like the queen this thread will never die: in which we ALL resign (ourselves to disgusting miseries to post-boris politics 2022)

it's a fucking disgusting policy idea for disabled people, who mostly are also poor. I have a very important neurology appointment for my son in a few weeks. Can I guarantee he's not going have an epileptic fit on the day or not be in a calm enough self-regulated mood to go into a hospital on that day... can I fuck.

And people who depend on a crumbling public transport system - bus doesn't show up and it costs you a tenner.

yes that as well and lots of people with fluctuating mental health issues can't even get on buses sometimes, even if they are still running.

Meanwhile rich people who can afford a tenner to waste will think it is no big deal, a fair price to pay for the luxury of being able to abandon appointments. £10 won't even begin to offeet the cost of a missed appointment either, this is purely designed to punish low-incomes. I wonder which of his pals he's got lined up to sign the contract for the roll-out.

If I can't make it and don't cancel my GP/dentist appointment 24 hours in advance here in Belgium so they can schedule someone else instead, I have to pay for a full appointment. Is that really such a draconian measure?

(sorry, failed at reading the room here, nevermind)

yes, because anxiety and missing buses don't give you 24 hours notice

and this is clearly designed to be the thin end of the wedge for further charges to be introduced, slowly normalising the idea of paying for nhs services, with the end goal being full privatisation

Forcing 1000s of people to negotiate every week with the NHS about their £10 fines is sure to save time and money

Yes, and I think this is more of the end goal (link below). The ones who absolutely can't afford it will get something, but every step of the way will be painful.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/24/charge-patients-for-hospital-stays-to-help-fund-nhs-says-report

When Sunak talks about a 'conversation' that's what he means. Tax breaks for using private healthcare, which only a select number can afford. Or if you are in a workplace which has it, you can see where it's going.

The NHS just can't function where almost everything else in our society is broken.

I wonder if I'll be able to get a refund when my doctor tells me he'll phone between 2pm and 4pm and doesn't call until 5.15pm.

sorry but rules are rules, you only get a refund if you die while on the waiting list for major surgery.

Nandy on a picket line this morning, sure she has only workers rights on her mind and nothing else.

Thanks @lisanandy for taking the time to visit the @cwugmersey Wigan picket line this moring to speak to #TheCWU BT & Openreach members on strike and show solidarity @CWUnews @DaveWardGS @CWU_AndyKerr pic.twitter.com/SjJXqczD6R

— Carl Webb - #joinaunion (@NWCWU) August 1, 2022

she's been sent out to show her face, just to underline that bollox that Tarry was sacked for doing policies on the hoof rather than joining a picket.

That or she has just decided to do this herself in order to challenge Starmer for the leadership, seems the less likely option but you know what she's like.

i hear nothing but bad things about bt openreach though (although i think virgin media pip them for dodgy installation stories, cables just trailed across flowerbeds and blocking guttering)

(xp) The former is probably why but I'd bet the latter is why she agreed to do it. She's probably planning ahead about having to face Rayner once Starmer is finished.

I was trying to make a joke about autumn arriving early and people going Trimbleburying in Lisburn. It had potential to be funny I reckon, but I couldn't be arsed!

Can't wait for the Labour leadership campaign, has the potential to be even more ludicrous than the Tories'

Waiting for Liz to sort this out:

🗳️ NEW: Labour lead by 14pts (+/- since June)

🔴 Lab 44% (+3)
🔵 Con 30% (-)
🟠 LD 10% (-5)
🟢 Grn 8% (+2)
🟡 SNP 5% (-)

Seats (+/- since 2019):

🔴 Lab 327 (+125)
🔵 Con 224 (-141)
🟡 SNP 52 (+4)
🟠 LD 23 (+12)
🟢 Grn 1 (-)

Labour majority of 4 seats.

Via @IpsosUK, 21-27 Jul pic.twitter.com/KH5UmGEXFI

— Stats for Lefties (@LeftieStats) August 1, 2022

If this actually comes to pass can I please dream about a Fuck-You bloc of Zarah Sultana, Diane Abbott, Becky Long-Bailey and Jeremy Corbyn absolutely having their way with king toad of melt hall

Labour falling one seat short of a majority without having restored Corbyn has a certain appeal.

...especially if Corbyn stands as an Independent in Islington and beats the Labour candidate.

Too many planned data centres in outer West London are sucking the electrical grid dry. Here's my explainer on why warehouses full of computers have halted housing developments in 3 London boroughs until 2035https://t.co/f7YL1hTTjF

— Gareth Corfield (@GazTheJourno) August 1, 2022

why are they building datacenters on the most expensive land in the uk?

Tech companies such as Oracle, Microsoft, Dell and Huawei all have bases here, due in part to nearby transatlantic data cables feeding London. These broadly follow the M4, and businesses along their route are keen to tap into these conduits of commerce - soaking up the grid’s power.

this makes no sense.

Probably because they used to be their offices, maybe?

And people don't want to live and work in some provincial hellhole far from London, of course.

jamming my usb connector into the nearby cable to power my swindon server farm

A man arrested with a crossbow at Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle home on Christmas Day last year has been charged with having a weapon with intent to "alarm her Majesty" under Britain's Treason Act

this lad was on a mission to alarm her majesty

"Ding dong ding dong, your hair's that long'

19-year-old Jaswant Singh Chail, a Southampton resident. Jaswant claimed that he was seeking revenge for the Sikhs killed in the 1919 Jallianwala massacre in Amritsar, India. The Jallianwala Bagh mass killing was orchestrated by the British Brigadier-General R. E. H. Dyer in British-ruled India. General Dyer blocked the only exit of the venue and order his troops to open fire on the huge congregation of Indians gathered for a rally, killing thousands.

lol, I'd like to think the defunct for a few years now Crimes of Britain account played a part in radicalising him.

i hope they're using the Treason Act because they kind've have to rather than because it'll let them lock him up indefinitely or something

I'd presume the treason act will be the path of least resistance for the prosecution, but there probably aren't that many precedents of it being used this century, but surely it will mean a longer sentence?

i dunno, when i had a quick google i think they can send him to Australia for seven years so i assume it's been updated since then

imprisonment not to exceed seven years if i'm reading the act correctly (as NV says it used to be "transportation beyond the seas" for seven years):
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/5-6/51/section/2

think he probably landed himself the treason styling by declaring "my plan was to assassinate the queen"

they don't give out medals for attempted chemistry

The Tories could be led by a bit of wood.

Westminster voting intention:

LAB: 35% (-4)
CON: 34% (+2)
LDEM: 13% (+1)
GRN: 7% (-1)

via @YouGov, 27 - 28 Julhttps://t.co/5ksWvd9Km0

— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) August 2, 2022

Well, when Truss removes the tax on sugary drinks, watch them nummers fly!

Possibly a consequence of the Tory leadership contest being high profile (eg, televised debates) so they have been more visible than Labour.

Kieth's ratings don't improve when people see him

I know we're getting Truss as PM but this is really fucking funny.

Grim but hilarious how Sunak went from ‘I’m the common sense candidates and I’m going to be honest with you’ to ‘chat shit get banged’

— Nesrine Malik (@NesrineMalik) August 3, 2022

I mean..

Tomorrow: Sunak to pledge “I don’t know, guys, what do these jackasses want? Slow water torture for cyclists? Think of something” the wrong email is forwarded to the press. https://t.co/XEtVfty4XB

— Stephen Bush (@stephenkb) August 3, 2022

please deradicalise me Rishi i'm in a lot of pain

Should I get the mods to remove that post I made about England's women football team winning the Euros?

Just to be on the safe side?

i dunno man if he goes after everybody in the UK who hates the English he's gonna need a bigger reprogramming centre

Tory Party members will love it though.

Not voting for him, guess they know desperation when they see it.

The headquarters of @TfL has been taken over by bus workers and supporters opposing plans to make huge cuts to London’s bus routes. pic.twitter.com/4gRaLeaak4

— Shelly Asquith (@ShellyAsquith) August 3, 2022

Execute the brutes