General News Thread

[Innovindil]

On 14/05/2026 at 17:34, leicsmac said:

It would be the blackest of comedy, yes 

 

How long will it take for Burnham to be eligible from here (if he wins the by-election)?

 

On 14/05/2026 at 17:40, Innovindil said:

Months. Think it averages around 3 months to get the by election started, few weeks after that for the actual by election. 

 

Plenty of time for greens and reform to absolutely pile everything into the by election themselves. 

 

Rough seas ahead. 

Sources tell the BBC that 18 June is the likely date for the anticipated Makerfield by-election.

 

Until now, it had been the earliest conceivable date it could be held.

 

Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) has, in the last hour, published their timetable for candidate selection, after giving the green light to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to apply to enter the contest.

 

Labour will select their by-election candidate following a local hustings on Thursday 21 May.

 

---------

 

Apparently things are running quicker than normal 

[OntarioFox]

2 hours ago, Innovindil said:

Nope. Think the US wording over it is they would provide weapons and stuffs for Taiwan to defend itself. Much like what US and Europe have done in Ukraine. 

 

Tbh I hope we never have to find out. Taiwan should be allowed to decide their fate for themselves. 

Taiwan may as well just get Ukraine on the phone and strike a deal to produce drones with them. Russia has found it hard enough mounting a land invasion, good bloody luck to the Chinese doing it from the sea with a finite number of ships when their target has essentially got an opportunity to throw an endless supply of manless kamikazes at them for £2000 a pop.

 

US military gear, as crazy as it sounds, is outdated and behind the curve. The advent of drones has been a huge leveller and countries with traditional militaries are being left behind, as the meat grinder of young Russians in Ukraine proves. Why spend millions on missiles and anti aircraft guns when you could do the same damage with something you could whip up in a garage for a few grand?

 

And yes, sure, China could absolutely fight back with drones, like Russia is now doing. But again, having to do it from the sea, with a finite supply, from navy ships that are more or less sitting ducks... it won't be nearly as easy for them as some people think.

Edited 15 May by OntarioFox
bad slepping

[Lcfcbl]

4 hours ago, Foxdiamond said:

I was listening to a radio debate today about Starmer. One bloke didn't like Labour because they were taking away the choice of his children to decide to smoke 

As much as I get the sentiment of what you are saying, this is surely a question of freedom? I am an ex-smoker and would never ever want one of my children to ever smoke a cigarette. However, we live in a country where it is currently legal to smoke tobacco over a certain age. I sometimes feel that certain sections in society (this is not aimed at you but a wider point) want to legalise currently illegal drugs but want to ban/sanitise tobacco, alcohol etc which have been part of the culture of this country for hundreds of years. Is this is a sign of the change in this country over the last 25 years? 

[kenny]

44 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

... so the horror stories regarding worker protections are almost all myths, then? Interesting. 

 

Putting that as true for a moment, a governing body beholden to the bottom line is, at some point, going to view human beings, and other life, as the proper position of a spreadsheet cell and act accordingly. That won't be great for all the life deemed "too expensive". Now, one might make the argument that government itself is bound by the same rules, but I'm pretty sure it's rather less freewheeling than the libertarian attitude shown towards life displayed by the mega corps.

Unions kicking up trouble probably.

 

It's been many years since I worked in warehousing  but this place is incredible. I thought Toyota was good in terms of staff facilities, this was another level. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Gutted that I went to London last weekend instead of tomorrow, thereby missing my opportunity to take part in the 'Unite The Kingdom' rally which sounds like a very noble aim to me

Imagine the running battle when it bumps into the Dyslexic Society's 'Untie The Nation' rally.

[Trav Le Bleu]

35 minutes ago, Innovindil said:

 

Sources tell the BBC that 18 June is the likely date for the anticipated Makerfield by-election.

 

Until now, it had been the earliest conceivable date it could be held.

 

Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) has, in the last hour, published their timetable for candidate selection, after giving the green light to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to apply to enter the contest.

 

Labour will select their by-election candidate following a local hustings on Thursday 21 May.

 

---------

 

Apparently things are running quicker than normal 

Lots of Tory and Reform voters need to apply for Labour party membership and then vote for Starmer in the leadership contest, just for the lols 

[leicsmac]

39 minutes ago, Innovindil said:

 

Sources tell the BBC that 18 June is the likely date for the anticipated Makerfield by-election.

 

Until now, it had been the earliest conceivable date it could be held.

 

Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) has, in the last hour, published their timetable for candidate selection, after giving the green light to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to apply to enter the contest.

 

Labour will select their by-election candidate following a local hustings on Thursday 21 May.

 

---------

 

Apparently things are running quicker than normal 

Well, that tells its own story. They want Burnham available ASAP, so that must mean that they're looking to give him the best possible chance. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

4 hours ago, davieG said:

I'm not convinced most of the interviews with voters up north I saw nearly all mentioned immigration as to why they would vote Reform

It's weird. I imagine that the north is little affected by immigration, specifically the illegal sort.

 

I've been in Lincolnshire this past week. Barely seen a person of colour or heard a foreign accent, yet this is Reform central. I get that Boston has had a large immigrant influx, but outside of that

 

I can't understand why everyone is so worried about immigration, it's certainly not bothering me 

 

 

[leicsmac]

27 minutes ago, kenny said:

Unions kicking up trouble probably.

 

It's been many years since I worked in warehousing  but this place is incredible. I thought Toyota was good in terms of staff facilities, this was another level. 

Can't say I'm convinced given both the nature and the number of the complaints, but fair enough. 

[kenny]

1 minute ago, leicsmac said:

Can't say I'm convinced given both the nature and the number of the complaints, but fair enough. 

I would never expect you to be.

 

https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/working-at-amazon/amazon-employee-benefits

 

Most of this is probably fabrication in fairness.

 

[Foxdiamond]

40 minutes ago, Lcfcbl said:

As much as I get the sentiment of what you are saying, this is surely a question of freedom? I am an ex-smoker and would never ever want one of my children to ever smoke a cigarette. However, we live in a country where it is currently legal to smoke tobacco over a certain age. I sometimes feel that certain sections in society (this is not aimed at you but a wider point) want to legalise currently illegal drugs but want to ban/sanitise tobacco, alcohol etc which have been part of the culture of this country for hundreds of years. Is this is a sign of the change in this country over the last 25 years? 

My feelings about smoking is from just personal experience is that people start as children and not as responsible adults. Anything that prevents that is good

[CornwallFox]

5 hours ago, Lionator said:

Back to my favourite area, and WW3, does anyone actually believe the US would fight China and risk Armageddon over Taiwan? Seems insane to me. 

They'll never fight each other directly. Too much is made of these things. There'd potentially be a stand off but not a full scale way between them. Will never happen in the same way it would never have happened with Russia and the US. 

[bovril]

Real late Ottoman feel around British politics at the moment. Touch of the Abdulaziz about Starmer. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

3 hours ago, bovril said:

Real late Ottoman feel around British politics at the moment. Touch of the Ali Bongo about Starmer. 

 

[Sly]

I can’t remember a time, when the world has felt so destabilised as the last 12 months.

[leicsmac]

7 hours ago, Sly said:

I can’t remember a time, when the world has felt so destabilised as the last 12 months.

Perhaps at the start of Covid when everyone was scrambling for solutions to ensure their medical care systems didn't collapse... but yes, we are living in rather unprecedented times. 

 

How very fortunate we all are. 

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8p61v7l68o

 

On the topic of Taiwan, it seems like the ambiguous status quo is holding for the time being. 

[leicsmac]

14 hours ago, kenny said:

I would never expect you to be.

 

https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/working-at-amazon/amazon-employee-benefits

 

Most of this is probably fabrication in fairness.

 

Perhaps such benefits also vary from nation to nation depending on that nations worker protection laws. Which leads to the conclusion that if it was a company like Amazon running the show without such government oversight, the nation with the least amount of worker protection at the present time would be the model wherever such oversight didn't exist. Same goes for any other big company - once more, when your emphasis is the bottom line, human beings are simply a resource like any other and (therefore) expendable. 

Edited 16 May by leicsmac

[Lionator]

12 hours ago, bovril said:

Real late Ottoman feel around British politics at the moment. Touch of the Abdulaziz about Starmer. 

Add a bit of 1987-89 Soviet Union too. Where is our Yeltsin?

[Lionator]

The online right smear campaign of Burnham makes me think he’s perhaps more capable than I thought? 

[leicsmac]

Just now, Lionator said:

The online right smear campaign of Burnham makes me think he’s perhaps more capable than I thought? 

Wouldn't read too much into that - they'll smear anyone who isn't from the Trump school of ideology.

[kenny]

1 hour ago, Lionator said:

The online right smear campaign of Burnham makes me think he’s perhaps more capable than I thought? 

What are the smears? I've only heard his comments on the bond market being cited as an issue 

[leicsmac]

That's a shame. Silver remains one of the best political pundits out there and his work should have been preserved. 

 

 

[Lionator]

Anyone out marching today to save are country??? 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[Wymsey]

Just now, Lionator said:

Anyone out marching today to save are country??? 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

Is it just in London?