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#41
Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...
Last post by Valmy - November 12, 2025, 03:55:38 PMSo we all thought no British government could be as incompetent as the Tories and Labour was like: hold my Newcastle?
#42
Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...
Last post by Sheilbh - November 12, 2025, 03:55:33 PMYes and my own criticism but not only not competent but also doesn't really have a politics/set of beliefs. He's just very squishy soft left. So incompetent and rudderless.
I would add there's a piece in the New Statesman by the fantastic Ailbhe Rea which has some briefing against Starmer - but I've never seen this complaint about any previous PM that I can remember. Other PMs get criticised for being too in the weeds meaning decisions never get taken because they end up getting way too involved in policy detail and micro-managing - this was a common criticism of Sunak and Brown, for example. Someone said to her that Starmer has the opposite instinct "Keir doesn't want to know [...] it's how he led organisations in the past." I'd note he wasn't a popular Director of Public Prosecutions) and there may be some of that about it. But I can't think of another senior politician where that's been the complaint - and it maybe explains things like him disowning the "island of strangers" speech. He said he was busy at a NATO summit and he hadn't read it properly but he didn't agree with it. Honestly sounds like a bit of a nightmare boss - not particularly engaged and then likely to blame his team (who can't defend themselves).
I think the rudderless matters in our system where you have like a few hundred "political" people in the entire system (there isn't even a formal Prime Minister's Office and most minister have under 10 political people with them), in an organisation with tens of thousands of impartial, politically neutral career civil servants. If you don't have a clear vision of what you're trying to do the civil service don't know what sort of options to present up the ladder. So with Thatcher and Major want privatisation and reducing the size of the state, New Labour and Cameroons want public-private partnerships, Johnson wants something "levelling up-y", Sunak wants something tech focued - the civil service knows what sort of direction to explore and come up with policies for. With Starmer I don't think they have a clear idea what options they should be giving the PM - and I suspect that also because of that lack of a steer that decisions that should be made way down the chain have to get escalated because no-one really knows what Starmer wants.
It's why I think even Streeting might be better because he has a clear view of what he'd want to do - whether he could get the party to wear it is another matter. I'd add that as well as the Streisand effect they've also just had an excuse to have Streeting all over the TV today and he is a far better communicator than Starmer - just a bit more human. Asked if he'd rule out demanding Starmer to resign "Yes. And, you know, nor did I shoot JFK. I had nothing to do with Shergar and I don't think the moon landings were faked - certainly not by me."
I would add there's a piece in the New Statesman by the fantastic Ailbhe Rea which has some briefing against Starmer - but I've never seen this complaint about any previous PM that I can remember. Other PMs get criticised for being too in the weeds meaning decisions never get taken because they end up getting way too involved in policy detail and micro-managing - this was a common criticism of Sunak and Brown, for example. Someone said to her that Starmer has the opposite instinct "Keir doesn't want to know [...] it's how he led organisations in the past." I'd note he wasn't a popular Director of Public Prosecutions) and there may be some of that about it. But I can't think of another senior politician where that's been the complaint - and it maybe explains things like him disowning the "island of strangers" speech. He said he was busy at a NATO summit and he hadn't read it properly but he didn't agree with it. Honestly sounds like a bit of a nightmare boss - not particularly engaged and then likely to blame his team (who can't defend themselves).
I think the rudderless matters in our system where you have like a few hundred "political" people in the entire system (there isn't even a formal Prime Minister's Office and most minister have under 10 political people with them), in an organisation with tens of thousands of impartial, politically neutral career civil servants. If you don't have a clear vision of what you're trying to do the civil service don't know what sort of options to present up the ladder. So with Thatcher and Major want privatisation and reducing the size of the state, New Labour and Cameroons want public-private partnerships, Johnson wants something "levelling up-y", Sunak wants something tech focued - the civil service knows what sort of direction to explore and come up with policies for. With Starmer I don't think they have a clear idea what options they should be giving the PM - and I suspect that also because of that lack of a steer that decisions that should be made way down the chain have to get escalated because no-one really knows what Starmer wants.
It's why I think even Streeting might be better because he has a clear view of what he'd want to do - whether he could get the party to wear it is another matter. I'd add that as well as the Streisand effect they've also just had an excuse to have Streeting all over the TV today and he is a far better communicator than Starmer - just a bit more human. Asked if he'd rule out demanding Starmer to resign "Yes. And, you know, nor did I shoot JFK. I had nothing to do with Shergar and I don't think the moon landings were faked - certainly not by me."
#43
Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...
Last post by The Minsky Moment - November 12, 2025, 03:50:53 PMQuote from: garbon on November 12, 2025, 03:27:10 PMI read the article saying he has already freaked out about magnets before. Like how you can destroy them by dropping glasses of water on them.
It appears someone tried to explain to him something about teething problems with electromagnetic catapults on the newest carriers, not realizing he is a complete idiot and that anything more complicated then a first grade reader will get hopelessly confused and mixed up in his head, along with Hannibal Lecter, sharks, and Arnold Palmer's dick.
#44
Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...
Last post by The Minsky Moment - November 12, 2025, 03:47:11 PMQuote from: Jacob on November 12, 2025, 03:39:13 PMSo the deal with Starmer is that he seems boring but competent, only it turns out he's not particularly competent?
He's not even good at being boring, which if done properly, would at least keep him out of the headlines.
#45
Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...
Last post by The Minsky Moment - November 12, 2025, 03:45:29 PMBritain will only join the EU on the same track as the United States will do the right thing, that is only after exhausting all the alternatives. That's a long way off on the present timeline.
From today's standpoint, the UK won't seek re-entry because there is no compelling reason to do so; things will have to get quite a bit worse before that would happen. The Trump shock could have been a catalyst; but his penchant for the Royals and his entourage's contempt for the EU and its non-Hungarian members pushed the needle the other way.
From today's standpoint, the UK won't seek re-entry because there is no compelling reason to do so; things will have to get quite a bit worse before that would happen. The Trump shock could have been a catalyst; but his penchant for the Royals and his entourage's contempt for the EU and its non-Hungarian members pushed the needle the other way.
#46
Gaming HQ / Re: Europa Universalis V confi...
Last post by Zanza - November 12, 2025, 03:41:55 PMI have a new machine now, but EU V does something that causes the GPU or CPU fans to rotate at maximum speed. No other game I tried (Stellaris, Civ 7, Victoria) does this. It's super annoying as my computer is then very loud. 
#47
Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...
Last post by Jacob - November 12, 2025, 03:39:13 PMSo the deal with Starmer is that he seems boring but competent, only it turns out he's not particularly competent?
#48
Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic
Last post by Jacob - November 12, 2025, 03:37:08 PMQuote from: garbon on November 12, 2025, 03:21:00 PMWhy were the children screaming?
Probably because their parents were freaking out.
#49
Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...
Last post by Sophie Scholl - November 12, 2025, 03:36:21 PMI wonder if he watched that musical documentary about magnets by the noted scientists Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. 
#50
Gaming HQ / Re: Europa Universalis V confi...
Last post by Valmy - November 12, 2025, 03:36:14 PMYep. I got a special Tech just for my Lithuanianness.