To show how quickly it’s possible for batteries to change electricity consumption here is a chart for electricity energy source in Australia for April 2025 and 2026
Impressive, but it won't do anything much to reduce UK electricity prices as the government has been locking in renewable deals with strike prices equal or greater than the cost of using gas.
I wonder if it might help reduce the amount of new electricity interconnectors required a bit - if we can keep the N-S interconnectors flat out all day and night, to charge batteries in the south overnight which then mitigate peak demand in the south during the day, the increased utilisation might be sufficient to save building a lot of new interconnectors.
Batteries will kill a number of things. But because they are the best solution. But because they are a solution that works and is available now. And at small scale, virtually unstoppable - trying to stop a solar farmer putting a couple of ISO containers on his land is pretty hard.
Speaking of which - from my friend the solar farmer. The local council is demanding that *he* applies to close off a right of way through his fields. He’s got a hedge and ditch between the right of way and his panels. But they are claiming it is unsafe for humans to pass near “an industrial installation”.
His response so far has been “show me an actual safety issue. And I will fix it”.
They respond with vagueness and renewed demands for him to apply to close the right of way.
He needs a nice big Faraday cage. A bit like this one and not that difficult to construct.
Why?
All the cabling is in metal cable covers, and is tidied out of the way. Because he runs sheep in the field. The power electronics are in a locked shed. The planned batteries will be a couple of iso containers, locked and behind their own fence (hidden behind trees).
His suspicion is that the NIMBY types are trying to push him into a fight with the locals - trying to prod him into applying to close the right of way.
It seems to me that Farage has made a cynical judgement call that stoking division over the Nowak case may well increase the Reform vote in Makerfield enough to defeat Burnham, and he doesn't particularly care if this leads to trouble, as in Southampton last night. He may be right. But I desperately hope he's wrong.
(narrator: viewcode is on course to get the minimum when state retirement pension is taken into account, but not before.)
Surely that depends massively on whether you own your own property or not?
I suspect they are also just measuring pensions, when nowadays ISA and for some BTL are equally significant savings methods.
I'm always sceptical about figures like the £32,000 "moderate" income. That gives you £2,300 a month after tax. OK a few hundred £s will go on bills, running a car etc but what exactly do you spend the rest on? Assuming you are not paying mortgage or rent, that looks pretty comfortable to me
If you have no hobbies or social life, don't like travelling, and are happy subsisting on pot noodles and tap water, sure.
Drivel. I spend about £2500 a month and £850 of that is rent...
Do you live in 2006?
Nope, just in a one-bedroom flat.
In 2006 my rent for a room in a shared house in Central-ish Cambridge was £250. Halcyon days.
No, it wasn't fine. You appear to be saying that racist thugs have the right to riot and attack the police because of a load of previous aggro from another group.
Edit - also, the wave of protests were anti-racism. These riots are pro-racism. You want to support racism as balance for the people who oppose it?
It’s a massive hostage to fortune. What if the father doesn’t support the way Starmer is using his comments?
But Mark Nowak specifically cautioned against politicians using his son's wicked murder as a vehicle to create racial division. Now he may not be that comfortable with Starmer's intervention, which is fair enough, but Mark Nowak must be absolutely outraged by Farage.
The real source of the animus directed at Big Nige is not because he's toking the outrage furnace over the racist with the Hitler haircut getting knifed but because he's so effective as a politician.
My feeling is that this is a good, if cynical play, by Reform. All the other politicians appear to be showing more outrage about the outrage rather than the disgraceful policing.
Oh, I'm sure it is great for his core vote strategy. And shoring themselves up against Restore seems to be the No. 1 Reform priority this week.
But if he wants to PM (and there is some debate about whether he really actually does) then he has to win over significant numbers of normies as the american would say.
Yesterday's behaviour wont do that.
He can easily win most seats on a core-vote strategy. Whether that gets him into Number 10, I don't know. But if I were advising them, I wouldn't be encouraging them to try to increase their polling.
Who knows, perhaps swing-back will happen and Labour will cruise to victory. But given how Labour won in 2024 and how they've governed, I wouldn't count on it.
My feeling is that this is a good, if cynical play, by Reform. All the other politicians appear to be showing more outrage about the outrage rather than the disgraceful policing.
Oh, I'm sure it is great for his core vote strategy. And shoring themselves up against Restore seems to be the No. 1 Reform priority this week.
But if he wants to PM (and there is some debate about whether he really actually does) then he has to win over significant numbers of normies as the american would say.
Yesterday's behaviour wont do that.
I agree with Starmer at PMQs. Farage has shown who he is:
"The grieving family have asked us not to respond in the way that the leader of Reform has responded. They’ve asked us not to. They have lost their son in the most appalling circumstance. They make a simple plea of us as human beings to please not exploit that. That is their plea to us. We all need to reflect on those words of Henry’s father. My response – and the response of others, to be fair – has [been focused] on the lessons to be learned so we can deliver justice. His response has been to appeal for rage. That’s his response to a father who’s lost his son and asked for that not to happen. Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances, but to do it when the family are expressly saying please don’t is unforgivable. It shows who he is."
My feeling is that this is a good, if cynical play, by Reform. All the other politicians appear to be showing more outrage about the outrage rather than the disgraceful policing.
Oh, I'm sure it is great for his core vote strategy. And shoring themselves up against Restore seems to be the No. 1 Reform priority this week.
But if he wants to PM (and there is some debate about whether he really actually does) then he has to win over significant numbers of normies as the american would say.
Yesterday's behaviour wont do that.
I agree with Starmer at PMQs. Farage has shown who he is:
"The grieving family have asked us not to respond in the way that the leader of Reform has responded. They’ve asked us not to. They have lost their son in the most appalling circumstance. They make a simple plea of us as human beings to please not exploit that. That is their plea to us. We all need to reflect on those words of Henry’s father. My response – and the response of others, to be fair – has [been focused] on the lessons to be learned so we can deliver justice. His response has been to appeal for rage. That’s his response to a father who’s lost his son and asked for that not to happen. Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances, but to do it when the family are expressly saying please don’t is unforgivable. It shows who he is."
Sadly, Starmer used the phrase “Lessons to be learned”
Which always means “Will not include Lessons. Will not include Learning.”
That was Starmer's best PMQs for a very long time and it was helped by Kemi's comments and moving away from it and onto benefits
Farage is a plainly ugly politician sowing discord and it is upto all of us who are alarmed by him, no matter our political allegiance, to do everything to consign him to the dustbin of political history
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
That was Starmer's best PMQs for a very long time and it was helped by Kemi's comments and moving away from it and onto benefits
Farage is a plainly ugly politician sowing discord and it is upto all of us who are alarmed by him, no matter our political allegiance, to do everything to consign him to the dustbin of political history
It won't happen but Starmer and Badenoch should appear together condemning Farage's disgusting opportunism.
The problem is Farage's two tier narrative is working. Both Labour and the Conservatives will be punished by the lie.
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
My feeling is that this is a good, if cynical play, by Reform. All the other politicians appear to be showing more outrage about the outrage rather than the disgraceful policing.
That's my impression. If you're a centrist politician you don't really convince people you're on their side by responding to incidents like this when your knee-jerk reaction is to rage at the far right. You give the impression you're rather missing the point.
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I was at a dance music festival in Peckham a couple of weeks ago and the huge crowd of ravers leaving the event at 10.30pm was intensely happy, peaceful and relaxed, everyone floating home on a little loved up cloud of joy.
"The murder of George Floyd by serving police officers in the USA in 2020 was a pivotal moment for policing in the UK, driving the need for real change"
Many of us in business have found it extremely useful in putting together and managing balanced teams.
It helps individuals realise that other people think and behave in a different but equally valid way from them.
It is based upon the theory of psychological types proposed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung in his 1921 book, Psychological Types.
However my wife had the same reaction to it as you. She hated being categorised. That's OK and understandable.
Belbin has at least some research to back up its validity.
Belbin is useful too. I judge these techniques by their practical usefulness.
Many years ago, I went to an interview for an HR job in an NHS hospital. They gave me a Myers Briggs test to do and said they weren't going to use them as a selection tool but had just got it and wanted to calibrate it.
Sitting outside the office waiting for my interview I heard them discussing the Myers Briggs, clearly they were looking for people who fitted certain criteria.
You can assume I wasn't terribly disappointed when they failed to offer me a job, also it was in Lincoln which seemed to me to he rather isolated and not somewhere I wanted to live.
Lincoln has moved up significantly with the University.
And only 1hr 50 minutes on the train to London. Hardly darkest Peru...
The real source of the animus directed at Big Nige is not because he's toking the outrage furnace over the racist with the Hitler haircut getting knifed but because he's so effective as a politician.
This sounds like you think Henry Novak really did something racist. All the coverage I have read suggests that he was a completely innocent victim
That was Starmer's best PMQs for a very long time and it was helped by Kemi's comments and moving away from it and onto benefits
Farage is a plainly ugly politician sowing discord and it is upto all of us who are alarmed by him, no matter our political allegiance, to do everything to consign him to the dustbin of political history
I just listened to Farage at PMQs again. Farage seems to allude to a likelihood of further violence. Was it a further tacit invitation to riot?
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I don't think it was the music or even the drugs which was the target so much as the arrival of massive parties in small rural villages. The impression was that it was an a) trespass and b) nuisance neighbour issue, though I don't know the extent to which a) was true in practice.
"The murder of George Floyd by serving police officers in the USA in 2020 was a pivotal moment for policing in the UK, driving the need for real change"
This is not the first time Starmer has shamelessly used a young person's murder to fend off legitimate Qs from opponents. Recall his opportunism in the Chamber, when he told off Sunak for an accurate observation about Labour's muddled position on gender, because Brianna Ghey's mother was watching
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I don't think it was the music or even the drugs which was the target so much as the arrival of massive parties in small rural villages. The impression was that it was an a) trespass and b) nuisance neighbour issue, though I don't know the extent to which a) was true in practice.
It wasn't aimed at those departing at 10.30pm so much as those departing at 10.30 am...
This is not the first time Starmer has shamelessly used a young person's murder to fend off legitimate Qs from opponents. Recall his opportunism in the Chamber, when he told off Sunak for an accurate observation about Labour's muddled position on gender, because Brianna Ghey's mother was watching
What is wrong with you?
You diminish the discourse when you interject with nonsense like this. Starmer deserves criticism in many cases. You are finding made up shite to further your and Farage 's extreme narrative.
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I was at a dance music festival in Peckham a couple of weeks ago and the huge crowd of ravers leaving the event at 10.30pm was intensely happy, peaceful and relaxed, everyone floating home on a little loved up cloud of joy.
Well I'm pleased you had a nice time, but it's not for me. I went to a dance music club once. It was utterly shit. People were having a good time but they were all on drugs and you can have a good time staring at a wall listening to a metronome if you're on drugs. If the music you're playing me doesn't engender a mosh pit, I'm not really interested.
"The murder of George Floyd by serving police officers in the USA in 2020 was a pivotal moment for policing in the UK, driving the need for real change"
People live online. An online police officer was driven to deal with the concerns of online people about what they saw online. Objective external reality played no part in it. Which is a problem
Iain Banks (in his "Iain M Banks" persona) introduced the concept of Infinite Fun Space (IF), a virtual space where entities could live endless lives of infinite fun. They called themselves "Wizards of IF". But the whole thing was dependent on reality so they had to pop outside of IF periodically to ground themselves.
That was in a book (Excession) published in 1996. Thirty years ago.
The real source of the animus directed at Big Nige is not because he's toking the outrage furnace over the racist with the Hitler haircut getting knifed but because he's so effective as a politician.
This sounds like you think Henry Novak really did something racist. All the coverage I have read suggests that he was a completely innocent victim
Some people are trying to use rage-baiting on the story to farm karma.
"The murder of George Floyd by serving police officers in the USA in 2020 was a pivotal moment for policing in the UK, driving the need for real change"
People live online. An online police officer was driven to deal with the concerns of online people about what they saw online. Objective external reality played no part in it. Which is a problem
Iain Banks (in his "Iain M Banks" persona) introduced the concept of Infinite Fun Space (IF), a virtual space where entities could live endless lives of infinite fun. They called themselves "Wizards of IF". But the whole thing was dependent on reality so they had to pop outside of IF periodically to ground themselves.
That was in a book (Excession) published in 1996. Thirty years ago.
It's not like we weren't warned...
Ahem
Cyberspace and having private, walled off versions was a thing *before* William Gibson popularised them, in the 80s
Now I’m off for a walk in the desert. Just me, a giant robot and an aleph.
"The murder of George Floyd by serving police officers in the USA in 2020 was a pivotal moment for policing in the UK, driving the need for real change"
People live online. An online police officer was driven to deal with the concerns of online people about what they saw online. Objective external reality played no part in it. Which is a problem
Iain Banks (in his "Iain M Banks" persona) introduced the concept of Infinite Fun Space (IF), a virtual space where entities could live endless lives of infinite fun. They called themselves "Wizards of IF". But the whole thing was dependent on reality so they had to pop outside of IF periodically to ground themselves.
That was in a book (Excession) published in 1996. Thirty years ago.
It's not like we weren't warned...
Ahem
Cyberspace and having private, walled off versions was a thing *before* William Gibson popularised them, in the 80s
Now I’m off for a walk in the desert. Just me, a giant robot and an aleph.
"The murder of George Floyd by serving police officers in the USA in 2020 was a pivotal moment for policing in the UK, driving the need for real change"
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I was at a dance music festival in Peckham a couple of weeks ago and the huge crowd of ravers leaving the event at 10.30pm was intensely happy, peaceful and relaxed, everyone floating home on a little loved up cloud of joy.
Well I'm pleased you had a nice time, but it's not for me. I went to a dance music club once. It was utterly shit. People were having a good time but they were all on drugs and you can have a good time staring at a wall listening to a metronome if you're on drugs. If the music you're playing me doesn't engender a mosh pit, I'm not really interested.
The substances and the music are complementary (or so I am told by those with experience of such things). Each enhances the enjoyment of the other.
"The murder of George Floyd by serving police officers in the USA in 2020 was a pivotal moment for policing in the UK, driving the need for real change"
go on, i dare you to quote the very next sentence of that report, you numpty
As Andy probably won't... it's, "Whilst this tragic event happened in another country, policing across the UK has over many years had a strained relationship with some communities."
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I was at a dance music festival in Peckham a couple of weeks ago and the huge crowd of ravers leaving the event at 10.30pm was intensely happy, peaceful and relaxed, everyone floating home on a little loved up cloud of joy.
Well I'm pleased you had a nice time, but it's not for me. I went to a dance music club once. It was utterly shit. People were having a good time but they were all on drugs and you can have a good time staring at a wall listening to a metronome if you're on drugs. If the music you're playing me doesn't engender a mosh pit, I'm not really interested.
The substances and the music are complementary (or so I am told by those with experience of such things). Each enhances the enjoyment of the other.
I remember irritating the hell out of some friends by pointing out the music was actually a rip of the drums from a Metallica song…
I don't know whether anyone remembers 'The Paulsgrove Estate'? It became famous for the ignorance of what was thought to be an underclass in the UK. In a small way it contributed to the ending of The News of the World and other horseshit produced by the Murdoch Stables .......
It was a time of vigilantism......
There was a paedophile story which had been ramped up by the News of the World which culminated in an army of pitchfork carriers daubing an innocent persons house with the word PAEDO. They had heard it was owned by a paediatrician.
The owner had to move house and for several years afterwards 'The Paulsgrove Estate ' became a byword for the most ignorant of the ignorant. As a country we became a laughing stock. Even during a housing shortage no one wanted to live on the Paulsgrove Estate...
And the bad news is thanks to Farage and his followers that's where we are heading for again.
Part of the problem is people spreading fake stories that confirm their personal prejudices. On social media.
My story is completely from memory. I just had time to check if I'd spelt Paulsgrove correctly. My memory at the time was working in Hamburg and the Germans laughing like drains about paediatricians. They used to love English wordplay. I'm pretty sure my story is basically correct but I'll look at your link.
In essence the story is correct. A load of marauding vigilante morons go looking for paedophiles. Whether they daubed the wrong house is neither here nor there. This is the contemporaneous story from the Guardian 2001. Your link is just a distraction
Asside from the names and location in your version being 100% wrong…
The difference between news and propaganda garbage is exactly that.
Fake But Accurate is not a valid excuse.
Do you have a reading problem? Here's the intro just to get your geography right.
This article is more than 25 years old In the wake of Sarah Payne's death, the Paulsgrove estate in Portsmouth caught the national mood of fear and loathing. As residents routed out suspected paedophiles, innocents were terrorised and riots split the community. But what happened next? Seven months on, Dave Hill pays a visit
Special report: child protection Dave Hill Tue 6 Feb 2001 02.50 GMT Prefer the Guardian on Google
It wasn't until he switched on Newsnight that Father Gary Waddington realised he had trouble brewing in his own backyard. Driving home after dining out with friends, he'd seen the burning car surrounded by onlookers, fire fighters and police, but could never have imagined what the scene signified. "I just thought there'd been an accident," he says. "Then I realised I was seeing exactly the same thing on my television screen, with Jeremy Paxman explaining what was really going on - almost literally on my doorstep."
That was Starmer's best PMQs for a very long time and it was helped by Kemi's comments and moving away from it and onto benefits
Farage is a plainly ugly politician sowing discord and it is upto all of us who are alarmed by him, no matter our political allegiance, to do everything to consign him to the dustbin of political history
It won't happen but Starmer and Badenoch should appear together condemning Farage's disgusting opportunism.
The problem is Farage's two tier narrative is working. Both Labour and the Conservatives will be punished by the lie.
It is working because it's true. The police quite literally have guidance and are taught to apply the law differently to different ethnic groups, in favour of non-whites. You can clutch your pearls as much as you like, but it's just obfuscation in the face of known facts. There is a pressing need for top-to-bottom reform, not for this to be booted into the long grass.
I don't know whether anyone remembers 'The Paulsgrove Estate'? It became famous for the ignorance of what was thought to be an underclass in the UK. In a small way it contributed to the ending of The News of the World and other horseshit produced by the Murdoch Stables .......
It was a time of vigilantism......
There was a paedophile story which had been ramped up by the News of the World which culminated in an army of pitchfork carriers daubing an innocent persons house with the word PAEDO. They had heard it was owned by a paediatrician.
The owner had to move house and for several years afterwards 'The Paulsgrove Estate ' became a byword for the most ignorant of the ignorant. As a country we became a laughing stock. Even during a housing shortage no one wanted to live on the Paulsgrove Estate...
And the bad news is thanks to Farage and his followers that's where we are heading for again.
Part of the problem is people spreading fake stories that confirm their personal prejudices. On social media.
My story is completely from memory. I just had time to check if I'd spelt Paulsgrove correctly. My memory at the time was working in Hamburg and the Germans laughing like drains about paediatricians. They used to love English wordplay. I'm pretty sure my story is basically correct but I'll look at your link.
In essence the story is correct. A load of marauding vigilante morons go looking for paedophiles. Whether they daubed the wrong house is neither here nor there. This is the contemporaneous story from the Guardian 2001. Your link is just a distraction
Asside from the names and location in your version being 100% wrong…
The difference between news and propaganda garbage is exactly that.
Fake But Accurate is not a valid excuse.
Do you have a reading problem? Here's the intro just to get your geography right.
This article is more than 25 years old In the wake of Sarah Payne's death, the Paulsgrove estate in Portsmouth caught the national mood of fear and loathing. As residents routed out suspected paedophiles, innocents were terrorised and riots split the community. But what happened next? Seven months on, Dave Hill pays a visit
Special report: child protection Dave Hill Tue 6 Feb 2001 02.50 GMT Prefer the Guardian on Google
It wasn't until he switched on Newsnight that Father Gary Waddington realised he had trouble brewing in his own backyard. Driving home after dining out with friends, he'd seen the burning car surrounded by onlookers, fire fighters and police, but could never have imagined what the scene signified. "I just thought there'd been an accident," he says. "Then I realised I was seeing exactly the same thing on my television screen, with Jeremy Paxman explaining what was really going on - almost literally on my doorstep."
The real source of the animus directed at Big Nige is not because he's toking the outrage furnace over the racist with the Hitler haircut getting knifed but because he's so effective as a politician.
Traducing a murdered boy who was entirely innocent.
To show how quickly it’s possible for batteries to change electricity consumption here is a chart for electricity energy source in Australia for April 2025 and 2026
Impressive, but it won't do anything much to reduce UK electricity prices as the government has been locking in renewable deals with strike prices equal or greater than the cost of using gas.
I wonder if it might help reduce the amount of new electricity interconnectors required a bit - if we can keep the N-S interconnectors flat out all day and night, to charge batteries in the south overnight which then mitigate peak demand in the south during the day, the increased utilisation might be sufficient to save building a lot of new interconnectors.
Is that currently true?
Spot electricity prices are just over 100 quid, and renewables auctions last year were abour 65 quid (solar), 75 quid onshore gas, and 95 quid for offshore wind.
Incidentally, if someone wants to do some actual good…
Over the years, there has been a problem with deaths in police custody. This has been reduced by more attention to people appearing ill and getting them medical help faster.
The case we are discussing fits the pattern. Someone complains of being ill/injured and dies.
What can be done to improve of the work that has been done so far, to further reduce such deaths?
Think of it as really Learning Lessons.
Oh, and completely unsurprisingly, deaths in police custody are disproportionately minorities.
This is not the first time Starmer has shamelessly used a young person's murder to fend off legitimate Qs from opponents. Recall his opportunism in the Chamber, when he told off Sunak for an accurate observation about Labour's muddled position on gender, because Brianna Ghey's mother was watching
I think that woman is just being silly. It just smacks of: 'It's okay for our dear beloved Nigel to be opportunistic but no one else.' Which, of course, concedes the point that Nigel was indeed being opportunistic. Nigel's admirers just need to go away and accept he's had a bad day. That's fine. These things happen.
The real source of the animus directed at Big Nige is not because he's toking the outrage furnace over the racist with the Hitler haircut getting knifed but because he's so effective as a politician.
Traducing a murdered boy who was entirely innocent.
Shame on you.
Some people are trying to use rage-baiting on the story to farm karma.
"The murder of George Floyd by serving police officers in the USA in 2020 was a pivotal moment for policing in the UK, driving the need for real change"
People live online. An online police officer was driven to deal with the concerns of online people about what they saw online. Objective external reality played no part in it. Which is a problem
Iain Banks (in his "Iain M Banks" persona) introduced the concept of Infinite Fun Space (IF), a virtual space where entities could live endless lives of infinite fun. They called themselves "Wizards of IF". But the whole thing was dependent on reality so they had to pop outside of IF periodically to ground themselves.
That was in a book (Excession) published in 1996. Thirty years ago.
It's not like we weren't warned...
Doesn't this go back to Marshall McLuhan's "global village" (1962)?
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I was at a dance music festival in Peckham a couple of weeks ago and the huge crowd of ravers leaving the event at 10.30pm was intensely happy, peaceful and relaxed, everyone floating home on a little loved up cloud of joy.
Well I'm pleased you had a nice time, but it's not for me. I went to a dance music club once. It was utterly shit. People were having a good time but they were all on drugs and you can have a good time staring at a wall listening to a metronome if you're on drugs. If the music you're playing me doesn't engender a mosh pit, I'm not really interested.
The substances and the music are complementary (or so I am told by those with experience of such things). Each enhances the enjoyment of the other.
I remember irritating the hell out of some friends by pointing out the music was actually a rip of the drums from a Metallica song…
Most ravers of my acquaintance have quite broad musical tastes. Maybe your friends just wanted you to stop talking?
An isolate but tragic case makes the headlines and politicians panic and throw stones at each other.
Faced with calls to do something, anything, by people who haven't really thought it through, they respond decisively by ripping up a system that by and large works well, to replace it with the first thing they can cobble together.
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I was at a dance music festival in Peckham a couple of weeks ago and the huge crowd of ravers leaving the event at 10.30pm was intensely happy, peaceful and relaxed, everyone floating home on a little loved up cloud of joy.
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I was at a dance music festival in Peckham a couple of weeks ago and the huge crowd of ravers leaving the event at 10.30pm was intensely happy, peaceful and relaxed, everyone floating home on a little loved up cloud of joy.
Well I'm pleased you had a nice time, but it's not for me. I went to a dance music club once. It was utterly shit. People were having a good time but they were all on drugs and you can have a good time staring at a wall listening to a metronome if you're on drugs. If the music you're playing me doesn't engender a mosh pit, I'm not really interested.
The substances and the music are complementary (or so I am told by those with experience of such things). Each enhances the enjoyment of the other.
I remember irritating the hell out of some friends by pointing out the music was actually a rip of the drums from a Metallica song…
Most ravers of my acquaintance have quite broad musical tastes. Maybe your friends just wanted you to stop talking?
One of them was trying to tell me that it was so much better than that “metal crap you listen to”
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I don't think it was the music or even the drugs which was the target so much as the arrival of massive parties in small rural villages. The impression was that it was an a) trespass and b) nuisance neighbour issue, though I don't know the extent to which a) was true in practice.
Oh, is this the way they say the future's meant to feel? Or just twenty thousand people standing in a field? And I don't quite understand just what this feeling is But that's okay 'cause we're all sorted out for E's and wizz
Used AI to get this but it gives a idea of the scale of the issue;
"There are 145,550 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers operating across the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales. Annually, the police record approximately 98,000 to 115,000 racially motivated hate crime incidents, with race consistently making up over two-thirds of all hate crimes recorded each year"
An isolate but tragic case makes the headlines and politicians panic and throw stones at each other.
Faced with calls to do something, anything, by people who haven't really thought it through, they respond decisively by ripping up a system that by and large works well, to replace it with the first thing they can cobble together.
What could possibly go wrong...Again.
Peter.
What is being suggested to be ripped up?
So far, the only suggestion I’ve heard is that the religious/cultural exceptions for carrying blades should be revoked.
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I was at a dance music festival in Peckham a couple of weeks ago and the huge crowd of ravers leaving the event at 10.30pm was intensely happy, peaceful and relaxed, everyone floating home on a little loved up cloud of joy.
Well I'm pleased you had a nice time, but it's not for me. I went to a dance music club once. It was utterly shit. People were having a good time but they were all on drugs and you can have a good time staring at a wall listening to a metronome if you're on drugs. If the music you're playing me doesn't engender a mosh pit, I'm not really interested.
The substances and the music are complementary (or so I am told by those with experience of such things). Each enhances the enjoyment of the other.
I remember irritating the hell out of some friends by pointing out the music was actually a rip of the drums from a Metallica song…
Most ravers of my acquaintance have quite broad musical tastes. Maybe your friends just wanted you to stop talking?
One of them was trying to tell me that it was so much better than that “metal crap you listen to”
An isolate but tragic case makes the headlines and politicians panic and throw stones at each other.
Faced with calls to do something, anything, by people who haven't really thought it through, they respond decisively by ripping up a system that by and large works well, to replace it with the first thing they can cobble together.
What could possibly go wrong...Again.
Peter.
What is being suggested to be ripped up?
So far, the only suggestion I’ve heard is that the religious/cultural exceptions for carrying blades should be revoked.
I believe a fair number of bins and assorted street furniture were ripped up last night.
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I was at a dance music festival in Peckham a couple of weeks ago and the huge crowd of ravers leaving the event at 10.30pm was intensely happy, peaceful and relaxed, everyone floating home on a little loved up cloud of joy.
Well I'm pleased you had a nice time, but it's not for me. I went to a dance music club once. It was utterly shit. People were having a good time but they were all on drugs and you can have a good time staring at a wall listening to a metronome if you're on drugs. If the music you're playing me doesn't engender a mosh pit, I'm not really interested.
An isolate but tragic case makes the headlines and politicians panic and throw stones at each other.
Faced with calls to do something, anything, by people who haven't really thought it through, they respond decisively by ripping up a system that by and large works well, to replace it with the first thing they can cobble together.
What could possibly go wrong...Again.
Peter.
What is being suggested to be ripped up?
So far, the only suggestion I’ve heard is that the religious/cultural exceptions for carrying blades should be revoked.
Probably best for Digwas trial on carrying an offensive weapon, which I think is next week. That may well make clear that the murder weapon was not a legal carry.
The religious exemption is for the Kirpan which was not used in this murder.
An isolate but tragic case makes the headlines and politicians panic and throw stones at each other.
Faced with calls to do something, anything, by people who haven't really thought it through, they respond decisively by ripping up a system that by and large works well, to replace it with the first thing they can cobble together.
What could possibly go wrong...Again.
Peter.
What is being suggested to be ripped up?
So far, the only suggestion I’ve heard is that the religious/cultural exceptions for carrying blades should be revoked.
I believe a fair number of bins and assorted street furniture were ripped up last night.
The OP was talking about “ripping up a system that by and large works well”
Neither bins nor street furniture figure in that.
Round here, we are ready to riot over the bins and the state of the pavements. People in wheelchairs have to use the road, in places.
"The murder of George Floyd by serving police officers in the USA in 2020 was a pivotal moment for policing in the UK, driving the need for real change"
An isolate but tragic case makes the headlines and politicians panic and throw stones at each other.
Faced with calls to do something, anything, by people who haven't really thought it through, they respond decisively by ripping up a system that by and large works well, to replace it with the first thing they can cobble together.
What could possibly go wrong...Again.
Peter.
What is being suggested to be ripped up?
So far, the only suggestion I’ve heard is that the religious/cultural exceptions for carrying blades should be revoked.
Probably best for Digwas trial on carrying an offensive weapon, which I think is next week. That may well make clear that the murder weapon was not a legal carry.
The religious exemption is for the Kirpan which was not used in this murder.
I think there is some debate as to what a “Kirpan” is - both according to the law and the inevitable differences between sects on the matter.
It might do some good to clear that up, before we have a rice-flail style panic.
Used AI to get this but it gives a idea of the scale of the issue;
"There are 145,550 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers operating across the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales. Annually, the police record approximately 98,000 to 115,000 racially motivated hate crime incidents, with race consistently making up over two-thirds of all hate crimes recorded each year"
But they get it wrong once and........
Peter.
There's no depulication in those stats. 100 people reporting the same tweet in a pile-on counts as 100 hate crime incidents.
Used AI to get this but it gives a idea of the scale of the issue;
"There are 145,550 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers operating across the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales. Annually, the police record approximately 98,000 to 115,000 racially motivated hate crime incidents, with race consistently making up over two-thirds of all hate crimes recorded each year"
But they get it wrong once and........
Peter.
What was it you were saying about ideology vs non-ideology?
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I don't think it was the music or even the drugs which was the target so much as the arrival of massive parties in small rural villages. The impression was that it was an a) trespass and b) nuisance neighbour issue, though I don't know the extent to which a) was true in practice.
Oh, is this the way they say the future's meant to feel? Or just twenty thousand people standing in a field? And I don't quite understand just what this feeling is But that's okay 'cause we're all sorted out for E's and wizz
A song, I'd note, written and performed by a proper band with guitars.
This is not the first time Starmer has shamelessly used a young person's murder to fend off legitimate Qs from opponents. Recall his opportunism in the Chamber, when he told off Sunak for an accurate observation about Labour's muddled position on gender, because Brianna Ghey's mother was watching
Starmer wasn't fending off "legitimate" questions. He was calling out Farage for consciously blowing a dog whistle to release the thugs we saw threatening communities in Southampton yesterday.
The latest ElectionMaps Nowcast shows Labour winning 80 seats, which would be a loss of 331. A bit of a no-brainer that they won't want to have an early election.
One wonders what these men would have been doing before social media ruined the planet
Probably going to watch Millwall and West Ham, among other teams.
The real cultural change came in the early nineties when everyone, of that generation, became loved up on drugs and acid house crap/raves.
Yep, I remember the police at the time only ever talking about drugs, drugs, drugs.
What they mostly didn’t talk about, is how several thousand people could be at a rave for 12 hours and there to be almost no disturbances, just people having a good time.
As The Shamen once sang, E’s are good.
So the fact it was against the law, for more than one reason, didn't matter. People could just decide to do what they wanted.
It mattered very much that drugs were illegal.
My point was that there was a significant drop in public order issues in the early ‘90s, as a culture that led to a lot of young men socialising around football and drinking, was replaced with a culture of young men going to raves and taking pills. The pill-poppers didn’t get in fights with each other, unlike the football fans for whom it was often the highlight of their Saturday afternoon.
Still don't stop the government at the time getting whipped up in such a state of moral indignation it introduced the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically to target ravers
I was at a dance music festival in Peckham a couple of weeks ago and the huge crowd of ravers leaving the event at 10.30pm was intensely happy, peaceful and relaxed, everyone floating home on a little loved up cloud of joy.
Well I'm pleased you had a nice time, but it's not for me. I went to a dance music club once. It was utterly shit. People were having a good time but they were all on drugs and you can have a good time staring at a wall listening to a metronome if you're on drugs. If the music you're playing me doesn't engender a mosh pit, I'm not really interested.
Can I suggest you listen to some LCD Soundsystem?
Well I have nothing against LCD Soundsystem. There are a bunch of electronic bands which do the job fine (Django Django, for one). But at their most palatable - to me - these are bands playing proper guitar music, only without guitars. (Soulwax's 'E Talking' is a good example of what I'm talking about. You could have a mosh pit with that on.)
On a related note, yesterday I learned that Jose Gonzalez's ethereal, dreamy 'Heartbeats' is not the original: the original is electronic and altogether stranger and quite wonderful in its own right: https://youtu.be/pPD8Ja64mRU?si=bJB_dyyjKe5KIbCE
Incidentally, if someone wants to do some actual good…
Over the years, there has been a problem with deaths in police custody. This has been reduced by more attention to people appearing ill and getting them medical help faster.
The case we are discussing fits the pattern. Someone complains of being ill/injured and dies.
What can be done to improve of the work that has been done so far, to further reduce such deaths?
Police can follow protocols which already exist, and are a fundamental part of their training.
As I pointed out earlier, even if the victim had been a racist who started the confrontation, and had not been stabbed, there was little or no justification in the circumstance for his being handcuffed. That the attending police dismissed his request for help without any apparent effort to check his state just compounds that.
In that sense, whatever their motivation might have been is close to irrelevant. They ignored what they are (or should have been) trained to do.
My feeling is that this is a good, if cynical play, by Reform. All the other politicians appear to be showing more outrage about the outrage rather than the disgraceful policing.
Oh, I'm sure it is great for his core vote strategy. And shoring themselves up against Restore seems to be the No. 1 Reform priority this week.
But if he wants to PM (and there is some debate about whether he really actually does) then he has to win over significant numbers of normies as the american would say.
Yesterday's behaviour wont do that.
I agree with Starmer at PMQs. Farage has shown who he is:
"The grieving family have asked us not to respond in the way that the leader of Reform has responded. They’ve asked us not to. They have lost their son in the most appalling circumstance. They make a simple plea of us as human beings to please not exploit that. That is their plea to us. We all need to reflect on those words of Henry’s father. My response – and the response of others, to be fair – has [been focused] on the lessons to be learned so we can deliver justice. His response has been to appeal for rage. That’s his response to a father who’s lost his son and asked for that not to happen. Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances, but to do it when the family are expressly saying please don’t is unforgivable. It shows who he is."
Sadly, Starmer used the phrase “Lessons to be learned”
Which always means “Will not include Lessons. Will not include Learning.”
Incidentally, if someone wants to do some actual good…
Over the years, there has been a problem with deaths in police custody. This has been reduced by more attention to people appearing ill and getting them medical help faster.
The case we are discussing fits the pattern. Someone complains of being ill/injured and dies.
What can be done to improve of the work that has been done so far, to further reduce such deaths?
Think of it as really Learning Lessons.
Oh, and completely unsurprisingly, deaths in police custody are disproportionately minorities.
Until Farage started up with his rabble-rousing it never occurred to me this was a case of police bias towards ethnic minorities. It still doesn't.
But it sounds very much like a case of police jumping to a conclusion that someone was a criminal and then treating him worse than most people would treat an animal.
My feeling is that this is a good, if cynical play, by Reform. All the other politicians appear to be showing more outrage about the outrage rather than the disgraceful policing.
Oh, I'm sure it is great for his core vote strategy. And shoring themselves up against Restore seems to be the No. 1 Reform priority this week.
But if he wants to PM (and there is some debate about whether he really actually does) then he has to win over significant numbers of normies as the american would say.
Yesterday's behaviour wont do that.
I agree with Starmer at PMQs. Farage has shown who he is:
"The grieving family have asked us not to respond in the way that the leader of Reform has responded. They’ve asked us not to. They have lost their son in the most appalling circumstance. They make a simple plea of us as human beings to please not exploit that. That is their plea to us. We all need to reflect on those words of Henry’s father. My response – and the response of others, to be fair – has [been focused] on the lessons to be learned so we can deliver justice. His response has been to appeal for rage. That’s his response to a father who’s lost his son and asked for that not to happen. Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances, but to do it when the family are expressly saying please don’t is unforgivable. It shows who he is."
Sadly, Starmer used the phrase “Lessons to be learned”
Which always means “Will not include Lessons. Will not include Learning.”
FFS
FFS what on earth are you on about?
As @Cyclefree will attest, the phrase Lessons Will Be Learned appears frequently in the kind of inquiries that happen years after the event, take years to conclude.
The phrase always means that it will all be swept under the carpet, no real change is needed and everyone should stop talking about it
Incidentally, if someone wants to do some actual good…
Over the years, there has been a problem with deaths in police custody. This has been reduced by more attention to people appearing ill and getting them medical help faster.
The case we are discussing fits the pattern. Someone complains of being ill/injured and dies.
What can be done to improve of the work that has been done so far, to further reduce such deaths?
Think of it as really Learning Lessons.
Oh, and completely unsurprisingly, deaths in police custody are disproportionately minorities.
Until Farage started up with his rabble-rousing it never occurred to me this was a case of police bias towards ethnic minorities. It still doesn't.
But it sounds very much like a case of police jumping to a conclusion that someone was a criminal and then treating him worse than most people would treat an animal.
It’s the same pattern - person in police custody is mentally categorised as “One Of Them”, problems ignored. Cue inquest.
The latest ElectionMaps Nowcast shows Labour winning 80 seats, which would be a loss of 331. A bit of a no-brainer that they won't want to have an early election.
Comments
All the cabling is in metal cable covers, and is tidied out of the way. Because he runs sheep in the field. The power electronics are in a locked shed. The planned batteries will be a couple of iso containers, locked and behind their own fence (hidden behind trees).
His suspicion is that the NIMBY types are trying to push him into a fight with the locals - trying to prod him into applying to close the right of way.
He may be right. But I desperately hope he's wrong.
In 2006 my rent for a room in a shared house in Central-ish Cambridge was £250. Halcyon days.
Who knows, perhaps swing-back will happen and Labour will cruise to victory. But given how Labour won in 2024 and how they've governed, I wouldn't count on it.
"The grieving family have asked us not to respond in the way that the leader of Reform has responded. They’ve asked us not to. They have lost their son in the most appalling circumstance. They make a simple plea of us as human beings to please not exploit that. That is their plea to us. We all need to reflect on those words of Henry’s father.
My response – and the response of others, to be fair – has [been focused] on the lessons to be learned so we can deliver justice. His response has been to appeal for rage. That’s his response to a father who’s lost his son and asked for that not to happen.
Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances, but to do it when the family are expressly saying please don’t is unforgivable. It shows who he is."
Which always means “Will not include Lessons. Will not include Learning.”
FFS
Farage is a plainly ugly politician sowing discord and it is upto all of us who are alarmed by him, no matter our political allegiance, to do everything to consign him to the dustbin of political history
The problem is Farage's two tier narrative is working. Both Labour and the Conservatives will be punished by the lie.
For The Greater Good
That was about crusty jugglers.
https://www.hampshire.police.uk/police-forces/hampshire-constabulary/areas/au/about-us/race-action-plan-2024-2026/
It literally had nothing to do with UK policing.
And only 1hr 50 minutes on the train to London. Hardly darkest Peru...
This is not the first time Starmer has shamelessly used a young person's murder to fend off legitimate Qs from opponents. Recall his opportunism in the Chamber, when he told off Sunak for an accurate observation about Labour's muddled position on gender, because Brianna Ghey's mother was watching
You diminish the discourse when you interject with nonsense like this. Starmer deserves criticism in many cases. You are finding made up shite to further your and Farage 's extreme narrative.
If the music you're playing me doesn't engender a mosh pit, I'm not really interested.
Iain Banks (in his "Iain M Banks" persona) introduced the concept of Infinite Fun Space (IF), a virtual space where entities could live endless lives of infinite fun. They called themselves "Wizards of IF". But the whole thing was dependent on reality so they had to pop outside of IF periodically to ground themselves.
That was in a book (Excession) published in 1996. Thirty years ago.
It's not like we weren't warned...
Farages Little Helpers
Oh, already taken... https://www.revanceaesthetics.com/
Give me MRL Official anyday
Edit: Oh dear. Katie goes full Philp. "An overcorrection" she says. She is going "two tier" Farage.
She seems very nice though.
Cyberspace and having private, walled off versions was a thing *before* William Gibson popularised them, in the 80s
Now I’m off for a walk in the desert. Just me, a giant robot and an aleph.
Cyberspace and having private, walled off versions was a thing *before* William Gibson popularised them, in the 80s
Now I’m off for a walk in the desert. Just me, a giant robot and an aleph.
This article is more than 25 years old
In the wake of Sarah Payne's death, the Paulsgrove estate in Portsmouth caught the national mood of fear and loathing. As residents routed out suspected paedophiles, innocents were terrorised and riots split the community. But what happened next? Seven months on, Dave Hill pays a visit
Special report: child protection
Dave Hill
Tue 6 Feb 2001 02.50 GMT
Prefer the Guardian on Google
It wasn't until he switched on Newsnight that Father Gary Waddington realised he had trouble brewing in his own backyard. Driving home after dining out with friends, he'd seen the burning car surrounded by onlookers, fire fighters and police, but could never have imagined what the scene signified. "I just thought there'd been an accident," he says. "Then I realised I was seeing exactly the same thing on my television screen, with Jeremy Paxman explaining what was really going on - almost literally on my doorstep."
Shame on you.
Spot electricity prices are just over 100 quid, and renewables auctions last year were abour 65 quid (solar), 75 quid onshore gas, and 95 quid for offshore wind.
Over the years, there has been a problem with deaths in police custody. This has been reduced by more attention to people appearing ill and getting them medical help faster.
The case we are discussing fits the pattern. Someone complains of being ill/injured and dies.
What can be done to improve of the work that has been done so far, to further reduce such deaths?
Think of it as really Learning Lessons.
Oh, and completely unsurprisingly, deaths in police custody are disproportionately minorities.
...
...two-part BBC documentary on the referendum, A Very British Civil War, to be broadcast on June 8.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/06/02/cameron-offered-johnson-cabinet-role-if-backed-remain-eu/ (£££)
Tommy Lots Of Names Little Helpers
https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/workstations-ai/nvidia-dgx-station
Are there any betting odds on the results? I bet puffins do well.
An isolate but tragic case makes the headlines and politicians panic and throw stones at each other.
Faced with calls to do something, anything, by people who haven't really thought it through, they respond decisively by ripping up a system that by and large works well, to replace it with the first thing they can cobble together.
What could possibly go wrong...Again.
Peter.
Or just twenty thousand people standing in a field?
And I don't quite understand just what this feeling is
But that's okay 'cause we're all sorted out for E's and wizz
"There are 145,550 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers operating across the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales. Annually, the police record approximately 98,000 to 115,000 racially motivated hate crime incidents, with race consistently making up over two-thirds of all hate crimes recorded each year"
But they get it wrong once and........
Peter.
So far, the only suggestion I’ve heard is that the religious/cultural exceptions for carrying blades should be revoked.
The religious exemption is for the Kirpan which was not used in this murder.
Neither bins nor street furniture figure in that.
Round here, we are ready to riot over the bins and the state of the pavements. People in wheelchairs have to use the road, in places.
It might do some good to clear that up, before we have a rice-flail style panic.
I’d love something more exotic like Scolopendra Crassipes or P.Murinus on a note.
However they could have Ed Davey on for all I care. It’s what it gets me that is of interest.
Is diversity our strength?
https://electionmaps.uk/nowcast
On a related note, yesterday I learned that Jose Gonzalez's ethereal, dreamy 'Heartbeats' is not the original: the original is electronic and altogether stranger and quite wonderful in its own right: https://youtu.be/pPD8Ja64mRU?si=bJB_dyyjKe5KIbCE
As I pointed out earlier, even if the victim had been a racist who started the confrontation, and had not been stabbed, there was little or no justification in the circumstance for his being handcuffed.
That the attending police dismissed his request for help without any apparent effort to check his state just compounds that.
In that sense, whatever their motivation might have been is close to irrelevant. They ignored what they are (or should have been) trained to do.
But it sounds very much like a case of police jumping to a conclusion that someone was a criminal and then treating him worse than most people would treat an animal.
The phrase always means that it will all be swept under the carpet, no real change is needed and everyone should stop talking about it
1) Observation skills.
2) Empathy/compassion.
3) Critical thinking skills.
4) Common sense.
5) Judgement.
6) Ability to assess a situation before acting.
All of which should be essential requirements on the person spec.
How did they get employed?
All lives in police custody matter?
GE Aerospace completes ground test of megawatt-class hybrid electric engine system
https://www.geaerospace.com/news/press-releases/ge-aerospace-completes-ground-test-megawatt-class-hybrid-electric-engine-system
There are ONE Labour MPs in Scotland in that Nowcast.
The latest ranking of top UK government suppliers is out. A few surprises made the list.
https://x.com/Tussell_UK/status/2047291614712779092