PB is about to move from California to Finland. Load times should be faster. Vanilla errors should cease. Starmer will depart Number 10. Nigel Farage will be contributing to costs.
You'll all have to learn the language. It's easy: no future tense, no he or she, no subjunctive, few prepositions. But 14 cases including the important partitive ..., pronunciation is as written, but take care over double consonants and double vowels ...
One of the few European languages that is not Indo-European.
Along with Basque, Hungarian, Sámi, Maltese, Kalmyk, Gagauz, Estonian, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Abkhaz, and all the sign languages. And probably a few others.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
It’s a very good video and starts off with the amazing Elbow track One Day Like This , which for me is one of the greatest songs ever made.
He's done a good job and more important unlike Starmer he realises the crucial importance of getting professionals to write these things and to put them together. It's pretty perfectly tuned to its audience
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
It’s a very good video and starts off with the amazing Elbow track One Day Like This , which for me is one of the greatest songs ever made.
He's done a good job and more important unlike Starmer he realises the crucial importance of getting professionals to write these things and to put them together. It's pretty perfectly tuned to its audience
Tbf. Starmer wouldn't be able to manage walking down streets being warmly greeted by folk either. But, yes, it is good. Firmly rooted in its locations.
I didn't realise he'd played rugby league against Edmund Arrowsmith school. Level of respect.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
It’s a very good video and starts off with the amazing Elbow track One Day Like This , which for me is one of the greatest songs ever made.
He's done a good job and more important unlike Starmer he realises the crucial importance of getting professionals to write these things and to put them together. It's pretty perfectly tuned to its audience
Tbf. Starmer wouldn't be able to manage walking down streets being warmly greeted by folk either. But, yes, it is good. Firmly rooted in its locations.
I didn't realise he'd played rugby league against Edmund Arrowsmith school. Level of respect.
That bit with the local connections was very tenuous. I went to school two miles away and I once came here for a rugby match. He got through it though. The video was very good overall.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
It’s a very good video and starts off with the amazing Elbow track One Day Like This , which for me is one of the greatest songs ever made.
He's done a good job and more important unlike Starmer he realises the crucial importance of getting professionals to write these things and to put them together. It's pretty perfectly tuned to its audience
Tbf. Starmer wouldn't be able to manage walking down streets being warmly greeted by folk either. But, yes, it is good. Firmly rooted in its locations.
I didn't realise he'd played rugby league against Edmund Arrowsmith school. Level of respect.
That bit with the local connections was very tenuous. I went to school two miles away and I once came here for a rugby match. He got through it though. The video was very good overall.
Sent his kids there though. And Edmund Arrowsmith is just off the main street in Ashton. I taught at the C of E comp next door.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
It’s a very good video and starts off with the amazing Elbow track One Day Like This , which for me is one of the greatest songs ever made.
When I run for Labour leader, I will have "Lucretia My Reflection" on the soundtrack and a Powerpoint presentation while I do the "Newsdancer" dance in the background. Everybody will love me.
They make 1-2 judgements against the UK per annum, and are a very peripheral actor. If we want to tighten the definitions as used here we are free to legislate to do so - since the vast majority of judgements are made in UK Courts.
It's substantially a legacy from Churchill that Farage and copycat Kemi want to destroy, to have us line up with Russia and Belarus as the only European non-members.
To my eye this is just the latest distracting bone that Farage wants to throw at his low information voters, and Kemi is following when instead she seriously needs to start thinking for herself - but she shows little signs of doing so.
It's also that their existence (and the accompanying case law) is enough force people to bend to their will because we self police. This is true in many spheres of life - eg I don't drive around holding a phone to my ear, despite having not been to court over it, because the law says that if I get caught doing so, I will be fined (even though almost all the evidence is that talking on a held phone poses an identical risk to talking whilst hands free, but that's a whole different issue).
Thus when a government minister proposes housing asylum seekers on Rockall, or whatever the fashion of the week is, his civil servants say to him "oh no minister, if you do that, they will take you to the ECHR and you will lose". And then the policy is abandoned.
The ECHR must go or be substantially reformed - it is routinely abused by undesirables to prevent governments doing reasonable things to them. It's intentions are good and worthy, but the current outworking is counterproductive.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
That is impressively well done. Goes in like a scalpel for Starmer's biggest weakness, his complete inability to act like a normal person and utter lack of connection with ordinary people.
(even though almost all the evidence is that talking on a held phone poses an identical risk to talking whilst hands free, but that's a whole different issue).
Doesn't surprise me at all. I'll only take a handsfree call if stationary or doing under 120 on a motorway/dual carrigeway. The distraction is palpable and holding has nothing to do with it.
Wouldn't normally post a Paul Joseph Watson video but this one is worth watching. South Korean vlogger KangJoel gets into a spot of bother when he decides to visit the rough side of Marseille.
They make 1-2 judgements against the UK per annum, and are a very peripheral actor. If we want to tighten the definitions as used here we are free to legislate to do so - since the vast majority of judgements are made in UK Courts.
It's substantially a legacy from Churchill that Farage and copycat Kemi want to destroy, to have us line up with Russia and Belarus as the only European non-members.
To my eye this is just the latest distracting bone that Farage wants to throw at his low information voters, and Kemi is following when instead she seriously needs to start thinking for herself - but she shows little signs of doing so.
It's also that their existence (and the accompanying case law) is enough force people to bend to their will because we self police. This is true in many spheres of life - eg I don't drive around holding a phone to my ear, despite having not been to court over it, because the law says that if I get caught doing so, I will be fined (even though almost all the evidence is that talking on a held phone poses an identical risk to talking whilst hands free, but that's a whole different issue).
Thus when a government minister proposes housing asylum seekers on Rockall, or whatever the fashion of the week is, his civil servants say to him "oh no minister, if you do that, they will take you to the ECHR and you will lose". And then the policy is abandoned.
The ECHR must go or be substantially reformed - it is routinely abused by undesirables to prevent governments doing reasonable things to them. It's intentions are good and worthy, but the current outworking is counterproductive.
So...
Those studies were mostly done before smartphones.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
It’s a very good video and starts off with the amazing Elbow track One Day Like This , which for me is one of the greatest songs ever made.
He's done a good job and more important unlike Starmer he realises the crucial importance of getting professionals to write these things and to put them together. It's pretty perfectly tuned to its audience
Tbf. Starmer wouldn't be able to manage walking down streets being warmly greeted by folk either. But, yes, it is good. Firmly rooted in its locations.
I didn't realise he'd played rugby league against Edmund Arrowsmith school. Level of respect.
That bit with the local connections was very tenuous. I went to school two miles away and I once came here for a rugby match. He got through it though. The video was very good overall.
How is going to school two miles away - and sending your kids there - a "tenuous local connection" ?
Not so much a reparations fund, but rather an upfront payment so that they can do it all again in November.
When you play the game of lawfare, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.
Do you think this was "lawfare" rather than prosecution of rioters assaulting the US capitol?
Lawfare ? It's mass larceny.
Trump, and a number of his coterie, including Blanche, should be in jail.
Not just theft of taxpayers funds, but using it to reward insurrection.
The USA is a banana republic now.
Vance: There is a simple principle I have: If you are committing fraud against the American people you ought to go to prison. If you are a public official not fighting against fraud, you ought to have your money taken away because you should not be able to steal from all of you and give it to fraudsters. https://x.com/Acyn/status/2056437336498684018
Jesus: he's really going after Trump.
You know, that's how the media should report it.
"Today Vice President Vance unleashed a stinging attack on President Trump..."
And then do vox pops: "with Vance now clearly supporting impeachement, do you think this will sway Republican Senators?"
The UK equivalent would be something on the lines of PM Farage awarding himself £150m to spend as he likes, for the damage done to him by the leak of his £5m bung.
Damn, that's going to happen now I suggested it, isn't it ?
The UK equivalent would bd something on the lines of PM Farage awarding himself £150m to spend as he likes, for the damage done to him by the leak of his £5m bung.
But .. but .. there was a $7m contract for diapers in California where the state may have paid slightly more than they could have paid at Costco.
The UK equivalent would be something on the lines of PM Farage awarding himself £150m to spend as he likes, for the damage done to him by the leak of his £5m bung.
Damn, that's going to happen now I suggested it, isn't it ?
As an aside, if we were to take this judgement as being fair, how much is Comey going to be entitled to?
The UK equivalent would be something on the lines of PM Farage awarding himself £150m to spend as he likes, for the damage done to him by the leak of his £5m bung.
Damn, that's going to happen now I suggested it, isn't it ?
As an aside, if we were to take this judgement as being fair, how much is Comey going to be entitled to?
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
That is impressively well done. Goes in like a scalpel for Starmer's biggest weakness, his complete inability to act like a normal person and utter lack of connection with ordinary people.
The right-pointing red arrow in the closing shot is a nice piece of trolling at Reform!
Two women have told the BBC they were raped during the filming of one of Channel 4's biggest shows, Married at First Sight UK, while a third has described an allegation of a non-consensual sex act.
Married at First Sight always seemed a deeply dodgy premise for a TV series. How did they ever find a Registrar willing to conduct the ceremony?
I thought the point was tha5 they are NOT actually married, but pretend to be.
Not my understanding. A friend of my nephew was a participant and I believe still married to the man she met on the programme.
Two women have told the BBC they were raped during the filming of one of Channel 4's biggest shows, Married at First Sight UK, while a third has described an allegation of a non-consensual sex act.
Married at First Sight always seemed a deeply dodgy premise for a TV series. How did they ever find a Registrar willing to conduct the ceremony?
I thought the point was tha5 they are NOT actually married, but pretend to be.
Not my understanding. A friend of my nephew was a participant and I believe still married to the man she met on the programme.
I think they are mainly people looking for a partner or media attention, and do a mock marriage.
Then if they choose to continue it later, that is for them.
It seems they don't have a world-beating vetting system.
PB is about to move from California to Finland. Load times should be faster. Vanilla errors should cease. Starmer will depart Number 10. Nigel Farage will be contributing to costs.
Have we always been in California until now?
No.
First we were in the UK for about five years.
Then we were on the East Coast, initially with Amazon, then with Rackspace.
Then about three months ago I moved PB into my server closet*, but we had issues with Vanilla (and other things) flagging it as suspicous.,
So, we've moved to a reputable hosting company that -as far as I know- has no FSB links. And the PB server is now in Finland.
* Because Rackspace were charging me a ridiculous amount of money
You were running PB off a domestic connection? Impressive if so.
The UK equivalent would be something on the lines of PM Farage awarding himself £150m to spend as he likes, for the damage done to him by the leak of his £5m bung.
Damn, that's going to happen now I suggested it, isn't it ?
As an aside, if we were to take this judgement as being fair, how much is Comey going to be entitled to?
They make 1-2 judgements against the UK per annum, and are a very peripheral actor. If we want to tighten the definitions as used here we are free to legislate to do so - since the vast majority of judgements are made in UK Courts.
It's substantially a legacy from Churchill that Farage and copycat Kemi want to destroy, to have us line up with Russia and Belarus as the only European non-members.
To my eye this is just the latest distracting bone that Farage wants to throw at his low information voters, and Kemi is following when instead she seriously needs to start thinking for herself - but she shows little signs of doing so.
It's also that their existence (and the accompanying case law) is enough force people to bend to their will because we self police. This is true in many spheres of life - eg I don't drive around holding a phone to my ear, despite having not been to court over it, because the law says that if I get caught doing so, I will be fined (even though almost all the evidence is that talking on a held phone poses an identical risk to talking whilst hands free, but that's a whole different issue).
Thus when a government minister proposes housing asylum seekers on Rockall, or whatever the fashion of the week is, his civil servants say to him "oh no minister, if you do that, they will take you to the ECHR and you will lose". And then the policy is abandoned.
The ECHR must go or be substantially reformed - it is routinely abused by undesirables to prevent governments doing reasonable things to them. It's intentions are good and worthy, but the current outworking is counterproductive.
I'd agree with you on the Court needing reform though (given our different politics) maybe less so.
I'm concerned with the collateral damage that the crude action of withdrawal, and abolition of related UK legislation, will have on the ability of individuals to assert their basic rights.
PB is about to move from California to Finland. Load times should be faster. Vanilla errors should cease. Starmer will depart Number 10. Nigel Farage will be contributing to costs.
Have we always been in California until now?
No.
First we were in the UK for about five years.
Then we were on the East Coast, initially with Amazon, then with Rackspace.
Then about three months ago I moved PB into my server closet*, but we had issues with Vanilla (and other things) flagging it as suspicous.,
So, we've moved to a reputable hosting company that -as far as I know- has no FSB links. And the PB server is now in Finland.
* Because Rackspace were charging me a ridiculous amount of money
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
It’s a very good video and starts off with the amazing Elbow track One Day Like This , which for me is one of the greatest songs ever made.
He's done a good job and more important unlike Starmer he realises the crucial importance of getting professionals to write these things and to put them together. It's pretty perfectly tuned to its audience
Defer to your professional judgement but as I recall, Starmer had a slick video launch when he ran for leader too...
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
It’s a very good video and starts off with the amazing Elbow track One Day Like This , which for me is one of the greatest songs ever made.
He's done a good job and more important unlike Starmer he realises the crucial importance of getting professionals to write these things and to put them together. It's pretty perfectly tuned to its audience
Defer to your professional judgement but as I recall, Starmer had a slick video launch when he ran for leader too...
PB is about to move from California to Finland. Load times should be faster. Vanilla errors should cease. Starmer will depart Number 10. Nigel Farage will be contributing to costs.
You'll all have to learn the language. It's easy: no future tense, no he or she, no subjunctive, few prepositions. But 14 cases including the important partitive ..., pronunciation is as written, but take care over double consonants and double vowels ...
One of the few European languages that is not Indo-European.
Maltese too.
Maltese is Semitic (basically an Arabic creole) Estonian, Finnish and Sami languages are Finnic Hungarian is Ugric Turkish, Azerbaijani and Gauguz are Turkic Georgian and associated dialects are Kartvelian Basque is a language isolate All the other families- Celtic, Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Baltic, Greek, Armenian, and Albanian are Indo European.
And I would say the same about Luke. We need a bit more decency in politics and much less vitriol. 👏🏻
The fact that if AB wins Makerfield, Reform will almost inevitably land Mayor of Manchester should be being hammered home by everyone except Labour.
It will totally confuse anyone thinking of choosing Labour for anti-Reform tactical voting - "vote tactically against Reform to give them a bigger prize".
The line here writes itself for the Greens/Tories - "Andy may be happy with Reform Mayors - we think they'd be a disaster for Manchester - don't let it happen".
Reform should be stressing they have two bites of the cherry - arguably losing Makerfield to Burnham is in their best interests.
Was in Lapland a couple of years ago at the Sami Parliament. The chamber had translation booths for at least 3 Sami languages (dialects?) but apparently there are 10-11 different versions
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
It’s a very good video and starts off with the amazing Elbow track One Day Like This , which for me is one of the greatest songs ever made.
He's done a good job and more important unlike Starmer he realises the crucial importance of getting professionals to write these things and to put them together. It's pretty perfectly tuned to its audience
Defer to your professional judgement but as I recall, Starmer had a slick video launch when he ran for leader too...
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 1h Extraordinary launch video - never seen a by-election campaign which is such an explicit pitch to both the place and to the country
Was in Lapland a couple of years ago at the Sami Parliament. The chamber had translation booths for at least 3 Sami languages (dialects?) but apparently there are 10-11 different versions
3 in Finland, the others are in Sweden, Norway and Russia.
And I would say the same about Luke. We need a bit more decency in politics and much less vitriol. 👏🏻
The fact that if AB wins Makerfield, Reform will almost inevitably land Mayor of Manchester should be being hammered home by everyone except Labour.
It will totally confuse anyone thinking of choosing Labour for anti-Reform tactical voting - "vote tactically against Reform to give them a bigger prize".
The line here writes itself for the Greens/Tories - "Andy may be happy with Reform Mayors - we think they'd be a disaster for Manchester - don't let it happen".
Reform should be stressing they have two bites of the cherry - arguably losing Makerfield to Burnham is in their best interests.
Absurd, if Labour holds Makerfield, Reform’s 29th target seat, a Burnham led Labour would likely be re elected with an overall majority, a disaster for Farage and Reform. Reform having a pot shot at Manchester Mayor they likely still lose is no compensation
PB is about to move from California to Finland. Load times should be faster. Vanilla errors should cease. Starmer will depart Number 10. Nigel Farage will be contributing to costs.
You'll all have to learn the language. It's easy: no future tense, no he or she, no subjunctive, few prepositions. But 14 cases including the important partitive ..., pronunciation is as written, but take care over double consonants and double vowels ...
One of the few European languages that is not Indo-European.
Maltese too.
Maltese is Semitic (basically an Arabic creole) Estonian, Finnish and Sami languages are Finnic Hungarian is Ugric Turkish, Azerbaijani and Gauguz are Turkic Georgian and associated dialects are Kartvelian Basque is a language isolate All the other families- Celtic, Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Baltic, Greek, Armenian, and Albanian are Indo European.
And I would say the same about Luke. We need a bit more decency in politics and much less vitriol. 👏🏻
The fact that if AB wins Makerfield, Reform will almost inevitably land Mayor of Manchester should be being hammered home by everyone except Labour.
It will totally confuse anyone thinking of choosing Labour for anti-Reform tactical voting - "vote tactically against Reform to give them a bigger prize".
The line here writes itself for the Greens/Tories - "Andy may be happy with Reform Mayors - we think they'd be a disaster for Manchester - don't let it happen".
Reform should be stressing they have two bites of the cherry - arguably losing Makerfield to Burnham is in their best interests.
I actually don’t think that’s a big problem - whoever was the Reform mayor of Manchester will be the obvious reform leader of the North and have a personal mandate bigger than anything Farage has won.
Which means Farage is going to either hate the person instantly or will select someone so weak that the flaws will stop him getting elected.
Finally - Burnham can point out that only those areas willing to work with the current Government may be delegated extra powers - which they will need to do because it wouldn’t be sensible to give Teesside anything while Ben and his cronies are in power
I believe talking is going on, but how can he even believe his own words? He says serious negotiations 'are now taking place' - so what has all the talking for weeks now been about?
I don’t know what to believe anymore but I do think Trump wants out ASAP. He just wants a knockout win and he won’t get it. He will have to escalate or compromise with Iran.
Escalate won’t work. We’re been there and it failed.
And I would say the same about Luke. We need a bit more decency in politics and much less vitriol. 👏🏻
The fact that if AB wins Makerfield, Reform will almost inevitably land Mayor of Manchester should be being hammered home by everyone except Labour.
It will totally confuse anyone thinking of choosing Labour for anti-Reform tactical voting - "vote tactically against Reform to give them a bigger prize".
The line here writes itself for the Greens/Tories - "Andy may be happy with Reform Mayors - we think they'd be a disaster for Manchester - don't let it happen".
Reform should be stressing they have two bites of the cherry - arguably losing Makerfield to Burnham is in their best interests.
And thus we wipe out the past 250 years and return to out Tory/Whig roots
Only if JRM joined Reform
He very clearly wants to but is not being honest with himself about it. Zia was, rarely, right about how silly he looks constantly begging people to 'ally' with Reform. Just do it already.
And thus we wipe out the past 250 years and return to out Tory/Whig roots
Only if JRM joined Reform
He very clearly wants to but is not being honest with himself about it. Zia was, rarely, right about how silly he looks constantly begging people to 'ally' with Reform. Just do it already.
He won’t for now as he knows if Reform and the Tories lose the next general election he would be a top Tory candidate to replace Kemi and reunite the right as Tory leader if he wins back his old Somerset seat
PB is about to move from California to Finland. Load times should be faster. Vanilla errors should cease. Starmer will depart Number 10. Nigel Farage will be contributing to costs.
You'll all have to learn the language. It's easy: no future tense, no he or she, no subjunctive, few prepositions. But 14 cases including the important partitive ..., pronunciation is as written, but take care over double consonants and double vowels ...
One of the few European languages that is not Indo-European.
Maltese too.
Maltese is Semitic (basically an Arabic creole) Estonian, Finnish and Sami languages are Finnic Hungarian is Ugric Turkish, Azerbaijani and Gauguz are Turkic Georgian and associated dialects are Kartvelian Basque is a language isolate All the other families- Celtic, Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Baltic, Greek, Armenian, and Albanian are Indo European.
Maltese is something of a hybrid, having imported a fair bit of structure from Italian and Spanish, as well as the alphabet. The basques remain a mystery and may have been ‘here’ before the ‘Europeans’ arrived
And thus we wipe out the past 250 years and return to out Tory/Whig roots
Only if JRM joined Reform
He very clearly wants to but is not being honest with himself about it. Zia was, rarely, right about how silly he looks constantly begging people to 'ally' with Reform. Just do it already.
Reform should think twice before taking yet another much despised Tory reject on board. If they had any sense they would refuse him. But then, if they had any sense they would have refused Zahawi (who to be fair to Rees-Mogg is a much dodgier character in all respects).
Was in Lapland a couple of years ago at the Sami Parliament. The chamber had translation booths for at least 3 Sami languages (dialects?) but apparently there are 10-11 different versions
They run in a sequence from northern Norway through northern Sweden, Finland and into Russia. When I was there last year they said that neighbouring dialects were mutually intelligible but it gets more difficult as you compare dialects from further away. Apparently Russia’s separation means those varieties of Saami are the most distinct
And thus we wipe out the past 250 years and return to out Tory/Whig roots
Only if JRM joined Reform
He very clearly wants to but is not being honest with himself about it. Zia was, rarely, right about how silly he looks constantly begging people to 'ally' with Reform. Just do it already.
Reform should think twice before taking yet another much despised Tory reject on board. If they had any sense they would refuse him. But then, if they had any sense they would have refused Zahawi (who to be fair to Rees-Mogg is a much dodgier character in all respects).
I believe talking is going on, but how can he even believe his own words? He says serious negotiations 'are now taking place' - so what has all the talking for weeks now been about?
I don’t know what to believe anymore but I do think Trump wants out ASAP. He just wants a knockout win and he won’t get it. He will have to escalate or compromise with Iran.
Escalate won’t work. We’re been there and it failed.
He's setting up success as "Iran can't have a nuclear weapon". He has now mentioned twenty years. So Iran will agree not to pursue a nuclear weapon for at least twenty years i.e. better than the Obama deal*. Trump will announce "We won bigly". No one else could have done it. Nobel peace prize now".
*Under Obama's deal in 2015, Iran was forbidden from enriching uranium past 3.67% for 15 years. This is far below the 90% needed for a nuclear bomb. Iran also agreed to the "Additional Protocol," giving IAEA inspectors continuous access to its declared nuclear sites and the right to investigate any suspicious, undeclared locations. In return sanctions were lifted.
Revealed: the Facebook pages using AI to flood feeds with bizarre fake stories about politicians saving kennels, cafes and babies
Fake accounts, many in Vietnam, are pushing fake feel good stories about hard right politicians, including Farage and Lowe.
I wonder who is funding that ...
Needn't be anything nefarious.
Content creator creates a page with ads. Buys exposure through a "St Nigel saves drowning kittens" story on Facebook. Gets paid for the ad impressions when mugs click through.
There's always been a bit of that in news media; sell the sizzle so that people have to buy the sausage, even if it's not a very good sausage. All that's changed is the scale and the shamelessness.
And if the sausage of news that a large proportion of the public are consuming is now 90% the sawdust of made up shit, I'm sure that won't be a problem.
We definitely don't have a problem with voters being made happy/sad/furious about things that aren't really so.
And thus we wipe out the past 250 years and return to out Tory/Whig roots
Only if JRM joined Reform
He very clearly wants to but is not being honest with himself about it. Zia was, rarely, right about how silly he looks constantly begging people to 'ally' with Reform. Just do it already.
Reform should think twice before taking yet another much despised Tory reject on board. If they had any sense they would refuse him. But then, if they had any sense they would have refused Zahawi (who to be fair to Rees-Mogg is a much dodgier character in all respects).
They’ve said they won’t take anymore.
They shouldn't have taken any of them.
I can see why they wanted Jenrick, but Braverman, Zahawi and the others? Mad.
I believe talking is going on, but how can he even believe his own words? He says serious negotiations 'are now taking place' - so what has all the talking for weeks now been about?
I don’t know what to believe anymore but I do think Trump wants out ASAP. He just wants a knockout win and he won’t get it. He will have to escalate or compromise with Iran.
Escalate won’t work. We’re been there and it failed.
He's setting up success as "Iran can't have a nuclear weapon". He has now mentioned twenty years. So Iran will agree not to pursue a nuclear weapon for at least twenty years i.e. better than the Obama deal*. Trump will announce "We won bigly". No one else could have done it. Nobel peace prize now".
*Under Obama's deal in 2015, Iran was forbidden from enriching uranium past 3.67% for 15 years. This is far below the 90% needed for a nuclear bomb. Iran also agreed to the "Additional Protocol," giving IAEA inspectors continuous access to its declared nuclear sites and the right to investigate any suspicious, undeclared locations. In return sanctions were lifted.
A good deal that took many years to get over the line and was ripped up by one man due to his own vanity.
I do believe this war will simply spur Iran on to get a Nuke now. Why wouldn’t they. They were attacked by Israel and the US in the midst of negotiations.
What an utter shambles. Bombing Iran won’t work. Do it again, get the same result.
And thus we wipe out the past 250 years and return to out Tory/Whig roots
Only if JRM joined Reform
He very clearly wants to but is not being honest with himself about it. Zia was, rarely, right about how silly he looks constantly begging people to 'ally' with Reform. Just do it already.
Reform should think twice before taking yet another much despised Tory reject on board. If they had any sense they would refuse him. But then, if they had any sense they would have refused Zahawi (who to be fair to Rees-Mogg is a much dodgier character in all respects).
They’ve said they won’t take anymore.
Shiny sixpence says that they do at some point between now and the next election.
And thus we wipe out the past 250 years and return to out Tory/Whig roots
Only if JRM joined Reform
He very clearly wants to but is not being honest with himself about it. Zia was, rarely, right about how silly he looks constantly begging people to 'ally' with Reform. Just do it already.
Reform should think twice before taking yet another much despised Tory reject on board. If they had any sense they would refuse him. But then, if they had any sense they would have refused Zahawi (who to be fair to Rees-Mogg is a much dodgier character in all respects).
They’ve said they won’t take anymore.
They shouldn't have taken any of them.
I can see why they wanted Jenrick, but Braverman, Zahawi and the others? Mad.
I had this discussion with my Reform supporting friends. Kruger I get. That’s it.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence their poll ratings started to slip,when they became a Tory tribute act.
And I would say the same about Luke. We need a bit more decency in politics and much less vitriol. 👏🏻
The fact that if AB wins Makerfield, Reform will almost inevitably land Mayor of Manchester should be being hammered home by everyone except Labour.
It will totally confuse anyone thinking of choosing Labour for anti-Reform tactical voting - "vote tactically against Reform to give them a bigger prize".
The line here writes itself for the Greens/Tories - "Andy may be happy with Reform Mayors - we think they'd be a disaster for Manchester - don't let it happen".
Reform should be stressing they have two bites of the cherry - arguably losing Makerfield to Burnham is in their best interests.
I actually don’t think that’s a big problem - whoever was the Reform mayor of Manchester will be the obvious reform leader of the North and have a personal mandate bigger than anything Farage has won.
Which means Farage is going to either hate the person instantly or will select someone so weak that the flaws will stop him getting elected.
Finally - Burnham can point out that only those areas willing to work with the current Government may be delegated extra powers - which they will need to do because it wouldn’t be sensible to give Teesside anything while Ben and his cronies are in power
Also, let's say Burnham does get in and becomes PM in short order. Yes, my view is he'll be at best no better than Starmer but there'll be a major short-term boost to Labour. I can imagine a Burnham-as-PM-in-waiting endorsed Labour candidate whacking a Reform candidate aside without too much trouble.
Once again the rules on Election Expenses are being pissed upon. A future rational government will have to re-establish these rules on a fair and equitable basis.
I won't be watching the video but I see above he was involved with some sporting event that someone now famous was also at ? Really ?
I can raise that Will Carling ran over my farm at least four times along with several more training sessions.
But, I do not dispute the effectiveness of these I am a decent bloke videos. That was how Farron started. Also all his opponents see through the videos right away and because they are totally unimpressed, like I am by Farron events, assume everyone else is. By 20 years experience I can say without a shadow of a doubt, the more hollow, the more insincere, the more gutwrenching the video the more certain it will succeed.
But, I remain of the view that this by-election is for Reform to lose. Sadly, I know their Nige will do his best. He goes out of his way to make sure the Conservatives can't win and then he fucks up himself, every time.
But also Burnham doesn't do any thinking ahead. His best hope here IS to lose, because, if he WINS and becomes LOTO he will need a safe seat. If he is cruising to a victory in the GE then no problem. But if there is any doubt or the result is unclear in the campaign then he will have to be back at home protecting his arse / seat. In such a scenario it isn't obvious he would hold his seat. Oh Dear, How Sad, Never Mind.
I'm sorry, this forced by-election deserves the Patrick Gordon Walker treatment. By all counts he was every bit as nasty as Burnham but didn't do him any good.
Was in Lapland a couple of years ago at the Sami Parliament. The chamber had translation booths for at least 3 Sami languages (dialects?) but apparently there are 10-11 different versions
If they are like the Welsh translations of the documents we had to get done at the government jobs I've worked on, they are there at enormous expense for political correctness and will never be used.
I calculated that the extra cost each year for this utter waste of public money was roughly equivalent to a refurbished MRI machine, or a couple of nurses.
And thus we wipe out the past 250 years and return to out Tory/Whig roots
Only if JRM joined Reform
He very clearly wants to but is not being honest with himself about it. Zia was, rarely, right about how silly he looks constantly begging people to 'ally' with Reform. Just do it already.
Reform should think twice before taking yet another much despised Tory reject on board. If they had any sense they would refuse him. But then, if they had any sense they would have refused Zahawi (who to be fair to Rees-Mogg is a much dodgier character in all respects).
They’ve said they won’t take anymore.
Shiny sixpence says that they do at some point between now and the next election.
And I would say the same about Luke. We need a bit more decency in politics and much less vitriol. 👏🏻
The fact that if AB wins Makerfield, Reform will almost inevitably land Mayor of Manchester should be being hammered home by everyone except Labour.
It will totally confuse anyone thinking of choosing Labour for anti-Reform tactical voting - "vote tactically against Reform to give them a bigger prize".
The line here writes itself for the Greens/Tories - "Andy may be happy with Reform Mayors - we think they'd be a disaster for Manchester - don't let it happen".
Reform should be stressing they have two bites of the cherry - arguably losing Makerfield to Burnham is in their best interests.
Absurd, if Labour holds Makerfield, Reform’s 29th target seat, a Burnham led Labour would likely be re elected with an overall majority, a disaster for Farage and Reform. Reform having a pot shot at Manchester Mayor they likely still lose is no compensation
I'm not saying Reform actually want anything but a win. But Reform voters will not be put off by the message - it'll just confuse the heck out of anyone who is wavering about voting tactically Labour to defeat Reform - which is to Reform's advantage - and Tory/Green/LD will not mind less tactical voting for Labour.
Remember that big row we had, a few days ago? When I had an epiphany on the train from Berwick to King’s X, and I realised the big problem with HS2 was the obsession with speed? As I said then, we don’t need the speed, Britain is tiny. We just need the extra capacity
“THE obsession with HS2’s speed is to blame for its failure, an official review has found.
“The project’s focus on achieving the “highest possible speeds” has led to spiralling costs that have crippled progress, according to Sir Stephen Lovegrove. The former national security adviser said the high-speed rail line had gone “disastrously wrong” because of the decision to “gold plate” the project and political pressure to “keep things moving”.”
Good point well made. Getting to the heart of the matter.
Well you’re the one who was first with the dismissive comment that didn't even begin to actually tackle the issues or points made.
Burnham does seem to have a touch of the “normal” which is often rare in politicians. He also isn’t apparently afraid to engage with criticism both on Twitter or on radio and TV. That is a positive.
I remain to be convinced that he isn’t just another vacuous Starmer-lite but it’s a reasonable start.
I believe talking is going on, but how can he even believe his own words? He says serious negotiations 'are now taking place' - so what has all the talking for weeks now been about?
I don’t know what to believe anymore but I do think Trump wants out ASAP. He just wants a knockout win and he won’t get it. He will have to escalate or compromise with Iran.
Escalate won’t work. We’re been there and it failed.
He's setting up success as "Iran can't have a nuclear weapon". He has now mentioned twenty years. So Iran will agree not to pursue a nuclear weapon for at least twenty years i.e. better than the Obama deal*. Trump will announce "We won bigly". No one else could have done it. Nobel peace prize now".
*Under Obama's deal in 2015, Iran was forbidden from enriching uranium past 3.67% for 15 years. This is far below the 90% needed for a nuclear bomb. Iran also agreed to the "Additional Protocol," giving IAEA inspectors continuous access to its declared nuclear sites and the right to investigate any suspicious, undeclared locations. In return sanctions were lifted.
A good deal that took many years to get over the line and was ripped up by one man due to his own vanity two men, one who needed an electoral boost and one who needed to cover up his er, frequent mentions in the Epstein files.
I do believe this war will simply spur Iran on to get a Nuke now. Why wouldn’t they. They were attacked by Israel and the US in the midst of negotiations.
What an utter shambles. Bombing Iran won’t work. Do it again, get the same result.
FTFY, although I agree with the rest.
However, Israel's elections are likely to be started tomorrow. That's going to have a bearing on the Iran situation. The tradeoff is how far Netanyahu needs to keep bombing the shit out of Iran and Hizbollah to prove he's a strong man as against not looking an incompetent twat by making a complete clusterfuck of it.
Good point well made. Getting to the heart of the matter.
Well you’re the one who was first with the dismissive comment that didn't even begin to actually tackle the issues or points made.
Burnham does seem to have a touch of the “normal” which is often rare in politicians. He also isn’t apparently afraid to engage with criticism both on Twitter or on radio and TV. That is a positive.
I remain to be convinced that he isn’t just another vacuous Starmer-lite but it’s a reasonable start.
Eh !
I’m agreeing with you. I think you’ve got a good point.
It’s a problem endemic across our politics. No one has solutions or any substance just pretty content and vibes aimed at social media.
Once again the rules on Election Expenses are being pissed upon. A future rational government will have to re-establish these rules on a fair and equitable basis.
I won't be watching the video but I see above he was involved with some sporting event that someone now famous was also at ? Really ?
I can raise that Will Carling ran over my farm at least four times along with several more training sessions.
But, I do not dispute the effectiveness of these I am a decent bloke videos. That was how Farron started. Also all his opponents see through the videos right away and because they are totally unimpressed, like I am by Farron events, assume everyone else is. By 20 years experience I can say without a shadow of a doubt, the more hollow, the more insincere, the more gutwrenching the video the more certain it will succeed.
But, I remain of the view that this by-election is for Reform to lose. Sadly, I know their Nige will do his best. He goes out of his way to make sure the Conservatives can't win and then he fucks up himself, every time.
But also Burnham doesn't do any thinking ahead. His best hope here IS to lose, because, if he WINS and becomes LOTO he will need a safe seat. If he is cruising to a victory in the GE then no problem. But if there is any doubt or the result is unclear in the campaign then he will have to be back at home protecting his arse / seat. In such a scenario it isn't obvious he would hold his seat. Oh Dear, How Sad, Never Mind.
I'm sorry, this forced by-election deserves the Patrick Gordon Walker treatment. By all counts he was every bit as nasty as Burnham but didn't do him any good.
Was in Lapland a couple of years ago at the Sami Parliament. The chamber had translation booths for at least 3 Sami languages (dialects?) but apparently there are 10-11 different versions
If they are like the Welsh translations of the documents we had to get done at the government jobs I've worked on, they are there at enormous expense for political correctness and will never be used.
I calculated that the extra cost each year for this utter waste of public money was roughly equivalent to a refurbished MRI machine, or a couple of nurses.
Political correctness KILLS.
More than that. £20m according to AI (be quiet at the back). That’s around 500 nurses.
Remember that big row we had, a few days ago? When I had an epiphany on the train from Berwick to King’s X, and I realised the big problem with HS2 was the obsession with speed? As I said then, we don’t need the speed, Britain is tiny. We just need the extra capacity
“THE obsession with HS2’s speed is to blame for its failure, an official review has found.
“The project’s focus on achieving the “highest possible speeds” has led to spiralling costs that have crippled progress, according to Sir Stephen Lovegrove. The former national security adviser said the high-speed rail line had gone “disastrously wrong” because of the decision to “gold plate” the project and political pressure to “keep things moving”.”
I don’t need or expect grovelling apologies. I will, however, accept large financial gifts. DM me for my bank deets
The big problem with HS2 is not the obsession with speed, it's the obsession with (a) removing all risk from the public sector and (b) the obsession with tinkering by civil servants to show their 'impact.'
A third problem is the Treasury's funding model, which gears the cost/benefit ratio in silly ways and skews the whole thing.
Speed is frankly an irrelevance both ways. Yes, it might have saved some money by having it at 190 rather than 260 but it's the other issues that really count.
I cannot imagine he would have been popular for saying that though. Many government junkets for him would have been cancelled.
I believe talking is going on, but how can he even believe his own words? He says serious negotiations 'are now taking place' - so what has all the talking for weeks now been about?
I don’t know what to believe anymore but I do think Trump wants out ASAP. He just wants a knockout win and he won’t get it. He will have to escalate or compromise with Iran.
Escalate won’t work. We’re been there and it failed.
He's setting up success as "Iran can't have a nuclear weapon". He has now mentioned twenty years. So Iran will agree not to pursue a nuclear weapon for at least twenty years i.e. better than the Obama deal*. Trump will announce "We won bigly". No one else could have done it. Nobel peace prize now".
*Under Obama's deal in 2015, Iran was forbidden from enriching uranium past 3.67% for 15 years. This is far below the 90% needed for a nuclear bomb. Iran also agreed to the "Additional Protocol," giving IAEA inspectors continuous access to its declared nuclear sites and the right to investigate any suspicious, undeclared locations. In return sanctions were lifted.
A good deal that took many years to get over the line and was ripped up by one man due to his own vanity two men, one who needed an electoral boost and one who needed to cover up his er, frequent mentions in the Epstein files.
I do believe this war will simply spur Iran on to get a Nuke now. Why wouldn’t they. They were attacked by Israel and the US in the midst of negotiations.
What an utter shambles. Bombing Iran won’t work. Do it again, get the same result.
FTFY, although I agree with the rest.
However, Israel's elections are likely to be started tomorrow. That's going to have a bearing on the Iran situation. The tradeoff is how far Netanyahu needs to keep bombing the shit out of Iran and Hizbollah to prove he's a strong man as against not looking an incompetent twat by making a complete clusterfuck of it.
Yeah, Bibi is just as culpable. You’re correct.
The NYT article about how this war started is damning on Bibi and the Israeli ‘intelligence’ services.
Remember that big row we had, a few days ago? When I had an epiphany on the train from Berwick to King’s X, and I realised the big problem with HS2 was the obsession with speed? As I said then, we don’t need the speed, Britain is tiny. We just need the extra capacity
“THE obsession with HS2’s speed is to blame for its failure, an official review has found.
“The project’s focus on achieving the “highest possible speeds” has led to spiralling costs that have crippled progress, according to Sir Stephen Lovegrove. The former national security adviser said the high-speed rail line had gone “disastrously wrong” because of the decision to “gold plate” the project and political pressure to “keep things moving”.”
I don’t need or expect grovelling apologies. I will, however, accept large financial gifts. DM me for my bank deets
I thought the mocking was because you were several years behind schedule relative to the PB train experts who'd been saying that HS2 was about getting the fast passenger trains off the existing lines.
ECML was still not as quick as it was pre-privatisation 90-91 last time I used it, back then there was talk of London-Edinburgh in 2 hours.
Was in Lapland a couple of years ago at the Sami Parliament. The chamber had translation booths for at least 3 Sami languages (dialects?) but apparently there are 10-11 different versions
If they are like the Welsh translations of the documents we had to get done at the government jobs I've worked on, they are there at enormous expense for political correctness and will never be used.
I calculated that the extra cost each year for this utter waste of public money was roughly equivalent to a refurbished MRI machine, or a couple of nurses.
Two women have told the BBC they were raped during the filming of one of Channel 4's biggest shows, Married at First Sight UK, while a third has described an allegation of a non-consensual sex act.
Married at First Sight always seemed a deeply dodgy premise for a TV series. How did they ever find a Registrar willing to conduct the ceremony?
I thought the point was tha5 they are NOT actually married, but pretend to be.
Not my understanding. A friend of my nephew was a participant and I believe still married to the man she met on the programme.
2020 was the last year they did genuine weddings, and the first year they had a couple who lasted (who have recently had their second child).
Then the show changed to a more successful entertainment format, but one that created greater psychological risks for the participants - in particular they take the participants away from their normal lives and support networks.
‘ The Office for National Statistics said the UK unemployment rate was 5% in the three months to March 2026. The unemployment rate had dropped to 4.9% in last month’s release. The youth unemployment rate also climbed to 16.2%.’
Remember that big row we had, a few days ago? When I had an epiphany on the train from Berwick to King’s X, and I realised the big problem with HS2 was the obsession with speed? As I said then, we don’t need the speed, Britain is tiny. We just need the extra capacity
“THE obsession with HS2’s speed is to blame for its failure, an official review has found.
“The project’s focus on achieving the “highest possible speeds” has led to spiralling costs that have crippled progress, according to Sir Stephen Lovegrove. The former national security adviser said the high-speed rail line had gone “disastrously wrong” because of the decision to “gold plate” the project and political pressure to “keep things moving”.”
I don’t need or expect grovelling apologies. I will, however, accept large financial gifts. DM me for my bank deets
I thought the mocking was because you were several years behind schedule relative to the PB train experts who'd been saying that HS2 was about getting the fast passenger trains off the existing lines.
ECML was still not as quick as it was pre-privatisation 90-91 last time I used it, back then there was talk of London-Edinburgh in 2 hours.
The trains can do 140mph, but the track, signalling and overhead gantries can't.
That's a problem that's solved by building more tracks to higher specs.
That's also why Grant Shapps either lied to the House in putting forward the Integrated Rail Plan or is so stupid even British Gas would sack him. He proposed more and faster trains on existing tracks through resignalling. If it was that easy BR would have done it in the 80s.
Was in Lapland a couple of years ago at the Sami Parliament. The chamber had translation booths for at least 3 Sami languages (dialects?) but apparently there are 10-11 different versions
If they are like the Welsh translations of the documents we had to get done at the government jobs I've worked on, they are there at enormous expense for political correctness and will never be used.
I calculated that the extra cost each year for this utter waste of public money was roughly equivalent to a refurbished MRI machine, or a couple of nurses.
PB is about to move from California to Finland. Load times should be faster. Vanilla errors should cease. Starmer will depart Number 10. Nigel Farage will be contributing to costs.
You'll all have to learn the language. It's easy: no future tense, no he or she, no subjunctive, few prepositions. But 14 cases including the important partitive ..., pronunciation is as written, but take care over double consonants and double vowels ...
One of the few European languages that is not Indo-European.
Maltese too.
Maltese is Semitic (basically an Arabic creole) Estonian, Finnish and Sami languages are Finnic Hungarian is Ugric Turkish, Azerbaijani and Gauguz are Turkic Georgian and associated dialects are Kartvelian Basque is a language isolate All the other families- Celtic, Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Baltic, Greek, Armenian, and Albanian are Indo European.
Maltese is something of a hybrid, having imported a fair bit of structure from Italian and Spanish, as well as the alphabet. The basques remain a mystery and may have been ‘here’ before the ‘Europeans’ arrived
That was Colin Renfrew's view. He believed the Indo European languages arrived with farming and that Basque survived because the Mesolithic inhabitants of the Pyrenees were not pushed out by farming.
Was in Lapland a couple of years ago at the Sami Parliament. The chamber had translation booths for at least 3 Sami languages (dialects?) but apparently there are 10-11 different versions
If they are like the Welsh translations of the documents we had to get done at the government jobs I've worked on, they are there at enormous expense for political correctness and will never be used.
I calculated that the extra cost each year for this utter waste of public money was roughly equivalent to a refurbished MRI machine, or a couple of nurses.
Edit - technically it wasn't an error at the time because it was a guideline and only became the law in 2016, but according to the guidelines at the time Welsh should have been out first.
Was in Lapland a couple of years ago at the Sami Parliament. The chamber had translation booths for at least 3 Sami languages (dialects?) but apparently there are 10-11 different versions
If they are like the Welsh translations of the documents we had to get done at the government jobs I've worked on, they are there at enormous expense for political correctness and will never be used.
I calculated that the extra cost each year for this utter waste of public money was roughly equivalent to a refurbished MRI machine, or a couple of nurses.
Edit - technically it wasn't an error at the time because it was a guideline and only became the law in 2016, but according to the guidelines at the time Welsh should have been out first.
Comments
“Starmer sabotages Burnham on Brexit
PM raises prospect of rejoining EU in move that threatens to undermine Manchester mayor’s chances in Leave-supporting seat”
Telegraph
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/18/lammy-refuses-say-whether-britain-rejoin-eu-brexit/
Skyr HATES Burnham
But, yes, it is good. Firmly rooted in its locations.
I didn't realise he'd played rugby league against Edmund Arrowsmith school.
Level of respect.
And Edmund Arrowsmith is just off the main street in Ashton.
I taught at the C of E comp next door.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/18/active-shooter-report-san-diego-islamic-center
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/17/andy-burnham-has-betrayed-manchester/
The Telegraph doing some fantastic work to demonstrate Burnham as the useless Charlatan he is.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/17/burnhams-manchester-economic-miracle-in-doubt/
Thus when a government minister proposes housing asylum seekers on Rockall, or whatever the fashion of the week is, his civil servants say to him "oh no minister, if you do that, they will take you to the ECHR and you will lose". And then the policy is abandoned.
The ECHR must go or be substantially reformed - it is routinely abused by undesirables to prevent governments doing reasonable things to them. It's intentions are good and worthy, but the current outworking is counterproductive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WSgsUQnHeU
Those studies were mostly done before smartphones.
More recent studies suggest otherwise: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2019/02/11/517294.htm
The administration has completely corrupted the Justice Department, and has just awarded Trump a $1.7bn political slush fund from public money.
The Supreme Court will probably rule that unless Congress impeaches Trump, no one has the standing to legally challenge any of that.
Damn, that's going to happen now I suggested it, isn't it ?
Reform is (IMO) beyond the pale, but that doesn't make the third of the electorate - or even its elected politicians - all ogres.
Andy Burnham responds to Reform's Luke Campbell praising him
"I would say the same about Luke. We need a bit more decency in politics and much less vitriol"
https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2056447043925610789
Then if they choose to continue it later, that is for them.
It seems they don't have a world-beating vetting system.
"sensible and decent politics" - sounds like a refreshing change.
I'm concerned with the collateral damage that the crude action of withdrawal, and abolition of related UK legislation, will have on the ability of individuals to assert their basic rights.
Estonian, Finnish and Sami languages are Finnic
Hungarian is Ugric
Turkish, Azerbaijani and Gauguz are Turkic
Georgian and associated dialects are Kartvelian
Basque is a language isolate
All the other families- Celtic, Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Baltic, Greek, Armenian, and Albanian are Indo European.
Just like in the vid.
It will totally confuse anyone thinking of choosing Labour for anti-Reform tactical voting - "vote tactically against Reform to give them a bigger prize".
The line here writes itself for the Greens/Tories - "Andy may be happy with Reform Mayors - we think they'd be a disaster for Manchester - don't let it happen".
Reform should be stressing they have two bites of the cherry - arguably losing Makerfield to Burnham is in their best interests.
Mad for it.
How shady Facebook profiles are posting positive fake news stories about Nigel Farage
https://fullfact.org/politics/ai-photos-fake-stories-uk-politicians/
Revealed: the Facebook pages using AI to flood feeds with bizarre fake stories about politicians saving kennels, cafes and babies
Fake accounts, many in Vietnam, are pushing fake feel good stories about hard right politicians, including Farage and Lowe.
Andy Burnham, making a difference.
Of course there’s already been two backpedals. One on the EU and one of the Bond markets.
Oh and utilities is public ‘control’ whatever that means. Not ownership.
Except on Wednesdays
When I get rudely awakened by PMQs”
Which means Farage is going to either hate the person instantly or will select someone so weak that the flaws will stop him getting elected.
Finally - Burnham can point out that only those areas willing to work with the current Government may be delegated extra powers - which they will need to do because it wouldn’t be sensible to give Teesside anything while Ben and his cronies are in power
Escalate won’t work. We’re been there and it failed.
I disagree
Burnham needs to win and refresh labour
So Iran will agree not to pursue a nuclear weapon for at least twenty years i.e. better than the Obama deal*.
Trump will announce "We won bigly". No one else could have done it. Nobel peace prize now".
*Under Obama's deal in 2015, Iran was forbidden from enriching uranium past 3.67% for 15 years. This is far below the 90% needed for a nuclear bomb. Iran also agreed to the "Additional Protocol," giving IAEA inspectors continuous access to its declared nuclear sites and the right to investigate any suspicious, undeclared locations. In return sanctions were lifted.
Content creator creates a page with ads. Buys exposure through a "St Nigel saves drowning kittens" story on Facebook. Gets paid for the ad impressions when mugs click through.
There's always been a bit of that in news media; sell the sizzle so that people have to buy the sausage, even if it's not a very good sausage. All that's changed is the scale and the shamelessness.
And if the sausage of news that a large proportion of the public are consuming is now 90% the sawdust of made up shit, I'm sure that won't be a problem.
We definitely don't have a problem with voters being made happy/sad/furious about things that aren't really so.
I can see why they wanted Jenrick, but Braverman, Zahawi and the others? Mad.
I do believe this war will simply spur Iran on to get a Nuke now. Why wouldn’t they. They were attacked by Israel and the US in the midst of negotiations.
What an utter shambles. Bombing Iran won’t work. Do it again, get the same result.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence their poll ratings started to slip,when they became a Tory tribute act.
I won't be watching the video but I see above he was involved with some sporting event that someone now famous was also at ? Really ?
I can raise that Will Carling ran over my farm at least four times along with several more training sessions.
But, I do not dispute the effectiveness of these I am a decent bloke videos. That was how Farron started. Also all his opponents see through the videos right away and because they are totally unimpressed, like I am by Farron events, assume everyone else is. By 20 years experience I can say without a shadow of a doubt, the more hollow, the more insincere, the more gutwrenching the video the more certain it will succeed.
But, I remain of the view that this by-election is for Reform to lose. Sadly, I know their Nige will do his best. He goes out of his way to make sure the Conservatives can't win and then he fucks up himself, every time.
But also Burnham doesn't do any thinking ahead. His best hope here IS to lose, because, if he WINS and becomes LOTO he will need a safe seat. If he is cruising to a victory in the GE then no problem. But if there is any doubt or the result is unclear in the campaign then he will have to be back at home protecting his arse / seat. In such a scenario it isn't obvious he would hold his seat. Oh Dear, How Sad, Never Mind.
I'm sorry, this forced by-election deserves the Patrick Gordon Walker treatment. By all counts he was every bit as nasty as Burnham but didn't do him any good.
I calculated that the extra cost each year for this utter waste of public money was roughly equivalent to a refurbished MRI machine, or a couple of nurses.
Political correctness KILLS.
Made a lot of PBers angry. Especially @Gallowgate
The Telegraph, today
“THE obsession with HS2’s speed is to blame for its failure, an official review has found.
“The project’s focus on achieving the “highest possible speeds” has led to spiralling costs that have crippled progress, according to Sir Stephen Lovegrove. The former national security adviser said the high-speed rail line had gone “disastrously wrong” because of the decision to “gold plate” the project and political pressure to “keep things moving”.”
https://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/2437/reader/reader.html?social#!preferred/0/package/2437/pub/2437/page/14/article/NaN
I don’t need or expect grovelling apologies. I will, however, accept large financial gifts. DM me for my bank deets
A rare act of self-awareness as to her ability or plotting?
Burnham does seem to have a touch of the “normal” which is often rare in politicians. He also isn’t apparently afraid to engage with criticism both on Twitter or on radio and TV. That is a positive.
I remain to be convinced that he isn’t just another vacuous Starmer-lite but it’s a reasonable start.
Estimated Bulk Agricultural Guano Pricing
(US$ per metric ton)
+---------+-------------------------------+----------------------+
| Month | Estimated Price (US$/ton) | Change from Prior |
+---------+-------------------------------+----------------------+
| Feb 2026| 270 | — |
| Mar 2026| 340 | +26% |
| Apr 2026| 430 | +26% |
| May 2026| 550 | +28% |
+---------+-------------------------------+----------------------+
However, Israel's elections are likely to be started tomorrow. That's going to have a bearing on the Iran situation. The tradeoff is how far Netanyahu needs to keep bombing the shit out of Iran and Hizbollah to prove he's a strong man as against not looking an incompetent twat by making a complete clusterfuck of it.
We watched the Panorama last night.
Why isn’t it a Police matter ? Why didn’t the show call in the Police ?
I’m agreeing with you. I think you’ve got a good point.
It’s a problem endemic across our politics. No one has solutions or any substance just pretty content and vibes aimed at social media.
A third problem is the Treasury's funding model, which gears the cost/benefit ratio in silly ways and skews the whole thing.
Speed is frankly an irrelevance both ways. Yes, it might have saved some money by having it at 190 rather than 260 but it's the other issues that really count.
I cannot imagine he would have been popular for saying that though. Many government junkets for him would have been cancelled.
The NYT article about how this war started is damning on Bibi and the Israeli ‘intelligence’ services.
Hence the phenomenon of going from “that never seems to get to court” to “avalanche of cases”
Over the years, Panorama has started a number of such avalanches.
“The avalanche has begun. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.”
ECML was still not as quick as it was pre-privatisation 90-91 last time I used it, back then there was talk of London-Edinburgh in 2 hours.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7702913.stm
There was actually a second error in that sign - anyone notice what it was?
Then the show changed to a more successful entertainment format, but one that created greater psychological risks for the participants - in particular they take the participants away from their normal lives and support networks.
‘ The Office for National Statistics said the UK unemployment rate was 5% in the three months to March 2026. The unemployment rate had dropped to 4.9% in last month’s release. The youth unemployment rate also climbed to 16.2%.’
https://x.com/truemagic68/status/2056627169015501102?s=61
That's a problem that's solved by building more tracks to higher specs.
That's also why Grant Shapps either lied to the House in putting forward the Integrated Rail Plan or is so stupid even British Gas would sack him. He proposed more and faster trains on existing tracks through resignalling. If it was that easy BR would have done it in the 80s.
But this article on the sidebar about another language faux pas made me laugh.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/4794753.stm
Edit - technically it wasn't an error at the time because it was a guideline and only became the law in 2016, but according to the guidelines at the time Welsh should have been out first.