I’ll be honest I’m very supportive of the government’s changes to jury trials.
It makes sense to me. And the criticisms seem very bad faith.
Who created the backlog Who closed the Courts Who reduced Prison spaces Why is there a log jam
Which Tory Minister or Reform Minister if they have jumped ship would like to answer
Crisis of Tory making
Pragmatic solutions required
The delays have nothing to do with juries, according to a number of judges and lawyers.
The delays are the typical story of everything running at capacity so when things go wrong, there is a delay of months until the combination of lawyers and judges are available again.
1) Members of The House Of Commons 2) Any permanent official who had received and accepted an honour. 3) All Kings Council
Beyond satire that a former DPP and someone who literally seems to run his entire government based on international law is the one PM in hundreds of years who plans to get rid of ancient right of jury.
I don't think Starmer really beleives in anything other than following rules. As long as the rules are followed it doesn't actually matter what the rules are, what values they embody, or why the exist. He's not a bad person per se, but I wouldn't trust him at all in a crisis.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
One of the main consequences of Trump's decision to attack Iran might be to kick-start Ukraine's defence industry and allow them to monetise the expertise they've gained over the last four years.
A Saudi Arabian arms company has signed a deal to buy Ukrainian-made interceptor missiles, the Kyiv Independent has learned, with one source within Ukraine's defense industry saying that Riyadh and Kyiv are negotiating a separate "huge deal" for arms that could be finalized this week.
More 12D chess from Trump?
I wonder what Karl Popper would make of Trumpism given it is basically unfalsifiable. "Yet instead of accepting the refutations", Popper wrote, "the followers of Marx re-interpreted both the theory and the evidence in order to make them agree. ... They thus gave a 'conventionalist twist' to the theory; and by this stratagem, they destroyed its much advertised claim to scientific status."
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
She has been quoted by multiple sources referring to aggressive action and boots on the ground
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Sadly not the case. The planned increase in spend on the nuclear deterrent (necessary to renew it) means that spending on the conventional forces will fall. The state of Britain's conventional forces can be expected to deteriorate further, despite the best efforts of the poor sods at the sharp end.
Britain has reached the stage where ragged holes have now suddenly appeared in what was a threadbare garment and Labour aren't even proposing to start the repair job.
But why?
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Why on earth would she even think of those two idiots
Is HY doing satire?
Sadly he is not
Why he thinks Kemi should be chasing little englander right wing votes I do not know.
Plague on reform - end off
It isn't Little Englander especially, they tend to be isolationist but being a tough hawklike leader fighting the evil Mullahs and their regime
I think HY is busy doing something, like out canvassing, unaware his account has been hacked 😕
What’s being described is Kemi as super heroine in a Manga movie.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Channel 4 have found an Iranian spokesperson who is a University professor. A wise old man who sits in a chair and opines. He reminds me of my late Grandfather! He's even got his accent! A very impressive man. Quite a contrast to the juveniles who are speaking for the US at the moment. I think he could become a bit of a cult figure. He's like the old man in the old man and the sea.
I think it was the beard. If Pete Hegseth had a beard he'd look older and wiser too - until he opened his mouth. But, yes, Hegseth with a beard and not saying anything, that would be a huge improvement on the US war comms front.
Hegseth comes across as very excited by the carnage. Like a kindergarten kid receiving his first GI Joe doll.
One of the main consequences of Trump's decision to attack Iran might be to kick-start Ukraine's defence industry and allow them to monetise the expertise they've gained over the last four years.
A Saudi Arabian arms company has signed a deal to buy Ukrainian-made interceptor missiles, the Kyiv Independent has learned, with one source within Ukraine's defense industry saying that Riyadh and Kyiv are negotiating a separate "huge deal" for arms that could be finalized this week.
More 12D chess from Trump?
He's remarkable, isn't he. Moving pieces around that ordinary mortals didn't even realise were on the board.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
She's tried to backtrack on BBC this afternoon
Soectacular failure
I agree with BigG, where is evidence Kemi ever said "I want our Armed Forces to have boots on the ground, we must support the US and Israel in attacking Iran"
Absolutely none and it is a malicious slur
According to Badenoch today when she said she stood with the US and Israel and their first strikes against Iran, it didn't mean we should join in.
To think people here complained about Starmer dancing on a head of a pin!
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Sadly not the case. The planned increase in spend on the nuclear deterrent (necessary to renew it) means that spending on the conventional forces will fall. The state of Britain's conventional forces can be expected to deteriorate further, despite the best efforts of the poor sods at the sharp end.
Britain has reached the stage where ragged holes have now suddenly appeared in what was a threadbare garment and Labour aren't even proposing to start the repair job.
But why?
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
It don't make sense
It's because Britain is trying to do more than it is willing to spend.
So there are two aircraft carriers which soaks up huge amounts of money and manpower. There are foreign bases all over the place, which ties up capability and manpower in defending them. There is the commitment to NATO's enhanced forward presence, which means deploying most of Britain's operational army capability to Estonia. There is the commitment to JEF, which uses up more capability.
And then there's procurement, where everything has to be designed bespoke for Britain at enormous cost and sometimes questionable efficacy.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Why on earth would she even think of those two idiots
Is HY doing satire?
Sadly he is not
Why he thinks Kemi should be chasing little englander right wing votes I do not know.
Plague on reform - end off
It isn't Little Englander especially, they tend to be isolationist but being a tough hawklike leader fighting the evil Mullahs and their regime
I think HY is busy doing something, like out canvassing, unaware his account has been hacked 😕
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
She's tried to backtrack on BBC this afternoon
Soectacular failure
I agree with BigG, where is evidence Kemi ever said "I want our Armed Forces to have boots on the ground, we must support the US and Israel in attacking Iran"
Absolutely none and it is a malicious slur
According to Badenoch today when she said she stood with the US and Israel and their first strikes against Iran, it didn't mean we should join in.
To think people here complained about Starmer dancing on a head of a pin!
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
She's tried to backtrack on BBC this afternoon
Soectacular failure
I agree with BigG, where is evidence Kemi ever said "I want our Armed Forces to have boots on the ground, we must support the US and Israel in attacking Iran"
Absolutely none and it is a malicious slur
According to Badenoch today when she said she stood with the US and Israel and their first strikes against Iran, it didn't mean we should join in.
To think people here complained about Starmer dancing on a head of a pin!
Channel 4 have found an Iranian spokesperson who is a University professor. A wise old man who sits in a chair and opines. He reminds me of my late Grandfather! He's even got his accent! A very impressive man. Quite a contrast to the juveniles who are speaking for the US at the moment. I think he could become a bit of a cult figure. He's like the old man in the old man and the sea.
I think it was the beard. If Pete Hegseth had a beard he'd look older and wiser too - until he opened his mouth. But, yes, Hegseth with a beard and not saying anything, that would be a huge improvement on the US war comms front.
Hegseth comes across as very excited by the carnage. Like a kindergarten kid receiving his first GI Joe doll.
Yes, it's an 'Epic Fury' computer game as per the stuff they're putting out. So far missing the bit where the girls school was obliterated with maximum intensity but I suppose it will be in the next release. I wonder what the music will be for that. Very stirring no doubt.
Channel 4 have found an Iranian spokesperson who is a University professor. A wise old man who sits in a chair and opines. He reminds me of my late Grandfather! He's even got his accent! A very impressive man. Quite a contrast to the juveniles who are speaking for the US at the moment. I think he could become a bit of a cult figure. He's like the old man in the old man and the sea.
I think it was the beard. If Pete Hegseth had a beard he'd look older and wiser too - until he opened his mouth. But, yes, Hegseth with a beard and not saying anything, that would be a huge improvement on the US war comms front.
Hegseth comes across as very excited by the carnage. Like a kindergarten kid receiving his first GI Joe doll.
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Sadly not the case. The planned increase in spend on the nuclear deterrent (necessary to renew it) means that spending on the conventional forces will fall. The state of Britain's conventional forces can be expected to deteriorate further, despite the best efforts of the poor sods at the sharp end.
Britain has reached the stage where ragged holes have now suddenly appeared in what was a threadbare garment and Labour aren't even proposing to start the repair job.
But why?
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
It don't make sense
It's because Britain is trying to do more than it is willing to spend.
So there are two aircraft carriers which soaks up huge amounts of money and manpower. There are foreign bases all over the place, which ties up capability and manpower in defending them. There is the commitment to NATO's enhanced forward presence, which means deploying most of Britain's operational army capability to Estonia. There is the commitment to JEF, which uses up more capability.
And then there's procurement, where everything has to be designed bespoke for Britain at enormous cost and sometimes questionable efficacy.
interesting - genuinely - thankyou
It seems to me we need a rethink of our defence spend from first principles, in the light of all recent events, especially Ukraine, Iran etc
Non-negotiable: independent nuclear deterrent. We could usefully link with maybe Germany or Japan on creating missiles to carry our warheads so that we don't have to rely on the USA
Special forces
Military intelligence
All forms of autonomous drones, they are the future.....
But beyond that, we need to question everything. Do piloted jets have a future? Likewise tanks with drivers? Aircraft carriers? Maybe admit they were a terrible error? Or adapt them for robot jets
Robotics is about to render much present military thinking absurd, the way tanks rendered cavalry and trenches redundant, or the way machine guns and barbed wire overtook Napoleonic war
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
She's tried to backtrack on BBC this afternoon
Soectacular failure
I agree with BigG, where is evidence Kemi ever said "I want our Armed Forces to have boots on the ground, we must support the US and Israel in attacking Iran"
Absolutely none and it is a malicious slur
According to Badenoch today when she said she stood with the US and Israel and their first strikes against Iran, it didn't mean we should join in.
To think people here complained about Starmer dancing on a head of a pin!
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
She's tried to backtrack on BBC this afternoon
Soectacular failure
I agree with BigG, where is evidence Kemi ever said "I want our Armed Forces to have boots on the ground, we must support the US and Israel in attacking Iran"
Absolutely none and it is a malicious slur
According to Badenoch today when she said she stood with the US and Israel and their first strikes against Iran, it didn't mean we should join in.
To think people here complained about Starmer dancing on a head of a pin!
Its not quite denying use of bases by allowing the use of bases inane
It's amusing, it's the kind of technicalities I thrive on professionally.
The intent behind standing with US and Israel depends on whether you are the leader of the UK Conservatives, a privileged white male banker in charge of Canada, Herr Mackey from South Park or that Australian twat
Channel 4 have found an Iranian spokesperson who is a University professor. A wise old man who sits in a chair and opines. He reminds me of my late Grandfather! He's even got his accent! A very impressive man. Quite a contrast to the juveniles who are speaking for the US at the moment. I think he could become a bit of a cult figure. He's like the old man in the old man and the sea.
I think it was the beard. If Pete Hegseth had a beard he'd look older and wiser too - until he opened his mouth. But, yes, Hegseth with a beard and not saying anything, that would be a huge improvement on the US war comms front.
Hegseth comes across as very excited by the carnage. Like a kindergarten kid receiving his first GI Joe doll.
Scoop: White House tells House Republicans to stop talking about mass deportations
White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair privately urged House Republicans on Tuesday to stop emphasizing "mass deportations" and instead focus their messaging on removing violent criminals, according to sources in the closed-door briefing.
Why it matters: Mass deportations were central to the GOP's 2024 campaign message.
Nearly half — 49% — of Americans say Trump's mass deportation campaign is too aggressive, including 1 in 5 voters who backed the president in 2024, a Politico poll from January found. State of play: Blair delivered the message during a policy listening session with House Republicans at their annual retreat in Doral, Florida.
He encouraged members to focus on deporting violent offenders rather than defending the broader concept of mass removals. The advice signals a recalibration by the White House — and reflects growing concern among some Republicans that Democrats are successfully framing Trump's immigration policy as overly sweeping and indiscriminate.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
She has been quoted by multiple sources referring to aggressive action and boots on the ground
Show these sources with their links
You are shameless and malign
I'm not your secretary
She's said it
It's been reported
Her attempt to wriggle out of it today are being laughed at.
She's not the pussy little perfect missy you are obsessed by.
She's dug herself a huge hole with her mouth way ahead of what few brain cells she has.
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Sadly not the case. The planned increase in spend on the nuclear deterrent (necessary to renew it) means that spending on the conventional forces will fall. The state of Britain's conventional forces can be expected to deteriorate further, despite the best efforts of the poor sods at the sharp end.
Britain has reached the stage where ragged holes have now suddenly appeared in what was a threadbare garment and Labour aren't even proposing to start the repair job.
But why?
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
It don't make sense
Part of the answer is what counts as defence spending. For example, military pensions count as defence spending, and with UK’s final salary scheme, a big chunk of spending goes on supporting veterans now long retired. In the US, veteran’s medical healthcare - an immensely expensive scheme - counts as defence spending; in France the entire cost of the Gendarmarie and in Italy the Carabinieri is counted as defence spending, as these are nominally military outfits despite spending most of their time on traffic checking duties and the like. Then there’s all the admin and desk jobs and property costs and overheads, service housing, military colleges, etc. to pay for. Plus a whole stack of science and R&D that might conceivably be of military use. And our contributions to NATO’s overheads. If towards the end of the year there’s any money left in the budget, I guess they go and buy a few bullets.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
She's tried to backtrack on BBC this afternoon
Soectacular failure
I agree with BigG, where is evidence Kemi ever said "I want our Armed Forces to have boots on the ground, we must support the US and Israel in attacking Iran"
Absolutely none and it is a malicious slur
According to Badenoch today when she said she stood with the US and Israel and their first strikes against Iran, it didn't mean we should join in.
To think people here complained about Starmer dancing on a head of a pin!
Its not quite denying use of bases by allowing the use of bases inane
It's amusing, it's the kind of technicalities I thrive on professionally.
The intent behind standing with US and Israel depends on whether you are the leader of the UK Conservatives, a privileged white male banker in charge of Canada, Herr Mackey from South Park or that Australian twat
Carney had to row back on his early doors support for the initial attack.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office says that in the coming days conditions will be created for the Iranian people to “grasp your destiny,” adding that when “the time is right, and that time is fast approaching,” the torch will be passed to them to “seize the moment.”
What a load of guff ! The regime will just massacre the protesters like last time .
Channel 4 have found an Iranian spokesperson who is a University professor. A wise old man who sits in a chair and opines. He reminds me of my late Grandfather! He's even got his accent! A very impressive man. Quite a contrast to the juveniles who are speaking for the US at the moment. I think he could become a bit of a cult figure. He's like the old man in the old man and the sea.
I think it was the beard. If Pete Hegseth had a beard he'd look older and wiser too - until he opened his mouth. But, yes, Hegseth with a beard and not saying anything, that would be a huge improvement on the US war comms front.
Hegseth comes across as very excited by the carnage. Like a kindergarten kid receiving his first GI Joe doll.
Yes, it's an 'Epic Fury' computer game as per the stuff they're putting out. So far missing the bit where the girls school was obliterated with maximum intensity but I suppose it will be in the next release. I wonder what the music will be for that. Very stirring no doubt.
According to Rest is Politics US it was a "double tap", 2nd missile 20 minutes later which killed desperate parents.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
She's tried to backtrack on BBC this afternoon
Soectacular failure
I agree with BigG, where is evidence Kemi ever said "I want our Armed Forces to have boots on the ground, we must support the US and Israel in attacking Iran"
Absolutely none and it is a malicious slur
According to Badenoch today when she said she stood with the US and Israel and their first strikes against Iran, it didn't mean we should join in.
To think people here complained about Starmer dancing on a head of a pin!
Its not quite denying use of bases by allowing the use of bases inane
It's amusing, it's the kind of technicalities I thrive on professionally.
The intent behind standing with US and Israel depends on whether you are the leader of the UK Conservatives, a privileged white male banker in charge of Canada, Herr Mackey from South Park or that Australian twat
Carney had to row back on his early doors support for the initial attack.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
She has been quoted by multiple sources referring to aggressive action and boots on the ground
Show these sources with their links
You are shameless and malign
I'm not your secretary
She's said it
It's been reported
Her attempt to wriggle out of it today are being laughed at.
She's not the pussy little perfect missy you are obsessed by.
She's dug herself a huge hole with her mouth way ahead of what few brain cells she has.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
She's tried to backtrack on BBC this afternoon
Soectacular failure
I agree with BigG, where is evidence Kemi ever said "I want our Armed Forces to have boots on the ground, we must support the US and Israel in attacking Iran"
Absolutely none and it is a malicious slur
According to Badenoch today when she said she stood with the US and Israel and their first strikes against Iran, it didn't mean we should join in.
To think people here complained about Starmer dancing on a head of a pin!
I’ll be honest I’m very supportive of the government’s changes to jury trials.
It makes sense to me. And the criticisms seem very bad faith.
Who created the backlog Who closed the Courts Who reduced Prison spaces Why is there a log jam
Which Tory Minister or Reform Minister if they have jumped ship would like to answer
Crisis of Tory making
Pragmatic solutions required
The delays have nothing to do with juries, according to a number of judges and lawyers.
The delays are the typical story of everything running at capacity so when things go wrong, there is a delay of months until the combination of lawyers and judges are available again.
1) Members of The House Of Commons 2) Any permanent official who had received and accepted an honour. 3) All Kings Council
Beyond satire that a former DPP and someone who literally seems to run his entire government based on international law is the one PM in hundreds of years who plans to get rid of ancient right of jury.
I don't think Starmer really beleives in anything other than following rules. As long as the rules are followed it doesn't actually matter what the rules are, what values they embody, or why the exist. He's not a bad person per se, but I wouldn't trust him at all in a crisis.
That’s the Process State.
Worshipping the process not the result. And it is the result that has the moral value.
Good Lord, Trump seems to have forgotten that in war, your enemy gets a vote. If the Iranians read this, they will understand he is terrified and desperate, and probably speed up the mining of the straits. Worst war leader in US history.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office says that in the coming days conditions will be created for the Iranian people to “grasp your destiny,” adding that when “the time is right, and that time is fast approaching,” the torch will be passed to them to “seize the moment.”
Trump and Bibi are learning slowly that your enemy’s enemy is not always your friend.
Are they? How?
There is significant disappointment in Washington at the failure of the populace to remove a weakened regime. An issue is that while the murderous dictators in Tehran are reviled, the reasons for their installation, in great part the legacy of Operation Ajax, haven’t been forgotten either.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office says that in the coming days conditions will be created for the Iranian people to “grasp your destiny,” adding that when “the time is right, and that time is fast approaching,” the torch will be passed to them to “seize the moment.”
What a load of guff ! The regime will just massacre the protesters like last time .
I'd have thought they're more at risk of being bombed by the US and Israel
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Sadly not the case. The planned increase in spend on the nuclear deterrent (necessary to renew it) means that spending on the conventional forces will fall. The state of Britain's conventional forces can be expected to deteriorate further, despite the best efforts of the poor sods at the sharp end.
Britain has reached the stage where ragged holes have now suddenly appeared in what was a threadbare garment and Labour aren't even proposing to start the repair job.
But why?
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
It don't make sense
It's because Britain is trying to do more than it is willing to spend.
So there are two aircraft carriers which soaks up huge amounts of money and manpower. There are foreign bases all over the place, which ties up capability and manpower in defending them. There is the commitment to NATO's enhanced forward presence, which means deploying most of Britain's operational army capability to Estonia. There is the commitment to JEF, which uses up more capability.
And then there's procurement, where everything has to be designed bespoke for Britain at enormous cost and sometimes questionable efficacy.
interesting - genuinely - thankyou
It seems to me we need a rethink of our defence spend from first principles, in the light of all recent events, especially Ukraine, Iran etc
Non-negotiable: independent nuclear deterrent. We could usefully link with maybe Germany or Japan on creating missiles to carry our warheads so that we don't have to rely on the USA
Special forces
Military intelligence
All forms of autonomous drones, they are the future.....
But beyond that, we need to question everything. Do piloted jets have a future? Likewise tanks with drivers? Aircraft carriers? Maybe admit they were a terrible error? Or adapt them for robot jets
Robotics is about to render much present military thinking absurd, the way tanks rendered cavalry and trenches redundant, or the way machine guns and barbed wire overtook Napoleonic war
Presumably the subs are built around the Trident missile, so any new missile would have to have the same critical parameters otherwise you're just pissing more £bns up the wall of the BaE/Babcock sub facility.
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Sadly not the case. The planned increase in spend on the nuclear deterrent (necessary to renew it) means that spending on the conventional forces will fall. The state of Britain's conventional forces can be expected to deteriorate further, despite the best efforts of the poor sods at the sharp end.
Britain has reached the stage where ragged holes have now suddenly appeared in what was a threadbare garment and Labour aren't even proposing to start the repair job.
But why?
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
It don't make sense
It's because Britain is trying to do more than it is willing to spend.
So there are two aircraft carriers which soaks up huge amounts of money and manpower. There are foreign bases all over the place, which ties up capability and manpower in defending them. There is the commitment to NATO's enhanced forward presence, which means deploying most of Britain's operational army capability to Estonia. There is the commitment to JEF, which uses up more capability.
And then there's procurement, where everything has to be designed bespoke for Britain at enormous cost and sometimes questionable efficacy.
interesting - genuinely - thankyou
It seems to me we need a rethink of our defence spend from first principles, in the light of all recent events, especially Ukraine, Iran etc
Non-negotiable: independent nuclear deterrent. We could usefully link with maybe Germany or Japan on creating missiles to carry our warheads so that we don't have to rely on the USA
Special forces
Military intelligence
All forms of autonomous drones, they are the future.....
But beyond that, we need to question everything. Do piloted jets have a future? Likewise tanks with drivers? Aircraft carriers? Maybe admit they were a terrible error? Or adapt them for robot jets
Robotics is about to render much present military thinking absurd, the way tanks rendered cavalry and trenches redundant, or the way machine guns and barbed wire overtook Napoleonic war
There's all of that, but then I think there's just a fundamental truth that for an island trading nation, no longer able to rely on leadership from the US, 2.x% of GDP is not enough to defend British interests.
Somewhere the money needs to be found to increase that to 4%.
I’ll be honest I’m very supportive of the government’s changes to jury trials.
It makes sense to me. And the criticisms seem very bad faith.
Who created the backlog Who closed the Courts Who reduced Prison spaces Why is there a log jam
Which Tory Minister or Reform Minister if they have jumped ship would like to answer
Crisis of Tory making
Pragmatic solutions required
Sure, the previous Tory government created loads of problems, a mess that is so big, and so deep and so tall that it feels impossible to fix, there is no way at all.
But Labour are making things worse.
So much so you could forgive people for thinking they might need the Tories back to fix it.
Thats like bringing back the guy who chopped somebody's head off to glue it back on
Tories in utter denial to the extent of the shit show they left behind after 14 years of under investment
Refuse to back any measure to fix anything, because the Tory Leader has an issue with agreeing with anyone and has to argue about everything.
I voted Labour in 2024, and they need to be a lot more persuasive to convince me about this - the Tories having done a bad job is not reason enough in itself to be compelling.
Likewise, I voted Labour in 2024 and - this will come as a shock to the site - I am genuinely unsure I will repeat that vote in 2029. So they've possibly lost the d'Annunzio-esque libertarian bohosexual kink-friendly voter in Primrose Hill borders
Not quite Mondeo man or left behind patriots or whatever, is it?
Brave of a self confessed’ ‘24 Starmer man to berate the smarts of another PBer.
Missing money, shipped chips and a 350,000% profit: key takeaways on AI ‘phantom investments’. A Guardian investigation has put the UK government’s AI plans under the microscope. Here are the key details
After the AI Education Hub "scam", I wouldn't surprised at this stage if the government doesn't buy some magic beans off somebody who promises that if they plant them they will grow AI
The mining is not extensive yet, with a few dozen having been laid in recent days, the sources said. But Iran still retains upward of 80% to 90% of its small boats and mine layers, one of the sources said, so its forces could feasibly lay hundreds of mines in the waterway.-CNN
I mentioned it earlier but minesweeping is a pain in the ass. You need mine clearing ships, constant ISR, helo cover, CAP, all the while trying to stop small boats that can converge from any number of locations/direction from laying additional mines
Good Lord, Trump seems to have forgotten that in war, your enemy gets a vote. If the Iranians read this, they will understand he is terrified and desperate, and probably speed up the mining of the straits. Worst war leader in US history.
I’ll be honest I’m very supportive of the government’s changes to jury trials.
It makes sense to me. And the criticisms seem very bad faith.
Who created the backlog Who closed the Courts Who reduced Prison spaces Why is there a log jam
Which Tory Minister or Reform Minister if they have jumped ship would like to answer
Crisis of Tory making
Pragmatic solutions required
The delays have nothing to do with juries, according to a number of judges and lawyers.
The delays are the typical story of everything running at capacity so when things go wrong, there is a delay of months until the combination of lawyers and judges are available again.
1) Members of The House Of Commons 2) Any permanent official who had received and accepted an honour. 3) All Kings Council
Beyond satire that a former DPP and someone who literally seems to run his entire government based on international law is the one PM in hundreds of years who plans to get rid of ancient right of jury.
Not get rid, restrict to crimes with a 3 years or more sentence. As recommended (amongst other things) by the Leveson review set up to look at ways of unblocking a criminal justice system which has been brought to crisis point by years of underfunding principally under the tories.
Yes, there's quite a lot of bad faith going on here, epitomised by the 'end of trial by jury' hysteria. Currently, trial by jury is already restricted to around 2-3% of criminal cases. The proposals will reduce that further, as you say to offences that carry a 3 year+ sentence.
The right to trial by jury is not being abolished. It's already heavily restricted, and the proposal is to restrict it further. It's arguable whether this is a good idea or not, but what's not arguable is that 'they are abolishing the ancient right of trial by jury' is an untrue, bad faith argument.
The sheer incometence of this government means anyone sensible opposes their mindless tinkering.
They never think anything through.
Mind you the Colston vandals would have been convicted by a judge I expect
That is the real motivation. To lock up the Palestine Action protestors too, without the inconvenience of having to convince a jury.
Good Lord, Trump seems to have forgotten that in war, your enemy gets a vote. If the Iranians read this, they will understand he is terrified and desperate, and probably speed up the mining of the straits. Worst war leader in US history.
The question arises then: what are the Iranian war aims? What will constitute acceptable terms for an end to the war and reopening the Strait?
Since mines are a bastard to get rid of even in peace time, mining the straits will block them for years, including for Iranian vessels (and not just oil tankers). That doesn’t suggest they are entirely optimistic about ‘winning’ this war. It’s more reminiscent of a ‘salt the earth’ strategy.
I’ll be honest I’m very supportive of the government’s changes to jury trials.
It makes sense to me. And the criticisms seem very bad faith.
Who created the backlog Who closed the Courts Who reduced Prison spaces Why is there a log jam
Which Tory Minister or Reform Minister if they have jumped ship would like to answer
Crisis of Tory making
Pragmatic solutions required
The delays have nothing to do with juries, according to a number of judges and lawyers.
The delays are the typical story of everything running at capacity so when things go wrong, there is a delay of months until the combination of lawyers and judges are available again.
1) Members of The House Of Commons 2) Any permanent official who had received and accepted an honour. 3) All Kings Council
Beyond satire that a former DPP and someone who literally seems to run his entire government based on international law is the one PM in hundreds of years who plans to get rid of ancient right of jury.
Not get rid, restrict to crimes with a 3 years or more sentence. As recommended (amongst other things) by the Leveson review set up to look at ways of unblocking a criminal justice system which has been brought to crisis point by years of underfunding principally under the tories.
Yes, there's quite a lot of bad faith going on here, epitomised by the 'end of trial by jury' hysteria. Currently, trial by jury is already restricted to around 2-3% of criminal cases. The proposals will reduce that further, as you say to offences that carry a 3 year+ sentence.
The right to trial by jury is not being abolished. It's already heavily restricted, and the proposal is to restrict it further. It's arguable whether this is a good idea or not, but what's not arguable is that 'they are abolishing the ancient right of trial by jury' is an untrue, bad faith argument.
The sheer incometence of this government means anyone sensible opposes their mindless tinkering.
They never think anything through.
Mind you the Colston vandals would have been convicted by a judge I expect
That is the real motivation. To lock up the Palestine Action protestors too.
If they locked up some of the Republic oiks for harassment and Public Order offences would be good too. Extinction Rebellion road blockers and the Just Stop Oil paint throwers in galleries and of course some of the nationalist right asylum hotel protestors could be convicted more easily as well
The mining is not extensive yet, with a few dozen having been laid in recent days, the sources said. But Iran still retains upward of 80% to 90% of its small boats and mine layers, one of the sources said, so its forces could feasibly lay hundreds of mines in the waterway.-CNN
I mentioned it earlier but minesweeping is a pain in the ass. You need mine clearing ships, constant ISR, helo cover, CAP, all the while trying to stop small boats that can converge from any number of locations/direction from laying additional mines
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Sadly not the case. The planned increase in spend on the nuclear deterrent (necessary to renew it) means that spending on the conventional forces will fall. The state of Britain's conventional forces can be expected to deteriorate further, despite the best efforts of the poor sods at the sharp end.
Britain has reached the stage where ragged holes have now suddenly appeared in what was a threadbare garment and Labour aren't even proposing to start the repair job.
But why?
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
It don't make sense
It's because Britain is trying to do more than it is willing to spend.
So there are two aircraft carriers which soaks up huge amounts of money and manpower. There are foreign bases all over the place, which ties up capability and manpower in defending them. There is the commitment to NATO's enhanced forward presence, which means deploying most of Britain's operational army capability to Estonia. There is the commitment to JEF, which uses up more capability.
And then there's procurement, where everything has to be designed bespoke for Britain at enormous cost and sometimes questionable efficacy.
We often hear that the British forces "punch motmre than their weight" which is a euphemism for not having the neccesary strength in depth.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office says that in the coming days conditions will be created for the Iranian people to “grasp your destiny,” adding that when “the time is right, and that time is fast approaching,” the torch will be passed to them to “seize the moment.”
Good Lord, Trump seems to have forgotten that in war, your enemy gets a vote. If the Iranians read this, they will understand he is terrified and desperate, and probably speed up the mining of the straits. Worst war leader in US history.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
She has been quoted by multiple sources referring to aggressive action and boots on the ground
As we're on the subject of how Britain spends the defence budget perhaps all the prancing around in fancy dress for the tourists and royals should be stopped until the military is capable of fulfilling its defence duties.
I'm not sure how much money and man hours would be saved but it would be a nice 'all in it together' symbolic gesture.
Government sources are taking seriously the possibility that Iran has placed mines in the Straits of Hormuz. They are not saying it has happened. But they pointed me to what they call open source intelligence - which turns out to be a euphemism for the American president (see attached).
If there is confirmation of mines in the Straits, the oil price would soar again. Because that waterway - which is a passage for 25% of all seaborne oil - would be shut for a prolonged period. And the cost to the prosperity of the world would be very significant.
For what it’s worth, the government is putting in place plans to deal with a significant economic shock, if the worst were to materialise.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office says that in the coming days conditions will be created for the Iranian people to “grasp your destiny,” adding that when “the time is right, and that time is fast approaching,” the torch will be passed to them to “seize the moment.”
As we're on the subject of how Britain spends the defence budget perhaps all the prancing around in fancy dress for the tourists and royals should be stopped until the military is capable of fulfilling its defence duties.
I'm not sure how much money and man hours would be saved but it would be a nice 'all in it together' symbolic gesture.
This is the first fancy dress distraction which should be stopped:
In June each year Trooping the Colour, also known as 'The King's Birthday Parade', takes place on Horse Guards Parade in London.
With His Majesty the King taking the salute Trooping the Colour is the highlight of the ceremonial calendar with over 1400 officers and men, two hundred horses and the Massed Bands of the Household Division on parade.
Prior to the King's Birthday Parade two Trooping the Colour Reviews take place, the first is 'The Major General's Review' and then 'The Colonel's Review'.
Good Lord, Trump seems to have forgotten that in war, your enemy gets a vote. If the Iranians read this, they will understand he is terrified and desperate, and probably speed up the mining of the straits. Worst war leader in US history.
I’m hoping this helps reinforce the very real risks of supporting untested parties (in the same way Zack is now telling us he’s going to be nice to Mr Putin and that will solve everything).
Sadly, Kemi has badly miscalculated this one. It would have been a proper sensible dividing line and she’s missed that opportunity, badly.
Well I don't see why Kemi can't say she was against the war all along if Farage can get away with it.
25% of UK voters support strikes on Iran with Yougov, that is higher than the current Tory poll rating, so why shouldn't she try and get most of them voting Tory and fill the gap left by a less hawkish Farage?
Some percentage of those will be diehard Reform, or even some other party. And if a larger pool are against, isn't that a better place to seek to swim?
Setting out your stall based on YouGov polling on Iran is not how a serious politician acts. Sometimes you have to take a hit when yiu are not in tune with majority opinion else be a pathetic weather vane.
You also need to follow your own party's voters above all, most Reform voters back the strikes, so Farage is now more out of touch with his own voters than Starmer, Kemi, Polanski and Davey are with theirs.
Perhaps the Don should invite Kemi to Mar a Lago given he was absent when Farage tried to pay homage this week?
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Sadly not the case. The planned increase in spend on the nuclear deterrent (necessary to renew it) means that spending on the conventional forces will fall. The state of Britain's conventional forces can be expected to deteriorate further, despite the best efforts of the poor sods at the sharp end.
Britain has reached the stage where ragged holes have now suddenly appeared in what was a threadbare garment and Labour aren't even proposing to start the repair job.
But why?
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
It don't make sense
It's because Britain is trying to do more than it is willing to spend.
So there are two aircraft carriers which soaks up huge amounts of money and manpower. There are foreign bases all over the place, which ties up capability and manpower in defending them. There is the commitment to NATO's enhanced forward presence, which means deploying most of Britain's operational army capability to Estonia. There is the commitment to JEF, which uses up more capability.
And then there's procurement, where everything has to be designed bespoke for Britain at enormous cost and sometimes questionable efficacy.
interesting - genuinely - thankyou
It seems to me we need a rethink of our defence spend from first principles, in the light of all recent events, especially Ukraine, Iran etc
Non-negotiable: independent nuclear deterrent. We could usefully link with maybe Germany or Japan on creating missiles to carry our warheads so that we don't have to rely on the USA
Special forces
Military intelligence
All forms of autonomous drones, they are the future.....
But beyond that, we need to question everything. Do piloted jets have a future? Likewise tanks with drivers? Aircraft carriers? Maybe admit they were a terrible error? Or adapt them for robot jets
Robotics is about to render much present military thinking absurd, the way tanks rendered cavalry and trenches redundant, or the way machine guns and barbed wire overtook Napoleonic war
There's all of that, but then I think there's just a fundamental truth that for an island trading nation, no longer able to rely on leadership from the US, 2.x% of GDP is not enough to defend British interests.
Somewhere the money needs to be found to increase that to 4%.
Channel 4 have found an Iranian spokesperson who is a University professor. A wise old man who sits in a chair and opines. He reminds me of my late Grandfather! He's even got his accent! A very impressive man. Quite a contrast to the juveniles who are speaking for the US at the moment. I think he could become a bit of a cult figure. He's like the old man in the old man and the sea.
I think it was the beard. If Pete Hegseth had a beard he'd look older and wiser too - until he opened his mouth. But, yes, Hegseth with a beard and not saying anything, that would be a huge improvement on the US war comms front.
Hegseth comes across as very excited by the carnage. Like a kindergarten kid receiving his first GI Joe doll.
Yes, it's an 'Epic Fury' computer game as per the stuff they're putting out. So far missing the bit where the girls school was obliterated with maximum intensity but I suppose it will be in the next release. I wonder what the music will be for that. Very stirring no doubt.
Earlier today, writers in both the Guardian and- wait for it- the Telegraph referred to the current adventure as "Operation Epic Failure".
As we're on the subject of how Britain spends the defence budget perhaps all the prancing around in fancy dress for the tourists and royals should be stopped until the military is capable of fulfilling its defence duties.
I'm not sure how much money and man hours would be saved but it would be a nice 'all in it together' symbolic gesture.
We should double the defence budget, but spend the whole lot on getting off fossil fuels as quickly as possible. That's what actual security looks like.
This is turning into a complete clusterf--k isn't it?
Bombing and the killing of most of the leadership hasn't caused capitulation. US and Israel don't seem to be on the same page re war aims. Straits closed meaning economic chaos. No rally around the flag in US. Quite the opposite. A senile President. A psychopath in the State Department. Israeli focus shifting to Lebanon. Nuclear materials still at large under Regime control.
Logical next step is invasion. Isn't it? Or declare a victory which no-one is willing to buy.
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Channel 4 have found an Iranian spokesperson who is a University professor. A wise old man who sits in a chair and opines. He reminds me of my late Grandfather! He's even got his accent! A very impressive man. Quite a contrast to the juveniles who are speaking for the US at the moment. I think he could become a bit of a cult figure. He's like the old man in the old man and the sea.
I think it was the beard. If Pete Hegseth had a beard he'd look older and wiser too - until he opened his mouth. But, yes, Hegseth with a beard and not saying anything, that would be a huge improvement on the US war comms front.
Hegseth comes across as very excited by the carnage. Like a kindergarten kid receiving his first GI Joe doll.
Yes, it's an 'Epic Fury' computer game as per the stuff they're putting out. So far missing the bit where the girls school was obliterated with maximum intensity but I suppose it will be in the next release. I wonder what the music will be for that. Very stirring no doubt.
Earlier today, writers in both the Guardian and- wait for it- the Telegraph referred to the current adventure as "Operation Epic Failure".
Have you got a link to the Telegraph one, I'd like to add it for the morning thread, please.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
Have you had dinner yet? You’re drinking on an empty stomach.
Over half of current Reform voters back the US strikes on Iran according to Yougov, so while Farage and Jenrick go wobbly on Iran, Kemi should arguably step up her bomb Tehran and the regime to bits line and hope to squeeze back to the Tories some rightwingers lost to Reform
No.
Kemi can show she is raw steak to Farage and Jenrick's soggy wet lettuces
She's tried backtracking this afternoon
BBC
Failed spectacularly
You owe Kemi an apology over yet more fake made up comments
She has been quoted by multiple sources referring to aggressive action and boots on the ground
Show these sources with their links
You are shameless and malign
I'm not your secretary
She's said it
It's been reported
Her attempt to wriggle out of it today are being laughed at.
She's not the pussy little perfect missy you are obsessed by.
She's dug herself a huge hole with her mouth way ahead of what few brain cells she has.
As we're on the subject of how Britain spends the defence budget perhaps all the prancing around in fancy dress for the tourists and royals should be stopped until the military is capable of fulfilling its defence duties.
I'm not sure how much money and man hours would be saved but it would be a nice 'all in it together' symbolic gesture.
Given even Kemi isn't proposing British boots on the ground in Iran or Ukraine that isn't really the problem, building our navy and bombers and fighter jets and cyber security is
Channel 4 have found an Iranian spokesperson who is a University professor. A wise old man who sits in a chair and opines. He reminds me of my late Grandfather! He's even got his accent! A very impressive man. Quite a contrast to the juveniles who are speaking for the US at the moment. I think he could become a bit of a cult figure. He's like the old man in the old man and the sea.
I think it was the beard. If Pete Hegseth had a beard he'd look older and wiser too - until he opened his mouth. But, yes, Hegseth with a beard and not saying anything, that would be a huge improvement on the US war comms front.
Hegseth comes across as very excited by the carnage. Like a kindergarten kid receiving his first GI Joe doll.
Yes, it's an 'Epic Fury' computer game as per the stuff they're putting out. So far missing the bit where the girls school was obliterated with maximum intensity but I suppose it will be in the next release. I wonder what the music will be for that. Very stirring no doubt.
Earlier today, writers in both the Guardian and- wait for it- the Telegraph referred to the current adventure as "Operation Epic Failure".
Have you got a link to the Telegraph one, I'd like to add it for the morning thread, please.
It was referred to by James O'Brexit on LBC this morning, but I'll have a look.
Channel 4 have found an Iranian spokesperson who is a University professor. A wise old man who sits in a chair and opines. He reminds me of my late Grandfather! He's even got his accent! A very impressive man. Quite a contrast to the juveniles who are speaking for the US at the moment. I think he could become a bit of a cult figure. He's like the old man in the old man and the sea.
I think it was the beard. If Pete Hegseth had a beard he'd look older and wiser too - until he opened his mouth. But, yes, Hegseth with a beard and not saying anything, that would be a huge improvement on the US war comms front.
Hegseth comes across as very excited by the carnage. Like a kindergarten kid receiving his first GI Joe doll.
Yes, it's an 'Epic Fury' computer game as per the stuff they're putting out. So far missing the bit where the girls school was obliterated with maximum intensity but I suppose it will be in the next release. I wonder what the music will be for that. Very stirring no doubt.
Earlier today, writers in both the Guardian and- wait for it- the Telegraph referred to the current adventure as "Operation Epic Failure".
Have you got a link to the Telegraph one, I'd like to add it for the morning thread, please.
It was referred to by James O'Brexit on LBC this morning, but I'll have a look.
Let me tell them. The end result of all this is the creation of an aggressive "white" identity in the UK. If you are white, you will vote for the "White People's Party", so you are not crushed, nor your kids, by official "anti-white-racism". Thus Britain will become a new South Africa
I am genuinely confused as to why so many erstwhile intelligent people fail to see that playing identity politics drives, err, identity politics.
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Sadly not the case. The planned increase in spend on the nuclear deterrent (necessary to renew it) means that spending on the conventional forces will fall. The state of Britain's conventional forces can be expected to deteriorate further, despite the best efforts of the poor sods at the sharp end.
Britain has reached the stage where ragged holes have now suddenly appeared in what was a threadbare garment and Labour aren't even proposing to start the repair job.
But why?
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
It don't make sense
It's because Britain is trying to do more than it is willing to spend.
So there are two aircraft carriers which soaks up huge amounts of money and manpower. There are foreign bases all over the place, which ties up capability and manpower in defending them. There is the commitment to NATO's enhanced forward presence, which means deploying most of Britain's operational army capability to Estonia. There is the commitment to JEF, which uses up more capability.
And then there's procurement, where everything has to be designed bespoke for Britain at enormous cost and sometimes questionable efficacy.
interesting - genuinely - thankyou
It seems to me we need a rethink of our defence spend from first principles, in the light of all recent events, especially Ukraine, Iran etc
Non-negotiable: independent nuclear deterrent. We could usefully link with maybe Germany or Japan on creating missiles to carry our warheads so that we don't have to rely on the USA
Special forces
Military intelligence
All forms of autonomous drones, they are the future.....
But beyond that, we need to question everything. Do piloted jets have a future? Likewise tanks with drivers? Aircraft carriers? Maybe admit they were a terrible error? Or adapt them for robot jets
Robotics is about to render much present military thinking absurd, the way tanks rendered cavalry and trenches redundant, or the way machine guns and barbed wire overtook Napoleonic war
There's all of that, but then I think there's just a fundamental truth that for an island trading nation, no longer able to rely on leadership from the US, 2.x% of GDP is not enough to defend British interests.
Somewhere the money needs to be found to increase that to 4%.
So today the Royal Navy managed, after 6 days of truly extraordinary work, to put a vessel to sea. The reality is that almost all of the proposed increase in public spending on defence being planned by the government will achieve very little more than giving us the defence forces that we allegedly had, at least on paper, plus, if we are lucky, enough ammunition to fight a war of more than 2 weeks duration.
The extent to which our defence forces have been allowed to fall into desuetude whilst almost unlimited sums are spent on the likes of Ajax is a national disgrace, not just for this government (although they are not excused) but for all of our governments of the last 20 odd years since Gulf War 2 was finished. So much money wasted on a system with more admirals than ships, more generals than tanks and more Air Commanders than deployable aircraft.
Sadly not the case. The planned increase in spend on the nuclear deterrent (necessary to renew it) means that spending on the conventional forces will fall. The state of Britain's conventional forces can be expected to deteriorate further, despite the best efforts of the poor sods at the sharp end.
Britain has reached the stage where ragged holes have now suddenly appeared in what was a threadbare garment and Labour aren't even proposing to start the repair job.
But why?
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
It don't make sense
It's because Britain is trying to do more than it is willing to spend.
So there are two aircraft carriers which soaks up huge amounts of money and manpower. There are foreign bases all over the place, which ties up capability and manpower in defending them. There is the commitment to NATO's enhanced forward presence, which means deploying most of Britain's operational army capability to Estonia. There is the commitment to JEF, which uses up more capability.
And then there's procurement, where everything has to be designed bespoke for Britain at enormous cost and sometimes questionable efficacy.
interesting - genuinely - thankyou
It seems to me we need a rethink of our defence spend from first principles, in the light of all recent events, especially Ukraine, Iran etc
Non-negotiable: independent nuclear deterrent. We could usefully link with maybe Germany or Japan on creating missiles to carry our warheads so that we don't have to rely on the USA
Special forces
Military intelligence
All forms of autonomous drones, they are the future.....
But beyond that, we need to question everything. Do piloted jets have a future? Likewise tanks with drivers? Aircraft carriers? Maybe admit they were a terrible error? Or adapt them for robot jets
Robotics is about to render much present military thinking absurd, the way tanks rendered cavalry and trenches redundant, or the way machine guns and barbed wire overtook Napoleonic war
There's all of that, but then I think there's just a fundamental truth that for an island trading nation, no longer able to rely on leadership from the US, 2.x% of GDP is not enough to defend British interests.
Somewhere the money needs to be found to increase that to 4%.
Good Lord, Trump seems to have forgotten that in war, your enemy gets a vote. If the Iranians read this, they will understand he is terrified and desperate, and probably speed up the mining of the straits. Worst war leader in US history.
As we're on the subject of how Britain spends the defence budget perhaps all the prancing around in fancy dress for the tourists and royals should be stopped until the military is capable of fulfilling its defence duties.
I'm not sure how much money and man hours would be saved but it would be a nice 'all in it together' symbolic gesture.
We should double the defence budget, but spend the whole lot on getting off fossil fuels as quickly as possible. That's what actual security looks like.
We should have a separate 'security' budget for general economic and energy requirements.
Comments
Both Kemi and Debs Haynes, the Sky news defence correspondent uses it as an expression that the launchers need to be eliminated from the air
Your posts on this are malign and fake
"Yet instead of accepting the refutations", Popper wrote, "the followers of Marx re-interpreted both the theory and the evidence in order to make them agree. ... They thus gave a 'conventionalist twist' to the theory; and by this stratagem, they destroyed its much advertised claim to scientific status."
"Malign" doesn't begin to cover it.
Britain still spends - relatively and globally - a fuck of a lot of money on defence. We are I think the fifth or biggest military spender in the world?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest_military_expenditures
Where is it going? How can they spunk all this money up the wall, to the extent we can only get one ship out to defend sovereign bases, after a fortnight's delay, when some guy nips down to Smiths for half a ton of blu-tak?
It don't make sense
What’s being described is Kemi as super heroine in a Manga movie.
Remember when you disgracefully misrepresented Sky News and what they said about Starmer and Ukraine.
It's not your rodeo.
Not sure why you even raise it without also refering to my apology to be fair
So there are two aircraft carriers which soaks up huge amounts of money and manpower. There are foreign bases all over the place, which ties up capability and manpower in defending them. There is the commitment to NATO's enhanced forward presence, which means deploying most of Britain's operational army capability to Estonia. There is the commitment to JEF, which uses up more capability.
And then there's procurement, where everything has to be designed bespoke for Britain at enormous cost and sometimes questionable efficacy.
It seems to me we need a rethink of our defence spend from first principles, in the light of all recent events, especially Ukraine, Iran etc
Non-negotiable: independent nuclear deterrent. We could usefully link with maybe Germany or Japan on creating missiles to carry our warheads so that we don't have to rely on the USA
Special forces
Military intelligence
All forms of autonomous drones, they are the future.....
But beyond that, we need to question everything. Do piloted jets have a future? Likewise tanks with drivers? Aircraft carriers? Maybe admit they were a terrible error? Or adapt them for robot jets
Robotics is about to render much present military thinking absurd, the way tanks rendered cavalry and trenches redundant, or the way machine guns and barbed wire overtook Napoleonic war
White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair privately urged House Republicans on Tuesday to stop emphasizing "mass deportations" and instead focus their messaging on removing violent criminals, according to sources in the closed-door briefing.
Why it matters: Mass deportations were central to the GOP's 2024 campaign message.
Nearly half — 49% — of Americans say Trump's mass deportation campaign is too aggressive, including 1 in 5 voters who backed the president in 2024, a Politico poll from January found.
State of play: Blair delivered the message during a policy listening session with House Republicans at their annual retreat in Doral, Florida.
He encouraged members to focus on deporting violent offenders rather than defending the broader concept of mass removals.
The advice signals a recalibration by the White House — and reflects growing concern among some Republicans that Democrats are successfully framing Trump's immigration policy as overly sweeping and indiscriminate.
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/10/white-house-house-republicans-mass-deportations
She's said it
It's been reported
Her attempt to wriggle out of it today are being laughed at.
She's not the pussy little perfect missy you are obsessed by.
She's dug herself a huge hole with her mouth way ahead of what few brain cells she has.
You can throw sticks and stones.
Makes no difference to me.
Might is always right - without any leading by example to a better world - is just encouraging every bully, and will give the world more bullying.
Barty Bobbin’s please explain.
You make malign accusations with no links
Your posts wiĺl be judged accordingly
The Tories aren't just empty. They're a void within a vacuum, surrounded by a vast inanition.
Worshipping the process not the result. And it is the result that has the moral value.
@PhillipsPOBrien
Good Lord, Trump seems to have forgotten that in war, your enemy gets a vote. If the Iranians read this, they will understand he is terrified and desperate, and probably speed up the mining of the straits. Worst war leader in US history.
https://x.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/2031462983981764872
Somewhere the money needs to be found to increase that to 4%.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/09/key-takeaways-on-ai-phantom-investments-uk
After the AI Education Hub "scam", I wouldn't surprised at this stage if the government doesn't buy some magic beans off somebody who promises that if they plant them they will grow AI
The mining is not extensive yet, with a few dozen having been laid in recent days, the sources said. But Iran still retains upward of 80% to 90% of its small boats and mine layers, one of the sources said, so its forces could feasibly lay hundreds of mines in the waterway.-CNN
I mentioned it earlier but minesweeping is a pain in the ass. You need mine clearing ships, constant ISR, helo cover, CAP, all the while trying to stop small boats that can converge from any number of locations/direction from laying additional mines
https://bsky.app/profile/sodrock.bsky.social/post/3mgq5qcxdws2z
Am I right?
@jamesbenge
The most disastrous Tudor campaign on the continent since they lost Calais
No Jury, no nullification by Jury. Simples.
(And why is my smiley so big?)
I have always lived by the motto '"In my experience, if you cannot say what you mean, you can never mean what you say."
#CanYouSpotTheSubtleBabylon5Reference
I'm not sure how much money and man hours would be saved but it would be a nice 'all in it together' symbolic gesture.
@Peston
Government sources are taking seriously the possibility that Iran has placed mines in the Straits of Hormuz. They are not saying it has happened. But they pointed me to what they call open source intelligence - which turns out to be a euphemism for the American president (see attached).
If there is confirmation of mines in the Straits, the oil price would soar again. Because that waterway - which is a passage for 25% of all seaborne oil - would be shut for a prolonged period. And the cost to the prosperity of the world would be very significant.
For what it’s worth, the government is putting in place plans to deal with a significant economic shock, if the worst were to materialise.
https://x.com/Peston/status/2031468208830472548
In June each year Trooping the Colour, also known as 'The King's Birthday Parade', takes place on Horse Guards Parade in London.
With His Majesty the King taking the salute Trooping the Colour is the highlight of the ceremonial calendar with over 1400 officers and men, two hundred horses and the Massed Bands of the Household Division on parade.
Prior to the King's Birthday Parade two Trooping the Colour Reviews take place, the first is 'The Major General's Review' and then 'The Colonel's Review'.
https://changing-guard.com/ceremonial/trooping-the-colour.html
Out last what Trump can cope with as far as decimating the world economy goes.
That and keep hold of the 60% processed uranium they apparently have.
There is no getting around it.
And that means more spending cuts or tax rises.
Bombing and the killing of most of the leadership hasn't caused capitulation.
US and Israel don't seem to be on the same page re war aims.
Straits closed meaning economic chaos.
No rally around the flag in US. Quite the opposite.
A senile President. A psychopath in the State Department.
Israeli focus shifting to Lebanon.
Nuclear materials still at large under Regime control.
Logical next step is invasion. Isn't it? Or declare a victory which no-one is willing to buy.
Still. Epstein, eh?
Full clip: https://x.com/PiersUncensored/status/2031448502879003074
Everyone needs to lose out with no exceptions.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/07/pms-pragmatism-on-trumps-iran-fury-risks-australia-following-us-into-operation-epic-fail
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/donald-trump-war-iran-oil-operation-epic-fury-b2930117.html
@TSE Edit
Telegraph one is "Epic Fiasco", can't get behind the paywall myself.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/10/trump-iran-war/