Tommy two names and Muskrat snr plus other nonentity traitors.
Off Topic Politics Thread
- Thread starter ChilcoSaint
- Start date
There's nothing like demonstrating your "patriotism" by attending a country which is in a proxy war with your own. Says everything about the modern far right.
I can appreciate the appeal of increasing defence expenditure but the lead in period for equipment like the aircraft carriers and the armoured personnel vehicle have been over budget, delivered late and there are questions about fitness for purpose. We have rarely got value for money with military expenditure.
The talk about increasing percentage of GDP on defence seems sensible on the face of things but it traditionally takes so long to procure that the equipment often arrives late and no longer suitable for the intended role. Expenditure on drones seems to make sense but do we really know how long Russian will remain a threat. A date of 2030 has been mooted but Putin will be 77 by then and there is no guarantee he will last that long. The situation in Russia in 2030 could be radically different. I appreciate that there is a risk there yet the absence of a regime change by that time seems really unlikely. No Trump and no Putin in 2030 will make the world a much safer place. We are spending for a future we cannot predict. It would be more sensible to spend the money on issues like climate change and managing this as it is something we know will happen. We need to spend money on green tech and not weapons.
The talk about increasing percentage of GDP on defence seems sensible on the face of things but it traditionally takes so long to procure that the equipment often arrives late and no longer suitable for the intended role. Expenditure on drones seems to make sense but do we really know how long Russian will remain a threat. A date of 2030 has been mooted but Putin will be 77 by then and there is no guarantee he will last that long. The situation in Russia in 2030 could be radically different. I appreciate that there is a risk there yet the absence of a regime change by that time seems really unlikely. No Trump and no Putin in 2030 will make the world a much safer place. We are spending for a future we cannot predict. It would be more sensible to spend the money on issues like climate change and managing this as it is something we know will happen. We need to spend money on green tech and not weapons.
Intrigued to see mention of Farage being in deep trouble with the £5 million donation and there is now talk of a potential by-election in Clacton. Being reported by "The I."
If he’s suspended for 10 days or more, I think that automatically triggers a bi-election, but he’s not prevented from standing again himself
It will be fascinating as I wonder how much the appearance of Burnham on the scene would make voters in Clacton decide not to re-elect the self aggrandising Nigel Farage. I can see this issue blowing up in the next few weeks. Burnham will be more ruthless with Farage than Starmer. This does not seem as likely as it seems to me. I can see Parliament being not only very disturbed by the late disclosure of the donation but also by some of his subsequent comments. He is not going to get away with this.
Unless they go nuclear, how much of a threat is Russia, in a conventional war?
Ukraine has exposed their military capabilities as being not good enough to overcome them, plus they are destroying so much of the Russian military and oil industry, so how would Russia contend with a war with NATO, even without the Americans?
Drones are the way to go instead of so many traditional ground forces .
It’s a different mind set , but we better get our heads around it if we ever need to fight a modern war .
It’s a different mind set , but we better get our heads around it if we ever need to fight a modern war .
I saw a video on YouTube, a few months ago, which said that our navy had a laser weapon for bringing down drones, with each “shot” costing as little as 50p, plus an endless number of shots available.
Trouble is I haven’t got a clue if the video was truth or bullshit.
It's been reported on a number of sources including this https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2025/november/20/20251120-dragonfire-trials Besides that laser bullets don't make as good a lyric as rubber bullets.
Ex navy man over the road still keeps tabs on what’s going on , and he said they did a mock battle were a handful of the enemy using drones , obliterated a mass of nato land troops ( inc tanks etc ) .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clye9zn0y1ro
Smash the gangs! Or, you know, just let them come and live here.
Smash the gangs! Or, you know, just let them come and live here.
Interesting that the article suggests criminal records would have been accessible prior to Brexit which has made this more diffucult. Post Brexit, we have no idea which immigrants have served sentences in Europe.
There has been quite a lot in the news today about prison sentences with the case of the young girls who were raped in Fordingbridge and the member of the grooming gang in Rochdale being released early. I was quite intrigued by the fact that Radio 4 bridged these news stories with a third feature about how the internet and social media is having a negative effect on the behaviour of children.
I usually enjoy Radio 4 news but today I felt that there were wider issues they did not consider. I am sceptical if the Fordingbridge incident could have happened without the influence of the internet and wish the reporter had made more of the 13 year old who escaped the custodial sentence had filmed and posted the content on line of one of the attacks. In my opinion, more should have been made of this fact.
I also feel that another, broader issue was over-looked and concerns the way society behaved. Why did the spouses of the grooming gang victims not say anything and what was the response of the parents of the two youths who have been sentenced? It also crossed my mind that the parents of the two girls could have prevented their daughters meeting up with the young lads. The fact that one of the boys had an IQ amongst the lowest 1% in the country also raised alarm bells for me. I just think that there is a broader issue here with society which has been facilitated by social media use, whether it is the Asian blokes being able to exploit and transport young girls across the NW or teenagers thinking it is not only ok to rape, but to film and post the content on line.
If the BBC had been savvy, all three news articles could have been linked in some way. I appreciate that there are other issues at play here such as unacceptable cultural attitudes, parental control and the identification of schools kids who show signs of abnormal behaviour but these have all be made possible by social media. The cases are all tragic yet the BBC should have considered the wider malaise in society and looked at the factors driving this. I then think that society starts to look at how influencers such as Andrew Tate are responsible for this and efforts made to ensure that they are swiftly prosecuted. I understand that the Asian gang in Rochdale will have been unlikely to have been influenced directly by Tate yet it is all part of a broader mix which goes beyond the mantra of making the streets safe for women. I think the bigger issue is that it now appears acceptable for men not to respect women and that, in the hands of boys with low IQS, this will have disastrous consequence.
Just felt that PM missed a big opportunity this afternoon to look at the broader culture of things.
I usually enjoy Radio 4 news but today I felt that there were wider issues they did not consider. I am sceptical if the Fordingbridge incident could have happened without the influence of the internet and wish the reporter had made more of the 13 year old who escaped the custodial sentence had filmed and posted the content on line of one of the attacks. In my opinion, more should have been made of this fact.
I also feel that another, broader issue was over-looked and concerns the way society behaved. Why did the spouses of the grooming gang victims not say anything and what was the response of the parents of the two youths who have been sentenced? It also crossed my mind that the parents of the two girls could have prevented their daughters meeting up with the young lads. The fact that one of the boys had an IQ amongst the lowest 1% in the country also raised alarm bells for me. I just think that there is a broader issue here with society which has been facilitated by social media use, whether it is the Asian blokes being able to exploit and transport young girls across the NW or teenagers thinking it is not only ok to rape, but to film and post the content on line.
If the BBC had been savvy, all three news articles could have been linked in some way. I appreciate that there are other issues at play here such as unacceptable cultural attitudes, parental control and the identification of schools kids who show signs of abnormal behaviour but these have all be made possible by social media. The cases are all tragic yet the BBC should have considered the wider malaise in society and looked at the factors driving this. I then think that society starts to look at how influencers such as Andrew Tate are responsible for this and efforts made to ensure that they are swiftly prosecuted. I understand that the Asian gang in Rochdale will have been unlikely to have been influenced directly by Tate yet it is all part of a broader mix which goes beyond the mantra of making the streets safe for women. I think the bigger issue is that it now appears acceptable for men not to respect women and that, in the hands of boys with low IQS, this will have disastrous consequence.
Just felt that PM missed a big opportunity this afternoon to look at the broader culture of things.