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@bones Most of the smaller ones had to close around as they were out after the full-on run. But if you went to the larger ones it was fine.
My neighbour only has diesel cars and had to go and fill up his Discovery from 20miles range at the local M25 services ... ouch!
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It's the stupidity of modern Britain.
You nailed it. In St Austell on Friday, a petrol station ran out of fuel as a tanker couldn't make a delivery as the queueing cars on the forecourt had blocked access to the refill point...
Mate of mine posted this from Banbury on Sunday.
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@victor-meldrew said in British Politics:
You nailed it. In St Austell on Friday, a petrol station ran out of fuel as a tanker couldn't make a delivery as the queueing cars on the forecourt had blocked access to the refill point...
Mate of mine posted this from Banbury on Sunday.
![0_1632732858690_c6f59a93-5109-46f1-972d-32c7e7b015e0-image.png](Uploading 100%)
Classic. The missus showed me that, only in the one I saw it was Petts Wood
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@victor-meldrew he should be proud to know he got plagar....plagi....his photo copied onto Orpington Gossip.
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@victor-meldrew said in British Politics:
@mikethesnow said in British Politics:
He left the diplomatic service to undertake a two-year walk across Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal.
Sounds like a 1970's hippy...
Light on details there, but from what little I know of that region, it wouldn't be a light and casual tofu-based promenade with electric scooters and breezy kaftans.
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@majorrage said in British Politics:
Must also remember that because media, and twitter, have done nothing but create a narrative of mistrust the government at all costs, when Shapps says there is no lack of fuel, if people fill up normally then there will be no issue, nobody believe them and rushes out to fill up their cars, regardless of anything.
The Government have done a bang up job all of they're own doing
It's the stupidity of modern Britain.
And selfishness. There were people filling up each of their cars and extra cans despite working from home and driving less than 100 miles a week.
This is a supply and demand issue not a shortage of petrol let's all lose our fucking heads issue
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@mikethesnow said in British Politics:
@majorrage said in British Politics:
Must also remember that because media, and twitter, have done nothing but create a narrative of mistrust the government at all costs, when Shapps says there is no lack of fuel, if people fill up normally then there will be no issue, nobody believe them and rushes out to fill up their cars, regardless of anything.
The Government have done a bang up job all of they're own doing
They have made some colossal errors / bullshits as well, no question. Especially everything education related but at least Williamson has gone.
But the fuel is the same as the toilet paper, same as the supermarket shelves. IF people don't panic, and continue on as normal, then everybody will be fine.
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It's time to talk about the British Labour party.
In a time of crisis, which we should actually be past now, but of course, many a commentator will not allow, an opposition which holds to account, which has trust in the public, which does their job should be absolutely paramount to a functioning democracy. Paramount. Instead, here in Blighty, we have the British Labour party.
The Tories are a bit out of control in my view. There are too many lies, too many scandals, too many controversies - and as I said on the Springbok's chat, there is no smoke without fire. Something stinks in conservative land & it's not for the good of the country. But as it stands, I'll probably vote for them blindly in the next election, no question. Because the alternative is something much much worse.
It's Labour party conference week, and it's an absolute shit show. I actually get what Starmer's trying to do. I think he's trying to get my vote. He's alienating everything to do with Corbyn, to do with the hard left and trying to come across as much more moderate and business friendly. But him and his party are making an absolute shit show of it. You guys in NZ think Collins has no clue, take a look at the shower of shit served up here by Labour:
- Rayner, ex deputy leader called the Conservatives scum. Yeah, thats professional. Then doubled down and said won't apologise unless Boris apologies for all the racist & homophobic things he's said. A fair stance, if he's said / written them yesterday. Not 15 years ago in different times / different levels of acceptability. Oh and then justified it somewhat by also stating thats the way Northern people talk. Shout out to the north!
- Starmer, on Marr on Sunday, said it was wrong to say that only Woman have a cervix. Sorry mate, it's not. It's biology. And when talking about the context of NHS, which is about peoples health, not their identify ... it's a correct comment. How on earth will this win votes?
- The party can't seem to agree on anything. The hard left can't get their head around the fact that day in the sun has passed for the moment, whilst the more centred part of the party seem to think it's more important to ensure this never happens again by purging, as opposed to making the party united. It's crazy. Starmer is rejigging how leaders get in with votes (and it's passing for the most part)
Basically, Labour are at civil war with each other. I almost think the have to split, which is suicide for both sides. But then I also wonder how much people vote for the person as opposed to the party. If the likes of McDonnell, Whittome, Sultana etc. were on their own party up against Labour candidates how would they go?
Interesting times ahead!
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@majorrage said in British Politics:
@mikethesnow said in British Politics:
@majorrage said in British Politics:
Must also remember that because media, and twitter, have done nothing but create a narrative of mistrust the government at all costs, when Shapps says there is no lack of fuel, if people fill up normally then there will be no issue, nobody believe them and rushes out to fill up their cars, regardless of anything.
The Government have done a bang up job all of they're own doing
They have made some colossal errors / bullshits as well, no question. Especially everything education related but at least Williamson has gone.
But the fuel is the same as the toilet paper, same as the supermarket shelves. IF people don't panic, and continue on as normal, then everybody will be fine.
-
@majorrage said in British Politics:
It's time to talk about the British Labour party.
In a time of crisis, which we should actually be past now, but of course, many a commentator will not allow, an opposition which holds to account, which has trust in the public, which does their job should be absolutely paramount to a functioning democracy. Paramount. Instead, here in Blighty, we have the British Labour party.
The Tories are a bit out of control in my view. There are too many lies, too many scandals, too many controversies - and as I said on the Springbok's chat, there is no smoke without fire. Something stinks in conservative land & it's not for the good of the country. But as it stands, I'll probably vote for them blindly in the next election, no question. Because the alternative is something much much worse.
It's Labour party conference week, and it's an absolute shit show. I actually get what Starmer's trying to do. I think he's trying to get my vote. He's alienating everything to do with Corbyn, to do with the hard left and trying to come across as much more moderate and business friendly. But him and his party are making an absolute shit show of it. You guys in NZ think Collins has no clue, take a look at the shower of shit served up here by Labour:
- Rayner, ex deputy leader called the Conservatives scum. Yeah, thats professional. Then doubled down and said won't apologise unless Boris apologies for all the racist & homophobic things he's said. A fair stance, if he's said / written them yesterday. Not 15 years ago in different times / different levels of acceptability. Oh and then justified it somewhat by also stating thats the way Northern people talk. Shout out to the north!
- Starmer, on Marr on Sunday, said it was wrong to say that only Woman have a cervix. Sorry mate, it's not. It's biology. And when talking about the context of NHS, which is about peoples health, not their identify ... it's a correct comment. How on earth will this win votes?
- The party can't seem to agree on anything. The hard left can't get their head around the fact that day in the sun has passed for the moment, whilst the more centred part of the party seem to think it's more important to ensure this never happens again by purging, as opposed to making the party united. It's crazy. Starmer is rejigging how leaders get in with votes (and it's passing for the most part)
Basically, Labour are at civil war with each other. I almost think the have to split, which is suicide for both sides. But then I also wonder how much people vote for the person as opposed to the party. If the likes of McDonnell, Whittome, Sultana etc. were on their own party up against Labour candidates how would they go?
Interesting times ahead!
What would be novel and an election winner is if they purged the incompetent and corrupt.
They'd get my vote.
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@mikethesnow said in British Politics:
The Government have done a bang up job all of they're own doing
Personally, I think the majority of this problem lies pretty squarely with the Road Haulage industry and company management (the ones that tell us their mega-bucks salaries are deserved as they are so world-class). They have known for years that the days of cheap imported labour are over and have done bugger all about it - except moan that the days of cheap imported labour are over.
It was good to see Schapps call out the Road Haulage Association for leaking their meeting with the Government, helping panic buying and not investing in their people and industry. I want to see a lot more of that and the government taking fast action to remove the barriers and bottlenecks so there are no excuses.
Rant over...
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@majorrage said in British Politics:
It's time to talk about the British Labour party.
I'd vote BoJo & co. for all their faults (but just don't get me started on Priti Patel...) because at least he's trying to get stuff done. I totally disagree with the cack-handed way it's being funded, but he's at least grasped the nettle on Social Care which others have run away from for decades.
As for Labour, it isn't just their MP's, it's that part of eth electortate they happily pander to. Good article in today's Times.
Angela Rayner calling Tory ministers scum reflects a problem for the left There is obviously no shortage of reasons why Labour finds it so difficult to win elections. But I have always believed the biggest inherent issue for the party is that they hate their political opponents too much. We saw this in action with Angela Rayner’s comments at the weekend, where she described Tory ministers as “a bunch of scum”. Whatever your view on whether the comments were acceptable, it illustrates a mindset within Labour and the wider left that is incredibly unhelpful. Opinium polling has shown just how widespread views like this are. Forty-six per cent of Labour voters say they would feel negatively about a friend or family member who voted Conservative. By contrast, 15 per cent of Conservative voters said the same thing about a friend or family member voting Labour. Previous polling has shown that 34 per cent of Labour voters would even be upset if their son or daughter married a Conservative, compared with just 13 per cent of Conservative voters who would be upset with their child marrying a Labour voter. But why should this be such a problem? First, and most obviously, comments like the ones Rayner made do not go down well with voters. Labour will not win the next election without gaining the support of a substantial number of people who voted Tory in 2019. Many of them will see these comments as a personal attack on their voting decisions as much as an attack on the target politicians. Second, hating your opponents stops you from thinking rationally about how to criticise them. It is rare in politics for the most effective attack line to be one that is about personality, rather than their policies or capabilities, and yet many within Labour are often blinded to this fact. But most important of all, it stops Labour from working out what policy and narratives it needs to win back these voters. Labour needs to address the concerns that Tory voters have about the Labour party, and that is inevitably going to involve some level of compromise on policy and messaging. But when you have such a low opinion of the voters you need to win over, you are less willing to make those compromises. Labour voters also hold stronger political positions. Our polling for the Social Market Foundation asked people for their opinions on 15 different political issues. While Labour voters were clearly more likely to pick the left-wing options, most interesting was that 60 per cent put themselves at the “extreme” end of the scale on at least half of the questions. That was true of only 38 per cent of Conservative voters. When you mix these two things together it means that Labour has a voter coalition that is harder to hold together and less open to doing the things necessary to win at the ballot box. Ultimately, Labour needs to start seeing Tory voters as potential Labour voters. Chris Curtis is a pollster for Opinium
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@victor-meldrew Well yes, but thats the way politics have always been in this country. when I first lived here and Blair was in charge, I couldn't believe the things Hague said about him. Utterly ruthless & downright nasty.
In order to understand somebody's position, you should put yourself in their shoes and think about it from there. Not just think you are wrong. I actually think that's what Starmer has tried to do, but then he just finds himself in ridiculous situations where he says it's not true that only woman have cervix's when talking about healthcare.
Media here reads to me that the left wing commentators physically cannot stand anything to the right, whilst the right use the left at playthings to provoke & stir.
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@majorrage said in British Politics:
UPDATE: White men are being encouraged NOT to speak to the Labour Party conference.
Yeah, that seems votable. Dianne Abbot & Dawn Brent are exactly who I want in charge.
Said nobody. Ever.
See my earlier post re: incompetents
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@majorrage said in [British Politic:
Well yes, but thats the way politics have always been in this country. when I first lived here and Blair was in charge, I couldn't believe the things Hague said about him.
And probably true. IMO, Blair made lying and attacking people unfairly the political norm. (He once dismissed a old woman who complained about her NHS treatment a racist, without any evidence, because there were black nurses in the hospital treating her.)
I can't see an easy or quick way back for Labour, Starmer seems too weak and politically inept and in thrall to a rabble of a party who think shouting slogans and insults will make their political dreams come true. Reminds me of when Thatcher was in power and you had a hard-left clique causing huge problems for Labour - it took 4 election losses on a trot before the penny dropped.
Meanwhile the elephant in the room - the huge levels of government borrowing, record levels of taxation, government waste and incompetent civil servants - gets ignored.
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@mikethesnow said in British Politics:
See my earlier post re: incompetents
Not just Labour, Mike...
British Politics