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In Wales Reform are as loved as an English rugby union fan – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 13,174
edited April 30 in General
In Wales Reform are as loved as an English rugby union fan – politicalbetting.com

Reform UK are the party Welsh people are most likely to not want to see as part of the next Welsh governmentWould like to see in govtPC: 35%Ref: 23%Grn: 23%Lab: 15%Con: 13%LD: 11%Would not like to see in govtRef: 49%Con: 39%Lab: 37%Grn: 28%PC: 22%LD: 18%yougov.com/en-gb/articl…

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Comments

  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,887
    First!
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 55,435
    Second. Labour should be so lucky. In Wales
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 55,435
    edited April 30
    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,887
    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886
    https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/2049920075277250929

    Win for Britain as Trump removes whisky tariffs

    King had personally lobbied Trump for this, including back in Windsor.
  • isamisam Posts: 44,230
    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    The suspect in the Golders Green terror attack has been named as Essa Suleiman, a Somali-born British man who was jailed for stabbing a police officer and his dog.

    Suleiman, 45, who arrived in the UK as a child, was arrested on Wednesday after two Jewish men were stabbed in an alleged anti-Semitic terror attack.

    Both victims were recovering in hospital as Suleiman continued to be questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.

    In 2008, Suleiman was jailed indefinitely following a violent altercation in Swindon in which he stabbed Pc Neil Sampson.

    The officer had been responding to reports of a knife incident at a property in the Wiltshire town when he was attacked by Suleiman, who was 27 at the time.

    Pc Sampson required five months off work after he was repeatedly stabbed in the head, face and leg with what was believed to be a bread knife. His dog, Anya, was also knifed in the chest, Swindon Crown Court heard.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    edited April 30
    Anti-Reform tactical voting is all very well, but how do you know who to vote for when up to five Parties are all telling you they are the only way to beat them?
    And the electorate is so volatile that the 2024 result bears little to no relation to current support.
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,838
    Something very weird is happening in the snooker. They've apparently decided to move outdoors and let some sheep play, or something.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    Where's the snooker gone?
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,838
    dixiedean said:

    Where's the snooker gone?

    Technical fault.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 50,749
    nico67 said:

    https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/2049920075277250929

    Win for Britain as Trump removes whisky tariffs

    King had personally lobbied Trump for this, including back in Windsor.

    We’re supposed to be grateful for a scrap when his stupid war is going to cause huge economic misery for the UK .

    Fxck him and fxck his cesspit administration,
    Demeaning isn't it.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 55,435
    edited April 30
    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886
    https://x.com/MichaelLCrick/status/2049915533269610571

    Inside Croydon reports on how Keir Starmer's niece is standing for election to Croydon Council, in a ward she ought to win
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    CatMan said:

    dixiedean said:

    Where's the snooker gone?

    Technical fault.
    It's back.
    But without the score subtitles...Strange.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 55,435
    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    The suspect in the Golders Green terror attack has been named as Essa Suleiman, a Somali-born British man who was jailed for stabbing a police officer and his dog.

    Suleiman, 45, who arrived in the UK as a child, was arrested on Wednesday after two Jewish men were stabbed in an alleged anti-Semitic terror attack.

    Both victims were recovering in hospital as Suleiman continued to be questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.

    In 2008, Suleiman was jailed indefinitely following a violent altercation in Swindon in which he stabbed Pc Neil Sampson.

    The officer had been responding to reports of a knife incident at a property in the Wiltshire town when he was attacked by Suleiman, who was 27 at the time.

    Pc Sampson required five months off work after he was repeatedly stabbed in the head, face and leg with what was believed to be a bread knife. His dog, Anya, was also knifed in the chest, Swindon Crown Court heard.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    The IPP sentences were abolished by the Coalition in 2012.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 39,828
    edited April 30
    DavidL said:

    dixiedean said:

    Where's the snooker gone?

    Behind the black.
    "For those of you watching in black and white the pink is next to the green "*

    * With thanks to Whispering Ted Lowe.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 56,870
    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    To be fair, in Leics our minority Reform council is not noticeably any more useless than the previous Tory controlled one.

    I think this mostly down to the complete neutering of local government over the years. It is just statuary duties and silly stunts.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 55,435
    edited April 30
    dixiedean said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    It's like an episode of Soap.
    Confused? You will be.
    The fear is that, after next week, like Kent, that could be our politics for the next four years.

    The irony is that our Conservative councillor attribued all this political dysfunction to the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, perhaps forgetting that it was his party that thrust that upon us and that, for the duration of that campaign, his family business had been bedecked with red leave campaign posters and flags, since when I've not shopped there since.
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 3,817
    DavidL said:

    FPT

    Its a truly terrible time in our politics. I am 64 and I cannot remember a time like it. As a child we had Wilson, one of the youngest Oxford dons, a genuinely brilliant man. Healey, Roy Mason, even Foot, these were men of genuine talent, skills and passion. Thatcher's government was incredible by today's standards. Howe, Whitelaw, Carrington, Lawson, Pym, even Heseltine, a government of genuine talent. Blair and Brown, not my taste, especially the latter but gifted, Blair especially. The Coalition, Cameron, Osborne, Clegg. Serious people doing a serious job to the best of their ability.

    No one is going to agree with everyone on that list and what they did, hell, I don't. But we had leadership and a sense of purpose. Now, in every party, we seem to have people whose primary goal is to be PM. Just for their own egos. With no idea what they want this country to be, how to improve the lives of those that live here, no clear plan at all. It's tragic.

    Agree, by and large. But we have a new type of politics - identity politics - and it is the province of chancers and opportunists. And they are in the ascendant - even in Wales it looks like nationalists will come out on top. It's all about the vibe.

    Though quite why the representatives of the mainstream are so poor, I really can't explain.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 55,435
    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    To be fair, in Leics our minority Reform council is not noticeably any more useless than the previous Tory controlled one.

    I think this mostly down to the complete neutering of local government over the years. It is just statuary duties and silly stunts.
    "Vote for us - we're not noticeably more useless than the Tories you've been used to"

    How far has our politics sunk?
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 24,240
    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    snip.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    The IPP sentences are an interesting story. I'm quite supportive of the general principle - that instead of a punishment or weregild style tariff for violent crime you imprison someone and keep the public safe from them, until they've become a reformed character and they're safe to release into the public again. And it's similar to what is already done with life sentences and releasing those convicts under licence.

    But in practice it's almost impossible to prove that someone isn't a possible threat to the public, particularly when they have a track record sufficient to see them convicted and imprisoned. So, instead of the sentence encouraging the prisoners to redeem themselves, you had increasing numbers in indefinite detention with no hope of ever being released.

    We'll find out more about this individual's history in time, and maybe he was safe when he was released, but for whatever reason that didn't last. How do you predict whether someone might be violent a decade or so in the future?
  • DopermeanDopermean Posts: 3,146
    dixiedean said:

    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    The suspect in the Golders Green terror attack has been named as Essa Suleiman, a Somali-born British man who was jailed for stabbing a police officer and his dog.

    Suleiman, 45, who arrived in the UK as a child, was arrested on Wednesday after two Jewish men were stabbed in an alleged anti-Semitic terror attack.

    Both victims were recovering in hospital as Suleiman continued to be questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.

    In 2008, Suleiman was jailed indefinitely following a violent altercation in Swindon in which he stabbed Pc Neil Sampson.

    The officer had been responding to reports of a knife incident at a property in the Wiltshire town when he was attacked by Suleiman, who was 27 at the time.

    Pc Sampson required five months off work after he was repeatedly stabbed in the head, face and leg with what was believed to be a bread knife. His dog, Anya, was also knifed in the chest, Swindon Crown Court heard.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    The IPP sentences were abolished by the Coalition in 2012.
    According to the Prison Reform Trust there are still 2800 serving IPPs. Coalition abolished new IPPs but did not convert existing sentences.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,924
    We got our freepost leaflets today so the recycling bins are going to be lipping over next week. Several parties are standing that I have not even heard of. The Alliance to Liberate Scotland and the Independence for Scotland Party being amongst them.

    We also have the Workers Party which turns out to be Galloway's latest mob. Their second placed candidate says (and I quote) "Conscription is coming in Scotland. There will be conscription riots. In Scottish schools we need to be teaching Scottish history. We will stand again against the conscription of our people for a UK war." No, me neither.

  • isamisam Posts: 44,230
    edited April 30

    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    snip.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    The IPP sentences are an interesting story. I'm quite supportive of the general principle - that instead of a punishment or weregild style tariff for violent crime you imprison someone and keep the public safe from them, until they've become a reformed character and they're safe to release into the public again. And it's similar to what is already done with life sentences and releasing those convicts under licence.

    But in practice it's almost impossible to prove that someone isn't a possible threat to the public, particularly when they have a track record sufficient to see them convicted and imprisoned. So, instead of the sentence encouraging the prisoners to redeem themselves, you had increasing numbers in indefinite detention with no hope of ever being released.

    We'll find out more about this individual's history in time, and maybe he was safe when he was released, but for whatever reason that didn't last. How do you predict whether someone might be violent a decade or so in the future?
    Something about stabbing the dog as well makes me think he is probably a schizophrenic, and when they have a history of violence it's probably best to keep them locked up in a mental home forever

    Says here that he was referred to Prevent in 2020... given his previous crime, I doubt he should have been free to roam the streets yesterday

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/golders-green-terror-attack-london-suspect-essa-suleiman-b2968175.html
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 55,435
    DavidL said:

    We got our freepost leaflets today so the recycling bins are going to be lipping over next week. Several parties are standing that I have not even heard of. The Alliance to Liberate Scotland and the Independence for Scotland Party being amongst them.

    We also have the Workers Party which turns out to be Galloway's latest mob. Their second placed candidate says (and I quote) "Conscription is coming in Scotland. There will be conscription riots. In Scottish schools we need to be teaching Scottish history. We will stand again against the conscription of our people for a UK war." No, me neither.

    How else are they going to see off HY's Essex tank regiment?
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 5,542
    nico67 said:

    https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/2049920075277250929

    Win for Britain as Trump removes whisky tariffs

    King had personally lobbied Trump for this, including back in Windsor.

    We’re supposed to be grateful for a scrap when his stupid war is going to cause huge economic misery for the UK .

    Fxck him and fxck his cesspit administration,
    No world cup visit for you now...

    :)
  • isamisam Posts: 44,230
    isam said:

    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    snip.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    The IPP sentences are an interesting story. I'm quite supportive of the general principle - that instead of a punishment or weregild style tariff for violent crime you imprison someone and keep the public safe from them, until they've become a reformed character and they're safe to release into the public again. And it's similar to what is already done with life sentences and releasing those convicts under licence.

    But in practice it's almost impossible to prove that someone isn't a possible threat to the public, particularly when they have a track record sufficient to see them convicted and imprisoned. So, instead of the sentence encouraging the prisoners to redeem themselves, you had increasing numbers in indefinite detention with no hope of ever being released.

    We'll find out more about this individual's history in time, and maybe he was safe when he was released, but for whatever reason that didn't last. How do you predict whether someone might be violent a decade or so in the future?
    Something about stabbing the dog as well makes me think he is probably a schizophrenic, and when they have a history of violence it's probably best to keep them locked up in a mental home forever

    Says here that he was referred to Prevent in 2020... given his previous crime, I doubt he should have been free to roam the streets yesterday

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/golders-green-terror-attack-london-suspect-essa-suleiman-b2968175.html
    Channel 4 News has learned the Golders Green attacker left a psychiatric hospital run by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in recent days.

    More tonight at 7pm.


    https://x.com/channel4news/status/2049908435882291324?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 56,870
    IanB2 said:

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    To be fair, in Leics our minority Reform council is not noticeably any more useless than the previous Tory controlled one.

    I think this mostly down to the complete neutering of local government over the years. It is just statuary duties and silly stunts.
    "Vote for us - we're not noticeably more useless than the Tories you've been used to"

    How far has our politics sunk?
    We don't have elections this year in Leics, so it is a spectator sport for me next week.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 56,870

    nico67 said:

    https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/2049920075277250929

    Win for Britain as Trump removes whisky tariffs

    King had personally lobbied Trump for this, including back in Windsor.

    We’re supposed to be grateful for a scrap when his stupid war is going to cause huge economic misery for the UK .

    Fxck him and fxck his cesspit administration,
    No world cup visit for you now...

    :)
    Don't threaten us with a good time!
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 47,920
    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    The suspect in the Golders Green terror attack has been named as Essa Suleiman, a Somali-born British man who was jailed for stabbing a police officer and his dog.

    Suleiman, 45, who arrived in the UK as a child, was arrested on Wednesday after two Jewish men were stabbed in an alleged anti-Semitic terror attack.

    Both victims were recovering in hospital as Suleiman continued to be questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.

    In 2008, Suleiman was jailed indefinitely following a violent altercation in Swindon in which he stabbed Pc Neil Sampson.

    The officer had been responding to reports of a knife incident at a property in the Wiltshire town when he was attacked by Suleiman, who was 27 at the time.

    Pc Sampson required five months off work after he was repeatedly stabbed in the head, face and leg with what was believed to be a bread knife. His dog, Anya, was also knifed in the chest, Swindon Crown Court heard.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    Well, at least we can be reasonably sure he wasn’t radicalised/driven mad by THE MARCHES. Perhaps he’s an IRGC sleeper.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 8,325

    nico67 said:

    https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/2049920075277250929

    Win for Britain as Trump removes whisky tariffs

    King had personally lobbied Trump for this, including back in Windsor.

    We’re supposed to be grateful for a scrap when his stupid war is going to cause huge economic misery for the UK .

    Fxck him and fxck his cesspit administration,
    No world cup visit for you now...

    :)

    nico67 said:

    https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/2049920075277250929

    Win for Britain as Trump removes whisky tariffs

    King had personally lobbied Trump for this, including back in Windsor.

    We’re supposed to be grateful for a scrap when his stupid war is going to cause huge economic misery for the UK .

    Fxck him and fxck his cesspit administration,
    No world cup visit for you now...

    :)
    You couldn’t pay me to go to the USA at the moment . I’d happily visit Canada where I expect my social media history will go down well !
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,924

    DavidL said:

    dixiedean said:

    Where's the snooker gone?

    Behind the black.
    "For those of you watching in black and white the pink is next to the green "*

    * With thanks to Whispering Ted Lowe.
    It's a great and hilarious quote but what he was doing, of course, is telling you where the colours out of position were by reference to the colours still in position.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 5,542
    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    To be fair, in Leics our minority Reform council is not noticeably any more useless than the previous Tory controlled one.

    I think this mostly down to the complete neutering of local government over the years. It is just statuary duties and silly stunts.
    "Vote for us - we're not noticeably more useless than the Tories you've been used to"

    How far has our politics sunk?
    We don't have elections this year in Leics, so it is a spectator sport for me next week.
    In Wales we have a psephological wet dream of a results day on the Friday.
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 5,498
    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    IOW Lib Dems thought they knew better than Chris Rennard how to run an election campaign.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    Caitríona Balfe bought me a Key Lime Pie today.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 5,542
    Off Topic

    I know that Wales counts on Friday, but does any one know when Scotland counts?

    (I know the wags amongst you will say they've never counted...)
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    nico67 said:

    nico67 said:

    https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/2049920075277250929

    Win for Britain as Trump removes whisky tariffs

    King had personally lobbied Trump for this, including back in Windsor.

    We’re supposed to be grateful for a scrap when his stupid war is going to cause huge economic misery for the UK .

    Fxck him and fxck his cesspit administration,
    No world cup visit for you now...

    :)

    nico67 said:

    https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/2049920075277250929

    Win for Britain as Trump removes whisky tariffs

    King had personally lobbied Trump for this, including back in Windsor.

    We’re supposed to be grateful for a scrap when his stupid war is going to cause huge economic misery for the UK .

    Fxck him and fxck his cesspit administration,
    No world cup visit for you now...

    :)
    You couldn’t pay me to go to the USA at the moment . I’d happily visit Canada where I expect my social media history will go down well !
    Flaunt it!
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,924
    It looks like I won't get to vote in the election. I have been given a trial in Aberdeen starting Wednesday, too late to apply for a proxy. I can't remember missing a vote before but if Heineken did missing votes....
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,472

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    To be fair, in Leics our minority Reform council is not noticeably any more useless than the previous Tory controlled one.

    I think this mostly down to the complete neutering of local government over the years. It is just statuary duties and silly stunts.
    "Vote for us - we're not noticeably more useless than the Tories you've been used to"

    How far has our politics sunk?
    We don't have elections this year in Leics, so it is a spectator sport for me next week.
    In Wales we have a psephological wet dream of a results day on the Friday.
    A D'Hondt count during daylight hours?

    It doesn't get any better than that.

    I'm planning to conduct a D'Hondt count by combining the votes across the two Bingley wards to see how the six council seats would have been shared out under a superior system to First Three Past the Post.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 136,924
    Fortunately for Reform the Senedd elections next week are being held via closed list PR, hence tactical voting won't apply. Reform are neck and neck with Plaid for most seats though Plaid will almost certainly form the next Welsh government after a deal with Labour
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877
    isam said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    snip.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    The IPP sentences are an interesting story. I'm quite supportive of the general principle - that instead of a punishment or weregild style tariff for violent crime you imprison someone and keep the public safe from them, until they've become a reformed character and they're safe to release into the public again. And it's similar to what is already done with life sentences and releasing those convicts under licence.

    But in practice it's almost impossible to prove that someone isn't a possible threat to the public, particularly when they have a track record sufficient to see them convicted and imprisoned. So, instead of the sentence encouraging the prisoners to redeem themselves, you had increasing numbers in indefinite detention with no hope of ever being released.

    We'll find out more about this individual's history in time, and maybe he was safe when he was released, but for whatever reason that didn't last. How do you predict whether someone might be violent a decade or so in the future?
    Something about stabbing the dog as well makes me think he is probably a schizophrenic, and when they have a history of violence it's probably best to keep them locked up in a mental home forever

    Says here that he was referred to Prevent in 2020... given his previous crime, I doubt he should have been free to roam the streets yesterday

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/golders-green-terror-attack-london-suspect-essa-suleiman-b2968175.html
    Channel 4 News has learned the Golders Green attacker left a psychiatric hospital run by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in recent days.

    More tonight at 7pm.


    https://x.com/channel4news/status/2049908435882291324?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
    Seems pretty plausible. Everyone knows the mental health system has less than zero spare capacity, so there's massive pressure to discharge people in a poor way to make space for people in a worse way.

    And whatever the problems with the NHS, it's hard to imagine that an alternative model will do a better job of serving people who can't possibly pay their way or articulately lobby for better treatment or form a sufficient voting bloc that politicians cower at their power.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877
    DavidL said:

    It looks like I won't get to vote in the election. I have been given a trial in Aberdeen starting Wednesday, too late to apply for a proxy. I can't remember missing a vote before but if Heineken did missing votes....

    Doesn't the emergency proxy system include an on-the-day emergency?

    Go on, you know you want to.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 79,502
    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 34,535
    edited April 30
    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    To be fair, in Leics our minority Reform council is not noticeably any more useless than the previous Tory controlled one.

    I think this mostly down to the complete neutering of local government over the years. It is just statuary duties and silly stunts.
    Seeing the same in Lincolnshire. As I said last year I was kind of hoping that the performance of Reform in office at Council level would be so dire it would influence people's voting intentions for Westminster but I am seeing no signs of that happening at present. I can see the whole of Lincolnshire (maybe with the exception of Lincoln itself) going pasty bluey green at the next election.
  • isamisam Posts: 44,230

    isam said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    snip.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    The IPP sentences are an interesting story. I'm quite supportive of the general principle - that instead of a punishment or weregild style tariff for violent crime you imprison someone and keep the public safe from them, until they've become a reformed character and they're safe to release into the public again. And it's similar to what is already done with life sentences and releasing those convicts under licence.

    But in practice it's almost impossible to prove that someone isn't a possible threat to the public, particularly when they have a track record sufficient to see them convicted and imprisoned. So, instead of the sentence encouraging the prisoners to redeem themselves, you had increasing numbers in indefinite detention with no hope of ever being released.

    We'll find out more about this individual's history in time, and maybe he was safe when he was released, but for whatever reason that didn't last. How do you predict whether someone might be violent a decade or so in the future?
    Something about stabbing the dog as well makes me think he is probably a schizophrenic, and when they have a history of violence it's probably best to keep them locked up in a mental home forever

    Says here that he was referred to Prevent in 2020... given his previous crime, I doubt he should have been free to roam the streets yesterday

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/golders-green-terror-attack-london-suspect-essa-suleiman-b2968175.html
    Channel 4 News has learned the Golders Green attacker left a psychiatric hospital run by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in recent days.

    More tonight at 7pm.


    https://x.com/channel4news/status/2049908435882291324?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
    Seems pretty plausible. Everyone knows the mental health system has less than zero spare capacity, so there's massive pressure to discharge people in a poor way to make space for people in a worse way.

    And whatever the problems with the NHS, it's hard to imagine that an alternative model will do a better job of serving people who can't possibly pay their way or articulately lobby for better treatment or form a sufficient voting bloc that politicians cower at their power.
    1/100 weighed in

    ‘‘nothing to see here’
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    To be fair, in Leics our minority Reform council is not noticeably any more useless than the previous Tory controlled one.

    I think this mostly down to the complete neutering of local government over the years. It is just statuary duties and silly stunts.
    Seeing the same in Lincolnshire. As I said last year I was kind of hoping that the performance of Reform in office at Council level would be so dire it would influence people's voting intentions for Westminster but I am seeing no signs of that happening at present. I can see the whole of Lincolnshire (maybe with the exception of Lincoln itself) going pasty bluey green at the next election.
    Too early to tell- most of what will have happened this year is still the effect of decisions of the previous administration. The thing to watch is what happens from about now.
  • eekeek Posts: 33,922
    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877
    isam said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    snip.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    The IPP sentences are an interesting story. I'm quite supportive of the general principle - that instead of a punishment or weregild style tariff for violent crime you imprison someone and keep the public safe from them, until they've become a reformed character and they're safe to release into the public again. And it's similar to what is already done with life sentences and releasing those convicts under licence.

    But in practice it's almost impossible to prove that someone isn't a possible threat to the public, particularly when they have a track record sufficient to see them convicted and imprisoned. So, instead of the sentence encouraging the prisoners to redeem themselves, you had increasing numbers in indefinite detention with no hope of ever being released.

    We'll find out more about this individual's history in time, and maybe he was safe when he was released, but for whatever reason that didn't last. How do you predict whether someone might be violent a decade or so in the future?
    Something about stabbing the dog as well makes me think he is probably a schizophrenic, and when they have a history of violence it's probably best to keep them locked up in a mental home forever

    Says here that he was referred to Prevent in 2020... given his previous crime, I doubt he should have been free to roam the streets yesterday

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/golders-green-terror-attack-london-suspect-essa-suleiman-b2968175.html
    Channel 4 News has learned the Golders Green attacker left a psychiatric hospital run by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in recent days.

    More tonight at 7pm.


    https://x.com/channel4news/status/2049908435882291324?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
    Seems pretty plausible. Everyone knows the mental health system has less than zero spare capacity, so there's massive pressure to discharge people in a poor way to make space for people in a worse way.

    And whatever the problems with the NHS, it's hard to imagine that an alternative model will do a better job of serving people who can't possibly pay their way or articulately lobby for better treatment or form a sufficient voting bloc that politicians cower at their power.
    1/100 weighed in

    ‘‘nothing to see here’
    Not so much that as three people who would it would probably be beneficial to keep in hospital... but there's only space for one.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 24,240
    There's possibly going to be a referendum in Ireland on allowing Irish citizens in Northern Ireland to vote in the election for Irish President.

    What are people's thoughts about that?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 79,502
    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
    Well Matt Wrack is somebody I don’t trust an inch, but this is the statement:

    https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/academy-plan-fragmentation-divert-money.html

    I cannot imagine that they would have written in quite these terms of somebody was not at least flying a kite and they were trying to force a denial.

    I very much hope either they are wrong or this action forestalls it. Whatever the rights and wrongs of academies academy chains - well, autocorrect made them ‘scammed chains’ and I wouldn’t say it was wrong.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 79,502
    edited April 30

    There's possibly going to be a referendum in Ireland on allowing Irish citizens in Northern Ireland to vote in the election for Irish President.

    What are people's thoughts about that?

    How would that stand in relation to the Good Friday agreement?

    Although if it’s Irish citizens voting as expats it may be OK.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 6,058

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    To be fair, in Leics our minority Reform council is not noticeably any more useless than the previous Tory controlled one.

    I think this mostly down to the complete neutering of local government over the years. It is just statuary duties and silly stunts.
    "Vote for us - we're not noticeably more useless than the Tories you've been used to"

    How far has our politics sunk?
    We don't have elections this year in Leics, so it is a spectator sport for me next week.
    In Wales we have a psephological wet dream of a results day on the Friday.
    A D'Hondt count during daylight hours?

    It doesn't get any better than that.

    I'm planning to conduct a D'Hondt count by combining the votes across the two Bingley wards to see how the six council seats would have been shared out under a superior system to First Three Past the Post.
    And I thought "Draw me like one of your French girls" was supposed to be hot. They should have got you to write the script.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 72,193
    edited April 30
    HYUFD said:

    Fortunately for Reform the Senedd elections next week are being held via closed list PR, hence tactical voting won't apply. Reform are neck and neck with Plaid for most seats though Plaid will almost certainly form the next Welsh government after a deal with Labour

    You do not understand how toxic labour are in Wales

    Rhun ap Iorwerth has stated he will run a minority government if necessary and certainly he is not going to have a formal coalition with labour
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    HYUFD said:

    Fortunately for Reform the Senedd elections next week are being held via closed list PR, hence tactical voting won't apply. Reform are neck and neck with Plaid for most seats though Plaid will almost certainly form the next Welsh government after a deal with Labour

    The latest polling suggests that will be short of a majority.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 6,058

    Off Topic

    I know that Wales counts on Friday, but does any one know when Scotland counts?

    (I know the wags amongst you will say they've never counted...)

    Also Friday. First meaningful results late morning into lunchtime afaik.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    That was some break. Won the frame without ever potting pink or black.
    Come on Wu.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 79,502
    edited April 30
    dixiedean said:

    That was some break. Won the frame without ever potting pink or black.
    Come on Wu.

    Where’s he getting these pots from?

    It’s like watching a young Alex Higgins with even less caution.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886
    There’s been an outbreak of real journalism from the BBC recently

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxplq92rx1o

    'We will kill you and burn your house': Council staff under attack from High Street gangs
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 7,166
    edited April 30
    ydoethur said:

    There's possibly going to be a referendum in Ireland on allowing Irish citizens in Northern Ireland to vote in the election for Irish President.

    What are people's thoughts about that?

    How would that stand in relation to the Good Friday agreement?

    Although if it’s Irish citizens voting as expats it may be OK.
    If it’s all Irish passport holders in NI (800k it looks like) then the numbers are interesting with presidential vote numbers in the hundreds of thousands per candidate. Good news for SF, with solid support both sides of the border, one would think, seeing as a disproportionate number of those claiming the passport are surely nationalists.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    ydoethur said:

    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
    Well Matt Wrack is somebody I don’t trust an inch, but this is the statement:

    https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/academy-plan-fragmentation-divert-money.html

    I cannot imagine that they would have written in quite these terms of somebody was not at least flying a kite and they were trying to force a denial.

    I very much hope either they are wrong or this action forestalls it. Whatever the rights and wrongs of academies academy chains - well, autocorrect made them ‘scammed chains’ and I wouldn’t say it was wrong.
    This may be the source.

    https://educationuncovered.co.uk/news/all-schools-in-england-to-become-academies-dfe-appears-to-confirm
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 59,819

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    To be fair, in Leics our minority Reform council is not noticeably any more useless than the previous Tory controlled one.

    I think this mostly down to the complete neutering of local government over the years. It is just statuary duties and silly stunts.
    "Vote for us - we're not noticeably more useless than the Tories you've been used to"

    How far has our politics sunk?
    We don't have elections this year in Leics, so it is a spectator sport for me next week.
    In Wales we have a psephological wet dream of a results day on the Friday.
    A D'Hondt count during daylight hours?

    It doesn't get any better than that.

    I'm planning to conduct a D'Hondt count by combining the votes across the two Bingley wards to see how the six council seats would have been shared out under a superior system to First Three Past the Post.
    D'Hondt You Forget About Me.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 24,240
    edited April 30
    ydoethur said:

    There's possibly going to be a referendum in Ireland on allowing Irish citizens in Northern Ireland to vote in the election for Irish President.

    What are people's thoughts about that?

    How would that stand in relation to the Good Friday agreement?

    Although if it’s Irish citizens voting as expats it may be OK.
    Ireland doesn't let emigrants vote in Irish elections - there are too many of them relative to the population left behind. So this would be explicitly extending the vote to Irish citizens on the island of Ireland, and not to Irish citizens who have emigrated to Britain, or Australia.

    So it does have an air of making a bit of a territorial claim about it. A bit of Irish unity by stealth, perhaps?

    But then it's a very normal thing for emigrant citizens of many countries to vote in elections. Though many Irish citizens in Northern Ireland will never have been resident in the Republic. So they're not really emigrants as such.

    Edit: my wife has suggested it might encourage unionists in NI to adopt Irish citizenship in order to vote for a more Unionist-friendly President - it might have helped Heather Humphreys in the last election if they did. I know some unionist politicians have an Irish passport for the ease of travelling in the EU.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    ydoethur said:

    dixiedean said:

    That was some break. Won the frame without ever potting pink or black.
    Come on Wu.

    Where’s he getting these pots from?

    It’s like watching a young Alex Higgins with even less caution.
    He wants it over before he's forced into a multi academy trust.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877
    edited April 30
    ydoethur said:

    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
    Well Matt Wrack is somebody I don’t trust an inch, but this is the statement:

    https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/academy-plan-fragmentation-divert-money.html

    I cannot imagine that they would have written in quite these terms of somebody was not at least flying a kite and they were trying to force a denial.

    I very much hope either they are wrong or this action forestalls it. Whatever the rights and wrongs of academies academy chains - well, autocorrect made them ‘scammed chains’ and I wouldn’t say it was wrong.
    Looks like it refers back to the white paper covered here;

    https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-schools-policies/

    3. Standalone trusts ‘challenged’ to defragment system
    The government wants all schools to join or form trusts. Councils and local area partnerships will also be given the power to launch their own chains.
    To help manage potential conflicts of interest, restrictions on local authority involvement in the day-to-day running of their trusts will be introduced.
    Pointing to the number of single-academy trusts in deficit, the document posed a “challenge to our best standalone schools” to partner with others and make the system less fragmented.


    "Wants" isn't the same as "forced to", and has been department policy for a while, hasn't it- possibly back to the days of NiMo? Free-standing state schools only works if you ignore the capacity for management in the system and oversight in the government.
  • eekeek Posts: 33,922
    dixiedean said:

    ydoethur said:

    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
    Well Matt Wrack is somebody I don’t trust an inch, but this is the statement:

    https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/academy-plan-fragmentation-divert-money.html

    I cannot imagine that they would have written in quite these terms of somebody was not at least flying a kite and they were trying to force a denial.

    I very much hope either they are wrong or this action forestalls it. Whatever the rights and wrongs of academies academy chains - well, autocorrect made them ‘scammed chains’ and I wouldn’t say it was wrong.
    This may be the source.

    https://educationuncovered.co.uk/news/all-schools-in-england-to-become-academies-dfe-appears-to-confirm
    Even for an anti-academy trust website that site is interesting in it's news reporting biases..
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 79,502

    ydoethur said:

    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
    Well Matt Wrack is somebody I don’t trust an inch, but this is the statement:

    https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/academy-plan-fragmentation-divert-money.html

    I cannot imagine that they would have written in quite these terms of somebody was not at least flying a kite and they were trying to force a denial.

    I very much hope either they are wrong or this action forestalls it. Whatever the rights and wrongs of academies academy chains - well, autocorrect made them ‘scammed chains’ and I wouldn’t say it was wrong.
    Looks like it refers back to the white paper covered here;

    https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-schools-policies/

    3. Standalone trusts ‘challenged’ to defragment system
    The government wants all schools to join or form trusts. Councils and local area partnerships will also be given the power to launch their own chains.
    To help manage potential conflicts of interest, restrictions on local authority involvement in the day-to-day running of their trusts will be introduced.
    Pointing to the number of single-academy trusts in deficit, the document posed a “challenge to our best standalone schools” to partner with others and make the system less fragmented.


    "Wants£ isn't the same as "forced to", and has been department policy for a while, hasn't it- possibly back to the days of NiMo? Free-standing state schools only works if you ignore the capacity for management in the system and oversight in the government.
    There is capacity for oversight in the government?

    It may have been policy for a while - heck, it was policy under the last lot - but it’s still a bloody fool idea.

    I was hoping that one positive of the silliness of most of Labour’s ideas about education was that at least we would get rid of academy chains.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,924
    Trump apparently has a new nickname: “NACHO” (Not A Chance Hormuz Opens).
  • isamisam Posts: 44,230

    isam said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    snip.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    The IPP sentences are an interesting story. I'm quite supportive of the general principle - that instead of a punishment or weregild style tariff for violent crime you imprison someone and keep the public safe from them, until they've become a reformed character and they're safe to release into the public again. And it's similar to what is already done with life sentences and releasing those convicts under licence.

    But in practice it's almost impossible to prove that someone isn't a possible threat to the public, particularly when they have a track record sufficient to see them convicted and imprisoned. So, instead of the sentence encouraging the prisoners to redeem themselves, you had increasing numbers in indefinite detention with no hope of ever being released.

    We'll find out more about this individual's history in time, and maybe he was safe when he was released, but for whatever reason that didn't last. How do you predict whether someone might be violent a decade or so in the future?
    Something about stabbing the dog as well makes me think he is probably a schizophrenic, and when they have a history of violence it's probably best to keep them locked up in a mental home forever

    Says here that he was referred to Prevent in 2020... given his previous crime, I doubt he should have been free to roam the streets yesterday

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/golders-green-terror-attack-london-suspect-essa-suleiman-b2968175.html
    Channel 4 News has learned the Golders Green attacker left a psychiatric hospital run by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in recent days.

    More tonight at 7pm.


    https://x.com/channel4news/status/2049908435882291324?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
    Seems pretty plausible. Everyone knows the mental health system has less than zero spare capacity, so there's massive pressure to discharge people in a poor way to make space for people in a worse way.

    And whatever the problems with the NHS, it's hard to imagine that an alternative model will do a better job of serving people who can't possibly pay their way or articulately lobby for better treatment or form a sufficient voting bloc that politicians cower at their power.
    1/100 weighed in

    ‘‘nothing to see here’
    Not so much that as three people who would it would probably be beneficial to keep in hospital... but there's only space for one.
    I was speaking to a friend tonight whose job is to audit the governments spending. He said there are billions carelessly frittered away every year. Yet dangerous maniacs are not kept locked up because there is no money
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 9,247
    Foxy said:

    isam said:

    I don't think he was released at the right time...

    The suspect in the Golders Green terror attack has been named as Essa Suleiman, a Somali-born British man who was jailed for stabbing a police officer and his dog.

    Suleiman, 45, who arrived in the UK as a child, was arrested on Wednesday after two Jewish men were stabbed in an alleged anti-Semitic terror attack.

    Both victims were recovering in hospital as Suleiman continued to be questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.

    In 2008, Suleiman was jailed indefinitely following a violent altercation in Swindon in which he stabbed Pc Neil Sampson.

    The officer had been responding to reports of a knife incident at a property in the Wiltshire town when he was attacked by Suleiman, who was 27 at the time.

    Pc Sampson required five months off work after he was repeatedly stabbed in the head, face and leg with what was believed to be a bread knife. His dog, Anya, was also knifed in the chest, Swindon Crown Court heard.

    The judge at his trial handed Suleiman an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence and recommended he only be released when he was no longer considered a risk to the public.


    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/exclusive-golders-green-suspect-was-jailed-for-stabbing-policeman-and-dog/ar-AA2266O4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=69f3a294e8f648f09f1dbb05815f9a48&ei=30

    Well, at least we can be reasonably sure he wasn’t radicalised/driven mad by THE MARCHES. Perhaps he’s an IRGC sleeper.
    On the subject of marches, the new Banksy is rather fine:


    I get the funny feeling he has ideas on which flags that does or doesn't apply to.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
    Well Matt Wrack is somebody I don’t trust an inch, but this is the statement:

    https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/academy-plan-fragmentation-divert-money.html

    I cannot imagine that they would have written in quite these terms of somebody was not at least flying a kite and they were trying to force a denial.

    I very much hope either they are wrong or this action forestalls it. Whatever the rights and wrongs of academies academy chains - well, autocorrect made them ‘scammed chains’ and I wouldn’t say it was wrong.
    Looks like it refers back to the white paper covered here;

    https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-schools-policies/

    3. Standalone trusts ‘challenged’ to defragment system
    The government wants all schools to join or form trusts. Councils and local area partnerships will also be given the power to launch their own chains.
    To help manage potential conflicts of interest, restrictions on local authority involvement in the day-to-day running of their trusts will be introduced.
    Pointing to the number of single-academy trusts in deficit, the document posed a “challenge to our best standalone schools” to partner with others and make the system less fragmented.


    "Wants£ isn't the same as "forced to", and has been department policy for a while, hasn't it- possibly back to the days of NiMo? Free-standing state schools only works if you ignore the capacity for management in the system and oversight in the government.
    There is capacity for oversight in the government?

    It may have been policy for a while - heck, it was policy under the last lot - but it’s still a bloody fool idea.

    I was hoping that one positive of the silliness of most of Labour’s ideas about education was that at least we would get rid of academy chains.
    Of course there isn't. Which is why the Gove-Cummings model of replacing lots of little LEAs around the country with one ginormous LEA in Whitehall was a really bad idea. Everything since then has been about trying to simplify the dataflow so that government has some chance to process what's going on out there.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,814
    nico67 said:

    https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/2049920075277250929

    Win for Britain as Trump removes whisky tariffs

    King had personally lobbied Trump for this, including back in Windsor.

    We’re supposed to be grateful for a scrap when his stupid war is going to cause huge economic misery for the UK .
    Genuinely how he will see it too - who is to say he won't reimpose them anywhere the next time he gets upset at whoever is PM?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 79,502
    edited April 30

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
    Well Matt Wrack is somebody I don’t trust an inch, but this is the statement:

    https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/academy-plan-fragmentation-divert-money.html

    I cannot imagine that they would have written in quite these terms of somebody was not at least flying a kite and they were trying to force a denial.

    I very much hope either they are wrong or this action forestalls it. Whatever the rights and wrongs of academies academy chains - well, autocorrect made them ‘scammed chains’ and I wouldn’t say it was wrong.
    Looks like it refers back to the white paper covered here;

    https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-schools-policies/

    3. Standalone trusts ‘challenged’ to defragment system
    The government wants all schools to join or form trusts. Councils and local area partnerships will also be given the power to launch their own chains.
    To help manage potential conflicts of interest, restrictions on local authority involvement in the day-to-day running of their trusts will be introduced.
    Pointing to the number of single-academy trusts in deficit, the document posed a “challenge to our best standalone schools” to partner with others and make the system less fragmented.


    "Wants£ isn't the same as "forced to", and has been department policy for a while, hasn't it- possibly back to the days of NiMo? Free-standing state schools only works if you ignore the capacity for management in the system and oversight in the government.
    There is capacity for oversight in the government?

    It may have been policy for a while - heck, it was policy under the last lot - but it’s still a bloody fool idea.

    I was hoping that one positive of the silliness of most of Labour’s ideas about education was that at least we would get rid of academy chains.
    Of course there isn't. Which is why the Gove-Cummings model of replacing lots of little LEAs around the country with one ginormous LEA in Whitehall was a really bad idea. Everything since then has been about trying to simplify the dataflow so that government has some chance to process what's going on out there.
    I’ve just read through that article, hadn’t seen it before.

    What an utter pile of cliche ridden drivel. More divorced from reality than Donald Trump.

    Just to take the most obvious, to recruit more teachers they’re expanding Teach First? Seriously? The training programme with by far the worst retention rate and the worst quality outcomes of all?

    Where do we as a nation find these utter twats?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,814
    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    I thought it was already going to be the case. Or if not forced, then very strongly encouraged by official policy and unofficial pressure.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,814
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
    Well Matt Wrack is somebody I don’t trust an inch, but this is the statement:

    https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/academy-plan-fragmentation-divert-money.html

    I cannot imagine that they would have written in quite these terms of somebody was not at least flying a kite and they were trying to force a denial.

    I very much hope either they are wrong or this action forestalls it. Whatever the rights and wrongs of academies academy chains - well, autocorrect made them ‘scammed chains’ and I wouldn’t say it was wrong.
    Looks like it refers back to the white paper covered here;

    https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-schools-policies/

    3. Standalone trusts ‘challenged’ to defragment system
    The government wants all schools to join or form trusts. Councils and local area partnerships will also be given the power to launch their own chains.
    To help manage potential conflicts of interest, restrictions on local authority involvement in the day-to-day running of their trusts will be introduced.
    Pointing to the number of single-academy trusts in deficit, the document posed a “challenge to our best standalone schools” to partner with others and make the system less fragmented.


    "Wants£ isn't the same as "forced to", and has been department policy for a while, hasn't it- possibly back to the days of NiMo? Free-standing state schools only works if you ignore the capacity for management in the system and oversight in the government.
    There is capacity for oversight in the government?

    It may have been policy for a while - heck, it was policy under the last lot - but it’s still a bloody fool idea.

    I was hoping that one positive of the silliness of most of Labour’s ideas about education was that at least we would get rid of academy chains.
    Of course there isn't. Which is why the Gove-Cummings model of replacing lots of little LEAs around the country with one ginormous LEA in Whitehall was a really bad idea. Everything since then has been about trying to simplify the dataflow so that government has some chance to process what's going on out there.
    Where do we as a nation find these utter twats?
    It's representative of our overall population, I fear.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 136,924

    HYUFD said:

    Fortunately for Reform the Senedd elections next week are being held via closed list PR, hence tactical voting won't apply. Reform are neck and neck with Plaid for most seats though Plaid will almost certainly form the next Welsh government after a deal with Labour

    You do not understand how toxic labour are in Wales

    Rhun ap Iorwerth has stated he will run a minority government if necessary and certainly he is not going to have a formal coalition with labour
    He would still need Labour support, maybe LD and Green too, to get any legislation through the Senedd
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 35,251

    Caitríona Balfe bought me a Key Lime Pie today.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    I assume that's someone we should be aware of?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 32,602
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
    Well Matt Wrack is somebody I don’t trust an inch, but this is the statement:

    https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/academy-plan-fragmentation-divert-money.html

    I cannot imagine that they would have written in quite these terms of somebody was not at least flying a kite and they were trying to force a denial.

    I very much hope either they are wrong or this action forestalls it. Whatever the rights and wrongs of academies academy chains - well, autocorrect made them ‘scammed chains’ and I wouldn’t say it was wrong.
    Looks like it refers back to the white paper covered here;

    https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-schools-policies/

    3. Standalone trusts ‘challenged’ to defragment system
    The government wants all schools to join or form trusts. Councils and local area partnerships will also be given the power to launch their own chains.
    To help manage potential conflicts of interest, restrictions on local authority involvement in the day-to-day running of their trusts will be introduced.
    Pointing to the number of single-academy trusts in deficit, the document posed a “challenge to our best standalone schools” to partner with others and make the system less fragmented.


    "Wants£ isn't the same as "forced to", and has been department policy for a while, hasn't it- possibly back to the days of NiMo? Free-standing state schools only works if you ignore the capacity for management in the system and oversight in the government.
    There is capacity for oversight in the government?

    It may have been policy for a while - heck, it was policy under the last lot - but it’s still a bloody fool idea.

    I was hoping that one positive of the silliness of most of Labour’s ideas about education was that at least we would get rid of academy chains.
    Of course there isn't. Which is why the Gove-Cummings model of replacing lots of little LEAs around the country with one ginormous LEA in Whitehall was a really bad idea. Everything since then has been about trying to simplify the dataflow so that government has some chance to process what's going on out there.
    I’ve just read through that article, hadn’t seen it before.

    What an utter pile of cliche ridden drivel. More divorced from reality than Donald Trump.

    Just to take the most obvious, to recruit more teachers they’re expanding Teach First? Seriously? The training programme with by far the worst retention rate and the worst quality outcomes of all?

    Where do we as a nation find these utter twats?
    Recruitment ignores the major problem. Which is retention.
    Still. A constant flow of callow idealists who last three or four years before the inevitable breakdown is easier than dealing with gnarly veterans who have the confidence to circumvent or outright ignore the torrents of BS out of the DfE.
    Damn sight cheaper, too.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 63,554
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    eek said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have just had an email from NASUWT claiming every school in England is to be forced to join an academy chain.

    Is this true and if so is Bridget Phillipson totally fucking insane?

    Well I can't find any reference to it online so it comes down to why would the NASUWT lie about something that might encourage teachers to join them / remain a member?
    Well Matt Wrack is somebody I don’t trust an inch, but this is the statement:

    https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/academy-plan-fragmentation-divert-money.html

    I cannot imagine that they would have written in quite these terms of somebody was not at least flying a kite and they were trying to force a denial.

    I very much hope either they are wrong or this action forestalls it. Whatever the rights and wrongs of academies academy chains - well, autocorrect made them ‘scammed chains’ and I wouldn’t say it was wrong.
    Looks like it refers back to the white paper covered here;

    https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-schools-policies/

    3. Standalone trusts ‘challenged’ to defragment system
    The government wants all schools to join or form trusts. Councils and local area partnerships will also be given the power to launch their own chains.
    To help manage potential conflicts of interest, restrictions on local authority involvement in the day-to-day running of their trusts will be introduced.
    Pointing to the number of single-academy trusts in deficit, the document posed a “challenge to our best standalone schools” to partner with others and make the system less fragmented.


    "Wants£ isn't the same as "forced to", and has been department policy for a while, hasn't it- possibly back to the days of NiMo? Free-standing state schools only works if you ignore the capacity for management in the system and oversight in the government.
    There is capacity for oversight in the government?

    It may have been policy for a while - heck, it was policy under the last lot - but it’s still a bloody fool idea.

    I was hoping that one positive of the silliness of most of Labour’s ideas about education was that at least we would get rid of academy chains.
    Of course there isn't. Which is why the Gove-Cummings model of replacing lots of little LEAs around the country with one ginormous LEA in Whitehall was a really bad idea. Everything since then has been about trying to simplify the dataflow so that government has some chance to process what's going on out there.
    I’ve just read through that article, hadn’t seen it before.

    What an utter pile of cliche ridden drivel. More divorced from reality than Donald Trump.

    Just to take the most obvious, to recruit more teachers they’re expanding Teach First? Seriously? The training programme with by far the worst retention rate and the worst quality outcomes of all?

    Where do we as a nation find these utter twats?
    In the House Commons. Also in the regional branch parliaments.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,814

    Caitríona Balfe bought me a Key Lime Pie today.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    I assume that's someone we should be aware of?
    Actress from the show Outlander. Quite talented, and starting to get film roles.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 35,251
    kle4 said:

    Caitríona Balfe bought me a Key Lime Pie today.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    I assume that's someone we should be aware of?
    Actress from the show Outlander. Quite talented, and starting to get film roles.
    Ok, I don't feel too out of touch having never heard of her then.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 63,554
    IanB2 said:

    DavidL said:

    We got our freepost leaflets today so the recycling bins are going to be lipping over next week. Several parties are standing that I have not even heard of. The Alliance to Liberate Scotland and the Independence for Scotland Party being amongst them.

    We also have the Workers Party which turns out to be Galloway's latest mob. Their second placed candidate says (and I quote) "Conscription is coming in Scotland. There will be conscription riots. In Scottish schools we need to be teaching Scottish history. We will stand again against the conscription of our people for a UK war." No, me neither.

    How else are they going to see off HY's Essex tank regiment?
    It’s just one tank.

    Maybe a regiment by the standards of the modern Russian army.
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 3,817

    HYUFD said:

    Fortunately for Reform the Senedd elections next week are being held via closed list PR, hence tactical voting won't apply. Reform are neck and neck with Plaid for most seats though Plaid will almost certainly form the next Welsh government after a deal with Labour

    You do not understand how toxic labour are in Wales

    Rhun ap Iorwerth has stated he will run a minority government if necessary and certainly he is not going to have a formal coalition with labour
    This is what Alex Salmond did when he just edged one more MSP than Labour in 2007. The rest is history - in 2011 Salmond won a majority and forced IndyRef. Labour should beware - there may be no coming back if ap Iorwerth is half as savvy as Eck.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 56,870

    Caitríona Balfe bought me a Key Lime Pie today.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    I assume that's someone we should be aware of?
    No idea who she is, but Key Lime Pie is worth having.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    edited April 30

    kle4 said:

    Caitríona Balfe bought me a Key Lime Pie today.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    I assume that's someone we should be aware of?
    Actress from the show Outlander. Quite talented, and starting to get film roles.
    Ok, I don't feel too out of touch having never heard of her then.
    She was the mother in Ken Branagh's "Belfast" too.

    She is however huge from Outlander. All 8 series of it.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420

    IanB2 said:

    DavidL said:

    We got our freepost leaflets today so the recycling bins are going to be lipping over next week. Several parties are standing that I have not even heard of. The Alliance to Liberate Scotland and the Independence for Scotland Party being amongst them.

    We also have the Workers Party which turns out to be Galloway's latest mob. Their second placed candidate says (and I quote) "Conscription is coming in Scotland. There will be conscription riots. In Scottish schools we need to be teaching Scottish history. We will stand again against the conscription of our people for a UK war." No, me neither.

    How else are they going to see off HY's Essex tank regiment?
    It’s just one tank.

    Maybe a regiment by the standards of the modern Russian army.
    That's a whole May Day parade!
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 56,870

    IanB2 said:

    DavidL said:

    We got our freepost leaflets today so the recycling bins are going to be lipping over next week. Several parties are standing that I have not even heard of. The Alliance to Liberate Scotland and the Independence for Scotland Party being amongst them.

    We also have the Workers Party which turns out to be Galloway's latest mob. Their second placed candidate says (and I quote) "Conscription is coming in Scotland. There will be conscription riots. In Scottish schools we need to be teaching Scottish history. We will stand again against the conscription of our people for a UK war." No, me neither.

    How else are they going to see off HY's Essex tank regiment?
    It’s just one tank.

    Maybe a regiment by the standards of the modern Russian army.
    That's a whole May Day parade!
    One more than a Victory Day parade, surely?
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 5,542

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Omnium said:

    IanB2 said:

    I went to my local ward hustings tonight. The publicity for this was pretty derisory - and the audience was tiny - and of the five candidates only the Tory incumbent turned up. Nevertheless, as the group leader of the currently large - likely soon to be somewhat smaller - Tory opposition on the island, he did promise me that he’d have nothing to do with Reform running the council. Which - should they do well but not quite well enough, as is still possible, could be a relevant factor in who forms the administration for IOWC after next week.

    What on earth happened to the LD stronghold that was the IoW?

    It was almost a thing once wasn't it?

    Best to steer clear of Reform.

    If you look at the council composition, as well as four LibDems, there are a group of various independents, many under the "Island Independents Network" banner, who are essentially centre-left folk akin to the liberals who ran the island prior to the coalition. Since then, they've preferred to stress their independence rather than their politics. Next week's election is essentially a competition between the current Indy-LibDem-Green coalition that's narrowly been running the council, and Reform, essentially coming from nowhere, with the Tory group - the administration not so long ago and the opposition now, only a smidgin short of control - quite possibly being reduced to onlookers.

    As for Reform, they've put up candidates in every ward, but few people know who they actually are. They've almost all refused to engage with local media, returning "no response received" statements in the local newpaper and news websites analysis of each ward, and the leaflets coming through our doors are national Nigel Farage mailshots with nothing about our local patch or who the candidate is, whatsoever.

    As the Tory councillor said at tonight's meeting, the first Reform councillor elected on the island actually lived in the Midlands, and used his girlfriend's father's holiday home address to stand as a candidate in the by-election, which he won, and after a few months of not attending any meetings, promptly resigned. Only for a new Reform candidate to win again. The second Reform councillor elected was a woman who, somehow, managed to persuade the council's legal officers not to disclose the properties she owned on the island within her declaration of interests; when these were eventually revealed, after a sustained councillor and local campaign, it turned out she was a slum landlord awash with complaints from her tenants, and Farage threw her out of Reform. Then, somehow, her Reform membership was restored but she didn't team up with the first Reform councillor to form a group. Now, despite still being a Reform member, she's re-standing in her ward facing an official Reform opponent.
    To be fair, in Leics our minority Reform council is not noticeably any more useless than the previous Tory controlled one.

    I think this mostly down to the complete neutering of local government over the years. It is just statuary duties and silly stunts.
    "Vote for us - we're not noticeably more useless than the Tories you've been used to"

    How far has our politics sunk?
    We don't have elections this year in Leics, so it is a spectator sport for me next week.
    In Wales we have a psephological wet dream of a results day on the Friday.
    A D'Hondt count during daylight hours?

    It doesn't get any better than that.

    I'm planning to conduct a D'Hondt count by combining the votes across the two Bingley wards to see how the six council seats would have been shared out under a superior system to First Three Past the Post.
    D'Hondt You Forget About Me.
    D'Hondt you want me baby
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 64,516

    Caitríona Balfe bought me a Key Lime Pie today.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    I assume that's someone we should be aware of?
    I googled, as I'd never heard of her either.
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 3,817
    Cyclefree said:

    Today I had an appointment with the Respiratory Clinic a year after I was admitted with serious chest pain. I assumed it was a routine follow up but in fact I was told that last year my right lung had collapsed because of the cancer & that there was some metastatic cancer in the lung, which had not spread since treatment started. I even got shown a picture of it, lucky old me, as well as of some efflusion, which is minor but with a warning that if it gets worse it might need to be drained.

    Now the fact that the treatment seems to be keeping the cancer at bay is good. But this is the first time I've been told the disease is in my lungs, as well as breast, spine, pelvis & ribs. The oncologist's correspondence has never mentioned it. It's news to me. So what else has been kept from me? Or is it just one clinic not talking to the other?

    Also the scans from the hospital are not shared with the GP if they are more than 3 months old. Why not? On Tuesday I get to hear the result of the hip X-ray to see what's causing the pain making it hard for me to walk. I am bracing myself for more unexpected/bad/what the fuck does this mean now news.

    Meanwhile the nice lady registrar did tell me how important it was to avoid infection. Which I know. I did point out that I survived the Covid years without catching it & have not in fact had a cold, sore throat or flu in years. A fat lot of good that has done me.

    I am finding this all hard to process. The weather is gorgeous - like last year - so it feels unreal that something bad is happening to me. The debates on here seem pointless. There are no elections where I live. As for Wales I feel about it much as Sir Thomas More did in his comment to Richie Rich in A Man For All Seasons.

    As for what is happening to Jews in this country, it is beyond depressing. Too many on here seem unable to condemn what is being done to our fellow citizens here without a lot of whtaboutery. There is a lot of bad faith commentary which suggests that many still feel that Jews have to justify why they should not be attacked or made to feel unsafe. They don't. That this should need saying is evidence to me of a latent sort of unconscious anti-semitism which somehow does not see Jews as fully belonging. It is repellent. Starmer's speech was pretty good but far too late. Real effective action now needs to follow. The advice of the anti-terrorism tsar, Jonathan Hall KC, should be listened to -



    This is, IMO, true. And has been true from the start. If you organise a march in favour of those carrying out a massacre while they are still doing it (the first pro-Palestine March was organised on the afternoon of 7 October) you are not a good faith actor in any sense.

    FWIW the Golders Green attack was being discussed by two people in the waiting room & they were pretty angry at the criticisms being made of the police as they were trying to disarm the attacker.

    At any event, I am taking a break for a bit. It's all too much.

    Thanks very much for stating these self-evident truths - and not just on this issue. When people insist on things which are factually untrue there really is a job to do. Thanks so much for doing it.
This discussion has been closed.