Dairy of a Nobody, featuring Pooter, is quite prescient in this respect.

Just needs the medals...

I believe there was an Atlantic Charter, likened to Churchill and Roosevelt?

Who knew that in due course with the passing of history Johnson will fall in the category of a Great Statesman? Bravely plunging into the brisk waves that lap Cornwall's shores, like a latterday Vladimir Putin taking a New year dip in the Arctic and riding bare chested and bare backed on his mighty stead {That's enough ~ Ed }

Yoo-hoo!

Right. That's it. So now even the Americans are laughing at us.

Opportunity Knocks! with Lizzie Truss
Double Your Money with Hughie Sunak
Take Your Pick with Michael Frost
Countdown with Carol Whitty
Crackerjack! with Leslie Jenrick
Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Chris lack of Talent-Mogg
Dad's Army with Prati Patel


Oldies but Goldies!

I do. :)
I've been there. In Ye Olde Days when it FYROM.
In fact, to be technically exact, I also visited it when it was part of the NYFSOY.

In the West Midlands, with a Birmingham post code?

:w2:

Former Yugoslav state, east of Albania and north of Greece. Was just called 'Macedonia' until fairly recently, but I think Greece objected to them using the name unadorned as 'Macedonia' also refers to a region of Greece, and an ancient nation.

They have a belting flag, and the outline looks a bit like a potato :)

(I spend far too long on Sporcle geography quizzes...)

Ikea, Octopus Energy, cider firm Kopparberg, and other brands have withdrawn advertising from GB News after the channel's launch on Sunday.

Kopparberg said the advert ran "without our knowledge" and it was undertaking a review of the channel's content.

Octopus said it would only run ads in future if the news channel proved "genuinely balanced".

A post on the Kopparberg Twitter account said: "Kopparberg is a drink for everyone and we have immediately suspended our ads from this channel pending further review of its content."

Greg Jackson, founder of Octopus Energy, said the company does not advertise on "platforms whose primary purpose is the distribution of hate" and said it would only run adverts on new channels after watching their output for a period of time.

Ikea said it had suspended its advertising, and had not knowingly booked slots on the channel. It said it had safeguards to prevent ads appearing on platforms which are not in line with the company's "humanistic values".

The Open University and Ovo Energy also said they were pausing advertising, which they said had been placed by a media partnership without their knowledge.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-57483907

2 days of broadcasting and GB News has lost 6 major advertisers.
The right are going out of their minds.
At this rate they are going to have to start paying companies to advertise.

They do have some viewers left though. Yesterday both Mike Hunt and Mike Oxlong managed to get their comments on air.

Julie Burchill is currently looking for a job.

I almost had a migraine watching that game, with that oddly eccentric flag.

Government or a TV station, why are the right in the U.K. always so reliably unprofessional?

Laurence Fox is handing back his Crime Writers' Association 'Golden Dagger' award as Specsavers the award sponsors have pulled their advertising from the GB News channel.

As an outsider, shouldn't this be called "UK News"?

Do the DUP have an opinion on this?

It should but......

The sort of "gammon" that watches GB News for real probably doesn't discriminate between England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

They also like "GB" because the longer version has "Great" in the name which reminds them of when Britain was Great and reassures them that Brexit will make Britain Great again. :rolleyes:

It's a very common thing for Norn Iron to be ignored: FFS, even the UK-ian Olympic team is called "Team GB".

Chesham and Amersham: Lib Dems overturn big Tory majority in by-election upset

The Liberal Democrats have pulled off a stunning by-election victory, overturning a 16,000 majority in a seat that has always voted Conservative.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said the Chesham and Amersham result "sends shockwaves through British politics".

The party's candidate Sarah Green won by 8,028 votes from the Tories, with the Green Party in third place.

Labour had the worst by-election result in the party's history, with just 622 votes.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan...herts-57472032



Reporting of the Labour vote is misleading.
There was a lot of strategic voting to get the Tories out. Most labour voters went with the Lib-Dems.

Former Conservative MP Dominic Grieve says Chesham and Amersham by-election result was predictable.

"This has happened not just because of HS2, it's because this is a sophisticated electorate and they have a very low opinion of the prime minister"

It's a next-door constituency to me and I disagree to an extent - HS2 played a huge part in it.

Indeed, and most of the anti-government swing was down to local, rather than national, issues like the H2S fiasco.

A bit of a stink about that....

Well played.

:rolleyes: :) :covereyes
:)

Amazing how the mainstream press wasn't reporting about this constituency prior to the result.... you'd almost think the political reporters never got off their arses and did any actual investigative work. This result is only surprising if you didn't know anything about the local politics.

The best thing is that nothing gets rid of Tory PMs quicker then backbenchers thinking they are vulnerable at the polls.

Boris Johnson is to strip the Electoral Commission of the power to prosecute law-breaking, just weeks after it launched an investigation into his controversial flat refurbishment.

The watchdog has been threatened with curbs ever since it embarrassed senior Tory figures by fining Vote Leave for busting spending limits for the Brexit referendum.
Now ministers have announced that a new Elections Bill will remove its ability to prosecute criminal offences under electoral law – arguing it “wastes public money”.

Chloe Smith, the constitution minister, insisted “the proper place for criminal investigations and prosecutions relating to electoral law is with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service”.
“In recent years, the Electoral Commission has sought to develop the capability to bring criminal offences before the courts,” she said. “This has never been agreed by the government or Parliament.

Having the Electoral Commission step into this space would risk wasting public money as well as present potential conflicts of interest for a body responsible for providing advice and guidance on electoral law to initiate proceedings which might depend on the very advice that was given.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b1868407.html

The Democratic Unionist Party's Paul Givan has been told that he will have to resign as Northern Ireland's first minister when a new party leader takes over.

It comes just days after Mr Givan was officially installed in the post.

DUP party officers have set a date of 26 June to elect a new leader, with only MLAs and MPs entitled to vote.

The nomination process has now opened, and will remain so until noon on 22 June.

Mr Givan was informed that he would have to step down by DUP officers after Edwin Poots resigned as party leader.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-57538844

What about that Arlene Foster bod, could they be in with a chance?

On the other hand, maybe Boris just spotted a wrong 'un. Given he's now defected to Labour :D

John Bercow defects to Labour with withering attack on Johnson

John Bercow, the former Tory MP and Speaker of the House of Commons, today delivers an extraordinary broadside against Boris Johnson and the Conservative party as he announces he has switched his political allegiance to Labour.
In an explosive interview with the Observer, Bercow says he regards today’s Conservative party as “reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic”.
Bercow, who stepped down as Speaker in 2019 after 10 years, says he joined the Labour party a few weeks ago because he now shares its values and sees it is as the only means to removing the current Tory government from office.

“I am motivated by support for equality, social justice and internationalism. That is the Labour brand,” he said. “The conclusion I have reached is that this government needs to be replaced. The reality is that the Labour party is the only vehicle that can achieve that objective. There is no other credible option.”

Bercow says that despite Johnson’s professed commitment to “levelling up”, he has no interest in those less privileged than himself. He also describes as “utterly shameful” the decision to cut international aid.

‘‘He is a successful campaigner but a lousy governor,” he said. “I don’t think he has any vision of a more equitable society, any thirst for social mobility or any passion to better the lot of people less fortunate than he is. I think increasingly people are sick of lies, sick of empty slogans, sick of a failure to deliver.’’

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...ack-on-johnson

Oliver Dowden the Culture Secretary writing in the Sunday Telegraph published tomorrow says that the advertisers boycotting GB News are a "threat to democracy" and "We will not allow this to happen"

Who had Conservative Minister tells businesses who they must and must not spend their money on in their predictions for 2021?

What does he think the government can do? Make it legally binding for companies to advertise on GB News?

Actually it's up to the Assembly to determine who holds the position of First Minister; unless the DUP wish to propose a vote of no-confidence in their party colleague he doesn't have to resign.
If he does it starts the clock on the Assembly electing new First and Defuty First ministers, or an election must be called. Given their current polling an Assembly election would be an electoral disaster for the party, they'd lose perhaps half their (currently) 28 seats, the First Ministership and quite possibly any significant role in politics. It would also precipitate a constitutional crisis if, as the polls indicate, the Alliance party comes in second.
Fun times.

That's really rather disturbing. But then, so much is these days.

Strange how supposed "free" market types don't like it when it doesn't work the way they want it to...It's almost like they don't really want a free market at all.

It's a function of the mismatch between the attitudes of consumers of these companies products and those of the politicians. Added to that social media means that the companies get feedback with a speed and scale that was just impossible in the past.

The prime minister has set out plans to cement the UK's place as a "science superpower".

Boris Johnson announced how increases in the research budget would be spent.
He will chair a new National Science and Technology Council to provide "strategic direction" on how research is harnessed for the "public good".
And Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser to the government, will lead a new Office for Science and Technology Strategy.
He will take up the role of the new national technology adviser, alongside his current role.

Mr Johnson said the UK's vaccination programme had proven what the UK can achieve at scale and speed.
"With the right direction, pace and backing, we can breathe life into many more scientific and technological breakthroughs that transform the lives of people across the UK and the world," he said.
It aims to increase research spending from nearly £15bn a year to £22bn by 2025.
The stated aim is to use the extra money to tackle societal challenges, such as the impact of climate change, level up across the country and boost prosperity around the world.

As ever though, with greater budgets, comes greater ministerial supervision - in the form of a new committee chaired by the prime minister.
On the one hand it puts science at the heart of government, but on the other there's concern that there will be more political control on research budgets that could mean money being diverted toward pet projects - rather than spent on what is independently judged by experts to be best for science - as happens currently.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57548531

Has one of his pals bought a Chemistry set?

Without wishing to descend into a "No true Scotsman" argument, I think it's safe to say the Tories have departed their conservative position and moved into the realm of populism instead. Certainly, hearing Johnson talking about raising taxes to spend on 'levelling up' (I still find it hilarious they had to hire a consultant to figure out what it's supposed to mean) the coutry must have irked some of the actual conservatives.

I though it stood for Gammon Bollocks?

Not watched it, don't know how to watch it, don't have any interest in watching it and won't watch it.

Giving it attention is counter productive.

Baroness Harding of Winscombe has vowed to end England’s reliance on foreign doctors and nurses if she becomes the next head of the NHS.

Harding, the former head of Test and Trace, formally applied last week to succeed Sir Simon Stevens to lead the health service.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d...ners-0t6mq9w2b

You know this is drip drip drip? how can we make the NHS fail? I know, put disastrous Dido in charge, let her complain about foreigners in the service so they feel even more harassed and leave. It'll then fail. Then sell it.

Her Tory MP husband sits on the advisory board of a think tank called '1828', which calls for the NHS to be replaced by an insurance system and for Public Health England to be scrapped.

He is also head of Institute for Health Protection which is supposed to replace Public Health England.

From August last year.

The head of the government’s new Institute for Health Protection – which will replace Public Health England – has been found to have direct links to a member of the 1828 advisory board – which called for the body to be scrapped.

Dido Harding’s husband and former Tory minister John Penrose is part of the right-wing group which, among other things, took a dim view of PHE.
It was announced this weekend that the health body is to be broken up with the new Institute for Health Protection to become “effective” from next month – spearheaded by Mr Penrose’s wife, Dido Harding.

More concerning is that the 1828 group has also pushed for the NHS to be scrapped in favour of a system where people pay for insurance either through private firms or a government scheme.
One article authored by 1828’s co-founders argued Britain should be “bold and progressive”.
It said: “With a social health insurance system, you don’t need the state to own or subsidise hospitals, or to control policy from the centre; you simply need it to regulate the system to a satisfactory degree.”

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/po...rapped-198003/

More likely one of his pals sells Chemistry sets. And they'll soon be mandatory for schoolkids.


Actually, what am I talking about. If one of his pals sold chemistry sets Matt Hancock would have already bought his entire stock at £10,000 a test tube.

If Dido Harding had said she wanted to make sure that everyone working for the NHS is properly paid, valued and supported so that the jobs will be sought after then I would be with her.

I didn’t realise we were only clapping British-born NHS staff

When Dido Harding says she wants foreigners out of the NHS she’s not including US corporations of course.

Anyone who refers to NHS doctors and nurses as 'foreign' reveals their true mindset IMV.

Perhaps 'Dido' needs to reflect on why the UK had to invite so many doctors and nurses from the Commonwealth and the EU in the first place.

Anyone who uses a childhood nickname in their official capacity is pathetic IMV. It doesn't make Diana or 'Boris' any more likeable. What next, 'Binky' Patel?

Tory MPs trying to work out why some white people are poor?

Incredible foresight from Thatcher to gut working class communities, so that 40 years later Tories can point gleefully at regions full of neglected white kids and go "look, racism doesn't exist."