Cambridge-headquartered tech giant Arm Holdings announces it will manufacture its own AI chips - a significant change after 3 decades of success getting its chip designs in 350 billion devices worldwide - IPhones, cars, data centres etc… partnerships announced with most of the worlds tech giants including OpenAI and Meta. The chips will be specialised for AI use, especially the deployment of “agents”.
CEO Rene Haas tells BBC: "This marks the next phase of Arm’s journey - building on our roots in Cambridge, and the strength of our teams across the UK and around the world…” which puts Arm and the UK at the centre of global AI transformation.
Faisal Islam @faisalislam This is a major move for a company born out of UK science, Acorn computers, BBC Micro etc… its business model was a model for UK growth in the early 2000s… the manufacturing is as I understand it, going to be done at the only places in the world equipped to do so - TSMC in Taiwan…
Scotland Yard has confirmed that Morgan McSweeney reported the theft of his phone to them on October 20 last year
They took down ***the wrong address*** and assumed the offence had taken place in East London rather than Westminster
As a result they could not identify a suspect and the case was closed
The Times has been told officers were 'too busy' to speak to Morgan McSweeney directly about it
Having established the error following the report by The Sun on Sunday they have amended the report
Worth bearing in mind that this was the theft of the phone with the prime minister's number, the number of every cabinet minister, sensitive WhatsApps, messages, emails… you name it . This was NOT an ordinary phone
Cambridge-headquartered tech giant Arm Holdings announces it will manufacture its own AI chips - a significant change after 3 decades of success getting its chip designs in 350 billion devices worldwide - IPhones, cars, data centres etc… partnerships announced with most of the worlds tech giants including OpenAI and Meta. The chips will be specialised for AI use, especially the deployment of “agents”.
CEO Rene Haas tells BBC: "This marks the next phase of Arm’s journey - building on our roots in Cambridge, and the strength of our teams across the UK and around the world…” which puts Arm and the UK at the centre of global AI transformation.
Faisal Islam @faisalislam This is a major move for a company born out of UK science, Acorn computers, BBC Micro etc… its business model was a model for UK growth in the early 2000s… the manufacturing is as I understand it, going to be done at the only places in the world equipped to do so - TSMC in Taiwan…
The Tories in May are set to be the Japanese during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
I expect the Tories to gain Westminster and Barnet and hold Kensington and Chelsea in May.
Kemi is proving very popular with posh wealthy people, especially posh rich West Londoners and Jews, it is now safe for you to say you are a Tory at one of your posh candlelit dinners and soirees.
However unfortunately for her that is a rather niche market, with rightwingers in most of the rest of the UK preferring Farage to her and leftwingers preferring Labour and the Greens and centrists preferring Labour and the LDs and Scottish and Welsh nats voting SNP and Plaid
I predicted a Plaid Green coalition some time ago and expect that both Scotland and Wales could have independence seeking governments
Labour 13 conservatives 1 lib dems 0 is quite a prediction but not impossible
Plaid have not included seeking independence in their manifesto and have ruled out even pushing the issue in their first term, which is the main reason they are ahead.
The SNP are already in power in Scotland but of course the UK government will refuse indyref2 whatever happens in May
The main reason Plaid are ahead is the utter contempt for labour's decades in power
The point is that if both Scotland and Wales elect independence parties then there is little prospect of any respect for Westminster and tensions between the nations will be the result
If Plaid were pushing independence hard, more of their current voters would be sticking with Labour or going Reform.
The UK government will of course ignore any independence push anyway
No they would not
You need only to look at the history of the SNP in Scotland which is now happening in Wales
Wales has always been far more pro Union and anti devolution let alone independence than Scotland.
In 1997 the Welsh devolved parliament referendum barely scraped home while in Scotland about 3/4 voted for devolution.
The only reason Plaid are now doing better (though still polling lower on average than the SNP) is they have dumped independence talk for the time being.
The Royal Navy could charter civilian ships to help clear Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain is leading an international coalition drawing up options to reopen the narrow shipping lane. Chartered vessels would act as minehunting “motherships”, deploying drones from their decks to seek out and destroy hidden underwater explosives across the Gulf. Naval chiefs are also considering converting some of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s four Bay-class landing ships into potential minehunters.
Cambridge-headquartered tech giant Arm Holdings announces it will manufacture its own AI chips - a significant change after 3 decades of success getting its chip designs in 350 billion devices worldwide - IPhones, cars, data centres etc… partnerships announced with most of the worlds tech giants including OpenAI and Meta. The chips will be specialised for AI use, especially the deployment of “agents”.
CEO Rene Haas tells BBC: "This marks the next phase of Arm’s journey - building on our roots in Cambridge, and the strength of our teams across the UK and around the world…” which puts Arm and the UK at the centre of global AI transformation.
Faisal Islam @faisalislam This is a major move for a company born out of UK science, Acorn computers, BBC Micro etc… its business model was a model for UK growth in the early 2000s… the manufacturing is as I understand it, going to be done at the only places in the world equipped to do so - TSMC in Taiwan…
People I know who work for Arm tell me there's a lot of frustration internally about how little they're able to command financially with the fabless model. It's felt that, given Arm's ubiquity, revenue should be a lot higher. Part of that, of course, is sweetheart deals for early or founding licensees. Apple, of course, was one of the original shareholders, together with VLSI and Acorn.
£225m won't get you anywhere trying to train an LLM...He does realise that OpenAI etc are spending 10s of billions every year training these things and the going starting rate for people with the skills to train them is £1-2 million a year in salary. And the likes of Google Deepmind team on this are massive now.
If you are serious about having a UK LLM, you better starting putting many many billions aside every year.
Police did not investigate the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone because officers were “too busy”, despite the sensitivity of his messages and contacts
Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff told the Metropolitan police that his phone was stolen as he returned home from a restaurant in central London on October 20 last year
Pretty high, I’ve mentioned on here friends have had their phones/tablets/watches stolen and they’ve gone to the police saying that FindMyLocation says their device(s) is/are at this property and the Rozzers say, nah, cannot be bothered, here’s your crime reference number and claim on your insurance.
Yeah, but are they reporting stolen a government phone?
Was it a government phone or his personal phone?
Sorry, should have included: "The theft of the work device..."
Ta, I should be surprised at the police in this instance but I am not.
@DPJHodges We were specifically told by Steve Reed on Sunday the theft pre-dated the issues relating to Mandelson. I’m going to say it again. This is a blatant cover-up. And Ministers - from the Prime Minister down - are openly lying about it.
@singharj McSweeney's phone was stolen around a month after Starmer was forced to sack Mandelson as US ambassador.......
Lol. Absolute roasting liars
Should have just had an unfortunate accident with the phone while crossing the channel.
Wonder why the messages werent retrieved on the new phone with the same number he was given the next day? And why he didn't back up any messages as per policy. So many mysteries.
The Tories in May are set to be the Japanese during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
I expect the Tories to gain Westminster and Barnet and hold Kensington and Chelsea in May.
Kemi is proving very popular with posh wealthy people, especially posh rich West Londoners and Jews, it is now safe for you to say you are a Tory at one of your posh candlelit dinners and soirees.
However unfortunately for her that is a rather niche market, with rightwingers in most of the rest of the UK preferring Farage to her and leftwingers preferring Labour and the Greens and centrists preferring Labour and the LDs and Scottish and Welsh nats voting SNP and Plaid
I predicted a Plaid Green coalition some time ago and expect that both Scotland and Wales could have independence seeking governments
Labour 13 conservatives 1 lib dems 0 is quite a prediction but not impossible
Plaid have not included seeking independence in their manifesto and have ruled out even pushing the issue in their first term, which is the main reason they are ahead.
The SNP are already in power in Scotland but of course the UK government will refuse indyref2 whatever happens in May
The main reason Plaid are ahead is the utter contempt for labour's decades in power
The point is that if both Scotland and Wales elect independence parties then there is little prospect of any respect for Westminster and tensions between the nations will be the result
If Plaid were pushing independence hard, more of their current voters would be sticking with Labour or going Reform.
The UK government will of course ignore any independence push anyway
No they would not
You need only to look at the history of the SNP in Scotland which is now happening in Wales
Wales has always been far more pro Union and anti devolution let alone independence than Scotland.
In 1997 the Welsh devolved parliament referendum barely scraped home while in Scotland about 3/4 voted for devolution.
The only reason Plaid are now doing better (though still polling lower on average than the SNP) is they have dumped independence talk for the time being.
I've bought fancy cooking knives that are so sharp I cut myself on first usage, ten minutes ago, and now I'm scared of them
I have a selection of reasonably sharp knives, and I bought a single fancy Japanese kitchen knife. I opened the box to look at it and cut myself
Hah!
Yes, that's me, I've bought a fancy Japanese knife set, The best kitchen knives I've ever had etc etc
They look great, they cut through chicken like a man cutting tofu with a lightsabre, but fuck
On the upside, I bought a Japanese ceramic ginger jar, export Imari ware, from the 1950s, for about £5 on eBay. I ad no reason to but it, but it looked so cute. And when it arrived today I thought: toothbrush! It is now my toothbrush jar-holder, and it is, without question, the prettiest toothbrush jar-holder in the world
The Royal Navy could charter civilian ships to help clear Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain is leading an international coalition drawing up options to reopen the narrow shipping lane. Chartered vessels would act as minehunting “motherships”, deploying drones from their decks to seek out and destroy hidden underwater explosives across the Gulf. Naval chiefs are also considering converting some of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s four Bay-class landing ships into potential minehunters.
£225m won't get you anywhere trying to train an LLM...He does realise that OpenAI etc are spending 10s of billions every year training these things and the going starting rate for people with the skills to train them is £1-2 million a year in salary. And the likes of Google Deepmind team on this are massive now.
If you are serious about having a UK LLM, you better starting putting many many billions aside every year.
It was a stupid plan for the reasons you highlighted when it was first touted and it's even stupider now
@DPJHodges OK, this is getting worse. The idea McSweeney just rang up the cops and reported the theft like an ordinary member of the public is nuts. It was a highly sensitive mobile. Why didn’t he report it to No.10 security, so they could ensure a proper investigation.
@DPJHodges OK, this is getting worse. The idea McSweeney just rang up the cops and reported the theft like an ordinary member of the public is nuts. It was a highly sensitive mobile. Why didn’t he report it to No.10 security, so they could ensure a proper investigation.
I will be fascinated to know how it was stolen?
Yes officer I was having a coffee by myself, sitting out front at curbside table on a very busy street in London. I needed to go for toilet where I was otherwise engaged for over half an hour, dodgy curry the previous evening, as i left the bathroom I bumped into a friend who I hadn't seen for a while and insisted on chatting for a good 15-20 minutes, but the curry got the better of me and I had to return to the bathroom for another half an hour, upon my return, I was shocked to find my phone had been stolen.
The Royal Navy could charter civilian ships to help clear Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain is leading an international coalition drawing up options to reopen the narrow shipping lane. Chartered vessels would act as minehunting “motherships”, deploying drones from their decks to seek out and destroy hidden underwater explosives across the Gulf. Naval chiefs are also considering converting some of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s four Bay-class landing ships into potential minehunters.
And I was joking about them sending Boaty McBoatyFace.
Like Dunkirk.
No not like Dunkirk at all.
It is in the 'using civilian floating assets' sense. Obviously there are some big differences of detail. This is 2026 and Iran war and clearing the Straits of Hormuz. Dunkirk was an episode in WW2. But as fanciful comparisons between Middle East conflicts and WW2 go, I don't think it's the worst.
I've bought fancy cooking knives that are so sharp I cut myself on first usage, ten minutes ago, and now I'm scared of them
I have a selection of reasonably sharp knives, and I bought a single fancy Japanese kitchen knife. I opened the box to look at it and cut myself
Hah!
Yes, that's me, I've bough
A sharp knife seems to have cut off the end of your comment. I'd be careful with that if I were you. Might do yourself an injury.
Here is my toothbrush jar-holder
I defy any PBer to show me a prettier toothbrush jar-holder
Yes, that is definitely in the top 0.1% of toothbrush jar-holders, though I haven't done such a detailed study to be absolutely certain that it won't be topped.
@DPJHodges OK, this is getting worse. The idea McSweeney just rang up the cops and reported the theft like an ordinary member of the public is nuts. It was a highly sensitive mobile. Why didn’t he report it to No.10 security, so they could ensure a proper investigation.
I will be fascinated to know how it was stolen?
Yes officer I was having a coffee by myself, sitting out front at curbside table on a very busy street in London. I needed to go for toilet where I was otherwise engaged for over half an hour, dodgy curry the previous evening, as i left the bathroom I bumped into a friend who I hadn't seen for a while and insisted on chatting for a good 15-20 minutes, but the curry got the better of me and I had to return to the bathroom for another half an hour, upon my return, I was shocked to find my phone had been stolen.
The river Thames rose up and mounted an electric bicycle, donned a balaclava and snatched that unlocked phone right out of his hand whilst he was texting Petey to ask where the mugger was
@DPJHodges OK, this is getting worse. The idea McSweeney just rang up the cops and reported the theft like an ordinary member of the public is nuts. It was a highly sensitive mobile. Why didn’t he report it to No.10 security, so they could ensure a proper investigation.
I will be fascinated to know how it was stolen?
Yes officer I was having a coffee by myself, sitting out front at curbside table on a very busy street in London. I needed to go for toilet where I was otherwise engaged for over half an hour, dodgy curry the previous evening, as i left the bathroom I bumped into a friend who I hadn't seen for a while and insisted on chatting for a good 15-20 minutes, but the curry got the better of me and I had to return to the bathroom for another half an hour, upon my return, I was shocked to find my phone had been stolen.
Oh God, not another story involving Starmer and curry.
The Royal Navy could charter civilian ships to help clear Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain is leading an international coalition drawing up options to reopen the narrow shipping lane. Chartered vessels would act as minehunting “motherships”, deploying drones from their decks to seek out and destroy hidden underwater explosives across the Gulf. Naval chiefs are also considering converting some of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s four Bay-class landing ships into potential minehunters.
And I was joking about them sending Boaty McBoatyFace.
Like Dunkirk.
No not like Dunkirk at all.
It is in the 'using civilian floating assets' sense. Obviously there are some big differences of detail. This is 2026 and Iran war and clearing the Straits of Hormuz. Dunkirk was an episode in WW2. But as fanciful comparisons between Middle East conflicts and WW2 go, I don't think it's the worst.
It’s nothing like.
It’s closer to using civilian ships as blockships or piers - they will be used a flat floating things, basically.
An updated prognosis from Danmarks Radio has rather dented the initial joy of the Danish People's Party and the Liberal Alliance.
The Venstre (Liberal) Party, which looked set to lose its position as the leading centre-right party (and therefore losing the dubious honour of having its leader as Prime Minister of a centre-right coalition) is now back in front with 19 ahead of the other two.
The Social Democrats will be the largest party in the new Folketing but down from 50 to 37.
However, the big change is the centre-right block now leads 83-79 in terms of seats with the Moderates holding the balance on 13.
Just a prediction and as we know from our own experience, could still be a long way from the final outcome.
How surprising. (The summary is overdramatic in its specificity though).
Councils are ignoring explicit instructions to approve planning projects from ministers - as the scale and cost of their resistance to development is revealed for the first time.
Councillors often believe their job in respect of planning is to represent their residents, which is not technically true as their job in that context is to consider proposals against national and local planning policy, which has very different objectives to local people.
Which, of course, is why the government wants to seriously reduce the power of councils to refuse things.
I've bought fancy cooking knives that are so sharp I cut myself on first usage, ten minutes ago, and now I'm scared of them
I have a selection of reasonably sharp knives, and I bought a single fancy Japanese kitchen knife. I opened the box to look at it and cut myself
Hah!
Yes, that's me, I've bough
A sharp knife seems to have cut off the end of your comment. I'd be careful with that if I were you. Might do yourself an injury.
Here is my toothbrush jar-holder
I defy any PBer to show me a prettier toothbrush jar-holder
Yes, that is definitely in the top 0.1% of toothbrush jar-holders, though I haven't done such a detailed study to be absolutely certain that it won't be topped.
King Charles uses a silver crested holder plus a personal valet to squeeze the paste onto the brush......
I've bought fancy cooking knives that are so sharp I cut myself on first usage, ten minutes ago, and now I'm scared of them
I have a selection of reasonably sharp knives, and I bought a single fancy Japanese kitchen knife. I opened the box to look at it and cut myself
Hah!
Yes, that's me, I've bough
A sharp knife seems to have cut off the end of your comment. I'd be careful with that if I were you. Might do yourself an injury.
Here is my toothbrush jar-holder
I defy any PBer to show me a prettier toothbrush jar-holder
Yes, that is definitely in the top 0.1% of toothbrush jar-holders, though I haven't done such a detailed study to be absolutely certain that it won't be topped.
Thankyou!
The apparently basic, utiltarian white bowl on the right (containing bog roll and random spheres of rock) has an even more interesting story
If you can guess I'll send you a lava-rock buttplug. If you want
NEW: The Met Police will reopen its investigation into the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone after admitting it logged the wrong address
Officers reviewed CCTV from Belgrave Street in Tower Hamlets, not Belgrave Road in Pimlico, despite the phone containing the PM's number
The Met Police said: "On Monday, 20 October police received a report from a man in his 40s alleging that his phone had been snatched.
"The incident was recorded as having taken place in Belgrave Street, E1.
"A review of the allegation, including a consideration of whether there was available CCTV, did not identify any realistic lines of enquiry. The investigation was subsequently closed.
"In the course of responding to a recent media enquiry, we became aware that the address was entered incorrectly at the time of the initial call and should instead have been recorded as Belgrave Road, Pimlico.
"Having identified this error, the report will be amended and the assessment of whether there is available evidence revisited"
The theft of McSweeney's phone means his WhatsApp messages and texts to Peter Mandelson cannot be recovered
@DPJHodges OK, this is getting worse. The idea McSweeney just rang up the cops and reported the theft like an ordinary member of the public is nuts. It was a highly sensitive mobile. Why didn’t he report it to No.10 security, so they could ensure a proper investigation.
I will be fascinated to know how it was stolen?
Yes officer I was having a coffee by myself, sitting out front at curbside table on a very busy street in London. I needed to go for toilet where I was otherwise engaged for over half an hour, dodgy curry the previous evening, as i left the bathroom I bumped into a friend who I hadn't seen for a while and insisted on chatting for a good 15-20 minutes, but the curry got the better of me and I had to return to the bathroom for another half an hour, upon my return, I was shocked to find my phone had been stolen.
Oh God, not another story involving Starmer and curry.
I nearly died of celluar ennui the last time.
Here's a thing, though.
How many of the massive scandals that are about to bring Starmer down are off-brand diet versions of massive scandals that afflicted BoJo?
Currygate, now the mystery mobile phone...
Dunno what it all means, though. Perhaps the great scriptwriter in the sky is running out of ideas. Or perhaps SKS is just trolling us all.
How surprising. (The summary is overdramatic in its specificity though).
Councils are ignoring explicit instructions to approve planning projects from ministers - as the scale and cost of their resistance to development is revealed for the first time.
Councillors often believe their job in respect of planning is to represent their residents, which is not technically true as their job in that context is to consider proposals against national and local planning policy, which has very different objectives to local people.
Which, of course, is why the government wants to seriously reduce the power of councils to refuse things.
And councillors on planning committees are, in effect, doing a judicial role. Which is a data point against electing judges.
In Denmark, the seat projection is now 81 each for the "Red" and "Blue" blocs with the Moderates on 13.
Venstre on 19 just ahead of the Danish People's Party on 18 and Liberal Alliance on 17 on the Blue side. Social Democrats lead the Red bloc with 38 seats.
How surprising. (The summary is overdramatic in its specificity though).
Councils are ignoring explicit instructions to approve planning projects from ministers - as the scale and cost of their resistance to development is revealed for the first time.
Councillors often believe their job in respect of planning is to represent their residents, which is not technically true as their job in that context is to consider proposals against national and local planning policy, which has very different objectives to local people.
Which, of course, is why the government wants to seriously reduce the power of councils to refuse things.
It’s stupid. Align the incentives. Cheap energy for areas with turbines; more funding for areas building houses.
If I had my way the local government grant would be apportioned based simply on number of children. That would focus minds on the important stuff - affordable homes, schools, LTNs, a local economy.
@DPJHodges OK, this is getting worse. The idea McSweeney just rang up the cops and reported the theft like an ordinary member of the public is nuts. It was a highly sensitive mobile. Why didn’t he report it to No.10 security, so they could ensure a proper investigation.
I will be fascinated to know how it was stolen?
Yes officer I was having a coffee by myself, sitting out front at curbside table on a very busy street in London. I needed to go for toilet where I was otherwise engaged for over half an hour, dodgy curry the previous evening, as i left the bathroom I bumped into a friend who I hadn't seen for a while and insisted on chatting for a good 15-20 minutes, but the curry got the better of me and I had to return to the bathroom for another half an hour, upon my return, I was shocked to find my phone had been stolen.
Oh God, not another story involving Starmer and curry.
I nearly died of celluar ennui the last time.
Here's a thing, though.
How many of the massive scandals that are about to bring Starmer down are off-brand diet versions of massive scandals that afflicted BoJo?
Currygate, now the mystery mobile phone...
Dunno what it all means, though. Perhaps the great scriptwriter in the sky is running out of ideas. Or perhaps SKS is just trolling us all.
The breaking point for the cabinet and Tory MPs was the repeatedly being lied to and having to repeat those lies.
In June 2022 in a bid to win the vote of confidence Boris Johnson told Tory MPs all the lies were over, he loved being PM and that he wouldn't lie again, they would get a new Boris Johnson.
Within a month he lied to the cabinet about putting a known sexual predator in a position of authority, when it came out we had a major constitutional crisis.
I don't think we're at that point with Starmer, yet.
If Starmer does go it will be down to electoral dysfunction in May.
Okay. If we can just step out of Leon’s toilet for a moment. Is Trump seriously trying to bring this to an end right now, by hailing his triumph, regime change and never before achieved Iranian “presents to the US King” or is he building up what he needs for a May or June Ground Invasion?
The Iranian “talks are fake news” News of yesterday has to be proved fake “it’s fake” by this, or where else is Trump getting all this detail from negotiations from?
@DPJHodges OK, this is getting worse. The idea McSweeney just rang up the cops and reported the theft like an ordinary member of the public is nuts. It was a highly sensitive mobile. Why didn’t he report it to No.10 security, so they could ensure a proper investigation.
I will be fascinated to know how it was stolen?
Yes officer I was having a coffee by myself, sitting out front at curbside table on a very busy street in London. I needed to go for toilet where I was otherwise engaged for over half an hour, dodgy curry the previous evening, as i left the bathroom I bumped into a friend who I hadn't seen for a while and insisted on chatting for a good 15-20 minutes, but the curry got the better of me and I had to return to the bathroom for another half an hour, upon my return, I was shocked to find my phone had been stolen.
Oh God, not another story involving Starmer and curry.
NEW: The Met Police will reopen its investigation into the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone after admitting it logged the wrong address
Officers reviewed CCTV from Belgrave Street in Tower Hamlets, not Belgrave Road in Pimlico, despite the phone containing the PM's number
The Met Police said: "On Monday, 20 October police received a report from a man in his 40s alleging that his phone had been snatched.
"The incident was recorded as having taken place in Belgrave Street, E1.
"A review of the allegation, including a consideration of whether there was available CCTV, did not identify any realistic lines of enquiry. The investigation was subsequently closed.
"In the course of responding to a recent media enquiry, we became aware that the address was entered incorrectly at the time of the initial call and should instead have been recorded as Belgrave Road, Pimlico.
"Having identified this error, the report will be amended and the assessment of whether there is available evidence revisited"
The theft of McSweeney's phone means his WhatsApp messages and texts to Peter Mandelson cannot be recovered
It is understood the phone was Government-issued
Is it wrong of me to have found that incredibly funny?
How surprising. (The summary is overdramatic in its specificity though).
Councils are ignoring explicit instructions to approve planning projects from ministers - as the scale and cost of their resistance to development is revealed for the first time.
Councillors often believe their job in respect of planning is to represent their residents, which is not technically true as their job in that context is to consider proposals against national and local planning policy, which has very different objectives to local people.
Which, of course, is why the government wants to seriously reduce the power of councils to refuse things.
And councillors on planning committees are, in effect, doing a judicial role. Which is a data point against electing judges.
I just know that someone will pop up with words to the effect that the primary role of a councillor of course is to represent their residents, but that is just ignoring the realities that every decision-maker - political, business, judicial - has to operate within specific rules, operate to certain requirements, take account of certain things and sometimes not to take account of other things. And in planning the public view is a factor, but is never and was never meant to be the sole or overriding determinant.
And when councillors pretend otherwise for short term popularity, they just lose on appeal and their residents pay even more to cover the costs. But they calculate - correctly - that the public don't care about the additional cost to that public, so chase the cheap headline.
(For sake of balance obviously lots of councillor decisions against officer recommendation do not end up being overrturned in such a manner, some things are judgement calls they can reasonably make - but those are judgement calls which policy allows).
I've bought fancy cooking knives that are so sharp I cut myself on first usage, ten minutes ago, and now I'm scared of them
Out of interest, what brand and model range?
(Sorry that you cut yourself.)
This range
I got the full chef knife-block for £219 on amazon which is apparently good value if you judge knives by their ability to dismember yourself while merely trying to chop lemongrass
Okay. If we can just step out of Leon’s toilet for a moment. Is Trump seriously trying to bring this to an end right now, by hailing his triumph, regime change and never before achieved Iranian “presents to the US King” or is he building up what he needs for a May or June Ground Invasion?
The Iranian “talks are fake news” News of yesterday has to be proved fake “it’s fake” by this, or where else is Trump getting all this detail from negotiations from?
NEW: The Met Police will reopen its investigation into the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone after admitting it logged the wrong address
Officers reviewed CCTV from Belgrave Street in Tower Hamlets, not Belgrave Road in Pimlico, despite the phone containing the PM's number
The Met Police said: "On Monday, 20 October police received a report from a man in his 40s alleging that his phone had been snatched.
"The incident was recorded as having taken place in Belgrave Street, E1.
"A review of the allegation, including a consideration of whether there was available CCTV, did not identify any realistic lines of enquiry. The investigation was subsequently closed.
"In the course of responding to a recent media enquiry, we became aware that the address was entered incorrectly at the time of the initial call and should instead have been recorded as Belgrave Road, Pimlico.
"Having identified this error, the report will be amended and the assessment of whether there is available evidence revisited"
The theft of McSweeney's phone means his WhatsApp messages and texts to Peter Mandelson cannot be recovered
It is understood the phone was Government-issued
Is it wrong of me to have found that incredibly funny?
No.
It reminds me of a friend and his excuses when his wife suspected him of adultery.
How surprising. (The summary is overdramatic in its specificity though).
Councils are ignoring explicit instructions to approve planning projects from ministers - as the scale and cost of their resistance to development is revealed for the first time.
Councillors often believe their job in respect of planning is to represent their residents, which is not technically true as their job in that context is to consider proposals against national and local planning policy, which has very different objectives to local people.
Which, of course, is why the government wants to seriously reduce the power of councils to refuse things.
That's quite interesting.
I'm not aware that Ministers have a power to instruct Councils how to decide.
So an interesting political decision for the Govt.
If they want it done quickly, the Minister will have to call them all in and make the decisions himself.
The Downfall of Huw Edwards drama on C5 now, with Martin Clunes playing Edwards
Why would anyone want to watch that ?
Well, people find enjoyment, if that is the right word, from many dark and sordid things. I never watched Adolesence as it sounded like a total bummer, but for awhile there it was like everyone in public life was supposed to have watched it.
I have said from the start the messages about Mandy won't have any smoking guns, especially now we know the one man who mostly likely to have had embarassing messages was rob of their phone.
Starmer was quick to say they would release with the cavaet of national security stuff. My guess has been that they know anybody important put nothing down in writing that is bad / had their phones stolen, and instead the worry is some civil servants / SpAD will be revealed to have said spicy things about Trump and that was what they were trying to minimise.
How surprising. (The summary is overdramatic in its specificity though).
Councils are ignoring explicit instructions to approve planning projects from ministers - as the scale and cost of their resistance to development is revealed for the first time.
Councillors often believe their job in respect of planning is to represent their residents, which is not technically true as their job in that context is to consider proposals against national and local planning policy, which has very different objectives to local people.
Which, of course, is why the government wants to seriously reduce the power of councils to refuse things.
That's quite interesting.
I'm not aware that Ministers have a power to instruct Councils how to decide.
As noted, the summary is a bit more definitive and direct on that than is probably fair, though the general sentiment about councils being very resistant to the government's objectives on housing remains true.
MPs are usually even worse, since councillors on planning committees usually go along with recommendations to approve and the high profile stuff are the exception (albeit damaging), and they typically make an effort to appear to be balancing planning considerations (though not always).
Whereas MPs have no impact at all, and no worries about predetermination or national planning considerations, so will side with whatever dozen people yell at them about a project and blast the local council for doing what government tells them - sometimes even when it is their own government.
I have said from the start the messages about Mandy won't have any smoking guns, especially now we know the one man who mostly likely to have had embarassing messages was rob of their phone.
Starmer was quick to say they would release with the cavaet of national security stuff. My guess has been that they know anybody important put nothing down in writing that is bad / had their phones stolen, and instead the worry is some civil servants / SpAD will be revealed to have said spicy things about Trump and that was what they were trying to minimise.
In all honesty the timing has worked out very well. At this point attacking Trump is probably a net positive for Sir Keir Co, now that Trump has attacked him.
There is some political skill in the way they’ve handled this.
@DPJHodges OK, this is getting worse. The idea McSweeney just rang up the cops and reported the theft like an ordinary member of the public is nuts. It was a highly sensitive mobile. Why didn’t he report it to No.10 security, so they could ensure a proper investigation.
I will be fascinated to know how it was stolen?
Yes officer I was having a coffee by myself, sitting out front at curbside table on a very busy street in London. I needed to go for toilet where I was otherwise engaged for over half an hour, dodgy curry the previous evening, as i left the bathroom I bumped into a friend who I hadn't seen for a while and insisted on chatting for a good 15-20 minutes, but the curry got the better of me and I had to return to the bathroom for another half an hour, upon my return, I was shocked to find my phone had been stolen.
Oh God, not another story involving Starmer and curry.
I nearly died of celluar ennui the last time.
Here's a thing, though.
How many of the massive scandals that are about to bring Starmer down are off-brand diet versions of massive scandals that afflicted BoJo?
Currygate, now the mystery mobile phone...
Dunno what it all means, though. Perhaps the great scriptwriter in the sky is running out of ideas. Or perhaps SKS is just trolling us all.
The breaking point for the cabinet and Tory MPs was the repeatedly being lied to and having to repeat those lies.
In June 2022 in a bid to win the vote of confidence Boris Johnson told Tory MPs all the lies were over, he loved being PM and that he wouldn't lie again, they would get a new Boris Johnson.
Within a month he lied to the cabinet about putting a known sexual predator in a position of authority, when it came out we had a major constitutional crisis.
I don't think we're at that point with Starmer, yet.
If Starmer does go it will be down to electoral dysfunction in May.
Rob Key gave a masterclass in waffle and failing upwards.
The fact he has hoodwinked apparently the entirety of the leadership of English cricket into not sacking him will be one for the ages.
A little while back wasn't there an Australian con man who arrived by helicopter at Lords or the Oval with a suitcase of banknotes to arrange some kind of deal with English cricket?
The Tories in May are set to be the Japanese during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
I expect the Tories to gain Westminster and Barnet and hold Kensington and Chelsea in May.
Kemi is proving very popular with posh wealthy people, especially posh rich West Londoners and Jews, it is now safe for you to say you are a Tory at one of your posh candlelit dinners and soirees.
However unfortunately for her that is a rather niche market, with rightwingers in most of the rest of the UK preferring Farage to her and leftwingers preferring Labour and the Greens and centrists preferring Labour and the LDs and Scottish and Welsh nats voting SNP and Plaid
I predicted a Plaid Green coalition some time ago and expect that both Scotland and Wales could have independence seeking governments
Labour 13 conservatives 1 lib dems 0 is quite a prediction but not impossible
Plaid have not included seeking independence in their manifesto and have ruled out even pushing the issue in their first term, which is the main reason they are ahead.
The SNP are already in power in Scotland but of course the UK government will refuse indyref2 whatever happens in May
The main reason Plaid are ahead is the utter contempt for labour's decades in power
The point is that if both Scotland and Wales elect independence parties then there is little prospect of any respect for Westminster and tensions between the nations will be the result
If Plaid were pushing independence hard, more of their current voters would be sticking with Labour or going Reform.
The UK government will of course ignore any independence push anyway
No they would not
You need only to look at the history of the SNP in Scotland which is now happening in Wales
Wales has always been far more pro Union and anti devolution let alone independence than Scotland.
In 1997 the Welsh devolved parliament referendum barely scraped home while in Scotland about 3/4 voted for devolution.
The only reason Plaid are now doing better (though still polling lower on average than the SNP) is they have dumped independence talk for the time being.
You do not understand what is happening in Wales and the word independence is like 'catnip' to you
Plaid would still have the votes if they sought independence now, in the same way the SNP did when they put labour to the sword in Scotland
They didn't for 27 years after devolution in 1999, whereas the SNP have been largest party in Scotland now for 19 out of the 27 years since the Scottish Parliament was set up.
Okay. If we can just step out of Leon’s toilet for a moment. Is Trump seriously trying to bring this to an end right now, by hailing his triumph, regime change and never before achieved Iranian “presents to the US King” or is he building up what he needs for a May or June Ground Invasion?
The Iranian “talks are fake news” News of yesterday has to be proved fake “it’s fake” by this, or where else is Trump getting all this detail from negotiations from?
Everything is clear as mud
Okay. Thanks. That’s the latest on that then. I thought for a moment something big was breaking.
So more chance of something big breaking tonight in Leon’s closet then? Did we get an answer why he has half used toilet roll in the Mesopotamian Marbles bowl?
Rob Key gave a masterclass in waffle and failing upwards.
The fact he has hoodwinked apparently the entirety of the leadership of English cricket into not sacking him will be one for the ages.
A little while back wasn't there an Australian con man who arrived by helicopter at Lords or the Oval with a suitcase of banknotes to arrange some kind of deal with English cricket?
Allen Stanford, he was American based out of the Caribbean. In the slammer for the rest of his life for running a Ponzi scheme.
Okay. If we can just step out of Leon’s toilet for a moment. Is Trump seriously trying to bring this to an end right now, by hailing his triumph, regime change and never before achieved Iranian “presents to the US King” or is he building up what he needs for a May or June Ground Invasion?
The Iranian “talks are fake news” News of yesterday has to be proved fake “it’s fake” by this, or where else is Trump getting all this detail from negotiations from?
Everything is clear as mud
Okay. Thanks. That’s the latest on that then. I thought for a moment something big was breaking.
So more chance of something big breaking tonight in Leon’s closet then? Did we get an answer why he has half used toilet roll in the Mesopotamian Marbles bowl?
Unless you regularly use an entire roll at once, isn't having half a toilet roll out the norm?
Rob Key gave a masterclass in waffle and failing upwards.
The fact he has hoodwinked apparently the entirety of the leadership of English cricket into not sacking him will be one for the ages.
A little while back wasn't there an Australian con man who arrived by helicopter at Lords or the Oval with a suitcase of banknotes to arrange some kind of deal with English cricket?
Allen Stanford, he was American based out of the Caribbean.
Yes thats him! Aussies - please forgive the calumny
Okay. If we can just step out of Leon’s toilet for a moment. Is Trump seriously trying to bring this to an end right now, by hailing his triumph, regime change and never before achieved Iranian “presents to the US King” or is he building up what he needs for a May or June Ground Invasion?
The Iranian “talks are fake news” News of yesterday has to be proved fake “it’s fake” by this, or where else is Trump getting all this detail from negotiations from?
Everything is clear as mud
Okay. Thanks. That’s the latest on that then. I thought for a moment something big was breaking.
So more chance of something big breaking tonight in Leon’s closet then? Did we get an answer why he has half used toilet roll in the Mesopotamian Marbles bowl?
Did Starmer use the other half when he shat out his Durham Curry
I've bought fancy cooking knives that are so sharp I cut myself on first usage, ten minutes ago, and now I'm scared of them
I have a selection of reasonably sharp knives, and I bought a single fancy Japanese kitchen knife. I opened the box to look at it and cut myself
Hah!
Yes, that's me, I've bough
A sharp knife seems to have cut off the end of your comment. I'd be careful with that if I were you. Might do yourself an injury.
Here is my toothbrush jar-holder
I defy any PBer to show me a prettier toothbrush jar-holder
What's the half-used bog roll in aid of?
Edit: more importantly, who dusts all this shit? Do you have staff?
That's my bog roll. In my special historic bog roll holding bowl. See if you can guess the origin
You intuit correctly btw. I have indeed significantly added to my cleaning lady's salary, now that she has to "dust all this shit"
Claude suggests Ikea, the Range or H&M Home for the loo-roll receptacle, and Chinese porcelain in the famille rose style for the tooth brush holder.
OK, decent guesses!
The toothbrush jar holder is an "Eiwa Kinsei Ceramic Vase With Gold Gilding & Birds, Circa 1950" - one of the pretty pieces of ceramics that Japan made in the million, for export, in its desperate urge to rebuild post-war. Hence the insane prices now for genuinely lovely pottery. I just checked the eBay site, it actually cost me £9
£9!
For a beautiful, storied piece of Japanese ceramic work
The bog roll holder is much more problematic. It was made by the Nazi industrial design unit for the Wehrmacht, and its provenance dates to the Eastern Front circa 1941. So it was likely used to serve German soldiers near, say, Smolensk during Barbarossa. There is a swastika and all that on the underside
I bought it to test myself. I like challenging objects. I was surprisingly challenged by this. I thought I'd laugh it off, but no. The noom was DARK. No way I could use it for display in any major room. Let alone - ugh - serving food
But somehow in the bathroom it works. Holding bog roll. Its black noom seems to be neutralised by this humiliating task
In the corner you can see my big black Trilobite, which is the only recently-bought object which was even more sinister than the Nazi bowl. It now stares at me from the corner of the the bathtub
I've bought fancy cooking knives that are so sharp I cut myself on first usage, ten minutes ago, and now I'm scared of them
The whole point of high end knives is not only better cutting experience but should reduce chance of accident because you shouldn't be having to apply much force to cut things.
There is a dangerous period when you adjust from one to the other.
Had my wife's parents over for dinner last week (roast chicken, potato gratin, etc, was delicious, thanks for asking) and my father-in-law sharpened our knives for us. First couple of days I was getting them stuck in the wooden chopping board because I was pressing too hard.
Recommendation for knife sharpener for the unskilled:
Trump says Iran agreed to give up nuclear weapons in peace talks - and says mullahs gave the US 'a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money'
I've bought fancy cooking knives that are so sharp I cut myself on first usage, ten minutes ago, and now I'm scared of them
I have a selection of reasonably sharp knives, and I bought a single fancy Japanese kitchen knife. I opened the box to look at it and cut myself
Hah!
Yes, that's me, I've bough
A sharp knife seems to have cut off the end of your comment. I'd be careful with that if I were you. Might do yourself an injury.
Here is my toothbrush jar-holder
I defy any PBer to show me a prettier toothbrush jar-holder
What's the half-used bog roll in aid of?
Edit: more importantly, who dusts all this shit? Do you have staff?
That's my bog roll. In my special historic bog roll holding bowl. See if you can guess the origin
You intuit correctly btw. I have indeed significantly added to my cleaning lady's salary, now that she has to "dust all this shit"
Claude suggests Ikea, the Range or H&M Home for the loo-roll receptacle, and Chinese porcelain in the famille rose style for the tooth brush holder. *
The English glasses if that is correct holding the rock spheres are cool. You previous comments about those made me consider getting a few.
* This is not Claude's core skillset, I surmise.
Yes, well spotted
That's a Georgian English "jelly glass" - ie a glass made for serving a semi-solid pudding, like a syllabub. They are a brilliant way to display spherical rocks. I've got an agate and a labradorite and that is, IIRC, a carnelian sphere in the photo
I've bought fancy cooking knives that are so sharp I cut myself on first usage, ten minutes ago, and now I'm scared of them
The whole point of high end knives is not only better cutting experience but should reduce chance of accident because you shouldn't be having to apply much force to cut things.
There is a dangerous period when you adjust from one to the other.
Had my wife's parents over for dinner last week (roast chicken, potato gratin, etc, was delicious, thanks for asking) and my father-in-law sharpened our knives for us. First couple of days I was getting them stuck in the wooden chopping board because I was pressing too hard.
Recommendation for knife sharpener for the unskilled:
Trump says Iran agreed to give up nuclear weapons in peace talks - and says mullahs gave the US 'a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money'
Good for them. It is always dispiriting to be sent a .docx or .doc file
I especially love being sent Word files which are painfully complex tables you need to fill out like a spreadsheet, and Excel files which are painfully complex plain text boxes that you need to fill out like a Word document.
Now it looks as though the "Red" bloc of parties in Denmark has the edge 83-78 but the Moderates still have the balance with 14.
The Liberal Alliance leader, Alex Vanopslagh, is already talking about the offer the "Blue" bloc can make to Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Moderates leader, to persuade him to support a centre-right Government.
I suspect Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader, is probably thinking something similar but how to keep Rasmussen onside.
Trump says Iran agreed to give up nuclear weapons in peace talks - and says mullahs gave the US 'a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money'
Comments
@faisalislam
NEW
Cambridge-headquartered tech giant Arm Holdings announces it will manufacture its own AI chips - a significant change after 3 decades of success getting its chip designs in 350 billion devices worldwide - IPhones, cars, data centres etc… partnerships announced with most of the worlds tech giants including OpenAI and Meta. The chips will be specialised for AI use, especially the deployment of “agents”.
CEO Rene Haas tells BBC: "This marks the next phase of Arm’s journey - building on our roots in Cambridge, and the strength of our teams across the UK and around the world…” which puts Arm and the UK at the centre of global AI transformation.
Faisal Islam
@faisalislam
This is a major move for a company born out of UK science, Acorn computers, BBC Micro etc… its business model was a model for UK growth in the early 2000s… the manufacturing is as I understand it, going to be done at the only places in the world equipped to do so - TSMC in Taiwan…
https://x.com/faisalislam/status/2036494009812623850
Erm... Taiwan you say? Hmmm...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkTrk_ymh4g
In 1997 the Welsh devolved parliament referendum barely scraped home while in Scotland about 3/4 voted for devolution.
The only reason Plaid are now doing better (though still polling lower on average than the SNP) is they have dumped independence talk for the time being.
Yougov also have Plaid higher than other polls
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2026_Senedd_election
https://youtu.be/qyV3yTQUPBQ?si=uSChYhbHjRYo1xe1
If they are not suited for Hormuz then you have to question the point of them.
Heard how govt’s £225m investment is powering work to discover cancer cures, to better predict extreme weather and to create a UK LLM
https://x.com/KanishkaNarayan/status/2036475272623448076?s=20
£225m won't get you anywhere trying to train an LLM...He does realise that OpenAI etc are spending 10s of billions every year training these things and the going starting rate for people with the skills to train them is £1-2 million a year in salary. And the likes of Google Deepmind team on this are massive now.
If you are serious about having a UK LLM, you better starting putting many many billions aside every year.
Plaid would still have the votes if they sought independence now, in the same way the SNP did when they put labour to the sword in Scotland
Yes, that's me, I've bought a fancy Japanese knife set, The best kitchen knives I've ever had etc etc
They look great, they cut through chicken like a man cutting tofu with a lightsabre, but fuck
On the upside, I bought a Japanese ceramic ginger jar, export Imari ware, from the 1950s, for about £5 on eBay. I ad no reason to but it, but it looked so cute. And when it arrived today I thought: toothbrush! It is now my toothbrush jar-holder, and it is, without question, the prettiest toothbrush jar-holder in the world
I LOVE eBay
A fantastic footballer and seems a really nice person
Tempus fugit on his career but he must be one of Liverpool's greats
https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/2036529181480071622
@Steven_Swinford
BREAKING
Scotland Yard has confirmed that Morgan McSweeney reported the theft of his phone to them on October 20 last year
They took down ***the wrong address*** and assumed the offence had taken place in East London rather than Westminster
As a result they could not identify a suspect and the case was closed
https://x.com/DPJHodges/status/2036531241848050161
@DPJHodges
OK, this is getting worse. The idea McSweeney just rang up the cops and reported the theft like an ordinary member of the public is nuts. It was a highly sensitive mobile. Why didn’t he report it to No.10 security, so they could ensure a proper investigation.
I defy any PBer to show me a prettier toothbrush jar-holder
Yes officer I was having a coffee by myself, sitting out front at curbside table on a very busy street in London. I needed to go for toilet where I was otherwise engaged for over half an hour, dodgy curry the previous evening, as i left the bathroom I bumped into a friend who I hadn't seen for a while and insisted on chatting for a good 15-20 minutes, but the curry got the better of me and I had to return to the bathroom for another half an hour, upon my return, I was shocked to find my phone had been stolen.
Beyond that, you’d need an academic study.
I nearly died of celluar ennui the last time.
It’s closer to using civilian ships as blockships or piers - they will be used a flat floating things, basically.
Not moving around or carrying troops.
Ready to come back with the full force it has so far be denied.
https://www.newsghana.com.gh/germany-bans-microsoft-formats-from-government-documents-in-open-standards-shift/
The Venstre (Liberal) Party, which looked set to lose its position as the leading centre-right party (and therefore losing the dubious honour of having its leader as Prime Minister of a centre-right coalition) is now back in front with 19 ahead of the other two.
The Social Democrats will be the largest party in the new Folketing but down from 50 to 37.
However, the big change is the centre-right block now leads 83-79 in terms of seats with the Moderates holding the balance on 13.
Just a prediction and as we know from our own experience, could still be a long way from the final outcome.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-uks-accelerated-decline/
Councils are ignoring explicit instructions to approve planning projects from ministers - as the scale and cost of their resistance to development is revealed for the first time.
https://news.sky.com/story/a-declaration-of-war-how-councils-are-resisting-one-of-labours-core-objectives-13523659?
Councillors often believe their job in respect of planning is to represent their residents, which is not technically true as their job in that context is to consider proposals against national and local planning policy, which has very different objectives to local people.
Which, of course, is why the government wants to seriously reduce the power of councils to refuse things.
(Sorry that you cut yourself.)
The apparently basic, utiltarian white bowl on the right (containing bog roll and random spheres of rock) has an even more interesting story
If you can guess I'll send you a lava-rock buttplug. If you want
Edit: more importantly, who dusts all this shit? Do you have staff?
NEW: The Met Police will reopen its investigation into the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone after admitting it logged the wrong address
Officers reviewed CCTV from Belgrave Street in Tower Hamlets, not Belgrave Road in Pimlico, despite the phone containing the PM's number
The Met Police said: "On Monday, 20 October police received a report from a man in his 40s alleging that his phone had been snatched.
"The incident was recorded as having taken place in Belgrave Street, E1.
"A review of the allegation, including a consideration of whether there was available CCTV, did not identify any realistic lines of enquiry. The investigation was subsequently closed.
"In the course of responding to a recent media enquiry, we became aware that the address was entered incorrectly at the time of the initial call and should instead have been recorded as Belgrave Road, Pimlico.
"Having identified this error, the report will be amended and the assessment of whether there is available evidence revisited"
The theft of McSweeney's phone means his WhatsApp messages and texts to Peter Mandelson cannot be recovered
It is understood the phone was Government-issued
How many of the massive scandals that are about to bring Starmer down are off-brand diet versions of massive scandals that afflicted BoJo?
Currygate, now the mystery mobile phone...
Dunno what it all means, though. Perhaps the great scriptwriter in the sky is running out of ideas. Or perhaps SKS is just trolling us all.
You intuit correctly btw. I have indeed significantly added to my cleaning lady's salary, now that she has to "dust all this shit"
Besides a curious lip, I am not discerning anything about the nondescript bowl that would help in identifying it.
Venstre on 19 just ahead of the Danish People's Party on 18 and Liberal Alliance on 17 on the Blue side. Social Democrats lead the Red bloc with 38 seats.
If I had my way the local government grant would be apportioned based simply on number of children. That would focus minds on the important stuff - affordable homes, schools, LTNs, a local economy.
In June 2022 in a bid to win the vote of confidence Boris Johnson told Tory MPs all the lies were over, he loved being PM and that he wouldn't lie again, they would get a new Boris Johnson.
Within a month he lied to the cabinet about putting a known sexual predator in a position of authority, when it came out we had a major constitutional crisis.
I don't think we're at that point with Starmer, yet.
If Starmer does go it will be down to electoral dysfunction in May.
I did not know that, but I have noticed ODF files on Govt websites.
The Iranian “talks are fake news” News of yesterday has to be proved fake “it’s fake” by this, or where else is Trump getting all this detail from negotiations from?
And when councillors pretend otherwise for short term popularity, they just lose on appeal and their residents pay even more to cover the costs. But they calculate - correctly - that the public don't care about the additional cost to that public, so chase the cheap headline.
(For sake of balance obviously lots of councillor decisions against officer recommendation do not end up being overrturned in such a manner, some things are judgement calls they can reasonably make - but those are judgement calls which policy allows).
I got the full chef knife-block for £219 on amazon which is apparently good value if you judge knives by their ability to dismember yourself while merely trying to chop lemongrass
https://addtocart.co.uk/gb/blog/shan-zu-chef-knife?srsltid=AfmBOoogVtLP4WiEpoKSLxBjkXEqiivA5nKLZXKOnk1e7ObPUrnWfaVI
It reminds me of a friend and his excuses when his wife suspected him of adultery.
I'm not aware that Ministers have a power to instruct Councils how to decide.
So an interesting political decision for the Govt.
If they want it done quickly, the Minister will have to call them all in and make the decisions himself.
Otherwise it will be Appeals.
The fact he has hoodwinked apparently the entirety of the leadership of English cricket into not sacking him will be one for the ages.
#EasyJokes
Starmer was quick to say they would release with the cavaet of national security stuff. My guess has been that they know anybody important put nothing down in writing that is bad / had their phones stolen, and instead the worry is some civil servants / SpAD will be revealed to have said spicy things about Trump and that was what they were trying to minimise.
MPs are usually even worse, since councillors on planning committees usually go along with recommendations to approve and the high profile stuff are the exception (albeit damaging), and they typically make an effort to appear to be balancing planning considerations (though not always).
Whereas MPs have no impact at all, and no worries about predetermination or national planning considerations, so will side with whatever dozen people yell at them about a project and blast the local council for doing what government tells them - sometimes even when it is their own government.
There is some political skill in the way they’ve handled this.
Starmers are mostly on the head of Dan Hodges
[Propose infrastructure project for an area]
Don't put that infrastructure there, it will lead to housing!
So more chance of something big breaking tonight in Leon’s closet then? Did we get an answer why he has half used toilet roll in the Mesopotamian Marbles bowl?
The English glasses if that is correct holding the rock spheres are cool. You previous comments about those made me consider getting a few.
* This is not Claude's core skillset, I surmise.
The toothbrush jar holder is an "Eiwa Kinsei Ceramic Vase With Gold Gilding & Birds, Circa 1950" - one of the pretty pieces of ceramics that Japan made in the million, for export, in its desperate urge to rebuild post-war. Hence the insane prices now for genuinely lovely pottery. I just checked the eBay site, it actually cost me £9
£9!
For a beautiful, storied piece of Japanese ceramic work
The bog roll holder is much more problematic. It was made by the Nazi industrial design unit for the Wehrmacht, and its provenance dates to the Eastern Front circa 1941. So it was likely used to serve German soldiers near, say, Smolensk during Barbarossa. There is a swastika and all that on the underside
I bought it to test myself. I like challenging objects. I was surprisingly challenged by this. I thought I'd laugh it off, but no. The noom was DARK. No way I could use it for display in any major room. Let alone - ugh - serving food
But somehow in the bathroom it works. Holding bog roll. Its black noom seems to be neutralised by this humiliating task
In the corner you can see my big black Trilobite, which is the only recently-bought object which was even more sinister than the Nazi bowl. It now stares at me from the corner of the the bathtub
I don't want to start a nerd-match but I think that would ruin any decent knife in minutes.
The only knives I put through one of those are a set of utility knives that came at 3 for £7.
Take the time and learn the skills; it does not take long.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15675749/trump-iran-nukes-peace-push-jd-vance-marco-rubio.html
Have Iran bunged him a solid gold throne or something?
That's a Georgian English "jelly glass" - ie a glass made for serving a semi-solid pudding, like a syllabub. They are a brilliant way to display spherical rocks. I've got an agate and a labradorite and that is, IIRC, a carnelian sphere in the photo
Love it. What's a wasted hour here or there?
The Liberal Alliance leader, Alex Vanopslagh, is already talking about the offer the "Blue" bloc can make to Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Moderates leader, to persuade him to support a centre-right Government.
I suspect Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader, is probably thinking something similar but how to keep Rasmussen onside.