Stop voting for fucking Tories

[eldanielfire]

I used to really enjoy the back and forth and slightly pantomime element to it but it has got to the stage where it is pointless and embarrassing. If they are not held to account on actually answering questions, what's the point. I also hate the "Mabel from Durham can't pay her bills" bollocks.

Yup. I was surprised Starmer backed the "Sunak wants less peados in prison" tweet. Which shows what a shallow and unprincipled dick he is. Also shows how in thrawl he is to ex-New Labour figures in the party who are running things and using 20 year old style tactics and messages .

The Tories, and our media, have use this kind of dirty tactics far more and for far longer, why are you not holding them to the standard? I don't like it, but can understand why some think they need to meet fire with fire. Boris basically slandered Starmer in the commons knowing he was covered by parliamentary privilage. Do Labour just sit back and take it or fight back. Stammer may be uncharismatic, but he's determined and formidable, hopefully when in power he will also be effective.

Eh? PR is full of my posts pointing out say Johnson's failures and how they have no ideas for anything because of their fixation with small state idicy.

But if you didn't notice this story was topical, hence why it was discussed. Ther eis also an element of Starmer wanting to play the "I'm not dirty" card but doing exactly that here. Whateverr we say Sunak isn't doing that right now.

[GogLais]

Any thoughts on the Sue Gray/Labour story? Even if they’re both totally innocent of any wrongdoing getting into the situation in the first case seems careless and unnecessary.

[eldanielfire]

Any thoughts on the Sue Gray/Labour story? Even if they’re both totally innocent of any wrongdoing getting into the situation in the first case seems careless and unnecessary.

It does seem careless at best. It tends to be someone so organised and knows the book like Starmer is suppsoed ot be, it does seem dodgy. At leats in terms of ethics if nothing technical was done.

I mean he's effective binned all his pledges he made to become leader of Labour, his career seems to be entirely one of moving with the political winds to rise up. A lightweight Tony Blair.

[eldanielfire]

In 2016 Carney said the following about inflation once Brexit actually happened in what turned out to be 2020



For all the Lawson luvvies this was his response



We all know what has happened the UK's employment date since 2020. We all know whats happened it's economy. It was basically sabotage and cunts like Rees Mogg knew it hence his 'we won't see the benefits in my lifetime' statements. I still can't grasp why you don't have them hanging from the lampposts

I think among other things sonce thing else was a major problem sicne 2020 and another problem piled on in 2022. It should be added Mar Carney was also wrong abotu various things from the EU vote, the UK hit record high employment after the vote.

You know sicne Germany is now in recession. Relaince on Russian stuff is the reason why. the Uk has one of the biggest reliance on natural gas for heating and electricity. Though I'll agree the Tories always doing fuck all in preparation for anything on the horison until forecd to has made these matters worse than they need to be.

It's not Brexit

I know. That's the point.

[eldanielfire]

I used to really enjoy the back and forth and slightly pantomime element to it but it has got to the stage where it is pointless and embarrassing. If they are not held to account on actually answering questions, what's the point. I also hate the "Mabel from Durham can't pay her bills" bollocks.

Yup. I was surprised Starmer backed the "Sunak wants less peados in prison" tweet. Which shows what a shallow and unprincipled dick he is. Also shows how in thrawl he is to ex-New Labour figures in the party who are running things and using 20 year old style tactics and messages .

It made me cringe when the Blonde Bumblecunt used the silly name calling but you almost expected it from that piece of human excrement. However it is even worse with Sunak. It is almost like this is a throwback to their PG Woodehouse days in public school when Bertie Wooster would call out Tuppy Glossop for stealing his fiancé at the local tea dance. Do they really think the average man on the street thinks calling someone 'Sir Softy' is in any way clever or cutting? Have they no idea how bad and upper class it sounds? Also I am sure as DPP Starmer has been called a lot, lot worse when sending down some thugs for 10 years at the Old Bailey. I am surprised he didnt burst out laughing when the name calling started.

It's a classic example of "Bubble" thinking. It works for their MP area and the media and the chattering classes. It's like when Ed Miliband always tried to call David Cameron "Flashman"., the avergae perosn deffo didn't really know it. However Cameron's jabs about Miliband backstabbing his brother resonated because it was true and everyone knew it.

I think at best these ploys creates a narrative that the emdia will echo. But in itself it doens't actually do much. Much like PM questions doens't actually interest or affect the opinuons of the public. But it will give ammunitaion to those partisan party supporters to echo narratives.

[SaintK]

Any thoughts on the Sue Gray/Labour story? Even if they’re both totally innocent of any wrongdoing getting into the situation in the first case seems careless and unnecessary.

It does seem careless at best. It tends to be someone so organised and knows the book like Starmer is suppsoed ot be, it does seem dodgy. At leats in terms of ethics if nothing technical was done.

I mean he's effective binned all his pledges he made to become leader of Labour, his career seems to be entirely one of moving with the political winds to rise up. A lightweight Tony Blair.

No her hasn't. Kept or partly kept 7 of them an d broken 3 of the 10 if this is correct

Spoiler

Show

During the Labour leadership contest Keir Starmer famously made 10 pledges. This morning he claimed he had kept “the vast majority” of them. (See 10am.)

Working out whether he is right is not straightforward, because each pledge contains several components and we don’t yet know what Labour will promise in its manifesto. But Starmer is probably overstating his success rate. Looking at each pledge, and taking into account which element was most significant at the time, five of them are arguable kept, another two are partly kept, and three have been broken.

Starmer has always defended the right of politicians to change their minds, and he says two of the pledges have been abandoned because economic circumstances have changed.

A 50%, or 70%, compliance rate does not sound great, but he is probably doing a lot better than Rishi Sunak. Sunak proposed dozens of policies when he was running for the Tory leadership contest in the summer. He did not issue any manifesto when he stood a second time, uncontested, in the autumn, and No 10 subsequently said the summer pledges would all have to be reviewed.

Here is my assessment of Starmer’s record.

Pledge 1 – economic justice

What it says: “Increase income tax for the top 5% of earners, reverse the Tories’ cuts in corporation tax and clamp down on tax avoidance, particularly of large corporations. No stepping back from our core principles.”

Kept or broken?: PARTLY KEPT. Labour under Starmer is committed to tackling tax avoidance, and reversing corporation tax isn’t just Labour policy, but has become Tory policy too. But Starmer is no longer promising tax rises for the top 5% of earners, which was the key element of this package.

Pledge 2 – social justice

What it says: “Abolish universal credit and end the Tories’ cruel sanctions regime. Set a national goal for wellbeing to make health as important as GDP; Invest in services that help shift to a preventative approach. Stand up for universal services and defend our NHS. Support the abolition of tuition fees and invest in lifelong learning.”

Kept or broken?: BROKEN. The tuition fees promise was the most salient of these pledges, in the context of the leadership contest, and that has now gone. (See 9.01am.) Labour has also clarified its position on universal credit, saying it will reform it, but not abolish it. (No one ever expected the party to tear up the whole system, but Starmer was happy to use the word “abolish”, as Labour had in 2019).

Pledge 3 – climate justice

What it says: “Put the Green New Deal at the heart of everything we do. There is no issue more important to our future than the climate emergency. A Clean Air Act to tackle pollution locally. Demand international action on climate rights.”

Kept or broken?: KEPT. A climate investment pledge worth £28bn a year is one of Starmer’s biggest election commitments.

Pledge 4 – promote peace and human rights

What it says: “No more illegal wars. Introduce a Prevention of Military Intervention Act and put human rights at the heart of foreign policy. Review all UK arms sales and make us a force for international peace and justice.”

Kept or broken?: PARTLY KEPT. Starmer has not backed any illegal wars. But he has done little to advance these proposals either since he was elected leader three years ago, and Labour MPs were ordered to abstain on the overseas operation bill, which was hard to square with the spirit of this pledge.

Pledge 5 – common ownership

What it says: “Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water; end outsourcing in our NHS, local government and justice system.”

Kept or broken?: BROKEN. Starmer has accepted this. On the Today programme this morning, when asked about his pledges, he was open about this. He said:

I’m not ideological about it. We have said when it comes to railways, for example, we will bring railways back into public ownership as the contracts expire. We’ve set up GB Energy which will be a publicly owned company.

But when I looked in the middle of the energy price crisis last year, I asked my team to work out how much it would cost for us to nationalise the energy companies, and what benefit [there] would then be for those that were paying very high bills, and the answer was, it cost a lot but you couldn’t really reduce the bills by doing it. So I made a political choice that we wouldn’t do that.

Asked about water companies, he said nationalising them would cost a “huge” amount and that tighter regulation could address the water quality problem.

Pledge 6 – defend migrants’ rights

What it says: “Full voting rights for EU nationals. Defend free movement as we leave the EU. An immigration system based on compassion and dignity. End indefinite detention and call for the closure of centres such as Yarl’s Wood.”

Kept or broken?: BROKEN. Free movement was a key issue for Labour members in 2019-20, and Starmer admits that it is no longer something he supports. On the Today programme this morning he argued that what he really meant was “defend free movement until we leave the EU”, but that is not what he said at the time.

Pledge 7 – strengthen workers’ rights and trade unions

What it says: “Work shoulder to shoulder with trade unions to stand up for working people, tackle insecure work and low pay. Repeal the Trade Union Act. Oppose Tory attacks on the right to take industrial action and the weakening of workplace rights.”

Kept or broken?: KEPT. Labour is proposing measures to strengthen workers’ rights, and it has voted against the government’s anti-strikes bill.

Pledge 8 – radical devolution of power, wealth and opportunity

What it says: “Push power, wealth and opportunity away from Whitehall. A federal system to devolve powers – including through regional investment banks and control over regional industrial strategy. Abolish the House of Lords – replace it with an elected chamber of regions and nations.”

Kept or broken?: KEPT. In December last year Starmer welcomed a long and detailed report from Gordon Brown saying how this could happen. Some observers suspect that, in power, Labour would shelve Lords reform, but currently this is still very much on track.

Pledge 9 – equality

What it says: “Pull down obstacles that limit opportunities and talent. We are the party of the Equal Pay Act, Sure Start, BAME representation and the abolition of Section 28 – we must build on that for a new decade.”

Kept or broken?: KEPT. Under Starmer Labour has developed a series of policies to promote the equalities agenda.

Pledge 10 – effective opposition to the Tories

What it says: “Forensic, effective opposition to the Tories in Parliament – linked up to our mass membership and a professional election operation. Never lose sight of the votes ‘lent’ to the Tories in 2019. Unite our party, promote pluralism and improve our culture. Robust action to eradicate the scourge of antisemitism. Maintain our collective links with the unions.”

Kept or broken?: KEPT. Labour’s candidate selection suggests promoting pluralism is not a priority for Starmer (leftwingers are being purged), but no one can deny that the party is providing effective opposition to the Tories. The latest Politico poll of polls has Labour 14 points ahead.

[tabascoboy]

Tories with their fingers on the pulse of what really matters to people right now, as usual...

Tories on Oldham council call for schools to fly the Union flag, display a portrait of the Queen and teach children to sing the National Anthem

Oldham councillors plan for hundreds of schools to show a picture of the Queen, fly Union Jack flags at all times and teach pupils the national anthem and history
The motion also requests the borough council formally rejects 'cancel culture'
If passed, plans will be sent to cabinet members for a potential national rollout
Motion was proposed by Conservative councillors Dave Arnott and Pam Byrne

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... ctice.html

[dpedin]

Tories with their fingers on the pulse of what really matters to people right now, as usual...

Tories on Oldham council call for schools to fly the Union flag, display a portrait of the Queen and teach children to sing the National Anthem

Oldham councillors plan for hundreds of schools to show a picture of the Queen, fly Union Jack flags at all times and teach pupils the national anthem and history
The motion also requests the borough council formally rejects 'cancel culture'
If passed, plans will be sent to cabinet members for a potential national rollout
Motion was proposed by Conservative councillors Dave Arnott and Pam Byrne

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... ctice.html

This would go down well up here in Scotland! Northern Ireland will be even more hilarious. Can't wait for the Tory Party Directive!

[tabascoboy]

Tories with their fingers on the pulse of what really matters to people right now, as usual...

Tories on Oldham council call for schools to fly the Union flag, display a portrait of the Queen and teach children to sing the National Anthem

Oops should have tumble to it when it said "The Queen". Someone resurrected it from 2021. My bad...can live in hope that by now they've pulled themselves out of the 1950s

[dpedin]

Agreed, very unclear how Labour are going to improve anything. They're just as reactionary as the Tories at this point.

That's exactly the line the Tories are desperate for you to believe! They are desperate to sell the 'all politicians are shite but because we talk posh, went to a Red Brick Uni to study PPE and have three houses' we are better than you and should retain political power. JRM is the epitome of this message. Get the bastards out and lets see what the other parties can do, it can't be much worse and if Labour repeat what the did last time at least the NHS will get better, child poverty will reduce and public services will work!

How exactly did labour make NHS better last time they were in ? They brought in PFI for medical needs, trusts and payment by results , which seem to have been broadly terrible for nhs. See also education, public housing , roads and rail…
Child poverty was deffo one of their successes and one of Blair’s main pledges iirc - shame it was partly achieved by unsustainable social payments helping debt to soar & resulting in damaging austerity cuts (even I think these went way too far) and massaging the figure by changing the housing costs calculation.
Somehow thinking labour will do any better after next GE is somewhat wishful thinking and not really backed up by recent history, Tories have done such a bad job post Cameron though they do need to be kicked into touch for a while.

Re Labour and NHS - this Kings Fund report makes interesting reading!

[eldanielfire]

Any thoughts on the Sue Gray/Labour story? Even if they’re both totally innocent of any wrongdoing getting into the situation in the first case seems careless and unnecessary.

It does seem careless at best. It tends to be someone so organised and knows the book like Starmer is suppsoed ot be, it does seem dodgy. At leats in terms of ethics if nothing technical was done.

I mean he's effective binned all his pledges he made to become leader of Labour, his career seems to be entirely one of moving with the political winds to rise up. A lightweight Tony Blair.

No her hasn't. Kept or partly kept 7 of them an d broken 3 of the 10 if this is correct

Spoiler

Show

During the Labour leadership contest Keir Starmer famously made 10 pledges. This morning he claimed he had kept “the vast majority” of them. (See 10am.)

Working out whether he is right is not straightforward, because each pledge contains several components and we don’t yet know what Labour will promise in its manifesto. But Starmer is probably overstating his success rate. Looking at each pledge, and taking into account which element was most significant at the time, five of them are arguable kept, another two are partly kept, and three have been broken.

Starmer has always defended the right of politicians to change their minds, and he says two of the pledges have been abandoned because economic circumstances have changed.

A 50%, or 70%, compliance rate does not sound great, but he is probably doing a lot better than Rishi Sunak. Sunak proposed dozens of policies when he was running for the Tory leadership contest in the summer. He did not issue any manifesto when he stood a second time, uncontested, in the autumn, and No 10 subsequently said the summer pledges would all have to be reviewed.

Here is my assessment of Starmer’s record.

Pledge 1 – economic justice

What it says: “Increase income tax for the top 5% of earners, reverse the Tories’ cuts in corporation tax and clamp down on tax avoidance, particularly of large corporations. No stepping back from our core principles.”

Kept or broken?: PARTLY KEPT. Labour under Starmer is committed to tackling tax avoidance, and reversing corporation tax isn’t just Labour policy, but has become Tory policy too. But Starmer is no longer promising tax rises for the top 5% of earners, which was the key element of this package.

Pledge 2 – social justice

What it says: “Abolish universal credit and end the Tories’ cruel sanctions regime. Set a national goal for wellbeing to make health as important as GDP; Invest in services that help shift to a preventative approach. Stand up for universal services and defend our NHS. Support the abolition of tuition fees and invest in lifelong learning.”

Kept or broken?: BROKEN. The tuition fees promise was the most salient of these pledges, in the context of the leadership contest, and that has now gone. (See 9.01am.) Labour has also clarified its position on universal credit, saying it will reform it, but not abolish it. (No one ever expected the party to tear up the whole system, but Starmer was happy to use the word “abolish”, as Labour had in 2019).

Pledge 3 – climate justice

What it says: “Put the Green New Deal at the heart of everything we do. There is no issue more important to our future than the climate emergency. A Clean Air Act to tackle pollution locally. Demand international action on climate rights.”

Kept or broken?: KEPT. A climate investment pledge worth £28bn a year is one of Starmer’s biggest election commitments.

Pledge 4 – promote peace and human rights

What it says: “No more illegal wars. Introduce a Prevention of Military Intervention Act and put human rights at the heart of foreign policy. Review all UK arms sales and make us a force for international peace and justice.”

Kept or broken?: PARTLY KEPT. Starmer has not backed any illegal wars. But he has done little to advance these proposals either since he was elected leader three years ago, and Labour MPs were ordered to abstain on the overseas operation bill, which was hard to square with the spirit of this pledge.

Pledge 5 – common ownership

What it says: “Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water; end outsourcing in our NHS, local government and justice system.”

Kept or broken?: BROKEN. Starmer has accepted this. On the Today programme this morning, when asked about his pledges, he was open about this. He said:

I’m not ideological about it. We have said when it comes to railways, for example, we will bring railways back into public ownership as the contracts expire. We’ve set up GB Energy which will be a publicly owned company.

But when I looked in the middle of the energy price crisis last year, I asked my team to work out how much it would cost for us to nationalise the energy companies, and what benefit [there] would then be for those that were paying very high bills, and the answer was, it cost a lot but you couldn’t really reduce the bills by doing it. So I made a political choice that we wouldn’t do that.

Asked about water companies, he said nationalising them would cost a “huge” amount and that tighter regulation could address the water quality problem.

Pledge 6 – defend migrants’ rights

What it says: “Full voting rights for EU nationals. Defend free movement as we leave the EU. An immigration system based on compassion and dignity. End indefinite detention and call for the closure of centres such as Yarl’s Wood.”

Kept or broken?: BROKEN. Free movement was a key issue for Labour members in 2019-20, and Starmer admits that it is no longer something he supports. On the Today programme this morning he argued that what he really meant was “defend free movement until we leave the EU”, but that is not what he said at the time.

Pledge 7 – strengthen workers’ rights and trade unions

What it says: “Work shoulder to shoulder with trade unions to stand up for working people, tackle insecure work and low pay. Repeal the Trade Union Act. Oppose Tory attacks on the right to take industrial action and the weakening of workplace rights.”

Kept or broken?: KEPT. Labour is proposing measures to strengthen workers’ rights, and it has voted against the government’s anti-strikes bill.

Pledge 8 – radical devolution of power, wealth and opportunity

What it says: “Push power, wealth and opportunity away from Whitehall. A federal system to devolve powers – including through regional investment banks and control over regional industrial strategy. Abolish the House of Lords – replace it with an elected chamber of regions and nations.”

Kept or broken?: KEPT. In December last year Starmer welcomed a long and detailed report from Gordon Brown saying how this could happen. Some observers suspect that, in power, Labour would shelve Lords reform, but currently this is still very much on track.

Pledge 9 – equality

What it says: “Pull down obstacles that limit opportunities and talent. We are the party of the Equal Pay Act, Sure Start, BAME representation and the abolition of Section 28 – we must build on that for a new decade.”

Kept or broken?: KEPT. Under Starmer Labour has developed a series of policies to promote the equalities agenda.

Pledge 10 – effective opposition to the Tories

What it says: “Forensic, effective opposition to the Tories in Parliament – linked up to our mass membership and a professional election operation. Never lose sight of the votes ‘lent’ to the Tories in 2019. Unite our party, promote pluralism and improve our culture. Robust action to eradicate the scourge of antisemitism. Maintain our collective links with the unions.”

Kept or broken?: KEPT. Labour’s candidate selection suggests promoting pluralism is not a priority for Starmer (leftwingers are being purged), but no one can deny that the party is providing effective opposition to the Tories. The latest Politico poll of polls has Labour 14 points ahead.

I wasn't being literal, not that it matters but STarmer unjunking plenty of pledges outright wa smy point. I'd add tot hat luter Stramer criticism of strikes recently is anotehr broken promise, though Ia gree Sunak isn't any better.

[I like neeps]

Breaking the tuition fees pledge was inevitable but the problem is there's no: Tuition fees are inevitable, the graduate tax is not policy replacement.

Pay your tuition fees, pay the extortionate interest, don't pay off the debt. Nothing Labour can do for you.

Really don't see how anyone can tell with Starmer and co will do in govt.

[Paddington Bear]

The system is essentially a graduate tax anyway. My marginal rate of tax is higher than most people's here because of when I went to uni, but the debt I incurred doesn't count against my credit rating/can't bankrupt me.

[I like neeps]

The system is essentially a graduate tax anyway. My marginal rate of tax is higher than most people's here because of when I went to uni, but the debt I incurred doesn't count against my credit rating/can't bankrupt me.

It does affect mortgage apps though doesn't it? That's pretty significant for a tax.

[Paddington Bear]

The system is essentially a graduate tax anyway. My marginal rate of tax is higher than most people's here because of when I went to uni, but the debt I incurred doesn't count against my credit rating/can't bankrupt me.

It does affect mortgage apps though doesn't it? That's pretty significant for a tax.

It does in terms of it affects my take home pay and so what I can afford to repay monthly, but you don't need to include your overall debt burden etc. And tbh the issue for 99% of people around my age with buying a house is getting a deposit together rather than the mortgage, all of my mates who own somewhere pay less monthly than those that rent.

[Tichtheid]

The system is essentially a graduate tax anyway. My marginal rate of tax is higher than most people's here because of when I went to uni, but the debt I incurred doesn't count against my credit rating/can't bankrupt me.

It does affect mortgage apps though doesn't it? That's pretty significant for a tax.

It does in terms of it affects my take home pay and so what I can afford to repay monthly, but you don't need to include your overall debt burden etc. And tbh the issue for 99% of people around my age with buying a house is getting a deposit together rather than the mortgage, all of my mates who own somewhere pay less monthly than those that rent.

Back of a fag packet figures, the average flat price here is 11 times the average salary, the average terraced house price is a bit over 20 x salary.

Google tells me a mortgage lender might, just might, stretch to 5x salary

What a shite state of affairs.

[Paddington Bear]

It does affect mortgage apps though doesn't it? That's pretty significant for a tax.

It does in terms of it affects my take home pay and so what I can afford to repay monthly, but you don't need to include your overall debt burden etc. And tbh the issue for 99% of people around my age with buying a house is getting a deposit together rather than the mortgage, all of my mates who own somewhere pay less monthly than those that rent.

Back of a fag packet figures, the average flat price here is 11 times the average salary, the average terraced house price is a bit over 20 x salary.

Google tells me a mortgage lender might, just might, stretch to 5x salary

What a shite state of affairs.

No doubt. And it leaves you needing to make good 5-20ish times your salary on the deposit, which is basically unobtainable unless you are in a very small band of city workers, your parents help or you inherit money. So a fair chunk of people don't even bother trying, and it's hard to blame them.

[Tichtheid]

It does in terms of it affects my take home pay and so what I can afford to repay monthly, but you don't need to include your overall debt burden etc. And tbh the issue for 99% of people around my age with buying a house is getting a deposit together rather than the mortgage, all of my mates who own somewhere pay less monthly than those that rent.

Back of a fag packet figures, the average flat price here is 11 times the average salary, the average terraced house price is a bit over 20 x salary.

Google tells me a mortgage lender might, just might, stretch to 5x salary

What a shite state of affairs.

No doubt. And it leaves you needing to make good 5-20ish times your salary on the deposit, which is basically unobtainable unless you are in a very small band of city workers, your parents help or you inherit money. So a fair chunk of people don't even bother trying, and it's hard to blame them.

yup, my eldest is on a PhD stipend, topped up with teaching and I see her fritter money on shoes and stuff and I think, "Whit?" but then after a minute I think, what the hell, she's not going to be saving for a house on that money, so why not?

[Tichtheid]

My near-9 year old iPad Air has died. It won't take a charge anymore and the os is so old that it won't work on some sites (so a replacement battery is a bit of a waste).

Why do I say this on this thread? Well having seen that the price is well over double what I paid originally, a google tells me that our brilliant performance with inflation and interest rates is partly to blame

I understand that this isn't a pressing concern in the scheme of things, but it came as a shock.

What I don't get because I don't understand FX, is why an iPad Air costs (from) £477 in the US and the exact same one in the UK costs (from) £669

[fishfoodie]

My near-9 year old iPad Air has died. It won't take a charge anymore and the os is so old that it won't work on some sites (so a replacement battery is a bit of a waste).

Why do I say this on this thread? Well having seen that the price is well over double what I paid originally, a google tells me that our brilliant performance with inflation and interest rates is partly to blame

I understand that this isn't a pressing concern in the scheme of things, but it came as a shock.

What I don't get because I don't understand FX, is why an iPad Air costs (from) £477 in the US and the exact same one in the UK costs (from) £669

I'm going to go with; because Apple are a shower of gouging wankers, who'll charge whatever the market will tolerate.

[Tichtheid]

My near-9 year old iPad Air has died. It won't take a charge anymore and the os is so old that it won't work on some sites (so a replacement battery is a bit of a waste).

Why do I say this on this thread? Well having seen that the price is well over double what I paid originally, a google tells me that our brilliant performance with inflation and interest rates is partly to blame

I understand that this isn't a pressing concern in the scheme of things, but it came as a shock.

What I don't get because I don't understand FX, is why an iPad Air costs (from) £477 in the US and the exact same one in the UK costs (from) £669

I'm going to go with; because Apple are a shower of gouging wankers, who'll charge whatever the market will tolerate.

Well yeah, and I'll admit to being suckered into the entire "Apple Architecture" as they call it, phone, tablet, Laptop. Their gear is really nice to use and the software is exactly what I need (GarageBand/Logic particularly), it all seamlessly links with each other, but the price makes me wince.

[Happyhooker]

My near-9 year old iPad Air has died. It won't take a charge anymore and the os is so old that it won't work on some sites (so a replacement battery is a bit of a waste).

Why do I say this on this thread? Well having seen that the price is well over double what I paid originally, a google tells me that our brilliant performance with inflation and interest rates is partly to blame

I understand that this isn't a pressing concern in the scheme of things, but it came as a shock.

What I don't get because I don't understand FX, is why an iPad Air costs (from) £477 in the US and the exact same one in the UK costs (from) £669

I'm going to go with; because Apple are a shower of gouging wankers, who'll charge whatever the market will tolerate.

It's not just apple.

The price of tools in America is a fraction of over here

[laurent]

My near-9 year old iPad Air has died. It won't take a charge anymore and the os is so old that it won't work on some sites (so a replacement battery is a bit of a waste).

Why do I say this on this thread? Well having seen that the price is well over double what I paid originally, a google tells me that our brilliant performance with inflation and interest rates is partly to blame

I understand that this isn't a pressing concern in the scheme of things, but it came as a shock.

What I don't get because I don't understand FX, is why an iPad Air costs (from) £477 in the US and the exact same one in the UK costs (from) £669

I'm going to go with; because Apple are a shower of gouging wankers, who'll charge whatever the market will tolerate.

It's not just apple.

The price of tools in America is a fraction of over here

Don't forget the charge VAT after...

[dpedin]

I'm going to go with; because Apple are a shower of gouging wankers, who'll charge whatever the market will tolerate.

It's not just apple.

The price of tools in America is a fraction of over here

Don't forget the charge VAT after...

I remember the days when £ was worth $2! We went of golf holidays and mate took empty golf bag and bought entire set of clubs - driver 3 and 5 woods, full set of irons, wedges and putter and it cost him about 35% of what he would have paid in UK. I only ever took an empty case and just bought clothes as I needed them over there, ditto golf balls etc. Unfortunately last time I went it wasn't anywhere as good because of exchange rate plus the US economy and wages are growing and out stripping ours.

On the plus side Scotland was full of golfers last summer for because of the turn around in prices and golf courses are flooded with rich Americans and Europeans and have hiked up their prices accordingly - £210 a round on Gullane No1, £200 at North Berwick, £200 at Dunbar, £295 at Old Course and £374 at Kingsbarns! Many are already full up for the summer!

[Happyhooker]

I'm going to go with; because Apple are a shower of gouging wankers, who'll charge whatever the market will tolerate.

It's not just apple.

The price of tools in America is a fraction of over here

Don't forget the charge VAT after...

I'm not

[Hal Jordan]

I see Rascist Landlord Man has gone out of business as suppliers refused to have anything to do with him.

Shame.

You can't say anything racist nowadays without your suppliers refusing point blank to trade with you…

[inactionman]

I see Rascist Landlord Man has gone out of business as suppliers refused to have anything to do with him.

Shame.

You can't say anything racist nowadays without your suppliers refusing point blank to trade with you…

Such a weird case - Braverman's needless commenting, and what is at best a complete tin ear from the landlords.

Just remove the dolls from public display and stay in business, it wasn't cryptic.

[Paddington Bear]

It's not just apple.

The price of tools in America is a fraction of over here

Don't forget the charge VAT after...

I remember the days when £ was worth $2! We went of golf holidays and mate took empty golf bag and bought entire set of clubs - driver 3 and 5 woods, full set of irons, wedges and putter and it cost him about 35% of what he would have paid in UK. I only ever took an empty case and just bought clothes as I needed them over there, ditto golf balls etc. Unfortunately last time I went it wasn't anywhere as good because of exchange rate plus the US economy and wages are growing and out stripping ours.

On the plus side Scotland was full of golfers last summer for because of the turn around in prices and golf courses are flooded with rich Americans and Europeans and have hiked up their prices accordingly - £210 a round on Gullane No1, £200 at North Berwick, £200 at Dunbar, £295 at Old Course and £374 at Kingsbarns! Many are already full up for the summer!

Likewise we had a period of it making economic sense to do family holidays in the States. I've never understood the negative publicity the place gets - you name it they've got it from big cities, landscapes, beaches etc.
The US has turbocharged away from us and pretty much all European economies over the last decade or so, and the gap seems to be widening. Turns out energy independence is the cornerstone of economics.

London is also teeming with Americans, more so than usual. No bad thing to take their dollars off of them.

[Tichtheid]

I cast my ballot this morning in the first voter-suppression poll we've had in the UK.

Voter ID is to prevent voter fraud

317 cases of alleged electoral fraud were investigated by the police during 2021. There was one conviction and one acquittal. Police issued cautions in one case.

The caution was issued to a father and daughter after he had suggested using the mother's polling card.

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/ ... fraud-data

In other words, voter fraud is not a problem, but young people voting is.

[Hal Jordan]

I see Rascist Landlord Man has gone out of business as suppliers refused to have anything to do with him.

Shame.

You can't say anything racist nowadays without your suppliers refusing point blank to trade with you…

Such a weird case - Braverman's needless commenting, and what is at best a complete tin ear from the landlords.

Just remove the dolls from public display and stay in business, it wasn't cryptic.

I fear that his underlying racist cuntitude prevented this.

[_Os_]

Not much council elections posting?

Quite a big election I reckon. A redo of the 2019 council elections, when May was on her last gasps as PM and Brexit was feeding into every election in a big way. The Tories didn't do well in that election, it's not looking good for them if they're even worse this time. The other interesting element is how much voter suppression works in favour of the Tories.

Contests worth watching are around Teesside. Sunak was still heavily promoting freeports as a way to boost UK growth very recently as PM (I remember an interview at the end of last year). For a lot of reasons they're not going to work in the UK, but the Tories are wedded to the idea that if you get rid of all government and let the rich and powerful have total control great things happen. The only places this has worked are formerly heavily impoverish places (famine conditions), or city states with a mostly migrant population. The largest freeport is Teesside, it has been controversial. It's both a local issue there, but also a national issue. If Teesside vote against the Tories it would be a rejection of Tory grand plans for the UK (it may seem ridiculous that what amounts to "make mega multinational corporations even richer" is their grand plan, but it is).

That's how you get desperation campaigning like this ...



Which no journalist I've seen has made the obvious connection to this ...



Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council currently has: Labour 24, Tories 16, Lib Dems 1, micro parties and independents holding 15 seats.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council currently has: Labour 15, Lib Dems 14, Tories 6, micro parties and independents holding 24 seats.

I'm not going through all of them, but both of those are going to the polls today.

[tabascoboy]

If you are turned away outside or leave without presenting yourself then nothing is recorded...so stats on reduced turnout are likely to be very misleading and no doubt justified by "we prevented mass fraud!" or "they wouldnt have voted in any case!"

[Yeeb]

I'm going to go with; because Apple are a shower of gouging wankers, who'll charge whatever the market will tolerate.

It's not just apple.

The price of tools in America is a fraction of over here

Don't forget the charge VAT after...

That kind of apple price difference , seems the same as it’s always been for tech ? America is a bigger market so tellies and computers and stuff have always been cheaper there.
In SA, Tech stuff seemed expensive compared to UK - but tools were mentioned and hand tools like a chisel were a fraction of what B&Q rape us on, when power tools seemed similar.
Am not sure you can put Apple price gouging, purely at the door of the Tories.

[I like neeps]

Not much council elections posting?

Quite a big election I reckon. A redo of the 2019 council elections, when May was on her last gasps as PM and Brexit was feeding into every election in a big way. The Tories didn't do well in that election, it's not looking good for them if they're even worse this time. The other interesting element is how much voter suppression works in favour of the Tories.

Contests worth watching are around Teesside. Sunak was still heavily promoting freeports as a way to boost UK growth very recently as PM (I remember an interview at the end of last year). For a lot of reasons they're not going to work in the UK, but the Tories are wedded to the idea that if you get rid of all government and let the rich and powerful have total control great things happen. The only places this has worked are formerly heavily impoverish places (famine conditions), or city states with a mostly migrant population. The largest freeport is Teesside, it has been controversial. It's both a local issue there, but also a national issue. If Teesside vote against the Tories it would be a rejection of Tory grand plans for the UK (it may seem ridiculous that what amounts to "make mega multinational corporations even richer" is their grand plan, but it is).

That's how you get desperation campaigning like this ...



Which no journalist I've seen has made the obvious connection to this ...



Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council currently has: Labour 24, Tories 16, Lib Dems 1, micro parties and independents holding 15 seats.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council currently has: Labour 15, Lib Dems 14, Tories 6, micro parties and independents holding 24 seats.

I'm not going through all of them, but both of those are going to the polls today.

I predict turnout to be absolutely dreadful. Maybe the worst turnout ever.

[Paddington Bear]

Given I have a surname that people routinely mis-spell, showing my driving licence this morning actually sped up the process of voting.

[Hal Jordan]

Anecdotally, it appears a lot of the turned away are pensioners, as a good deal of them lack the ID. That would chime with my experiences truing to get ID from elderly clients, everything has expired as they no longer go abroad or drive.

[Paddington Bear]

Anecdotally, it appears a lot of the turned away are pensioners, as a good deal of them lack the ID. That would chime with my experiences truing to get ID from elderly clients, everything has expired as they no longer go abroad or drive.

I did say this before, but just about everyone under 35/40 (may be slightly different for very young voters who have drifted away from driving) carries their driving licence around in their wallet/purse as a matter of course.

[tabascoboy]

Anecdotally, it appears a lot of the turned away are pensioners, as a good deal of them lack the ID. That would chime with my experiences truing to get ID from elderly clients, everything has expired as they no longer go abroad or drive.

If they are as the demographic usually suggests Tory voters then it would be a pretty spectacular own goal #hoping

[tabascoboy]

Anecdotally, it appears a lot of the turned away are pensioners, as a good deal of them lack the ID. That would chime with my experiences truing to get ID from elderly clients, everything has expired as they no longer go abroad or drive.

I did say this before, but just about everyone under 35/40 (may be slightly different for very young voters who have drifted away from driving) carries their driving licence around in their wallet/purse as a matter of course.

I've never had a Driver's License so never had cause to carry ID unless it's very specifically needed

Seems to be some confusion about passports, some saying an expired passport is fine as long the photo still resembles you, and others saying it has to be valid. Mine expires next year and not planning on going abroad so no intention to renew.

[_Os_]

I predict turnout to be absolutely dreadful. Maybe the worst turnout ever.

There's very little media coverage. The BBC News channel was playing over lunch, I was half paying attention. Wall to wall royals, makes sense as lots of people are interested in that. A full segment on the Turkish elections 5-10 minutes. Fuck all on the council elections, an under 30 second slot.

Which to me is very odd.

But quite a lot of this election is odd. I won't get deep into it, but the council I know best has suffered under Tory corruption. I know a fair bit because a Labour councillor has told me about it (names, sums, company names, etc). If I Google it all, there's some news articles on it but not much. The council is also in debt. The value of assets which have found their way into (probably) Tory connected property developer hands (think that Teesside story on a smaller scale), roughly matches the size of the council debt. In other words if the assets had been sold in regular fashion there would be no council debt, instead there is and the assets were given away. To top it all off there's such a pathological commitment to not building houses, that there's been no redevelopment of the assets that were given away (objections, planning, blah blah).

Where it gets odd is Labour campaign material doesn't mention any of this, beyond maybe half a sentence on the council debt. Instead Labour is campaigning on greenwashed NIMBYism: re-wild, don't build on greenfield land, make the parks better. One of the assets given away they make out is still council owned and want it re-wilded. Greens are a weaker version of Labour. Lib Dems are full NIMBY without the greenwash, they've gone full on "no new developments because no new things in my back yard", literally in bold block capital font. The Tories are attacking landlords and businesses that would quite like to stay open, whilst praising the vast amounts they've spent (which is all debt). Labour/Lib Dems/(Greens?) are desperate for Tory voters, whilst the Tories are attacking their own voters and a trying to be a demented Labour parody. Meanwhile some roads are so potholed you have to slow down to walking pace to use them, and the debt presumably keeps stacking up.