Rayvin

How did we end up getting caught out with this anyway?

It's not worth getting into indeed.

It's not even about whether it was obvious or not, it's about Britain following the processes it signed up for. I think even Corbyn knew it was Russia, he was just keen that we did things by the book. Which we should have, and in almost any other situation everyone on here would be crying out for. It's only different in this case because you all hate the guy. Corbyn being right about this one thing doesn't make him a good leader, it doesn't absolve him of everything else. I just find it incredible how selective people can be about things like this at times. How often were we blasting the Tories for throwing out due process and procedure in a number of other circumstances? It felt daily at one point.

Putin has sponsored most of what happened in the West the last few years, let alone loved it. But that doesn't change the fact that there was an established due process for how we should have handled that situation, Corbyn advocated that we engage with it, and everyone railed against him because Britain should apparently be able to flout international agreements and norms whenever it feels like it. It's an indefensible position for anyone who considers themselves to be an internationalist. This is what he said in Parliament: “I think obviously the government has access to information and intelligence on this matter which others don’t; however, also there’s a history in relation to WMD and intelligence which is problematic to put it mildly. “So I think the right approach is to seek the evidence; to follow international treaties, particularly in relation to prohibited chemical weapons, because this was a chemical weapons attack, carried out on British soil. There are procedures that need to be followed in relation to that.”

There are definitely apologists for Putin on the left, but as I recall from this issue, Corbyn's stance was that we should investigate the matter through the proper channels in line with our international commitments, rather than the Tory approach of eschewing international norms and operating unilaterally, which in the end diminished our ability to do anything in response. I remember arguing about it on here at the time and I still think Corbyn was right about this one. Mind you, that doesn't stop the guy being a Putin apologist more generally - he was.

Joke aside, what the fuck is going on in that video Seems like getting into the bookies is life or death for some people.

This is exactly what I think Southgate does.

This is the other thing, why has he only brought a single left back to start with? Even if the other options are not quite up to the same "high" standards are the rest of the team, surely someone who is used to playing the position is better than forcing it on Tripps who is defending well enough but otherwise is quite invisible. Did he ever explain that?

The early subbing of TAA must be the end of that nonsense now. It hasn't worked at all. Otherwise I agree with what everyone is saying and to be honest, it feels like these sentiments are being said everywhere. The thing that gets me then is why Southgate is so immune to it. He should have put Gordon on over Eze who offered very little IMO. Watkins was a big improvement on Kane but even with him on and the side better balanced, I still didn't think things clicked. I hope he changes it up for Slovenia.

The England way

Not been paying that much attention to transfers lately, is there any suggestion so far of us managing to offload any players?

Actually that's a fair point I've no idea. Think maybe I'm starting to take after PL, doesn't he always say "current Mrs PL". Scary thought...

Actually tonight's game is kind of an interesting one for me as my current partner is Danish and we're staying with her parents for a few days.. her dad is looking forward to watching this one with me but I'm not exactly sure how to play it I figure though that I'm fairly safe if Southgate is playing the same team. England will piss me off so much in the first 15 mins that I'll be backing Denmark more than he is by the end of it.

Is it just because TAA is a Liverpool player and it's unthinkable that we would have a first 11 without one? Why in fuck does this one guy, who does next to nothing anyway, need to be in the fucking starting eleven. I gather he's meant to be creative but I don't recall him doing a damn thing other than blasting a free kick into the wall against Serbia. Basically everything people were saying in this thread about the problems with that team were accurate - Andrew in particular IMO. I just do not understand how Southgate can't see what so many onlookers are able to.

Is this some residual animosity from the CL semi final? I haven't seen much about Bellingham not to like so far.

I'm sorry like but I cannot stand England. I watched this one, thought maybe would take the risk after skipping the last few to avoid being put to sleep permanently through boredom. But I see we are still the same. Why won't we just fucking try. Howe would be so much better than Southgate it's actually obscene. They can fuck off though.

I would. Two of my sisters aren't talking to me as it is

Did Scotland have a shot on target? A shot at all? Awful stuff.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/14/far-right-seduced-young-voters-europe-elections Seems like maintream "safe" policies aren't exactly what the young are looking for, so as ever, there are consequences for all of this shit. Really going to need Labour to step the fuck up over the next 5 years.

How is this guy still running for President. What on earth is wrong with the world these days.

Fucking hell. Surely they can kill this off easily enough with someone coming out and saying she hadn't been barred from standing though? Although I guess it's too late for that now given where we are. What a mess.

What has Labour actually done wrong with this Abbott story? I've seen all sorts of headlines about it and I'm sure as an ardent leftwinger I'm meant to be up in arms, but I'm not actually tracking it.

This is shameless though, just preserving their jobs.

As a sidenote, I see he's back on Twitter now that we're in the Musk era. He seems to be arguing that when he made those comments it was during his 'classical liberal' phase - now though he's just conservative and allegedly centrist. The problem with people like Benjamin is that he's just smart enough to appeal to people who are impressionable/less smart and carry their views by appearing logical in his approach to things. Here is his response to Phillips claims btw:

I think the answer might be that Benjamin is likely to appeal to some of the red wall voters and that if Labour kicks off about it too much then they end up with their own set of problems on that front. The guy ran for UKIP last time out so he's more or less positioned on Reform - that'll be why the Tories are approaching him. Labour though will be averse to risking blowback from someone who is basically an online version of Farage.