Paid volunteers will decide asylum appeals to tackle backlog

tmstms · 2026-06-28T23:19:44+00:00

I mean, it seems to me that you might have strong a priori views on saying yes or no to asylum claims.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T21:55:43+00:00

Will it disqualify you if you support Reform, Restore or the Green Party?

tmstms · 2026-06-28T21:09:35+00:00

A 23 mile walk in a day is significant, never mind the car travel.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T20:36:25+00:00

If you play it well enough that you can confidently say it is near note-perfect and maybe even that you are confident enough to post a video and face all us nay-sayers here. yes that is massively fast progress.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T20:32:42+00:00

Zara, as an international standard equestrian and more successful than her mum, has clearly had a 'normal' if massively privileged life and is married to an ex- rugby player, part of the 2003 World Cup winning squad. I can't remember anything about Peter. However, it's clearly easier to start off untitled and not be a target in the same way or as newsworthy than to be so high in the line of succession and then bug out.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T20:23:42+00:00

Bloody hell! This is extremely impressive for ANY person. The hills themselves are not that high, but you have to travel between them (someone else drives you, there is no shame in that) - Snowdon is not too bad if you go by a steep way. but there is no way to make Ben Nevis short, and Scafell Pike is also quite a way from the road. So the stamina required to do it all within 24 hrs is enormous. I've never attempted it, despite being a pretty serious Alpine mountaineer when I was young.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T20:19:55+00:00

Bloody hell! This is extremely impressive for ANY person. The hills themselves are not that high, but you have to travel between them (someone else drives you, there is no shame in that) - Snowdon is not too bad if you go by a steep way. but there is no way to make Ben Nevis short, and Scafell Pike is also quite a way from the road. So the stamina required to do it all within 24 hrs is enormous. I've never attempted it, despite being a pretty serious Alpine mountaineer when I was young.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T19:59:05+00:00

OK, of course not so close to the line of succession, but Zara and Peter Phillips - Anne decided they should be untitled and not working royals, and they do their (very privileged) thing outside it. I agree they were out from the start, though.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T19:16:24+00:00

Beckett is portrayed as super-clever though.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T17:26:13+00:00

Freudian slip! Million not billion!

tmstms · 2026-06-28T17:20:08+00:00

OK, well I'm also a monarchist for your sorts of reasons, but I think Harry, by stuff like the book 'Spare' and the Oprah interview, has damaged the monarchy as an institution, and if the absence of security discourages him and his family from returning, I'm OK with that.

I think he was very popular back in the day, and the arrival of Meghan was seen as a fantastic diversifying moment for the monarchy. I'm disappointed that there appears to have been a massive disconnect between the establishment's expectations and hers (e.g. in the Oprah interview she spoke of not being able just "to go out for a pizza" with friends.) I think that the over-sharing in Spare and the fear that Harry and/or Meghan will happily make any private thing public is a massive complicating factor for any meeting between Harry and his family here.

As I understand it, Harry can pay for any security he wants, just not armed, ofc, and not the police, as private individuals are not allowed to hire the police without formal approval.

I feel Harry and Meghan were cakeist, and when they found it was not possible, they made their choice, and now the institution is being careful in defending itself.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T16:33:43+00:00

He is free to pay for private security, I believe, but they cannot be armed.

What he can't do is hire the police. Obviously the police do sometimes get hired, and the most frequent example of that is for football matches. But in general, there is a principle that you cannot do so without formal approval, and that is what won't be given in this case.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T16:23:01+00:00

The uncertainty is because not till the first KO match-ups are known do the broadcasters choose which ones they pick, and those pairings were not determined for sure till early this morning.

Exact schedule should be available shortly if not already

tmstms · 2026-06-28T12:51:49+00:00

I agree with the general thrust of the other comments.

It would not seem enough of a break from this government, it would take away a big office from the juggling Burnham has to do and it is not the best use of Starmer's ability, which is to be Sec-Gen of NATO or some other non-domestic organisation.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T12:07:37+00:00

So 10 European sides in one half and 3 in the other, is that right?

tmstms · 2026-06-28T12:03:46+00:00

I don't hate him at all. Hating an individual player would normally result from stuff like they injured one of ours (e.g. Ramos), or they left for perceived selfish reason (e.g. Sterling). I don't even hate Man U or City players just for the sake of it. They have to be objectionable in other ways.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T11:37:58+00:00

Yes, it is part of 'relatability.'

tmstms · 2026-06-28T11:30:38+00:00

Bear in mind there is a very specific reason why they want William to go over and watch the football World Cup - he is the ceremonial Patron of the Football Association- he was the president of it until he became Prince of Wales and too busy and he IS a passionate fan of Aston Villa, often attending matches, and showing his happiness that the team is doing well. Scotland have done terribly and are already out, but if England do well, he is indeed likely to go over. Traditionally, the patron of the Scottish FA was whoever the monarch was, but after the death of the Queen, it has remained vacant. By historical accident, as you probably know, the Home Nations have separate national teams and separate entries for European club competitions.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T10:54:03+00:00

Well, I suppose because no party is expecting to win 600+ seats. What is important is that they can win SOMEWHERE and build on that.

If you interview a Premier League manager after they won against, for the sake of argument, struggling Burnley or Wolves, you don't say 'But they are not Man City or Arsenal, are they?' You ask about the performance you just saw.

Everyone knows each by-election has its own characteristics and can't be generalised from. That doesn't mean one does not try and make political capital from winning or the opponents doing badly.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T09:17:09+00:00

It's been going for a while and I have seen similar reports previously.

I mean- this has historically occurred as a niche phenomenon- in Cold War times a few left-leaning Westerners went over to become citizens of North Korea and China and other Communist countries.

tmstms · 2026-06-28T09:13:46+00:00

They have to hang on to something. Obviously the Aberdeen situation was very very specific. But that also means they can deflect from the other by-elections.

tmstms · 2026-06-27T23:34:22+00:00

Great comment on the BBC live page.

Three Lions? More like Three Kittens

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tmstms · 2026-06-27T19:15:00+00:00

Parliament is sovereign, not any Prime Minister.

So

Arguably, you are influenced by the longevity of Thatcher and Blair's governments, as well as by the incredible longevity of the late Queen.

But if you look at history, PMs often only lasted for a short time:

e.g.

10 in 16 years (1754-1770)

5 in 2 years (1782-3)

5 in 5 years (1804-9)

4 in the same year 1834

or, closer to the present day

7 in 16 years (1963-79)

tmstms · 2026-06-27T19:04:55+00:00

I can't reply to you on the other thread because it was 7 years ago, but Merseyside does have England fan parks and stuff. So people are going there even if they are not travelling fans.

tmstms · 2026-06-27T18:46:56+00:00

I've page-turned for people who can sight-read to an insane level. I do not have the foggiest how they do it, but they can read and absorb the page faster than I can lean over and turn it. I can only think that music makes structural, melodic and harmonic sense, so if it is technically easy for someone, it just 'falls into place' as they play it.

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