Sephiroth

I don't think they are closing store en-masse - but they have slowly been closing individual stores in recent years . the one in Eddie Road in Sheffield closed last year and in their heyday that would have been their prime target area The one in Lewes seems to be pretty quiet mostly - wouldn't be surprised to see that go soon. They have always been weirdly divisive and I don't know why. Like any clothes shop, they have a target and if you don't like it, move on to next one They did have a niche when they were smaller but think they just expanded and stretched themselves too much took me down memory lane

"the Tories will be back in in five years. " Not sure they will exist in 5 years - at least not in current or past form But let's say they don't implode - I can't see them getting back in in 5 years - I would argue it matters a hell of a lot how we got here - because if we can't learn that lesson then we will be doomed to repeat same mistakes I do think Labour have made too many straitjackets for themselves - better to get in with a mandate to move towards single market/tax rises if necessary rather than have to reverse on some clearly necessary steps . And they will face battles from backbenches as well as opposition - but significantly, they have more capable ministers than any tory cabinet member since 2019

No. The centre is holding people viewing European polls and elections through a U.K., binary, FPTP system not that any of this has anything to do with Brexit

This election continues to underline just how positive Brexit has been for the U.K. a govt with an 80+ majority on back of getting Brexit done , continually underlining all the benefits of that Brexit, coasting to an easy win Oh wait, no meanwhile an E. coli outbreak in a known food item (no, we won’t say which food) hangs over the nation thanks to no checks on unaligned food at our borders

"If I hear 'my father was a tool maker' / my wife's a nurse / my father was a GP one more time... as if any of those things qualify anyone to fix / understand anything. " yeah but that's not the point here - many (most?) of the people watching last night are the voters who tend not to pay much attention to Westminster and may well buy the "they are all the same - born into money and detached from real life" - so Starmer's story, as overplayed as it is to you and me will be news to many

More than the 2 contestants, the format and production was the main fault last night - allowing 45 seconds for an answer will get you those responses from any 2 candidates Awful show

More winning https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/26/worlds-largest-food-awards-move-judging-panel-from-uk-to-ireland-to-avoid-brexit-red-tape?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

And now all those lunatic vote leave MPs,, from Gove to Leadsom and dozens more, with many more to come, all announce they won’t stand at the election having pursued their stupid ideology, and capitalising on the emotions of 2019 when people “just wanted Brexit done”, happy to take the “credit”, here we are 5 years later with the carnage visible from space and they won’t even face their electorate. They should be on trial meanwhile, it’s all the little things - like this vote leave constituency and MP, begging for softer rules (despite the like of Priti Patel boasting about cracking down on this kind of travel) what a load of bollix eh? https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/brexit-school-group-tourism-b2551093.html

Springers, I can only express sympathy if your holiday in Rwanda is affected You can however, celebrate Liberation Day in Rwanda which is held on same day as the U.K. election !

Finally Don't let the door hit ye on the way out lads

I'd say salary and rent are quite different in Vietnam as well - but I doubt you are being paid/pay those rates either

all true as far as it goes RD - but it would be useful to have some kind of acknowledgement that public opinion has shifted and to have some kind of mechanism as we deal with the aftermath of this government to say " this is what we are doing in policy area x - but we could get there quicker/cheaper if... y'know... just saying" because damn, but this polite omertà is expensive

Still. If “eating at tables outdoors” is being sold as a Brexit benefit by senior cabinet ministers, it would suggest there aren’t actually any real benefits As the sane among us have been saying for years Blindingly obvious. And just because people don’t want to talk about it any more doesn’t mean the financial and institutional damage it’s doing isn’t severe and ongoing. An ostrich nation

Election coming soon everyone as the last one was fought on “getting Brexit done” I’m sure the party that won that election can look forward to crowing about all of the Brexit wins since then and cruise to another victory? ah. No. 3 disastrous PMs since that last election I see today we have touted leader Kemi B crowing about how our Brexit freedom means more red-tape-cutting will mean more pavement tables in the uk? have I been hallucinating all of those pavement tables in eu countries all these years?

I find this happens more and more these days - especially on Sunday evenings or early in the week. I just no longer believe advertised opening hours in bars and restaurants I find it annoying and I understand Sue's annoyance But as Spartacus' excellent post makes clear - it's not really any of the business fault these days. Overheads are astronomically higher and I'm sure they would like to have a full restaurant and keep place open. Customer behaviours has changed and loads of places are having to be nimble and do the best they can. That won't always align with what I want. Sign of the times (sidenote: no, Brexit didn't cause this. But as with everything in GB, it's there as an additional factor and makes it that bit worse than other countries face with similar post-pandemic challenges)

2. In times when police are leaving in ever decreasing numbers and recruitment is hard, how will he put more police on the streets ? 3. Rough sleeping, no matter what is done, some still choose that way of life, so what's his plan in that case ? my guess for #2 would be that 14 years of this govt has done much to drive that exodus - an incoming new government is likely to take some steps to repair relations and make the offer more attractove re #3 - this questions arises every time there are a lot of people sleeping rough but as we all saw under the last labour government, those numbers reduced dramatically. Again, the London mayor will benefit from that Have people given up all hope that anything might ever get better ever - it did under last labour govt and whilst this one has a much harder job on it's hands, targets like this are at least honestly on their todo list (overall I would say that Khan list of targets is, charitably, "ambitious" as things stand in 2024. But they are positive targets and something to aim for. Compared to whatever it was that Hall was offering, it's the better of the two options)

maybe anyone, anyone, who posts cliched doggerel such as "London has fallen" should just be ignored Heads up: London has in no way "fallen" even with benefit of doubt that a poster may not know "London has fallen" is a trope used by racists, it's nonsense on it's own terms. But it IS a trope used by racists so if I was poster who had uniwttingly used that phrase I might reconsider

Very much appreciated Macron’s comments yesterday on brexit ”” given the lack of traffic on this thread I can’t help but feel it underlines his point

The government spends years trying to not implement different parts of Brexit (because had they gone all in the country would have revolted0 - but every time they are finally forced to, it costs a fortune (to consumers and businesses) and adds red tape a large majority now know it's wrong - but constitutionally and emotionally have no way to even consider how to row back https://news.sky.com/story/brexit-border-checks-to-add-billions-to-consumer-bills-13125846

Day by day, even the terminally dim begin to realise of course thanks to them being terminally dim we can’t “just” anything https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/01/britain-is-now-terrified-of-freedom-it-should-rejoin-the-eu/

all I said was "take a pro cash stance too far" - what twisting have I done? plenty of good arguments for retention of cash - but let's not get too detached from reality either lest we go back to trading livestock But to go back to your post DD: "Or don't stop using cash" Yep plenty of people will agree with this - nothing controversial here "Stop using your phone or even your watch as a banknote" - getting a bit weird now - why not - it's super convenient for both users and businesses. And far easier to keep a track of your balance using your electronic wallet than old systems of cheques taking days to clear, how much did I take from cashpoint 2 days ago etc. But people will differ so whatever works "God only knows how much damage we're doing to the planet because all the above must require a hell of a lot of resources and juice from the grid" - big straw man argument here. Why bring this in? Unless you are also suggesting we don't buy any goods not made from within a 5 mile radius and nothing transported by air or sea? "a big lump of plastic with a screen and full of personal information that can be easily gleamed." I've had my phone stolen but nothing was lost because it was secure.I've been mugged and lost cash and valuable. It's not a binary thing "your sky rocket with a phone in your hand. It's become a source of dopamine for many. It's an addiction for many." Proper overreaching now There is a reason people like their modern phones - and it isn't just replacing cash. Replacing all of these functions in a tiny device is a magnificent achievement and to just boil it down to "big lump with a screen" is reductive in the extreme

you know when you take your pro-cash stance too far? yeah....

Another factor is this - if phone theft is as widespread as many fear, then let’s assume there is a big screen at police hq, showing all of the phones in their current location - how exactly would you manage that number of locations with the number of officers at your disposal and yes, it being difficult for police to obtain a warrant is a net Good Thing lastly - when I had my phone nicked I assumed “find my phone” would help. But I discovered that most stolen phones are immediately switched off and kept that way to prevent tracking

Some insights here (a LOT of experience disappeared with those cuts - replacing them with new bodies doesn't get you back to where you were) https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/16/how-theresa-mays-careless-cuts-destroyed-britains-police-service https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/11/senior-officer-police-investigate-crimes-inspectorate-report

well yes - but that overlooks the point where this govt massively reduced police numbers (against much advice) and have been playing catch up ever since Found a thread from over 10 years ago that touches on this type of crime and the kind of discussion we had then