The Starmer Years - Can The New Broom Sweep Clean?

[hypochondriac]

Tbf to Starmer that press conference with Trump was probably his strongest moment in office so far. 

[whelk]

9 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

Tbf to Starmer that press conference with Trump was probably his strongest moment in office so far. 

So much so even the Daily Mail aren’t putting a different spin on it.

[egg]

The only negative from that press conference was dippy questions from out media. Starmer played him like a fiddle, and Peston than pipes up asking about an apology for Zelensky. Lovely sentiment, but read the room and ditch your script. 

[rooney]

22 minutes ago, whelk said:

So much so even the Daily Mail aren’t putting a different spin on it.

That must be a first.

[sadoldgit]

Fair play to Anneliese Dodds. Cabinet Ministers don’t often resign on points of principle nowadays. The extra money for defence has to come from somewhere but foreign aid is the wrong place in my opinion. It is seen as a soft, easy option but when you listen to those who understand how it is used, how important it is and how it can effect us down the road, they should have made cuts elsewhere.

As much as they don’t want to increase taxes, given the financial mess we are in at some point they are going to have to consider it.

[AlexLaw76]

4 hours ago, sadoldgit said:

Fair play to Anneliese Dodds. Cabinet Ministers don’t often resign on points of principle nowadays. The extra money for defence has to come from somewhere but foreign aid is the wrong place in my opinion. It is seen as a soft, easy option but when you listen to those who understand how it is used, how important it is and how it can effect us down the road, they should have made cuts elsewhere.

As much as they don’t want to increase taxes, given the financial mess we are in at some point they are going to have to consider it.

The millioms of £s spent enhancing gender outcomes in Nepal will take a hit, I should imagine 

Along with the money we sent to india (for some bizarre reason)

 

 

 

 

[Patrick Bateman]

On 27/02/2025 at 21:50, hypochondriac said:

Tbf to Starmer that press conference with Trump was probably his strongest moment in office so far. 

Absolutely this. Starmer went up a lot in my estimation yesterday, fair play to him.

As for the MP who resigned today, she's a wally - idealistic wally totally detached from how the political game is being played right now. 

[Farmer Saint]

15 hours ago, sadoldgit said:

Fair play to Anneliese Dodds. Cabinet Ministers don’t often resign on points of principle nowadays. The extra money for defence has to come from somewhere but foreign aid is the wrong place in my opinion. It is seen as a soft, easy option but when you listen to those who understand how it is used, how important it is and how it can effect us down the road, they should have made cuts elsewhere.

As much as they don’t want to increase taxes, given the financial mess we are in at some point they are going to have to consider it.

Re-join the EU would be a better way to free up the economy and raise the coffers.

[AlexLaw76]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

Re-join the EU would be a better way to free up the economy and raise the coffers.

and Bail out Germany....

Nah, you are alright 

[sadoldgit]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

Re-join the EU would be a better way to free up the economy and raise the coffers.

I couldn’t agree more, but any mention of rejoining is cryptonite politically here at the moment thanks to Farage and the far right Tories who still preach that Brexit was a good idea.

[sadoldgit]

12 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

The millioms of £s spent enhancing gender outcomes in Nepal will take a hit, I should imagine 

Along with the money we sent to india (for some bizarre reason)

 

 

 

 

As I said, it is better to listen to those who know what they are talking about.

[AlexLaw76]

3 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

As I said, it is better to listen to those who know what they are talking about.

This is a couple of examples of what is used with out Foreign Aid money

It is not hard to find.

 

Another example is the fleet of EVs for the Albanian prison service

[badgerx16]

5 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

This is a couple of examples of what is used with out Foreign Aid money

It is not hard to find.

 

Another example is the fleet of EVs for the Albanian prison service

15 electric VWs were sent as part of the deal to deport Albanian prisoners from the UK.

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, badgerx16 said:

15 electric VWs were sent as part of the deal to deport Albanian prisoners from the UK.

Will be no more then

[Whitey Grandad]

7 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

15 electric VWs were sent as part of the deal to deport Albanian prisoners from the UK.

Do they have the range?

[aintforever]

31 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Will be no more then

What, you prefer the Albanians to stay?

[Lord Duckhunter]

15 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

The millioms of £s spent enhancing gender outcomes in Nepal will take a hit, I should imagine 

Along with the money we sent to india (for some bizarre reason)

 

 

 

 

Yep, good to see Starmer following Reforms idea of cutting foreign aid and spending it at home. The precedent has been set now, let’s hope Rachael from accounts uses this method when she runs out of fiscal headroom. 

Edited Saturday at 11:35 by Lord Duckhunter

[Farmer Saint]

5 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

and Bail out Germany....

Nah, you are alright 

You know that won't happen.

[whelk]

Good week for Starmer. Still sounds a little like in autopilot when interviewed by Laura K repeating his line too much ‘no one wants to see that’ but proving a decent diplomat and statesman 

[hypochondriac]

2 hours ago, whelk said:

Good week for Starmer. Still sounds a little like in autopilot when interviewed by Laura K repeating his line too much ‘no one wants to see that’ but proving a decent diplomat and statesman 

To be fair to him, it must be a very difficult line to tread. We still need a link to the Americans and not to piss off Trump whilst obviously taking actions that has the potential to upset him. I thought he handled it rather well under the circumstances and as you say a good week for him. If he can sort out some of the domestic issues that he has failed on so far then maybe he can turn things around. He still has the issue of less tax coming in though which will almost certainly mean further tax rises which isn't going to go down well at all. 

Edited Monday at 10:39 by hypochondriac

[Gloucester Saint]

Good stuff 

 

[rallyboy]

There's little ambiguity with the latest development - Trump is supporting Russia, against Europe.

If he continues down that road the US can no longer be considered a reliable ally, and any special relationship will be suspended until sanity returns to the White House.

[Mixedkebab]

Cutting the foreign aid budget and now a  proposal to save billions on welfare benefits, Labour will be more popular with a lot of ex Tory voters now. 

[The Kraken]

Looking forward to the hilarious quip about “Rachel from accounts” 🤣🤣 gets me every time that one.

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, Mixedkebab said:

Cutting the foreign aid budget and now a  proposal to save billions on welfare benefits, Labour will be more popular with a lot of ex Tory voters now. 

Strategically that won’t be an issue for them in the short-term, probably buys some breathing space. But when nearer the GE there’s a risk Labour appears neither left or right.

Mind you, given the mad shit going on the world, quite frankly a week is like a year at the moment, dread to think where it will be by 2029…

[sadoldgit]

3 hours ago, Mixedkebab said:

Cutting the foreign aid budget and now a  proposal to save billions on welfare benefits, Labour will be more popular with a lot of ex Tory voters now. 

Starmer could well be. You can see him getting more support from Badenoch and Farage than his back benchers.

I heard a commentator say today that Reeves need to relax her fiscal rules. If you are going to row back on election promises, for Labour it is arguably better to do this than to hit those who are already struggling.

You don’t expect the Tories or Reform to call for the rich to take more of the hit, but it is a strange world when Labour prioritise the rich over the needy.

[Saint in Paradise]

New Sentencing Guidelines from 1 April 2025

 

[Gloucester Saint]

3 hours ago, Saint in Paradise said:

New Sentencing Guidelines from 1 April 2025

 

Just to get you up to date https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg19gx7vl4o

[egg]

53 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Just to get you up to date https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg19gx7vl4o

And if you want the detail, the new sentencing guidelines are below. Being female or transgender are also specific reasons. 

The detail:

A pre-sentence report will normally be considered necessary if the offender belongs to one (or more) of the following cohorts:

at risk of first custodial sentence and/or at risk of a custodial sentence of 2 years or less (after taking into account any reduction for guilty plea)

a young adult (typically 18-25 years; see further information below at section 3)

female (see further information below at section 3)

from an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community

pregnant or post-natal

sole or primary carer for dependent relatives

Or if the court considers that one or more of the following may apply to the offender:

has disclosed they are transgender

has or may have any addiction issues

has or may have a serious chronic medical condition or physical disability, or mental ill health, learning disabilities (including developmental disorders and neurodiverse conditions) or brain injury/damage

or; the court considers that the offender is, or there is a risk that they may have been, a victim of:

domestic abuse, physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, coercive or controlling behaviour, economic, psychological, emotional or any other abuse

modern slavery or trafficking, or

coercion, grooming, intimidation or exploitation.