Pete Duffield
@peteduffield.bsky.social
Yes, just look at the rise of Plaid Cymru in Wales. How much of their surge in support is "Stop Reform"?
December 21, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Yes, just look at the rise of Plaid Cymru in Wales. How much of their surge in support is "Stop Reform"?
Yes, not least because growing up my parents had a small house there at which we spent probably 5-6 weeks per year, which added up to quite a large amount of time in total. In some parts of England people would make loads of assumptions and have prejudices based on my accent anyway.
December 21, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Yes, not least because growing up my parents had a small house there at which we spent probably 5-6 weeks per year, which added up to quite a large amount of time in total. In some parts of England people would make loads of assumptions and have prejudices based on my accent anyway.
Either, although it depends which bit. If it were one of the places in England where there's been Shankill Road style flagging, I think I'd choose France. Germany might be a bit different as I don't speak any German.
December 21, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Either, although it depends which bit. If it were one of the places in England where there's been Shankill Road style flagging, I think I'd choose France. Germany might be a bit different as I don't speak any German.
Also, I'd take these predictions with a pinch of salt. Look what's happening in Wales. The "Nigel? Dim Diolch" vote is coalescing around Plaid which might be bad for Labour there but shows how people are likely to vote tactically simply to stop Reform. Farage is strongly disliked by 50%+.
December 21, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Also, I'd take these predictions with a pinch of salt. Look what's happening in Wales. The "Nigel? Dim Diolch" vote is coalescing around Plaid which might be bad for Labour there but shows how people are likely to vote tactically simply to stop Reform. Farage is strongly disliked by 50%+.
Re: norms/taboos, my ideas might be closer to English ones than those in Somalia/Chad/Laos, but they're not different to those in France and Germany either. In fact I've spent plenty of time in Grenada and the norms and taboos there aren't remotely as different compared to, say, Saudi Arabia.
December 21, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Re: norms/taboos, my ideas might be closer to English ones than those in Somalia/Chad/Laos, but they're not different to those in France and Germany either. In fact I've spent plenty of time in Grenada and the norms and taboos there aren't remotely as different compared to, say, Saudi Arabia.
If I were him I'd be miserable every day of the year.
December 21, 2025 at 12:30 PM
If I were him I'd be miserable every day of the year.
A bit difficult when someone declines with age like that as a) it's gradual and b) he wasn't that stable beforehand. But interviews of him in the 80s show he's not the same person now as then...
December 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
A bit difficult when someone declines with age like that as a) it's gradual and b) he wasn't that stable beforehand. But interviews of him in the 80s show he's not the same person now as then...
Mostly, I'm not in this whole English-not-British category. My experiences growing up weren't terrible, but at the same time I'm not one of those people you'd see at a school reunion. And where I grew up was ultra-Tory.
December 20, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Mostly, I'm not in this whole English-not-British category. My experiences growing up weren't terrible, but at the same time I'm not one of those people you'd see at a school reunion. And where I grew up was ultra-Tory.
The light blue areas are places I wouldn't fit in. In fact I'm not sure I really fitted in when I was growing up in them...
December 20, 2025 at 2:00 PM
The light blue areas are places I wouldn't fit in. In fact I'm not sure I really fitted in when I was growing up in them...
Yes, those all caps updates were a bit Trumpian
December 20, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Yes, those all caps updates were a bit Trumpian
Well this is certainly reassuring...
December 20, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Well this is certainly reassuring...
Are people replying with that Ron Burgundy 'We Are Laughing' gif?
December 18, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Are people replying with that Ron Burgundy 'We Are Laughing' gif?
Probably a new and worse cult. In much the same way we saw the rise of UKIP after the Referendum Party disappeared.
December 16, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Probably a new and worse cult. In much the same way we saw the rise of UKIP after the Referendum Party disappeared.
The thing is nobody comments because if he had some form of dementia it would probably appear very gradually. So it's a bit like the frog in the boiling saucepan
December 15, 2025 at 7:58 PM
The thing is nobody comments because if he had some form of dementia it would probably appear very gradually. So it's a bit like the frog in the boiling saucepan
If I'd seen that caption and not known the context it'd be tempting to make comments like "Well I certainly couldn't understand Rab C Nesbitt"
December 11, 2025 at 11:30 PM
If I'd seen that caption and not known the context it'd be tempting to make comments like "Well I certainly couldn't understand Rab C Nesbitt"
Will it go bust in 49 days?
December 11, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Will it go bust in 49 days?
My only objection is that it removes the right of a jury to deliver a perverse verdict, which is something I'd do in some high profile cases we've seen. Might even make protestors try to do something more extreme in order to get it over the trial-by-juey threshold, although that'd be a huge risk.
December 8, 2025 at 7:07 PM
My only objection is that it removes the right of a jury to deliver a perverse verdict, which is something I'd do in some high profile cases we've seen. Might even make protestors try to do something more extreme in order to get it over the trial-by-juey threshold, although that'd be a huge risk.
Aren't betting markets influenced by what bets are placed, though? In other words what the general public think, not experts on politics.
December 7, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Aren't betting markets influenced by what bets are placed, though? In other words what the general public think, not experts on politics.
It's possible to think that they're better at diagnosing conditions these days than they used to be, *and* there are some people out there who think they have a condition when they don't. Except in many places I'd get my head bitten off for saying this, in these polarised times...
December 7, 2025 at 5:59 PM
It's possible to think that they're better at diagnosing conditions these days than they used to be, *and* there are some people out there who think they have a condition when they don't. Except in many places I'd get my head bitten off for saying this, in these polarised times...
What if someone apologised for this sort of thing while they were at school, should they be blocked from office then?
December 5, 2025 at 4:01 PM
What if someone apologised for this sort of thing while they were at school, should they be blocked from office then?
As has Isabel Oakeshott, for that matter
November 27, 2025 at 5:14 PM
As has Isabel Oakeshott, for that matter
Has this got publicity in Welsh language media? It seems to be very much the Welsh language areas
November 27, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Has this got publicity in Welsh language media? It seems to be very much the Welsh language areas