Cabinet ministers attempted to conceal their messages with Lord Mandelson from Parliament, The Telegraph can reveal.
Government officials dealing with the Mandelson files were forced to ask ministers to hand over their messages more than once, after initial reluctance. Under the terms of a “humble address” motion drafted by the Conservatives in February, ministers, officials and special advisers were required to submit all WhatsApp and email messages exchanged with Lord Mandelson.
Another good header from Cyclefree, which along with the majority of PBers (and probably the rest of the public, too) I'm in sympathy with.
Two comments here - while she is right to condemn the "cheeseparing' when it comes to compensation, the figures government pays out in compensation every year are quite significant. It's difficult to get a total figure, as government doesn't publish one, but it's likely well over £5bn excluding exceptional cases like the blood, and Post Office scandals. I'm not sure what conclusion to draw from that, other than just doing stuff better would save us an awful lot of money.
Secondly, it seems to me that there's little reason we shouldn't pick out the most senior figures in the PO scandal who are most clearly likely to have been in breach of the law, and save years of investigation by concentrating on investigating and prosecuting them first. That ought to be doable with existing resources.
When government fucks up, the money should be there to right that (invariably) egregious wrong.
No ifs, no buts. Imagine you or a loved one on the end of that "cheeseparing". Yep, we'd both be incandescent.
Worth remembering that in 2003 Alan Bates wrote a letter to the then Chief Executive, Allan Leighton, which set out concisely the 2 key problems with Horizon which it later took a judge over 500 pages to explain in 2019. Had his complaints - and he was in effect a whistleblower - been looked into properly, had they had a Cyclefree Investigations Team, much agony and eye watering cost would have been avoided. The PO's investigations team was nothing of the kind. A decade was lost because so-called managers did not know how to deal with a complaint. This is - to me - a level of incompetence which should never be tolerated, let alone rewarded in the way that it has been. Leighton should be in the stocks quite as much as Vennells.
A decade was lost in the case of Malkinson too.
The blood contamination case is even worse. I've read the report. It makes you weep. I and my brother have a rare blood condition and we were treated for it at the Royal Free's haemophilia unit run by Dr Kernoff. He was one of the doctors who warned government about the problem with infected blood products. It was our sheer good fortune that we did not get treated with any of the infected blood. I have lost all trust in the authorities to behave with any sense of decency towards me should something dreadful be done to me by those authorities. Such good behaviour as there is comes from individuals trying to behave professionally within a system which either makes this harder than it need be or does not reward or value it. And it is incidentally one reason why I am against AD - give the state the power to suggest suicide to those people who will cost it a lot to treat or help (like me, now) and that power will, without question, be abused - no matter what any procedure says.
I think you’re mixing up the two versions of Horizon there. The earlier EPOSS version - generally called legacy horizon, would be the version that was being written about in 2003. Everybody in the business knew back then that it didn’t work; I remember sitting down to lunch in the canteen with people working on it, who were in despair at all its bugs. So if Bates wrote about it, he wasn’t telling the business anything it didn’t already know. The later Fujitsu Horizon was a different beast entirely.
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
Like socialism, it will always be different the next time.
Lol! ...unlike Neoliberalism which is always the same old failure.
True. We need socialism. Let’s make everyone poorer. That’s just the ticket.
Finish your new build and it can be turned over to a hippy commune 👍
It's all done Taz. We moved in in February. Nine months to build from digging the first sod to moving in. We're now working on the garden which is very fulfilling.
No hippies on site or in sight.
Nice one
I did look at the webpage a couple of times after you mentioned it it.
Good article @Cyclefree . It is good to see you still writing articles. How are you feeling?
It's been a tough few months this year, frankly. Hip and leg pain which has made mobility difficult and which no-one seems to know the cause of. Going for a walk is slower and more painful than I would like and that, coupled with learning for the first time that the cancer is in my lungs as well has rather depressed me. And I have had two bad falls - which is also a pain.
OTOH it has accelerated my garden creation with some mesmeringly beautiful and high stone raised beds near completion, the Gertrude Jekyll roses are doing brilliantly, the garden room - designed by me (afternoon tea below plus roses) - is finished, my book proposal is coming along well, am doing lots of other writing and my humour has become blacker than ever. Also reading lots of great books. Plus today I bought two rather nice paintings by a local and very good artist, Jim Billsborough. There is an exhibition this weekend of his work at the local church which was sketched by Turner.
Oh - and I have still written vastly more headers than you! 295 in fact.
PS Thames Water are utter scumbags.
Do you have carers coming round to check on you? I know benefits vary between areas but you may be entitled to more than you are currently claiming.
Goodness I'm not at that stage yet. I don't claim any benefits, other than free parking at the hospital. Hadn't even occurred to me. I have my 24 hour cancer hotline number. And I have a husband. I am determined to live as active and independent life as I can until the end. Hence the raised beds are 600 mm high so that there is limited bending. I am hoping to get it to such a stage that next year I can open it for viewing and plant sales/teas to raise money for our local hospice.
Fair enough, but it's there if you need it and don't be too proud to claim: it's what it's there for.
Never realised employer NIC was higher than corporation tax take. That to my mind is very very worrying
I'll try and work it out for my employer but it shows (I think) people either work for teeny tiny companies or megacorps that both (In different ways) don't particularly raise much corp tax. A big old hollowing of the middle
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
England 1688.
Regime change imposed by the West?
1688 was regime change driven from within, which is a completely different beast.
It was an invasion to support one domestic faction against another. Much like backing the northern alliance in Afghanistan.
William III was a Johnny Foreigner usurper. Discuss.
I'm still a fan of 90s and 00s Blair and think he remains impressive. However he is now a political version of the typical aging bloke who thinks the only good music was from their own era. Blair thinks the answers are just to repeat what worked back then, but the challenges and opportunities are quite different today and over the next couple of decades. He is still worth listening to but he will often be wrong nowadays.
If Blair was still PM today, having served continuously since 1997, we'd probably all be better off for it, not so much because he's so amazing, but because everyone else has been so disappointing.
Never realised employer NIC was higher than corporation tax take. That to my mind is very very worrying
And people wonder why we have so many young people not in work, its bloody expensive to employ people.
The core issue is that really businesses should be mainly taxed on profits with some contributions towards workers benefits. However, mega corps have taken the piss over taxes on profits, so governments have focused more and more on turn over taxes. This does help extract more money from your serial offenders Amazon's and Starbucks, but absolutely kills small business and particularly small business trying to become a medium business. Its really bad in sectors like hospitality where you need high staffing, there is the VAT issue, etc.
Never realised employer NIC was higher than corporation tax take. That to my mind is very very worrying
It's a really informative way of displaying tax distribution. Most people don't have a good sense of the relative magnitudes of the major (and minor) taxes - in the same way we're often very bad at estimating how our taxes are spent.
I'm still a fan of 90s and 00s Blair and think he remains impressive. However he is now a political version of the typical aging bloke who thinks the only good music was from their own era. Blair thinks the answers are just to repeat what worked back then, but the challenges and opportunities are quite different today and over the next couple of decades. He is still worth listening to but he will often be wrong nowadays.
If Blair was still PM today, having served continuously since 1997, we'd probably all be better off for it, not so much because he's so amazing, but because everyone else has been so disappointing.
There are only so many US military misadventures that we could have participated in.
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
Never realised employer NIC was higher than corporation tax take. That to my mind is very very worrying
It's a really informative way of displaying tax distribution. Most people don't have a good sense of the relative magnitudes of the major (and minor) taxes - in the same way we're often very bad at estimating how our taxes are spent.
They really don't when it comes to other people and businesses. Hence the easy slogan of tax the rich...as if they aren't being taxed a lot already and make up a huge proportion of particularly all of income tax revenue. Mr Haaland is paying more tax in a year than 100s of people will ever pay in income tax combined.
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
England 1688.
Regime change imposed by the West?
1688 was regime change driven from within, which is a completely different beast.
It was an invasion to support one domestic faction against another. Much like backing the northern alliance in Afghanistan.
William III was a Johnny Foreigner usurper. Discuss.
I think he might qualify for ILR, though perhaps not with Restore. Mother - Princess Royal; grandfather - King of England; great grandfather - king of England; two uncles - kings of England. Bits of Scottish and Welsh blood creep in via Mary Queen of Scots and Henry VII. Arrest. Deport. Do not pass go.
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
Whether he was victim or the assailant in the events leading to the assault is irrelevant. He needed urgent medical attention. That is all the Police needed to do at that moment in time.
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
"Temporary deputy chief constable France told the BBC: "This was an extremely complex investigation and actually the scene itself was extremely complex when officers arrived.
"They were lied to in the 999 call by Henry's killer, they were lied to as they arrived at the scene and we know that as a result they didn't understand what had happened for several minutes and that is an absolute tragedy."
He said the force had referred itself to the IOPC.
"It is a tragedy that officers did not immediately understand what had happened to Henry," he said. "I'm sorry that he had been handcuffed and arrested as he lost consciousness. I don't want to hide the facts. I want people to understand the full facts."
Burnham says we need a stronger response on small boats and implies Mahmood is making good progress. I suspect she stays in place.
Implicit assumption that he'll be able to progress over all the hoops. Makerfield may end up being Break-er-field if the win (assuming there is one) is not convincing. The whole AB thing is a Westminster bubble,
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
England 1688.
Regime change imposed by the West?
1688 was regime change driven from within, which is a completely different beast.
It was an invasion to support one domestic faction against another. Much like backing the northern alliance in Afghanistan.
William III was a Johnny Foreigner usurper. Discuss.
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
England 1688.
Regime change imposed by the West?
1688 was regime change driven from within, which is a completely different beast.
It was an invasion to support one domestic faction against another. Much like backing the northern alliance in Afghanistan.
William III was a Johnny Foreigner usurper. Discuss.
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
Like socialism, it will always be different the next time.
Lol! ...unlike Neoliberalism which is always the same old failure.
True. We need socialism. Let’s make everyone poorer. That’s just the ticket.
Finish your new build and it can be turned over to a hippy commune 👍
It's all done Taz. We moved in in February. Nine months to build from digging the first sod to moving in. We're now working on the garden which is very fulfilling.
No hippies on site or in sight.
Nice one
I did look at the webpage a couple of times after you mentioned it it.
I couldn’t do it, wouldn’t gave the patience.
I thought you’d planted some apple trees.
No apple trees but about a dozen non-fruit trees: birch, maple, willow, that type of thing. Mrs P. is manically watering to get them through their first summer.
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
England 1688.
Regime change imposed by the West?
1688 was regime change driven from within, which is a completely different beast.
It was an invasion to support one domestic faction against another. Much like backing the northern alliance in Afghanistan.
William III was a Johnny Foreigner usurper. Discuss.
What about William 1. Does he not get a mention?
He was a fucking disaster as King. Ask any Yorkshireman.
Never realised employer NIC was higher than corporation tax take. That to my mind is very very worrying
And people wonder why we have so many young people not in work, its bloody expensive to employ people.
The core issue is that really businesses should be mainly taxed on profits with some contributions towards workers benefits. However, mega corps have taken the piss over taxes on profits, so governments have focused more and more on turn over taxes. This does help extract more money from your serial offenders Amazon's and Starbucks, but absolutely kills small business and particularly small business trying to become a medium business. Its really bad in sectors like hospitality where you need high staffing, there is the VAT issue, etc.
If you think employer NI rates are high here you should see what they look like elsewhere in europe. 15.5% is low compared to many countries.
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
England 1688.
Regime change imposed by the West?
1688 was regime change driven from within, which is a completely different beast.
It was an invasion to support one domestic faction against another. Much like backing the northern alliance in Afghanistan.
William III was a Johnny Foreigner usurper. Discuss.
What about William 1. Does he not get a mention?
In true PB fashion we have strayed somewhat from the original "where regime change imposed by the West has worked out well" question.
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
England 1688.
Regime change imposed by the West?
1688 was regime change driven from within, which is a completely different beast.
It was an invasion to support one domestic faction against another. Much like backing the northern alliance in Afghanistan.
William III was a Johnny Foreigner usurper. Discuss.
I think he might qualify for ILR, though perhaps not with Restore. Mother - Princess Royal; grandfather - King of England; great grandfather - king of England; two uncles - kings of England. Bits of Scottish and Welsh blood creep in via Mary Queen of Scots and Henry VII. Arrest. Deport. Do not pass go.
George I would have failed the Secure English Language Test.
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
England 1688.
Regime change imposed by the West?
1688 was regime change driven from within, which is a completely different beast.
It was an invasion to support one domestic faction against another. Much like backing the northern alliance in Afghanistan.
William III was a Johnny Foreigner usurper. Discuss.
What about William 1. Does he not get a mention?
In true PB fashion we have strayed somewhat from the original "where regime change imposed by the West has worked out well" question.
Sir Keir Starmer has been following my examples of humblebrags/legendary modesty.
With characteristic lucidity, Tony Blair has set out his own contribution to the debate about the future of our country and the Labour Party. This is welcome, not least because I respect his opinion. He is one of few people in this country who knows what it is like to serve as Prime Minister and the only other living person to have secured a Labour majority. When he speaks on politics, I find it usually pays to listen.
Sir Keir Starmer has been following my examples of humblebrags/legendary modesty.
With characteristic lucidity, Tony Blair has set out his own contribution to the debate about the future of our country and the Labour Party. This is welcome, not least because I respect his opinion. He is one of few people in this country who knows what it is like to serve as Prime Minister and the only other living person to have secured a Labour majority. When he speaks on politics, I find it usually pays to listen.
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
Sir Keir Starmer has been following my examples of humblebrags/legendary modesty.
With characteristic lucidity, Tony Blair has set out his own contribution to the debate about the future of our country and the Labour Party. This is welcome, not least because I respect his opinion. He is one of few people in this country who knows what it is like to serve as Prime Minister and the only other living person to have secured a Labour majority. When he speaks on politics, I find it usually pays to listen.
Decades ago, I read Carl Zimmer's Parasite Rex, and have found that it explains much, even in politics. (For example, the Loser's relationship with the Republican Party.) As I recall, Zimmer noted that about 60 percent of known species are parasites.
So, we should not be surprised when individuals, and even whole departments and agencies became parasitical -- and that, the more successful a nation, the more parasites it will have. Which means, to extend the analogy one more step, the more successful a nation becomes, the more it will need to strengthen its "immune system", the more it will need people like Cyclefree.
Nicola Sturgeon has said she was "deceived, betrayed and lied to" by her estranged husband Peter Murrell as he embezzled hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP.
Sturgeon appeared at a writers' event in Listowel, County Kerry, in conversation with author Andrew O'Hagan to promote her memoir, Frankly.
Portugal has set a new hottest day in May with 40.3C recorded in the central town of Mora, as countries in western Europe grapple with sweltering-hot weather.
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
Germany, Japan, Iraq.
The first two were not originally about regime change as much as survival and defence against evil agression.
I'm still a fan of 90s and 00s Blair and think he remains impressive. However he is now a political version of the typical aging bloke who thinks the only good music was from their own era. Blair thinks the answers are just to repeat what worked back then, but the challenges and opportunities are quite different today and over the next couple of decades. He is still worth listening to but he will often be wrong nowadays.
I agree
Blairism was essentially buying of key swing voter groups with public money from a flourishing economy delivered by the Thatcher and Major governments. Other components, like flooding the country with immigrants, worship of "spin", i.e. lies, bungled wars and constitutional vandalism were peripheral.
As the Heir-to-Blair Conservative government didn't deliver a flourishing economy, Blairism now would be impossible.
So Blair should slither somewhere far away.
I can't dispute the bungled wars with Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of the rest of your narrative isn't true, certainly for non Conservatives.
Sir Keir Starmer has been following my examples of humblebrags/legendary modesty.
With characteristic lucidity, Tony Blair has set out his own contribution to the debate about the future of our country and the Labour Party. This is welcome, not least because I respect his opinion. He is one of few people in this country who knows what it is like to serve as Prime Minister and the only other living person to have secured a Labour majority. When he speaks on politics, I find it usually pays to listen.
That got me thinking, and it occurred to me that from 1995 to 1997 there was no living Labour leader to have won a majority. The only time that had happened since 1967.
But it also occurred to me that with that in mind there has never been more than one living Labour leader other than an incumbent PM to have won a majority. So if Starmer is turfed out that will set a new record.
Curiously the Tories despite their reputation for sacking leader every five minutes have few equivalent periods. In fact I think 1955-57 and 2013-15 would be the only ones since the war. There have been times when there were no living former election winners - 1947-51, 1923-24 and 1902-1922 - but then generally they have been more electorally successful than Labour.
Never realised employer NIC was higher than corporation tax take. That to my mind is very very worrying
And people wonder why we have so many young people not in work, its bloody expensive to employ people.
The core issue is that really businesses should be mainly taxed on profits with some contributions towards workers benefits. However, mega corps have taken the piss over taxes on profits, so governments have focused more and more on turn over taxes. This does help extract more money from your serial offenders Amazon's and Starbucks, but absolutely kills small business and particularly small business trying to become a medium business. Its really bad in sectors like hospitality where you need high staffing, there is the VAT issue, etc.
If you think employer NI rates are high here you should see what they look like elsewhere in europe. 15.5% is low compared to many countries.
And (youth) unemployment is even worse in many of those countries.
Nicola Sturgeon has said she was "deceived, betrayed and lied to" by her estranged husband Peter Murrell as he embezzled hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP.
Sturgeon appeared at a writers' event in Listowel, County Kerry, in conversation with author Andrew O'Hagan to promote her memoir, Frankly.
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
Never realised employer NIC was higher than corporation tax take. That to my mind is very very worrying
And people wonder why we have so many young people not in work, its bloody expensive to employ people.
The core issue is that really businesses should be mainly taxed on profits with some contributions towards workers benefits. However, mega corps have taken the piss over taxes on profits, so governments have focused more and more on turn over taxes. This does help extract more money from your serial offenders Amazon's and Starbucks, but absolutely kills small business and particularly small business trying to become a medium business. Its really bad in sectors like hospitality where you need high staffing, there is the VAT issue, etc.
If you think employer NI rates are high here you should see what they look like elsewhere in europe. 15.5% is low compared to many countries.
And (youth) unemployment is even worse in many of those countries.
Two wrongs do not make a right.
Factually incorrect.
The only EU country with higher NEETS age 16-24 is Romania.
Hello. Does anyone do better? What and where does good look like, or is this kind of after the fact ill treatment rife in democracies everywhere (and just more widespread in the places we expect to be abusive to their peoples)?
I wanted to ask this too. Not that it makes the shocking examples @Cyclefree has highlighted any less shocking if every other state is just as bad or worse.
My other question is what needs to change? Attitudes, clearly, but would further legislation help, or only make things worse?
I fear such scandals can arise everywhere, across different countries, in the private sector as well as the public sector. That is not to say that we shouldn't or can't do something to minimise them occurring!
In Ireland, there were the Magdalene laundries for "fallen women", the last of which only closed in 1996. Sexual, psychological and physical abuse was all too common. The Irish government acknowledged the problem in 2001, but resisted calls to do anything until 2011. You could look at the actions of the tobacco industry to deliberately conspire and lie about the dangers of tobacco for decades, or of the fossil fuel industry to do the same around climate change. Or how Volkswagen tried to cover up its emissions scandal.
The Irish - and Irish men, in particular - are such hypocrites about the Magdalene laundries. Those girls did not make themselves pregnant. All the Irish men who got them pregnant were more than content to let those girls be hidden away in those laundries and their babies abandoned, allowed to die or sold for adoption. They walked away without taking any responsibility at all for their own behaviour.
Then when the stories came out of the cruelty and abuse the nuns rightly got blamed. But Irish men were perfectly content for the nuns to take on the burden. They did not give a toss about what the nuns were doing when it happened. They did nothing to help those girls or their own children. And then they turned round and blamed the women for dealing with the consequences of the men's own behaviour. And congratulated themselves on uncovering abuse they'd happily participated in and turned a blind eye to for decades.
Utter bastards, the lot of them.
True.
I would add that one of the most nauseating forms of official hypocrisy in the modern era is to give eloquent apologies for the actions of people long dead, while evading responsibility for far more recent misdeeds.
Allows them to posture as good people with minimal effort.
Apparently it has been revealed that The Plumber called Brexit 'Nationalist pish that will ruin the economy' - unsurprising that someone so sordid would turn out to be a remainer.
So we now have a byelection between an embarassed rejoiner and an embarassed former remainer.
Nicola Sturgeon has said she was "deceived, betrayed and lied to" by her estranged husband Peter Murrell as he embezzled hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP.
Sturgeon appeared at a writers' event in Listowel, County Kerry, in conversation with author Andrew O'Hagan to promote her memoir, Frankly.
Nicola Sturgeon has said she was "deceived, betrayed and lied to" by her estranged husband Peter Murrell as he embezzled hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP.
Sturgeon appeared at a writers' event in Listowel, County Kerry, in conversation with author Andrew O'Hagan to promote her memoir, Frankly.
My main concern - alarm bells are ringing - is that we’re hearing the same things from Burnham’s team that we heard from Starmer’s in 2024.
“The plan will come”.
I won’t be lied to twice.
Are you not including Corbyn too? Or did you not regard him as lying. more deluded?
Corbyn lied about anti-Semitism. But that wasn’t not having a plan per se.
I think his lies were more about the extent of the things he was going to provide - free wifi for all etc.
I didn't doubt there was a plan to do those things, though. It wouldn’t have been delivered but I think they did have a plan.
Burnham doesn’t seem to have a plan. Better comms will start him off well but it will only take him so far. Get Blair back in.
If Blair was PM we would have troops in Iran and be in Trump’s pocket. Is that what you want?
Yes, and hell no.
You want our troops in Iran - what would they be doing
Regime change.
Support a new leader, eg Pahlavi, to take over the powers of the state and get their own army running things in Tehran and the oil fields etc (to control money) not the entire mountainous country, then let that leader take it from there.
Um you clearly haven’t the first clue as how big and geographically awkward Iran is.
I do, which is why I literally said do not take the entire country.
Try reading what you respond to next time.
Can you highlight an example where regime changew imposed by the West has worked out well in the long term? I don't say there won't be an example, I just can't think of any, whereas I can think of lots where it's gone badly.
Germany, Japan, Iraq.
The first two were not originally about regime change as much as survival and defence against evil agression.
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
Nicola Sturgeon has said she was "deceived, betrayed and lied to" by her estranged husband Peter Murrell as he embezzled hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP.
Sturgeon appeared at a writers' event in Listowel, County Kerry, in conversation with author Andrew O'Hagan to promote her memoir, Frankly.
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
Apparently it has been revealed that The Plumber called Brexit 'Nationalist pish that will ruin the economy' - unsurprising that someone so sordid would turn out to be a remainer.
So we now have a byelection between an embarassed rejoiner and an embarassed former remainer.
I remain tied to my Brexit theory that Theresa May was a Leaver pretending to be a Remainer, and Boris a Remainer pretending to be a Leaver.
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
Nicola Sturgeon has said she was "deceived, betrayed and lied to" by her estranged husband Peter Murrell as he embezzled hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP.
Sturgeon appeared at a writers' event in Listowel, County Kerry, in conversation with author Andrew O'Hagan to promote her memoir, Frankly.
Re header: @Cyclefree, it seems that many of your concerns are how the rest of us victimise others. How society is unfair. We do, and it is. We try not to and want to avoid such a thing.
Reality needs to give you a gentle knock on the door, and when you open it you'll find many thousands of innocents enquiring what you're on about.
Apparently it has been revealed that The Plumber called Brexit 'Nationalist pish that will ruin the economy' - unsurprising that someone so sordid would turn out to be a remainer.
So we now have a byelection between an embarassed rejoiner and an embarassed former remainer.
I'm sure if you forgave Liz Truss for voting remain you can forgive the a***hole obsessed plumber.
Never realised employer NIC was higher than corporation tax take. That to my mind is very very worrying
And people wonder why we have so many young people not in work, its bloody expensive to employ people.
The core issue is that really businesses should be mainly taxed on profits with some contributions towards workers benefits. However, mega corps have taken the piss over taxes on profits, so governments have focused more and more on turn over taxes. This does help extract more money from your serial offenders Amazon's and Starbucks, but absolutely kills small business and particularly small business trying to become a medium business. Its really bad in sectors like hospitality where you need high staffing, there is the VAT issue, etc.
If you think employer NI rates are high here you should see what they look like elsewhere in europe. 15.5% is low compared to many countries.
And (youth) unemployment is even worse in many of those countries.
Two wrongs do not make a right.
Factually incorrect.
The only EU country with higher NEETS age 16-24 is Romania.
I suspect the relentless pointing out of how much worse youth unemployment was in other European countries by the usual suspects over the years is part of the reason for much taking of eyes off balls. Quite remarkable how this situation seems to have taken people unawares.
Nicola Sturgeon has said she was "deceived, betrayed and lied to" by her estranged husband Peter Murrell as he embezzled hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP.
Sturgeon appeared at a writers' event in Listowel, County Kerry, in conversation with author Andrew O'Hagan to promote her memoir, Frankly.
Apparently it has been revealed that The Plumber called Brexit 'Nationalist pish that will ruin the economy' - unsurprising that someone so sordid would turn out to be a remainer.
So we now have a byelection between an embarassed rejoiner and an embarassed former remainer.
I remain tied to my Brexit theory that Theresa May was a Leaver pretending to be a Remainer, and Boris a Remainer pretending to be a Leaver.
Sir Keir Starmer has been following my examples of humblebrags/legendary modesty.
With characteristic lucidity, Tony Blair has set out his own contribution to the debate about the future of our country and the Labour Party. This is welcome, not least because I respect his opinion. He is one of few people in this country who knows what it is like to serve as Prime Minister and the only other living person to have secured a Labour majority. When he speaks on politics, I find it usually pays to listen.
It's actually not a bad article, but it's a bit lengthy.
On the substance, Wes Streeting himself gave a good explanation about why it's so hard for the Government to communicate it's record positively. Essentially, the baseline is so bad, even substantial improvement in whatever metric is not felt by the population at large. Streeting gave the example of waiting lists. They might be down by X% but the average person waiting for an operation would scoff at the boast.
Those who think that all Burnham need do is communicate success better should probably take note.
Apparently it has been revealed that The Plumber called Brexit 'Nationalist pish that will ruin the economy' - unsurprising that someone so sordid would turn out to be a remainer.
So we now have a byelection between an embarassed rejoiner and an embarassed former remainer.
I remain tied to my Brexit theory that Theresa May was a Leaver pretending to be a Remainer, and Boris a Remainer pretending to be a Leaver.
Did Boris really make it to number 10? Maybe I just imagined it.
Sir Keir Starmer has been following my examples of humblebrags/legendary modesty.
With characteristic lucidity, Tony Blair has set out his own contribution to the debate about the future of our country and the Labour Party. This is welcome, not least because I respect his opinion. He is one of few people in this country who knows what it is like to serve as Prime Minister and the only other living person to have secured a Labour majority. When he speaks on politics, I find it usually pays to listen.
Actually, this Starmer piece is worth a read if anybody can be bothered. It's a pretty good rebuttal of Blair's essay. And it's also a pretty good defence of the government's achievements so far, and its plans for the future. Maybe he should stand to be leader of the Labour Party.
Apparently it has been revealed that The Plumber called Brexit 'Nationalist pish that will ruin the economy' - unsurprising that someone so sordid would turn out to be a remainer.
So we now have a byelection between an embarassed rejoiner and an embarassed former remainer.
I remain tied to my Brexit theory that Theresa May was a Leaver pretending to be a Remainer, and Boris a Remainer pretending to be a Leaver.
An interesting theory - I can't really see the justification for it in May's case. She was a funny one. She made a right wing speech once to the NUT, but after that, for whatever reason, she became wholly committed to your common or garden globalist statism - and she still intervenes on behalf of 'woke' (her words not mine) positions even now.
I don't know whether she believes in this credo - I don't really know whether any of world leaders who subscribe to it believe in it. I think they see it as expedient.
Boris I agree with. I think bottom line he wanted an easy life, and having the EU to be appalled by was a good living. He wasn't a conviction Brexit supporter - or he'd never have written those two essays. But I do think once we were out he would have liked to make a decent fist of it. But easily knocked off course by Covid, fiancee etc. etc. etc.
That's his mugshot. How seriously do we take this story?
He loves that mugshot though.
He does. Thinks it shows the toughest handsomest son of a gun there's ever been.
I have used my photo of the day, so you will need to click the link to see the albino buffalo spared slaughter in Bangladesh because it looks like Trump:
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
A Restore Britain Government will ban the Kirpan in public spaces.
One rule for all.
The British do love to ban things in general, tapping in to that is wise.
He's right that the same laws and rules should apply to everyone, without exceptions. Anything else is discriminatory.
That is trickier than it sounds in two ways.
Firstly, a law which carves out exemptions is still the same single legal system for everyone. Rules + exceptions are a completely normal way of going about things.
Basically being a Sikh carves out an exception about some knives, in the same way that having a shotgun licence carves out an exception for a shotgun.
Secondly, if you apply laws without exceptions you end up with this, for example: Either you abolish all laws on gender equality in the workplace OR you compel Roman Catholics to have women priests.
Comments
Government officials dealing with the Mandelson files were forced to ask ministers to hand over their messages more than once, after initial reluctance. Under the terms of a “humble address” motion drafted by the Conservatives in February, ministers, officials and special advisers were required to submit all WhatsApp and email messages exchanged with Lord Mandelson.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/28/ministers-tried-hide-mandelson-messages/
By Dan Neidle"
https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/05/28/90-uk-taxes/
I did look at the webpage a couple of times after you mentioned it it.
I couldn’t do it, wouldn’t gave the patience.
I thought you’d planted some apple trees.
Spain is withdrawing its support from a French-led initiative to boost the EU’s trade defenses against China, its economy and trade minister has said.
The core issue is that really businesses should be mainly taxed on profits with some contributions towards workers benefits. However, mega corps have taken the piss over taxes on profits, so governments have focused more and more on turn over taxes. This does help extract more money from your serial offenders Amazon's and Starbucks, but absolutely kills small business and particularly small business trying to become a medium business. Its really bad in sectors like hospitality where you need high staffing, there is the VAT issue, etc.
Most people don't have a good sense of the relative magnitudes of the major (and minor) taxes - in the same way we're often very bad at estimating how our taxes are spent.
Or is this just a blip ?
S.Korea 03.2026
births 25,200 (+19.4%)!!!!!!
deaths 31,423 (+1.3%)
TFR 0.93
https://x.com/andyd10/status/2059531979167568028
"Police treated stab victim as a racist while he lay dying
Officers handcuffed teenager as he bled to death after they fell for attacker’s ‘wicked’ lies" (£)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/28/sorry-treating-dying-stab-victim-racist-hampshire-police/
Major new Swedish fighter jet deal to strengthen Ukraine and boost British jobs
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-new-swedish-fighter-jet-deal-to-strengthen-ukraine-and-boost-british-jobs
If they get the Meteor too, it will compound Russia's problems in the air.
"Temporary deputy chief constable France told the BBC: "This was an extremely complex investigation and actually the scene itself was extremely complex when officers arrived.
"They were lied to in the 999 call by Henry's killer, they were lied to as they arrived at the scene and we know that as a result they didn't understand what had happened for several minutes and that is an absolute tragedy."
He said the force had referred itself to the IOPC.
"It is a tragedy that officers did not immediately understand what had happened to Henry," he said. "I'm sorry that he had been handcuffed and arrested as he lost consciousness. I don't want to hide the facts. I want people to understand the full facts."
Cat nip for culture wars though.
The PB armchair general brigade plan is on a par with the plans prior to the 28th Feb attack by Israel and US on Iran.
https://x.com/wesstreeting/status/2060028769956429862
Tony Blair might not like my plan, but he's wrong: it's changing Britain for the better.
With characteristic lucidity, Tony Blair has set out his own contribution to the debate about the future of our country and the Labour Party. This is welcome, not least because I respect his opinion. He is one of few people in this country who knows what it is like to serve as Prime Minister and the only other living person to have secured a Labour majority. When he speaks on politics, I find it usually pays to listen.
https://keirstarmer.substack.com/p/tony-blair-might-not-like-my-plan
A Restore Britain Government will ban the Kirpan in public spaces.
One rule for all.
"The Quiet Man is turning up the volume!"
So, we should not be surprised when individuals, and even whole departments and agencies became parasitical -- and that, the more successful a nation, the more parasites it will have. Which means, to extend the analogy one more step, the more successful a nation becomes, the more it will need to strengthen its "immune system", the more it will need people like Cyclefree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_South_Korean_presidential_election
Sturgeon appeared at a writers' event in Listowel, County Kerry, in conversation with author Andrew O'Hagan to promote her memoir, Frankly.
BBC News - Sturgeon says she was deceived and betrayed over Murrell embezzlement
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpdp3d8792no
Will the paperaback be called "Frankly...I didnt have a clue" ?
Toasty
A simple yes or no will suffice.
But it also occurred to me that with that in mind there has never been more than one living Labour leader other than an incumbent PM to have won a majority. So if Starmer is turfed out that will set a new record.
Curiously the Tories despite their reputation for sacking leader every five minutes have few equivalent periods. In fact I think 1955-57 and 2013-15 would be the only ones since the war. There have been times when there were no living former election winners - 1947-51, 1923-24 and 1902-1922 - but then generally they have been more electorally successful than Labour.
Two wrongs do not make a right.
The only EU country with higher NEETS age 16-24 is Romania.
So we now have a byelection between an embarassed rejoiner and an embarassed former remainer.
https://x.com/CinemaTweets1/status/2060003563598995945
Is this the future of work for the rest of us ?
https://x.com/washingtonpost/status/2059957879180824873
Reality needs to give you a gentle knock on the door, and when you open it you'll find many thousands of innocents enquiring what you're on about.
He even wrote two essays.
On the substance, Wes Streeting himself gave a good explanation about why it's so hard for the Government to communicate it's record positively. Essentially, the baseline is so bad, even substantial improvement in whatever metric is not felt by the population at large. Streeting gave the example of waiting lists. They might be down by X% but the average person waiting for an operation would scoff at the boast.
Those who think that all Burnham need do is communicate success better should probably take note.
Maybe he should stand to be leader of the Labour Party.
@extremetemps
·
19m
‼️EXTRAORDINARY 39 DEGREES IN FRANCE
🌡️FRENCH HOTTEST SPRING DAY IN HISTORY
39.0C Fitou
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2060061861899350468
I don't know whether she believes in this credo - I don't really know whether any of world leaders who subscribe to it believe in it. I think they see it as expedient.
Boris I agree with. I think bottom line he wanted an easy life, and having the EU to be appalled by was a good living. He wasn't a conviction Brexit supporter - or he'd never have written those two essays. But I do think once we were out he would have liked to make a decent fist of it. But easily knocked off course by Covid, fiancee etc. etc. etc.
https://x.com/spectator/status/2060018263581487111
https://bsky.app/profile/reuters.com/post/3mmty7egg4s22
First do no harm.
Firstly, a law which carves out exemptions is still the same single legal system for everyone. Rules + exceptions are a completely normal way of going about things.
Basically being a Sikh carves out an exception about some knives, in the same way that having a shotgun licence carves out an exception for a shotgun.
Secondly, if you apply laws without exceptions you end up with this, for example: Either you abolish all laws on gender equality in the workplace OR you compel Roman Catholics to have women priests.