D'Lo Red

In France it was (and still is) macron vs le pen... Ish

I think it's the same dilemma, just slightly earlier in the timeline: "the centre right fucked up on cost of living, the center left did too so let's go with the other guy" and macron got to be the other guy on the way nick clegg couldn't achieve. Now it's Farage vs Polanski for the spot.

Now he is. He was the golden boy when he ran first, whereas Starmer was just NOT-TORY (TM). He didn't have personal momentum.

Dear @lucympowell.bsky.social,

I have enjoyed our exchange of letters about which of our parties is best placed to stop Reform. Hannah Spencer MP and I trust that you agree that this question has now been resolved once and for all.

Thanks,
Zack Polanski

Christ, Slovakia is *really* fucked up.

There’s no serious support for the “gender crit” platform

Liverpool and The Sun would be a strong counter to that theory... Only one data point though

Irish Daily Mail is even lower. More people read the Examiner.

But the readership is far lower. The Irish Sun is only the 5th most read newspaper.

Deprived towns in the UK were constantly told that it was both the fault of the EU and immigrants that there was no investment and Labour liked immigrants. Compare the north east, with merseyside where the Sun isn't sold and the difference in support for reform and brexit is profound.

Everyone in Ireland sees the benefit of EU membership because it gave tangible improvements to rich and poor, rural and urban and there were no media barons spewing misinformation.

Many Brits couldn't see EU membership as anything other than capitulation to the reality that the empire was gone.

Ireland, as a whole country, was a lot poorer-pre EU so everyone, including the rich urban toffs, absolutely loved it when EU structural funds built the entire motorway network slashing Dublin-Galway travel time almost in half. With no Murdoch media telling us otherwise, the Irish valued being EU.

And Matt Goodwin who DID NOT win

A scene from Mean Girls edited to say AND NONE FOR KEMI BADENOCH. BYE.

@greenpartyhan.bsky.social

* although to does play a part as Indonesians are predominantly Muslim and Papuans Christian... But really it's about independence and the ethnicity of local, indigenous Melanesians and Indonesians ruling from Jakarta

Well in Scotland it primarily manifests in Protestant v Catholic so there isn't much other exposure but historically I'm sure you could use the word to describe Jacobite conflicts which weren't wholly Catholic v Protestant.

West Papua is a sectrarian conflict almost wholly divorced from religion*

Sectarianism isn't specific to NI but generally means people deciding their actions based on community identity rather than policy or expected outcomes. Most often sectarianism is religious on focus, e.g. Kashmir or religious-ethnic e.g Kosovo, Bosnia

"I vote X because I am [this identity]"

Hannah Spencer walking into Westminster, sucking her teeth, tutting, and muttering "tell you what, you've had some cowboys in here."

I tried so hard

And got so far

But in the end

No one fucking likes me

I joined Reform

To deport you all

But in the end

No one fucking likes me

He's got the same ears!

Oh no, an industry that contributes less to the economy than Warhammer, doesn't employ that many people and provides diddly squat to food security will become less competitive. Please. Say it ain't so.

Not gonna lie but it was my birthday this week and not wearing a coat was also the best thing that happened to me this week

I thought it was because it looked like the floor of a rest stop bathroom after bring a friend night at the local dive bar

There are two layers to intent as well. "Intent doesn't matter* is normally said about people saying something they didn't know was hurtful... But still intended to say it. They consciously drew breath and activated their vocal cords. In this case he didn't even intend to act let alone offend!

Have you
...
Just not heard of Enoch Powell?

Do you not know about Smethwick?

It baffles me that so many of the kind of people who would vote for restore know about its existance at this point.

Serious answer to an unserious question: it could be. Anything that puts a reasonable person in immediate fear of unlawful touching or injury is an assault so a particularly shrill Karen in front of a dickhead sheriff might succeed in having you charged if she argued she believed she was in danger.

Many Americans don't know that Alaskan islands reach over 180° longitude so the most eastern state is Alaska.

I had to argue this as an Irishman, against an American, in a pub quiz in Australia.

Cf. Junior coalition parties in counties with proportional representation.