https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4wgpdllleo

Starmer at odds with Trump in biggest disagreement yet

captain_spalding said:

:)

The Government Paid O2 to Monitor 25 Million Phones to Track EV Drivers. Nobody Asked Permission.

The Department for Transport commissioned O2 to trawl the web browsing habits and movement data of 25 million devices, including children’s, to identify electric vehicle owners. The study cost £602,000, ran for two years, and was quietly published this week.

Somewhere in the past two years, a version of you was being identified, tagged and tracked by the British government based on whether you visited an EV-related website twice in a month.

Not a suspected criminal. Not a person of interest to law enforcement. A driver who looked at a car charging app or browsed an EV comparison site on their phone, and was consequently flagged by a government-commissioned surveillance programme that tracked their movements across Britain using mobile network data. Children were included. Passengers were included. No individual consented to any of it. Nobody was told it was happening.

A report published this week by the Department for Transport has laid bare the details of a project commissioned in 2023 under the Conservative government, run through mobile network operator O2 and concluded in April 2024 just before Labour came to power. The study cost £602,000 of public money, drawn from the government’s Evaluation Accelerator Fund. Its stated purpose was to produce a “comprehensive evaluation and understanding of the uptake and usage of electric vehicles.”

The methods it used to achieve that purpose are the story.

What O2 Actually Did
O2 runs the mobile infrastructure used not only by its own direct customers but by Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, GiffGaff and Virgin Mobile. The study swept up all of them.

The identification method was blunt: anyone who visited EV-related websites or used EV-related apps at least once a month across two separate months was flagged as a probable electric vehicle owner. That criterion does not describe a car owner. It describes someone who was curious about electric vehicles, was researching one, was a passenger in one, or happened to click a link. Browsing habits were trawled, per The Telegraph’s original reporting. Web history and app records were processed. Children over the age of 12 were not excluded.

Once individuals were flagged, O2 began tracking their physical movements using mobile network location data, the same infrastructure used to triangulate position from which mobile signals are transmitted and received. That data was then supplied to the Department for Transport in what both O2 and the DfT describe as “anonymised and aggregated” form. Neither party released the specific technical details of what anonymisation meant in practice.

O2’s spokesman said the project was “entirely lawful” and that the company complied fully with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. The DfT said the project was lawful and that all data transferred to officials was stripped of individual identities and locations. Civil servants in the DfT’s Advanced Analytics Division and Social and Behavioural Research unit managed the project.

The Technical Limitations the Government Did Not Advertise
The most revealing section of the DfT’s own published report is also the least quoted in the political coverage.

After two years and £602,000, the department concluded that mobile data could not directly be used to provide information about charging behaviour or travel times. The specific questions the study was designed to answer, where EVs are kept overnight, trip frequency, origin-destination patterns, charging locations, were not answerable from the data collected. The report notes that mobile data may be useful for monitoring overarching trends, but the granular operational intelligence the study sought was beyond what the technology could deliver.

The government spent two years tracking 25 million devices, including children, without consent, using methods described by critics as equivalent to law enforcement surveillance techniques, and concluded that the data was too imprecise to answer the questions it was designed to address.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MotorBuzz/comments/1rj7zss/the_government_paid_o2_to_monitor_25_million/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxg76rgdp7o

Dozens of hereditary peers are set to lose their seats in the House of Lords, after the passage of a bill that will end a parliamentary role dating back hundreds of years.

Peers passed the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill after ministers offered a compromise to end a long-running dispute with opponents of the reform.

The majority of hereditary peers, who inherit their titles through their families, were abolished in 1999 under the last Labour government and this bill gets rid of the last remaining 92.

- – -

Speaking of Lords Temporal…

dv said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxg76rgdp7o

Dozens of hereditary peers are set to lose their seats in the House of Lords, after the passage of a bill that will end a parliamentary role dating back hundreds of years.

Peers passed the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill after ministers offered a compromise to end a long-running dispute with opponents of the reform.

The majority of hereditary peers, who inherit their titles through their families, were abolished in 1999 under the last Labour government and this bill gets rid of the last remaining 92.

- – -

Speaking of Lords Temporal…

The Chaps won’t be happy, won’t be happy at all.

dv said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxg76rgdp7o

Dozens of hereditary peers are set to lose their seats in the House of Lords, after the passage of a bill that will end a parliamentary role dating back hundreds of years.

Peers passed the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill after ministers offered a compromise to end a long-running dispute with opponents of the reform.

The majority of hereditary peers, who inherit their titles through their families, were abolished in 1999 under the last Labour government and this bill gets rid of the last remaining 92.

- – -

Speaking of Lords Temporal…

So are they going to get rid of the other people with inherited governmental positions?

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxg76rgdp7o

Dozens of hereditary peers are set to lose their seats in the House of Lords, after the passage of a bill that will end a parliamentary role dating back hundreds of years.

Peers passed the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill after ministers offered a compromise to end a long-running dispute with opponents of the reform.

The majority of hereditary peers, who inherit their titles through their families, were abolished in 1999 under the last Labour government and this bill gets rid of the last remaining 92.

- – -

Speaking of Lords Temporal…

The Chaps won’t be happy, won’t be happy at all.

Interestingly there will still be a couple dozen Lords Spiritual.

I wonder if eventually there will be an elected HOL.

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxg76rgdp7o

Dozens of hereditary peers are set to lose their seats in the House of Lords, after the passage of a bill that will end a parliamentary role dating back hundreds of years.

Peers passed the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill after ministers offered a compromise to end a long-running dispute with opponents of the reform.

The majority of hereditary peers, who inherit their titles through their families, were abolished in 1999 under the last Labour government and this bill gets rid of the last remaining 92.

- – -

Speaking of Lords Temporal…

So are they going to get rid of the other people with inherited governmental positions?

Steady, steady …

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxg76rgdp7o

Dozens of hereditary peers are set to lose their seats in the House of Lords, after the passage of a bill that will end a parliamentary role dating back hundreds of years.

Peers passed the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill after ministers offered a compromise to end a long-running dispute with opponents of the reform.

The majority of hereditary peers, who inherit their titles through their families, were abolished in 1999 under the last Labour government and this bill gets rid of the last remaining 92.

- – -

Speaking of Lords Temporal…

So are they going to get rid of the other people with inherited governmental positions?

Steady, steady …

isn’t the technofascist plan to remove any kind of biological inheritance from power structures altogether

SCIENCE said:

They’ve obviously had a sleepover.

Not AI

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5789383-florida-bill-to-ban-marrying-first-cousins-fails-to-pass/

A win for traditional values

dv said:

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5789383-florida-bill-to-ban-marrying-first-cousins-fails-to-pass/

A win for traditional values

wait are we saying that these traditions are taking them back to their colonial era

making the world safer one bomb oil tanker theocracy at a time

Four ambulances belonging to a Jewish community ambulance service have been set on fire and destroyed in London in what police say is an antisemitic hate crime. The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into the incident which occurred in Golders Green, a largely Jewish neighbourhood, in the early hours of Monday morning, local time. Explosions were heard in the area around the Machzike Hadath synagogue and police say that was due to gas canisters onboard the Hatzola Northwest ambulances.

https://www.labourtogether.uk/council-sim

beautiful

‘River of raw sewage’ pours down UK street with ‘biohazard’ faeces flooding road and path

Horrified residents in Stoke-on-Trent were left to clean up after raw sewage including poo, toilet paper and nappies poured down their street when drains overflowed during heavy rain

SCIENCE said:

beautiful

‘River of raw sewage’ pours down UK street with ‘biohazard’ faeces flooding road and path

Horrified residents in Stoke-on-Trent were left to clean up after raw sewage including poo, toilet paper and nappies poured down their street when drains overflowed during heavy rain

Liquid gold.

roughbarked said:

SCIENCE said:

beautiful

‘River of raw sewage’ pours down UK street with ‘biohazard’ faeces flooding road and path

Horrified residents in Stoke-on-Trent were left to clean up after raw sewage including poo, toilet paper and nappies poured down their street when drains overflowed during heavy rain

Liquid gold.

Texas T

Cymek said:

roughbarked said:

SCIENCE said:

beautiful

‘River of raw sewage’ pours down UK street with ‘biohazard’ faeces flooding road and path

Horrified residents in Stoke-on-Trent were left to clean up after raw sewage including poo, toilet paper and nappies poured down their street when drains overflowed during heavy rain

Liquid gold.

Texas T

The commentators out there are calling it brexshit.

SCIENCE said:

Cymek said:

roughbarked said:

Liquid gold.

Texas T

The commentators out there are calling it brexshit.

As they should.

I wonder what effect Trump’s newfound distaste for all things British will have on the prospects of his ‘Reform’ and his fellow travellers in thrall of Farage.

Nigel Farage’s biggest problem? Donald Trump

Ben Quinn
Political correspondent

Nearly a quarter of voters cite Reform leader’s support for US president as main reason against voting for his party

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/31/nigel-farage-reform-biggest-problem-donald-trump

Nigel Farage to snub US conservative conference brought to UK by Liz Truss

Exclusive: Reform UK will be ‘steering well clear’ of CPAC event in July, source says, as will senior Tories

Helena Horton and Ben Quinn
Tue 31 Mar 2026 21.11 AEDT

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/31/nigel-farage-snub-us-conservative-conference-cpac-uk-liz-truss

New YouGov poll for Great Britain (ie excluding NI)

Reform 23%
Green 19%
Con 19%
Labour 18%
LibDem 12%
SNP 3%
Cymru 1%

It’s mad that they are still using First Past The Post when the voters are like this, but anyway. There’s an opportunity for the leftward side of the table to clean up, if they coordinate well.

dv said:

New YouGov poll for Great Britain (ie excluding NI)

Reform 23%
Green 19%
Con 19%
Labour 18%
LibDem 12%
SNP 3%
Cymru 1%

It’s mad that they are still using First Past The Post when the voters are like this, but anyway. There’s an opportunity for the leftward side of the table to clean up, ifthey coordinate well.

that’s

alleged

well chuff along, hurry up then

Oakeshott was the political editor of The Sunday Times.

dv said:

Oakeshott was the political editor of The Sunday Times.

Any relation to Rob?

;)

ruby said:

dv said:

I mean a cynical person might suppose that all of this was so that Trump and his clique could use insider knowledge to play the markets.

And as an added bonus to his clique, the instability will send some businesses and farms broke so the cashed up can snap them up cheap.

LOL amateurs why would anyone do such a primitive uncivilised thing as lifting 1000000000 people out of poverty when

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-06/broken-britain-poverty-crisis-pushing-voters-to-reform-uk/106354940

you could send 50000000 people below the line instead

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c393rwvzejyo

Is this still available?

dv said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c393rwvzejyo

Is this still available?

My great-aunt shot Mussolini in the face, if that is what you’re asking…

dv said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c393rwvzejyo

Is this still available?

My great-aunt shot Mussolini in the face

Tis for me.

furious said:

dv said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c393rwvzejyo

Is this still available?

My great-aunt shot Mussolini in the face, if that is what you’re asking…

I don’t think you catch my drift

dv said:

furious said:

dv said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c393rwvzejyo

Is this still available?

My great-aunt shot Mussolini in the face, if that is what you’re asking…

I don’t think you catch my drift

Yes, we need a modern-day Violet Gibson.

kii said:

dv said:

furious said:

My great-aunt shot Mussolini in the face, if that is what you’re asking…

I don’t think you catch my drift

Yes, we need a modern-day Violet Gibson.

totally different to the ear thing

alleged

we mean as Australians we can’t talk, did they electroshock the fella

SCIENCE said:

alleged

we mean as Australians we can’t talk, did they electroshock the fella

Pharque.

The chap seems to be holding up in Wales.

Not a bad portrayal of UK prime ministers in movies, presented by Dan Snow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0TbAn6JfD0

Russell Brand’s controversial appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored has been widely ridiculed online after the former comedian spent over 90 seconds attempting and failing to find a Bible passage he read in court.

Brand, 50, will face trial later this year over allegations of rape and sexual assault made against him by six women. He denies all the charges, which date from 1999 to 2009.

While appearing on Morgan’s YouTube show on Friday (24 April), Brand – who became a right-wing podcaster in 2021 and a Christian last year – was asked about taking a Bible into his court hearing in February. The religious text was confiscated by the dock officer after he began reading it in Southwark Crown Court.

“Can I go back to asking you a question about your Bible?” Morgan asked Brand. “Is that the one you took into court? What was your thinking of taking it into court and you were seen looking at some passages – what were the relevant passages?”

“It was this from Isiah,” he said, before looking through his Bible for over 90 seconds of excruciating silence.

After almost two minutes of searching in silence while Morgan shot awkward looks at the camera, Brand finally gave up, admitting: “I can’t actually find the verse that I had that day but this is good enough. This is from Isiah 12.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/russell-brand-piers-morgan-interview-bible-passage-b2964889.html

Robert Reich’s Coffee Clatch
29 minutes

Oregon’s Bay Area is feeling inspired.

Good morning! If today’s news feels like it was assembled by six different editors who have never spoken to each other, that’s because it was. Depending on where you look, we are either on the brink of a global recession, in the middle of a triumphant stock market rally, negotiating peace with Iran, not negotiating with Iran at all, being stalked by shadowy forces targeting scientists, or… bringing back firing squads.

Let’s start with the small matter of the global economy hanging by an oil tanker. The war with Iran has now tightened the Strait of Hormuz to where something like normal no longer applies. A critical artery of global energy supply is choked, oil is hovering around $100 a barrel, gasoline in the U.S. has crossed $4, and the world’s top economic institutions are gently clearing their throats and using phrases like “recession risk” in the tone one might use to describe a hurricane that has already made landfall. The International Energy Agency is calling this the largest energy crisis in history, with hundreds of millions of barrels effectively removed from circulation and infrastructure damage that could take months or years to repair.

Somehow, this is also being presented as a diplomatic breakthrough. Donald Trump says Iran is preparing an offer that will satisfy U.S. demands. His envoys are being dispatched to Pakistan. The White House is projecting momentum, progress, and forward motion. Iran, on the other hand, is saying: we are not negotiating, do not call this negotiation, we will not negotiate until the United States lifts its blockade. We have, once again, two parallel realities: one in which a deal is forming, and another in which the premise of the deal does not exist.

This might be easier to take seriously if we weren’t also dealing with the small historical footnote that the current crisis is, in large part, self-inflicted. The Obama-era nuclear deal, imperfect, limited, and politically unpopular in certain circles, nonetheless forced Iran to ship out roughly 97 percent of its uranium stockpile, leaving it without enough material for even a single bomb. Then Trump tore it up, declared it the “worst deal ever,” and replaced it with nothing. Iran responded by enriching uranium “with a vengeance,” building up a stockpile now measured in tons, enough, with further processing, for dozens of nuclear weapons.

So here we are: the same administration that dismantled the system containing Iran’s nuclear program is now attempting to negotiate the elimination of a stockpile that grew because that system was dismantled. This is a man trying to negotiate with the consequences of his own decisions and insisting, loudly, that the new deal will be better than the one that prevented the problem in the first place.

In a completely different universe, one located somewhere between Wall Street and the collective denial of reality, everything is apparently going great. The Nasdaq is up 15 percent this month. The S&P 500 is hitting record highs. Tech stocks are soaring on the back of AI enthusiasm, and investors have decided that the United States can simply power through an energy shock because it produces a lot of oil and really likes semiconductors.

To be clear: the same moment that is producing warnings of recession, disrupted global supply chains, rising inflation expectations, and gasoline prices creeping upward is also producing what Bank of America politely describes as “bubble-like price action.”

Even central bankers are starting to sound uncomfortable. Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden, whose job description does not typically include public anxiety, has warned that markets appear to be ignoring multiple overlapping risks. Translation: asset prices are behaving as though nothing is wrong, while a number of very large things are, in fact, wrong.

It’s almost impressive. The market has looked at war, oil shocks, supply chain disruption, and tightening financial conditions and concluded: have you considered buying more chips?

Which brings us to the part of the story that should be obvious by now but somehow isn’t. If one war can push the global economy toward recession because oil shipments slow down, refineries get hit, and shipping lanes become geopolitical choke points, then fossil fuels are not a source of stability. They are a structural vulnerability.

Even as this becomes painfully clear, the United States is managing to trip over its own solutions. Across the country, solar projects, cheap, scalable, and increasingly essential, are being stalled or blocked because of unfounded health fears. Critics warn about electromagnetic radiation, contamination, noise, and other hazards, even though environmental lawyer Michael Gerrard put it bluntly: “there’s no basis for that.” One farmer whose solar lease was blocked was even more direct: “The health and safety issue… that is just a joke.”

Yet, the fear works. As Arizona State law professor Troy Rule noted, restrictions on solar development are spreading nationwide, often rooted in “misinformation or unfounded fears.” Public officials do not always test those claims against evidence. In St. Clair County, Michigan, one administrator warned that the county medical director’s memo “did not address the question or provide support” for the alleged risks. Another local official accepted it anyway.
While not every local solar fight can be traced to fossil-fuel money, the broader pattern is not exactly subtle. The Energy and Policy Institute has documented fossil-fuel interests, dark-money networks, and allied front groups working to block wind and solar projects before they are built, while earlier ProPublica reporting found a retired gas-industry executive and a “grassroots” group spreading misinformation against an Ohio solar project.

This is not merely organic local anxiety; it is anxiety made politically useful. The public-facing message is health and safety; the material result is delay, scarcity, and protection for the fossil-fuel business model. The health concerns may be unfounded, but the economic incentives are not.

You could stop there and call this a misinformation problem, but it’s more than that. Solar doesn’t just generate electricity; it disrupts an established business model. It reduces dependence on extraction, centralization, and scarcity, the very conditions that have historically made fossil fuels so profitable. So instead of adapting, the system does what it does best: it manufactures doubt, amplifies fear, and slows the transition just enough to preserve existing revenue streams.

Industry-specific economic incentives remain, and that’s how you end up in a world where a global energy crisis is unfolding in real time, and we are still arguing about whether the sun is dangerous.

If the economic reality is fragmented, the informational reality is something closer to… interpretive fiction. A conspiracy theory about missing and dead scientists, originating in the usual corners of the internet, has now made its way into the White House. The theory suggests a coordinated pattern of disappearances tied to sensitive research. The problem is that there is no evidence linking the cases, many of which already have explanations ranging from unrelated crimes to simple misidentification. But that hasn’t stopped it from being taken seriously enough to prompt investigations and public commentary from the president.

This is the pattern: speculation becomes narrative, narrative becomes repetition, repetition becomes “something we’re looking into,” and suddenly the absence of evidence is just another detail to be resolved later.

Which brings us, inevitably, to the darkest corner of today’s news cycle. While all of this is unfolding, war, economic fragility, informational breakdown, the Justice Department has decided it is a good time to expand the federal government’s execution methods. Not just resume executions, but broaden them: firing squads, electric chairs, gas, alongside the restoration of a previously contested lethal injection protocol.

There are some headlines you can process. This isn’t one of them, because this is not only about law enforcement; it is about moral authority. Taking a life, if it happens at all, is so profound and irreversible that it should never be reduced to bureaucracy, politics, or performance. It belongs, as much as anything human can, to a state of grace, not a checklist in a federal protocol.

The state presents execution as procedure: regulated, justified, operational. But human beings experience death as sacred rupture. What feels so offensive here is the normalization. The bureaucratic flattening of the unthinkable. A government calmly updating the menu of acceptable ways to kill a person, as though this were an administrative modernization rather than an expansion of state violence.

A system that treats killing as tragic is one thing. A system that treats killing as necessary is another. A system that treats killing as normal, even useful, even politically clarifying, even proof of strength, has crossed into something far darker. It’s not just that the machinery of death is being restarted, but that it is being expanded with visible comfort. The method becomes the message, and the spectacle becomes the point. The state is not merely saying it can kill; it is making sure we understand that killing has been reabsorbed into ordinary governance.

Today’s news is dissonant. War is sold as negotiation, markets celebrate risk, and misinformation shapes policy, and the system that underpins all of it, the one that ties energy, economics, and geopolitics together, continues to run on a resource that turns every conflict into a global crisis. We do not have an energy-security system; we have a ransom note with pipelines.

For me, today is a little more grounded. My oldest son, John, is coming to visit and help me wrestle the yards back into submission, front and back. Marz, of course, is thrilled. John is one of the few humans who understands that “playing” with Marz is less a pastime and more a full-contact sport.

So we’ll take the wins where we can: fresh air, dirt under our nails, a dog who thinks life is perfect because someone showed up ready to wrestle.

Enjoy your weekend. Take care of each other. As always, Marz and I hold you all in our thoughts during our moonbeam vigils.

I missed the news that Oregon got annexed to the UK

Divine Angel said:

I missed the news that Oregon got annexed to the UK

so bite me.

🪓🦖

ChrispenEvan said:

Divine Angel said:

I missed the news that Oregon got annexed to the UK

so bite me.

🪓🦖

is that a uk slang for something

Meanwhile

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/bus-lane-pensioner-fears-punished-33833492

dv said:

Meanwhile

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/bus-lane-pensioner-fears-punished-33833492

👀

dv said:

Meanwhile

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/bus-lane-pensioner-fears-punished-33833492

Gormless chappy.

dv said:

Meanwhile

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/bus-lane-pensioner-fears-punished-33833492

saw that. some of the comments told him he was fined because he was in a bus lane not because he had a reform sticker on his car.

roughbarked said:

Banksy podcaster Peak added: “It’s really clever. It captures a very precise moment in time, which most statues never manage to do, where the flag’s kind of blinding this puffed up, besuited leader who’s about to step off a precipice and look very silly indeed. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4pvyw82exo

oh did someone think they were stating about them

CloakedTruth Community Group ·
The Truth Seeker

Sharia Law and it’s threat to the UK – Shomrim (The Jewish Police force operating in North London) and Beth Din (The Jewish version of Sharia Law)

Both Sharia councils and Jewish Beth Din courts use the same British law—the Arbitration Act 1996. This allows people to settle civil disputes (like divorce or business rows) through religious scholars.

If both sides agree, the decision is legally binding in a UK court. But you only hear about the “danger” of this when it involves Islam.

Beth Din has been operating in the UK for decades. It is essentially a court that makes legal decisions between members of the Jewish community.

As with Sharia Law, the people participating must agree to the legal authority to manage their case. Without this the default would be the UK court system.

Shomrim is the Jewish Police force, made up of volunteers and funded by the Jewish community. They have marked vehicles and work closely with the Met police.

But domestic perception is being carefully crafted. Because the UK government maintains a strong alliance with Israel, Jewish institutions are framed as integrated and “safe.”

Conversely, Islam is often framed through the lens of conflict. By making “Sharia” a dirty word, the media creates a hierarchy where one religion is trusted to self-regulate, while the other is treated with constant suspicion.

Fairness and equality mean applying the same standard to everyone. If we are okay with religious arbitration and community safety patrols for one group, we cannot use them as a weapon to demonise another.

It’s time to stop falling for the headlines and start looking at the laws that already exist for everyone.

I don’t support Sharia Law, but I don’t support this Beth Din either. But then I’m not Muslim or Jewish. So I guess if I was either of those, I would appreciate the recognition that our religions and customs are different and therefore require some level of input from our religious entities in deciding what is fair and equal.

There are those that say UK law should always apply to anyone living within the UK. And that is not a nasty view to take. But when it’s only applied to one religion while another is given free reign, this isn’t equal or fair. It is discrimination against a people based on their religion.

Don’t fall for the narrative.

ChrispenEvan said:

CloakedTruth Community Group ·
The Truth Seeker

Sharia Law and it’s threat to the UK – Shomrim (The Jewish Police force operating in North London) and Beth Din (The Jewish version of Sharia Law)

Both Sharia councils and Jewish Beth Din courts use the same British law—the Arbitration Act 1996. This allows people to settle civil disputes (like divorce or business rows) through religious scholars.

If both sides agree, the decision is legally binding in a UK court. But you only hear about the “danger” of this when it involves Islam.

Beth Din has been operating in the UK for decades. It is essentially a court that makes legal decisions between members of the Jewish community.

As with Sharia Law, the people participating must agree to the legal authority to manage their case. Without this the default would be the UK court system.

Shomrim is the Jewish Police force, made up of volunteers and funded by the Jewish community. They have marked vehicles and work closely with the Met police.

But domestic perception is being carefully crafted. Because the UK government maintains a strong alliance with Israel, Jewish institutions are framed as integrated and “safe.”

Conversely, Islam is often framed through the lens of conflict. By making “Sharia” a dirty word, the media creates a hierarchy where one religion is trusted to self-regulate, while the other is treated with constant suspicion.

Fairness and equality mean applying the same standard to everyone. If we are okay with religious arbitration and community safety patrols for one group, we cannot use them as a weapon to demonise another.

It’s time to stop falling for the headlines and start looking at the laws that already exist for everyone.

I don’t support Sharia Law, but I don’t support this Beth Din either. But then I’m not Muslim or Jewish. So I guess if I was either of those, I would appreciate the recognition that our religions and customs are different and therefore require some level of input from our religious entities in deciding what is fair and equal.

There are those that say UK law should always apply to anyone living within the UK. And that is not a nasty view to take. But when it’s only applied to one religion while another is given free reign, this isn’t equal or fair. It is discrimination against a people based on their religion.

Don’t fall for the narrative.

I agree with Ms. or Mr. Truth Seeker.

So what is the position with religion based laws in Aus?

The Rev Dodgson said:

ChrispenEvan said:

CloakedTruth Community Group ·
The Truth Seeker

Sharia Law and it’s threat to the UK – Shomrim (The Jewish Police force operating in North London) and Beth Din (The Jewish version of Sharia Law)

Both Sharia councils and Jewish Beth Din courts use the same British law—the Arbitration Act 1996. This allows people to settle civil disputes (like divorce or business rows) through religious scholars.

If both sides agree, the decision is legally binding in a UK court. But you only hear about the “danger” of this when it involves Islam.

Beth Din has been operating in the UK for decades. It is essentially a court that makes legal decisions between members of the Jewish community.

As with Sharia Law, the people participating must agree to the legal authority to manage their case. Without this the default would be the UK court system.

Shomrim is the Jewish Police force, made up of volunteers and funded by the Jewish community. They have marked vehicles and work closely with the Met police.

But domestic perception is being carefully crafted. Because the UK government maintains a strong alliance with Israel, Jewish institutions are framed as integrated and “safe.”

Conversely, Islam is often framed through the lens of conflict. By making “Sharia” a dirty word, the media creates a hierarchy where one religion is trusted to self-regulate, while the other is treated with constant suspicion.

Fairness and equality mean applying the same standard to everyone. If we are okay with religious arbitration and community safety patrols for one group, we cannot use them as a weapon to demonise another.

It’s time to stop falling for the headlines and start looking at the laws that already exist for everyone.

I don’t support Sharia Law, but I don’t support this Beth Din either. But then I’m not Muslim or Jewish. So I guess if I was either of those, I would appreciate the recognition that our religions and customs are different and therefore require some level of input from our religious entities in deciding what is fair and equal.

There are those that say UK law should always apply to anyone living within the UK. And that is not a nasty view to take. But when it’s only applied to one religion while another is given free reign, this isn’t equal or fair. It is discrimination against a people based on their religion.

Don’t fall for the narrative.

I agree with Ms. or Mr. Truth Seeker.

So what is the position with religion based laws in Aus?

from a shallow google australia has both and like britain they don’t overrule secular common laws.

ChrispenEvan said:

CloakedTruth Community Group ·
The Truth Seeker

Sharia Law and it’s threat to the UK – Shomrim (The Jewish Police force operating in North London) and Beth Din (The Jewish version of Sharia Law)

Both Sharia councils and Jewish Beth Din courts use the same British law—the Arbitration Act 1996. This allows people to settle civil disputes (like divorce or business rows) through religious scholars.

If both sides agree, the decision is legally binding in a UK court. But you only hear about the “danger” of this when it involves Islam.

Beth Din has been operating in the UK for decades. It is essentially a court that makes legal decisions between members of the Jewish community.

As with Sharia Law, the people participating must agree to the legal authority to manage their case. Without this the default would be the UK court system.

Shomrim is the Jewish Police force, made up of volunteers and funded by the Jewish community. They have marked vehicles and work closely with the Met police.

But domestic perception is being carefully crafted. Because the UK government maintains a strong alliance with Israel, Jewish institutions are framed as integrated and “safe.”

Conversely, Islam is often framed through the lens of conflict. By making “Sharia” a dirty word, the media creates a hierarchy where one religion is trusted to self-regulate, while the other is treated with constant suspicion.

Fairness and equality mean applying the same standard to everyone. If we are okay with religious arbitration and community safety patrols for one group, we cannot use them as a weapon to demonise another.

It’s time to stop falling for the headlines and start looking at the laws that already exist for everyone.

I don’t support Sharia Law, but I don’t support this Beth Din either. But then I’m not Muslim or Jewish. So I guess if I was either of those, I would appreciate the recognition that our religions and customs are different and therefore require some level of input from our religious entities in deciding what is fair and equal.

There are those that say UK law should always apply to anyone living within the UK. And that is not a nasty view to take. But when it’s only applied to one religion while another is given free reign, this isn’t equal or fair. It is discrimination against a people based on their religion.

Don’t fall for the narrative.

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

Steady on, that’s a bit drastic.
But if push comes to shove the chaps in The City will look after the chap, it’s what chaps do.
They’ll arrange a sinecure for the chap and it’ll be all tickety-boo, nice and tidy 123.

Labor and the Conservatives are not doing well in the council elections.
Reform is doing very well unfortunately.

Peak Warming Man said:

Labor and the Conservatives are not doing well in the council elections.
Reform is doing very well unfortunately.

You’d‘ve thought that the UK would’ve had enough of Farage, considering the Brexit debacle.

Michael V said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Labor and the Conservatives are not doing well in the council elections.
Reform is doing very well unfortunately.

You’d‘ve thought that the UK would’ve had enough of Farage, considering the Brexit debacle.

Large tracts of the country are inherently small minded and racist it seems. Since Brexit the immigrant population has shifted from being (white) EU citizens using their free movement rights to those from Africa and South Asia. The government won’t cut back on immigration because businesses reckons they need the workers. To the average Brit immigration has become more noticeable and seems to have increased sharply since Brexit. It seems easier to blame everything on them.

party_pants said:

Michael V said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Labor and the Conservatives are not doing well in the council elections.
Reform is doing very well unfortunately.

You’d‘ve thought that the UK would’ve had enough of Farage, considering the Brexit debacle.

Large tracts of the country are inherently small minded and racist it seems. Since Brexit the immigrant population has shifted from being (white) EU citizens using their free movement rights to those from Africa and South Asia. The government won’t cut back on immigration because businesses reckons they need the workers. To the average Brit immigration has become more noticeable and seems to have increased sharply since Brexit. It seems easier to blame everything on them.

Unfortunate.

Sigh.

We have enough of it here. I hope it doesn’t keep multiplying. But I’m not holding my breath.

Michael V said:

party_pants said:

Michael V said:

You’d‘ve thought that the UK would’ve had enough of Farage, considering the Brexit debacle.

Large tracts of the country are inherently small minded and racist it seems. Since Brexit the immigrant population has shifted from being (white) EU citizens using their free movement rights to those from Africa and South Asia. The government won’t cut back on immigration because businesses reckons they need the workers. To the average Brit immigration has become more noticeable and seems to have increased sharply since Brexit. It seems easier to blame everything on them.

Unfortunate.

Sigh.

We have enough of it here. I hope it doesn’t keep multiplying. But I’m not holding my breath.

shrug

Maybe it is just default natural human behavior and people need to be trained out of it. Attachment to the group and a distrust or fear of outsiders and all that. Perhaps it had some evolutionary advantage back in the distant past, but now our societies have advanced faster that our evolution can keep up.

shrug

party_pants said:

Michael V said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Labor and the Conservatives are not doing well in the council elections.
Reform is doing very well unfortunately.

You’d‘ve thought that the UK would’ve had enough of Farage, considering the Brexit debacle.

Large tracts of the country are inherently small minded and racist it seems. Since Brexit the immigrant population has shifted from being (white) EU citizens using their free movement rights to those from Africa and South Asia. The government won’t cut back on immigration because businesses reckons they need the workers. To the average Brit immigration has become more noticeable and seems to have increased sharply since Brexit. It seems easier to blame everything on them.

Britain’s had a racist stance on Pakistani’s for a while haven’t they going back as I remember to those old school comedies were the language is derogatory to them
Obviously long before then but it shows it was part of common culture.
Its weird the anti-immigration stance, its a simple minded approach.
Some might have merit such as a specific population being more criminally minded if they come from some despot regime were its a daily survival tactic.
Housing seems to be a big one, what’s forgotten is the greed of the owners and real estate charging the prices they do.
Plus we all knew as climate change started we’d have more immigrants as their nations likely already tenuously crap places to live get worse.

Cymek said:

party_pants said:

Michael V said:

You’d‘ve thought that the UK would’ve had enough of Farage, considering the Brexit debacle.

Large tracts of the country are inherently small minded and racist it seems. Since Brexit the immigrant population has shifted from being (white) EU citizens using their free movement rights to those from Africa and South Asia. The government won’t cut back on immigration because businesses reckons they need the workers. To the average Brit immigration has become more noticeable and seems to have increased sharply since Brexit. It seems easier to blame everything on them.

Britain’s had a racist stance on Pakistani’s for a while haven’t they going back as I remember to those old school comedies were the language is derogatory to them
Obviously long before then but it shows it was part of common culture.
Its weird the anti-immigration stance, its a simple minded approach.
Some might have merit such as a specific population being more criminally minded if they come from some despot regime were its a daily survival tactic.
Housing seems to be a big one, what’s forgotten is the greed of the owners and real estate charging the prices they do.
Plus we all knew as climate change started we’d have more immigrants as their nations likely already tenuously crap places to live get worse.

Plus to be bleeding obvious and I checked to see the percentage
Non-white people make up around 85% of the worlds population so you will see more of them.

party_pants said:

Michael V said:

party_pants said:

Large tracts of the country are inherently small minded and racist it seems. Since Brexit the immigrant population has shifted from being (white) EU citizens using their free movement rights to those from Africa and South Asia. The government won’t cut back on immigration because businesses reckons they need the workers. To the average Brit immigration has become more noticeable and seems to have increased sharply since Brexit. It seems easier to blame everything on them.

Unfortunate.

Sigh.

We have enough of it here. I hope it doesn’t keep multiplying. But I’m not holding my breath.

shrug

Maybe it is just default natural human behavior and people need to be trained out of it. Attachment to the group and a distrust or fear of outsiders and all that. Perhaps it had some evolutionary advantage back in the distant past, but now our societies have advanced faster that our evolution can keep up.

shrug

Likely.

party_pants said:

Michael V said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Labor and the Conservatives are not doing well in the council elections.
Reform is doing very well unfortunately.

You’d‘ve thought that the UK would’ve had enough of Farage, considering the Brexit debacle.

Large tracts of the country are inherently small minded and racist it seems. Since Brexit the immigrant population has shifted from being (white) EU citizens using their free movement rights to those from Africa and South Asia. The government won’t cut back on immigration because businesses reckons they need the workers. To the average Brit immigration has become more noticeable and seems to have increased sharply since Brexit. It seems easier to blame everything on them.

That, and the Labs are on the nose with voters because (1) they haven’t really delivered on their reform agenda (2) they cut very popular programs like the winter fuel allowance (3) immigration, immigration, immigration, (4) the Labs are super fragmented and losing support of the Greens (which is essentially what they need to govern) and (5) Keir Starmer is broadly unpopular given the fact has has all the charisma of a potato.

diddly-squat said:

party_pants said:

Michael V said:

You’d‘ve thought that the UK would’ve had enough of Farage, considering the Brexit debacle.

Large tracts of the country are inherently small minded and racist it seems. Since Brexit the immigrant population has shifted from being (white) EU citizens using their free movement rights to those from Africa and South Asia. The government won’t cut back on immigration because businesses reckons they need the workers. To the average Brit immigration has become more noticeable and seems to have increased sharply since Brexit. It seems easier to blame everything on them.

That, and the Labs are on the nose with voters because (1) they haven’t really delivered on their reform agenda (2) they cut very popular programs like the winter fuel allowance (3) immigration, immigration, immigration, (4) the Labs are super fragmented and losing support of the Greens (which is essentially what they need to govern) and (5) Keir Starmer is broadly unpopular given the fact has has all the charisma of a potato.

They won a very large majority (over 400 seats out of 650) at the last election and comfortably govern in their own right in the Commons, they don’t need the support of the Greens or Lib Dems or anybody else. I agree with the rest, economically they have been non-reformist and largely just let the status quo drift on, with things getting slightly worse each year for the average Brit.

Ah well yous already know what we’re calling this so yeah.

good news, communism in retreat as fascism saves the world

Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, that picked up 641 seats and took control of three councils — the counties of Suffolk and Essex in eastern England and the central town of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

SCIENCE said:

good news, communism in retreat as fascism saves the world

Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, that picked up 641 seats and took control of three councils — the counties of Suffolk and Essex in eastern England and the central town of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

SCIENCE said:

SCIENCE said:

good news, communism in retreat as fascism saves the world

Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, that picked up 641 seats and took control of three councils — the counties of Suffolk and Essex in eastern England and the central town of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

If they want to flush themselves down the fascist toilet, we can at least point and laugh.

Bubblecar said:

SCIENCE said:

SCIENCE said:

good news, communism in retreat as fascism saves the world

Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, that picked up 641 seats and took control of three councils — the counties of Suffolk and Essex in eastern England and the central town of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

If they want to flush themselves down the fascist toilet, we can at least point and laugh.

doesn’t Australia follow the motherland

SCIENCE said:

Bubblecar said:

SCIENCE said:

If they want to flush themselves down the fascist toilet, we can at least point and laugh.

doesn’t Australia follow the motherland

Let’s hope not.

Plaid Cymru has gained 30 seats in the Senedd (the Welsh assembly) and become the major party in that body. They will for the first time be the governing party.

In the Scottish Parliamentary elections, SNP have lost a couple of seats and will probably end with 58 out of 129. This is not a majority but they will remain the governing party.

so no balkanisation yet

“Starmer faces Aussie challenger for UK PM”

Good Lord, a convict, challenging the Chap and a woman, no good will come of it.
She’s no Iron Lady that’s for sure.

Peak Warming Man said:

“Starmer faces Aussie challenger for UK PM”

Tones?

🧅🧅

Peak Warming Man said:

“Starmer faces Aussie challenger for UK PM”

Good Lord, a convict, challenging the Chap and a woman, no good will come of it.
She’s no Iron Lady that’s for sure.

got a link?

party_pants said:

Peak Warming Man said:

“Starmer faces Aussie challenger for UK PM”

Good Lord, a convict, challenging the Chap and a woman, no good will come of it.
She’s no Iron Lady that’s for sure.

got a link?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-10/uk-lawmaker-threatens-to-challenge-keir-starmer-/106662892

Bogsnorkler said:

Peak Warming Man said:

“Starmer faces Aussie challenger for UK PM”

Tones?

🧅🧅

I thought that the Mad Abbott of raw onion eating fame was set to become the next president of the Liberal Party.

Michael V said:

Bogsnorkler said:

Peak Warming Man said:

“Starmer faces Aussie challenger for UK PM”

Tones?

🧅🧅

I thought that the Mad Abbott of raw onion eating fame was set to become the next president of the Liberal Party.

Apparently so.

Bogsnorkler said:

Peak Warming Man said:

“Starmer faces Aussie challenger for UK PM”

Tones?

🧅🧅

It’s possible, as he was born there.

Zack Polanski, the UK Greens’ leader:

I thought dental was included on the NHS.

Am I am awful person?

Witty Rejoinder said:

Zack Polanski, the UK Greens’ leader:

I thought dental was included on the NHS.

Am I am awful person?

worse than Ivan Milat!

Witty Rejoinder said:

Zack Polanski, the UK Greens’ leader:

I thought dental was included on the NHS.

Am I am awful person?

At least Kimmie got hers knocked out in a ritual ceremony.

Bogsnorkler said:

they’re still winning so go on giggling at the rough edges

Bogsnorkler said:

Missing Scientists thread ➡️

or do we need a Missing Politicians thread

Divine Angel said:

Bogsnorkler said:

Missing Scientists thread ➡️

or do we need a Missing Politicians thread

Missing morons more like.

SCIENCE said:

Bogsnorkler said:

they’re still winning so go on giggling at the rough edges

“Bugger that for a game of soldiers”

That’s not a phrase we hear enough these days

Some 70 Labour MPs have now called for Starmer to resign. This makes up about 17% of their 403 seat contingent.

Should be noted that even if all of these 70 supported a no-confidence motion, Starmer would retain a majority in the House of Commons. He might well resign for the sake of party unity but if I had his ear I’d tell him to hold tight.

dv said:

Some 70 Labour MPs have now called for Starmer to resign. This makes up about 17% of their 403 seat contingent.

Should be noted that even if all of these 70 supported a no-confidence motion, Starmer would retain a majority in the House of Commons. He might well resign for the sake of party unity but if I had his ear I’d tell him to hold tight.

I don’t know why he attracts so much flak but I suppose you have to be there and following it all.

Bubblecar said:

dv said:

Some 70 Labour MPs have now called for Starmer to resign. This makes up about 17% of their 403 seat contingent.

Should be noted that even if all of these 70 supported a no-confidence motion, Starmer would retain a majority in the House of Commons. He might well resign for the sake of party unity but if I had his ear I’d tell him to hold tight.

I don’t know why he attracts so much flak but I suppose you have to be there and following it all.

I’m sure it’s a tough time to be a Labour PM. Starmer would like to take a softly softly managerial approach to fix the rot but the public seems impatient. I don’t think a change in leader will solve anything.

Labour’s support loss has mainly been to other parties broadly of the left, particularly the Greens, while the Conservative vote has been consumed by Reform. In a lot of polls the Greens are the second most supported party.

The polls also indicate that the majority of the population continue to support progressive parties, (Lab, Green, LD, SNP, PC). The progressive-conservative split runs at 54-46 in the Yougov poll.

dv said:

Bubblecar said:

dv said:

Some 70 Labour MPs have now called for Starmer to resign. This makes up about 17% of their 403 seat contingent.

Should be noted that even if all of these 70 supported a no-confidence motion, Starmer would retain a majority in the House of Commons. He might well resign for the sake of party unity but if I had his ear I’d tell him to hold tight.

I don’t know why he attracts so much flak but I suppose you have to be there and following it all.

I’m sure it’s a tough time to be a Labour PM. Starmer would like to take a softly softly managerial approach to fix the rot but the public seems impatient. I don’t think a change in leader will solve anything.

Labour’s support loss has mainly been to other parties broadly of the left, particularly the Greens, while the Conservative vote has been consumed by Reform. In a lot of polls the Greens are the second most supported party.

The polls also indicate that the majority of the population continue to support progressive parties, (Lab, Green, LD, SNP, PC). The progressive-conservative split runs at 54-46 in the Yougov poll.

The other thing is

Rejoin is a popular policy that seems to be above, or below, the radar as far as Labour and the Conservatives are concerned. It’s an absolute no-brainer but I don’t think they will go near it for a little while.

I half-heard on the radio that an Australian-born UK politician person was going to throw their hat into the ring or hold a no confidence vote or something on Monday (local time) if Starmer didn’t step down or make a move in that direction. What’s happened with that?

Divine Angel said:

I half-heard on the radio that an Australian-born UK politician person was going to throw their hat into the ring or hold a no confidence vote or something on Monday (local time) if Starmer didn’t step down or make a move in that direction. What’s happened with that?

Well you’re the one telling the story.

dv said:

Divine Angel said:

I half-heard on the radio that an Australian-born UK politician person was going to throw their hat into the ring or hold a no confidence vote or something on Monday (local time) if Starmer didn’t step down or make a move in that direction. What’s happened with that?

Well you’re the one telling the story.

Can’t see anything about it in my 30 seconds of googling so I’m going to have to trust they’re on top of it.

dv said:

Divine Angel said:

I half-heard on the radio that an Australian-born UK politician person was going to throw their hat into the ring or hold a no confidence vote or something on Monday (local time) if Starmer didn’t step down or make a move in that direction. What’s happened with that?

Well you’re the one telling the story.

“The calls were originally led by Catherine West, an Australian-born backbencher who has since backed down from her threat of triggering a leadership contest herself, but has again called on the prime minister to leave office by September.”

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-12/fraught-24-hours-ahead-as-keir-starmer-clings-to-uk-prime-minist/106669814

Divine Angel said:

dv said:

Divine Angel said:

I half-heard on the radio that an Australian-born UK politician person was going to throw their hat into the ring or hold a no confidence vote or something on Monday (local time) if Starmer didn’t step down or make a move in that direction. What’s happened with that?

Well you’re the one telling the story.

Can’t see anything about it in my 30 seconds of googling so I’m going to have to trust they’re on top of it.

dno but we heard something similar

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

SCIENCE said:

Divine Angel said:

dv said:

Well you’re the one telling the story.

Can’t see anything about it in my 30 seconds of googling so I’m going to have to trust they’re on top of it.

dno but we heard something similar

There yous go.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-13/catherine-west-at-centre-of-plot-to-oust-british-pm-keir-starmer/106672386

dv said:

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

damn who knew that rejoining the empire could offer so much in savings

SCIENCE said:

SCIENCE said:

Divine Angel said:

Can’t see anything about it in my 30 seconds of googling so I’m going to have to trust they’re on top of it.

dno but we heard something similar

There yous go.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-13/catherine-west-at-centre-of-plot-to-oust-british-pm-keir-starmer/106672386

Catherine West is the sister of Michael West, an Australian investigative journalist. Now an independent one. Many good reads to be had on Michael West’s website-
https://michaelwest.com.au/

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

dv said:

SCIENCE said:

dv said:

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

damn who knew that rejoining the empire could offer so much in savings

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

dv said:

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

So he removes a $12 billion deficit without increasing taxes and without cutting any services.

Impressive.

Don’t know what it has to do with the UK though.

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

So he removes a $12 billion deficit without increasing taxes and without cutting any services.

Impressive.

Don’t know what it has to do with the UK though.

Shift it from column A to column B in the accounting book, gone

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

So he removes a $12 billion deficit without increasing taxes and without cutting any services.

Impressive.

Don’t know what it has to do with the UK though.

Because it’s got York in it.

dv said:

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

Great things are happening in York, Yorkshire.

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

So he removes a $12 billion deficit without increasing taxes and without cutting any services.

Impressive.

Don’t know what it has to do with the UK though.

York City.

Seemingly, York has a new Mayor, who has delivered an incredible budget.

Michael V said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

Mamdani Announces Balanced Budget Without Cuts

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a city budget on Tuesday that completely eliminates what he has described as a $12 billion deficit left over from the Eric Adams administration, the largest gap since the Great Recession. The budget does not include the property tax increases Mamdani threatened earlier in the year or any new taxes on ordinary New Yorkers, and the mayor’s office says there are no cuts to city services for those in need.

https://prospect.org/2026/05/12/mamdani-announces-balanced-budget-without-cuts/

So he removes a $12 billion deficit without increasing taxes and without cutting any services.

Impressive.

Don’t know what it has to do with the UK though.

York City.

Seemingly, York has a new Mayor, who has delivered an incredible budget.

He replaced the grand old Duke of York?

The Rev Dodgson said:

Don’t know what it has to do with the UK though.

All things are connected

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Don’t know what it has to do with the UK though.

All things are connected

nah these days the mole stands alone

Secretary of State for Defence John Healey announces that the United Kingdom has deployed Typhoon fighter jets and the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon as part of a mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz. (BBC) (Middle East Monitor)

From whom the USA or Iran ?

Cymek said:

Secretary of State for Defence John Healey announces that the United Kingdom has deployed Typhoon fighter jets and the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon as part of a mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz. (BBC) (Middle East Monitor)

From whom the USA or Iran ?

I say chaps would you terribly mind letting our tankers through we need the oil to make our tea
It got us through the Blitz when Jerry bombed us you know

Cymek said:

Cymek said:

Secretary of State for Defence John Healey announces that the United Kingdom has deployed Typhoon fighter jets and the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon as part of a mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz. (BBC) (Middle East Monitor)

From whom the USA or Iran ?

I say chaps would you terribly mind letting our tankers through we need the oil to make our tea
It got us through the Blitz when Jerry bombed us you know

better than paying attention to the shitty polls of the prime minister eh

The chaps in a spot of bother, batting on a sticky wicket, that’s what happens when you stick your head above the parapet to do some work for King and country.
Still the chap will be alright, the chaps in the City will see the chap through, it’s what chaps do when one of the chaps gets into a spot of bother, gets sprung for a bit of fraud or loses the priministership, that sort of thing.

alleged

Reports that Starmer has told friends that he will step down.

Kingy said:

Reports that Starmer has told friends that he will step down.

Maybe he’s had enough of being told to?

Kingy said:

Reports that Starmer has told friends that he will step down.

It’s not like the Labour Party in the UK have anyone else who can come to the leadership with a bold new vision for economic reform. It will just be another boring person full of lies and spin, presiding over the further slow decline of once wealthy and mighty country.

party_pants said:

Kingy said:

Reports that Starmer has told friends that he will step down.

It’s not like the Labour Party in the UK have anyone else who can come to the leadership with a bold new vision for economic reform. It will just be another boring person full of lies and spin, presiding over the further slow decline of once wealthy and mighty country.

It is certainly a downhill ride.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgpzp87p11o
More than 60 Labour MPs call for review of UK voting system

I;ve been away getting injections in my neck all day..
Did we talk about this?

roughbarked said:

I;ve been away getting injections in my neck all day..
Did we talk about this?

It will be fascinating to find out what comes out.

Because of the way the Secret Service worked. There’s no way the Queen, then King Charles and also William didn’t know what Andrew was doing.

There’s some Townie guy following it.

The chaps know.

Peak Warming Man said:

The chaps know.

Like cuddle naked in a steam room ?

Peak Warming Man said:

The chaps know.

fkov

The chap defends Britains George Floyd moment.

dv said:

Police and a phone book

dv said:

I wonder what the story is there.

Michael V said:

dv said:

I wonder what the story is there.

Maybe Megan beat him up.

party_pants said:

Michael V said:

dv said:

I wonder what the story is there.

Maybe Megan beat him up.

That sounds as likely as “walked into a door handle”.

Michael V said:

dv said:

I wonder what the story is there.

Too many handshakes

Divine Angel said:

Michael V said:

dv said:

I wonder what the story is there.

Too many handshakes

https://youtu.be/3aJM_sfaLnQ?t=74

alleged

SCIENCE said:

alleged

oh ok

So, attempted beheadings are bad, doubly so when it could be avoided by keeping the alleged beheader out of the vicinity…

SCIENCE said:

oh ok

Chong’s murderer was born in Australia.

JudgeMental said:

SCIENCE said:

oh ok

Chong’s murderer was born in Australia.

fucking colonialism

Even after Roman Lavrynovych, convicted on Monday of conspiring to commit arson, set fire to Sir Keir Starmer’s house, he seemed to know as much about the prime minister as a bullet knows about its target.

His anonymous handler, known by the initials EL, gave a clue in a message: “Look, you attacked the home of a very high-ranking person in Britain. I’ll send you money, you need to leave the city.”

It was too late: Lavrynovych was arrested within hours.

The 22-year-old Ukrainian builder had been weaponised to target the UK’s head of government. But by who?

Our investigation has found the arson attack was just one part of an extensive campaign of sabotage, provocation and lies leading all the way to the Russian state.

The handler EL, who directed Lavrynovych, offered Russian citizenship in return for other attacks and glorified President Vladimir Putin, messages the BBC has uncovered show.

We have identified evidence suggesting that EL is a young Russian diplomat, schooled in information warfare by spies and propagandists, who is close to the highest levels of power in Moscow. His name is Evgeny Lyukshin. He is 23 and the son of a senior official.

Two men found guilty over Starmer-linked arson attacks
Russian operatives ran their sabotage and provocation campaign remotely through social media and the messaging app Telegram, we found, creating fake online far-right and Muslim groups, which were used to organise acts of vandalism in the UK and stir up division and fear.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r2l352z2do

dv said:

Even after Roman Lavrynovych, convicted on Monday of conspiring to commit arson, set fire to Sir Keir Starmer’s house, he seemed to know as much about the prime minister as a bullet knows about its target.

His anonymous handler, known by the initials EL, gave a clue in a message: “Look, you attacked the home of a very high-ranking person in Britain. I’ll send you money, you need to leave the city.”

It was too late: Lavrynovych was arrested within hours.

The 22-year-old Ukrainian builder had been weaponised to target the UK’s head of government. But by who?

Our investigation has found the arson attack was just one part of an extensive campaign of sabotage, provocation and lies leading all the way to the Russian state.

The handler EL, who directed Lavrynovych, offered Russian citizenship in return for other attacks and glorified President Vladimir Putin, messages the BBC has uncovered show.

We have identified evidence suggesting that EL is a young Russian diplomat, schooled in information warfare by spies and propagandists, who is close to the highest levels of power in Moscow. His name is Evgeny Lyukshin. He is 23 and the son of a senior official.

Two men found guilty over Starmer-linked arson attacks
Russian operatives ran their sabotage and provocation campaign remotely through social media and the messaging app Telegram, we found, creating fake online far-right and Muslim groups, which were used to organise acts of vandalism in the UK and stir up division and fear.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r2l352z2do

He was lucky not to be found dead in a park.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/putney-pusher-jogger-arrest-london-bus-cctv-b1286109.html

Andy Burnham is not one of the chaps I’m sorry to say.

Peak Warming Man said:

Andy Burnham is not one of the chaps I’m sorry to say.

Why?

>>The Aberdeen South seat, vacated by the SNP’s Stephen Flynn, was won by Tory MSP Douglas Lumsden.

Praise the Lord.

The chap’s in a spot of trouble but the chaps will rally around the chap at his club and in the City, they’ll find him a nice little sinecure at an obscure museum or some such but he won’t be invited to as many black-tie dinners.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to resign to make way for a new leader. It is widely expected former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham will contest the leadership after winning a by-election last week.

The UK is set to get a very different PM. How different? Well, the new guy has a personality

George Brandis
Former high commissioner to the UK and federal attorney-general
June 21, 2026 — 1:50pm

In normal times, a byelection swing of nearly 10 per cent to the government would be joyous news for a struggling prime minister. But these are far from normal times in Britain.

Andy Burnham’s stronger-than-expected result at the Makerfield byelection last Thursday was received with anything but delight at 10 Downing Street. It was almost certainly the final nail in the political coffin of Sir Keir Starmer, less than two years after he led Labour to its greatest victory.

By returning Burnham – Starmer’s declared leadership rival – to Westminster, the public made an emphatic statement that they wanted the prime minister replaced. Within hours of the result, Starmer defiantly reiterated that he would not go quietly; he would fight the expected leadership challenge. But even as he spoke, Labour MPs were lining up like llamas at a petting zoo to tell TV interviewers that their leader should go. By lunchtime, 98 of the 403 Labour MPs had publicly called on Starmer to stand aside. I’m told many more, who kept silent, thought the same. As Boris Johnson said about his own downfall, when the herd moves, nothing can stop it. The Labour herd was stampeding.

Had his rival’s victory been a narrow one, the prime minister might conceivably have been in a position to fight on. But the size of Burnham’s win turbocharged the political momentum beyond the capacity of Starmer’s rapidly shrinking band of loyalists to arrest it.

Burnham secured 54.5 per cent in a field of 14 candidates, a 9.6 per cent swing to Labour from the general election. That is three times Labour’s current standing in nationwide opinion polls (19 per cent) and twice what it was able to achieve in the same area at local government elections just six weeks earlier. Importantly, he showed he could not just beat Labour’s main challenger, Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, he humiliated it.

It remains to be seen whether Burnham’s local popularity, based on his successful tenure as mayor of Greater Manchester, will translate nationally. Certainly, he is a very different kind of politician from Starmer. For one thing, he has a personality.

Initially, being boring worked for Starmer. After the scandals, crises and episodic buffoonery of the final years of Tory rule, he seemed reassuringly calm and stable: “No Drama Starmer”. But, as the unforgiving scrutiny of government soon revealed, the blandness concealed not inner depths and quiet competence, but an empty suit. He never got a grip on his own government. New scandals arose, most egregiously, the Mandelson affair. He failed to command the House of Commons. His preachy, wooden style was ill-suited to the performative demands of political leadership.

Burnham has the professional politician’s easy, voter-friendly affability. He is also more intellectually interesting. While obviously intelligent, Starmer has no intellectual depth. His only apparent interest (which he shares with Burnham) is football. When he appeared on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs, asked which book he would take to a deserted island, he nominated an atlas. (It wasn’t a joke.) Burnham is widely read. While most aspiring politicians study law or the social sciences, Burnham’s university degree is in English literature. He loves Chaucer, Shakespeare and Orwell; his favourite novel is said to be George Eliot’s Middlemarch.

He would be the first Cambridge man to become prime minister since Stanley Baldwin, a century ago. (Of the prime ministers since Baldwin who attended university, 14 of the 15 went to Oxford.) He would also be the first Catholic prime minister (Boris Johnson was baptised a Catholic but converted to Anglicanism; Tony Blair converted to Catholicism after he left Downing Street), and the first northerner since the Yorkshireman Harold Wilson.

Most importantly, Burnham is a very experienced politician – a junior frontbencher in the Blair government, cabinet minister under Gordon Brown, and a successful big city mayor. His roots in the Labour Party and links with the trade unions are deep.

Starmer – who was 52 when he became an MP – had no prior political experience, and it showed. Although a successful barrister who rose to be Director of Public Prosecutions (hence the knighthood), conspicuous achievement in other fields is no predictor of success as a political leader – as Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull both demonstrated.

Those who, like John Howard and Anthony Albanese, have uninteresting professional hinterlands, but spend long years honing their political skills as they climb what Disraeli called “the greasy pole”, come much better prepared when they eventually reach the top job.

The man tipped to be the next UK prime minister is keeping calm, but he needs to act fast
Burnham describes himself as a socialist. But he is an ideological chameleon – once a Blairite who denounced left-wing economics, then an acolyte of Brown, he now sits on the “soft left” of Labour. As mayor of Greater Manchester, he favoured public-private partnerships but in his byelection campaign, he demanded widespread nationalisations.

He is committed to extensive public investment to rebuild northern England’s secondary industries. The fact that submarine construction is based in Barrow, near Burnham’s constituency, bodes well for continued British participation in AUKUS. He is more likely to increase investment in one of the north’s biggest remaining heavy industries than de-fund it.

Coming days, or even hours, will reveal for how long Starmer clings to office. One honourable exit would be if he were to agree to be foreign secretary. Foreign policy is the one area where he shone. It suited him because diplomacy at the highest levels is transactional, conducted behind closed doors.

Inspirational leadership is not requisite to success. There are precedents for former PMs returning as foreign secretary – Arthur Balfour under Lloyd George, Alec Douglas-Home under Edward Heath and, recently, David Cameron under Rishi Sunak. But whatever the manner of his departure, the prime ministership of Keir Starmer will soon be over.

https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/the-uk-is-set-to-get-a-new-very-different-pm-how-different-well-he-has-a-personality-20260621-p608p1.html

SCIENCE said:

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to resign to make way for a new leader. It is widely expected former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham will contest the leadership after winning a by-election last week.

alleged

SCIENCE said:

SCIENCE said:

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to resign to make way for a new leader. It is widely expected former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham will contest the leadership after winning a by-election last week.

alleged

there

Sir Keir Starmer has announced he will step down as prime minister of the United Kingdom. He said he would remain as caretaker prime minister while a new Labour leader is chosen in the next few weeks.

Unfortunate, and quite unnecessary, in my view.

Since the Brexit referendum, no one has completed a term in office.

Starmer 1 y 352 days so far (probably has 3 months more in the job)
Sunak 1 y 254 days
Truss 49 days
Johnson 3 y 44 days May 3 y 10 days
Cameron lasted 20 days after the referendum

Made me wonder who was the last British PM to really go out on their own terms.
Wilson, I suppose.

If Burnham does win, he’ll be the first PM from Northern England since Wilson.

Thatcher was from Grantham, which is in East Midlands, much though she sounded very Home Counties.

dv said:

Unfortunate, and quite unnecessary, in my view.

Since the Brexit referendum, no one has completed a term in office.

Starmer 1 y 352 days so far (probably has 3 months more in the job)
Sunak 1 y 254 days
Truss 49 days
Johnson 3 y 44 days May 3 y 10 days
Cameron lasted 20 days after the referendum

Made me wonder who was the last British PM to really go out on their own terms.
Wilson, I suppose.

Anyway Starmer has resigned
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/sir-keir-starmer-to-resign-as-uk-prime-minister/106667868

Divine Angel said:

dv said:

Unfortunate, and quite unnecessary, in my view.

Since the Brexit referendum, no one has completed a term in office.

Starmer 1 y 352 days so far (probably has 3 months more in the job)
Sunak 1 y 254 days
Truss 49 days
Johnson 3 y 44 days May 3 y 10 days
Cameron lasted 20 days after the referendum

Made me wonder who was the last British PM to really go out on their own terms.
Wilson, I suppose.

Anyway Starmer has resigned
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/sir-keir-starmer-to-resign-as-uk-prime-minister/106667868

Starmer was too serious and sober. Many Brits miss all the Tory turmoil and want another goofball PM, which is why they’re flocking to Farage.

Alas, Australians, who are now embracing loopy Pauline in frightening numbers, are in no position to criticise.

Divine Angel said:

dv said:

Unfortunate, and quite unnecessary, in my view.

Since the Brexit referendum, no one has completed a term in office.

Starmer 1 y 352 days so far (probably has 3 months more in the job)
Sunak 1 y 254 days
Truss 49 days
Johnson 3 y 44 days May 3 y 10 days
Cameron lasted 20 days after the referendum

Made me wonder who was the last British PM to really go out on their own terms.
Wilson, I suppose.

Anyway Starmer has resigned
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/sir-keir-starmer-to-resign-as-uk-prime-minister/106667868

Yes the chap has pulled the pin, he’ll be alright the chaps will see to that.
It looks like the bloke will take over, the chaps in the city won’t be impressed.

Divine Angel said:

dv said:

Unfortunate, and quite unnecessary, in my view.

Since the Brexit referendum, no one has completed a term in office.

Starmer 1 y 352 days so far (probably has 3 months more in the job)
Sunak 1 y 254 days
Truss 49 days
Johnson 3 y 44 days May 3 y 10 days
Cameron lasted 20 days after the referendum

Made me wonder who was the last British PM to really go out on their own terms.
Wilson, I suppose.

Anyway Starmer has resigned
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/sir-keir-starmer-to-resign-as-uk-prime-minister/106667868

Not yet. He has signalled his intention to resign. He has about three months left in the job.

dv said:

Divine Angel said:

dv said:

Unfortunate, and quite unnecessary, in my view.

Since the Brexit referendum, no one has completed a term in office.

Starmer 1 y 352 days so far (probably has 3 months more in the job)
Sunak 1 y 254 days
Truss 49 days
Johnson 3 y 44 days May 3 y 10 days
Cameron lasted 20 days after the referendum

Made me wonder who was the last British PM to really go out on their own terms.
Wilson, I suppose.

Anyway Starmer has resigned
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/sir-keir-starmer-to-resign-as-uk-prime-minister/106667868

Not yet. He has signalled his intention to resign. He has about three months left in the job.

Maybe AI could last longer?

Tau.Neutrino said:

dv said:

Divine Angel said:

Anyway Starmer has resigned
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/sir-keir-starmer-to-resign-as-uk-prime-minister/106667868

Not yet. He has signalled his intention to resign. He has about three months left in the job.

Maybe AI could last longer?

And do a better job?

dv said:

Divine Angel said:

dv said:

Unfortunate, and quite unnecessary, in my view.

Since the Brexit referendum, no one has completed a term in office.

Starmer 1 y 352 days so far (probably has 3 months more in the job)
Sunak 1 y 254 days
Truss 49 days
Johnson 3 y 44 days May 3 y 10 days
Cameron lasted 20 days after the referendum

Made me wonder who was the last British PM to really go out on their own terms.
Wilson, I suppose.

Anyway Starmer has resigned
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/sir-keir-starmer-to-resign-as-uk-prime-minister/106667868

Not yet. He has signalled his intention to resign. He has about three months left in the job.

All their leaders seem to crash and burn.

Tau.Neutrino said:

dv said:

Divine Angel said:

Anyway Starmer has resigned
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/sir-keir-starmer-to-resign-as-uk-prime-minister/106667868

Not yet. He has signalled his intention to resign. He has about three months left in the job.

All their leaders seem to crash and burn.

Inherit lots of problems I imagine.

dv said:

Divine Angel said:

dv said:

Unfortunate, and quite unnecessary, in my view.

Since the Brexit referendum, no one has completed a term in office.

Starmer 1 y 352 days so far (probably has 3 months more in the job)
Sunak 1 y 254 days
Truss 49 days
Johnson 3 y 44 days May 3 y 10 days
Cameron lasted 20 days after the referendum

Made me wonder who was the last British PM to really go out on their own terms.
Wilson, I suppose.

Anyway Starmer has resigned
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/sir-keir-starmer-to-resign-as-uk-prime-minister/106667868

Not yet. He has signalled his intention to resign. He has about three months left in the job.

All their leaders seem to crash and burn.

AussieDJ said:

Great work, even though a rather unhappy message.

Complicity In Gaza Genocide Destroyed Keir Starmer’s Career

Link
2 minutes