herfiehandbag

Is the harsh criticisms of Sir Keir Starmer fair and justified Yes. The whole premise of his platform was that he was more honest, untouched by sleaze, straightforward, dependable, trustworthy, listened too and was in touch with the people... He has proved to be the antithesis of all of those.

We could, and should, question why a country which maintains large armed forces, spends huge amounts of money on modern military equipment, including a nuclear weapons program, should receive "aid" from the UK. Oh and perhaps I should add, actively persecutes Christians!

Interesting, I have been here for quite some time, and I don't think I have ever seen a Thai expressing dislike, distaste or in fact any emotion at all by spitting on the ground! It (spitting in public) is regarded as extremely course, "lo so" behaviour, it is also illegal and punishable with a fine of B2000! Of course maybe your wife and most of the locals in the village are different...

Is it just me, or does there seem, judging by the "emojis" to be an awful lot of confusion around on this thread?

He won't be alive of course when the exploitation of those resources is coining in the cash, but the mining drilling and exploitative industries will be ready with immediate short term support (used to be called bribes in more innocent times) if he pulls off the acquisition of Greenland (and Canada) in the next couple of years.

I don't think the Red Shirt protests were spontaneous - they were organised and staged quite some time after the coups. That is rather the difference.

They may save a lot of money, but they will also have to invest in a very large fleet of buses - to cope with the numbers of those who voted for them that they intend to throw under the buses!

Ah yes, I remember the spontaneous displays of delight - all those people who just happened be wearing yellow, to have large quantities of flowers at hand, large amounts of cans of soda on ice and some remarkably professional "hand written" ( in English) placards. So convincing!

Name calling? What on earth do you mean!

I don't think this bunch of somewhat geriatric protesters represent the views of anything like the majority of Thais. They keep announcing massed marches on police headquarters and so on - but they never seem to actually happen Nice "regimental" haircuts though! As for Thaksin's popularity, well that very much depends on who you ask, and where in the country you ask. I do however suspect that sympathy for Yingluck is quite widespread! Maybe she shouldn't have turned him down https://images.app.goo.gl/u2CitRjvbqej9mdU6 I mean, they were made for each other, such a smartly fitting beret!

A dyslexic spell checker - what a brilliant concept!

A charge of involuntary manslaughter does not seem unreasonable, seeing that he pointed a gun at a member of the crew, fired it and killed her. That the charge was dismissed because the prosecution made a mess of managing and disclosing evidence is one thing, but to go after them because they dared to bring a charge - hmm, sounds like a bit of an ego there. I wonder if any one, crew or actors, will be prepared to work with him again, especially in any film whose plot involves guns!

A view which didn't seem to be shared by the Supreme Court last Thursday!

You must have been poor mate - at least we had a ladle, didn't need to use a label! Must admit that my boyhood dreams, although at times, umh, strangely envigorating, never extended to toilet paper!

And found proven by a jury.

It my be that the uncertainty as to how to define government waste, and the perceived threat to healthcare, social security and welfare programs are leading a lot of people to wait and see just what is proposed. That probably includes a sizable contingent who may have voted for the MAGA cause - after all many will be beneficiaries of these programs. Perhaps in the cold light of dawn they may be considering quite a lot of things.

I suspect that relatively few German voters will decide on the basis of what Musk says. The "dyed in the wool" AFD supporters will vote for AFD anyway. Those opposed to AFD are unlikely to be swayed by Musk or indeed any foreign trumpeting (!), those that may be open to persuasion are predominantly young voters. Most undecided will follow more traditional persuasion.

Perhaps, although Al Fayeed seems to have got away with it! Mind you, he was rich as well...

If he was daft enough to pull a gun on police (in the USA!) during a traffic stop, then he was a particularly silly warrior hero!

What do they fear? It is actually very simple @jippytum. It started as a localised political problem which has grown and is now out of control, as a national political problem. When the question, problem, activities of these rape gangs of ethnic Pakistani men first raised its loathsome head in certain (Northern) metropolitan areas it was "handled" with kid gloves. The comparatively high number of people of Pakistani origin, who lived in these towns represented a significant "block vote". They were a patriarchal clan society, mirroring that of their area of origin, the Punjab in Pakistan. Decisions, including those about how and who to vote for were taken by the heads of the clan, exclusively male and wielding huge influence, both socially and religiously; hence the "block vote". That "block vote" had tremendous effect upon local politics, an effect that was also felt nationally. The Labour party benefited from that "block vote" which underpinned their dominance in these areas - their interest was not exclusive, the Tories and Liberal Democrats also curried their support - but Labour basically had it. That meant that, as I said, great efforts were made to avoid alienating that voting block. Politicised social services departments and certain Police officers, aware that their careers, advancement and futures were largely controlled by the politicians joined in this. As the scale of the problem spread, in terms of numbers of participants, victims and geographically, so did the "cover up", under the guise of avoiding "racism", and encouraging " community cohesion" ; but it remained, essentially politically driven. Ultimately and inevitably it became so widespread that it impinged upon national government, it's agencies (the Home Office and Department of Public Prosecutions) and of course Westminster politics. Now of course the bubble has burst and most (but probably not all) of what has been going on has been revealed much more widely. It is not exclusively a Labour problem, the Tories were in power for much of the time, and were also complicit in the betrayal, and have many many questions to answer, but it is Labour which is now in power, in the "hot seat" and have to deal with it. There are signs that they will attempt some sort of damage limitation exercise, holding some form of ( carefully managed) inquiry. Their problem is that many pertinent questions will be now directed at people who are now very senior figures in the party, including the leader! They would have to handle it very deftly, and I am not sure they are capable of that. It now stands as a national political scandal, posing a problem, for Labour, a threat perhaps as existential as Brexit was for the Tories!

For certainly the first decade plus of this grooming "epidemic" the sort of mobile phones you refer to did not exist!

I understand how Parliament works, and I understand that a Government with an assured parliamentary majority for the next 4 years could have reintroduced in short order and passed this bill. I also understand the rather cynical, and again I will use the term "amoral" political imperative which drives this same government to increasingly desperate attempts to maintain the cover up, attempts which centre on preventing an inquiry. Musk? I regard him as an odious meddler, I doubt he has any concerns with justice or the girls so terribly treated. I don't read Twitter or X, but I see that he has moved to fill a vacuum which inept political handling has created. I also suspect that Reform UK ( with some of whose aims I sympathise, although I am not sure I would vote for them, except possibly in coalition) will come to regret their association with him.

I am actually quite in favour of certain ( by no means all) "progressive ideas", and am certainly liberal ( note the lower case "l", since we are discussing matters in a UK political framework). This business is not a result of progressive ideas or liberal thinking. It is a matter of brutal politics. The grooming and rapes were from the start ignored by a political establishment greedy to curry the favours of a particular ethnic group in certain towns and metropolitan areas whose votes, usually wielded as effectively a block, were central to their political powerbase. It was an amoral and disgraceful decision which led to these gangs activities flourishing, and the cover up being ever more desperately maintained to preserve power (and careers) until the bubble inevitably burst. It is entirely possible to hold to progressive and liberal ideals, and be utterly opposed to this cover up, and seek action on and retribution for these foul matters. I do hold, and do seek!

The use of a three line whip by the government, to ensure a call for an inquiry was defeated, rather gives a hint at the inevitable result of any attempt to pass a Private Members Bill or opposition sponsored Bill. As for"vigilante justice", the political and establishment determination to do nothing except maintain a very obvious coverup creates a (dangerous) vacuum which will be filled by the very same extremist bogeymen they keep raising, vigilantes and meddling creatures like Musk. Still, Chomper, as so often lately, a sterling effort to defend the indefensible!

Here we go: Limited inquiries, mini inquiries, nuanced solutions ... What we need is a bold, effective campaign by independent journalism to ask pertinent, specific and yes, potentially politically dangerous questions ( for both parties) to blow the covers off the establishments actions. Similar perhaps to the MPs expense scandal some 15 years ago. We cannot rely upon our publicly funded broadcasters, so it needs to be the independent press. Otherwise we will find - to paraphrase Rod Liddle - a publicly funded government inquiry, led by an establishment "ass" which will eventually, effectively,do it's job and whitewash the reasons for the outrage, and cement the cover up.