Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Jacob]

Islamophobia is definitely on the rise in Europe, and it's driven by narratives of how irredeemably violent and "not like us" Muslims and/ or non-white Immigrants are. It's couched in language that is sometimes academic, sometimes "serious", sometimes "telling it like it is", and sometimes straight up hate mongering.

Hamas vs Palestine definitely didn't help, but I think the sentiment has been steadily on the rise for a while now.

[Richard Hakluyt]

The rule seems to be that the 1.8bn or so Muslims are judged by their worst, so they are all as bad as a Hamas terrorist or an Iranian ayatollah. The same method is not applied to the 2.4bn or so Christians; if it was we have the likes of Putin, the militia who murdered thousands at Srebenica, the Rwandan genocide and gun nuts routinely going postal in the USA.

The area, I think, where Muslims are unfortunate is that they are far more likely than Christians to live under an unpleasant dictatorial regime. It is these regimes that beget the violence imo.

[Sheilbh]

Islamophobia is definitely on the rise in Europe, and it's driven by narratives of how irredeemably violent and "not like us" Muslims and/ or non-white Immigrants are. It's couched in language that is sometimes academic, sometimes "serious", sometimes "telling it like it is", and sometimes straight up hate mongering.

I'd go further - I think Islamophobia is really important in the far-right globally. In India, Israel, the US, Europe, I think it is the one common theme and I think it is a distinctive form of racism in the same way as anti-semitism is a distinctive form of racism. I don't know that it's playing a similar role as anti-semitism did in the 19th/early 20th century as a unifying theme for all sorts of otherwise disparate extremists - but I'm not sure it's a million miles away.

I think it is one reason why I think it is slightly important to centre the riots (especially as they started) on their Islamophobia than a general racism. I think the short circuit of a violent outrage to Muslims is one that is common in the West (and definitely India too) and, even if not intentional, almost designed to whip up communitarian violence.

Hamas vs Palestine definitely didn't help, but I think the sentiment has been steadily on the rise for a while now.

Yes - and there are extreme Islamists who have a belief in violence. So there are terrorist attacks - for example, I think it's difficult to think about where France is without the recent surge in Islamist terrorist attacks (failed and successful.

[Sheilbh]

I know I've been banging on about this - and again I think a three strikes and you're out law is bad.

But sentencing in Plymouth and the two rioters between them had 209 previous offences One had 39 offences "including theft, criminal damage, possession of drugs, supply of class A drugs, threatening behaviour, breach of a Domestic Violence Protection Order and robbery"; the other "you've got 10 aliases, four fictitious birth dates, you're 51 years of age, you've been convicted of 170 offences, you've been convicted of theft, arson, taking cars, handling stolen goods, obtaining by deception, burglary, dangerous driving and possessing bladed article [...] you've received sentences totalling 357 months in prison, many of them concurrent."

Of the about 3,000 of the defendants (almost 90%) were on the Police National Computer. 78% have previous for offences relating to public disorder. About 85% of the adults had a previous caution or conviction, as did 65% of the juveniles.

I sort of wonder who is in the prisons overcrowding if the guy with 170 previous convictions is apparently out I think there is a conversation we need to have on all this. As generally am suspect about short sentences which I think just destroy people's lives. I'm fairly decriminalising on drugs and think those indefinite sentences that are difficult to get rid of are a disgrace. But I'm pretty zero tolerance on violence (especially sexual violence) - and so I think the repeat/career criminals do need locking up.

I think this is one of the huge policy failures of the last 14 years - especially the privatisation of the parole service (which has been a disaster) and prisons in general. I just think someone with 170 previous convictions (including arson!) shouldn't be on the streets and that's pretty damning after 14 years of rule by the party of law and order.

Edit: According to the CPS to the FT - 70% have previous convictions for serious offences including weapons possession and violence, as well as drugs (I assume class A/serious) or other "serious offences". Plus some have football banning orders for hooliganism.

[Tamas]

I sort of wonder who is in the prisons overcrowding if the guy with 170 previous convictions is apparently out

Two-tier policing?

[Sheilbh]

Probably partly. Interesting pdf report from the Commons Library on the stats as sentences are mainly for violent and sexual offences:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04334/SN04334.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiWxY_To_SHAxVNQEEAHbzYATIQFnoECBQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1QXEdRutpqTkp93H5IqJhD

I feel like dealing with the (I think) 10,000+ people on those insane "indefinite" sentences would be helpful. And I suppose part of overcrowding is also that the previous government hated any spare capacity in any system as inefficient so closed a number of prisons and sold off the estate.

[Josquius]

In lighter news. Liz Truss' career as a schill for trumpists is going well.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdrlx5yxr60o.amp

 

[Richard Hakluyt]

"That's not funny" she said....wrong again 

[Syt]

[Sheilbh]

"That's not funny" she said....wrong again 

It is made funny because she clearly hates it. I think she's described the lettuce as "puerile". And being clearly annoyed by it, will now be hounded by it anywhere she appears in Britain

Although perhaps the real humiliation is that from that clip it doesn't sound like she's managed to sell out the Beccles Public Hall (upcoming events: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/becclespublichall). Which feels like a pretty poor return for a former Conservative PM.

[Valmy]

Why is she promoting Trump anyway? Hoping American citizens living in Britain are going to swing the election Donnie's way?

[Gups]

Why is she promoting Trump anyway? Hoping American citizens living in Britain are going to swing the election Donnie's way?

Money. Her career is dead in the UK so she's trying to get in with the MAGA crown for book sales and appearance cash.

[Sheilbh]

Yep. She's been trying to break the American right grifter circuit because that's where the money is. Also why she keeps banging on about the "deep state".

I don't think it's going well (see her book promo on Fox) and there are lines even Truss can't/won't cross (like the interview with Bannon where she said she did think Biden won the election). But also she doesn't seem to pull a crowd there - I think she's just to weird even for that circuit

Which is why she's appearing in small community theatres in Suffolk.

[Sheilbh]

"That's not funny" she said....wrong again 

Not for the first time, I just feel that Truss has no understanding of the British public as I cannot imagine a response more likely to goad people into relentless lettuce-based mockery for decades:

On X, Truss said: "What happened last night was not funny. Far-left activists disrupted the event, which then had to be stopped for security reasons. This is done to intimidate people and suppress free speech.

"I won't stand for it. Would we see the same reaction if the activists were far-right?"

Laugh it off and we'd all get bored. Get this annoyed and it will never end

[Valmy]

I don't think it's going well (see her book promo on Fox) and there are lines even Truss can't/won't cross (like the interview with Bannon where she said she did think Biden won the election).

Well she just failed the shibboleth test.

But also she doesn't seem to pull a crowd there - I think she's just to weird even for that circuit

Which is why she's appearing in small community theatres in Suffolk.

Well yeah nobody over here has heard of her.