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frankPodmore frankPodmore @slrpnk.net

London-based writer. Often climbing.

Posts 101
Comments 737
www.theguardian.com Millions of UK public sector workers set for above-inflation pay rise

Rachel Reeves is expected to accept pay review body recommendations in move that could cost up to £10bn

Millions of UK public sector workers set for above-inflation pay rise
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Starmer suspends seven rebel MPs including McDonnell over two-child benefit cap vote
  • Very true. Also worth noting that they all won election on the policy of not repealing the limit. It's not like this came out of left field!

  • What's the best reason to vote for Trump?
  • I agree with the people here that there aren't any.

    The closest to a 'good reason' is that some people want certain policy outcomes that Trump has promised, not all of which are in and of themselves morally wrong. What's wrong is that they believe that the ends justify the means, which they quite famously do not.

  • If I live in a red state, would it be better to vote for rfk to take votes away from trump?
  • Real (I assume you mean proven) conspiracies start off as theories.

    No, they don't. Conspiracy theories are not 'theories about conspiracies'. You are both misusing the term 'conspiracy theory' and wrongly describing the Tuskegee experiment as a conspiracy, which it never was. One of the people who originally called it out did so after reading about it in a published scientific paper! The pereptrators of that 'experiment' lied to the participants, but they were not otherwise secretive, otherwise they wouldn't have been writing and publishing papers about it.

    Fuck off

    I'm not going to discuss this further with someone who cannot do so civilly.

  • If I live in a red state, would it be better to vote for rfk to take votes away from trump?
  • The Tuskegee Experiment was not a conspiracy theory. So, in that sense you're right.

    Conspiracy theories and theorists are homogenous: the flawed thinking is inherent to the concept. Conspiracy theories are untrue by definition, and nothing to do with real conspiracies.

  • What are wheelchair-bound people to do when a building alarm disables elevators?
  • We had a few evac chairs, but I think you needed training to use them and I never had the training!

  • What are wheelchair-bound people to do when a building alarm disables elevators?
  • I may have pretended to do this as a joke once or twice.

  • If I live in a red state, would it be better to vote for rfk to take votes away from trump?
  • No, it isn't. He's a conspiracy theorist. Voting for him is endorsing conspiracy theorists.

  • What are wheelchair-bound people to do when a building alarm disables elevators?
  • I used to work in a school with disabled kids, so I did a few fire drills.

    As other people here have said, there are areas like stairwells where the kids with mobility issues waited (with adults, of course!) during fire alarms. Fire crews would've been told about us and come and got those kids first in the event of an actual emergency.

  • If I live in a red state, would it be better to vote for rfk to take votes away from trump?
  • RFK is less coherent than Biden politically and intellectually, which is what matters.

  • If I live in a red state, would it be better to vote for rfk to take votes away from trump?
  • OP has given us no info about the candidates they're considering other than RFK, who is a lunatic. There's no merit to encouraging RFK's views, so Biden should be OP's choice.

  • If I live in a red state, would it be better to vote for rfk to take votes away from trump?
  • Please explain why it should be given to anyone else.

  • If I live in a red state, would it be better to vote for rfk to take votes away from trump?
  • No. Vote Biden.

    If you can spare the time or money, volunteer and donate to the campaign in places they can actually win.

    EDIT: Also, vote Democrat if there are any other elections going on at the same time. If Trump does win, the only chance of holding him to any kind of account is to have as many Democrats in positions of power as possible.

    Sincerely, someone who can't vote in your elections but still lives with the knock-on effects!

  • www.theguardian.com Keir Starmer appoints two influential leftwing critics as government advisers

    Both had warned against ditching £28bn green spending pledge and urged scrapping of two-child benefit cap

    Keir Starmer appoints two influential leftwing critics as government advisers
    0
    Green Party's Suffolk MP calls for pause on East Anglia pylons plan
  • It is pure nimbyism. There have already been consultations which showed other options would be more expensive and slower, but also more environmentally destructive than pylons. Ramsay - the Green's co-leader - doesn't like the result of the consultations so deploying the classic nimby tactic of demanding more consultations.

  • The Tories have lost. Now which voters should they chase?
  • There is really only one electoral strategy for them and it's the mirror image of the best strategy for Labour: chase the people they lost to their left. The risk of losing voters to Reform is real, but it will be mitigated by winning over the voters they most need: Labour and Lib Dem voters.

    For the Tories in particular, this is the best strategy not only electorally, but morally. They should not be normalising the toxicity of Reform by chasing the mix of fantasists, conspiracists and racists that make up Farage's fan club. Even as a Labour voter who would never consider voting Conservative, I see the fact that some Conservatives have already started speaking out against the two-child benefit cap, the housing crisis and the dropping of net zero targets, as an encouraging sign.

  • Wes Streeting announces independent probe into performance of NHS
  • the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is “no longer simply a public service department” but an “economic growth department”, because health and the economy are “inextricably linked” and improving the health of the nation can help to “drive the economic growth of the country”.

    “That is a major shift in mindset,” he said. “It’s a rethinking of the role of the department.

    “It also means ending the begging bowl culture, where the only interaction the Treasury has with DHSC is that we need more money for X, Y and Z.

    “The starting point has got to be, ‘We will help you achieve your mission for growth and improve the prosperity and lives of everyone in this country by making sure that we are with you lockstep in driving growth’.”

    This is quite interesting, if I'm understanding it right. Historically, the focus has been 'What can we do that's cheap in the short-term?', but switching it to 'What can we do that will be promote growth in the long term?' is a genuine shift that might make the NHS (and the state as a whole) cheaper and more effective. It's at least worth a try, I think.

    It also fits neatly with the overall aims of the government in terms of using the state to promote economic growth. Angela Rayner was making similar arguments about justice and mental health just before the election: that investing in those things now will save money in the long term. You can make the same argument about housing and green energy. This seems to be part of the same driving concept.

  • Why are many people in America so politically unaware?
  • Most people everywhere are very politically unaware. Here's a decent site that demonstrates this. Basically, the knowledge we (by which I mean humans, not just Americans, of which I am not one) have leads us to make inaccurate assumptions about the other stuff.

  • Assuming we don't have free will, why do we have the illusion that we do?
  • No, now I'm old and don't smoke anymore, but my mind still does this stuff to me anyway.

  • Climate expert Chris Stark appointed to lead UK clean energy taskforce
  • Along with appointing Timpson to the Prisons brief, this is another really good sign of a government that cares more about getting things done than vibes. Although, the vibes are good, too!

  • www.gov.uk Boost for new National Wealth Fund to unlock private investment

    The Government announces new plans to align key institutions under the National Wealth Fund that will boost growth and unlock investment.

    Boost for new National Wealth Fund to unlock private investment

    Lots of quotes from business leaders in the announcement, but worth noting that the TUC have also welcomed the new fund.

    2
    www.theguardian.com Era of culture wars is over, pledges new culture secretary Lisa Nandy

    Nandy says her department will prioritise celebrating British culture and a less divisive vision of the UK

    Era of culture wars is over, pledges new culture secretary Lisa Nandy
    7

    Assuming we don't have free will, why do we have the illusion that we do?

    Three possibilities come to mind:

    Is there an evolutionary purpose?

    Does it arise as a consequence of our mental activities, a sort of side effect of our thinking?

    Is it given a priori (something we have to think in order to think at all)?

    EDIT: Thanks for all the responses! Just one thing I saw come up a few times I'd like to address: a lot of people are asking 'Why assume this?' The answer is: it's purely rhetorical! That said, I'm happy with a well thought-out 'I dispute the premiss' answer.

    132

    Labour lifts Tories’‘absurd’ ban on onshore windfarms

    www.theguardian.com Labour lifts Tories’ ‘absurd’ ban on onshore windfarms

    Rachel Reeves says she will revise planning policy and decisions should be taken ‘nationally, not locally’

    Labour lifts Tories’ ‘absurd’ ban on onshore windfarms

    And while the Greens are doing what they do best (opposing green development), the Labour government has already lifted the Tory ban on onshore windfarms.

    This is odd, because Labour are the same as the Tories, as we all know, and the Greens are a radical new force. But in this case, Labour are doing the direct opposite of the Tories, while the Greens are doing the same things the Tories did! Most curious.

    EDIT: Here's the official government statement confirming this.

    EDIT 2: And this isn't all! Rachel Reeves is also planning to do more to make onshore wind simpler to build.

    45

    Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay MP opposes wind farm pylons in his constituency

    The Greens promised to push Labour to be more radical but are instead acting how they always have: pro nimby, anti-environment.

    I didn't vote Green, obviously. If I had, I imagine I'd be pretty angry that pretty much their first act having quadrupled their number of MPs was to oppose green development.

    17

    Labour's Keir Starmer becomes UK prime minister

    www.bbc.co.uk Keir Starmer: Labour leader becomes UK prime minister

    The Labour leader enters Downing Street after his party's landslide election victory.

    Keir Starmer: Labour leader becomes UK prime minister

    I'm sure you all know this already but it's now official.

    The fourth person ever to lead Labour to a majority. The first person since 1970 to win a majority and overturn a majority at the same time.

    8

    There are lots of different tactical voting sites and sometimes they disagree on the most effective anti-Tory vote.

    Fortunately, someone has built a tool to help you aggregate the different recommendations and make the best possible choice on Thursday!

    Of course, spoiler alert, the best anti-Tory vote in most seats in the country is still Labour.

    0

    Angela Rayner and Gordon Brown discussing how to end child poverty

    Sorry for the Twitter link, but I've not seen the video elsewhere.

    EDIT: Twitter link now replaced, courtesy of [email protected].

    Just thought this was really great! It starts off with Rayner talking about how much Brown's policies (like Sure Start and the child tax credit) helped her and her kids, then they move on to talking about how the next Labour government hopes to do the same. Then it finishes with the amazing detail that Rachel Reeves had a Gordon Brown poster on her bedroom wall as a teenager.

    3
    www.theguardian.com Keir Starmer: ‘If you want change, you have to vote for it’

    The Labour leader on how he is determined to make a material difference to people’s lives if his party wins the general election

    Keir Starmer: ‘If you want change, you have to vote for it’
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    www.theguardian.com Could the UK soon have the most working-class cabinet of all time?

    More than three-quarters of the shadow cabinet attended state schools – in stark contrast to Sunak’s government

    Could the UK soon have the most working-class cabinet of all time?

    TL;DR: arguably.

    8

    Keir Starmer: 'There will be no return to austerity under my government' | Big Issue

    www.bigissue.com Keir Starmer: 'There will be no return to austerity under my government'

    We asked Labour leader Keir Starmer some key questions about what he will do if he is the next UK prime minister.

    Keir Starmer: 'There will be no return to austerity under my government'

    Starmer responds to questions from the Big Issue journalists and from vendors. Nothing particularly groundbreaking here but it all sounds good.

    9
    thecritic.co.uk Keir: more than just a lucky general | Tom Hamilton | The Critic Magazine

    Neither Left nor Right can accept that Starmer’s impressive focus and strategic sense is responsible for transforming Labour’s prospects…

    Keir: more than just a lucky general | Tom Hamilton | The Critic Magazine

    A slightly too wordy and too long article that I nonetheless basically agree with. Key paragraphs:

    >Starmer’s strategic sense has been impressive, from opening his leadership consensually with qualified support for, and constructive criticism of, lockdown, to encouraging Boris Johnson to get his denials of Partygate on the record and leaving them there, to, most of all, his relentless focus on the voters he actually needs to win, rather than the ones who make the most noise.

    >This, of course, is the source of the biggest criticisms of Starmer from the left: that he won the leadership by relentlessly focusing on the voters he needed to win within the Labour Party, and then pivoted towards the national electorate rather than sticking with a prospectus whose chief appeal was to people who had already been shown to be a minority of a minority. I am not wholly unsympathetic to this view: his ten pledges were mostly bad, and he shouldn’t have made them; but dropping bad policies is better than sticking to them, and winning is better than losing.

    >After all, Jeremy Corbyn didn’t keep any of his promises, which may be why a recent election leaflet endorsing his bid to be the independent MP for Islington North gives so much prominence to his role in saving the Number 4 bus route.

    0

    The political betting scandal is turning stupid

    conservativehome.com The political betting scandal is turning stupid | Conservative Home

    Gambling using inside information to cheat the bookmakers is already illegal, and is rightly being investigated. There are no grounds for a wider moral panic about politicians making normal bets.

    The political betting scandal is turning stupid | Conservative Home

    Refreshing sanity from Conservative Home, of all places!

    There's no equivalence between what Kevin Craig did (placed a bet on himself to lose) and what Craig Williams is accused of (using inside information to place a bet), and no need for a new law, given that what Williams is accused of is already illegal.

    3

    No way is Britain’s general election a done deal. Polls disguise huge uncertainty

    www.theguardian.com No way is Britain’s general election a done deal. Polls disguise huge uncertainty | Pat McFadden

    The Tories want people to assume the outcome is decided but the only way to remove this government is to vote them out, says Labour’s national campaign coordinator

    No way is Britain’s general election a done deal. Polls disguise huge uncertainty | Pat McFadden
    21
    www.bigissue.com Labour unveils plan to fix rental crisis and immediately axe no-fault evictions

    Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has promised the party will scrap no-fault evictions immediately if they win the general election.

    Labour unveils plan to fix rental crisis and immediately axe no-fault evictions
    5
    www.theguardian.com Tactical voting could make Tories lose once safe seats, according to guide

    ‘Tory big beasts’ like Liz Truss and Jeremy Hunt could be for chop as well as once-safe seats like Maidenhead, formerly held by Theresa May

    Tactical voting could make Tories lose once safe seats, according to guide

    This is according to research by Get Voting. Seems worth sharing just to potentially have Liz Truss lose her seat!

    2
    www.theguardian.com A wobbly left and a wary right could cut the Labour vote with low turnout | Robert Ford

    Labour may currently have a commanding lead, but a second lacklustre half to the campaign could lead some voters to stay at home, writes political scientist Robert Ford

    A wobbly left and a wary right could cut the Labour vote with low turnout | Robert Ford

    This is what's keeping me up at night, and also exactly why I think all the predictions of four or five hundred seats for Labour are overblown.

    8

    Is Keir Starmer really a ‘political robot’? If he is, he’s one that’s been programmed to win

    www.theguardian.com Is Keir Starmer really a ‘political robot’? If he is, he’s one that’s been programmed to win | Jonathan Freedland

    In office, something very different will be required, but steady caution has brought Labour to the brink of power, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland

    Is Keir Starmer really a ‘political robot’? If he is, he’s one that’s been programmed to win | Jonathan Freedland

    >The left is only able to demand that an apparently imminent Labour government be bolder in office because Starmer has got the party to the brink of victory – and has done it by doing the very things they opposed.

    Never have I 'this'ed so hard.

    2