Rayvin

Doesn't have to mean coalition, could just be an agreement not to stand in each other's way in key seats. That would probably be enough? Labour become the largest party, LDs recover lost ground.

Yeah as has been said, we can't risk Labour going this alone. It has to be an electoral pact - we really, really need to kill the Tories off here.

I mean I think this too, honestly. I still hope I'm wrong.

I've not been on the Starmer bandwagon since he U-turned on the EU but have been told on here before (and this is fair) that he's biding his time on policies and vision until there's actually something to compete for. The public have short memories, it's possible that this is the play. I want more from him than that, many others on here seem to think the same, but we're not the ones he's trying to appeal to. We're the ones he's taking for granted. When he comes to power, the argument is that he'll stealth through a lot of things as well that he couldn't have campaigned on even if they're inherently sensible. I don't know if this is a realistic hope, but again, that's what the pro-Starmer side seem to think. And as said, if he brings in PR - for me, at this point, he could be a Tory and I'd vote for him. PR is that important now.

As you know I fully share this concern but if that bit about PR is true then IMO he can do whatever the fuck he likes. That whole term, if it does nothing else, will have been worth it for the ability to finally put the Tories to the sword once and for all.

I'm still tempted to say it's all theatre as far as Putin it concerned. Wasn't he wishing the country well following the Queen's death the other day? I think the 'desperate' bit sounds right, this must be the response to Ukraine's successes recently. I still don't think he's going to start throwing nukes around, it's a fight he can't win and with absolutely no up side for Russia. Their only benefit to him is as a threat, not as a reality.

I was thinking more for the next two years where we're stuck with her. Plenty of damage that can be done, lives that could be lost, in that period. She's trying to establish herself as a re-run of the Iron Lady which means she'll lean into being tough and cold. I do think this is scorched earth now btw, so I think we will see the purest form of Toryism in the next two years than at any point in the preceding 10. Also what was that about a trade deal with the US locking us out of the EU? That's a very real worry.

I still think she's a true believer. I'm going to stress that this doesn't mean she'll win, it just means she's a thatcherite through and through. The most dangerous type of psychopath we could have, tbh.

Thank fuck this is all over.

Was being a bit tongue in cheek there tbf anyway but yes, it is depressing to read stuff like this. Also yes, you're right that it seems like a bigger issue than it probably is.

God, maybe we deserve a nuclear holocaust tbh.

I do get that sentiment

Might get him on the cheap though since Leicester are doing poorly and he was apparently keen on the move in the summer. You never know..

Disconnect in final third, it's not news, it remains our primary issue. Sort it in January hopefully. Disappointing result but at least it's not a shock loss.

Really looking forward to this one, but also definitely feeling the same sentiment as some others that we need to get back to winning here.

Can only speak for myself - The lyrics put forward the notion that one individual is somehow worth more than the rest of us, puts them on a pedestal that I don't think any human being should be on. To sing for the salvation of that individual over and above the rest of the British people is repellent to me. It feels like I would be suppressing the relative important of myself and those I care about to sing this, and therefore acknowledge this inequality of value. The royals are worth no more to me than the the homeless man on the street - and no one is pushing me to sing for his salvation, so they can fuck off for the royals too. This isn't new for me though, I've resisted singing it for years.

As with many other things, I think we agree here.

Fair - I have to admit, football is a bit of a guilty pleasure on that front for me. I've not managed to attach myself strongly to the national side in this respect but I am fiercely proud of Newcastle, both the team and the city. I know it's irrational to feel such things but it also feels natural to want to belong to something. I take great pleasure in celebrating on here when we win, sharing the joy with everyone else. The misery when we lose, etc. These people have that on a larger scale as you say - maybe because they still identify with the national story in some sense - I have to admit I lost that entirely with Brexit. I would wager more than 90% of the people queuing up for that coffin are leave voters. The only ones with a national story left to cling to.

Just to briefly indulge my inner nihilist, IMO people are desperate to find meaning in their lives/can't cope with the reality that nothing particularly matters and so assign undue respect/attention/importance to cultural nonsense like this. The fact that many others are doing the same becomes validating and so by the end of it, they feel like they've been part of something meaningful. They're all enabling each other's delusion and I doubt many of them gave two hoots about the royal family before this. It is what it is though. Maybe they're the smart ones for believing there is meaning in anything at all tbh, I do wonder this sometimes.

Sunderland at the cutting edge of new dance trends

Think we've been locked into that since Brexit anyway but it does seem that they're going out of their way to make it as bad as possible. The entire Tory party should be proscribed as terrorists.

Yeah not so much saying that it's a good move ahead of an election in any sense, but still, if you're going to make that decision now is definitely the time for it. Agree on the scorched earth/accepted defeat angle.

Country isn't paying attention, election is 18 months away. If you're going to do this, now is the time.

If they've moved it once, it seems reasonable to me to assume that they'd have the necessary competence and forward planning to ensure that this was the final date that people could work around. Moving it a second time is taking the piss tbh. Why would you assume that there'd be a second move?

Streaming a coffin