The Trump Administration is reported to have told the Turkish government that the war with Iran would only be a four-day special military operation. Quite a remarkable bit of reporting:
"The United States government had told Turkey through official channels that the war on Iran would only take four days, Asli Aydintasbas, a Washington-based Turkey expert, said during an interview on Sunday.
“Turkey and some of its allies were told, through official channels, that this operation would take days and be completed in four days,” Aydintasbas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said in an interview with the Serbestiyet news site.
“You cannot tell a Nato ally that you have made a four-day plan and then extend the operation to 14 days. In a sense, this was also a betrayal of the regional countries.” https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2033631419805663383
(Short version is that there's an entitlement for religious observance days for families of any religion. After all, I'm sure you wouln't expect schools with a lot of Jewish pupils to be open on Yom Kippur, would you?
It doesn't really affect Christians, because Christmas and Easter are covered by bank holidays. At a school with a significant number of Muslim children, it's better for morale and education to just have a tidy closure day. I once had to motivate a class through a GCSE exam on Eid... most of them rose to the challenge, bless 'em.)
The Centrist Dads will kill us all. "Bless 'em"
What's the flap about?
My school allowed students to take High and Holy days for their own religions off in he 1970s, and other schools were doing it long before that.
Do Saudi and the gulf states actually have navies? What have they been spending all their oil money on?
What do I propose?
The Gulf states should say that until they get guarantees that all commercial ships can pass safely through the gulf, then no ships are passing at all. I hope we and our European allies would back them in this. They do have other routes they can export some oil through and if you take Iranian crude off the market they'll even get more money for it.
The idea Iran is holding all the cards is ludicrous.
Good cop, bad cop on BBC News. Mason withering in his criticism of Starmer and his spat with Trump. Bowen more measured and more critical of Trump's behaviour.
It was quite funny listening to the radio this evening shortly after Trump had spoken. Radio 5 asked some security/military bod what he thought about Trump's criticism and he said 'he's hallucinating and deluded' which I thought was spot on. I'm not sure it was quite the response the presenters were looking for.
7 points from last 3 games against Villa, LFC and Brentford. Next 3 are Spurs, West Ham and Leeds. They couldn't, could they?
Effectively 4 wins and a draw from 17th (when goal difference is taken into account).
They only have 8 games left.
So no. But playing with nothing to lose seems to suit. If they did get close, they would have the pressure heaped back on - and likely bottle it.
Pedantry compels me to point out that Wolves have only 7 left. Three wins from three eminently winnable games on current form would be cat meets pigeon territory though.
A Great Escape to equal my own club's in the 2014-15 season.
Boy is supporting Leicester City a wild ride. Rollercoaster doesn't cover it.
On topic. Starmer has to get ships into the gulf, lead Britain onto the offensive and action preventing Iran from closing the waterway.
The National Interest is that Starmer acts immediately in the Gulf, exactly as Trump is requesting. Just two or three months of blockage on oil shipping through the straits will kill UK businesses and the economy, so the National Interest is crystal clear.
It’s also the only political option Starmer has left - he can no longer remain on the fence and not act. Because, quite simply, on topic: I agree with TSE. Labour will own the pain voters will be feeling, even more so through Labours inaction on the cause of the problem.
Kemi was spot on last week at PMQs, beginning the long grind and shred into non existence of Starmer and his Government, by ensuring every voter is aware all the economic pain and catastrophe to households and business and the economy, to an inability of UK to pay its interest payments, pensions, welfare and public worker bills so needs IMF loans, is entirely linked to Starmer’s inaction in the gulf. Kemi will go with Mandelson this week, and ignore what she started last week. But, where TSE is right in the header, Labour owning the economic disaster hurtling towards UK, this comes with Kemi, Zak, Farage and Ed, constantly reminding voters Starmer and his government are not doing enough.
Government promises the last few days to do whatever it takes to protect UK households and businesses from rampart inflation especially on food staples, is as ill planned and clueless as Trumps Iran War. By adopting the imbecile Martin Lewis’s exorbitant and massively wasteful government “handing out borrowed money to everybody” scheme, Hunt explained last week the Tories spent at least £95B, £9B from windfall tax on the energy industry, the rest was borrowed money. This Labour government does not have a scoobies how it will fulfil all these promises it is making about this. At some point in future it will be widely known in hindsight, it cost Britain an extra four billion pound for each day Starmer sat on the fence, without taking action on the root cause being Irans illegal terrorism in the gulf.
Faced with the destruction of UK finances and economy by Iranian blocking of oil - that is so illegal there is no doubt we can now legally attack them - Starmer MUST Act on the illegal terrorist blockade in the gulf. Starmer and his government will be shredded by UKs opposition parties if he doesn’t.
Simples.
How do a couple of ships protect every tanker from drone attacks elsewhere in the straits.
Simply put if Iran wants to close the Straits there is nothing anyone in the world can do to stop them...
Alternatively, Europe, including the UK, could negotiate a deal with Iran to allow our ships through on condition we don’t supply any oil to the USA and Israel. Call Trump’s bluff and stand up to the bully. If he won’t support our Ukrainian ally ….
So exactly what I suggested at 9pm this evening...
Yes, I missed your earlier post. Great minds think alike!
BBC going in heavy on after Trump has put the boot in to Starmer. Chris Mason is not impressed with Starmer treason, Trump is very angry. Mason says Starmer has turned Trump down twice. Mason is not impressed.
That’s great news for Starmer ! Mason needs to fxck off to his dream job at Reform .
BBC going in heavy on after Trump has put the boot in to Starmer. Chris Mason is not impressed with Starmer treason, Trump is very angry. Mason says Starmer has turned Trump down twice. Mason is not impressed.
That’s great news for Starmer ! Mason needs to fxck off to his dream job at Reform .
Mason is a Reform supporter. Bowen isn’t. Mason should join GB News. If he takes Kuenssberg with him, even better.
7 points from last 3 games against Villa, LFC and Brentford. Next 3 are Spurs, West Ham and Leeds. They couldn't, could they?
Effectively 4 wins and a draw from 17th (when goal difference is taken into account).
They only have 8 games left.
So no. But playing with nothing to lose seems to suit. If they did get close, they would have the pressure heaped back on - and likely bottle it.
Pedantry compels me to point out that Wolves have only 7 left. Three wins from three eminently winnable games on current form would be cat meets pigeon territory though.
A Great Escape to equal my own club's in the 2014-15 season.
Boy is supporting Leicester City a wild ride. Rollercoaster doesn't cover it.
Do Saudi and the gulf states actually have navies? What have they been spending all their oil money on?
What do I propose?
The Gulf states should say that until they get guarantees that all commercial ships can pass safely through the gulf, then no ships are passing at all. I hope we and our European allies would back them in this. They do have other routes they can export some oil through and if you take Iranian crude off the market they'll even get more money for it.
The idea Iran is holding all the cards is ludicrous.
My guess is that is the rationale for seizing Kharg, or threatening the destruction of its oil installations - if that is the plan.
Do Saudi and the gulf states actually have navies? What have they been spending all their oil money on?
What do I propose?
The Gulf states should say that until they get guarantees that all commercial ships can pass safely through the gulf, then no ships are passing at all. I hope we and our European allies would back them in this. They do have other routes they can export some oil through and if you take Iranian crude off the market they'll even get more money for it.
The idea Iran is holding all the cards is ludicrous.
Yes - they are quite well armed.
There was a piece earlier (may have been Ukraine the Latest or Times Radio) pointing out that between them they had about 15 frigates of similar type to European ones, and perhaps 60 less well armed patrol vessels with fewer guns and smaller VLS cells which would nonetheless be useable in adjacent areas under less intense that than Hormuz.
It's about the same as air forces - they punch above their weight because they are in a potential conflict zone.
Personally I think they are not keen because the war is Netanyahu leading Trump by the nose, because Trump is an oaf, Netanyahu saw him coming and thought he could achieve his lifelong aim because Trump is surrounded by munchkins and bootlickers, and would swallow it.
If they do get involved they will lose their oil plants and water distillation facilities.
Good cop, bad cop on BBC News. Mason withering in his criticism of Starmer and his spat with Trump. Bowen more measured and more critical of Trump's behaviour.
It was quite funny listening to the radio this evening shortly after Trump had spoken. Radio 5 asked some security/military bod what he thought about Trump's criticism and he said 'he's hallucinating and deluded' which I thought was spot on. I'm not sure it was quite the response the presenters were looking for.
Sanewashing can endure only so much evidenced of irrationality. Trump has managed to push outside of the envelope.
BBC going in heavy on after Trump has put the boot in to Starmer. Chris Mason is not impressed with Starmer treason, Trump is very angry. Mason says Starmer has turned Trump down twice. Mason is not impressed.
That’s great news for Starmer ! Mason needs to fxck off to his dream job at Reform .
He just comes across as a sort of memelord. Everything has to be assessed through a turquoise filter because it's unexpected.
That'd better than a BBC that's fully Establishment but still a bit juvenile. It doesn't help that they aren't as playful when it comes to the Greens - suddenly it's all serious scrutiny (as it should be).
(Short version is that there's an entitlement for religious observance days for families of any religion. After all, I'm sure you wouln't expect schools with a lot of Jewish pupils to be open on Yom Kippur, would you?
It doesn't really affect Christians, because Christmas and Easter are covered by bank holidays. At a school with a significant number of Muslim children, it's better for morale and education to just have a tidy closure day. I once had to motivate a class through a GCSE exam on Eid... most of them rose to the challenge, bless 'em.)
The Centrist Dads will kill us all. "Bless 'em"
What's the flap about?
My school allowed students to take High and Holy days for their own religions off in he 1970s, and other schools were doing it long before that.
I remember Jewish kids getting Jewish holidays off when I was at school in the 1970s and 1980s. I think my Mum said the same happened when *she* was a kid.
(Short version is that there's an entitlement for religious observance days for families of any religion. After all, I'm sure you wouln't expect schools with a lot of Jewish pupils to be open on Yom Kippur, would you?
It doesn't really affect Christians, because Christmas and Easter are covered by bank holidays. At a school with a significant number of Muslim children, it's better for morale and education to just have a tidy closure day. I once had to motivate a class through a GCSE exam on Eid... most of them rose to the challenge, bless 'em.)
The Centrist Dads will kill us all. "Bless 'em"
What's the flap about?
My school allowed students to take High and Holy days for their own religions off in he 1970s, and other schools were doing it long before that.
I seem to remember us having to extend our school year for two weeks to account for our interminable Holy Days of Obligation. And we were lined up and shamed at Assembly if we didn't attend Mass on said days. It's an Obligation not a day off!
On topic. Starmer has to get ships into the gulf, lead Britain onto the offensive and action preventing Iran from closing the waterway.
The National Interest is that Starmer acts immediately in the Gulf, exactly as Trump is requesting. Just two or three months of blockage on oil shipping through the straits will kill UK businesses and the economy, so the National Interest is crystal clear.
It’s also the only political option Starmer has left - he can no longer remain on the fence and not act. Because, quite simply, on topic: I agree with TSE. Labour will own the pain voters will be feeling, even more so through Labours inaction on the cause of the problem.
Kemi was spot on last week at PMQs, beginning the long grind and shred into non existence of Starmer and his Government, by ensuring every voter is aware all the economic pain and catastrophe to households and business and the economy, to an inability of UK to pay its interest payments, pensions, welfare and public worker bills so needs IMF loans, is entirely linked to Starmer’s inaction in the gulf. Kemi will go with Mandelson this week, and ignore what she started last week. But, where TSE is right in the header, Labour owning the economic disaster hurtling towards UK, this comes with Kemi, Zak, Farage and Ed, constantly reminding voters Starmer and his government are not doing enough.
Government promises the last few days to do whatever it takes to protect UK households and businesses from rampart inflation especially on food staples, is as ill planned and clueless as Trumps Iran War. By adopting the imbecile Martin Lewis’s exorbitant and massively wasteful government “handing out borrowed money to everybody” scheme, Hunt explained last week the Tories spent at least £95B, £9B from windfall tax on the energy industry, the rest was borrowed money. This Labour government does not have a scoobies how it will fulfil all these promises it is making about this. At some point in future it will be widely known in hindsight, it cost Britain an extra four billion pound for each day Starmer sat on the fence, without taking action on the root cause being Irans illegal terrorism in the gulf.
Faced with the destruction of UK finances and economy by Iranian blocking of oil - that is so illegal there is no doubt we can now legally attack them - Starmer MUST Act on the illegal terrorist blockade in the gulf. Starmer and his government will be shredded by UKs opposition parties if he doesn’t.
Simples.
How do a couple of ships protect every tanker from drone attacks elsewhere in the straits.
Simply put if Iran wants to close the Straits there is nothing anyone in the world can do to stop them...
Alternatively, Europe, including the UK, could negotiate a deal with Iran to allow our ships through on condition we don’t supply any oil to the USA and Israel. Call Trump’s bluff and stand up to the bully. If he won’t support our Ukrainian ally ….
Hmmm. I can't really see why the Iranians would agree to that unless they actually feel weaker and less emboldened than they are letting on. Why would they allow the Gulf states to start lining their pockets again? Why save the global economy from a possible meltdown. It just doesn't make sense.
I may be wrong but this sounds like very foolish thinking from people who naively believe the Iranians just have a bit of beef with the Americans/Israelis and otherwise just want to do business.
7 points from last 3 games against Villa, LFC and Brentford. Next 3 are Spurs, West Ham and Leeds. They couldn't, could they?
Effectively 4 wins and a draw from 17th (when goal difference is taken into account).
They only have 8 games left.
So no. But playing with nothing to lose seems to suit. If they did get close, they would have the pressure heaped back on - and likely bottle it.
Pedantry compels me to point out that Wolves have only 7 left. Three wins from three eminently winnable games on current form would be cat meets pigeon territory though.
A Great Escape to equal my own club's in the 2014-15 season.
Boy is supporting Leicester City a wild ride. Rollercoaster doesn't cover it.
Mmm. What are the odds on Wolves for the 2026-7 Premier League Champions? Worth a quid?
(Short version is that there's an entitlement for religious observance days for families of any religion. After all, I'm sure you wouln't expect schools with a lot of Jewish pupils to be open on Yom Kippur, would you?
It doesn't really affect Christians, because Christmas and Easter are covered by bank holidays. At a school with a significant number of Muslim children, it's better for morale and education to just have a tidy closure day. I once had to motivate a class through a GCSE exam on Eid... most of them rose to the challenge, bless 'em.)
The Centrist Dads will kill us all. "Bless 'em"
What's the flap about?
My school allowed students to take High and Holy days for their own religions off in he 1970s, and other schools were doing it long before that.
I seem to remember us having to extend our school year for two weeks to account for our interminable Holy Days of Obligation. And we were lined up and shamed at Assembly if we didn't attend Mass on said days. It's an Obligation not a day off!
The tweet linked to says, “Afghanistan wouldn’t give the day off for Easter. Syria wouldn’t close schools for Passover.” Well, those are probably true, but some Syrian schools do close for Easter.
BBC going in heavy on after Trump has put the boot in to Starmer. Chris Mason is not impressed with Starmer treason, Trump is very angry. Mason says Starmer has turned Trump down twice. Mason is not impressed.
That’s great news for Starmer ! Mason needs to fxck off to his dream job at Reform .
Mason is a Reform supporter. Bowen isn’t. Mason should join GB News. If he takes Kuenssberg with him, even better.
Yes. But even the Blessed Nigel has toned it down.
BBC going in heavy on after Trump has put the boot in to Starmer. Chris Mason is not impressed with Starmer treason, Trump is very angry. Mason says Starmer has turned Trump down twice. Mason is not impressed.
That’s great news for Starmer ! Mason needs to fxck off to his dream job at Reform .
He just comes across as a sort of memelord. Everything has to be assessed through a turquoise filter because it's unexpected.
That'd better than a BBC that's fully Establishment but still a bit juvenile. It doesn't help that they aren't as playful when it comes to the Greens - suddenly it's all serious scrutiny (as it should be).
Gibb runs Mason, Zeffernan and Kuenssberg as his agents.
All 4 have to go.
Gibb role should not be a political appointment.
Linda Young should have got job Mason got, Vikki Derbyshire is underused, Zeffernan is another plant.
Needs a Sophy Ridge or similar in there. Unbiased and fearless.
Kushner is soliciting $5bn at the sane time as he represents the US in the Middle East.
In their wildest fantasies about Hunter Biden, Republicans didn't come up with anything half as corrupt as what Kushner is doing in front of our eyes every day. He's handling US foreign policy at the exact same time that he's taking billions from the Saudi dictator. https://x.com/RonWyden/status/2033558087802458271
Do Saudi and the gulf states actually have navies? What have they been spending all their oil money on?
What do I propose?
The Gulf states should say that until they get guarantees that all commercial ships can pass safely through the gulf, then no ships are passing at all. I hope we and our European allies would back them in this. They do have other routes they can export some oil through and if you take Iranian crude off the market they'll even get more money for it.
The idea Iran is holding all the cards is ludicrous.
My guess is that is the rationale for seizing Kharg, or threatening the destruction of its oil installations - if that is the plan.
There isn't a plan. Or if there is there are several to be switched many times a day. So not "the" plan.
Good cop, bad cop on BBC News. Mason withering in his criticism of Starmer and his spat with Trump. Bowen more measured and more critical of Trump's behaviour.
It was quite funny listening to the radio this evening shortly after Trump had spoken. Radio 5 asked some security/military bod what he thought about Trump's criticism and he said 'he's hallucinating and deluded' which I thought was spot on. I'm not sure it was quite the response the presenters were looking for.
Sanewashing can endure only so much evidenced if irrationality. Trump has managed to push outside of the envelope.
I think that it's not just that he says ridiculous things and lies a lot, which he's been doing for his entire life, he's now saying things that don't make any sense.
Trump seemed to be complaining that the UK hadn't sent ships prior to the start of this war, when he hadn't briefed allies what they were about to do — because it was all spur of the moment due to Israel getting some intelligence that they could use to target Khamenei, who they had already decided to kill after Oct 7th — you can't sane wash that as there is no logical way of doing so. Trump is blaming people for not acting on things he hasn't told them. Trump is now losing his faculties, on top of being a fantasist, liar, and conman.
Anyone who pays even modest attention to Trump can plainly tell that even by his own low standards the stuff he comes out with nowadays is incoherent, and he's increasingly confused about his own actions and events.
On topic. Starmer has to get ships into the gulf, lead Britain onto the offensive and action preventing Iran from closing the waterway.
The National Interest is that Starmer acts immediately in the Gulf, exactly as Trump is requesting. Just two or three months of blockage on oil shipping through the straits will kill UK businesses and the economy, so the National Interest is crystal clear.
It’s also the only political option Starmer has left - he can no longer remain on the fence and not act. Because, quite simply, on topic: I agree with TSE. Labour will own the pain voters will be feeling, even more so through Labours inaction on the cause of the problem.
Kemi was spot on last week at PMQs, beginning the long grind and shred into non existence of Starmer and his Government, by ensuring every voter is aware all the economic pain and catastrophe to households and business and the economy, to an inability of UK to pay its interest payments, pensions, welfare and public worker bills so needs IMF loans, is entirely linked to Starmer’s inaction in the gulf. Kemi will go with Mandelson this week, and ignore what she started last week. But, where TSE is right in the header, Labour owning the economic disaster hurtling towards UK, this comes with Kemi, Zak, Farage and Ed, constantly reminding voters Starmer and his government are not doing enough.
Government promises the last few days to do whatever it takes to protect UK households and businesses from rampart inflation especially on food staples, is as ill planned and clueless as Trumps Iran War. By adopting the imbecile Martin Lewis’s exorbitant and massively wasteful government “handing out borrowed money to everybody” scheme, Hunt explained last week the Tories spent at least £95B, £9B from windfall tax on the energy industry, the rest was borrowed money. This Labour government does not have a scoobies how it will fulfil all these promises it is making about this. At some point in future it will be widely known in hindsight, it cost Britain an extra four billion pound for each day Starmer sat on the fence, without taking action on the root cause being Irans illegal terrorism in the gulf.
Faced with the destruction of UK finances and economy by Iranian blocking of oil - that is so illegal there is no doubt we can now legally attack them - Starmer MUST Act on the illegal terrorist blockade in the gulf. Starmer and his government will be shredded by UKs opposition parties if he doesn’t.
Simples.
How do a couple of ships protect every tanker from drone attacks elsewhere in the straits.
Simply put if Iran wants to close the Straits there is nothing anyone in the world can do to stop them...
Alternatively, Europe, including the UK, could negotiate a deal with Iran to allow our ships through on condition we don’t supply any oil to the USA and Israel. Call Trump’s bluff and stand up to the bully. If he won’t support our Ukrainian ally ….
Hmmm. I can't really see why the Iranians would agree to that unless they actually feel weaker and less emboldened than they are letting on. Why would they allow the Gulf states to start lining their pockets again? Why save the global economy from a possible meltdown. It just doesn't make sense.
I may be wrong but this sounds like very foolish thinking from people who naively believe the Iranians just have a bit of beef with the Americans/Israelis and otherwise just want to do business.
It would be in the Iranians interests to drive a wedge between Europe and the USA. I would argue that as long as Trump and his cohorts behave like they currently are, it is in our interests as well.
On topic. Starmer has to get ships into the gulf, lead Britain onto the offensive and action preventing Iran from closing the waterway.
The National Interest is that Starmer acts immediately in the Gulf, exactly as Trump is requesting. Just two or three months of blockage on oil shipping through the straits will kill UK businesses and the economy, so the National Interest is crystal clear.
It’s also the only political option Starmer has left - he can no longer remain on the fence and not act. Because, quite simply, on topic: I agree with TSE. Labour will own the pain voters will be feeling, even more so through Labours inaction on the cause of the problem.
Kemi was spot on last week at PMQs, beginning the long grind and shred into non existence of Starmer and his Government, by ensuring every voter is aware all the economic pain and catastrophe to households and business and the economy, to an inability of UK to pay its interest payments, pensions, welfare and public worker bills so needs IMF loans, is entirely linked to Starmer’s inaction in the gulf. Kemi will go with Mandelson this week, and ignore what she started last week. But, where TSE is right in the header, Labour owning the economic disaster hurtling towards UK, this comes with Kemi, Zak, Farage and Ed, constantly reminding voters Starmer and his government are not doing enough.
Government promises the last few days to do whatever it takes to protect UK households and businesses from rampart inflation especially on food staples, is as ill planned and clueless as Trumps Iran War. By adopting the imbecile Martin Lewis’s exorbitant and massively wasteful government “handing out borrowed money to everybody” scheme, Hunt explained last week the Tories spent at least £95B, £9B from windfall tax on the energy industry, the rest was borrowed money. This Labour government does not have a scoobies how it will fulfil all these promises it is making about this. At some point in future it will be widely known in hindsight, it cost Britain an extra four billion pound for each day Starmer sat on the fence, without taking action on the root cause being Irans illegal terrorism in the gulf.
Faced with the destruction of UK finances and economy by Iranian blocking of oil - that is so illegal there is no doubt we can now legally attack them - Starmer MUST Act on the illegal terrorist blockade in the gulf. Starmer and his government will be shredded by UKs opposition parties if he doesn’t.
Simples.
How do a couple of ships protect every tanker from drone attacks elsewhere in the straits.
Simply put if Iran wants to close the Straits there is nothing anyone in the world can do to stop them...
Alternatively, Europe, including the UK, could negotiate a deal with Iran to allow our ships through on condition we don’t supply any oil to the USA and Israel. Call Trump’s bluff and stand up to the bully. If he won’t support our Ukrainian ally ….
Hmmm. I can't really see why the Iranians would agree to that unless they actually feel weaker and less emboldened than they are letting on. Why would they allow the Gulf states to start lining their pockets again? Why save the global economy from a possible meltdown. It just doesn't make sense.
I may be wrong but this sounds like very foolish thinking from people who naively believe the Iranians just have a bit of beef with the Americans/Israelis and otherwise just want to do business.
It would be in the Iranians interests to drive a wedge between Europe and the USA. I would argue that as long as Trump and his cohorts behave like they currently are, it is in our interests as well.
Would it really be driving that much of a wedge between Europe and the USA? I mean it would help solve the problems of the Gulf states and the global economy, so would hardly be the worst thing for the Americans. So I just can't see the Iranians doing it.
On topic. Starmer has to get ships into the gulf, lead Britain onto the offensive and action preventing Iran from closing the waterway.
The National Interest is that Starmer acts immediately in the Gulf, exactly as Trump is requesting. Just two or three months of blockage on oil shipping through the straits will kill UK businesses and the economy, so the National Interest is crystal clear.
It’s also the only political option Starmer has left - he can no longer remain on the fence and not act. Because, quite simply, on topic: I agree with TSE. Labour will own the pain voters will be feeling, even more so through Labours inaction on the cause of the problem.
Kemi was spot on last week at PMQs, beginning the long grind and shred into non existence of Starmer and his Government, by ensuring every voter is aware all the economic pain and catastrophe to households and business and the economy, to an inability of UK to pay its interest payments, pensions, welfare and public worker bills so needs IMF loans, is entirely linked to Starmer’s inaction in the gulf. Kemi will go with Mandelson this week, and ignore what she started last week. But, where TSE is right in the header, Labour owning the economic disaster hurtling towards UK, this comes with Kemi, Zak, Farage and Ed, constantly reminding voters Starmer and his government are not doing enough.
Government promises the last few days to do whatever it takes to protect UK households and businesses from rampart inflation especially on food staples, is as ill planned and clueless as Trumps Iran War. By adopting the imbecile Martin Lewis’s exorbitant and massively wasteful government “handing out borrowed money to everybody” scheme, Hunt explained last week the Tories spent at least £95B, £9B from windfall tax on the energy industry, the rest was borrowed money. This Labour government does not have a scoobies how it will fulfil all these promises it is making about this. At some point in future it will be widely known in hindsight, it cost Britain an extra four billion pound for each day Starmer sat on the fence, without taking action on the root cause being Irans illegal terrorism in the gulf.
Faced with the destruction of UK finances and economy by Iranian blocking of oil - that is so illegal there is no doubt we can now legally attack them - Starmer MUST Act on the illegal terrorist blockade in the gulf. Starmer and his government will be shredded by UKs opposition parties if he doesn’t.
Simples.
How do a couple of ships protect every tanker from drone attacks elsewhere in the straits.
Simply put if Iran wants to close the Straits there is nothing anyone in the world can do to stop them...
I really, really hope this is the focus of PMQs. But I suspect even Brixian wouldn't think Badenoch would be that daft.
The National Interest.
Is California and Jerusalem going to be nuked by Iran in just two weeks time? Or is this really all about getting Bibi re-elected? Does Donald actually believe he will appoint the next Iranian Supreme Leader himself, turning Iran into a Vassal State of his White House? If he says so publicly, turning this into an existential patriotic war for Iranian Nationalism, it’s going to torpedo the uprising he claims he is after.
The National Interest two weeks ago for UK, we don’t believe in the urgency to poke the nest setting off Gulf War at this juncture. We are not involved in mission aims and planning based so much upon what Trump is “feeling in his bones” on a day to day basis.
But that was then. The National Interest for UK is now different. The nest HAS been poked. We are now literally sat on a fence being stung to death, and taking zero action about it.
Do I really need to come all over Yurgun Klop and have to say it again, and laugh at you for getting this wrong?
THE NATIONAL INTEREST HAS CHANGED. There is now no time at all for dither, delay and fence sitting. The size of the ruinous money borrowing UK is going to have to make eventually, whilst we sit and watch the most illegal Iranian terrorist activity as the root cause of all our pain, is going up by multiples of billions each day with Labours inaction, not aggressively tackling the illegal blockade by Iran as we should be doing.
"Gordon Bennett" is a British idiom used to express surprise, astonishment, frustration, or contempt. Originating in the late 19th century, it stems from the extravagant lifestyle of James Gordon Bennett Jr., a US newspaper publisher known for scandalous, erratic behavior. It is an alternative to mild blasphemy."
On topic. Starmer has to get ships into the gulf, lead Britain onto the offensive and action preventing Iran from closing the waterway.
The National Interest is that Starmer acts immediately in the Gulf, exactly as Trump is requesting. Just two or three months of blockage on oil shipping through the straits will kill UK businesses and the economy, so the National Interest is crystal clear.
It’s also the only political option Starmer has left - he can no longer remain on the fence and not act. Because, quite simply, on topic: I agree with TSE. Labour will own the pain voters will be feeling, even more so through Labours inaction on the cause of the problem.
Kemi was spot on last week at PMQs, beginning the long grind and shred into non existence of Starmer and his Government, by ensuring every voter is aware all the economic pain and catastrophe to households and business and the economy, to an inability of UK to pay its interest payments, pensions, welfare and public worker bills so needs IMF loans, is entirely linked to Starmer’s inaction in the gulf. Kemi will go with Mandelson this week, and ignore what she started last week. But, where TSE is right in the header, Labour owning the economic disaster hurtling towards UK, this comes with Kemi, Zak, Farage and Ed, constantly reminding voters Starmer and his government are not doing enough.
Government promises the last few days to do whatever it takes to protect UK households and businesses from rampart inflation especially on food staples, is as ill planned and clueless as Trumps Iran War. By adopting the imbecile Martin Lewis’s exorbitant and massively wasteful government “handing out borrowed money to everybody” scheme, Hunt explained last week the Tories spent at least £95B, £9B from windfall tax on the energy industry, the rest was borrowed money. This Labour government does not have a scoobies how it will fulfil all these promises it is making about this. At some point in future it will be widely known in hindsight, it cost Britain an extra four billion pound for each day Starmer sat on the fence, without taking action on the root cause being Irans illegal terrorism in the gulf.
Faced with the destruction of UK finances and economy by Iranian blocking of oil - that is so illegal there is no doubt we can now legally attack them - Starmer MUST Act on the illegal terrorist blockade in the gulf. Starmer and his government will be shredded by UKs opposition parties if he doesn’t.
Simples.
How do a couple of ships protect every tanker from drone attacks elsewhere in the straits.
Simply put if Iran wants to close the Straits there is nothing anyone in the world can do to stop them...
I really, really hope this is the focus of PMQs. But I suspect even Brixian wouldn't think Badenoch would be that daft.
The National Interest.
Is California and Jerusalem going to be nuked by Iran in just two weeks time? Or is this really all about getting Bibi re-elected? Does Donald actually believe he will appoint the next Iranian Supreme Leader himself, turning Iran into a Vassal State of his White House? If he says so publicly, turning this into an existential patriotic war for Iranian Nationalism, it’s going to torpedo the uprising he claims he is after.
The National Interest two weeks ago for UK, we don’t believe in the urgency to poke the nest setting off Gulf War at this juncture. We are not involved in mission aims and planning based so much upon what Trump is “feeling in his bones” on a day to day basis.
But that was then. The National Interest for UK is now different. The nest HAS been poked. We are now literally sat on a fence being stung to death, and taking zero action about it.
Do I really need to come all over Yurgun Klop and have to say it again, and laugh at you for getting this wrong?
THE NATIONAL INTEREST HAS CHANGED. There is now no time at all for dither, delay and fence sitting. The size of the ruinous money borrowing UK is going to have to make eventually, whilst we sit and watch the most illegal Iranian terrorist activity as the root cause of all our pain, is going up by multiples of billions each day with Labours inaction, not aggressively tackling the Iranian blockade as we should be doing.
On topic. Starmer has to get ships into the gulf, lead Britain onto the offensive and action preventing Iran from closing the waterway.
The National Interest is that Starmer acts immediately in the Gulf, exactly as Trump is requesting. Just two or three months of blockage on oil shipping through the straits will kill UK businesses and the economy, so the National Interest is crystal clear.
It’s also the only political option Starmer has left - he can no longer remain on the fence and not act. Because, quite simply, on topic: I agree with TSE. Labour will own the pain voters will be feeling, even more so through Labours inaction on the cause of the problem.
Kemi was spot on last week at PMQs, beginning the long grind and shred into non existence of Starmer and his Government, by ensuring every voter is aware all the economic pain and catastrophe to households and business and the economy, to an inability of UK to pay its interest payments, pensions, welfare and public worker bills so needs IMF loans, is entirely linked to Starmer’s inaction in the gulf. Kemi will go with Mandelson this week, and ignore what she started last week. But, where TSE is right in the header, Labour owning the economic disaster hurtling towards UK, this comes with Kemi, Zak, Farage and Ed, constantly reminding voters Starmer and his government are not doing enough.
Government promises the last few days to do whatever it takes to protect UK households and businesses from rampart inflation especially on food staples, is as ill planned and clueless as Trumps Iran War. By adopting the imbecile Martin Lewis’s exorbitant and massively wasteful government “handing out borrowed money to everybody” scheme, Hunt explained last week the Tories spent at least £95B, £9B from windfall tax on the energy industry, the rest was borrowed money. This Labour government does not have a scoobies how it will fulfil all these promises it is making about this. At some point in future it will be widely known in hindsight, it cost Britain an extra four billion pound for each day Starmer sat on the fence, without taking action on the root cause being Irans illegal terrorism in the gulf.
Faced with the destruction of UK finances and economy by Iranian blocking of oil - that is so illegal there is no doubt we can now legally attack them - Starmer MUST Act on the illegal terrorist blockade in the gulf. Starmer and his government will be shredded by UKs opposition parties if he doesn’t.
Simples.
How do a couple of ships protect every tanker from drone attacks elsewhere in the straits.
Simply put if Iran wants to close the Straits there is nothing anyone in the world can do to stop them...
I really, really hope this is the focus of PMQs. But I suspect even Brixian wouldn't think Badenoch would be that daft.
The National Interest.
Is California and Jerusalem going to be nuked by Iran in just two weeks time? Or is this really all about getting Bibi re-elected? Does Donald actually believe he will appoint the next Iranian Supreme Leader himself, turning Iran into a Vassal State of his White House? If he says so publicly, turning this into an existential patriotic war for Iranian Nationalism, it’s going to torpedo the uprising he claims he is after.
The National Interest two weeks ago for UK, we don’t believe in the urgency to poke the nest setting off Gulf War at this juncture. We are not involved in mission aims and planning based so much upon what Trump is “feeling in his bones” on a day to day basis.
But that was then. The National Interest for UK is now different. The nest HAS been poked. We are now literally sat on a fence being stung to death, and taking zero action about it.
Do I really need to come all over Yurgun Klop and have to say it again, and laugh at you for getting this wrong?
THE NATIONAL INTEREST HAS CHANGED. There is now no time at all for dither, delay and fence sitting. The size of the ruinous money borrowing UK is going to have to make eventually, whilst we sit and watch the most illegal Iranian terrorist activity as the root cause of all our pain, is going up by multiples of billions each day with Labours inaction, not aggressively tackling the illegal blockade by Iran as we should be doing.
It’s simples. We have to be doing something.
Do British forces getting involved shorten the war significantly? Staying out of the war and encouraging de-escalation may be more effective at benefiting our changed national interest.
When the government passes its anti-Muslim hate laws we won't be allowed to NOTICE this, let alone criticise this
Same goes for PB. I get banned for merely protesting that I'd quite like Britain to stay recognisably British, as everyone has known it for 3000 years
What a palaver. Along with things like Making Tax Digital, emigration does become very very enticing. I kind of regret making my flat so aesthetically pleasing that I want to stay. I may need to go. Staying in Britain is like watching a truly beloved parent die. Slowly
Don't lie. you wanted the tax system to discriminate against non white people.
You begged Robert to let you back on because your excuse was you were pissed.
Tell you what, shall I get Robert on here to tell us all the truth? Do you want that?
I repeat this question
If Robert says it is okay I will post a screenshot of my WhatsApp conversation with him where he talks about your grovelling apology, you admitting you were very drunk, and Robert saying you were very racist.
All very unedifying for the site, guys.
Take this spat offline please.
It's not a mere spat, it's pretty fundamental to the site's honesty
(Short version is that there's an entitlement for religious observance days for families of any religion. After all, I'm sure you wouln't expect schools with a lot of Jewish pupils to be open on Yom Kippur, would you?
It doesn't really affect Christians, because Christmas and Easter are covered by bank holidays. At a school with a significant number of Muslim children, it's better for morale and education to just have a tidy closure day. I once had to motivate a class through a GCSE exam on Eid... most of them rose to the challenge, bless 'em.)
The Centrist Dads will kill us all. "Bless 'em"
What's the flap about?
My school allowed students to take High and Holy days for their own religions off in he 1970s, and other schools were doing it long before that.
I remember Jewish kids getting Jewish holidays off when I was at school in the 1970s and 1980s. I think my Mum said the same happened when *she* was a kid.
Yes it was entirely routine in my school in the 1960s. Approximately half the school was Jewish, so it tended to show.
Apart from Religious instruction, there was no segregation by religion. Mostly you weren't sure who was and wasn't Jewish, and nobody cared much anyway.
Although Trump suggested earlier that Gavin Newsom is President.
Is this evidence of Trump dementia or 12D chess to pin the Iran clusterfuck blame on someone else?
I think Trump sees Newsom as the next President. Newsom so looks the part. Unlike Vance and Rubio. I think Trump will even support him as next President. As long as Newsom gives him immunity.
Although Trump suggested earlier that Gavin Newsom is President.
Is this evidence of Trump dementia or 12D chess to pin the Iran clusterfuck blame on someone else?
I think Trump sees Newsom as the next President. Newsom so looks the part. Unlike Vance and Rubio. I think Trump will even support him as next President. As long as Newsom gives him immunity.
When the government passes its anti-Muslim hate laws we won't be allowed to NOTICE this, let alone criticise this
Same goes for PB. I get banned for merely protesting that I'd quite like Britain to stay recognisably British, as everyone has known it for 3000 years
What a palaver. Along with things like Making Tax Digital, emigration does become very very enticing. I kind of regret making my flat so aesthetically pleasing that I want to stay. I may need to go. Staying in Britain is like watching a truly beloved parent die. Slowly
Don't lie. you wanted the tax system to discriminate against non white people.
You begged Robert to let you back on because your excuse was you were pissed.
Tell you what, shall I get Robert on here to tell us all the truth? Do you want that?
"You can't handle the truth !" ?
Interesting quote - an idiot who killed a marine through his own incompetence and then proceeded to destroy everyone in the chain of command below him in his coverup.
It’s funny how many people miss the joke that Jessup is the one who can’t handle the truth.
When the government passes its anti-Muslim hate laws we won't be allowed to NOTICE this, let alone criticise this
Same goes for PB. I get banned for merely protesting that I'd quite like Britain to stay recognisably British, as everyone has known it for 3000 years
What a palaver. Along with things like Making Tax Digital, emigration does become very very enticing. I kind of regret making my flat so aesthetically pleasing that I want to stay. I may need to go. Staying in Britain is like watching a truly beloved parent die. Slowly
Although Trump suggested earlier that Gavin Newsom is President.
Is this evidence of Trump dementia or 12D chess to pin the Iran clusterfuck blame on someone else?
I think Trump sees Newsom as the next President. Newsom so looks the part. Unlike Vance and Rubio. I think Trump will even support him as next President. As long as Newsom gives him immunity.
Which he won’t. He’d lose too many Dem votes.
Buttigieg is more likely the Dem nominee and probably also next elected President
Although Trump suggested earlier that Gavin Newsom is President.
Is this evidence of Trump dementia or 12D chess to pin the Iran clusterfuck blame on someone else?
I think Trump sees Newsom as the next President. Newsom so looks the part. Unlike Vance and Rubio. I think Trump will even support him as next President. As long as Newsom gives him immunity.
Which he won’t. He’d lose too many Dem votes.
Buttigieg is more likely the Dem nominee and probably also next elected President
Shapiro nominee.
But note how US change in demographics shifts the Electoral College system to the Republicans, who can follow this Trump term with four or five White House wins on the trot.
Although Trump suggested earlier that Gavin Newsom is President.
Is this evidence of Trump dementia or 12D chess to pin the Iran clusterfuck blame on someone else?
I think Trump sees Newsom as the next President. Newsom so looks the part. Unlike Vance and Rubio. I think Trump will even support him as next President. As long as Newsom gives him immunity.
Which he won’t. He’d lose too many Dem votes.
Buttigieg is more likely the Dem nominee and probably also next elected President
Although Trump suggested earlier that Gavin Newsom is President.
Is this evidence of Trump dementia or 12D chess to pin the Iran clusterfuck blame on someone else?
I think Trump sees Newsom as the next President. Newsom so looks the part. Unlike Vance and Rubio. I think Trump will even support him as next President. As long as Newsom gives him immunity.
Which he won’t. He’d lose too many Dem votes.
Buttigieg is more likely the Dem nominee and probably also next elected President
Shapiro nominee.
But note how US change in demographics shifts the Electoral College system to the Republicans, who can follow this Trump term with four or five White House wins on the trot.
Unlikely, Shapiro leads in no early states or nationally, more likely he would be a VP nominee.
What 'change in demographics'? Trump's 2024 and 2016 wins were very much focused on the Midwest and rustbelt states and narrow wins there but he lost most of them to Biden in 2020 and they can easily swing back especially given his low approval rating now and the rising cost of living from his tariffs and the unpopularity of the Iran war.
If the Democrats found a way to win Texas for the first time since Carter in 1976 with its rising Hispanic population they would have a lock on the EC for a generation
When the government passes its anti-Muslim hate laws we won't be allowed to NOTICE this, let alone criticise this
Same goes for PB. I get banned for merely protesting that I'd quite like Britain to stay recognisably British, as everyone has known it for 3000 years
What a palaver. Along with things like Making Tax Digital, emigration does become very very enticing. I kind of regret making my flat so aesthetically pleasing that I want to stay. I may need to go. Staying in Britain is like watching a truly beloved parent die. Slowly
Don't lie. you wanted the tax system to discriminate against non white people.
You begged Robert to let you back on because your excuse was you were pissed.
Tell you what, shall I get Robert on here to tell us all the truth? Do you want that?
I repeat this question
If Robert says it is okay I will post a screenshot of my WhatsApp conversation with him where he talks about your grovelling apology, you admitting you were very drunk, and Robert saying you were very racist.
All very unedifying for the site, guys.
Take this spat offline please.
It's not a mere spat, it's pretty fundamental to the site's honesty
Threaten to leave. That'll get their attention.
Also, don't take it offline. We need the tea.
It does seem to get their attention. They keep asking me to come back, having just banned me
Due to a family emergency I may not be able to make further changes for a number of days, so I'm going to have to draw a line. @rcs1000, @TheScreamingEagles , draft 16 (aka 1_YourFriendSusan_20260316_2349 - Copy.docx) constitutes the publishable version of the article, so I request that you publish it please. May I request the Sunday 22nd March slot please?
Trump: "I do believe I'll be having the honor of taking Cuba. That's a big honor. Taking Cuba in some form. I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth."
War on Cuba to distract from the war on Iran that aimed to distract from Trump's activities on Epstein Island.
When the government passes its anti-Muslim hate laws we won't be allowed to NOTICE this, let alone criticise this
Same goes for PB. I get banned for merely protesting that I'd quite like Britain to stay recognisably British, as everyone has known it for 3000 years
What a palaver. Along with things like Making Tax Digital, emigration does become very very enticing. I kind of regret making my flat so aesthetically pleasing that I want to stay. I may need to go. Staying in Britain is like watching a truly beloved parent die. Slowly
Don't lie. you wanted the tax system to discriminate against non white people.
You begged Robert to let you back on because your excuse was you were pissed.
Tell you what, shall I get Robert on here to tell us all the truth? Do you want that?
I repeat this question
If Robert says it is okay I will post a screenshot of my WhatsApp conversation with him where he talks about your grovelling apology, you admitting you were very drunk, and Robert saying you were very racist.
All very unedifying for the site, guys.
Take this spat offline please.
It's not a mere spat, it's pretty fundamental to the site's honesty
Threaten to leave. That'll get their attention.
Also, don't take it offline. We need the tea.
It does seem to get their attention. They keep asking me to come back, having just banned me
Odd
Fuck me! You have transitioned into Donald Trump in the space of an evening.
Sounds as though he's been talking to himself, then.
After President Trump claimed to reporters twice today that he had recently spoken to a former president who praised his actions in Iran, saying: “I wish I did what you did.” Aides to all four living presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have issued statements to CNN, saying there is no record of any communications between them and President Trump. https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2033684880815456366
1. The U.S. and Israel may have produced regime transition in the worst possible way. Ali Khamenei was 86 and had survived multiple bouts of prostate cancer. His death in the coming years would likely have triggered a real internal reckoning in Iran, potentially opening the door to somewhat more pragmatic leadership, especially after the protests and crackdown last month. Instead, the regime made its most consequential decision under existential external threat giving the hardliners a clear upperhand. Now we appear to have a successor who is 30 years younger, deeply tied to the IRGC, and radicalized by the war itself – including the killing of family members. Disastrous.
2. About seven years ago at CNAS, I helped convene a group of security, energy, and economic experts to walk through scenarios for a U.S.--Iran war and the implications for global oil prices. What we’re seeing now was considered one of the least likely but worst outcomes. The modeling assumed the Strait of Hormuz could close for 4–10 weeks, with 1–3 years required to restore oil production once you factored in infrastructure damage. Prices could spike from around $65 to $175–$200 per barrel, before eventually settling in the $80–$100 range a year later in a new normal.
3. One surprising development: Iran is still moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz while disrupting everyone else. In most war games I participated in, we assumed Iran couldn’t close the Strait and still use it themselves. That would have made the move extremely self-defeating. But Iran appears capable of harassing global shipping while still pushing some of its own exports through. That changes the calculus.
1. The U.S. and Israel may have produced regime transition in the worst possible way. Ali Khamenei was 86 and had survived multiple bouts of prostate cancer. His death in the coming years would likely have triggered a real internal reckoning in Iran, potentially opening the door to somewhat more pragmatic leadership, especially after the protests and crackdown last month. Instead, the regime made its most consequential decision under existential external threat giving the hardliners a clear upperhand. Now we appear to have a successor who is 30 years younger, deeply tied to the IRGC, and radicalized by the war itself – including the killing of family members. Disastrous.
2. About seven years ago at CNAS, I helped convene a group of security, energy, and economic experts to walk through scenarios for a U.S.--Iran war and the implications for global oil prices. What we’re seeing now was considered one of the least likely but worst outcomes. The modeling assumed the Strait of Hormuz could close for 4–10 weeks, with 1–3 years required to restore oil production once you factored in infrastructure damage. Prices could spike from around $65 to $175–$200 per barrel, before eventually settling in the $80–$100 range a year later in a new normal.
3. One surprising development: Iran is still moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz while disrupting everyone else. In most war games I participated in, we assumed Iran couldn’t close the Strait and still use it themselves. That would have made the move extremely self-defeating. But Iran appears capable of harassing global shipping while still pushing some of its own exports through. That changes the calculus.
...
(contd) 4. The U.S. now finds itself in the naval and air equivalent of the dynamic we faced in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a recipe for a quagmire where we win every battle and lose the war. We have overwhelming military dominance and are exacting a tremendous cost. But Iran doesn’t need to win battles. They just need occasional successes. A small boat hitting a tanker. A drone slipping through defenses in the Gulf. A strike on a hotel or oil facility. Each incident creates insecurity and drives costs up while remind everyone that the regime is surviving and fighting.
5. The deeper problem is that U.S. objectives were set far too high. Once “regime change” becomes the implicit or explicit goal, the bar for American success becomes enormous. Iran’s bar is simple: survive and keep causing disruption.
6. The options for ending this war now are all bad. You can try to secure the entire Gulf and Middle East indefinitely – extremely expensive and maybe impossible. You can invade Iran and replace the regime, but nobody is seriously going to do that. Costs are astronomical. You can try to destabilize the regime by supporting separatist groups. It probably won’t work and if it does you’ll most likely spark a civil war producing years of bloody chaos the U.S. will get blamed for. None of these are good outcomes.
7. The other escalatory options being discussed are taking the nuclear material out of Esfahan or taking Kargh Island. Esfahan is not really workable. Huge risk. You’d have been on the ground for a LONG time to safely dig in and get the nuclear material out in the middle of the country giving Iran time to reinforce from all over and over run the American position.
8. Kharg Island can be appealing to Trump. He’d love to take Iran’s ability to export oil off the map and try to coerce them to end the war. It’s much easier because it’s not in the middle of IRan. But it’s still a potentially costly ground operation. And again. Again, the Iranian government only has to survive to win and they can probably do that even without Kargh.
9. The least bad option is the classic diplomatic off-ramp. The U.S. declares that Iran’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded, which is how the Pentagon always saw the purpose of the war. Iran declares victory for surviving and demonstrating it can still threaten regional actors. It would feel unsatisfying. But this is the inevitable outcome anyway. Better to stop now than after five or ten more years of escalating costs. Remember in Afghanistan we turned down a deal very early in the war with the Taliban that looked amazing 20 years later. Don’t need to repeat that kind of mistake..
Moving English tests online for migrants who want a visa to come to the UK could open the door to fraudsters and criminal gangs, the largest international providers of English language exams have warned. Under the new £816m contract, which could be operational by December, English exams for Home Office visas would become "fully digital" and could be sat at a location of an applicant's choosing.
Can't see there could be any issues with that at all....
On topic. Starmer has to get ships into the gulf, lead Britain onto the offensive and action preventing Iran from closing the waterway.
The National Interest is that Starmer acts immediately in the Gulf, exactly as Trump is requesting. Just two or three months of blockage on oil shipping through the straits will kill UK businesses and the economy, so the National Interest is crystal clear.
It’s also the only political option Starmer has left - he can no longer remain on the fence and not act. Because, quite simply, on topic: I agree with TSE. Labour will own the pain voters will be feeling, even more so through Labours inaction on the cause of the problem.
Kemi was spot on last week at PMQs, beginning the long grind and shred into non existence of Starmer and his Government, by ensuring every voter is aware all the economic pain and catastrophe to households and business and the economy, to an inability of UK to pay its interest payments, pensions, welfare and public worker bills so needs IMF loans, is entirely linked to Starmer’s inaction in the gulf. Kemi will go with Mandelson this week, and ignore what she started last week. But, where TSE is right in the header, Labour owning the economic disaster hurtling towards UK, this comes with Kemi, Zak, Farage and Ed, constantly reminding voters Starmer and his government are not doing enough.
Government promises the last few days to do whatever it takes to protect UK households and businesses from rampart inflation especially on food staples, is as ill planned and clueless as Trumps Iran War. By adopting the imbecile Martin Lewis’s exorbitant and massively wasteful government “handing out borrowed money to everybody” scheme, Hunt explained last week the Tories spent at least £95B, £9B from windfall tax on the energy industry, the rest was borrowed money. This Labour government does not have a scoobies how it will fulfil all these promises it is making about this. At some point in future it will be widely known in hindsight, it cost Britain an extra four billion pound for each day Starmer sat on the fence, without taking action on the root cause being Irans illegal terrorism in the gulf.
Faced with the destruction of UK finances and economy by Iranian blocking of oil - that is so illegal there is no doubt we can now legally attack them - Starmer MUST Act on the illegal terrorist blockade in the gulf. Starmer and his government will be shredded by UKs opposition parties if he doesn’t.
Simples.
How do a couple of ships protect every tanker from drone attacks elsewhere in the straits.
Simply put if Iran wants to close the Straits there is nothing anyone in the world can do to stop them...
I really, really hope this is the focus of PMQs. But I suspect even Brixian wouldn't think Badenoch would be that daft.
The National Interest.
Is California and Jerusalem going to be nuked by Iran in just two weeks time? Or is this really all about getting Bibi re-elected? Does Donald actually believe he will appoint the next Iranian Supreme Leader himself, turning Iran into a Vassal State of his White House? If he says so publicly, turning this into an existential patriotic war for Iranian Nationalism, it’s going to torpedo the uprising he claims he is after.
The National Interest two weeks ago for UK, we don’t believe in the urgency to poke the nest setting off Gulf War at this juncture. We are not involved in mission aims and planning based so much upon what Trump is “feeling in his bones” on a day to day basis.
But that was then. The National Interest for UK is now different. The nest HAS been poked. We are now literally sat on a fence being stung to death, and taking zero action about it.
Do I really need to come all over Yurgun Klop and have to say it again, and laugh at you for getting this wrong?
THE NATIONAL INTEREST HAS CHANGED. There is now no time at all for dither, delay and fence sitting. The size of the ruinous money borrowing UK is going to have to make eventually, whilst we sit and watch the most illegal Iranian terrorist activity as the root cause of all our pain, is going up by multiples of billions each day with Labours inaction, not aggressively tackling the illegal blockade by Iran as we should be doing.
It’s simples. We have to be doing something.
Do something as who
UK as combined part of NATO - nothing to do with NATO UK breaking ranks from other NATO countries and going alone to support a nutcase - fuck off! Convince the EU Countries that Trump must be supported = we aren't in the EU Convince the EU to act from outside the EU - PMSL
Better idea
TELL TRUMP WE AREN'T GETTING INVOLVED as we are doing and every other credible country is doing.
TELL TRUMP to wake up, smell the coffee - Iran is 10% of his problem / Netanyahu is 90% of his problem.
Tell TRUMP he stops Netanyahu and Israeli aggression today, moves IDF back inside Israeli borders and keeps them there , continues th NEGOTIATIONS that were taking place before ISRAEL attacked IRAN, which Trump then had to support and I guarantee within 1 month a semblence of order will be restored.
The final piece REGIME CHANGE in Tel Aviv, as that will quickly lead to regime change in Iran as the BULLET will have been removed from the gun!
The real reason is hidden in the article - the QR codes scan with less errors. Making automated checkouts and apps more accurate and requiring less staff effort.
Fewer…
Less effort. Effort is an uncountable.
If I’d put the effort in I wouldn’t have made that error
[Roman Centurion voice] Always "less" with uncountable or mass nouns!
“Errors” is neither an uncountable or a mass noun.
Question about the Assisted Dying Bill and it being timed out by a session ending.
If a bill is being talked out by the lords, as may be happening now, why doesn't the government just extend the parliamentary session until the stages are complete? SFAICS the only compulsory end to a parliamentary session is the five year rule for automatic dissolution.
Just bring it back identical in next session and pass it with the Parliament Act.
Bypass the unelected House.
Then it's no longer a private member's bill, perhaps? Is that right?
At which point the question of why it wasn't in Labour's manifesto arises.
Why?
If a PMB passes, identically, again then that is valid for the Parliament Act.
He really needs France involved to provide combat mass and political cover if it all goes to shit. Maybe he's desperate enough for DJT's approval to do it without France. Who knows?
Question about the Assisted Dying Bill and it being timed out by a session ending.
If a bill is being talked out by the lords, as may be happening now, why doesn't the government just extend the parliamentary session until the stages are complete? SFAICS the only compulsory end to a parliamentary session is the five year rule for automatic dissolution.
Just bring it back identical in next session and pass it with the Parliament Act.
Bypass the unelected House.
Then it's no longer a private member's bill, perhaps? Is that right?
At which point the question of why it wasn't in Labour's manifesto arises.
Why?
If a PMB passes, identically, again then that is valid for the Parliament Act.
The Parliament Act says nothing about manifestos.
Convention says fundamental changes to the contract between state and individual ought to be in manifestos. Convention also says (as far as I recall) that use of the parliament act should be for things which were in manifestos only.
If its in the manifesto then the Salisbury Convention applies and the Parliament Act should not be required.
As far as I am aware the Parliament Act has been invoked twice to pass non-manifesto bills: the Parliament Act itself 1949 (passed using the 1911 Act, no manifesto) and the War Crimes Act 1991.
So you’re saying that assisted dying is a war crime? It’s a point of view I suppose
Question about the Assisted Dying Bill and it being timed out by a session ending.
If a bill is being talked out by the lords, as may be happening now, why doesn't the government just extend the parliamentary session until the stages are complete? SFAICS the only compulsory end to a parliamentary session is the five year rule for automatic dissolution.
Just bring it back identical in next session and pass it with the Parliament Act.
Bypass the unelected House.
Then it's no longer a private member's bill, perhaps? Is that right?
At which point the question of why it wasn't in Labour's manifesto arises.
Why?
If a PMB passes, identically, again then that is valid for the Parliament Act.
The Parliament Act says nothing about manifestos.
The Salisbury Convention does
The Salisbury Convention says nothing about the Parliament Act. It is irrelevant in this context.
The efforts to get HMS Dragon away show what a pitiful state our defence forces have fallen into. Before even thinking about whether this is a good idea we need a realistic discussion of what we can bring to the table and whether it is meaningful in the overall context. I have my doubts.
What would be trying to achieve? Presumably the safe use of Hormuz. I think that would be incredibly difficult without claiming the land opposite the straits. Are we really up for that, the number of casualties and the length of such a commitment? If we are not, we should not even start.
Signing ourselves up to work with a completely unreliable madman, two really, although the second is more of a psychopathic crook than a lunatic, is deeply unattractive. There are much more obvious gains in the long term if it is brought home to the US that our support is not unconditional and that consultation before war is essential.
The consequences of Trump's madness are going to be bad for us, no doubt about it, but unless we can make a material contribution, are committed to the long haul and think we can reach some sort of accommodation with Trump that we can rely on the answer surely has to be no.
(Short version is that there's an entitlement for religious observance days for families of any religion. After all, I'm sure you wouln't expect schools with a lot of Jewish pupils to be open on Yom Kippur, would you?
It doesn't really affect Christians, because Christmas and Easter are covered by bank holidays. At a school with a significant number of Muslim children, it's better for morale and education to just have a tidy closure day. I once had to motivate a class through a GCSE exam on Eid... most of them rose to the challenge, bless 'em.)
The Centrist Dads will kill us all. "Bless 'em"
What's the flap about?
My school allowed students to take High and Holy days for their own religions off in he 1970s, and other schools were doing it long before that.
I seem to remember us having to extend our school year for two weeks to account for our interminable Holy Days of Obligation. And we were lined up and shamed at Assembly if we didn't attend Mass on said days. It's an Obligation not a day off!
I can see a school kid accepting being lined up and shamed in return for a day off…
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
He really needs France involved to provide combat mass and political cover if it all goes to shit. Maybe he's desperate enough for DJT's approval to do it without France. Who knows?
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
She also thinks the EU is the key to our well being. Though how taking on an additional 19000 pieces of regulation is going to help escapes me.
He really needs France involved to provide combat mass and political cover if it all goes to shit. Maybe he's desperate enough for DJT's approval to do it without France. Who knows?
What would the UK sending, Boaty McBoatFace ? As haven't all the minesweepers been decommisioned / are out of action.
Trump: "I do believe I'll be having the honor of taking Cuba. That's a big honor. Taking Cuba in some form. I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth."
War on Cuba to distract from the war on Iran that aimed to distract from Trump's activities on Epstein Island.
The attack on Venezuela has left the Chavez regime in power, but it has stopped Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba, so it might topple the Castro regime in Cuba.
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
Don’t rule out tax changes in this space in the next couple of years.
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
Don’t rule out tax changes in this space in the next couple of years.
Without wishing to come over all @Mexicanpete , I’ve woken every day in the last week to the BBC Today top headline starting with “President Trump had said that”. Twice it’s been “President Trump has criticised allies including the UK”.
The British media is obsessed with every utterance of that man. Can’t they report on the actual events rather than that twat’s random comments on them?
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
She also thinks the EU is the key to our well being. Though how taking on an additional 19000 pieces of regulation is going to help escapes me.
The woman couldnt spell IQ
To simplify, British companies currently have to follow 19000 pieces of UK regulation, but if they then want expand into Europe, they have to follow another 19000 pieces of EU regulation. Better then to just align the regulation, so there’s only one set of regulations.
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
Don’t rule out tax changes in this space in the next couple of years.
Indeed, expect them to go up quite a bit more.
No, the taxation of tech profits is likely to ease in the rest of this parliament. The Sunak hike to 25% probably won’t be reversed, which is a shame, but the heavy lifting on tax is being done by income tax fiscal drag.
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
Don’t rule out tax changes in this space in the next couple of years.
Once the government has tried every other possible policy and finally got itself away from the mindset that business is there to be fleeced to support important welfare spending. Hunt increased capital allowances and, hey presto, got more investment. We need to do much more to encourage both investment and training of the workforce in the UK.
Reeves is right to identify that the UK is losing out in the investment competition for the businesses of the future. The next step is to create policies that actually address the problem rather than yet more government spending
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
She also thinks the EU is the key to our well being. Though how taking on an additional 19000 pieces of regulation is going to help escapes me.
The woman couldnt spell IQ
To simplify, British companies currently have to follow 19000 pieces of UK regulation, but if they then want expand into Europe, they have to follow another 19000 pieces of EU regulation. Better then to just align the regulation, so there’s only one set of regulations.
Regularity alignment would simply force us to be as uncompetitive as the EU. I grant you we're currently there anyway, but there's always a chance of a Government coming in that actually wants the country to succeed.
1. The U.S. and Israel may have produced regime transition in the worst possible way. Ali Khamenei was 86 and had survived multiple bouts of prostate cancer. His death in the coming years would likely have triggered a real internal reckoning in Iran, potentially opening the door to somewhat more pragmatic leadership, especially after the protests and crackdown last month. Instead, the regime made its most consequential decision under existential external threat giving the hardliners a clear upperhand. Now we appear to have a successor who is 30 years younger, deeply tied to the IRGC, and radicalized by the war itself – including the killing of family members. Disastrous.
2. About seven years ago at CNAS, I helped convene a group of security, energy, and economic experts to walk through scenarios for a U.S.--Iran war and the implications for global oil prices. What we’re seeing now was considered one of the least likely but worst outcomes. The modeling assumed the Strait of Hormuz could close for 4–10 weeks, with 1–3 years required to restore oil production once you factored in infrastructure damage. Prices could spike from around $65 to $175–$200 per barrel, before eventually settling in the $80–$100 range a year later in a new normal.
3. One surprising development: Iran is still moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz while disrupting everyone else. In most war games I participated in, we assumed Iran couldn’t close the Strait and still use it themselves. That would have made the move extremely self-defeating. But Iran appears capable of harassing global shipping while still pushing some of its own exports through. That changes the calculus.
...
(contd) 4. The U.S. now finds itself in the naval and air equivalent of the dynamic we faced in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a recipe for a quagmire where we win every battle and lose the war. We have overwhelming military dominance and are exacting a tremendous cost. But Iran doesn’t need to win battles. They just need occasional successes. A small boat hitting a tanker. A drone slipping through defenses in the Gulf. A strike on a hotel or oil facility. Each incident creates insecurity and drives costs up while remind everyone that the regime is surviving and fighting.
5. The deeper problem is that U.S. objectives were set far too high. Once “regime change” becomes the implicit or explicit goal, the bar for American success becomes enormous. Iran’s bar is simple: survive and keep causing disruption.
6. The options for ending this war now are all bad. You can try to secure the entire Gulf and Middle East indefinitely – extremely expensive and maybe impossible. You can invade Iran and replace the regime, but nobody is seriously going to do that. Costs are astronomical. You can try to destabilize the regime by supporting separatist groups. It probably won’t work and if it does you’ll most likely spark a civil war producing years of bloody chaos the U.S. will get blamed for. None of these are good outcomes.
7. The other escalatory options being discussed are taking the nuclear material out of Esfahan or taking Kargh Island. Esfahan is not really workable. Huge risk. You’d have been on the ground for a LONG time to safely dig in and get the nuclear material out in the middle of the country giving Iran time to reinforce from all over and over run the American position.
8. Kharg Island can be appealing to Trump. He’d love to take Iran’s ability to export oil off the map and try to coerce them to end the war. It’s much easier because it’s not in the middle of IRan. But it’s still a potentially costly ground operation. And again. Again, the Iranian government only has to survive to win and they can probably do that even without Kargh.
9. The least bad option is the classic diplomatic off-ramp. The U.S. declares that Iran’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded, which is how the Pentagon always saw the purpose of the war. Iran declares victory for surviving and demonstrating it can still threaten regional actors. It would feel unsatisfying. But this is the inevitable outcome anyway. Better to stop now than after five or ten more years of escalating costs. Remember in Afghanistan we turned down a deal very early in the war with the Taliban that looked amazing 20 years later. Don’t need to repeat that kind of mistake..
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
She also thinks the EU is the key to our well being. Though how taking on an additional 19000 pieces of regulation is going to help escapes me.
The woman couldnt spell IQ
To simplify, British companies currently have to follow 19000 pieces of UK regulation, but if they then want expand into Europe, they have to follow another 19000 pieces of EU regulation. Better then to just align the regulation, so there’s only one set of regulations.
So better to align with a trading bloc with whom we have constantly run a deficit and speed up the flow of cash out of the country ?
Without wishing to come over all @Mexicanpete , I’ve woken every day in the last week to the BBC Today top headline starting with “President Trump had said that”. Twice it’s been President Trump has criticised allies including the UK”.
The British media is obsessed with every utterance of that man. Can’t they report on the actual events rather than that twat’s random comments on them?
Along with the politicians they’ve been marinated in decades of ‘the special relationship’. They can’t stop themselves.
That scourge of the patriotic Wayne and Waynettas, Emily Thornberry, just on being questioned about the royal visit to Trumpania. ‘The last thing we would want is their majesties to be embarrassed’ she cooed unctuously. As if the tamponmeister and his bird could be embarrassed!
Without wishing to come over all @Mexicanpete , I’ve woken every day in the last week to the BBC Today top headline starting with “President Trump had said that”. Twice it’s been “President Trump has criticised allies including the UK”.
The British media is obsessed with every utterance of that man. Can’t they report on the actual events rather than that twat’s random comments on them?
Problem is, when you are President of the United States and make policy by Twitter, informed largely by senile decay, the utterances are the events. Or at least, shape them.
Without wishing to come over all @Mexicanpete , I’ve woken every day in the last week to the BBC Today top headline starting with “President Trump had said that”. Twice it’s been “President Trump has criticised allies including the UK”.
The British media is obsessed with every utterance of that man. Can’t they report on the actual events rather than that twat’s random comments on them?
What makes it worse is that they translate his gibberish into something approximating coherence.
The efforts to get HMS Dragon away show what a pitiful state our defence forces have fallen into. Before even thinking about whether this is a good idea we need a realistic discussion of what we can bring to the table and whether it is meaningful in the overall context. I have my doubts.
What would be trying to achieve? Presumably the safe use of Hormuz. I think that would be incredibly difficult without claiming the land opposite the straits. Are we really up for that, the number of casualties and the length of such a commitment? If we are not, we should not even start.
Signing ourselves up to work with a completely unreliable madman, two really, although the second is more of a psychopathic crook than a lunatic, is deeply unattractive. There are much more obvious gains in the long term if it is brought home to the US that our support is not unconditional and that consultation before war is essential.
The consequences of Trump's madness are going to be bad for us, no doubt about it, but unless we can make a material contribution, are committed to the long haul and think we can reach some sort of accommodation with Trump that we can rely on the answer surely has to be no.
I would go further and any kind of help we give is akin to facilitating a drug addict with some financial 'help' that just ends up helping them get their next fix and extend the problem. We shouldn't even be considering it, regardless of capability.
The lack of allied support for opening the Strait while the war goes on reduces Trump's options. And he doesn't want this war to drag on until late summer when the oil price increase will be baked into the midterms.
The pathway to the Strait opening is the US and Israel stopping bombing and Gulf states coming to an agreement with Iran to let their ships pass. It won't be peace on US terms but it is there for the taking.
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
She also thinks the EU is the key to our well being. Though how taking on an additional 19000 pieces of regulation is going to help escapes me.
The woman couldnt spell IQ
Now now, You’ll be called sexist by supporters of a party with a woman problem again !,
On topic. Starmer has to get ships into the gulf, lead Britain onto the offensive and action preventing Iran from closing the waterway.
The National Interest is that Starmer acts immediately in the Gulf, exactly as Trump is requesting. Just two or three months of blockage on oil shipping through the straits will kill UK businesses and the economy, so the National Interest is crystal clear.
It’s also the only political option Starmer has left - he can no longer remain on the fence and not act. Because, quite simply, on topic: I agree with TSE. Labour will own the pain voters will be feeling, even more so through Labours inaction on the cause of the problem.
Kemi was spot on last week at PMQs, beginning the long grind and shred into non existence of Starmer and his Government, by ensuring every voter is aware all the economic pain and catastrophe to households and business and the economy, to an inability of UK to pay its interest payments, pensions, welfare and public worker bills so needs IMF loans, is entirely linked to Starmer’s inaction in the gulf. Kemi will go with Mandelson this week, and ignore what she started last week. But, where TSE is right in the header, Labour owning the economic disaster hurtling towards UK, this comes with Kemi, Zak, Farage and Ed, constantly reminding voters Starmer and his government are not doing enough.
Government promises the last few days to do whatever it takes to protect UK households and businesses from rampart inflation especially on food staples, is as ill planned and clueless as Trumps Iran War. By adopting the imbecile Martin Lewis’s exorbitant and massively wasteful government “handing out borrowed money to everybody” scheme, Hunt explained last week the Tories spent at least £95B, £9B from windfall tax on the energy industry, the rest was borrowed money. This Labour government does not have a scoobies how it will fulfil all these promises it is making about this. At some point in future it will be widely known in hindsight, it cost Britain an extra four billion pound for each day Starmer sat on the fence, without taking action on the root cause being Irans illegal terrorism in the gulf.
Faced with the destruction of UK finances and economy by Iranian blocking of oil - that is so illegal there is no doubt we can now legally attack them - Starmer MUST Act on the illegal terrorist blockade in the gulf. Starmer and his government will be shredded by UKs opposition parties if he doesn’t.
Simples.
How do a couple of ships protect every tanker from drone attacks elsewhere in the straits.
Simply put if Iran wants to close the Straits there is nothing anyone in the world can do to stop them...
I really, really hope this is the focus of PMQs. But I suspect even Brixian wouldn't think Badenoch would be that daft.
The National Interest.
Is California and Jerusalem going to be nuked by Iran in just two weeks time? Or is this really all about getting Bibi re-elected? Does Donald actually believe he will appoint the next Iranian Supreme Leader himself, turning Iran into a Vassal State of his White House? If he says so publicly, turning this into an existential patriotic war for Iranian Nationalism, it’s going to torpedo the uprising he claims he is after.
The National Interest two weeks ago for UK, we don’t believe in the urgency to poke the nest setting off Gulf War at this juncture. We are not involved in mission aims and planning based so much upon what Trump is “feeling in his bones” on a day to day basis.
But that was then. The National Interest for UK is now different. The nest HAS been poked. We are now literally sat on a fence being stung to death, and taking zero action about it.
Do I really need to come all over Yurgun Klop and have to say it again, and laugh at you for getting this wrong?
THE NATIONAL INTEREST HAS CHANGED. There is now no time at all for dither, delay and fence sitting. The size of the ruinous money borrowing UK is going to have to make eventually, whilst we sit and watch the most illegal Iranian terrorist activity as the root cause of all our pain, is going up by multiples of billions each day with Labours inaction, not aggressively tackling the illegal blockade by Iran as we should be doing.
It’s simples. We have to be doing something.
The problem is there are no good options
1. Regime change is very difficult / impossible and involves a massive commitment of troops we don’t have
2. Diplomatic activities are low probability to success
3. Joining the war on the US side is unlikely to change the outcome, undermines our strategic autonomy and is likely to cost blood and treasure for limited gain
Unfortunately the most likely outcome is for the US to declare victory and retreat. But Iran won’t accept that without concessions which strategically weaken the western interests in the region
As the article notes one of the attractions abroad is tax breaks. Here, Reeves thinks the government spending more money is the solution. It is the problem in a nutshell.
She also thinks the EU is the key to our well being. Though how taking on an additional 19000 pieces of regulation is going to help escapes me.
The woman couldnt spell IQ
To simplify, British companies currently have to follow 19000 pieces of UK regulation, but if they then want expand into Europe, they have to follow another 19000 pieces of EU regulation. Better then to just align the regulation, so there’s only one set of regulations.
Regularity alignment would simply force us to be as uncompetitive as the EU. I grant you we're currently there anyway, but there's always a chance of a Government coming in that actually wants the country to succeed.
Signing up to unknown future EU legislation is absolutely the worst possible option, because every single piece of it will be framed inside the EU as “how we can we use this new law to screw the British?”
Meanwhile most of the British political class will enjoy being screwed, because to them more EU is ideology over pragmatism.
The efforts to get HMS Dragon away show what a pitiful state our defence forces have fallen into. Before even thinking about whether this is a good idea we need a realistic discussion of what we can bring to the table and whether it is meaningful in the overall context. I have my doubts.
What would be trying to achieve? Presumably the safe use of Hormuz. I think that would be incredibly difficult without claiming the land opposite the straits. Are we really up for that, the number of casualties and the length of such a commitment? If we are not, we should not even start.
Signing ourselves up to work with a completely unreliable madman, two really, although the second is more of a psychopathic crook than a lunatic, is deeply unattractive. There are much more obvious gains in the long term if it is brought home to the US that our support is not unconditional and that consultation before war is essential.
The consequences of Trump's madness are going to be bad for us, no doubt about it, but unless we can make a material contribution, are committed to the long haul and think we can reach some sort of accommodation with Trump that we can rely on the answer surely has to be no.
I would go further and any kind of help we give is akin to facilitating a drug addict with some financial 'help' that just ends up helping them get their next fix and extend the problem. We shouldn't even be considering it, regardless of capability.
The lack of allied support for opening the Strait while the war goes on reduces Trump's options. And he doesn't want this war to drag on until late summer when the oil price increase will be baked into the midterms.
The pathway to the Strait opening is the US and Israel stopping bombing and Gulf states coming to an agreement with Iran to let their ships pass. It won't be peace on US terms but it is there for the taking.
A token RN destroyer or minesweeper is not going to make a jot of difference even if we could get one there. The USN has 2 carrier groups there, more than enough firepower. They do not want to risk them in the strait, so we shouldn't either.
The only way this war ends is the US and Israel stop bombing and let things back to normal with nothing useful achieved.
Sounds as though he's been talking to himself, then.
After President Trump claimed to reporters twice today that he had recently spoken to a former president who praised his actions in Iran, saying: “I wish I did what you did.” Aides to all four living presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have issued statements to CNN, saying there is no record of any communications between them and President Trump. https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2033684880815456366
"Sir, you are the GREATEST President.."
Or in other words Trump hasn't even been able to persuade George W Bush yet attacking this Middle Eastern nation was a good idea!
Without wishing to come over all @Mexicanpete , I’ve woken every day in the last week to the BBC Today top headline starting with “President Trump had said that”. Twice it’s been “President Trump has criticised allies including the UK”.
The British media is obsessed with every utterance of that man. Can’t they report on the actual events rather than that twat’s random comments on them?
Comments
Week 1: “We won”
Week 2: “We’re winning”
Week 3: “Send help”
https://x.com/DeeOneAyekooto/status/2033592212915716418?s=20
My school allowed students to take High and Holy days for their own religions off in he 1970s, and other schools were doing it long before that.
Is this evidence of Trump dementia or 12D chess to pin the Iran clusterfuck blame on someone else?
What do I propose?
The Gulf states should say that until they get guarantees that all commercial ships can pass safely through the gulf, then no ships are passing at all. I hope we and our European allies would back them in this. They do have other routes they can export some oil through and if you take Iranian crude off the market they'll even get more money for it.
The idea Iran is holding all the cards is ludicrous.
Boy is supporting Leicester City a wild ride. Rollercoaster doesn't cover it.
There was a piece earlier (may have been Ukraine the Latest or Times Radio) pointing out that between them they had about 15 frigates of similar type to European ones, and perhaps 60 less well armed patrol vessels with fewer guns and smaller VLS cells which would nonetheless be useable in adjacent areas under less intense that than Hormuz.
It's about the same as air forces - they punch above their weight because they are in a potential conflict zone.
Personally I think they are not keen because the war is Netanyahu leading Trump by the nose, because Trump is an oaf, Netanyahu saw him coming and thought he could achieve his lifelong aim because Trump is surrounded by munchkins and bootlickers, and would swallow it.
If they do get involved they will lose their oil plants and water distillation facilities.
Trump has managed to push outside of the envelope.
That'd better than a BBC that's fully Establishment but still a bit juvenile. It doesn't help that they aren't as playful when it comes to the Greens - suddenly it's all serious scrutiny (as it should be).
And we were lined up and shamed at Assembly if we didn't attend Mass on said days.
It's an Obligation not a day off!
I may be wrong but this sounds like very foolish thinking from people who naively believe the Iranians just have a bit of beef with the Americans/Israelis and otherwise just want to do business.
What are the odds on Wolves for the 2026-7 Premier League Champions?
Worth a quid?
All 4 have to go.
Gibb role should not be a political appointment.
Linda Young should have got job Mason got, Vikki Derbyshire is underused, Zeffernan is another plant.
Needs a Sophy Ridge or similar in there. Unbiased and fearless.
In their wildest fantasies about Hunter Biden, Republicans didn't come up with anything half as corrupt as what Kushner is doing in front of our eyes every day. He's handling US foreign policy at the exact same time that he's taking billions from the Saudi dictator.
https://x.com/RonWyden/status/2033558087802458271
Wildly corrupt.
Or if there is there are several to be switched many times a day.
So not "the" plan.
Trump seemed to be complaining that the UK hadn't sent ships prior to the start of this war, when he hadn't briefed allies what they were about to do — because it was all spur of the moment due to Israel getting some intelligence that they could use to target Khamenei, who they had already decided to kill after Oct 7th — you can't sane wash that as there is no logical way of doing so. Trump is blaming people for not acting on things he hasn't told them. Trump is now losing his faculties, on top of being a fantasist, liar, and conman.
Anyone who pays even modest attention to Trump can plainly tell that even by his own low standards the stuff he comes out with nowadays is incoherent, and he's increasingly confused about his own actions and events.
https://x.com/krishnanrohit/status/2033646620462747769
Madder than Mad Jack McUtterlydemented.
Is California and Jerusalem going to be nuked by Iran in just two weeks time? Or is this really all about getting Bibi re-elected? Does Donald actually believe he will appoint the next Iranian Supreme Leader himself, turning Iran into a Vassal State of his White House? If he says so publicly, turning this into an existential patriotic war for Iranian Nationalism, it’s going to torpedo the uprising he claims he is after.
The National Interest two weeks ago for UK, we don’t believe in the urgency to poke the nest setting off Gulf War at this juncture. We are not involved in mission aims and planning based so much upon what Trump is “feeling in his bones” on a day to day basis.
But that was then. The National Interest for UK is now different. The nest HAS been poked. We are now literally sat on a fence being stung to death, and taking zero action about it.
Do I really need to come all over Yurgun Klop and have to say it again, and laugh at you for getting this wrong?
THE NATIONAL INTEREST HAS CHANGED. There is now no time at all for dither, delay and fence sitting. The size of the ruinous money borrowing UK is going to have to make eventually, whilst we sit and watch the most illegal Iranian terrorist activity as the root cause of all our pain, is going up by multiples of billions each day with Labours inaction, not aggressively tackling the illegal blockade by Iran as we should be doing.
It’s simples. We have to be doing something.
Ironic that he was American.
No?
Then what can we do?
This is something.
Though it is rather hard to tell the difference these days. 🤦♀️
Also, don't take it offline. We need the tea.
Why should the UK get involved ?
Trump just wants the cover of a so called international effort . Europe needs to stay united and tell him to get lost .
Apart from Religious instruction, there was no segregation by religion. Mostly you weren't sure who was and wasn't Jewish, and nobody cared much anyway.
I think Trump will even support him as next President.
As long as Newsom gives him immunity.
It’s funny how many people miss the joke that Jessup is the one who can’t handle the truth.
Now why is that appropriate
But note how US change in demographics shifts the Electoral College system to the Republicans, who can follow this Trump term with four or five White House wins on the trot.
https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1898&context=survey_center_polls
What 'change in demographics'? Trump's 2024 and 2016 wins were very much focused on the Midwest and rustbelt states and narrow wins there but he lost most of them to Biden in 2020 and they can easily swing back especially given his low approval rating now and the rising cost of living from his tariffs and the unpopularity of the Iran war.
If the Democrats found a way to win Texas for the first time since Carter in 1976 with its rising Hispanic population they would have a lock on the EC for a generation
Odd
After President Trump claimed to reporters twice today that he had recently spoken to a former president who praised his actions in Iran, saying: “I wish I did what you did.” Aides to all four living presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have issued statements to CNN, saying there is no record of any communications between them and President Trump.
https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2033684880815456366
"Sir, you are the GREATEST President.."
Maybe too pessimistic; maybe not.
A complicating factor is that Israel would be quite happy with a permanently destabilised region, which would be very bad for the rest of the world.
https://x.com/ilangoldenberg/status/2033566389978423382
Three weeks into the war with Iran, a number of observations as someone who spent years war-gaming this scenario.
1. The U.S. and Israel may have produced regime transition in the worst possible way.
Ali Khamenei was 86 and had survived multiple bouts of prostate cancer. His death in the coming years would likely have triggered a real internal reckoning in Iran, potentially opening the door to somewhat more pragmatic leadership, especially after the protests and crackdown last month. Instead, the regime made its most consequential decision under existential external threat giving the hardliners a clear upperhand. Now we appear to have a successor who is 30 years younger, deeply tied to the IRGC, and radicalized by the war itself – including the killing of family members. Disastrous.
2. About seven years ago at CNAS, I helped convene a group of security, energy, and economic experts to walk through scenarios for a U.S.--Iran war and the implications for global oil prices. What we’re seeing now was considered one of the least likely but worst outcomes. The modeling assumed the Strait of Hormuz could close for 4–10 weeks, with 1–3 years required to restore oil production once you factored in infrastructure damage. Prices could spike from around $65 to $175–$200 per barrel, before eventually settling in the $80–$100 range a year later in a new normal.
3. One surprising development: Iran is still moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz while disrupting everyone else. In most war games I participated in, we assumed Iran couldn’t close the Strait and still use it themselves. That would have made the move extremely self-defeating. But Iran appears capable of harassing global shipping while still pushing some of its own exports through. That changes the calculus.
...
4. The U.S. now finds itself in the naval and air equivalent of the dynamic we faced in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a recipe for a quagmire where we win every battle and lose the war. We have overwhelming military dominance and are exacting a tremendous cost. But Iran doesn’t need to win battles. They just need occasional successes. A small boat hitting a tanker. A drone slipping through defenses in the Gulf. A strike on a hotel or oil facility. Each incident creates insecurity and drives costs up while remind everyone that the regime is surviving and fighting.
5. The deeper problem is that U.S. objectives were set far too high. Once “regime change” becomes the implicit or explicit goal, the bar for American success becomes enormous. Iran’s bar is simple: survive and keep causing disruption.
6. The options for ending this war now are all bad. You can try to secure the entire Gulf and Middle East indefinitely – extremely expensive and maybe impossible. You can invade Iran and replace the regime, but nobody is seriously going to do that. Costs are astronomical. You can try to destabilize the regime by supporting separatist groups. It probably won’t work and if it does you’ll most likely spark a civil war producing years of bloody chaos the U.S. will get blamed for. None of these are good outcomes.
7. The other escalatory options being discussed are taking the nuclear material out of Esfahan or taking Kargh Island. Esfahan is not really workable. Huge risk. You’d have been on the ground for a LONG time to safely dig in and get the nuclear material out in the middle of the country giving Iran time to reinforce from all over and over run the American position.
8. Kharg Island can be appealing to Trump. He’d love to take Iran’s ability to export oil off the map and try to coerce them to end the war. It’s much easier because it’s not in the middle of IRan. But it’s still a potentially costly ground operation. And again. Again, the Iranian government only has to survive to win and they can probably do that even without Kargh.
9. The least bad option is the classic diplomatic off-ramp. The U.S. declares that Iran’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded, which is how the Pentagon always saw the purpose of the war. Iran declares victory for surviving and demonstrating it can still threaten regional actors. It would feel unsatisfying. But this is the inevitable outcome anyway. Better to stop now than after five or ten more years of escalating costs. Remember in Afghanistan we turned down a deal very early in the war with the Taliban that looked amazing 20 years later. Don’t need to repeat that kind of mistake..
Can't see there could be any issues with that at all....
UK as combined part of NATO - nothing to do with NATO
UK breaking ranks from other NATO countries and going alone to support a nutcase - fuck off!
Convince the EU Countries that Trump must be supported = we aren't in the EU
Convince the EU to act from outside the EU - PMSL
Better idea
TELL TRUMP WE AREN'T GETTING INVOLVED as we are doing and every other credible country is doing.
TELL TRUMP to wake up, smell the coffee - Iran is 10% of his problem / Netanyahu is 90% of his problem.
Tell TRUMP he stops Netanyahu and Israeli aggression today, moves IDF back inside Israeli borders and keeps them there , continues th NEGOTIATIONS that were taking place before ISRAEL attacked IRAN, which Trump then had to support and I guarantee within 1 month a semblence of order will be restored.
The final piece REGIME CHANGE in Tel Aviv, as that will quickly lead to regime change in Iran as the BULLET will have been removed from the gun!
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/17/strait-hormuz-iran-blockade-oil-trump-coalition
He really needs France involved to provide combat mass and political cover if it all goes to shit. Maybe he's desperate enough for DJT's approval to do it without France. Who knows?
Sunak married wealth but his family were solid middle class professionals (doctors I think). Cameron’s Dad was a stockbroker
No idea about Truss. May and Brown were children of the manse. Blair not sure about. Major was working class and Thatcher middle class.
The efforts to get HMS Dragon away show what a pitiful state our defence forces have fallen into. Before even thinking about whether this is a good idea we need a realistic discussion of what we can bring to the table and whether it is meaningful in the overall context. I have my doubts.
What would be trying to achieve? Presumably the safe use of Hormuz. I think that would be incredibly difficult without claiming the land opposite the straits. Are we really up for that, the number of casualties and the length of such a commitment? If we are not, we should not even start.
Signing ourselves up to work with a completely unreliable madman, two really, although the second is more of a psychopathic crook than a lunatic, is deeply unattractive. There are much more obvious gains in the long term if it is brought home to the US that our support is not unconditional and that consultation before war is essential.
The consequences of Trump's madness are going to be bad for us, no doubt about it, but unless we can make a material contribution, are committed to the long haul and think we can reach some sort of accommodation with Trump that we can rely on the answer surely has to be no.
So that's another piece of national prosperity fked
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0k16zdr1r1o
Interesting polling on Iran
https://news.sky.com/story/voters-split-over-whether-starmer-is-handling-iran-war-well-13520603
The woman couldnt spell IQ
The British media is obsessed with every utterance of that man. Can’t they report on the actual events rather than that twat’s random comments on them?
Amongst the badly will be a variety of reasons . Some wanted even less UK involvement, some more etc .
Reeves is right to identify that the UK is losing out in the investment competition for the businesses of the future. The next step is to create policies that actually address the problem rather than yet more government spending
You havent a clue either.
Cry harder PB
https://x.com/samcoatessky/status/2033792110764138784?s=61
That scourge of the patriotic Wayne and Waynettas, Emily Thornberry, just on being questioned about the royal visit to Trumpania. ‘The last thing we would want is their majesties to be embarrassed’ she cooed unctuously. As if the tamponmeister and his bird could be embarrassed!
Which sounds fairly positive on that score.
The lack of allied support for opening the Strait while the war goes on reduces Trump's options. And he doesn't want this war to drag on until late summer when the oil price increase will be baked into the midterms.
The pathway to the Strait opening is the US and Israel stopping bombing and Gulf states coming to an agreement with Iran to let their ships pass. It won't be peace on US terms but it is there for the taking.
1. Regime change is very difficult / impossible and involves a massive commitment of troops we don’t have
2. Diplomatic activities are low probability to success
3. Joining the war on the US side is unlikely to change the outcome, undermines our strategic autonomy and is likely to cost blood and treasure for limited gain
Unfortunately the most likely outcome is for the US to declare victory and retreat. But Iran won’t accept that without concessions which strategically weaken the western interests in the region
Thank you mr Trump
Meanwhile most of the British political class will enjoy being screwed, because to them more EU is ideology over pragmatism.
The only way this war ends is the US and Israel stop bombing and let things back to normal with nothing useful achieved.
The single biggest thing the government could be doing right now is lowering the price of energy, but instead there’s Ed Miliband.
Presumably this is Peter Kyle’s dept and they are deciding what to back.