The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
I wouldn't go that far. he is a great talent but not everyone likes him, he is not the most charming person in the world and has expensive tastes, indeed Yougov gives him a +35% which while fractionally higher than the King's +29% is still far below Prince William's +62%. I am sure Sir Lewis has zero interest in being a UK President anyway and as a knight of the realm remains a constitutional monarchist and will leave being UK head of state to those trained from birth to do the role
I was doing a workout at Chase Leisure Centre when Masi messed up the race that cost Hamilton the title.
Almost everyone else was cheering loudly because he's so unpopular. I was too busy on the rowing machine to take part either way, but I remember thinking it was a good job TSE wasn't there...
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
'President Trump has privately expressed 'serious interest' in deploying US soldiers to Iran, according to military sources.
Trump has told White House advisors that he will need troops on the ground to complete his 'vision' for a post-war Iran, which he hopes to control in a similar way to Venezuela, insiders told NBC News.
Like so many things this feels like madness, but among Trump's priorities will be the slightly complex issue of how to rig or avoid altogether the coming elections - now nine months away.
Trump isn’t on the ballot in November so he doesn’t give as much of a shit as in 2020 or 2024. Congress does have power to cut funds to a ground troops involved war though
Suggests the Greens could win more councils than Labour in London but Labour still win more councillors overall.
The latest Scottish polls have Labour back ahead of Reform and second to the SNP who are also forecast to be down on 2021. In Wales Labour almost certainly stay in government even as junior partner to Plaid.
UK wide though it is still open whether the Tories or Labour or now maybe even the Greens come second to Reform on NEV in the May local and devolved elections
There is nothing certain in Wales with the Greens and Plaid and Reform winning labour voters
The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
I wouldn't go that far. he is a great talent but not everyone likes him, he is not the most charming person in the world and has expensive tastes, indeed Yougov gives him a +35% rating from UK voters which while fractionally higher than the King's +29% is still far below Prince William's +62%. I am sure Sir Lewis has zero interest in being a UK President anyway and as a knight of the realm remains a constitutional monarchist and will leave being UK head of state to those trained from birth to do the role
I know what you mean, but given that said training has delivered the Dukes of Windsor, York and Sussex, one has to question how effective it is.
If I had that sort of failure rate, I'd be expecting a meeting without biscuits to discuss the issue at the very least.
(The real point is that the training is for a role that's fundamentally insane, especially if it's essentially for life. The psychologically healthiest Head of State model is to make it opt-in, temporary and with powers summed up as "politicians mustn't embarrass the National Treasure."
Think the Chancellor of a moderately reputable redbrick university.)
York and Sussex were spares, they were NOT trained as the heirs. Windsor was very popular as Prince of Wales, especially in areas hit by the depression he visited, Parliament removed him though once he tried to marry a divorcee as monarch as they will likely remove Andrew from the line of succession.
Constitutional monarchy works and is always better than a politician head of state, hence monarchists like me would never accept a republic
I do not want a republic but not sure what you would do if it happened
Join the Constitutional monarchy group to restore the monarchy the next day and wave ‘Not my President’ placards at any new UK republic President wherever they went.
The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
Hoho, good joke. Though I'd imagine someone who has spawned their vast brood via a turkey baster and whose member wil be damaged by long term ketamine use may be a stranger even to a semi.
The Iranian President's apology to the other Gulf States is clearly a marker for both Washington and Jerusalem - he is the one they can deal with going forward - he is "their man" who can tone down the heat and deal with the IGRC if he is so allowed.
There is seemingly an internal power struggle in what's left of the Iranian leadership but Pezeshkian is making a pitch as the moderate candidate with the clerics apparently in turmoil after last Saturday's strike which killed Khamanei.
IF Pezeshkian can rein in the IGRC, I suspect this crisis will ease very quickly early next week with Hormuz re-opening and flights resuming.
It's still far from clear, however, how much sway Pezeshkian really has and he was a big part of the strikes on Israel in the autumn of 2024 so he doesn't have clean hands but he may have been "persuaded" to take on what's left of Iran and pull it back from the abyss.
We'll see and even as he was apologising the Iranian drones and missiles were still flying which indicates little or no command and control - that's one of the problems when you obliterate the communications network from above.
I do think the next 48-72 hours will be the critical point of this crisis - if it looks close to resolution, we'll see oil and gas prices fall back dramatically but if the hardliners are really still running the show in Tehran and Hormuz stays blocked, the oil price is going to move higher.
President Pezeshkian has apologised to the GCC nations for the arial bombardments. Perhaps the decentralised elements of the IRGC and army are acting autonomously following a pre-written script telling what to do in the event of regime decapitation
I suspect they gambled that if they attacked the GCC nations they would be cowed and pressure the US to end the war. Instead they chose to fight back so now Iran is trying to placate them.
Also possibly running low on missiles and want to make the lack of launches look gracious.
The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
I wouldn't go that far. he is a great talent but not everyone likes him, he is not the most charming person in the world and has expensive tastes, indeed Yougov gives him a +35% rating from UK voters which while fractionally higher than the King's +29% is still far below Prince William's +62%. I am sure Sir Lewis has zero interest in being a UK President anyway and as a knight of the realm remains a constitutional monarchist and will leave being UK head of state to those trained from birth to do the role
I know what you mean, but given that said training has delivered the Dukes of Windsor, York and Sussex, one has to question how effective it is.
If I had that sort of failure rate, I'd be expecting a meeting without biscuits to discuss the issue at the very least.
(The real point is that the training is for a role that's fundamentally insane, especially if it's essentially for life. The psychologically healthiest Head of State model is to make it opt-in, temporary and with powers summed up as "politicians mustn't embarrass the National Treasure."
Think the Chancellor of a moderately reputable redbrick university.)
York and Sussex were spares, they were NOT trained as the heirs. Windsor was very popular as Prince of Wales, especially in areas hit by the depression he visited, Parliament removed him though once he tried to marry a divorcee as monarch as they will likely remove Andrew from the line of succession.
Constitutional monarchy works and is always better than a politician head of state, hence monarchists like me would never accept a republic
I do not want a republic but not sure what you would do if it happened
Join the Constitutional monarchy group to restore the monarchy the next day and wave ‘Not my President’ placards at any new UK republic President wherever they went.
If we move to a republic a 'water pistol' demonstration will have no effect whatsoever
Mind you, I do not expect it within my lifetime though at 82 that may not be likely anyway
What are the prospects of Trumpski himself doing another personal TACO on Iran?
I think the USA may be hit hardest by the oil and gas prices in the short term. Most others seem to have 2-3 months of reserves of oil (us: not gas), but it is summer in Europe so for us the gas dependencies are products not heating.
And, checking again, the USA uses 3x as much gas and 4x as much oil each year for each of its citizens than each of UK citizens. The European average is slightly lower ratios, but we are comparatively much more efficient.
Has anyone seen any godo analysis of this aspect?
This is conflating two separate issues - supply and the world price of oil and gas.
The US is self sufficient in oil and gas. Or rather it is self sufficient in gas and its reliance on international oil is restricted to the fact it currently lacks refining capacity to be completely self sufficient. But it is not reliant on external crude oil supply.
The issue that might hurt Trump is that the oil and gas price is independent of local supply. So although they have enough oil and gas it will be more expensive to buy petrol or heating oil because of the increase in world prices.
But the US is in avery different place to where it was even under Trump 1. Back then they were still dependent on imports. Now they are not - or at least they wouldn't be if they could sort out their refining issues.
The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
Shame he's an utter twunt.
I've always thought Becks would be a good fit for the role. And now he even has his own ongoing family feud, which would also facilitate a seamless transition from the Windsors.
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
The Iranian President's apology to the other Gulf States is clearly a marker for both Washington and Jerusalem - he is the one they can deal with going forward - he is "their man" who can tone down the heat and deal with the IGRC if he is so allowed.
There is seemingly an internal power struggle in what's left of the Iranian leadership but Pezeshkian is making a pitch as the moderate candidate with the clerics apparently in turmoil after last Saturday's strike which killed Khamanei.
IF Pezeshkian can rein in the IGRC, I suspect this crisis will ease very quickly early next week with Hormuz re-opening and flights resuming.
It's still far from clear, however, how much sway Pezeshkian really has and he was a big part of the strikes on Israel in the autumn of 2024 so he doesn't have clean hands but he may have been "persuaded" to take on what's left of Iran and pull it back from the abyss.
We'll see and even as he was apologising the Iranian drones and missiles were still flying which indicates little or no command and control - that's one of the problems when you obliterate the communications network from above.
I do think the next 48-72 hours will be the critical point of this crisis - if it looks close to resolution, we'll see oil and gas prices fall back dramatically but if the hardliners are really still running the show in Tehran and Hormuz stays blocked, the oil price is going to move higher.
The foreign affairs spokesperson for Sky, on the Iraq Iran border, said that nobody was listening to him as further missiles flew overhead
It would be wonderful if the Iranian President could prevail but it looks like Iran, understandably, is arguing with itself and its different factions
The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
I wouldn't go that far. he is a great talent but not everyone likes him, he is not the most charming person in the world and has expensive tastes, indeed Yougov gives him a +35% rating from UK voters which while fractionally higher than the King's +29% is still far below Prince William's +62%. I am sure Sir Lewis has zero interest in being a UK President anyway and as a knight of the realm remains a constitutional monarchist and will leave being UK head of state to those trained from birth to do the role
I know what you mean, but given that said training has delivered the Dukes of Windsor, York and Sussex, one has to question how effective it is.
If I had that sort of failure rate, I'd be expecting a meeting without biscuits to discuss the issue at the very least.
(The real point is that the training is for a role that's fundamentally insane, especially if it's essentially for life. The psychologically healthiest Head of State model is to make it opt-in, temporary and with powers summed up as "politicians mustn't embarrass the National Treasure."
Think the Chancellor of a moderately reputable redbrick university.)
York and Sussex were spares, they were NOT trained as the heirs. Windsor was very popular as Prince of Wales, especially in areas hit by the depression he visited, Parliament removed him though once he tried to marry a divorcee as monarch as they will likely remove Andrew from the line of succession.
Constitutional monarchy works and is always better than a politician head of state, hence monarchists like me would never accept a republic
I do not want a republic but not sure what you would do if it happened
Join the Constitutional monarchy group to restore the monarchy the next day and wave ‘Not my President’ placards at any new UK republic President wherever they went.
If we move to a republic a 'water pistol' demonstration will have no effect whatsoever
Mind you, I do not expect it within my lifetime though at 82 that may not be likely anyway
How do you know? We have already restored one monarchy in 1660, Spain restored its monarchy and Iran may do the same. Republic do these protests so obviously monarchists like me would do the same and refuse to accept a republic
Suggests the Greens could win more councils than Labour in London but Labour still win more councillors overall.
The latest Scottish polls have Labour back ahead of Reform and second to the SNP who are also forecast to be down on 2021. In Wales Labour almost certainly stay in government even as junior partner to Plaid.
UK wide though it is still open whether the Tories or Labour or now maybe even the Greens come second to Reform on NEV in the May local and devolved elections
There is nothing certain in Wales with the Greens and Plaid and Reform winning labour voters
You always write ‘there is nothing certain’ but the whole point of this site is to make politics predictions!!! Neither Plaid nor Labour nor the Greens or LDs would deal with Reform so almost certainly only a Plaid or Labour deal could keep them out
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
David Lammy was interviewed across the media and your attempt to dismiss the story as misleading is simply you being misleading
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
I wouldn't go that far. he is a great talent but not everyone likes him, he is not the most charming person in the world and has expensive tastes, indeed Yougov gives him a +35% which while fractionally higher than the King's +29% is still far below Prince William's +62%. I am sure Sir Lewis has zero interest in being a UK President anyway and as a knight of the realm remains a constitutional monarchist and will leave being UK head of state to those trained from birth to do the role
I was doing a workout at Chase Leisure Centre when Masi messed up the race that cost Hamilton the title.
Almost everyone else was cheering loudly because he's so unpopular. I was too busy on the rowing machine to take part either way, but I remember thinking it was a good job TSE wasn't there...
The Iranian President's apology to the other Gulf States is clearly a marker for both Washington and Jerusalem - he is the one they can deal with going forward - he is "their man" who can tone down the heat and deal with the IGRC if he is so allowed.
There is seemingly an internal power struggle in what's left of the Iranian leadership but Pezeshkian is making a pitch as the moderate candidate with the clerics apparently in turmoil after last Saturday's strike which killed Khamanei.
IF Pezeshkian can rein in the IGRC, I suspect this crisis will ease very quickly early next week with Hormuz re-opening and flights resuming.
It's still far from clear, however, how much sway Pezeshkian really has and he was a big part of the strikes on Israel in the autumn of 2024 so he doesn't have clean hands but he may have been "persuaded" to take on what's left of Iran and pull it back from the abyss.
We'll see and even as he was apologising the Iranian drones and missiles were still flying which indicates little or no command and control - that's one of the problems when you obliterate the communications network from above.
I do think the next 48-72 hours will be the critical point of this crisis - if it looks close to resolution, we'll see oil and gas prices fall back dramatically but if the hardliners are really still running the show in Tehran and Hormuz stays blocked, the oil price is going to move higher.
The foreign affairs spokesperson for Sky, on the Iraq Iran border, said that nobody was listening to him as further missiles flew overhead
It would be wonderful if the Iranian President could prevail but it looks like Iran, understandably, is arguing with itself and its different factions
I agree there is likely an internal power struggle (or several) going on in Iran and doubtless the President has some supporters but I accept the Islamic Guard aren't going to be keen to stop the missiles or drones at this stage.
Today is, I think, more about putting down a marker to Washington in particular that he (Pezeshkian) is a man with whom business can be done - he may simply be pragmatic or he may see an opportunity to take power and be if not a friend to Washington do effectively what Rodriguez has done in Caracas - he will be given a free hand to run Iran in exchange for confirming oil and gas supplies to America and its allies.
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
“I apologise to the neighbouring countries that were attacked by Iran.”
He added: Iran’s interim leadership has decided there will be “no more attacks on neighbouring countries or launch[ing] missiles, unless an attack against Iran originates from those countries.” He blamed recent strikes on “miscommunication” after losses of top commanders and the supreme leader."
Interesting intervention, for sure.
Iranian Ballistic Missiles launches: Day 1 — 350 Day 2 — 175 Day 3 — 120 Day 4 — 50 Day 5 — 40 Day 6 — 32 Day 7 — 28 Day 8 — 15
Maybe they ain't got many more left to fire.
It's probably not so much that, as the difficulty in launching them without getting blown up from above.
Their ballistic missiles are more primitive than the west's, and have to be prepped for launch. The launchers are big targets. Drones are a more difficult proposition.
The Iranian President's apology to the other Gulf States is clearly a marker for both Washington and Jerusalem - he is the one they can deal with going forward - he is "their man" who can tone down the heat and deal with the IGRC if he is so allowed.
There is seemingly an internal power struggle in what's left of the Iranian leadership but Pezeshkian is making a pitch as the moderate candidate with the clerics apparently in turmoil after last Saturday's strike which killed Khamanei.
IF Pezeshkian can rein in the IGRC, I suspect this crisis will ease very quickly early next week with Hormuz re-opening and flights resuming.
It's still far from clear, however, how much sway Pezeshkian really has and he was a big part of the strikes on Israel in the autumn of 2024 so he doesn't have clean hands but he may have been "persuaded" to take on what's left of Iran and pull it back from the abyss.
We'll see and even as he was apologising the Iranian drones and missiles were still flying which indicates little or no command and control - that's one of the problems when you obliterate the communications network from above.
I do think the next 48-72 hours will be the critical point of this crisis - if it looks close to resolution, we'll see oil and gas prices fall back dramatically but if the hardliners are really still running the show in Tehran and Hormuz stays blocked, the oil price is going to move higher.
Agree with most of that, but he needs to demonstrate that he can actually call off the attacks on his neighbours.
Throwing missiles and drones at DXB, a totally civilian airport, isn’t the way to go about that.
We’d thought the corner had been turned until this morning.
The Iranian calculation appeared to be that they could bomb their neighbours and generate ‘Muslim’ support in the Gulf against Israel and the US, but the exact opposite has happened. Everyone, and I mean everyone, in the region now hates Iran’s guts. If a week or two of disruption is what’s required to get the Iranian regime under control, then so be it.
Suggests the Greens could win more councils than Labour in London but Labour still win more councillors overall.
The latest Scottish polls have Labour back ahead of Reform and second to the SNP who are also forecast to be down on 2021. In Wales Labour almost certainly stay in government even as junior partner to Plaid.
UK wide though it is still open whether the Tories or Labour or now maybe even the Greens come second to Reform on NEV in the May local and devolved elections
There is nothing certain in Wales with the Greens and Plaid and Reform winning labour voters
You always write ‘there is nothing certain’ but the whole point of this site is to make politics predictions!!! Neither Plaid nor Labour nor the Greens or LDs would deal with Reform so almost certainly only a Plaid or Labour deal could keep them out
'In Wales labour almost certainly stay in government even as junior partner to Plaid'
The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
I wouldn't go that far. he is a great talent but not everyone likes him, he is not the most charming person in the world and has expensive tastes, indeed Yougov gives him a +35% rating from UK voters which while fractionally higher than the King's +29% is still far below Prince William's +62%. I am sure Sir Lewis has zero interest in being a UK President anyway and as a knight of the realm remains a constitutional monarchist and will leave being UK head of state to those trained from birth to do the role
I know what you mean, but given that said training has delivered the Dukes of Windsor, York and Sussex, one has to question how effective it is.
If I had that sort of failure rate, I'd be expecting a meeting without biscuits to discuss the issue at the very least.
(The real point is that the training is for a role that's fundamentally insane, especially if it's essentially for life. The psychologically healthiest Head of State model is to make it opt-in, temporary and with powers summed up as "politicians mustn't embarrass the National Treasure."
Think the Chancellor of a moderately reputable redbrick university.)
York and Sussex were spares, they were NOT trained as the heirs. Windsor was very popular as Prince of Wales, especially in areas hit by the depression he visited, Parliament removed him though once he tried to marry a divorcee as monarch as they will likely remove Andrew from the line of succession.
Constitutional monarchy works and is always better than a politician head of state, hence monarchists like me would never accept a republic
I do not want a republic but not sure what you would do if it happened
Join the Constitutional monarchy group to restore the monarchy the next day and wave ‘Not my President’ placards at any new UK republic President wherever they went.
If we move to a republic a 'water pistol' demonstration will have no effect whatsoever
Mind you, I do not expect it within my lifetime though at 82 that may not be likely anyway
How do you know? We have already restored one monarchy in 1660, Spain restored its monarchy and Iran may do the same. Republic do these protests so obviously monarchists like me would do the same and refuse to accept a republic
President Pezeshkian has apologised to the GCC nations for the arial bombardments. Perhaps the decentralised elements of the IRGC and army are acting autonomously following a pre-written script telling what to do in the event of regime decapitation
I suspect they gambled that if they attacked the GCC nations they would be cowed and pressure the US to end the war. Instead they chose to fight back so now Iran is trying to placate them.
One set of fools bring attacked by the fool in the White House leads to unpredictable outcomes.
The Iranian President's apology to the other Gulf States is clearly a marker for both Washington and Jerusalem - he is the one they can deal with going forward - he is "their man" who can tone down the heat and deal with the IGRC if he is so allowed.
There is seemingly an internal power struggle in what's left of the Iranian leadership but Pezeshkian is making a pitch as the moderate candidate with the clerics apparently in turmoil after last Saturday's strike which killed Khamanei.
IF Pezeshkian can rein in the IGRC, I suspect this crisis will ease very quickly early next week with Hormuz re-opening and flights resuming.
It's still far from clear, however, how much sway Pezeshkian really has and he was a big part of the strikes on Israel in the autumn of 2024 so he doesn't have clean hands but he may have been "persuaded" to take on what's left of Iran and pull it back from the abyss.
We'll see and even as he was apologising the Iranian drones and missiles were still flying which indicates little or no command and control - that's one of the problems when you obliterate the communications network from above.
I do think the next 48-72 hours will be the critical point of this crisis - if it looks close to resolution, we'll see oil and gas prices fall back dramatically but if the hardliners are really still running the show in Tehran and Hormuz stays blocked, the oil price is going to move higher.
Agree with most of that, but he needs to demonstrate that he can actually call off the attacks on his neighbours.
Throwing missiles and drones at DXB, a totally civilian airport, isn’t the way to go about that.
We’d thought the corner had been turned until this morning.
The Iranian calculation appeared to be that they could bomb their neighbours and generate ‘Muslim’ support in the Gulf against Israel and the US, but the exact opposite has happened. Everyone, and I mean everyone, in the region now hates Iran’s guts. If a week or two of disruption is what’s required to get the Iranian regime under control, then so be it.
WTF did they think attacking their neighbours would bring the neighbours onto their side..
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
The comments upthread show he's not universally popular. He's not without faults, but I like the guy. He's something of a litmus test.
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
David Lammy was interviewed across the media and your attempt to dismiss the story as misleading is simply you being misleading
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
David Lammy was interviewed across the media and your attempt to dismiss the story as misleading is simply you being misleading
Lammy really is a famous idiot. Doesn't he know who is within Nato? He damon well ought to .he's the goddam Foreign Secretary.
He was, hes now Justice Sec
You'd think someone on a politcs forum would damon well ought to know that.
I should have. Mea culpa. Whichever job Lammy is in he is a disaster. I had forgotten he had been.moved to a position where it would be harder for him to screw things up.
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
I not only think pavement parking is wrong as it puts at risks parents with prams and disabled people but it should be legally enforced
This is not he worst one I have seen this week by a long chalk - at least here a "squeeze" is possible. They always seem to block pavements where there are already obstacles.
I'm more sympathetic to Mr Starmer than many on PB, but he's lost the plot on some things needing to be driven from a national policy stance. He's doing a Cameron - "give them more powers to do it locally", which means that those who are already doing something will do it a bit more, and those who are not will still not.
'President Trump has privately expressed 'serious interest' in deploying US soldiers to Iran, according to military sources.
Trump has told White House advisors that he will need troops on the ground to complete his 'vision' for a post-war Iran, which he hopes to control in a similar way to Venezuela, insiders told NBC News.
Like so many things this feels like madness, but among Trump's priorities will be the slightly complex issue of how to rig or avoid altogether the coming elections - now nine months away.
Bluster, brazen overreach of authority, reliance on slow moving legal remedies, and if necessary violence.
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
You probably need to turn up your tongue in cheek detector. That said, an international crisis has very much focussed coverage on the government and opposition, we will see what effect that has longer term. As for me ive already said i am considering rejoining the party.
London might be about Polanski, but given they still havent broken 15% with a BPC pollster (yet) other than YG and FoN im not expecting a green tidal wave elsewhere
The fact Sir Lewis could win his ninth title at the age of 41 is a tribute to his brilliance and the fact he is one of the UK's greatest sporting champions
SLH would be an excellent ceremonial president when we get rid of the crowned thieves. He's one of the few people of sufficient stature who can command respect from both gammons and progressives.
I wouldn't go that far. he is a great talent but not everyone likes him, he is not the most charming person in the world and has expensive tastes, indeed Yougov gives him a +35% rating from UK voters which while fractionally higher than the King's +29% is still far below Prince William's +62%. I am sure Sir Lewis has zero interest in being a UK President anyway and as a knight of the realm remains a constitutional monarchist and will leave being UK head of state to those trained from birth to do the role
I know what you mean, but given that said training has delivered the Dukes of Windsor, York and Sussex, one has to question how effective it is.
If I had that sort of failure rate, I'd be expecting a meeting without biscuits to discuss the issue at the very least.
(The real point is that the training is for a role that's fundamentally insane, especially if it's essentially for life. The psychologically healthiest Head of State model is to make it opt-in, temporary and with powers summed up as "politicians mustn't embarrass the National Treasure."
Think the Chancellor of a moderately reputable redbrick university.)
York and Sussex were spares, they were NOT trained as the heirs. Windsor was very popular as Prince of Wales, especially in areas hit by the depression he visited, Parliament removed him though once he tried to marry a divorcee as monarch as they will likely remove Andrew from the line of succession.
Constitutional monarchy works and is always better than a politician head of state, hence monarchists like me would never accept a republic
I do not want a republic but not sure what you would do if it happened
Join the Constitutional monarchy group to restore the monarchy the next day and wave ‘Not my President’ placards at any new UK republic President wherever they went.
Outside very rare examples once gone they tend to go for good - i'd not like it, but there is not going to be a mass movement to reverse course if it happens, especially if the president was ceremonial.
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
I not only think pavement parking is wrong as it puts at risks parents with prams and disabled people but it should be legally enforced
This is not he worst one I have seen this week by a long chalk - at least here a "squeeze" is possible. They always seem to block pavements where there are already obstacles.
I'm more sympathetic to Mr Starmer than many on PB, but he's lost the plot on some things needing to be driven from a national policy stance. He's doing a Cameron - "give them more powers to do it locally", which means that those who are already doing something will do it a bit more, and those who are not will still not.
That doesn't work in matters of eg equality.
Localism agendas are a farce, all parties say they want more power locally but it's nearly always trivial or still tied to Whitehall pursestrings.
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
Everyone who remains liking her is no good if few are voting for them.
Her popularity within the party will adjust based on how May goes versus expectations. Poorly but nowhere near as poorly as 2025 is my guess and the party is geared up for that. Any worse and her ratings slide
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
I not only think pavement parking is wrong as it puts at risks parents with prams and disabled people but it should be legally enforced
This is not he worst one I have seen this week by a long chalk - at least here a "squeeze" is possible. They always seem to block pavements where there are already obstacles.
I'm more sympathetic to Mr Starmer than many on PB, but he's lost the plot on some things needing to be driven from a national policy stance. He's doing a Cameron - "give them more powers to do it locally", which means that those who are already doing something will do it a bit more, and those who are not will still not.
That doesn't work in matters of eg equality.
Localism agendas are a farce, all parties say they want more power locally but it's nearly always trivial or still tied to Whitehall pursestrings.
Localism needs to be linked to locally-raised taxes.
Which starts with council tax and business rates being entirely decided at a county or city authority level. No national scales, and with national topups based on objective measures such as average taxable income.
Iran shitting themselves about the Azeri response. And, of course, their words allow plenty wiggle room - 'originating from.....' bases within? The airspace of?
I hadn't realised how big the Azeri population in Iran is.
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
I not only think pavement parking is wrong as it puts at risks parents with prams and disabled people but it should be legally enforced
This is not he worst one I have seen this week by a long chalk - at least here a "squeeze" is possible. They always seem to block pavements where there are already obstacles.
I'm more sympathetic to Mr Starmer than many on PB, but he's lost the plot on some things needing to be driven from a national policy stance. He's doing a Cameron - "give them more powers to do it locally", which means that those who are already doing something will do it a bit more, and those who are not will still not.
That doesn't work in matters of eg equality.
Localism agendas are a farce, all parties say they want more power locally but it's nearly always trivial or still tied to Whitehall pursestrings.
Localism needs to be linked to locally-raised taxes.
Which starts with council tax and business rates being entirely decided at a county or city authority level. No national scales, and with national topups based on objective measures such as average taxable income.
I agree but I believe that social services should be part of the NHS and so not in localism.
I also wonder whether schools should have anything to do with councils now.
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
It'll remember them soon.
Farage yeah, Polanski has a long long way to go before hes anything more than a Jo Swinson flash in the pan
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
Now imagine what the average person in Sudan has to say about the UAE.
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
Everyone who remains liking her is no good if few are voting for them.
If the membership are on board, then she will remain in place in what is a volatile political landscape and there is 3 years to the next GE
You have to remember G, PeeBeebies loves a good Tories are dead fantasy. Never mind that theyll likely finish ahead of Labour on NEV or that she has better ratings, its the Tories that are in trouble
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
As they said on 'The Naked Week'
"Will these people now use their new self awareness to become more tolerant of other dispossesed people from here and around the word".....
"Sorry Andy you lost everyone from Dubai with the words self-awareness"
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
What a twattish comment by that Emirati considering that the UK has had planes up covering the wider area - the joint RAF/Qatar squadron for example. It’s not all about the precious UAE.
Maybe if the Emiratis paid a bit of tax they could cover the cost of training and equipping more planes so they don’t have to rely on other countries.
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
What a twattish comment by that Emirati considering that the UK has had planes up covering the wider area - the joint RAF/Qatar squadron for example. It’s not all about the precious UAE.
Maybe if the Emiratis paid a bit of tax they could cover the cost of training and equipping more planes so they don’t have to rely on other countries.
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
What a twattish comment by that Emirati considering that the UK has had planes up covering the wider area - the joint RAF/Qatar squadron for example. It’s not all about the precious UAE.
Maybe if the Emiratis paid a bit of tax they could cover the cost of training and equipping more planes so they don’t have to rely on other countries.
If you missed it listen to this. As good a putdown on Dubai and it's tax avoiders as you'll find. Check out the 'porta porta parties'
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
I not only think pavement parking is wrong as it puts at risks parents with prams and disabled people but it should be legally enforced
This is not he worst one I have seen this week by a long chalk - at least here a "squeeze" is possible. They always seem to block pavements where there are already obstacles.
I'm more sympathetic to Mr Starmer than many on PB, but he's lost the plot on some things needing to be driven from a national policy stance. He's doing a Cameron - "give them more powers to do it locally", which means that those who are already doing something will do it a bit more, and those who are not will still not.
That doesn't work in matters of eg equality.
Localism agendas are a farce, all parties say they want more power locally but it's nearly always trivial or still tied to Whitehall pursestrings.
Localism needs to be linked to locally-raised taxes.
Which starts with council tax and business rates being entirely decided at a county or city authority level. No national scales, and with national topups based on objective measures such as average taxable income.
That's not enough. In pavement parking for example, confusion is imposed by national policy.
The police will refuse to enforce on that one, and say "talk to the Local Authority". But Notts CC can't enforce on it, as it is not something for which they have a power. That is because there is no specific road marking like a 2Y or a painted "bus stop" box on the road.
They do not have resources even to maintain visible zebra crossings and flat surfaces, never mind bloody bus stops.
So the only enforcible offence there will be a HWA 1980 S37 "wilful obstruction of the highway", which is Police Only and enforcement will not happen..
There are somewhat complex workarounds eg Section 92 of the Police Act 1996 allows a local authority to fund extra police, they could use a Public Space Protection Order, or could put it in Operaton SNAP as in Cheshire, which colleagues tells me is effective..
But as soon as something starts being effective and we get a Conservative Government the powers will be restricted because they will want to permit ASB by their supporters, as happened last time around under David Cameron. That is why imo I need SKS to grow a backbone, and for this to be national as a Statutory Duty.
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
What a twattish comment by that Emirati considering that the UK has had planes up covering the wider area - the joint RAF/Qatar squadron for example. It’s not all about the precious UAE.
Maybe if the Emiratis paid a bit of tax they could cover the cost of training and equipping more planes so they don’t have to rely on other countries.
Agreed completely. These aren't poor countries and have plenty of scope to raise revenue. Learn to defend yourself and stop whining about the lack of support from a country a continent away from you.
I agree with the point made about the UK investing more in our defence, but there's clearly other countries who need to learn that lesson a lot harder and faster
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
Everyone who remains liking her is no good if few are voting for them.
If the membership are on board, then she will remain in place in what is a volatile political landscape and there is 3 years to the next GE
You have to remember G, PeeBeebies loves a good Tories are dead fantasy. Never mind that theyll likely finish ahead of Labour on NEV or that she has better ratings, its the Tories that are in trouble
I am well aware of that and as long as the membership approves then she is safe to continue
Indeed I do wonder why she comes under sustained attack (and in one case abusive) from some on here because if she isn't a threat then why bother ?
Malcolm Offords Citizens on Patrol proposal seems to have gone down about as well as you'd expect. The wise Scots might just comprehensively reject the Reform offer and punt them down into the 4th to 6th playoffs
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
I am under no illusion that May will be poor for the consevatives, but the story is likely to be around labour and indeed Starmer's future
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
Everyone who remains liking her is no good if few are voting for them.
If the membership are on board, then she will remain in place in what is a volatile political landscape and there is 3 years to the next GE
You have to remember G, PeeBeebies loves a good Tories are dead fantasy. Never mind that theyll likely finish ahead of Labour on NEV or that she has better ratings, its the Tories that are in trouble
I am well aware of that and as long as the membership approves then she is safe to continue
Indeed I do wonder why she comes under sustained attack (and in one case abusive) from some on here because if she isn't a threat then why bother ?
I have asked myself that question, not about the fine burghers of peebeebies but the constant Reform and Red Rose in the bio X pond life attacks. She rattles the right people in my opinion
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
What a twattish comment by that Emirati considering that the UK has had planes up covering the wider area - the joint RAF/Qatar squadron for example. It’s not all about the precious UAE.
Maybe if the Emiratis paid a bit of tax they could cover the cost of training and equipping more planes so they don’t have to rely on other countries.
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
What a twattish comment by that Emirati considering that the UK has had planes up covering the wider area - the joint RAF/Qatar squadron for example. It’s not all about the precious UAE.
Maybe if the Emiratis paid a bit of tax they could cover the cost of training and equipping more planes so they don’t have to rely on other countries.
If you missed it listen to this. As good a putdown on Dubai and it's tax avoiders as you'll find. Check out the 'porta porta parties'
Malcolm Offords Citizens on Patrol proposal seems to have gone down about as well as you'd expect. The wise Scots might just comprehensively reject the Reform offer and punt them down into the 4th to 6th playoffs
Dumbo Offord said their vigilantes were already operating with police permission, Police Scotland immediately issued a statement saying they do not endorse, condone or encourage such activities. Complete fcking amateur.
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
David Lammy was interviewed across the media and your attempt to dismiss the story as misleading is simply you being misleading
Identical positions? Kemi is NOT coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung-Ho? 🥹
Little Miss Angry today -
“Keir Starmer spent days consulting lawyers and plucking up the courage to say whose side he was on, even though our allies had the moral clarity to do so immediately and unequivocally. “Even now, he is sitting on the fence, still deciding what our role is going to be in this war. We are in this war whether Keir Starmer likes it or not. It's time to act.”
Iran shitting themselves about the Azeri response. And, of course, their words allow plenty wiggle room - 'originating from.....' bases within? The airspace of?
I hadn't realised how big the Azeri population in Iran is.
Three factoids from the historic week in global oil markets: The jump in Brent crude marked the second-largest weekly price increase in recorded history. WTI saw its largest weekly rise on record. The pace of daily price increases tended to intensify as the week progressed, consistent with worries about "multiple equilibria" and the resulting chain reactions, collateral damage, and unintended consequences. #economy #oil #markets #energy
Malcolm Offords Citizens on Patrol proposal seems to have gone down about as well as you'd expect. The wise Scots might just comprehensively reject the Reform offer and punt them down into the 4th to 6th playoffs
Dumbo Offord said their vigilantes were already operating with police permission, Police Scotland immediately issued a statement saying they do not endorse, condone or encourage such activities. Complete fcking amateur.
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
I not only think pavement parking is wrong as it puts at risks parents with prams and disabled people but it should be legally enforced
Its legal if there's no restrictions like double yellow lines or painted bus stop etc and there's none there in that picture that I can see.
Why not just paint the lines if you don't want people parking there?
I agree yellow lines should be used more often but that won't stop some like the idiot who drove on the pavement nearby straddling the bicycle and footpath oblivious to his behaviour
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
David Lammy was interviewed across the media and your attempt to dismiss the story as misleading is simply you being misleading
Identical positions? Kemi is NOT coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung-Ho? 🥹
Little Miss Angry today -
“Keir Starmer spent days consulting lawyers and plucking up the courage to say whose side he was on, even though our allies had the moral clarity to do so immediately and unequivocally. “Even now, he is sitting on the fence, still deciding what our role is going to be in this war. We are in this war whether Keir Starmer likes it or not. It's time to act.”
While I expect a very bad set of results for Labour in May, I think they’ll do better than holding two London councils. Even in 1968, they retained four.
Nor, could I see the Greens winning places like Brent and Hounslow or Wandsworth, and tying in Westminster.
"COVID was bad, I’ve never denied that. But my feeling is that it’s precisely because it was so bad that we deserved a better Inquiry than we got, one with the scientific background to understand the underlying processes which our politicians were forced to react to, and one being prepared to reflect on and acknowledge its own mistakes."
"Like I say, the COVID Inquiry feels like a missed chance to ask some of the questions that we should have asked at the time, and that’s why I find it frustrating."
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
I not only think pavement parking is wrong as it puts at risks parents with prams and disabled people but it should be legally enforced
Its legal if there's no restrictions like double yellow lines or painted bus stop etc and there's none there in that picture that I can see.
Why not just paint the lines if you don't want people parking there?
As an assessment that's about right for that location, Bart.
Introducing lines would require a Traffic Regulation Order costing 5-10k, and the money and staff do not exist - local authorities having been gutted. That's before we get on to the LHA now being run by Ref UK, which I think will be problematic.
There are a lot of barnacles the Govt could take off the boat, such as to allow enforcement 20m either side of a bus stop sign, or to (this would be a big one) reverse the "can't park where there are markings" to be "can only park where there are markings".
Putting it in Op SNAP and standardising / resourcing that would be the most efficient tactical measure.
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
David Lammy was interviewed across the media and your attempt to dismiss the story as misleading is simply you being misleading
Identical positions? Kemi is NOT coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung-Ho? 🥹
Little Miss Angry today -
“Keir Starmer spent days consulting lawyers and plucking up the courage to say whose side he was on, even though our allies had the moral clarity to do so immediately and unequivocally. “Even now, he is sitting on the fence, still deciding what our role is going to be in this war. We are in this war whether Keir Starmer likes it or not. It's time to act.”
The Sunday Newspapers need a poll “do you agree with Big G, Kemi is not coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung Ho?”
Kemi hitting a nerve and is serious about protecting our military who are in direct line of fire
She is right to say that the RAF will attack Iranian missile launch sites if they are a threat to our planes
Seems Lammy agrees as well
Poll the public on my second sentence and see the response
Striking a nerve. That’s exactly my point.
Why Little Miss Angry should be more careful here, her SCATHING ATTACKS on Labour are coming across as scathing attacks on the UK military, whilst they are in the field.
While I expect a very bad set of results for Labour in May, I think they’ll do better than holding two London councils. Even in 1968, they retained four.
Nor, could I see the Greens winning places like Brent and Hounslow or Wandsworth, and tying in Westminster.
I think any analysis that has the Tories increading their councils from 5 to 6 and yet failing to take Westminster is somewhat huh???? Greens would need to be on something like 40% to take Wandsworth, surely?
Interesting that the conversation is Starmers position versus Badenochs. Labour versus Tory, Govt vs Opposition. History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
That's a fair bit of hopecasting from the Conservative perspective. I suspect the May elections will be all about Farage and Polanski but keep talking up the Conservative side, they'll welcome you back with open arms....
You probably need to turn up your tongue in cheek detector. That said, an international crisis has very much focussed coverage on the government and opposition, we will see what effect that has longer term. As for me ive already said i am considering rejoining the party.
London might be about Polanski, but given they still havent broken 15% with a BPC pollster (yet) other than YG and FoN im not expecting a green tidal wave elsewhere
"other than YG" is some heavy lifting for the word "other"
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
David Lammy was interviewed across the media and your attempt to dismiss the story as misleading is simply you being misleading
Identical positions? Kemi is NOT coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung-Ho? 🥹
Little Miss Angry today -
“Keir Starmer spent days consulting lawyers and plucking up the courage to say whose side he was on, even though our allies had the moral clarity to do so immediately and unequivocally. “Even now, he is sitting on the fence, still deciding what our role is going to be in this war. We are in this war whether Keir Starmer likes it or not. It's time to act.”
The Sunday Newspapers need a poll “do you agree with Big G, Kemi is not coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung Ho?”
Kemi hitting a nerve and is serious about protecting our military who are in direct line of fire
She is right to say that the RAF will attack Iranian missile launch sites if they are a threat to our planes
Seems Lammy agrees as well
Poll the public on my second sentence and see the response
Striking a nerve. That’s exactly my point.
Why Little Miss Angry should be more careful here, her SCATHING ATTACKS on Labour are coming across as scathing attacks on the UK military, whilst they are in the field.
The real challenge for LMA will be if/when some luckless aviator eats shit over the levant and she has to "do human".
SKS had better pray they get killed, because having one captured by Hezb after they have been flying Defensive Counter Air for the Zionist Entity would be a political shit blizzard.
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
David Lammy was interviewed across the media and your attempt to dismiss the story as misleading is simply you being misleading
Identical positions? Kemi is NOT coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung-Ho? 🥹
Little Miss Angry today -
“Keir Starmer spent days consulting lawyers and plucking up the courage to say whose side he was on, even though our allies had the moral clarity to do so immediately and unequivocally. “Even now, he is sitting on the fence, still deciding what our role is going to be in this war. We are in this war whether Keir Starmer likes it or not. It's time to act.”
Iran shitting themselves about the Azeri response. And, of course, their words allow plenty wiggle room - 'originating from.....' bases within? The airspace of?
I hadn't realised how big the Azeri population in Iran is.
Indeed. More Azeris in Iran than Azerbaijan.
Ahmedinejad has some Azeri ancestry.
Had. Either the US or Israel killed him earlier in the week.
Not going to be many flowers nor tears at that funeral.
I suspect it will be a cremation and scattered in an undisclosed location. They won’t want to create some kind of weird shrine for messed up people
Yep. That's the model, subject possibly to family wishes.
Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper" who died in November 2020 at age 74, was cremated following his death from natural causes. His remains were not buried in a public grave, and his ashes were reportedly scattered, keeping the location private to prevent the site from becoming a morbid attraction.
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
What a twattish comment by that Emirati considering that the UK has had planes up covering the wider area - the joint RAF/Qatar squadron for example. It’s not all about the precious UAE.
Maybe if the Emiratis paid a bit of tax they could cover the cost of training and equipping more planes so they don’t have to rely on other countries.
So what exactly did the UAE do to deserve 1,500 drones and missiles fired at it in the past week?
Which they’ve dealt with themselves, in an astonishingly good way.
The comment above is merely one of many examples as to how local commentary, especially in the English-speaking world, gets around fast. Starmer is losing friends and quickly, and the comments from idiots like Ed Davey go down very badly outside the country. Not that he cares at all.
Picking up the parking fine conversation I missed from earlier, afaics Havering get about -8% of their revenue from Parking Charges and various Fines, That ism about £17-20m a year. TBH that seems quite modest.
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
I not only think pavement parking is wrong as it puts at risks parents with prams and disabled people but it should be legally enforced
This is not he worst one I have seen this week by a long chalk - at least here a "squeeze" is possible. They always seem to block pavements where there are already obstacles.
I'm more sympathetic to Mr Starmer than many on PB, but he's lost the plot on some things needing to be driven from a national policy stance. He's doing a Cameron - "give them more powers to do it locally", which means that those who are already doing something will do it a bit more, and those who are not will still not.
That doesn't work in matters of eg equality.
Localism agendas are a farce, all parties say they want more power locally but it's nearly always trivial or still tied to Whitehall pursestrings.
People seem incapable of thinking things through - they say they want more power devolved, then whine incessantly about "postcode lotteries" when it is.
Just as they say they want cheaper rent and house prices, but moan about "concreting over the countryside" when the necessary housing is proposed.
And often it's the same people who make contradictory complaints.
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
David Lammy was interviewed across the media and your attempt to dismiss the story as misleading is simply you being misleading
Identical positions? Kemi is NOT coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung-Ho? 🥹
Little Miss Angry today -
“Keir Starmer spent days consulting lawyers and plucking up the courage to say whose side he was on, even though our allies had the moral clarity to do so immediately and unequivocally. “Even now, he is sitting on the fence, still deciding what our role is going to be in this war. We are in this war whether Keir Starmer likes it or not. It's time to act.”
Iran shitting themselves about the Azeri response. And, of course, their words allow plenty wiggle room - 'originating from.....' bases within? The airspace of?
I hadn't realised how big the Azeri population in Iran is.
Indeed. More Azeris in Iran than Azerbaijan.
Ahmedinejad has some Azeri ancestry.
Had. Either the US or Israel killed him earlier in the week.
There is some doubt over that.
'Attempted assassination
On 28 February 2026, reports emerged that a house in Narmak, Tehran was struck and allegedly destroyed during the Israeli–United States strikes on Iran; the attack killed three members of the IRGC who were serving as his bodyguards.[244] He was originally reported as killed in the strikes, however later reports contradicted this.'
Keir Starmer is right to stand up to Donald Trump over Iran.
While the brutal Iranian regime should rightly be condemned and international pressure applied, this war is not the right course of action.
He is, rightly or wrongly, getting lots of support. Just probably not from the people you listen to.
This is typical of the type of response he's getting:
"But, Sadiq, Starmer isn’t ‘standing up’ to Trump: an American B-1 Lancer Bomber has already been photographed landed at RAF Fairford and more are to come."
"This is why Labour are hated. The entire premise of this letter is a lie. Starmer has given the US permission to use British bases to attack Iran. British forces are defending the US and Israeli military attacking Iran. We are not, in any way, “standing up to Trump”. Just lies."
OT. Interesting piece of polling on 'Today' which will appear in the Observer tomorrow. Only 6% are where Kemi is ie go in all guns blazing with the Americans
That is not her position
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Rachel Sylvester said simply that only 6% were where Kemi is whereas despite the UK press SKS following a rules based order is pretty well where the country is. Voters see broad brush strokes. Incidentally that wasn't Lammy's position. It was the Daily Mail misleading. They asked him what the British should do if attacked. Which shouldn't have given rise to their headline
David Lammy was interviewed across the media and your attempt to dismiss the story as misleading is simply you being misleading
Identical positions? Kemi is NOT coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung-Ho? 🥹
Little Miss Angry today -
“Keir Starmer spent days consulting lawyers and plucking up the courage to say whose side he was on, even though our allies had the moral clarity to do so immediately and unequivocally. “Even now, he is sitting on the fence, still deciding what our role is going to be in this war. We are in this war whether Keir Starmer likes it or not. It's time to act.”
The Sunday Newspapers need a poll “do you agree with Big G, Kemi is not coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung Ho?”
Kemi hitting a nerve and is serious about protecting our military who are in direct line of fire
She is right to say that the RAF will attack Iranian missile launch sites if they are a threat to our planes
Seems Lammy agrees as well
Poll the public on my second sentence and see the response
Striking a nerve. That’s exactly my point.
Why Little Miss Angry should be more careful here, her SCATHING ATTACKS on Labour are coming across as scathing attacks on the UK military, whilst they are in the field.
I respectfully disagree, not least because labour have been woeful and deserve criticism
The Navy ship deployment to Cyprus is simply a farce of unimaginable stupidity with the work force under union orders only to work 9 - 5, 5 days a week !!!!!!!!!!!!
Starmer bans US use of British bases following pressure from Miliband and then someone leaks this from the NSC, and within 48 hours Starmer changes his mind allowing B1s to land and take off on mission to Iran from RAF Fairford and B52s from Diego Garcia
Lammy then comes on the media in broadcast interviews and agrees with Kemi that the UK can attack Iran if our military are threatened
And you want the government to have a free pass !!!!!!!!!!!!!
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
What a twattish comment by that Emirati considering that the UK has had planes up covering the wider area - the joint RAF/Qatar squadron for example. It’s not all about the precious UAE.
Maybe if the Emiratis paid a bit of tax they could cover the cost of training and equipping more planes so they don’t have to rely on other countries.
So what exactly did the UAE do to deserve 1,500 drones and missiles fired at it in the past week?
They have 40+ Mir2k and 50+ late model Viper. Why are they begging for help from other countries? That's the real question.
Comments
She supports action when and if our military come under attack from Iranian missiles
Indeed Lammy arrived on the same page yesterday
Yesterday US B1s landed in UK, and are authorised by Starmer to use our air bases in their war v Iran
Though I'd imagine someone who has spawned their vast brood via a turkey baster and whose member wil be damaged by long term ketamine use may be a stranger even to a semi.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2030101592511480201?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q
The Iranian President's apology to the other Gulf States is clearly a marker for both Washington and Jerusalem - he is the one they can deal with going forward - he is "their man" who can tone down the heat and deal with the IGRC if he is so allowed.
There is seemingly an internal power struggle in what's left of the Iranian leadership but Pezeshkian is making a pitch as the moderate candidate with the clerics apparently in turmoil after last Saturday's strike which killed Khamanei.
IF Pezeshkian can rein in the IGRC, I suspect this crisis will ease very quickly early next week with Hormuz re-opening and flights resuming.
It's still far from clear, however, how much sway Pezeshkian really has and he was a big part of the strikes on Israel in the autumn of 2024 so he doesn't have clean hands but he may have been "persuaded" to take on what's left of Iran and pull it back from the abyss.
We'll see and even as he was apologising the Iranian drones and missiles were still flying which indicates little or no command and control - that's one of the problems when you obliterate the communications network from above.
I do think the next 48-72 hours will be the critical point of this crisis - if it looks close to resolution, we'll see oil and gas prices fall back dramatically but if the hardliners are really still running the show in Tehran and Hormuz stays blocked, the oil price is going to move higher.
Mind you, I do not expect it within my lifetime though at 82 that may not be likely anyway
The US is self sufficient in oil and gas. Or rather it is self sufficient in gas and its reliance on international oil is restricted to the fact it currently lacks refining capacity to be completely self sufficient. But it is not reliant on external crude oil supply.
The issue that might hurt Trump is that the oil and gas price is independent of local supply. So although they have enough oil and gas it will be more expensive to buy petrol or heating oil because of the increase in world prices.
But the US is in avery different place to where it was even under Trump 1. Back then they were still dependent on imports. Now they are not - or at least they wouldn't be if they could sort out their refining issues.
It would be wonderful if the Iranian President could prevail but it looks like Iran, understandably, is arguing with itself and its different factions
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1B8KS149NJ/
The US issue is that US enforcement is done almost at a village level (18k police organisations) and when they see a revenue source of people who are just passing through, they milk it furiously. Plus of course there is no decent regulation in that arena.
Here is a photo from this week. This is pavement parked vans entirely blocking a bus stop on a main road which up until the 1990s was the A38, outside a primary school, up against the white zig-zags for a zebra crossing -0 you can see the Belisha Beacons. All of the houses on that side at that point have big driveways. One school entrance is just beyond the zebra, the other is on a cul-de-sac behind where I stood to take the photo.
Just the usual selfish c**ts who think their antisocial behaviour does not matter. It is a huge problem locally.
Location:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/qRTU96PpC793wZxeA
Today is, I think, more about putting down a marker to Washington in particular that he (Pezeshkian) is a man with whom business can be done - he may simply be pragmatic or he may see an opportunity to take power and be if not a friend to Washington do effectively what Rodriguez has done in Caracas - he will be given a free hand to run Iran in exchange for confirming oil and gas supplies to America and its allies.
History has already forgotten Zack Farage and Nigel Polanski
Their ballistic missiles are more primitive than the west's, and have to be prepped for launch. The launchers are big targets.
Drones are a more difficult proposition.
Throwing missiles and drones at DXB, a totally civilian airport, isn’t the way to go about that.
We’d thought the corner had been turned until this morning.
The Iranian calculation appeared to be that they could bomb their neighbours and generate ‘Muslim’ support in the Gulf against Israel and the US, but the exact opposite has happened. Everyone, and I mean everyone, in the region now hates Iran’s guts. If a week or two of disruption is what’s required to get the Iranian regime under control, then so be it.
Your words and it is not almost certain in Wales
Indeed it could be a Plaid - Green coalition
He's not without faults, but I like the guy. He's something of a litmus test.
The "flat track bully" stuff is idiotic.
Same position as Kemi
I had forgotten he had been.moved to a position where it would be harder for him to screw things up.
This weeks Conhome poll of the membership gave Kemi an 81.6% approval with Cleverly down at 31.9%
I expect her to lead into the next GE with figures like that
https://conservativehome.com/2026/03/05/shadow-cabinet-league-table-badenoch-may-not-be-popular-with-starmer-but-shes-dominant-with-conservatives/
I'm more sympathetic to Mr Starmer than many on PB, but he's lost the plot on some things needing to be driven from a national policy stance. He's doing a Cameron - "give them more powers to do it locally", which means that those who are already doing something will do it a bit more, and those who are not will still not.
That doesn't work in matters of eg equality.
That said, an international crisis has very much focussed coverage on the government and opposition, we will see what effect that has longer term.
As for me ive already said i am considering rejoining the party.
London might be about Polanski, but given they still havent broken 15% with a BPC pollster (yet) other than YG and FoN im not expecting a green tidal wave elsewhere
https://x.com/amjadt25/status/2030188915722965010
France sends aircraft. The UK sends buses and tax forms. Thank you, France, for standing bravely with us. The UAE will not forget this moment when France stood by our side against Iran’s drones and missile aggression. And we will remember those who sent empty promises… and paperwork.
Which starts with council tax and business rates being entirely decided at a county or city authority level. No national scales, and with national topups based on objective measures such as average taxable income.
I also wonder whether schools should have anything to do with councils now.
Con fourth in our Council by-election this week. Priti's constituency. Used to be a 'Con hold' ward,
"Will these people now use their new self awareness to become more tolerant of other dispossesed people from here and around the word".....
"Sorry Andy you lost everyone from Dubai with the words self-awareness"
Maybe if the Emiratis paid a bit of tax they could cover the cost of training and equipping more planes so they don’t have to rely on other countries.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002s4qh
The police will refuse to enforce on that one, and say "talk to the Local Authority". But Notts CC can't enforce on it, as it is not something for which they have a power. That is because there is no specific road marking like a 2Y or a painted "bus stop" box on the road.
They do not have resources even to maintain visible zebra crossings and flat surfaces, never mind bloody bus stops.
So the only enforcible offence there will be a HWA 1980 S37 "wilful obstruction of the highway", which is Police Only and enforcement will not happen..
There are somewhat complex workarounds eg Section 92 of the Police Act 1996 allows a local authority to fund extra police, they could use a Public Space Protection Order, or could put it in Operaton SNAP as in Cheshire, which colleagues tells me is effective..
But as soon as something starts being effective and we get a Conservative Government the powers will be restricted because they will want to permit ASB by their supporters, as happened last time around under David Cameron. That is why imo I need SKS to grow a backbone, and for this to be national as a Statutory Duty.
I agree with the point made about the UK investing more in our defence, but there's clearly other countries who need to learn that lesson a lot harder and faster
Indeed I do wonder why she comes under sustained attack (and in one case abusive) from some on here because if she isn't a threat then why bother ?
The wise Scots might just comprehensively reject the Reform offer and punt them down into the 4th to 6th playoffs
Why not just paint the lines if you don't want people parking there?
She rattles the right people in my opinion
Same goes for Lewis Hamilton tax dodging in Monaco
Little Miss Angry today -
“Keir Starmer spent days consulting lawyers and plucking up the courage to say whose side he was on, even though our allies had the moral clarity to do so immediately and unequivocally.
“Even now, he is sitting on the fence, still deciding what our role is going to be in this war. We are in this war whether Keir Starmer likes it or not. It's time to act.”
https://news.sky.com/story/pm-sitting-on-the-fence-over-iran-kemi-badenoch-claims-and-labour-is-no-longer-patriotic-13516331
The Sunday Newspapers need a poll “do you agree with Big G, Kemi is not coming across as Pro Trumps War and Gung Ho?”
@elerianm
Three factoids from the historic week in global oil markets:
The jump in Brent crude marked the second-largest weekly price increase in recorded history.
WTI saw its largest weekly rise on record.
The pace of daily price increases tended to intensify as the week progressed, consistent with worries about "multiple equilibria" and the resulting chain reactions, collateral damage, and unintended consequences.
#economy #oil #markets #energy
https://x.com/elerianm/status/2030194888520671598
She is right to say that the RAF will attack Iranian missile launch sites if they are a threat to our planes
Seems Lammy agrees as well
Poll the public on my second sentence and see the response
Nor, could I see the Greens winning places like Brent and Hounslow or Wandsworth, and tying in Westminster.
"COVID was bad, I’ve never denied that. But my feeling is that it’s precisely because it was so bad that we deserved a better Inquiry than we got, one with the scientific background to understand the underlying processes which our politicians were forced to react to, and one being prepared to reflect on and acknowledge its own mistakes."
"Like I say, the COVID Inquiry feels like a missed chance to ask some of the questions that we should have asked at the time, and that’s why I find it frustrating."
https://bristoliver.substack.com/p/lessons-learned
Introducing lines would require a Traffic Regulation Order costing 5-10k, and the money and staff do not exist - local authorities having been gutted. That's before we get on to the LHA now being run by Ref UK, which I think will be problematic.
There are a lot of barnacles the Govt could take off the boat, such as to allow enforcement 20m either side of a bus stop sign, or to (this would be a big one) reverse the "can't park where there are markings" to be "can only park where there are markings".
Putting it in Op SNAP and standardising / resourcing that would be the most efficient tactical measure.
Why Little Miss Angry should be more careful here, her SCATHING ATTACKS on Labour are coming across as scathing attacks on the UK military, whilst they are in the field.
Take this example. https://news.sky.com/story/iran-latest-trump-tehran-israel-strikes-us-drone-live-sky-news-13509565?postid=11216676#liveblog-body
https://x.com/sadiqkhan/status/2030206954350543088
Keir Starmer is right to stand up to Donald Trump over Iran.
While the brutal Iranian regime should rightly be condemned and international pressure applied, this war is not the right course of action.
Greens would need to be on something like 40% to take Wandsworth, surely?
SKS had better pray they get killed, because having one captured by Hezb after they have been flying Defensive Counter Air for the Zionist Entity would be a political shit blizzard.
Well, he was whilst Starmer was standing up to Trump. Now he has capitulated it is a moot point.
We do, however, have Little Miss Bossy and Little Miss Whoops.
Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper" who died in November 2020 at age 74, was cremated following his death from natural causes. His remains were not buried in a public grave, and his ashes were reportedly scattered, keeping the location private to prevent the site from becoming a morbid attraction.
Which they’ve dealt with themselves, in an astonishingly good way.
The comment above is merely one of many examples as to how local commentary, especially in the English-speaking world, gets around fast. Starmer is losing friends and quickly, and the comments from idiots like Ed Davey go down very badly outside the country. Not that he cares at all.
Just as they say they want cheaper rent and house prices, but moan about "concreting over the countryside" when the necessary housing is proposed.
And often it's the same people who make contradictory complaints.
'Attempted assassination
On 28 February 2026, reports emerged that a house in Narmak, Tehran was struck and allegedly destroyed during the Israeli–United States strikes on Iran; the attack killed three members of the IRGC who were serving as his bodyguards.[244] He was originally reported as killed in the strikes, however later reports contradicted this.'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad
"But, Sadiq, Starmer isn’t ‘standing up’ to Trump: an American B-1 Lancer Bomber has already been photographed landed at RAF Fairford and more are to come."
"This is why Labour are hated. The entire premise of this letter is a lie. Starmer has given the US permission to use British bases to attack Iran. British forces are defending the US and Israeli military attacking Iran. We are not, in any way, “standing up to Trump”. Just lies."
The Navy ship deployment to Cyprus is simply a farce of unimaginable stupidity with the work force under union orders only to work 9 - 5, 5 days a week !!!!!!!!!!!!
Starmer bans US use of British bases following pressure from Miliband and then someone leaks this from the NSC, and within 48 hours Starmer changes his mind allowing B1s to land and take off on mission to Iran from RAF Fairford and B52s from Diego Garcia
Lammy then comes on the media in broadcast interviews and agrees with Kemi that the UK can attack Iran if our military are threatened
And you want the government to have a free pass !!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://x.com/Crazymoments01/status/2030073304481157501?s=20