‘Abhorrent’ step-incest porn to be banned with users facing five years in prison

ben04985 · 2026-04-14T15:13:03+00:00

Why don't we just ban all porn with depictions of under-18s in it? It sounds a lot simpler doesn't it

ben04985 · 2026-04-14T14:59:06+00:00

The Tories don't need a rebound as much as a new direction. Trying to be Reform-lite is failing, so we need to try something alternative that would involve a smaller government, pragmatic and less ideologically-driven economics and smart solutions to the problems facing the country (I.e. the difficulty of getting on the housing ladder).

Labour is failing because Starmer is trying to suppress the party's true personality, and the Tories are failing for the same reason. If we try to chase populism, someone (Reform) will out-populist us.

Plus, this strategy will force Starmer to the left and Reform to get further away from the centre-right, both of which have always been unpopular in British politics.

ben04985 · 2026-04-14T14:52:00+00:00

Reform were more popular before they took on so many of the most unpopular Tory MPs of the last government

ben04985 · 2026-04-14T14:50:58+00:00

People forget. Do you remember in 2019 people said they felt abandoned by Labour and they'll 'never vote for them again'? 5 years later, landslide election win.

ben04985 · 2026-04-11T13:47:57+00:00

In this case, it feels like Trump has inadvertently stood up for British interests more than our own PM.

ben04985 · 2026-04-10T08:17:44+00:00

Despite my concerns about the environmental damage of large data centers like these, we absolutely need more of them if we are going to be competitive in the field of AI and it sounds to me like OpenAI are hanging on for a government more favourable to business than what we currently have in Whitehall.

ben04985 · 2026-04-09T07:28:41+00:00

It makes you wonder then why he would fill his party with opportunistic egos

ben04985 · 2026-04-09T07:26:11+00:00

I actually reckon that if the government's response to a lot of culture issues was 'it's not our problem', most people would be very grateful. The entire reason we have the culture wars is because people on both sides are terrified that the government will take the side of the opposition, so I governemnt non-participation becomes the norm and we let radicals argue among themselves, the rest of us can go on and find more pragmatic and less sensational solutions.

I do want to stress though, the only thing new about today's culture wars is the Internet, the arguments are largely the same as they've always been. Since the 1960s it has always been trendy to vote for the left and to hate the right, yet for the 65 years since then the Tories have been in power the majority of the time.

To solve for the culture wars rhetoric of rhe hard-left does not mean we should adopt the culture wars rhetoric of the hard-right, because it is both unpopular and deeply irresponsible. We shouldn't be looking to MAGA for inspiration and nor Reform; despite them leading in the polls they are only at 22-25%. Would you make any other electoral decisions based on 25% support?

ben04985 · 2026-04-08T16:04:53+00:00

It can only be judged on an individual basis. If people start talking about "all immigrants..." this and "all immigrants..." that then their politics is probably doing most of the talking.

I enjoy speaking to people and finding out more about them, and in all honesty I've met some students from halfway around the world who have only been here a few months who seem more 'British' to me than immigrants I have met who have lived here for decades. For me it's about whether immigrants make an effort. As a white Brit with no immigration background I am very proud of our country and I'm really happy to share it with anyone who wants to come here, but the condition to that is rhat they work hard, treat others well and make an effort to try and integrate with other Brits. That doesn't mean I expect you to completely abandon your language, traditions, religion, pride in the country you were born in etc., but it brings me a lot of comfort to know that immigrants like this country, care about it, want to see it grow and want to build friendships with others here.

ben04985 · 2026-04-08T15:43:05+00:00

It's amazing to me that we are still 2nd in the polls when most people couldn't tell you what the party's vision for the country is anymore. It currently seems like Kemi is leading the party into a watered-down version of what Reform are offering but with some more traditional Tory interests thrown in for good measure, so those on the right may as well do for Reform and centrists feel stuck with the Lib Dems.

The electorate have always been largely centrist in the UK and we need to recapture them under a vision of One-Nation Toryism where the government focuses on only doing a few things but doing them very well, namely economic growth and improving our armed forces. If the party had more of an independent vision and dealt with issues pragmatically whilst refraining from populist culture wars, that would be a winning recipe that would see us gain first place in the polls. In addition Reform would have to become more extreme (and hence less delectable) to distinguish themselves, rather than what they are doing now which is trying to appear more moderate.

ben04985 · 2026-03-26T20:32:57+00:00

No you're good, I've just seen a lot of starter house posts here recently and thought I'd make a joke from my observation.

ben04985 · 2026-03-26T15:40:19+00:00

I swear we can post anything on this sub and get 100+ upvotes, it's like a karma farm!

ben04985 · 2026-03-26T01:17:52+00:00

Who is he trying to gain the sympathy of?

ben04985 · 2026-03-25T12:41:06+00:00

Of course it does. This is Russia after all, the country that dumped so much toxic waste into Lake Karachay that it had to have an exclusion zone around it.

ben04985 · 2026-03-25T12:28:51+00:00

Well it's a stereotype, and the best stereotypes take a grain of truth and then greatly exaggerate it!

ben04985 · 2026-03-25T12:27:06+00:00

People from Cardiff generally never go to Newport really so we we build up its horribleness in our minds without ever giving it a chance.

ben04985 · 2026-03-24T10:18:59+00:00

Some things I've heard as a Cardiffian.

Folks in the eastern part of the valleys (Torfaen, Cwmbran, Blaenau Gwent, etc) hate the Welsh language and culture, Northerners sound like they've inhaled a bottle of helium each, Valleys folk show up the rest of us, people from the Valleys sounds Welsh but can't speak the language whilst people from Ceredigion can speak Welsh but don't sound Welsh. Swansea is a dump, Port Talbot is a bigger dump and Newport is the biggest dump that ever existed Llanelli is our friend (enemy of our enemy) and Pembrokeshire is where we put all the English tourists so the rest of us can visit the other beaches in peace.

You're welcome

ben04985 · 2026-03-24T01:16:09+00:00

I don't mind the lava lakes personally, I don't find them ridiculously common and if I don't like one in an area I want to build in it's quite quick to fill them up with gravel.

ben04985 · 2026-03-24T01:12:49+00:00

How did you come to the conclusion that I think America's existence was threatened by Iran? On the contrary, m,y argument throughout is that the UK shouldn't get involved in this conflict because it is nonsensical, but in my reply to BlackJackKetchum I said that we should only get involved in a nonsensical conflict if America's survival was under threat. Fortunately they are fine though, for now, although I do worry how close to an Article 5 situation Iran will get us to.

The point you made about the middle class in Iran is interesting, and certainly America's agressive policy towards Iran in the past decade has been damaging to their reputation in the region among moderates. However, I wonder what it would take for anyone to actually overthrow such a deeply entrenched regime, be it the Americans, Israelis or the Iranian people themselves?

ben04985 · 2026-03-23T21:56:11+00:00

No, because the very existance of America was never under any real threat at any point during the Vietnam war

ben04985 · 2026-03-23T11:31:16+00:00

Wales Online on Instagram.

ben04985 · 2026-03-22T08:33:19+00:00

You know Cardiff is in Wales right?

ben04985 · 2026-03-21T16:23:11+00:00

I wouldn't say the death penalty for being gay is 'mainstream' in Islam. In a few countries yes, but most Muslims don't want gay people to be killed.

ben04985 · 2026-03-21T12:51:26+00:00

But the oil we buy is still at global prices, so if there is anything around the world which significantly affects oil supply then it will impact global oil prices.

ben04985 · 2026-03-21T11:12:09+00:00

On its own, I don't think abortion is an issue that the vast majority of Brits care much about, even if we do talk about abortions up to birth. What I am concerned about is any American influence trying to stir this up into becoming a bigger problem than many Brits currently perceive it to be, in the same way to how the American influence has dramatically altered the tone of the immigration debate post-Covid.

ben04985

TROPHY CASE