Boris leading it? With an oven-ready plan to destabilise the BBC?

And yet how often do we see people who make blunders like this promoted? I work with people who’ve made catestrophic errors and been rewarded by more pay and seniority. It’s the British Way.

Ah! the old spectre of the 70s with the wailing piles of uncollected bins and rattling power cuts! Those of us who grew up then seem to have fonder memories of a happier Britain. Price controls have been used successfully in the past (particularly in the post-WW2 period up until 1954). Other countries - significantly Singapore - use price controls to manage their economies efficiently.

Ok ok I’ll accept all this “explanation” but what I’d also like to know is when fruit like apples - grown in the UK - have shrunk in size, increased by something like 100%+ and begin to rot as soon as you get them home. You could (just about) put up with massive hikes in prices because of “explanation” but prices plus increasingly worse quality of food is beyond unacceptable. We’re being ripped off here in the UK.

You mean there’s a chance I won’t be a multi-billionaire?

Nothing wrong with DNF-ing. If a book doesn’t suit you, move on. If I watch a tv show that everyone raves about I give it a maximum of 3 episodes and then move on if I don’t like it (eg. Andor Season 2). Not for me at this point and maybe come back some point in the future. Same with books. If a book hasn’t held my interest in 30ish pages I put it aside for something that will. Sometimes I go back. Too many books and too little life to spend time fretting.

To counter that: we need to stay in NATO and fulfil our commitment to increasing spending on the military and nuclear weapons to 5% of GDP. That’s something like £140-150 billion a year. A massive increase that everyone important says we need because war is coming. What’s more we need to further cut services, spending on education and NHS, social security and increase taxes. Why? War is coming. We can’t have the threat of China and Russia driving tanks, sailing boats and submarines all the way to our little country, can we? Do we want to live in Little Beijing-on-the-Thames or St Petersberg-on-Tyne or what?

Until Your Party nails down some policies it’s only a coalition of well-intentioned individuals. Nothing wrong with that but they could probably win the same sort of support by forming a broad popular front with the Greens, current Labour local branches and even some Lib Dems. With the rise of Reform and the fascist far-right it may even need that. Why, after all these wranglings, fallings out and rallies, they haven’t issues a short statement of fundamental beliefs, I don’t know.

I was a long-time user of One Note and about 8 years ago tried to export some of my notes - which was nigh-on impossible to do regardless of whatever MS says. I realised that I didn’t like feeing I didn’t have full control or ownership and that set me off on a course if self-hosting and linux. I’m not completely there but certainly further on than I was then. I like using linux much more than OSX and certainly Windows (which I stopped using about 2012).

I wanted to do the same so I used an AI to help me write a python script that does that and publishes a static site. It was really useful and introduced me to Jinja2 in the process.

I read them from time to time. Can you give an example of where they “straight up lie or spread conspiracy theories”? They report on rumours or gossip - but that’s little different than a mainstream journalist citing “sources”. I take into account their political slant when I read them, though.

I watched Jones’ report and Michael Gove of all people there was the person who seemed to speak to Jones without running away!

In our ward they don’t even bother turning out. I think the LibDem who usually wins - and doesn’t even live here! - gets about 900 votes.

Councilors often go on about being busy but what do they actually DO? I live in an area where councillors can earn £17k a year. I have yet to see a councillor in real life or see anything happen in our local area as a direct response of the councillor’s actions. Our councillor doesn’t even live here (in the countryside outside of our town.

From what I understand, they sit through a lot of meetings where council officials tell them what they are doing. The more meetings they sit through, the more cash they earn.

Why does Tommy and other right-wing goons all have Turkey Teeth? Do you need Turkey Teeth to join their club - bearing in mind lots of Tommy’s followers seem to have missing teeth?

Teeth and proto-fascists.

That politicians on the left are quick to announce that they will use the bourgeois courts on each other is pretty dispiriting.

My (irrational) feeling about this is that there’s more going on than just what we’re seeing. And I’m pretty sure some of it involves state intelligence operatives.

One of the big issues is that some of those involved in the discussions wouldn’t call themselves socialists in any way and are aligned through support for Gaza. I guess Corbyn is trying to win them over and there are those looking at the rise of the far right and starting to realise they need to get a move on.

Yes, even the concessionary membership was £2.50 a month. If Your Party wants support from the poorest then they need to make it voluntary as you say. Even the old Labour Party charged on £1 for unemployed members.

Thanks. I have already looked at this and tried out some of the links. I couldn’t see a solution - but I’ll take another look. Thank you.

I’m not so sure. It was a pretty reactionary period in Britain with harsh laws that prevented assemblies of more than 50 people, anti-union activities and a serious curtailment of freedoms that were put into law (The Treasonable Practices Act (1795), The Combinations Acts (1795-1800) and the suspension of Habeas Corpus (1798-1801). Anyone considered radical was rounded up and threatened - sometimes physically. Even poor old William Blake was arrested.