Is Putin going nuclear? Telling US and other foreigners to leave Kiev feels ominous
Apparently not:
"Russia has threatened to launch a fresh wave of "systematic strikes" against Kyiv, days after carrying out one of its largest attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war.
The new strikes will target "decision-making centres and command posts", alongside drone manufacturing facilities in the city, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Moscow has called for foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Kyiv "as soon as possible" and warned citizens to stay away from administrative and military buildings." BBC
Lowe’s personal attitude is no less objectionable. On the stump in Makerfield, he confirmed that he had once said he wanted to put illegal immigrants on a “midge-infested island … and let the midges do the rest”.
Robert Ford @robfordmancs · 39m No there will not be an early election. A man with 400 seats will not risk half of them three years early to satisfy columnists’ belief in mandate fairies.
I don't think anybody really believes there's a snowball's chance of it. It's mainly just partisan whinging and a way of implying the government is illegitimate and hoping some of that sticks. Certainly no-one who didn't call for a GE when Truss took over can argue there should be one now.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman privately told evangelical leader and Trump ally Mike Evans that he was ready to recognize Israel “today,” but that his father, King Salman, remained the obstacle.
Salman seems to have delegated all running of the country to his favourite son for a decade, it seems surprising that would be the main obstacle, but perhaps MBS has never felt the need to push the very old man before.
Lowe’s personal attitude is no less objectionable. On the stump in Makerfield, he confirmed that he had once said he wanted to put illegal immigrants on a “midge-infested island … and let the midges do the rest”.
Is Putin going nuclear? Telling US and other foreigners to leave Kiev feels ominous
Apparently not:
"Russia has threatened to launch a fresh wave of "systematic strikes" against Kyiv, days after carrying out one of its largest attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war.
The new strikes will target "decision-making centres and command posts", alongside drone manufacturing facilities in the city, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Moscow has called for foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Kyiv "as soon as possible" and warned citizens to stay away from administrative and military buildings." BBC
I guess he is trying to escalate as much as he can, escalation being his standard strategy, but there's not all that many steps in terms of escalation from where we are now to the nuclear option, especially since if he could throw a lot more at the war effort he presumably would already.
They appear to have stolen the design of one of the crappier Chinese EVs.
Aren't most of the batteries of Western EVs made in China anyway? Since that is the most vital component they're basically half (or more) chinese already if that is so.
(Completely OT) This weekend's R3 'Building a Library', on Brahm's second piano concerto, again picks (as it did around a decade ago) Stephen Kovacevich's 1979 recording.
My mum bought me the LP for my birthday, way back when, and I played it to death. She had (and still has) great taste.
Is Putin going nuclear? Telling US and other foreigners to leave Kiev feels ominous
Apparently not:
"Russia has threatened to launch a fresh wave of "systematic strikes" against Kyiv, days after carrying out one of its largest attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war.
The new strikes will target "decision-making centres and command posts"...
The issue is that Reform want to be seen as a serious party. So they really need to be serious about who they choose.
I could have told them not to choose Goodwin.
I'm on the record as having found Goodwin fairly unlikeable for a long time. But I don't think he did particularly badly in Gorton and Denton. The Tory and 'Advance UK' vote folded very well into the Reform vote, but the progressive and Muslim vote was too much. A cuddlier Reform candidate might have picked up a few more votes, but I still think would have lost.
Local elections have proved useful start points for by-election predictions and indeed for quite a lot of GE24, even if prior orthodoxy and analysis spoke to their limited usefulness.
I did quickly scoosh the G&D local results a couple of weeks ago and concluded that the Greens and Reform were about 3-4 points down on the by-election showing, and Labour only slightly down, though still edged into third overall, whilst Conservatives and others managed a slightly bigger slice.
That doesn't speak particularly to Goodwin being a personal liability at the by-election (or certainly not moreso than other hypothetical Reform candidates), so I think you have a point on this one.
They appear to have stolen the design of one of the crappier Chinese EVs.
Aren't most of the batteries of Western EVs made in China anyway? Since that is the most vital component they're basically half (or more) chinese already if that is so.
I remember noting here around a couple of decades back that the majority (by a long way) of materials science research papers were Chinese.
They are way ahead in battery tech, despite the west inventing it, and despite the west first industrialising production, because they realise that innovation is only a small, though essential part of manufacturing.
So the camper van was listed as an "asset" in the accounts, valued at just over £80,000. It spent its final days in Dunfermline before being impounded.
One wonders if Johnston Carmichael, the former auditors hired Zippy, George and Bungle for a spot of auditing during the period in question.
Joanna Cherry KC (former SNP MP) is illuminating on how the SNP high-ups sought to take down anyone who was concerned about the party's finances. Many of these are still at the top, including Kirsten Oswald, just returned to Holyrood. and given a ministerial job by Swinney.
Murrell's decision to plead guilty means, of course, that there will not be a trial and he won't be cross-examined. The bodies will remain well and truly buried. He's a bit more loyal to the SNP than he appears.
It's very hard to see how the Party Treasurer didn't know the money was missing and was unaware the accounts were misstated. And they they knew that, a quick check would tell them Murrell had stolen the money.
So the camper van was listed as an "asset" in the accounts, valued at just over £80,000. It spent its final days in Dunfermline before being impounded.
One wonders if Johnston Carmichael, the former auditors hired Zippy, George and Bungle for a spot of auditing during the period in question.
Joanna Cherry KC (former SNP MP) is illuminating on how the SNP high-ups sought to take down anyone who was concerned about the party's finances. Many of these are still at the top, including Kirsten Oswald, just returned to Holyrood. and given a ministerial job by Swinney.
Murrell's decision to plead guilty means, of course, that there will not be a trial and he won't be cross-examined. The bodies will remain well and truly buried. He's a bit more loyal to the SNP than he appears.
It's very hard to see how the Party Treasurer didn't know the money was missing and was unaware the accounts were misstated. And they they knew that, a quick check would tell them Murrell had stolen the money.
The other thing is there surely are not all that many staff and officials for the SNP is there? They are a major party, no question, with a lot of members, but how convoluted could the finances really be for the treasurer for a moderately sized entity? Why was the Chief Exec not the treasurer the only one who knew what was happening with all the various monies?
Oh well, no charges for Beattie, I guess he was just bad at his job.
So the Sturgeon fans on twitter line is because she didn't pass her driving test until in her 50s it means she definitely couldn't have known about any of these dodgy purchases.
Lowe’s personal attitude is no less objectionable. On the stump in Makerfield, he confirmed that he had once said he wanted to put illegal immigrants on a “midge-infested island … and let the midges do the rest”.
The phrase "an accident waiting to happen" is probably going to be used quite a lot in relation to this. Hope everyone recovers fully.
"Eight spectators taken to hospital after crash at Isle of Man TT Incident involving unnamed competitor occurs at exit of Parliament Square before free practice session is suspended"
They appear to have stolen the design of one of the crappier Chinese EVs.
Not a huge car nut, but I don't think I agree. This seems like a genuinely interesting car in engineering and design terms.
It's ugly.
More ugly than other Ferraris? The point of reference for this car will be how it compares with other Ferraris. As far as I can tell it has even more performance, probably handles better. while being more practical and comfortable, achieved through engineering and design.
(Government VAT holiday) it doesn’t apply to those zoos, heritage organisations, gardens, museums, galleries, historic sites and other attractions which are charities
They appear to have stolen the design of one of the crappier Chinese EVs.
Not a huge car nut, but I don't think I agree. This seems like a genuinely interesting car in engineering and design terms.
It's ugly.
More ugly than other Ferraris? The point of reference for this car will be how it compares with other Ferraris. As far as I can tell it has even more performance, probably handles better. while being more practical and comfortable, achieved through engineering and design.
Performance is semi-irrelevant now, since it's way beyond anything most drivers can handle.
An ugly Ferrari, though, is pointless. It's not even ugly in a good way.
When I saw the plumber, not a family man, and also not terrible looking and with quite a plausible expression to him that probably makes female customers think 'I can tame him', it crossed my mind that he was probably a massive shagger and that it could be an issue. Let's hope comments about Carol Vorderman's southern hemisphere are as bad as it gets.
Oh it gets worse. Here's some of what's already on wiki:
"Kenyon has described abortion as a "cowardly act of murdering a defenceless baby" and claimed that women make false rape accusations to access abortions.[24][25][26]
Kenyon was among several Reform UK politicians identified as being Facebook friends with an account belonging to Gary Raikes, a British fascist politician, in June 2024. Previously the leader of the British National Party in Scotland, Raikes founded and leads the New British Union, a neo-fascist group claiming to be a revival of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists that advocates for overthrowing parliamentary democracy via a "fascist revolution"..... Searchlight, which originally found Kenyon was Facebook friends with Raikes in 2024,[32][29] reported he was also friends on the same platform with Alex Eversfield, a neo-Nazi, and Robert Baggs, a leading member of the neo-fascist Homeland Party.[33]
Posts from Kenyon's Twitter account during the 2024 general election campaign focused heavily on immigration and later included commentary linking local crime, the UK's asylum policy, and the Southport murders to broader claims about immigration and policing. In the aftermath of the murders, he also interacted with and amplified posts from several far-right and alt-right commentators, such as Carl Benjamin and Eva Vlaardingerbroek.[9][34] Kenyon has also used Twitter to voice scepticism over the efficacy of a vaccine in reply to an NHS-run account and express support for Donald Trump.[9][34][35] Kenyon was banned from Twitter for breaking the platform's rules.[10][35][30] His posts on a second Twitter account included comments including voicing COVID-19 conspiracy theories, sexist and sexually explicit comments about women, including Carol Vorderman and women's rugby players, and violent and homophobic messages."
Some of those things are bad, but some are trumped up bilge.
'Facebook friends' doesn't indicate active participation in or even knowledge of their political campaigns, and if there were such information, it would be in this resume. I haven't got a clue what most of my Facebook friends are up to.
This - "[posts] focused heavily on immigration and later included commentary linking local crime, the UK's asylum policy, and the Southport murders to broader claims about immigration and policing." - are these things not linked to immigration and policing? That's a fairly bizarre 'allegation'.
And I question the validity of any source that lists using Twitter to 'express support for Donald Trump' as automatically some sort of crime.
Whoever wrote the above is pretty far down their own rabbit hole I would suggest.
Nevertheless, he is a bit of a messy candidate to be sure.
"Messy candidate"? Yeah, right.
First Goodwin, then this guy. Both seriously weird, and the very best Reform can find to contest massive by-elections.
The sad fact is that Reform have, basically, attracted a whole army of opportunists and wingnuts who, hitherto, would never have found a berth in a serious political party. But things have decayed to the point that there is, apparently, a not inconsiderable chance that they could end up in Govt. We have seen this in the USA - which is how lowlifes and nutcases like Lutnick, Witkoff and RFK are running the administration. We need to wake up.
Not 'the very best' that Reform could find in this case - the very best most local that they could find.
Anyway. We now know a lot (hopefully everything) about the plumber. None of it is remotely enough to finish him, so let's see how he deals with it.
You just try to bat it all away by describng him as "messy" and bang on about him being a "plumber" as if that's all there is. Just as Farage and Reform try to bat it all away, taking yet another leaf out of Trump's playbook. So it may not be enough to finish Kenyon, but only because he's the candidate for Reform. He'd have been long out of the door had he been the candidate of any other political party.
There is more than enough there to show that he is clearly an utterly vile person at an individual level and far right extremist to boot. And I think that when all this comes out properly, such that 77,000 people in Makerfield are all made aware of it which they will be, I think that enough of them will show that they have better standards than to elect a Reform candidate who's been caught messing around in the political sewer.
One reason I'm slightly sceptical about big tech is that they have proved utterly clueless in their choice of politician to buy and groom for the top job..
One reason I'm slightly sceptical about big tech is that they have proved utterly clueless in their choice of politician to buy and groom for the top job..
The phrase "an accident waiting to happen" is probably going to be used quite a lot in relation to this. Hope everyone recovers fully.
"Eight spectators taken to hospital after crash at Isle of Man TT Incident involving unnamed competitor occurs at exit of Parliament Square before free practice session is suspended"
They appear to have stolen the design of one of the crappier Chinese EVs.
Not a huge car nut, but I don't think I agree. This seems like a genuinely interesting car in engineering and design terms.
It's ugly.
I don't drive - it just looks like a regular car to me. But I think of a nice looking car through the window of old films - so a 1930s Bentley looks nice to me.
Who knew Don Jnr would prove such an exceptional businessman ?
1789 Capital, which counts Donald Trump Jr. as a partner, told the FT that its assets under management had jumped from $200 million to $3.5 billion over the past year as the firm has benefited from political connections. https://x.com/CREWcrew/status/2058382636272214179
Is Putin going nuclear? Telling US and other foreigners to leave Kiev feels ominous
Apparently not:
"Russia has threatened to launch a fresh wave of "systematic strikes" against Kyiv, days after carrying out one of its largest attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war.
The new strikes will target "decision-making centres and command posts", alongside drone manufacturing facilities in the city, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Moscow has called for foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Kyiv "as soon as possible" and warned citizens to stay away from administrative and military buildings." BBC
I guess he is trying to escalate as much as he can, escalation being his standard strategy, but there's not all that many steps in terms of escalation from where we are now to the nuclear option, especially since if he could throw a lot more at the war effort he presumably would already.
Maybe the remake of "Threads" is more timely than I gave it credit for.
They appear to have stolen the design of one of the crappier Chinese EVs.
Not a huge car nut, but I don't think I agree. This seems like a genuinely interesting car in engineering and design terms.
It's ugly.
I don't drive - it just looks like a regular car to me. But I think of a nice looking car through the window of old films - so a 1930s Bentley looks nice to me.
One reason I'm slightly sceptical about big tech is that they have proved utterly clueless in their choice of politician to buy and groom for the top job..
There must be a fair chance Trump does not make it to 2028 in which case Vance will already be President. Hardly a day goes by without fresh speculation as to Trump's mental and physical health.
OK. Just a quick look round finds this, for example:-
They appear to have stolen the design of one of the crappier Chinese EVs.
Not a huge car nut, but I don't think I agree. This seems like a genuinely interesting car in engineering and design terms.
It's ugly.
More ugly than other Ferraris? The point of reference for this car will be how it compares with other Ferraris. As far as I can tell it has even more performance, probably handles better. while being more practical and comfortable, achieved through engineering and design.
Performance is semi-irrelevant now, since it's way beyond anything most drivers can handle.
An ugly Ferrari, though, is pointless. It's not even ugly in a good way.
The EV Ferrari is the wrong colour, not red. It's yellow with black curves make it look like a banana from the side.
I just spent a totally unnecessary £33.90 on a taxi just to avoid a Rail Replacement Bus service.
That's how much I hate them.
What were you thinking! It’s an adventure!
Take the National Express when your life's in a mess It'll make you smile All human life is here From the feeble old dear to the screaming child From the student who knows that to have one of those Would be suicide To the family man Manhandling the pram with paternal pride And everybody sings, "Ba-ba-ba-da" We're going where the air is free On the National Express there's a jolly hostess Selling crisps and tea She'll provide you with drinks and theatrical winks For a sky-high fee Mini-skirts were in style when she danced down the aisle Back in '63 (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) But it's hard to get by when your arse is the size Of a small country And everybody sings, "Ba-ba-ba-da" We're going where the air is free Tomorrow belongs to me When you're sad and feeling blue With nothing better to do Don't just sit there feeling stressed Take a trip on the National Express On the National Express, let's go
The numbers who have arrived this year is now ~9000. Its down on previous 2 years at the same stage of the year, but up on the 2 years before that. Now, of course we had terrible weather for the first 3 months of the year.
I just spent a totally unnecessary £33.90 on a taxi just to avoid a Rail Replacement Bus service.
That's how much I hate them.
What were you thinking! It’s an adventure!
Take the National Express when your life's in a mess It'll make you smile All human life is here From the feeble old dear to the screaming child From the student who knows that to have one of those Would be suicide To the family man Manhandling the pram with paternal pride And everybody sings, "Ba-ba-ba-da" We're going where the air is free On the National Express there's a jolly hostess Selling crisps and tea She'll provide you with drinks and theatrical winks For a sky-high fee Mini-skirts were in style when she danced down the aisle Back in '63 (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) But it's hard to get by when your arse is the size Of a small country And everybody sings, "Ba-ba-ba-da" We're going where the air is free Tomorrow belongs to me When you're sad and feeling blue With nothing better to do Don't just sit there feeling stressed Take a trip on the National Express On the National Express, let's go
I just spent a totally unnecessary £33.90 on a taxi just to avoid a Rail Replacement Bus service.
That's how much I hate them.
What were you thinking! It’s an adventure!
Take the National Express when your life's in a mess It'll make you smile All human life is here From the feeble old dear to the screaming child From the student who knows that to have one of those Would be suicide To the family man Manhandling the pram with paternal pride And everybody sings, "Ba-ba-ba-da" We're going where the air is free On the National Express there's a jolly hostess Selling crisps and tea She'll provide you with drinks and theatrical winks For a sky-high fee Mini-skirts were in style when she danced down the aisle Back in '63 (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) But it's hard to get by when your arse is the size Of a small country And everybody sings, "Ba-ba-ba-da" We're going where the air is free Tomorrow belongs to me When you're sad and feeling blue With nothing better to do Don't just sit there feeling stressed Take a trip on the National Express On the National Express, let's go
"Social media is the new smoking, medical leaders say
Children are being continuously exposed to ‘hateful, addictive and grossly distressing content’, warns a study by the medical profession’s biggest voice" (£)
"On one level it’s not exactly surprising. The idea that large parts of the civil service would treat a Farage government with horror and seek to frustrate it is what many of Reform UK’s supporters have long suspected. But the sheer brazenness with which the Blob has now declared its hand is shocking and appalling in equal measure.
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
"On one level it’s not exactly surprising. The idea that large parts of the civil service would treat a Farage government with horror and seek to frustrate it is what many of Reform UK’s supporters have long suspected. But the sheer brazenness with which the Blob has now declared its hand is shocking and appalling in equal measure.
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
"On one level it’s not exactly surprising. The idea that large parts of the civil service would treat a Farage government with horror and seek to frustrate it is what many of Reform UK’s supporters have long suspected. But the sheer brazenness with which the Blob has now declared its hand is shocking and appalling in equal measure.
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
It will confirms what most of his supporters have long suspected, that the civil service is institutionally soft left, and has worked to frustrate that aims of right leaning governments for many years.
The massive opportunity it gives him is that it provides cover to bring forward a very short bill allowing the government to sack striking employees, and then sack them all (CF Regan and the air traffic controllers).
They will need sacking as anyone contemplating this sort of action is by very definition not suitable to be an impartial civil servant. It will also rid out almost all his civil service opponents in one go, which will make getting the remaining civil service to do his bidding much easier. And as a final bonus, the civil service needs halving in size anyway, and this will save the government a fortune in redundancy payments.
It might also have a salutory effect to "pour encourager les autres" with regard to any other statutory bodies or the like who fancy trying to put a spanner in his works.
The boss of Next has warned there has been a "dramatic fall" in the number of entry-level job opportunities in the UK.
Lord Wolfson told the BBC that just two years ago, Next typically received 10 applicants for every job in its shops, but that number had since risen to 19. "That doubling of applicants for shop jobs is indicative of just how big the crisis is in youth unemployment at the moment," he said. He also said a ban on zero-hours contracts from next year would make hiring more difficult.
The country can’t afford a summer of introspection and Labour infighting. And no-one is going to ‘lend’ Burgon their vote to broaden the debate, like Beckett idiotically did for Corbyn. If Burnham wins the by-election convincingly, it’s in Labour’s and our national interest to get him into number ten swiftly so he can crack on with the job. Even ambitious young Wes realises that and will be taking his grandmother down from eBay and grovelling to secure himself a ticket back to the cabinet table.
Wes is EBaying his grandmother?
Shocking!
As I explained before, selling your grandparents would incur massive capital gains liabilities.
You need to create Collateralised Elderly Relative Obligations (CERO), with physical delivery in a third party jurisdiction incurring no CGT. Then you trade them on an OTC market you step up.
Surely as a wasting asset with a lifespan of less than 50 years they would be CGT free unless you are pimping them out to Wayne Rooney?
Burnham will be coronated as I’ve thought for some time. He’ll be PM by the summer.
Coronated?
He's got to be electionated first.
He will be elected unopposed. It won’t even make it to the members. Starmer won’t stand against him.
I would hope otherwise, as I think the very process of testing things out is useful, but I think you are right.
Burnham (assuming he is elected) will arrive as the great saviour, making the MPs feel good that he can turn things around. Starmer will be told 200 MPs are already signed up to Andy, with more to follow, and he'll say he will stand down once a new leader is in place. At which point the Left say they will give Andy a shot, and Wes says please give me a job Andy.
And 3 months later everyone realises that Andy is a hollow mouthpiece with no original thoughts or plans.
"On one level it’s not exactly surprising. The idea that large parts of the civil service would treat a Farage government with horror and seek to frustrate it is what many of Reform UK’s supporters have long suspected. But the sheer brazenness with which the Blob has now declared its hand is shocking and appalling in equal measure.
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
It will confirms what most of his supporters have long suspected, that the civil service is institutionally soft left, and has worked to frustrate that aims of right leaning governments for many years.
The massive opportunity it gives him is that it provides cover to bring forward a very short bill allowing the government to sack striking employees, and then sack them all (CF Regan and the air traffic controllers).
They will need sacking as anyone contemplating this sort of action is by very definition not suitable to be an impartial civil servant. It will also rid out almost all his civil service opponents in one go, which will make getting the remaining civil service to do his bidding much easier. And as a final bonus, the civil service needs halving in size anyway, and this will save the government a fortune in redundancy payments.
It might also have a salutory effect to "pour encourager les autres" with regard to any other statutory bodies or the like who fancy trying to put a spanner in his works.
Aiui the PCS does not represent the Sir Humphrey layer of civil servant, whose independence has already been undermined by SpAds and, since the Cameron government, by the Prime Minister deciding their appointment (as we have recently seen with Keir Starmer throwing various of them under the bus),
"On one level it’s not exactly surprising. The idea that large parts of the civil service would treat a Farage government with horror and seek to frustrate it is what many of Reform UK’s supporters have long suspected. But the sheer brazenness with which the Blob has now declared its hand is shocking and appalling in equal measure.
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
"On one level it’s not exactly surprising. The idea that large parts of the civil service would treat a Farage government with horror and seek to frustrate it is what many of Reform UK’s supporters have long suspected. But the sheer brazenness with which the Blob has now declared its hand is shocking and appalling in equal measure.
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
"On one level it’s not exactly surprising. The idea that large parts of the civil service would treat a Farage government with horror and seek to frustrate it is what many of Reform UK’s supporters have long suspected. But the sheer brazenness with which the Blob has now declared its hand is shocking and appalling in equal measure.
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
Back in 1998 on my first work visit to New York two work colleagues took me to Madison Square Garden to see the Basketball.
I had no expectation that night but a love affair with the New York Knicks was kindle. Not unlike my Football love affair with Birmingham City many dark days emerged year after year, a few bright days, the love deepens through adversity and disappointment.
After nearly 30 years and at least one trip each season to take in a game or two, the past few years have seen a dream become a reality.
The Nicks got better and better and better
Finally a win of the Eastern Championship, based on 11 successive victories, a few amazing comebacks, a white washing the Eastern Division 4 to 0 in semi finals and final, watching a short assed midget, by basketball standards at just over 6 feet tall, Jalen Brunson, mesmerising night after night.
My dreams nearly fulfilled late in life, only the Western Champions to beat now for the first ticker tape New York day in decades.
Sat watching the sun rise over Brixham the birds starting to chirp, tears streaming down my face. Any sports fan of an underdog will get it.
But but but this is beyond special for me, as I look up to heaven and share the moment with those two mates...
Mark and Robin tragically taken from us on 11 September 2001 in Tower 2, this is for you... Thank You for that first night at MSG... This is truly special for us all
Burnham will be coronated as I’ve thought for some time. He’ll be PM by the summer.
Coronated?
He's got to be electionated first.
He will be elected unopposed. It won’t even make it to the members. Starmer won’t stand against him.
I would hope otherwise, as I think the very process of testing things out is useful, but I think you are right.
Burnham (assuming he is elected) will arrive as the great saviour, making the MPs feel good that he can turn things around. Starmer will be told 200 MPs are already signed up to Andy, with more to follow, and he'll say he will stand down once a new leader is in place. At which point the Left say they will give Andy a shot, and Wes says please give me a job Andy.
And 3 months later everyone realises that Andy is a hollow mouthpiece with no original thoughts or plans.
When I saw the plumber, not a family man, and also not terrible looking and with quite a plausible expression to him that probably makes female customers think 'I can tame him', it crossed my mind that he was probably a massive shagger and that it could be an issue. Let's hope comments about Carol Vorderman's southern hemisphere are as bad as it gets.
Oh it gets worse. Here's some of what's already on wiki:
"Kenyon has described abortion as a "cowardly act of murdering a defenceless baby" and claimed that women make false rape accusations to access abortions.[24][25][26]
Kenyon was among several Reform UK politicians identified as being Facebook friends with an account belonging to Gary Raikes, a British fascist politician, in June 2024. Previously the leader of the British National Party in Scotland, Raikes founded and leads the New British Union, a neo-fascist group claiming to be a revival of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists that advocates for overthrowing parliamentary democracy via a "fascist revolution"..... Searchlight, which originally found Kenyon was Facebook friends with Raikes in 2024,[32][29] reported he was also friends on the same platform with Alex Eversfield, a neo-Nazi, and Robert Baggs, a leading member of the neo-fascist Homeland Party.[33]
Posts from Kenyon's Twitter account during the 2024 general election campaign focused heavily on immigration and later included commentary linking local crime, the UK's asylum policy, and the Southport murders to broader claims about immigration and policing. In the aftermath of the murders, he also interacted with and amplified posts from several far-right and alt-right commentators, such as Carl Benjamin and Eva Vlaardingerbroek.[9][34] Kenyon has also used Twitter to voice scepticism over the efficacy of a vaccine in reply to an NHS-run account and express support for Donald Trump.[9][34][35] Kenyon was banned from Twitter for breaking the platform's rules.[10][35][30] His posts on a second Twitter account included comments including voicing COVID-19 conspiracy theories, sexist and sexually explicit comments about women, including Carol Vorderman and women's rugby players, and violent and homophobic messages."
He’s starting to remind me of someone, but I can’t place the name…
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman privately told evangelical leader and Trump ally Mike Evans that he was ready to recognize Israel “today,” but that his father, King Salman, remained the obstacle.
Salman seems to have delegated all running of the country to his favourite son for a decade, it seems surprising that would be the main obstacle, but perhaps MBS has never felt the need to push the very old man before.
I just spent a totally unnecessary £33.90 on a taxi just to avoid a Rail Replacement Bus service.
That's how much I hate them.
What were you thinking! It’s an adventure!
Take the National Express when your life's in a mess It'll make you smile All human life is here From the feeble old dear to the screaming child From the student who knows that to have one of those Would be suicide To the family man Manhandling the pram with paternal pride And everybody sings, "Ba-ba-ba-da" We're going where the air is free On the National Express there's a jolly hostess Selling crisps and tea She'll provide you with drinks and theatrical winks For a sky-high fee Mini-skirts were in style when she danced down the aisle Back in '63 (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) But it's hard to get by when your arse is the size Of a small country And everybody sings, "Ba-ba-ba-da" We're going where the air is free Tomorrow belongs to me When you're sad and feeling blue With nothing better to do Don't just sit there feeling stressed Take a trip on the National Express On the National Express, let's go
When I saw the plumber, not a family man, and also not terrible looking and with quite a plausible expression to him that probably makes female customers think 'I can tame him', it crossed my mind that he was probably a massive shagger and that it could be an issue. Let's hope comments about Carol Vorderman's southern hemisphere are as bad as it gets.
Oh it gets worse. Here's some of what's already on wiki:
"Kenyon has described abortion as a "cowardly act of murdering a defenceless baby" and claimed that women make false rape accusations to access abortions.[24][25][26]
Kenyon was among several Reform UK politicians identified as being Facebook friends with an account belonging to Gary Raikes, a British fascist politician, in June 2024. Previously the leader of the British National Party in Scotland, Raikes founded and leads the New British Union, a neo-fascist group claiming to be a revival of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists that advocates for overthrowing parliamentary democracy via a "fascist revolution"..... Searchlight, which originally found Kenyon was Facebook friends with Raikes in 2024,[32][29] reported he was also friends on the same platform with Alex Eversfield, a neo-Nazi, and Robert Baggs, a leading member of the neo-fascist Homeland Party.[33]
Posts from Kenyon's Twitter account during the 2024 general election campaign focused heavily on immigration and later included commentary linking local crime, the UK's asylum policy, and the Southport murders to broader claims about immigration and policing. In the aftermath of the murders, he also interacted with and amplified posts from several far-right and alt-right commentators, such as Carl Benjamin and Eva Vlaardingerbroek.[9][34] Kenyon has also used Twitter to voice scepticism over the efficacy of a vaccine in reply to an NHS-run account and express support for Donald Trump.[9][34][35] Kenyon was banned from Twitter for breaking the platform's rules.[10][35][30] His posts on a second Twitter account included comments including voicing COVID-19 conspiracy theories, sexist and sexually explicit comments about women, including Carol Vorderman and women's rugby players, and violent and homophobic messages."
He’s starting to remind me of someone, but I can’t place the name…
Looks like typically bizarre Reform Candidate Vetting...or are they trying to make a point that the eloctorate will vote for anyone they put up?
The boss of Next has warned there has been a "dramatic fall" in the number of entry-level job opportunities in the UK.
Lord Wolfson told the BBC that just two years ago, Next typically received 10 applicants for every job in its shops, but that number had since risen to 19. "That doubling of applicants for shop jobs is indicative of just how big the crisis is in youth unemployment at the moment," he said. He also said a ban on zero-hours contracts from next year would make hiring more difficult.
"On one level it’s not exactly surprising. The idea that large parts of the civil service would treat a Farage government with horror and seek to frustrate it is what many of Reform UK’s supporters have long suspected. But the sheer brazenness with which the Blob has now declared its hand is shocking and appalling in equal measure.
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
It will confirms what most of his supporters have long suspected, that the civil service is institutionally soft left, and has worked to frustrate that aims of right leaning governments for many years.
The massive opportunity it gives him is that it provides cover to bring forward a very short bill allowing the government to sack striking employees, and then sack them all (CF Regan and the air traffic controllers).
They will need sacking as anyone contemplating this sort of action is by very definition not suitable to be an impartial civil servant. It will also rid out almost all his civil service opponents in one go, which will make getting the remaining civil service to do his bidding much easier. And as a final bonus, the civil service needs halving in size anyway, and this will save the government a fortune in redundancy payments.
It might also have a salutory effect to "pour encourager les autres" with regard to any other statutory bodies or the like who fancy trying to put a spanner in his works.
"On one level it’s not exactly surprising. The idea that large parts of the civil service would treat a Farage government with horror and seek to frustrate it is what many of Reform UK’s supporters have long suspected. But the sheer brazenness with which the Blob has now declared its hand is shocking and appalling in equal measure.
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
It will confirms what most of his supporters have long suspected, that the civil service is institutionally soft left, and has worked to frustrate that aims of right leaning governments for many years.
The massive opportunity it gives him is that it provides cover to bring forward a very short bill allowing the government to sack striking employees, and then sack them all (CF Regan and the air traffic controllers).
They will need sacking as anyone contemplating this sort of action is by very definition not suitable to be an impartial civil servant. It will also rid out almost all his civil service opponents in one go, which will make getting the remaining civil service to do his bidding much easier. And as a final bonus, the civil service needs halving in size anyway, and this will save the government a fortune in redundancy payments.
It might also have a salutory effect to "pour encourager les autres" with regard to any other statutory bodies or the like who fancy trying to put a spanner in his works.
Well that's straight up nonsense. Are you saying civil servants have no right to take industrial action in the face of their employer seeking mass redundancies ?
While you might be right that such action turns out to be counterproductive, I don't see how it can fairly be described as a breach of impartiality.
Who knew Don Jnr would prove such an exceptional businessman ?
1789 Capital, which counts Donald Trump Jr. as a partner, told the FT that its assets under management had jumped from $200 million to $3.5 billion over the past year as the firm has benefited from political connections. https://x.com/CREWcrew/status/2058382636272214179
Billions. Makes Peter Murrell’s fraud look trivial in comparison.
The boss of Next has warned there has been a "dramatic fall" in the number of entry-level job opportunities in the UK.
Lord Wolfson told the BBC that just two years ago, Next typically received 10 applicants for every job in its shops, but that number had since risen to 19. "That doubling of applicants for shop jobs is indicative of just how big the crisis is in youth unemployment at the moment," he said. He also said a ban on zero-hours contracts from next year would make hiring more difficult.
Whilst I don't doubt what he says, how many of that rise in applications is driven by AI?
I hear pretty universally now that this has ballooned job applications as it's significantly lowered the barriers to submission.
We know job vacancies are down and unemployment is up. The rest is just fluff. There could be an AI component, or pressure from JobCentres, or from the cost of living crisis. It doesn't really affect the fundamentals.
If the PCS really wanted to screw over a Fukker government, they should order all civil servants to work as hard and diligently as they could for it.
Most of them would epically screw up and the policy would either never happen or have the exact opposite effect of what was intended.
And the competent ones would implement policies that would just backfire spectacularly or be a mess anyway because the Fukkers are madder than Lettuce Lady.
When Nicola Sturgeon visited a jeweller's shop in Shetland in 2019, her husband told its owner he was "the man with the money". At the time Peter Murrell was the chief executive of the SNP, while his wife was party leader and Scotland's first minister. During the trip to Shetland Jewellery as part of a by-election campaign, he bought her a 9ct gold pendant depicting the Northern Lights. Seven years later that necklace is one of hundreds of items Murrell has admitted purchasing using cash he embezzled from the SNP.
If the PCS really wanted to screw over a Fukker government, they should order all civil servants to work as hard and diligently as they could for it.
Most of them would epically screw up and the policy would either never happen or have the exact opposite effect of what was intended.
And the competent ones would implement policies that would just backfire spectacularly or be a mess anyway because the Fukkers are madder than Lettuce Lady.
The PCS primarily represents administrative, operational, and technical grades. So, the people doing day-to-day jobs in HMRC, Border Force, DWP etc. They are not the people implementing government policy. The people you’re thinking of are in the FDA.
If the PCS really wanted to screw over a Fukker government, they should order all civil servants to work as hard and diligently as they could for it.
Most of them would epically screw up and the policy would either never happen or have the exact opposite effect of what was intended.
And the competent ones would implement policies that would just backfire spectacularly or be a mess anyway because the Fukkers are madder than Lettuce Lady.
The PCS primarily represents administrative, operational, and technical grades. So, the people doing day-to-day jobs in HMRC, Border Force, DWP etc. They are not the people implementing government policy. The people you’re thinking of are in the FDA.
Having been a civil servant I know what the grades are, thanks.
And I stand by my statement. You might be surprised at how many truly incredibly stupid and incompetent people there are in the lower grades and how many screw ups happen there. My personal favourite was the one who accidentally taxed a government facility at ten times the correct rate for five years, and nobody noticed.
The FDA members are a different matter and will just screw things up all the time anyway because they are so arrogant.
These old chaps are going to get a shock when Nigel uses the US insurance model to fund healthcare.
Well we know immigration is the biggest issue in Makerfield, hence Reform and Restore combined are polling more than Burnham.
Fortunately for Burnham Lowe so despises Farage he is going all out with the Restore campaign in the by election so that Burnham still leads Reform narrowly entirely due to the split on the nationalist right
One reason I'm slightly sceptical about big tech is that they have proved utterly clueless in their choice of politician to buy and groom for the top job..
"On one level it’s not exactly surprising. The idea that large parts of the civil service would treat a Farage government with horror and seek to frustrate it is what many of Reform UK’s supporters have long suspected. But the sheer brazenness with which the Blob has now declared its hand is shocking and appalling in equal measure.
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
It will confirms what most of his supporters have long suspected, that the civil service is institutionally soft left, and has worked to frustrate that aims of right leaning governments for many years.
The massive opportunity it gives him is that it provides cover to bring forward a very short bill allowing the government to sack striking employees, and then sack them all (CF Regan and the air traffic controllers).
They will need sacking as anyone contemplating this sort of action is by very definition not suitable to be an impartial civil servant. It will also rid out almost all his civil service opponents in one go, which will make getting the remaining civil service to do his bidding much easier. And as a final bonus, the civil service needs halving in size anyway, and this will save the government a fortune in redundancy payments.
It might also have a salutory effect to "pour encourager les autres" with regard to any other statutory bodies or the like who fancy trying to put a spanner in his works.
Well that's straight up nonsense. Are you saying civil servants have no right to take industrial action in the face of their employer seeking mass redundancies ?
While you might be right that such action turns out to be counterproductive, I don't see how it can fairly be described as a breach of impartiality.
But in this case it’s strike action simply because they don’t like the govt that has been elected.
They don’t even know what the policy platform is at the moment.
Comments
"Russia has threatened to launch a fresh wave of "systematic strikes" against Kyiv, days after carrying out one of its largest attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the war.
The new strikes will target "decision-making centres and command posts", alongside drone manufacturing facilities in the city, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Moscow has called for foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Kyiv "as soon as possible" and warned citizens to stay away from administrative and military buildings." BBC
Imagine the savings if Government jettisoned all those unreliable old 100 grand Range Rovers in favour of BYD Seals.
Lowe’s personal attitude is no less objectionable. On the stump in Makerfield, he confirmed that he had once said he wanted to put illegal immigrants on a “midge-infested island … and let the midges do the rest”.
https://www.thetimes.com/article/cc7683a6-e5e4-4a64-a54a-32bc322fdf0b?shareToken=c8ff0ff551eddd6fad48c77ff8dfb2a
Thin-skinned, these national populist types.
However, Mum just called me a snowflake for wanting to turn the fan on.
https://x.com/CARandDRIVER/status/2059004096288338278?s=20
They appear to have stolen the design of one of the crappier Chinese EVs.
Hmmm...
The Cybertruck is certainly distinctive, albeit in a bad way.
My mum bought me the LP for my birthday, way back when, and I played it to death.
She had (and still has) great taste.
More evidence that the 80s were peak music ?
I did quickly scoosh the G&D local results a couple of weeks ago and concluded that the Greens and Reform were about 3-4 points down on the by-election showing, and Labour only slightly down, though still edged into third overall, whilst Conservatives and others managed a slightly bigger slice.
That doesn't speak particularly to Goodwin being a personal liability at the by-election (or certainly not moreso than other hypothetical Reform candidates), so I think you have a point on this one.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/25/what-sturgeon-husband-bought-with-snp-donations/
a Montblanc money clip for £225....
They are way ahead in battery tech, despite the west inventing it, and despite the west first industrialising production, because they realise that innovation is only a small, though essential part of manufacturing.
Not such a bad egg after all.
Oh well, no charges for Beattie, I guess he was just bad at his job.
We can leave Lowe there for a year, just to test it out.
"Eight spectators taken to hospital after crash at Isle of Man TT
Incident involving unnamed competitor occurs at exit of Parliament Square before free practice session is suspended"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2026/05/25/eight-spectators-taken-to-hospital-crash-isle-of-man-tt/
https://x.com/bernarddonoghue/status/2058968883424301394?s=20
An ugly Ferrari, though, is pointless.
It's not even ugly in a good way.
There is more than enough there to show that he is clearly an utterly vile person at an individual level and far right extremist to boot. And I think that when all this comes out properly, such that 77,000 people in Makerfield are all made aware of it which they will be, I think that enough of them will show that they have better standards than to elect a Reform candidate who's been caught messing around in the political sewer.
VANCE CONSIDERS ABANDONING 2028 PRESIDENTIAL RUN, SOURCES SAY
https://x.com/NewsWire_US/status/2058998898794877215
1789 Capital, which counts Donald Trump Jr. as a partner, told the FT that its assets under management had jumped from $200 million to $3.5 billion over the past year as the firm has benefited from political connections.
https://x.com/CREWcrew/status/2058382636272214179
Woo.
OK. Just a quick look round finds this, for example:-
Trump returns to hospital for THIRD time in 13 months as ex-White House doctors sound alarm
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15846709/Trump-fresh-health-storm-returns-hospital-time-13-months-Mental-sharpness-scores-collapse.html
Take the National Express when your life's in a mess
It'll make you smile
All human life is here
From the feeble old dear to the screaming child
From the student who knows that to have one of those
Would be suicide
To the family man
Manhandling the pram with paternal pride
And everybody sings, "Ba-ba-ba-da"
We're going where the air is free
On the National Express there's a jolly hostess
Selling crisps and tea
She'll provide you with drinks and theatrical winks
For a sky-high fee
Mini-skirts were in style when she danced down the aisle
Back in '63 (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
But it's hard to get by when your arse is the size
Of a small country
And everybody sings, "Ba-ba-ba-da"
We're going where the air is free
Tomorrow belongs to me
When you're sad and feeling blue
With nothing better to do
Don't just sit there feeling stressed
Take a trip on the National Express
On the National Express, let's go
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dover/news/more-than-900-cross-channel-over-bank-holiday-weekend-340728/
Children are being continuously exposed to ‘hateful, addictive and grossly distressing content’, warns a study by the medical profession’s biggest voice" (£)
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/social-media/article/social-media-the-new-smoking-hlfrrk83q
Civil servants’ largest trade union, PCS, has been debating a motion to ‘counter a hostile Reform government’ with ‘sustained industrial action’. If the motion is approved, the union’s ruling NEC would draw up a resistance strategy by the end of the year. In other words, they are considering going on strike if Farage wins the next election."
https://spectator.com/article/the-blob-is-already-getting-ready-to-take-down-reform/
US military says it has launched new strikes on southern Iran
How can anyone sensible think this war is over?
It will confirms what most of his supporters have long suspected, that the civil service is institutionally soft left, and has worked to frustrate that aims of right leaning governments for many years.
The massive opportunity it gives him is that it provides cover to bring forward a very short bill allowing the government to sack striking employees, and then sack them all (CF Regan and the air traffic controllers).
They will need sacking as anyone contemplating this sort of action is by very definition not suitable to be an impartial civil servant. It will also rid out almost all his civil service opponents in one go, which will make getting the remaining civil service to do his bidding much easier. And as a final bonus, the civil service needs halving in size anyway, and this will save the government a fortune in redundancy payments.
It might also have a salutory effect to "pour encourager les autres" with regard to any other statutory bodies or the like who fancy trying to put a spanner in his works.
Lord Wolfson told the BBC that just two years ago, Next typically received 10 applicants for every job in its shops, but that number had since risen to 19. "That doubling of applicants for shop jobs is indicative of just how big the crisis is in youth unemployment at the moment," he said. He also said a ban on zero-hours contracts from next year would make hiring more difficult.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2024r6lzyro
https://youtu.be/nwTjPhZAeIU?si=5vr9UbcJ2uhbcaaG
Immigration, immigration, immigration.
These old chaps are going to get a shock when Nigel uses the US insurance model to fund healthcare.
It isn't political to strike in such circumstances, it is a perfectly normal workplace industrial action. Here is Danny Kruger on Reform's plans.
https://preparingforgovernment.com/fixing-the-centre
Back in 1998 on my first work visit to New York two work colleagues took me to Madison Square Garden to see the Basketball.
I had no expectation that night but a love affair with the New York Knicks was kindle. Not unlike my Football love affair with Birmingham City many dark days emerged year after year, a few bright days, the love deepens through adversity and disappointment.
After nearly 30 years and at least one trip each season to take in a game or two, the past few years have seen a dream become a reality.
The Nicks got better and better and better
Finally a win of the Eastern Championship, based on 11 successive victories, a few amazing comebacks, a white washing the Eastern Division 4 to 0 in semi finals and final, watching a short assed midget, by basketball standards at just over 6 feet tall, Jalen Brunson, mesmerising night after night.
My dreams nearly fulfilled late in life, only the Western Champions to beat now for the first ticker tape New York day in decades.
Sat watching the sun rise over Brixham the birds starting to chirp, tears streaming down my face. Any sports fan of an underdog will get it.
But but but this is beyond special for me, as I look up to heaven and share the moment with those two mates...
Mark and Robin tragically taken from us on 11 September 2001 in Tower 2, this is for you... Thank You for that first night at MSG... This is truly special for us all
Go Knicks...
In this survey 61% of Americans earning over $200 000 are looking at getting out, more or less 50/50 in terms of politics.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2026/05/22/rich-americans-collect-citizenships-uncertain-times/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
Coming here soon too, no doubt, with the prospect of our own Trump in number 10.
An Italian cybertruck?
I hear pretty universally now that this has ballooned job applications as it's significantly lowered the barriers to submission.
Are you saying civil servants have no right to take industrial action in the face of their employer seeking mass redundancies ?
While you might be right that such action turns out to be counterproductive, I don't see how it can fairly be described as a breach of impartiality.
Most of them would epically screw up and the policy would either never happen or have the exact opposite effect of what was intended.
And the competent ones would implement policies that would just backfire spectacularly or be a mess anyway because the Fukkers are madder than Lettuce Lady.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg5pp2pee7go
https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308465
And I stand by my statement. You might be surprised at how many truly incredibly stupid and incompetent people there are in the lower grades and how many screw ups happen there. My personal favourite was the one who accidentally taxed a government facility at ten times the correct rate for five years, and nobody noticed.
The FDA members are a different matter and will just screw things up all the time anyway because they are so arrogant.
Fortunately for Burnham Lowe so despises Farage he is going all out with the Restore campaign in the by election so that Burnham still leads Reform narrowly entirely due to the split on the nationalist right
https://www.irishtimes.com/world/us/2026/05/25/vance-stakes-claim-for-republican-nomination-but-midterms-may-decide-who-is-trumps-heir-apparent/
But in this case it’s strike action simply because they don’t like the govt that has been elected.
They don’t even know what the policy platform is at the moment.
Already sweltering. Hoping things can cool down rather a lot on Wednesday.