UK Politics Thread: Virtual Insanity

[The Lazarene Republic]

Home Office ideologically captured by Islamists

This is just pure evil.

Mashallah, it has been done. Alhamdulillah and Allahu Akbar.

[Imperializt Russia]

Someone made the joke a couple days ago about Cold Fusion, I just saw that in Letters to the Guardian, from Tuesday, six professors including an Emeritus of Physics from Cambridge published a report promoting cold fusion.

Their letter is comical, in part because they could barely have written a sentence each.

The letter consists "remember when cold fusion was proven fake because their device was fake? Actually the international scientific community conspired to kill the truth, their device was fake but the tech is real" and don't cite any of their own work, but say "well, tech companies are investing in cold fusion!" to which, I retort, trillion-dollar one-day losses in western generative AI investment.

If you're a professor emeritus and going to state something so controversial as "you will be proven wrong on laughing at cold fusion" you'd at least go all in on technobabble, surely.

Googling his name, despite being an Emeritus, Brian Josephson does appear to be a nutter.
"No, water definitely has memory" (the idea underpinning homeopathy).

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

Chris Philp seems to be the Conservative's new Dominic Raab or Chris Grayling type. You know, the dim one.

[Slembana]

Maybe Labour should have not kicked out Corbyn at the behest of fakists and Murdoch lololol

Corbyn would've lost the 2024 election like he lost the 2019 and 2017 ones.

Oh, and he's an antisemite so yeah, they definitely should've kicked him out.

He’s not an antisemite - he doesn’t hate Jews and that has been proven - and he would have won by a bigger margin in 2024 than Starmer did. He’s actually very popular because he actually wants policies that help people.

[Vassenor]

Home Office ideologically captured by Islamists

This is just pure evil.

Islamism is when you refuse to conform to the narrative of the Supreme Leader now apparently.

[Camtropia]

Home Office ideologically captured by Islamists

This is just pure evil.

I'd hardly say the Home Office has been taken over by Islamists. However, the creeping authoritarianism and restrictions on free speech by this government and the previous one is very concerning, especially regarding the ridiculous concept of "Non-Crime Hate Incidents" (NCHI)

Here are a few snippets from the Home Office website about NCHIs:

7. Non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) are recorded by the police to collect information on ‘hate incidents’ that could escalate into more serious harm or indicate heightened community tensions, but which do not constitute a criminal offence.
[...]
Example H:
A police officer witnesses an individual (the subject) express hostility towards a Muslim woman and intervenes. The officer’s judgement that hostility was present is confirmed during the follow-up conversation they have with the subject. Whilst the subject’s behaviour does not constitute criminal activity, the surrounding circumstances suggest that the behaviour could potentially contribute to or become evidence of a course of criminal conduct – for example, harassment. The incident therefore passes the Additional Threshold Test. As such, the officer records the personal information of the subject, and creates an NCHI record. In accordance with the code, the officer notifies the subject that their personal data has been processed in an NCHI record.
[...]
72. If the record is being considered for disclosure on an enhanced criminal record certificate issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), the Chief Officer making the decision is required by section 113B of the Police Act 1997 to have regard to guidance issued by the Home Secretary: Statutory Disclosure Guidance. Such information should be disclosed only where the Chief Officer reasonably believes it to be relevant for the purpose for which the certificate is sought and that it ought to be included.

So basically:

NCHIs, as the name suggests, are handed out by the police for things that aren't illegal: so why is it a police matter?

NCHIs are handed out at the discretion of the police officer investigating, who do not need to collect sufficient evidence to prove anything in a court of law: I'm sure we can all think of several reasons why police officers normally have to prove stuff in court and not act as judge, jury, and executioner.

NCHIs can appear to potential employers via DBS checks: so your alleged "hate incident", which wasn't actually a crime, and wasn't proved in a court of law, can stop you getting a job.

How the hell is this legal in a democracy?

EDIT: and with how rampant knife crime is at the moment (as has just been discussed in this thread), as well as shoplifting, why is this NCHI bullshit something that the government wants to waste limited police resources on???

[The Huskar Social Union]

The Tories were 22 points ahead in 2020. That's an indication of how serious you should take polls four years out from an election.

Yup, Reform is doing very well in the polls now, no guarantee its gona be like that even a year from now never mind four. Or they could end up doing even better who knows at this stage.

Still fun to share though so people can talk about them.

[Slembana]

The Tories were 22 points ahead in 2020. That's an indication of how serious you should take polls four years out from an election.

Yup, Reform is doing very well in the polls now, no guarantee its gona be like that even a year from now never mind four. Or they could end up doing even better who knows at this stage.

Still fun to share though so people can talk about them.

They probably will end up as the second biggest or the biggest party. Which is a sobering thought.

[Hirota]

Westminster Voting Intention:

RFM: 27% (+1)
LAB: 23% (+1)
CON: 21% (-2)
LDM: 11% (-1)
GRN: 10% (=)
SNP: 3% (=)

Via @FindoutnowUK, 29 Jan. Changes w/ 22 Jan.

Grim.

How many polls is that now?

Only blessing is that Reform have a long time to keep this sort of momentum going before it will translate into meaningful numbers in Westminster.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Westminster Voting Intention:

RFM: 27% (+1)
LAB: 23% (+1)
CON: 21% (-2)
LDM: 11% (-1)
GRN: 10% (=)
SNP: 3% (=)

Via @FindoutnowUK, 29 Jan. Changes w/ 22 Jan.

Grim.

How many polls is that now?

Only blessing is that Reform have a long time to keep this sort of momentum going before it will translate into meaningful numbers in Westminster.

I believe so far just two polls have had Reform as the largest party, but they tied with Labour in at least one other and have been just behind them in a few others.

[Almonaster Nuevo]

Yup, Reform is doing very well in the polls now, no guarantee its gona be like that even a year from now never mind four. Or they could end up doing even better who knows at this stage.

Still fun to share though so people can talk about them.

They probably will end up as the second biggest or the biggest party. Which is a sobering thought.

That partly depends on how often the entourage put their foot in it.

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

Shouldn't we have a Brexit poll to 'celebrate' its 5th birthday?

[The Huskar Social Union]

Shouldn't we have a Brexit poll to 'celebrate' its 5th birthday?

I agree.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Mystery as school that didn’t apply for funding got £710k after meeting with DUP ministers

The Department of Education is facing calls for full transparency after £710,000 was awarded to a school in Londonderry following a private meeting with DUP ministers — despite it not making a direct application for the money. It comes after the Belfast Telegraph revealed that all bar two schools in Derry city that applied for major funding over the past 10 years were rejected – and both successful schools’ allocations were subsequently paused.

Education Minister Paul Givan, his department and the Education Authority (EA) have been urged to give all schools an equal opportunity after approving the cash for a football pitch at Lisneal College.

Lisneal opened in 2004 after the merging of two predominantly Protestant secondary schools, Faughan Valley and Clondermot High.

EA confirmed that Lisneal College did not apply for funding for the new state-of-the-art pitch.

It and the Department of Education could not state which specific funding pot the money has come from.

Lumen Christi College and St Brigid’s College were to advance to planning under the major capital works programme after funding approval in 2022 — but both were subsequently paused.

A major works programme is one costing in excess of £500,000, according to the Department of Education website.

EA said it decided the existing synthetic pitch at Lisneal had reached the end of its useful life and needed replaced.

The Department of Education said major works projects are “submitted to the department by managing authorities during calls for these programmes”.

Applications are supposed to be “assessed and prioritised under the relevant programme” protocol and the minister announces projects that advance in planning, it added. These normal protocols were not followed in this instance.

After taking days to respond, the department then claimed that its website was wrong in reference to the £500,000 threshold due to inflation, saying the pitch is a “minor work” that can be approved “outside of formal calls”.

It said: “Historically, minor works would have cost less than £500k, and whilst many still do, many projects delivered under the minor works programme will, subject to relevant approvals, exceed this amount.”

Documents obtained by this newspaper under Freedom of Information show that on June 3 last year Mr Givan and DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons met with Michael Allen, headmaster of Lisneal College.

Foyle MLA Gary Middleton was also present, alongside departmental officials and a coach from Maiden City FC.

Minutes show that in 2023 EA had entered a 25-year licensing agreement to allow Maiden City FC to play football on the school facilities and have a full-time base there.

The school and club were said to have an ambition to improve the facilities up to NIFL standard, with a covered dome area, two multi-use games areas and a facility to accommodate cricket teams.

The minutes says it “cannot get the project shovel ready without support from EA to get planning permission”.

Mr Lyons highlighted the potential for ‘Your School, Your Club’ funding, and asked Kate McClements, head of the sports branch in his department, to discuss options with Mr Allen. The minutes added: “Minister Givan offered to make introductions to Ballymacash Rangers (a team based in Mr Givan’s constituency) so that Maiden City could hear about the success of the Ballymacash project in terms of fundraising and find out from education officials how planning permission barriers could be reviewed.”

EA has revealed a pre-tender estimate for the project of £710,000. It added: “Following a funding award from the Department of Education, under the department’s capital funding allocation, in late 2024 the Education Authority approved the project and works commenced in January 2025.”

The DUP and Mr Middleton have been approached for comment.

Foyle SDLP MLA Sinéad McLaughlin said there was a need for “full transparency” on the issue.

“Every school must have the same opportunity to access funding and no school should be prioritised over another without demonstrable reason,” she added.

“The lack of funding for schools in Derry over the last decade shows a real neglect from successive ministers, particularly given the huge demand for improvements at local schools. I’m glad that the need for a new pitch at Lisneal College was recognised by the minister; this is a fantastic school that has taken huge steps in recent years, due in no small part to its excellent leadership team.

“I only wish the minister was willing to engage positively with other schools throughout this city in need of similar funding.”

People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin said while students at Lisneal deserve the “highest quality facilities”, the issue here is “why so many other schools have been turned down for capital funding over the last 10 years”.

“Where is the oversight on this from the Stormont Executive? Where is the oversight on this from parties with MLA representatives from Derry?

“Stormont continues to make decisions that foster division and manipulate communities.”

The Department for Communities said: “The minister was invited to meet the headmaster, along with the Education Minister, to discuss the development of school facilities, including for community use outside of school hours.”

Lisneal College has been contacted for comment.

So other schools either get outright rejected, or in the case of the two applications for funding that were approved in the last ten years, paused at a later date but if you just go and have a meeting with the Minister privately you get over £700k for a football pitch and dont even need an official application!

Oh and its really convenient that this happens for a College that is a merger of two Protestant State Schools in an overwhelmingly Irish Catholic city and all the other schools, no doubt majority Catholic schools, that applied officially... get denied (Heres a hint, all the Education Ministers since 2016: Peter Weir, Michelle McIlveen and currently Paul Givan have all been from the DUP)

Absolute joke, oh and the Department of Education cant even say where exactly the money for this is coming from so.. thats fun. With this and the shit that happened with the LCC last year, denying integrated status for two schools in bangor despite department recommendations that they get it, Paul Givan, in my eyes, is utterly unfit to be a Minister and needs booted, but thats not gona happen.

[Camtropia]

They probably will end up as the second biggest or the biggest party. Which is a sobering thought.

That partly depends on how often the entourage put their foot in it.

The next general election isn't for 4 and a half years. At this point, opinion polls about specific parties are basically meaningless - imagine trying to predict the 2024 election based off a poll from early 2020...

[Ifreann]

Damn, wish I could get a meeting with the DUP.

[The Notorious Mad Jack]

Corbyn would've lost the 2024 election like he lost the 2019 and 2017 ones.

Oh, and he's an antisemite so yeah, they definitely should've kicked him out.

He’s not an antisemite - he doesn’t hate Jews and that has been proven - and he would have won by a bigger margin in 2024 than Starmer did. He’s actually very popular because he actually wants policies that help people.

Dude had literally -50 approval rating but sure, he's very popular. Give me a break.

[Yammmy]

I can tell you for sure. Even if it was Corbyn, people would have chosen Labour. Everyone had an animosity towards the Conservative administration. Labour should have had Corbyn as its leader, with conviction and implementing policies for his supporters. Starmer is a con man. He cuts welfare by raising taxes.

[Free Land of The Free Land of Freedo]

The Tories were 22 points ahead in 2020. That's an indication of how serious you should take polls four years out from an election.

The tories were the governing party in a time of crisis when they were miles ahead in 2020, and the then suffered because they handled the crisis terribly and were abominable on every other front, whereas Reform are an insurgent party so can't suffer (yet) from fucking things up in government.

[Mtwara]

Although 27% of people polled said they would vote Reform, is this limited to a particular part of the country? What's the mix? Does it translate into winning seats?

Genuine question, I don't know much about polls.

Also, there's a good article about the decision to immobilise the plutonium at Sellafield below. I think it explains my thoughts on the subject better than I did.

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest ... 0-01-2025/

“The risk is that we might, as a nation, spend significant money treating and repackaging and putting that plutonium material in a powder form suitable for use as new fuel, and end up that nobody wants to have any interest in or any kind of commercial incentive to take that material and convert it into fuel,” Bull continued.

“It’s almost like we're making unicorn food here. We might make unicorn food, but nobody’s bringing in the unicorn to buy it and eat it. So it’s a difficult decision for government, and I applaud them for coming off the fence and saying that they are going to take this approach.”

I met Adrian Bull once; he bought me a drink, gave me his business card, and then I never saw him again.

[Free Land of The Free Land of Freedo]

Although 27% of people polled said they would vote Reform, is this limited to a particular part of the country? What's the mix? Does it translate into winning seats?

Genuine question, I don't know much about polls.

They ask a couple of thousand people and then weight for various factors like age, sex, occupation etc. It's not a perfect science but they're usually reasonably accurate, and 27% would translate into a lot of seats.

[Dhornaper]

Corbyn would've lost the 2024 election like he lost the 2019 and 2017 ones.

Oh, and he's an antisemite so yeah, they definitely should've kicked him out.

He’s not an antisemite - he doesn’t hate Jews and that has been proven - and he would have won by a bigger margin in 2024 than Starmer did. He’s actually very popular because he actually wants policies that help people.

Listen to the man.

[Free Land of The Free Land of Freedo]

He’s not an antisemite - he doesn’t hate Jews and that has been proven - and he would have won by a bigger margin in 2024 than Starmer did. He’s actually very popular because he actually wants policies that help people.

Left wingers finding it impossible to differentiate the reality they wish they lived in from the reality they actually inhabit example five quadrillion. I like Corbyn, I voted for him as leader of the Labour party twice when I was a member, I voted Labour under him in 2017, but the reality is he was, and remains, unpopular, both personally and for his policies.

[Slembana]

He’s not an antisemite - he doesn’t hate Jews and that has been proven - and he would have won by a bigger margin in 2024 than Starmer did. He’s actually very popular because he actually wants policies that help people.

Listen to the man.

Tony Blair is a Red Tory arsehole who said that he’d rather see a left-wing Labour Party lose.

And yeah, unfortunately many people didn’t like Corbyn. Which is a shame because he’s way better than the guy who succeeded him.

[Camtropia]

Oh boy it's the Roughly-Fortnightly UK Politics Thread Corbyn Arguement!

My position is the same as in all my (many) other posts on this topic. While he had some good domestic ideas, his foreign policy would have been a disaster at a time where the world is becoming increasingly unsafe, and where supporting allies and good foreign policy is essential.

Also he was unable to control the rampant anti-semitism in his party.