Why does nobody shop them, in that case?
British, gay, ginger, amateur musician Retired MD of restaurant food supplier , now making music for fun www.youtube.com/@andybrookmusic Politics: slightly left of centre, pro EU, pro PR music: lifelong fan of the Eurovision Song Contest. Don’t laugh.
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Why does nobody shop them, in that case?
Nothing wrong with joining the euro. Had we done so in the first place we would never have left the EU.
I don’t think that at all, but I happen to believe that the process of trying to achieve SM membership and a CU with the EU would be good for the economy in itself. Every barrier to trade that can be removed would promote growth.
Applying to do so would be a good start and would, in itself, encourage business. Expediting the sanitary agreement would also help. Any barrier that can be removed would encourage growth, apparently the government’s top priority.
Where do they find the money for coke, at £100 a gram?
Corbyn did not do the bare minimum needed to stop leave winning in 2016.
BREAKING: The police have confirmed they won't be charging any of the violent far-right rioters with terrorism because they only do that for grandmas in wheelchairs who hold up signs they don't like ♥️
So he just wants to give lethal injections to some of them, not all of them.
The scenes on our streets are shameful consequences of decades of austerity - government after government fanning the flames of anti migration instead of tackling inequality. We can & must make different choices. Solidarity to all communities under attack. We stand together.
You’ve done a good job of batting back everything I have said today, so how about your turn to explain why Labour isn’t heading for defeat, why it isn’t a huge problem that a near fascist party is leading the polls for the past year and how Labour is going to pull things back?
But the difference is that it wouldn’t be platforming Farage as if he was the official opposition. Imagine if the LibDems and Greens got as much coverage. How much good would that do? Meanwhile Reform are flying high in the polls and feted by the media. That is critical for Labour.
If you are saying that I, and people like me, should shut up and trust the government, well no, we did that in order to get Labour elected. If they aren’t governing for me - and they aren’t - then I am going to let them know. I am this close to resigning my membership.
And if they made a promise which they should not have done the right thing to do is to apologise and to do the right thing, not to stick to the promise and do the wrong thing.
The benefit would be the economic gain. Instead they have upset people on all sides whilst tinkering around the edges, demonising the vulnerable, upsetting the old and then u-turning when it backfires. And they are still left where they were a year ago.
I’m not talking about “stacking” the BBC. But it should not have senior personnel who have been closely associated with ANY political party, in the same way as would apply to the civil service. What is Lisa Nandy doing in her job? Absolutely sweet FA.
Ames was a British politician. There is no comparison whatsoever.
Why did he need to say anything whatsoever about an extreme right wing American podcaster who few people had ever heard of in this country? What about it merited soothing words about his loved ones? What was gained by saying anything at all?
2p on income tax would go a be try long way and, as you know, wouldn’t add to the national debt at all.
Create more parliamentary time in that case. It would take no parliamentary time up to ban GBNews, to proscribe X as a terrorist organisation and to sack the right wingers at the BBC. None. Could be done in a day.
Well if I, educated, intelligent, left of centre and a recent campaigner for Labour think that, even if you are right, and it is the media not Labour - what do you think everyone else thinks, and what is the government going to do about it? Shrug their shoulders?
That distrust of education is at the very heart of the problems faced by the UK today.
I don’t often agree with Gyles so happy to repost this thread.
Which is a fair point, but Starmer should just have said that. We chose someone slimy and narcissistic to be the Ambassador because we thought he was best placed to represent our needs with a slimy, narcissistic American president.
Eventually, after the political damage was done, he agreed to look again. Eventually, after the political damage was done, he amended the WFA (going too far the other way in the process). Eventually, after the political damage was done, he sacked Mandlesohn. Spot a pattern?
Of course she praises the things that the government does that she agrees with. But when the government does things that are the opposite of the values the party held in opposition then, of course, MPs are disheartened. They are being expected to turn on a sixpence.
Stop posting populist rubbish like this, to an audience of Trump / Musk / Yaxley Lennon / Farage fans:
I’ve addressed policies in another response, but the government can sort out a hostile media if it wants to. Ban foreign ownership of media. Force tv channels to be impartial. Ban X as it promotes extemisim (instead of it being the official channel of the government).
If you think that, because Farage says things that are popular with some people, the government has to appeal to those people then I’d rather have Reform in power than a Farage tribute act who says that people like me gave him a mandate to act like that.
They don’t have to address it by appeasing racists. That never works. It is a concern for people who don’t understand how much we need immigration and how the alternative is to be poorer now and much poorer in the future.
Palestine Action. Add 2p to income tax. Apply to rejoin single market and customs union. Introduce safe routes to apply for asylum. Explain the need for immigration. Introduce a fairer voting system than FPTP. Nationalise Thames Water. Reduce electricity prices. Job done.
Leveson 2. Release Russia report. Sack the BBC board and ensure that it has a fair coverage of politics and does not sensationalise news. Yes, close down GBNews. It does not have a shred of impartiality. Ban X - it is a platform that is promoting extreme views. Reverse the stupid decision re
Wipe the froth from your mouth, Kresten. It’s Sunday morning. Go for a stroll!
Come the election voters will vote tactically, as they did last time, or - if they are still thoroughly disillusioned with Labour - they may not vote at all, and that will be the real danger. Labour, the government, is taking for granted the votes of far too many people. It needs to wake up.
concerns. Cooper and Starmer have wrapped themselves in flags to appeal to the sort of person who went on the demo yesterday. There is no church broad enough to encompass them and socially liberal left of centre.
for him or to his core voters, if he instead wishes to point his government towards Reform voters then the consequence of that will not be that reform voters will vote Labour instead, merely that they will feel more assured about supporting Reform, knowing that the PM thinks they have legitimate
She regularly makes statements opposing the government’s position. In opposition she stepped down as shadow minister as she could not support the front bench position on Europe. She does not support cutting benefits for the disabled. If Starmer is not prepared to listen to those who campaigned
There is no chance that he didn’t know what the man was up to - it was hardly a secret in those circles. I agree that it is exceptionally unlikely that he was involved. But why was he a friend and why did he continue that friendship when Epstein was in jail? I suspect Mandy loves rich people.
Relayed to the MoS by a highly placed source. I smell bullshit.
Can’t tell what you mean here. There are double negatives going on. Do you support the 90/180 rule or support an exemption?
Another thing Why is this described as 100,000 people? Actually it’s about 99,000 men and a few women NO ONE ever comments on this The far right is not wholly but largely a problem with men I’ve looked at several images of the crowd “protesting” today Haven’t yet found a single woman
It was 30 years ago. I used to have nightmares and more than once woke up attacking my partner in bed, but those nightmares faded over time and the story joins a collection of misadventures in my life, alongside falling down a 30 foot hole (and surviving, obviously). I should write a book!
Yes, it was. I was held up at gunpoint and then tied up once I had handed over the money. I don’t think I referred to it as a mugging. I was seriously in fear of my life, with a gun to my head for 10 or 15 minutes.
As you know, I campaigned for Labour. If the government has lost me, it has no chance of persuading floating voters or those who left Labour before the election, or those who lent Labour their vote. My own MP - Marsha de Cordova - is openly in opposition to the government. Wake up, Labour.
Fair. I tried to do that, including resigning in writing over Corbyn, but they didn’t process my resignation to when the leadership election came round I got to vote. For Starmer. And now I am on the verge of resigning again.
My company held £6,000 in its safe every night (in the 90s) and we employed drivers and warehouse staff who came and went, so it was well known where the money was and when the opportunity times were. It is a long story but out of it I came to run the company.
He is attacking Farage, which the government is failing to do. That will do far more good to the government than his attacking Labour. And as leader of an opposition party, attacking the government is what he is supposed to do. And he does it in the same way as Davey, with cause.
Who in the government is prepared to speak like this?
It’s not genocidal - that word has a very specific meaning and must not become a generic term for wanting a group of people to be dead. What it is, though, is eugenics, which is hideous in its own right.
US is not a country that we should aspire to ape in any way.
Bound together Now and forever And I will never let you go
They should have been shot down.
The only thing I can say which might give you comfort is that London is the capital as well as our city. These people don’t represent London. They are on a racism away day and tomorrow they will be gone and you will still be living in a city where we all rub along together peacefully.
How can you leave Labour twice?
Unlikely that anyone on Bluesky will know a cunt like this but that is a very clear picture. He needs to be in front of a magistrate on Monday.
They didn’t know how many people they were going to encounter. It was the second time, too, though the first time it was 3 robbers with no visible weapons. Never saw a gun before or since, and Kings Cross was transformed over the following 20 years.
And was it any good?
That’s different from buying it on the street. You are talking about someone who used the drugs equivalent of Deliveroo.
People do not buy cocaine in public in London. I have lived here all my adult life and never seen it once.
TwatsUK.
Yes, they used that to display a model of the area as it was being constructed. We used to go clubbing in the warehouse at Granary Square on bank holiday weekends. The area was very dodgy indeed. The police never even tried to find the gunmen who held me up, let alone apprehend them!
All the racists are having an away day to central London so I dare say you will find Hertfordshire rather more pleasant than normal.
5’6”. Is that what his problem is?
Hope it pisses piss down on them.
Yes I grant you, the English are miserable fuckers. I’m on holiday in Càdiz and am amazed by how happy everyone seems. Mind you, beautiful beaches, perfect sunshine, quaint buildings… it would be hard not to be happy here.
15 minutes on the train from London isn’t exactly London, is it? Hertfordshire possibly. I worked near Kings Cross for 30 years. Was held up by three gunmen once. Regularly abused in the street. Then they cleaned it up and as soon as they did, I lost my job :-)
Not sure about that but I am certain that there will be more coke snorting in central London this afternoon than normal. And that’s just Yaxley Lennon’s intake.
The polls show consistent figures of under 50% for independence. Scots are not stupid. They know that an independent Scotland would apply to join the EU. That is factored in to their replies. If there was no chance of that the 48% would likely be somewhat lower.
No, there isn’t. There is a right wing populism that is having a moment, but evident in Wales and Scotland and omnipresent in NI. But England is the most happily multicultural country in Europe, despite that unpleasant underbelly.
You haven’t said where you visit but I gather you are in the race horsing fraternity, visiting the same tiny portion of the country each time and seeing the sort of posh right wing tits each time you visit. Come visit London with me and I’ll show you something that will make you change your mind.
Don’t Wimbledon play at “home” in Milton Keynes?
Kensington is a no-go area. Everything is so fucking expensive, you literally can’t afford a coffee.
Again, just because you are desperate to see an independent Scotland doesn’t mean it will happen. There is no more interest in an independent Scotland than there was ten years ago. 48% is 50% below what it would need to be to stand a realistic chance of success.
No, we aren’t. There is no more or less pro-English fervour than there has ever been. A few flags hanging for a couple of weeks are feeding you a narrative that you were looking for. But as a frequent visitor to England you know we are deeply unserious and the flags will be gone by Christmas.
After all, you are a frequent visitor to England.
Yes, you are right.
Meanwhile the government pretends that growth is its number one priority.
You are right to point out that his post was badly worded, but it is clear what he means, and it isn’t that he respects Kirk’s views. Personally, I don’t respect the right of people to express hateful views and we tiptoe around saying that for fear of offence.
And part of that inheritance is the Labour manifesto with promises on taxes and red lines on Europe that were drawn up, according to a senior Labour politician who told me this directly - “out of an abundance of caution”. That caution could have been dropped months before the election.
The Guardian has had it in for Starmer ever since he wasn’t Jeremy Corbyn. Which is, of course, forever.
Genuine question; does Starmer have any say over who can run for parliament under a Labour banner?
I live just off the A3, in Battersea. I’d never thought of the road in that way before.
You are right about 2012 and the difference since then. But if you visit people in the horse racing community then that is definitely not representative of England as a whole. Rich toffs have always been twats, and I doubt if they are worse now than they were then.
180 days makes no difference if you live in Ireland. You can come and go as you please, including being free to live here.
Many of my friends are homosexual, you know.
Which part of England do you visit often, if you don’t mind me asking? It’s certainly not the part I live in!
Because it is very entertaining.
The bit about gays should be stoned to death isn’t true. He said plenty of disgusting things but there is no evidence that he said that.
There are racists in every country and the idea that the UK is unusually afflicted by that is wrong. In every country they are a noisy minority. Most Brits are perfectly nice people who aren’t anti-immigrant, aren’t racist and aren’t anti-EU.
I’m sorry but being better than the last lot is not good enough. All they needed to do was not to alienate people, not to be low level corrupt in an amateur way, and for Starmer to chose the right people that he didn’t then have to sack. They had 14 years to prepare yet squandered it all in a year
And when people say that not to support them will usher in Reform, well we were told to bite our lips to get rid of the Tories, which we did, but don’t expect people to bite their lips over the Farage tribute act currently in Number Ten.
in government, but they have too many policies which I can not defend because they are indefensible. And they KEEP rubbing salt in the wound by saying never to a return to SM/CU but refusing to say why. This has alienated so many people. Labour has been a huge disappointment in office so far.
No, im sorry, but their red lines have caused them to make some dreadful decisions and extremely unpopular ones, too. This govt is hated by left and right and people like me, who campaigned for them, are thoroughly disillusioned. Of course they are doing good things. That is a prerequisite of being
This is so obviously true and one only needs to ask, if it is not beneficial to members, why it exists at all, or why other member states haven’t chosen to leave it.
CRD would work.
Sorry, is there a thing on in Whitley Bay, only I was describing, evidently to someone else, how my dad once promised me, as a child, a hot dog in a cafe there, only to be presented with a Walls sausage wrapped in Mother’s Pride. Look out for another person sitting in a cafe eating one :-)
Though it would be distasteful to do this you could easily sell FofM by renaming it and explaining that it means 50% of the immigration and that 100% of it would be white rather than practically all of it being brown or black with families in tow as at the moment.
Oh no. Does that mean you have time for a “hot dog”?
Ignore the public and go the right thing. Then explain why it is the right thing and where to see the benefits. The public should not have a say in whether we join the SM or CU when almost none of them have a clue what either is.
You accept the benefits of lower trade friction but don’t put a value on that? You don’t put a value on FofM which brought us already trained, highly skilled young, healthy, cheap, labour and you don’t put a value on a massive market on our doorstep.
I was a Labour campaigner for remain and Corbyn never appeared anywhere where he might have made a positive difference. He refused to share a platform with the PM of the time. Labour would not campaign alongside any Tories. They were an utter disgrace putting party before principle.