Elizabeth Bangs - No accountability? No democracy.

By militantly ignoring the OBR and causing market catastrophe, arrogant Liz Truss handed them total power. The OBR now run the show.
The shock waves of her party electing that ridiculous person will follow the UK for many years yet.
She can't be vilified enough.
#Wato #SpringStatement #OBR

Is the 78 year old Trump in charge? It's becoming my increasingly settled view that he is not.
JD Vance is.

When JD Vance complains about Demmark "not being a good ally", he's lying. In terms of casualties per population, Denmark gave more than any other ally while supporting America in Afghanistan.
🇩🇰🇬🇱🇪🇺

FFS Mason. It's obvious that no minister can make disobliging comments about the US administration on a news interview.
#wato

JD Vance's resentment of Europe is visceral, personal, a raw inferiority-superiority complex arising from different histories that both Americans and Europeans display about each other when they're being ignorant, shallow and childish.
But he's USA VP, not just some online pundit like me or you.

The one and only argument I accept for appeasing Trump is that it buys Europe time.

I don't believe for a minute that Trump's prime motivation is a lasting peace. It's a lasting Trump. Trump and Putin are more than friends. They're a thing, and democracy as we knew it isn't part of their mindset.

White rabbits white rabbits white rabbits

I've always said this. If the result had been honoured, we'd have ended up with the softest Brexit possible, not the hardest.
They pretended the majority was 17.4 mill, not fewer than 650k on a turnout of over 33mill.
They pretended the majority was 99% not less than 1.9%.
And refused to discuss it.

Scotland voted 62% to remain in the EU. Instead of Westminster compromising on a tiny majority on the national vote, they committed to the hardest Brexit possible

Yes, that's a lovely one

You too

It's the first day of spring. This isn't a weather forecast, it's an announcement about the changing season.
Forget the meteorological and astronomical statements on this. Weather is correlated not causative. The astronomers pick the wrong labels.
The Celts knew. The first day of spring is now.

Rule by executive order is fun isn't it? Especially when you have a weird old man in charge with his strings being pulled by tech billionaires who are so rich and powerful already they can only get their jollies from being full on fascistic and watching the mayhem and misery.

This nazi sympathizer has been pardoned by Trump.

Musk gave a Nazi salute today on stage.

We now have officially a Nazi regime…

If Musk REALLY thinks that what he did at the Capitol One rally yesterday was NOT a Nazi gesture, then I've a suggestion for him, he should come over to Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory and try repeating it, I dare him!

No. It isn't. They've only just arrived. Keir Starmer plays a long game. He just doesn't do short sighted. All the political toddlers asking whether we're nearly there just as the car turns the very first corner need to grow the fuck up.

I don't even know what that means 😬

Jesus, the number of people saying you can't keep blaming the Tories for the state of the country.
It's bloody ridiculous.
We've at least ten years of hard graft before we can say what Britain is like now is down to our Labour government not a result of the hideous legacy of Tory destruction.

Can we please stop talking absurd Tory nonsense about about 'food poverty' or 'energy poverty' FFS.
If you can't meet your basic needs, it's just 'poverty'.
#UKpoverty

'Taking photos on Hove prom'

We absolutely do NOT already know what to do. If we did, and if it were easy to implement, it would have been done long ago.
In addition, plenty of interim stages to assist are planned while this is going on.

Louise Casey is formidable. Starmer always plays a long game because that's the only game he values. And personal popularity isn't his top concern, either.
If any govt combo is to resolve the supremely long term issue of social care, this is it.

Hearing a lot about the fact that pensions are a benefit not directly 'paid for' by qualifying contributions?
It isn't innocent observation.
It's the deliberate undermining of the idea of workers accruing the right to one, by people who want to privatise them like they want to privatise the NHS.

Every one of those is still utterly unbelievable. For a democratic government not under pressure of having lost a war to have acted so appallingly to the detriment of its own bloody citizens is beyond nightmare. And yet it happened.

Never forget with Brexit, the Tory govts DELIBERATELY:
1 Disenfranchised thousands of British citizens with most to lose
2 Refused to respect the close referendum result
3 Negotiated worse trade terms with the UK's biggest markets
4 Demanded British citizens be stripped of rights and freedoms

A platform refusing to allow criminality (eg inciting violence and open racism) and dangerous misinformation is essential. So are interests other than politics. Hooray.
But generally JUST being cosy and nice (I see people saying that's why it's great here) isn't interesting to me. No idea even how 🤣

Not seeing it yet.

Sure, but are people we disagree with (fundamentally, I mean) on here?
Don't know if sticking to working through small differences is enough. Shouldn't we stay in touch with what the people we have big differences with are up to and challenge them?
otoh if we're just being manipulated over there 🤷‍♀️

Though still keeping us outside the single market, Rachel Reeves' ambition to break down trade barriers with the EU is at least a normal one.
The Tory govt was the only one ever in the world to deliberately negotiate much WORSE terms with its largest markets and declare the worse terms a success.

Private equity sharks cash in on foster care Three private equity firms running foster care agencies have made a combined £40 million in profit out of the plight of vulnerable children, we can reveal.

Private equity sharks cash in on foster care.

Just three made £40m profit from the plight of vulnerable children.

Foster carers paid £7.50 an hour, treated as self employed, denied workers' rights, rely on benefits.

Privatisation delivers exploitation.
www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/market...