General News Thread

[nnfox]

1 hour ago, Lionator said:

The hurricane that’s about to hit Jamaica seems biblically bad. I hope the damage stays minimal. 

It's currently a cat 4.  Most models downgrade it to a 2 or 3 over Jamaica.  Still likely to cause major disruption, but not as bad as it once looked (hopefully).

 

Has generally been a quiet hurricane season this year.

[leicsmac]

11 minutes ago, nnfox said:

It's currently a cat 4.  Most models downgrade it to a 2 or 3 over Jamaica.  Still likely to cause major disruption, but not as bad as it once looked (hopefully).

 

Has generally been a quiet hurricane season this year.

Higher than the historical average, lower than some of the maximum experienced in recent times, apparently. Ditto the typhoon season in the Pacific. 

 

Sign of the times that even "quieter" seasons push the average up. 

[CornwallFox]

7 hours ago, Md9 said:

These fools go on about free speech in every other country but then cry and sue you if you say something they don’t loke or call it fake news. Never seen a bigger bunch of people get offended by anything and they say everyone else gets offended by everything 

The entire right is like this at the moment. 

Absolutely against cancel culture yet no longer paying the TV licence, hounding linekar out the job and going bezerk every time a non white actor appears as a major character in a Disney film. It must be a miserable life to be so permanently angry at everybody else for everything. 

[Parafox]

On 24/10/2025 at 22:32, Trav Le Bleu said:

Give you that one.

 

The idea of a working class family owning a house pre-1980s though (and I know you're not saying this) is virtually impossible; you rented for the council. Private renting was something wealthy people did for occasional residences.

 

Of course there was a lot more council houses around then and it was said and is probably true in most instances now, that the council is the best landlord. I live on a council estate and you can tell which ones are still council owned - invariably they're in better nick.

 

I often feel that this forum feels VERY middle-class, which is weird cos a) football supporters and b) often perceived (rightly or wrongly) left-wing bias.

 

But then I'm just a dumbass working class serf off the estates, without a degree to my name, what do I know?

 

 A few days late but IME, my dad was repatriated to England after being conscripted into the Romanian army and living through WW2.

 

He came here with nothing He couldn't speak English. He worked as a farmhand near Billesdon and the landowner paid for him to learn English as a benevolent gesture. He then got a job with Wadkin's and rented a one room flat for a while and I was born during that time, 1955 to be exact. He went without and saved hard to find a deposit for a house, a new build in fact, on a site off Barkby Road.

 

My point is, he was a working class immigrant who, through sheer hard work and determination to make his own way and avoid council rental housing and have his own house for us. Something you rarely come across except maybe in Asian families

 

We as a family have benefitted so much from his determination that, when he passed he left us in the financial position to be able to pay off our mortgage and live a better life. We were never wealthy and we aren't now. We're professional working class, I would say.

 

My life could have been so different without his drive which believe came from his life experiences, particularly in 1930's Romania and the deprivation he experienced.

 

He wrote his memoirs for us to understand his life as he couldn't fully express it. It's an unpublished work but it's in book form. I read them regularly

 

 

 

 

[Sampson]

14 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

The entire right is like this at the moment. 

Absolutely against cancel culture yet no longer paying the TV licence, hounding linekar out the job and going bezerk every time a non white actor appears as a major character in a Disney film. It must be a miserable life to be so permanently angry at everybody else for everything. 

The thing that gets me is Reform call themselves conservatives but they’re extremely radical and the exact opposite of conservatives in many ways.

 

Conservatism under Thatcher, Major, Cameron and May always used to be the strength of institutions, free trade and international cooperation, and about the individual taking responsibility for their actions, not blaming others if you’re unemployed or struggling for example but going out there, thinking positively, go and do some studies or taking any job you can and not relying on the state and doing anything you can to “pull yourself up from the bootstraps”. I didn’t always agree with it, but it was a perfectly understandable viewpoint. 
 

Farage-ism is the exact opposite of that - it’s about constantly telling Britain or British people that they don’t need to take responsibility, all the ever do is play the victim and virtue signal when someone says something bad about them and it’s always the fault of the EU, international institutions, courts, the lawyers etc. or if you’re unemployed it’s the immigrants taking your jobs etc. So much of their messaging  is the exact opposite to telling people to go out there and make it happen themselves, it’s all about telling people to play the victim. 
 

I’m surprised by how many Tories voters have jumped ship to Reform because Reform represent everything the Tories used to hate.

Edited 26 October 2025 by Sampson

[Parafox]

On 25/10/2025 at 11:08, davieG said:

To give some context to this not bragging or complaining

 

I got married and bought a new semi in Birstall in 1969

 

MrsG had some savings and I had FA having just finished my apprenticeship  and living with my brother in a flat in Clarenden Park, for example I borrowed my brother's trouser on my 1st date.

 

Our mortgage if I remember was £23ish a month for 35 years, my bosses was £8 / month. Mind you it was con mortgage an endowment one as we were supposed to get a lump sum at the end but ended up with nothing.

 

My wage was about £12/week.

 

The house had no heating, just an oven, hob in the kitchen, single glazed windows. The garden front and back was still a building site.

 

We had no TV, no phone, on a waiting list for a party line with next door, just a radio for entertainment. We only had a bed and dining table, both wedding gifts.

 

We both had to get 2 buses via St Margaret's to get to work. My hours were 8-5.30 with a 1 hr lunch break. Overtime was available now and again to work to 6pm and Saturday mornings.

 

Things got worse a few years later when we had 3 kids and inflation was at 17%

 

 

How that compares to today I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment.

 

 

 

 

Did you have to eat coal and grit?

 

I did.

 

And we all lived in a box 

Edited 26 October 2025 by Parafox

[CornwallFox]

13 minutes ago, Parafox said:

 

Did you have to eat coal and grit?

 

I did.

 

And we all lived in a box 

Did the box have a lid? That would be proper middle class.

[bovril]

17 minutes ago, Sampson said:

The thing that gets me is Reform call themselves conservatives but they’re extremely radical and the exact opposite of conservatives in many ways.

 

Conservatism under Thatcher, Major, Cameron and May always used to be the strength of institutions, free trade and international cooperation, and about the individual taking responsibility for their actions, not blaming others if you’re unemployed or struggling for example but going out there, thinking positively, go and do some studies or taking any job you can and not relying on the state and doing anything you can to “pull yourself up from the bootstraps”. I didn’t always agree with it, but it was a perfectly understandable viewpoint. 
 

Farage-ism is the exact opposite of that - it’s about constantly telling Britain or British people that they don’t need to take responsibility, all the ever do is play the victim and virtue signal when someone says something bad about them and it’s always the fault of the EU, international institutions, courts, the lawyers etc. or if you’re unemployed it’s the immigrants taking your jobs etc. So much of their messaging  is the exact opposite to telling people to go out there and make it happen themselves, it’s all about telling people to play the victim. 
 

I’m surprised by how many Tories voters have jumped ship to Reform because Reform represent everything the Tories used to hate.

Farageism like a lot of post social media politics is victimhood as you say but also combined with the fantasy of getting revenge on those you feel have wronged you. In the case of Faregists that's mostly the lefties that constantly inhabit their mind (wokerati, urban elite, latte-sipping Londoners). We see on here people who essentially admit Brexit has given them nothing apart from a sense of satisfaction that remainers were (still are) upset over the result. In that sense it reminds me a lot of communism in its slogans and rhetoric. 

[st albans fox]

3 hours ago, leicsmac said:

Higher than the historical average, lower than some of the maximum experienced in recent times, apparently. Ditto the typhoon season in the Pacific. 

 

Sign of the times that even "quieter" seasons push the average up. 

I think the fact that the Atlantic season has seen most storms held west of the Caribbean and n America means we’ve not seen much impact from this hurricane season on our screens  - hence it seems quieter than usual 

[leicsmac]

37 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

I think the fact that the Atlantic season has seen most storms held west of the Caribbean and n America means we’ve not seen much impact from this hurricane season on our screens  - hence it seems quieter than usual 

Agreed.

 

It is an unfortunate fact, however, that the average severity - and therefore cost - of these events is going to simply keep rising year on year.

[Trav Le Bleu]

3 hours ago, Parafox said:

.

 

He wrote his memoirs for us to understand his life as he couldn't fully express it. It's an unpublished work but it's in book form. I read them regularly

 

 

 

 

That must be a nice thing to have.

 

I have no idea who one of my biological grandfathers was. I asked my grandma once and just wouldn't talk about him, so I expect the worst.

[Jon the Hat]

9 hours ago, Sampson said:

The thing that gets me is Reform call themselves conservatives but they’re extremely radical and the exact opposite of conservatives in many ways.

 

Conservatism under Thatcher, Major, Cameron and May always used to be the strength of institutions, free trade and international cooperation, and about the individual taking responsibility for their actions, not blaming others if you’re unemployed or struggling for example but going out there, thinking positively, go and do some studies or taking any job you can and not relying on the state and doing anything you can to “pull yourself up from the bootstraps”. I didn’t always agree with it, but it was a perfectly understandable viewpoint. 
 

Farage-ism is the exact opposite of that - it’s about constantly telling Britain or British people that they don’t need to take responsibility, all the ever do is play the victim and virtue signal when someone says something bad about them and it’s always the fault of the EU, international institutions, courts, the lawyers etc. or if you’re unemployed it’s the immigrants taking your jobs etc. So much of their messaging  is the exact opposite to telling people to go out there and make it happen themselves, it’s all about telling people to play the victim. 
 

I’m surprised by how many Tories voters have jumped ship to Reform because Reform represent everything the Tories used to hate.

And Conservatism more recently also quite liberal socially, less church morality reliant, more legalising gay marriage and so on.  It is depressing how far right everyone has suddenly gone.

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, Jon the Hat said:

And Conservatism more recently also quite liberal socially, less church morality reliant, more legalising gay marriage and so on.  It is depressing how far right everyone has suddenly gone.

It's like every eighty to one hundred years, these ideas of demographic superiority really come to the fore for whatever reason. 

 

Unfortunately, the same history also shows that to disabuse people of those toxic notions, the cost is...rather high. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 hours ago, leicsmac said:

It's like every eighty to one hundred years, these ideas of demographic superiority really come to the fore for whatever reason. 

 

Unfortunately, the same history also shows that to disabuse people of those toxic notions, the cost is...rather high. 

 

[Jattdogg]

17 hours ago, nnfox said:

It's currently a cat 4.  Most models downgrade it to a 2 or 3 over Jamaica.  Still likely to cause major disruption, but not as bad as it once looked (hopefully).

 

Has generally been a quiet hurricane season this year.

I'm booked for montego bay area over Xmas. Hoping first and foremost all Jamaicans are as safe as can be and that the damage is as minimal as possible. Hope this thing weakens.

 

 

23 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Trump raises tariffs on Canadian goods in response to Reagan advert - BBC News

 

https://share.google/k6kezCn7i9sjh5Px7

 

Awww, is little diddums upset about the nasty man saying horrible things.

The man's  a cvnt. He calls us difficult to deal with but the bell end looks for any excuse to throw a tariff our way or throw a fit.

 

Carney has a difficult time because he could agree to something and then over night Trump hears that Celine Dion called him a "not nice" and he would throw the deal out the window.

 

We are looking to move certain trade away from the US and I think in the long run it might be for the best. Can't stand those tossers.

 

[ClaphamFox]

6 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

And Conservatism more recently also quite liberal socially, less church morality reliant, more legalising gay marriage and so on.  It is depressing how far right everyone has suddenly gone.

It's because identity politics plagues the right at least as much as the left. The identities the right obsesses over are different, but the retreat away from rationality and into subjective, emotionally charged notions of selfhood is the same as that seen on the left. It has not been positive development. 

[SpacedX]

19 hours ago, nnfox said:

It's currently a cat 4.  Most models downgrade it to a 2 or 3 over Jamaica.  Still likely to cause major disruption, but not as bad as it once looked (hopefully).

 

Cat 5 now. Even if this downgrades by the time it makes landfall, it is still likely to be 4. This is a particularly dangerous storm, because much like Hurricane Sally that struck Florida in 2020, it is very slow moving leading to prolonged rainfall and intensified flooding.

Edited 27 October 2025 by SpacedX

[Spudulike]

Richard Taylor wins major settlement against Steve Coogan and Pathe Productions in landmark defamation case

 

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2025/october/taylor-coogan-settlement/?fbclid=IwdGRjcANsRRFjbGNrA2xE8mV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEexheR2jTN1Jnc1NxnF4NZTLbezzaLTD3aX1kZyDDuyTXSC9zrxsuArAx0fAU_aem_xSlnVjYVXt7t8t89eFyPng

 

[StanSP]

Keep seeing that Pochin clip on social media and it's doing my head in! 

[ClaphamFox]

9 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Richard Taylor wins major settlement against Steve Coogan and Pathe Productions in landmark defamation case

 

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2025/october/taylor-coogan-settlement/?fbclid=IwdGRjcANsRRFjbGNrA2xE8mV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEexheR2jTN1Jnc1NxnF4NZTLbezzaLTD3aX1kZyDDuyTXSC9zrxsuArAx0fAU_aem_xSlnVjYVXt7t8t89eFyPng

 

Glad to hear this. My sister-in-law works with Richard Taylor and reckons that everybody who knows him thought his portrayal in that production was grossly unfair. It was a shame they relied so heavily on Philippa Langley's account of events given that she's clearly a bit bonkers. 

[Spudulike]

7 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

Glad to hear this. My sister-in-law works with Richard Taylor and reckons that everybody who knows him thought his portrayal in that production was grossly unfair. It was a shame they relied so heavily on Philippa Langley's account of events given that she's clearly a bit bonkers. 

Apparently she was too ill to attend the court hearing. Not sure if that would've helped or hindered the defendants.

 

Ive never watched the Lost King but it seems that no one will be able to see it now until the key parts are changed as agreed in the settlement. 

 

No sympathy for Steve Coogan especially after that car crash interview with Ben Jacobs on Radio Leicester.

[bovril]

Ricardians are all very silly people. 

[Greg2607]

17 hours ago, Sampson said:

The thing that gets me is Reform call themselves conservatives but they’re extremely radical and the exact opposite of conservatives in many ways.

 

Conservatism under Thatcher, Major, Cameron and May always used to be the strength of institutions, free trade and international cooperation, and about the individual taking responsibility for their actions, not blaming others if you’re unemployed or struggling for example but going out there, thinking positively, go and do some studies or taking any job you can and not relying on the state and doing anything you can to “pull yourself up from the bootstraps”. I didn’t always agree with it, but it was a perfectly understandable viewpoint. 
 

Farage-ism is the exact opposite of that - it’s about constantly telling Britain or British people that they don’t need to take responsibility, all the ever do is play the victim and virtue signal when someone says something bad about them and it’s always the fault of the EU, international institutions, courts, the lawyers etc. or if you’re unemployed it’s the immigrants taking your jobs etc. So much of their messaging  is the exact opposite to telling people to go out there and make it happen themselves, it’s all about telling people to play the victim. 
 

I’m surprised by how many Tories voters have jumped ship to Reform because Reform represent everything the Tories used to hate.

Politicians are generally attracted to the "importance" and "power" of being a politician.  It's got very little to do with their own personal ideologies.  They will swing which ever way is most likely to keep them in that position of importance. 

 

Blair was labour because it was his most likely route to leading a party and winning an election... same with Starmer really to be fair. 

 

and the number of flip flopping local candidates in local politics is beyond a joke. 

 

Lots of the tories jumping to reform is because they think, come the next election, that is their best hope of staying in a seat.   They could never jump to labour... so what are their other options? 

 

 

[ClaphamFox]

58 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Apparently she was too ill to attend the court hearing. Not sure if that would've helped or hindered the defendants.

 

Ive never watched the Lost King but it seems that no one will be able to see it now until the key parts are changed as agreed in the settlement. 

 

No sympathy for Steve Coogan especially after that car crash interview with Ben Jacobs on Radio Leicester.

Indeed. I have huge respect for Coogan's comedy (well, most of it) but you never get the impression that humility is one of his chief character traits.

[CornwallFox]

2 hours ago, ClaphamFox said:

It's because identity politics plagues the right at least as much as the left. The identities the right obsesses over are different, but the retreat away from rationality and into subjective, emotionally charged notions of selfhood is the same as that seen on the left. It has not been positive development. 

I think it's a little different. 

As a rabid left winger, I would say what's common in the left is to believe everybody should be treated equally no matter who they are. 

 

Ideas of stuff like what a real woman is, exactly what pronouns to use etc, aren't really left wing. They are a very small group that is indeed on the left, but which gets huge amounts of airtime to create the controversy the media wants. 

 

The right, certainly online, seems very 'as one' in there beliefs. See all the outrage over theb ethnic make up of ads these days currently - what an absolute non issue but it seems like 95% of the right are aligned and will find excuses for the reform racism that's gone with it. 

 

If I've got this wrong, and the right isn't as together as that, then I'd be interested to hear from somebody on the other side. 

Edited 27 October 2025 by CornwallFox