Robbie Keane - Irish legend. His crime? He managed (hugely successfully) in Israel. Just that nothing else. Tadhg doesn’t just hate Jews. He hates anyone who doesn’t hate Jews. A stain on Ireland.
Last night PSG fans rioted during and after the Champions League final.
57 police officers were injured.
Cars and shops set alight.
One mob even tried to storm a police station.
Police arrested 780.
22,000 police were deployed.
Presumably, if they are drawn to play an English club in next year’s Champions League, all the people who claimed they wanted Maccabi Tel Aviv banned on grounds of public safety (and not because they were in fact a bunch of anti-Jewish racist obsessives), will be demanding the French fans are banned too?
Blimey! Ireland are playing Afghanistan at cricket in August. Given the absolutely brutal treatment of every woman in the country, there’s going to be one helluva protest isn’t there!
Further to Blair. Literally every honest sensible person in all the main parties privately agrees with all these propositions:
- welfare spending is too high and is throwing good people on the scrapheap
- defence spending is too low
- the triple lock is unsustainable
- without cheap energy we cannot exploit the AI revolution
- we should be investing in EVERY form of energy: renewables, nuclear and the North Sea
- migration needs to be controlled to boost social cohesion and because the boats look like a huge failure of the state
- any new relationship with the EU will be imposed on us until we are stronger and cannot involve the closeness some desire without freedom of movement
- we are deeply embedded with America in ways which the public does not understand and cannot be told and however joyous it makes us feel to hate Trump, disengagement at the deep state level is not only wholly unrealistic but also undesirable
- Whitehall needs a total overhaul so specific project expertise and political appointees can be brought in quickly
Blair basically says all that.
The one thing he doesn’t say and which the same group of people agree on is this and it’s something Blair left behind:
- judges and quangos have too much power, are unaccountable and without redressing the balance in favour of parliament it is very difficult to do anything big fast
- the bare minimum that needs to change in this regard is to reform judicial review and planning law so we can put building and economic growth ahead of newts and NIMBYs
None of that above really ought to be up for discussion. It is all common sense but not one of our politicians will publicly say all of it
Whatever you think of Blair, engage with what he’s saying not how he makes you feel. The bare minimum we should expect from any leader is that they have an analysis of the current situation and a plan to deal with it which is as coherent and realistic as his intervention. Pretty well every critique I’ve read so far has failed to meet this requirement.
Over to Andy and Keir and Kemi and Nigel and Zack and all the others
My word. This is incredible. A real-life version of that scene from The Life of Brian: "Stan, you haven't got a womb! Where's the foetus going to gestate?! You going to keep it in a box?!"
Why do they feel the need to do this? Why is it even allowed?
The oath is about allegiance to our shared public institutions, not the individual or their identity. It is supposed to be humbling and transcending, not another chance to show off how different and special you are.
I've never been more wrong about anything - and I've been wrong about a lot! - than my fear Charles would be a disastrous monarch.
It's not only that he hasn't put a foot wrong, it's that he has done everything - and more - so right. He has the perfect touch, the right manner and, most important of all, good judgment and the determination to act on it.
As @Plaid_Cymru & @theSNP continue to tout their newfound alliance with Sinn Féin, we deserve to know:
What does cooperation with the political wing of the IRA involve?
What advice can the party of bombers and butchers offer?
How can these parties sit down with a movement which has the blood of Scotsmen and Welshmen on their hands?
Absolutely horrific, and even worse than we already knew, which I didn’t think possible. Including clear evidence of appalling sex crimes by Hamas which their deluded defenders have always denied.
@rosscolquhoun They got a higher vote share/more MSPs than the Greens. Same number of MSPs as Labour.
Why are you trying to pretend there isn't a considerable percentage of the Scottish electorate that want Farage?
The Scottish exceptionalism on the Left is so boring.