General News Thread

[Jon the Hat]

On 25/01/2026 at 08:10, foxy tiler said:

I amazed Farage hasn't been properly investigated over his "russian" links. Reform are just a worse collection of tory nutjobs. I'd actually sooner have a s@#t tory government than reform. (Not a fan of the tories either)

I do wonder if the facts are known and they are waiting for the right moment to take him down.  No not wonder, hope.

[Jon the Hat]

5 hours ago, StanSP said:

Has anyone posted about the Minneapolis shooting defending ICE yet? Did the victim have a nose ring or anything? 

I saw something earlier claiming he was some sort of terrorist for being part of a signal group communicating where ICE where so they could find them to block them.

[Trav Le Bleu]

You see ICE, this is how it's done.

 

Attempted murder arrest in Southampton after car driven at police - BBC News

 

https://share.google/1RMM8i9GSmICLJLTn

 

[leicsmac]

8 hours ago, StanSP said:

Has anyone posted about the Minneapolis shooting defending ICE yet? Did the victim have a nose ring or anything? 

If you're referring to the Web in general, there's quite a few swallowing the party line about him somehow being a capital threat and therefore worthy of being shot at the time he'd been jumped and pepper-sprayed multiple times.

 

In this small corner of it? Looks like the Trump apologists that do exist here either rightly believe what happened to be indefensible (even for him) or at least think it might be indefensible enough to say nothing at all.

[StanSP]

13 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

If you're referring to the Web in general

Definitely not... 

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1w94v205y2o

 

Some good investigative from the Beeb here regarding just how dark security service work can be and how innocent people may well simply be considered collateral damage in the name of "defending the realm" in some cases.

 

Critical question from the article: "can the authorities who played a role in the events, including MI5, be trusted to decide whether to tell the public about what happened, when doing so could leave them exposed?"

 

Edit: speaking personally, that the British government got into bed with Loyalist elements who were every bit as bloodthirsty and psychopathic as their Nationalist counterparts during the Troubles is absolutely shameful and something more people should be making a noise about and more people should be answering for. 

Edited 26 January by leicsmac

[Innovindil]

20 hours ago, st albans fox said:

Starmer blocks burnham 

going to get messy 

Wild decision. 

 

Pretty much just openly admitted he's afraid he'd lose a leadership contest to him. If this decision leads to losing the by-election which should have been an easy one he's going to have more and more of his own turn on him. 

 

Already got some of his own out today saying democracy takes more than 10 people. 

[Sampson]

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/53934-what-do-britons-think-about-the-uks-relationship-with-china-at-the-start-of-2026

 

USA down 17pts on whether Brits see it as a friendly nation or not in the space of just 2 months, now below India.

 

 

Edited 26 January by Sampson

[leicsmac]

10 minutes ago, Sampson said:

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/53934-what-do-britons-think-about-the-uks-relationship-with-china-at-the-start-of-2026

 

USA down 17pta on whether Brits see it as a friendly nation or not in the space of just 2 months, now below India.

 

 

Interesting trending, though not altogether unexpected. 

 

I don't think China can ever really be said to be a "friend" in that the cultural and historical values between them and the UK are so different it's difficult to share that sentiment on a large scale. But what you might be able to say about them is that they're friendly to the concept of ensuring a world where both they and the UK continue to exist in one form or another, along with human civilisation in general. I'm not sure the same can be said of the US at the present time.

[st albans fox]

15 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Interesting trending, though not altogether unexpected. 

 

I don't think China can ever really be said to be a "friend" in that the cultural and historical values between them and the UK are so different it's difficult to share that sentiment on a large scale. But what you might be able to say about them is that they're friendly to the concept of ensuring a world where both they and the UK continue to exist in one form or another, along with human civilisation in general. I'm not sure the same can be said of the US at the present time.

The main difference being that every 4 years people get to vote on the direction of the USA administration whereas in China ………

[leicsmac]

7 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

The main difference being that every 4 years people get to vote on the direction of the USA administration whereas in China ………

And current evidence seems to show that on certain matters, that has benefits as well as flaws.

[bovril]

19 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

The main difference being that every 4 years people get to vote on the direction of the USA administration whereas in China ………

Does that make them friendlier to us then? 

[CornwallFox]

31 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

The main difference being that every 4 years people get to vote on the direction of the USA administration whereas in China ………

What's that got to do with whether they're friendly? 

When did China last threaten, invade or otherwise force itself upon another nation? 

Yes people will point at Taiwan but I think that's a more complex picture if you're Chinese. 

China appears to want to grow and be world leading but without necessarily crushing everybody else. It appears to think a multipolar world is fine.

The US takes a very different approach and China only gets talked about as a mortal enemy because America always talks in terms of good and evil, painting itself as a benevolent leader of the world. It absolutely doesn't want a multi polar world.

Pushing away from the EU looks more and more stupid with every day that passes.

[st albans fox]

15 minutes ago, bovril said:

Does that make them friendlier to us then? 

 

1 minute ago, CornwallFox said:

What's that got to do with whether they're friendly? 

When did China last threaten, invade or otherwise force itself upon another nation? 

Yes people will point at Taiwan but I think that's a more complex picture if you're Chinese. 

China appears to want to grow and be world leading but without necessarily crushing everybody else. It appears to think a multipolar world is fine.

The US takes a very different approach and China only gets talked about as a mortal enemy because America always talks in terms of good and evil, painting itself as a benevolent leader of the world. It absolutely doesn't want a multi polar world.

Pushing away from the EU looks more and more stupid with every day that passes.

Democracies will in general be friendlier and more reliable allies than autocracies.  is that actually in question?  What’s right for a nation v what’s right for an individual is generally going to be more consistent from a democracy. 

 

China?  it’s doing what we and the west did a hundred plus years ago.  It’s economically colonising swathes of the world.  Tibet?  Ask most of china’s neighbours in the South China Sea how they view them 

[leicsmac]

As an aside, the continuation of Marjorie Taylor Greene standing on her principles rather than kowtowing to Trump is fascinating to watch. 

[Lionator]

1 minute ago, leicsmac said:

As an aside, the continuation of Marjorie Taylor Greene standing on her principles rather than kowtowing to Trump is fascinating to watch. 

There’s several republicans who could easily gain some momentum in a 2028 primary as they’re anti neocon and don’t follow the Trump line. Thinking MTG, Rand Paul and Thomas Massie.

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, st albans fox said:

 

Democracies will in general be friendlier and more reliable allies than autocracies.  is that actually in question?  What’s right for a nation v what’s right for an individual is generally going to be more consistent from a democracy. 

 

China?  it’s doing what we and the west did a hundred plus years ago.  It’s economically colonising swathes of the world.  Tibet?  Ask most of china’s neighbours in the South China Sea how they view them 

That depends on both the actions of the autocracy and the current problems being faced. It's hardly cut and dried. 

 

Viewing what the UK and other European powers did a century or more ago as just "economic colonisation" is an interestingly rose tinted way of looking at that particular part of history. 

[bovril]

4 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

As an aside, 

Apes are magnificent creatures? 

[Spudulike]

I would've thought that we would be seeing mass protests and widespread civil unrest in the UK following the killing of two people in Minneapolis by law enforcement operatives. Perhaps it doesnt cause as much outrage as it did in 2020?

[leicsmac]

23 minutes ago, Lionator said:

There’s several republicans who could easily gain some momentum in a 2028 primary as they’re anti neocon and don’t follow the Trump line. Thinking MTG, Rand Paul and Thomas Massie.

They may at least be a thorn in the side of the current MAGA administration. 

 

21 minutes ago, bovril said:

Apes are magnificent creatures? 

 

8 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

I would've thought that we would be seeing mass protests and widespread civil unrest in the UK following the killing of two people in Minneapolis by law enforcement operatives. Perhaps it doesnt cause as much outrage as it did in 2020?

I think the general level of outrage is similar, it's just more specifically directed this time round.

 

That being said, you appear to be driving at a point here without quite arriving yet so do please go ahead and make it.

[Spudulike]

7 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

They may at least be a thorn in the side of the current MAGA administration. 

 

 

I think the general level of outrage is similar, it's just more specifically directed this time round.

 

That being said, you appear to be driving at a point here without quite arriving yet so do please go ahead and make it.

The 2020 George Floyd killing was a catalyst for what seemed like the UK, Europe and other places losing it's collective head. These latest killings haven't, so far, sparked a similar response. May be reasons such as the racial element (we don't know the ethnicity of the ICE officer, I think) or population lockdown stir crazy. Or the habitual protester has found other causes to spend their time.

[leicsmac]

3 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

The 2020 George Floyd killing was a catalyst for what seemed like the UK, Europe and other places losing it's collective head. These latest killings haven't, so far, sparked a similar response. May be reasons such as the racial element (we don't know the ethnicity of the ICE officer, I think) or population lockdown stir crazy. Or the habitual protester has found other causes to spend their time.

Appreciate the further elaboration. 

 

To extend this then, if the point being made is that the level of outrage over George Floyd's death was too large and/or the outrage over these ICE killings is too small, I'm not sure I can agree with either point. Such things are always situational, even if in this case they share a common factor in there being prejudiced violence being handed out by enforcers wearing a badge. 

 

The issue of institutional mistreatment of people of colour by the US fuzz is both incredibly long standing and deep seated. The current ICE horribleness, as outrageous as it is (and should be called out at all levels of UK society) will hopefully die when Trump no longer has power. And may that day come soon. 

[Zear0]

Another Tory reject joins Reform. Interesting tactic... 

[Lionator]

3 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

Another Tory reject joins Reform. Interesting tactic... 

the ones jumping over are the particularly ghastly, power hungry, self serving, corrupt ones so little surprise they find themselves at home in Farage’s party. These people are gross, hopefully those so desperate to vote Reform in can wise up and see what’s happening. 

[skolfoxes]

The rate at which they’re rounding up the least popular Tory MPs from the previous government, I’m fully expecting them to announce Matt Hancock has joined the party next.