EXCLUSIVE with @EllenAMilligan: UK government officials are blaming each other for the extraordinary situation that has seen Britain loosen sanctions on Russian oil.
The EU will NOT waive sanctions. It means the UK has departed from the EU’s approach and now has looser sanctions on refined Russian oil products than Europe.
One says it’s the fault of Keir Starmer and No10 for not taking the lead on measures sooner to prepare for limitations on jet supply.
One says Ed Miliband’s restrictions on expanding energy supply have left the UK in a more vulnerable position. The sanctions waiver highlights how Britain has become more reliant on fuel imports than other major European nations.
Others say the Treasury and Foreign Office have wavered at the first sign of strain. The Foreign Office is unable to explain its position this morning and remarkably DESNZ is declining to comment.
It's mad. A lot of Ukraine's long range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are almost certainly being assisted by the UK providing funding, development, testing, and targetting. These two policies are completely at odds. It makes the government look particularly stupid and craven.
Kemi needs to be going in heavy on this.
After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.
Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.
We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea.
Is she seriously suggesting we can get explore to drill to deliver in anything leass than 2 to 3 years
So, to be clear, you’re all in favour of buying Russian oil?
I am absolutely in favour if it keeps the Country running and boosts the economy.
This is on Trump and Netanyahu.
One as bad as Putin, the other far far worse.
Needs must
I'd rather deal with Putin than Netanyahu and frankly Trump can fuck off
I was tempted to write a rude response but in the interests of free thinking intellectual discussion can you explain why Bibi is far far worse than Putin.
And no before you ask I'm not of the 'Saint Bibi' persuasion.
Conclusion: If he wins the by-election, Burnham is a shoo-in.
Just out of interest, was the big majority favouring Burnham filled with excitement at the prospect of being led by a winner or was it more resigned TINA?
I would say that a majority are enthused, and think that he will make a positive impact, making things better not just for the Labour's poll ratings, but for society. Basically, a bunch of lefties like the lefty noises he's been making.
The strategy set out in this paper seeks to establish the conditions for cheap, reliable, and abundant energy at home. A future Restore Britain government would pursue the full development of our offshore oil and gas reserves, the rapid expansion of nuclear energy, the exploitation of onshore shale where viable, and if able to compete some limited role for renewables within a balanced grid. Our overriding objective is to deliver dispatchable power at prices affordable to British households and competitive for British industry.
Renewables seems a bit shoe-horned in there. I thought it was already cheaper than fossil fuels, certainly cheaper than nuclear.
Yes. Lowe should move renewables to the top, then give reasons for adding the rest.
The ban on gnomes was ended by Charles, Camillla and the head of the Chelsea flower show, in the presence of David Beckham. This has, I think, been a signiicant week for Britain in many ways.
EXCL: Taxpayers were stung £35k so Andy Burnham could pose with a yellow train when he had nothing to announce.
Emails between Transport for Manchester staff: "Andy wants to do a one year out media moment in December… we haven’t really got anything to say. What’s your thoughts on the likelihood of us getting him a yellow train to stand in front of?”
FOIs show it cost £35k to wrap the train yellow for that photo op.
Taxpayers are going to be stung for a lot more in order to hold an unnecessary by-election for mayor of GM.
Trump purges another Republican critic with Massie defeat in Kentucky
U.S. President Donald Trump scored another victory in his campaign to punish disloyal Republicans on Tuesday as Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky lost his primary race, underscoring the risks for lawmakers who defy Trump.
The voters of Kentucky’s 4th District decided to get rid of the guy who voted against the budget in Congress, and was more interested in personal grandstanding than representing the views of his constituents.
Or it shows GOP activists and PACs have been captured by Trump.
Sandpit is remarkably loyal to Trump and MAGA, in the face of all comers and even when their ideology is at odds with his (e.g. Ukraine). I’m not sure there’s a more completely, full-spectrum loyal poster to an individual politician or movement on PB. Not even BigG. If anything the norm is for posters conveniently to disavow allegiance, St Peter style, when the cock crows.
Not at all, I don’t even particularly like Trump. I just push back against the prevailing narritive that everything he does is bad, or that he’s only doing something because of some ulterior motive.
I’m firmly of the opinion that, were he to announce a cure for cancer, the US media and most of this forum would be trying to present it negatively.
I’ve definitely critised Trump on Ukraine, as I did with Biden before him. They have both been weak in different ways, and I don’t like Bessent’s trading of Russian oil just as I don’t like Miliband’s doing the same.
My over-riding opinion on US politics is on the other side, that the Democrats have been captured by wokery, communism, and increasingly antisemitism. They’re starting to look like the Greens in the UK, with the mayor of New York talking about opening state-run grocery stores, and the mayor of LA talking about giving free dentistry to illegal immigrant homeless meth-heads living on the streets.
Anyway, work to do!
Come on, you know PB
If you’re not participating in the daily hate on Trump you’re clearly a fan. It’s that binary
The $1.776 billion of US tax payers money to compensate the Jan 6th rioters combined with an agreement to never audit and Trump or Trump family tax return is one of the most blatent bits of corruption in modern history.
But I suppose we need to "both sides" it. After all corruption, golden statues and a Jesus complex are all fine and dandy if you bash the Libs.
Ultimately it needs an act of attainment. Which I would hate because of the precedent it would set. But I don’t see the alternative when the head of the executive is preemptively agreeing deals that protects him and his family in perpetuity
The deputy of the UK Ambassador to the US, James Roscoe, has been sacked
He faced questions after top-secret National Security Council discussions, including Cabinet Ministers' verbatim remarks, were leaked to Tim Shipman of The Spectator
This burnishes Tim Shipman's reputation.
I suspect he realised that he was looking at things he very much shouldn’t have been, and did the right thing for national security.
There’s a big difference between whistleblowing and just forwarding classified stuff to a journalist.
EXCLUSIVE with @EllenAMilligan: UK government officials are blaming each other for the extraordinary situation that has seen Britain loosen sanctions on Russian oil.
The EU will NOT waive sanctions. It means the UK has departed from the EU’s approach and now has looser sanctions on refined Russian oil products than Europe.
One says it’s the fault of Keir Starmer and No10 for not taking the lead on measures sooner to prepare for limitations on jet supply.
One says Ed Miliband’s restrictions on expanding energy supply have left the UK in a more vulnerable position. The sanctions waiver highlights how Britain has become more reliant on fuel imports than other major European nations.
Others say the Treasury and Foreign Office have wavered at the first sign of strain. The Foreign Office is unable to explain its position this morning and remarkably DESNZ is declining to comment.
It's mad. A lot of Ukraine's long range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are almost certainly being assisted by the UK providing funding, development, testing, and targetting. These two policies are completely at odds. It makes the government look particularly stupid and craven.
Kemi needs to be going in heavy on this.
After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.
Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.
We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea.
Is she seriously suggesting we can get explore to drill to deliver in anything leass than 2 to 3 years
So, to be clear, you’re all in favour of buying Russian oil?
I am absolutely in favour if it keeps the Country running and boosts the economy.
This is on Trump and Netanyahu.
One as bad as Putin, the other far far worse.
Needs must
I'd rather deal with Putin than Netanyahu and frankly Trump can fuck off
I was tempted to write a rude response but in the interests of free thinking intellectual discussion can you explain why Bibi is far far worse than Putin.
And no before you ask I'm not of the 'Saint Bibi' persuasion.
Netanyahu. Smotrich, Ben Gvir are racists, and war criminals.
However, you do have to have judgement that stinks, to consider them "far, far, worse" than Putin. The death and destruction that Putin has caused is an order of magnitude greater than anything those arseholes have done.
Israel seems to drive a lot of people mad, to the point they see every Western government as the puppet of Israel, Israel as the worst country on earth, and the hand of Israel behind every evil deed.
The deputy of the UK Ambassador to the US, James Roscoe, has been sacked
He faced questions after top-secret National Security Council discussions, including Cabinet Ministers' verbatim remarks, were leaked to Tim Shipman of The Spectator
This burnishes Tim Shipman's reputation.
I suspect he realised that he was looking at things he very much shouldn’t have been, and did the right thing for national security.
There’s a big difference between whistleblowing and just forwarding classified stuff to a journalist.
EXCLUSIVE with @EllenAMilligan: UK government officials are blaming each other for the extraordinary situation that has seen Britain loosen sanctions on Russian oil.
The EU will NOT waive sanctions. It means the UK has departed from the EU’s approach and now has looser sanctions on refined Russian oil products than Europe.
One says it’s the fault of Keir Starmer and No10 for not taking the lead on measures sooner to prepare for limitations on jet supply.
One says Ed Miliband’s restrictions on expanding energy supply have left the UK in a more vulnerable position. The sanctions waiver highlights how Britain has become more reliant on fuel imports than other major European nations.
Others say the Treasury and Foreign Office have wavered at the first sign of strain. The Foreign Office is unable to explain its position this morning and remarkably DESNZ is declining to comment.
It's mad. A lot of Ukraine's long range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are almost certainly being assisted by the UK providing funding, development, testing, and targetting. These two policies are completely at odds. It makes the government look particularly stupid and craven.
Kemi needs to be going in heavy on this.
After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.
Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.
We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea.
Is she seriously suggesting we can get explore to drill to deliver in anything leass than 2 to 3 years
So, to be clear, you’re all in favour of buying Russian oil?
I am absolutely in favour if it keeps the Country running and boosts the economy.
This is on Trump and Netanyahu.
One as bad as Putin, the other far far worse.
Needs must
I'd rather deal with Putin than Netanyahu and frankly Trump can fuck off
I was tempted to write a rude response but in the interests of free thinking intellectual discussion can you explain why Bibi is far far worse than Putin.
And no before you ask I'm not of the 'Saint Bibi' persuasion.
Be as rude as you like you won't offend me.
My views are based on a pragmatic means of keeping the economy running as well as possible first and foremost.
Sometimes in crisis you have to deal with the devil.
We had to chose in 1939 between Fascism and Communism. I challenge any one to say that Churchill got that wrong backed by Attlee.
I believe Trump is as big a danger to this planet than any dictator.
I believe his intentions will see democracy halted in the USA in 2028.
I don't defend Putin in any way but if we can deal with Stalin in 1938 to 1945 we can deal wutin in 2026. In reality we are not dealing directly with Putin but with people who have his oil.
I believe that whilst Putin is a barbaric despot, his wars are more about land than race or religion. Netanyahu is a genocidal mass murderer who should be hunted down and exterminated. His brutality is based purely on race and religion, in the same way as Hitler.
The strategy set out in this paper seeks to establish the conditions for cheap, reliable, and abundant energy at home. A future Restore Britain government would pursue the full development of our offshore oil and gas reserves, the rapid expansion of nuclear energy, the exploitation of onshore shale where viable, and if able to compete some limited role for renewables within a balanced grid. Our overriding objective is to deliver dispatchable power at prices affordable to British households and competitive for British industry.
Renewables seems a bit shoe-horned in there. I thought it was already cheaper than fossil fuels, certainly cheaper than nuclear.
As we have learned from Ukraine centralised power generation is a massive security risk.
Russia is claiming that Latvia allowed Ukraine to launch drones from its territory. This follows a Romanian jet shooting down a Ukrainian drone that had wandered into Latvian airspace, presumably after being affected by EW.
If Russia wants to manufacture a cassus belli for an attack on Latvia then it's making a good start.
Latvia are easily the most belligerent of the Baltics so there might be something in it - who the fuck knows?
The droning of Moscow, particularly the apartment block on Mosfilmovskaya, is a problem for VVP. He got called a 'Гандон' (lit. Condom meaning weak and ineffectual) by some think tank wanker on TV last week. Certain factions are definitely running out patience for his cautious and legalistic probity over prosecuting the SMO. '
His what?
You wouldn't know it from consuming the Anglophone media, but the main strand of criticism in Russia regarding the SMO is not, this is a calamity that's killing thousands and ruining the country. Instead it's, why aren't we slaughtering the Kh-words in vast numbers and destroying their made up country?
There is plenty of appetite for GPW style total war and full mobilisation in nationalist circles and the think tank industrial complex.
"The problem is how you define “the rich.” The top 1% have good tax lawyers"
That's one of the problems. The other problems with taxing the rich, however defined, are that
- they are key to the country's savings and entrepreneurial investment decisions, so you damage long run economic growth - they are unusually internationally mobile, so they can just leave, as around 25,000 millionaires have since Labour took office - much of their wealth is tied up in primary residences, which are quite difficult to tax beyond a certain small amount, because they doesn't directly generate cash, while such property transactions can be taxed but doing so gums up labour mobility, and anyway the UK already has some of the highest property taxes, especially at the high end, in the world - previous governments over the past generation have used this expedient many times anyway.
Overall, taxing the rich more than the heavy burden they already pay is a terrible idea, economically destructive and financially counter-productive. So I imagine the new Labour leader will probably jump at it.
The obvious one is to raise top rate to 50%.
Which would also be fucking stupid.
All great ideas for helping Dubai bounce back hard from the current crisis in the region.
It'd do that, and drive less work and employment in the country, and more movement from the private to the public sector, as some people just decided it wasn't worth it anymore.
So I'd expect no boost to the public finances, and it'd probably make it even worse.
VAT on school fees was the dry run for ideology over mathematics.
They want to “Tax The Rich”, with no thought whatsoever as to 2nd and 3rd order effects on the wider economy.
The much predicted terrible negative effects of VAT on school fees never actually materialised.
Nonsense. Its been really painful.. a typical Labour Mr Nasty policy. The politics of envy.
Russia is claiming that Latvia allowed Ukraine to launch drones from its territory. This follows a Romanian jet shooting down a Ukrainian drone that had wandered into Latvian airspace, presumably after being affected by EW.
If Russia wants to manufacture a cassus belli for an attack on Latvia then it's making a good start.
Latvia are easily the most belligerent of the Baltics so there might be something in it - who the fuck knows?
The droning of Moscow, particularly the apartment block on Mosfilmovskaya, is a problem for VVP. He got called a 'Гандон' (lit. Condom meaning weak and ineffectual) by some think tank wanker on TV last week. Certain factions are definitely running out patience for his cautious and legalistic probity over prosecuting the SMO. '
His what?
You wouldn't know it from consuming the Anglophone media, but the main strand of criticism in Russia regarding the SMO is not, this is a calamity that's killing thousands and ruining the country. Instead it's, why aren't we slaughtering the Kh-words in vast numbers and destroying their made up country?
There is plenty of appetite for GPW style total war and full mobilisation in nationalist circles and the think tank industrial complex.
Don't blame me. I'm just telling you how it is.
If there is all this thirst for full mobilisation why do they need to pay huge sums to get men to enlist? Why aren't there vast numbers willingly signing up to do their patriotic duty? The will clearly isn't there in broader society.
By all means if you get off on reading Russian nationalist tripe keeping doing it.
Got to ask why is SKS making policy and tax announcements as part of PMQs. Surely that should be in a (short) statement by the chancellor before or afterwards or even yesterday.
EXCLUSIVE with @EllenAMilligan: UK government officials are blaming each other for the extraordinary situation that has seen Britain loosen sanctions on Russian oil.
The EU will NOT waive sanctions. It means the UK has departed from the EU’s approach and now has looser sanctions on refined Russian oil products than Europe.
One says it’s the fault of Keir Starmer and No10 for not taking the lead on measures sooner to prepare for limitations on jet supply.
One says Ed Miliband’s restrictions on expanding energy supply have left the UK in a more vulnerable position. The sanctions waiver highlights how Britain has become more reliant on fuel imports than other major European nations.
Others say the Treasury and Foreign Office have wavered at the first sign of strain. The Foreign Office is unable to explain its position this morning and remarkably DESNZ is declining to comment.
It's mad. A lot of Ukraine's long range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are almost certainly being assisted by the UK providing funding, development, testing, and targetting. These two policies are completely at odds. It makes the government look particularly stupid and craven.
Kemi needs to be going in heavy on this.
After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.
Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.
We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea.
Is she seriously suggesting we can get explore to drill to deliver in anything leass than 2 to 3 years
So, to be clear, you’re all in favour of buying Russian oil?
I am absolutely in favour if it keeps the Country running and boosts the economy.
This is on Trump and Netanyahu.
One as bad as Putin, the other far far worse.
Needs must
I'd rather deal with Putin than Netanyahu and frankly Trump can fuck off
I was tempted to write a rude response but in the interests of free thinking intellectual discussion can you explain why Bibi is far far worse than Putin.
And no before you ask I'm not of the 'Saint Bibi' persuasion.
Be as rude as you like you won't offend me.
My views are based on a pragmatic means of keeping the economy running as well as possible first and foremost.
Sometimes in crisis you have to deal with the devil.
We had to chose in 1939 between Fascism and Communism. I challenge any one to say that Churchill got that wrong backed by Attlee.
I believe Trump is as big a danger to this planet than any dictator.
I believe his intentions will see democracy halted in the USA in 2028.
I don't defend Putin in any way but if we can deal with Stalin in 1938 to 1945 we can deal wutin in 2026. In reality we are not dealing directly with Putin but with people who have his oil.
I believe that whilst Putin is a barbaric despot, his wars are more about land than race or religion. Netanyahu is a genocidal mass murderer who should be hunted down and exterminated. His brutality is based purely on race and religion, in the same way as Hitler.
Those are my views.
Putin leads a party, whose “party philosopher” openly advocates for Russian Fascism.
The purpose of the Ukraine invasion was specifically to Russify Ukrainian culture. And has included kidnapping Ukrainian children to educate them as Russians and wipe out their culture and heritage.
"The problem is how you define “the rich.” The top 1% have good tax lawyers"
That's one of the problems. The other problems with taxing the rich, however defined, are that
- they are key to the country's savings and entrepreneurial investment decisions, so you damage long run economic growth - they are unusually internationally mobile, so they can just leave, as around 25,000 millionaires have since Labour took office - much of their wealth is tied up in primary residences, which are quite difficult to tax beyond a certain small amount, because they doesn't directly generate cash, while such property transactions can be taxed but doing so gums up labour mobility, and anyway the UK already has some of the highest property taxes, especially at the high end, in the world - previous governments over the past generation have used this expedient many times anyway.
Overall, taxing the rich more than the heavy burden they already pay is a terrible idea, economically destructive and financially counter-productive. So I imagine the new Labour leader will probably jump at it.
The obvious one is to raise top rate to 50%.
Which would also be fucking stupid.
All great ideas for helping Dubai bounce back hard from the current crisis in the region.
It'd do that, and drive less work and employment in the country, and more movement from the private to the public sector, as some people just decided it wasn't worth it anymore.
So I'd expect no boost to the public finances, and it'd probably make it even worse.
VAT on school fees was the dry run for ideology over mathematics.
They want to “Tax The Rich”, with no thought whatsoever as to 2nd and 3rd order effects on the wider economy.
The much predicted terrible negative effects of VAT on school fees never actually materialised.
Nonsense. Its been really painful.. a typical Labour Mr Nasty policy. The politics of envy.
This Government has been terribly ineffective, however I am quite comfortable with VAT on private schools. Anyway we can always advise the parents of private school pupils who can't afford the VAT, like we advised the single mothers before them, if they can't afford what they need to afford they can always cancel Netflix and cut down on the Uber Eats.
New SNP Westminster leader gives an unexpected boost to Burnham’s by election hopes in Leave voting Makerfield. Contrasting his backing for Brexit with Streeting’s Rejoin the EU policy
"The problem is how you define “the rich.” The top 1% have good tax lawyers"
That's one of the problems. The other problems with taxing the rich, however defined, are that
- they are key to the country's savings and entrepreneurial investment decisions, so you damage long run economic growth - they are unusually internationally mobile, so they can just leave, as around 25,000 millionaires have since Labour took office - much of their wealth is tied up in primary residences, which are quite difficult to tax beyond a certain small amount, because they doesn't directly generate cash, while such property transactions can be taxed but doing so gums up labour mobility, and anyway the UK already has some of the highest property taxes, especially at the high end, in the world - previous governments over the past generation have used this expedient many times anyway.
Overall, taxing the rich more than the heavy burden they already pay is a terrible idea, economically destructive and financially counter-productive. So I imagine the new Labour leader will probably jump at it.
The obvious one is to raise top rate to 50%.
Which would also be fucking stupid.
All great ideas for helping Dubai bounce back hard from the current crisis in the region.
It'd do that, and drive less work and employment in the country, and more movement from the private to the public sector, as some people just decided it wasn't worth it anymore.
So I'd expect no boost to the public finances, and it'd probably make it even worse.
VAT on school fees was the dry run for ideology over mathematics.
They want to “Tax The Rich”, with no thought whatsoever as to 2nd and 3rd order effects on the wider economy.
The much predicted terrible negative effects of VAT on school fees never actually materialised.
Nonsense. Its been really painful.. a typical Labour Mr Nasty policy. The politics of envy.
Private educational is an optional, luxury product. There are valid arguments as to why it should be subject to VAT...
EXCLUSIVE with @EllenAMilligan: UK government officials are blaming each other for the extraordinary situation that has seen Britain loosen sanctions on Russian oil.
The EU will NOT waive sanctions. It means the UK has departed from the EU’s approach and now has looser sanctions on refined Russian oil products than Europe.
One says it’s the fault of Keir Starmer and No10 for not taking the lead on measures sooner to prepare for limitations on jet supply.
One says Ed Miliband’s restrictions on expanding energy supply have left the UK in a more vulnerable position. The sanctions waiver highlights how Britain has become more reliant on fuel imports than other major European nations.
Others say the Treasury and Foreign Office have wavered at the first sign of strain. The Foreign Office is unable to explain its position this morning and remarkably DESNZ is declining to comment.
It's mad. A lot of Ukraine's long range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are almost certainly being assisted by the UK providing funding, development, testing, and targetting. These two policies are completely at odds. It makes the government look particularly stupid and craven.
Kemi needs to be going in heavy on this.
After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.
Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.
We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea.
Is she seriously suggesting we can get explore to drill to deliver in anything leass than 2 to 3 years
So, to be clear, you’re all in favour of buying Russian oil?
I am absolutely in favour if it keeps the Country running and boosts the economy.
This is on Trump and Netanyahu.
One as bad as Putin, the other far far worse.
Needs must
I'd rather deal with Putin than Netanyahu and frankly Trump can fuck off
I was tempted to write a rude response but in the interests of free thinking intellectual discussion can you explain why Bibi is far far worse than Putin.
And no before you ask I'm not of the 'Saint Bibi' persuasion.
Netanyahu. Smotrich, Ben Gvir are racists, and war criminals.
However, you do have to have judgement that stinks, to consider them "far, far, worse" than Putin. The death and destruction that Putin has caused is an order of magnitude greater than anything those arseholes have done.
Israel seems to drive a lot of people mad, to the point they see every Western government as the puppet of Israel, Israel as the worst country on earth, and the hand of Israel behind every evil deed.
Despite not being one of those people it's clear to me that Israel does exert undue influence over the United States and the current shambles with Iran is a direct result of that. This is not to acquit Donald Trump of the lion's share of the blame for it. The day I acquit Donald Trump of the blame for any of his egregious actions or behaviour is a day that will never come.
"The problem is how you define “the rich.” The top 1% have good tax lawyers"
That's one of the problems. The other problems with taxing the rich, however defined, are that
- they are key to the country's savings and entrepreneurial investment decisions, so you damage long run economic growth - they are unusually internationally mobile, so they can just leave, as around 25,000 millionaires have since Labour took office - much of their wealth is tied up in primary residences, which are quite difficult to tax beyond a certain small amount, because they doesn't directly generate cash, while such property transactions can be taxed but doing so gums up labour mobility, and anyway the UK already has some of the highest property taxes, especially at the high end, in the world - previous governments over the past generation have used this expedient many times anyway.
Overall, taxing the rich more than the heavy burden they already pay is a terrible idea, economically destructive and financially counter-productive. So I imagine the new Labour leader will probably jump at it.
The obvious one is to raise top rate to 50%.
Which would also be fucking stupid.
All great ideas for helping Dubai bounce back hard from the current crisis in the region.
It'd do that, and drive less work and employment in the country, and more movement from the private to the public sector, as some people just decided it wasn't worth it anymore.
So I'd expect no boost to the public finances, and it'd probably make it even worse.
VAT on school fees was the dry run for ideology over mathematics.
They want to “Tax The Rich”, with no thought whatsoever as to 2nd and 3rd order effects on the wider economy.
The much predicted terrible negative effects of VAT on school fees never actually materialised.
Nonsense. Its been really painful.. a typical Labour Mr Nasty policy. The politics of envy.
Private educational is an optional, luxury product. There are valid arguments as to why it should be subject to VAT...
John Swinney is currently selecting his new Scottish cabinet. Of the 11 MSPs who stood in his first cabinet photo in 2024, 5 are no longer in parliament
We should expect Stephen Flynn to feature, maybe a move to Energy?
"The problem is how you define “the rich.” The top 1% have good tax lawyers"
That's one of the problems. The other problems with taxing the rich, however defined, are that
- they are key to the country's savings and entrepreneurial investment decisions, so you damage long run economic growth - they are unusually internationally mobile, so they can just leave, as around 25,000 millionaires have since Labour took office - much of their wealth is tied up in primary residences, which are quite difficult to tax beyond a certain small amount, because they doesn't directly generate cash, while such property transactions can be taxed but doing so gums up labour mobility, and anyway the UK already has some of the highest property taxes, especially at the high end, in the world - previous governments over the past generation have used this expedient many times anyway.
Overall, taxing the rich more than the heavy burden they already pay is a terrible idea, economically destructive and financially counter-productive. So I imagine the new Labour leader will probably jump at it.
The obvious one is to raise top rate to 50%.
Which would also be fucking stupid.
All great ideas for helping Dubai bounce back hard from the current crisis in the region.
It'd do that, and drive less work and employment in the country, and more movement from the private to the public sector, as some people just decided it wasn't worth it anymore.
So I'd expect no boost to the public finances, and it'd probably make it even worse.
VAT on school fees was the dry run for ideology over mathematics.
They want to “Tax The Rich”, with no thought whatsoever as to 2nd and 3rd order effects on the wider economy.
The much predicted terrible negative effects of VAT on school fees never actually materialised.
Nonsense. Its been really painful.. a typical Labour Mr Nasty policy. The politics of envy.
Private educational is an optional, luxury product. There are valid arguments as to why it should be subject to VAT...
"The problem is how you define “the rich.” The top 1% have good tax lawyers"
That's one of the problems. The other problems with taxing the rich, however defined, are that
- they are key to the country's savings and entrepreneurial investment decisions, so you damage long run economic growth - they are unusually internationally mobile, so they can just leave, as around 25,000 millionaires have since Labour took office - much of their wealth is tied up in primary residences, which are quite difficult to tax beyond a certain small amount, because they doesn't directly generate cash, while such property transactions can be taxed but doing so gums up labour mobility, and anyway the UK already has some of the highest property taxes, especially at the high end, in the world - previous governments over the past generation have used this expedient many times anyway.
Overall, taxing the rich more than the heavy burden they already pay is a terrible idea, economically destructive and financially counter-productive. So I imagine the new Labour leader will probably jump at it.
The obvious one is to raise top rate to 50%.
Which would also be fucking stupid.
All great ideas for helping Dubai bounce back hard from the current crisis in the region.
It'd do that, and drive less work and employment in the country, and more movement from the private to the public sector, as some people just decided it wasn't worth it anymore.
So I'd expect no boost to the public finances, and it'd probably make it even worse.
VAT on school fees was the dry run for ideology over mathematics.
They want to “Tax The Rich”, with no thought whatsoever as to 2nd and 3rd order effects on the wider economy.
The much predicted terrible negative effects of VAT on school fees never actually materialised.
Nonsense. Its been really painful.. a typical Labour Mr Nasty policy. The politics of envy.
This Government has been terribly ineffective, however I am quite comfortable with VAT on private schools. Anyway we can always advise the parents of private school pupils who can't afford the VAT, like we advised the single mothers before them, if they can't afford what they need to afford they can always cancel Netflix and cut down on the Uber Eats.
I thought it was fewer lattes, no avocado on toast and you should have kept your legs together
"The problem is how you define “the rich.” The top 1% have good tax lawyers"
That's one of the problems. The other problems with taxing the rich, however defined, are that
- they are key to the country's savings and entrepreneurial investment decisions, so you damage long run economic growth - they are unusually internationally mobile, so they can just leave, as around 25,000 millionaires have since Labour took office - much of their wealth is tied up in primary residences, which are quite difficult to tax beyond a certain small amount, because they doesn't directly generate cash, while such property transactions can be taxed but doing so gums up labour mobility, and anyway the UK already has some of the highest property taxes, especially at the high end, in the world - previous governments over the past generation have used this expedient many times anyway.
Overall, taxing the rich more than the heavy burden they already pay is a terrible idea, economically destructive and financially counter-productive. So I imagine the new Labour leader will probably jump at it.
The obvious one is to raise top rate to 50%.
Which would also be fucking stupid.
All great ideas for helping Dubai bounce back hard from the current crisis in the region.
It'd do that, and drive less work and employment in the country, and more movement from the private to the public sector, as some people just decided it wasn't worth it anymore.
So I'd expect no boost to the public finances, and it'd probably make it even worse.
VAT on school fees was the dry run for ideology over mathematics.
They want to “Tax The Rich”, with no thought whatsoever as to 2nd and 3rd order effects on the wider economy.
The much predicted terrible negative effects of VAT on school fees never actually materialised.
Nonsense. Its been really painful.. a typical Labour Mr Nasty policy. The politics of envy.
This Government has been terribly ineffective, however I am quite comfortable with VAT on private schools. Anyway we can always advise the parents of private school pupils who can't afford the VAT, like we advised the single mothers before them, if they can't afford what they need to afford they can always cancel Netflix and cut down on the Uber Eats.
I thought it was fewer lattes, no avocado on toast and you should have kept your legs together
EXCLUSIVE with @EllenAMilligan: UK government officials are blaming each other for the extraordinary situation that has seen Britain loosen sanctions on Russian oil.
The EU will NOT waive sanctions. It means the UK has departed from the EU’s approach and now has looser sanctions on refined Russian oil products than Europe.
One says it’s the fault of Keir Starmer and No10 for not taking the lead on measures sooner to prepare for limitations on jet supply.
One says Ed Miliband’s restrictions on expanding energy supply have left the UK in a more vulnerable position. The sanctions waiver highlights how Britain has become more reliant on fuel imports than other major European nations.
Others say the Treasury and Foreign Office have wavered at the first sign of strain. The Foreign Office is unable to explain its position this morning and remarkably DESNZ is declining to comment.
It's mad. A lot of Ukraine's long range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are almost certainly being assisted by the UK providing funding, development, testing, and targetting. These two policies are completely at odds. It makes the government look particularly stupid and craven.
Kemi needs to be going in heavy on this.
After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.
Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.
We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea.
Is she seriously suggesting we can get explore to drill to deliver in anything leass than 2 to 3 years
So, to be clear, you’re all in favour of buying Russian oil?
I am absolutely in favour if it keeps the Country running and boosts the economy.
This is on Trump and Netanyahu.
One as bad as Putin, the other far far worse.
Needs must
I'd rather deal with Putin than Netanyahu and frankly Trump can fuck off
I was tempted to write a rude response but in the interests of free thinking intellectual discussion can you explain why Bibi is far far worse than Putin.
And no before you ask I'm not of the 'Saint Bibi' persuasion.
Netanyahu. Smotrich, Ben Gvir are racists, and war criminals.
However, you do have to have judgement that stinks, to consider them "far, far, worse" than Putin. The death and destruction that Putin has caused is an order of magnitude greater than anything those arseholes have done.
Israel seems to drive a lot of people mad, to the point they see every Western government as the puppet of Israel, Israel as the worst country on earth, and the hand of Israel behind every evil deed.
Bibi is pretty much in the same league table of arseholes as Putin, both heading a nationalist and racist society, corrupt and corrupting, full of holy expansionism, just with more limited opportunities for slaughter. The main difference is that Bibi wants Israel to be accepted as part of Western civilisation, right down to participating in and winning a crappy little pop music competition.
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
I saw something recently that said the real rip off is coming from the massive multinational suppliers who bought up all the well known brands and make a packet from people's loyalty to traditional product names.
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
I saw something recently that said the real rip off is coming from the massive multinational suppliers who bought up all the well known brands and make a packet from people's loyalty to traditional product names.
One unfortunate recent trend (and I don't want it price-fixed, but it would be a better target) is the widening of the unit price difference when buying small and large quantities. I may be misremembering, but I don't think that 20 years ago the difference in unit price between buying milk 1 pint at a time and 4 pints at a time or eggs six at a time and twelve at a time was so great.
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
I saw something recently that said the real rip off is coming from the massive multinational suppliers who bought up all the well known brands and make a packet from people's loyalty to traditional product names.
One unfortunate recent trend (and I don't want it price-fixed, but it would be a better target) is the widening of the unit price difference when buying small and large quantities. I may be misremembering, but I don't think that 20 years ago the difference in unit price between buying milk 1 pint at a time and 4 pints at a time or eggs six at a time and twelve at a time was so great.
That, and the abuse of tying prices to loyalty cards.
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
I saw something recently that said the real rip off is coming from the massive multinational suppliers who bought up all the well known brands and make a packet from people's loyalty to traditional product names.
One unfortunate recent trend (and I don't want it price-fixed, but it would be a better target) is the widening of the unit price difference when buying small and large quantities. I may be misremembering, but I don't think that 20 years ago the difference in unit price between buying milk 1 pint at a time and 4 pints at a time or eggs six at a time and twelve at a time was so great.
That, and the abuse of tying prices to loyalty cards.
This is as partially result of government policy to ban BOGOF type offers, but supermarkets have really gone overboard with the "price isn't the price, it is just the wrong week" meaning you have to form a strategy about which weeks you will buy certain items.
Let's be honest she had an open Grandstand today not just an open goal and completely flunked it.
When the PM can turn round and say she needs to report herself to the Privileges Committee for deliberately telling bare faced lies, you know how utterly ill prepared the jack and Jill nature of her questioning is.
As anticipated she has no detailed knowledge of the deal reported, the actual daily output of the North Sea nor the global position.
Starmer did just get out of jail, he jumped the barbed wire fence ran to Tory HQ and debagged the lot of them
To round it off one of his best ever quips about Polanski...
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
I saw something recently that said the real rip off is coming from the massive multinational suppliers who bought up all the well known brands and make a packet from people's loyalty to traditional product names.
One unfortunate recent trend (and I don't want it price-fixed, but it would be a better target) is the widening of the unit price difference when buying small and large quantities. I may be misremembering, but I don't think that 20 years ago the difference in unit price between buying milk 1 pint at a time and 4 pints at a time or eggs six at a time and twelve at a time was so great.
That, and the abuse of tying prices to loyalty cards.
Yes, especially shit for tourists. Can't even use a Clubcard in Dublin. Fair enough not to accrue points, but you can't even use it to get the discount.
In the past, a member of staff could swipe their clubcard if you didn't have one. They're not allowed to now.
Let's be honest she had an open Grandstand today not just an open goal and completely flunked it.
When the PM can turn round and say she needs to report herself to the Privileges Committee for deliberately telling bare faced lies, you know how utterly ill prepared the jack and Jill nature of her questioning is.
As anticipated she has no detailed knowledge of the deal reported, the actual daily output of the North Sea nor the global position.
Starmer did just get out of jail, he jumped the barbed wire fence ran to Tory HQ and debagged the lot of them
To round it off one of his best ever quips about Polanski...
The deputy of the UK Ambassador to the US, James Roscoe, has been sacked
He faced questions after top-secret National Security Council discussions, including Cabinet Ministers' verbatim remarks, were leaked to Tim Shipman of The Spectator
Why would a guy with his record take the risk of leaking such stuff to a journalist who was bound to use it ?
...Before moving to Washington, Roscoe was the UK ambassador to the UN, and he previously served as communications chief to the Queen Elizabeth II from 2013 to 2016.
He had also been chief press officer in Downing Street for the prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Roscoe’s earlier diplomatic postings included Sierra Leone and Iraq.
Roscoe was reported to have seen himself as being on the operational side of “cleaning up the mess” in terms of relations with the White House rather than acting as a figurehead of UK relations...
So he gets 2% off LDs, 4% off Greens and 2% off Reform, increasing Labour share by 8% to 30%. The 2% off Reform is surprising and augurs well for Burnham in the by election.
Let's be honest she had an open Grandstand today not just an open goal and completely flunked it.
When the PM can turn round and say she needs to report herself to the Privileges Committee for deliberately telling bare faced lies, you know how utterly ill prepared the jack and Jill nature of her questioning is.
As anticipated she has no detailed knowledge of the deal reported, the actual daily output of the North Sea nor the global position.
Starmer did just get out of jail, he jumped the barbed wire fence ran to Tory HQ and debagged the lot of them
To round it off one of his best ever quips about Polanski...
Starmer claimed he had done a trade deal with North Korea and later had to correct the record and in his words avoid the privileges committee
And Kemi raising buying Russian diesel and jet oil from Russia is absolutely the right topic
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
There have been several investigations over the decades about supermarket pricing, including one I worked on, and they've all found that, in general, the sector is ferociously competitive and operates on pretty tight margins.
If Reeves really wanted to cut prices, she would of course look at the huge problems that government in general, and her interventions in particular, have caused, starting with a ridiculously high minimum wage and huge increases in payroll taxes.
But, as always, if she understood anything about business or economics, she wouldn't be a socialist.
"The problem is how you define “the rich.” The top 1% have good tax lawyers"
That's one of the problems. The other problems with taxing the rich, however defined, are that
- they are key to the country's savings and entrepreneurial investment decisions, so you damage long run economic growth - they are unusually internationally mobile, so they can just leave, as around 25,000 millionaires have since Labour took office - much of their wealth is tied up in primary residences, which are quite difficult to tax beyond a certain small amount, because they doesn't directly generate cash, while such property transactions can be taxed but doing so gums up labour mobility, and anyway the UK already has some of the highest property taxes, especially at the high end, in the world - previous governments over the past generation have used this expedient many times anyway.
Overall, taxing the rich more than the heavy burden they already pay is a terrible idea, economically destructive and financially counter-productive. So I imagine the new Labour leader will probably jump at it.
The obvious one is to raise top rate to 50%.
Which would also be fucking stupid.
All great ideas for helping Dubai bounce back hard from the current crisis in the region.
It'd do that, and drive less work and employment in the country, and more movement from the private to the public sector, as some people just decided it wasn't worth it anymore.
So I'd expect no boost to the public finances, and it'd probably make it even worse.
VAT on school fees was the dry run for ideology over mathematics.
They want to “Tax The Rich”, with no thought whatsoever as to 2nd and 3rd order effects on the wider economy.
The much predicted terrible negative effects of VAT on school fees never actually materialised.
Nonsense. Its been really painful.. a typical Labour Mr Nasty policy. The politics of envy.
This Government has been terribly ineffective, however I am quite comfortable with VAT on private schools. Anyway we can always advise the parents of private school pupils who can't afford the VAT, like we advised the single mothers before them, if they can't afford what they need to afford they can always cancel Netflix and cut down on the Uber Eats.
I thought it was fewer lattes, no avocado on toast and you should have kept your legs together
I've said this before but while I accept that it is very very hard to get started with housing for the younger generations its also true that older folk struggled too. My dad tells a story about his mother giving him a tenner in the 60's to buy something for the baby. Instead he and my mum went out for the first time in 6 months - to the pub.
As a society we all 'want it now' and credit etc has led that to be the norm. We are not always good at delaying gratification. Yes saving multi tens of thousands for a deposit is not as simple as stopping that 5 pound latte every day but saving is hard work.
EXCLUSIVE with @EllenAMilligan: UK government officials are blaming each other for the extraordinary situation that has seen Britain loosen sanctions on Russian oil.
The EU will NOT waive sanctions. It means the UK has departed from the EU’s approach and now has looser sanctions on refined Russian oil products than Europe.
One says it’s the fault of Keir Starmer and No10 for not taking the lead on measures sooner to prepare for limitations on jet supply.
One says Ed Miliband’s restrictions on expanding energy supply have left the UK in a more vulnerable position. The sanctions waiver highlights how Britain has become more reliant on fuel imports than other major European nations.
Others say the Treasury and Foreign Office have wavered at the first sign of strain. The Foreign Office is unable to explain its position this morning and remarkably DESNZ is declining to comment.
It's mad. A lot of Ukraine's long range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are almost certainly being assisted by the UK providing funding, development, testing, and targetting. These two policies are completely at odds. It makes the government look particularly stupid and craven.
Kemi needs to be going in heavy on this.
After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.
Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.
We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea.
Is she seriously suggesting we can get explore to drill to deliver in anything leass than 2 to 3 years
So, to be clear, you’re all in favour of buying Russian oil?
I am absolutely in favour if it keeps the Country running and boosts the economy.
This is on Trump and Netanyahu.
One as bad as Putin, the other far far worse.
Needs must
I'd rather deal with Putin than Netanyahu and frankly Trump can fuck off
I was tempted to write a rude response but in the interests of free thinking intellectual discussion can you explain why Bibi is far far worse than Putin.
And no before you ask I'm not of the 'Saint Bibi' persuasion.
Netanyahu. Smotrich, Ben Gvir are racists, and war criminals.
However, you do have to have judgement that stinks, to consider them "far, far, worse" than Putin. The death and destruction that Putin has caused is an order of magnitude greater than anything those arseholes have done.
Israel seems to drive a lot of people mad, to the point they see every Western government as the puppet of Israel, Israel as the worst country on earth, and the hand of Israel behind every evil deed.
Despite not being one of those people it's clear to me that Israel does exert undue influence over the United States and the current shambles with Iran is a direct result of that. This is not to acquit Donald Trump of the lion's share of the blame for it. The day I acquit Donald Trump of the blame for any of his egregious actions or behaviour is a day that will never come.
In the case of the Iran shambles, Trumps defining legacy, that’s certainly the case.
Russia is claiming that Latvia allowed Ukraine to launch drones from its territory. This follows a Romanian jet shooting down a Ukrainian drone that had wandered into Latvian airspace, presumably after being affected by EW.
If Russia wants to manufacture a cassus belli for an attack on Latvia then it's making a good start.
Latvia are easily the most belligerent of the Baltics so there might be something in it - who the fuck knows?
The droning of Moscow, particularly the apartment block on Mosfilmovskaya, is a problem for VVP. He got called a 'Гандон' (lit. Condom meaning weak and ineffectual) by some think tank wanker on TV last week. Certain factions are definitely running out patience for his cautious and legalistic probity over prosecuting the SMO. '
His what?
You wouldn't know it from consuming the Anglophone media, but the main strand of criticism in Russia regarding the SMO is not, this is a calamity that's killing thousands and ruining the country. Instead it's, why aren't we slaughtering the Kh-words in vast numbers and destroying their made up country?
There is plenty of appetite for GPW style total war and full mobilisation in nationalist circles and the think tank industrial complex.
Don't blame me. I'm just telling you how it is.
If there is all this thirst for full mobilisation why do they need to pay huge sums to get men to enlist? Why aren't there vast numbers willingly signing up to do their patriotic duty? The will clearly isn't there in broader society.
By all means if you get off on reading Russian nationalist tripe keeping doing it.
Why are you surprised?
The MAGA types are exactly the same - when will Trump take the gloves off with the Democrats/Iran/Europe? When will he invade Greenland? When will he fire all the rats and lightweights and get some properly radical people round him?
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
There have been several investigations over the decades about supermarket pricing, including one I worked on, and they've all found that, in general, the sector is ferociously competitive and operates on pretty tight margins.
If Reeves really wanted to cut prices, she would of course look at the huge problems that government in general, and her interventions in particular, have caused, starting with a ridiculously high minimum wage and huge increases in payroll taxes.
But, as always, if she understood anything about business or economics, she wouldn't be a socialist.
She's surprisingly popular with the bond markets for a socialist.
EXCLUSIVE with @EllenAMilligan: UK government officials are blaming each other for the extraordinary situation that has seen Britain loosen sanctions on Russian oil.
The EU will NOT waive sanctions. It means the UK has departed from the EU’s approach and now has looser sanctions on refined Russian oil products than Europe.
One says it’s the fault of Keir Starmer and No10 for not taking the lead on measures sooner to prepare for limitations on jet supply.
One says Ed Miliband’s restrictions on expanding energy supply have left the UK in a more vulnerable position. The sanctions waiver highlights how Britain has become more reliant on fuel imports than other major European nations.
Others say the Treasury and Foreign Office have wavered at the first sign of strain. The Foreign Office is unable to explain its position this morning and remarkably DESNZ is declining to comment.
It's mad. A lot of Ukraine's long range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure are almost certainly being assisted by the UK providing funding, development, testing, and targetting. These two policies are completely at odds. It makes the government look particularly stupid and craven.
Kemi needs to be going in heavy on this.
After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.
Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.
We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea.
Is she seriously suggesting we can get explore to drill to deliver in anything leass than 2 to 3 years
So, to be clear, you’re all in favour of buying Russian oil?
I am absolutely in favour if it keeps the Country running and boosts the economy.
This is on Trump and Netanyahu.
One as bad as Putin, the other far far worse.
Needs must
I'd rather deal with Putin than Netanyahu and frankly Trump can fuck off
I was tempted to write a rude response but in the interests of free thinking intellectual discussion can you explain why Bibi is far far worse than Putin.
And no before you ask I'm not of the 'Saint Bibi' persuasion.
Netanyahu. Smotrich, Ben Gvir are racists, and war criminals.
However, you do have to have judgement that stinks, to consider them "far, far, worse" than Putin. The death and destruction that Putin has caused is an order of magnitude greater than anything those arseholes have done.
Israel seems to drive a lot of people mad, to the point they see every Western government as the puppet of Israel, Israel as the worst country on earth, and the hand of Israel behind every evil deed.
Despite not being one of those people it's clear to me that Israel does exert undue influence over the United States and the current shambles with Iran is a direct result of that. This is not to acquit Donald Trump of the lion's share of the blame for it. The day I acquit Donald Trump of the blame for any of his egregious actions or behaviour is a day that will never come.
In the case of the Iran shambles, Trumps defining legacy, that’s certainly the case.
Completely nuts to take that seriously - though I suspect Netenyahu's aim was simply to massively destabilise Iran, and the detail (and consequences for the US and Trump) was irrelevant to him.
Russia is claiming that Latvia allowed Ukraine to launch drones from its territory. This follows a Romanian jet shooting down a Ukrainian drone that had wandered into Latvian airspace, presumably after being affected by EW.
If Russia wants to manufacture a cassus belli for an attack on Latvia then it's making a good start.
Latvia are easily the most belligerent of the Baltics so there might be something in it - who the fuck knows?
The droning of Moscow, particularly the apartment block on Mosfilmovskaya, is a problem for VVP. He got called a 'Гандон' (lit. Condom meaning weak and ineffectual) by some think tank wanker on TV last week. Certain factions are definitely running out patience for his cautious and legalistic probity over prosecuting the SMO. '
His what?
You wouldn't know it from consuming the Anglophone media, but the main strand of criticism in Russia regarding the SMO is not, this is a calamity that's killing thousands and ruining the country. Instead it's, why aren't we slaughtering the Kh-words in vast numbers and destroying their made up country?
There is plenty of appetite for GPW style total war and full mobilisation in nationalist circles and the think tank industrial complex.
Don't blame me. I'm just telling you how it is.
If there is all this thirst for full mobilisation why do they need to pay huge sums to get men to enlist? Why aren't there vast numbers willingly signing up to do their patriotic duty? The will clearly isn't there in broader society.
By all means if you get off on reading Russian nationalist tripe keeping doing it.
Because most of Russia isn't "nationalist circles", particularly when it comes to volunteering for a one way ticket to the front.
Conclusion: If he wins the by-election, Burnham is a shoo-in.
Just out of interest, was the big majority favouring Burnham filled with excitement at the prospect of being led by a winner or was it more resigned TINA?
Can't speak for the meeting, but Burnham looks genuinely interesting from my left-of-centre position, and I've dropped the idea of switching to the Greens for now. There's some polling evidence that this is not a unique position.
Delighted to hear it but a little surprised. My feeling is Burnham isn’t likely to change much in policy terms vs. Starmer. He will hopefully be better at governing and communicating (if indeed he does win).
What are some left of centre things you're hoping for from Burnham?
More emphasis on reducing inequality and poverty. More open to nationalisation - I'm not expecting miracles, but more a pragmatic willingness to consider natural monopolies to be publicly owned. Less of a sense that the Government is defining itself as aggressively non-left. I'm aware that this is all a bit nebulous and I may be disappointed, but I feel Andy would give us on the left a reasonable hearing.
Thank fuck for that, I don't want to be bothered on my holidays by the riff raff.
We decided not to go abroad because of the fuel stories so we are off to Northamptonshire next week to a rather nice hotel for a bit of R&R. Looks like the weather is going to be plenty good enough. I think this may be a decent year for our domestic tourist industry and a modest reduction in our balance of payments crisis.
People need to do jailtime for HS2. Such a colossal waste of public money is criminal. 100 hundred fucking billion pounds. Ten times what an equivalent railway elsewhere would cost
Until those responsible face actual and severe repercussions for their incompetence, it will keep on happening
Let's just say she was taking a penalty towards the Tilton with a goaly on his ass and managed to put it over the top of the Gil Merrick
Kemi needs to understand
Fail to prepare Prepare to Fail
Starmer actually missed an own goal she gave him when attacking him over Russia
He should have listed
Tory Donations Tennis Matches Oligarchs given Peerages
Today's PMQs was mainly about the forthcoming by-election in Aberdeen South to replace Stephen Flynn who has left Westminster for Holyrood. Six questions about oil.
Unlike Makerfield, the Conservatives are in with a shout in Aberdeen South which is a 3-way marginal that has been represented by Labour, Conservative and SNP in recent parliaments.
So he gets 2% off LDs, 4% off Greens and 2% off Reform, increasing Labour share by 8% to 30%. The 2% off Reform is surprising and augurs well for Burnham in the by election.
It would still be a result that would leave Burnham's authority shot to pieces, like May's, with Labour losing c.130 seats.
And, almost an extinction event for the Conservatives.
This is a cracking article. (Burnham didn't create Manchester's economic success; but he was smart enough not to hinder it, and made his own modest contribution, for which he deserves credit.)
How Manchester Turned Its Economy Around From Gunchester to growth, from bombing to Burnham
https://jamesbreckwoldt.substack.com/p/how-manchester-turned-its-economy ...The City of Manchester’s population fell from 766,311 in 1931 to 392,819 by 2001.2 By the end of the 1970s, Manchester and the surrounding towns were losing 121 manufacturing jobs every working day. Within the actual city centre, the resident population (now close to 100,000) was only around 500 in 1990...
..It was also a Labour council – a Labour council! – that gave pretty short shrift to those who complained about a lack of “affordable housing” being built. Here’s Richard Leese in 2021:
“Some people would argue developers are pulling the wool over our eyes but we are a developer ourselves so we know exactly how much development costs. That claim is just bollocks. If we’d done what our critics wanted us to do, it wouldn’t have delivered affordable housing, it would have delivered no housing at all, zero. If we’d tried to impose 20% affordability on it, it wouldn’t have happened. We wouldn’t have got 20% affordable housing we would have got nothing.”..
So he gets 2% off LDs, 4% off Greens and 2% off Reform, increasing Labour share by 8% to 30%. The 2% off Reform is surprising and augurs well for Burnham in the by election.
It would still be a result that would leave Burnham's authority shot to pieces, like May's, with Labour losing c.130 seats.
And, almost an extinction event for the Conservatives.
No it would be a crushing defeat for Farage, having led the polls for so long only to be defeated by Labour still. The Conservatives would do well enough with a solid third place to return as main party of the right once Farage resigned.
Burnham would be Boris to Starmer’s May and Farage’s Corbyn
Thank fuck for that, I don't want to be bothered on my holidays by the riff raff.
We decided not to go abroad because of the fuel stories so we are off to Northamptonshire next week to a rather nice hotel for a bit of R&R. Looks like the weather is going to be plenty good enough. I think this may be a decent year for our domestic tourist industry and a modest reduction in our balance of payments crisis.
I have a lot of travelling booked for the second half of the year. I can't say I have seen massive increase in flight prices (if at all) from what I have been booking up over the past couple of weeks.
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
There have been several investigations over the decades about supermarket pricing, including one I worked on, and they've all found that, in general, the sector is ferociously competitive and operates on pretty tight margins.
If Reeves really wanted to cut prices, she would of course look at the huge problems that government in general, and her interventions in particular, have caused, starting with a ridiculously high minimum wage and huge increases in payroll taxes.
But, as always, if she understood anything about business or economics, she wouldn't be a socialist.
She's surprisingly popular with the bond markets for a socialist.
Well, given she is currently giving them a yield in excess of 5% on a 10 year gilt its hardly surprising she's popular. And she may have to be even more generous still once inflation bounces back. Loads of money!
Russia is claiming that Latvia allowed Ukraine to launch drones from its territory. This follows a Romanian jet shooting down a Ukrainian drone that had wandered into Latvian airspace, presumably after being affected by EW.
If Russia wants to manufacture a cassus belli for an attack on Latvia then it's making a good start.
Latvia are easily the most belligerent of the Baltics so there might be something in it - who the fuck knows?
The droning of Moscow, particularly the apartment block on Mosfilmovskaya, is a problem for VVP. He got called a 'Гандон' (lit. Condom meaning weak and ineffectual) by some think tank wanker on TV last week. Certain factions are definitely running out patience for his cautious and legalistic probity over prosecuting the SMO. '
His what?
You wouldn't know it from consuming the Anglophone media, but the main strand of criticism in Russia regarding the SMO is not, this is a calamity that's killing thousands and ruining the country. Instead it's, why aren't we slaughtering the Kh-words in vast numbers and destroying their made up country?
There is plenty of appetite for GPW style total war and full mobilisation in nationalist circles and the think tank industrial complex.
Don't blame me. I'm just telling you how it is.
If there is all this thirst for full mobilisation why do they need to pay huge sums to get men to enlist? Why aren't there vast numbers willingly signing up to do their patriotic duty? The will clearly isn't there in broader society.
By all means if you get off on reading Russian nationalist tripe keeping doing it.
Because most of Russia isn't "nationalist circles", particularly when it comes to volunteering for a one way ticket to the front.
I believe the polling (how accurate?) shows most Russians want the SMO to end. We do have to beware what an increasingly desperate Russian state might do if they are under pressure. No doubt Dura will continue absorbing the thoughts of the cranky minority raging against the dying of the light.
Rightly so, if the Democrats win that Texas seat that could give them a 1 seat Senate majority which Cornyn might have prevented. If so, many GOP Senators would be furious with President Trump for backing Paxton over incumbent Cornyn
People need to do jailtime for HS2. Such a colossal waste of public money is criminal. 100 hundred fucking billion pounds. Ten times what an equivalent railway elsewhere would cost
Until those responsible face actual and severe repercussions for their incompetence, it will keep on happening
We don't have the jail capacity.
What I would like to know (which none of the reports and investigations have made clear) is how much it might have been completed for, had it not been "gold plated", or repeatedly delayed and modified; had been designed explicitly from the start to provide capacity, not (absurd for the UK) speed; and had Tory constituency MPs not been able to impose the massive costs of what was strictly unnecessary tunnelling.
And whether in that case there might already be trains running from London through to Manchester.
Let's just say she was taking a penalty towards the Tilton with a goaly on his ass and managed to put it over the top of the Gil Merrick
Kemi needs to understand
Fail to prepare Prepare to Fail
Starmer actually missed an own goal she gave him when attacking him over Russia
He should have listed
Tory Donations Tennis Matches Oligarchs given Peerages
You OK, hun?
You don't seem to be adapting well to a changing world...
Kemi +8 on Starmer and +15 on Farage as best PM is hard to take for some
Kemi's problem is that while her rating has risen, the party's has not. It will be interesting to see if the anticipated Burnham bounce extends to his party beyond the leader.
Let's just say she was taking a penalty towards the Tilton with a goaly on his ass and managed to put it over the top of the Gil Merrick
Kemi needs to understand
Fail to prepare Prepare to Fail
Starmer actually missed an own goal she gave him when attacking him over Russia
He should have listed
Tory Donations Tennis Matches Oligarchs given Peerages
You OK, hun?
You don't seem to be adapting well to a changing world...
Kemi +8 on Starmer and +15 on Farage as best PM is hard to take for some
Kemi's problem is that while her rating has risen, the party's has not. It will be interesting to see if the anticipated Burnham bounce extends to his party beyond the leader.
If MiC is right it will, Burnham gets Labour to 30%
People need to do jailtime for HS2. Such a colossal waste of public money is criminal. 100 hundred fucking billion pounds. Ten times what an equivalent railway elsewhere would cost
Until those responsible face actual and severe repercussions for their incompetence, it will keep on happening
We don't have the jail capacity.
What I would like to know (which none of the reports and investigations have made clear) is how much it might have been completed for, had it not been "gold plated", or repeatedly delayed and modified; had been designed explicitly from the start to provide capacity, not (absurd for the UK) speed; and had Tory constituency MPs not been able to impose the massive costs of what was strictly unnecessary tunnelling.
And whether in that case there might already be trains running from London through to Manchester.
£37bn for all the bits at 2010 prices...
Think it would be 2030 for Manchester but we would be a lot closer..
It goes back to my viewpoint - there are some projects that are necessary and should just be built to the design, and that some things really should be continual projects. We should have HS2 on it's way to being finished and NPR / HS3 (Birmingham to Bristol / Cardiff) well into the design phase.
Russia is claiming that Latvia allowed Ukraine to launch drones from its territory. This follows a Romanian jet shooting down a Ukrainian drone that had wandered into Latvian airspace, presumably after being affected by EW.
If Russia wants to manufacture a cassus belli for an attack on Latvia then it's making a good start.
Latvia are easily the most belligerent of the Baltics so there might be something in it - who the fuck knows?
The droning of Moscow, particularly the apartment block on Mosfilmovskaya, is a problem for VVP. He got called a 'Гандон' (lit. Condom meaning weak and ineffectual) by some think tank wanker on TV last week. Certain factions are definitely running out patience for his cautious and legalistic probity over prosecuting the SMO. '
His what?
You wouldn't know it from consuming the Anglophone media, but the main strand of criticism in Russia regarding the SMO is not, this is a calamity that's killing thousands and ruining the country. Instead it's, why aren't we slaughtering the Kh-words in vast numbers and destroying their made up country?
There is plenty of appetite for GPW style total war and full mobilisation in nationalist circles and the think tank industrial complex.
Don't blame me. I'm just telling you how it is.
If there is all this thirst for full mobilisation why do they need to pay huge sums to get men to enlist? Why aren't there vast numbers willingly signing up to do their patriotic duty? The will clearly isn't there in broader society.
By all means if you get off on reading Russian nationalist tripe keeping doing it.
Because most of Russia isn't "nationalist circles", particularly when it comes to volunteering for a one way ticket to the front.
I believe the polling (how accurate?) shows most Russians want the SMO to end. We do have to beware what an increasingly desperate Russian state might do if they are under pressure. No doubt Dura will continue absorbing the thoughts of the cranky minority raging against the dying of the light.
The problem is not what you call the ‘cranky minority’ in the population but the cranky nationalists inside the Russian government who might replace Putin.
Because prices are going up, because Trump attacked Iran. The problem is Trump, not Miliband.
This is simple treachery. To concrete ones' own oil wells and buy from someone we're told is the enemy. Milliband isn't a viable politician after this - hopefully if Burnham wins he will dispatch Milliband and his policies during the honeymoon period.
A report, external produced by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has found that bookings are well below expectations in almost every host city.
The AHLA said this does not align with Fifa's statement that more than five million tickets have been sold,, external and it creates a risk that "the anticipated economic lift may fall short".
The AHLA is the largest hotel association in the US, representing more than 32,000 properties and over 80% of all franchised hotels.
Its report partially puts the blame at the door of Fifa, accusing world football's governing body of block-booking far too many rooms for its own use and creating false demand.
This, the AHLA said, led to artificially high pricing which, after Fifa cancelled a large number of rooms, has been replaced by a vacuum of availability.
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
I saw something recently that said the real rip off is coming from the massive multinational suppliers who bought up all the well known brands and make a packet from people's loyalty to traditional product names.
One unfortunate recent trend (and I don't want it price-fixed, but it would be a better target) is the widening of the unit price difference when buying small and large quantities. I may be misremembering, but I don't think that 20 years ago the difference in unit price between buying milk 1 pint at a time and 4 pints at a time or eggs six at a time and twelve at a time was so great.
Our of interest, what's driving this? It's probably not direct profiteering, the market is too competitive. I suspect that it's more about the handling/packaging/transaction cost. The pint of milk itself costs about 20p, but by the time it's been bottled, put on the shelf and run through the checkout, the supermarket probably only makes 5p profit on the 90p sale. Because these costs don't scale linearly, selling an extra pint in the bottle probably only increases cost by 25-30p. Thus 2 pints of milk is only about £1.20, and 4 pints about £1.70.
FWIW, I looked up the cost of a 1 pint bottle, then estimated the other numbers, before checking the other prices to see if I was talking bunkum, and was ammused to find I was pretty much spot on.
I'm not sure there is much which can be done about this other than trying to drive down transaction costs (eg card payment fees).
Let's just say she was taking a penalty towards the Tilton with a goaly on his ass and managed to put it over the top of the Gil Merrick
Kemi needs to understand
Fail to prepare Prepare to Fail
Starmer actually missed an own goal she gave him when attacking him over Russia
He should have listed
Tory Donations Tennis Matches Oligarchs given Peerages
You OK, hun?
You don't seem to be adapting well to a changing world...
Kemi +8 on Starmer and +15 on Farage as best PM is hard to take for some
Kemi's problem is that while her rating has risen, the party's has not. It will be interesting to see if the anticipated Burnham bounce extends to his party beyond the leader.
If MiC is right it will, Burnham gets Labour to 30%
I still think you are right about Cleverly and the PB fanbois are wrong about Badenoch's personal relative popularity v votes.
A report, external produced by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has found that bookings are well below expectations in almost every host city.
The AHLA said this does not align with Fifa's statement that more than five million tickets have been sold,, external and it creates a risk that "the anticipated economic lift may fall short".
The AHLA is the largest hotel association in the US, representing more than 32,000 properties and over 80% of all franchised hotels.
Its report partially puts the blame at the door of Fifa, accusing world football's governing body of block-booking far too many rooms for its own use and creating false demand.
This, the AHLA said, led to artificially high pricing which, after Fifa cancelled a large number of rooms, has been replaced by a vacuum of availability.
I wonder if it’s the same for Canada or Mexico. I’d expect this is more a Trump penalty. No pun
A report, external produced by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has found that bookings are well below expectations in almost every host city.
The AHLA said this does not align with Fifa's statement that more than five million tickets have been sold,, external and it creates a risk that "the anticipated economic lift may fall short".
The AHLA is the largest hotel association in the US, representing more than 32,000 properties and over 80% of all franchised hotels.
Its report partially puts the blame at the door of Fifa, accusing world football's governing body of block-booking far too many rooms for its own use and creating false demand.
This, the AHLA said, led to artificially high pricing which, after Fifa cancelled a large number of rooms, has been replaced by a vacuum of availability.
The World Cup is shaping up to be a right mess for the fans if they expect it to be like normal countries where you can stay in the cheapest accommodation or even a tent and then walk to the stadium.
People need to do jailtime for HS2. Such a colossal waste of public money is criminal. 100 hundred fucking billion pounds. Ten times what an equivalent railway elsewhere would cost
Until those responsible face actual and severe repercussions for their incompetence, it will keep on happening
When it comes to big projects we have to either:
a) Ride roughshod over objections
b) If we aren't prepared to do a, then ditch the whole thing and focus on something else.
How are decisions made when it comes to big projects? Scale of likely objections should be baked in from the start.
If that means focusing more on less glamorous parts of the country so be it.
I need some help: It occurred to me recently that the Loser has been, more and more, following some policies more common on the left than the right in both the UK and the US. For example, taking shares in private companies such as Intel and US Steel. For example, cozying up to Putin and North Korea's Kim (!). And so on.
Am I correct in thinking that, for example, Corbyn would -- at least in part -- sympathize with some recent Trump policies? And if I recall correctly, some leaders of the SNP have had closer ties to Russia than any decent person should have.
If I am completely wrong, please feel free to say so. If not, I would be interested in examples illustrating that argument.
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
There have been several investigations over the decades about supermarket pricing, including one I worked on, and they've all found that, in general, the sector is ferociously competitive and operates on pretty tight margins.
If Reeves really wanted to cut prices, she would of course look at the huge problems that government in general, and her interventions in particular, have caused, starting with a ridiculously high minimum wage and huge increases in payroll taxes.
But, as always, if she understood anything about business or economics, she wouldn't be a socialist.
She's surprisingly popular with the bond markets for a socialist.
Removing Russian sanctions, trying to get supermarkets to fix prices. Does all seem a bit desperate. If there was criticism to be made of the supermarkets I've always assumed it was of the destroying competition kind not 'profiteering'.
I saw something recently that said the real rip off is coming from the massive multinational suppliers who bought up all the well known brands and make a packet from people's loyalty to traditional product names.
One unfortunate recent trend (and I don't want it price-fixed, but it would be a better target) is the widening of the unit price difference when buying small and large quantities. I may be misremembering, but I don't think that 20 years ago the difference in unit price between buying milk 1 pint at a time and 4 pints at a time or eggs six at a time and twelve at a time was so great.
Our of interest, what's driving this? It's probably not direct profiteering, the market is too competitive. I suspect that it's more about the handling/packaging/transaction cost. The pint of milk itself costs about 20p, but by the time it's been bottled, put on the shelf and run through the checkout, the supermarket probably only makes 5p profit on the 90p sale. Because these costs don't scale linearly, selling an extra pint in the bottle probably only increases cost by 25-30p. Thus 2 pints of milk is only about £1.20, and 4 pints about £1.70.
FWIW, I looked up the cost of a 1 pint bottle, then estimated the other numbers, before checking the other prices to see if I was talking bunkum, and was ammused to find I was pretty much spot on.
I'm not sure there is much which can be done about this other than trying to drive down transaction costs (eg card payment fees).
Facilitated by the change from glass bottles to plastic jugs.
Comments
And I’ve used the newest models from Claude. Same conclusion.
And no before you ask I'm not of the 'Saint Bibi' persuasion.
Munnu munnu
There’s a big difference between whistleblowing and just forwarding classified stuff to a journalist.
However, you do have to have judgement that stinks, to consider them "far, far, worse" than Putin. The death and destruction that Putin has caused is an order of magnitude greater than anything those arseholes have done.
Israel seems to drive a lot of people mad, to the point they see every Western government as the puppet of Israel, Israel as the worst country on earth, and the hand of Israel behind every evil deed.
My views are based on a pragmatic means of keeping the economy running as well as possible first and foremost.
Sometimes in crisis you have to deal with the devil.
We had to chose in 1939 between Fascism and Communism. I challenge any one to say that Churchill got that wrong backed by Attlee.
I believe Trump is as big a danger to this planet than any dictator.
I believe his intentions will see democracy halted in the USA in 2028.
I don't defend Putin in any way but if we can deal with Stalin in 1938 to 1945 we can deal wutin in 2026. In reality we are not dealing directly with Putin but with people who have his oil.
I believe that whilst Putin is a barbaric despot, his wars are more about land than race or religion. Netanyahu is a genocidal mass murderer who should be hunted down and exterminated. His brutality is based purely on race and religion, in the same way as Hitler.
Those are my views.
There is plenty of appetite for GPW style total war and full mobilisation in nationalist circles and the think tank industrial complex.
Don't blame me. I'm just telling you how it is.
By all means if you get off on reading Russian nationalist tripe keeping doing it.
The purpose of the Ukraine invasion was specifically to Russify Ukrainian culture. And has included kidnapping Ukrainian children to educate them as Russians and wipe out their culture and heritage.
We should expect Stephen Flynn to feature, maybe a move to Energy?
Arrived in the Makerfield constituency to campaign with @RobKenyonReform.
https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/2057054707986657781?s=20
I saw something recently that said the real rip off is coming from the massive multinational suppliers who bought up all the well known brands and make a packet from people's loyalty to traditional product names.
https://x.com/crewkerneman/status/2057059065570754846
Has huge implications if Burnham wins the by election
https://x.com/luketryl/status/2057062120093610194?s=46&t=Gsn9rlDEZH5vXP97Cgifnw
When the PM can turn round and say she needs to report herself to the Privileges Committee for deliberately telling bare faced lies, you know how utterly ill prepared the jack and Jill nature of her questioning is.
As anticipated she has no detailed knowledge of the deal reported, the actual daily output of the North Sea nor the global position.
Starmer did just get out of jail, he jumped the barbed wire fence ran to Tory HQ and debagged the lot of them
To round it off one of his best ever quips about Polanski...
In the past, a member of staff could swipe their clubcard if you didn't have one. They're not allowed to now.
Did he say that?
Arsenal fans are getting creative
https://x.com/TrollFootball2/status/2057037034775314503?s=20
...Before moving to Washington, Roscoe was the UK ambassador to the UN, and he previously served as communications chief to the Queen Elizabeth II from 2013 to 2016.
He had also been chief press officer in Downing Street for the prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Roscoe’s earlier diplomatic postings included Sierra Leone and Iraq.
Roscoe was reported to have seen himself as being on the operational side of “cleaning up the mess” in terms of relations with the White House rather than acting as a figurehead of UK relations...
The 2% off Reform is surprising and augurs well for Burnham in the by election.
Quite the opposite of unappealing.
And Kemi raising buying Russian diesel and jet oil from Russia is absolutely the right topic
I grant you his quip about Polanski was excellent
If Reeves really wanted to cut prices, she would of course look at the huge problems that government in general, and her interventions in particular, have caused, starting with a ridiculously high minimum wage and huge increases in payroll taxes.
But, as always, if she understood anything about business or economics, she wouldn't be a socialist.
As a society we all 'want it now' and credit etc has led that to be the norm. We are not always good at delaying gratification. Yes saving multi tens of thousands for a deposit is not as simple as stopping that 5 pound latte every day but saving is hard work.
https://en.yenisafak.com/world/nyt-trump-authorized-iran-war-based-on-gut-feeling-netanyahus-pitch-ignoring-intelligence-warnings-3716812
All about regional hegemony.
This incarnation of the Israeli state is malevolent.
The fact The Mullahs are worse is not the free pass some wish.
I’m assuming a disaster for Kemi ?
The MAGA types are exactly the same - when will Trump take the gloves off with the Democrats/Iran/Europe? When will he invade Greenland? When will he fire all the rats and lightweights and get some properly radical people round him?
Will be a bit of a change, after the last month.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/us/politics/iran-israel-us-leader-ahmadinejad.html
Completely nuts to take that seriously - though I suspect Netenyahu's aim was simply to massively destabilise Iran, and the detail (and consequences for the US and Trump) was irrelevant to him.
Kemi needs to understand
Fail to prepare
Prepare to Fail
Starmer actually missed an own goal she gave him when attacking him over Russia
He should have listed
Tory Donations
Tennis Matches
Oligarchs given Peerages
It's the most consequential by election of my life.
FFS
Not quite in the league of losing 550 plus seats is a victory.
https://x.com/jet2tweets/status/2057043662387769663?s=20
Thank fuck for that, I don't want to be bothered on my holidays by the riff raff.
You don't seem to be adapting well to a changing world...
Senate GOP expresses frustration, anger, sadness as Trump snubs Cornyn in Texas
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5886014-cornyn-snubbed-trump-paxton-support/
Until those responsible face actual and severe repercussions for their incompetence, it will keep on happening
Unlike Makerfield, the Conservatives are in with a shout in Aberdeen South which is a 3-way marginal that has been represented by Labour, Conservative and SNP in recent parliaments.
A choice between buying Russian jet fuel or UK staycations should be the argument
And, almost an extinction event for the Conservatives.
(Burnham didn't create Manchester's economic success; but he was smart enough not to hinder it, and made his own modest contribution, for which he deserves credit.)
How Manchester Turned Its Economy Around
From Gunchester to growth, from bombing to Burnham
https://jamesbreckwoldt.substack.com/p/how-manchester-turned-its-economy
...The City of Manchester’s population fell from 766,311 in 1931 to 392,819 by 2001.2 By the end of the 1970s, Manchester and the surrounding towns were losing 121 manufacturing jobs every working day. Within the actual city centre, the resident population (now close to 100,000) was only around 500 in 1990...
..It was also a Labour council – a Labour council! – that gave pretty short shrift to those who complained about a lack of “affordable housing” being built. Here’s Richard Leese in 2021:
“Some people would argue developers are pulling the wool over our eyes but we are a developer ourselves so we know exactly how much development costs. That claim is just bollocks. If we’d done what our critics wanted us to do, it wouldn’t have delivered affordable housing, it would have delivered no housing at all, zero. If we’d tried to impose 20% affordability on it, it wouldn’t have happened. We wouldn’t have got 20% affordable housing we would have got nothing.”..
Worth reading in full.
Burnham would be Boris to Starmer’s May and Farage’s Corbyn
What I would like to know (which none of the reports and investigations have made clear) is how much it might have been completed for, had it not been "gold plated", or repeatedly delayed and modified; had been designed explicitly from the start to provide capacity, not (absurd for the UK) speed; and had Tory constituency MPs not been able to impose the massive costs of what was strictly unnecessary tunnelling.
And whether in that case there might already be trains running from London through to Manchester.
Think it would be 2030 for Manchester but we would be a lot closer..
It goes back to my viewpoint - there are some projects that are necessary and should just be built to the design, and that some things really should be continual projects. We should have HS2 on it's way to being finished and NPR / HS3 (Birmingham to Bristol / Cardiff) well into the design phase.
https://x.com/i/status/2057065250357154255
The AHLA said this does not align with Fifa's statement that more than five million tickets have been sold,, external and it creates a risk that "the anticipated economic lift may fall short".
The AHLA is the largest hotel association in the US, representing more than 32,000 properties and over 80% of all franchised hotels.
Its report partially puts the blame at the door of Fifa, accusing world football's governing body of block-booking far too many rooms for its own use and creating false demand.
This, the AHLA said, led to artificially high pricing which, after Fifa cancelled a large number of rooms, has been replaced by a vacuum of availability.
I suspect that it's more about the handling/packaging/transaction cost. The pint of milk itself costs about 20p, but by the time it's been bottled, put on the shelf and run through the checkout, the supermarket probably only makes 5p profit on the 90p sale. Because these costs don't scale linearly, selling an extra pint in the bottle probably only increases cost by 25-30p. Thus 2 pints of milk is only about £1.20, and 4 pints about £1.70.
FWIW, I looked up the cost of a 1 pint bottle, then estimated the other numbers, before checking the other prices to see if I was talking bunkum, and was ammused to find I was pretty much spot on.
I'm not sure there is much which can be done about this other than trying to drive down transaction costs (eg card payment fees).
Still, not my fight, not my worry.
a) Ride roughshod over objections
b) If we aren't prepared to do a, then ditch the whole thing and focus on something else.
How are decisions made when it comes to big projects? Scale of likely objections should be baked in from the start.
If that means focusing more on less glamorous parts of the country so be it.
Am I correct in thinking that, for example, Corbyn would -- at least in part -- sympathize with some recent Trump policies? And if I recall correctly, some leaders of the SNP have had closer ties to Russia than any decent person should have.
If I am completely wrong, please feel free to say so. If not, I would be interested in examples illustrating that argument.