moderatecentrist

@moderatecentrist@feddit.uk

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Today is the birthday of His Majesty the King⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Reform UK is only supported by about a third of the electorate at the moment. More than any other single party, but if there was an election for a British head of state, and that election ended up being a choice between Farage and one other person, Farage could very well lose.

  Also you said in another post that “President Farage could remove elections”. I think that if we have an elected head of state then they should only have similar powers to what the King has now. Parliament should still be sovereign.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Today is the birthday of His Majesty the King⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I think one of the best aspects of the UK is political freedom. Perhaps I am a subject of the King (I don’t know if that’s legally true but it might be), but in any case, I can still say that I hope the UK will get rid of the monarchy and replace it with a democratically elected head of state.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨NHS staff who visit patients at home say St George’s flags can mean ‘no-go zones’⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Fair enough, but according to a couple of sites that Wikipedia refers to, Churchill originally didn’t know that the outward facing gesture was rude until he was told about it. If true then I guess his gesture was intended to mean “here is a V for victory” instead of “fuck off you lot” or “fuck the Germans”.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨NHS staff who visit patients at home say St George’s flags can mean ‘no-go zones’⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  It depends on the context doesn’t it. Lots of people will fly the England flag or wear an England shirt during a football tournament, and all they mean by that is “I support the England team” without a further political meaning. But the meaning of the current flag-flying from lamp posts seems to essentially be “we don’t want immigrants in the UK” which can make the flags intimidating (which is probably the exact intention).

  Here’s another example of context changing meaning. Churchill used to give a two-fingered salute (see picture below), and his intended meaning of that salute was that it was a “V” for “victory” in WW2. But of course these days, that same outwards two-fingered salute means “fuck off”. Context changes the meaning.

  A photo of Winston Churchill in 1942, riding in a car, directing an outward two-fingered salute (with palm facing towards him) to the camera. Photo is taken from Wikipedia’s page named “V sign”.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨UK ‘to lose 600,000 workers to illness without better health support at work’⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  You might be right about short-sightedness. I read this article a couple days ago which talks about short-sighted cuts to the F-35 programme, which then add costs in the long run. For example:

  A cost-saving move to delay by six years building infrastructure for the naval squadron that operates the F-35 jets means the cost for that construction will almost treble to £154m from £56m.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Five grooming gang survivors tell PM they will stay on panel only if Jess Phillips remains in post⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I think Jess Phillips seems like a decent person, I’ve watched her speak about the issue of violence against women and girls before. Here’s what the grooming survivors who support her have said:

  “Jess Phillips has remained impartial to the process, only listening to feedback [and] we want her to remain in position for the duration of the process for consistency,” they wrote.

  “Her previous experience and drive to reduce VAWG [violence against women and girls] and her clear passion and commitment is important to us.”

  They praised Phillips, who they said had “devoted her life to hearing and amplifying the voices of women and girls who would otherwise have been unheard” and had helped some of them access support.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Family seek £180k-a-year tutor from 'socially appropriate background' to prepare one-year-old son for ‘Eton or Harrow’⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Probably beyond my hoodwinking skills. Also I’m not northern myself, I was just wondering what kind of person they would consider to have a “socially appropriate background”. Posh accent, wealthy family, and from South East England, I would expect.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Family seek £180k-a-year tutor from 'socially appropriate background' to prepare one-year-old son for ‘Eton or Harrow’⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I was a manager at Woolworths back in the day, I swear… but this family would probably say my accent isn’t posh enough to tutor their child.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Kew woman fined £150 for pouring coffee down drain in Richmond⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The article says the fine has now been cancelled, but originally someone from the council defended the fine by saying:

  We are committed to protecting Richmond’s waterways and keeping our borough’s streets clean and safe.

  Pretty ridiculous. Coffee is an organic substance right? Made from roasted coffee beans. I could maybe understand if someone was pouring industrial chemicals into the sewers but coffee surely shouldn’t be a problem.

  Also of course big water companies get away with dumping sewage into rivers, but a very small amount of coffee apparently needs to be harshly punished. One rule for big business and another rule for common people.

• Family seek £180k-a-year tutor from 'socially appropriate background' to prepare one-year-old son for ‘Eton or Harrow’www.lbc.co.uk ↗
  Submitted ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ to ⁨unitedkingdom@feddit.uk⁩ | ⁨4⁩ ⁨comments⁩
• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Bath is a beautiful city. But why is it so increasingly impossible to live there?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Maybe the UK needs politicians like they’re starting to get in the USA. If you don’t know this guy pictured, he’s running to be mayor of New York. His campaign is all about making necessities more affordable (rent, food, transport), and his poll numbers are pretty good.

  A photo of Zohran Mamdani, candidate for mayor of New York. He is standing at a podium which has a sign on the front with his first name in capital letters. There are spectators. Behind Zohran is a sign which says “afford to live & afford to dream”.

• ‘Brummies united against racism’: poster campaign takes on the far rightwww.theguardian.com ↗
  Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩ to ⁨unitedkingdom@feddit.uk⁩ | ⁨2⁩ ⁨comments⁩
• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨You should stop doom scrolling now⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Great character

  A still image of the character Paulie Walnuts in the TV series The Sopranos. The caption says “watch it, Chrissy” which is what Paulie says in this scene.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨King's coat of arms to feature on new UK passports⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I remember the crisis in Sudan a number of years ago, the Brits were still stuck there while the Irish had already been evacuated by the Germans on account of the EU. I believe every EU diplomatic mission is actually supposed to support EU citizens regardless of nationality, although possibly in cases where their home country’s mission is inaccessible.

  That’s cool. I guess Brits will have to go without such benefits for the time being. And if Reform are the next government then the UK’s ties to Europe will probably be reduced. I suppose there is time for the public to change their voting intentions before the next election though.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨King's coat of arms to feature on new UK passports⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Another advantage of the Irish passport over the British passport is that the Irish passport allows you to live and work in 26 other European countries. But hey ho.