The guys at The Onion officially announced they were giving up when Donald Trump became president of the USA, y'know.That is so pointless that if you said that was from an Onion article, I'd believe you.
Peter Mandelson is an interesting choice for new UK to USA ambassador. A political operator who should be able to counter the schmoozing from the likes of Farage.A top campaign adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump has called the incoming UK ambassador to the US, Lord Peter Mandelson, "an absolute moron".
In a post on social media, Chris LaCivita said Lord Mandelson "should stay home".
Telegraph said:Life cannot be fun for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves at the moment – in fact it must be excruciating.
And rightly so. Their reign has been both ineffectual and spiteful – and dogged by relentless, but entirely justified, criticism.
The result is that we are doomed to be poorer in 2025 thanks to Labour. The pound has plunged, borrowing costs have soared, businesses are folding, jobs are being lost, pay is shrinking and mortgages cost more than they should do.
The Government has achieved nothing but inflicting financial pain on its people. Those responsible ought to feel terrible about that.
As the Prime Minister falls further in the polls, he must consider where it all went wrong. The answer is, of course, Wednesday, October 30, when Reeves proudly unveiled her first Budget.
Labour’s strategy was to go for growth, but they’ve gone about it in entirely the wrong way. They tediously mocked Liz Truss for the market’s reaction to her tax-slashing mini-Budget, claiming she “crashed” the economy.
Yet the truth is, it was the lack of Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) oversight alongside that Budget that spooked the markets.
Ironically, with Labour’s Budget, it was the OBR’s considered scrutiny that condemned Reeves, instantly warning that her plan would not spark growth – quite the opposite.
By Labour’s own definition, it has already “crashed” the economy. Reeves has achieved what Truss did, but with tax rises rather than cuts. This alone should persuade her that boldly slashing back taxes is the only way to achieve economic growth.
However, Reeves’s recession will be much more damaging than what happened in 2022. Truss’s Budget was unfairly labelled the catalyst for an increase in interest rates that in reality has played out across the globe.
Reeves promised to protect “working people” from tax rises but ended up costing them their jobs instead.
Labour has now cast Britain into a doom loop, with no hope on the horizon. The only hint that things could get better is the Chancellor’s decision not to extend the Tory deep freeze on income tax thresholds beyond 2028. Although, we cannot trust her not to rein back on this half-promise.
Labour’s vision of a socialist utopia is already unravelling as they slowly realise their politics don’t work in the real world. From its private school tax raid to meddling with pensions, there’s not one policy that has been greeted with enthusiasm.
As it stands, only the public sector stands to feel better off under the Government. Ordinary taxpayers are increasingly getting less for paying in more.
By chomping away at our wealth through ideological and illogical tax raids, Labour is proving it is fit only to be in opposition and surely faces wipeout at the next general election.
Labour has got an awful lot of work to do to restore its reputation, but I suspect the public’s growing resentment will soon spread and infect the party.
Unless he makes some radical changes, we face at least four more years of being poorer, and Sir Keir will soon wish he’d never been elected Prime Minister.
Starmer has said he will continue to accuse Truss of ‘crashing the economy’.
You would think he would cease and desist of his own accord, considering Labour are doing a mighty good job of ‘crashing the economy’ themselves.
In the first half of 2024 the economy was ‘going gangbuster’ but since Labour got in it has flatlined and we might even be heading for a recession caused by Labour’s Tax, Spend and Borrow stupidity.
Rachel from Accounts is way, way out of her depths as Chancellor.
And Starmer seems barely to have a political bone in his body. He is nothing more than a lefty lawyer promoted way above his station … and clearly hates politics. I understand he has spent as much as 20% of his time since becoming PM gallivanting round the world. Anything to get away from Westminster.
I see a new poll has both Labour and Reform on 25% with the Tories on 20%. That’s how much this useless government has fallen in record time.
From ‘snouts in trough’ of Starmer and others (aka freebeegate) to stupid things like promising not to raise NI and then doing so, to the so called ‘Tractor tax’ and, of course, the taking away of the winter fuel allowance from poor pensioners.
Last night up here it was –6c. I wonder how many OAPs died as a direct result of Labours cruel, nasty, viscous attack on them.
It has been nothing more than Student politics gone mad. The 5th form has taken over the running of the school.
And then there is Labour’s Nut Zero policies that are doing massive damage to the country. How stupid it was to put scary, stary eyed Ed Milliband in charge of net zero as he turns it into nut zero.
Apparently last night we came very close to having power cuts – saved by a Danish power station coming back on line just in time.
I see this morning we are generating just 8% (6GW) of our power from wind and are having to import a similar 6GW of power, mostly from France and Norway.
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From the Telegraph:
Miserable Starmer will soon wish he’d never been elected Prime Minister
Labour has finally realised its politics don’t work in the real world
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Miserable Starmer will soon wish he’d never been elected Prime Minister
Labour has finally realised its politics don’t work in the real worldwww.telegraph.co.uk
Ed Miliband was trumpeting Britain’s energy system earlier this week.
“Wind power has overtaken gas as Britain’s biggest source of electricity,” the Energy Secretary proudly tweeted on Tuesday. “This is a huge moment in our journey away from energy insecurity and towards clean, home-grown power.”
But 24 hours later, the winds were dying and Britain was heading for the energy doldrums. The slump in renewable generation prompted officials to order emergency back-up generators to be stood up – landing a jackpot for the owners of our gas-fired power stations.
At one stage, as officials scrambled to keep the lights on, grid operators were having to pay £5,500 per megawatt hour – around 50 times the normal cost of electricity – for one gas plant to keep generating.
Two power stations were paid more than £17m for providing back-up power, according to calculations by Octopus Energy.
“What happened yesterday is another example of our malfunctioning energy system,” says Greg Jackson, the energy supplier’s chief executive. “Millions of pounds were added to bills in just a few hours to pay a handful of gas power plants for a modest amount of electricity.”
It underlines that, when the wind drops and temperatures plummet, the UK remains critically dependent on gas. On Thursday, around half the UK’s electricity was being generated this way. December’s cold, windless dunkelflaute spells sometimes meant up to 70pc of generation came from gas.
For consumers, this means rollercoaster prices that will eventually make their way into bills. For the operators of some gas-fired power stations, on the other hand, it is a chance to bet on the weather and – if they get it right – boost profits many times over. Industry analysts describe the system as a “gasino”.
Talking of Nut Zero, this also in today’s Telegraph sums up the stupidity of going for net zero too quickly.
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The traders making millions by gaming Britain’s power crunch
While families face higher bills, the UK’s ‘malfunctioning energy system’ has become a cash cow for gas plantswww.telegraph.co.uk
You definitely understand what you're talking about as well as the Telegraph piece does. Bravo.Talking of Nut Zero, this also in today’s Telegraph sums up the stupidity of going for net zero too quickly.
You're absolutely right. We should take inspiration from what the French did when their government initially refused to cap brazen profit extraction from the private sector.An energy crisis – back then it came from the middle east but today it is self inflicted Nut Zero policies (we have the most expensive electricity costs in the developed world – 50% more than France and Germany for example)