Nobody Cares about Britain

[Innula Zenovka]

Three Days as a London Cop Evernote Link because paywall

Narratives around policing are particularly polarized in the United States by long histories of racist and renegade departments and hardline political positions that range from naive blanket condemnation of police officers (with prescriptions to literally abolish the police) to diehard Blue Lives Matter zealots who absolve even the most heinous police misconduct, including cold-blooded murder.

I decided to try something different: to understand daily policing in London’s Metropolitan Police, a highly scrutinized department that has had its share of high-profile scandals, but has responded with real, aggressive efforts to recruit smarter, perform forceful oversight, cull bad apples, and insist on non-violent de-escalation whenever possible.

I wanted to find out: what was it like to respond to emergency calls on a routine shift? In the process, I learned that understanding the complexities and nuances of modern policing lies not in the extremes of scandals nor superheroes, but in the riveting uncertainty of everyday emergencies.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Spat at, threatened and kidnapped: British Jews tell of rising antisemitism

British Jews have described to BBC Panorama how they are experiencing a rise in antisemitism.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The King, the Bling, and A Fraught State Visit

As the UK celebrates the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth this week, her pristine legacy might ultimately be seen as a steaming pile of gilded ordure that threatens to bury her descendants.

tinabrown.substack.com

the actor and writer Stephen Fry, says that he likes to conduct a thought experiment in which Uncle Sam, the personification of America, and thus more important than any pass-through president, is alive and well and expecting a weekly accounting from the successive occupants of the Oval Office. “Just think if Trump had to go once a week up a hill into a colonial mansion, and there, sitting on a chair with bony knees and a goatee beard, and the top hat and striped trousers, was Uncle Sam,” said Fry. “And although he couldn’t tell the president what to do, Uncle Sam could say to Trump, ‘Well, now I seem to remember that February 19, 2025, you said that you had obliterated all of Iran’s nuclear capacity. Did I mishear you?’ And I suspect it would be hard for Trump to say, ‘I never said that’ to Uncle Sam. And Trump would have to bow in front of him, something greater than he was, the symbol of America.”

 

[Beebo Brink]

And I suspect it would be hard for Trump to say, ‘I never said that’ to Uncle Sam. And Trump would have to bow in front of him, something greater than he was, the symbol of America.”

The author lost me at this point. Trump would obviously say "I never said that" to anyone, and he has absolutely no recognition of anything greater than he is.

People's inability to understand the mechanisms of narcissism is so frustrating.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

The "landmark" legislation aims to stop anyone born after 1 January 2009 from taking up smoking to create a smoke-free generation.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Farage’s foreign income

Mapping his millions...

writesbright.substack.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Russell Brand sets his sights on being mayor of London

The former comedian turned right wing influencer is running to succeed Sadiq Khan in 2028 despite facing a number of criminal charges

thenewworld.substack.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

When war comes home: how should a government rule in times of conflict?

It is time for Britain to rewrite the rules on war powers. Better to do it now than to wait until hostilities break out. By then it will all be too late – and what’s more, Farage might be in power

thenewworld.substack.com

 

[Casey Pelous]

Russell Brand sets his sights on being mayor of London

The former comedian turned right wing influencer is running to succeed Sadiq Khan in 2028 despite facing a number of criminal charges

thenewworld.substack.com

Doesn't "former comedian" imply that at some point he was funny or, at least, mildly amusing?

I seem to have missed that fleeting moment.

 

[Free]

Doesn't "former comedian" imply that at some point he was funny or, at least, mildly amusing?

The modern version of a comedian is someone you can laugh at. They don't have to be funny.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

No Context Brits {bot} (@nocontextbritss.bsky.social)

British cuisine. Best in the world.

bsky.app

 

[Tigger]

Abortion has now officially been decriminalised in England and Wales!

Up until now abortion has been illegal, but with exceptions. So you could get an abortion at up to 24 weeks and recently pills-by-post abortion was approved too. Now it becomes impossible to prosecute a woman for getting an abortion even if it is outside of accepted legal limits.

England and Wales decriminalise abortion

Women who have been convicted or imprisoned for such offences will be pardoned, although that will take some more time to happen.

It's interesting to note that this may be a result of US style anti-abortion activists in the UK that seem to have caused the police to take unreasonably aggressive action in seeking prosecutions.

National Police Chiefs' Council has issued guidance in the UK telling officers how to search women's phones, menstrual-tracking apps and homes following a pregnancy loss, if they're suspected of having had an illegal abortion.

from: police told how to search a woman's phone for evidence of illegal abortions

between 1861 and November 2022, just three women in Great Britain were convicted of an illegal abortion. Since December 2022 (at the time of writing), one woman has been convicted and six women are awaiting trial.

from: anti abortion movement's new tactics

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Erich Templar]

What I find worrying from that is that on the left-leaning side, there are multiple parties competing for votes, whereas on the right-leaning side there are only two parties, which implies that the left side is going to fragment far more seriously than the right.

 

[Tigger]

It's pretty much always been like that in the UK, the right consumes rivals, the left splits into more rivals and the right, though it has a smaller voter base wins more often than the fragmented left.

The left always hates itself more than its rivals, it's all purity tests.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

What I find worrying from that is that on the left-leaning side, there are multiple parties competing for votes, whereas on the right-leaning side there are only two parties, which implies that the left side is going to fragment far more seriously than the right.

It's pretty much always been like that in the UK, the right consumes rivals, the left splits into more rivals and the right, though it has a smaller voter base wins more often than the fragmented left.

The left always hates itself more than its rivals, it's all purity tests.

It's not quite like that, though. While that's the national picture, or appears to be, in individual constituencies in the coming elections, the right-wing vote will always split Conservative vs Reform, while the left-wing vote will predominantly be split two ways between Labour vs Greens, Labour vs Lib Dems, Labour vs SNP or Labour vs Paid Cymru depending on the constituency.

(Predictions for my constituency, for what it's worth -- I suspect we skew left because of a large student population but I'm not complaining).

 

[Sid]

It's not quite like that, though. While that's the national picture, or appears to be, in individual constituencies in the coming elections, the right-wing vote will always split Conservative vs Reform, while the left-wing vote will predominantly be split two ways between Labour vs Greens, Labour vs Lib Dems, Labour vs SNP or Labour vs Paid Cymru depending on the constituency.

(Predictions for my constituency, for what it's worth -- I suspect we skew left because of a large student population but I'm not complaining).

I prefer our one person = one vote nation wide.
That makes it complicated enough, we have 15 different parties in parliament at the moment, but I think it is the fairest representation possible.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I prefer our one person = one vote nation wide.
That makes it complicated enough, we have 15 different parties in parliament at the moment, but I think it is the fairest representation possible.

Here part of the member of parliament's job is to take up issues that particularly concern their constituency, and on behalf of individual constituents. How does that work in the Netherlands? I agree our voting system needs reform but I wouldn't want to lose the link between the member and the local constituency.

 

[Sid]

Here part of the member of parliament's job is to take up issues that particularly concern their constituency, and on behalf of individual constituents. How does that work in the Netherlands? I agree our voting system needs reform but I wouldn't want to lose the link between the member and the local constituency.

One can always address the parties directly of course.
But for more regional things there are provincial elections (the Netherlands have 12 provinces) and local elections too. So one has always opportunities to vote for regional and local issues.
Most big parties are locally represented as well in the the municipal council as well.

And yes, the bigger cities in the west (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) of the country do get the better deals every now and then. "Those who are closest to the fire feel the heat the most." works in NL just as good as anywhere else.
On the other hand that is where 40-50% of our population lives too.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

One can always address the parties directly of course.
But for more regional things there are provincial elections (the Netherlands have 12 provinces) and local elections too. So one has always opportunities to vote for regional and local issues.
Most big parties are locally represented as well in the the municipal council as well.

And yes, the bigger cities in the west (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) of the country do get the better deals every now and then. "Those who are closest to the fire feel the heat the most." works in NL just as good as anywhere else.
On the other hand that is where 40-50% of our population lives too.

The constituency in which I live is home to the global design and engineering headquarters of Jaguar Land Rover at Gaydon. Our Member of Parliament therefore takes a particular interest in national and international issues (e.g. trade deals and tariffs) that affect JLR generally and the local workforce in particular. He's also critical of national plans for solar energy on agricultural land (at least as a specific proposed project affects the constituency) and makes frequent representations to government about this.

Similarly, since we have a major university nearby, he takes a lot of interest in legislation and policy affecting higher education, overseas students and private rented accommodation. Similarly since we have large Polish and Ukrainian communities, he pays a lot of attention to Ukraine and to how Brexit affects EU, and particularly Polish, nationals.

Who, if anyone, in your national legislature would take up similar national issues with local implications?