Search results

Both Labour and Tory parties signed up to the 300k house building target which was never met by the last government. Those numbers were predicated on net migration being 500k a year when it’s roughly 700-900k per year. Which means that even if the 300k house building target was met, there be a...

Let’s say this changed tomorrow, how much do we realistically expect that to boost house building in this country? We can even chuck in planning reform too. The 300k target for house building is based on 500k net migration (iirc) every year. The figures need to be adjusted to based on actual...

It’s all well and good saying that. Ultimately, any safeguards have to backed up by military force and there just isn’t the political will to enforce that.

Why don’t you wait and see what the agreement is, if there even is one before getting outraged over a complete hypothetical situation?

I can’t debate an unknown because it’s not clear what the concessions are. What does Russia have to concede? Ukraine occupies a small area in the Kursk region whilst, as you say, Russia occupies 20% of Ukraine. Unlike Ukraine, Russia isn’t reliant on foreign aid to prosecute its war. The only...

Why would Russia agree to those terms?

Yep and I agree. Russia has already ‘ruled out’ foreign troops to enforce the peace. At the end of the day, the position of the Trump administration is influenced by what happened 2 years prior and frankly, the previous US administration and EU countries gave Ukraine enough to prevent collapse...

That’s not really on the table though is it? They will probably cede the Donbas and Luhansk. Unless NATO directly intervenes, which it won’t, Ukraine doesn’t look likely to eject the Russian occupation. The only bet Ukraine has is if the Russian Federation collapses in a similar fashion to how...

This and it’s naive that any country other than the Baltic states and Poland have a real shared interest with Ukraine.

The chaotic nature of the withdrawal was the damaging thing rather than the actual withdrawal itself. It was immensely embarrassing for the US and NATO members. Trump wasn’t in office so we really don’t know one way or the other how it would’ve went down. He is on record saying his advice was...

Did you know the IRGC (of which Qasem Soleimani was head of) is a designated terrorist group? … Minor correction, he was killed in Iraq rather than Iran so he wasn’t killed on Iranian “sovereign” soil. I won’t shed a tear for him and neither should you.

That’s a bad thing because…? Obama sanctioned the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, is that bad too?!

I work quite closely to export controls / sanctions space and frankly, it’s a mixed bag in terms of enforcement. It’s having an impact, but not the slam dunk politicians have suggested.

Remember, we’ve ‘sold’ a few young players to top 4 sides and have players like Eccles, Andrews and Obikwu coming through who may be able to fetch a good price. When you’ve come up from L2 to top end Championship in such a short space of time, there a a time lag where your infrastructure needs...

Net zero, in practice, has meant developed countries with large energy needs just export their emissions elsewhere. Germany had a successful ‘net zero’ policy of embracing nuclear power. Ironically, in the name of green policies and a fear of a Fukushima style meltdown. That is a tragedy for...

No it’s not. My take has been the EU’s and the Biden administration’s approach was a disaster. I do fear that the possibility that a Trump admin could give a big win to Russia and risk a bigger, global conflict down the line. However, the facts on the ground have changed materially from 2023 and...

Which would’ve gave Russia time to diversify its supply chain to service other countries, which it did. If it actually cared about Ukraine, it would’ve cut its imports and took on the cost of that decision. It didn’t. Gas and oil imports makes up a massive % of Russian revenue so the EU...

It’s embarrassing on their part. At one point they were refusing to let other EU nations (Spain and/or Poland) to export German-origin kit to Ukraine and Zelensky often complained at DE consignments being late. The European nations are panicking over what the talks mean for Ukraine mean. The...

Well, I’m on holiday that weekend so I’ll be on 1400+ by then, you can have my ticket and maybe a spare if it gets to my brother’s points range.

The Biden Administration’s foreign policy has been particularly disastrous. Its policies in Ukraine and elsewhere has basically prevented their allies in taking decisive action to ‘finish the job’. Right now, Ukraine doesn’t have the means to actually win and the war is a stalemate. If Ukraine...