General News

[Guest Bilo]

8 minutes ago, bovril said:

I know a couple of people who say they hate Trump but are Reform-curious. Many people in rural England are the kind of people who moved or would like to move to Spain and voted for Brexit. Their world view is not coherent. 

The litmus test is how they get on in control of councils. Make a balls up of them, and their surge flatlines. Council work is decidedly unglamorous and dull, but it really pisses people off if it isn't done as potholes, bin collections, education and council taxes affect people day-to-day. There's only so far 'Labour bad' and 'stop the boats' will take them if folk are overpaying for substandard services.

[leicsmac]

28 minutes ago, Bilo said:

I'm not sure they're right. They'll get a very loud and loyal twenty-odd percent out of it, but MAGA and Trump are so despised here that it'll just put off floating voters and undecideds. 

 

 

I hope that you're right on this one. There may be too many people that dislike Trump for good egotistical bombast but are perfectly fine with a lot of his policy base.

[Guest Bilo]

9 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

I hope that you're right on this one. There may be too many people that dislike Trump for good egotistical bombast but are perfectly fine with a lot of his policy base.

I think it's important to recognise the threat of Reform, but equally not to overstate it and cause panic. They got 30% of the vote, on low turnouts, in what were mostly Tory councils before last week. It would be dangerous to ignore the results of course, but premature to get excited about them if you're a Reform voter.

 

The Lib Dems and Greens traditionally do well in midterm local elections, and the former actually did in places like Oxfordshire and Shropshire, but it never translates to huge gains in General Elections. The government would be mad to ignore these results, of course, but equally jittery to panic.

[MaidstoneFox]

2 hours ago, Bilo said:

I think it's important to recognise the threat of Reform, but equally not to overstate it and cause panic. They got 30% of the vote, on low turnouts, in what were mostly Tory councils before last week. It would be dangerous to ignore the results of course, but premature to get excited about them if you're a Reform voter.

 

The Lib Dems and Greens traditionally do well in midterm local elections, and the former actually did in places like Oxfordshire and Shropshire, but it never translates to huge gains in General Elections. The government would be mad to ignore these results, of course, but equally jittery to panic.

Here in Kent, the 50 or so Conservative councillors have neatly swapped over to Reform, who now have a huge majority. But it is also based on a low turnout, which wouldn't be replicated at a GE. Last time UKIP had control of Thanet council, they bankrupted it I think, so we'll see what they do this time with very little wriggle room over what they can do. 

 

It should be remembered of course that we have been here before and it's far easier to win local elections, but smaller parties struggle to translate that to a GE because they don't have the voter data, or election machinery to mount an effective campaign across the whole country, all at once, something they can manage in one off by-elections. A GE campaign is also more drawn out and comes under more media scrutiny, particularly on policies but also some of the awful candidates that Reform will put up and their dubious backgrounds.

 

Farage will know this, so although he's ruling out any election pact with the Tories now, he could soften his language in 3/4 years time as it may still be the only way he can gain real power under our electoral system. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

Stewards brought in to protect 'groped' Molly Malone statue (BBC news)

 

They have a point. I doubt people go up to Michelangelo's David and rub his knob.

[Md9]

Wasn’t sure if needed to put here or the funny photos thread 

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy048rzjjjo

 

Air traffic controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport briefly lost communications with planes under their control, "unable to see, hear, or talk to them" last week, officials say.

The 28 April incident led to multiple employees going on trauma leave, contributing to hundreds of delayed flights. More than 150 flights were cancelled on Monday alone, according to tracking website FlightAware.

The airport, one of New York's busiest hubs, has been grappling with staff shortages for more than a week.

 

Ideological cuts to staffing having a real and quantifiable threat to human life? Here's an example.

[Torquay Gunner]

2 hours ago, Md9 said:

Wasn’t sure if needed to put here or the funny photos thread 

Is knowledgeable a new euphemism for thick as pig s**t?

[davieG]

50 minutes ago, Torquay Gunner said:

Is knowledgeable a new euphemism for thick as pig s**t?

I think they've misinterpreted 'know all' 

 

If you're not aware of meaning - a person who behaves as if they know everything.

[Md9]

2 hours ago, Torquay Gunner said:

Is knowledgeable a new euphemism for thick as pig s**t?

I don’t know how any one has listened to a word he has said and thought yeah this guy knows everything. You would get more sense out of a monkey than you do trump 

[Md9]

This meeting should go well then 

[leicsmac]

3 minutes ago, Md9 said:

This meeting should go well then 

Carney: "We neither want nor need your egotistical nationalism as an adjutant to the friendly trade that has existed between us. If you have a further problem with that, we'll see you in the snow, you death-worshipping fascist."

 

"...and enjoy your evening, Mr Trump."

[Md9]

Just now, leicsmac said:

Carney: "We neither want nor need your egotistical nationalism as an adjutant to the friendly trade that has existed between us. If you have a further problem with that, we'll see you in the snow, you death-worshipping fascist."

 

"...and enjoy your evening, Mr Trump."

While he is sat there laughing at Vance shouting at him in the back ground for not saying thank you 

[urban.spaceman]

57 minutes ago, Md9 said:

This meeting should go well then 

Carney should only agree to this if Trump agrees that it can be broadcast live and he can use sock puppets. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

Carney: "We neither want nor need your egotistical nationalism as an adjutant to the friendly trade that has existed between us. If you have a further problem with that, we'll see you in the snow, you death-worshipping fascist."

 

"...and enjoy your evening, Mr Trump."

Carney: "So you don't want our cars? Fine."

[Lionator]

We really are cooked as a country if a decent looking trade deal with India is perceived as bad because a few highly skilled Indian workers won’t have to pay national insurance over a 3 year period. 

[Nalis]

4 minutes ago, Lionator said:

We really are cooked as a country if a decent looking trade deal with India is perceived as bad because a few highly skilled Indian workers won’t have to pay national insurance over a 3 year period. 

People look at the NI headlines and forget the rest of the benefits for both countries.

[bovril]

34 minutes ago, Lionator said:

We really are cooked as a country if a decent looking trade deal with India is perceived as bad because a few highly skilled Indian workers won’t have to pay national insurance over a 3 year period. 

Trade deal with India and facilitating the movement of Indian workers to the UK was one of the arguments Brexiters were using during the referendum iirc. So I'm sure now Labour has delivered it there'll be much celebration all round.

 

And anyway we have something similar with the EU I think, and probably the US.

Edited 6 May 2025 by bovril

[kenny]

37 minutes ago, Lionator said:

We really are cooked as a country if a decent looking trade deal with India is perceived as bad because a few highly skilled Indian workers won’t have to pay national insurance over a 3 year period. 

A lot of worried folks in the IT sector on LBC this evening. Not one of them were bothered about NI, more concerned about their jobs moving to India.

[Lionator]

13 minutes ago, kenny said:

A lot of worried folks in the IT sector on LBC this evening. Not one of them were bothered about NI, more concerned about their jobs moving to India.

To be fair, working conditions are better out there than here these days 🤣 

 

Does make me think though, one of the first things I’d outlaw in my autocracy is British companies outsourcing cheap call centres to places like Vietnam and Philippines. Seems like a grim idea. 

[leicsmac]

Carney was incredibly restrained in that meeting.

 

Probably works out for the best that he was.

[st albans fox]

India put three missiles into Pakistan territory 

Apparently in a way to avoid escalation by only targeting terrorists 

 

odd way to do that ….not sure Pakistan will see it like that 

Edited 6 May 2025 by st albans fox

[Sly]

I read earlier that Trump wants to re-open Alkatraz. 

[reporterpenguin]

1 minute ago, Sly said:

I read earlier that Trump wants to re-open Alkatraz. 

And in what I'm sure was a coincidence, Escape From Alcatraz just happened to have been on TV in Florida where he was golfing the night before he announced it.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-escape-from-alcatraz-pbs-b2745233.html

[Lionator]

5 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

India put three missiles into Pakistan territory 

Apparently in a way to avoid escalation by only targeting terrorists 

 

odd way to do that ….not sure Pakistan will see it like that 

Just asked AI and they did something very similar back in 2019 after an ‘attack’ (in quotation marks for neutrality purposes) in Indian Kashmir. Way of escalation management like Israel and Iran did.