it robs Putin of his closest ally and a key weapons factory.
Seriously, I am calling it, we have the worst party leader and Prime Minister and government leading the country in my adult lifetime currently running the country! Even worse, I genuinely thought there was no Westminster government of any party that could match the incompetent and politically corrupt SNP administration up here in Holyrood over the last 19 years, but this Labour Government under Keir Starmer have literally said hold my beer because I can do far worse damage to the UK economy and our standing on the global stage!!
Did anyone have Keir Starmer proving to be an even worse party leader and Prime Minister than Liz Truss on their bingo card, anyone?!
No.
Sadly I believed he would be dull but competent. Same with Reeves.
He’s utterly hopeless.
But he’s the best Labour has. The others would be worse.
At least we are not at war with all of our available planes and ships attacking Iran under the stewardship of Trump and Bibi.
For that alone, Farage and Bandenoch should be consigned to history and roundly thrashed at the Polls. The treasonable act of Farage and Pritti running to Donald for istructions, or should that be destructions , is the most shameful act of treason since Oswold Moseley!
Don’t worry. Given his history he will u turn sooner or later.
Whiniest little bitch ever news. I cringed so hard extremities started to fall off.
‘My former mentor Sir John Curtice pointed out that it’s only the second time since 1945 that parties other than Labour and the Tories have finished in the top two.
I was further buoyed by news that, were the swing replicated at a general election, Reform would win a solid majority.
And who knows? One of those future turquoise MPs might be a battle-hardened GB News presenter who earned his stripes dodging cat ladies and angry Muslims on the streets of Gorton and Denton. In fact, I’d bet big on it.’
I agree with Harriet. Wonder why the Spectator published?
Because:
a) they're treacherous scumbags b) they will happily print anything that makes the Labour party look bad c) they could.
The question that access journalists (like Shipman and Kuenssberg) never seem to ask themselves is "if my source is telling me this secret stuff, what's in it for them?"
So rather than deploy our own destroyers in advance of the start of military operations, we didn’t bother as the US had destroyers in the Med. So, it was hoped or expected that US destroyers would protect Cyprus while denying the US the use of UK bases?
How UNPROTECTED did the UK government leave Cyprus, Willy?
If they didn’t leave it unprotected, what you are pushing here is not just an untruth, a myth, it is unpatriotic and treasonous.
The protection in place all week, In the air: Six F-35B Lightning II Stealth Jets, 10 Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4, Two Wildcat HMA2 Helicopters equipped with Martlet, three Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft and two MQ-9B Protector RG1 - on the ground the Sky Sabre Missile System, Giraffe AMB radar and CAMM missiles {capable of tracking multiple targets and intercepting threats at ranges of up to 25km} ORCUS Counter-UAS System {specialized electronic warfare suite specially designed to detect and jam drones} All that is hardly a nothing that lets drones and missiles fly in at will.
How many drones and missiles have actually hit Akrotiri? I’ve seen lots told reports about one drone that hit a hanger.
Even with the best air defence network the occasional assault will get through
One drone, that may well have been fired by a couple of 16 year old kids...
FFS
This rewriting of fact from desperate war mongering Tory / Reform right wing blood curdling despots is nauseating.
NOT OUR BATTLE NOT OUR WAR Stay out!
The greates hypocricy is that when, not if, we get any form of Iranian backed, sponsored or howver dubiosuly linked Terror attack in the UK, the right wing cabal will yell and scream at Starmer, when in actual fact it would be happening NOW if Badenoch and Farage had their way
Meanwhile Farage and Patel are racing off the Washington to BEG - BEG Trump to RAISE Tariffs!
An interesting mix of by-elections last night, broadly confirming current polls but with Labour not polling quite as disastrously nor Reform quite as impressively as previously.
In the early 1980s, the Falklands War saw the deflation of the SDP balloon - although there were signs that they’d already peaked in popularity before it broke out - and despite the SDP/Alliance going on to poll reasonably strongly in the 1983 General Election, they fell short of the tipping point that would have delivered them a significant number of seats.
It would be remarkably rhythmical of political history if the Iranian War sees the deflation of the Reform balloon - with already signs that they’ve peaked in popularity before it broke out - and they go on to poll strongly in the GE but fall short of the tipping point on seats.
One difference from last time is that there’s a new kid on the block in the form of the Greens, competing for the votes of politically-disillusioned plumbers. Meanwhile, we’d expect a bit of rallying to the government in time of war and - contrary to the Tories’ absurd efforts to beat a drum that we do not have - Starmer is doing a reasonable job in steering a path that avoids getting involved in a war for which there are already signs emerging is unlikely to leave things better on the ground.
The learning point is that we simply cannot judge military intervention from the strictly military achievements of the opening few days. Every previous such intervention has gone sour - look at Libya, now a forgotten wasteland of the international order, beset by corruption, ongoing outbreaks of violence, illegal unregulated trade, and a proxy battlefield for the secret services of the US, Russia, France and the UAE. Not a success for ordinary Libyans.
Seriously, I am calling it, we have the worst party leader and Prime Minister and government leading the country in my adult lifetime currently running the country! Even worse, I genuinely thought there was no Westminster government of any party that could match the incompetent and politically corrupt SNP administration up here in Holyrood over the last 19 years, but this Labour Government under Keir Starmer have literally said hold my beer because I can do far worse damage to the UK economy and our standing on the global stage!!
Did anyone have Keir Starmer proving to be an even worse party leader and Prime Minister than Liz Truss on their bingo card, anyone?!
Worse than Truss? Worse than Johnson?
Worse than Eden, or Churchill in his alcoholic and demented stage?
Some of us have woken up all hyperbolical this morning.
Starmer isn't ever going anywhere near the upper end of the PM tables, but he's got some serious competition to beat before he hits the bottom.
Better or worse than Lord North?
I’d still argue Lord Bath should be much higher. Possibly the only Prime Minister where the Treasury had more money at the end of his time in office than at the beginning
Pamela Bondi is attempting to change the rules such that the Department of Justice can intervene in State Bar Association Ethics Investigations relating to DOJ lawyers. She has already fired and not replaced the internal Ethics advisers.
In the UK I think that would be the UK Govt able to intervene on Ministerial FIAT in any eg Law Society disciplinary process.
The Justice Department is proposing a new policy that would seek to limit the ability of state bar associations to launch ethics probes into DOJ attorneys, according to a new document posted Wednesday in the Federal Register.
The proposal, which comes amid growing scrutiny of the department's attorneys and whether they're complying with ethical obligations in enforcing the Trump administration's agenda, would seek to empower Attorney General Pam Bondi to request that state bar investigations be suspended pending a DOJ review of any originating complaint.
Judging by the crowd from Kettering on QT the polling looks pretty accurate in terms of what the public think .
Kettering is hardly some lefty liberal area and Cleverly looked pained as he tried to justify Badenochs position on Iran .
Pointless extrapolation. The BBC doesn't even try to maje the audience representative. Its full.of lefties. Pointless watching it as you know what is going to be said.
Cleverly looked pained
He is a decent man, a one Nation Tory!
The sooner the Tories wake up and smell the coffee the sooner their inevitable decline in to extinction may at least be delayed.
Have we discussed how, if this war is protracted, there could be a prolonged high oil price ?
Good for the US (and Russia); absolutely the opposite for the majority of its allies, to the extent of creating a recession.
Not particularly good for Republican chances in November though...
Won’t be an issue as, according to the PB USA experts, the GOP will steal the election.
We saw in Texas on Tuesday that they tried a few tricks to prevent turnout in heavily-blue Dallas. But the level of Democrat enthusiasm meant they still pulled out more voters than the Republicans.
Those tricks are counter-productive. The blue wave will raise all boats. Interestingly, one of the so-called gerrymandered new seats in Congress supposedly favouring the Republicans showed an 80% Democrat vote. Oooops!
I agree with Harriet. Wonder why the Spectator published?
Because:
a) they're treacherous scumbags b) they will happily print anything that makes the Labour party look bad c) they could.
The question that access journalists (like Shipman and Kuenssberg) never seem to ask themselves is "if my source is telling me this secret stuff, what's in it for them?"
So rather than deploy our own destroyers in advance of the start of military operations, we didn’t bother as the US had destroyers in the Med. So, it was hoped or expected that US destroyers would protect Cyprus while denying the US the use of UK bases?
How UNPROTECTED did the UK government leave Cyprus, Willy?
If they didn’t leave it unprotected, what you are pushing here is not just an untruth, a myth, it is unpatriotic and treasonous.
The protection in place all week, In the air: Six F-35B Lightning II Stealth Jets, 10 Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4, Two Wildcat HMA2 Helicopters equipped with Martlet, three Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft and two MQ-9B Protector RG1 - on the ground the Sky Sabre Missile System, Giraffe AMB radar and CAMM missiles {capable of tracking multiple targets and intercepting threats at ranges of up to 25km} ORCUS Counter-UAS System {specialized electronic warfare suite specially designed to detect and jam drones} All that is hardly a nothing that lets drones and missiles fly in at will.
How many drones and missiles have actually hit Akrotiri? I’ve seen lots told reports about one drone that hit a hanger.
Even with the best air defence network the occasional assault will get through
One drone, that may well have been fired by a couple of 16 year old kids...
FFS
This rewriting of fact from desperate war mongering Tory / Reform right wing blood curdling despots is nauseating.
NOT OUR BATTLE NOT OUR WAR Stay out!
The greates hypocricy is that when, not if, we get any form of Iranian backed, sponsored or howver dubiosuly linked Terror attack in the UK, the right wing cabal will yell and scream at Starmer, when in actual fact it would be happening NOW if Badenoch and Farage had their way
Meanwhile Farage and Patel are racing off the Washington to BEG - BEG Trump to RAISE Tariffs!
Treason!
I’ll take the bait
What evidence is there they want to raise tariffs ?
It is not like they are in bed with the Chinese, unlike Labour, is it.
I agree with Harriet. Wonder why the Spectator published?
Because:
a) they're treacherous scumbags b) they will happily print anything that makes the Labour party look bad c) they could.
The question that access journalists (like Shipman and Kuenssberg) never seem to ask themselves is "if my source is telling me this secret stuff, what's in it for them?"
Who benefited from the leak?
Milliband
It’s to make him look like the hero of the left and he’s positioning himself to be the next leader after the departure of Starmer .
The backstabbing Judas knifed his brother then failed miserably helping to deliver the Tory majority in 2015 which then went on to call the EU ref and the rest is history .
I can't see that scapegoating Miliband makes a lot of sense, given it was only a few weeks ago, during the Greenland crisis, that there was a rising lomg-term possibility even of U.S. action *against Eurooean nations and thr U.K.*. We are not thr U.S, however close the pragmatic intersection of interest may sometimes be.
Have we discussed how, if this war is protracted, there could be a prolonged high oil price ?
Good for the US (and Russia); absolutely the opposite for the majority of its allies, to the extent of creating a recession.
Not particularly good for Republican chances in November though...
Won’t be an issue as, according to the PB USA experts, the GOP will steal the election.
We saw in Texas on Tuesday that they tried a few tricks to prevent turnout in heavily-blue Dallas. But the level of Democrat enthusiasm meant they still pulled out more voters than the Republicans.
Those tricks are counter-productive. The blue wave will raise all boats. Interestingly, one of the so-called gerrymandered new seats in Congress supposedly favouring the Republicans showed an 80% Democrat vote. Oooops!
We do know both sides gerrymander, to suit, and both sides game to suit.
I fully expect the Democrats to sweep the house on a wave of anti Trump sentiment. Also. I agree, this is anti productive as it will fire up the democrats.
As bad as Starmer is, any successor would be many times worse and the same problem that haunted the conservatives would arise in the public's perception of the new PM not having a mandate
Under attack from all sides including his own cabinet Starmer must be living a nightmare
Scandal after scandal occurs almost dailly for labour, with China spying allegatiions seeing another labour mp resigning the whip and the files on Mandelson are about to drop, this following the resignation of Josh Simons last week
Could anyone have predicted labour's fall from grace in less than 2 years in office ?
This war is uniting so many countries against Iran, with only Spain standing against it in Europe, but how it ends goodness only knows
Have we discussed how, if this war is protracted, there could be a prolonged high oil price ?
Good for the US (and Russia); absolutely the opposite for the majority of its allies, to the extent of creating a recession.
Not particularly good for Republican chances in November though...
Won’t be an issue as, according to the PB USA experts, the GOP will steal the election.
And you this morning's snark expert.
What pretty well everyone has actually said is that he will try to do so. You really think he won't ?
Ah, it’s now ‘try’, I thought from the resident PB USA experts and Trump obsessives the USA was now under a full fascist takeover.
The Americans I speak to around here (and there's a remarkable number in the Cotswolds!) are concerned but not fatalistic.
The US tolerates gerrymandering and other dirty tricks to a greater extent than we do and of course both sides do it. I agree however with Marquee Mark that the more egregious interference that we are likely to see from Trump can up to a point become self-defeating in that it motivates the opposition to turn out in droves.
There does come a point however when the balance tips the other way and the perversion of the democratic system becomes so extreme that it effectively brings the system in that country to an end for the foreseeable future. This is what happened in Nazi Germany and we are right to note that many of the actions of Trump and the GoP are comparable.
I remain optimistic however. We are some way from the point of no return. Trump's favourability ratings are dire and if they are still that way in November are would expect his wings to be clipped regardless of rigging.
Things are in the balance though. I said I'm optimistic but not sanguine.
F1: I'll start writing the pre-qualifying tosh but as FP2 just finished it'll likely be up hours down the line. May well avoid betting but there's plenty of interesting things to consider.
Also, remember Bottas has a grid penalty.
I've a hunch Verstappen is sandbagging...wait til they turn the wick up!
If Ferrari have the startline advantage everyone thinks I also wonder if tactically you'd be better off to start behind them then reel them in, as opposed to having them roaring past you off the start and possible mayhem! You have to finish to get points no point crashing in first 100 yards.
Verstappen may be sandbagging, but so may Mercedes.
The Ferrari starting advantage could persist but the new blue light at the start (indicating when turbos should be started) will reduce that. It'll be interesting to see how they, and Haas, get off the line.
The thought of Toto fucking Wolf and second rate George Russell gurning all year after 4 seasons of joyous reprise is nagging like the worst kind of toothache!
I'm delighted to learn that you also care about F1. You've found your online tribe.
The only problem with that statement is that you can't just switch on a few new rigs
I’d guess he’s aware of that given his job, some longer term strategic thinking is a good thing, however Richard Tyndall made several interesting posts as to the current state of play and can be done.
For me it’s about, as I tried explaining Sunday, Supply Chain risk and resilience.
Have we discussed how, if this war is protracted, there could be a prolonged high oil price ?
Good for the US (and Russia); absolutely the opposite for the majority of its allies, to the extent of creating a recession.
Not particularly good for Republican chances in November though...
Won’t be an issue as, according to the PB USA experts, the GOP will steal the election.
And you this morning's snark expert.
What pretty well everyone has actually said is that he will try to do so. You really think he won't ?
Ah, it’s now ‘try’, I thought from the resident PB USA experts and Trump obsessives the USA was now under a full fascist takeover.
The Americans I speak to around here (and there's a remarkable number in the Cotswolds!) are concerned but not fatalistic.
The US tolerates gerrymandering and other dirty tricks to a greater extent than we do and of course both sides do it. I agree however with Marquee Mark that the more egregious interference that we are likely to see from Trump can up to a point become self-defeating in that it motivates the opposition to turn out in droves.
There does come a point however when the balance tips the other way and the perversion of the democratic system becomes so extreme that it effectively brings the system in that country to an end for the foreseeable future. This is what happened in Nazi Germany and we are right to note that many of the actions of Trump and the GoP are comparable.
I remain optimistic however. We are some way from the point of no return. Trump's favourability ratings are dire and if they are still that way in November are would expect his wings to be clipped regardless of rigging.
Things are in the balance though. I said I'm optimistic but not sanguine.
I’m 100% confident he is going to get a kicking if things stay as they are.
"Iran(lslamic regime) is in violation of international law in everything it has done for the past 40 years, And now, when "the people in Iran are cheering in the streets, we start international law debates..."
So rather than deploy our own destroyers in advance of the start of military operations, we didn’t bother as the US had destroyers in the Med. So, it was hoped or expected that US destroyers would protect Cyprus while denying the US the use of UK bases?
How UNPROTECTED did the UK government leave Cyprus, Willy?
If they didn’t leave it unprotected, what you are pushing here is not just an untruth, a myth, it is unpatriotic and treasonous.
The protection in place all week, In the air: Six F-35B Lightning II Stealth Jets, 10 Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4, Two Wildcat HMA2 Helicopters equipped with Martlet, three Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft and two MQ-9B Protector RG1 - on the ground the Sky Sabre Missile System, Giraffe AMB radar and CAMM missiles {capable of tracking multiple targets and intercepting threats at ranges of up to 25km} ORCUS Counter-UAS System {specialized electronic warfare suite specially designed to detect and jam drones} All that is hardly a nothing that lets drones and missiles fly in at will.
How many drones and missiles have actually hit Akrotiri? I’ve seen lots told reports about one drone that hit a hanger.
Even with the best air defence network the occasional assault will get through
Well, yes. I think this is a(nother) Starmer comms problem, where Govt silence left room for opposition, opportunists, and media to build an essentially fake narrative around "dither" and "left defenceless". That reflects on both those attacking the Govt, and the Govt itself.
He gave a decent reply at PMQ, but there is little effective media operation.
Have we discussed how, if this war is protracted, there could be a prolonged high oil price ?
Good for the US (and Russia); absolutely the opposite for the majority of its allies, to the extent of creating a recession.
Not particularly good for Republican chances in November though...
Won’t be an issue as, according to the PB USA experts, the GOP will steal the election.
And you this morning's snark expert.
What pretty well everyone has actually said is that he will try to do so. You really think he won't ?
Ah, it’s now ‘try’, I thought from the resident PB USA experts and Trump obsessives the USA was now under a full fascist takeover.
The Americans I speak to around here (and there's a remarkable number in the Cotswolds!) are concerned but not fatalistic.
The US tolerates gerrymandering and other dirty tricks to a greater extent than we do and of course both sides do it. I agree however with Marquee Mark that the more egregious interference that we are likely to see from Trump can up to a point become self-defeating in that it motivates the opposition to turn out in droves.
There does come a point however when the balance tips the other way and the perversion of the democratic system becomes so extreme that it effectively brings the system in that country to an end for the foreseeable future. This is what happened in Nazi Germany and we are right to note that many of the actions of Trump and the GoP are comparable.
I remain optimistic however. We are some way from the point of no return. Trump's favourability ratings are dire and if they are still that way in November are would expect his wings to be clipped regardless of rigging.
Things are in the balance though. I said I'm optimistic but not sanguine.
Are you familiar with many US citizens applying for UK citizenship? What is your impression of the reasons?
The numbers were 5320 in 2023, 6192 in 2024 and 8790 in 2025, with the last quarter in 2025 running at ~10000 when annualised. So not far off doubling in rate in 2 years.
That is not huge, but that is on a pyramid of USA people coming here to live.
The only problem with that statement is that you can't just switch on a few new rigs
I’d guess he’s aware of that given his job, some longer term strategic thinking is a good thing, however Richard Tyndall made several interesting posts as to the current state of play and can be done.
For me it’s about, as I tried explaining Sunday, Supply Chain risk and resilience.
Octopus are probably also remembering their huge North African solar project that Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband (I think it was both) canned "to encourage UK-based power".
The only problem with that statement is that you can't just switch on a few new rigs
I’d guess he’s aware of that given his job, some longer term strategic thinking is a good thing, however Richard Tyndall made several interesting posts as to the current state of play and can be done.
For me it’s about, as I tried explaining Sunday, Supply Chain risk and resilience.
Octopus are probably also remembering their huge North African solar project that Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband (I think it was both) canned "to encourage UK-based power".
‘Are probably’ doing a lot of lifting there given he doesn’t mention it 😂
The only problem with that statement is that you can't just switch on a few new rigs
I’d guess he’s aware of that given his job, some longer term strategic thinking is a good thing, however Richard Tyndall made several interesting posts as to the current state of play and can be done.
For me it’s about, as I tried explaining Sunday, Supply Chain risk and resilience.
Octopus are probably also remembering their huge North African solar project that Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband (I think it was both) canned "to encourage UK-based power".
‘Are probably’ doing a lot of lifting there given he doesn’t mention it 😂
So rather than deploy our own destroyers in advance of the start of military operations, we didn’t bother as the US had destroyers in the Med. So, it was hoped or expected that US destroyers would protect Cyprus while denying the US the use of UK bases?
How UNPROTECTED did the UK government leave Cyprus, Willy?
If they didn’t leave it unprotected, what you are pushing here is not just an untruth, a myth, it is unpatriotic and treasonous.
The protection in place all week, In the air: Six F-35B Lightning II Stealth Jets, 10 Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4, Two Wildcat HMA2 Helicopters equipped with Martlet, three Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft and two MQ-9B Protector RG1 - on the ground the Sky Sabre Missile System, Giraffe AMB radar and CAMM missiles {capable of tracking multiple targets and intercepting threats at ranges of up to 25km} ORCUS Counter-UAS System {specialized electronic warfare suite specially designed to detect and jam drones} All that is hardly a nothing that lets drones and missiles fly in at will.
How many drones and missiles have actually hit Akrotiri? I’ve seen lots told reports about one drone that hit a hanger.
Even with the best air defence network the occasional assault will get through
Well, yes. I think this is a(nother) Starmer comms problem, where Govt silence left room for opposition, opportunists, and media to build an essentially fake narrative around "dither" and "left defenceless". That reflects on both those attacking the Govt, and the Govt itself.
He gave a decent reply at PMQ, but there is little effective media operation.
So the majority of the public don’t want to aggressively bomb Iran alongside the US and only act defensively, which is exactly what Starmer is doing, yet the majority also think he’s doing a rubbish job…..
Police arrest 4 men on suspicion of aiding Iran's intelligence service by spying on locations of individuals linked to the Jewish community in London
It is reasuring the intelligence services are active in this field
It is reassuring.
It is also reprehensible for Opposition Leaders to stoke the hate and bile of these terrorists up to fever pitch, with dangerous war filled words, careless talk costs lives"
Opposition Politicians should not be racing to Washington or Tel Aviv to get instructions off Trump or Netanyahu
Comments
Luke Akehurst
@lukeakehurst
·
1h
Labour gain from Reform tonight in byelection for Murton Ward, Durham County Council. This ward is in Easington constituency.
https://x.com/lukeakehurst/status/2029695574786629848
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_Sainte-Marie
I have no problem with the current Labour UK government not getting proactively involved in the US/Israeli military action against Iran, and if the news reports are correct they were never asked too. I would have been quite happy if we continued to carry on our defensive air support in the region from our military bases to protect our own citizens and that of our allies in the region if they came under attack from Iran as a result.
But I think it was utterly wrong for Starmer and his Labout government to refuse the US the use of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia weeks ago, and espeically in light of their dereliction of duty to give the go ahead to prepare and plan to deploy a Royal Navy fleet of ships to this region to assist and protect our citizens and military assets/bases as a precaution in light of that request which indicated military action maybe imminent. That we are now having to humiliatingly rely on other countries in this region to achieve this is entirely down to the poor decisions made by this awful Labour government who put domestic party politics before our national interests. They should hang their heads in shame.
As a woman, I would not mourn the demise of the brutal Iranian regime after seeing so many brave women there being tortured and murdered over the last 40 years, but I also still blame Donald Trump for setting in motion the train of events that led to the chaotic and tragic events that unfolded in Afghanistan under the weak chaotic Biden adminstration when they did their midnight flit to exit the country and which has left the girls and women there living under such horrific and brutal conditions today.
It shoukd be no surprise that he stuttered initially.
He has sent 4 jets to the region not 4 squadrons.
The Tories are partially to blame but Labour is equally culpable.
Brown's decision to waste billions on aircraft carriers which don't function properly was equally stupid
Stop.paying benefits worth more than people get for working and start defending the Country.
Good for the US (and Russia); absolutely the opposite for the majority of its allies, to the extent of creating a recession.
Seriously, did Starmer and his Labour government put his weakened leadership among the Labour Parliamentary Party and that Gorton and Denton by-election ahead of the national interests of the country and our military and citizens in the Middle East when we should have been planning ahead and deploying a naval prescence in the area far sooner
?
As for Russia, yes, if they can dig it up.
Next you'll be predicting the winner of the 4.38 at Thurles yesterday.
We are dealing with 2 war mongering nut cases in Trump and Netanyahu.
Thank God we have a PM and Government who have learnt past lessons and not getting involved in someone elses war. The UK cannot be responsible for every UK citizen around the gLobs, it cannot be responsible for places like Cyprus any more.
The final paragraph about benefits and defence is risible.
WHO HOLLOWED OUT DEFENCE SPENDING
WHO INCREASED WELFARE SPENDING THROUGH THE ROOF
WHO SPENT BILLIONS TO DEFEND UKRAINE!
The Special Relationsihip may npt be dead, it is certainly dormant.
One one person to blame for that.
Donald Trump!
History also tells us one other lesson.
Who failed to adequately defend the Falklands until it was too late MARGARET HILDA THATCHER!
Who failed to come to our aid - The United fucking States
Same old Tories
Same old Right Wing Americans
Couldn't organise a piss up.in a brewery.
F1: I'll start writing the pre-qualifying tosh but as FP2 just finished it'll likely be up hours down the line. May well avoid betting but there's plenty of interesting things to consider.
Also, remember Bottas has a grid penalty.
Supercillious twat Nick Ferrari belly aching that billionaire, millionaires, ex pats and thousands who don't pay UK tax have to find a way out of a warzone.
Meanwhile equally twatish Nigel and Kemi moan as half the RAF scrambled to defend Cyprus after ONE one fucking drone actually hits the Island, the size of which you could probably mail order for same day delivery at Argos.
Same old Right Wing bullcrap...
"Ali lets buy a drone and fly it to Cyprus"
Kemi "the island of Cyprus is under attack, we must declare global war"
Did anyone have Keir Starmer proving to be an even worse party leader and Prime Minister than Liz Truss on their bingo card, anyone?!
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2026-first-grid-penalty-australian-gp-valtteri-bottas-vanished/
As the war is prolonged so will that be.
Sadly I believed he would be dull but competent. Same with Reeves.
He’s utterly hopeless.
But he’s the best Labour has. The others would be worse.
If Ferrari have the startline advantage everyone thinks I also wonder if tactically you'd be better off to start behind them then reel them in, as opposed to having them roaring past you off the start and possible mayhem! You have to finish to get points no point crashing in first 100 yards.
For that alone, Farage and Bandenoch should be consigned to history and roundly thrashed at the Polls. The treasonable act of Farage and Pritti running to Donald for istructions, or should that be destructions , is the most shameful act of treason since Oswold Moseley!
The Ferrari starting advantage could persist but the new blue light at the start (indicating when turbos should be started) will reduce that. It'll be interesting to see how they, and Haas, get off the line.
https://morrisf1.blogspot.com/2026/03/australia-2026-pre-qualifying.html
Ferrari/McLaren shouldn't be ruled out either.
Now it's started, the war needs to continue until the existing Iranian regime is utterly defeated - and all its enriched nuclear material is secure and seized.
It was in relation to a bunch of allegedly religious cult members turning up to pray in the Oval Office and treating Trump like the Messiah .
https://x.com/osint613/status/2029670295137619998
Worse than Eden, or Churchill in his alcoholic and demented stage?
Leaks from NSC
https://news.sky.com/story/leak-from-uk-security-meeting-on-trumps-war-request-branded-utterly-destructive-13515771
Starmer isn't ever going anywhere near the upper end of the PM tables, but he's got some serious competition to beat before he hits the bottom.
Kettering is hardly some lefty liberal area and Cleverly looked pained as he tried to justify Badenochs position on Iran .
Hilarious his own party leaked it.
Even with the best air defence network the occasional assault will get through
People need to get their meds checked.
It's not like he's evacuated a plane load of stray dogs rather than people.
I much prefer PB for my politics. I know who the authentic voices are here.
‘My former mentor Sir John Curtice pointed out that it’s only the second time since 1945 that parties other than Labour and the Tories have finished in the top two.
I was further buoyed by news that, were the swing replicated at a general election, Reform would win a solid majority.
And who knows? One of those future turquoise MPs might be a battle-hardened GB News presenter who earned his stripes dodging cat ladies and angry Muslims on the streets of Gorton and Denton. In fact, I’d bet big on it.’
https://x.com/spectator/status/2029534919584530729?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q
a) they're treacherous scumbags
b) they will happily print anything that makes the Labour party look bad
c) they could.
The question that access journalists (like Shipman and Kuenssberg) never seem to ask themselves is "if my source is telling me this secret stuff, what's in it for them?"
Who benefited from the leak?
FFS
This rewriting of fact from desperate war mongering Tory / Reform right wing blood curdling despots is nauseating.
NOT OUR BATTLE
NOT OUR WAR
Stay out!
The greates hypocricy is that when, not if, we get any form of Iranian backed, sponsored or howver dubiosuly linked Terror attack in the UK, the right wing cabal will yell and scream at Starmer, when in actual fact it would be happening NOW if Badenoch and Farage had their way
Meanwhile Farage and Patel are racing off the Washington to BEG - BEG Trump to RAISE Tariffs!
Treason!
In the early 1980s, the Falklands War saw the deflation of the SDP balloon - although there were signs that they’d already peaked in popularity before it broke out - and despite the SDP/Alliance going on to poll reasonably strongly in the 1983 General Election, they fell short of the tipping point that would have delivered them a significant number of seats.
It would be remarkably rhythmical of political history if the Iranian War sees the deflation of the Reform balloon - with already signs that they’ve peaked in popularity before it broke out - and they go on to poll strongly in the GE but fall short of the tipping point on seats.
One difference from last time is that there’s a new kid on the block in the form of the Greens, competing for the votes of politically-disillusioned plumbers. Meanwhile, we’d expect a bit of rallying to the government in time of war and - contrary to the Tories’ absurd efforts to beat a drum that we do not have - Starmer is doing a reasonable job in steering a path that avoids getting involved in a war for which there are already signs emerging is unlikely to leave things better on the ground.
The learning point is that we simply cannot judge military intervention from the strictly military achievements of the opening few days. Every previous such intervention has gone sour - look at Libya, now a forgotten wasteland of the international order, beset by corruption, ongoing outbreaks of violence, illegal unregulated trade, and a proxy battlefield for the secret services of the US, Russia, France and the UAE. Not a success for ordinary Libyans.
I’d still argue Lord Bath should be much higher. Possibly the only Prime Minister where the Treasury had more money at the end of his time in office than at the beginning
Pamela Bondi is attempting to change the rules such that the Department of Justice can intervene in State Bar Association Ethics Investigations relating to DOJ lawyers. She has already fired and not replaced the internal Ethics advisers.
In the UK I think that would be the UK Govt able to intervene on Ministerial FIAT in any eg Law Society disciplinary process.
The Justice Department is proposing a new policy that would seek to limit the ability of state bar associations to launch ethics probes into DOJ attorneys, according to a new document posted Wednesday in the Federal Register.
The proposal, which comes amid growing scrutiny of the department's attorneys and whether they're complying with ethical obligations in enforcing the Trump administration's agenda, would seek to empower Attorney General Pam Bondi to request that state bar investigations be suspended pending a DOJ review of any originating complaint.
https://abcnews.com/US/doj-proposes-policy-aimed-limiting-state-bar-ethics/story?id=130755238
He is a decent man, a one Nation Tory!
The sooner the Tories wake up and smell the coffee the sooner their inevitable decline in to extinction may at least be delayed.
Those tricks are counter-productive. The blue wave will raise all boats. Interestingly, one of the so-called gerrymandered new seats in Congress supposedly favouring the Republicans showed an 80% Democrat vote. Oooops!
It's only a question of how unfair they will be.
What pretty well everyone has actually said is that he will try to do so.
You really think he won't ?
What evidence is there they want to raise tariffs ?
It is not like they are in bed with the Chinese, unlike Labour, is it.
The backstabbing Judas knifed his brother then failed miserably helping to deliver the Tory majority in 2015 which then went on to call the EU ref and the rest is history .
I can't see that scapegoating Miliband makes a lot of sense, given it was only a few weeks ago, during the Greenland crisis, that there was a rising lomg-term possibility even of U.S. action *against Eurooean nations and thr U.K.*. We are not thr U.S, however close the pragmatic intersection of interest may sometimes be.
I fully expect the Democrats to sweep the house on a wave of anti Trump sentiment. Also. I agree, this is anti productive as it will fire up the democrats.
Inflation adjusted down 10% down from peak.
https://x.com/frencheconomics/status/2029821656487580025?s=61
‘ Octopus Energy boss warns UK faces energy emergency without North Sea drilling’
https://x.com/gbnews/status/2029517537697006038?s=61
Under attack from all sides including his own cabinet Starmer must be living a nightmare
Scandal after scandal occurs almost dailly for labour, with China spying allegatiions seeing another labour mp resigning the whip and the files on Mandelson are about to drop, this following the resignation of Josh Simons last week
Could anyone have predicted labour's fall from grace in less than 2 years in office ?
This war is uniting so many countries against Iran, with only Spain standing against it in Europe, but how it ends goodness only knows
NEW THREAD
The US tolerates gerrymandering and other dirty tricks to a greater extent than we do and of course both sides do it. I agree however with Marquee Mark that the more egregious interference that we are likely to see from Trump can up to a point become self-defeating in that it motivates the opposition to turn out in droves.
There does come a point however when the balance tips the other way and the perversion of the democratic system becomes so extreme that it effectively brings the system in that country to an end for the foreseeable future. This is what happened in Nazi Germany and we are right to note that many of the actions of Trump and the GoP are comparable.
I remain optimistic however. We are some way from the point of no return. Trump's favourability ratings are dire and if they are still that way in November are would expect his wings to be clipped regardless of rigging.
Things are in the balance though. I said I'm optimistic but not sanguine.
You've found your online tribe.
For me it’s about, as I tried explaining Sunday, Supply Chain risk and resilience.
It is reasuring the intelligence services are active in this field
https://x.com/azatalsalim/status/2029708915294736555
German politician Armin Laschet.
"Iran(lslamic regime) is in violation of international law in everything it has done for the past 40 years, And now, when "the people in Iran are cheering in the streets, we start international law debates..."
He gave a decent reply at PMQ, but there is little effective media operation.
The numbers were 5320 in 2023, 6192 in 2024 and 8790 in 2025, with the last quarter in 2025 running at ~10000 when annualised. So not far off doubling in rate in 2 years.
That is not huge, but that is on a pyramid of USA people coming here to live.
It is also reprehensible for Opposition Leaders to stoke the hate and bile of these terrorists up to fever pitch, with dangerous war filled words, careless talk costs lives"
Opposition Politicians should not be racing to Washington or Tel Aviv to get instructions off Trump or Netanyahu