Alf Bentley

I'm all hot air and no action, if you hadn't noticed.

After the LCFC mural got painted over, with a promise that it would be redone.......this is a perfect opportunity. Never mind prayers, just build a massive wall as high as the Angel of the North and about a mile long, located to run alongside the M1 outside Leicester. Then get the mural artist back to redo his work along the length of that wall but much, much bigger. That way, all the Cockney fans travelling north and all the Northerners travelling south for matches would be reminded what football achievement is really all about.

Direct action by the Revolution Eliminate Dogshit Party (Marxist-Leninist)?

They haven't been able to stand anywhere on Brexit as they keep standing in dogshit.

No electoral system completely eliminates tactical voting - and this is just one of many different "more proportional" systems, which reduce but don't eliminate the need for tactical voting. No electoral system is fully proportional, either, unless you allocate 99 / 20-millionths of parliament to the Monster Raving Loony Party, 12 / 20-millionths of parliament to Joe Nutter from Coalville who decided to stand as an independent Eliminate Dogshit candidate etc. Just as well we don't have FPTP for this one, or we'd just have Brexit Party MEPs elected in 80% of seats & Lib Dems in London & SNP in Scotland.

The election result in N. Ireland will be interesting. They elect 3 MEPs. For ages, given the sectarian divide & demographics, they've elected 1 Sinn Fein, 1 DUP & 1 Official Unionist. Sounds as if that might change this time. Sinn Fein and DUP will probably retain their MEPs, but OUP could lose to the Alliance Party (non-sectarian, pro-Remain) or even to the SDLP, whose party leader is standing. So, not only might N. Ireland elect 2 out of 3 Remainer MEPs, but the Unionists might not win a majority of the seats - & Irish nationalists might even win 2 out of 3 (SDLP are moderate nationalists), though Alliance more likely, I'd imagine. Result will be interesting in view of the heightened importance of Brexit there, the Stormont closedown, murder of Lyra McKee etc.

Tough to predict, but based on the East Midlands result last time and the current polls, that seems reasonable analysis. 2014 result: 2 UKIP, 2 Tory, 1 Labour, other parties a long way behind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Midlands_(European_Parliament_constituency)#2014 This time, if polls are remotely accurate: - Brexit Party will get at least 2 MEPs - Labour will probably retain their 1 MEP, despite drop in support (Tories dropping more & little between them last time) - Tories at serious risk of losing their MEP, given polls - Lib Dems will almost certainly win 1 MEP, but no chance of a 2nd one - Last MEP up for grabs between Tories, a 3rd Brexit MEP & Greens, I reckon ....2 Brexit, 1 Labour, 1 Lib Dem.......& 1 Brexit/Tory/Green is my prediction.

Yep, electing our directly elected "unelected" European representatives.....possibly while our directly elected national representatives (Tory MPs) get rid of our main indirectly elected European representative (Theresa, our European Council rep). Stop control by Brussels!

Jake Black a.k.a. The Very Reverend D. Wayne Love of Alabama 3 https://www.nme.com/news/music/jake-black-alabama-3-died-2490786?fbclid=IwAR3yU7ByjO_z_Uqr-lJN9uDqwuLsvDXag6ChsWtUyfA0ThbeDTJDYy5uyjU Saw them at several festivals over the years. Always one of the best live bands - good music & absolutely hilarious. Woke up this morning, won't wake up tomorrow morning.... Confirming the news today (May 21) via Facebook, Alabama 3’s official account posted a tribute to Black, one of its founding members, who was also known as The Very Reverend D.Wayne Love. “Early this afternoon, on a beautiful summer’s day, our friend, comrade and spiritual teacher, Jake Black AKA The Very Reverend D.Wayne Love, passed over to the higher ground,” the post began. “After a magnificent performance at the Highpoint Festival in Lancashire, D.Wayne in his supreme wisdom, decided it was the appropriate moment for his ascencion into the next level.” Revealing that Black was surrounded by his “brothers Larry Love, L.B. Dope, The Spirit, Jonny Jamm and Sister Therese Mullan,” at the very end, the group said that his passing was “painless and peaceful.” Also stating that they are “heartbroken,” the band shared that Black’s final words were: ‘Tweet Tweet, Possil Fleet,” which they “have yet to decipher.”

Not always........

Mordaunt love, modern love, maudlin, morbid, even merde alors, but not Mourdant.... I was similarly stunned when I discovered Leadsom's age a while back - not least the realisation that she was younger than me - and that Graham Brady is younger than my little brother.

Could you explain that first point? I have little knowledge of this beyond mainstream media coverage. As I understand it, they supposedly got the previous govt loan to pay for carbon credits that they only had to buy because they were excluded from free permits due to Brexit uncertainty? In theory, that makes it a Brexit issue rather than a green issue, doesn't it? I presume the free permits are funded from the general EU budget (i.e. EU taxpayers, ultimately), are they? Or are you making a different point about green policy re. energy prices or something? Mind you, as per your second point and Pratley's article, the fact that they've run into serious trouble despite that loan suggests much wider problems, whether that's to do with global steel markets, mismanagement at British Steel or lost orders due to Brexit uncertainty (possibly all of them). The fact that other steel companies aren't going bust (yet) also suggests that part of the explanation relates to the particular company. Nice touch by them to rename the company British Steel after they bought it & then seek a load of money from the British taxpayer a couple of years later....could be seen as a cynical plan to minimise their own spending & engage in emotional blackmail....

A couple of decent, balanced articles about the British Steel crisis: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/22/what-went-wrong-at-british-steel https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2019/may/21/who-are-the-villains-of-the-british-steel-crisis "Choose your villain in the British Steel crisis. The government has dithered for years about the future of steelmaking in the UK and has stumbled from one crisis to another. Or blame the unresolved Brexit pantomime in Westminster. Or point to the company’s private equity owner, Greybull Capital, whose past calamities include Monarch Airlines and electricals chain Comet. There’s truth in all versions". Uncertainty over Brexit is clearly a major factor. That's not necessarily a pro- or anti-Brexit point. Orders from Europe have dried up because customers don't know what the future price will be: i.e. whether they'll have to pay tariffs as well as the normal price. The company has also had to cough up some extra dosh for carbon-offsetting (funded by a govt loan) because of the delay over any Brexit decision. On the other hand, market conditions have been difficult for years - excess supply, especially from China, forcing down prices. Then there's the "free market" focus of our Govt, whereas Govts in other countries tend to be more prepared to step in to help strategically important industries...........but then again, the owners who took British Steel over a couple of years back seem to be from the shitty end of the capitalist spectrum, so denying them taxpayers' money might be the right decision for taxpayers..... Bad situation for those affected, though - particularly as the impact is set to focus on places with few economic alternatives (Scunthorpe) or that have already suffered losses in other industries (Middlesbrough)....

Lacks both Abba's melancholic pop sensibility and Penny Mordaunt's aura of sensual mystery, IMHO.

Yeah, amusing enough if it's the odd isolated incident. It's always happened. The culprit gets a fine, whatever. Benjamin's rape "jokes" were much more sinister. But this is at least 4 identical milkshake incidents in a couple of weeks - and the article quoted suggested that this was a good, or at least acceptable thing, as liberal democracy & normal debate were dead. I see it as in line with stopping people from speaking because you don't like what they have to say. Wrong, unhealthy for society and almost always counter-productive. Here it plays straight into the "victim complex" of those who support half-baked/provocative reactionary nationalist populism (Farage) or the Far Right (Benjamin & Robinson) - it's the liberal elite, crushing free speech & the voice of the people, innit? Meanwhile, it's distracted media attention away from much more important Farage issues - Channel 4 News revelations that he received vast wealth, post-Brexit, from a bloke under investigation for all sorts of dodgy financial stuff (Banks) and Gordon Brown's bona fide questions about where the Brexit Party's money is coming from, which has led the Electoral Commission to investigate whether it's in breach of rules on funding/transparency. So, well done, Mr. Milkshake Man - you've helped Farage out twice over! I read that he works for Sky, of all people - wonder what Nigel & Rupert make of that?