Now this is real politics, I say
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Well itâs officially happening.
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Glorious
This is an absolutely crazy story - in Canada, we no longer even let the Canadian military justice system handle sexual assault cases. But subjecting a British victim to American military justice procedures is lunacy - I am not sure how that does not constitute a violation of their legal rights.
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such a sad story,
but 2 thingsâŠ
it sounds like the US army courts looks after its own no matter the charges
i dont think its the last the US army courts have heard of Tyrion Davis
Time to revisit that treaty, I should think. Trump wants to close bases anyway.
Leaving aside the citizenship/sovereignty issue, the rest of the story is exactly why military justice simply lost jurisdiction over sexual assault charges in the Canadian military. Courts martial composed of officers with a career in the institution (until recently, almost exclusively male) simply cannot be trusted to take sexual misconduct seriously, the military defence lawyers were being allowed to employ strategies ruled out a generation ago, and the usual âboys will be boysâ bullshit. . Eventually, the Department of Defence just threw in the towel - it is now handled by civilian police and courts.
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Kinda sad that this is a political reality.
This clown who obviously doesnât take politics very seriously, versus only Farage who is Trump/Johnson rolled into one.
None of the serious parties contending under the pretence of a protest, but knowing they wouldnât win anyway.
Calling this by-election a stunt or a farce or a circus is probably fair comment, but we should be mindful of the stunt/farce/circus which took place only a couple of weeks ago to allow the clown in number 10 to be replaced.
Sad political reality.
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I completely agree.
The fact that this has ever been allowed to happen..several times, beggars belief and is really just the British kowtowing to those clowns across the pond.
Of course the resulting punishments handed out are just a farce.
Was just wondering if you could provide a source. I have done a quick search and the only thing I can find is some comments about people working from home and their productivity.
He would be under very little threat of being emptied in Birmingham 
The whole of the City doesnât need to be an expert in covert surveillance to see the productivity of the Cities bin men has dropped a bit recently,
Maybe you could ask former Labour BCC leader Cllr John Cotton for his âmany a taleâ on this.
Out of interest, what are your views on the Productivity of the Countries Council Workers?
Are they Productive?
Nigel wouldnât have have called the election if there was a chance of him losing. That doesnât mean the refusal to play along with what is transparently a vanity exercise by a man trying to evade scrutiny and undermine the legitimacy of a democratic process is diminished. It is the correct thing for them all to do - a rare outbreak of common sense across the main parties.
The end result of this farce in Nigel Farageâs head was him claiming a renewed mandate from the people, which trumps any fussy nonsense about who funds him. However he now has to claim that mandate having defeated a man dressed as a bin. Itâs a massive own goal.
He was kicking off yesterday that the main parties werenât standing, calling them anti-democratic and cowardly. No, Nigel. The cowardly and antidemocratic thing is asking the people of Clacton to cast judgement on him before all the facts have been known about shady finances. The brave and democratic thing to do would be to have the by-election after the investigation has concluded, with the people in full possession of the facts.
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Which, letâs be honest, he would probably (unfortunately) win anyway, given the demographics.
This leads me to suspect Nige is shitting bricks that one of the questions he will have to answer in the future could potentially be coming from a judge.
Just saw this from IpsosâŠ
Starmer leaves office weighed down by key issue failures
Public perception of Starmerâs policy achievements since July 2024 is overwhelmingly negative, particularly on domestic and financial pressures.
Government Performance Ratings on Core Issues:
- Dealing with the cost of living: 79% Bad Job vs 11% Good Job
- Managing the economy: 72% Bad Job vs 16% Good Job
- Managing immigration: 69% Bad Job vs 20% Good Job
- Improving the National Health Service: 63% Bad Job vs 23% Good Job
Letâs have a look at the last one, shall weâŠ
The NHS published this update not 2 months agoâŠ
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I think the perception on all of them doesnât match the actual performance on those issues, or recognise the bind that the government is in. Thatâs obviously down to a mix of expectations and reporting - the latter both by the government and by media/ opposition.
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Concern I have with the NHS one is how theyâve achieved the improvement. It stinks of a quick fix rather than addressing the core issues.
Thatâs fine initially, but thereâs been very little (that Iâve seen) on how we improve NHS services overall and for the long term.
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The US Politics thread is at least quite interesting if in a somewhat of a titillating and macabre way. The politicians are what they are and are expected to be. They are usually brash, from some sort of âroyal / privilegedâ lineage and on the whole entertainers. Is this ideal? No. However, the show is at least it is entertaining.
This thread is a bit like visiting somewhere like Barrow-in-Furness w/o the nice bits (not that there are loads) and expecting it to be London, Edinburgh - or even the much maligned Birmingham. It is dull and largely depressing.
I wonder what people expect in and from the Uk politicians? A capitalist Jesus? A Righteous St George to slay the socialist dragon once and for all? In the end there is only so much money and beyond pretending to be Greenland and hoping Trump buys, what are people hoping for in terms of a trajectory. If the countryâs savior, Farage, gets in, do people really think he can turn things around - even if he lasts a couple of election cycles?? Even if we were able to get Churchill and Thatcher brought back from the dead and have them make political savant babies, do people really think those babies would eventually be able to âsnapâ the country back to whatever they imagine was to âsnapâ back to..?
To me it feels like the Uk lacks a unifying vision. A vision that can form a road map to 50 years from now.
p.s. I appreciate that me posting here is somewhat ironic
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No. I donât think any of Reforms policy proposals will achieve that. You could also look at US policy direction and show plenty of evidence to say itâs not working. The same ideas would result in the same here.
In many ways the UK and US share similar problems. The US feels more at the sharp end, while the UK is just looking round at the rubble and wondering where it went wrong and thinking if we should go the same route. I hope not.
Being honest, Iâm not really sure what would work. Rejoining the EU maybe? But thatâs wholly dependent on the deal you get.
.
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I think there is a deeper question that faces all of Europe - how to remain competitive and innovative in a world that is on the move. At the company I work at it is the same issue, we just too expensive and have too many âprocessesâ. I sometimes say the following, to be annoying more then anything else, in terms of one possible solution: âOne thing would make us competitive, we should all take a 2/3 pay cutâ. There is usually an awkward silence and a forced smile followed by them moving on⊠In the end there is no quick or easy answer. We donât have the money to be more like the US, we would have to pick and choose and then back ourselves - whether as the Uk or as part of the EU. I would come back to the lack of vision.
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Nail on head.
As long as patients/visitors are met with a line of trolleyâs stretching down corridors (and beyond in many cases), and endless waits to be seen, then the perception will be negative.
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Very fair, indeed.
But the figures in that NHS report are eye-wateringly bad. Will take YEARS to fix, and several governments.
Makes me wonder what hope any politician has given you cannot have an adult conversation with the governed.
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