National News Rishi Sunak

Marked Ox said:
I'd also add there is no irony from him using Birmingham Council's bankruptcy considering the Tories record in Woking (£1.2bn debt for not a large authority) and Northamptonshire. Or that a big chunk of austerity got pushed on to Local Authorities.
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Ahem. This is a chance for me to plug the autism funding cut in Oxfordshire thread in the miscellaneous section. Please do sign the petition and share with family and friends if you agree. It’s a result of central government cuts to local authorities
 
Scotchegg said:
Conclusion: Someone can't take a joke!!
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I wonder if you'd find it funny if an English author wrote a book
"66 times Germany was a bellend"
"72 times Iran was a bellend"

The modernist left love to accuse things of being racist/xenephobic, but the internal racism towards white people and the UK is always given a free pass. It's just boring hypocrisy. There's something very crass about hating a nation which isn't perfect but has contributed so much to the modern world.
 
Wandering Yellow said:
I wonder if you'd find it funny if an English author wrote a book
"66 times Germany was a bellend"
"72 times Iran was a bellend"

The modernist left love to accuse things of being racist/xenephobic, but the internal racism towards white people and the UK is always given a free pass. It's just boring hypocrisy. There's something very crass about hating a nation which isn't perfect but has contributed so much to the modern world.
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Goodness.

You need to stop trawling the Internet for things to be offended by.
 
Wandering Yellow said:
I wonder if you'd find it funny if an English author wrote a book
"66 times Germany was a bellend"
"72 times Iran was a bellend"

The modernist left love to accuse things of being racist/xenephobic, but the internal racism towards white people and the UK is always given a free pass. It's just boring hypocrisy. There's something very crass about hating a nation which isn't perfect but has contributed so much to the modern world.
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Interestingly, I was having a conversation about this kind of thinking a couple of days ago.

My view is that it is entirely possible to hold opposing views without there being any hypocrisy at all.

For example, it's is my view that Hamas are a barbaric organisation that used outdated religious ideology to kill, rape and torture hundreds in innocent Israelis. Hamas needs to be irradicated along with all those with hold the same murderous beliefs. However, it is equally as horrifying to see tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian women and children being killed indiscriminately, and the willful starvation of an entire nation state. This has frequently been called out for breaching International Law and a complete ceasefire is needed immediately to prevent another genocide.

No hypocrisy, just humanity.

It is also possible to call out the actions of Nazi Germany in the 30's and 40's, of Iran and neighbouring regimes since the Iranian revolution of the late 70's, yet also question the actions of our own nation.

You can pick pretty much any generation, or any era in our history and find incidents where we have committed some horrific acts. Recognising this, and calling it out where appropriate doesn't mean that I hate my country. It doesn't mean that I can't also acknowledge the contributions that our country has made, but doing good things doesn't mean that we turn a blind eye to all the s**t done in return. And I certainly won't entertain anyone playing the victim for being white in the UK!
 
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Scotchegg said:
Interestingly, I was having a conversation about this kind of thinking a couple of days ago.

My view is that it is entirely possible to hold opposing views without there being any hypocrisy at all.

For example, it's is my view that Hamas are a barbaric organisation that used outdated religious ideology to kill, rape and torture hundreds in innocent Israelis. Hamas needs to be irradicated along with all those with hold the same murderous beliefs. However, it is equally as horrifying to see tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian women and children being killed indiscriminately, and the willful starvation of an entire nation state. This has frequently been called out for breaching International Law and a complete ceasefire is needed immediately to prevent another genocide.

No hypocrisy, just humanity.

It is also possible to call out the actions of Nazi Germany in the 30's and 40's, of Iran and neighbouring regimes since the Iranian revolution of the late 70's, yet also question the actions of our own nation.

You can pick pretty much any generation, or any era in our history and find incidents where we have committed some horrific acts. Recognising this, and calling it out where appropriate doesn't mean that I hate my country. It doesn't mean that I can't also acknowledge the contributions that our country has made, but doing good things doesn't mean that we turn a blind eye to all the s**t done in return. And I certainly won't entertain anyone playing the victim for being white in the UK!
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You're becoming like a true politician Scotch, saying the things you want to say and skillfully avoiding the point I made.

Any historian will tell you our countries history is mixed, but any of the old countries histories are mixed. We treated our colonies a lot better than the Germans or Belgians, it's such a complex thing to go into.

Your statement about Hamas is just you getting something off your chest, it has nothing to do with anything I've said. Obviously there is a balance to be struck "52 times Britain was a bellend" isn't exactly a balanced book title, it it? If it was about the EU or Nigeria you'd probably be scathing about it, that's the hypocrisy I'm referring to.

That book wasn't being all "balanced" as you are trying to make out, it was just a hit piece on Britain. The way some on the left take such pleasure in self-flagellation is bizarre but I'm happy to leave you to it.

Not going to get into race politics, but the way some on the left use the term "white" and "whiteness" pisses me right off. Are Jewish people considered white, if so, they could make an argument for being victimised. Are Polish people white? They could claim they're not treated as well. You're the same as most on the extreme left, love playing race politics until it doesn't fit your narrative.

Edit: Before anyone makes the point that I'm trying to say our colonies being "less bad" doesn't make them inexcusable, that's not the point I'm making, but in those times almost any civilisations with guns would have invaded another. Our conception of moral politics is of our time.
 
"We treated our colonies better than others." Well that's OK then isn't it?! We'll take over your country and if you behave we might just let you work for us!

The very fact that we had so many colonies suggests that we may not have acted in the way that we perhaps should have. Hence the "52 times Britain was a bell end". Of course, many of these were in our past and times are very different now.

But as this is on the Rishi Sunak thread, let's not forget some of the actions of the current Government that are a little bell endy? Taking donation money from a racist who has pocketed £600m from NHS contracts from the very same Government. Billions in PPE fraud, the vast majority of which was in back handed VIP deals. Releasing prisoners early. Dangerous people not remanded in prison due to lack of spaces. Court cases taking years. Record hospital waiting lists. Schools crumbling. Highest tax burden since WWII. Rwanda policy. Parties during covid. Housing crisis.

There are plenty of things to get stressed about today, let alone throughout history.

But if you want to get angry about race politics or whether women have a penis, then I'll leave you to it.
 
Scotchegg said:
"We treated our colonies better than others." Well that's OK then isn't it?! We'll take over your country and if you behave we might just let you work for us!



The very fact that we had so many colonies suggests that we may not have acted in the way that we perhaps should have. Hence the "52 times Britain was a bell end". Of course, many of these were in our past and times are very different now.

But as this is on the Rishi Sunak thread, let's not forget some of the actions of the current Government that are a little bell endy? Taking donation money from a racist who has pocketed £600m from NHS contracts from the very same Government. Billions in PPE fraud, the vast majority of which was in back handed VIP deals. Releasing prisoners early. Dangerous people not remanded in prison due to lack of spaces. Court cases taking years. Record hospital waiting lists. Schools crumbling. Highest tax burden since WWII. Rwanda policy. Parties during covid. Housing crisis.

There are plenty of things to get stressed about today, let alone throughout history.

But if you want to get angry about race politics or whether women have a penis, then I'll leave you to it.
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I knew you were going to imply that's the point I was making, and I even provided an edit to make sure you didn't misinterpret me, but you still went down that road? You know that's not the point I was making.

This thread isn't about history, but people so often make the mistake of judging yesterdays civilisations by todays standards. Of course colonialism and slavery was wrong, but slavery was normal, and it still goes on today. This great country was the first in the world to end slavery, it was ahead of the curve on moral standards.

The actions of Germany were far more recent than colonialism, yet I wonder if they engage in as much self-flagellation about their history as we do?
There is something uniquely British about self-deprecation, so it makes sense it extends to our country, but we are historically one of the greatest countries on planet earth.

No need to get into race politics or whether or not women have penises. I can clear the second query up, they don't.

I sometimes wonder if loving Oxford United is the only thing we can agree on Scotch :ROFLMAO:
 
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Wandering Yellow said:
I knew you were going to imply that's the point I was making, and I even provided an edit to make sure you didn't misinterpret me, but you still went down that road? You know that's not the point I was making.

This thread isn't about history, but people so often make the mistake of judging yesterdays civilisations by todays standards. Of course colonialism and slavery was wrong, but slavery was normal, and it still goes on today. This great country was the first in the world to end slavery, it was ahead on the curve on moral standards.

The actions of Germany were far more recent than colonialism, yet I wonder if they engage in as much self-flagellation about their history as we do?
There is something uniquely British about self-deprecation, so it makes sense it extends to our country, but we are historically one of the greatest countries on planet earth.

No need to get into race politics or whether or not women have penises. I can clear the second query up, they don't.

I sometimes wonder if loving Oxford United is the only thing we can agree on Scotch :ROFLMAO:
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When I read your posts, I'm very glad that we don't agree.
 
Marston Road yellow said:
It’s actually worse than that. Currently lots of people actively have to vote in opposition to what they don’t want rather than voting for what they do want.

I live in west Oxford so I have a pig in a rosette Tory sitting as my MP and no chance of shifting him. In a proper election I would expect to be able to choose where to cast my vote based on the party that is campaigning on things I am most aligned with, instead I have to vote Lib Dem just to try and get the tories out.

We have a dreadful form of governance that on the whole suits the two main parties and isn’t, despite all assurances to the contrary, democratic.
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I just found out (because they had an election yesterday) that Tasmania state parliament has a different form of PR to other states (the Hare-Clark system). They have 5 electorates which each return 7 members, determined by PR (STV). It seems like a good compromise between proportional representation and local representation. In WA we have 2 extremes: in the lower house a single member is returned in each electorate determined by STV, which ends up being a poor man’s PR as while you don’t need to tactically vote, ultimately the winner takes all. In the WA upper house we have fully proportional representation across the state, but that means no local rep.
With this Tassie method, if 20% of you vote for the Silly Party candidate, then that Silly Party member will sit in the house.
 
Wandering Yellow said:
The actions of Germany were far more recent than colonialism, yet I wonder if they engage in as much self-flagellation about their history as we do?
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You’re kidding, right? I guess you haven’t spent much time in Germany or with Germans?
It was a big enough feature of German postwar behaviour that Harry Enfield used it in sketches with Jürgen the German:
 
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Wandering Yellow said:
I wonder if you'd find it funny if an English author wrote a book
"66 times Germany was a bellend"
"72 times Iran was a bellend"

The modernist left love to accuse things of being racist/xenephobic, but the internal racism towards white people and the UK is always given a free pass. It's just boring hypocrisy. There's something very crass about hating a nation which isn't perfect but has contributed so much to the modern world.
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Honestly, I've always found that a sense of humour and self-deprecation are two absolutely quintessentially British traits. And I also think this is a good thing, and something that prides me in being British. It would just be poor form to write a book about things another country did wrong, but writing a book that comically harpoons British history is just about the most British thing you can do!

I genuinely don't think you can make it big in Britain without being able to make fun of yourself. Donald Trump would never get anywhere in the UK because he takes himself so damn seriously. But instead Britain got Boris.....who was just like Trump in being a lying, ethically challenged, power-hungry, manipulative populist but he also dialed up the buffoonish persona so British people would like him.
 
holdsteady said:
Oxfordshire is 1006 square miles so I don't think an extra 88 square miles lost is the end of the world.

What's the alternative? Mass homelessness? People living 25 to a house so you can have an area with character?

You can't solve a current problem because their might be a problem in the future? You can use that as an argument against anything, plus by then you and Essex will have bought in your mass cull so it won't be a problem, shame he won't be around to see it.
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Based on todays reports, it seems that Thames Water are causing housing development delays due to insufficient sewerage capabilities.
 
MC Yellow said:
Based on todays reports, it seems that Thames Water are causing housing development delays due to insufficient sewerage capabilities.
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Who knew 🤷‍♂️

Whilst the rivers may be full of shite, look on the bright side . . .at least everyone's pension funds are healthy!

Sorry, I meant at least everyone's pension fund were healthy . . . .

Good to see Australian Bank Macquarie took a massive £1.26 billion in dividends and interest from Thames water between 2008 - 2017 as the debts were spiraling . . .
 
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Sheik djibouti said:
Who knew 🤷‍♂️

Whilst the rivers may be full of shite, look on the bright side . . .at least everyone's pension funds are healthy!

Sorry, I meant at least everyone's pension fund were healthy . . . .

Good to see Australian Bank Macquarie took a massive £1.26 billion in dividends and interest from Thames water between 2008 - 2017 as the debts were spiraling . . .
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I'm detecting slight sarcasm in your post.
 
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