 | Forum
Reply | Starmer and Trump
at 18:17 14 Mar 2026
I don't like Trump, especially for his policies on Ukraine, but I do wonder if the media are presenting what is happening in Iran and the region in overly pessimistic terms. The Shia autocracy is both murderous and a danger to the world, so I think there would have been open conflict at some stage. Given that the US and Israel now have total air superiority and the Iranian navy has been pretty much eliminated, my guess is that there is only a small time window in which Iran can effectively close the Hormuz Strait. I could be wrong, of course, but to me the main risk that Trump's project will fail comes from dissent in the West rather than what Iran can do beyond a few weeks of resistance. |
| Forum
Reply | Wrexham v Swansea City : Match day thread
at 21:58 13 Mar 2026
Very disappointing 2nd half. We could point to bad luck with a good penalty shout not given and an OG, but we lacked creativity and quality. We needed the subs to give us more out wide but in the event they made things worse. Guess it was Friday 13th. |
| Forum
Reply | Wrexham v Swansea City : Match day thread
at 20:52 13 Mar 2026
Promising for much of the time, but our wingers are not performing at the level needed. I would sub Nunes and Ronald at the start of the 2nd half. |
| Forum
Reply | So we now are looking to pay illegals to offski
at 01:10 13 Mar 2026
More here on the Eritrean who an immigration court ruled would not get proper mental health support if returned to France.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news
This is despite the fact that OECD ranked the French healthcare system as among the best in the world in 2025.
https://www.connexionfrance.co
I can't help comparing this immigration case judgement to a series of famous judicial cases where British patents who had been denied NHS treatments sought judicial review and the courts ruled that it was not for them to overturn decisions made by NHS authorities.
https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bi
Those interested should read p 162 onwards. The big picture is that "when presented with questions of the allocation of scarce healthcare resources, the traditional attitude of the English courts was largely to eschew any sort of involvement, significantly constraining their capability to adopt either of these approaches and effectively rendering rationing decisions immune from judicial scrutiny."
It looks to m as though the immigration courts risk creating a kind of two-tier entitlement, whereby British people needing NHS treatment and going to court come off worse than illegal immigrants. |
| Forum
Reply | So we now are looking to pay illegals to offski
at 16:43 12 Mar 2026
This comes from the Independent today:
"Sir Keir Starmer's flagship "one in, one out" scheme is returning only 12 migrants a week to France, falling short of the initial promise of 50 per week.
Since its launch last August, 377 people have been returned to France under the pilot, while 380 migrants have been allowed to apply for asylum in the UK from France.
The scheme faces legal challenges from migrants, with 40 per cent of those detained making trafficking claims, arguing that French authorities do not adequately support victims.
A joint High Court claim by over a dozen migrants, some already deported, challenges the scheme's lawfulness and the Home Office's policy on modern slavery claims.
A High Court judge recently halted the removal of an Eritrean trafficking victim to France due to concerns about access to accommodation and healthcare support there." |
| Forum
Reply | Don't Understand How This is Not Already in Place
at 04:34 12 Mar 2026
Personally. I'd say that replacing historical figures from the UK's past with images from the natural world is not just about stylistic variation. It is connected with other developments in the culture wars and a wider move to change the way British people regard their history. This seems more than a regular cycle of change in what we put on bank notes. It isn't just GB News that is commenting. |
| Forum
Reply | Mandelson's £75,000 Payoff
at 04:19 12 Mar 2026
We know about Tory wrong-doing but the sleaze seems to affect New Labour as well. In particular the enrichment of a legal establishment that is closely entangled with senior Labour figures going back to Cherie Blair etc seems to me a real cause for concern that is still leading to problems (think Starmer, Hermer, Sands and several others in the Society of Labour Lawyers). |
| Forum
Reply | Starmer and Trump
at 05:26 10 Mar 2026
Flew on a near-full direct flight from BKK to LHR yesterday. Lots of people in the waiting room at the gate who had previously booked indirect Arab flights were moaning about what they had had to pay to change, how they had been stuck for days and how their insurance was unlikely to cough up. Presumably those starting in the Middle East are even worse off. My Thai Airways flight went further north than usual over the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan, and with no problems. There is now only a narrow corridor between the conflicts in Ukraine/ Russia and Iran/neighbouring states that have received missile/drone attacks. |
| Forum
Reply | So we now are looking to pay illegals to offski
at 13:19 6 Mar 2026
Don't use the "D" word that Labour backbenchers and their fellow travellers hate so much! It triggers an automatic response whereby they band around the "R" word. |
| Forum
Reply | More Miliband madness?
at 09:58 4 Mar 2026
There are still a few left but that trend of closures is exactly what worries me.
Wiki says:
Petroleum refining in the United Kingdom produced around 51.45 million tonnes of petroleum products in 2023, down 16% from 2015 and 32% from 2011.[1] There are four major and one minor petroleum refinery in the downstream sector of the UK oil industry.
Phillips 66, Humber Refinery, South Killingholme, 221,000 barrels per day
Essar Energy plc., Stanlow refinery, 190,000 barrels per day
Valero Energy Corp., Pembroke refinery, 270,000 barrels per day
ExxonMobil, Fawley refinery, 270,000 barrels per day
Haltermann Carless, Harwich refinery, 0.5 million tonnes per year (10,500 barrels per day)
Total, operational refining capacity 1,222,800 barrels per day, around 58 million tonnes per year. |
| Forum
Reply | Qatari gas and supply interruptions.
at 02:26 4 Mar 2026
One irony of Miliband's policy is that he says further exploration and development in the UK North Sea sector will damage the environment, but is willing to buy from Norway, which is pushing ahead with new fields in its own North Sea sector. As AI states: "The Norwegian continental shelf is experiencing a period of significant exploration and development, with several new oil and gas fields coming online". Latest one was announced in recent days.
https://www.reuters.com/busine
The problem with the argument that we are keeping our North Sea oil and gas for the future is that all our heavy industry and much of our refining capacity will be gone by then - bankrupted by high energy prices. Almost everybody agrees that we need a transition to clean energy, but the way we are managing things in the UK makes no sense. |
| Forum
Reply | More Miliband madness?
at 01:10 4 Mar 2026
There is something in that argument in that the natural resources indeed remain under the seabed. The problem is that much of our heavy industry, refining capacity etc does not survive because of high energy costs, and that is likely to be lost for ever. |
| Forum
Reply | War in the Middle East
at 11:20 1 Mar 2026
I see that the usual suspects are out marching in support of the Ayatollahs. Why are there so many bat-sh** crazy people in the public eye these days? I understand that a good proportion have middle eastern heritage but there are also a lot of Pollys and Barnabys.
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora |
| Forum
Reply | Ipswich Town v Swansea City : Match day thread
at 17:14 28 Feb 2026
Had a few good passages of play, but ended up being well beaten. I guess the difference between us and the top teams are: (1) we still don't have much in the way of creativity and penetration up front; and (b) we have more than the odd defensive mistake in us. |
| | AnotherJohn
|
Site Scores| Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 0 |
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.