Bank Holiday Weekend 25 to27 May 2024

[refitman]

Labour going full terf?

Sorry Refitman but it can't have escaped your notice that the trans lobby is currently losing the argument, at least politically.

Maybe a different approach is called for, one that doesn't involve stigmatising other's views and calling them names.

I appreciate some on the other side are awful but perhaps it would be wise not to stoop to their level pissing about on Twitter and instead engage with the only political party in England which could at least offer a compromise if not a solution.

calling them names.

Terf is how they self describe. It was coined by Julie Birchill in the first instance.

I'm sorry, Labour have allowed Duffield to merrily spout bigoted nonsence for years, without even a raised eyebrow. I'm also interested in what you think a 'compromise' would be, between trans people being allowed to exist and access the healthcare and rights & protections they're entiteld to and...nothing? Because that's what the likes of Duffield and her supporters want - trans people to not exist.

[AnatolyKasparov]

You still up as well?

Anyway, a PTO - its always good to see one.

[frog222]

Only 38 days more of batshit-crazy and bonkers Sunakikery !

I listened to the first half of lat night's Westminster Hour.

There were four articulate humans -- Ben Wright BBC , Marianna Spring BBCDisinfo, Politics professor Rob Ford and the FT's Lucy Fisher . They all gave the pollies a hard time .

Then there were Antony Brown Transport Min and Seema Malhotra who provided their word salads on 'growth'.

Tory -- world beating in 20something and another year,or even two, AND the first quarter of this year !

Labour -- we're NOT doing Austerity again, ALL will be solved by 'growth' !

[frog222]

Brilliant !

[frog222]

CCHQ Files



" Haha, same story as the above -- Now, get out those Oliver Eagleton articles on Starmer brown-nosing the cousins on McKinnon and Assange, and then destroying the files . "

" But surely we'd have done the same ? "

" Silly boy. we're just going to sneakily insert them into the Lefties little brains so they abstain or vote for the mini-parties.

I KNEW they'd come in handy . "

[frog222]

YCMIU --

[frog222]

[refitman]

I was watching someone talk about this...'policy' last night. The more you think about it, the more utterly incoherent it is. 25 weekends, spread across and entire year? You can't train people fully for some of the things they're talking about in that amount of time and how well will people retain the required knowledge with huge gaps in-between doing the jobs.

* Delivering medicine - you will need to train and certify people for transport of (potentially) controlled substances
* Fire service - you want the work-experience person turning up to fight a fire? They're gonna be washing tenders for a year
* Hospitals - have fun cleaning bedpans
* Search & rescue - huh?

And the funding is going to be partially from the 'Levelling Up Fund', so good luck if your town needs some money to repair the library or something, that source of funding is now gone.

[refitman]

I think we may have missed this, with all the other dip-shittery going on

https://news.sky.com/story/smartphone-b ... s-13142777

A total ban on under-16s owning smartphones should be considered by the next government, according to a report from MPs.

The House of Commons Education Committee also called for a statutory ban on mobile phones in schools.

First of all, how the hell are you going to ban people from owning a phone? My 13yr old niece has one, partially so her parents can contact her if they need to. And then there's the matter of making phones in schools a 'statutory ban', which would potentially criminalise someone just accidentally leaving it in their bag.

All this and then just two years later, Sunak wants to make them cyber-warriors at 18.

[refitman]

Woooo! PFI's back bay-bee! I can't wait for Capita et al to hollow out more of our public services.

[refitman]

[refitman]

Either they don't care enough to have their own opinions on the absolute horror that Israel is perpetrating, or the likes of Akehurst and his pals have a filing cabinet full of stuff on the rest of the leadership

[AnatolyKasparov]

I mean, would you seriously expect anything else? *Of course* a collective "line" will have been agreed on this.

Sometimes you do give off a slight vibe of looking for things to get outraged about, let's be honest here.

[RogerOThornhill]

When Steve Baker said that the policy had been sprung upon them, it's fairly clear that they're making it up as they go along...can't criminalise them...so...fine the parents. Brilliant!

[refitman]

I mean, would you seriously expect anything else? *Of course* a collective "line" will have been agreed on this.

Sometimes you do give off a slight vibe of looking for things to get outraged about, let's be honest here.

After ALL the previous messaging from Labour over the actions of Israel, you really don't see this as cynical messaging because the have to say something now?

[RogerOThornhill]

And the other classic from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “This will be encouraged and will become part of the norms. Importantly, of course, when you then as a young person apply for a job, there will be a question that employers will want to know how you got involved – either because you were able to achieve one of the 30,000 places [in the armed forces] or because you were volunteering in one or other part of your community.”

there will?

How exactly are you going to tell employers what they have to ask candidates?

Bizarre.

[refitman]

Whoopsie

[frog222]

Whoopsie

Chuckles ! I had that one lined up to post, there are just so many these days

[RogerOThornhill]

Ah, and me...just saw it.

This election is proving to be pretty hilarious. And there's plenty of days left to come!

[frog222]

And the other classic from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “This will be encouraged and will become part of the norms. Importantly, of course, when you then as a young person apply for a job, there will be a question that employers will want to know how you got involved – either because you were able to achieve one of the 30,000 places [in the armed forces] or because you were volunteering in one or other part of your community.”

there will?
How exactly are you going to tell employers what they have to ask candidates?
Bizarre.

I remember from the olden days before Wokeism had been invented that US students carefully constructed their CV's with some good works, to improve their chances of getting into the more prestigious colleges .

[frog222]

( It's STEVE BAKER ... )

[frog222]

I'm occupied cutting down a clump of ancient lilac** trees festooned with thick ivy .

Every 20 to 30 minutes my back demands a break, so come in to check the latest hilarity .

Ideal mix of work and play

** Plus google tells me it makes excellent firewood . ( No-one else around to share my particulates ...)

[frog222]

Jonathan is heading towards a 100K subscribers, the best Ukraine interviews around, several hundred now .
This is a rare one, just his own updates --

[AnatolyKasparov]

Where can the Tories go for their ultimate desperate Hail Mary to "turn things around" I wonder?

Some people are suggesting the death penalty (or, maybe more likely, promising a referendum on its return) but too many Tory MPs are adamantly opposed for them to pull that off easily - it is something that could, quite literally, tear them in two. Think the stuff over Europe in the 1997 campaign, but on steroids.

[refitman]

And we thought the Blair years were bad for cripplingly centralised control of the party

[frog222]

Having a small break I watched my bumbles coming and going to their nest on the lawn

[refitman]

Oh lord

[frog222]

Oh lord

[frog222]

More usual discussion episode

[RogerOThornhill]

Four more Labour MPs not standing.

https://labourlist.org/2024/05/labour-p ... news-uk-2/

Worsley and Eccles: Barbara Keeley
Smethwick: John Spellar
Cardiff West: Kevin Brennan
Leyton and Wanstead: John Cryer

Sad to see Brennan standing down - he was always particularly effective in HoC debates. And Cryer is well-thought of locally - a next-door constituency to mine.