The lesson that Labour ought to take from the Tories is that changing leader is unlikely to save the brand when it has been so tarnished.
It worked for the Tories in 1990 and 2019 and the hypothetical polls give Burnham a similar bounce to what Major and Boris were given in polls then. No hypothetical polls had Truss or Sunak getting a bounce of any significance though in 2022
Two people have been injured in Romania after a Russian Shahed drone hit an apartment building.
What will be the NATO response?
I said before that NATO should have destroyed the factory in Russia that made these drones when they flew them into Poland. Now people have been injured because of NATO inaction.
NATO will do nothing because to do anything, they'd need Trump's permission and they wouldn't even dare ask.
That highlights the issue around being a potentially regional party. Labour have a similar challenge.
The Tories were at 28% in the polls back in 2023, so the 2027 local elections offer the LibDems and Reform further opportunities to make inroads into Tory councillor numbers - although in England I think it’s mostly the authorities that have elections by thirds that will be up next year, plus all council seats in Scotland (using STV) and Wales. Does the Welsh assembly have devolved power to change the voting system for Welsh councils, I wonder?
I think I am right in saying that 2027 will also be the first round of local elections where Reform will have a significant number of seats to defend, which could be interesting.
I believe the Senedd does have the power to change the voting system for Welsh local elections and that there has even been some discussion of doing so… IIRC!
They do and Plaid have announced themselves in favour of STV for both local and Welsh elections.
THREAD: The collapse of higher education in the UK is misunderstood by almost everyone involved.
...
I don't know of of single building project in the UK Higher Education estate that has made its money back. Most capital spending in most industries is supposed to improve productive capacity. In the university sector, it does precisely the opposite.
Lib Dem 29.3% (+19.9) Labour 22.6% (-9.3) Reform 17.0% (NEW) Ind Dennis 11.5% (NEW) Con 10.3% (-30.3) Ind Ward 9.4% (NEW)
No PC (18.1) this time. Changes from 2022.
Lib Dem GAIN from Conservative
Well the Tories were polling 30% with Boris when that seat was last contested in 2022
So the Tories are facing a sea of losses in Welsh locals next time around?
Good to hear.
Won't be as big though as the losses in the county elections this year and last and the Holyrood and Senedd elections this year as those seats were last up in 2021 when the Tories won convincingly the NEV
I had missed that Kenyon was already a Councillor.
Interesting the arrow points to the Lib Dems rather than Restore...
Reform have to be careful who they delivered to, if their own or Restore voters find, if LD or Green voters that could squeeze them for Burnham.
The best result for the Tories is arguably a narrow Burnham win after a recount with a Restore surge, the Tories have to regain main party of the right from Reform first before they can think about trying to remove Labour. A split on the populist right between Reform and Restore helps them with that
So who has made more U turns - Burnham or Jenrick ?
Burnham's are swerves not U-turns. He's still going in the same direction.
Leftwards or rightwards?
I can't tell any more.
Not leftward or rightward but sensible: This is the clear direction.
* Introduce PR (majority of public in favour) * Remove red lines on EU single market and customs union (majority of public in favour) * Take water companies into public ownership (big majority of public in favour even if it might seem left wing) * Enable local authorities to build more social housing (majority of public in favour)
I’m pretty sure Burnham is not calling to take these companies into public ownership?
Are you? What makes you so sure? He took the buses in Manchester into public ownership and it has been a great success.
In this interview, Burnham says he thinks there is case for public ownership of Thames Water.
I thought he rowed back on this because of the costs involved.
iirc Burnham didn't take the buses back into public ownership. He put them under public control
Happy to be corrected if I have got this wrong.
I think you are right. It is a franchise model similar to Transport for London I think. TFL works well. If it were applied to Thames Water, the government would set the prices, determine investments etc but outsource the actual operations for a fixed fee to one or more suppliers. I can see that working. It works in the NHS where most GP practices are outsourced and many hospital services.
I think it's a good model.
Less obvious how that would work with water. BusCo A and Busco B can use different buses under the TfL banner. WaterCo A and WaterCo B cannot lay their own pipes to take water from their own reservoirs to every bathtub in the land.
And be careful about the NHS as doctors are making noises about wanting more private work in their private/NHS mix. Stealth privatisation is happening even beyond the government's control.
I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works. TfL say what buses are allowed, they do designs etc and then the companies lease them.
They can’t just run whatever buses they want. It’s why the Boris buses have all disappeared at once.
The point is there are lots of buses owned and operated by different companies, famously including the Paris bus company which is owned by the French state (nationalisation, eh!) whereas water companies would not be competing in the same way. It is a natural monopoly: no-one advocates building multiple pipelines from different reservoirs to the same homes. All that can change is the logo on the water bill. And natural monopolies need careful regulation, as every economist barring the ones advising HMG always knew.
Following up on this, for over half of the country there is no alternative infrastructure to Openreach. But nobody is suggesting nationalising that.
Openreach was doing a very bad job until the threat of splitting them off appeared. Then magically they decided FTTP was doable and they started rolling it out at record breaking speed. The result is that there is still a virtual monopoly on infrastructure however the infrastructure is much better.
Perhaps there’s something to look at in this for water?
I’m not necessarily advocating this approach but why can broadband providers exist that use the same infrastructure owned by one company, but this can’t also happen for water?
Because if you have several water companies supplying treated water into the same system and one is shit they poison everybody and the whole system. Water pipes, water and sewage are not comparable to copper, fibre and electrical signals.
You obviously have very little understanding of how our FTTP infrastructure works then.
Every provider uses the same set of cables to supply your home, it is totally analogous to water.
It really isn't. Broadband is perhaps analogous to electricity, but there is no comparison at all with water.
It is totally analogous to water. The pipes coming into your home are identical with whatever provider you choose to use. We could have one broadband provider; it would make virtually no difference to the "service" you or I receive.
That's nonsense.
You can't set up reservoirs, sewer, treatment plants etc up from scratch; they're long term, capital intensive, low margin businesses. Your idea that alternate providers could crop up in the same manner as a broadband provider is absurd. No one would do it.
Highlights the problem, though.
Water should be a long term, capital intensive, low margin business. And that's an honourable thing to be, a useful part of the economy and a valid part of the investment ecosystem. That rather implies keeping it out of the hands of the kind of PE wizards who re-engineer the finances to extract massive mountains of money before the company falls over.
How you do that, remembering that PE wizards are clever and it's awfully hard to come up with rules that can't be circumvented, especially when money can leave the country in the blink of an eye... that's the tricky part.
It's the one business where public ownership is absolutely superior to the alternatives. That doesn't, of course, mean that state would run it well. But neither has the private sector, and in addition to not running it well, has siphoned off an awful lot of money from the UK.
The first problem I have with this poll is nobody seriously uses terms like "left" and "right" any longer except as perjoratives on sites like this. It's an entirely subjective classification and everyone has their own definition.
What is "right" nowadays? To cut taxes and spending to try to bring the public finances nearer balance? To be anti-immigration or pro-mass deportation (which is called remigration to give it a friendlier name). Is it on cultural levels - to be socially liberal or conservative?
It's perfectly possible - Labour had a big section of its identity which supported this in the day - to be anti-immigration, socially conservative and yet want a lot of State intervention and control (rather like BSW in Germany).
What is "left" nowadays? We hear a load of old nonsense about lanyards and the "public sector class" as though it was a real thing and not just something somebody doesn't like or understand or value.
We can go deeper and look at the relationship between the State and the citizen - what "freedoms" do we still have? Freedom of Speech? The Freedom to give Offence or simply the Freedom to take Offence?
At its most fundamental, what power does the citizen have? A vote, which is more than exists in many countries, true. I can change the supermarket I use or the company who provides my energy or the insurance for my car or the route I take when I go to the cafe but ultimately it's not usually a choice between radically different options.
In essence, politics can be viewed that way. A Reform Government led by Nigel Farage, a Green Government led by Zack Polanski, a Conservative Government led by Kemi Badenoch, a Liberal Democrat Government led by Ed Davey - all would face the same problems as the current incumbent and none (to my eyes) has anything approaching a seriously different or convincing offerat this time.
Vote John Jackson - get Jack Johnson.
Yes. Any party leading a government faces identical well known difficulties. They also face another identical thing: the fact that all our politics since WWII is social democratic and almost everything is fixed in position, and only subject to better or worse policies for maintaining it.
By this I mean: regulated private enterprise, state oversight of essentials and monopolies, civil order and policing, NHS or equivalent, welfare safety net, social housing, universal state pensions, free education to 18, NATO and sound defence, rule of law, separation of powers, participation in international order, freedom of speech opinion and religion within the rule of law.
Which is why, despite the talk of 'change', competence matters much more than tinkering at the edges. At heart most people don't want much real change, and they are not interested in how the engineering of the state works, they want the social democrat consensus run really well.
This is the context in which 'left' and 'right' mean almost nothing.
You oversell your story. In some ways, yes, we’re still within a broad post-WW2 consensus. To call that “social democrat” is, at best, grossly simplistic. It encompasses many years of Christian Democrat rule on the continent or Tory rule in the UK. While the extremes of communism or fascism are rejected, you are lumping together everything from Attlee to Thatcher as being the same, you are glossing over huge changes in wealth (in)equality and massive social change (legalisation of homosexuality, and abortion, liberalisation of divorce laws, introduction of equality laws), etc.
Real change has very much been on the agenda (e.g., joining and leaving the EU, possibility of Scottish independence, a massively changed settlement in Northern Ireland). Moreover, whatever has happened in the past, we now see populist parties winning votes and putting forward more extreme agendas.
Are Reform the party of the aspiring working class?
Their hopes and dreams of a better life fanned by the Blair Years (Loadsamoney) were dashed after 2008. And a man made in the image of Loadsamoney is trashing the Tim (Nice But Dim) Tories.
They are the party of the thick morons who believe the shyster will give them free money
According to Legatum they're your demographic - rich pensioners
Which is a bit pathetic, because Russia know they won't do anything about it other than complain.
They should say that if Russia can’t be more careful, NATO will have to patrol a buffer zone in Ukraine 100 miles beyond NATO borders and shoot down anything Russian in it. If that happens to assist the Ukrainian war effort, that’s just a side effect.
But they won’t, obviously, with NATO broken by Trump.
THREAD: The collapse of higher education in the UK is misunderstood by almost everyone involved.
...
I don't know of of single building project in the UK Higher Education estate that has made its money back. Most capital spending in most industries is supposed to improve productive capacity. In the university sector, it does precisely the opposite.
Sounds about right, and has been going on for years. We had that problem at Aber where literally millions were spent on new and entirely useless buildings on Penglais by asset stripping IGER and the Arts Centre. The University of Gloucestershire wasted millions on campuses in London and Mauritius when first given degree awarding powers. UWE purchased the former Hewlett Packard buildings to do something with them (they hadn't decided what). And Worcester purchased the old infirmary as a city centre campus but they still have staff teaching in Nissen huts up in St John's.
I'm struggling with the header. Is TSE suggesting Farage is planning Kemicide?
And what part do Bushy, Bagot, and the Greens play ?
I just think if Reform do usurp the Tories at the next election and that would be this country's greatest usurpation since Bolingbroke and Dicky II.
What about Richard of Gloucester and 'Eleven Week' Eddy?
Or Henry Tudor and Good King Richard?
The problem with Henry, or William III, is that they were demonstrable improvements on their predecessors which is why they took the throne in the first place. Richard III was a child-killing thieving niece-lusting corrupt maniac whose own army hated his guts, and James VII and II went off his head.
I completely reject the assertion that James II in some way went off his head.
He was never on it in the first place.
Even in the Admiralty, where he was moderately competent, or at least employed competent underlings, he kept exposing himself to danger pointlessly and idiotically during battles, and had to be prevented from doing so twice by his brother. His record in the Exclusion Crisis was one long disaster, as was his private life, marrying in secret to a commoner, then ogling anything in a skirt. His conversion to Roman Catholicism was staggeringly stupid for the second in line to the throne, even for a Stuart. Etc,, etc., etc.
Overall, his record in politics and government makes Liz Truss look like a model of competence and achievement.
HMRC are awarding bonuses to staff who manage to prevent properly due tax rebates being handed to the rightful recipients.
Big issue in the film industry, where taxes coming back timely are a major part of the finanace plans.
I hope questions get asked in the House. Chancellor, do you approve of this? Has the person who set it up received a bonus for doing so? How much money is involved? I've heard of one movie where funds due Q1 2025 have still not been returned by HMRC.
I'm struggling with the header. Is TSE suggesting Farage is planning Kemicide?
And what part do Bushy, Bagot, and the Greens play ?
I just think if Reform do usurp the Tories at the next election and that would be this country's greatest usurpation since Bolingbroke and Dicky II.
What about Richard of Gloucester and 'Eleven Week' Eddy?
Or Henry Tudor and Good King Richard?
The problem with Henry, or William III, is that they were demonstrable improvements on their predecessors which is why they took the throne in the first place. Richard III was a child-killing thieving niece-lusting corrupt maniac whose own army hated his guts, and James VII and II went off his head.
I completely reject the assertion that James II in some way went off his head.
He was never on it in the first place.
Even in the Admiralty, where he was moderately competent, or at least employed competent underlings, he kept exposing himself to danger pointlessly and idiotically during battles, and had to be prevented from doing so twice by his brother. His record in the Exclusion Crisis was one long disaster, as was his private life, marrying in secret to a commoner, then ogling anything in a skirt. His conversion to Roman Catholicism was staggeringly stupid for the second in line to the throne, even for a Stuart. Etc,, etc., etc.
Overall, his record in politics and government makes Liz Truss look like a model of competence and achievement.
Question about the legions of NEETS and the Milburn report. None of the coverage I have listened to, including a fair bit of R4 Today, about the problems of 16-24 (and older) making 400 applications and not getting a reply etc etc covered an important issue:
To what extent are the long term NEETS veering away from or towards the occupations with specific shortages both WRT applications and further education and training? And why, with this vast pool of unused talent, are there so many shortage occupations?
The employers report that they get huge numbers of fake responses - with very few showing up for interview.
My experience (trying to hire) of the more skilled labour market is that it seems to have broken down in both directions. A sea of bullshit between applicants and potential employers.
I semi-jokingly suggested writing the job specs, long hand, on parchment and place them upon boards outside the Royal Exchange. Engage a town cryer to announce them to the populace, and have a table setup nearby to do screening interviews.
My 22-year-old lad, despite already having a good job, is on the lookout for his next position. He completely eschews job ads and recruiters due to the aforementioned sea of AI bullshit associated with them. Instead, he simply contacts companies that he likes the look of and tries to blag a chat with a human.
Can't understand why people apply for advertised jobs. They are simply invites to allow an internal candidate to proceed while p**sing off those that have applied. Another example of 'process' over practicality.
He identifies himself at the end as Frank Right. I'd say articulate and speaks in full sentences almost in the manner of Enoch Powell, but most of it is articulating fairly standard positions that I am familiar with.
I'm not going to try and do a full thumbnail, but I note a link to "Catholic Social Teaching" on his web page, and a series of articles about the 13 Encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII. Leo XIII was Pope from 1878 to 1903. His most significant Encyclical was perhaps Rerum Novarum, which was a consideration of private and public morality, and consider capitalism, socialism, and rights of workers. I'd consider that in some ways a parallel to the work done on the evangelical side by the likes of social reformer Lord Shaftesbury.
That is interesting.
On that basis I would speculate (and it would be largely speculation) that he aligns with right wing social conservatism / more left wing on the economics. So I'd suggest that could be with the Distributionism of Hilaire Belloc / GK Chesterton.
Coincidentally, my favourite MAGA (but he's gone off Trump now) YouTuber did a video on Distributionism this week:
I'm struggling with the header. Is TSE suggesting Farage is planning Kemicide?
And what part do Bushy, Bagot, and the Greens play ?
I just think if Reform do usurp the Tories at the next election and that would be this country's greatest usurpation since Bolingbroke and Dicky II.
What about Richard of Gloucester and 'Eleven Week' Eddy?
Or Henry Tudor and Good King Richard?
The problem with Henry, or William III, is that they were demonstrable improvements on their predecessors which is why they took the throne in the first place. Richard III was a child-killing thieving niece-lusting corrupt maniac whose own army hated his guts, and James VII and II went off his head.
I completely reject the assertion that James II in some way went off his head.
He was never on it in the first place.
Even in the Admiralty, where he was moderately competent, or at least employed competent underlings, he kept exposing himself to danger pointlessly and idiotically during battles, and had to be prevented from doing so twice by his brother. His record in the Exclusion Crisis was one long disaster, as was his private life, marrying in secret to a commoner, then ogling anything in a skirt. His conversion to Roman Catholicism was staggeringly stupid for the second in line to the throne, even for a Stuart. Etc,, etc., etc.
Overall, his record in politics and government makes Liz Truss look like a model of competence and achievement.
*Canvasser for James II, looking puzzled*
'Do I put that one down as a 'maybe,' boss?'
Well, perhaps the Truss comparison is unfair.
To Truss, who did do reasonably well during the Queen's funeral, the great set-piece of her rule, if nothing else.
Ironically, the one area where James did really well by the standards of the day is the one that's a bit unfashionable these days - the slave trade, where his Governorship the Royal Africa Company was a conspicuous success. It transported about 5,000 slaves a year, branding DY on their chests.
But still, it took quite a special degree of incompetence to go from the overwhelming Tory and Royalist sentiment of 1685-6 to Revolution in 1688 - sort of as if Blair had been overthrown in a military coup with overwhelming popular support in 2000 or so, and then fail even in fleeing, being discovered and bundled back to London, then having to escape again with the government's connivance.
That really sums up his record, and should be his epitaph.
Which is a bit pathetic, because Russia know they won't do anything about it other than complain.
Other than providing Ukraine with $223bn in combined financial, military, humanitarian and refugee assistance since the start of the war the EU has done absolutely nothing, you are right.
That support is in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine - but what is being done to deter Russia from sending further drones into the EU?
LONDON — “Across the country, the Conservatives are coming back,” declared a beaming opposition leader Kemi Badenoch earlier this month — after her party lost 801 council members in England, 19 seats in Scotland and 22 in Wales.
Fucking LOL.
Contrary to all prior evidence, KB does apparently have a sense of humour.
Which is a bit pathetic, because Russia know they won't do anything about it other than complain.
Other than providing Ukraine with $223bn in combined financial, military, humanitarian and refugee assistance since the start of the war the EU has done absolutely nothing, you are right.
That support is in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine - but what is being done to deter Russia from sending further drones into the EU?
I'd have thought that funding the Ukrainians to send drones deep into Russia to blow shit up and the threat of doing more of that might help. The EU has plenty of levers given its role as the Ukrainian war effort's biggest source of financial support.
I feel even more sad not to have a Truth Social account than I did previously. Imagine missing out on so much wisdom from thinkers like "Tommy Robinson" and other such intellectual heirs of the western philosophical tradition.
The lesson that Labour ought to take from the Tories is that changing leader is unlikely to save the brand when it has been so tarnished.
Or, maybe, that it can help the first time you do it in government, if you can advance a credible reason for it, but if the replacement leader doesn’t work out and you start making a habit of it, voters quickly decide that the lot of you aren’t up to scratch?
Which is a bit pathetic, because Russia know they won't do anything about it other than complain.
Other than providing Ukraine with $223bn in combined financial, military, humanitarian and refugee assistance since the start of the war the EU has done absolutely nothing, you are right.
That support is in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine - but what is being done to deter Russia from sending further drones into the EU?
Territorial defence of member nations is not an EU responsibility because that's how Albright told Blair and Chirac it was going to be. It would need a treaty change to enable it.
As long as it's Romanian blocks of flats getting droned nobody is going to give too much of a fuck. It's not Munich or Barcelona.
Romania, ironically, did shoot down a Ukrainian drone over Estonia last week before it could hit fuck knows what.
Which is a bit pathetic, because Russia know they won't do anything about it other than complain.
Other than providing Ukraine with $223bn in combined financial, military, humanitarian and refugee assistance since the start of the war the EU has done absolutely nothing, you are right.
That support is in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine - but what is being done to deter Russia from sending further drones into the EU?
I'd have thought that funding the Ukrainians to send drones deep into Russia to blow shit up and the threat of doing more of that might help. The EU has plenty of levers given its role as the Ukrainian war effort's biggest source of financial support.
We're not going to reduce our support for Ukraine if Russia pinky promises not to send any more drones into Romania, I hope, so it doesn't affect Russia's behaviour, except insofar as it might eventually lead to Russia's defeat in the war, if that support survives the next French Presidential election.
I suspect the issue is more about Reform / Restore and their internal battle for the right wing / none of the above vote...
I would be very surprised if Restore keep their deposit. I think Restore could potentially cause a lot of problems for Reform if they were able to keep their deposit in a by-election squeeze.
Restore Britain is going to send the biggest shock in British political history in Makerfield.
Not true. That would mean even their own candidate wouldn't vote for himself. Mind you, putting the X in the box won't be easy. Maybe working class millionaire Rupert is right and they will get a zero?!??
Restore Britain is going to send the biggest shock in British political history in Makerfield.
Not true. That would mean even their own candidate wouldn't vote for himself. Mind you, putting the X in the box won't be easy. Maybe working class millionaire Rupert is right and they will get a zero?!??
A stiff letter may well be in the post (at least after its been around a couple of dozen committees, translated into 12-15 languages, discussed at sundry Council meetings and been pored over by Ursula von der Leyen).
Truth Social - Tommy 14 names X / Twitter - Lowe / Restore Daily Mail - Reform
It says something when the social media platforms are more extreme than the Daily Mail..
I've just watched "the walk-in" and was looking for similar drama / docs, IMDB gave me Tommy Robinson's "documentary" on HopenotHate. Apart from SYL's close circle probably just the single viewing from a PBer
Restore Britain is going to send the biggest shock in British political history in Makerfield.
Not true. That would mean even their own candidate wouldn't vote for himself. Mind you, putting the X in the box won't be easy. Maybe working class millionaire Rupert is right and they will get a zero?!??
Less than 5% is 5 on Betfair 5-10% is 2.5
Without Labour you can lay at 10.5, so I think the value is on the vote %
He identifies himself at the end as Frank Right. I'd say articulate and speaks in full sentences almost in the manner of Enoch Powell, but most of it is articulating fairly standard positions that I am familiar with.
I'm not going to try and do a full thumbnail, but I note a link to "Catholic Social Teaching" on his web page, and a series of articles about the 13 Encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII. Leo XIII was Pope from 1878 to 1903. His most significant Encyclical was perhaps Rerum Novarum, which was a consideration of private and public morality, and consider capitalism, socialism, and rights of workers. I'd consider that in some ways a parallel to the work done on the evangelical side by the likes of social reformer Lord Shaftesbury.
That is interesting.
On that basis I would speculate (and it would be largely speculation) that he aligns with right wing social conservatism / more left wing on the economics. So I'd suggest that could be with the Distributionism of Hilaire Belloc / GK Chesterton.
Coincidentally, my favourite MAGA (but he's gone off Trump now) YouTuber did a video on Distributionism this week:
We have a Distributionist Party, as I highlighted last year.
I think their main issue in 2026 is that they are trying to define economics, trade and nationalism as if it was still 1890. And they are too linked to the knuckleheaded extreme right.
Restore Britain is going to send the biggest shock in British political history in Makerfield.
Not true. That would mean even their own candidate wouldn't vote for himself. Mind you, putting the X in the box won't be easy. Maybe working class millionaire Rupert is right and they will get a zero?!??
Less than 5% is 5 on Betfair 5-10% is 2.5
Without Labour you can lay at 10.5, so I think the value is on the vote %
OT - Self-defined 'right' of course. The LDs are certainly the most conservative party out there at the moment. If that is what you think 'right-wing' means then do the Cons and REFUK even count? Rather like the years of claims by morons that the Nazis were left-wing ...
Meanwhile - Badenoch still spends all her time courting voters who don't think she's British and generally want people like her to be kicked out of the country. Anyone surprised that isn't a winning strategy?
If you wonder why I am such a fan of Margaret Thatcher here's one of the many reasons.
🗣️ ‘But it’s in northern France.’
🚨 Margaret Thatcher being entirely herself in November 1996 in this brilliant anecdote from Chris Patten's diaries, serialised in the Daily Telegraph on this day, 29 May, in 2022.
If you wonder why I am such a fan of Margaret Thatcher here's one of the many reasons.
🗣️ ‘But it’s in northern France.’
🚨 Margaret Thatcher being entirely herself in November 1996 in this brilliant anecdote from Chris Patten's diaries, serialised in the Daily Telegraph on this day, 29 May, in 2022.
I'm struggling with the header. Is TSE suggesting Farage is planning Kemicide?
And what part do Bushy, Bagot, and the Greens play ?
I just think if Reform do usurp the Tories at the next election and that would be this country's greatest usurpation since Bolingbroke and Dicky II.
What about Richard of Gloucester and 'Eleven Week' Eddy?
Or Henry Tudor and Good King Richard?
The problem with Henry, or William III, is that they were demonstrable improvements on their predecessors which is why they took the throne in the first place. Richard III was a child-killing thieving niece-lusting corrupt maniac whose own army hated his guts, and James VII and II went off his head.
I completely reject the assertion that James II in some way went off his head.
He was never on it in the first place.
Even in the Admiralty, where he was moderately competent, or at least employed competent underlings, he kept exposing himself to danger pointlessly and idiotically during battles, and had to be prevented from doing so twice by his brother. His record in the Exclusion Crisis was one long disaster, as was his private life, marrying in secret to a commoner, then ogling anything in a skirt. His conversion to Roman Catholicism was staggeringly stupid for the second in line to the throne, even for a Stuart. Etc,, etc., etc.
Overall, his record in politics and government makes Liz Truss look like a model of competence and achievement.
He was a Green, supporting the increase in the population of Seals in the Thames.
Restore Britain is going to send the biggest shock in British political history in Makerfield.
Not true. That would mean even their own candidate wouldn't vote for himself. Mind you, putting the X in the box won't be easy. Maybe working class millionaire Rupert is right and they will get a zero?!??
Less than 5% is 5 on Betfair 5-10% is 2.5
Without Labour you can lay at 10.5, so I think the value is on the vote %
Ladbrokes have a similar market.
4.3 on less than 5%
3.5 on on 5-9.99%
26 on 40%+ for those who really think they are going to win.
Labour MPs don't know where money comes from. That's why Keir Starmer is a dud and why every contender lining up to replace him will be one too.
You can't fix this busted flush of economic illiteracy that is the Labour Party, so stop trying.
My open letter to Tony Blair below👇
Why is she writing to an "I was the future once" old has-been that had little of any substance to say. I am sure it's fantastic politics, but it looks like low rent performative nonsense.
I'm struggling with the header. Is TSE suggesting Farage is planning Kemicide?
And what part do Bushy, Bagot, and the Greens play ?
I just think if Reform do usurp the Tories at the next election and that would be this country's greatest usurpation since Bolingbroke and Dicky II.
What about Richard of Gloucester and 'Eleven Week' Eddy?
Or Henry Tudor and Good King Richard?
The problem with Henry, or William III, is that they were demonstrable improvements on their predecessors which is why they took the throne in the first place. Richard III was a child-killing thieving niece-lusting corrupt maniac whose own army hated his guts, and James VII and II went off his head.
I completely reject the assertion that James II in some way went off his head.
He was never on it in the first place.
Even in the Admiralty, where he was moderately competent, or at least employed competent underlings, he kept exposing himself to danger pointlessly and idiotically during battles, and had to be prevented from doing so twice by his brother. His record in the Exclusion Crisis was one long disaster, as was his private life, marrying in secret to a commoner, then ogling anything in a skirt. His conversion to Roman Catholicism was staggeringly stupid for the second in line to the throne, even for a Stuart. Etc,, etc., etc.
Overall, his record in politics and government makes Liz Truss look like a model of competence and achievement.
He was a Green, supporting the increase in the population of Seals in the Thames.
He’s never going to survive until he gets a little crazy
Larry the Cat @Number10cat Current summary of right wing UK politics:
Conservatives - We've suddenly remembered lots of things we accidentally forgot to do during our 14 YEARS in government that we would definitely do straight away this time, promise
Reform - The Conservatives who messed the country up for 14 years were worried you wouldn't vote for them again so have made another party and are hoping you won't notice it's full of the people who messed up the country for 14 years
UKIP - We still think it's 1998
Restore - Led by a bore in need of a golf club. Been chucked out of Reform for being racist? We're the party for you!
Labour MPs don't know where money comes from. That's why Keir Starmer is a dud and why every contender lining up to replace him will be one too.
You can't fix this busted flush of economic illiteracy that is the Labour Party, so stop trying.
My open letter to Tony Blair below👇
Why is she writing to an "I was the future once" old has-been that had little of any substance to say. I am sure it's fantastic politics, but it looks like low rent performative nonsense.
She should be courting him in private. Start by signing him up to help with policy and then work on getting him to defect.
The media are now attacking me because I voted Labour in the past.
So did thousands of us in Makerfield until you let us all down.
Reform is now the party giving real people a voice.
Increasingly Kenyon seems to fit the zeitgeist. A middle aged man of formerly mainstream political views radicalising himself into misogyny, Islamophobia, anti-vaxxing and other conspiracies via Social Media.
Larry the Cat @Number10cat Current summary of right wing UK politics:
Conservatives - We've suddenly remembered lots of things we accidentally forgot to do during our 14 YEARS in government that we would definitely do straight away this time, promise
Reform - The Conservatives who messed the country up for 14 years were worried you wouldn't vote for them again so have made another party and are hoping you won't notice it's full of the people who messed up the country for 14 years
UKIP - We still think it's 1998
Restore - Led by a bore in need of a golf club. Been chucked out of Reform for being racist? We're the party for you!
Larry the Cat @Number10cat Current summary of right wing UK politics:
Conservatives - We've suddenly remembered lots of things we accidentally forgot to do during our 14 YEARS in government that we would definitely do straight away this time, promise
Reform - The Conservatives who messed the country up for 14 years were worried you wouldn't vote for them again so have made another party and are hoping you won't notice it's full of the people who messed up the country for 14 years
UKIP - We still think it's 1998
Restore - Led by a bore in need of a golf club. Been chucked out of Reform for being racist? We're the party for you!
Larry the Cat @Number10cat Current summary of right wing UK politics:
Conservatives - We've suddenly remembered lots of things we accidentally forgot to do during our 14 YEARS in government that we would definitely do straight away this time, promise
Reform - The Conservatives who messed the country up for 14 years were worried you wouldn't vote for them again so have made another party and are hoping you won't notice it's full of the people who messed up the country for 14 years
UKIP - We still think it's 1998
Restore - Led by a bore in need of a golf club. Been chucked out of Reform for being racist? We're the party for you!
Delighted to vote for Colin Beattie as @theSNP National Treasurer. His hard work and sound stewardship of our finances has made all our campaign success possible. Let’s keep it going.
Larry the Cat @Number10cat Current summary of right wing UK politics:
Conservatives - We've suddenly remembered lots of things we accidentally forgot to do during our 14 YEARS in government that we would definitely do straight away this time, promise
Reform - The Conservatives who messed the country up for 14 years were worried you wouldn't vote for them again so have made another party and are hoping you won't notice it's full of the people who messed up the country for 14 years
UKIP - We still think it's 1998
Restore - Led by a bore in need of a golf club. Been chucked out of Reform for being racist? We're the party for you!
That twitter feed is run by a left wing state employee.
He’s never going to say otherwise.
Does he still flog t shirts to the gullible who think his Schtick is edgy ?
I note you don’t actually call out any of those statements as being false.
Which is not surprising, because they’re a pretty accurate description of the problems each of the right wing parties faces when convincing the UK electorate to vote for them: Do you want the party that screwed up for 14 years, the party full of people who used to be in the party that screwed up for 14 years or the BNP-wanabee party?
It’s a tough choice if what you’re looking for is competent governance.
The media are now attacking me because I voted Labour in the past.
So did thousands of us in Makerfield until you let us all down.
Reform is now the party giving real people a voice.
Increasingly Kenyon seems to fit the zeitgeist. A middle aged man of formerly mainstream political views radicalising himself into misogyny, Islamophobia, anti-vaxxing and other conspiracies via Social Media.
I wonder if he buys his coffee cups on ebay.
Presumably you agree with him on the Manchester bombing being blowback from the Libyan intervention?
I see 46% of the NEETs cited in the Milburn Review (18-24 years old, not in Education, Employment and Training) are also not claiming benefits so it doesn't seem there's much margin in changing the benefit system.
The notion all NEETs are scroungers living off benefits is yet another of these silly old ideas which fall apart under the slightest scrutiny.
"His Master's Voice" being repeated on BBC Sounds for those nostalgic for the Call me Dave years Though not as with the zeitgeist as his earlier ('98) "In the Red" which featured the Reform party
The media are now attacking me because I voted Labour in the past.
So did thousands of us in Makerfield until you let us all down.
Reform is now the party giving real people a voice.
Increasingly Kenyon seems to fit the zeitgeist. A middle aged man of formerly mainstream political views radicalising himself into misogyny, Islamophobia, anti-vaxxing and other conspiracies via Social Media.
I wonder if he buys his coffee cups on ebay.
Presumably you agree with him on the Manchester bombing being blowback from the Libyan intervention?
No, but I haven't seen that one. He seems both very prolific and inconsistent. Which also fits the mold.
As a matter of interest where do you get your coffee cups?
OT - Self-defined 'right' of course. The LDs are certainly the most conservative party out there at the moment. If that is what you think 'right-wing' means then do the Cons and REFUK even count? Rather like the years of claims by morons that the Nazis were left-wing ...
Meanwhile - Badenoch still spends all her time courting voters who don't think she's British and generally want people like her to be kicked out of the country. Anyone surprised that isn't a winning strategy?
That reminds me of the sometimes ridiculed book "How Green Were The Nazis?"
Truth Social - Tommy 14 names X / Twitter - Lowe / Restore Daily Mail - Reform
It says something when the social media platforms are more extreme than the Daily Mail..
Anecdotally X / Twitter seems to have got progressively more fascist over the last six months or so. Although it’s always difficult to tell the universal from the personal on social media since the algorithm is very good at pushing whatever it takes to keep you engaged - perhaps this is more a sign that I need to log off?
On a more general note - the radicalising nature of modern social media in all directions is something that does perhaps justify regulation. Just transparency about the algorithms & their operation might be sufficient though - whatever we do needs to be the minimum intervention necessary to avoid interfering with people’s right to free speech & free association. Sadly I suspect the government will choose poorly, as the current OSA demonstrated so clearly.
Larry the Cat @Number10cat Current summary of right wing UK politics:
Conservatives - We've suddenly remembered lots of things we accidentally forgot to do during our 14 YEARS in government that we would definitely do straight away this time, promise
Reform - The Conservatives who messed the country up for 14 years were worried you wouldn't vote for them again so have made another party and are hoping you won't notice it's full of the people who messed up the country for 14 years
UKIP - We still think it's 1998
Restore - Led by a bore in need of a golf club. Been chucked out of Reform for being racist? We're the party for you!
That twitter feed is run by a left wing state employee.
He’s never going to say otherwise.
Does he still flog t shirts to the gullible who think his Schtick is edgy ?
I note you don’t actually call out any of those statements as being false.
Which is not surprising, because they’re a pretty accurate description of the problems each of the right wing parties faces when convincing the UK electorate to vote for them: Do you want the party that screwed up for 14 years, the party full of people who used to be in the party that screwed up for 14 years or the BNP-wanabee party?
It’s a tough choice if what you’re looking for is competent governance.
You won’t get it left or right.
This guy is just a dick simply playing to his audience. Don’t blame him as there’s ££££ to be made. There’s no insight at all and those statements are open to debate/dispute
It’s merely pandering to his audiences prejudices
Don’t blame him. I’d do the same. Especially if I could sell the mugs a few t shirts.
Same goes for those Marsh family dicks or Reform soccer tops.
OT - Self-defined 'right' of course. The LDs are certainly the most conservative party out there at the moment. If that is what you think 'right-wing' means then do the Cons and REFUK even count? Rather like the years of claims by morons that the Nazis were left-wing ...
Meanwhile - Badenoch still spends all her time courting voters who don't think she's British and generally want people like her to be kicked out of the country. Anyone surprised that isn't a winning strategy?
That reminds me of the sometimes ridiculed book "How Green Were The Nazis?"
Have to think the carbon footprint of Blitzkrieg was a difficulty to explain away. All that burning, all that smoke, all those particulates in the atmosphere...
Restore Britain is going to send the biggest shock in British political history in Makerfield.
Not true. That would mean even their own candidate wouldn't vote for himself. Mind you, putting the X in the box won't be easy. Maybe working class millionaire Rupert is right and they will get a zero?!??
Less than 5% is 5 on Betfair 5-10% is 2.5
Without Labour you can lay at 10.5, so I think the value is on the vote %
Ladbrokes have a similar market.
4.3 on less than 5%
3.5 on on 5-9.99%
26 on 40%+ for those who really think they are going to win.
Slightly more favourable odds for 5-10% on Ladbrokes than Betfair, should have checked. I'm green and balanced on less than 10%
Truth Social - Tommy 14 names X / Twitter - Lowe / Restore Daily Mail - Reform
It says something when the social media platforms are more extreme than the Daily Mail..
Anecdotally X / Twitter seems to have got progressively more fascist over the last six months or so. Although it’s always difficult to tell the universal from the personal on social media since the algorithm is very good at pushing whatever it takes to keep you engaged - perhaps this is more a sign that I need to log off?
On a more general note - the radicalising nature of modern social media in all directions is something that does perhaps justify regulation. Just transparency about the algorithms & their operation might be sufficient though - whatever we do needs to be the minimum intervention necessary to avoid interfering with people’s right to free speech & free association. Sadly I suspect the government will choose poorly, as the current OSA demonstrated so clearly.
Thoughts?
I go on twitter for old TV, wrestling and investing but I’ve noticed more and more stuff I don’t really want. It keeps defaulting to For You. It’s fine for breaking news but becoming more tedious
Restore Britain is going to send the biggest shock in British political history in Makerfield.
Not true. That would mean even their own candidate wouldn't vote for himself. Mind you, putting the X in the box won't be easy. Maybe working class millionaire Rupert is right and they will get a zero?!??
Less than 5% is 5 on Betfair 5-10% is 2.5
Without Labour you can lay at 10.5, so I think the value is on the vote %
Ladbrokes have a similar market.
4.3 on less than 5%
3.5 on on 5-9.99%
26 on 40%+ for those who really think they are going to win.
Slightly more favourable odds for 5-10% on Ladbrokes than Betfair, should have checked. I'm green and balanced on less than 10%
Less than 5% has been snapped up at 5s Remember that every £ staked on Restore losing their deposit or less than 10% means Rupert has to dip into his wallet to shift the odds back
I see 46% of the NEETs cited in the Milburn Review (18-24 years old, not in Education, Employment and Training) are also not claiming benefits so it doesn't seem there's much margin in changing the benefit system.
The notion all NEETs are scroungers living off benefits is yet another of these silly old ideas which fall apart under the slightest scrutiny.
Presumably living with family and skint.
It seems obvious that the best way to tackle NEETs and also the welfare bill is to address the mental health crisis and training of the young. Browbeating and impoverishing them doesn't seem effective.
I see 46% of the NEETs cited in the Milburn Review (18-24 years old, not in Education, Employment and Training) are also not claiming benefits so it doesn't seem there's much margin in changing the benefit system.
The notion all NEETs are scroungers living off benefits is yet another of these silly old ideas which fall apart under the slightest scrutiny.
Presumably living with family and skint.
It seems obvious that the best way to tackle NEETs and also the welfare bill is to address the mental health crisis and training of the young. Browbeating and impoverishing them doesn't seem effective.
Labour MPs don't know where money comes from. That's why Keir Starmer is a dud and why every contender lining up to replace him will be one too.
You can't fix this busted flush of economic illiteracy that is the Labour Party, so stop trying.
My open letter to Tony Blair below👇
Why is she writing to an "I was the future once" old has-been that had little of any substance to say. I am sure it's fantastic politics, but it looks like low rent performative nonsense.
I know her reputation is building on here even if her poll numbers are moving in the opposite direction. I can't understand it. Even quite sane posters seen to think she has something when most just can't see it
I see 46% of the NEETs cited in the Milburn Review (18-24 years old, not in Education, Employment and Training) are also not claiming benefits so it doesn't seem there's much margin in changing the benefit system.
The notion all NEETs are scroungers living off benefits is yet another of these silly old ideas which fall apart under the slightest scrutiny.
Truth Social - Tommy 14 names X / Twitter - Lowe / Restore Daily Mail - Reform
It says something when the social media platforms are more extreme than the Daily Mail..
Anecdotally X / Twitter seems to have got progressively more fascist over the last six months or so. Although it’s always difficult to tell the universal from the personal on social media since the algorithm is very good at pushing whatever it takes to keep you engaged - perhaps this is more a sign that I need to log off?
On a more general note - the radicalising nature of modern social media in all directions is something that does perhaps justify regulation. Just transparency about the algorithms & their operation might be sufficient though - whatever we do needs to be the minimum intervention necessary to avoid interfering with people’s right to free speech & free association. Sadly I suspect the government will choose poorly, as the current OSA demonstrated so clearly.
Thoughts?
I go on twitter for old TV, wrestling and investing but I’ve noticed more and more stuff I don’t really want. It keeps defaulting to For You. It’s fine for breaking news but becoming more tedious
I gave up on it about a year ago... and life is all the sweeter without fascist crap being chucked at me by a moronic algorithm.
I see 46% of the NEETs cited in the Milburn Review (18-24 years old, not in Education, Employment and Training) are also not claiming benefits so it doesn't seem there's much margin in changing the benefit system.
The notion all NEETs are scroungers living off benefits is yet another of these silly old ideas which fall apart under the slightest scrutiny.
Presumably living with family and skint.
It seems obvious that the best way to tackle NEETs and also the welfare bill is to address the mental health crisis and training of the young. Browbeating and impoverishing them doesn't seem effective.
You're not wrong (my new catchphrase).
There's a study claiming many young people (especially men) are lonely, broken, introverts with no friends or social skills. One in seven apparently have no friends at all (or claim that).
We can throw as much blame around as we want but it's not helpful.
This mental health crisis needs confronting but so far I've heard or seen nothing constructive.
Comments
https://www.partyof.wales/democratiaeth_cymru
They might be keen to bring it in for locals to show willing. But whether they can do it in the time available I'm not sure.
...
I don't know of of single building project in the UK Higher Education estate that has made its money back. Most capital spending in most industries is supposed to improve productive capacity. In the university sector, it does precisely the opposite.
https://x.com/Prolapsarian/status/2060271246978195555
The best result for the Tories is arguably a narrow Burnham win after a recount with a Restore surge, the Tories have to regain main party of the right from Reform first before they can think about trying to remove Labour. A split on the populist right between Reform and Restore helps them with that
That doesn't, of course, mean that state would run it well. But neither has the private sector, and in addition to not running it well, has siphoned off an awful lot of money from the UK.
Real change has very much been on the agenda (e.g., joining and leaving the EU, possibility of Scottish independence, a massively changed settlement in Northern Ireland). Moreover, whatever has happened in the past, we now see populist parties winning votes and putting forward more extreme agendas.
Legatum - (house thinktank for Reform?) - Reform supporters 36% AB !!? 39% over 65
https://www.prosperity.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/WHOS-VOTING-REFORM-25.03.24.pdf
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/who-supports-reform-uk-and-who-the-greens/ - bit more nebulous
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/13/who-votes-for-reform-and-why-charts-that-show-who-supports-farage-party - BS groupings but underlying age and education level included
But they won’t, obviously, with NATO broken by Trump.
He was never on it in the first place.
Even in the Admiralty, where he was moderately competent, or at least employed competent underlings, he kept exposing himself to danger pointlessly and idiotically during battles, and had to be prevented from doing so twice by his brother. His record in the Exclusion Crisis was one long disaster, as was his private life, marrying in secret to a commoner, then ogling anything in a skirt. His conversion to Roman Catholicism was staggeringly stupid for the second in line to the throne, even for a Stuart. Etc,, etc., etc.
Overall, his record in politics and government makes Liz Truss look like a model of competence and achievement.
Big issue in the film industry, where taxes coming back timely are a major part of the finanace plans.
I hope questions get asked in the House. Chancellor, do you approve of this? Has the person who set it up received a bonus for doing so? How much money is involved? I've heard of one movie where funds due Q1 2025 have still not been returned by HMRC.
'Do I put that one down as a 'maybe,' boss?'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c87qng40wz9o
"Vance struck an optimistic tone as he spoke to reporters in Washington DC, saying the US believed the Iranians were negotiating in "good faith"."
And the Americans?
The media are now attacking me because I voted Labour in the past.
So did thousands of us in Makerfield until you let us all down.
Reform is now the party giving real people a voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgqcbuLNAYM (15mins)
To Truss, who did do reasonably well during the Queen's funeral, the great set-piece of her rule, if nothing else.
Ironically, the one area where James did really well by the standards of the day is the one that's a bit unfashionable these days - the slave trade, where his Governorship the Royal Africa Company was a conspicuous success. It transported about 5,000 slaves a year, branding DY on their chests.
But still, it took quite a special degree of incompetence to go from the overwhelming Tory and Royalist sentiment of 1685-6 to Revolution in 1688 - sort of as if Blair had been overthrown in a military coup with overwhelming popular support in 2000 or so, and then fail even in fleeing, being discovered and bundled back to London, then having to escape again with the government's connivance.
That really sums up his record, and should be his epitaph.
He couldn't even do resigning right.
The Tories think they’re onto a winning plan — even as they keep losing
https://www.politico.eu/article/the-tories-think-theyre-onto-a-winning-plan-even-as-they-keep-losing-kemi-badenoch/
New accounts on US president’s social media platform are automatically signed up to updates from series of far-Right figures
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/05/29/trump-puts-tommy-robinson-top-truth-social-accounts/
Fucking LOL.
Contrary to all prior evidence, KB does apparently have a sense of humour.
Truth Social - Tommy 14 names
X / Twitter - Lowe / Restore
Daily Mail - Reform
It says something when the social media platforms are more extreme than the Daily Mail..
As long as it's Romanian blocks of flats getting droned nobody is going to give too much of a fuck. It's not Munich or Barcelona.
Romania, ironically, did shoot down a Ukrainian drone over Estonia last week before it could hit fuck knows what.
Restore Britain is going to send the biggest shock in British political history in Makerfield.
The identity of the first pb.pb.com inmate to transfer allegiance to Restrasserite Britain will not surprise.
I suspect the issue is more about Reform / Restore and their internal battle for the right wing / none of the above vote...
Apart from SYL's close circle probably just the single viewing from a PBer
5-10% is 2.5
Without Labour you can lay at 10.5, so I think the value is on the vote %
It must be flawed data
Kemi told us all, straight to camera that the Tories had fought back in the 2026 locals, won seats and made great progress.
How dare Luke Tryl and the majority of Voters doubt the great know all Kemi, she's the political equivalent of Jeff Maltby... The Oracle
We have a Distributionist Party, as I highlighted last year.
I think their main issue in 2026 is that they are trying to define economics, trade and nationalism as if it was still 1890. And they are too linked to the knuckleheaded extreme right.
That's a similar type error to Trump's movement.
Meanwhile - Badenoch still spends all her time courting voters who don't think she's British and generally want people like her to be kicked out of the country. Anyone surprised that isn't a winning strategy?
https://x.com/kemibadenoch/status/2060359965886271871
Labour MPs don't know where money comes from. That's why Keir Starmer is a dud and why every contender lining up to replace him will be one too.
You can't fix this busted flush of economic illiteracy that is the Labour Party, so stop trying.
My open letter to Tony Blair below👇
Perhaps Lady T was thinking along those lines.
https://bsky.app/profile/drjennings.bsky.social/post/3mmypeablkk2m
I did say before the locals what might see her ousted is if she tries and spins a very bad night as a good result.
"F**KING HATE ARSENAL!" Spurs legends ahead of the Champions League final
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GNnGQh4mh3U
4.3 on less than 5%
3.5 on on 5-9.99%
26 on 40%+ for those who really think they are going to win.
At the cricket again in Durham . Cheap wine in a plastic cup. Love it.
Recommend women's T20 too.
@Number10cat
Current summary of right wing UK politics:
Conservatives - We've suddenly remembered lots of things we accidentally forgot to do during our 14 YEARS in government that we would definitely do straight away this time, promise
Reform - The Conservatives who messed the country up for 14 years were worried you wouldn't vote for them again so have made another party and are hoping you won't notice it's full of the people who messed up the country for 14 years
UKIP - We still think it's 1998
Restore - Led by a bore in need of a golf club. Been chucked out of Reform for being racist? We're the party for you!
https://x.com/Number10cat/status/2060347794930487444
I wonder if he buys his coffee cups on ebay.
He’s never going to say otherwise.
Does he still flog t shirts to the gullible who think his Schtick is edgy ?
5 World Cup games that day which may provide more entertainment than AB.
Delighted to vote for Colin Beattie as @theSNP National Treasurer. His hard work and sound stewardship of our finances has made all our campaign success possible. Let’s keep it going.
https://x.com/JohnSwinney/status/1332734272919252992
https://x.com/politlcsuk/status/2060321273733902816?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q
Which is not surprising, because they’re a pretty accurate description of the problems each of the right wing parties faces when convincing the UK electorate to vote for them: Do you want the party that screwed up for 14 years, the party full of people who used to be in the party that screwed up for 14 years or the BNP-wanabee party?
It’s a tough choice if what you’re looking for is competent governance.
The notion all NEETs are scroungers living off benefits is yet another of these silly old ideas which fall apart under the slightest scrutiny.
Though not as with the zeitgeist as his earlier ('98) "In the Red" which featured the Reform party
As a matter of interest where do you get your coffee cups?
On a more general note - the radicalising nature of modern social media in all directions is something that does perhaps justify regulation. Just transparency about the algorithms & their operation might be sufficient though - whatever we do needs to be the minimum intervention necessary to avoid interfering with people’s right to free speech & free association. Sadly I suspect the government will choose poorly, as the current OSA demonstrated so clearly.
Thoughts?
This guy is just a dick simply playing to his audience. Don’t blame him as there’s ££££ to be made. There’s no insight at all and those statements are open to debate/dispute
It’s merely pandering to his audiences prejudices
Don’t blame him. I’d do the same. Especially if I could sell the mugs a few t shirts.
Same goes for those Marsh family dicks or Reform soccer tops.
They heard the evidence. We didn’t
I'm green and balanced on less than 10%
Remember that every £ staked on Restore losing their deposit or less than 10% means Rupert has to dip into his wallet to shift the odds back
It seems obvious that the best way to tackle NEETs and also the welfare bill is to address the mental health crisis and training of the young. Browbeating and impoverishing them doesn't seem effective.
It seems obvious that the best way to tackle NEETs and also the welfare bill is to address the mental health crisis and training of the young. Browbeating and impoverishing them doesn't seem effective.
There's a study claiming many young people (especially men) are lonely, broken, introverts with no friends or social skills. One in seven apparently have no friends at all (or claim that).
We can throw as much blame around as we want but it's not helpful.
This mental health crisis needs confronting but so far I've heard or seen nothing constructive.