Pb.com acquired a huge following because it filtered electoral prediction through cold, hard cash. Two things are threatening this preeminence: firstly, too few posters are actually looking for betting tips and won't put their money where their mouth is. (I have, to my cost as some here can testify). Secondly, politicians got too interested and began to try to rig and ramp the markets- as politicians will. The stuff the Tories tried to pull around the last general election is, I think, still under investigation by Plod. This latest naked ramping from Low deserves to be thumped in like manner and should be treated as what it is: a money making opportunity.for political bettors. So if the site needs to get it's mojo back, it is not going to happen by allowing Leon to post racist stuff about matters that are sub judice, it is to suggest politely that he backs his Reform ramping with some reasonable amount of dosh. If you can afford £20 for some slightly naff Crown Derby mug, you can certainly afford to take a few quid and back your mostly drunken and/or demented waffle supporting the treacherous Mr Farage as the likely next Prime Minister.
So, what odds are you giving us?
My lament about the site dying, last night, was based squarely on the fact that it is dying. In two ways
Last night we had barely a few comments over hours. At a time of huge political interest. Similarly, we get no new posters, ever. Except the execrable @Brixian59 who is surely a previous commenter reincarnating anyway. I’ve heard of this happening
Why? One big reason is the Blueskying of the site. It is now completely dominated by Dickless Centrist Dads like you. As relentlessly pompous as you are humourless, devoid of insight, caprice or wit. And fucking dull. And you have managed to push out anyone with a spark of wildness, plus that third of the country susceptible to Reform
If I was a newbie passing by, looking at this parade of sad old middlebrow “opinions”, I’d keep passing by
Nah...you dont have the cojones to stand behind-your-narcissistic-to-the-point-of-camp opinions. If no one is prepared to help TSE, Peter the Punter or OGH to become richer through backing their always wrong opinions with cash, its just another chat site. Doesn't matter what your opinions are, just have the courage of your demented far-right blow hard bullshit opinions and put some bawbees down.
Lets start easy: £20 that Fartage faces censure from the House of Commons and/or criminal charges within one year from today. What odds will you give me he wont?
Just shut the fuck up
Look, this site was for serious punters who were interested in and knowledgeable about politics and who were prepared to back their judgement. Some flouncy old closet case sharing his execrable interior design taste can surely find somewhere more suitable. I'm here because I am upfront a Lib Dem partisan, active for a long time. You think Farage is an amusing old card, in short, a good egg of similar age and background to yourself. I think he is a malicious, treacherous fraud. I tell you what, I will give you 2-1 for a crisp tenner that the Lib Dems will hold more seats than a Farage-led Reform party after the next general election. What do you say? I have a sufficiently terrible track record that you could even win. Nothing personal here- we have never met, and if you bought me a drink I might even accept it. If you haven't got ten quid, I get it, Chalk Farm pads stuffed with tat from car boot sales won't come cheap, but if you really haven't got the balls to back your silly opinions I do feel like the rest of us can safely ignore your next Isadora Duncan style flouncy crosspatch nonsense.
Do you think the Lib Dems would do any better if they weren't so insufferably pompous?
No, because it didn't hurt Boris Johnson.
Boris was very many bad things (and a few good things). But he was never pompous. Either you don't understand the English language, or you don't understand human character, or the perception thereof. Boris was anti-pompous, self deprecating, willing to laugh at himself. Remember when he got stuck on the zip wire, waving the Union Jack. A pompous man would have found that unbearable, an insult to his dignity, might have even been a career killer
Boris was able to laugh it off and actually make himself a bit more likeable, because he is NOT pompous. That was an essential part of his USPs
I'm trying to imagine Gordon Brown stuck on that zip-wire.
Nope.
Even better, a tandem with Brown and Farage.
I'd laugh at that. Not sure either of them would...
Yes, Farage is less able to self deprecate than Boris. He can be prickly. Brown was even worse
Blair was good at it. Burnham is, I suspect, pretty good at it. Starmer is not. Thatcher managed to avoid the question through moral greatness
Enoch Powell was once photographed on a pogo stick.
Ted Heath on a skateboard:
(Now he WAS a pompous so and so - from a friend who's orchestra he once conducted.)
Is that the young John Selwyn Gummer in the background ?
The chap on the right looks familiar too. I doubt that is Gummer, a neighbour of mine very briefly nannied for Gummer's children in the very early eighties and she is around six years younger than me and I was only early twenties, so Gummer is a good few years older than me. Skateboards? Circa 1977.
🚨🚨President Trump told me in a phone call that he's "50:50" when it comes to a deal with Iran or resuming the war. "Either we reach a good deal or I'll blow them to a thousand hells," he said. Trump told me he'll meet today with his senior advisors to discuss the details of the updated draft and may make a decision by tomorrow.
🚨🚨President Trump told me in a phone call that he's "50:50" when it comes to a deal with Iran or resuming the war. "Either we reach a good deal or I'll blow them to a thousand hells," he said. Trump told me he'll meet today with his senior advisors to discuss the details of the updated draft and may make a decision by tomorrow.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
You post things like that and don't grasp how far down the right wing xenophobic rabbit hole you've fallen.
I'm sure that idea excites you, but i haven't gone down any rabbit hole. As I've already mentioned, it isn't an endorsement of the act, it is a comment on the seeming disregard for her own safety in so doing.
I am also bound to say that I fail to see where xenophobia comes in. You seem to be making the somewhat racist assumption that these people are foreigners rather than born and bred in Britain.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
You post things like that and don't grasp how far down the right wing xenophobic rabbit hole you've fallen.
The nutbar-right has toxified positions.
I recall, when I was young, the kind of people who railed against all religious organisation, dress and the institution of marriage as social repression, from the libertarian left position.
One of their causes was civil partnerships, I recall.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
You post things like that and don't grasp how far down the right wing xenophobic rabbit hole you've fallen.
The nutbar-right has toxified positions.
I recall, when I was young, the kind of people who railed against all religious organisation, dress and the institution of marriage as social repression, from the libertarian left position.
One of their causes was civil partnerships, I recall.
They were railing against the right people though.
Since it’s pointless photo time, here’s one of some mountains, with nothing in particular to look at other than a small reservoir. Sadly there’s no dog for scale, as he was having a crap off stage left, so you will have to guess yourselves how big they are.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
I'm not finding that particularly admirable but I suppose you have to be there.
I didn't say I found it admirable. I find it rather rude. But it takes a great deal more balls than I have, and I'm happy to admit it.
You mean you would do that if you had the courage?
I want to thank those here who have posted Matt cartoons from time to time. I've liked them enough so I have bought some of his collections, including, most recently, 30 Years of Matt.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
I'm not finding that particularly admirable but I suppose you have to be there.
I didn't say I found it admirable. I find it rather rude. But it takes a great deal more balls than I have, and I'm happy to admit it.
You mean you would do that if you had the courage?
Be rude to passing people? No. Have the courage to 'speak my truth' in other situations where my personal safety might be compromised by so doing, yes. I can make an observation on the guts of it without wanting to replicate it.
Matt Pritchett won Cartoonist of the Year at the Press Awards 2026. If he hasn't won that award each year for the past 20 years there was definitely some sort of fix going on.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
I'm not finding that particularly admirable but I suppose you have to be there.
I didn't say I found it admirable. I find it rather rude. But it takes a great deal more balls than I have, and I'm happy to admit it.
You mean you would do that if you had the courage?
Be rude to passing people? No. Have the courage to 'speak my truth' in other situations where my personal safety might be compromised by so doing, yes. I can make an observation on the guts of it without wanting to replicate it.
Ah, Britishness, where ultimate courage resides in 'being rude'. That way lies anarchy! You'll be refusing to hold doors open for trans women afore ye know it.
🚨🚨President Trump told me in a phone call that he's "50:50" when it comes to a deal with Iran or resuming the war. "Either we reach a good deal or I'll blow them to a thousand hells," he said. Trump told me he'll meet today with his senior advisors to discuss the details of the updated draft and may make a decision by tomorrow.
Either we get a nuclear deal similar to what was available before I blundered into attacking them or I'll keep making threats about attacking them again. And my language will only get more and more biblical, trust me.
How is this for localism. Mayor in small town offering building plots. Could it catch on where strategic plans are followed by the authority making a profit to invest in local services?
I think we have that in place (since early Cameron or earlier?) already via Registers of potential Self-Builders held by Councils.
And there are certainly serviced-plot schemes around, though fewer than say in the late 1970s when they were popular.
It tends to conflict with "get maximum value".
In Frogistan, making a rural small town grow is *the* job of the major.
It brings more money to the town.
To put it another way. When I was last in Chablis, it is beginning to swallow hamlets on the edge of town. The locals love this - especially the ones in the hamlets. When the following was built, they celebrated -
I'd agree here - ultra-localism (equivalent to say Parish Councils here running a sports complex, rather than a playground) with power is something that can be good in the French system.
Here Councils tend to avoid serviced plots because they leave risk with the Council, and Councils as organisations are thoroughly gutted and have no resources.
They would probably sit better as social housing providers being required to make 5-10% of their developments available on this basis. They do affordable rent, shared ownership and so on, so serviced plots is just anothe option.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
The sort of arsehole boorishness that made Britain great.
How is this for localism. Mayor in small town offering building plots. Could it catch on where strategic plans are followed by the authority making a profit to invest in local services?
I think we have that in place (since early Cameron or earlier?) already via Registers of potential Self-Builders held by Councils.
And there are certainly serviced-plot schemes around, though fewer than say in the late 1970s when they were popular.
It tends to conflict with "get maximum value".
In Frogistan, making a rural small town grow is *the* job of the major.
It brings more money to the town.
To put it another way. When I was last in Chablis, it is beginning to swallow hamlets on the edge of town. The locals love this - especially the ones in the hamlets. When the following was built, they celebrated -
I'd agree here - ultra-localism (equivalent to say Parish Councils here running a sports complex, rather than a playground) with power is something that can be good in the French system.
Here Councils tend to avoid serviced plots because they leave risk with the Council, and Councils as organisations are thoroughly gutted and have no resources.
They would probably sit better as social housing providers being required to make 5-10% of their developments available on this basis. They do affordable rent, shared ownership and so on, so serviced plots is just anothe option.
It’s about benefit.
If you tried to build a couple of acres of stainless steel winery on the edge of a U.K. market town…
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
I'm not finding that particularly admirable but I suppose you have to be there.
I didn't say I found it admirable. I find it rather rude. But it takes a great deal more balls than I have, and I'm happy to admit it.
You mean you would do that if you had the courage?
Be rude to passing people? No. Have the courage to 'speak my truth' in other situations where my personal safety might be compromised by so doing, yes. I can make an observation on the guts of it without wanting to replicate it.
Ah, Britishness, where ultimate courage resides in 'being rude'. That way lies anarchy! You'll be refusing to hold doors open for trans women afore ye know it.
How is this for localism. Mayor in small town offering building plots. Could it catch on where strategic plans are followed by the authority making a profit to invest in local services?
I think we have that in place (since early Cameron or earlier?) already via Registers of potential Self-Builders held by Councils.
And there are certainly serviced-plot schemes around, though fewer than say in the late 1970s when they were popular.
It tends to conflict with "get maximum value".
In Frogistan, making a rural small town grow is *the* job of the major.
It brings more money to the town.
To put it another way. When I was last in Chablis, it is beginning to swallow hamlets on the edge of town. The locals love this - especially the ones in the hamlets. When the following was built, they celebrated -
I'd agree here - ultra-localism (equivalent to say Parish Councils here running a sports complex, rather than a playground) with power is something that can be good in the French system.
Here Councils tend to avoid serviced plots because they leave risk with the Council, and Councils as organisations are thoroughly gutted and have no resources.
They would probably sit better as social housing providers being required to make 5-10% of their developments available on this basis. They do affordable rent, shared ownership and so on, so serviced plots is just anothe option.
It’s about benefit.
If you tried to build a couple of acres of stainless steel winery on the edge of a U.K. market town…
Because the locals see it as Less For Them.
In France is seen as More For Them.
I suspect the fact that people see nothing for it is the root of an awful lot of Nimbyism...
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
The sort of arsehole boorishness that made Britain great.
But where does arsehole boorishness begin and refusing to bend… end?
My father, when in philosophical discussion with senior religious figures, in Northern Ireland, never hid his contempt for all religion. And was regarded with kind of bemused affection for it, as far as I could see.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
The sort of arsehole boorishness that made Britain great.
But where does arsehole boorishness begin and refusing to bend… end?
My father, when in philosophical discussion with senior religious figures, in Northern Ireland, never hid his contempt for all religion. And was regarded with kind of bemused affection for it, as far as I could see.
That's a tough gig - having philosophical discussions with senior religious figures in Northern Ireland.
How is this for localism. Mayor in small town offering building plots. Could it catch on where strategic plans are followed by the authority making a profit to invest in local services?
I think we have that in place (since early Cameron or earlier?) already via Registers of potential Self-Builders held by Councils.
And there are certainly serviced-plot schemes around, though fewer than say in the late 1970s when they were popular.
It tends to conflict with "get maximum value".
In Frogistan, making a rural small town grow is *the* job of the major.
It brings more money to the town.
To put it another way. When I was last in Chablis, it is beginning to swallow hamlets on the edge of town. The locals love this - especially the ones in the hamlets. When the following was built, they celebrated -
I'd agree here - ultra-localism (equivalent to say Parish Councils here running a sports complex, rather than a playground) with power is something that can be good in the French system.
Here Councils tend to avoid serviced plots because they leave risk with the Council, and Councils as organisations are thoroughly gutted and have no resources.
They would probably sit better as social housing providers being required to make 5-10% of their developments available on this basis. They do affordable rent, shared ownership and so on, so serviced plots is just anothe option.
It’s about benefit.
If you tried to build a couple of acres of stainless steel winery on the edge of a U.K. market town…
Because the locals see it as Less For Them.
In France is seen as More For Them.
I suspect the fact that people see nothing for it is the root of an awful lot of Nimbyism...
Hence my idea to try naked bribery - set up a stall in town -
“Sign here to support my solar farm. Here’s a small envelope of tenners.”
How is this for localism. Mayor in small town offering building plots. Could it catch on where strategic plans are followed by the authority making a profit to invest in local services?
I think we have that in place (since early Cameron or earlier?) already via Registers of potential Self-Builders held by Councils.
And there are certainly serviced-plot schemes around, though fewer than say in the late 1970s when they were popular.
It tends to conflict with "get maximum value".
In Frogistan, making a rural small town grow is *the* job of the major.
It brings more money to the town.
To put it another way. When I was last in Chablis, it is beginning to swallow hamlets on the edge of town. The locals love this - especially the ones in the hamlets. When the following was built, they celebrated -
I'd agree here - ultra-localism (equivalent to say Parish Councils here running a sports complex, rather than a playground) with power is something that can be good in the French system.
Here Councils tend to avoid serviced plots because they leave risk with the Council, and Councils as organisations are thoroughly gutted and have no resources.
They would probably sit better as social housing providers being required to make 5-10% of their developments available on this basis. They do affordable rent, shared ownership and so on, so serviced plots is just anothe option.
It’s about benefit.
If you tried to build a couple of acres of stainless steel winery on the edge of a U.K. market town…
Because the locals see it as Less For Them.
In France is seen as More For Them.
I suspect the fact that people see nothing for it is the root of an awful lot of Nimbyism...
Hence my idea to try naked bribery - set up a stall in town -
“Sign here to support my solar farm. Here’s a small envelope of tenners.”
Support my solar farm, here's an annual voucher for 1000kwh free electricity.
How do Trump's PB advocates defend this kind of stuff ?
Not getting enough attention: the one-page order from Todd Blanche to wipe out every audit of Donald Trump.
Many experts believe it’s illegal, and here’s why.
Federal law prohibits the President or his aides from directing or halting an IRS audit. Agents who carry out a politically motivated audit, or stop one at the direction of the White House, can face prison time. That is the statute on the books.
Now look at what just happened.
Todd Blanche, the Acting Attorney General and Donald Trump’s former personal criminal defense lawyer, signed a one-page order demanding the IRS drop every existing audit of Trump, his family, and their “affiliates.” One of those audits reportedly could have cost Trump more than $100 million.
The Treasury Department’s top lawyer resigned over it.
The acting top IRS lawyer had to recuse himself because he previously represented Trump in his tax cases.
There is no precedent for an Attorney General ordering an end to audits of a group of taxpayers. Many experts say the Attorney General has no authority to do this.
So we have a likely illegal order, signed by the President’s former lawyer, on behalf of the President, protecting the President. And the only people with jurisdiction to investigate it work for the President. https://x.com/MikeLevin/status/2058175259358998929
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
The sort of arsehole boorishness that made Britain great.
But where does arsehole boorishness begin and refusing to bend… end?
My father, when in philosophical discussion with senior religious figures, in Northern Ireland, never hid his contempt for all religion. And was regarded with kind of bemused affection for it, as far as I could see.
That's a tough gig - having philosophical discussions with senior religious figures in Northern Ireland.
How do Trump's PB advocates defend this kind of stuff ?
Not getting enough attention: the one-page order from Todd Blanche to wipe out every audit of Donald Trump.
Many experts believe it’s illegal, and here’s why.
Federal law prohibits the President or his aides from directing or halting an IRS audit. Agents who carry out a politically motivated audit, or stop one at the direction of the White House, can face prison time. That is the statute on the books.
Now look at what just happened.
Todd Blanche, the Acting Attorney General and Donald Trump’s former personal criminal defense lawyer, signed a one-page order demanding the IRS drop every existing audit of Trump, his family, and their “affiliates.” One of those audits reportedly could have cost Trump more than $100 million.
The Treasury Department’s top lawyer resigned over it.
The acting top IRS lawyer had to recuse himself because he previously represented Trump in his tax cases.
There is no precedent for an Attorney General ordering an end to audits of a group of taxpayers. Many experts say the Attorney General has no authority to do this.
So we have a likely illegal order, signed by the President’s former lawyer, on behalf of the President, protecting the President. And the only people with jurisdiction to investigate it work for the President. https://x.com/MikeLevin/status/2058175259358998929
Got to be in it to win it.
And he needs to remain in power until the statute of limitations means this is ancient history otherwise it makes sense for his replacement to throw Trump and his family to the wolves..
How did Chinese electric vehicles leave Detroit, Germany, and Japan in the dust? It isn’t just about cheap labor or massive factories. In this episode of Modern MBA, we break down the brutal economics and decade-long geopolitical playbook behind China’s unstoppable EV expansion that's left Western automakers are begging for protectionism.
Pb.com acquired a huge following because it filtered electoral prediction through cold, hard cash. Two things are threatening this preeminence: firstly, too few posters are actually looking for betting tips and won't put their money where their mouth is. (I have, to my cost as some here can testify). Secondly, politicians got too interested and began to try to rig and ramp the markets- as politicians will. The stuff the Tories tried to pull around the last general election is, I think, still under investigation by Plod. This latest naked ramping from Low deserves to be thumped in like manner and should be treated as what it is: a money making opportunity.for political bettors. So if the site needs to get it's mojo back, it is not going to happen by allowing Leon to post racist stuff about matters that are sub judice, it is to suggest politely that he backs his Reform ramping with some reasonable amount of dosh. If you can afford £20 for some slightly naff Crown Derby mug, you can certainly afford to take a few quid and back your mostly drunken and/or demented waffle supporting the treacherous Mr Farage as the likely next Prime Minister.
So, what odds are you giving us?
My lament about the site dying, last night, was based squarely on the fact that it is dying. In two ways
Last night we had barely a few comments over hours. At a time of huge political interest. Similarly, we get no new posters, ever. Except the execrable @Brixian59 who is surely a previous commenter reincarnating anyway. I’ve heard of this happening
Why? One big reason is the Blueskying of the site. It is now completely dominated by Dickless Centrist Dads like you. As relentlessly pompous as you are humourless, devoid of insight, caprice or wit. And fucking dull. And you have managed to push out anyone with a spark of wildness, plus that third of the country susceptible to Reform
If I was a newbie passing by, looking at this parade of sad old middlebrow “opinions”, I’d keep passing by
Sadly it has become the same old people rehashing the same old arguments - and PB would do well to consider why anyone who doesn't fit into one of two buckets of orthodoxy - "centrist (left leaning) dad" or "socially conservative right" tends to leave. I don't fit into either of those buckets and get piled on. I scan most days but rarely bother posting any more as a result.
Some of the more interesting _far_ left posters like 148grss - a literal Marxist if I recall - I disagreed with on almost everything, but found to be incredibly engaging and their arguments very well considered. To the point where they actually changed my mind about some things. That is rare. As for Reform voters, I'm a self confessed liberal metropolitan elite type who sees their voter base as utterly infra dig. But I wouldn't heap scorn on them either, because I've been out to the red wall many times to do focus groups, and absolutely get where the inchoate rage at the system is coming from. We would do well to listen to Reform voters and understand where they are coming from even if we disagree with them. But they are completely under-represented on this site - and dismissed and scorned when they do pop up.
However I don't think the problem is "middlebrow opinions" as much as it is piling on anyone who doesn't conform to the orthodoxy here. The tribalism is tiresome.
Try saying that Trump isn’t Hitler, and that he’s actually made huge achievements in immigration control, drug prices, combatting fraud, beautifying DC…
Well, quite. Can't say I agree with you on Trump but why bother expressing an unorthodox opinion when expressing any view outside of the norm turns into a pile on?
Being told I was a "leftist" poster the other day when I've spent years banging on about lower taxes and less regulation just because I'm socially liberal was quite an eye opener.
I have been meaning to apologise for that. It was a genuine moment of confusion following a helluva mental week. I am sorry.
No worries. Apology accepted and much appreciated.
The wider point about tribalism on this site stands though, I think people tend to consistently post "goodthink" for either the centrist dad tribe or the socially conservative tribe to gain likes, rather than say interesting stuff like "Well, I'm a low tax libertarian but actually the Greens are the only party seriously standing up for civil liberties in the UK - repeal of the online safety act, right to protest, legalisation of drugs etc so maybe I'll vote for them*"
*I won't actually vote for a party that plans to tax the economy into the ground.
I have been meaning to ask you about that capital gains thing, as a 'live' case study. I was shattered and couldn't really engage in the week.
I have long held the opinion (in the abstract) that capital gains in the UK were taxed too lightly, and it was encouraging people to grow businesses to a certain point and cash in by selling them abroad, to the detriment of the country. So I've not really listened to a lot of the anti capital gains tax stuff, because I felt Mandy Rice Davis applied.
You mentioned that threats to tax you on your capital gains had prevented you from investing in UK businesses (forgive me if I am oversimplifying or misrepresenting what you said). So how should the tax system (if this is possible) incentivise someone like you to invest in British businesses, but somehow discourage others to make the economy one big flog off so we end up having no British companies or brands left.
Honestly there's a few different things going on here....
My own situation is unusual. I invested heavily in US markets with my PAYE salary because, for a long time, I earned far more than I could spend and chose to invest it rather than spend it. That’s left me with very large unrealised gains, while my current work, effectively a fractional marketing director for startups, constantly exposes me to UK based investment opportunities. Given the current 18/24% CGT rates (up from 10/20% pre-2024), I’m much less inclined to sell to invest. That’s very different from someone selling a small business after 20 years for 1-2m, or someone scaling a tech startup from £500k to £50m in a few years.
More broadly, though, economies work best when capital is liquid and flowing in rather than out. Personally, I’d rather stay in US equities than cash out and reinvest in the UK because 24% already feels high to me and 45% would be absurd. Likewise, why would someone build a globally mobile tech company in the UK if they could face 45% CGT on a £50m exit when they could set up elsewhere? The UK loses competitiveness, investment, and jobs...
I agree with a fair amount of your argument, but I think what's proposed would have some special treatment for that particular case ?
BADR (business asset disposal relief for the purpose of capital gains) was already reduced from a lifetime amount of 10m to 1m. So if you build something worth 50m that 1m will not make much difference - I know two people who have relocated to Dubai already as a result of exceeding this amount. If they want to propose something else like a "special accidental multimillionaire's relief for people who go from a 500k startup to a 50m valuation in 3 years" then OK but a) once we get into all these exemptions isn't that utter anathema to the "capital should be taxed the same as income" mob currently driving policy thinking and b) relies on trust that the UK will not change / reduce the threshold in the next parliament (imagine the Greens get in in 2028 for example) - BADR has already been cut by 90%! and c) does nothing for the distorting effects of 45% on the rest of us (vs, as I say, 0% for buying a f****off big house and living in it for the next 40 years). I'm happy to pay 45% on my equity gains when the boomers are happy to pay 45% on their 7 figure primary residence gains...
£1m is fine for BADR relief. Neither making 100x your investment nor starting a business with solely £500k of a single individuals capital are remotely typical.
Doesn't matter whether it's typical or not (I would argue that 1 or 2 people starting with 500k is actually quite typical, certainly of my client base - usually serial entrepreneurs with proceeds from selling their first or second business). The point is how it impacts the behaviour of founders.
If you had 500k to invest, with *the aim* of turning that into 50m in the next 3 years, would you a) do that in the UK where tax is currently 24% and mooted to be raised to 45% with limited relief around the margins and probable exit tax (and to Foxy's _very_ valid point, a constantly changing and unstable regulatory environment?) or would you invest it somewhere that has been a flat 20% for the last 40 years and will likely continue to be?
So even if your business "fails" and only becomes worth 1m (and you sell it for 1m and try agian, which is what most of the "serial entrepreneurs" I know do) the point is if you're aiming for a 50m valuation every time, you set up in the country that will be optimal for that to maximise your gains if you do hit it big? I would not be looking to set up a business at all in the UK right now for the above reasons.
Fundamentally that our political class do not understand not only economics but also behavioural economics just leaves me pounding my head against the wall in frustration.
Thank you for expanding your original point and for this insight.
It goes without saying that the Government needs to create an environment (easy taxes, easily regulation, relatively flexible labour market, good education) within which businesses can be founded easily and grow. But there is something else within our system that incentivises speedy divestment, rather than the German way of proud factory owners being embedded within their local communities, or the American way of becoming world beating global corporations. It must be made easier to create and spend wealth within the UK, and perhaps harder to sell up, even if that does result in cases where the net effect is negative in the short term.
The US has long term and short term capital gains bands, so you could aguably incentivise long term holding through that. The problem is you are back to making capital less liquid again - forcing people to tie their money up for decades to get the desired effect.
I think the problem you have identified is one of culture. The Germans want to build real businesses over a decade, whereas the British have much more of the "quick buck and sell up" mentality. You could fiddle with that through economic incentives but the overall culture would remain. I'd argue part of the reason in the UK we're so keen to sell up and cash out the minute the going gets good is the fear it might turn at any moment. For example by sticking CGT up from 20% to 45% in just 3 years... better to take the money now, and run. Which comes back to Foxy's point about stability being key if you really want long term investment. There is a strong case to be made that shall we say our "evolving" relationship with Europe hasn't helped our image as a stable country internationally, either.
It's been a while since I was at business school but the classic case study is how the UK treated North Sea Oil vs Norway. We keep changing the regulations every few years and the tax bands and then imposing windfall taxes and so on until the whole thing becomes uninvestable. Whereas Norway keep everything the same for decades and reap the rewards of stable investment. Something something hare and tortoise, innit?
I agree with you about what the culture is, but I believe in the power of incentives more, because I'm basically a behaviourist. I believe our behaviour in any given situation depends more on the consequences than the antecedents, and your current case is a good example. Culture is really just the path of least resistance over time. If we have the settled view that the incentives must change, and they do, culture will follow eventually.
I am actually against "incentives" in general because 9 times out of 10 people would be doing stuff anyway without the incentive and 90% of the incentive is therefore wasted money.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
Seriously, I don't see it - there is no "courage" involved.
Posy Parker is reacting to a 'threat' that she has fabricated in her own imagination, by launching a common assault on a member of the public. A common assault is concern that an actual assault may be about to happen, which would then aiui be at least a battery once contact was made.
She is trying to justify her own narrative. Women wearing their chosen outfits are not a threat. If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature). Further, such clothing is only warn by a fraction of a percent of Muslim women.
Even if they were an element of coercion involved, it would be despicable behaviour to browbeat such a victim in the presence of their oppressor. But the claim of coercion would be overwhelmingly likely to be fake anyway.
Such behaviour - verbal assault - is what precedes violent attacks, particularly in the partisan climate we now have, and Parker - Kelly J Kean - needs to take a look at herself, do a sanity check, and wind her neck in. I think she's too far down Yaxley-Lennon type rabbit holes, and lost her way several years ago.
This behaviour is unacceptable and un-British. That's my view, anyway.
How do Trump's PB advocates defend this kind of stuff ?
Not getting enough attention: the one-page order from Todd Blanche to wipe out every audit of Donald Trump.
Many experts believe it’s illegal, and here’s why.
Federal law prohibits the President or his aides from directing or halting an IRS audit. Agents who carry out a politically motivated audit, or stop one at the direction of the White House, can face prison time. That is the statute on the books.
Now look at what just happened.
Todd Blanche, the Acting Attorney General and Donald Trump’s former personal criminal defense lawyer, signed a one-page order demanding the IRS drop every existing audit of Trump, his family, and their “affiliates.” One of those audits reportedly could have cost Trump more than $100 million.
The Treasury Department’s top lawyer resigned over it.
The acting top IRS lawyer had to recuse himself because he previously represented Trump in his tax cases.
There is no precedent for an Attorney General ordering an end to audits of a group of taxpayers. Many experts say the Attorney General has no authority to do this.
So we have a likely illegal order, signed by the President’s former lawyer, on behalf of the President, protecting the President. And the only people with jurisdiction to investigate it work for the President. https://x.com/MikeLevin/status/2058175259358998929
Got to be in it to win it.
And he needs to remain in power until the statute of limitations means this is ancient history otherwise it makes sense for his replacement to throw Trump and his family to the wolves..
Sounds like another example for the Monarchist Hack - the idea that Trump's second term is "designed" to reveal all the places in the constitution and functioning of the US government that can help enable a demagogic monarchy.
The job for the Dems if they ever win again is to fix all the exposed faults.
Could be a full four year term of work at this rate.
How do Trump's PB advocates defend this kind of stuff ?
Not getting enough attention: the one-page order from Todd Blanche to wipe out every audit of Donald Trump.
Many experts believe it’s illegal, and here’s why.
Federal law prohibits the President or his aides from directing or halting an IRS audit. Agents who carry out a politically motivated audit, or stop one at the direction of the White House, can face prison time. That is the statute on the books.
Now look at what just happened.
Todd Blanche, the Acting Attorney General and Donald Trump’s former personal criminal defense lawyer, signed a one-page order demanding the IRS drop every existing audit of Trump, his family, and their “affiliates.” One of those audits reportedly could have cost Trump more than $100 million.
The Treasury Department’s top lawyer resigned over it.
The acting top IRS lawyer had to recuse himself because he previously represented Trump in his tax cases.
There is no precedent for an Attorney General ordering an end to audits of a group of taxpayers. Many experts say the Attorney General has no authority to do this.
So we have a likely illegal order, signed by the President’s former lawyer, on behalf of the President, protecting the President. And the only people with jurisdiction to investigate it work for the President. https://x.com/MikeLevin/status/2058175259358998929
Got to be in it to win it.
And he needs to remain in power until the statute of limitations means this is ancient history otherwise it makes sense for his replacement to throw Trump and his family to the wolves..
Sounds like another example for the Monarchist Hack - the idea that Trump's second term is "designed" to reveal all the places in the constitution and functioning of the US government that can help enable a demagogic monarchy.
The job for the Dems if they ever win again is to fix all the exposed faults.
Could be a full four year term of work at this rate.
4 years - suspect it will require 8, it's a lot harder to fix than destroy.
BBC: A Reform UK Cornwall councillor has left the party, just a month after two other councillors.
Jamie Hanlon, who was elected last May to represent the Penwithick and Boscoppa division in the St Austell area, will now sit on the council as a Stand Alone Independent.
Hanlon's resignation means the Reform UK group, which was elected with 28 members in May 2025 is now down to 21, a loss of a quarter of its elected councillors
TNT not showing the finals for free. Seems like a big miss for easy promotion, sign up for free to get access, you just got yourself a massive potential customer list. Or at worst, watch for 99p / 7-days for 99p *, something like that.
* small print....must cancel before end of 7 days otherwise will be charged full price for next month.
TNT not showing the finals for free. Seems like a big miss for easy promotion, sign up for free to get access, you just got yourself a massive potential customer list. Or even watch for 99p, etc.
They've lost the rights in 2028 - so there is no real incentive for them to use the finals for marketing in the way they used to.
Indy: As the Reform UK leader faces possible sanctions over a £5m ‘personal’ donation, it would take only a few unfortunate turn of events for him to be ejected from the Commons, says Sonia Sodha
TNT not showing the finals for free. Seems like a big miss for easy promotion, sign up for free to get access, you just got yourself a massive potential customer list. Or even watch for 99p, etc.
They've lost the rights in 2028 - so there is no real incentive for them to use the finals for marketing in the way they used to.
They still have EPL. Also remember now TNT is part of Discovery / HBO. They are rebranding everything and trying to get people to signup for HBO Max.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 17m To summarise what I found in Makerfield:
* It's Reform territory. In any other context this would be an easy Reform win
* The Burnham effect is real. Local people view him as one of their own.
* Restore have more of a presence that I anticipated. They may well be a factor
Restore reported to have washed up Blackpool Tory Scott wotzit running their campaign. Folk on Twitter seem outraged that he is directing their blackshirts into refuk areas. Well duh. No point knocking on the doors of decent folk…
In the spirit of Cornwall Council, the report is published in triplicate !!!
That means they are up to 25 since May 7th - 15 from the 2026 cohort, and 10 from the 2025 cohort. TBF there is a bit of "pre election backlog" involved.
To me this story seems to be breaking through far more than last year, for both RefUk and the Greens. I have heard items on it on 2-3 prominent podcasts (eg New Statesman, Private Eye) just in the last week.
Indy: As the Reform UK leader faces possible sanctions over a £5m ‘personal’ donation, it would take only a few unfortunate turn of events for him to be ejected from the Commons, says Sonia Sodha
And then a by-election where he is returned with an even bigger majority presumably.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
Seriously, I don't see it - there is no "courage" involved.
Posy Parker is reacting to a 'threat' that she has fabricated in her own imagination, by launching a common assault on a member of the public. A common assault is concern that an actual assault may be about to happen, which would then aiui be at least a battery once contact was made.
She is trying to justify her own narrative. Women wearing their chosen outfits are not a threat. If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature). Further, such clothing is only warn by a fraction of a percent of Muslim women.
Even if they were an element of coercion involved, it would be despicable behaviour to browbeat such a victim in the presence of their oppressor. But the claim of coercion would be overwhelmingly likely to be fake anyway.
Such behaviour - verbal assault - is what precedes violent attacks, particularly in the partisan climate we now have, and Parker - Kelly J Kean - needs to take a look at herself, do a sanity check, and wind her neck in. I think she's too far down Yaxley-Lennon type rabbit holes, and lost her way several years ago.
This behaviour is unacceptable and un-British. That's my view, anyway.
Sorry - I slightly borked my middle para, in editing the point into a separate para trying to be precise.
If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature), it would be terrible to intervene in that situation on the street by having a go at the victim.
Bonus: the % of Muslim women wearing the burka or niqab in the UK is about 0.1%.
Indy: As the Reform UK leader faces possible sanctions over a £5m ‘personal’ donation, it would take only a few unfortunate turn of events for him to be ejected from the Commons, says Sonia Sodha
And then a by-election where he is returned with an even bigger majority presumably.
Then he really would be following the Trumpian model.
Although, by then the voters might just be learning lessons.
I think I have figured out Leon. He is Caroline Aherne on the Fast Show. The teenage girl who says “I really love” x and talks at length in vague and fact free detail about the obsession. Which changes each week.
Why is he flipping out this time? Because having decided that Reform are The Chosen Ones he doesn’t understand why or indeed how anyone could feel differently. And then when details of the counter opinion are aired he gets the arse and starts calling people the banhammer name.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
Seriously, I don't see it - there is no "courage" involved.
Posy Parker is reacting to a 'threat' that she has fabricated in her own imagination, by launching a common assault on a member of the public. A common assault is concern that an actual assault may be about to happen, which would then aiui be at least a battery once contact was made.
She is trying to justify her own narrative. Women wearing their chosen outfits are not a threat. If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature). Further, such clothing is only warn by a fraction of a percent of Muslim women.
Even if they were an element of coercion involved, it would be despicable behaviour to browbeat such a victim in the presence of their oppressor. But the claim of coercion would be overwhelmingly likely to be fake anyway.
Such behaviour - verbal assault - is what precedes violent attacks, particularly in the partisan climate we now have, and Parker - Kelly J Kean - needs to take a look at herself, do a sanity check, and wind her neck in. I think she's too far down Yaxley-Lennon type rabbit holes, and lost her way several years ago.
This behaviour is unacceptable and un-British. That's my view, anyway.
Sorry - I slightly borked my middle para, in editing the point into a separate para trying to be precise.
If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature), it would be terrible to intervene in that situation on the street by having a go at the victim.
Bonus: the % of Muslim women wearing the burka or niqab in the UK is about 0.1%.
1 in 1000 women wearing something so oppressive is absolutely awful if it is that high.
Indy: As the Reform UK leader faces possible sanctions over a £5m ‘personal’ donation, it would take only a few unfortunate turn of events for him to be ejected from the Commons, says Sonia Sodha
And then a by-election where he is returned with an even bigger majority presumably.
Then he really would be following the Trumpian model.
Although, by then the voters might just be learning lessons.
Now, there is a circumstance for which it really would be the done thing for the other parties to come to an agreement on a unity anti-Farage candidate.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
Seriously, I don't see it - there is no "courage" involved.
Posy Parker is reacting to a 'threat' that she has fabricated in her own imagination, by launching a common assault on a member of the public. A common assault is concern that an actual assault may be about to happen, which would then aiui be at least a battery once contact was made.
She is trying to justify her own narrative. Women wearing their chosen outfits are not a threat. If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature). Further, such clothing is only warn by a fraction of a percent of Muslim women.
Even if they were an element of coercion involved, it would be despicable behaviour to browbeat such a victim in the presence of their oppressor. But the claim of coercion would be overwhelmingly likely to be fake anyway.
Such behaviour - verbal assault - is what precedes violent attacks, particularly in the partisan climate we now have, and Parker - Kelly J Kean - needs to take a look at herself, do a sanity check, and wind her neck in. I think she's too far down Yaxley-Lennon type rabbit holes, and lost her way several years ago.
This behaviour is unacceptable and un-British. That's my view, anyway.
AIUI "common assault" covers assault (threat) and battery (actual contact), mostly because everyone thinks of the latter as assault. And because the maximum sentence is the same for both.
TNT not showing the finals for free. Seems like a big miss for easy promotion, sign up for free to get access, you just got yourself a massive potential customer list. Or even watch for 99p, etc.
They've lost the rights in 2028 - so there is no real incentive for them to use the finals for marketing in the way they used to.
They still have EPL. Also remember now TNT is part of Discovery / HBO. They are rebranding everything and trying to get people to signup for HBO Max.
Is the Egyptian Premier League really such a big draw?
I expect Farage will say it’s all a witch hunt and play the martyr .
If there was a recall petition and he had to fight a by-election in Clacton I’m sure he’d win but the media coverage of his grifting would be worth it .
One wonders how many other large donations are hiding away waiting for journalists to uncover .
TNT not showing the finals for free. Seems like a big miss for easy promotion, sign up for free to get access, you just got yourself a massive potential customer list. Or even watch for 99p, etc.
They've lost the rights in 2028 - so there is no real incentive for them to use the finals for marketing in the way they used to.
They still have EPL. Also remember now TNT is part of Discovery / HBO. They are rebranding everything and trying to get people to signup for HBO Max.
Is the Egyptian Premier League really such a big draw?
It's worse than that - it's the Essex Premier League...
Pb.com acquired a huge following because it filtered electoral prediction through cold, hard cash. Two things are threatening this preeminence: firstly, too few posters are actually looking for betting tips and won't put their money where their mouth is. (I have, to my cost as some here can testify). Secondly, politicians got too interested and began to try to rig and ramp the markets- as politicians will. The stuff the Tories tried to pull around the last general election is, I think, still under investigation by Plod. This latest naked ramping from Low deserves to be thumped in like manner and should be treated as what it is: a money making opportunity.for political bettors. So if the site needs to get it's mojo back, it is not going to happen by allowing Leon to post racist stuff about matters that are sub judice, it is to suggest politely that he backs his Reform ramping with some reasonable amount of dosh. If you can afford £20 for some slightly naff Crown Derby mug, you can certainly afford to take a few quid and back your mostly drunken and/or demented waffle supporting the treacherous Mr Farage as the likely next Prime Minister.
So, what odds are you giving us?
My lament about the site dying, last night, was based squarely on the fact that it is dying. In two ways
Last night we had barely a few comments over hours. At a time of huge political interest. Similarly, we get no new posters, ever. Except the execrable @Brixian59 who is surely a previous commenter reincarnating anyway. I’ve heard of this happening
Why? One big reason is the Blueskying of the site. It is now completely dominated by Dickless Centrist Dads like you. As relentlessly pompous as you are humourless, devoid of insight, caprice or wit. And fucking dull. And you have managed to push out anyone with a spark of wildness, plus that third of the country susceptible to Reform
If I was a newbie passing by, looking at this parade of sad old middlebrow “opinions”, I’d keep passing by
Nah...you dont have the cojones to stand behind-your-narcissistic-to-the-point-of-camp opinions. If no one is prepared to help TSE, Peter the Punter or OGH to become richer through backing their always wrong opinions with cash, its just another chat site. Doesn't matter what your opinions are, just have the courage of your demented far-right blow hard bullshit opinions and put some bawbees down.
Lets start easy: £20 that Fartage faces censure from the House of Commons and/or criminal charges within one year from today. What odds will you give me he wont?
Just shut the fuck up
Look, this site was for serious punters who were interested in and knowledgeable about politics and who were prepared to back their judgement. Some flouncy old closet case sharing his execrable interior design taste can surely find somewhere more suitable. I'm here because I am upfront a Lib Dem partisan, active for a long time. You think Farage is an amusing old card, in short, a good egg of similar age and background to yourself. I think he is a malicious, treacherous fraud. I tell you what, I will give you 2-1 for a crisp tenner that the Lib Dems will hold more seats than a Farage-led Reform party after the next general election. What do you say? I have a sufficiently terrible track record that you could even win. Nothing personal here- we have never met, and if you bought me a drink I might even accept it. If you haven't got ten quid, I get it, Chalk Farm pads stuffed with tat from car boot sales won't come cheap, but if you really haven't got the balls to back your silly opinions I do feel like the rest of us can safely ignore your next Isadora Duncan style flouncy crosspatch nonsense.
Do you think the Lib Dems would do any better if they weren't so insufferably pompous?
No, because it didn't hurt Boris Johnson.
Boris was very many bad things (and a few good things). But he was never pompous. Either you don't understand the English language, or you don't understand human character, or the perception thereof. Boris was anti-pompous, self deprecating, willing to laugh at himself. Remember when he got stuck on the zip wire, waving the Union Jack. A pompous man would have found that unbearable, an insult to his dignity, might have even been a career killer
Boris was able to laugh it off and actually make himself a bit more likeable, because he is NOT pompous. That was an essential part of his USPs
I'm trying to imagine Gordon Brown stuck on that zip-wire.
Nope.
Even better, a tandem with Brown and Farage.
I'd laugh at that. Not sure either of them would...
Yes, Farage is less able to self deprecate than Boris. He can be prickly. Brown was even worse
Blair was good at it. Burnham is, I suspect, pretty good at it. Starmer is not. Thatcher managed to avoid the question through moral greatness
Enoch Powell was once photographed on a pogo stick.
Ted Heath on a skateboard:
(Now he WAS a pompous so and so - from a friend who's orchestra he once conducted.)
Is that the young John Selwyn Gummer in the background ?
The chap on the right looks familiar too. I doubt that is Gummer, a neighbour of mine very briefly nannied for Gummer's children in the very early eighties and she is around six years younger than me and I was only early twenties, so Gummer is a good few years older than me. Skateboards? Circa 1977.
Getty have a set with him not doing as well in the stunt, and it implies 1970 election.
Indy: As the Reform UK leader faces possible sanctions over a £5m ‘personal’ donation, it would take only a few unfortunate turn of events for him to be ejected from the Commons, says Sonia Sodha
And then a by-election where he is returned with an even bigger majority presumably.
Then he really would be following the Trumpian model.
Although, by then the voters might just be learning lessons.
Now, there is a circumstance for which it really would be the done thing for the other parties to come to an agreement on a unity anti-Farage candidate.
Another right of centre posted banned. Will Leon be back or is he destined to spend His remaining says in Jessops cuck chair 🥴
He spam blocked himself with his repeated abusive posts.
He's been warned many times previously about this.
Well he's obviously a very naughty boy and writing bad words on walls ticked off enough folk to trigger a switch. Just for the avoidance of doubt, I didn't snitch, and didn't care that he used language better reserved for the Women's Institute.. when he gets back from the cooler, I will chase him on the bet, because there are other people who more deserve to take some cash from me, and I intend to share the love.
Once he stops being the Cowardly Leon I can go back to being the pompous old Hector you all expect.
Pb.com acquired a huge following because it filtered electoral prediction through cold, hard cash. Two things are threatening this preeminence: firstly, too few posters are actually looking for betting tips and won't put their money where their mouth is. (I have, to my cost as some here can testify). Secondly, politicians got too interested and began to try to rig and ramp the markets- as politicians will. The stuff the Tories tried to pull around the last general election is, I think, still under investigation by Plod. This latest naked ramping from Low deserves to be thumped in like manner and should be treated as what it is: a money making opportunity.for political bettors. So if the site needs to get it's mojo back, it is not going to happen by allowing Leon to post racist stuff about matters that are sub judice, it is to suggest politely that he backs his Reform ramping with some reasonable amount of dosh. If you can afford £20 for some slightly naff Crown Derby mug, you can certainly afford to take a few quid and back your mostly drunken and/or demented waffle supporting the treacherous Mr Farage as the likely next Prime Minister.
So, what odds are you giving us?
My lament about the site dying, last night, was based squarely on the fact that it is dying. In two ways
Last night we had barely a few comments over hours. At a time of huge political interest. Similarly, we get no new posters, ever. Except the execrable @Brixian59 who is surely a previous commenter reincarnating anyway. I’ve heard of this happening
Why? One big reason is the Blueskying of the site. It is now completely dominated by Dickless Centrist Dads like you. As relentlessly pompous as you are humourless, devoid of insight, caprice or wit. And fucking dull. And you have managed to push out anyone with a spark of wildness, plus that third of the country susceptible to Reform
If I was a newbie passing by, looking at this parade of sad old middlebrow “opinions”, I’d keep passing by
Nah...you dont have the cojones to stand behind-your-narcissistic-to-the-point-of-camp opinions. If no one is prepared to help TSE, Peter the Punter or OGH to become richer through backing their always wrong opinions with cash, its just another chat site. Doesn't matter what your opinions are, just have the courage of your demented far-right blow hard bullshit opinions and put some bawbees down.
Lets start easy: £20 that Fartage faces censure from the House of Commons and/or criminal charges within one year from today. What odds will you give me he wont?
Just shut the fuck up
Look, this site was for serious punters who were interested in and knowledgeable about politics and who were prepared to back their judgement. Some flouncy old closet case sharing his execrable interior design taste can surely find somewhere more suitable. I'm here because I am upfront a Lib Dem partisan, active for a long time. You think Farage is an amusing old card, in short, a good egg of similar age and background to yourself. I think he is a malicious, treacherous fraud. I tell you what, I will give you 2-1 for a crisp tenner that the Lib Dems will hold more seats than a Farage-led Reform party after the next general election. What do you say? I have a sufficiently terrible track record that you could even win. Nothing personal here- we have never met, and if you bought me a drink I might even accept it. If you haven't got ten quid, I get it, Chalk Farm pads stuffed with tat from car boot sales won't come cheap, but if you really haven't got the balls to back your silly opinions I do feel like the rest of us can safely ignore your next Isadora Duncan style flouncy crosspatch nonsense.
Do you think the Lib Dems would do any better if they weren't so insufferably pompous?
No, because it didn't hurt Boris Johnson.
Boris was very many bad things (and a few good things). But he was never pompous. Either you don't understand the English language, or you don't understand human character, or the perception thereof. Boris was anti-pompous, self deprecating, willing to laugh at himself. Remember when he got stuck on the zip wire, waving the Union Jack. A pompous man would have found that unbearable, an insult to his dignity, might have even been a career killer
Boris was able to laugh it off and actually make himself a bit more likeable, because he is NOT pompous. That was an essential part of his USPs
I'm trying to imagine Gordon Brown stuck on that zip-wire.
Nope.
Even better, a tandem with Brown and Farage.
I'd laugh at that. Not sure either of them would...
Yes, Farage is less able to self deprecate than Boris. He can be prickly. Brown was even worse
Blair was good at it. Burnham is, I suspect, pretty good at it. Starmer is not. Thatcher managed to avoid the question through moral greatness
Enoch Powell was once photographed on a pogo stick.
Ted Heath on a skateboard:
(Now he WAS a pompous so and so - from a friend who's orchestra he once conducted.)
Is that the young John Selwyn Gummer in the background ?
The chap on the right looks familiar too. I doubt that is Gummer, a neighbour of mine very briefly nannied for Gummer's children in the very early eighties and she is around six years younger than me and I was only early twenties, so Gummer is a good few years older than me. Skateboards? Circa 1977.
Getty have a set with him not doing as well in the stunt, and it implies 1970 election.
Another right of centre posted banned. Will Leon be back or is he destined to spend His remaining says in Jessops cuck chair 🥴
You really are a nasty piece of work.
Bye.
You’ve been unpleasant to me consistently so GFY
I don't think so.
I'll make it clear: Mrs J reads PB. @Leon said something she took offence at, and he apologised. A few weeks later, he repeated the comment, and lied by saying he had never apoloigised.
I left PB. Since then, you have repeated variants of his comment, sometimes tagging me sometimes not. And called *me* a bully.
So, I'm off. I probably won't even read it any more, in case I get dragged back in again.
Edit: the thing is, I've only glanced on PB a few times this week, and one of the times I see you doing this.
That’s PB
I used to have to put up with Ishmael making crude comments about my relationship with my wife, archived, and also accusing of wanting to perform oral acts of love on Leon, also archived.
Did I cry ?
No.
Not a murmur from the mods here about it either. I wasn’t the only one. He only got a ban, IIRC, he called out a pollster.
Today is the first time I’ve ever mentioned that specific comment from Leon.
TNT not showing the finals for free. Seems like a big miss for easy promotion, sign up for free to get access, you just got yourself a massive potential customer list. Or even watch for 99p, etc.
They've lost the rights in 2028 - so there is no real incentive for them to use the finals for marketing in the way they used to.
They still have EPL. Also remember now TNT is part of Discovery / HBO. They are rebranding everything and trying to get people to signup for HBO Max.
Is the Egyptian Premier League really such a big draw?
I remember reading a long winded piece in WSC about Al Ahly and Zamalek.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
Seriously, I don't see it - there is no "courage" involved.
Posy Parker is reacting to a 'threat' that she has fabricated in her own imagination, by launching a common assault on a member of the public. A common assault is concern that an actual assault may be about to happen, which would then aiui be at least a battery once contact was made.
She is trying to justify her own narrative. Women wearing their chosen outfits are not a threat. If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature). Further, such clothing is only warn by a fraction of a percent of Muslim women.
Even if they were an element of coercion involved, it would be despicable behaviour to browbeat such a victim in the presence of their oppressor. But the claim of coercion would be overwhelmingly likely to be fake anyway.
Such behaviour - verbal assault - is what precedes violent attacks, particularly in the partisan climate we now have, and Parker - Kelly J Kean - needs to take a look at herself, do a sanity check, and wind her neck in. I think she's too far down Yaxley-Lennon type rabbit holes, and lost her way several years ago.
This behaviour is unacceptable and un-British. That's my view, anyway.
Sorry - I slightly borked my middle para, in editing the point into a separate para trying to be precise.
If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature), it would be terrible to intervene in that situation on the street by having a go at the victim.
Bonus: the % of Muslim women wearing the burka or niqab in the UK is about 0.1%.
1 in 1000 women wearing something so oppressive is absolutely awful if it is that high.
Not if they wear it of their own volition...
Granted I don't think it does them any favours but equally people make stupid decisions that cause themselves harm everyday.
I think I have figured out Leon. He is Caroline Aherne on the Fast Show. The teenage girl who says “I really love” x and talks at length in vague and fact free detail about the obsession. Which changes each week.
Why is he flipping out this time? Because having decided that Reform are The Chosen Ones he doesn’t understand why or indeed how anyone could feel differently. And then when details of the counter opinion are aired he gets the arse and starts calling people the banhammer name.
I think you’re over analysing. The sad reality is that he returns to his poky bedsit of an evening, the second open bottle by his side and relentless traffic passing by outside, and simply turns to thinking how he can get PB’ers all talking about him.
I think I have figured out Leon. He is Caroline Aherne on the Fast Show. The teenage girl who says “I really love” x and talks at length in vague and fact free detail about the obsession. Which changes each week.
Why is he flipping out this time? Because having decided that Reform are The Chosen Ones he doesn’t understand why or indeed how anyone could feel differently. And then when details of the counter opinion are aired he gets the arse and starts calling people the banhammer name.
Indy: As the Reform UK leader faces possible sanctions over a £5m ‘personal’ donation, it would take only a few unfortunate turn of events for him to be ejected from the Commons, says Sonia Sodha
Steps needed…
1. Investigation recommends a suspension of more than 2 weeks 2. Parliament voted to support recommendation 3. Recall petition passes 4. By-election
If 1, then 2 seems certain. If 2, then 3 seems certain. Farage can stand in the by-election, but he will have been ejected from the Commons. So, it only really needs one event to happen, I suggest, not “a few”. Will the investigation find against him and recommend a sufficiently long suspension?
Another right of centre posted banned. Will Leon be back or is he destined to spend His remaining says in Jessops cuck chair 🥴
You really are a nasty piece of work.
Bye.
You’ve been unpleasant to me consistently so GFY
I don't think so.
I'll make it clear: Mrs J reads PB. @Leon said something she took offence at, and he apologised. A few weeks later, he repeated the comment, and lied by saying he had never apoloigised.
I left PB. Since then, you have repeated variants of his comment, sometimes tagging me sometimes not. And called *me* a bully.
So, I'm off. I probably won't even read it any more, in case I get dragged back in again.
Edit: the thing is, I've only glanced on PB a few times this week, and one of the times I see you doing this.
(Snip)
Today is the first time I’ve ever mentioned that specific comment from Leon.
From just going back on when you tagged me. ISTR there are others where you don't use the at symbol.
And there were more before that, but my notifications feed is filled with you calling me a 'moron'.
I was off PB. Before today, my last comment was October last year Yet you keep on tagging me as you insult me.
So seriously, you are the one with a problem. Some on here lament that there are not enough women posting on PB. I might suggest that the attitude of @Leon, yourself and others is somewhat to do with that.
Another right of centre posted banned. Will Leon be back or is he destined to spend His remaining says in Jessops cuck chair 🥴
You really are a nasty piece of work.
Bye.
You’ve been unpleasant to me consistently so GFY
I don't think so.
I'll make it clear: Mrs J reads PB. @Leon said something she took offence at, and he apologised. A few weeks later, he repeated the comment, and lied by saying he had never apoloigised.
I left PB. Since then, you have repeated variants of his comment, sometimes tagging me sometimes not. And called *me* a bully.
So, I'm off. I probably won't even read it any more, in case I get dragged back in again.
Edit: the thing is, I've only glanced on PB a few times this week, and one of the times I see you doing this.
That’s PB
I used to have to put up with Ishmael making crude comments about my relationship with my wife, archived, and also accusing of wanting to perform oral acts of love on Leon, also archived.
Did I cry ?
No.
Not a murmur from the mods here about it either. I wasn’t the only one. He only got a ban, IIRC, he called out a pollster.
Today is the first time I’ve ever mentioned that specific comment from Leon.
Well he is a rotter and all that, and everyone seems a bit short tempered this evening. For my part your posts- which I often disagree with- are part of what makes the site a good thing, so don't let occasional general twattishness drive you out... Otherwise no one will comment anything anywhere. This can not be a safe space, in fact we should loudly disagree with each other, but, ok let's keep it civil and build on that.
A special shout out to HYFUD some of whose early posts, as a Scot I found pretty much offensive garbage, but who has settled in as the respected "Statto" and who - gasp- has posted stuff that I agree with.
Anyway - some bets please.
I mean Burnham is the winner of the most mediocre politician north of Birmingham, yet it really does seem like Labour will win, get him in, he becomes PM, there's a general Labour love fest and with one bound we're back in Narnia... Not great for the country necessarily, but at least it's back to incompetence, not Faragista treachery.
Pub garden anecdote. I’m at the Duck in Pett Bottom, onetime local of Ian Fleming who wrote you only live twice here, after a very hot and backbreaking few hours of bud-rubbing at the vineyard. I’m within earshot of the most logorrhoeic pub bore I’ve ever encountered. Olympian standard. I think he may be with his adult son (frequent references to “your mother”, and insistence that “I did send a card. I sent it!”)
He’s delivering a non-stop political monologue. He’s very passionate and performatively (but one suspects not actually viscerally) angry. Only here’s the thing: it’s been 20 minutes now and I still can’t work out if he’s left wing or right wing.
He certainly doesn’t like Starmer. He seems to feel some affection for Russia. He’s posh, and very articulate. But he could equally be casting his ballots for Zack or Nigel. Is he @Dura_Ace or @Leon_VotedForStarmer ?
Indy: As the Reform UK leader faces possible sanctions over a £5m ‘personal’ donation, it would take only a few unfortunate turn of events for him to be ejected from the Commons, says Sonia Sodha
And then a by-election where he is returned with an even bigger majority presumably.
He got 46% in the election, with the Tories second on 28%. Some reports suggest he is not popular locally, what with not holding surgeries etc. I think an anti-corruption independent supported by the other parties would have a good chance of winning. If anti-Reform voters come together behind the Tory, maybe they win?
Farage would presumably campaign on how the Establishment is out to get him, but it’s maybe a bit difficult railing against the Establishment when everyone knows you’ve been given £5 million.
Another right of centre posted banned. Will Leon be back or is he destined to spend His remaining says in Jessops cuck chair 🥴
You really are a nasty piece of work.
Bye.
You’ve been unpleasant to me consistently so GFY
I don't think so.
I'll make it clear: Mrs J reads PB. @Leon said something she took offence at, and he apologised. A few weeks later, he repeated the comment, and lied by saying he had never apoloigised.
I left PB. Since then, you have repeated variants of his comment, sometimes tagging me sometimes not. And called *me* a bully.
So, I'm off. I probably won't even read it any more, in case I get dragged back in again.
Edit: the thing is, I've only glanced on PB a few times this week, and one of the times I see you doing this.
That’s PB
I used to have to put up with Ishmael making crude comments about my relationship with my wife, archived, and also accusing of wanting to perform oral acts of love on Leon, also archived.
Did I cry ?
No.
Not a murmur from the mods here about it either. I wasn’t the only one. He only got a ban, IIRC, he called out a pollster.
Today is the first time I’ve ever mentioned that specific comment from Leon.
Well he is a rotter and all that, and everyone seems a bit short tempered this evening. For my part your posts- which I often disagree with- are part of what makes the site a good thing, so don't let occasional general twattishness drive you out... Otherwise no one will comment anything anywhere. This can not be a safe space, in fact we should loudly disagree with each other, but, ok let's keep it civil and build on that.
A special shout out to HYFUD some of whose early posts, as a Scot I found pretty much offensive garbage, but who has settled in as the respected "Statto" and who - gasp- has posted stuff that I agree with.
Anyway - some bets please.
Thank you 👍
Unless TSE bans me for liking Pineapple Pizza and the band who sing Creep I’ll hang around.
I actually do miss old Ishmael, cantankerous sod that he was, and wish him nothing but good. Someone here, Boulay IIRC, said he was doing a lot of travelling now.
Another right of centre posted banned. Will Leon be back or is he destined to spend His remaining says in Jessops cuck chair 🥴
You really are a nasty piece of work.
Bye.
You’ve been unpleasant to me consistently so GFY
I don't think so.
I'll make it clear: Mrs J reads PB. @Leon said something she took offence at, and he apologised. A few weeks later, he repeated the comment, and lied by saying he had never apoloigised.
I left PB. Since then, you have repeated variants of his comment, sometimes tagging me sometimes not. And called *me* a bully.
So, I'm off. I probably won't even read it any more, in case I get dragged back in again.
Edit: the thing is, I've only glanced on PB a few times this week, and one of the times I see you doing this.
That’s PB
I used to have to put up with Ishmael making crude comments about my relationship with my wife, archived, and also accusing of wanting to perform oral acts of love on Leon, also archived.
Did I cry ?
No.
Not a murmur from the mods here about it either. I wasn’t the only one. He only got a ban, IIRC, he called out a pollster.
Today is the first time I’ve ever mentioned that specific comment from Leon.
Well he is a rotter and all that, and everyone seems a bit short tempered this evening. For my part your posts- which I often disagree with- are part of what makes the site a good thing, so don't let occasional general twattishness drive you out... Otherwise no one will comment anything anywhere. This can not be a safe space, in fact we should loudly disagree with each other, but, ok let's keep it civil and build on that.
A special shout out to HYFUD some of whose early posts, as a Scot I found pretty much offensive garbage, but who has settled in as the respected "Statto" and who - gasp- has posted stuff that I agree with.
Anyway - some bets please.
I did actually have a £50 wager with Leon on something a year or so ago. And lost, so I paid up. So he does do betting, at least privately.
Telegraph: Nigel Farage has pledged to scrap income tax on overtime above 40 hours a week for anyone earning under £75,000
Would that be easy to administrate ?
Of course not.
I get the politics, I get the tummies being tickled (mostly those of those whose direct experience of the workplace ended some time ago), but it is, as my avatar put it, fucking mental.
There is nothing socially liberal about wanting to take away women's rights.
I'm not going to stink up PB with the same tired old debate on trans rights - I published pretty much everything I want to say on the subject in my response to Viewcode's article. You can re-read that if you want to rehash the same old arguments. For the hundredth time. Again.
I'll just leave this short clip here of one of your lot - Kellie Jay Keen, the self-declared TERF who popularised the "adult human female" meme, at the Tommy Robinson rally last week, giving a rousing speech. A speech that begins "It's not too late to get Islam out of the building..."
I think I'll throw my lot in with the "socially liberal" types, thank you.
In any event I sincerely hope you're well.
That's like saying you're against vegetarianism because Hitler was vegetarian...
Otoh it can be - and imo usually is - more a sign of arrogance than independence of thought to pay no regard whatsoever to the sorts of people who agree or disagree with an opinion you hold.
Eg say I believe something and it transpires that the vast majority of people whose opinions I usually find repellent agree with me whilst few others do. That won't per se change my mind but it will give me pause and make me take a closer look at it.
Whatever else you may say about Kelly J Kean, she has absolute balls of steel. She actually walks up to people wearing the niquab (with their male companions obviously) and says 'Free your faces'. She'd probably hate courage being connoted with balls, but there we go.
Seriously, I don't see it - there is no "courage" involved.
Posy Parker is reacting to a 'threat' that she has fabricated in her own imagination, by launching a common assault on a member of the public. A common assault is concern that an actual assault may be about to happen, which would then aiui be at least a battery once contact was made.
She is trying to justify her own narrative. Women wearing their chosen outfits are not a threat. If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature). Further, such clothing is only warn by a fraction of a percent of Muslim women.
Even if they were an element of coercion involved, it would be despicable behaviour to browbeat such a victim in the presence of their oppressor. But the claim of coercion would be overwhelmingly likely to be fake anyway.
Such behaviour - verbal assault - is what precedes violent attacks, particularly in the partisan climate we now have, and Parker - Kelly J Kean - needs to take a look at herself, do a sanity check, and wind her neck in. I think she's too far down Yaxley-Lennon type rabbit holes, and lost her way several years ago.
This behaviour is unacceptable and un-British. That's my view, anyway.
Sorry - I slightly borked my middle para, in editing the point into a separate para trying to be precise.
If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature), it would be terrible to intervene in that situation on the street by having a go at the victim.
Bonus: the % of Muslim women wearing the burka or niqab in the UK is about 0.1%.
1 in 1000 women wearing something so oppressive is absolutely awful if it is that high.
I thought you were a libertarian? If someone wants to wear whatever, let them.
How do Trump's PB advocates defend this kind of stuff ?
Not getting enough attention: the one-page order from Todd Blanche to wipe out every audit of Donald Trump.
Many experts believe it’s illegal, and here’s why.
Federal law prohibits the President or his aides from directing or halting an IRS audit. Agents who carry out a politically motivated audit, or stop one at the direction of the White House, can face prison time. That is the statute on the books.
Now look at what just happened.
Todd Blanche, the Acting Attorney General and Donald Trump’s former personal criminal defense lawyer, signed a one-page order demanding the IRS drop every existing audit of Trump, his family, and their “affiliates.” One of those audits reportedly could have cost Trump more than $100 million.
The Treasury Department’s top lawyer resigned over it.
The acting top IRS lawyer had to recuse himself because he previously represented Trump in his tax cases.
There is no precedent for an Attorney General ordering an end to audits of a group of taxpayers. Many experts say the Attorney General has no authority to do this.
So we have a likely illegal order, signed by the President’s former lawyer, on behalf of the President, protecting the President. And the only people with jurisdiction to investigate it work for the President. https://x.com/MikeLevin/status/2058175259358998929
Got to be in it to win it.
And he needs to remain in power until the statute of limitations means this is ancient history otherwise it makes sense for his replacement to throw Trump and his family to the wolves..
Sounds like another example for the Monarchist Hack - the idea that Trump's second term is "designed" to reveal all the places in the constitution and functioning of the US government that can help enable a demagogic monarchy.
The job for the Dems if they ever win again is to fix all the exposed faults.
Could be a full four year term of work at this rate.
A future Democrat President may well find that he rather enjoys the still more Imperial Presidency that Trump and the Supreme Court have established between them.
Authoritarianism is not the sole preserve of the right, in America or anywhere else.
Another right of centre posted banned. Will Leon be back or is he destined to spend His remaining says in Jessops cuck chair 🥴
You really are a nasty piece of work.
Bye.
You’ve been unpleasant to me consistently so GFY
I don't think so.
I'll make it clear: Mrs J reads PB. @Leon said something she took offence at, and he apologised. A few weeks later, he repeated the comment, and lied by saying he had never apoloigised.
I left PB. Since then, you have repeated variants of his comment, sometimes tagging me sometimes not. And called *me* a bully.
So, I'm off. I probably won't even read it any more, in case I get dragged back in again.
Edit: the thing is, I've only glanced on PB a few times this week, and one of the times I see you doing this.
That’s PB
I used to have to put up with Ishmael making crude comments about my relationship with my wife, archived, and also accusing of wanting to perform oral acts of love on Leon, also archived.
Did I cry ?
No.
Not a murmur from the mods here about it either. I wasn’t the only one. He only got a ban, IIRC, he called out a pollster.
Today is the first time I’ve ever mentioned that specific comment from Leon.
Well he is a rotter and all that, and everyone seems a bit short tempered this evening. For my part your posts- which I often disagree with- are part of what makes the site a good thing, so don't let occasional general twattishness drive you out... Otherwise no one will comment anything anywhere. This can not be a safe space, in fact we should loudly disagree with each other, but, ok let's keep it civil and build on that.
A special shout out to HYFUD some of whose early posts, as a Scot I found pretty much offensive garbage, but who has settled in as the respected "Statto" and who - gasp- has posted stuff that I agree with.
Anyway - some bets please.
Thank you 👍
Unless TSE bans me for liking Pineapple Pizza and the band who sing Creep I’ll hang around.
I actually do miss old Ishmael, cantankerous sod that he was, and wish him nothing but good. Someone here, Boulay IIRC, said he was doing a lot of travelling now.
You get banned for being rude about the band who sing Creep, liking them (or at least claiming to) gives you a certain amount of extra leeway..
Another right of centre posted banned. Will Leon be back or is he destined to spend His remaining says in Jessops cuck chair 🥴
You really are a nasty piece of work.
Bye.
You’ve been unpleasant to me consistently so GFY
I don't think so.
I'll make it clear: Mrs J reads PB. @Leon said something she took offence at, and he apologised. A few weeks later, he repeated the comment, and lied by saying he had never apoloigised.
I left PB. Since then, you have repeated variants of his comment, sometimes tagging me sometimes not. And called *me* a bully.
So, I'm off. I probably won't even read it any more, in case I get dragged back in again.
Edit: the thing is, I've only glanced on PB a few times this week, and one of the times I see you doing this.
That’s PB
I used to have to put up with Ishmael making crude comments about my relationship with my wife, archived, and also accusing of wanting to perform oral acts of love on Leon, also archived.
Did I cry ?
No.
Not a murmur from the mods here about it either. I wasn’t the only one. He only got a ban, IIRC, he called out a pollster.
Today is the first time I’ve ever mentioned that specific comment from Leon.
Well he is a rotter and all that, and everyone seems a bit short tempered this evening. For my part your posts- which I often disagree with- are part of what makes the site a good thing, so don't let occasional general twattishness drive you out... Otherwise no one will comment anything anywhere. This can not be a safe space, in fact we should loudly disagree with each other, but, ok let's keep it civil and build on that.
A special shout out to HYFUD some of whose early posts, as a Scot I found pretty much offensive garbage, but who has settled in as the respected "Statto" and who - gasp- has posted stuff that I agree with.
Anyway - some bets please.
I mean Burnham is the winner of the most mediocre politician north of Birmingham, yet it really does seem like Labour will win, get him in, he becomes PM, there's a general Labour love fest and with one bound we're back in Narnia... Not great for the country necessarily, but at least it's back to incompetence, not Faragista treachery.
Shit... Forgot Swinney-easy to do, so most mediocre north of Birmingham and still in England
Comments
A week just flies by.
Barak Ravid
@BarakRavid
Translated from Hebrew
🚨🚨President Trump told me in a phone call that he's "50:50" when it comes to a deal with Iran or resuming the war. "Either we reach a good deal or I'll blow them to a thousand hells," he said. Trump told me he'll meet today with his senior advisors to discuss the details of the updated draft and may make a decision by tomorrow.
https://x.com/BarakRavid/status/2058210221906862305
A week just flies by.
Barak Ravid
@BarakRavid
Translated from Hebrew
🚨🚨President Trump told me in a phone call that he's "50:50" when it comes to a deal with Iran or resuming the war. "Either we reach a good deal or I'll blow them to a thousand hells," he said. Trump told me he'll meet today with his senior advisors to discuss the details of the updated draft and may make a decision by tomorrow.
https://x.com/BarakRavid/status/2058210221906862305
I am also bound to say that I fail to see where xenophobia comes in. You seem to be making the somewhat racist assumption that these people are foreigners rather than born and bred in Britain.
I recall, when I was young, the kind of people who railed against all religious organisation, dress and the institution of marriage as social repression, from the libertarian left position.
One of their causes was civil partnerships, I recall.
Who's your favourite of the previous generation ?
David Levine; Jeff MacNelly; Pat Oliphant .. ?
You'll be refusing to hold doors open for trans women afore ye know it.
Here Councils tend to avoid serviced plots because they leave risk with the Council, and Councils as organisations are thoroughly gutted and have no resources.
They would probably sit better as social housing providers being required to make 5-10% of their developments available on this basis. They do affordable rent, shared ownership and so on, so serviced plots is just anothe option.
If you tried to build a couple of acres of stainless steel winery on the edge of a U.K. market town…
Because the locals see it as Less For Them.
In France is seen as More For Them.
Football should bring people together, not shut them out.
For the first time since the competition began, fans won’t be able to watch the Champions League final for free. That’s not right.
This is bigger than wanting to watch Arsenal in this historic final. It’s bigger than one club.
Hardworking people shouldn’t have to fork out for a subscription to watch this match.
I urge TNT Sports to reconsider and make the final next Saturday free to watch.
Interesting thread here on why being against Brexit may well not be a problem for Burnham.
https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3mmisszdyoc2h
My father, when in philosophical discussion with senior religious figures, in Northern Ireland, never hid his contempt for all religion. And was regarded with kind of bemused affection for it, as far as I could see.
“Sign here to support my solar farm. Here’s a small envelope of tenners.”
Has to be made of the lettes c, f, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z.
Not getting enough attention: the one-page order from Todd Blanche to wipe out every audit of Donald Trump.
Many experts believe it’s illegal, and here’s why.
Federal law prohibits the President or his aides from directing or halting an IRS audit. Agents who carry out a politically motivated audit, or stop one at the direction of the White House, can face prison time. That is the statute on the books.
Now look at what just happened.
Todd Blanche, the Acting Attorney General and Donald Trump’s former personal criminal defense lawyer, signed a one-page order demanding the IRS drop every existing audit of Trump, his family, and their “affiliates.” One of those audits reportedly could have cost Trump more than $100 million.
The Treasury Department’s top lawyer resigned over it.
The acting top IRS lawyer had to recuse himself because he previously represented Trump in his tax cases.
There is no precedent for an Attorney General ordering an end to audits of a group of taxpayers. Many experts say the Attorney General has no authority to do this.
So we have a likely illegal order, signed by the President’s former lawyer, on behalf of the President, protecting the President. And the only people with jurisdiction to investigate it work for the President.
https://x.com/MikeLevin/status/2058175259358998929
(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges
·
17m
To summarise what I found in Makerfield:
* It's Reform territory. In any other context this would be an easy Reform win
* The Burnham effect is real. Local people view him as one of their own.
* Restore have more of a presence that I anticipated. They may well be a factor
Though Levine was a real artist.
And he needs to remain in power until the statute of limitations means this is ancient history otherwise it makes sense for his replacement to throw Trump and his family to the wolves..
How did Chinese electric vehicles leave Detroit, Germany, and Japan in the dust? It isn’t just about cheap labor or massive factories. In this episode of Modern MBA, we break down the brutal economics and decade-long geopolitical playbook behind China’s unstoppable EV expansion that's left Western automakers are begging for protectionism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhhZu0ZHdw4
Posy Parker is reacting to a 'threat' that she has fabricated in her own imagination, by launching a common assault on a member of the public. A common assault is concern that an actual assault may be about to happen, which would then aiui be at least a battery once contact was made.
She is trying to justify her own narrative. Women wearing their chosen outfits are not a threat. If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature). Further, such clothing is only warn by a fraction of a percent of Muslim women.
Even if they were an element of coercion involved, it would be despicable behaviour to browbeat such a victim in the presence of their oppressor. But the claim of coercion would be overwhelmingly likely to be fake anyway.
Such behaviour - verbal assault - is what precedes violent attacks, particularly in the partisan climate we now have, and Parker - Kelly J Kean - needs to take a look at herself, do a sanity check, and wind her neck in. I think she's too far down Yaxley-Lennon type rabbit holes, and lost her way several years ago.
This behaviour is unacceptable and un-British. That's my view, anyway.
The job for the Dems if they ever win again is to fix all the exposed faults.
Could be a full four year term of work at this rate.
Jamie Hanlon, who was elected last May to represent the Penwithick and Boscoppa division in the St Austell area, will now sit on the council as a Stand Alone Independent.
Hanlon's resignation means the Reform UK group, which was elected with 28 members in May 2025 is now down to 21, a loss of a quarter of its elected councillors
* small print....must cancel before end of 7 days otherwise will be charged full price for next month.
EXCL: Rachel Reeves furiously rounded on Steve Reed after Cabinet this week – having a pop at him over not building enough homes.
An onlooker said it was a "very grumpy exchange".
Tensions are high in the Cabinet as many fear they could get the chop.
That means they are up to 25 since May 7th - 15 from the 2026 cohort, and 10 from the 2025 cohort. TBF there is a bit of "pre election backlog" involved.
To me this story seems to be breaking through far more than last year, for both RefUk and the Greens. I have heard items on it on 2-3 prominent podcasts (eg New Statesman, Private Eye) just in the last week.
Two things this government will be judged on: housing and stopping small boats.
If there is an element of coercion involved, which is highly unlikely since we know the large majority of Muslim women in the UK wearing Niqab or Burka do so of their own volition (see the academic literature), it would be terrible to intervene in that situation on the street by having a go at the victim.
Bonus: the % of Muslim women wearing the burka or niqab in the UK is about 0.1%.
This AI short-story scandal is the beginning of a new era for literature
By Nabeel S. Qureshi"
https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/2026/05/art-against-the-machine
Although, by then the voters might just be learning lessons.
Why is he flipping out this time? Because having decided that Reform are The Chosen Ones he doesn’t understand why or indeed how anyone could feel differently. And then when details of the counter opinion are aired he gets the arse and starts calling people the banhammer name.
If there was a recall petition and he had to fight a by-election in Clacton I’m sure he’d win but the media coverage of his grifting would be worth it .
One wonders how many other large donations are hiding away waiting for journalists to uncover .
https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/editorial-images/news/event/years-since-shock-election-win-for-edward-heath/81667647
There's also Maggie with an amazing hat that looks like one of those one-top-of-a-van ventilators.
👍
Once he stops being the Cowardly Leon I can go back to being the pompous old Hector you all expect.
I used to have to put up with Ishmael making crude comments about my relationship with my wife, archived, and also accusing of wanting to perform oral acts of love on Leon, also archived.
Did I cry ?
No.
Not a murmur from the mods here about it either. I wasn’t the only one. He only got a ban, IIRC, he called out a pollster.
Today is the first time I’ve ever mentioned that specific comment from Leon.
Granted I don't think it does them any favours but equally people make stupid decisions that cause themselves harm everyday.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/23/nigel-farage-i-will-scrap-income-tax-on-overtime/
1. Investigation recommends a suspension of more than 2 weeks
2. Parliament voted to support recommendation
3. Recall petition passes
4. By-election
If 1, then 2 seems certain. If 2, then 3 seems certain. Farage can stand in the by-election, but he will have been ejected from the Commons. So, it only really needs one event to happen, I suggest, not “a few”. Will the investigation find against him and recommend a sufficiently long suspension?
May 12;
https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/5544329#Comment_5544329
And there were more before that, but my notifications feed is filled with you calling me a 'moron'.
I was off PB. Before today, my last comment was October last year Yet you keep on tagging me as you insult me.
So seriously, you are the one with a problem. Some on here lament that there are not enough women posting on PB. I might suggest that the attitude of @Leon, yourself and others is somewhat to do with that.
A special shout out to HYFUD some of whose early posts, as a Scot I found pretty much offensive garbage, but who has settled in as the respected "Statto" and who - gasp- has posted stuff that I agree with.
Anyway - some bets please.
I mean Burnham is the winner of the most mediocre politician north of Birmingham, yet it really does seem like Labour will win, get him in, he becomes PM, there's a general Labour love fest and with one bound we're back in Narnia... Not great for the country necessarily, but at least it's back to incompetence, not Faragista treachery.
He’s delivering a non-stop political monologue. He’s very passionate and performatively (but one suspects not actually viscerally) angry. Only here’s the thing: it’s been 20 minutes now and I still can’t work out if he’s left wing or right wing.
He certainly doesn’t like Starmer. He seems to feel some affection for Russia. He’s posh, and very articulate. But he could equally be casting his ballots for Zack or Nigel. Is he @Dura_Ace or @Leon_VotedForStarmer ?
First 40 hours minimum wage the 41st hour £900 (can't be bothered to do exact maths but I think it works),.
Farage would presumably campaign on how the Establishment is out to get him, but it’s maybe a bit difficult railing against the Establishment when everyone knows you’ve been given £5 million.
Unless TSE bans me for liking Pineapple Pizza and the band who sing Creep I’ll hang around.
I actually do miss old Ishmael, cantankerous sod that he was, and wish him nothing but good. Someone here, Boulay IIRC, said he was doing a lot of travelling now.
I get the politics, I get the tummies being tickled (mostly those of those whose direct experience of the workplace ended some time ago), but it is, as my avatar put it, fucking mental.
Authoritarianism is not the sole preserve of the right, in America or anywhere else.