What happened to the “2/3rds of the cabinet are going to Downing Street to beg the PM to go?”
We appear to have had a lets all go skinny dipping and only one of them has got naked and even for them they appear to be worrying about how cold the water is.
The Tory party is about power and respectability. On the former the numbers suggest the Tories will be the biggest group on the council and perhaps they intend to do a Clegg on the Lib Dems and Greens? With regard to respectability, how many of the foremost London clubs would countenance Nigel Farage as a member?
They did not back Reform in the Senedd either and it is the right approach
Which is fine. They are not obliged to ally with reform. But allying with the frigging GREENS in preference to Reform is an insult to every right wing voter in Worcestershire. Why not ally with Corbyn? Whats she difference?
I predict it will not go well for them. There or elsewhere. It will just make drifting right wing voters make the full leap to Reform
The Greens are detestable and anti-British and completely penetrated by pro Palestinian nutters and crypto (not even that crypto) Islamists
I'd guess the Green councillor corps varies a lot by location. In any case Reform are more anti British than the Greens are.
I’d agree about the Green councillors. They’re probably bunny hugging NIMBYs there
But reform anti British/more anti Brit than the Greens. You’re having a laugh 🤣🤣🤣🤣
For sure, they parrot MAGA, they're halfway up Trump's rectum, they're pro Putin (and are doing jail time to prove it), and they seem to hate Britain as it actually exists rather than their 1950s white weewee version. Reform are the most anti British party out there.
They did not back Reform in the Senedd either and it is the right approach
Which is fine. They are not obliged to ally with reform. But allying with the frigging GREENS in preference to Reform is an insult to every right wing voter in Worcestershire. Why not ally with Corbyn? Whats she difference?
I predict it will not go well for them. There or elsewhere. It will just make drifting right wing voters make the full leap to Reform
The Greens are detestable and anti-British and completely penetrated by pro Palestinian nutters and crypto (not even that crypto) Islamists
Alan Amos being leader of the Reform group explains everything.
Oh, if it’s him, then it becomes a lot more understandable.
The Tory party is about power and respectability. On the former the numbers suggest the Tories will be the biggest group on the council and perhaps they intend to do a Clegg on the Lib Dems and Greens? With regard to respectability, how many of the foremost London clubs would countenance Nigel Farage as a member?
Kemi needs to intervene. The Tories cannot taint themselves with a Green alliance. It’s catastrophic
They did not back Reform in the Senedd either and it is the right approach
Which is fine. They are not obliged to ally with reform. But allying with the frigging GREENS in preference to Reform is an insult to every right wing voter in Worcestershire. Why not ally with Corbyn? Whats she difference?
I predict it will not go well for them. There or elsewhere. It will just make drifting right wing voters make the full leap to Reform
The Greens are detestable and anti-British and completely penetrated by pro Palestinian nutters and crypto (not even that crypto) Islamists
I'd guess the Green councillor corps varies a lot by location. In any case Reform are more anti British than the Greens are.
I’d agree about the Green councillors. They’re probably bunny hugging NIMBYs there
But reform anti British/more anti Brit than the Greens. You’re having a laugh 🤣🤣🤣🤣
For sure, they parrot MAGA, they're halfway up Trump's rectum, they're pro Putin (and are doing jail time to prove it), and they seem to hate Britain as it actually exists rather than their 1950s white weewee version. Reform are the most anti British party out there.
We haven't had any sort of response form the Downing Street bunker yet. No letter in reply. No appointment of a new Health Secretary - have any of the earlier ministerial resignations been replaced? Seemingly nothing.
Is it possible that Starmer's undecided as to whether to continue?
Starmer and Reed are visiting a housing development so nothing much till Starmer returns to no 10
Without a contestant Starmer can let this drift for a while longer. As it stands Starmer has nothing further to lose. His premiership is over. It is simply about time scale now.
Agreed
There is of course the small matter of the governance of the country in what are difficult times with the Strait of Hormuz still shut, an increasing shortage of jet fuel and fertiliser and, potentially, a Sovereign debt crisis but its silly to pretend that these weigh in the balance.
The reason Bootle might be one of the only seats Labour could win in a by-election is because both Reform and the Greens have a certain amount of strength in the constituency as evidenced at the local elections on Thursday. So Labour could still win in on a low share of the vote. (Reform could theoretically decide not to contest it in order to help the Greens win, but that's unlikely).
1. The contest is triggered too soon for him 2. Nobody agrees to vacate him a seat 3. He's blocked from standing in it 4. He loses the by-election 5. He wins the seat then loses the leadership contest
1. Still possible but looking unlikely 2. Surely unlikely 3. Politically just about impossible now 4. Unlikely I'd have thought 5. Unlikely unless sentiment changes radically
I think Burnham would win any currently held GM (Likely NW tbf) seat tbh. He has consistently outperformed Labour's generic vote since he became mayor there.
They did not back Reform in the Senedd either and it is the right approach
Which is fine. They are not obliged to ally with reform. But allying with the frigging GREENS in preference to Reform is an insult to every right wing voter in Worcestershire. Why not ally with Corbyn? Whats she difference?
I predict it will not go well for them. There or elsewhere. It will just make drifting right wing voters make the full leap to Reform
The Greens are detestable and anti-British and completely penetrated by pro Palestinian nutters and crypto (not even that crypto) Islamists
I'd guess the Green councillor corps varies a lot by location. In any case Reform are more anti British than the Greens are.
I’d agree about the Green councillors. They’re probably bunny hugging NIMBYs there
But reform anti British/more anti Brit than the Greens. You’re having a laugh 🤣🤣🤣🤣
For sure, they parrot MAGA, they're halfway up Trump's rectum, they're pro Putin (and are doing jail time to prove it), and they seem to hate Britain as it actually exists rather than their 1950s white weewee version. Reform are the most anti British party out there.
WTF does that gibberish even mean 🤣🤣🤣🤣
"white wee-wee" is explained in this clip from The Gay Daleks
1. The contest is triggered too soon for him 2. Nobody agrees to vacate him a seat 3. He's blocked from standing in it 4. He loses the by-election 5. He wins the seat then loses the leadership contest
1. Still possible but looking unlikely 2. Surely unlikely 3. Politically just about impossible now 4. Unlikely I'd have thought 5. Unlikely unless sentiment changes radically
We haven't had any sort of response form the Downing Street bunker yet. No letter in reply. No appointment of a new Health Secretary - have any of the earlier ministerial resignations been replaced? Seemingly nothing.
Is it possible that Starmer's undecided as to whether to continue?
Starmer and Reed are visiting a housing development so nothing much till Starmer returns to no 10
Without a contestant Starmer can let this drift for a while longer. As it stands Starmer has nothing further to lose. His premiership is over. It is simply about time scale now.
Agreed
There is of course the small matter of the governance of the country in what are difficult times with the Strait of Hormuz still shut, an increasing shortage of jet fuel and fertiliser and, potentially, a Sovereign debt crisis but its silly to pretend that these weigh in the balance.
Without the requirements of success, Starmer may be somewhat less useless. I don't believe he has done badly in directly negotiating Trump, Trump's war, the ramifications of that war and Trump's tariffs. Mandelson aside obviously.
Edit. His management of Trump and Gaza has been less sure footed. There is still an argument that Starmer is complicit in war crimes against Gazan civilians.
They did not back Reform in the Senedd either and it is the right approach
Which is fine. They are not obliged to ally with reform. But allying with the frigging GREENS in preference to Reform is an insult to every right wing voter in Worcestershire. Why not ally with Corbyn? Whats she difference?
I predict it will not go well for them. There or elsewhere. It will just make drifting right wing voters make the full leap to Reform
The Greens are detestable and anti-British and completely penetrated by pro Palestinian nutters and crypto (not even that crypto) Islamists
Alan Amos being leader of the Reform group explains everything.
Oh, if it’s him, then it becomes a lot more understandable.
They did not back Reform in the Senedd either and it is the right approach
Which is fine. They are not obliged to ally with reform. But allying with the frigging GREENS in preference to Reform is an insult to every right wing voter in Worcestershire. Why not ally with Corbyn? Whats she difference?
I predict it will not go well for them. There or elsewhere. It will just make drifting right wing voters make the full leap to Reform
The Greens are detestable and anti-British and completely penetrated by pro Palestinian nutters and crypto (not even that crypto) Islamists
I think the Green demographics have changed a bit in recent years. There seem to be a lot of ex-Fabians, and centre lefties, people from the Heritage space (think archaeologists rather than the old human-hating Environmentalists) and the (always few in numbers) Corbynite old lefties with the problems you describe. Plus the hangovers from the Green party of old.
And that's the English Greens. Scottish Greens are different again.
Of course that doesn't mean there isn't a fair share of weirdos and extremists that you'd find in any Party or politics-discussing website.
Well, quite.
"Some" Greens are everything that has been suggested, and more besides. On the other hand there are plenty of Greens who used to Lib Dems, and a surprising number that used to be green welly Tories. So applying Chalk Farm metropolitan arrogance and presuming to lecture some perfectly harmless local councilors who don't want to see their local council turned into a grandstanding shit show run by American funded neo-fascist fuckwits is a bit silly. Just because you think Reform is a good thing does not mean that locals on the mean streets of Bromsgrove agree with you.
If it does turn out that Farage has been more than just a bit naughty with the 5 million quid of crypto crookedry then hopefully the whole house of cards comes crashing down.
Well, the flipside of that is that Reform's support is now broad enough (up to almost a third of the electorate) that a large number of Reform councillors and members are likely to be former Tories of one sort of another and if you don't regard the Tories as anathema to democracy then it would be unfair to so regard Reform, at least in local councils where Farage is unlikely to show any interest.
We haven't had any sort of response form the Downing Street bunker yet. No letter in reply. No appointment of a new Health Secretary - have any of the earlier ministerial resignations been replaced? Seemingly nothing.
Is it possible that Starmer's undecided as to whether to continue?
Starmer and Reed are visiting a housing development so nothing much till Starmer returns to no 10
Without a contestant Starmer can let this drift for a while longer. As it stands Starmer has nothing further to lose. His premiership is over. It is simply about time scale now.
Agreed
There is of course the small matter of the governance of the country in what are difficult times with the Strait of Hormuz still shut, an increasing shortage of jet fuel and fertiliser and, potentially, a Sovereign debt crisis but its silly to pretend that these weigh in the balance.
Without the requirements of success, Starmer may be somewhat less useless. I don't believe he has done badly in directly negotiating Trump, Trump's war, the ramifications of that war and Trump's tariffs. Mandelson aside obviously.
He has been right to stay out of the war although there seemed to be a UK minesweeper in the Straits recently. But what has our government done to prepare this country for the oil shock that is going to come? And it is coming, the only thing that remains uncertain is its duration.
Nice, but have to be a bit careful on interpretation - relative versus absolute. The data are mostly in the middle, so the outer parts are very sparse - particularly relevant for that sea of green.
Not sure how I'd do it, maybe hexagons of equal size for population arranged broadly on those axes or some kind of shading. A lot more of e.g. the Lab area is for seats that actually exist, compared to the green and Ref areas.
1. The contest is triggered too soon for him 2. Nobody agrees to vacate him a seat 3. He's blocked from standing in it 4. He loses the by-election 5. He wins the seat then loses the leadership contest
1. Still possible but looking unlikely 2. Surely unlikely 3. Politically just about impossible now 4. Unlikely I'd have thought 5. Unlikely unless sentiment changes radically
Conclusion: a very solid favourite.
Many a slip Between cup and lip.
Yes the inherent uncertainties of the situation. That's why he isn't shorter than 3. More a back than a lay at that though for me. Although I'm not.
Apart from the bifurcation of Labour, it's interesting that a small Tory island has emerged between Labour and the Lib Dems. If Labour go left, that part of their coalition will be up for grabs and it could fall to the Tories.
1. The contest is triggered too soon for him 2. Nobody agrees to vacate him a seat 3. He's blocked from standing in it 4. He loses the by-election 5. He wins the seat then loses the leadership contest
1. Still possible but looking unlikely 2. Surely unlikely 3. Politically just about impossible now 4. Unlikely I'd have thought 5. Unlikely unless sentiment changes radically
Conclusion: a very solid favourite.
I think he is pretty much the heir apparent now. It probably suits Rayner and Streeting to try and get decent roles out of him for their support rather than try and contest against him. He seems to have the greatest potential to unite the party.
He’s also acting exceptionally arrogantly as if taking over is his natural right, but the Labour Party seems to rather like these situations (see Brown, Gordon) and I’m not convinced they’ve got anyone better (Al Carns? You can’t go from unknown backbencher to PM, sorry, that’s a joke). So they’re probably best to get him into Parliament as soon as they can now and roll the dice with him.
The Tory party is about power and respectability. On the former the numbers suggest the Tories will be the biggest group on the council and perhaps they intend to do a Clegg on the Lib Dems and Greens? With regard to respectability, how many of the foremost London clubs would countenance Nigel Farage as a member?
Apart from the bifurcation of Labour, it's interesting that a small Tory island has emerged between Labour and the Lib Dems. If Labour go left, that part of their coalition will be up for grabs and it could fall to the Tories.
You keep coming up with these hair brained notions of a Tory revival whilst Reform are riding high.
I would suggest that the closer to Madchester the Government become the greater the peril for Green. If anyone benefits from any lurch left it would be the LDs.
Nice, but have to be a bit careful on interpretation - relative versus absolute. The data are mostly in the middle, so the outer parts are very sparse - particularly relevant for that sea of green.
Not sure how I'd do it, maybe hexagons of equal size for population arranged broadly on those axes or some kind of shading. A lot more of e.g. the Lab area is for seats that actually exist, compared to the green and Ref areas.
Fascinating nonetheless though.
Yes. On first glance you'd be forgiven for thinking the Greens had won most seats judging by the area.
1. The contest is triggered too soon for him 2. Nobody agrees to vacate him a seat 3. He's blocked from standing in it 4. He loses the by-election 5. He wins the seat then loses the leadership contest
1. Still possible but looking unlikely 2. Surely unlikely 3. Politically just about impossible now 4. Unlikely I'd have thought 5. Unlikely unless sentiment changes radically
Conclusion: a very solid favourite.
I think he is pretty much the heir apparent now. It probably suits Rayner and Streeting to try and get decent roles out of him for their support rather than try and contest against him. He seems to have the greatest potential to unite the party.
He’s also acting exceptionally arrogantly as if taking over is his natural right, but the Labour Party seems to rather like these situations (see Brown, Gordon) and I’m not convinced they’ve got anyone better (Al Carns? You can’t go from unknown backbencher to PM, sorry, that’s a joke). So they’re probably best to get him into Parliament as soon as they can now and roll the dice with him.
Pretty much spot on imo
However never underestimate the ability of Labour First types to enable Labour 4th ending by blocking him
Apart from the bifurcation of Labour, it's interesting that a small Tory island has emerged between Labour and the Lib Dems. If Labour go left, that part of their coalition will be up for grabs and it could fall to the Tories.
You keep coming up with these hair brained notions of a Tory revival whilst Reform are riding high.
I would suggest that the closer to Madchester the Government become the greater the peril for Green. If anyone benefits from any lurch left it would be the LDs.
Despite losing 60% of their seats outside London the bounce back is imminent.
We haven't had any sort of response form the Downing Street bunker yet. No letter in reply. No appointment of a new Health Secretary - have any of the earlier ministerial resignations been replaced? Seemingly nothing.
Is it possible that Starmer's undecided as to whether to continue?
Starmer and Reed are visiting a housing development so nothing much till Starmer returns to no 10
Without a contestant Starmer can let this drift for a while longer. As it stands Starmer has nothing further to lose. His premiership is over. It is simply about time scale now.
Agreed
There is of course the small matter of the governance of the country in what are difficult times with the Strait of Hormuz still shut, an increasing shortage of jet fuel and fertiliser and, potentially, a Sovereign debt crisis but its silly to pretend that these weigh in the balance.
Without the requirements of success, Starmer may be somewhat less useless. I don't believe he has done badly in directly negotiating Trump, Trump's war, the ramifications of that war and Trump's tariffs. Mandelson aside obviously.
He has been right to stay out of the war although there seemed to be a UK minesweeper in the Straits recently. But what has our government done to prepare this country for the oil shock that is going to come? And it is coming, the only thing that remains uncertain is its duration.
More wind turbines.
Any North Sea oil production dividend as advocated by Badenoch is a handful of years away.
We should have been more like Norway 45 years ago.
1. The contest is triggered too soon for him 2. Nobody agrees to vacate him a seat 3. He's blocked from standing in it 4. He loses the by-election 5. He wins the seat then loses the leadership contest
1. Still possible but looking unlikely 2. Surely unlikely 3. Politically just about impossible now 4. Unlikely I'd have thought 5. Unlikely unless sentiment changes radically
Conclusion: a very solid favourite.
Isn't this a bit like the Drake equation?
And, even if you think he's strong odds-on for each separate stage, I think it adds up to him being odds-against. It's a 5-in-6 chance of rolling a 2+ on a standard six-sided die, but it's only a ~2-in-5 chance of rolling a 2+ on all five six-sided dice.
Added to which, if Burnham had a seat lined up we would have heard about it by now.
We haven't had any sort of response form the Downing Street bunker yet. No letter in reply. No appointment of a new Health Secretary - have any of the earlier ministerial resignations been replaced? Seemingly nothing.
Is it possible that Starmer's undecided as to whether to continue?
Starmer and Reed are visiting a housing development so nothing much till Starmer returns to no 10
Without a contestant Starmer can let this drift for a while longer. As it stands Starmer has nothing further to lose. His premiership is over. It is simply about time scale now.
Agreed
There is of course the small matter of the governance of the country in what are difficult times with the Strait of Hormuz still shut, an increasing shortage of jet fuel and fertiliser and, potentially, a Sovereign debt crisis but its silly to pretend that these weigh in the balance.
Without the requirements of success, Starmer may be somewhat less useless. I don't believe he has done badly in directly negotiating Trump, Trump's war, the ramifications of that war and Trump's tariffs. Mandelson aside obviously.
He has been right to stay out of the war although there seemed to be a UK minesweeper in the Straits recently. But what has our government done to prepare this country for the oil shock that is going to come? And it is coming, the only thing that remains uncertain is its duration.
More wind turbines.
Any North Sea oil production dividend as advocated by Badenoch is a handful of years away.
We should have been more like Norway 45 years ago.
We used the North Sea money over the past 45 years to keep the current show on the road as it allowed us to spend beyond our means
1. The contest is triggered too soon for him 2. Nobody agrees to vacate him a seat 3. He's blocked from standing in it 4. He loses the by-election 5. He wins the seat then loses the leadership contest
1. Still possible but looking unlikely 2. Surely unlikely 3. Politically just about impossible now 4. Unlikely I'd have thought 5. Unlikely unless sentiment changes radically
Conclusion: a very solid favourite.
I think he is pretty much the heir apparent now. It probably suits Rayner and Streeting to try and get decent roles out of him for their support rather than try and contest against him. He seems to have the greatest potential to unite the party.
He’s also acting exceptionally arrogantly as if taking over is his natural right, but the Labour Party seems to rather like these situations (see Brown, Gordon) and I’m not convinced they’ve got anyone better (Al Carns? You can’t go from unknown backbencher to PM, sorry, that’s a joke). So they’re probably best to get him into Parliament as soon as they can now and roll the dice with him.
On Al Carns I will give you unknown - kinda hard to dispute that one when I'm about to correct you on him being a backbencher (he's current Armed Forces minister), but obviously you didn't know that, because he's unknown.
Apart from the bifurcation of Labour, it's interesting that a small Tory island has emerged between Labour and the Lib Dems. If Labour go left, that part of their coalition will be up for grabs and it could fall to the Tories.
You keep coming up with these hair brained notions of a Tory revival whilst Reform are riding high.
I would suggest that the closer to Madchester the Government become the greater the peril for Green. If anyone benefits from any lurch left it would be the LDs.
Despite losing 60% of their seats outside London the bounce back is imminent.
Marg bar tories! Marg bar tories! Marg bar tories!
Nice, but have to be a bit careful on interpretation - relative versus absolute. The data are mostly in the middle, so the outer parts are very sparse - particularly relevant for that sea of green.
Not sure how I'd do it, maybe hexagons of equal size for population arranged broadly on those axes or some kind of shading. A lot more of e.g. the Lab area is for seats that actually exist, compared to the green and Ref areas.
Fascinating nonetheless though.
Yes. On first glance you'd be forgiven for thinking the Greens had won most seats judging by the area.
Greenland on a Mercator projection?
If the x axis was truncated at 20% like it is truncated at 80% then the Green share would probably be more representative.
In any case, the party of the professional/managerial class over 50 seems a particular niche pond for the Tories to be fishing in.
Anyway, back to the real competition of the week and yet more evidence that Scottish hacks are morons. The one decent reason in the replies for a helicopter was the ref might need evacced out.
‘😂 Helicopter Saturday? The fuck they needing a helicopter for if both teams who can win the league are playing at the same ground?’
I think everyone waiting for the imminent end of the SKS show is going to be disappointed.
He’s going to be there til Burnham can get a seat, at least. It is ludicrous, because privately I expect the cabinet all know he should go, but until their golden boy is in place they can’t rush it.
Is it me or does "Where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift" sound a bit... "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony"?
Not sure sounding like Mrs T will endear you to the faithful, Wes.
The Tory party is about power and respectability. On the former the numbers suggest the Tories will be the biggest group on the council and perhaps they intend to do a Clegg on the Lib Dems and Greens? With regard to respectability, how many of the foremost London clubs would countenance Nigel Farage as a member?
Kemi needs to intervene. The Tories cannot taint themselves with a Green alliance. It’s catastrophic
Fine not helping Reform. But the greens? Nah
This isn't an alliance prior to an election; this is pragmatism afterwards.
1. The contest is triggered too soon for him 2. Nobody agrees to vacate him a seat 3. He's blocked from standing in it 4. He loses the by-election 5. He wins the seat then loses the leadership contest
1. Still possible but looking unlikely 2. Surely unlikely 3. Politically just about impossible now 4. Unlikely I'd have thought 5. Unlikely unless sentiment changes radically
Conclusion: a very solid favourite.
Streeting getting frit is a massive boost. I think Andy may have it.
4 is tricky but if theres enthusiasm he will replace the PM he wins i think.
Is it me or does "Where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift" sound a bit... "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony"?
Not sure sounding like Mrs T will endear you to the faithful, Wes.
It made me think those people who are rushed to A&E with injuries involving vacuum cleaners.
Some of these f******* won't get another job in Cabinet once Starmer falls. Reeves amongst others must realise the gig is up, at least in the short to medium term.
Pretty much the only positive kpi reporting has been from the Department of Health. If any other department has achieved anything over the last two years, they have kept it to themselves.
Is it me or does "Where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift" sound a bit... "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony"?
Not sure sounding like Mrs T will endear you to the faithful, Wes.
I don't think she had a copyright on sentence structure. I think the left dislike him enough without fearing he evoked she who shall not be named.
I spoke to one of our county councillors this morning, and efforts to do the same are underway on the island. The challenge is that it requires all four political parties plus every independent to play ball, to come off. Meanwhile they’ve been meeting some of the new Reform councillors, and clueless is the least that can be said.
Apart from the bifurcation of Labour, it's interesting that a small Tory island has emerged between Labour and the Lib Dems. If Labour go left, that part of their coalition will be up for grabs and it could fall to the Tories.
There is still a core Conservative vote, older, but better off than Reform. More rural, but also, with a solid vote in London, especially among Hindu and Jewish voters.
There's a very solid Lib Dem among younger to middle aged, well to do voters, and likewise for Labour. The Greens do well among all classes, but very poorly with voters aged 40+.
1. The contest is triggered too soon for him 2. Nobody agrees to vacate him a seat 3. He's blocked from standing in it 4. He loses the by-election 5. He wins the seat then loses the leadership contest
1. Still possible but looking unlikely 2. Surely unlikely 3. Politically just about impossible now 4. Unlikely I'd have thought 5. Unlikely unless sentiment changes radically
Conclusion: a very solid favourite.
Isn't this a bit like the Drake equation?
And, even if you think he's strong odds-on for each separate stage, I think it adds up to him being odds-against. It's a 5-in-6 chance of rolling a 2+ on a standard six-sided die, but it's only a ~2-in-5 chance of rolling a 2+ on all five six-sided dice.
Added to which, if Burnham had a seat lined up we would have heard about it by now.
Yes you have to put numbers in and multiply. All of the things must not happen for the endstate of Andy PM to be reached.
Odds against for sure. Betfair has 3.25. Right ballpark imo but I'd price it a tad shorter.
Is it me or does "Where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift" sound a bit... "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony"?
Not sure sounding like Mrs T will endear you to the faithful, Wes.
It made me think those people who are rushed to A&E with injuries involving vacuum cleaners.
They did not back Reform in the Senedd either and it is the right approach
Which is fine. They are not obliged to ally with reform. But allying with the frigging GREENS in preference to Reform is an insult to every right wing voter in Worcestershire. Why not ally with Corbyn? Whats she difference?
I predict it will not go well for them. There or elsewhere. It will just make drifting right wing voters make the full leap to Reform
The Greens are detestable and anti-British and completely penetrated by pro Palestinian nutters and crypto (not even that crypto) Islamists
I'd guess the Green councillor corps varies a lot by location. In any case Reform are more anti British than the Greens are.
I’d agree about the Green councillors. They’re probably bunny hugging NIMBYs there
But reform anti British/more anti Brit than the Greens. You’re having a laugh 🤣🤣🤣🤣
For sure, they parrot MAGA, they're halfway up Trump's rectum, they're pro Putin (and are doing jail time to prove it), and they seem to hate Britain as it actually exists rather than their 1950s white weewee version. Reform are the most anti British party out there.
WTF does that gibberish even mean 🤣🤣🤣🤣
"white wee-wee" is explained in this clip from The Gay Daleks
One stood down in Hackney as a council employee .. teacher. Also one similar in Camden. Also aiui the Mayor of Hackney ... Zoe Garbutt iirc... has I think not taken her councillor position.
I have not checked it all and traced it as I am on a phone but I think that loses them largest party status in Hackney.
As the mayor she’s not allowed to be a councillor. I expect the greens will win the vacancy easily enough
I spoke to one of our county councillors this morning, and efforts to do the same are underway on the island. The challenge is that it requires all four political parties plus every independent to play ball, to come off. Meanwhile they’ve been meeting some of the new Reform councillors, and clueless is the least that can be said.
Wow. Must be true. I’m sure they’re informed view is wholly impartial 🤣
Is it me or does "Where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift" sound a bit... "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony"?
Not sure sounding like Mrs T will endear you to the faithful, Wes.
We haven't had any sort of response form the Downing Street bunker yet. No letter in reply. No appointment of a new Health Secretary - have any of the earlier ministerial resignations been replaced? Seemingly nothing.
Is it possible that Starmer's undecided as to whether to continue?
Starmer and Reed are visiting a housing development so nothing much till Starmer returns to no 10
Without a contestant Starmer can let this drift for a while longer. As it stands Starmer has nothing further to lose. His premiership is over. It is simply about time scale now.
Agreed
There is of course the small matter of the governance of the country in what are difficult times with the Strait of Hormuz still shut, an increasing shortage of jet fuel and fertiliser and, potentially, a Sovereign debt crisis but its silly to pretend that these weigh in the balance.
Without the requirements of success, Starmer may be somewhat less useless. I don't believe he has done badly in directly negotiating Trump, Trump's war, the ramifications of that war and Trump's tariffs. Mandelson aside obviously.
He has been right to stay out of the war although there seemed to be a UK minesweeper in the Straits recently. But what has our government done to prepare this country for the oil shock that is going to come? And it is coming, the only thing that remains uncertain is its duration.
More wind turbines.
Any North Sea oil production dividend as advocated by Badenoch is a handful of years away.
We should have been more like Norway 45 years ago.
We used the North Sea money over the past 45 years to keep the current show on the road as it allowed us to spend beyond our means
10bn per year. Roundabout. I’ve never had something I couldn’t spend 10bn on.
Apart from the bifurcation of Labour, it's interesting that a small Tory island has emerged between Labour and the Lib Dems. If Labour go left, that part of their coalition will be up for grabs and it could fall to the Tories.
There is still a core Conservative vote, older, but better off than Reform. More rural, but also, with a solid vote in London, especially among Hindu and Jewish voters.
There's a very solid Lib Dem among younger to middle aged, well to do voters, and likewise for Labour. The Greens do well among all classes, but very poorly with voters aged 40+.
I am not so sure of your first paragraph. The sort of older lifelong Tories I rub shoulders with who were wealthy blue-collar retirees with a fondness for Powell and Brexit have to a man (and they are exclusively men) thrown their lot in with Farage and even Lowe.
I would imagine any Tory revival is predicated on the support of a younger more enlightened cohort, thus Badenoch's Farage tribute act surprises me.
Nice, but have to be a bit careful on interpretation - relative versus absolute. The data are mostly in the middle, so the outer parts are very sparse - particularly relevant for that sea of green.
Not sure how I'd do it, maybe hexagons of equal size for population arranged broadly on those axes or some kind of shading. A lot more of e.g. the Lab area is for seats that actually exist, compared to the green and Ref areas.
Fascinating nonetheless though.
Surely they just shouldn't colour the background in, just the dots.
The little dots are the data, and clustered enough for us to clearly see the different groupings, without the background distorting things.
Is it me or does "Where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift" sound a bit... "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony"?
Not sure sounding like Mrs T will endear you to the faithful, Wes.
Thatch cribbed it from St. Francis.
Another right wing authoritarian, i have no doubt.
Is it me or does "Where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift" sound a bit... "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony"?
Not sure sounding like Mrs T will endear you to the faithful, Wes.
Thatch cribbed it from St. Francis.
I know that. You know that. The only thing the Labour Left will hear is Mrs T.
I spoke to one of our county councillors this morning, and efforts to do the same are underway on the island. The challenge is that it requires all four political parties plus every independent to play ball, to come off. Meanwhile they’ve been meeting some of the new Reform councillors, and clueless is the least that can be said.
Wow. Must be true. I’m sure they’re informed view is wholly impartial 🤣
I spoke to one of our county councillors this morning, and efforts to do the same are underway on the island. The challenge is that it requires all four political parties plus every independent to play ball, to come off. Meanwhile they’ve been meeting some of the new Reform councillors, and clueless is the least that can be said.
Wow. Must be true. I’m sure they’re informed view is wholly impartial 🤣
The councillor I was speaking to, who isn’t particularly party political, said he was sitting next to one of the Reform guys waiting to do the paperwork, and this guy was telling him that his wife saw the advert for Reform candidates online and suggested he should apply, so he filled in the form, and the next thing he knew he was standing in his local patch. He didn’t do any campaigning (although his ward did receive the nationally funded Farage mailshots) and then he found himself elected. The rest of the conversation consisted of some very elementary questions about what the job of councillor actually involved.
Some of these f******* won't get another job in Cabinet once Starmer falls. Reeves amongst others must realise the gig is up, at least in the short to medium term.
Pretty much the only positive kpi reporting has been from the Department of Health. If any other department has achieved anything over the last two years, they have kept it to themselves.
Was there not a story last week about people being kicked off waiting lists for not replying to postal letters they said they never received? Not one or two people either.
Some of these f******* won't get another job in Cabinet once Starmer falls. Reeves amongst others must realise the gig is up, at least in the short to medium term.
Pretty much the only positive kpi reporting has been from the Department of Health. If any other department has achieved anything over the last two years, they have kept it to themselves.
Was there not a story last week about people being kicked off waiting lists for not replying to postal letters they said they never received? Not one or two people either.
They’ve certainly done a purge of the waiting lists. Just cleaning out people who have died whilst waiting will shorten the list somewhat, and I am sure there are various other criteria they can use to clear out some of the names
Nice, but have to be a bit careful on interpretation - relative versus absolute. The data are mostly in the middle, so the outer parts are very sparse - particularly relevant for that sea of green.
Not sure how I'd do it, maybe hexagons of equal size for population arranged broadly on those axes or some kind of shading. A lot more of e.g. the Lab area is for seats that actually exist, compared to the green and Ref areas.
Fascinating nonetheless though.
Surely they just shouldn't colour the background in, just the dots.
The little dots are the data, and clustered enough for us to clearly see the different groupings, without the background distorting things.
Or make the diagram a circular one and cut off all the empty pastry around the edges
Some of these f******* won't get another job in Cabinet once Starmer falls. Reeves amongst others must realise the gig is up, at least in the short to medium term.
Pretty much the only positive kpi reporting has been from the Department of Health. If any other department has achieved anything over the last two years, they have kept it to themselves.
Was there not a story last week about people being kicked off waiting lists for not replying to postal letters they said they never received? Not one or two people either.
There is lots of smoke and mirrors around and there always has been. But credit where it is due. There hasn't been much credit available in the last ten years.
Ooh, go away for a couple of hours and it all kicks off.
So do we think Streeting has 81 signatures on his challenger form?
No.
So we end up with the worst of all worlds, having gone through the last couple of weeks without an actual challenge, and the lame duck in No.10 surviving a list of a hundred backbenchers telling him to go?
Now we have Streeting and Rayner on the outside pissing in, just to add to the chaos.
Angela in a Secretary of State for Health and with permission to solve long running Junior Doctor dispute taking money from International Development would be my move if I was SKS!
I don't think he has the balls, the cheek or the political instinct to try it though! Nor the power!
Is it me or does "Where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift" sound a bit... "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony"?
Not sure sounding like Mrs T will endear you to the faithful, Wes.
Thatch cribbed it from St. Francis.
An early example of the right purloining wokery for cynical reasons.
Farage is a liar. First £5m was for security now it’s a reward for campaigning for Brexit?
The Parliamentary Code of Conduct says you don't have to register "Benefits which could not reasonably be thought by others to be related to membership of the House or to the Member’s parliamentary or political activities".
Both of Farage's excuses for the money relate to his political activities. He needs security because of his political activities. A reward for Brexit is clearly directly related to his political activities. He damns himself with his own words.
I spoke to one of our county councillors this morning, and efforts to do the same are underway on the island. The challenge is that it requires all four political parties plus every independent to play ball, to come off. Meanwhile they’ve been meeting some of the new Reform councillors, and clueless is the least that can be said.
Wow. Must be true. I’m sure they’re informed view is wholly impartial 🤣
The councillor I was speaking to, who isn’t particularly party political, said he was sitting next to one of the Reform guys waiting to do the paperwork, and this guy was telling him that his wife saw the advert for Reform candidates online and suggested he should apply, so he filled in the form, and the next thing he knew he was standing in his local patch. He didn’t do any campaigning (although his ward did receive the nationally funded Farage mailshots) and then he found himself elected. The rest of the conversation consisted of some very elementary questions about what the job of councillor actually involved.
There must be a few hundred of those stories around this week. A lot of people got elected last week who weren’t expecting it!
Some of these f******* won't get another job in Cabinet once Starmer falls. Reeves amongst others must realise the gig is up, at least in the short to medium term.
Pretty much the only positive kpi reporting has been from the Department of Health. If any other department has achieved anything over the last two years, they have kept it to themselves.
Was there not a story last week about people being kicked off waiting lists for not replying to postal letters they said they never received? Not one or two people either.
They’ve certainly done a purge of the waiting lists. Just cleaning out people who have died whilst waiting will shorten the list somewhat, and I am sure there are various other criteria they can use to clear out some of the names
Yes, they do that. But they've always done that. That's not some new idea that will have made a difference.
Is it me or does "Where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift" sound a bit... "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony"?
Not sure sounding like Mrs T will endear you to the faithful, Wes.
Thatch cribbed it from St. Francis.
I know that. You know that. The only thing the Labour Left will hear is Mrs T.
She name checked him, when making the speech. It was an obvious bit of trolling.
I spoke to one of our county councillors this morning, and efforts to do the same are underway on the island. The challenge is that it requires all four political parties plus every independent to play ball, to come off. Meanwhile they’ve been meeting some of the new Reform councillors, and clueless is the least that can be said.
Wow. Must be true. I’m sure they’re informed view is wholly impartial 🤣
The councillor I was speaking to, who isn’t particularly party political, said he was sitting next to one of the Reform guys waiting to do the paperwork, and this guy was telling him that his wife saw the advert for Reform candidates online and suggested he should apply, so he filled in the form, and the next thing he knew he was standing in his local patch. He didn’t do any campaigning (although his ward did receive the nationally funded Farage mailshots) and then he found himself elected. The rest of the conversation consisted of some very elementary questions about what the job of councillor actually involved.
There must be a few hundred of those stories around this week. A lot of people got elected last week who weren’t expecting it!
Even those more active often know little. Mostly they learn. Mostly.
Comments
To be fair, you could say exactly the same about Michael Gove.
More like Keir we go! Wes we cant count to 81, Streeting resigns
https://x.com/OwenWntr/status/2054869340327993602
Fine not helping Reform. But the greens? Nah
How can it NOT end up with Andy Burnham?
1. The contest is triggered too soon for him
2. Nobody agrees to vacate him a seat
3. He's blocked from standing in it
4. He loses the by-election
5. He wins the seat then loses the leadership contest
1. Still possible but looking unlikely
2. Surely unlikely
3. Politically just about impossible now
4. Unlikely I'd have thought
5. Unlikely unless sentiment changes radically
Conclusion: a very solid favourite.
https://youtu.be/z3pHvH8sPT4?si=CSyOlzHveT16FzqI&t=67
Between cup and lip.
Edit. His management of Trump and Gaza has been less sure footed. There is still an argument that Starmer is complicit in war crimes against Gazan civilians.
WS drifting like a right wing barge. Has he got more than 50 backers outside the Cabinet yet?
SKS looks safe for a few more minutes/hours/days/weeks/months (delete as appropriate)
Not sure how I'd do it, maybe hexagons of equal size for population arranged broadly on those axes or some kind of shading. A lot more of e.g. the Lab area is for seats that actually exist, compared to the green and Ref areas.
Fascinating nonetheless though.
He’s also acting exceptionally arrogantly as if taking over is his natural right, but the Labour Party seems to rather like these situations (see Brown, Gordon) and I’m not convinced they’ve got anyone better (Al Carns? You can’t go from unknown backbencher to PM, sorry, that’s a joke). So they’re probably best to get him into Parliament as soon as they can now and roll the dice with him.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgpyxw7l5no
"Green councillor Matt Jenkins has been made the new council leader"
So. The Tories have conspired to put a Marxist Islamist in charge.
I would suggest that the closer to Madchester the Government become the greater the peril for Green. If anyone benefits from any lurch left it would be the LDs.
Greenland on a Mercator projection?
However never underestimate the ability of Labour First types to enable Labour 4th ending by blocking him
Any North Sea oil production dividend as advocated by Badenoch is a handful of years away.
We should have been more like Norway 45 years ago.
And, even if you think he's strong odds-on for each separate stage, I think it adds up to him being odds-against. It's a 5-in-6 chance of rolling a 2+ on a standard six-sided die, but it's only a ~2-in-5 chance of rolling a 2+ on all five six-sided dice.
Added to which, if Burnham had a seat lined up we would have heard about it by now.
Marg bar tories!
Marg bar tories!
In any case, the party of the professional/managerial class over 50 seems a particular niche pond for the Tories to be fishing in.
‘😂 Helicopter Saturday? The fuck they needing a helicopter for if both teams who can win the league are playing at the same ground?’
https://x.com/graememeldrum/status/2054847693487259755?s=46&t=fJymV-V84rexmlQMLXH
He’s going to be there til Burnham can get a seat, at least. It is ludicrous, because privately I expect the cabinet all know he should go, but until their golden boy is in place they can’t rush it.
Not sure sounding like Mrs T will endear you to the faithful, Wes.
So do we think Streeting has 81 signatures on his challenger form?
4 is tricky but if theres enthusiasm he will replace the PM he wins i think.
Pretty much the only positive kpi reporting has been from the Department of Health. If any other department has achieved anything over the last two years, they have kept it to themselves.
Long, long ago.
There's a very solid Lib Dem among younger to middle aged, well to do voters, and likewise for Labour. The Greens do well among all classes, but very poorly with voters aged 40+.
Odds against for sure. Betfair has 3.25. Right ballpark imo but I'd price it a tad shorter.
Thank you and good night.
LOL 🤣
Did that make the DVD release ?
(Yes, that's the same thing.)
Nigel Farage says the £5m gift he received from Christopher Harborne was a "reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years"
https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2054920974483497013
I would imagine any Tory revival is predicated on the support of a younger more enlightened cohort, thus Badenoch's Farage tribute act surprises me.
The little dots are the data, and clustered enough for us to clearly see the different groupings, without the background distorting things.
Ruddy predictive text
Lol.
Tories still cannot decide if they will play nice with Reform or oppose them. Kemi cannot square that circle.
Putting Alan Amos in power is what should lead to being suspended by the Tories.
Where we community unity we get clique,.....where we need reason we get rhetoric... where we need principle we get posturing!
If he wins it will just be Starmer Mk 2 or Son of son of Blair!
Now we have Streeting and Rayner on the outside pissing in, just to add to the chaos.
I don't think he has the balls, the cheek or the political instinct to try it though! Nor the power!
Both of Farage's excuses for the money relate to his political activities. He needs security because of his political activities. A reward for Brexit is clearly directly related to his political activities. He damns himself with his own words.
It was an obvious bit of trolling.
Bell is 100
Long-Bailey 510
Gould 1000 (for PM, I can't see her listed for leader)
These odds are pretty meaningless (other than maybe Bell) - as nobody wants to back them. it's not worth people bothering to offer odds.