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It’s grim in Wales for the Tories & Lib Dems – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 13,022
edited March 25 in General
It’s grim in Wales for the Tories & Lib Dems – politicalbetting.com

YouGov's first MRP of the 2026 Senedd election shows Plaid Cymru on course to be the largest partyPC: 43 (+19 from 2021*)Ref: 30 (+30)Lab: 12 (-32)Grn: 10 (+10)Con: 1 (-25)LD: 0 (-2)*notional results had the last election been conducted on the new system based on data from Dr Jac Larner

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  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    edited March 25
    Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at Canterbury Cathedral for the enthronement of Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury (and the first Archbishop it turns out to have been educated at a comprehensive and a non Russell Group university and the first since Carey not to have been to Oxbridge), to be followed by Kemi Badenoch and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Live coverage on BBC1
  • BatteryCorrectHorseBatteryCorrectHorse Posts: 5,513
    HYUFD said:

    Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at Canterbury Cathedral for the enthronement of Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury (and the first Archbishop it turns out to have been educated at a comprehensive and a non Russell Group university), to be followed by Kemi Badenoch and the Prince and Princess of Wales

    Thanks Mr Gossip
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    The Tories and LDs have never won a Westminster or Senedd election in Wales but would be hoping for better figures I expect.

    Yougov does have Plaid and the Greens higher than most other Senedd election pollsters though and Labour and the Tories lower albeit Reform about the same
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2026_Senedd_election
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    Excellent appointment of new BBC director general

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/25/new-bbc-director-general-matt-brittin-former-google-executive-olympic-rower
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    The Prince and Princess have arrived at the cathedral heralded by a trumpet voluntary
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 127,088
    HYUFD said:

    Excellent appointment of new BBC director general

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/25/new-bbc-director-general-matt-brittin-former-google-executive-olympic-rower

    Cambridge man, he'll be a roaring success.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 32,749
    FPT:
    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Quite an interesting video from Wheels for Wellbeing explaining why Chicane Barriers at the end of footpaths and cycle tracks are a bad thing, and destroy undermine accessibility and safety. 12 minutes.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umI9Z0JW2Vs

    Do they address the reasons these barriers are there in the first place, which is a small number of very antisocial youth on bikes and motorbikes making the paths unusable for pedestrians? Is there a compromise solution? Also bikes running straight into the road at the end, to be collected by a car.
    That's a bit of a red herring. Such a chicane does not block motorcycles or cycles, and are essentially unlawful, and a litigation risk for whoever installs it. A motorbike is smaller, and more manoeuvrable, than a mobility scooter or some powerchairs, so how could they without blocking lawful path users?

    It also not usually how it works.

    They are typically installed not because there is a problem, but because someone believes there is a problem, or might be a problem. That is a concept I call "Shrodinger's ASBO Cyclist / Motorcyclist".

    And when something is put in, and no problem continues to exist, that is then assumed to be the reason no problem exists, and there grows an irrational attachment to it. So trying to get it out again can be a bugger. Local Councillors can see them as an easy, relatively inexpensive, visible to voters, answer, so they like them.

    Can you imagine such a thing being built on a busy side road/main road junction if there was a "pulling out of a sideroad" collision?

    Guidance requires the least restrictive option, requires evidence that an issue exists, and supplies a hierarchy, but there are no time, no money, no knowledge and no training, so these get whacked in - often even when a eg a new estate is built.

    The bald case is that they are not lawful, and do not do help anyway to any degree. We have remarks by the Supreme Court with a judgement that excluding lawful users is not a reasonable compromise for keeping unlawful ones out, and motorbikes etc are a matter for police enforcement.

    The vid covers the safety risks such a barrier at a mobility track / road junction imposes and increases.

  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 31,845
    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    You are David Davis's Tory leadership campaign and I claim my £5.


    Which of the three is TSE?
  • TazTaz Posts: 26,289
    HYUFD said:

    Excellent appointment of new BBC director general

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/25/new-bbc-director-general-matt-brittin-former-google-executive-olympic-rower

    Pronouns in bio

    A sure fire winner
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 31,845
    On topic I wonder if the LD campaign in Wales is as irrelevant as the one in Scotland?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 87,535
    RochdalePioneers said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    You are David Davis's Tory leadership campaign and I claim my £5.


    Which of the three is TSE?
    Unkind souls might ask which of those four.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    HYUFD said:

    Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at Canterbury Cathedral for the enthronement of Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury (and the first Archbishop it turns out to have been educated at a comprehensive and a non Russell Group university and the first since Carey not to have been to Oxbridge), to be followed by Kemi Badenoch and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Live coverage on BBC1

    I do not want to be unkind but frankly it is boring
  • MattWMattW Posts: 32,749
    Nigelb said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    You are David Davis's Tory leadership campaign and I claim my £5.


    Which of the three is TSE?
    Unkind souls might ask which of those four.
    Five?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at Canterbury Cathedral for the enthronement of Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury (and the first Archbishop it turns out to have been educated at a comprehensive and a non Russell Group university and the first since Carey not to have been to Oxbridge), to be followed by Kemi Badenoch and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Live coverage on BBC1

    I do not want to be unkind but frankly it is boring
    Bit like you can sometimes be then!
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 31,845
    Nigelb said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    You are David Davis's Tory leadership campaign and I claim my £5.


    Which of the three is TSE?
    Unkind souls might ask which of those four.
    Don't be such a tit
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    RochdalePioneers said:

    On topic I wonder if the LD campaign in Wales is as irrelevant as the one in Scotland?

    I think conservative and lib dem in Scotland and Wales will have a very poor night but the story will be the labour rout in both
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 7,763
    RochdalePioneers said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    You are David Davis's Tory leadership campaign and I claim my £5.


    Which of the three is TSE?
    DD's are overkill 😀😀😀😀
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    On topic I wonder if the LD campaign in Wales is as irrelevant as the one in Scotland?

    I think conservative and lib dem in Scotland and Wales will have a very poor night but the story will be the labour rout in both
    In Scotland the SNP are down more on 2021 than Labour are in most Holyrood polls
  • TazTaz Posts: 26,289
    MattW said:

    Nigelb said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    You are David Davis's Tory leadership campaign and I claim my £5.


    Which of the three is TSE?
    Unkind souls might ask which of those four.
    Five?
    Slam dunk da funk
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 127,088
    Putin has actually been indicted for war crimes. Holy fuck these people!!

    KEATING: You're cutting support for the prosecutor in Ukraine prosecuting war crimes. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?

    DiNANNO: That's well outside my purview as an undersecretary

    KEATING: How about as an American -- is he a war criminal?

    DiNANNO: I'm not going to answer yes or no

    KEATING: Do your homework

    https://x.com/BohuslavskaKate/status/2036823347430830116
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at Canterbury Cathedral for the enthronement of Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury (and the first Archbishop it turns out to have been educated at a comprehensive and a non Russell Group university and the first since Carey not to have been to Oxbridge), to be followed by Kemi Badenoch and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Live coverage on BBC1

    I do not want to be unkind but frankly it is boring
    Bit like you can sometimes be then!
    I am a confirmed Christian by no less than the Bishop of Durham and a previous server at communion but I just find all this very niche
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,969
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Putin has actually been indicted for war crimes. Holy fuck these people!!

    KEATING: You're cutting support for the prosecutor in Ukraine prosecuting war crimes. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?

    DiNANNO: That's well outside my purview as an undersecretary

    KEATING: How about as an American -- is he a war criminal?

    DiNANNO: I'm not going to answer yes or no

    KEATING: Do your homework

    https://x.com/BohuslavskaKate/status/2036823347430830116

    But by a court the US does not recognise.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    On topic I wonder if the LD campaign in Wales is as irrelevant as the one in Scotland?

    I think conservative and lib dem in Scotland and Wales will have a very poor night but the story will be the labour rout in both
    In Scotland the SNP are down more on 2021 than Labour are in most Holyrood polls
    It will not save labour this time
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    On topic I wonder if the LD campaign in Wales is as irrelevant as the one in Scotland?

    I think conservative and lib dem in Scotland and Wales will have a very poor night but the story will be the labour rout in both
    In Scotland the SNP are down more on 2021 than Labour are in most Holyrood polls
    It will not save labour this time
    It is not impossible though the SNP, if they fail to have a majority on their own or with the Greens at Holyrood after May have to do a deal on confidence and supply with Scottish Labour to keep out Reform and the Tories
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 16,882
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    I don't think that one llanded
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 87,535
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Putin has actually been indicted for war crimes. Holy fuck these people!!

    KEATING: You're cutting support for the prosecutor in Ukraine prosecuting war crimes. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?

    DiNANNO: That's well outside my purview as an undersecretary

    KEATING: How about as an American -- is he a war criminal?

    DiNANNO: I'm not going to answer yes or no

    KEATING: Do your homework

    https://x.com/BohuslavskaKate/status/2036823347430830116

    Just as well they didn't ask Mike Johnson; he'd have said he wasn't aware of anyone called Putin.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    On topic I wonder if the LD campaign in Wales is as irrelevant as the one in Scotland?

    I think conservative and lib dem in Scotland and Wales will have a very poor night but the story will be the labour rout in both
    In Scotland the SNP are down more on 2021 than Labour are in most Holyrood polls
    It will not save labour this time
    It is not impossible though the SNP, if they fail to have a majority on their own or with the Greens at Holyrood after May have to do a deal on confidence and supply with Scottish Labour to keep out Reform and the Tories
    I do not think reform or the conservatives are relevant in the context of governing Scotland
  • TazTaz Posts: 26,289
    A fool and their money pt 94

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 70,864


    Polymarket
    @Polymarket

    BREAKING: JD Vance’s 2028 odds crash to an all-time low of 18%.

    https://x.com/Polymarket/status/2036802974983364884
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 87,535
    .
    RobD said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Putin has actually been indicted for war crimes. Holy fuck these people!!

    KEATING: You're cutting support for the prosecutor in Ukraine prosecuting war crimes. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?

    DiNANNO: That's well outside my purview as an undersecretary

    KEATING: How about as an American -- is he a war criminal?

    DiNANNO: I'm not going to answer yes or no

    KEATING: Do your homework

    https://x.com/BohuslavskaKate/status/2036823347430830116

    But by a court the US does not recognise.
    The GOP used be be slightly less dictator friendly, as long ago as... 2023.

    U.S. lawmakers visiting The Hague say Putin is committing genocide in Ukraine
    https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-lawmakers-visiting-the-hague-say-putin-is-committing-genocide-in-ukraine
    ..The committee's chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, told reporters during a visit to The Hague that Putin "tried to erase a culture, a people and a religion, and that is the definition of genocide."

    Another member of the committee, Ann Wagner, a Missouri Republican, agreed, speaking of the "crimes against humanity, the downright genocide that this man has perpetrated."..
  • CiceroCicero Posts: 4,294
    RochdalePioneers said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    You are David Davis's Tory leadership campaign and I claim my £5.


    Which of the three is TSE?
    Which of the five, surely?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 61,849
    Cicero said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    You are David Davis's Tory leadership campaign and I claim my £5.


    Which of the three is TSE?
    Which of the five, surely?
    None of them

    No modesty, no self-effacing, no shoes evident and no Apple products.
  • TazTaz Posts: 26,289
    I read the article on the Beeb, natch, about the guy convicted of sending racist messages to a female soccer player.

    However the article also mentioned these posts.

    ‘ In addition to making racist comments, he wrote: "Women's football is diabolical. Should not be on national TV" and "Waste of airtime".’

    The racist posts he was deservedly punished for. These are surely personal opinion and agree or disagree there is nothing wrong with them. Certainly not illegal

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjr920e3e1no
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    African choir and drums now at the cathedral giving a lively performance
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    On topic I wonder if the LD campaign in Wales is as irrelevant as the one in Scotland?

    I think conservative and lib dem in Scotland and Wales will have a very poor night but the story will be the labour rout in both
    In Scotland the SNP are down more on 2021 than Labour are in most Holyrood polls
    It will not save labour this time
    It is not impossible though the SNP, if they fail to have a majority on their own or with the Greens at Holyrood after May have to do a deal on confidence and supply with Scottish Labour to keep out Reform and the Tories
    I do not think reform or the conservatives are relevant in the context of governing Scotland
    If the SNP and Greens combined lack a majority of MSPs though Swinney would have to do a deal with Scottish Labour or the LDs to get legislation through
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 2,776
    Taz said:

    A fool and their money pt 94

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o

    These are the people who will decide if they can afford to pay pensions in the future. If this continues they may not be able to or wish to.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 58,657
    HYUFD said:

    African choir and drums now at the cathedral giving a lively performance

    "Wokeness gorn mad!"
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 58,444
    The cover-up is worse than the crime.

    https://x.com/Peston/status/2036826551170261052

    Downing Street is refusing to say whether Morgan McSweeney’s WhatsApp exchanges with Peter Mandelson were lost when his phone was stolen (after Mandelson was sacked as US ambassador because of revelations about his Epstein friendship). But surely the rule in government for any official as senior as McSweeney - then chief of staff - should be that their messages are backed up to the cloud, when those messages are about government business.

    If there was no backup - and if there is no government rule insisting on backups - that would be extraordinary.

    And if McSweeney had an iPhone, for example, the default position is that messages would be backed up to the cloud. So if the Mandelson messages are not there, he would have disabled this facility
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 8,560
    Taz said:

    A fool and their money pt 94

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o

    "Jamie is a single parent and bought a 25% share of a three‑bedroom flat in north London to share with her child and disabled mother. She says she is struggling to afford her home after service charges rose to more than £8,000 per year - an increase of nearly 50% in under four years.

    From April, she faces paying £683 per month in service charges on top of her rent and mortgage payments. Housing costs, before bills, now take up more than half of her income."

    So she signed up to a flat with £400+ per month service charges and a rental payment? Silly.
  • BatteryCorrectHorseBatteryCorrectHorse Posts: 5,513
    In all honesty I’m surprised you can be so senior in the government and you still just phone up and report things stolen like everyone else.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 5,014
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at Canterbury Cathedral for the enthronement of Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury (and the first Archbishop it turns out to have been educated at a comprehensive and a non Russell Group university and the first since Carey not to have been to Oxbridge), to be followed by Kemi Badenoch and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Live coverage on BBC1

    I do not want to be unkind but frankly it is boring
    Bit like you can sometimes be then!
    I am a confirmed Christian by no less than the Bishop of Durham and a previous server at communion but I just find all this very niche
    I too am a Christian and I LOLled at calling the installation of the new AoC, primate of the global Anglican family, "very niche." Bravo!
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 49,724
    edited March 25
    PC + GRN could (almost) govern on those numbers. Two distinctly left wing parties. None of this 'left of centre' business, proper left. We could be looking at the Socialist Republic of Wales. If so, I'll be rooting for them and taking regular holidays there.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 17,118
    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    A fool and their money pt 94

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o

    "Jamie is a single parent and bought a 25% share of a three‑bedroom flat in north London to share with her child and disabled mother. She says she is struggling to afford her home after service charges rose to more than £8,000 per year - an increase of nearly 50% in under four years.

    From April, she faces paying £683 per month in service charges on top of her rent and mortgage payments. Housing costs, before bills, now take up more than half of her income."

    So she signed up to a flat with £400+ per month service charges and a rental payment? Silly.
    Well yes. But would that we lived in a world where there was a decent and affordable housing option for those without a massive inheritance. I don't think there was a mass of obvious alternatives leaping out at her.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    HYUFD said:

    African choir and drums now at the cathedral giving a lively performance

    "Wokeness gorn mad!"
    Black British are percentage wise more likely to attend C of E services now than white British and globally the average Anglican is now an African
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    edited March 25
    kinabalu said:

    PC + GRN could (almost) govern on those numbers. Two distinctly left wing parties. None of this 'left of centre' business, proper left. We could be looking at the Socialist Republic of Wales. If so, I'll be rooting for them and taking regular holidays there.

    Though probably only for one term, given the number of businesses that will close or leave Wales as they hammer them with tax and regulation
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 8,560
    Cookie said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    A fool and their money pt 94

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o

    "Jamie is a single parent and bought a 25% share of a three‑bedroom flat in north London to share with her child and disabled mother. She says she is struggling to afford her home after service charges rose to more than £8,000 per year - an increase of nearly 50% in under four years.

    From April, she faces paying £683 per month in service charges on top of her rent and mortgage payments. Housing costs, before bills, now take up more than half of her income."

    So she signed up to a flat with £400+ per month service charges and a rental payment? Silly.
    Well yes. But would that we lived in a world where there was a decent and affordable housing option for those without a massive inheritance. I don't think there was a mass of obvious alternatives leaping out at her.
    Well, of course. But the option is to continue to rent. I wish I didn't, but I do. Service charge increases are the landlord's problem mostly, since the rent is set by the wider market.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 49,724
    HYUFD said:

    kinabalu said:

    PC + GRN could (almost) govern on those numbers. Two distinctly left wing parties. None of this 'left of centre' business, proper left. We could be looking at the Socialist Republic of Wales. If so, I'll be rooting for them and taking regular holidays there.

    Though probably only for one term, given the number of businesses that will close or leave Wales as they hammer them with tax and regulation
    The usual scaremongering whenever anything designed to shift a bit of advantage from capital to labour is mooted.

    How are you feeling about the first female head of the church, H? Quite a moment.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 80,719
    carnforth said:

    Cookie said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    A fool and their money pt 94

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o

    "Jamie is a single parent and bought a 25% share of a three‑bedroom flat in north London to share with her child and disabled mother. She says she is struggling to afford her home after service charges rose to more than £8,000 per year - an increase of nearly 50% in under four years.

    From April, she faces paying £683 per month in service charges on top of her rent and mortgage payments. Housing costs, before bills, now take up more than half of her income."

    So she signed up to a flat with £400+ per month service charges and a rental payment? Silly.
    Well yes. But would that we lived in a world where there was a decent and affordable housing option for those without a massive inheritance. I don't think there was a mass of obvious alternatives leaping out at her.
    Well, of course. But the option is to continue to rent. I wish I didn't, but I do. Service charge increases are the landlord's problem mostly, since the rent is set by the wider market.
    Taking on 25% of a leasehold seems like the worst of all worlds quite honestly.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 19,585
    US to pay TotalEnergies $1 billion to stop developing offshore wind in US

    https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/trumps-latest-anti-wind-effort-pay-companies-to-abandon-offshore-leases/
  • stodgestodge Posts: 16,347
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at Canterbury Cathedral for the enthronement of Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury (and the first Archbishop it turns out to have been educated at a comprehensive and a non Russell Group university and the first since Carey not to have been to Oxbridge), to be followed by Kemi Badenoch and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Live coverage on BBC1

    I do not want to be unkind but frankly it is boring
    Bit like you can sometimes be then!
    I am a confirmed Christian by no less than the Bishop of Durham and a previous server at communion but I just find all this very niche
    Best I can manage is the Bishop of Woolwich but he had been an international test cricketer.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 65,866
    squareroot2 said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    You are David Davis's Tory leadership campaign and I claim my £5.


    Which of the three is TSE?
    DD's are overkill 😀😀😀😀
    They need Zak Polanski.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 49,724
    rottenborough said:


    Polymarket

    BREAKING: JD Vance’s 2028 odds crash to an all-time low of 18%.

    https://x.com/Polymarket/status/2036802974983364884

    It could be (and the Dems will hope it is) that both of the following things are true by 2028. No GOP candidate closely associated with Donald Trump can win the general election. No GOPer without a Trump endorsement can win the GOP nomination.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 70,864
    williamglenn said:

    The cover-up is worse than the crime.

    https://x.com/Peston/status/2036826551170261052

    Downing Street is refusing to say whether Morgan McSweeney’s WhatsApp exchanges with Peter Mandelson were lost when his phone was stolen (after Mandelson was sacked as US ambassador because of revelations about his Epstein friendship). But surely the rule in government for any official as senior as McSweeney - then chief of staff - should be that their messages are backed up to the cloud, when those messages are about government business.

    If there was no backup - and if there is no government rule insisting on backups - that would be extraordinary.

    And if McSweeney had an iPhone, for example, the default position is that messages would be backed up to the cloud. So if the Mandelson messages are not there, he would have disabled this facility

    Didn't Cleverly say earlier that there is government rule about backing up?
  • BatteryCorrectHorseBatteryCorrectHorse Posts: 5,513
    As I've already said, the WhatsApp backup is fairly unreliable.

    The iCloud backup significantly less so - but it's not clear what backup is being referred to.

    In any case, to get the messages back they need to restore them to a new phone that McSweeney owns or has access to. I am not sure how that works from a data privacy POV, whether he can be compelled to restore the backup. I am sure lawyers would know.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 39,643
    HYUFD said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    HYUFD said:

    African choir and drums now at the cathedral giving a lively performance

    "Wokeness gorn mad!"
    Black British are percentage wise more likely to attend C of E services now than white British and globally the average Anglican is now an African
    So the question should be: why have most white people, particularly working-class white people, given up on the religion their family used to follow?
  • DopermeanDopermean Posts: 2,574
    Pulpstar said:

    carnforth said:

    Cookie said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    A fool and their money pt 94

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o

    "Jamie is a single parent and bought a 25% share of a three‑bedroom flat in north London to share with her child and disabled mother. She says she is struggling to afford her home after service charges rose to more than £8,000 per year - an increase of nearly 50% in under four years.

    From April, she faces paying £683 per month in service charges on top of her rent and mortgage payments. Housing costs, before bills, now take up more than half of her income."

    So she signed up to a flat with £400+ per month service charges and a rental payment? Silly.
    Well yes. But would that we lived in a world where there was a decent and affordable housing option for those without a massive inheritance. I don't think there was a mass of obvious alternatives leaping out at her.
    Well, of course. But the option is to continue to rent. I wish I didn't, but I do. Service charge increases are the landlord's problem mostly, since the rent is set by the wider market.
    Taking on 25% of a leasehold seems like the worst of all worlds quite honestly.
    The HAs are taking the piss because the part-owner / tenant is paying the full service charge not their % ownership. Service charges also seem to be extortionate, as these are all relatively new purpose built for the HA that raises the question of build quality and a conflict of interest for the HA.
    Rather than get into a contractual dispute with the builder, they can just rinse the part-leaseholder for the cost of rectifying the construction defects.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 39,643
    "Crispin Blunt’s chemsex parties informed government policy, court hears"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/25/crispin-blunt-former-tory-mp-pleads-guilty-drug-possession/
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    kinabalu said:

    PC + GRN could (almost) govern on those numbers. Two distinctly left wing parties. None of this 'left of centre' business, proper left. We could be looking at the Socialist Republic of Wales. If so, I'll be rooting for them and taking regular holidays there.

    It will be interesting to say the least

    And we would love you to come and holiday here - so much to see - so much to do - so much to explore - or just sit and relax
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 70,864
    Aaron Rupar
    @atrupar
    ·
    1h
    Q: Is it still your position that we're not at war?

    MIKE JOHNSON: I think we're wrapping up Operation Epic Fury. That's what I think. And I think it'll be done in short order.

    https://x.com/atrupar/status/2036815981050274029
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 70,864
    BatteryCorrectHorse said:

    As I've already said, the WhatsApp backup is fairly unreliable.

    The iCloud backup significantly less so - but it's not clear what backup is being referred to.

    In any case, to get the messages back they need to restore them to a new phone that McSweeney owns or has access to. I am not sure how that works from a data privacy POV, whether he can be compelled to restore the backup. I am sure lawyers would know.

    It's not private date. It is government business and should be on record.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    AnneJGP said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at Canterbury Cathedral for the enthronement of Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury (and the first Archbishop it turns out to have been educated at a comprehensive and a non Russell Group university and the first since Carey not to have been to Oxbridge), to be followed by Kemi Badenoch and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Live coverage on BBC1

    I do not want to be unkind but frankly it is boring
    Bit like you can sometimes be then!
    I am a confirmed Christian by no less than the Bishop of Durham and a previous server at communion but I just find all this very niche
    I too am a Christian and I LOLled at calling the installation of the new AoC, primate of the global Anglican family, "very niche." Bravo!
    The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector comes to mind at times like these

    Luke 18:9 - 14
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    edited March 25
    HYUFD said:

    kinabalu said:

    PC + GRN could (almost) govern on those numbers. Two distinctly left wing parties. None of this 'left of centre' business, proper left. We could be looking at the Socialist Republic of Wales. If so, I'll be rooting for them and taking regular holidays there.

    Though probably only for one term, given the number of businesses that will close or leave Wales as they hammer them with tax and regulation
    They said that about the SNP

    If I had a choice between the anti Welsh Farage and Plaid, it would be Plaid everytime and to be fair you voted Plaid previously as well
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 42,983
    Wow

    @bellingcat.com‬

    Satellite images from March 24 show the aftermath of a drone strike on the Primorsk Oil Terminal, a key Russian oil export facility. Smoke plumes extended over 100 km from the site, located near the Finnish border, which was hit by Ukraine in the night of March 22–23.

    https://bsky.app/profile/bellingcat.com/post/3mhvhufs3o22q
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 7,401
    You’re not apparently required to back up your phone but if there are important discussions and especially discussing policy areas you’re supposed to make them available to officials so they can be placed onto the public record .

    Of course this allows for subjectivity. As much as some want to think he purposely dumped his phone the incident where his phone was apparently stolen would be on CCTV and the incident happened before the legislation requiring the handing over of all relevant info re Mandelson .

  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    Andy_JS said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    HYUFD said:

    African choir and drums now at the cathedral giving a lively performance

    "Wokeness gorn mad!"
    Black British are percentage wise more likely to attend C of E services now than white British and globally the average Anglican is now an African
    So the question should be: why have most white people, particularly working-class white people, given up on the religion their family used to follow?
    I haven't, it's just I do not need the COE for it
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 127,088
    williamglenn said:

    The cover-up is worse than the crime.

    https://x.com/Peston/status/2036826551170261052

    Downing Street is refusing to say whether Morgan McSweeney’s WhatsApp exchanges with Peter Mandelson were lost when his phone was stolen (after Mandelson was sacked as US ambassador because of revelations about his Epstein friendship). But surely the rule in government for any official as senior as McSweeney - then chief of staff - should be that their messages are backed up to the cloud, when those messages are about government business.

    If there was no backup - and if there is no government rule insisting on backups - that would be extraordinary.

    And if McSweeney had an iPhone, for example, the default position is that messages would be backed up to the cloud. So if the Mandelson messages are not there, he would have disabled this facility

    Peston is wrong .
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 87,535
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    williamglenn said:

    The cover-up is worse than the crime.

    https://x.com/Peston/status/2036826551170261052

    Downing Street is refusing to say whether Morgan McSweeney’s WhatsApp exchanges with Peter Mandelson were lost when his phone was stolen (after Mandelson was sacked as US ambassador because of revelations about his Epstein friendship). But surely the rule in government for any official as senior as McSweeney - then chief of staff - should be that their messages are backed up to the cloud, when those messages are about government business.

    If there was no backup - and if there is no government rule insisting on backups - that would be extraordinary.

    And if McSweeney had an iPhone, for example, the default position is that messages would be backed up to the cloud. So if the Mandelson messages are not there, he would have disabled this facility

    Peston is wrong .
    You amaze me.
  • glwglw Posts: 10,855
    rottenborough said:

    BatteryCorrectHorse said:

    As I've already said, the WhatsApp backup is fairly unreliable.

    The iCloud backup significantly less so - but it's not clear what backup is being referred to.

    In any case, to get the messages back they need to restore them to a new phone that McSweeney owns or has access to. I am not sure how that works from a data privacy POV, whether he can be compelled to restore the backup. I am sure lawyers would know.

    It's not private date. It is government business and should be on record.
    McSweeney was the most senior appointee in the PM's office. The "lost" phone was apparently a "work" phone. They idea that he can just lose it, and it's not backed up, and any lost messages are shrugged off as no big deal is ridiculous. In any normal line of work where there was an investigation going on actions like this would look extremely dodgy.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 58,444
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    williamglenn said:

    The cover-up is worse than the crime.

    https://x.com/Peston/status/2036826551170261052

    Downing Street is refusing to say whether Morgan McSweeney’s WhatsApp exchanges with Peter Mandelson were lost when his phone was stolen (after Mandelson was sacked as US ambassador because of revelations about his Epstein friendship). But surely the rule in government for any official as senior as McSweeney - then chief of staff - should be that their messages are backed up to the cloud, when those messages are about government business.

    If there was no backup - and if there is no government rule insisting on backups - that would be extraordinary.

    And if McSweeney had an iPhone, for example, the default position is that messages would be backed up to the cloud. So if the Mandelson messages are not there, he would have disabled this facility

    Peston is wrong .
    When has that ever mattered?
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 10,038
    HYUFD said:

    African choir and drums now at the cathedral giving a lively performance

    I'm trying to work out whether I prefer your live text reporting of the enarchbishopment* or Ian's live text reporting of Crufts!

    Happily, I don't have to choose.

    *Apologies, I'm sure there's a proper name
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 49,724
    edited March 25
    Pulpstar said:

    carnforth said:

    Cookie said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    A fool and their money pt 94

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o

    "Jamie is a single parent and bought a 25% share of a three‑bedroom flat in north London to share with her child and disabled mother. She says she is struggling to afford her home after service charges rose to more than £8,000 per year - an increase of nearly 50% in under four years.

    From April, she faces paying £683 per month in service charges on top of her rent and mortgage payments. Housing costs, before bills, now take up more than half of her income."

    So she signed up to a flat with £400+ per month service charges and a rental payment? Silly.
    Well yes. But would that we lived in a world where there was a decent and affordable housing option for those without a massive inheritance. I don't think there was a mass of obvious alternatives leaping out at her.
    Well, of course. But the option is to continue to rent. I wish I didn't, but I do. Service charge increases are the landlord's problem mostly, since the rent is set by the wider market.
    Taking on 25% of a leasehold seems like the worst of all worlds quite honestly.
    A bad deal that has caught and trapped many young (and some not so young) people. It's the pits really. Push the imperative of home ownership, 'getting on the ladder', rent is 'dead money', got to buy, got to own the place, only way to accrue some wealth and security if you're not favoured with family money, a home of your own, the British Dream, but an impossible one for all these people, working just as hard as people in the past used to, but locked out of it, desperate to somehow buy, so desperate they sign up for stuff like this and then get shafted all ways up, end up worse off than if they'd not bothered at all. A scandal imo.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 63,655
    edited March 25
    rottenborough said:

    BatteryCorrectHorse said:

    As I've already said, the WhatsApp backup is fairly unreliable.

    The iCloud backup significantly less so - but it's not clear what backup is being referred to.

    In any case, to get the messages back they need to restore them to a new phone that McSweeney owns or has access to. I am not sure how that works from a data privacy POV, whether he can be compelled to restore the backup. I am sure lawyers would know.

    It's not private date. It is government business and should be on record.
    It should.

    Furthermore, members of government (and advisors to, and civil servants) should not be communicating via WhatsApp, given its weird backup systems thart make it very hard to move between Android and iPhone.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 127,088
    edited March 25
    glw said:

    rottenborough said:

    BatteryCorrectHorse said:

    As I've already said, the WhatsApp backup is fairly unreliable.

    The iCloud backup significantly less so - but it's not clear what backup is being referred to.

    In any case, to get the messages back they need to restore them to a new phone that McSweeney owns or has access to. I am not sure how that works from a data privacy POV, whether he can be compelled to restore the backup. I am sure lawyers would know.

    It's not private date. It is government business and should be on record.
    McSweeney was the most senior appointee in the PM's office. The "lost" phone was apparently a "work" phone. They idea that he can just lose it, and it's not backed up, and any lost messages are shrugged off as no big deal is ridiculous. In any normal line of work where there was an investigation going on actions like this would look extremely dodgy.
    Cast your mind back to Boris Johnson and the deletion of his WhatsApps, government phones aren't backed up in the same way as companies do.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/19/penny-mordaunt-boris-johnsons-messages-vanished-from-my-phone

    https://www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article/johnson-says-5000-messages-lost-due-to-whatsapp-automatically-erasing-things

    Where McSweeney is on dodgy ground is his how he reported his phone being stolen to the Met.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 32,749
    My Photo of the Day.

    This is just one I ran into on Google Maps.

    WTF is in these people's brains (apart from mush)?

    That is a MAJOR walking, and dog-walking, route - in addition to the footway being completely blocked. And it is a 6m carriageway, so plenty of space.


  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 49,724
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    kinabalu said:

    PC + GRN could (almost) govern on those numbers. Two distinctly left wing parties. None of this 'left of centre' business, proper left. We could be looking at the Socialist Republic of Wales. If so, I'll be rooting for them and taking regular holidays there.

    It will be interesting to say the least

    And we would love you to come and holiday here - so much to see - so much to do - so much to explore - or just sit and relax
    It's a deal. Unless REF win - but let's not even think about that.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 127,088
    rcs1000 said:

    rottenborough said:

    BatteryCorrectHorse said:

    As I've already said, the WhatsApp backup is fairly unreliable.

    The iCloud backup significantly less so - but it's not clear what backup is being referred to.

    In any case, to get the messages back they need to restore them to a new phone that McSweeney owns or has access to. I am not sure how that works from a data privacy POV, whether he can be compelled to restore the backup. I am sure lawyers would know.

    It's not private date. It is government business and should be on record.
    It should.

    Furthermore, members of government (and advisors to, and civil servants) should not be communicating via WhatsApp, given its weird backup systems thart make it very hard to move between Android and iPhone.
    It's easy now to switch your WhatsApp from Android to iPhones.

    https://faq.whatsapp.com/686469079565350
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    kinabalu said:

    Pulpstar said:

    carnforth said:

    Cookie said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    A fool and their money pt 94

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o

    "Jamie is a single parent and bought a 25% share of a three‑bedroom flat in north London to share with her child and disabled mother. She says she is struggling to afford her home after service charges rose to more than £8,000 per year - an increase of nearly 50% in under four years.

    From April, she faces paying £683 per month in service charges on top of her rent and mortgage payments. Housing costs, before bills, now take up more than half of her income."

    So she signed up to a flat with £400+ per month service charges and a rental payment? Silly.
    Well yes. But would that we lived in a world where there was a decent and affordable housing option for those without a massive inheritance. I don't think there was a mass of obvious alternatives leaping out at her.
    Well, of course. But the option is to continue to rent. I wish I didn't, but I do. Service charge increases are the landlord's problem mostly, since the rent is set by the wider market.
    Taking on 25% of a leasehold seems like the worst of all worlds quite honestly.
    A bad deal that has caught and trapped many young (and some not so young) people. It's the pits really. Push the imperative of home ownership, 'getting on the ladder', rent is 'dead money', got to buy, got to own the place, only way to accrue some wealth and security if you're not favoured with family money, a home of your own, the British Dream, but an impossible one for all these people, working just as hard as people in the past used to, but locked out of it, desperate to somehow buy, so desperate they sign up for stuff like this and then get shafted all ways up, end up worse off than if they'd not bothered at all. A scandal imo.
    Yet 'The NAO report found that shared ownership is forecast to be cheaper than private renting in 93% of areas across England over 10 years.

    The study suggests that over that period, shared owners are, on average, £29,000 better off - rising to £42,000 in London.'
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    Government backs five-council unitaries plan for Essex to replace county and district councils
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d4p97g341o
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 61,849
    BatteryCorrectHorse said:

    As I've already said, the WhatsApp backup is fairly unreliable.

    The iCloud backup significantly less so - but it's not clear what backup is being referred to.

    In any case, to get the messages back they need to restore them to a new phone that McSweeney owns or has access to. I am not sure how that works from a data privacy POV, whether he can be compelled to restore the backup. I am sure lawyers would know.

    And comes back to government work being done via a foreign owned service that has known security concerns.

    It would take a small team (a handful to code it, a handful to run the servers/apps) to setup a fork of Signal that could be hosted on physical U.K. servers. With secured backups of all messages.

    Yes, you get a quote for hundreds of millions. But that’s bollocks.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 7,401
    The government doesn’t say how these mobile phones are protected for obvious reasons .

    The procedure if it’s lost or stolen is to immediately contact the police, surely though you wouldn’t want the thief to know he had a government issued device so you’re not going to broadcast that fact .
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    Andy_JS said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    HYUFD said:

    African choir and drums now at the cathedral giving a lively performance

    "Wokeness gorn mad!"
    Black British are percentage wise more likely to attend C of E services now than white British and globally the average Anglican is now an African
    So the question should be: why have most white people, particularly working-class white people, given up on the religion their family used to follow?
    I haven't, it's just I do not need the COE for it
    Church in Wales where you are
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 49,724
    HYUFD said:

    kinabalu said:

    Pulpstar said:

    carnforth said:

    Cookie said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    A fool and their money pt 94

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o

    "Jamie is a single parent and bought a 25% share of a three‑bedroom flat in north London to share with her child and disabled mother. She says she is struggling to afford her home after service charges rose to more than £8,000 per year - an increase of nearly 50% in under four years.

    From April, she faces paying £683 per month in service charges on top of her rent and mortgage payments. Housing costs, before bills, now take up more than half of her income."

    So she signed up to a flat with £400+ per month service charges and a rental payment? Silly.
    Well yes. But would that we lived in a world where there was a decent and affordable housing option for those without a massive inheritance. I don't think there was a mass of obvious alternatives leaping out at her.
    Well, of course. But the option is to continue to rent. I wish I didn't, but I do. Service charge increases are the landlord's problem mostly, since the rent is set by the wider market.
    Taking on 25% of a leasehold seems like the worst of all worlds quite honestly.
    A bad deal that has caught and trapped many young (and some not so young) people. It's the pits really. Push the imperative of home ownership, 'getting on the ladder', rent is 'dead money', got to buy, got to own the place, only way to accrue some wealth and security if you're not favoured with family money, a home of your own, the British Dream, but an impossible one for all these people, working just as hard as people in the past used to, but locked out of it, desperate to somehow buy, so desperate they sign up for stuff like this and then get shafted all ways up, end up worse off than if they'd not bothered at all. A scandal imo.
    Yet 'The NAO report found that shared ownership is forecast to be cheaper than private renting in 93% of areas across England over 10 years.

    The study suggests that over that period, shared owners are, on average, £29,000 better off - rising to £42,000 in London.'
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm25e8k2je1o
    Hmm, I think we'd need to give that one the beady eye.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    Andy_JS said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    HYUFD said:

    African choir and drums now at the cathedral giving a lively performance

    "Wokeness gorn mad!"
    Black British are percentage wise more likely to attend C of E services now than white British and globally the average Anglican is now an African
    So the question should be: why have most white people, particularly working-class white people, given up on the religion their family used to follow?
    Well most white working class people have given up on the party their family used to vote for, now voting Reform not Labour.

    While the C of E is now more the Labour/LD parties at prayer than the Tory party at prayer as it was in the last century
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 134,947
    kinabalu said:

    HYUFD said:

    kinabalu said:

    PC + GRN could (almost) govern on those numbers. Two distinctly left wing parties. None of this 'left of centre' business, proper left. We could be looking at the Socialist Republic of Wales. If so, I'll be rooting for them and taking regular holidays there.

    Though probably only for one term, given the number of businesses that will close or leave Wales as they hammer them with tax and regulation
    The usual scaremongering whenever anything designed to shift a bit of advantage from capital to labour is mooted.

    How are you feeling about the first female head of the church, H? Quite a moment.
    Wales is already one of the most taxed and highest public spending nations in the world, it needs tax cuts and some fiscal conservatism not even more of the same.

    I am fine with the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, 2/3 of Synod voted for female bishops a decade ago but I would still allow alternative episcopal oversight for those conservative Anglo Catholic or evangelical churches which still believe St Paul only allows male headship in churches
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 5,014
    stjohn said:

    Just turned on the TV. Archbishop of Canterbury’s first day at work. Not an auspicious start. Her coworkers had locked her out of the building. She had to practically batter the front door down to get into the office.

    Where would we be without tradition?
  • DoubleCarpetDoubleCarpet Posts: 987
    stjohn said:

    Just turned on the TV. Archbishop of Canterbury’s first day at work. Not an auspicious start. Her coworkers had locked her out of the building. She had to practically batter the front door down to get into the office.

    Deliberately locked her out?
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 58,657
    Andy_JS said:

    "Crispin Blunt’s chemsex parties informed government policy, court hears"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/25/crispin-blunt-former-tory-mp-pleads-guilty-drug-possession/

    He did it for "research" purposes?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 63,655
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rottenborough said:

    BatteryCorrectHorse said:

    As I've already said, the WhatsApp backup is fairly unreliable.

    The iCloud backup significantly less so - but it's not clear what backup is being referred to.

    In any case, to get the messages back they need to restore them to a new phone that McSweeney owns or has access to. I am not sure how that works from a data privacy POV, whether he can be compelled to restore the backup. I am sure lawyers would know.

    It's not private date. It is government business and should be on record.
    It should.

    Furthermore, members of government (and advisors to, and civil servants) should not be communicating via WhatsApp, given its weird backup systems thart make it very hard to move between Android and iPhone.
    It's easy now to switch your WhatsApp from Android to iPhones.

    https://faq.whatsapp.com/686469079565350
    That was not true in the recent past.

    When the folding iPhone comes out, I may return to Apple.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 63,655
    Cicero said:

    RochdalePioneers said:

    OnlyLivingBoy said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sort of on topic, I am now dating a Welsh girl with 36DDs which is frankly a ridiculously long and unpronounceable name.

    You are David Davis's Tory leadership campaign and I claim my £5.


    Which of the three is TSE?
    Which of the five, surely?
    Very good.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 35,474
    edited March 25
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    glw said:

    rottenborough said:

    BatteryCorrectHorse said:

    As I've already said, the WhatsApp backup is fairly unreliable.

    The iCloud backup significantly less so - but it's not clear what backup is being referred to.

    In any case, to get the messages back they need to restore them to a new phone that McSweeney owns or has access to. I am not sure how that works from a data privacy POV, whether he can be compelled to restore the backup. I am sure lawyers would know.

    It's not private date. It is government business and should be on record.
    McSweeney was the most senior appointee in the PM's office. The "lost" phone was apparently a "work" phone. They idea that he can just lose it, and it's not backed up, and any lost messages are shrugged off as no big deal is ridiculous. In any normal line of work where there was an investigation going on actions like this would look extremely dodgy.
    Cast your mind back to Boris Johnson and the deletion of his WhatsApps, government phones aren't backed up in the same way as companies do.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/19/penny-mordaunt-boris-johnsons-messages-vanished-from-my-phone

    https://www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article/johnson-says-5000-messages-lost-due-to-whatsapp-automatically-erasing-things

    Where McSweeney is on dodgy ground is his how he reported his phone being stolen to the Met.
    McSweeney did mention in passing that it was a government phone. The really odd part is that he never corrects the wrong location (out by several boroughs).
    https://x.com/steven_swinford/status/2036769547768807770

    ETA re the Boris precedent: automatic erasure, no official archiving and using WhatsApp in the first place should all be scandals but they may as well drop them off North Sea ferries for all that anyone cares.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 39,643
    "Mahmood abolishes non-crime hate incidents
    Home Secretary introduces new laws revoking statutory code that dictates how police should investigate and record NCHIs"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/24/mahmood-abolishes-non-crime-hate-incidents
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 49,724
    HYUFD said:

    kinabalu said:

    HYUFD said:

    kinabalu said:

    PC + GRN could (almost) govern on those numbers. Two distinctly left wing parties. None of this 'left of centre' business, proper left. We could be looking at the Socialist Republic of Wales. If so, I'll be rooting for them and taking regular holidays there.

    Though probably only for one term, given the number of businesses that will close or leave Wales as they hammer them with tax and regulation
    The usual scaremongering whenever anything designed to shift a bit of advantage from capital to labour is mooted.

    How are you feeling about the first female head of the church, H? Quite a moment.
    Wales is already one of the most taxed and highest public spending nations in the world, it needs tax cuts and some fiscal conservatism not even more of the same.

    I am fine with the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, 2/3 of Synod voted for female bishops a decade ago but I would still allow alternative episcopal oversight for those conservative Anglo Catholic or evangelical churches which still believe St Paul only allows male headship in churches
    Plaid did turn your head once though istr.

    Yes, a positive event. I'm not religous but I'm not unmoved by it.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 58,444
    DecrepiterJohnL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    glw said:

    rottenborough said:

    BatteryCorrectHorse said:

    As I've already said, the WhatsApp backup is fairly unreliable.

    The iCloud backup significantly less so - but it's not clear what backup is being referred to.

    In any case, to get the messages back they need to restore them to a new phone that McSweeney owns or has access to. I am not sure how that works from a data privacy POV, whether he can be compelled to restore the backup. I am sure lawyers would know.

    It's not private date. It is government business and should be on record.
    McSweeney was the most senior appointee in the PM's office. The "lost" phone was apparently a "work" phone. They idea that he can just lose it, and it's not backed up, and any lost messages are shrugged off as no big deal is ridiculous. In any normal line of work where there was an investigation going on actions like this would look extremely dodgy.
    Cast your mind back to Boris Johnson and the deletion of his WhatsApps, government phones aren't backed up in the same way as companies do.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/19/penny-mordaunt-boris-johnsons-messages-vanished-from-my-phone

    https://www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article/johnson-says-5000-messages-lost-due-to-whatsapp-automatically-erasing-things

    Where McSweeney is on dodgy ground is his how he reported his phone being stolen to the Met.
    McSweeney did mention in passing that it was a government phone. The really odd part is that he never corrects the wrong location (out by several boroughs).
    https://x.com/steven_swinford/status/2036769547768807770

    ETA re the Boris precedent: automatic erasure, no official archiving and using WhatsApp in the first place should all be scandals but they may as well drop them off North Sea ferries for all that anyone cares.
    He might not have realised they recorded the wrong location and thought that the operator was talking about Green Park.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 39,643
    "Reform supporters losing trust in courts and police
    Biggest annual drop in confidence in the judicial system on record, according to poll

    Reform UK voters are driving a slump in confidence in the police and criminal justice system, according to a major opinion poll.

    Only 30 per cent of the party’s voters said they had confidence in the judicial system, compared with 67 per cent of Labour supporters and 63 per cent of Conservatives, a survey by Gallup says.

    Fewer than half of Reform voters (47 per cent) said they had confidence in their local police force, compared with 72 per cent for Labour and 74 per cent for Conservatives.

    The dissatisfaction amongst Reform voters contributed to the biggest annual drop in confidence in the judicial system on record."

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/22/reform-supporters-losing-trust-courts-police
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    kinabalu said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    kinabalu said:

    PC + GRN could (almost) govern on those numbers. Two distinctly left wing parties. None of this 'left of centre' business, proper left. We could be looking at the Socialist Republic of Wales. If so, I'll be rooting for them and taking regular holidays there.

    It will be interesting to say the least

    And we would love you to come and holiday here - so much to see - so much to do - so much to explore - or just sit and relax
    It's a deal. Unless REF win - but let's not even think about that.
    They won't
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 70,876
    HYUFD said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    Andy_JS said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    HYUFD said:

    African choir and drums now at the cathedral giving a lively performance

    "Wokeness gorn mad!"
    Black British are percentage wise more likely to attend C of E services now than white British and globally the average Anglican is now an African
    So the question should be: why have most white people, particularly working-class white people, given up on the religion their family used to follow?
    I haven't, it's just I do not need the COE for it
    Church in Wales where you are
    Nope
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 49,724
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    kinabalu said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    kinabalu said:

    PC + GRN could (almost) govern on those numbers. Two distinctly left wing parties. None of this 'left of centre' business, proper left. We could be looking at the Socialist Republic of Wales. If so, I'll be rooting for them and taking regular holidays there.

    It will be interesting to say the least

    And we would love you to come and holiday here - so much to see - so much to do - so much to explore - or just sit and relax
    It's a deal. Unless REF win - but let's not even think about that.
    They won't
    I'll hold you to that.
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