Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th April 2017

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 3:26 pm

I still can't make Trump''s bombing out. Target warned, v little damage done. Maybe part of that was the missiles simply missing. Gloved fist.

Purely for domestic consumption? Maybe. Bit lots of the Base don't like it.

Or just the plan waiting for the next president?

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 5:07 pm

He's got the "cruise missile liberals" slobbering all over him (here to a degree, as well as in the US)

Could be he thinks that makes alienating a small (and fairly fringe) element of his base not too high a price in comparison.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 5:30 pm

https://mainlymacro.blogspot.co.uk/2017 ... d-bbc.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Brexit and the BBC

Mainlymacro

TechnicalEphemera · Post by **TechnicalEphemera** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 6:12 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:He's got the "cruise missile liberals" slobbering all over him (here to a degree, as well as in the US)

Could be he thinks that makes alienating a small (and fairly fringe) element of his base not too high a price in comparison.

Don't assume Trump is entirely rational, that he has a strategy or an attention span.

Firstly when shown pictures of the children Assad gassed Trump did what most decent people would do and reacted with horror. Of course his problem is that he is one of the few in a position to do something about it, and he is also a compulsive and instant user of social media.

So having tweeted Assad has crossed a whole load of red lines he now has to act, or he will be seen as a loser (bigly).

First US objective, do something, anything to make sure people know Trump is serious when he threatens you.

America is happy to hand over Syria to Assad's murderers, because they don't much like the alternative. They aren't happy to have chemical weapons being used in anger, especially against kids.

Second US objective, redraw the red line on using chemical weapons.

Finally Syria is a mess, they don't want to get sucked in and they particularly don't want to humiliate Putin by killing Russians (or even destroying major Syrian assets) because then he will escalate and the whole thing kicks up a notch (very bad).

Third objective, don't kill Russians or humiliate Putin.

Finally they want to make it clear to Russia that if this use of chemicals doesn't stop they can act and then really bad shit might happen.

Result, a tightly targetted strike (cruise missiles no American casualties or prisoners), on a solid military target (airfield that used the Sarin), with plenty of warning ( no significant loss of life, no Russian loss of life).

It was never intended to weaken Assad, or stop his war. Its only purpose was to stop him using nerve gas. It will almost certainly (almost) work, Putin will have had a lot of words.

Plus StW organised a protest against American bombing in Syria - which must be a nice change from their continual protests outside the Russian embassy about their bombing in Syria.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 6:18 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:He's got the "cruise missile liberals" slobbering all over him (here to a degree, as well as in the US)

Could be he thinks that makes alienating a small (and fairly fringe) element of his base not too high a price in comparison.

Could be but the cruise missile liberals over there arent going to support him more generally.His base always vote. He won't want to lose them.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 6:22 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:If enough people want to poke the political class in the eye, isn't now a great time to be looking at a cross-party single issue campaign on PR? Fuelled by stories that actually resonate with people.

There aren’t many issues which bring together UKIP, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru, or the Liberal Democrats and the SNP. But there is one which does - the need for a fair voting system.
http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've always been for PR, now I think it's the only way to save the NHS in the long term. Even if the Tories lose power before they've completely wrecked it, they'll just carry on where they left off next time, until it's done.
People here who know much more than me about Labour can tell me why it seems the LP will not support it, because it would get them a block of seats in Scotland straight off. For the same reason, the SNP aren't ever going to support it for Westminster, but they're on shaky ground with it already being in place there. I see the SNP are mentioned in that piece so I'll make sure to read it later.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 6:28 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:He's got the "cruise missile liberals" slobbering all over him (here to a degree, as well as in the US)

Could be he thinks that makes alienating a small (and fairly fringe) element of his base not too high a price in comparison.
Could be but the cruise missile liberals over there arent going to support him more generally.His base always vote. He won't want to lose them.

As I said, its a fairly small part of it which is hacked off - Prison Planet and the like.

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 6:46 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:In both cases, of course, the media played a major part in those perceptions.

Corbyn has shown that just ignoring it isn't going to work, but the Blairite policy of full-on appeasement is ultimately a self-defeating dead end also.

The left (in other words, this applies more widely than just "Labour") needs a strategy both to neutralise an entrenchedly hostile MSM but also to devise ways of BYPASSING it effectively. One small thing that we could start with - a campaign against those godawful late night "tomorrow's papers" slots on BBC News/Sky??

Unfortunately, newspapers back parties they think will win.

Up until 2010 most newspapers backed Labour. In 2001 the Tories only had the Telegraph and Mail. Papers like the FT, Economist, Times, Evening Standard, Sun, and so on all backed Labour. The newspaper industry isn't necessarily pro-Tory.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper ... tion,_2010" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don;t think this can ever be replicated because party members don't really want the compromises necessary to win power. You see that all the time on this board, even from people like AK So Labour won't. It is "the decaying tree underneath which nothing can grow."

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 6:52 pm

Well that is one way of looking at it. Several papers (even if not the Currant Bun) were back on side for the Tories by the 2005 GE.

In any case, there is "backing" and BACKING.

Half-hearted "support" for Labour when the Tories were a basket case isn't really comparable with full-throated Conservative cheerleading from 2010 onwards.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 6:59 pm

TechnicalEphemera wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:He's got the "cruise missile liberals" slobbering all over him (here to a degree, as well as in the US)

Could be he thinks that makes alienating a small (and fairly fringe) element of his base not too high a price in comparison.
Don't assume Trump is entirely rational, that he has a strategy or an attention span.

Firstly when shown pictures of the children Assad gassed Trump did what most decent people would do and reacted with horror. Of course his problem is that he is one of the few in a position to do something about it, and he is also a compulsive and instant user of social media.

So having tweeted Assad has crossed a whole load of red lines he now has to act, or he will be seen as a loser (bigly).

First US objective, do something, anything to make sure people know Trump is serious when he threatens you.

America is happy to hand over Syria to Assad's murderers, because they don't much like the alternative. They aren't happy to have chemical weapons being used in anger, especially against kids.

Second US objective, redraw the red line on using chemical weapons.

Finally Syria is a mess, they don't want to get sucked in and they particularly don't want to humiliate Putin by killing Russians (or even destroying major Syrian assets) because then he will escalate and the whole thing kicks up a notch (very bad).

Third objective, don't kill Russians or humiliate Putin.

Finally they want to make it clear to Russia that if this use of chemicals doesn't stop they can act and then really bad shit might happen.

Result, a tightly targetted strike (cruise missiles no American casualties or prisoners), on a solid military target (airfield that used the Sarin), with plenty of warning ( no significant loss of life, no Russian loss of life).

It was never intended to weaken Assad, or stop his war. Its only purpose was to stop him using nerve gas. It will almost certainly (almost) work, Putin will have had a lot of words.

Plus StW organised a protest against American bombing in Syria - which must be a nice change from their continual protests outside the Russian embassy about their bombing in Syria.

My first thought was that the attack was partly aimed at N.Korea (geography not being one of my strong points), but otherwise that sounds spot on.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:10 pm

Deleted owing to technical difficulties (please see below). Meanwhile, here's a potter's wheel.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:12 pm

No not this one,the next.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:14 pm

Good morfternoon.

Russia sends warship to battlegroup off Syrian coast (Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... rian-coast

Re-posting my first effort as my keyboard has gone bonkers and my delete button wouldn't work. Here's hoping . . .

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:18 pm

HindleA wrote:See below.

Ah, it was you, was it? We have a saboteur in our midst! Some people will do anything to get in first.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:19 pm

(In trying to help I may have stopped you deleting)

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:25 pm

100 metre paving slab dash,not one of my better ideas.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:29 pm

I have a habit of trying to make repetitive things more interesting.Blindfold lawnmowing,another one,creosoting using my feet ,you get the idea.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:38 pm

Good to see Cyril the moonwalking blackbird(as in bird that is black)this morning.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:46 pm

HindleA wrote:100 metre paving slab dash,not one of my better ideas.

Is this advisable the day before a run?

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:52 pm

Not doing it this year,nor Leeds I fancied a change.Next one is in Derby then Stoke in successive weeks in June.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:59 pm

For God's sake this was an amazing thread with folk discussing Corbyn and Miliband with their usual insightful comments, then HindleA and PorFavor just came in from the left field and completely ruined it

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 7:59 pm

Probably have a faster time carrying a paving slab,to be honest.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:02 pm

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:For God's sake this was an amazing thread with folk discussing Corbyn and Miliband with their usual insightful comments, then HindleA and PorFavor just came in from the left field and completely ruined it

Liar!

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:02 pm

Mine's in code.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:04 pm

tinybgoat wrote:
TechnicalEphemera wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:He's got the "cruise missile liberals" slobbering all over him (here to a degree, as well as in the US)

Could be he thinks that makes alienating a small (and fairly fringe) element of his base not too high a price in comparison.
Don't assume Trump is entirely rational, that he has a strategy or an attention span.

Firstly when shown pictures of the children Assad gassed Trump did what most decent people would do and reacted with horror. Of course his problem is that he is one of the few in a position to do something about it, and he is also a compulsive and instant user of social media.

So having tweeted Assad has crossed a whole load of red lines he now has to act, or he will be seen as a loser (bigly).

First US objective, do something, anything to make sure people know Trump is serious when he threatens you.

America is happy to hand over Syria to Assad's murderers, because they don't much like the alternative. They aren't happy to have chemical weapons being used in anger, especially against kids.

Second US objective, redraw the red line on using chemical weapons.

Finally Syria is a mess, they don't want to get sucked in and they particularly don't want to humiliate Putin by killing Russians (or even destroying major Syrian assets) because then he will escalate and the whole thing kicks up a notch (very bad).

Third objective, don't kill Russians or humiliate Putin.

Finally they want to make it clear to Russia that if this use of chemicals doesn't stop they can act and then really bad shit might happen.

Result, a tightly targetted strike (cruise missiles no American casualties or prisoners), on a solid military target (airfield that used the Sarin), with plenty of warning ( no significant loss of life, no Russian loss of life).

It was never intended to weaken Assad, or stop his war. Its only purpose was to stop him using nerve gas. It will almost certainly (almost) work, Putin will have had a lot of words.

Plus StW organised a protest against American bombing in Syria - which must be a nice change from their continual protests outside the Russian embassy about their bombing in Syria.
My first thought was that the attack was partly aimed at N.Korea (geography not being one of my strong points), but otherwise that sounds spot on.

That's a very good point.

Though Trump is a ludo playing chance, there are chess players in the US military.

TechnicalEphemera · Post by **TechnicalEphemera** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:10 pm

tinybgoat wrote:
My first thought was that the attack was partly aimed at N.Korea (geography not being one of my strong points), but otherwise that sounds spot on.

Part of the first point was definitely aimed at North Korea, who worryingly he keeps threatening and equally worryingly are even less rational than him. Kim may well believe he has a massively powerful military, as nobody dare tell him otherwise.

Subtext of all this is that when Donald tweets he is going to blow up your house you had best move out sharpish.

I just hope he doesn't send the wrong tweet to the wrong person.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:13 pm

Forgot my annual "I've done the Grand National fences without a horse",mention.Thankfully I didn't break my leg and get shot.

Post by **refitman** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:35 pm

Think I've found a photo of Hindle doing the gardening:

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:38 pm

Hate to think what the hole is for.

Titter ye not.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:43 pm

http://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson ... a-10829579" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

boris-johnson-cancels-trip-to-moscow-next-week-over-syria

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:49 pm

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:http://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson ... a-10829579

boris-johnson-cancels-trip-to-moscow-next-week-over-syria

Yes. Apparently he's been told to shut up and leave it to the US. Ordinarily, and had we been intending to send almost anyone else, I might cavil but - well, you know . . .

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:54 pm

That's a new word for me,so thanks.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:57 pm

Brian Matthew: BBC Radio 2 broadcaster dies at 88

It was revealed earlier this week that Matthew was critically ill, after Radio 2 initially mistakenly announced his death. (BBC News website - my emphasis))

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment ... s-39541162

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 8:59 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39541162" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 9:01 pm

HindleA wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39541162

Thanks. Things seem to be going awry at my end. So to speak.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 9:04 pm

To coin a phrase.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 9:09 pm

Four local council byelections this week:

Calderdale - Tory hold with 60 per cent of the vote, modestly down on last May. This suggests a Tory stronghold, and to some extent it is - except when Independents stand here anyway; one got elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010 and 2014, and other Indy candidates have run the Tories quite close in intervening years. But both in 2015 and last year no Independent stood and the Tories won very easily, as was the case now - the only minor difference being that the LibDems advanced 7 points to 17%, just taking second place from Labour who were little changed. Greens last with 6%, a few points down.

Bath/North East Somerset - LibDem hold with close to half the vote and a 15 point increase since 2015 when this ward split 1LibDem/1Tory, the first time the LibDems had failed to make a clean sweep this century; the Tories were competitive in 2003 and 2007 but - strikingly against the national trend - fell to 4th in 2011 as the LibDems strengthened their grip. Their comeback on GE day was accompanied by a local Green surge as they were not far from snatching a seat (and their top candidate finished ahead of the second placed /LibDem) and this time they just edged the Tories out for the runners up spot. Labour last with 7 per cent, halved from two years ago as their support was squeezed in this highly tactical battle.

Aylesbury Vale DC - LibDem gain from UKIP in a ward which split between the two parties in 2015 (the first post-boundary change election in this new ward) in a strikingly fragmented contest, with both 3rd placed Labour and even the Tories in 4th also within striking distance of winning a seat - barely 5 points separated all of them. This time round things could hardly have been more different, with the LibDems storming to victory with approaching two thirds of the vote. Labour came a very distant second indeed, just ahead of the Tories (and both were well down on their GE day showings) whilst UKIP dropped to 4th - their 9% some 15 points down on last time. Greens last with 3.5%, also roughly halved.

Tendring DC - Tory gain from UKIP (though, in a hardly unique development locally or nationally, the former councillor had gone Independent following local internal squabbles) with 48% of the vote and a swing of over 13 per cent. A fairly striking detail, though, is that this result wasn't very different to that of a previous by-election here in the summer of 2013 - in fact, it was a tiny swing to UKIP since then. Which gives us a clue about local events - around this time local MP Douglas Carswell defected from Tory to UKIP and turned local politics on its head, including in this formerly safe Tory ward which split 1UKIP/1Con on GE day with the former topping the poll. Carswell is, of course, no longer a UKIP MP and this contest duly followed suit - the crumb of comfort perhaps being that they at least retained runners up spot in this one. Labour third with a very small drop since 2015, perhaps partly explainable by the LibDems entering the fray after sitting that one out and scoring nearly 13% (they actually took a seat here in 2003, the last previous time this ward did not return a full Tory slate) Greens last with 2%, significantly down on their one previous (2011) showing here.

Two contests next week.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 9:10 pm

PorFavor wrote:
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:http://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson ... a-10829579

boris-johnson-cancels-trip-to-moscow-next-week-over-syria
Yes. Apparently he's been told to shut up and leave it to the US. Ordinarily, and had we been intending to send almost anyone else, I might cavil but - well, you know . . .

He's appalling, way out of his depth. Gets by with supporting media which he won't get abroad.

Sorry, as you were.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 9:10 pm

Thanks AK

TechnicalEphemera · Post by **TechnicalEphemera** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 9:35 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
PorFavor wrote:
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:http://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson ... a-10829579

boris-johnson-cancels-trip-to-moscow-next-week-over-syria
Yes. Apparently he's been told to shut up and leave it to the US. Ordinarily, and had we been intending to send almost anyone else, I might cavil but - well, you know . . .
He's appalling, way out of his depth. Gets by with supporting media which he won't get abroad.

Sorry, as you were.

Can you imagine Boris turning up in Moscow right now

The Americans must have gone into blind panic at the thought of it. Especially as his brief seems to be grovel to Putin so we can talk trade.

I suspect Trump threatened to add him to his twitter timeline, or send him another IRS demand. Both events likely to turn our bold Foreign Secretary into a gibbering wreck.

Oh hang on, that's normal for him.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 10:05 pm

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... er-sharing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Northern Ireland faces ‘direct rule by stealth’ as talks falter
Sources at power-sharing negotiations say ‘miracle’ is needed to achieve agreement by Easter deadline

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 10:14 pm

#Brian Moore

Been moved to CCU, which I'm told is good - the real problem is my fucking TV is stuck on an Evening With Take That.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 10:16 pm

Guessing Cardiac Care Unit.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 10:24 pm

http://www.bigissue.com/news/great-brit ... stigation/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The great British council tax scandal

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 10:26 pm

Really?

Vladimir Putin will be told to pull troops from Syria and drop support for President Assad in a UK-US plan being spearheaded by Boris Johnson, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

Mr Johnson cancelled plans to visit Moscow on Saturday just hours before he was due to fly after a midnight phone call with Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State.

The pair agreed that the Foreign Secretary should instead lead a drive to secure a “hard-hitting” statement over Russia’s Syrian involvement from the G7 bloc of nations.

The proposal to end Syria’s six-year civil war will then be presented to Russian ministers by Mr Tillerson when he visits later this month.

Mr Johnson hopes to persuade Donald Trump to commit to regime change after his surprise decision to launch air strikes on Assad forces after a chemical weapons attack killed more than 80.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04 ... ian-forces" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 10:27 pm

"Big Issue Invest The Big Issue Foundation The Big Issue Shop
COUNCIL TAX
The great British council tax scandal – a Big Issue investigation

Council tax arrears are now the single biggest issue clogging up British courts, as fees and fines cause the original debt to spiral. The result is often homelessness. In a special Big Issue report, barrister Alan Murdie describes a chaotic and faceless system...
NewsApril 5, 2017
By Guest Columnist
Not since the witch trials of the 17th century, or the ill-fated poll tax which ended the premiership of Margaret Thatcher in 1990, have so many vulnerable and impoverished people ended up being taken to court at one time, as is now happening with the council tax. Not only has council tax debt become Britain’s biggest personal debt problem – eclipsing credit card default in 2014 – but it is also a cause of homelessness, with the danger not confined only to those in rented accommodation. It is also striking homeowners as cash-strapped councils implement ever harsher recovery tactics.

The period 2013-2016 saw a 40-50 per cent increase in the number of people taken to court for council tax non-payment, as revealed in the Ollerenshaw report on council tax support schemes, presented to parliament in March last year. Now, in 2017, more than three million people can expect to be issued with a liability order made by magistrates’ courts in England and Wales or by the sheriff court in Scotland."

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 10:30 pm

Unsurprisingly, the liability order is now the most commonly issued court judgment in the UK. Relatively few debtors actually attend their hearings, and in the absence of representation, the few who do can seldom effectively defend themselves, or seek adjournments or appeal. Councils discourage attendance, and corner-cutting can be rife, most hearings providing little more than a rubber-stamping of the debt and an opportunity for the local authority to impose extra costs.
The actual cost of summonsing is £3, yet councils are routinely adding amounts of £100 or more for undefined ‘court costs’ on to the amount owed in tax, for what is an almost entirely computerised process. Worse still, many debtors may not even realise a liability order has been granted until a bailiff comes knocking – frequently the first human actually encountered. But the use of bailiffs is only one of a raft of severe enforcement measures. When pursuing council tax, local authorities have extraordinarily wide powers, including methods that result directly in the taxpayer losing their home.

TechnicalEphemera · Post by **TechnicalEphemera** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 10:45 pm

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Really?
Vladimir Putin will be told to pull troops from Syria and drop support for President Assad in a UK-US plan being spearheaded by Boris Johnson, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

Mr Johnson cancelled plans to visit Moscow on Saturday just hours before he was due to fly after a midnight phone call with Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State.

The pair agreed that the Foreign Secretary should instead lead a drive to secure a “hard-hitting” statement over Russia’s Syrian involvement from the G7 bloc of nations.

The proposal to end Syria’s six-year civil war will then be presented to Russian ministers by Mr Tillerson when he visits later this month.

Mr Johnson hopes to persuade Donald Trump to commit to regime change after his surprise decision to launch air strikes on Assad forces after a chemical weapons attack killed more than 80.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04 ... ian-forces" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Christ, Boris is spectacularly deluded, or spinning a gormless journalist a line, or probably both.

I am guessing that what actually happened was as suggested, Boris was told to sit down at home and shut up. The words UK-US are interesting, it implies a plan that exists only in Boris's head and Rex's reaction was a non-committal "meh". The hard hitting statement from the G7 is utterly irrelevant to anything (so "Sit down at home, shut up and play with your toys out of the way" - was the instruction). No clue where Rex will get his proposal to end the war, or what involvement Boris will have (nowhere and none I suspect).

Hoping to persuade Donald trump to commit to Regime change, suggests the mythical plan makes no reference to it (so it doesn't really exist), and given Trump's statements the best Boris can hope for in the form of hard edged American action is a slightly peeved tweet.

TechnicalEphemera · Post by **TechnicalEphemera** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 10:49 pm

Actually, has anybody seen Liam Fox recently? - to use his full title Dr Liam Fox, the disgraced former cabinet minister.

Can we expect to see him turn up on a trade mission to Damascus promoting our shared values with Assad?

Let's face it not too much of a moral stretch for him.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sat 08 Apr, 2017 11:00 pm

TechnicalEphemera wrote:Actually, has anybody seen Liam Fox recently? - to use his full title Dr Liam Fox, the disgraced former cabinet minister.

Can we expect to see him turn up on a trade mission to Damascus promoting our shared values with Assad?

Let's face it not too much of a moral stretch for him.

Last seen with the fragrant (not) leader of the Philippines doing deals