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Wes Streeting and No Kings! – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 13,170
edited 6:55AM in General
Wes Streeting and No Kings! – politicalbetting.com

Exclusive: Wes Streeting tells Bloomberg’s @flacqua he will not allow an Andy Burnham coronation“I’m a monarchist, but this is one coronation that I’m not enthusiastic about”He blasts Starmer’s “lack of vision, direction and drive”By @LucyGJWhite > https://t.co/qOeaVx4Qiy

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  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 128,566
    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,615
    Dura_Ace said:

    Nigelb said:

    However bad MoD procurement is, there's always a way to make it worse.

    Also tonight @LOS_Fisher reports that as part of the deal to inject fresh funding into the MoD, the Treasury is proposing to take control of the spending on the GCAP programme
    https://x.com/larisamlbrown/status/2062278110465216557

    The Treasury probably should take control. From February 2025 to January 2026 the projected program cost increased by 35% to nearly £50 billion. If things continue in this manner, the RAF will consist entirely of one GCAP delivered in 2050 and they won't be able to afford to put fuel in it.

    It's shaping up, much like Typhoon, to be an incredibly expensive disarmament program as so much else will have to be sacrificed for it.
    It's certainly a hard and consequential decision either to go ahead with, or kill the program.
    I'm not sure why you think the Treasury "taking control" will improve the way it's managed, though.

    https://x.com/navalhistorian/status/2062298874878836804
    Although depicted as an MoD-Treasury "turf war" there's a buried lede to this story that goes back to the mega projects report of the Treasury's Office for Value for Money in June 2025, which was, in fact, rather critical of the Treasury's own behaviour https://gov.uk/government/publications/value-for-money-vfm-study-on-the-governance-and-budgeting-arrangements-for-mega-projects

    Key criticisms included perverse incentives & annualisation creating a situation where "Living within annual budgets is prioritised over delivery..." with recommendations that included flexible project budgets & streamlined decision-making (all well known improvements).

    The Treasury ultimately accepted the Office for Value for Money's report, but to the surprise of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, restricted the implementation of its improvements to just three projects (GCAP would the the fourth). https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmpubacc/642/report.html


    The Treasury has been accused before, with some justification, of trying to become a government within the government.
    I'm not convinced that would turn out any better under Reeves...

  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 27,942
    Nigelb said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Nigelb said:

    However bad MoD procurement is, there's always a way to make it worse.

    Also tonight @LOS_Fisher reports that as part of the deal to inject fresh funding into the MoD, the Treasury is proposing to take control of the spending on the GCAP programme
    https://x.com/larisamlbrown/status/2062278110465216557

    The Treasury probably should take control. From February 2025 to January 2026 the projected program cost increased by 35% to nearly £50 billion. If things continue in this manner, the RAF will consist entirely of one GCAP delivered in 2050 and they won't be able to afford to put fuel in it.

    It's shaping up, much like Typhoon, to be an incredibly expensive disarmament program as so much else will have to be sacrificed for it.
    It's certainly a hard and consequential decision either to go ahead with, or kill the program.
    I'm not sure why you think the Treasury "taking control" will improve the way it's managed, though.

    https://x.com/navalhistorian/status/2062298874878836804
    Although depicted as an MoD-Treasury "turf war" there's a buried lede to this story that goes back to the mega projects report of the Treasury's Office for Value for Money in June 2025, which was, in fact, rather critical of the Treasury's own behaviour https://gov.uk/government/publications/value-for-money-vfm-study-on-the-governance-and-budgeting-arrangements-for-mega-projects

    Key criticisms included perverse incentives & annualisation creating a situation where "Living within annual budgets is prioritised over delivery..." with recommendations that included flexible project budgets & streamlined decision-making (all well known improvements).

    The Treasury ultimately accepted the Office for Value for Money's report, but to the surprise of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, restricted the implementation of its improvements to just three projects (GCAP would the the fourth). https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmpubacc/642/report.html


    The Treasury has been accused before, with some justification, of trying to become a government within the government.
    I'm not convinced that would turn out any better under Reeves...

    Sounds like FFS2.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 56,832
    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 23,128
    Lord Mann is a complete clown. He's made a career of wanting to be Jewish and he is seen as a slavering buffoon.Only Starmer could be taken in.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 136,858
    Assuming Burnham wins the Makerfield by election, which is not a given as he only leads polls there as Restore are taking Reform votes then why shouldn't Streeting run and also challenge Starmer for Labour leader and PM? He offers a clear rejoin the EU stance than Burnham and a more New Labour, less leftist tax and spend agenda than Burnham.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 136,858

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    Well done Streeting for showing respect to our wonderful King, how TSE could call himself a Tory while failing to do so is beyond me!
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,884
    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
    He should reflect on the wisdom of C S Lewis: "You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

    Right now I would say his future in front line politics is looking distinctly limited. Making an enemy of Burnham will confirm this.
  • DopermeanDopermean Posts: 3,133
    HYUFD said:

    Assuming Burnham wins the Makerfield by election, which is not a given as he only leads polls there as Restore are taking Reform votes then why shouldn't Streeting run and also challenge Starmer for Labour leader and PM? He offers a clear rejoin the EU stance than Burnham and a more New Labour, less leftist tax and spend agenda than Burnham.

    I thought he hasn't the numbers in the PLP or support in the membership to get close to defeating Starmer.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 39,757

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    The Tight Trousered Monarchist could be an updated version of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist for the 21st Century.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 8,259
    Dopermean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Assuming Burnham wins the Makerfield by election, which is not a given as he only leads polls there as Restore are taking Reform votes then why shouldn't Streeting run and also challenge Starmer for Labour leader and PM? He offers a clear rejoin the EU stance than Burnham and a more New Labour, less leftist tax and spend agenda than Burnham.

    I thought he hasn't the numbers in the PLP or support in the membership to get close to defeating Starmer.
    Does it matter? We live in a democracy, surely it is always best to have a competition
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 32,334
    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    This. If he had the numbers then he would have challenged Starmer. He doesn't, he didn't, he can't.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 7,960
    edited 7:23AM
    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,884

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    This. If he had the numbers then he would have challenged Starmer. He doesn't, he didn't, he can't.
    Veni. Vide. Amisi.

    As Caesar once almost said.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,011
    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
    He should reflect on the wisdom of C S Lewis: "You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

    Right now I would say his future in front line politics is looking distinctly limited. Making an enemy of Burnham will confirm this.
    Point of order: surely as a novelist C S Lewis could actually go back and change the beginning?

    I am intrigued by the novel writing process, though it's not something I could ever do. How much is planned out in detail before being written up or should we believe those novelists who say they just start writing and the novel emerges as if by divine inspiration as they go?

    Any PB authors care to share?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,794
    Let it go, Wes. You're just making the coming capitulation more embarrassing.
  • DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    We are in agreement. I’m sure Streeting WANTS to stand but he’s not going to get enough support to do so.
  • DopermeanDopermean Posts: 3,133
    edited 7:29AM

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    If you get tired of munching the brown shells I can get you some gravel. Interesting I'd always assumed the shells were down to the minerals they ate rather than chicken breed.
    Apparently the hens that lay white eggs are also less prone to pecking each other.
    Anyway if you've been provoked to a frothing rage by the colour of your egg "wrapper" it doesn't say much for your critical faculties.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,860
    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    Thing is, you have to be a bit delusional to get to near the top in politics. The career ladder has so many wobbly rungs that anyone looking at it rationally will conclude that the game just isn't worth playing. You can achieve more, more reliably, doing almost anything else.

    Besides, the line between charismatic confidence and delusion is very very thin. Johnson and Truss had way too much of that characteristic. Sunak and Starmer, because of how they ended up PM, way too little.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 136,858
    Dopermean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Assuming Burnham wins the Makerfield by election, which is not a given as he only leads polls there as Restore are taking Reform votes then why shouldn't Streeting run and also challenge Starmer for Labour leader and PM? He offers a clear rejoin the EU stance than Burnham and a more New Labour, less leftist tax and spend agenda than Burnham.

    I thought he hasn't the numbers in the PLP or support in the membership to get close to defeating Starmer.
    No but he would be the New Labour candidate if Burnham falters
  • CookieCookie Posts: 17,553

    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
    He should reflect on the wisdom of C S Lewis: "You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

    Right now I would say his future in front line politics is looking distinctly limited. Making an enemy of Burnham will confirm this.
    Point of order: surely as a novelist C S Lewis could actually go back and change the beginning?

    I am intrigued by the novel writing process, though it's not something I could ever do. How much is planned out in detail before being written up or should we believe those novelists who say they just start writing and the novel emerges as if by divine inspiration as they go?

    Any PB authors care to share?
    No, he couldn't. Reason being, this was before word processors: he was presumably using a typewriter. Massive faff with the tippex to change the beginning.
    (I may be being slightly flippant).
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 5,444
    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
    He should reflect on the wisdom of C S Lewis: "You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

    Right now I would say his future in front line politics is looking distinctly limited. Making an enemy of Burnham will confirm this.
    If Mr Streeting is indeed playing the long game, he may have looked at Mr Burnham's history in parliament and decided opposing him will be worth while when Mr Burnham crashes & burns as he presumably expects.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 5,444

    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
    He should reflect on the wisdom of C S Lewis: "You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

    Right now I would say his future in front line politics is looking distinctly limited. Making an enemy of Burnham will confirm this.
    Point of order: surely as a novelist C S Lewis could actually go back and change the beginning?

    I am intrigued by the novel writing process, though it's not something I could ever do. How much is planned out in detail before being written up or should we believe those novelists who say they just start writing and the novel emerges as if by divine inspiration as they go?

    Any PB authors care to share?
    C S Lewis was much more than a novellist.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,884

    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
    He should reflect on the wisdom of C S Lewis: "You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

    Right now I would say his future in front line politics is looking distinctly limited. Making an enemy of Burnham will confirm this.
    Point of order: surely as a novelist C S Lewis could actually go back and change the beginning?

    I am intrigued by the novel writing process, though it's not something I could ever do. How much is planned out in detail before being written up or should we believe those novelists who say they just start writing and the novel emerges as if by divine inspiration as they go?

    Any PB authors care to share?
    I haven't got the talent to be an author but when I was doing opinion work I used to start out setting out what seemed to me the key facts and then follow them through to a logical conclusion, a conclusion that I was not really clear about when I started. Very occasionally, I had to go back and add in another key fact that I had overlooked which influenced the conclusion materially but it always struck me as somewhat odd how rarely that happened.
  • Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 5,208
    edited 7:33AM
    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    All that we know is that a month ago he didn't have enough support to trigger a contest against Starmer on his own, contrary to my previous expectations. It's still possible though that Streeting could get enough nominations if Burnham triggers a contest, because there are plenty in the PLP who don't want a leader from the left. His difficulty getting nominations was down to a reluctance amongst MPs to initiate a challenge to Starmer, not so much about a reluctance to back Streeting when a contest had been initiated.

    The point of uncertainty is whether Burnham wins in Makerfield. If not, it's quite unclear as to what might happen next, other than that Starmer will clearly try to soldier on.
  • BatteryCorrectHorseBatteryCorrectHorse Posts: 7,120
    edited 7:31AM
    If you are a Labour MP, thinking Starmer needs to go, you’ve surely concluded long ago he needs replacing swiftly and without a long contest that will make the government look divided.

    So they’ll all rally around Burnham and they will try and restart the whole thing. I suspect they can get away with one change of leader but if we’re back here in a year they’re doomed.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,928
    Utterly OT but just finished Thief of Time, last of the Death collection in Discworld. Got to say I think it's rather fantastic.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,794

    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
    He should reflect on the wisdom of C S Lewis: "You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

    Right now I would say his future in front line politics is looking distinctly limited. Making an enemy of Burnham will confirm this.
    Point of order: surely as a novelist C S Lewis could actually go back and change the beginning?

    I am intrigued by the novel writing process, though it's not something I could ever do. How much is planned out in detail before being written up or should we believe those novelists who say they just start writing and the novel emerges as if by divine inspiration as they go?

    Any PB authors care to share?
    Some authors do a lot of planning, others have a broad outline and see where it takes them. I fully believe authors who say for them it emerges as they go - even as an amateur i've written things and totally changed direction as during the flow of writing certain things just didn't seem right for a character or a new idea emerges as part of it.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,338
    HYUFD said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    Well done Streeting for showing respect to our wonderful King, how TSE could call himself a Tory while failing to do so is beyond me!
    No Labour government has killed a monarch.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 39,757
    edited 7:35AM

    Taz said:

    Thames Water hosting a recruitment day for Refugees only 😂

    https://x.com/dailymail/status/2062296112283738305?s=61

    This appears to be true. It's being held tomorrow afternoon in Reading!

    https://uk.talent.com/view?id=620430042937433186
    On the face of it a plum job within a blue chip employer looks like it reinforces Farage's narrative. However, do you want a job shovelling shite for, out of cash, Thames Water? No? And neither do recent school leavers and NEETS.

    I would imagine there is a level of practicality in this enterprise.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,884

    Utterly OT but just finished Thief of Time, last of the Death collection in Discworld. Got to say I think it's rather fantastic.

    It's one of my absolute favourites. Susan Sto Helit is absolutely inspirational.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 103,794
    I don't think enough MPs want Wes and he knows that. He's desperately appealing to anyone who's not a fan of Burnham to back him by default to at least make Burnham work for it.

    I don't think the public care about party coronations, so it's about party management and if it benefits from a contest.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,338

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    White eggs used to command a premium over brown up to the 1980s-ish. Then brown eggs became fashionable at the same time as brown bread which was seen as healthier than white; wheatgerm, Hovis and all that.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 23,128
    If there was a more embarrassing interview than Lord Mann this morning I missed it. What his report found was that Jewish people get offered ham sandwiches in hospital.!! Lord Above!!

    ......... Unfortunately Amol Rajan must be demob happy because he didn't ask a single sensible follow-up question. Like what about offering meat to a vegetarian? Or what about Jews who eat pork-over 60% I believe?

    If Starmer really needs an anti semitism tsar he might as well get a Jewish one who hasn't learnt his Jewishness from a comic book
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,884

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    All that we know is that a month ago he didn't have enough support to trigger a contest against Starmer on his own, contrary to my previous expectations. It's still possible though that Streeting could get enough nominations if Burnham triggers a contest, because there are plenty in the PLP who don't want a leader from the left. His difficulty getting nominations was down to a reluctance amongst MPs to initiate a challenge to Starmer, not so much about a reluctance to back Streeting when a contest had been initiated.

    The point of uncertainty is whether Burnham wins in Makerfield. If not, it's quite unclear as to what might happen next, other than that Starmer will clearly try to soldier on.
    I absolutely agree with the last point. If Burnham doesn't win Makerfield God knows what happens to the country next. We could be in complete chaos (or at least even more so).

    On the first point I don't think the centre right of the Labour party is what it was.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,338
    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
    He should reflect on the wisdom of C S Lewis: "You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

    Right now I would say his future in front line politics is looking distinctly limited. Making an enemy of Burnham will confirm this.
    Not necessarily. If Wes can demonstrate he has a significant following then Burnham (or any PM) might need him in the Cabinet for party management reasons. The risk is not to Streeting himself but to his followers who might find themselves shut out of office.
  • eekeek Posts: 33,913
    edited 7:40AM
    kle4 said:

    I don't think enough MPs want Wes and he knows that. He's desperately appealing to anyone who's not a fan of Burnham to back him by default to at least make Burnham work for it.

    I don't think the public care about party coronations, so it's about party management and if it benefits from a contest.

    Given the choice of a coronation or party members choosing between 2 members I would prefer a coronation.

    At least then the winning candidate isn’t required to offer insane left / right wing (see Truss) policies to win votes from a restricted electorate that does not represent the real world
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 39,757

    HYUFD said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    Well done Streeting for showing respect to our wonderful King, how TSE could call himself a Tory while failing to do so is beyond me!
    No Labour government has killed a monarch.
    Ah, so probability for catastrophes on one's watch is the advantage of being out of Government for 2/3s of the time.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,576

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,576

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 7,960
    Dopermean said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    If you get tired of munching the brown shells I can get you some gravel. Interesting I'd always assumed the shells were down to the minerals they ate rather than chicken breed.
    Apparently the hens that lay white eggs are also less prone to pecking each other.
    Anyway if you've been provoked to a frothing rage by the colour of your egg "wrapper" it doesn't say much for your critical faculties.
    I value your opinion as much as Sainsburys stupidity.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,928
    DavidL said:

    Utterly OT but just finished Thief of Time, last of the Death collection in Discworld. Got to say I think it's rather fantastic.

    It's one of my absolute favourites. Susan Sto Helit is absolutely inspirational.
    I'm incredibly short on shelf space, trying to reorganise/remove stuff so I have room for some more Discworld (and history) books. Susan's great, and I liked the new (to me) characters of Lu-Tze and Lobsang too.

    Rather wish I had more room. And money. And time. But there we are.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,576

    Taz said:

    Thames Water hosting a recruitment day for Refugees only 😂

    https://x.com/dailymail/status/2062296112283738305?s=61

    This appears to be true. It's being held tomorrow afternoon in Reading!

    https://uk.talent.com/view?id=620430042937433186
    On the face of it a plum job within a blue chip employer looks like it reinforces Farage's narrative. However, do you want a job shovelling shite for, out of cash, Thames Water? No? And neither do recent school leavers and NEETS.

    I would imagine there is a level of practicality in this enterprise.
    If you're looking for a change of career into a spinner, don't give up the day job mate.

    My best guess is that this is an initiative that's spun out of their internal Diversity Network (all companies like this have them) and they simply didn't think through the politics.
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 3,242
    HYUFD said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    Well done Streeting for showing respect to our wonderful King, how TSE could call himself a Tory while failing to do so is beyond me!
    Being a monarch is an accident of birth so nothing special. No special genes. No supranatural gifts. Just random sperm.

    Do we really need them?
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 7,960

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    White eggs used to command a premium over brown up to the 1980s-ish. Then brown eggs became fashionable at the same time as brown bread which was seen as healthier than white; wheatgerm, Hovis and all that.
    All of that is true. Its Sainsburys forcing me to a zero choice option that's determined me not to shop there.
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 3,242

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    Try chickens.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 19,652

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Sightly curious. Where should grumpy reactionaries (ha!) do their shopping?
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,576
    On topic, Andy Burnham hasn't offered him a good enough job yet.

    That's what this is about.
  • I want a coronation because whilst I think Burnham isn’t the most amazing candidate in the world, I don’t trust Labour members.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,884

    DavidL said:

    Utterly OT but just finished Thief of Time, last of the Death collection in Discworld. Got to say I think it's rather fantastic.

    It's one of my absolute favourites. Susan Sto Helit is absolutely inspirational.
    I'm incredibly short on shelf space, trying to reorganise/remove stuff so I have room for some more Discworld (and history) books. Susan's great, and I liked the new (to me) characters of Lu-Tze and Lobsang too.

    Rather wish I had more room. And money. And time. But there we are.
    “Just a minute," said Lobsang. "Who are you? Time has stopped, the world is given over to...fairy tales and monsters, and there's a schoolteacher walking around?"

    "Best kind of person to have," said Susan. "We don't like silliness. Anyway, I told you. I've inherited certain talents."

    "Like living outside of time?"

    "That's one of them."

    "It's a weird talent for a schoolteacher!"

    "Good for marking, though," said Susan calmly.”

    Just genius.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,338
    kle4 said:

    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
    He should reflect on the wisdom of C S Lewis: "You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

    Right now I would say his future in front line politics is looking distinctly limited. Making an enemy of Burnham will confirm this.
    Point of order: surely as a novelist C S Lewis could actually go back and change the beginning?

    I am intrigued by the novel writing process, though it's not something I could ever do. How much is planned out in detail before being written up or should we believe those novelists who say they just start writing and the novel emerges as if by divine inspiration as they go?

    Any PB authors care to share?
    Some authors do a lot of planning, others have a broad outline and see where it takes them. I fully believe authors who say for them it emerges as they go - even as an amateur i've written things and totally changed direction as during the flow of writing certain things just didn't seem right for a character or a new idea emerges as part of it.
    The Spectator is holding some sort of crime writing masterclass iirc. And there are numerous creative writing short courses from universities Mickey Mouse degree shops.

    https://shop.spectator.co.uk/products/crime-writing-masterclass-18-june-6-30-8-00pm-spectator-garden-75

    Stephen King wrote On Writing which was half memoir and half instruction manual. Graham Linehan said something before he was cancelled.

  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 59,755
    TWO WEEKS TO SAVE THE LABOUR PARTY ANDY BURNHAM'S CAREER!!!
  • stodgestodge Posts: 16,675

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,884

    On topic, Andy Burnham hasn't offered him a good enough job yet.

    That's what this is about.

    Newsflash. He isn't going to.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 19,652

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    White eggs used to command a premium over brown up to the 1980s-ish. Then brown eggs became fashionable at the same time as brown bread which was seen as healthier than white; wheatgerm, Hovis and all that.
    All of that is true. Its Sainsburys forcing me to a zero choice option that's determined me not to shop there.
    Which I suspect gets to the nub of the issue. When supermarkets do changes based on befitting their customers or society there's usually a cost saving behind it. If Sainsbury's can convince people white eggs are as good as brown (and to be fair they don't taste any different) they can reduce the number of stock lines and the additional carbon footprint of brown eggs probably also reflects a greater cost to produce.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 33,490
    edited 7:57AM
    FPT

    I think many people have lost basic public courtesy now.

    I see much more rudeness than I used to, including pushing and shoving, and that can come from passengers, customers, punters and even staff.

    No-one seems to take responsibility for themselves.

    We have entered the age if I Me Mine politics. The run down of money for so many people is self-evident. They have less cash each month - if they have anything left at all. They see the run down of public services and the public environment - pavements, shops, pot-holes etc etc. And they hear that others get stuff for free, or are abusing the system, or are on the take - and getting away with it.

    So why be polite when it gets you nowhere? Why be deferent to a system working against you? Why wait your turn when others are pushing and taking?

    This is why I would start at street level. Pull up the weeds, fill the cracks in the pavement, fill the pot holes. Repossess the empty property hoarded by investors far away. Start regenerating the environment in a way that is visible and meaningful. Whilst inviting people to get involved - come help us.

    Then, hopefully, people start to give a fuck again.
    That is essentially my consistent argument - support for local autonomy, public realm and public services.

    It requires increased resources, but that is simply impossible whilst we have Governing parties committed to gutting local government, in their belief systems, and in practice.

    I'd suggest that we have been in an era "I Me Mine" dominated politics for at least half a century.

    Pot holes vs cracks in the pavement. Ref UK will improve pot holes in most places, but at the cost of God knows what else.

    Cracks in the pavements will not be fixed until we remove motor vehicles from our pavements, which cause huge damage. I think you will see improvements in eg Edinburgh, where this is happening.

    Pavements (and mobility tracks) are built to far lower standards than roads, which is why they are destroyed by tree roots, whilst roads are not. Pedestrian spaces are for pedestrians. Cycling spaces are for cycles. Neither are for motor vehicles, unless built for that purpose.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,884
    Battlebus said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    Try chickens.
    Yeah, but which one first?
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,338
    Battlebus said:

    HYUFD said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    Well done Streeting for showing respect to our wonderful King, how TSE could call himself a Tory while failing to do so is beyond me!
    Being a monarch is an accident of birth so nothing special. No special genes. No supranatural gifts. Just random sperm.

    Do we really need them?
    It's not random, that's the point. Otherwise we'd all be born with a shot at Buckingham Palace. A long shot, true, but so is winning the lottery.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,860

    Taz said:

    Thames Water hosting a recruitment day for Refugees only 😂

    https://x.com/dailymail/status/2062296112283738305?s=61

    This appears to be true. It's being held tomorrow afternoon in Reading!

    https://uk.talent.com/view?id=620430042937433186
    On the face of it a plum job within a blue chip employer looks like it reinforces Farage's narrative. However, do you want a job shovelling shite for, out of cash, Thames Water? No? And neither do recent school leavers and NEETS.

    I would imagine there is a level of practicality in this enterprise.
    If you're looking for a change of career into a spinner, don't give up the day job mate.

    My best guess is that this is an initiative that's spun out of their internal Diversity Network (all companies like this have them) and they simply didn't think through the politics.
    It's Reading, so youth unemployment is relatively low. Isn't the job market in that area distorted (in a good way) by Heathrow?

    Provided there are a decent number of other events open to all, having a specific one for refugees, where you can have experts on qualifications and work permits available, is probably pretty sensible, even without wokery.

    Yes, the optics and politics are grim, but should a company be scared off doing something that makes business sense to them because some people with a platform have an opportunity to get cross.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 63,515
    Battlebus said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    Try chickens.
    From browsing around - the brown eggs are more expensive, since the birds they come from are a bit larger, requiring more feeding, space etc.

    So it's cost minimisation, lightly whitewashed with environmentalism.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 33,490
    edited 8:02AM
    stodge said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
    That para looks like a conflation of "woke" with "things I do not like".

    On the heggs, that feels to me like a tyranny of the averages, where it is a small enough difference to find hens with brown eggs that have a lower carbon footprint.

    It's a dilemma for Restore UK - do they now have to prioritise the brown over the white?

    My neighbour-with-hens up the road, where my eggs occasionally comes from, has a hen that lays blue tinted eggs.

    I wonder what they make of that?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,377

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    We are in agreement. I’m sure Streeting WANTS to stand but he’s not going to get enough support to do so.
    Labour is divided amongst those who want Burnham as PM and those who just want Starmer gone.

    Those who want Wes are a narrow subset of those who want Starmer gone. And for the sake of change, most will accept a Burnham coronation.
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 5,494

    Dopermean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Assuming Burnham wins the Makerfield by election, which is not a given as he only leads polls there as Restore are taking Reform votes then why shouldn't Streeting run and also challenge Starmer for Labour leader and PM? He offers a clear rejoin the EU stance than Burnham and a more New Labour, less leftist tax and spend agenda than Burnham.

    I thought he hasn't the numbers in the PLP or support in the membership to get close to defeating Starmer.
    Does it matter? We live in a democracy, surely it is always best to have a competition
    Ask those Labour MPs who only nominated Corbyn to "provide a choice".
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 7,960
    FF43 said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Sightly curious. Where should grumpy reactionaries (ha!) do their shopping?
    Waitrose for now. There is also the question why Sainsburys think they can force a decision on me.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 33,490

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    The Tight Trousered Monarchist could be an updated version of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist for the 21st Century.
    Rishi is a Monarchist?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,377
    MattW said:

    stodge said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
    That para looks like a conflation of "woke" with "things I do not like".

    On the heggs, that feels to me like a tyranny of the averages, where it is a small enough difference to find hens with brown eggs that have a lower carbon footprint.

    It's a dilemma for Restore UK - do they now have to prioritise the brown over the white?

    My neighbour-with-hens up the road, where my eggs occasionally comes from, has a hen that lays blue tinted eggs.

    I wonder what they make of that?
    "Bloody Tory hens..." Probably.
  • eekeek Posts: 33,913

    FF43 said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Sightly curious. Where should grumpy reactionaries (ha!) do their shopping?
    Waitrose for now. There is also the question why Sainsburys think they can force a decision on me.
    Other supermarkets are available.

    And Sainsbury’s having solved a minor part of 1 (shareholder approved) corporate aims won’t care.
  • Brixian59Brixian59 Posts: 2,186
    I don't want a coronation

    A fair properly conducted contest between Burnham and Streeting would be fine if Starmer stayed on through summer and in to end September.

    What I would hope for the Country and Labour would be a proper job and role for the loser of the contest and a realistic understanding from 90% of the Party, ignoring the usual 20 to 30 hard left nutters that unity is strength.

    An amalgum of soft left Burnham and centre Streeting with two very experienced street wise politicians and excellent communicators could give Labour power for a decade and given Streeting age, a succession plan.

    If only the membership is able to see this vision.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 8,259
    MattW said:

    stodge said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
    That para looks like a conflation of "woke" with "things I do not like".

    On the heggs, that feels to me like a tyranny of the averages, where it is a small enough difference to find hens with brown eggs that have a lower carbon footprint.

    It's a dilemma for Restore UK - do they now have to prioritise the brown over the white?

    My neighbour-with-hens up the road, where my eggs occasionally comes from, has a hen that lays blue tinted eggs.

    I wonder what they make of that?
    Fun fact - the colour of hens' eggs is genetically linked to the colour of their earlobes.

    Waitrose have sold white eggs for years. They are no better and no worse than brown eggs. The predominance of brown eggs is simply because people in the 70s thought they must be better for you, like brown bread.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 59,755
    FF43 said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Sightly curious. Where should grumpy reactionaries (ha!) do their shopping?
    Aldi and Lidl sell both brown and white eggs!
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 8,259

    Dopermean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Assuming Burnham wins the Makerfield by election, which is not a given as he only leads polls there as Restore are taking Reform votes then why shouldn't Streeting run and also challenge Starmer for Labour leader and PM? He offers a clear rejoin the EU stance than Burnham and a more New Labour, less leftist tax and spend agenda than Burnham.

    I thought he hasn't the numbers in the PLP or support in the membership to get close to defeating Starmer.
    Does it matter? We live in a democracy, surely it is always best to have a competition
    Ask those Labour MPs who only nominated Corbyn to "provide a choice".
    Good point.
  • eekeek Posts: 33,913
    Brixian59 said:

    I don't want a coronation

    A fair properly conducted contest between Burnham and Streeting would be fine if Starmer stayed on through summer and in to end September.

    What I would hope for the Country and Labour would be a proper job and role for the loser of the contest and a realistic understanding from 90% of the Party, ignoring the usual 20 to 30 hard left nutters that unity is strength.

    An amalgum of soft left Burnham and centre Streeting with two very experienced street wise politicians and excellent communicators could give Labour power for a decade and given Streeting age, a succession plan.

    If only the membership is able to see this vision.

    So you want the person promising left wing voters the most sweeties to be or next PM.

    Party members should have zero say in who their party leader is, they don’t know them well enough to have a sensible opinion.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 33,490
    FF43 said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Sightly curious. Where should grumpy reactionaries (ha!) do their shopping?
    A farm shop in Essex, perhaps?
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 8,259
    Battlebus said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    Try chickens.
    Chickens don't lay eggs. Hens do.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 136,858
    MattW said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    The Tight Trousered Monarchist could be an updated version of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist for the 21st Century.
    Rishi is a Monarchist?
    Of course he is
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,011
    edited 8:16AM

    MattW said:

    stodge said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
    That para looks like a conflation of "woke" with "things I do not like".

    On the heggs, that feels to me like a tyranny of the averages, where it is a small enough difference to find hens with brown eggs that have a lower carbon footprint.

    It's a dilemma for Restore UK - do they now have to prioritise the brown over the white?

    My neighbour-with-hens up the road, where my eggs occasionally comes from, has a hen that lays blue tinted eggs.

    I wonder what they make of that?
    "Bloody Tory hens..." Probably.
    The market will sort this out surely?

    When I was a kid white eggs attracted a premium. Then the fashion switched in favour of brown in the 70s (everthing switched to brown in the 70s).

    PS Sainsbury's will still sell Clarence Court Burford Browns, which are the best commercially produced eggs you can get.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 136,858
    Battlebus said:

    HYUFD said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    Well done Streeting for showing respect to our wonderful King, how TSE could call himself a Tory while failing to do so is beyond me!
    Being a monarch is an accident of birth so nothing special. No special genes. No supranatural gifts. Just random sperm.

    Do we really need them?
    The King was anointed by God to be our monarch and trained from birth for the role actually.

    Given the alternative is President Farage or Blair of course we still need them
  • stodgestodge Posts: 16,675
    Morning all :)

    On topic, I suspect IF Burnham wins in a fortnight, Streeting will be placed under enormous pressure to stand aside. The very fact Burnham will be perceived to have stopped Reform (whether aided an abetted by Restore or by Farage himself will be of no import) will give Labour a huge lift (and the Conservatives too vicariously) and his (Burnham's) position will be very strong.

    Whether Burnham offers Streeting a senior position in his Cabinet as a gesture of reconciliation and unity remains to be seen - he could just tell him to spend some time contemplating life on the backbenches.

    The events of the next fortnight will be of huge interest.

  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,011
    Cookie said:

    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    I think he is mostly playing the long game, and putting a marker down for the future.
    He should reflect on the wisdom of C S Lewis: "You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

    Right now I would say his future in front line politics is looking distinctly limited. Making an enemy of Burnham will confirm this.
    Point of order: surely as a novelist C S Lewis could actually go back and change the beginning?

    I am intrigued by the novel writing process, though it's not something I could ever do. How much is planned out in detail before being written up or should we believe those novelists who say they just start writing and the novel emerges as if by divine inspiration as they go?

    Any PB authors care to share?
    No, he couldn't. Reason being, this was before word processors: he was presumably using a typewriter. Massive faff with the tippex to change the beginning.
    (I may be being slightly flippant).
    All that tippex probably gave him the idea for the start of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 39,757
    edited 8:23AM
    MattW said:

    stodge said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
    That para looks like a conflation of "woke" with "things I do not like".

    On the heggs, that feels to me like a tyranny of the averages, where it is a small enough difference to find hens with brown eggs that have a lower carbon footprint.

    It's a dilemma for Restore UK - do they now have to prioritise the brown over the white?

    My neighbour-with-hens up the road, where my eggs occasionally comes from, has a hen that lays blue tinted eggs.

    I wonder what they make of that?
    As a Reform voter I only eat white eggs.

    I do get confused when confronted by blue araucana eggs though.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,338

    MattW said:

    stodge said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
    That para looks like a conflation of "woke" with "things I do not like".

    On the heggs, that feels to me like a tyranny of the averages, where it is a small enough difference to find hens with brown eggs that have a lower carbon footprint.

    It's a dilemma for Restore UK - do they now have to prioritise the brown over the white?

    My neighbour-with-hens up the road, where my eggs occasionally comes from, has a hen that lays blue tinted eggs.

    I wonder what they make of that?
    "Bloody Tory hens..." Probably.
    The market will sort this out surely?

    When I was a kid white eggs attracted a premium. Then the fashion switched in favour of brown in the 70s (everthing switched to brown in the 70s).

    PS Sainsbury's will still sell Clarence Court Burford Browns, which are the best commercially produced eggs you can get.
    Yes, Sainsbury's (and presumably other supermarkets) sell eggs in a variety of sizes, colours, breeds and brands, some in 10s rather than dozens or half-dozens, and even with new-style cartons.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 136,858
    eek said:

    kle4 said:

    I don't think enough MPs want Wes and he knows that. He's desperately appealing to anyone who's not a fan of Burnham to back him by default to at least make Burnham work for it.

    I don't think the public care about party coronations, so it's about party management and if it benefits from a contest.

    Given the choice of a coronation or party members choosing between 2 members I would prefer a coronation.

    At least then the winning candidate isn’t required to offer insane left / right wing (see Truss) policies to win votes from a restricted electorate that does not represent the real world
    PMs in government should just be selected by MPs, though party leaders in opposition can still be elected by party members
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,615

    MattW said:

    stodge said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
    That para looks like a conflation of "woke" with "things I do not like".

    On the heggs, that feels to me like a tyranny of the averages, where it is a small enough difference to find hens with brown eggs that have a lower carbon footprint.

    It's a dilemma for Restore UK - do they now have to prioritise the brown over the white?

    My neighbour-with-hens up the road, where my eggs occasionally comes from, has a hen that lays blue tinted eggs.

    I wonder what they make of that?
    Fun fact - the colour of hens' eggs is genetically linked to the colour of their earlobes.

    Waitrose have sold white eggs for years. They are no better and no worse than brown eggs. The predominance of brown eggs is simply because people in the 70s thought they must be better for you, like brown bread.
    Being perceived as a premium item, though, is it not slightly more likely that the nutrition and living conditions of the brown egg hens is on average higher than that of the white ?
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 81,140

    MattW said:

    stodge said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
    That para looks like a conflation of "woke" with "things I do not like".

    On the heggs, that feels to me like a tyranny of the averages, where it is a small enough difference to find hens with brown eggs that have a lower carbon footprint.

    It's a dilemma for Restore UK - do they now have to prioritise the brown over the white?

    My neighbour-with-hens up the road, where my eggs occasionally comes from, has a hen that lays blue tinted eggs.

    I wonder what they make of that?
    "Bloody Tory hens..." Probably.
    The market will sort this out surely?

    When I was a kid white eggs attracted a premium. Then the fashion switched in favour of brown in the 70s (everthing switched to brown in the 70s).

    PS Sainsbury's will still sell Clarence Court Burford Browns, which are the best commercially produced eggs you can get.
    Full yoke !

    Our girls lay brown eggs iirc 2 Bluebells and 1 barred rock.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,338
    MattW said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    The Tight Trousered Monarchist could be an updated version of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist for the 21st Century.
    Rishi is a Monarchist?
    Rishi is wealthy enough to be monarch.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,615
    Pulpstar said:

    MattW said:

    stodge said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
    That para looks like a conflation of "woke" with "things I do not like".

    On the heggs, that feels to me like a tyranny of the averages, where it is a small enough difference to find hens with brown eggs that have a lower carbon footprint.

    It's a dilemma for Restore UK - do they now have to prioritise the brown over the white?

    My neighbour-with-hens up the road, where my eggs occasionally comes from, has a hen that lays blue tinted eggs.

    I wonder what they make of that?
    "Bloody Tory hens..." Probably.
    The market will sort this out surely?

    When I was a kid white eggs attracted a premium. Then the fashion switched in favour of brown in the 70s (everthing switched to brown in the 70s).

    PS Sainsbury's will still sell Clarence Court Burford Browns, which are the best commercially produced eggs you can get.
    Full yoke !

    Our girls lay brown eggs iirc 2 Bluebells and 1 barred rock.
    Laying a barred rock sounds potentially painful.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 20,942
    edited 8:23AM
    FPT...

    Andy_JS said:

    Allister Heath in the Telegraph.

    "Anti-white racism is real, and there’ll be more Henry Nowaks until it’s crushed
    Critical race theory has taken us from Martin Luther King’s inspiring vision of a colour-blind society to today"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06/03/anti-white-racism-is-real-and-its-been-corrupting-britain/

    Employment rates (2022 figures):
    White 77%
    Black 69%

    Stop and search (2023 figures) per 100,000:
    White British 5.6
    Black 24.5

    Court judges (2024 figures) v working age population (2021 figures):
    White 89.6% v 80.7%
    Black 1.3% v 4.4%

    Median earnings (2022):
    White £14.35 per hour
    Black £13.53 per hour
    Employment - controlled for education?
    Stop and search - controlled for location, criminal tendency (ie gang membership) etc?
    Judges - controlled for age?
    Earnings - controlled for education?
    Those are all raw figures. Court judges is compared with the working age population.

    There are significant disparities in educational outcomes, including when controlling for relevant factors, e.g. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1339899/

    The ADR UK report linked to above does more in terms of trying to control for other factors.
    Raw figures are pretty meaningless.

    It’s a particular bugbear of mine that people look at the percentage of, say, court judges in their 60s who are black and say “it’s too low, we’re racist”.

    No. It just means that 35 years ago we had fewer black lawyers qualifying, and hence have a smaller pool of candidates for judges today. It will work itself out over time
    Raw figures are a good starting point. But, yes, these are complex phenomena where it can be difficult to know what factors are at play…

    … which is what I’ve been saying in reaction to the headless chickens running around claiming we have two tier policing and anti-white racism based on one event that we still don’t know the full details of.
    A totally fiat point. Here's another one. The incident was in December last year, essentially 6 months ago.
    So why hasn't the investigation into the policed conduct been completed? It didn't need to wait for the court case to finish, the outcome would not affect what happened on the night. If I had any power I'd be getting that report finished asap.

    But then the next problem will be if the report doesn't match the narrative for the far right, they will claim it's a whitewash. A better question might be how have we reached a situation where people believe this narrative?
    The IOPC investigation clearly cannot be published until the court case is finished. Certain facts in the report will depend on the court case's conclusion, so it can't be finished before the court case concludes (e.g., it is pertinent to the IOPC investigation whether Digwa was found guilty or not, many of the judge's comments are relevant too). Hopefully, we will see the report soon.

    (I note that the IOPC's budget was cut by the Tories, more than a third in real terms since 2018, so that's going to make it harder for them to carry out thorough investigations in a timely manner.)

    It is clear that some on the right are not interested in reading anything that might contradict that on which they have already made up their mind. This was apparent on the previous thread.

    How have we reached a situation where people believe this narrative? Because the radical right in the US has been pushing a white grievance model, and the radical right in the UK have taken that up.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 81,140
    Nigelb said:

    MattW said:

    stodge said:

    Sainsbury has stopped selling brown eggs because white ones have a lower carbon footprint. They must have been talking to the moron that is Ed Miliband.
    Well they can fuck right off. I'll shop elsewhere or get some from my neighbour.

    As it happens, I think white eggs look better but now I've read that I'm annoyed. I don't like to be preached out or my food choices influenced by others.

    Sainsbury's went full Woke a while ago - and they seem to have trained all their checkout staff to go full American now, and strike up conversation with you about your day - so I now avoid it.

    It's as low as Asda, and not far off Iceland levels.
    Not much evidence of that in East Ham High Street. Too busy trying to help people with the self service checkouts.
    That para looks like a conflation of "woke" with "things I do not like".

    On the heggs, that feels to me like a tyranny of the averages, where it is a small enough difference to find hens with brown eggs that have a lower carbon footprint.

    It's a dilemma for Restore UK - do they now have to prioritise the brown over the white?

    My neighbour-with-hens up the road, where my eggs occasionally comes from, has a hen that lays blue tinted eggs.

    I wonder what they make of that?
    Fun fact - the colour of hens' eggs is genetically linked to the colour of their earlobes.

    Waitrose have sold white eggs for years. They are no better and no worse than brown eggs. The predominance of brown eggs is simply because people in the 70s thought they must be better for you, like brown bread.
    Being perceived as a premium item, though, is it not slightly more likely that the nutrition and living conditions of the brown egg hens is on average higher than that of the white ?
    Breed of hen determines the colour. Smaller hens tend to lay white (And slightly smaller) eggs so it's as much a cost saving by Sainsburys as anything else...
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 15,629
    edited 8:25AM
    Nigelb said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Nigelb said:

    However bad MoD procurement is, there's always a way to make it worse.

    Also tonight @LOS_Fisher reports that as part of the deal to inject fresh funding into the MoD, the Treasury is proposing to take control of the spending on the GCAP programme
    https://x.com/larisamlbrown/status/2062278110465216557

    The Treasury probably should take control. From February 2025 to January 2026 the projected program cost increased by 35% to nearly £50 billion. If things continue in this manner, the RAF will consist entirely of one GCAP delivered in 2050 and they won't be able to afford to put fuel in it.

    It's shaping up, much like Typhoon, to be an incredibly expensive disarmament program as so much else will have to be sacrificed for it.
    It's certainly a hard and consequential decision either to go ahead with, or kill the program.
    I'm not sure why you think the Treasury "taking control" will improve the way it's managed, though.

    https://x.com/navalhistorian/status/2062298874878836804
    Although depicted as an MoD-Treasury "turf war" there's a buried lede to this story that goes back to the mega projects report of the Treasury's Office for Value for Money in June 2025, which was, in fact, rather critical of the Treasury's own behaviour https://gov.uk/government/publications/value-for-money-vfm-study-on-the-governance-and-budgeting-arrangements-for-mega-projects

    Key criticisms included perverse incentives & annualisation creating a situation where "Living within annual budgets is prioritised over delivery..." with recommendations that included flexible project budgets & streamlined decision-making (all well known improvements).

    The Treasury ultimately accepted the Office for Value for Money's report, but to the surprise of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, restricted the implementation of its improvements to just three projects (GCAP would the the fourth). https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmpubacc/642/report.html


    The Treasury has been accused before, with some justification, of trying to become a government within the government.
    I'm not convinced that would turn out any better under Reeves...

    There could be a deep game going on here. Delay to get the Japanese out and the Germans in. It's already going to be 2040+ if nothing else goes wrong which is much later than Japan would like.

    Japan are only in it due to the tories transitory passion for the Indo-Pacific which lasted about 15 minutes. They will almost certainly order more a/c than the UK and therefore be the senior partner with the greatest workshare. While the Japanese are honorary whites, I'm not sure the British establishment could handle it. Germany would be a smaller partner that wouldn't contend workshare as much and are a better industrial fit.

    Also, Germany probably gets Spain in too and then the Eurofighter band is back together.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,338
    America – what is happening?

    In recent days, Trump has lost his slush fund, his ballroom fund, and his war fund. Has the Establishment found its lost principles or just come to believe the health rumours?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,615
    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    HYUFD said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    Well done Streeting for showing respect to our wonderful King, how TSE could call himself a Tory while failing to do so is beyond me!
    Being a monarch is an accident of birth so nothing special. No special genes. No supranatural gifts. Just random sperm.

    Do we really need them?
    The King was anointed by God to be our monarch and trained from birth for the role actually.

    Given the alternative is President Farage or Blair of course we still need them
    Anointed by God is a figment of imagination, actually.

    A non executive president in the UK would probably end up being someone like Floella Benjamin, rather than a Blair or Farage.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 20,942
    DavidL said:

    He won't get enough nominations. End of.

    Just like he didn't the last time. I am starting to fear our Wes is just a little bit delusional.

    Presuming Burnham is elected and presuming no-one else is looking to stand against him for the leadership, I can imagine some Labour MPs might feel it is better to have a contest or accept Streeting as the only non-Burnham option, and that will be sufficient for Streeting to get enough nominations.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 47,892
    edited 8:30AM
    Apparently a Chinese company making blades for wind turbines in the north of Scotland is a security risk while building Chninese cars in Sunderland is not. Anyone care to break this down for a simple lad like me (no need to bring mega embassies in the heart of the capital into it).

    The Times and Sunday Times
    @thetimes
    Nissan to build Chinese cars in Sunderland

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/2062328914437873753?s=20
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 136,858
    edited 8:29AM
    Nigelb said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    HYUFD said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    Well done Streeting for showing respect to our wonderful King, how TSE could call himself a Tory while failing to do so is beyond me!
    Being a monarch is an accident of birth so nothing special. No special genes. No supranatural gifts. Just random sperm.

    Do we really need them?
    The King was anointed by God to be our monarch and trained from birth for the role actually.

    Given the alternative is President Farage or Blair of course we still need them
    Anointed by God is a figment of imagination, actually.

    A non executive president in the UK would probably end up being someone like Floella Benjamin, rather than a Blair or Farage.
    No the King was anointed by the
    God of all creation at the coronation. Most heads of state of republics are politicians or ex politicians
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 20,942
    Nigelb said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    HYUFD said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    Well done Streeting for showing respect to our wonderful King, how TSE could call himself a Tory while failing to do so is beyond me!
    Being a monarch is an accident of birth so nothing special. No special genes. No supranatural gifts. Just random sperm.

    Do we really need them?
    The King was anointed by God to be our monarch and trained from birth for the role actually.

    Given the alternative is President Farage or Blair of course we still need them
    Anointed by God is a figment of imagination, actually.

    A non executive president in the UK would probably end up being someone like Floella Benjamin, rather than a Blair or Farage.
    LibDem peer Floella Benjamin? Good choice.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 14,284
    WOKE EGGS. DOZENS OF THEM.

    FREE RANGE = SCHENGEN TRAITORS.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 15,629
    Nigelb said:

    HYUFD said:

    Battlebus said:

    HYUFD said:

    I've lost all respect for Wes Streeting now with his comments about being a monarchist.

    Well done Streeting for showing respect to our wonderful King, how TSE could call himself a Tory while failing to do so is beyond me!
    Being a monarch is an accident of birth so nothing special. No special genes. No supranatural gifts. Just random sperm.

    Do we really need them?
    The King was anointed by God to be our monarch and trained from birth for the role actually.

    Given the alternative is President Farage or Blair of course we still need them
    Anointed by God is a figment of imagination, actually.

    A non executive president in the UK would probably end up being someone like Floella Benjamin, rather than a Blair or Farage.
    Slebs who would be a better ceremonial head of state than Chaz:

    Lewis Hamilton
    David Beckham
    Bob Mortimer
    Joanna Lumley
    Olivia Colman
  • eekeek Posts: 33,913
    edited 8:31AM

    Apparently a Chinese company making blades for wind turbines in the north of Scotland is a security risk while building Chninese cars in Sunderland is not. Anyone care to break this down for a simple lad like me (no need to bring mega embassies in the heart of the capital into it).

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/2062328914437873753?s=20

    Well in Sunderland all the workers will be employed by Nissan who will be building the cars for Chery. It’s also keeping the factory open which given the mess Nissan is in (outside the UK) is great news.

    Who is employing the workers in Scotland?
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 14,284

    Apparently a Chinese company making blades for wind turbines in the north of Scotland is a security risk while building Chninese cars in Sunderland is not. Anyone care to break this down for a simple lad like me (no need to bring mega embassies in the heart of the capital into it).

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/2062328914437873753?s=20

    Can’t go into detail but there are some tricky restrictions around driving them into dockyards etc. Someone in the security services is nervous about them.
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