The Hotel End

Plenty in the Cobblers section but not over here.

Absolutely brilliant PMQ's yesterday, although Boris quickly became like a broken record, as were some of the dumb questions. The SNP walk out/throw out was very entertaining and enjoyed the Savile jibe aimed at Starmer. It was also great to see the likes of T May biting back who played a blinder. "so either my right honourable friend had not read the rules or didn’t understand what they meant and others around him, or they didn’t think the rules applied to Number 10. Which was it?” of course he refuted that the report didn't say any of that. I do think there are elements of him that he thinks if he denies something enough it becomes true.

I think there may be a bit of a consensus that the public aren't that bothered about the parties but I don't think that could be further from the truth.
The repeating script of not seeing relatives is getting a bit tiresome but the principle is that those who wrote and came up with the rules, were in the minority of the people who didn't follow them. It's indefensible. Boris makes it worse by avoiding any question of note and hiding behind police reports which will probably never see the light of day. The update/report as it is doesn't give too much away but anyone with an ounce of common sense can read between the lines, which makes you think that Bojo will pull the strings from this point.

The arguments of "what's the alternative?" aren't relevant either. This is one perfect example (and they are used too loosely) that most people would be down the road for a lot, lot less.

Politics is so brilliantly and openly corrupt at times, you've gotta love it!
He must be praying for some more action in Russia, a couple of Mason Greenwood's and a new Covid variant!  ;D

To me it's not so much about the parties, it's the fact that he lied to the House on numerous occasions. Why should we expect him to tell the truth when he's been a liar all his life and he will lie about anything to get himself out of a tight squeeze, he doesn't see it as doing anything wrong  :o :(

Read his school reports. He is the same now as then. it's part of his character.

When Donald Trump came along the mantra was that only in America could an inept bumbling TV personality with an ego and the intellect of an amoeba get to run the country. Apparently not.

Went to see Matt Forde on Monday night and he has a good take on the people's attitudes toward the recent Partygate shenanigans:
The group who believe that he is lying and should be sacked or resign.
The group who believe that he is lying but don't give a toss.
And the amazing group who believe that he is telling the truth... 8)

He is, and always was, a nasty piece of work...
"I was reminded of this the other day when I saw a post from someone I do not know in real life, who quoted a 400-word post from someone else I know even less, a man called Damian Furniss, a writer and health and social care worker based in Devon. It described his time at Oxford, where, he writes, he encountered David Cameron and Boris Johnson. He confesses to quite liking Cameron, whom he describes as a laid-back slacker into cheroots and prog rock, and with the memorable line: “Even when I sabotaged his college beagle pack he took it in good humour.”

But when he gets to Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson the tone changes. He met Johnson, he writes, in the Balliol College bar on the eve of his interview. Johnson – halfway through his college “career” and three years older than the writer – was with a group of cronies. Bear in mind that Furniss was a working-class rural boy with a stammer. He imagined that Johnson would act as a kind of ambassador for the college. Instead, he alleges, Johnson’s “piss-taking was brutal. In the course of the pint I felt obliged to finish he mocked my speech impediment, my accent, my school, my dress sense, my haircut, my background, my father’s work as farm worker and garage proprietor, and my prospects in the scholarship interview I was there for.”

We could have had the dry, boring efficiency of Jeremy Hunt, but apparently he doesn't ruffle his hair nearly as well as BJ.

Fcuk me, the irony. Had the clueless buffoon a dad who owned a garage he could have been talking about himself. What a bell end.

You can look at so many countries and think "fcuk me, is that the best the country has to offer"?
I see that the much anticipated levelling up paper was copied and pasted from Wikipedia, we've been given money back (most of which is a loan) for fuel bills supplied by a company with record profits. NI is going up yet billions of fraud has been written off to protect his mates.
And the sheer fcking irony of the BJ supporters saying he needs to help Ukraine when for years they've been beating the 'fix UK first' agenda is baffling. (don't get me wrong we need to support Ukraine). The guy is a liability and either needs to come clean or resign. Personally if he properly apologies, actually sorts stuff out and puts himself on a final notice then have no issues with him staying. Especially when the alternatives are one of the most evil people we've had in modern politics, someone obsessed with cheese and pork, a drunk, or someone who doesnt give a toss about the financial welfare of most of the country.

Rant over  ;D

BJ won a massive overall majority at the last G.E thanks to two things. Our voting system and the 'opposition'.

Most of us that voted for him, did so knowing full well he's a complete tw@t. However, in our view, he was slightly less of a complete tw@t than Mr Corbyn. Forget anyone else who we could have aligned with at the time..it was all about Johnson Versus Corbyn.

If it was the FA Cup, even the BBC would struggle to decide which one to televise out of the above and Trump versus Clinton. Its ironic that Trump lost the last presidency because his role of being the slightly less odious out of the two, was taken up by the truly appalling candidate that Mr Biden was/is.

To add more armoury here to those who are more aligned to the left of the political spectrum than I am (I consider myself very centrist these days), it wasn't just Corbyn. Add McDonnel and Abbot to the alternative pot.

Until the opposition sort themselves out, and by that I mean let the left of the labour party all get behind Corbyn and set up a new momentum party which would enable Labour to be more coherent and balanced with its policies (which as things stand, none of us actually know what they are!!), then Boris's replacement will comfortably win the next G.E.

I too find it fascinating. But only on the basis that practically all of the front line on both sides of the house are complete knob jockey's. Then again, I cant stand most politicians. Especially that lady from New Zealand who has locked the country up now for over 2 years and still wont relent despite 94% of their over12 population having had 3 jabs. They are turning into North Korea. Yet despite this, the momentum left in this country all seem to use her as a role model of 'how to do things'. Which I guess is why Ill never join them ideologically!  ;D

Or we could have a centrist " One Nation" Tory government, with those few competent MP's that have been exiled for being too pro Europe, welcomed back into the fold? The moral vacuum at the head of the party needs to go first though.

'That warped c**t isn't getting the sack is he'

Money, money, money.
https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-report-donors-boris-johnson-conservative-party-2020-7?r=US&IR=T&fbclid=IwAR1-pwoPHJZI8lidbQII_XTKc5pb3thhdlBkb0hKedmTTTFu37pjP8ddxBs

Quelle surprise.

I fûcking love Boris, he’s a mate who I’ve known for years, absolute top man.
The BBC with their relentless campaign against him are on the way out, the rats are already leaving in their droves.
I feel the need to reset a few young minds, the NI increases are to fund the hapless NHS and provide adequate social care something that numerous Labour governments have failed to address.
Labour under Captain Hindsight don’t stand a chance, ironically the SNP have seen to that.
Get ready for another 4 years of wonderful capitalism and of course good old Boris. 😎

Boris is certainly top man when it comes to insincerity. That shambling partygate apology, reading a scripted statement, our Prime Minister couldn't find his own words and could barely look at the camera! You could always try watching other channels instead of the BBC but you won't notice any difference.
What Boris does have going for him is a personality (flawed as it may be) compared to the rest of the colourless Westminster rabble. Whatever he does people tend to grin, shrug and say "well that's Boris for you", then they vote for him again.                                                         
When you say Capitalism, do you mean that in a political sense or a geographical one?
Can't argue with your thoughts on Kier Starmer though (YAWN!) ::)

Well if he told you he is a mate of yours best make sure you are still useful to him - I'm sure nothing I say is going to change your mind but be assured across Europe (EU and non- EU, right and left) the man is a complete laughing stock and demeans the high reputation the UK used to have.

Old 'Dishy Rishi' will soon be on his way. A few more fixed pens will add embarrassment to No.10 but until there is any credible alternative the party boy will stay in office.
I think they'll need to be some tangible changes before the winter to prevent wide spread poverty (in the western sense) for a sizeable chunk of the population, which will be ludicrous considering our wealth.
As always it is the poorest and middle earners who continue to feel the brunt. Mortgage rate increases, fuel increases, food increases, energy increases, NI increase + modest wage increases = the perfect storm.

Let's hear it for the beer!.........................and the lady who forgot she was there.

Well, off to the polls today for another dilemma about whether I vote for a broken arm or a broken leg? To make it worse I have to vote by law and further to this have to put all the candidates in order of preference. By the way that’s twice, once for the House of Representatives, once for the Senate. The hardest days work I’ve done in a fair while. I remember the good old days when you were allowed to stay at home and not bother specifying a twàt over a cúnt.

You're sufering from the 'grass is greener' syndrome, but as you say, at least here you don't have to bother. As you get older, you begin to realise that it doesn't matter who you vote for, nothing much ever really changes. It never takes long for all the hopes and expectations that people have when there's a new government elected to turn to dust.

Sounds familiar  “Don’t be told about what you want and don’t be told about what you need, there’s no future for you”. “Where there’s no future how can there be sin, we’re the flowers in the dustbin”Name the song?

Anyone any idea who the MP is who drugged four men and licked their nipples? Nothing on the BBC. I'm beginning to wonder if it was all a bad dream I had.

Have a look on Twitter #nipplegate. one name keeps getting mentioned.

I'm banned from Twitting. It's all a misunderstanding though.

Just back after a short break on twitter, sitting out a 30 day ban from Facebook which for something run by a Yid follows the rules of Nazism.

What a scumbag Boris Johnson is, someone should tell him what the word ‘integrity’ means as this weasel hasn’t got a single thread of moral fibre.

How very apt in the year of Platinum Jubilee, you think they will do a re release this time round.

(Its God Save the Quees by the Pistols in case you didn't work it out)

Someone said Mary Whitehouse did that in the 80s but I don’t believe it.

They might have said that on the Mary Whitehouse Experience ;D

Loved that programme. It was the one show you'd get to school the next day and everyone was quoting.

So the shambles that is the conservatives continues!. They get a good beating in the two by-elections (Triggered because of one MP who sexually assaulted a 15 year old boy and another who thought it was ok to watch porn in parliament). Unbelievable Boris still believes he’s the right man for the job but I guess that’s no surprise as he clearly won’t take any responsibility for anything after the disgusting law breaking of partygate.

He's got to go!

He won't though because for Boris it's always all about Boris - he couldn't give a toss what anyone else thinks.

Very true.

It was wrongly reported recently that he'd had an operation on his nose. In fact it was exploratory surgery to try and find his moral compass, the procedure was deemed a complete failure.

A sentence about Johnson including the words complete failure. Who'd have thought it!  :o

While that is true I also think the guy is a complete fantasist with a tenuous grasp on reality. I think he is so used to ludicrous and ridiculous statements that has no idea about truth, with Boris world having little resemblance to the real one.

Where as the Labour Party is full of upright law abiding citizens? currently Labour are 3 points ahead in the poles, fcuk me that’s hilarious even with Labour’s propaganda machine the BBC news pumping out left bias lies constantly, that’s the best they can do.
Another 4 years of left wing bleating, I fcuking love it, Brexit, Boris Johnson, Food Banks blah blah blah.

Real chuckle today with Corbyn being criticised by the war criminal Blair.

Fcuk me there’s not much to choose between those, what sticks in the throat is Blair still earning a fortune
Instead of being in prison.

And his thieving wife.

Don’t particularly care for the Labour Party either. Not sure they need a propaganda machine though, in the same way Corbyn made Labour unelectable Boris is managing to fück up one of the biggest majorities by taking being a prize cünt to the next level.

Yet another Conservative forced to resign over sleaze!

Quite a few on here could resign too

Things are getting even more interesting!

Rishi Sunak has indeed just resigned.

What a shambles  ;D

Javid gone too. Are they all going to go? He can't do it all on his own. Arguably he can't even do his own job...

Larry the cat is next.

Dead man walking?

The end is nigh.

Wonder how the oaf will sleep tonight?

Soundly, he doesn't think he has done anything wrong. He

I don’t think he even understands the concept of right and wrong, or truth and lies for that matter, the word integrity definitely isn’t in his lexicon.

Depends on whether he’s with his wife or someone else’s PPS.

Surely can’t be long now, don’t let the door hit you on the way out Boris.

And now, the end is near, and as he faces his final curtain.....

He won't go of his own accord. Anyone else would see their position as untenable, anyone else, but he's not normal. He just doesn't care what anyone else thinks, he'll just plough on regardless.

Probably on his own! Up to 39 resignations now since yesterday!!

Now Boris is sacking people!! this clown show is getting even more ludicrous!!

Brilliant, isn't it? At this rate the government will consist of Boris, Larry and Rees-Mogg (in descending order of intelligence)

I just wonder if Gove has any further dirt to dish up. He has got a very wonky face though. I wouldnt trust him.

Finally!!

He said he was still going to be PM in 2030 last week. Pah! He barely made it to ten past nine.

So the thing that brought him down wasn't his incompetence, corruption or cruelty, but the dark dangerous and damaging sexual appetite of Mr Pincher.
I wonder if the dark, dangerous, damaging desires that led to this behaviour, are the same dark, dangerous, damaging desires that lead you to become a Tory in the first place?
The whole party should be in therapy.

Caretaker manager - no! Just go, have you not noticed that you are not wanted.

I keep on agreeing with comments on this thread, can't be having that. Come on Manny let's have you sticking up for him! 😀 Defend the indefensible.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Boris offered Manny a job in government during the whole embarrassing fiasco. MP for the newly created constituency of sixfields west!.

I'm half expecting him to throw his hat into the ring for the leadership contest...

If I was mate, I bet you Northampton would have a shiny new 25,000 seater stadium.
I have worked withBoris on a number of projects over the years, he is a genuinely nice guy and only ever wanted the best for a country he absolutely loves.
I know he has fcuked up but this was trial by an unrelenting media, led by the heavily biased BBC.
As they say revenge is a dish best served cold, and believe me that particular organisation has it coming.
All I would say is be careful what you wish for because sometimes it’s better the devil you know.
If I were choosing a new PM it would be Ruth Davidson, unfortunately she is not available.
I fully expect the Tory’s will win another resounding election triumph.

I don't know why, but this surprises me.

Maybe I think of you as more of a Moggster.

Forget that shyte 😂😂

The actual reality and truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKrLBPmRsrM

Err! It was ITV news which took the lead in dishing the dirt on party gate, the BBC AND Sky then happily ran with the story. Are they all heavily biased? or just reporting FACTS? ;)

Not to trivialise what Pincher has done, but it wasn't the actual offence that led to Boris being given his marching orders, it was the fact he lied about it. Again. I know not many people agree with me but I have sympathy over the events of Partygate, however I don't have sympathy with him over his lies to try and get out of it. It all follows a pattern; time and again he's been caught out lying over things, going back way before his time as PM, through Brexit and right back to his time as a journalist where he was fired (twice was it?) for being caught lying.

Mendacity seems as natural to him as breathing, and there comes a point where every last crumb of trust has gone. If you can't trust a leader then they lose all authority.

Good riddance.

Hard to disagree with any of that assessment. In BJ's defence though, he did have lovely hair, and called table tennis Wiff Waff.

Ahh but have you seen Moira Stewart lately? No? that's because the BBC have had following BJ everywhere forcing him to lie at gunpoint. Study it out people!

My goodness, did they force him to hide in the fridge that time as well?

And the BBC being such a well respected institution as well. Next thing you'll be telling me is that Big Phil got Diana killed.

That was ITV as well, trying to set up an interview between Boris and Piers Morgan.

Indeed I do admire Jacob for a number of reasons, much like myself he is an outstanding entrepreneur and has amassed a personal fortune of £150m.
Again, like myself, he is a disciple of Lady Thatcher and is a staunch unionist.
My favourite thing about him is he irritates the left which I have to say gives me great genuine pleasure.
I will vote for only a Brexiteer who has a hard line on immigration and stands up against the vile left and their union paymasters.
FACT.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_complex

You, Jacob and Boris.. Full set. 😀

Did you per chance happen to meet Harry Enfield many years ago? I've a hunch he might have found yowww very inspiring!

Manny, Manny oh Manny …
Do the unrelenting press include Telegragh, Times, Sun, Express and Mail? The Mail who had 10 front pages headlines in a row on Beer Gate and then forgot all about it when the man was proven innocent.
I think the BBC has been very Tory biased by ignoring our failing Brexit progress. The fact they won’t embrace the nonsensical wake bashing is to their credit though. Plenty of other places people can get their news “comic style”.
We’ll never agree buddy but doesn’t stop me respecting your views.
One thing I don’t get though … Brexit is no doubt the biggest threat to the GFA and a United Union. Why would any body who is pro Union want to give the Republicans (in Scotland and NI) a golden ticket - that is Brexit and Boris!?

You think Boris the Bullshítter was bad, you now have the chance of Javid the fúcking religious nut job.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-62113401

Javed won’t win, that interview wasn’t his finest hour.

I see the vile BBC still haven’t paid their £1.5m “Guilt Money” to charity from the Martin Bashir scandal.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1638353/Royal-Family-news-BBC-Martin-Bashir-Princess-Diana-interview-charities-latest
They really are the scûm of the earth.

Sometimes you just get stuck for words.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11001635/Tory-MP-Jamie-Wallis-faces-trial-today-accused-driving-offences-smashing-lamppost.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline

It's getting to the point now where I think the Conservative Party has a duty of care to anyone expressing a desire to become a MP, to give them very thorough therapy to identify their problems. And driving in heels? Shocking.

Straight off the top of my head;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-51559944

and

Harriat Harman

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/nov/19/harriet-harman-charged-mobile-crash

https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/harriet-harman-banned-from-driving-7221315.html

If he hadn't have done these things then they'd have had nothing to report. There is only one person to blame for his demise and that's his favourite person.

Hardly straight of the top of your head when you've googled and found and created links to 2 instances of labour MPs transgressions. I could easily do the same and find many more similar and worse involving tory tossers on top of the recent ones we all know about.
 Have you seen the glorious 10 or is it 11 candidates up for the top job? What a bunch of cúnts.

Tugendhat looks OK.

To clarify I actually immediately thought;

Chris Huhne - but he's a Liberal (or was).

The dodgy Peterborough MP who lied about who was driving her car when it was caught speeding.

Harman - who I see from time to time at Symphony Hall in Birmingham (her daughter's a professional Bassoonist) and know is a notoriously poor/reckless driver  with various run ins with the law.

I also thought Keith Vaz but I don't think driving was his problem.

I then googled this information and posted a couple of links.

There appears to be an issue with MPs and their respect for the law. Remember the Expenses scandal ? All party's implicated.

Totally agree. Particularly remember the claims for cleaning the moat and building a duck house??!!

That's not what I meant. I mean the sexual stuff. Some very messed up minds there. Probably as a result of being sent to Prep when they were eight.

We've still got the story of the nipple licking Tory to hit the front pages yet. I would imagine it's with the Plod now. https://www.thenational.scot/news/20157149.tory-mp-accused-spiking-four-men-date-rape-drug-licking-victims-nipple/

Very close to where I live there is a Lay-by that has quite recently been put out of action by the local council (blocked off by an earth mound). I presumed it was to stop Travelers using it and the land behind to set up camps. It turns out to have been nothing of the sort. Apparently it's to do with stopping ordinary folk (and toffs) using it for dogging.

Wasn't Keth Vaz a Labour MP ?

Human beings do all sorts of unusual things in their private lives. It's not dependent on party affiliation.

Then there's the SNP.

I should have been more precise. It's the illegal sexual things that Tory MP's get up to. sexual assaults, child sex, date rape drugs, and perhaps worst of all, driving in six inch heels. It makes them vey blackmailable.

Its not just Tories. I was told by a serving officer that Northants police were told to drop the case, after a phone call from Whitehall, thought to be the home secretary.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/cyril-smith-child-pornography-inquiry-is-dropped-10426690.html

You remember Tom Watson and Carl Beech's humiliation ?

Where are we with Greville Janner ?

Cyril Smith was Labour before he became Liberal.

Keith Vaz.

Straight off the top of my head.

Liz Truss for me, right wing, good cabinet experience, unionist and most of all knows how to put scum in its place, what’s not to like.

Trouble is, that could be a large chunk of the cabinet.

Exactly what is needed.

My God man, Cyril Smith as Labour? You're going back to the days of black and white TV now. The Tory perverts I'm worried about are still drawing a public salary, and more regrettably, breath.

I am always intrigued as to a Labour supporters motives, one type of Labour supporters are the ones to be found in London quaffing champagne bleating on about injustice of the working class then in the next breath are planning a mini break at Soho farmhouse with some luvvies, then there’s the other type who are too illLazy to work preferring other people to fund there lifestyle, I find both repugnant.
Thank goodness the marvellous Conservative and Unionist party have an 80 strong majority.

Well I wouldn't consider myself a Labour supporter. Too many of them seem more concerned with the struggles of the people of Palestine than the people of Preston. That said, they still don't disgust me as much as the tax dodging, poor hating, Putin loving, corrupt, sexual reprobates of the Tory party. It's a low threshold I know.
I wonder why folk vote Tory too. You're tax cuts won't do you much good when it's you waiting seven hours for an ambulance after a heart attack.
We could do with a new party drawn from the best of both parties. Perhaps call it Centre Forward?

At least the religious nut job has pulled out of the race.

Whoever wins the vote to become the next PM, they will most likely be smug, arrogant and with an exaggerated sense of entitlement, in other words another bloody politician! >:(

 

Haha I like it, I’m not sure the Tories love Putin though, maybe a few donations form some oligarchs, the NHS is an absolute basket case and should be privatised, how much money can you throw down a black hole?
There are some very good people in the NHS run by a militant hardcore left, jobs for the boys, etc.
Privatise the whole fuçking thing with proper provisions in place for those that genuinely can’t afford it.

At least you're true to Tory values(?), they have never wanted or supported the NHS. As usual with a Tory government waiting lists are enormous. Many Tories including the Thatcher Monster believed that you either paid for your health care or went without and died.

The NHS is Fantastic and with proper funding would Absolutely Brilliant, FACT ;)

The NHS is the envy of The World, why do you think so many people come here to leech from it?
Try living in Naziland, my medical insurance costs just under a grand a month.

Gang of Four anyone?

You may be right, although I still think we'd be struggling to find someone for the No.10 role ;D

??? ??? ???

 ??? ??? ???

Old Trussy.. Is she a friend of yours as well 🤣🤣🤣🤣

https://www.indy100.com/news/liz-truss-worst-moments-compilation-video-twitter-9214906

Now I'm jealous that I didn't think of that one.

No Liz isn’t an associate, but a decent candidate.

Got Russia and Ukraine mixed up today, still an easy mistake to make even for the Foreign Secretary  !!!!!   ;D

Give her a chance, she struggled with leaving the room after her speech yesterday

Momentum or Socialist Workers Party?
Hope to Heaven you are not a Liberal!!🥵

PS - Afterthought - Anarchist :o

Firmly in the none of the above camp. We captured 34% of the vote at the last GE.

Not ditching the NHS, but on the flip side you can get a scan for anything here in about 48 hours. Don’t wait longer than a couple of weeks for an op. Half an hour wait or less in A&E where they have a separate department for kids. For a family of 5 it costs me 2 and a half grand Stirling a year all up, but you don’t pay National Insurance and tax is slightly less. There’s payment support for those struggling financially. Whatever your thoughts on the NHS I don’t think that’s too bad? On the downside don’t come here on a good wage and fail to get medical insurance. If you have to go into hospital you will get properly nailed for it financially.

But on the downside, you’ll all be fried to a crisp in the next 20 years. Where as we will all have moved to Scotland by then, just to delay the inevitable….

What happens if you have a long term illness that requires you to be in hospital for many months or really complicated surgery that will take a full team hours to perform?

If you are a high earner and refuse to get medical insurance kiss goodbye to your house probably. The vulnerable in this system are medium to high earners who still live beyond their means and default on their medical insurance.

If we end up getting Truss, that will be two joke PMs in a row. At least it improves the chances of having a change of government, which is well overdue.

You rated theresa may and cameron? one that thought she was thatcher but was more bo peep and the other that was so scared of 130,000 pensioners that he ruined the country's future by letting racists have a vote

No, I didn't rate them for similar reasons as to what you mentioned, but they were serious politicians, not like Johnson or Truss, both of whom are plainly incompetent, in different ways.

I hear Compo's planning to put himself forward for next London Mayor.

That would make sense a terrorist sympathiser in charge of London. Mind you the incumbent is only interested in  himself and bbc photo opportunities, what a pair of complete cûnts.

Pretty incredible achievement by Liz Truss to completely tank the economy so quickly!.

They are idiots. When the IMF speak out essentially saying "are you sure you want to do this?" you know there's something wrong.

So in your opinion who should be the next PM and which party might they represent?

Just when you didn't think a government could possibly be as incompetent as Johnson's, Truss comes along and does even worse.

Is it a surprise to anyone?

At the moment it is a nailed on certainty to be Kier Starmer who I believe represents the Labour Party.

I would welcome him with open arms on the basis of him being a competent person and that would be a welcome change compared to the present and previous PM. I am not fussed that he 'lacks personality', that isn't what I am interested in when it comes to running the country.

I'm doing fine, but there are loads of people who are not and we should be looking after them, not reducing taxes for those who are in the higher tax bands. I don't believe that the trickle down idea really happens.

Kier Starmer whose idol is the liar, traitor and war criminal Blair. Wow that would be great.

So the first thing Laurel and Hardy Truss and Kwarteng do when taking charge is a budget so thoughtless and incompetent an A-level economics student could see the problems with it, they then spend the next 10 days defending it with even some of this morning's headlines repeating their intent to "stay the course". Those headlines haven't aged well though because they are apparently scrapping plans to remove the higher tax rate within the next hour.

Let's be honest though, they haven't changed their mind overnight, they've bowed to pressure to avoid embarrassment at the conference. So while they have ultimately done the right thing, they have revealed themselves to be incompetent, tone deaf, weak and cowardly over the course of the whole debacle. .

I'm half expecting her to push Kwartemg under the bus so we can add disloyal to the list of adjectives!

Not a good look in the eyes of the electorate.

I think that ship has already sailed, after she shít on her husband and kids for two years by shagging fellow MP Mark Field. Our Liz is no stranger to a lie or two.

Which makes her a perfectly good replacement for Boris.  ;D

Where is he hiding?  :D

Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked. He should make a good pub quiz question in a few years time.

...I wondered why pointless were carrying on without Richard Osman.

The second shortest serving Chancellor in British history, only beaten by Iain McLeod in 1970 who died in office.

Only half expecting - oh ye of little faith!

I know - I should have known better, it seemed the obvious thing to do if you were in Poundland Maggie's position (I.e. up the creek without a paddle)

So, BotN, whilst we are looking into the future, which will happen first? Truss to be ousted as PM, or The Mighty Cobblers to end their 2022 /23 FA Cup run?

It might be better to ask what comes first: Truss ousted or The Mighty Cobblers START h their FA Cup run. ;D

What a carry on. No wonder manwork has gone awol, if I was a tory I wouldn't show my face either

Perhaps like his idol, he's simply "not for turning (up)"?

I do hope he's OK, I find his posts illuminating and amusing.
Someone must know him in person enough to put minds at rest?

We have been thinking the same.
Like you say, putting minds at rest.
His last visit to this board was 5th September.

Chief whip today resigned, Home secretary today resigned. What a sh1t show.

Deputy whip gone as well and reports of MPs being physically manhandled into the voting lobby. It's embarrassing. She needs to go.

Yes, good point.

Shapps!

They really are having a laugh! Was nobody else prepared to take a role in her "government"?

Back in a couple of hours later.
You couldn't make it up.

Well I for one am just so glad we avoided the chaos of a Labour government. ::)

Yes, you wouldn't get any with the tories "in charge".
Who'd have thought that a government headed by Boris Johnson would have ended up as such a complete shambles!!! :D

More to the point, who'd have thought Truss would be so useless it makes you look fondly back on the relative stability under the scruffy, lying manchild?

Despite her complete incompetence I would never look back fondly at prize chump Johnson. :P

The Truss has resigned... ::)

The Truss has resigned... ::)

So what she's saying is lettuce alone one please?

You couldn’t make this shït up!!

She's done a Brian Clough (44 days).  8)

Its made German TV, excellent pronunciation.  ;D

https://twitter.com/i/status/1583068995527200768

Time for a general election let the public decide

What's the difference between a lettuce for 60p at Aldi, and Liz Truss at No. 10?

The public decided when they elected the Tories. They have to put up with them and whoever they elect as PM until the next election.

Time for the American now then.

You are very talented at looking into the future.


I nominate Super Sam for PM. Vote Cobblers!

The lettuce is a good buy, whilst Liz is a Gooooood Bye.

Anyway. People get the government they deserve.

Do you really have such a low opinion of your fellow countrymen (and women)?

Mind you, that is a good point. Let's hope they do better next time.

I used to disagree with this sort of statement.  Then on a night out with friends one of them admitted that he voted for Boris because he "was a character and seemed like a good laugh".

Sooner we have a general election and can finally get rid of this talentless, self serving, bunch of fools the better.

My thoughts with any fellow Cobblers who have a big mortgage, have a car to fill, heat their home and eat. It'll get worse before it gets better, so some folks better cut down on those trips to Costa!

Next on the merry-go-round we'll have Sunak, Johnson 2.0 or the Splash woman before Starmer gets a go to save the day  :P

https://twitter.com/jasemonkey/status/1582866518009708545?s=20&t=YnKJhv-TfF4vvnAzH7CMyQ

My contribution to this debate, and something I will probably use a lot more in the future  ;D

Hear, hear.

Democracy is overrated

https://youtu.be/aIh7XJVxCAY (https://youtu.be/aIh7XJVxCAY)

Well yes but Boris does have lovely hair. (sigh)

De de de de de de another bites the dust.


Rotten to the core.


For the record, my latest tax installment will be with HMRC  tomorrow, a day early and in full, with no evasion or avoidance as I value my public services and know they have to be paid for somehow, so I do what is right for me, my fellow citizens and the country. Fellow citizens, be Bingers, don't be Zahawi.

Spot on Bingers, stop tax avoidance at the top and, all of a sudden, we have enough money to fill in pot holes, give the nurses a rise and all the other things we can't do at the moment.  ???

Nothing illegal about playing to the rules. I doubt that was the case in this instance. But I have always made sure they don’t get a penny more than I have to.

But it's not about the likes of me, you and Bingers is it Nigel ? It's the greedy bastards like Michelle Mone, and if she is "playing by the Rules", the rules need changing. But, lets face it, I've got more chance of scoring a hatrick, for the Cobblers at Wembley, than a Conservative government closing tax loop holes for the high earners. >:(

Apparently Liz was right all along, she just needed time. Or so she says.

Right. Of course.
Obviously the notoriously left wing foreign currency exchange and sovereign debt markets, the people who manage billions and trillions of dollars of assets are all filthy, left wing, socialists. You announced your (UNFUNDED) plan. The market participants weighed the merits of your plan. It was found wanting and the market reacted appropriately.
The woman and her supporters are all delusional.

Unless she really is a LibDem plant to destroy the Tories? In which case, good job. Carry on.
 

And as NOT reported on the Labour parties propaganda news outlet the BBC……
https://www.gbnews.uk/news/former-labour-mp-jared-omara-sentenced-to-four-years-in-prison-for-fraud/439454

Once scum, always scum.

Umm, actually...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-64238808 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-64238808)

Fourth story on main page. Do you even check before making these posts?
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics

It was the main story on Look North yesterday evening as well.

Good job that, otherwise I would have to rely upon GB News for my fair and impartial news reporting.

Rotten to the core….
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64596751

Manny oh Manny. You are trying so hard to convince yourself that your beloved Tory Party doesn’t have the lions share of the corrupt politicians?
He Didn’t pay a fine to HMRC (therefore not guilty) - unlike Zahawi who is /was.
It involved £30k unlike Zahawi’s millions
If he is found guilty, unlike the forgiving Tory Party, the Labour Party will sack him. Something that no Tory leader has ever had the guts to do unless they are forced into it.

The BBC revels in winding up suckers like you Manny because it’s turned into a right wing apologist since your mate Johnson got his £800k loan and gave the top job to his mate.

I do admire your stamina though - even with the loyally blue Daily Telegraph finally getting fed up with the long line of Tory sleaze, they’ll never convince you Manny will they eh? God bless you.

Big sigh of relief north of the border, as the Sturge resigns.

She had to, she's still under contract for the new series of Crackerjack.

I think it's fandabeedozey and I'm delighted that she will now be able to spend more time with her dad/husband, Ian.

It will hopefully help to add to the number of Scottish labour MPs at the next election and help the First Past the Post system get rid of the Tories, just in case the English electorate conveniently forget what a shïtshow the last few years have been.

Not going to happen in my lifetime.

I hope you are wrong there and even more so, I hope you don't die in the next 15 months.

That unfortunately I cannot guarantee at this moment in time.

Sorry to hear that. Try to at least see one more Cobblers promotion.

Fingers crossed for you. Take care.

"Let them eat turnip. "

I'll say no more.

Typical politician's swede talk!

Sorry :D

Good effort EB, but I see you have got your coat on already.

Actually there has a real lack of jokes on the Jokes Page for far too long.

If Sunak's deal resolves issues in Northern Ireland, fair play to him. Ongoing peace in NI should be a top priority for every political party.


Obviously being part of the EU would be a much better option, but "we" have rather messed that up for future generations.

What I could never understand about the Brexit vote was that the age group 18-35 that are going to be the most effected by it were the lowest % turnout.
Is it that they didn't care or didn't understand how much it is effecting them?

Apparently Northern Ireland is going to be in a great position economically as it will have access to both the UK market and the EU single market. Wonderful news. If only the rest of the UK could have that access, that might help our economy as well. I wonder what we would have to do to have that privilege?

Cheese and pineapple. Thats whats needed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxpYW_w5pgo

Does anybody believe a word of what he says? Does he believe a word of what he says?

Shall we just forgive him because he is a bit of a character?

Don't forget the mad hair. Oh he's so funny. ( Unless you actually know him)

What's even more concerning is that half the country voted for the twat.

“Talented and well-practiced in every vice, a stranger to compassion or empathy, a liar and a cheat so complete in perfidy that he has elevated his dishonesty to hold it up as an ersatz moral principle, violent, so long as he can order someone else to do the dirty work, grotesque in body, graceless in action, in possession of a wounded self-regard so colossal as to smother any spark of grace, treasonous, not only to country, but to every ally he has ever had, the poisoned fruit and rankest flower of racism and contempt for women, and utterly devoid of shame for his moral and spiritual bankruptcy.
That is your leader. That is to whom you give your money. That is who you follow and laud. That is whose banner you willingly carry. Why? Because he is a mirror, not a lighthouse. You see yourselves in him. He is what you would be, if you had inherited money and could shed the last vestiges of conscience and shame.
No, I do not “respect your choices,” nor do I admire your loyalty and dedication to this miserific, demoniac vision. You have demonstrated not only a lack of civic virtue, loyalty to the Republic and to the rule of law, but a willingness to engage in violence and sedition at his slightest expressed wish. And you will never, ever admit you were wrong.
Because you see your dark, twisted, resentful dreams in him. And to renounce him is to renounce yourselves.”
~ Advocatus Peregrini

One day maybe the 'Great British public will understand
people on the dole don't steal your money
immigrants don't steal your money,

The top 1% steal your money through policies designed to make them and their chums even richer.

Argue all you want but it is a FACT

Not far off the mark Paddy.

Surely not. Aren't they motivated by doing what's right for the greater good? Are you telling me that they are for the few, not the many? If only there was some other way.....

The wealthiest top 5% pay 60% of all tax receipts collected by HMRC, god forbid if Labour ever get in they will drive these people out of the country.
Socialism is a great idea until you run out of other peoples money.

This current bunch if Tories are as socialist as Labour. Money wasted on pointless nonsense and an open arm policy to illegal migrants. The only vote is for the Reform Party.

Comedy gold.  ;D

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11942651/Police-seen-holding-shovels-search-Nicola-Sturgeons-garden.html

It certainly is an unusual one. In this country, we have become way more used to those in power getting caught and then making excuses not to resign, rather than resigning before they get caught.

Maybe we need some who only do things for the greater good, for the many and not the few. I

Have you been watching Hot Fuzz again?

I am reliably informed, that they are reasons and not excuses.
In the meantime, although this doesnt deal with financial issues, the principle is the same.  ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REpNTi-9oRQ

Not fit to manage a department, not fit to govern a country.

Well said that man......Awaits the inevitable response from someone about how Labour couldn't do something very well.
Certainly couldn't do a lot of things much worse than this sorry lot.

People seem to be under the illusion that the elected government run the country. They don't, the old school tie brigade of the civil service do and what happens when a minister disagrees with them has been demonstrated today.

What, do you mean they don't agree with bullying. ;D

The Nasty Party ( Mrs. May's description, not mine ) attracts nasty people. Who could have guessed?

Good old Sir Humphrey.

He seems to be quite proud that he was only a bully twice  >:D

They class bullying as telling a civil servant to do his job and come to meetings prepared. The CS is an old boy's club that wields more power in the country in than the whole house of commons put together.

That's as maybe but is he a good bloke?

.

He's a million times better than Sunak.

Not sure an Afghan working for the British Government trying to get out of the country whilst Raab (foreign minister) continued his holiday would agree - basically they are all tossers with very limited ability to perform in the jobs they are appointed (not elected) into.

The Labour Party a never ending sewer of utter hypocrisy.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/04/23/diane-abbott-loses-whip-labour-party-jewish-racism-claims/

As I was saying. :D

She’s been thrown out of the Labour Party for racism, oh the irony 😂

Manny, Please don't compare all Labour supporters/voters with Diane Abbott

Why are you so angry, you need
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOkOK8afLHI

Just think, a year from now and it will be the first day of the rest of our lives. A change in mind set of those running the country. For the many and not just the few.

But you've just described both Con and Lab, both of them don't give a flying fúck about the people, only lining their own pockets.

Didn't you know, the Greens are going to snatch it.

The last thing I want to see is a green snatch.

If only we could change the mindset of the oppressed brainwashed masses.
Doubt it thou

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the ONLY thing that can save this country is pure Proportional Representation, where percentage of votes matches percentage of MP's, not some half-arsed version of it. No more radicalisation, only compromise and the only way you can truly get "For the many and not just the few". To my mind a Labour majority is a bad as a Conservative one, though maybe not quite as bad.

The second half of that sentence being the understatement of the year so far.

So you would trust Starmer, a man who does not even know what a woman is?

I don't think I'd trust any politician but PR would put in the safeguard to stop them using the country as their own private piggy-bank.

Yes, way more than any more of the last 3 PMs. Of those 3, I consider the current one to be the least worst. The 4th and 5th back weren't great, but they were considerably better than more recently. That shows how far we have declined as a country, when you consider Cameron and May to be relatively good.

I am really not fussed how people wish to identify. These issues are distractions from the real job of giving us a country to be proud of.

Yes, this is the real concern. Not that people can't afford to eat or cook whatever food they can afford

I see that the desperate Labour Party are turning to the Lib Dem’s for a coalition government…. Ed Davey is the biggest w@nker I have ever met in my life, the man is a complete buffoon.

I am intrigued to know what you think will happen if, god forbid, Labour win at the next election?
Free food from Waitrose? or Free houses for anyone on UC?

Perhaps somebody in charge that might be able to ghet a grip on inflation rather than ooh i dunno, silly tw@ts that last less than 2 months and set the economy back years while they're at it

Perhaps somebody in charge that might be able to ghet a grip on inflation rather than ooh i dunno, silly tw@ts that last less than 2 months and set the economy back years while they're at it

Perhaps somebody in charge that might be able to ghet a grip on inflation rather than ooh i dunno, silly tw@ts that last less than 2 months and set the economy back years while they're at it

Now THAT would be the best possible outcome. The price for Lib/Dem support (and SNP) would have to be PR and that would mean the end of Tory (and Labour) majority rule forever. Politics by consensus and nobody given the keys to the countries safe to rifle whenever they want for whatever they want.

This PR you talk of is a complete disaster, it always leads to endless fractious coalitions, where politicians spend most of their time arguing about what should happen, which means nothing gets done.
If Labour move far enough to the right they suddenly become credible and are just a watered down Tory party.

Yes that's right, that's why every country in Europe except for us and Belarus has one form or another of PR.  ::) Never mind all the successful nations of the world.

It's a fair system that gives everybody a voice and doesn't allow any party that has a minority of the votes dominance. That's why you don't want it.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1084308/uk-general-election-results/
Emmm 4m people more voted for the conservative and unionist party than communist Corbyn.
Not sure what your point is Marvo?

My point is the majority of voters DIDN'T vote Tory yet our outdated system gave them an 80 seat majority.

Oh and stop bringing Corbyn into it, Labour and the Tories love stitching up democracy, I've no time for either of them.

In a PR model, how do the 1% (300,000) of the electorate who vote for the real minorities get represented?
Perhaps we should ban groups like the monster raving loony party. That would solve the problem, but its hardly democratic.

1% of the vote is equal to 6.5 MP's so it's simple maths.

In Northamptonshire as a whole at the 2019 election just over 380,000 people voted Tory out of over 700,000. That resulted meant that all 7 seats returned Tory MP's, leaving 320,000 people without representation. With PR where percentage of votes equals percentage of MP's, the result would have led to 4 Tory MP's and either 3 Labour MP's or 2 Labour, 1 Lib/Dem. A much fairer representation of how people voted and would mean 91.6% of voters in Northants would be represented in parliament instead of what we have now, 55.7%.

Correct, but there are many more groups within that 1% than 6.5.
If I vote for the monster raving looney party or the English Democrats for example, how do I get the representation in parliament that the PR is supposed to provide?
We would have to ban all of the very very small parties and that isn't democratic.

 

No, you needn't ban anybody. Proportional representation would mean if on a national basis a party got enough votes to get one MP then they would get one.

At the last General election it took the following amount of votes to get each MP.

SNP = 25,883
Conservatives = 38,264
Plaid Cymru = 38,316
Labour = 50,719
Lib/Dems = 336,038
Greens = 865,707

Is it any wonder the major parties are so against Proportional Representation when First Past the Post gives them such an advantage.

OK, so if the Monster raving loonies get enough votes for a seat who decides which ward they will represent? You will end up with wards being represented by parties that didn't get the majority of the vote in that ward. How is that democratic?

It has worked in Northern Ireland for years

Bojo in the spotlight again over COVID19 breaches >:D

They would get a seat in an area they were particular well supported, though I suspect it would be one in the major cities. Anyway, don't talk to me about democracy, how is our system democratic when so many have no voice?

How is what you are proposing democratic?
Example a party needs 1,001 votes to get a seat and the MRLP gets 1,001 votes. They put up five candidates of which four got 200 votes and one got 201 votes. So by your method the one who got 201 votes would be the MP for that ward even when the other parties had tens of thousands of votes. Please explain to me how the people of that ward are being democratically represented.

Quite simple again. You need to look at a bigger picture with areas covered by several MP's. Like the example I gave of Northamptonshire with 7 MP's so a ward in Northamptonshire, say Northampton South may have a majority of Conservative voters but the MP could be Labour. If someone is determined to talk to a conservative MP, they would "travel" over the border to talk to the one in Northampton North. You need to think this through. Incidentally, the majority of people in a constituency don't even know who there MP is unless they are a prominent figure. I don't know who my MP is. Also, an MP is there to represent ALL the people of a constituency, not just those that voted for their particular party.
I'll reiterate again, all parties that again enough votes would be entitled to a representative in parliament. They may not live on your doorstep but you can write, email, phone them, this is not the 17th century.

Quite simple again. A ward that votes majority conservative ends up with a labour MP who doesn't represent the will of the majority and will have a totally different agenda to that majority. You say they have to go elsewhere to speak to an MP from the party they voted for who wont know about the local environment in that ward. Still don;t see that as democracy. Sounds to me like a dictatorship where I am told who represents me in parliament.

And what about the thousands who do vote for a party but get NO representation. Is that your idea of democracy?

Any MP worth their salt could research and discover the local environment issues and we're not talking about them being thousands of miles away, it could be like an different area of Northampton for example.

No system is perfect but First Past the Post is the least democratic of them all and the concerns you raise are trifling when compared to that.

(https://i.postimg.cc/tJPKrPrW/Northamptonshire.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

You think this is democratic do you?

It is more democratic than forcing an MP on an area where the majority of people obviously don't want them. Going by your previous post you claim the all MPs represent all constituents irrespective of their party, so your claim that 320,000 people would not be represented is false. Or does that rule only apply when it is proportional representation?

You are obviously somebody who benefits from our corrupt system, so doesn't want it to change. Proportional Representation works in all European countries except ourselves and Belarus yet you don't think it could work here. What a strange mindset. Of the population of Northamptonshire, over 700,000 people, how many do you think go and see their MP face to face? Could they not contact them by email? Post? Phone? Even a video call. If there were for example 4 Conservative, 2 Labour and 1 Lib/Dem MP in Northamptonshire reflecting the vote, do you not think that is enough Tory MP's for local people to contact? There would be nothing to stop them setting up offices in the major towns where they could hold their surgery's? If the same amount of people shopped at Sainsburys as voted Tory, do you think all the Tesco's, Morrisons, Waitrose's should be closed and we all forced to use Sainsbury because that's what the majority wanted? And of course it isn't even a majority is it? More people DIDN'T vote for this government than did yet here we are with an 80-seat Tory majority. There's your democracy you are so keen to continue with. It's so easy to try and pick tiny insignificant flaws in other systems yet ignore the downright unfairness of the one we have.

Insignificant flaws mmmm. You are still forcing people in a particular ward to have an MP the ward did not vote for when that MP didn't get enough votes, that is a dictatorship and your analogy to the shops, I'm sorry is rather clutching at straws, no body would be told where to shop, unless it is under your PR scheme.

The MP would have gotten enough votes, otherwise he wouldn't be an MP. Northamptonshire would have 7 MP's but the 7 Tories wouldn't have received the highest votes in the county.

Listen, I understand where you are coming from. The dice have been loaded in your favour, there's no way to want to see a change to the rules of the game, however unfair they maybe to your opponents. Next election we'll get a Labour government elected on a minority of votes and nothing will change. Its a stich up and the millions of Lib/Dem,Greens, UKIP, etc can all go whistle as far as you are concerned, just because they are not all contained in one small area.

I like the system as it is purely because it stops the like of the LibDems, UKIP and god forbid the idiot greenies ending up with the deciding vote in a hung parliament.
And you say it works on the continent, I can tell in Germany there is a big push to get rid of it for that reason.

But it's not fair, it delivers majority governments on a minority of votes. However as you say, you like it because it prevents people you don't like having a say. Condemned by your own words. There only one dictator here.

No it prevents a few loonies dictating to the masses like in Germany. Do you think the German people like all this green BS that has been implemented by the greens selling their votes in exchange for their extreme policies?

Wouldn't be the same in this country, pure proportional representation would result in many more seats for the smaller parties, there must be thousands that would like to vote away from the two main parties but don't because they know under FPTP their vote would be wasted. If they knew it would count and go towards the party of the choice they would vote accordingly. So would thousands who feel disenfranchised from our electoral system who don't even bother voting now. It would be a great step forward for democracy.

You've let yourself down again. Look at your post. "Prevent"? You're not interested in a fair system, you just want to stop people having a voice. However much you disagree with them, they are entitled to their voice. That IS democracy.

Could not agree more. And I'm one of those who never bothers. This is my one and only comment on this. The system is set up to protect the establishment. Whether it is labour or Tory. 

I don't like Politics, kale and tories.

bojo throws his toys out of his pram and quits

Quit before you are fired and then blame it on a conspiracy- an entitled (albeit charismatic) dishonest, immoral individual that disgraced the high office he held.

Three words: imminent book deal.

Hounded out by the poisonous left FFS the head of the enquiry was Harriet Harman, anyway Boris will be back.

Have I got news for you beckons..

Hounded out? For breaking the law that his government inflicted on us? For being fined for breaking that law? The narcissistic liar isn't fit to in charge of his own bath time let alone the UK! He quit because he's been found out  ;D

This is genuinely a shame.

I wanted to see him have to face a bye-election and get voted out.  ;D

He's a coward, took the easy way out  ;)

Is that the Cambridge Dictionary definition of a Tory

Spot on definition of a tory politician, allegedly. :D

With the agreement of parliament. The Liberals and Labour wanted to go further.

Laws that were inflicted on us and he, his friends and others chose to ignore! The vast majority of people complied with the regulations, just a shame that boris et al thought they didn't need to!

Oh dear Manny. Your political world is falling apart.

Johnson wasn’t hounded out by anybody:
The Privilege Committee (Tory Brexiters dominated) recommends to the Commons (Tory Brexiter dominated) who would have voted and then the good folks of Uxbridge (Tory majority) would have to decide.

He’s just a coward and ran away as soon as he had to face some consequences for his narcissistic actions - like the Poundland Trump he truly is.

So much hate flying around! Not a coherent opinion in sight!

What's you view on him breaking his own law then?

It's not really surprising that some people hate him, considering what he did to the country overall and lots of groups of people and many individuals. Many would despise how he put his own self interest before the common good and how he hasn't even got the guts to acknowledge what he has done wrong. These are my coherent opinions. What are you opinions about what he did that was deemed to be illegal during Covid or about parts of his time in charge? See if you can find something positive that I can agree with.

It never ceases to amaze me how much people take their opinions from the poisonous left wing media, did we hear about the shadow foreign minister losing the whip, Nah of course not.
Boris always got things done.
I see sturgeon has been arrested and yet still keeps her seat at Holyrood.

As our greatest post war PM said “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples money”

.
When in the instances he clearly broke his own rules I mentioned on the main forum that it was clueless and foolhardy behaviour.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

So you are a better man than he?

Surely you can set the bar higher than that Evers..

I worked in a care home throughout the Pandemic, I obeyed the rules to the letter! The nearest I got to my parents was the gate to their front garden, during the first lockdown! I expect our elected representatives to conduct themselves in a manner above reproach! He was found out good and proper, and judged by his fellow MPs. No spin, no politics, just right and wrong!

I really try to be. And I hope my peers would say so.

I would like to position myself between Johnson and Fenners. Hopefully nearer the Fenners end of the spectrum.

It’s not about being the better man!

Inflicted - more like a common sense precaution!

Was not the point was trying to make!

That's a shame. I'm used to winning  :P

Like to feel it is just an opinion as is yours. For me your interpretation is askew. Humility might be a consideration and could play a part but it is brave man who declares himself better than the next person Especially when it is made in a political scenario?

It’s about living life “right” Boris Johnson hasn’t! And the rules were inflicted, and ignored by some, including Johnson and you! 🧐

I did pop to the local Londis once or twice. Better count me in to the gang.

Did you socially distance and wear a mask? If so then no rules breached  ;)

Fair enough - but strange use of 'inflicted', for the general population it was a reasonable precaution?  Clearly some resented them as they considered them an afront to their personal freedom.

May I add it is just my opinion.

to force someone or something to experience something unpleasant: A definition of inflict!

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/did-the-downing-street-party-break-the-law/

If breaking the Covid rules was all he had done, he might have gotten away with it. However that is just a tiny piece of the man. A selfish liar who ALWAYS puts himself first. Christ, not content with getting caught receiving a blow-job in the House of Commons, for which the discoverer has just been rewarded in his honours list, he invited his mistress round to his home for a bit of hanky-panky whilst his wife was in hospital undergoing treatment for cancer! That is the type of man deemed worthy of leading our country. How ANYONE can defend him is beyond me, I guess they are made from the same cloth.

I don’t read vituperative right wing magazines! 😘

blame or insult (someone) in strong or violent language.- bit archaic. As a matter of interest are you still in the Caring Profession?

I retired from my care home job last year and left the NMC register in August 2022.

From what I can gather the whole reason for his apparent demise is for breaking the Covid rules and his attempt to hide these events led to him misleading parliament and earning the epitaph of liar. Not sure if he is a victim of Brexit and 'remainers' as some of them have been very vociferous in expressing their disappointment and outrage at Brexit 

Boris brought his own downfall on himself alone!

As for the other somewhat personal comments you make, are these facts and have you proof to sustain them?

Thanks for the info. Happy retirement if that is the case., My Runner Beans are wilting in this heat!

2 primary rules of management and leadership.
1. Treat everyone in a manner that you would demand to be treated yourself.
2. Don’t ask anyone to do anything that you are not prepared to do yourself.

Go compare.

Boris is and always was an accident waiting to happen.  Dangerously incompetent and only got where he did because of those that wanted to abuse the power he could bring them.  Even then those backers still underestimated just how incompetent he could be.

Ironic how these sort of people always seem to get brought down by something relatively minor in the general scheme of things.



 

It wasn’t minor though it got him the sack! Very disappointed in him for being so foolish. Will enjoy coming back to revisit you Guys if he ends up in Parliament or worse ever again. How is Uncle Keith coming along?

Boris has a new job as a columnist for the Daily Mail.
Sits back and wait for the predictable outrage. Why doesnt this forum have a popcorn emoji?  ;D

One liar gets to work at another liar.

I'll try and think of some more comments for you this afternoon so you can enjoy your popcorn - a party size pack!

I love fishing. if the maggot is big enough they will always rise.
I found my popcorn! (https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/styles/smilies/popcorn.gif)

And has broken the ministerial code as well, merda always finds its own level  8)

Disappointed, no picture of popcorn 🍿. But in terms of maggots, you had two biggies there, the Heil and Johnson - couldn't resist a nibble, mmmm, tasty.

You couldn't make it up really, but why would anyone be surprised?

I think the loveable buffoon persona has been rumbled at long last

Must say Bingers you rise to the bait with all the athleticism of a mobile trout. Is their a politician we can mention who wont feed your imagination. Must be a living one tho' who has not been up to the usual politico tricks/faux pas.

kind regards Boris

Of course, we like to keep Tabby happy. He sets them and I will deliver for him. Keeps us occupied in the close season. Or if we are winning too many games so we have nothing to whinge about.

Friendly bit of banter that we don't get too worked up about. Even Manny can get involved as well. No personal abuse or criticisms, just agreeing to disagree, even though they are wrong.  ;)

Noted with two exceptions our county MPs showed themselves to be spineless in abstaining for the boat - FFS nail your colours on the mast - if you support a lying charlatan say so - if not vote for the motion. A truly morally broken party.

Even their esteemed leader "missed" the vote because he had "other plans". What a sorry shower.

Not voting, was their only option. Vote against Boris, and they'd get kicked eyt by the local activists. Vote for him, and they'd lose a load of votes in the next general election. Case of damage limitation.

Playing politics is what gets any politician up the ladder.

Which is why I have no time for any of them anymore. Doubt Ill bother voting next time round, the system is totally broken. Look at the SNP women still sitting as an independent 2 years after she got kicked out by her party.

My MP in the South of the County voted for the report. I suspect that after being in correspondence with her about him, she dislikes him almost as much as I do, but I suspect that those that do know him best, like him least.

Agreed with reasoning but it doesn’t address the spineless self interest - I’m off the electoral register these day but suspect I’d take a similar line to you if that wasn’t the case.

Fair play to her for this action but it would still take me a lot to forgive her for her 2016 lies

Indeed. Self preservation is what it always comes down to. I guess that's the case in all walks of life, ultimately. But it tastes a lot worse when it involves people being paid to represent us.

My biggest issue with the current set up is that when someone gets the gig to be an MP for 4 or 5 years, 90plus percent of people in most cases only vote for them because of the party they represent. Their own personality, record etc doesn't come in to it. So when they are kicked out of their own party (there's been a number of high profile ones from Cons/Labour/SNP in recent times), I have a very strong view point that it should trigger a by-election. Not just stick around as 'an independent'. They can even switch parties mid-term and still keep their jobs! Which is utterly farcical!

I didn't vote in the recent local elections, that's the first time ever and I'm 50. The last general election I voted Tory, but literally only to keep Corbyn and McDonnell out! I knew precisely who I was voting for (Boris) and what he stood for, but for me it was slightly the better option. I still maintain that despite what's since happened. But its been so bad (tbf Covid has had a mammoth hand to play in that), its taught me a lesson in that if the only options I have are both complete idiots then I just wont bother from now on. I know ultimately I voted for Peter Bone (who to be fair was brilliant in the one occasion I've ever written to an MP in my life), the local MP wasn't my consideration when I casted my vote. Not one jot. Id argue that most people think the same as me and vote for the party, end of.

PR needs to be brought in, then we will have a proper democracy as opposed to the outdated scam of a system we currently have. Which isn't fit for purpose!

Greed, nepotism and dishonesty?

If Boris was a season tkt holder or a supporter of NTFC and seen at some away grounds you would probably change your mind. Perhaps this would ensure Northampton might retain two Conservative MP's at the forthcoming '24 election.

No I wouldn't, an execrable individual of the lowest order, as for the 2 MPs, I wouldn't p1ss on their chips!

I've got to ask, have you been in some self-induced coma for the last 13 years?

In Northampton in 2019, out of a total of 80,374, 41,945 voted for the Conservatives, 31,741 for Labour. That resulted in TWO Tory MP's. In what sort of democracy does 52% of the vote lead to 100% of the representation? That is the root cause of the problems in this country.

I don’t take Politics too seriously particularly from somebody who has only watched the Cobblers for less than 50 years. My attitude to any supporter is that if they have only been a supporter for less than 6 months they still have equal rights with any supporter!

I sense a maggot, go on, I will have a nibble and see if it tastes nice.....

Ah yes, the ongoing shîtshow that is Brexit. A slight majority is allowed to fůck up the country for years to come.  Still waiting for the bus promises...... What, you mean Johnson lied to us, no, surely not. 😔

Have a read and prepare some calculations;

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/nhs-budget

Labour shadow minister looses whip, rotten to the core.
https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/labour-shadow-minister-bambos-charalambous-suspended-conduct
God help,this country if this band of low lives ever gets near power probably propped up by the Liberal Democrat’s and Krankies corrupt SNP.

i suppose you missed dominic raab having to resign for bullying?

Perhaps this means Labour are finally learning what it takes to be in government?

Looks like "I am real man" Putin is having a few problems, a bit closer to home than he expected.
These things rarely end well.

Whilst I don't think there could be many worse world leaders than Putin, I think the Wagner bloke could "Trump" him if somehow he was to become President. However I am fairly sure he won't get the chance and won't find out how The Mighty Cobblers do in pre-season, let alone be alive to celebrate back to back promotions.

Putin doesnt fear the West. He knows that we have the appetite for a cold war, but not actual conflict. He does however, fear revolution from within. Once them wheels are rollin, they are difficult to stop. The next couple of days could be very interesting. This new dude is a mercenary,  he could turn out to be even worse. Assuming that he doesnt fall out of a hotel window, or suffer the Salisbury syndrome in the meantime.

The oligarchs will step in any time soon, they don't want their bank balances being messed with. They hold the real power in Russia, Putin and his chef will be gone soon

By all accounts, there are a mass of private jets leaving Moscow heading for Turkey airspace. They have already lost their yachts, but dont mess with their roubles.

Getting very lively, no sign of the invincible russian military getting involved either!  >:D

On my last construction site in London, we had all sorts of nationalities. It was like the UN at times. They all had petty squabbles over petty issues, different religions, races, even tribes. The only unifying factor was amongst all of the eastern europeans, whatever country, they all absolutely loathed Russians. On that basis I would suggest that Putin does not have many directions left to turn. Apart from a flight to some tin pot South American juntas gaff.

Well if the Saudis will take the spoilt brat that is Ronaldo, he might end up there. It's not like the powers that be would struggle with their conscience about having an accused war criminal in their ranks.

I loved the line from the Ukrainian Defence minister earlier. Along the lines of "this time last year everyone thought Russia had the second strongest army in the world. By last week people realised they only had the second strongest army in Ukraine. Today they are seeing they only have the second strongest army in Russia." ;D

On that basis the NHS is a black hole and is due a reform!

Health is the great leveller in life (and death). Doesn't matter whether you are rich or poor, we all die. If I'm ill, I want to see a doctor and I want to see him today. If I need an operation, I want that tomorrow. I don't give two f***s how much in tax that costs me, NOTHING is more important.

And I don't care about how much tax I pay to make it happen for you, for Manny, for Tabby or anyone else, Tories or not. Let us pay the tax to have a health service to be proud of. And when I say us, I am including the rich of this country and all those companies that make money from us, it is our money.

There's no equality in health.
Try the Black Report, it's an old one but even more relevant today.

So Rees-Mogg and Dorries applied improper pressure into the investigation on Boris telling lies. Two contemptible human beings who make my skin crawl.

Are we certain they're human beings?

Health care is massively more expensive than most people appreciate- yes of course with a monster organisation like the NHS there is wastage and inefficiency but exactly as you say if we really want a health service we are proud of and moves us higher in the league table if longevity and overall health we all have to be prepared to pay for it - sadly most of us aren’t

The reason why our health service is pretty god dam sh1t (which if you claim otherwise, are in complete denial!) - is because of our countries love affair with the NHS. Its a political football which no political party dares to tackle properly. Every election we hear in the run up how many more millions/billionaires/trillions each party will pledge...yet strangly, not a slight bit of actual detail as to how its going to be spent!

The whole gig needs to be brought into the 21st century. Id say 2023, but even 2001 would be a good dam start. Be gone with the clipboards and buy some computers/tablets for starters! Yeah, Im being serious! Its like a 1970's office walking around KGH or Northampton General...filing cabinets everywhere!  ;D

I struggle to even take it seriously anymore. The whole shows a joke. And not a funny one. Its embarrassing. 75th anniversary celebrations this week - Id be keeping quiet. Time to move sentiment aside and sort the bloody dump out once and for all.

Id do the following if I was head of one of the main political parties. Id lose the next election but I reckon that in time, Id be proved right.  Yeah Ill get a load of 'that wont work, we do that already blah blah blah' but Ill at least stick my neck out....

1. A proper 20 year 'business plan', out there in the public. Lets stop talking numbers and start talking actual plans...
2. Nurses/doctors etc - all work along the same shift patterns. At the minute a doctor is barely about outside 9-5 hours Mon-Fri and most of that time they are in meetings. With all of the other doctors. Leaving the poor Nurses to lead the front line. All of them though need to be paid much more money. MUCH MORE. Especially nurses. Recruitment is a nightmare as it is, it will get much much worse as it has done for years now. The one big way to attract more people into the professional long term is more money. Doctors need to take the hit with their shifts, but in return will be paid more as well.
3. Reduce red tape levels. It takes 10 meetings involving 10 different medics to decide whether someone needs an operation. If they reduced all this down, alot more operations might actually happen. Because they would be operating rather than chatting around looking at scan images, arguing what to do and then deciding that collectively they are not actually sure. And arrange another meeting. In the meantime the patient is dying. Yeah - there would possibly be more mistakes made BUT more life's would be ultimately saved. Much more. We are so behind on operations that we do not have the time and resource to dick around like we are. Its crazy!
4. 20 year plan would involve knocking down most of the sh1t holes that we call hospitals and build new ones that are fit for purpose and will have about half the running costs. Alot of this could be privately sponsored. Wards named after local companies, that kind of thing. If football clubs can generate millions on naming rights, why not hospitals? Im being serious!
5. Get rid of half of the pen pushers. Way way too many non-medical people work in the NHS. Massive overhaul needed.
6. Break it all down into much smaller pieces. At the minute each area is way to big to even get a grip of.

To finance it, Id propose that we need to take as many people out of the NHS 'customer base' as possible. Offer tax relief (much more) to go private. Offer companies the incentive to put their staff on private plans. More private gigs will set up quickly and compete. The strain will be taken away from the NHS.

Each and every working person has to pay x percentage towards it. Forget NI - what does that even mean? How is it spent? Gord only knows. Offer tiers. Full NHS service - say 15% of your salary. That goes down to 10% if you sign up to a private plan. That kind of thing. Everyone funds it, no one gets out of it. But those who are going private don't pay quite as much. Attach pension plans to Private health care as well.

In time, we will quickly become a leading light again. The NHS will become fit for purpose. And those who can afford it will be much more encouraged to take up private alternatives to relieve the stress on the NHS itself.  Much more nurses and doctors/medics etc will be attracted into health care and more top people from abroad will be encouraged to work here instead. Rather than the other way round...

Pension pots need to also cover care stuff as well. Its not all about having x amount coming into your bank account when you retire. If you end up in a carehome fulltime you want it to be decent. And not too financially burden your kids. Or take away all of their inheritance.

It all needs sorting. Unfortunately because its a complete political football, no sod dares to say how it is and bring it all up for debate. I appreciate my 'plan' will have many holes in but if a plan was too be debated I guess we'd collectively find a much better solution that the current one in place...namely plough more £ at it and hope for the best!

There's a common saying.

You get what you pay for.

Sometimes you get a bargain and sometimes you buy something that is not as good as you wish but you make do.

There are exceptions, politicians come to mind as a prime example but in the majority of cases, the more you pay, the better the product.

We all have budgets to live within and we all have priorities. I have house insurance. I've never made a claim in over 45 years but I still buy it because one day I might need it and when I do I'd like the best possible outcome. Same with my health and the NHS.

I pay the tax on £167 a month for full family private cover. I’ve been unfortunate to need numerous operations, procedures and complimentary services such as chiropractors over the years. Tens of thousands of pounds worth. I appreciate how lucky I am to have access to this. I get seen in days as opposed to years (in some instances) via the NHS. e.g. start from getting a GP appointment to seeing an audiologist for hearing assessment and hardware…you’ll be lucky to complete that process in less than 12 months.
I even use private GPs now and can get an appointment in the next 10 minutes on a video call, complete with referral. I gave up on trying to get even a phone call with my GP during the pandemic, which doesn’t appear to have improved. Then you are greeted by some snotty cow on reception, wanting to know your life story and treating you like you owe her a living.
I clearly still pay full NI and don’t resent that.

I have factored in paying for private healthcare into retirement, I can’t imagine being without it after 30 years.
I genuinely think I’d be unemployed, in a wheel chair or even dead by now if I’d had to rely on the NHS! I had my first back surgery with them and it took 4 years of agony.

Apart from the food and your own room, the quality of care isn’t any different as most of these consultants service both.

That said (the old cliche) they do a wonderful job and many of the staff have work in crazy conditions, with unrealistic work loads.
I’m all for reform.

Good post Drilling- and having worked in the NHS for more than a decade and then in an industry supporting it since I can confirm you are pretty much spot on.

With left of centre leanings I hesitate to say this but the necessary reforms need a new way of funding and a massive review on efficiency- and for the funding you have to bring in an element of private insurance monies - of course this would create a two tiered system but that already exists. The NHS is not free at the point of care and NI contribution do not cover the eye watering cost.

Here in Switzerland, yes of course both the Insurance companies and the medical care organisations make some profit (which is controlled by central government) but to give an example of cost - for good comprehension cover it costs a couple over £5000 per annum each, plus £1000 excess and after that 90% of the costs are covered - generally there are no hikes in price if you use the service excessively- so no tax on being ill. Yes you could take the profit element out - perhaps 10-20% but these figure represent the true cost of health care.

There's more people live in London that live in Switzerland.

I was going to say…with respect Peter you can’t cite any proposed model on what might be happening in Switzerland. You probably pay a tenner for a Toblerone, although I’m sure you haven’t paid over 50% tax/NI on your tenner.  :P
If a chunk of that tax bill was going towards healthcare it fits a little better.

The NHS is a prime example of lions led by donkeys. There are so many layers of superfluous middle management it's untrue. Everything's has to be seen to be fair to the nth degree which means a phenomenal amount of bureaucracy is required just to run things.

My wife works for the NHS and gets chased by someone on a monthly basis about her mandatory training not being up to date. Every month she has the same conversation, explaining that it isn't up to date because the training course she hasn't done is no longer available in their training portal.

The person who does the chasing isn't the person who maintains the training and apparently it isn't her job to chase the person who does, so next month she'll ring up again to ask why the course hasn't been done and the whole conversation will repeat. Christ knows how many people she chases for being out of date on this course!

It just needs modernising, and far less time spent trying not to upset people.

TBF sounds like most successful big corporates. I often think how much money ‘could’ you make if inefficiencies like this were tackled. I guess shareholders are happy with a couple of billion.

Of course a valid point & you could add Switzerland is a rich country with higher cost of living and higher wages to match, although there is a popular myth about tax -  the rate is actually very close to that of the UK for us mere mortals  - my point however was simply to illustrate proper health care for a nation (be it 8 million or 60 million people) is more expensive than many people appreciate. UK National Insurance raises around £150 billion pa - that's about £2500 per person in the UK - Forget Switzerland but all across Europe and the West that's simply not enough to fund a top quality health service so are we prepared to pay significantly more?

....oh and also good to have a discussion on a thread headed Politics where people actually read other opinions without necessarily agreeing, needing to be right all the time or childish point scoring - Thanks for that it's refreshing!

Let us look at there neighbour. In the fatherland as a single person you can kiss goodbye to 42.75% of your salary tax and other stoppages. This is in a country that has no NHS, you have to have medical insurance. A country that has declared that they will spend a minimum of 36billion euro on immigrants this year. Take a good look, this is the UK in five years.

I’m not entirely sure what this has to do with the cost of health - perhaps you could expand?

Just wondering how it can be so expensive compared to the world of UK private healthcare?
If I pay the tax on £167, we know the full cost is £167. My company will pay an umbrella cost but I know they make no direct contributions. So the full cost is £2k, plus whatever the umbrella cost is. According to my rewards package (which claims my package is £20k more than my
salary) the cost is £2,013 a year*
I access mine to a high level, others rarely use it, a bit like car insurance.
I’m assuming these private healthcare companies turn a profit most of the time?

You would imagine with scale (i.e. nationally) that everything would be far more efficient with synergies than running a private facility. Central appointment booking, far more efficient use of MRI machines, central accounts and various support functions dealing with millions instead of thousands. In any operation scale should make it cheaper, ask Amazon! I appreciate it would need initial investment on a large scale as I’m sure our current hospital infrastructure is lacking. I’m also sure there’d be a high number of redundancies, re-allocation and recruitment!
Money should be invested in health, nutrition and prevention for many illnesses. More done to tackle the areas that cause the current strain. That’s a vicious circle though as then we all live longer!

It’s a huge area, anything covering a nation is mind blowing but I’m sure there are minds out there to make it better….probably not on THE  ;D

*there are limits on claims in certain areas (most stuff is covered in full) so you’d have to factor those in.

Some interesting posts Dav's!

My thinking is that there should be a separate tax for care which is heading towards a completely underfunded disaster...

That pensions should compulsorily be associated with care packages as well...tax relief on them obviously.

I just cannot get my head around why this stuff isn't openly discussed by politicians. Well I can...because the whole thing is a 'political football' and that there is a general consensus that 'we' should all get everything free...end of. No discussions. Because that's apparently been the case for 75 years. But of course that isn't really the case is it?! Because peoples savings are decimated when they go into a care home...the average bod doesn't make any provisions and get's caught out. Family's try and keep their relatives out of care to avoid the astronomical costs. That takes them out of the work force. That's another issue!

Tory government says nothing. Labour/lib dems say nothing. Its all about total 'investment' in the NHS. End of discussion.

Its basically complete b0llox!!

Don’t worry Labour will “borrow their way out of trouble”.
Stammer on LC this morning was a stuttering muttering buffoon, the guy is utterly clueless.

Well, it worked for Boris!

The former Attorney General a stuttering buffoon? I bet he knows the difference between "Your" and "You're"! As for bojo......... Narcissists are like post modernism, shallow and without substance, obsessed with facades  :-*

At least Dav is true blue 😘

Towns without a train service are a little odd!

Dav has got a station.
It's in Long Buckby.

…. have you looked lately how much has been borrowed in the last 13 years?

….but I tend to agree about Starmer - hand the job over to Angela or Lisa to get us closer to our roots

Exactly!

Dav went downhill when the Romans built the Watling St bypass.

Surely Dav is uphill?

Only the Borough Mr T.

I would question your judgement on this matter. One gets a very nice view from the rear of the Royal Oak estate, or around Staverton, or atop Poets Way. My little yellow AP50 used to struggle to get up there. Indeed it is also a challenge to ascend to the summit of Arbury Hill.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbury_Hill

Lol.
I thought the 'Watling St bypass'would be the focus point to any reply to my original comment, not the towns altitude.
You're correct, literally speaking Dav has more than one high place. Point conceded, though Staverton and Arbury Hill stretches it a bit.
My first job between 6th form terms was at Cummins on Royal Oak Estate. I got there (and school) on my blue AP50, much better than my mates purple FS1E.
Poets Way... I could tell you a funny story about a mate, and girl, a tent, an unexpected CB meet, and Poets Way. Straight out of a 70's sit com.
You a 70's/80's Dav lad then?

Dusson lad, who used to ride his pushbike to Whilton Locks, and then progressed to mechanical propulsion.

The Bannaventa (nightclub). Who remembers that?  ;D
Don't recall ever seeing a yellow AP50, must have escaped me.
And the cinder track at Duston Timkin. Set a few records there, even though I say so myself.
How times have changed. Now all I seem to do is post on msg boards and struggle to get my leg over a bike.

Alien territory for me, I did my nurse training with a lad from Dav who used to mutter about Badby woods and Borough hill occasionally. I've driven round it but have never ventured in

I went to work at Waitrose in Daventry when it opened when I was 18 (49 years ago). Used to go to a nightclub there then, I guess its the one you mention?
I was only there for maybe under a year but have fond memories. Only recently played Daventry golf course. That was certainly not flat.

The Bannaventa nightclub was in the building that now houses the carpet shop at Wilton.
Dav nightclubs... Can only remember the Beachcomber (pub/club) in Bowen Sq and the Abercorn Hotel (sort of) on Warwick St from those days.
Golf club...few times I played the course, I liked it, but it did have a Mickey Mouse reputation. 2nd hole, about 80 yards, 60 of it vertical? I was absolutely s*** at golf though.

I remember the Beachcomber, and its grass, the most tropical pub in the world....Sat there one Friday evening with my group of misfits, as usual no action at all so as we had only downed one can of castaway we decide to drive to Yarmouth (Northampton on Sea) We finally get there for around 11ish, straight into Demelzas to find Village People taking the stage. They must have known we were coming from Daventry.

You’ve just lost all credibility with the last part of your sentence, Angela and Lisa 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Jesus.

As opposed to Liz and Kwasi. 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

Yes, that is the nation's mortgage payers who are crying and will still be crying for a long time yet.

Clock's ticking!  ;D

In the last 100 years the Tory’s have won twice as many elections as Labour, why do you think that is?

People were easier to con by the TORIES perhaps  ;)

Because overall this country is conservative with a small c, but every so often we reject the idea of a government pandering to wealth, power and privilege, so Labour get a turn.

A large part of it is greed. It's their mindset that they'd rather be able afford heated wing mirrors on their latest BMW, than some granny they've never met get a new hip. Of course when THEY come to need a new hip...

I don’t understand your analogy, granny doesn’t have to pay for her hip, tax payers do, it’s the dreadful NHS that make her wait.
Why should successful affluent people pay for lazy bar-stewards to lay around, do nothing and claim benefits?
They can just fûck off.

There speaks the true voice of the Nasty Party!!

Wow :o you are so angry all the time,
life must be treating you well.

Always better through a bottle of Buckie.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

 ;D Proper dual character aren't you; some of your posts on the Hotel End are very readable 8) Yet that disappears into a maze of frenzy dislike on the Politics thread.

Use to play Hockey with Ron Pilgrim who lived in Flore and broke away from the Saints and formed Daventry Hockey Club. That was in the 80's, Had a few games on an Astro Turf School Pitch, Ron was a school teacher and was still with us in 2010. Also Peter White a big friend of Rons and owned a cricket pitch in and around Daventry area, he was hard of hearing and unlucky with his wives.

I've played Hellidon Lakes a few times, nice course but a couple of those holes are slightly strange especially the one that comes back past the club house.  ;)

Ron Pilgrim. Maths teacher and Borough House Master during my time at Dav Comp. Some years later one of his former pupils (school year above me) dropped dead during a hockey match that he was umpiring.
Pete White rings no bells. Why was he unlucky with his wives, did he keep losing them?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66288464
The BBC caught out making up stories again……. Hope Farage Sue’s the fcuk out of the, oh hang on thats tax payers money!!
Seriously you can’t trust a word they say.

I just read that, it said "also" so they never lied, they just didn't give every reason. Like saying a man was jailed for robbing a bank but not saying his getaway car was also parked on a yellow line.

the sooner the BBC stop flirting around farage the better. There was no need for this to be headline news at all. This is a man who has stood for our parliament 7 times and failed in every single one. He is a stain on our nation and at this point, if you think he's 'on your side', you are ill-informed. If you think you aren't ignorant, then you are as digusting as he is. There is no other option.

(...FACT)

Attention seeking bottom feeder........... And those who support him as well!

You've got to love someone that tells you all about yourself....  ;D

considering he's been relatively famous for over 20 years, if you haven't worked it out by now, someone has to.

There seems to be more around this fanbase than I would expect, probably a correlation around the idea of being angry at constantly having to watch lower league football for their whole lives.

Jeremy Corbyn - The Terrorist's friend.

I tend to steer clear of all of this stuff. You couldn't meet someone more off grid when it comes to politics than me. In fact, I'd struggle to name more than 3-4 MP's.

But I'm conscious of everyone's right to hold an opinion irrespective of its validity/accuracy.

….of course two wrongs don’t make a right but Farage himself a proven liar and responsible for a giant step backwards for our country & certainly doesn’t deserve the amount of headlines he is getting on this issue (which I agree has been handled badly by both the BBC and Courts) - the BBC is certainly not perfect and if the argument is about a license fee than that’s a valid point of discussion IMO, but compared with GB news for honesty, quality and impartiality it’s a quantum leap ahead.

No time for him either  :-*

It’s the other side of the coin, agree about quality, but then again GB news isn’t funded by a stealth tax.
I’ve seen Farage destroy many a lefty in a F2F debate, marvellous.

Yes I agree on both points - it’s definitely time the license aspect is reviewed - I’m personally not totally against a state supported broadcasting service and paradoxically I think because the BBC is so scared of the “defunding” lobby it does not challenge the current corrupt and incompetent incumbents.

No doubt Farage is both a decent public speaker with good debating skills but one shouldn’t assume these attributes make the person good or honest.

Hitler made good speeches.

I doubt he was known for his debating skills though…  ;D

I saw an Irish TV presenter interviewing Farage, ripped him a new one, shame our interviewers never do the same.

Generally TV interviewers are poor - they are either unprepared with the facts or unwilling to challenge the lies and evasion tactics these characters use - even when they do challenge there is a scripted deflection and they simply move on.

I watched Michael Gove interviewed on housing on a number of channels yesterday - in political terms he was allowed to get away with a catalogue of misinformation.

Bring back Paxman!

https://youtu.be/Uwlsd8RAoqI (https://youtu.be/Uwlsd8RAoqI)

Andrew Neil is an excellent interviewer, his destruction of that traitor Corbyn is legendary.

Andrew Neil? Is that the one that alexander johnson bottled it from?

That would be the one!

Glad you knew Ron, good friend of mine! Peter White, bit of a recluse(coincidence!) had at least two wives - was property/land owner around Daventry and as mentioned owned a cricket pitch in Dav area. Used to travel down to Weymouth Hockey Festival with him for many Easters. He had at one time a Triumph Herald basically a two seater soft top. I did enjoy his company as well. Lost touch with both by 2008,

Cyber attack on Electoral revealed, hackers have been inside it since 2021!

Perhaps Labour might win in that case, just like the leftist scum cheated president Trump over the pond.

You're hysterical  :-*

are you mentally ill?

Nice one Manny. 😀

Serious question Manny as you tell us you are a successful wheeling dealing business man - did you really do that badly under the Blair years?

Maybe it was when he started his confectionery and fizzy drinks resale business at school.

As I’m sure you know Peter, Blair was as much a Tory as Sunak is, despised by the left.

Good answer 😀 -  but I’m still not sure why anyone should be s***ting their pants at the inevitability of a central left administration after the current corrupt and incompetent shower - unless of course one is a major international tax avoider or benefits immorally from the current chumocracy.

This is true.

However. In order to win the battle of the middle greynd, they need to convince people that the likes of Abbott and McDonnell are not going to re-emerge if they get into office.

Many people who have a pop at anyone who voted for Boris last time round needs to consider that many of us did so to keep those two imbeciles out! Home Secretary and chancellor they would have been. Forget Corbyn!

f*** me Shane, the way this country has gone since YOUR choice got in and you have the nerve to complain about other possibilities. Just how could it have been any worse?

And instead we have Cruella Braverman and Jeremy Hunt! Just ask most NHS staff what their thoughts are on him. We have a shambles of a government who are seeing out their time until they're replaced at the next general election. We have become a smaller, meaner, poorer country since 2010, something to be really proud of.

What the fcuk is the question if Angela Rayner and Lisa Nandy are the answer.

Can you think of two more capable politicians than Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwartang? Apologies for setting the bar so low there.

You and me Bingers  ;D

Who hasn't Boris Johnson shagged?

Good cop/ bad cop.

The Cobblers Party. What policies could we agree on, I wonder.

;D

Who wouldn’t you want to appear in your edition of Reader’s Wives?

Does ginge come under "specialist interest".

If only Tyro was still a regular here, he would know.

I note you chose not to comment on the "smaller, meaner, poorer country" part of my post  :-*

I would challenge all of those points, please back them up with evidence in relation to our peers, you have heard about the war in Europe and a pandemic called COVID? They have had an effect on all economies and have basically ended globalisation in a single blow.

Go ahead challenge away! Re COVID-19........ I worked in a care home throughout the pandemic, I didn't hear about it I lived it, I couldn't see my parents because I was looking after other people's parents, I watched people die of it! We put our health and wellbeing on the line to ensure people got the care they needed.

Exactly why the penny pinching parsimonious prat has to go.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-66701626

And the rest of his useless government with him............. TIME FOR A CHANGE!

TIME for the RATS to take over the ship, NO WAY.

Rats are very intelligent creatures, unlike politicians! ;)

Everyone knows it's time for a change! The only thing this government got right was the COVID-19 vaccination roll out, other than that, name one positive outcome from their 13 years in power!

They've done quite well with the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is surprising in itself seeing how much money the Ruskies have invested in the Tory Party. Lord Lebedev of Siberia my ass!

Bojo's Churchill moment

They got rid of Johnson.

That's about it really. Mind you they did take their time. And got him in to start with. Yes, fair point really. What have the Tories ever done for us?

You are having a laugh. Pouring billions into a lost cause so Zelensky and his chums can skim millions off the top, while still trading with Russia. Fighting a losing battle with only the poorest of the country. When it does come to an end agriculture in the Ukraine will be non-existent because all the farmers are dead.
Ukraine cannot win even with all of the munitions being sent them because as soon as any foreign army steps in to help them it will be WW3.

No everyone doesn’t, the silent majority, we are the people.
Just like when you lot thought Comrade Corbyn would win hilarious.

Just popped in for a look at the Rebel Rousers and quickly came to the conclusion that you were just a bunch of schoolboys on cheap cider. or  heaven forbid a bunch of Nutters. What I can't quite make out is some of you come across on Cobblers Corner as decent fellows. What you all need is a few away games for a dose of reality. No names no pack drill!

Such a simple minded chap.

The BBC have produced a completely unbiased, factual, and revealing account of the past few years of the Tory government. Should be well received by The Mail et al.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001qgwt

Should be an entertaining watch! tory eating tory  ;D

I bet they have, they will still be defunding, sooner the better, liberal scum.

The highlighted points don't belong in the same sentence.

I know! And since the Tories appointed the current BBC Director General, Tim Davie, the rightward bias is getting worse.

😂😂😂😂
Right wing bias hahahahahah I’d say they are left of the socialist worker.

Let's go fly a kite

Of course when their flagship political show is chaired by that well known lefty, Fiona " Johnson only punched his wife once" Bruce.
If you saw State of Chaos, you will have noticed all the worst details came from the mouths of Tories.

Lefties in disguise, reds under the bed etc etc

Like a moth to the flame.

Fantastic speech today by Suella in Washington, brave,to the point and spot on.
#conservatives #we are the people

If you are a fascist. Fortunately, the vast majority of our country are not, having fought hard to overcome it.

Don't worry, it won't be long before she is history along with those other extremists who have somehow gained a voice in the government of our country. It won't be long before we can regain our position as a well respected, world leader in what is right and wrong on the international stage, rather than a country seemingly happy to break international law.

Persons who have an unfulfilled life's tend to pick on the weak and vulnerable to vent out their anger at there own failings.
They never look inwards to try and understand why they hate those they will never know.

The conservatives are firmly moving to an election footing. They always get the vote from the wealthy and their election success depends on how many (for want of a better way of putting it) poorer people they can persuade to vote for them. Last time they had Boris ("Good old Boris, he's a laugh, ain't he?")

This time around I think they are aiming at the sort of targets that poorer people often blame for their lot - immigrants taking their jobs and benefits and tree huggers telling them what to do.

I think a lot of what they are spouting will probably land, too.

Manny or Suella?  :)

Dog whistles!

Manny I know you post to get a rise but I can’t let this go - this, from SB is simply disgusting dog whistling- yes of course we need to get a grip on uncontrolled immigration, not just protecting our borders but a serious global view on the causes of mass immigration which of course the bigots choose to remain ignorant about.

You do realise due to famine, drought, conflict and obscene inequalities the level of migration we are seeing globally is just the tip of the iceberg

You have either to be a bigot or some kind of stupid to not see this for what it is - a obvious deflection from 14 years of the worst government in my lifetime.

Unfortunately there are people who are not bright or educated enough to see beyond the (empty on a plan) rhetoric and this will become a major electoral issue - truly if people like her retain any power in the next term the UK is finished as a country once the envy of the world.

The best thing is not to respond to the provocation, it's difficult but even the most obdurate trolls will eventually stop, or get themselves banned by escalating their provocative posts.

;D

Sums up the "fantastic" speech nicely.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/26/smirking-suella-trashes-70-years-of-human-rights-in-30-minutes

Ahhh the Guardian, are they still begging people for money to keep this rag going?
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1816523/Rishi-Sunak-poll-bounce-net-zero

what a sad little man you are.

Suella is like a dog that insistently humps your leg. So far from joy but intent on pursuing a pointless exercise of frustration. A real distraction from the pit of despair that surrounds this twitching party at the point of oblivion. Thankfully, their day is done and they can sink into the pit of gloom they have nurtured for too long.

+ 1

I wonder what click-bait policies will be thrown up this week to appease to Tory Conference faithful?

Let us know your "favourites". Manny - they can be your genuine favourites. I wonder if there will be any cross over between those.

"Taxes are too high" but hunt won't reduce them  ;)

WTF is Liz (f*cking) Truss doing on my lunchtime telly?
Is she just who the Tory’s use to work out what not to do (“Right, Liz reckons we need to cut some taxes, let’s definitely not do that”), or just a reminder why we are going to get a labour government at the first opportunity?  ???

Manny…can you give us a skit on Beth Rigby please.
I’ll start you off with her stay at home house husband.

Got to feel for the Northerners. Rishi is just announcing 20 years worth of roadworks. All wooden dollars of course and that scale of money will never get spent.

It's like Turkey's voting for christmas.


This will pi$$ off the whole of the north and send them right back into labours arms. Starmer must have shot his load when he heard of this.

I agree with your assessment of Starmer, it’s his one and only core skill.
Did you know the average wage for HS2 workers is over £70k, there’s more important things to spend taxpayers cash on and it’s not paying for the work shy Labour voting b@stards.

And goodnight from Manchester as we watch the SS Tory slowly drift down the canal of obscurity towards the Bay of oblivion  :-*

Maybe that's so, - is there another fast lane bogus purchasing option for their mates? - but I find it interesting that when Sir Kier changes his mind its "flip flopping" when the unelected charlatan does it it's prudent behaviour.

Lets be honest the old rosette on a pig is pretty much your mantra - never the red one alway the one sporting blue.

It’d be good to know….how much has already been needlessly spent, purchasing, ground work, infrastructure etc, then how much is it going to cost to undue what’s been done? I like how Sunak almost sells like the facts have changed (a bit like the science?) and he’s making some forward thinking genius decision. He almost got a standing ovation for listing off some motorways and A roads.
Imagine how much a ticket is going to cost on that train. £££

The one that currently goes from Euston to New Street, pretty much the centre of both cities.
Upon complettion, from Old Oak Common to Curzon Street, not the centre of both cities, so whatever time you gain by your choo choo being a bit quicker, you lose by having to get a taxi, or the tube to your original departure/destination point. What a fcking waste of time.
You can file it with Boris other plan, like the bridge from NI, to Scotland. Or Heathrows new runway. If its public money, it soars massively over budget.

Any large public project is like a money making scheme if your smart enough, change request anyone.

I am going to give Mr Sunak some genuine credit for what I genuinely believe is a good idea - gradually banning smoking by continually lifting the age restriction.

I know a lot of Tories - my MP in particular, don't like the "nanny state", but I do believe in protecting your fellow citizens.

If you are prepared to rip off your country.

What is it that you keep saying about Socialists want to spend other people's money. How about those who want to take it and keep it as their own fortune, is that okay?

No it’s not Bingers and it’s not just the Tories who are guilty either.
https://members.parliament.uk/member/4514/registeredinterests
A plot of land in Surrey how very socialist  :P

Let’s be completely honest Peter, Starmer is clueless and doesn’t have an idea in his body, mind you at least Angela can keep practicing her basic instinct moves in parliament.
The Labour Party has been a laughing stock for more years than I can remember hence their very brief tenure in history 😎

Are you referring to the donkey field he inherited that he is leaving as a donkey field instead of flogging it off for building land. I'm sure that story was discredited years ago.

There is some comedy in this. Can picture someone wheeling their 100 year old great grandfather down to the offy to legally buy them 20 B&H for £500.

https://youtu.be/yEZTZ3_cqHY?si=rZ2uQoGlxOliH5ly

I've never really seen the logic behind HS2. Listening to some of the commentary about the North being left behind you'd think they were going to build a wall across the middle of the country rather than axing a railway line that would shave half an hour or so off a trip from London to Manchester.

I've always seen it as a capital infrastructure spend to stimulate the economy rather than a worthwhile deliverable. As long as the money is still spent then you'd think there are better places to spend it.

The problem is, if you only built stuff like this when you can make money out of it, you'd never build anything. People ask why are our railways so poor compared with other countries like France and Japan. Well its because they spent their money because it was a worthwhile venture, not because they were trying to make a few quid. I doubt any of the man made wonders of this world would ever have been built if you had to argue whether they were worth the money. Pyramids, Great wall of China, countless churches and other places of worship, Taj Mahal, Petra, etc, etc. This country and its people are so backward, it's little wonder the whole place is a dump. They'd all rather have a fiver in their back pocket than ever contribute to something worthwhile that we could all be proud of and could be used for future generations to come.

This is where Im at, I arrived at this point a few backs but with Corbyn as the alternative I stuck with Tories. You know that we are in agreement with reforming the voting system.

I absolutely agree with this. The mindset of people in this country is ME ME ME and all about having as much cash on the hip for themselves and not giving a sh1t about the bigger picture.

This country is an absolute sh1t hole. My Mum is currently in a hospital in Madeira after more shenanigans on another holiday, Id rather her stay there until fit to go home, and get flown/transported back to her house as opposed to getting moved to be treated in bloody Kettering GH/Similar. Hopefully that will be possible, Ill find out more tomorrow on that. I digress...

...but in summary. This country is an embarrassment. No political party offers what I want. No cross party consensus (not that would actually be stuck too!) on the NHS - WHICH ABSOLUTELY NEEDS TO BE STOP BEING USED AS A POLITICAL FOOTBALL AND NEEDS MASSIVE MASSIVE REFORM. Just the same old bullsh1t.

It staggers me as too why people can even pin their badge on any of the political parties as things stand. All of them just look for cheap votes. Zero long term planning. Constant changing of policy. I mean why don't they (cons/lab) just admit that the reason why they have put electric car compliancy back to 2035 is too align with our main trading partners? Be fcking honest! Its got f-all to do with anything else other than £! Which is fine in many respects, but just bloody say so eh!

HS2 may not have a short term ROI (like the East Stand!) but like you say, would reap long term benefits. It will be very interesting to see how Starmer plays things in the coming days on the matter.

I doubt the HS2 will ever pay back and the channel tunnel won’t for many years to come, so not commercial decisions.
They don’t need any more encouragement to waste money, especially when they swap and change their mind to suit the politics. I guess £100b is quite a lot for a choo choo.

How about funding every driver to have access to an electric vehicle and spend a few more billion on the infrastructure. It could be like Johnny cab in Total Recall.

You're missing the point. It shouldn't be about profit, it should be about enriching the fabric of society and making our country one to be proud of.

Nobody will ever compare HS2 to the buildings that you have just mentioned. And nor will they gaze at it with awe. They did a superb job of rebuilding London Bridge station though, fantastic rebuild, but hardly a place of worship. Anyway, the solution to the north/south rail divide is perfectly simple. Just start the bloody thing in the north in the first place. That way it will be guaranteed to be finished.

Again, wasn't the point I was making. Just think of the things you'd never do or have if it was all down to profit. We wouldn't have any parks for a start, the land would be far more profitable sold for building houses. Libraries? Nah, make people buy books if they want to read them? Why have firefighters? Be cheaper to let building burn down and rebuild them in the long run. The Tories (and Labour to a certain extent) want life to be about money, not quality, not services, not health, not transport, just money. Imagine how much you'd save they say, forgetting the FACT (thanks Manny) that despite all these cost cutting savings that have supposed to save money but have been made to our detriment, we're still paying more in fuucking taxes, which wouldn't be so bad if you could see any benefit.
You know, I'm glad I'm old, wont have to put up with this bullshit for many more years. I don't envy the young, they'll still be left with either Labour or the Tories 50 years from now. God help them.

Intersting point there Marvo. You have downgraded from The Pyramids, Great Wall of China, and Taj Mahal, to parks and libraries. Hmmm...
I cant be arsed to argue with you though, you are just too tenacious for me.

Wasn't an argument, more an observation.

It was a counter to the comment that it shouldn’t be about making money.
They don’t do stuff to make money, quite the opposite. They have speed cameras for that.
They like to waste money and try to score points.
I’m agreeing, imagine what you could do with all the money they waste.
You could probably regenerate every town/city in the country.

My mantra is never trust someone with tattoos on their face, or a Tory.

Exactly.

A couple of years ago, there was a bloke in Purley Wetherspoons, who has totally inked his face and neck. He is white, but you have to look twice before you realise that he is not black, but a very dark shade of blue ink completely covering his head and neck. Not a bit of white skin is left exposed.
What is the point? Serves me right for drinking in a South London Spoons I suppose.

The point? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2333825/

Anybody see the Kier Stammer interview on BBC?
Absolute car crash, watch it, anyone who wants that to lead the country is an idiot.
Maths really isn’t Labours strong point, 1.5m new homes in the next 5 years is 250k per year according to capt Hindsight.

So could you tell me how Kwarsi and Liz's tax cutting idea would have added up? Because they couldn't

Feel free to ignore this, you usually do when somebody asks a question. Bit like Liz and Kwarsi.

and this is the point. The Tories are crap, Labour are not much better but that is the choice we face, every fucking election. Until that changes we are doomed, it's like being asked if you want the gas chamber or lethal injection.

Agreed, that's why I, like many, don't get involved in political discussions. (I don't discuss Religion either)

So, Colonel, I have been meaning to ask you, what is your solution to coexistence between Israel and the Palestinians?

And all those new hospitals bojo promised us, where are they?

Same place as that bridge from NI to Scotland. The one that would have crossed the deepest point in UK waters, the point that has been used as a munitions dump since the end of WW1, (messy military bastards), the one that would have been closed for six months of the year due to high winds. It doesnt matter who they are, what party that they represent, they are all only interested in one thing. YOUR VOTE. and in order to obtain this, all sorts of unrealistic things will be proposed. Simple solution, just dont believe any of them.

This could get a whole lot worse, as the screaming sandal wearers appear to have captured an Isreali general. These sort of things rarely end well.

Exactly this. This is why I believe a party should be held to the promises they make in their manifesto, the ones that get them elected in the first place. If those pledges haven't been fulfilled by say the halfway point of their term in office then another election should be forced upon them.

That's a good point. Each party should issue a list of key promises ahead of the election and the date they will be fulfilled. If this doesn't happen and there's no extraordinary reason why not the party should be forced to implement the item or face a general election.

What's the point in building new hospitals with no people to staff them apart from administrators?

Perhaps they were to be Teaching Hospitals?

They’re mostly staffed by Filipinos and people from Kerala! And a sprinkling of Nepalis and Romanians as well.

And every single one of them with genuine qualifications..Not.

You'd be screaming if someone kept taking chunks of your garden even after being told by the UN to stop.

Its important to note that both sides have their bad points, and also important to note that neither side gives a sh1te about the opinion of the UN. As far as I can see though, only one side has resorted to parading dead bodies through the streets. I am not taking sides on this, as I dont really like either of them. My only concern, is that this will escalate, with other nations taking the opportunity of conflict by proxy, and getting somebody else to do their dirty work for them. Iran now appears to be the Amazon of the military drone world. This wont end well.

And this comes after seriously good talks and improving relations between some Arab countries e.g. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Israel. I have to wonder if this is connected as some make a lot of money out of continuing conflict.

If sleepy Joe unfreezes 7 billion dollars worth of funding to Iran what do you expect? We just need Iran to lay mines across the straight of Hormuz and oil and gas prices will go through the roof.
As an aside, the flip flop boys invaded one of the most secure nations in the world, with a bulldozer, motorbikes, pick up trucks, and hangliders. Theres some serious questions to be answered there, by Israels intelligence forces.
Conflict frequently revolves around territory, or religion. Combine the two, and you have a toxic cocktail. And if this episode ends in a weeks time, it will happen again in a couple of years. Because it always does.

Iran is the common denominator! Expect senior Iranians to have car accidents any time soon! Nothing further to add to this current debate, too toxic!

I think Israel will wipe the Gaza Strip off the face of the earth, having spent a lot of time in Israel, it saddens me to see this happening.
Iran is really making trouble all over the world, I think a world war is close.

Oh Manny. Is this the same BBC that you think is “left leaning”?
You really need to listen better. He immediately corrected himself to say it was over 300K a year. But why let facts get in the way of bigotry eh?
At least he mentioned the housing crisis - Fishi Sunek spent an hour talking popularist tosh last week without mentioning housing or social care at all !! #outoftouch!
Get them out!

Yeah it’s not worrying that the wannabe prime minister can’t do basic maths, perhaps he was schooled by Dianne Abbot, Labour are utterly clueless, they jus regurgitate sound bites and slàg off the government.
Hope your well Jim.

Agreed - I've also visited Israel many times and it saddens me too.

The State of Israels treatment of Palestinians is a human rights disgrace and anyone who chooses to comment but doesn't understand that should, I would humbly suggest, educate themselves from non bias sources - however paradoxically the attack by Hamas is both evil and will undoubtable make the situation worse - Israel remain significantly more powerful than them, and significant retribution will happen.

 Also the attack specifically on a music concert will have left many moderate young Israelis dead who were almost certainly sympathetic to the Palestine cause - how will the majority of their friends and families now think about their sympathies?

Violence begets violence and sadly the spiral will increase as views become more entrenched

As you also say there is no  question Iran leadership have supported this atrocity and their sinister presence on the global stage is definitely a threat to world peace.

I agree with you there. It's a very complex situation and there are no clear "good guys" or "bad guys". Hitting military or infrastructure targets is one thing, however innocent kids at a music festival are in no way a legitimate target though and striking at them will turn the rest of the western world against them.

Having said all that, it's hard to take the moral high ground when your response is to hit back at innocent civilians on the other side.

An all round s***ty situation, and one that will get worse before it gets better.

If you poke a dog with a stick, he dont poke you back, he fcking bites you.

I spoke to a mate who lives in Israel yesterday and it sounds particularly grim out there right now. His nephew and 10 of his colleagues have been called up as reservists and he says every day they hear of someone else they either know or know of that has either been killed, injured or taken hostage. Really not good.

Bloody religion eh ???

Funny isn't, you never here of Atheists causing any problems. I do wish some aliens would arrive from some far off distant galaxy, show all this nonsense up for what it is.

All wholesome people like Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Zedong, Benito Mussolini, Jim Jones, and Jeffrey Dahma

Did any of those kill people in the name of some imaginary being?

I agree. However having visited Tuscaloosa Alabama, about 30 years ago, I am convinced that they are already here.

Does it matter if it’s some imaginary being, a piece of land, the colour of someone else’s skin, or whatever. People have found reasons to kill each other throughout history.

Everyone can kill, given a reason where they feel it is justified. I would imagine there is a many justifications as there is deaths,

Bloody humans eh ???

Yes but religion far exceeds all the other reasons, in fact it probably beats all the others put together.

The Khmer Rouge were atheist nutters.
Isn’t it always about religion, land, greed, power or nationalism, often led by a good old fashioned psychopath.

I always think we are fortunate to live somewhere that’s been a bit more civil to one another since 1690, although start to get nervous once I pass Keele services.

We were due to go to Tel Aviv in 6 weeks with my mother-in-law who was born there.
You have to feel for every innocent person impacted on both sides.

You forgot to mention a failing government, trying to garner support from the populace. Not unlike the Gauchos in the South Atlantic.
And even if you can get permission to fly to that area, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of people going in the opposite direction. Take your mum in law for a nice lunch at the Whyte Melville instead.

That will be the feeling that you are approaching Lancashire. Try going up the M1 to get north, you will find a warm welcoming feeling once you reach Woodall services.

Hmm.. the last lot of Leeds plumbers and air con fitters on my last site, were deffo less than friendly. And light fingered. If something went missing, you knew whose tool chest to check first.

Nuff said..

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1254571/uk-crime-rate-by-region/

Yeah, and you offer a link to a site that requires 199 dollars per month. Instant access though.
The fukcers could not be trusted, and would happily trample through your rucksack, and just help themselves to anything. Especially if it was edible. Bye bye sarnies, and your pork pie.
I am not suggesting that this applies to all Yorkshire folk, just the ones from Leeds, that somehow manage to make a living as plumbers.

That's reassuring, I was wondering if Tabby likes/gets on with or even merely tolerates any nationality or section of society? Pretty much all references to others are derogatory and often with a nickname for them and an anocdote to suggest that it is typical of all of their "sort".

Go on Tabs, which is your favourite nationality (other than English / British) and which part of this country has your favourite people?

I have always enjoyed my trips to Germany, nice people, and Berlin is a fabulous city.
As for this country, one of my favourite away days was Huddersfield. Even the local rozzers were friendly. The course of my work has taken me all over the country, and I spent two years working in Leicester, and really enjoyed it.
I dont tar everybody with the same brush, just certain parts of them. Apart from Liverpool, cant stand the place.
Hope that helps.  :D

Excellent, I can go along with Germany, can't beat a bit of bratwurst and weiss bier.

Surprised at Huddersfield, but having spent some time working there, yes, fair enough. Beautiful part of the country and lovely stone buildings in the towns.

Lived in Leicester for a couple of years and also enjoyed it there.

Younger Boy Bingers lives in Liverpool at the moment, for uni and is having a great time, always nice to visit there, but he referees in a dodgy area and I reckon he gets paid more than round here as it is danger money. He has broken up fights between coaches and parents (this is junior football) and for the first ever red card he handed out, it was an 11 year old threatening to break the legs of the person who had done an over zealous challenge. The lad had completely lost it and looked like he meant it.

Peter Bone, another wrong ‘un.

If that’s what you’re like with someone agreeing with you, I’d hate not to disagree with you. Link works fine for me.

Sorry mate, we were at crossed purposes there. I am not too big not to apologise though, where it is relevant.

 ;D ;D No problem at all. I just thought, heaven forbid, he thinks I’m northern  ;D

When I was working down in that there Laandon, open hearing my Dusson accent me duck, they all thought that a massive insult would be to call me a northerner. I just laughed and said, more of a midlander actually.

It’s stereotypical but Northern folk are on the whole friendlier. I always think you can tell by how many people say “good morning” when walking through some green space. In MK for example you hold your wallet and keep your head down. Northamptonshire is a bit friendlier and depends on the demographic. The only exception is Newcastle, which carries scars from the Cobblers trip there. Friendly my arse.
I think I’ll end my days in either the Peaks, Shropshire or Norfolk. My plan is to drive the country for a year until I find the place with the best VFM that I want to retire.

I think there's also an inverse proportionality between population density and friendliness irrespective of whereabouts in the UK you are, although thinking about it, I maybe confusing friendliness with noseyness.
Went to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, PEI and Quebec recently. Couldn't believe how friendly the locals were given I was turning up with a couple of 1000 others all at the same time, and rampaging through and getting lost in their pretty little towns and countryside.
By contrast, even during quieter moments, I can't imagine there's too many people in Gaza atm sharing the time of day.

Peter Bone probably the most unhelpful person I know I hope this will mean a by-election and I can get a decent local MP

Reminds me of the last days of the last tory government, mired in sleaze and wrong doing, time for a change

The current crop of Labour is Conservative Light, just like Blair, for the lazy and work shy.

Don’t get me started Manny. There was some idiot on telly the other night. Her and her husband had 5 kids. She was complaining about her private rental increases and under an eviction order, waiting for a council place. She was saying how renters were being targeted and people with mortgages were so lucky. I’m not sure who she thought could have been paying the mortgage on her rental?!
I have a situation where I am paying a variable mortgage and private rental. I don’t have 5 kids and seem to have navigated what’s going on. It’s just the total lack of personal accountability for the questionable decision making some people make and trying to blame everything on anything but themself.
I had to turn over before putting my boot through the TV.

Unfortunately mate the current crop of youngsters have become so entitled it’s completely ridiculous, the antisemitic BBC ran an article where there was a group of mums with their babies, they were being interviewed about how the cost of living was impacting their lives, one said she could only afford to do one type of baby class a week and even may now have to get a job.
FFS the thought of having to work……absolute w@nkers.

Can't disagree with you re the growing sense of entitlement - where I probably do disagree is a suggestion that being work shy is a left wing characteristic because I believe these individual occupy a broad section of the political spectrum - interesting side point, in my experience the vast proportion of immigrants to the UK have very good work ethics - considerably more so than some in the BBC program you mentioned.

Oh and as for the label on the BBC, you do realise the label semite actually refers to both Jews and Arabs?

Tick Tock! Time for change!

The issue is it’s never really a change. Just another load of BS pushing a slightly different agenda. PM’s questions gets more like reality TV each week and who can get the best jokes in.
I’d rather have someone more popular as PM, I dunno, Idris Elba?!

Unless someone does something really radical to make a tangible change for the masses it’s a bit pointless.

So the change could be for an elected Head of State. Idris Elba for President.

Why would we want a President? It's just another bloody politician, there's too many of them already. >:(

Anyway, Idris Elba is too busy watching Sky box sets! ;)

PR is the change the country needs (and deserves) but the two main parties will never let you have it because if they did, they'd be finished ruling over us.

It’d only end up as a coalition with a different mixture of crooks in the seats.

Why would we want a Monarch? Why should someone be so "important" that they are born into a Head of State role?

Who says the President needs to be a politician?

You didnt like history very much at school, did you?

You've got me wrong there I didn't say we need a monarch either, isn't the Prime Minister the effective head of state?

No, my dad was a history teacher, so I gave it up as soon as I could, which is a shame as it is really interesting.

Sorry, I know I quoted you but the message was for anyone really.

Yes, the Prime Minister is the effective Head of State, so why do we need a pretend one? A question to all, not EB in particular.

Wow. If that's your view then we might as well all give up and accept whatever's thrown at us.

If no political party has sole charge and needs the support of others to govern, they couldn't get away with half the things this Tory shower have. Just look at the feathering of their own nests when the country was on its knees with Covid. What other party would have let them get away with that?

Absolutely - Boris‘s 80 seat majority was a disaster for democracy last time and I fear the same with Labour this time - parodoxically the predominantly right wing press have a full year to demonise KS which will limit the majority even to the point of a hung parliament

UKIP/Reform UK. Largely cut from the same cloth as the Tories. As long as their own blinkered needs were met, I think they would have let them get away with anything and even joined in themselves.

What's the difference between a hung parliament and a parliament achieved through PR?

Proportional representation works in Northern Ireland

The monarchy has not been the same since Megan left, and Queen Camilla seems a poor replacement for the last one. I’ve always advocated a return to the absolute monarchy, but I’m starting to change my mind. However, is it me but democracy doesn’t seem to be without its faults?

I think all are preferable to a dictatorship.

At least with a dictatorship we can all hate and blame the same person and not each other.