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Oil be back, terminating the Net Zero targets North of the border – politicalbetting.com

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  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 72,388

    Doesn't look like a street that needs this win to me.



    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    1h
    🚨 WATCH: Nigel Farage visits the winner of Reform UK's free energy bills prize draw


    https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2042315911068041456

    It's quite the conundrum, how high does your energy bill need to be for you to risk getting a visit from Farage?
    Be funny if one of those AI datacentres that use 3 GW a day had entered and won.

  • https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    You say that but then you have Reform UK proposing to actually gut any push for renewables.
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 4,849
    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Bonnie Greer doing her bit for an ongoing special relationship.

    US banned Black soldiers in WW2 from eating in homes; going to pubs etc
    The British ignored the bans.
    My late dad got to have a home cooked meal.
    US segregated the pubs!
    So folks here fought white GIs so that guys like my dad could have a pint.

    #SpecialRelationship

    https://x.com/Bonn1eGreer/status/2042206739261464929

    Ron DeS not.

    Governor DeSantis says the United States should reconsider being close allies with the United Kingdom because they have imported the Third World and we do not share a common culture anymore.
    https://x.com/ReOpenChris/status/2041999975286992995
    That common culture being "those Brit lapdogs used to do whatever we said and were delighted to be our useful idiot ally, it's sad they aren't like that any more"
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    It was rational(ish) when solar panels were exotic things, as rare and expensive as fine rubies. Then (and it wasn't that long ago), they were the pricey bit of the process, and it was necessary to put them in places with lots of sunshine, even if it meant contrivances like a power cable from Morocco to here. Now they have become super cheap, so we might as well put them everywhere- even in places where it's not that sunny. (And plenty of the UK is sunny enough, Linconshire for example.)

    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
  • I just cannot see how any politician left or right cannot see that our only hope is to go fill in on renewables.

    Yes drill more oil as well. But you’ve got to do renewables.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 24,240

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    You say that but then you have Reform UK proposing to actually gut any push for renewables.
    Again that is simply a matter of incentives. People who make money from fossil fuels donate money to Reform. Of course Reform is going to push to preserve their profits for as long as possible. They've been bought.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    My wife's Korean friend says she can't watch TV at the moment as she gets so angry when Trump appears.

    FWIW.
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 17,363

    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Bonnie Greer doing her bit for an ongoing special relationship.

    US banned Black soldiers in WW2 from eating in homes; going to pubs etc
    The British ignored the bans.
    My late dad got to have a home cooked meal.
    US segregated the pubs!
    So folks here fought white GIs so that guys like my dad could have a pint.

    #SpecialRelationship

    https://x.com/Bonn1eGreer/status/2042206739261464929

    Ron DeS not.

    Governor DeSantis says the United States should reconsider being close allies with the United Kingdom because they have imported the Third World and we do not share a common culture anymore.
    https://x.com/ReOpenChris/status/2041999975286992995
    That common culture being "those Brit lapdogs used to do whatever we said and were delighted to be our useful idiot ally, it's sad they aren't like that any more"
    Kind of liberating, isn’t it?
  • CookieCookie Posts: 17,568

    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Bonnie Greer doing her bit for an ongoing special relationship.

    US banned Black soldiers in WW2 from eating in homes; going to pubs etc
    The British ignored the bans.
    My late dad got to have a home cooked meal.
    US segregated the pubs!
    So folks here fought white GIs so that guys like my dad could have a pint.

    #SpecialRelationship

    https://x.com/Bonn1eGreer/status/2042206739261464929

    Ron DeS not.

    Governor DeSantis says the United States should reconsider being close allies with the United Kingdom because they have imported the Third World and we do not share a common culture anymore.
    https://x.com/ReOpenChris/status/2041999975286992995
    That common culture being "those Brit lapdogs used to do whatever we said and were delighted to be our useful idiot ally, it's sad they aren't like that any more"
    Your regular reminder that we have 5 openly sectarian MPs, Lancashire County Council includes a 'men and women should be kept separate' party and if polls are right Birmingham will be run after May by a party whose main concern is a desolate strip of the Middle East.

    Hard to say RonDS is wrong that we have imported a third world culture.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 24,240

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    It was rational(ish) when solar panels were exotic things, as rare and expensive as fine rubies. Then (and it wasn't that long ago), they were the pricey bit of the process, and it was necessary to put them in places with lots of sunshine, even if it meant contrivances like a power cable from Morocco to here. Now they have become super cheap, so we might as well put them everywhere- even in places where it's not that sunny. (And plenty of the UK is sunny enough, Linconshire for example.)

    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I would not be surprised if the Telegraph journalist had solar panels themselves, but knew what the prejudices of their audience were and what performance would be more warmly received.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886
    https://x.com/israelipm/status/2042343856910258614

    The Prime Minister's Office:

    Pakistan Defence Minister’s call for Israel’s annihilation is outrageous. This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 9,247
    Nigelb said:

    My wife's Korean friend says she can't watch TV at the moment as she gets so angry when Trump appears.

    FWIW.

    He's not racist enough for Koreans?

    On a related topic, I have a dentist's appointment tomorrow to 2:30. Did consider banter with the receptionist but thought better of it.
  • welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,519
    Nigelb said:

    welshowl said:

    Test

    Are you the new Trident sub captain ?
    Lol. No you can rest easy. I’m not at periscope depth 600 miles out listening for the Today programme😁
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 72,388
    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,814
    Nigelb said:

    My wife's Korean friend says she can't watch TV at the moment as she gets so angry when Trump appears.

    FWIW.

    It's one reason I couldn't watch late night hosts in America - some of them are funny enough, but I can't hear 'Here's another reason to hate Trump' every night and still get something out of it, entertainment wise.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,814
    Cookie said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Bonnie Greer doing her bit for an ongoing special relationship.

    US banned Black soldiers in WW2 from eating in homes; going to pubs etc
    The British ignored the bans.
    My late dad got to have a home cooked meal.
    US segregated the pubs!
    So folks here fought white GIs so that guys like my dad could have a pint.

    #SpecialRelationship

    https://x.com/Bonn1eGreer/status/2042206739261464929

    Ron DeS not.

    Governor DeSantis says the United States should reconsider being close allies with the United Kingdom because they have imported the Third World and we do not share a common culture anymore.
    https://x.com/ReOpenChris/status/2041999975286992995
    That common culture being "those Brit lapdogs used to do whatever we said and were delighted to be our useful idiot ally, it's sad they aren't like that any more"
    Your regular reminder that we have 5 openly sectarian MPs, Lancashire County Council includes a 'men and women should be kept separate' party and if polls are right Birmingham will be run after May by a party whose main concern is a desolate strip of the Middle East.

    Hard to say RonDS is wrong that we have imported a third world culture.
    Even accepting the premise for a moment that's not a massive impact to form the basis of no longer being close allies with one of their closes allies for 75 years.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 61,140

    RobD said:

    Solar not the right technology for the UK. So what is then?

    They tried “climate change isn’t real” and it didn’t work so now we’re onto the next go.

    Wind.

    If it’s not windy it’s sunny.
    No we need both.

    But Reform oppose wind turbines too.
    It’s more often windy than sunny. So wind is the right technology for the UK. When it’s not windy, we can use solar, or nuclear.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,814
    RobD said:

    RobD said:

    Solar not the right technology for the UK. So what is then?

    They tried “climate change isn’t real” and it didn’t work so now we’re onto the next go.

    Wind.

    If it’s not windy it’s sunny.
    No we need both.

    But Reform oppose wind turbines too.
    It’s more often windy than sunny. So wind is the right technology for the UK. When it’s not windy, we can use solar, or nuclear.
    The entire coastal waters of the UK needs to be lined with windfarms, it's the only place the NIMBYs don't object so strongly.
  • RobD said:

    RobD said:

    Solar not the right technology for the UK. So what is then?

    They tried “climate change isn’t real” and it didn’t work so now we’re onto the next go.

    Wind.

    If it’s not windy it’s sunny.
    No we need both.

    But Reform oppose wind turbines too.
    It’s more often windy than sunny. So wind is the right technology for the UK. When it’s not windy, we can use solar, or nuclear.
    So why do Reform UK oppose it?
  • https://x.com/israelipm/status/2042343856910258614

    The Prime Minister's Office:

    Pakistan Defence Minister’s call for Israel’s annihilation is outrageous. This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace.

    Are they having a laugh.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 72,388
    I'll scream and scream until I am sick latest...


    Aaron Rupar
    @atrupar
    ·
    22m
    Trump: “There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait — They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

    https://x.com/atrupar/status/2042349223111483638
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,814

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886

    https://x.com/israelipm/status/2042343856910258614

    The Prime Minister's Office:

    Pakistan Defence Minister’s call for Israel’s annihilation is outrageous. This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace.

    Are they having a laugh.
    This is what the Pakistan Defence Minister said:

    https://x.com/KhawajaMAsif/status/2042286922547220877

    Israel is evil and a curse for humanity, while peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon. Innocent citizens are being killed by Israel, first Gaza, then Iran and now Lebanon, bloodletting continues unabated. I hope and pray people who created this cancerous state on Palestinian land to get rid of European jews burn in hell.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    Marge.

    Marjorie Taylor Greene: "Other Republicans are terrified. They're cowards. And I really have to call out Speaker Mike Johnson, who calls himself a Christian. I don't know how he can stand by those words. That's what was so offensive to me. Any Christian serving in Congress or the administration really need to take pause and ask themselves, 'As a Christian, do you really support the president calling to wipe out an entire civilization of people?' I don't think you should, because that's not what Jesus said and that's not what Christianity is all about."
    https://x.com/atrupar/status/2042254051044155662
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,814
    Nigelb said:

    Marge.

    Marjorie Taylor Greene: "Other Republicans are terrified. They're cowards. And I really have to call out Speaker Mike Johnson, who calls himself a Christian. I don't know how he can stand by those words. That's what was so offensive to me. Any Christian serving in Congress or the administration really need to take pause and ask themselves, 'As a Christian, do you really support the president calling to wipe out an entire civilization of people?' I don't think you should, because that's not what Jesus said and that's not what Christianity is all about."
    https://x.com/atrupar/status/2042254051044155662

    Like Mike Pence she found her line. Very very late, but she found it.

    Such people, nice or not, are still extremely rare though.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 8,097

    RobD said:

    RobD said:

    Solar not the right technology for the UK. So what is then?

    They tried “climate change isn’t real” and it didn’t work so now we’re onto the next go.

    Wind.

    If it’s not windy it’s sunny.
    No we need both.

    But Reform oppose wind turbines too.
    It’s more often windy than sunny. So wind is the right technology for the UK. When it’s not windy, we can use solar, or nuclear.
    So why do Reform UK oppose it?
    Because it is contrary to their policy of reopening coal mines and sending children to work down them.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 43,524
    Trump is now whining that he won and bitching that the papers won't say that

    https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3mj3qvyfqes2f

    US: We won!

    Iran: Nope

    US: We totally won!

    Iran: Still nope.

    US: Nobody has won more than us.

    Iran: Except us...

    Repeat to fade
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 17,363
    kle4 said:

    Cookie said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Bonnie Greer doing her bit for an ongoing special relationship.

    US banned Black soldiers in WW2 from eating in homes; going to pubs etc
    The British ignored the bans.
    My late dad got to have a home cooked meal.
    US segregated the pubs!
    So folks here fought white GIs so that guys like my dad could have a pint.

    #SpecialRelationship

    https://x.com/Bonn1eGreer/status/2042206739261464929

    Ron DeS not.

    Governor DeSantis says the United States should reconsider being close allies with the United Kingdom because they have imported the Third World and we do not share a common culture anymore.
    https://x.com/ReOpenChris/status/2041999975286992995
    That common culture being "those Brit lapdogs used to do whatever we said and were delighted to be our useful idiot ally, it's sad they aren't like that any more"
    Your regular reminder that we have 5 openly sectarian MPs, Lancashire County Council includes a 'men and women should be kept separate' party and if polls are right Birmingham will be run after May by a party whose main concern is a desolate strip of the Middle East.

    Hard to say RonDS is wrong that we have imported a third world culture.
    Even accepting the premise for a moment that's not a massive impact to form the basis of no longer being close allies with one of their closes allies for 75 years.
    When posters start quoting foreign social media bot propaganda at us it’s time to press the ignore button.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,814
    Scott_xP said:

    Trump is now whining that he won and bitching that the papers won't say that

    https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3mj3qvyfqes2f

    US: We won!

    Iran: Nope

    US: We totally won!

    Iran: Still nope.

    US: Nobody has won more than us.

    Iran: Except us...

    Repeat to fade

    Why has he stopped thanking us for our attention to this matter?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 72,388
    kle4 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Trump is now whining that he won and bitching that the papers won't say that

    https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3mj3qvyfqes2f

    US: We won!

    Iran: Nope

    US: We totally won!

    Iran: Still nope.

    US: Nobody has won more than us.

    Iran: Except us...

    Repeat to fade

    Why has he stopped thanking us for our attention to this matter?
    "because of me, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON"

    Just fucking LOL.

    The dozens of kgs of 60 or 70% enriched material remain in Iranian hands with US having it seems no idea where they are or what they can do about it.

  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    kle4 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Trump is now whining that he won and bitching that the papers won't say that

    https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3mj3qvyfqes2f

    US: We won!

    Iran: Nope

    US: We totally won!

    Iran: Still nope.

    US: Nobody has won more than us.

    Iran: Except us...

    Repeat to fade

    Why has he stopped thanking us for our attention to this matter?
    People stopped paying attention?
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 9,247
    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
  • RobDRobD Posts: 61,140

    RobD said:

    RobD said:

    Solar not the right technology for the UK. So what is then?

    They tried “climate change isn’t real” and it didn’t work so now we’re onto the next go.

    Wind.

    If it’s not windy it’s sunny.
    No we need both.

    But Reform oppose wind turbines too.
    It’s more often windy than sunny. So wind is the right technology for the UK. When it’s not windy, we can use solar, or nuclear.
    So why do Reform UK oppose it?
    Why on earth would I know?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 20,988
    IanB2 said:

    Ed Davey’s having some fun at Tory expense in the LD’s election broadcast for the locals, not only including the screened clip of Badenoch complimenting LibDems at being good at ‘fixing the church roof’ - but filming the whole thing on top of a church!

    Pretty good PPB, I thought. Implicitly appealing to a soft Tory vote. It’s not a PPB speaking to an inner city experience!
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 50,749
    Nigelb said:

    My wife's Korean friend says she can't watch TV at the moment as she gets so angry when Trump appears.

    FWIW.

    A lot of people are trying to screen him out, I think. You just don't want that in your life.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886
    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
  • dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    Do you remember when you opposed Brexit?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    Do you remember when you opposed Brexit?
    Before it happened. There's no point opposing it now.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 40,191
    What are the odds on the culprit being an XL Bully once again?

    "Child dies in dog attack, police say"

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce35zkl9dg3o
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,472

    IanB2 said:

    Ed Davey’s having some fun at Tory expense in the LD’s election broadcast for the locals, not only including the screened clip of Badenoch complimenting LibDems at being good at ‘fixing the church roof’ - but filming the whole thing on top of a church!

    Pretty good PPB, I thought. Implicitly appealing to a soft Tory vote. It’s not a PPB speaking to an inner city experience!
    I was disappointed that he didn't sign off by abseiling down the church tower.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 20,988
    Cookie said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Bonnie Greer doing her bit for an ongoing special relationship.

    US banned Black soldiers in WW2 from eating in homes; going to pubs etc
    The British ignored the bans.
    My late dad got to have a home cooked meal.
    US segregated the pubs!
    So folks here fought white GIs so that guys like my dad could have a pint.

    #SpecialRelationship

    https://x.com/Bonn1eGreer/status/2042206739261464929

    Ron DeS not.

    Governor DeSantis says the United States should reconsider being close allies with the United Kingdom because they have imported the Third World and we do not share a common culture anymore.
    https://x.com/ReOpenChris/status/2041999975286992995
    That common culture being "those Brit lapdogs used to do whatever we said and were delighted to be our useful idiot ally, it's sad they aren't like that any more"
    Your regular reminder that we have 5 openly sectarian MPs, Lancashire County Council includes a 'men and women should be kept separate' party and if polls are right Birmingham will be run after May by a party whose main concern is a desolate strip of the Middle East.

    Hard to say RonDS is wrong that we have imported a third world culture.
    Don’t we have 16 openly sectarian MPs from Northern Ireland?
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 59,819
    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Bonnie Greer doing her bit for an ongoing special relationship.

    US banned Black soldiers in WW2 from eating in homes; going to pubs etc
    The British ignored the bans.
    My late dad got to have a home cooked meal.
    US segregated the pubs!
    So folks here fought white GIs so that guys like my dad could have a pint.

    #SpecialRelationship

    https://x.com/Bonn1eGreer/status/2042206739261464929

    Ron DeS not.

    Governor DeSantis says the United States should reconsider being close allies with the United Kingdom because they have imported the Third World and we do not share a common culture anymore.
    https://x.com/ReOpenChris/status/2041999975286992995
    What have we got in common with the Yanks anyway?

    * They drive on the wrong side of the road
    * They don't play football with a round ball
    * They don't play cricket
    * They're a republic
    * They mispronounce basic words like "water"
    * They can't spell basic words like "colour"
    * They're a bunch of gun nuts.
  • welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,519

    IanB2 said:

    Ed Davey’s having some fun at Tory expense in the LD’s election broadcast for the locals, not only including the screened clip of Badenoch complimenting LibDems at being good at ‘fixing the church roof’ - but filming the whole thing on top of a church!

    Pretty good PPB, I thought. Implicitly appealing to a soft Tory vote. It’s not a PPB speaking to an inner city experience!
    I was disappointed that he didn't sign off by abseiling down the church tower.
    Would’ve been inspired?

    Ah - my coat.
  • eekeek Posts: 33,922
    edited April 9
    RobD said:

    RobD said:

    RobD said:

    Solar not the right technology for the UK. So what is then?

    They tried “climate change isn’t real” and it didn’t work so now we’re onto the next go.

    Wind.

    If it’s not windy it’s sunny.
    No we need both.

    But Reform oppose wind turbines too.
    It’s more often windy than sunny. So wind is the right technology for the UK. When it’s not windy, we can use solar, or nuclear.
    So why do Reform UK oppose it?
    Why on earth would I know?
    Look at where Reform / Nigel gets his money from
    - that will tell you everything you need to know

    Edit - it wouldn’t be so bad if Nigel wasn’t so cheaply bribed
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,472

    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

    Bit if it cost £100 a week more to lease an electric van, stick to the oil burner.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 18,483

    Nigelb said:

    Marge.

    Marjorie Taylor Greene: "Other Republicans are terrified. They're cowards. And I really have to call out Speaker Mike Johnson, who calls himself a Christian. I don't know how he can stand by those words. That's what was so offensive to me. Any Christian serving in Congress or the administration really need to take pause and ask themselves, 'As a Christian, do you really support the president calling to wipe out an entire civilization of people?' I don't think you should, because that's not what Jesus said and that's not what Christianity is all about."
    https://x.com/atrupar/status/2042254051044155662

    Let's all be honest who had MTG being one of Trump's nemesises on their bingo card?

    Or one of the safest and most moral members of the Republican party?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 50,749
    edited April 9

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    No, our EU membership was the scapegoat. Blamed for problems it had next to nothing to do with. Brexit was the product of that.
  • eekeek Posts: 33,922

    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

    Bit if it cost £100 a week more to lease an electric van, stick to the oil burner.
    It really depends on the range the van needs to drive in a day, little point if you are an Amazon driver with a 100 mile drive before you start your deliveries a which can be the case around here
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 24,240
    kle4 said:

    RobD said:

    RobD said:

    Solar not the right technology for the UK. So what is then?

    They tried “climate change isn’t real” and it didn’t work so now we’re onto the next go.

    Wind.

    If it’s not windy it’s sunny.
    No we need both.

    But Reform oppose wind turbines too.
    It’s more often windy than sunny. So wind is the right technology for the UK. When it’s not windy, we can use solar, or nuclear.
    The entire coastal waters of the UK needs to be lined with windfarms, it's the only place the NIMBYs don't object so strongly.
    There's plenty more space to fill in, but quite a lot of the coast within reach of London is already done or in progress.


  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 64,516
    eek said:

    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

    Bit if it cost £100 a week more to lease an electric van, stick to the oil burner.
    It really depends on the range the van needs to drive in a day, little point if you are an Amazon driver with a 100 mile drive before you start your deliveries a which can be the case around here
    On the other hand, if you're in London, and you do an 80 mile route that lands you back at base, it's near perfect.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 64,516
    Cookie said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Bonnie Greer doing her bit for an ongoing special relationship.

    US banned Black soldiers in WW2 from eating in homes; going to pubs etc
    The British ignored the bans.
    My late dad got to have a home cooked meal.
    US segregated the pubs!
    So folks here fought white GIs so that guys like my dad could have a pint.

    #SpecialRelationship

    https://x.com/Bonn1eGreer/status/2042206739261464929

    Ron DeS not.

    Governor DeSantis says the United States should reconsider being close allies with the United Kingdom because they have imported the Third World and we do not share a common culture anymore.
    https://x.com/ReOpenChris/status/2041999975286992995
    That common culture being "those Brit lapdogs used to do whatever we said and were delighted to be our useful idiot ally, it's sad they aren't like that any more"
    Your regular reminder that we have 5 openly sectarian MPs, Lancashire County Council includes a 'men and women should be kept separate' party and if polls are right Birmingham will be run after May by a party whose main concern is a desolate strip of the Middle East.

    Hard to say RonDS is wrong that we have imported a third world culture.
    We also have a bunch of openly sectarian Northern Ireland MPs.

    There are also plenty of frum Jews in North London who share views on the separation of men and women that aren't so very different to your County Council members.

  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 24,240
    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

    Bit if it cost £100 a week more to lease an electric van, stick to the oil burner.
    It really depends on the range the van needs to drive in a day, little point if you are an Amazon driver with a 100 mile drive before you start your deliveries a which can be the case around here
    On the other hand, if you're in London, and you do an 80 mile route that lands you back at base, it's near perfect.
    The Irish postal service, an post - who incidentally seem to be providing a better service than Royal Mail - have a bunch of electric vans operating out of rural delivery offices. Our most recent delivery was by electric postal van.

    The courier services - DPD, etc - seem to operate out of Cork city depots, so they'll be running off ICE vehicles a while longer.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886
    kinabalu said:

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    No, our EU membership was the scapegoat. Blamed for problems it had next to nothing to do with. Brexit was the product of that.
    I don't think that's true. To the extent that it was blamed for things, they tended to be things it actually was responsible for.

    People might have had a rose-tinted view of how transformational it would be to be free of the EU, but that's another matter.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886
    rcs1000 said:

    Cookie said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Bonnie Greer doing her bit for an ongoing special relationship.

    US banned Black soldiers in WW2 from eating in homes; going to pubs etc
    The British ignored the bans.
    My late dad got to have a home cooked meal.
    US segregated the pubs!
    So folks here fought white GIs so that guys like my dad could have a pint.

    #SpecialRelationship

    https://x.com/Bonn1eGreer/status/2042206739261464929

    Ron DeS not.

    Governor DeSantis says the United States should reconsider being close allies with the United Kingdom because they have imported the Third World and we do not share a common culture anymore.
    https://x.com/ReOpenChris/status/2041999975286992995
    That common culture being "those Brit lapdogs used to do whatever we said and were delighted to be our useful idiot ally, it's sad they aren't like that any more"
    Your regular reminder that we have 5 openly sectarian MPs, Lancashire County Council includes a 'men and women should be kept separate' party and if polls are right Birmingham will be run after May by a party whose main concern is a desolate strip of the Middle East.

    Hard to say RonDS is wrong that we have imported a third world culture.
    We also have a bunch of openly sectarian Northern Ireland MPs.

    There are also plenty of frum Jews in North London who share views on the separation of men and women that aren't so very different to your County Council members.

    Northern Ireland has famously never caused any political trouble so we should be relaxed about replicating it on a larger scale in England.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    And Brexit is reversible.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    Is this how we save the pub ?

    Lidl begins building its first ever pub

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy814qd9j95o
    The supermarket chain Lidl has begun building its first ever pub at a site in Northern Ireland.
    The development is an unusual consequence of Northern Ireland's strict licensing laws.
    Lidl was unable to get a standard off-sales licence for its shop in Dundonald in east Belfast.
    Instead it is building a pub, as its licence comes with the legal right to operate an off-sales section.

    The plan had faced a High Court challenge from rivals who argued Lidl was trying to use an unlawful loophole to operate an off-licence.
    That was dismissed in January 2025 by Mr Justice Colton who said the law did not stand in the way of a business taking an innovative approach.
    He ruled that "the fact that the application is a novel one is not a reason for refusing it"..

  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 6,058

    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

    Bit if it cost £100 a week more to lease an electric van, stick to the oil burner.
    It really depends on the range the van needs to drive in a day, little point if you are an Amazon driver with a 100 mile drive before you start your deliveries a which can be the case around here
    On the other hand, if you're in London, and you do an 80 mile route that lands you back at base, it's near perfect.
    The Irish postal service, an post - who incidentally seem to be providing a better service than Royal Mail - have a bunch of electric vans operating out of rural delivery offices. Our most recent delivery was by electric postal van.

    The courier services - DPD, etc - seem to operate out of Cork city depots, so they'll be running off ICE vehicles a while longer.
    DPD here (W.Scotland) have gotten themselves a bad rep for their branded 'eco-vans' filling up all and every free public charger going.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 56,870
    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Bonnie Greer doing her bit for an ongoing special relationship.

    US banned Black soldiers in WW2 from eating in homes; going to pubs etc
    The British ignored the bans.
    My late dad got to have a home cooked meal.
    US segregated the pubs!
    So folks here fought white GIs so that guys like my dad could have a pint.

    #SpecialRelationship

    https://x.com/Bonn1eGreer/status/2042206739261464929

    Ron DeS not.

    Governor DeSantis says the United States should reconsider being close allies with the United Kingdom because they have imported the Third World and we do not share a common culture anymore.
    https://x.com/ReOpenChris/status/2041999975286992995
    I think a higher percentage of US citizens than British were born in the "Third World".
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886
    https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-vented-at-rutte-over-nato-inaction-on-iran-during-turbulent-meeting/

    U.S. President Donald Trump unloaded his frustration with NATO allies in a bad-tempered meeting with Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday — and indicated he was considering reprisals for lack of support over the war in Iran.

    According to two European officials, and a person familiar with the matter, who were briefed on the talks, Trump used the White House meeting as a venting session for the president to air out his frustration about Europe's refusal to participate in the Iran operation.

    “It went shit,” said the first European official. “The conversation was nothing but a tirade of insults.” Trump “apparently threatened to do just about anything.”
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 64,516

    https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-vented-at-rutte-over-nato-inaction-on-iran-during-turbulent-meeting/

    U.S. President Donald Trump unloaded his frustration with NATO allies in a bad-tempered meeting with Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday — and indicated he was considering reprisals for lack of support over the war in Iran.

    According to two European officials, and a person familiar with the matter, who were briefed on the talks, Trump used the White House meeting as a venting session for the president to air out his frustration about Europe's refusal to participate in the Iran operation.

    “It went shit,” said the first European official. “The conversation was nothing but a tirade of insults.” Trump “apparently threatened to do just about anything.”

    There is no negotiation with DJT. One either is an acolyte who showers him with praise, or you are an adversary. The only thing he respects is strength.

    Oh, and even if you shower him in praise, you can still get unceromonially dumped even after debasing yourself.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    rcs1000 said:

    https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-vented-at-rutte-over-nato-inaction-on-iran-during-turbulent-meeting/

    U.S. President Donald Trump unloaded his frustration with NATO allies in a bad-tempered meeting with Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday — and indicated he was considering reprisals for lack of support over the war in Iran.

    According to two European officials, and a person familiar with the matter, who were briefed on the talks, Trump used the White House meeting as a venting session for the president to air out his frustration about Europe's refusal to participate in the Iran operation.

    “It went shit,” said the first European official. “The conversation was nothing but a tirade of insults.” Trump “apparently threatened to do just about anything.”

    There is no negotiation with DJT. One either is an acolyte who showers him with praise, or you are an adversary. The only thing he respects is strength.

    Oh, and even if you shower him in praise, you can still get unceromonially dumped even after debasing yourself.
    The man is prepared to wreck the world in pursuit of his irrational whims.
    Rutte's display of cringing praise for Trump's war - which almost all NATO members are deeply unhappy with - was an embarrassment, a betrayal of his duty to the organisation which employs him, and will achieve nothing with Trump.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 64,516
    Nigelb said:

    rcs1000 said:

    https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-vented-at-rutte-over-nato-inaction-on-iran-during-turbulent-meeting/

    U.S. President Donald Trump unloaded his frustration with NATO allies in a bad-tempered meeting with Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday — and indicated he was considering reprisals for lack of support over the war in Iran.

    According to two European officials, and a person familiar with the matter, who were briefed on the talks, Trump used the White House meeting as a venting session for the president to air out his frustration about Europe's refusal to participate in the Iran operation.

    “It went shit,” said the first European official. “The conversation was nothing but a tirade of insults.” Trump “apparently threatened to do just about anything.”

    There is no negotiation with DJT. One either is an acolyte who showers him with praise, or you are an adversary. The only thing he respects is strength.

    Oh, and even if you shower him in praise, you can still get unceromonially dumped even after debasing yourself.
    The man is prepared to wreck the world in pursuit of his irrational whims.
    Rutte's display of cringing praise for Trump's war - which almost all NATO members are deeply unhappy with - was an embarrassment, a betrayal of his duty to the organisation which employs him, and will achieve nothing with Trump.
    Rutte has been a complete embarassment since the start of Trump 2, The Dementia Years.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    rcs1000 said:

    https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-vented-at-rutte-over-nato-inaction-on-iran-during-turbulent-meeting/

    U.S. President Donald Trump unloaded his frustration with NATO allies in a bad-tempered meeting with Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday — and indicated he was considering reprisals for lack of support over the war in Iran.

    According to two European officials, and a person familiar with the matter, who were briefed on the talks, Trump used the White House meeting as a venting session for the president to air out his frustration about Europe's refusal to participate in the Iran operation.

    “It went shit,” said the first European official. “The conversation was nothing but a tirade of insults.” Trump “apparently threatened to do just about anything.”

    There is no negotiation with DJT. One either is an acolyte who showers him with praise, or you are an adversary. The only thing he respects is strength.

    Oh, and even if you shower him in praise, you can still get unceromonially dumped even after debasing yourself.
    The man is prepared to wreck the world in pursuit of his irrational whims.
    Rutte's display of cringing praise for Trump's war - which almost all NATO members are deeply unhappy with - was an embarrassment, a betrayal of his duty to the organisation which employs him, and will achieve nothing with Trump.
    Rutte has been a complete embarassment since the start of Trump 2, The Dementia Years.
    The irony is that Trump, while he wields power like a dictator, both at home and abroad, is politically getting rapidly weaker.

    Assuming the US remains a democracy (which is not entirely a given), then he is likely to lose control of both houses of Congress by the end of the year.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    Another day, another fraud.

    Trump's World Liberty Financial borrowed millions from a protocol its own advisor co-founded
    Onchain data shows WLFI deposited 5 billion of its own tokens as collateral to borrow stablecoins it then sent to Coinbase Prime, pushing a lending pool to 100% utilization and leaving depositors unable to withdraw.
    https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/04/09/trump-s-world-liberty-financial-borrows-usd75-million-against-its-own-token-trapping-depositors-on-dolomite
  • FishingFishing Posts: 6,356
    kinabalu said:

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    No, our EU membership was the scapegoat. Blamed for problems it had next to nothing to do with. Brexit was the product of that.
    I don't think that's true at all.

    Insofar as one can judge from the polls and the campaign, we left the EU because of three factors overall:

    - unsustainable EU immigration around 300 times higher than forecast from Eastern Europe (13k were forecast and around 4m showed up)
    - loss of control over 50-80% of our laws
    - huge net payments into the EU's unaccountable and often corrupt and incompetent bureaucracy

    All of those are intimately related to the EU, though the spineless incompetence of too many of our governments in dealing with it was also crucial. Either way, the EU was blamed for factors for which the EU was responsible, and a majority of voters decided that that didn't outweigh the (largely overrated imho) advantages of membership.



  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 79,502

    https://x.com/israelipm/status/2042343856910258614

    The Prime Minister's Office:

    Pakistan Defence Minister’s call for Israel’s annihilation is outrageous. This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace.

    Are they having a laugh.
    This is what the Pakistan Defence Minister said:

    https://x.com/KhawajaMAsif/status/2042286922547220877

    Israel is evil and a curse for humanity, while peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon. Innocent citizens are being killed by Israel, first Gaza, then Iran and now Lebanon, bloodletting continues unabated. I hope and pray people who created this cancerous state on Palestinian land to get rid of European jews burn in hell.
    Since most Israeli Jews are of ME descent, he’s not even accurate on that.

    But then you kind of expect the foreign Minister of Pakistan under the current government to be a complete loon.

    The snag is the presidents of the world’s three most powerful countries are too.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 15,650
    Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    No, our EU membership was the scapegoat. Blamed for problems it had next to nothing to do with. Brexit was the product of that.
    I don't think that's true at all.

    Insofar as one can judge from the polls and the campaign, we left the EU because of three factors overall:

    - unsustainable EU immigration around 300 times higher than forecast from Eastern Europe (13k were forecast and around 4m showed up)
    - loss of control over 50-80% of our laws
    - huge net payments into the EU's unaccountable and often corrupt and incompetent bureaucracy

    All of those are intimately related to the EU, though the spineless incompetence of too many of our governments in dealing with it was also crucial. Either way, the EU was blamed for factors for which the EU was responsible, and a majority of voters decided that that didn't outweigh the (largely overrated imho) advantages of membership.



    You think that membership of the world's largest and most successful free trade association was an overrated advantage?

    Fairy nuff.
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 3,269

    Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    No, our EU membership was the scapegoat. Blamed for problems it had next to nothing to do with. Brexit was the product of that.
    I don't think that's true at all.

    Insofar as one can judge from the polls and the campaign, we left the EU because of three factors overall:

    - unsustainable EU immigration around 300 times higher than forecast from Eastern Europe (13k were forecast and around 4m showed up)
    - loss of control over 50-80% of our laws
    - huge net payments into the EU's unaccountable and often corrupt and incompetent bureaucracy

    All of those are intimately related to the EU, though the spineless incompetence of too many of our governments in dealing with it was also crucial. Either way, the EU was blamed for factors for which the EU was responsible, and a majority of voters decided that that didn't outweigh the (largely overrated imho) advantages of membership.



    You think that membership of the world's largest and most successful free trade association was an overrated advantage?

    Fairy nuff.
    I think it was Algakirk that summed up the situation succinctly. If we are outside, we have a trade issue (your point) but if we are inside, we have a politics issue. (loss of control). We were sold a trade group but it morphed into a political group.

    And if Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan is to be believed, the EU political project has not gone far enough which is why the EU lags the US in growth.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    No, our EU membership was the scapegoat. Blamed for problems it had next to nothing to do with. Brexit was the product of that.
    I don't think that's true at all.

    Insofar as one can judge from the polls and the campaign, we left the EU because of three factors overall:

    - unsustainable EU immigration around 300 times higher than forecast from Eastern Europe (13k were forecast and around 4m showed up)
    - loss of control over 50-80% of our laws
    - huge net payments into the EU's unaccountable and often corrupt and incompetent bureaucracy

    All of those are intimately related to the EU, though the spineless incompetence of too many of our governments in dealing with it was also crucial. Either way, the EU was blamed for factors for which the EU was responsible, and a majority of voters decided that that didn't outweigh the (largely overrated imho) advantages of membership.

    So why is a majority of the electorate both very dissatisfied with Brexit, and wishing to rejoin ?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    rcs1000 said:

    https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-vented-at-rutte-over-nato-inaction-on-iran-during-turbulent-meeting/

    U.S. President Donald Trump unloaded his frustration with NATO allies in a bad-tempered meeting with Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday — and indicated he was considering reprisals for lack of support over the war in Iran.

    According to two European officials, and a person familiar with the matter, who were briefed on the talks, Trump used the White House meeting as a venting session for the president to air out his frustration about Europe's refusal to participate in the Iran operation.

    “It went shit,” said the first European official. “The conversation was nothing but a tirade of insults.” Trump “apparently threatened to do just about anything.”

    There is no negotiation with DJT. One either is an acolyte who showers him with praise, or you are an adversary. The only thing he respects is strength.

    Oh, and even if you shower him in praise, you can still get unceromonially dumped even after debasing yourself.
    See Pam Bondi for the most recent example.

    Unless there has been an even more recent firing overnight?
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 19,661
    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    rcs1000 said:

    https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-vented-at-rutte-over-nato-inaction-on-iran-during-turbulent-meeting/

    U.S. President Donald Trump unloaded his frustration with NATO allies in a bad-tempered meeting with Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday — and indicated he was considering reprisals for lack of support over the war in Iran.

    According to two European officials, and a person familiar with the matter, who were briefed on the talks, Trump used the White House meeting as a venting session for the president to air out his frustration about Europe's refusal to participate in the Iran operation.

    “It went shit,” said the first European official. “The conversation was nothing but a tirade of insults.” Trump “apparently threatened to do just about anything.”

    There is no negotiation with DJT. One either is an acolyte who showers him with praise, or you are an adversary. The only thing he respects is strength.

    Oh, and even if you shower him in praise, you can still get unceromonially dumped even after debasing yourself.
    The man is prepared to wreck the world in pursuit of his irrational whims.
    Rutte's display of cringing praise for Trump's war - which almost all NATO members are deeply unhappy with - was an embarrassment, a betrayal of his duty to the organisation which employs him, and will achieve nothing with Trump.
    Rutte has been a complete embarassment since the start of Trump 2, The Dementia Years.
    Rutte seems to be performing a useful role as Trump's therapist. He probably didn't realise what he was letting himself in for when he angled for the top NATO job.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    Another 1,130 Russian troops and another 45 pieces of artillery not reporting for duty in Ukraine today.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 33,542
    edited April 10

    How bad is the US military and diplomatic humiliation in Iran you ask?

    Yes, it is this bad.

    Melania Trump says she did not have relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/09/melania-trump-jeffrey-epstein

    Perhaps she picked up Bill Clinton's script by mistake?

    An interesting departure - I'm not sure what it hints at - is that she stood behind the Presidential Seal which was mounted on the podium.

    As far as I know (I picked it up from constitutional historian Heather Cox Richardardson) that is essentially unprecedented (not my area so I'm open to contradiction); the Seal is always on the wall behind.

    I'm not sure what that indicates - carelessness? lack of attention to detail? hubris? However, the USA has a fetish, almost an idolatry, around such symbols - seal, flag etc.


  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 79,502
    edited April 10
    MattW said:

    How bad is the US military and diplomatic humiliation in Iran you ask?

    Yes, it is this bad.

    Melania Trump says she did not have relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/09/melania-trump-jeffrey-epstein

    Perhaps she picked up Bill Clinton's script by mistake?

    An interesting departure - I'm not sure what it hints at - is that she stood behind the Presidential Seal which was mounted on the podium.

    As far as I know (I picked it up from constitutional historian Heather Cox Richardardson) that is completely unprecendented; the Seal is always on the wall behind.

    I'm not sure what that indicates - carelessness? lack of attention to detail? hubris? However, the USA has a fetish, almost an idolatry, around such symbols - seal, flag etc.


    Trump is at the ‘l’etait, c’est moi’ stage of his dementia, but I suspect it’s just incompetence.

    I’m genuinely surprised however that anyone is suggesting Melania had a relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell. Did not see that one coming.

    Unless she means ‘any contact with’ but we all know that isn’t true.
    Edit - it seems she is trying to claim the latter.

    So either she’s mad, or something really, really damning is about to drop.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    glw said:


    Aaron Rupar
    @atrupar
    ·
    14m
    I am not sure why Melania Trump decided to make a statement about Jeffrey Epstein seemingly out of nowhere today, but if the idea was to put the ongoing coverup in the rearview mirror it will backfire spectacularly

    https://x.com/atrupar/status/2042313241460879831

    That's the sort of statement you occasionally get from some prominent person when a newspaper has offered them the right of reply prior to the publication of a story with serious allegations, and they try to get ahead of the story.
    Trump spends hundreds of billions and thousands of lives, burying the Epstein story in a lead-lined box under the White House ballroom.

    Which Melania then uses a JCB to dig up.

    She must really hate him.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    With regard to control of the Senate after November, it's worth noting the Fetterman is far from a reliable Democratic vote these days.
    https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5823631-john-fetterman-iran-war-powers/
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 19,661

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    Brexit was transformational, but not in a good way. Thatcher also transformational, arguable whether in a good way.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    Trump urges Hungarians to ‘get out and vote for’ ally Orbán as election looms
    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5825088-hungary-vote-trump-orban/
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 22,035
    FF43 said:

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    Brexit was transformational, but not in a good way. Thatcher also transformational, arguable whether in a good way.
    Thatcher spunked the family silver up the wall and left us all poorer for it
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 79,502
    Nigelb said:

    Trump urges Hungarians to ‘get out and vote for’ ally Orbán as election looms
    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5825088-hungary-vote-trump-orban/

    I’m pleased to see there’s no foreign interference in these elections.
  • theProletheProle Posts: 1,954
    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

    Bit if it cost £100 a week more to lease an electric van, stick to the oil burner.
    It really depends on the range the van needs to drive in a day, little point if you are an Amazon driver with a 100 mile drive before you start your deliveries a which can be the case around here
    On the other hand, if you're in London, and you do an 80 mile route that lands you back at base, it's near perfect.
    The Irish postal service, an post - who incidentally seem to be providing a better service than Royal Mail - have a bunch of electric vans operating out of rural delivery offices. Our most recent delivery was by electric postal van.

    The courier services - DPD, etc - seem to operate out of Cork city depots, so they'll be running off ICE vehicles a while longer.
    DPD here (W.Scotland) have gotten themselves a bad rep for their branded 'eco-vans' filling up all and every free public charger going.
    I used to work for an engineering contractor that did a lot of site work. Our business model was frequently - load 2 ton of parts and equipment, plus 2-3 blokes
    into a transit pickup. Drive 2-300 miles to a site in the middle of nowhere. Do 4 hours work, drive back again.

    Often the work sites weren't the sort of places likely to have chargers, and anyway we'd usually want the pickup full of gear right by the worksite, not in the regular carpark a quarter of a mile away, so you need 500-600 miles of range. There is no EV pickup that can do this, or anything close.

    Granted, this is a bit of an unusual use case, but from my experience of engineering firms, it's more common than you might think.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 19,661
    .

    glw said:


    Aaron Rupar
    @atrupar
    ·
    14m
    I am not sure why Melania Trump decided to make a statement about Jeffrey Epstein seemingly out of nowhere today, but if the idea was to put the ongoing coverup in the rearview mirror it will backfire spectacularly

    https://x.com/atrupar/status/2042313241460879831

    That's the sort of statement you occasionally get from some prominent person when a newspaper has offered them the right of reply prior to the publication of a story with serious allegations, and they try to get ahead of the story.
    Trump spends hundreds of billions and thousands of lives, burying the Epstein story in a lead-lined box under the White House ballroom.

    Which Melania then uses a JCB to dig up.

    She must really hate him.
    Melania is a paradox. Most of the time she comes across as completely stupid, but she's definitely a player in the Trump clan.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 33,542
    edited April 10
    An interesting one on bureaucracy and landfill tax (another area that needs sorting out to stop incentivising fly tipping, but aiui the Landfill Tax goes to the Government, and the fly tipping is collected by the Local Authority). Another unjoined up bit of Government - disaggregation is massively overrated.

    My 20 year skip supplier has stopped doing street side skips, because it is too much hassle, and too much expense. They only do them on non-local authority land now.

    Fortunately, this particular house is the second one where the end of the road becomes unadopted :smile: . It has been like that for a century, and has just .... continued, with each having their informal parking space outside their house, with no enforcement mechanism or even a common fund.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    FF43 said:

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    Brexit was transformational, but not in a good way. Thatcher also transformational, arguable whether in a good way.
    Unlike Thatcher, Brexit is reversible.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 33,542
    FF43 said:

    .

    glw said:


    Aaron Rupar
    @atrupar
    ·
    14m
    I am not sure why Melania Trump decided to make a statement about Jeffrey Epstein seemingly out of nowhere today, but if the idea was to put the ongoing coverup in the rearview mirror it will backfire spectacularly

    https://x.com/atrupar/status/2042313241460879831

    That's the sort of statement you occasionally get from some prominent person when a newspaper has offered them the right of reply prior to the publication of a story with serious allegations, and they try to get ahead of the story.
    Trump spends hundreds of billions and thousands of lives, burying the Epstein story in a lead-lined box under the White House ballroom.

    Which Melania then uses a JCB to dig up.

    She must really hate him.
    Melania is a paradox. Most of the time she comes across as completely stupid, but she's definitely a player in the Trump clan.
    The most likely suggestion for Melania, I think, is that Barron - her only son - is her epicentre.

    Imagine going through all of that for no outcome.
  • scampi25scampi25 Posts: 581
    Nigelb said:

    Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    No, our EU membership was the scapegoat. Blamed for problems it had next to nothing to do with. Brexit was the product of that.
    I don't think that's true at all.

    Insofar as one can judge from the polls and the campaign, we left the EU because of three factors overall:

    - unsustainable EU immigration around 300 times higher than forecast from Eastern Europe (13k were forecast and around 4m showed up)
    - loss of control over 50-80% of our laws
    - huge net payments into the EU's unaccountable and often corrupt and incompetent bureaucracy

    All of those are intimately related to the EU, though the spineless incompetence of too many of our governments in dealing with it was also crucial. Either way, the EU was blamed for factors for which the EU was responsible, and a majority of voters decided that that didn't outweigh the (largely overrated imho) advantages of membership.

    So why is a majority of the electorate both very dissatisfied with Brexit, and wishing to rejoin ?
    The voters are dissatisfied primarily for reasons of the economy. Cost of living, etc. The wish to rejoin ATM is difficult to verify as we don't know the terms. For me I'd prefer fully in , to include the Euro but the British remain very wedded to the £ and I doubt they'd vote for the EU if this was one of the terms. I'm also unconvinced of the EU future as the move to the right beds in, I suspect some on the left here might cool to the project.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 13,451
    Nigelb said:

    Another day, another fraud.

    Trump's World Liberty Financial borrowed millions from a protocol its own advisor co-founded
    Onchain data shows WLFI deposited 5 billion of its own tokens as collateral to borrow stablecoins it then sent to Coinbase Prime, pushing a lending pool to 100% utilization and leaving depositors unable to withdraw.
    https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/04/09/trump-s-world-liberty-financial-borrows-usd75-million-against-its-own-token-trapping-depositors-on-dolomite

    Why people invest in crypto I have no idea. It is so clearly a rigged market
  • TazTaz Posts: 28,195

    Nigelb said:

    Another day, another fraud.

    Trump's World Liberty Financial borrowed millions from a protocol its own advisor co-founded
    Onchain data shows WLFI deposited 5 billion of its own tokens as collateral to borrow stablecoins it then sent to Coinbase Prime, pushing a lending pool to 100% utilization and leaving depositors unable to withdraw.
    https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/04/09/trump-s-world-liberty-financial-borrows-usd75-million-against-its-own-token-trapping-depositors-on-dolomite

    Why people invest in crypto I have no idea. It is so clearly a rigged market
    XRP is the future, apparently. Or so ive been told.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 13,451

    Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    dixiedean said:

    carnforth said:

    kle4 said:

    https://x.com/telegraph/status/2042331964372337064

    The blunt truth is that solar may not be the right technology for a country where the sun does not shine as much as we would like it to' | Writes Matthew Lynn

    I am convinced these “journalists” are very thick.

    You have to remember that the journalist is not engaged in a market where truth and intelligence wins, but where they are in a struggle for attention that they win by pandering to the assumptions and base instincts of their readers.

    Britain is a country that believes it is uniquely cursed by a cloudy and rainy climate while all the time Ireland is right there, with a wetter and cloudier climate. Writing an article that says solar won't work in Britain because of cloud is the easiest of easy articles to write, that will raise many a wry chuckle from its readers, and many a shake of the head from those readers at the daft people installing solar panels.

    The journalist knows exactly what they are doing and why, and making a rational judgement on energy policy is nothing to do with it.
    The average Telegraph writer hasn't updated their mental map of the world since the fall of Thatcher. That's fine, because the average Telegraph reader prefers it that way.
    I feel like the Left have slowly moved on from Thatcher in the last few years, one day perhaps the Right will follow.
    Brexit is the new Thatcher. Were it not for that, Thatcher-hating could have managed 100 years...
    And yet Brexit loving hasn't replaced Thatcher loving.
    Because for better or worse, Thatcher really was transformational. Brexit is merely a scapegoat.
    No, our EU membership was the scapegoat. Blamed for problems it had next to nothing to do with. Brexit was the product of that.
    I don't think that's true at all.

    Insofar as one can judge from the polls and the campaign, we left the EU because of three factors overall:

    - unsustainable EU immigration around 300 times higher than forecast from Eastern Europe (13k were forecast and around 4m showed up)
    - loss of control over 50-80% of our laws
    - huge net payments into the EU's unaccountable and often corrupt and incompetent bureaucracy

    All of those are intimately related to the EU, though the spineless incompetence of too many of our governments in dealing with it was also crucial. Either way, the EU was blamed for factors for which the EU was responsible, and a majority of voters decided that that didn't outweigh the (largely overrated imho) advantages of membership.



    You think that membership of the world's largest and most successful free trade association was an overrated advantage?

    Fairy nuff.
    It is a Zollverein not a free trade area.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 33,542
    theProle said:

    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

    Bit if it cost £100 a week more to lease an electric van, stick to the oil burner.
    It really depends on the range the van needs to drive in a day, little point if you are an Amazon driver with a 100 mile drive before you start your deliveries a which can be the case around here
    On the other hand, if you're in London, and you do an 80 mile route that lands you back at base, it's near perfect.
    The Irish postal service, an post - who incidentally seem to be providing a better service than Royal Mail - have a bunch of electric vans operating out of rural delivery offices. Our most recent delivery was by electric postal van.

    The courier services - DPD, etc - seem to operate out of Cork city depots, so they'll be running off ICE vehicles a while longer.
    DPD here (W.Scotland) have gotten themselves a bad rep for their branded 'eco-vans' filling up all and every free public charger going.
    I used to work for an engineering contractor that did a lot of site work. Our business model was frequently - load 2 ton of parts and equipment, plus 2-3 blokes
    into a transit pickup. Drive 2-300 miles to a site in the middle of nowhere. Do 4 hours work, drive back again.

    Often the work sites weren't the sort of places likely to have chargers, and anyway we'd usually want the pickup full of gear right by the worksite, not in the regular carpark a quarter of a mile away, so you need 500-600 miles of range. There is no EV pickup that can do this, or anything close.

    Granted, this is a bit of an unusual use case, but from my experience of engineering firms, it's more common than you might think.
    That's the business model of free public chargers broken, surely.

    It's time for a commercial membership scheme.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 13,451
    MattW said:

    theProle said:

    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

    Bit if it cost £100 a week more to lease an electric van, stick to the oil burner.
    It really depends on the range the van needs to drive in a day, little point if you are an Amazon driver with a 100 mile drive before you start your deliveries a which can be the case around here
    On the other hand, if you're in London, and you do an 80 mile route that lands you back at base, it's near perfect.
    The Irish postal service, an post - who incidentally seem to be providing a better service than Royal Mail - have a bunch of electric vans operating out of rural delivery offices. Our most recent delivery was by electric postal van.

    The courier services - DPD, etc - seem to operate out of Cork city depots, so they'll be running off ICE vehicles a while longer.
    DPD here (W.Scotland) have gotten themselves a bad rep for their branded 'eco-vans' filling up all and every free public charger going.
    I used to work for an engineering contractor that did a lot of site work. Our business model was frequently - load 2 ton of parts and equipment, plus 2-3 blokes
    into a transit pickup. Drive 2-300 miles to a site in the middle of nowhere. Do 4 hours work, drive back again.

    Often the work sites weren't the sort of places likely to have chargers, and anyway we'd usually want the pickup full of gear right by the worksite, not in the regular carpark a quarter of a mile away, so you need 500-600 miles of range. There is no EV pickup that can do this, or anything close.

    Granted, this is a bit of an unusual use case, but from my experience of engineering firms, it's more common than you might think.
    That's the business model of free public chargers broken, surely.

    It's time for a commercial membership scheme.
    I’d ban commercial vehicles from using free public chargers (or have a central subscription payable by the firms).

    Government infrastructure isn’t provided so businesses can save money
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 3,269
    For cat lovers everywhere.



  • MattWMattW Posts: 33,542
    MattW said:

    theProle said:

    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

    Bit if it cost £100 a week more to lease an electric van, stick to the oil burner.
    It really depends on the range the van needs to drive in a day, little point if you are an Amazon driver with a 100 mile drive before you start your deliveries a which can be the case around here
    On the other hand, if you're in London, and you do an 80 mile route that lands you back at base, it's near perfect.
    The Irish postal service, an post - who incidentally seem to be providing a better service than Royal Mail - have a bunch of electric vans operating out of rural delivery offices. Our most recent delivery was by electric postal van.

    The courier services - DPD, etc - seem to operate out of Cork city depots, so they'll be running off ICE vehicles a while longer.
    DPD here (W.Scotland) have gotten themselves a bad rep for their branded 'eco-vans' filling up all and every free public charger going.
    I used to work for an engineering contractor that did a lot of site work. Our business model was frequently - load 2 ton of parts and equipment, plus 2-3 blokes
    into a transit pickup. Drive 2-300 miles to a site in the middle of nowhere. Do 4 hours work, drive back again.

    Often the work sites weren't the sort of places likely to have chargers, and anyway we'd usually want the pickup full of gear right by the worksite, not in the regular carpark a quarter of a mile away, so you need 500-600 miles of range. There is no EV pickup that can do this, or anything close.

    Granted, this is a bit of an unusual use case, but from my experience of engineering firms, it's more common than you might think.
    That's the business model of free public chargers broken, surely.

    It's time for a commercial membership scheme.
    There are people based around here who travel such distances for all sorts of purposes and not just drivers. One the advantages of being in a relatively inexpensive area is that we have fair numbers of tradesmen, albeit many of them dump their vans all over the pavements all the time. I suspect we may have more than routine numbers of crew-cab pickups, but I have no stats on that.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 47,920
    welshowl said:

    Nigelb said:

    welshowl said:

    Test

    Are you the new Trident sub captain ?
    Lol. No you can rest easy. I’m not at periscope depth 600 miles out listening for the Today programme😁
    Stand down, Joanni Reid.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    Nigelb said:

    Trump urges Hungarians to ‘get out and vote for’ ally Orbán as election looms
    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5825088-hungary-vote-trump-orban/

    Is his war popular in Hungary? Are fuel prices there magically static?
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877

    Nigelb said:

    Another day, another fraud.

    Trump's World Liberty Financial borrowed millions from a protocol its own advisor co-founded
    Onchain data shows WLFI deposited 5 billion of its own tokens as collateral to borrow stablecoins it then sent to Coinbase Prime, pushing a lending pool to 100% utilization and leaving depositors unable to withdraw.
    https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/04/09/trump-s-world-liberty-financial-borrows-usd75-million-against-its-own-token-trapping-depositors-on-dolomite

    Why people invest in crypto I have no idea. It is so clearly a rigged market
    Isn't it called Greater Fool Theory?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 33,542

    MattW said:

    theProle said:

    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    BBC News interviews a SME owner: £35 a week to charge electric van and £125 to keep deisel van topped up.

    Game over.

    Bit if it cost £100 a week more to lease an electric van, stick to the oil burner.
    It really depends on the range the van needs to drive in a day, little point if you are an Amazon driver with a 100 mile drive before you start your deliveries a which can be the case around here
    On the other hand, if you're in London, and you do an 80 mile route that lands you back at base, it's near perfect.
    The Irish postal service, an post - who incidentally seem to be providing a better service than Royal Mail - have a bunch of electric vans operating out of rural delivery offices. Our most recent delivery was by electric postal van.

    The courier services - DPD, etc - seem to operate out of Cork city depots, so they'll be running off ICE vehicles a while longer.
    DPD here (W.Scotland) have gotten themselves a bad rep for their branded 'eco-vans' filling up all and every free public charger going.
    I used to work for an engineering contractor that did a lot of site work. Our business model was frequently - load 2 ton of parts and equipment, plus 2-3 blokes
    into a transit pickup. Drive 2-300 miles to a site in the middle of nowhere. Do 4 hours work, drive back again.

    Often the work sites weren't the sort of places likely to have chargers, and anyway we'd usually want the pickup full of gear right by the worksite, not in the regular carpark a quarter of a mile away, so you need 500-600 miles of range. There is no EV pickup that can do this, or anything close.

    Granted, this is a bit of an unusual use case, but from my experience of engineering firms, it's more common than you might think.
    That's the business model of free public chargers broken, surely.

    It's time for a commercial membership scheme.
    I’d ban commercial vehicles from using free public chargers (or have a central subscription payable by the firms).

    Government infrastructure isn’t provided so businesses can save money
    Though many of them were provided for years for customers. In Scotland, there is sometimes excess electricity in quantity, so I can imagine (I do not know if they do) it being a benefit to the supplier to have it used, depending on the economics of turning off the windmills.

    Mr Tesla will know.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    Battlebus said:

    For cat lovers everywhere.



    "No Mister Bond, I expect you to...oh, bugger..."
This discussion has been closed.