Richard Gadsden
@po8crg.gadsden.online
Three-time Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate, Man Utd and Red Sox fan, cis man, he/him/his, 83 protons, not a werelabradoodle, in spite of my appearance
The entire existence of the Labour Party has been a mistake, giving victory after victory to the Tories for over a century. The best thing they could do for the British left would have been never to have existed, the second best would be to dissolve the party.
December 2, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The entire existence of the Labour Party has been a mistake, giving victory after victory to the Tories for over a century. The best thing they could do for the British left would have been never to have existed, the second best would be to dissolve the party.
Disagree: CEOs are unskilled labour.
December 2, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Disagree: CEOs are unskilled labour.
I suppose you can make a case that Haiti's foundation is the overthrow of the people who did the genocide of the indigenous peoples.
December 2, 2025 at 6:50 PM
I suppose you can make a case that Haiti's foundation is the overthrow of the people who did the genocide of the indigenous peoples.
Newfoundland is Basque!
December 2, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Newfoundland is Basque!
You seem to have accidentally typed "The SDP" when you meant "Labour" there.
December 2, 2025 at 6:32 PM
You seem to have accidentally typed "The SDP" when you meant "Labour" there.
... and they wouldn't make a distinction between the "they" who were settlers and the "they" who were indigenous.
December 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM
... and they wouldn't make a distinction between the "they" who were settlers and the "they" who were indigenous.
Absolutely fair, it was a much more brutal war than the accounts of formal battles at Bunker Hill or Saratoga tend to convey.
But if you asked most British people about decolonisation, they'd say we should have left when they wanted us to leave and not tried to hold on.
But if you asked most British people about decolonisation, they'd say we should have left when they wanted us to leave and not tried to hold on.
December 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Absolutely fair, it was a much more brutal war than the accounts of formal battles at Bunker Hill or Saratoga tend to convey.
But if you asked most British people about decolonisation, they'd say we should have left when they wanted us to leave and not tried to hold on.
But if you asked most British people about decolonisation, they'd say we should have left when they wanted us to leave and not tried to hold on.
Good. Because this is what mine was like and I did A Levels in 1991.
December 2, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Good. Because this is what mine was like and I did A Levels in 1991.
(honestly, the people who really cream their pants at the idea are the FBPE types)
December 2, 2025 at 6:23 PM
(honestly, the people who really cream their pants at the idea are the FBPE types)
Also... when we talk about American Independence, we tend to do so in the context of other colonial independence movements, which results in thinking of Washington as being a bit like Gandhi or Mugabe and the Continental Army as being like the Mau Mau.
December 2, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Also... when we talk about American Independence, we tend to do so in the context of other colonial independence movements, which results in thinking of Washington as being a bit like Gandhi or Mugabe and the Continental Army as being like the Mau Mau.
But the biggest gap in most English/British school history is 1603-1850. Basically, they want to dump the Civil War and the Glorious Revolution in a black hole and not deal with it, and it's impossible to study anything in the eighteenth century without the Civil War as background.
December 2, 2025 at 6:12 PM
But the biggest gap in most English/British school history is 1603-1850. Basically, they want to dump the Civil War and the Glorious Revolution in a black hole and not deal with it, and it's impossible to study anything in the eighteenth century without the Civil War as background.
Primary (elementary) school tends to do lots of Romans and Vikings and the Norman Conquest. Scottish and Welsh medieval history in those countries (Wallace and Bruce in one, Owen Glyndwr in the other).
December 2, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Primary (elementary) school tends to do lots of Romans and Vikings and the Norman Conquest. Scottish and Welsh medieval history in those countries (Wallace and Bruce in one, Owen Glyndwr in the other).
Mostly we don't. British high school history tends to be lots of Tudors (well, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, not much of the other three) and WWII. Also some WWI, with some late Victoriana in the "in the previous episode" build-up to it.
December 2, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Mostly we don't. British high school history tends to be lots of Tudors (well, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, not much of the other three) and WWII. Also some WWI, with some late Victoriana in the "in the previous episode" build-up to it.
Indeed so, though the sorts of British leftists who are anti-Falklands should be careful what they wish for, in that the most likely result is PM Roy Jenkins. And the economy of 1983/4 was improving.
Imagine a two-term Jenkins-led Alliance government bringing in PR - we'd have joined the Euro.
Imagine a two-term Jenkins-led Alliance government bringing in PR - we'd have joined the Euro.
December 2, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Indeed so, though the sorts of British leftists who are anti-Falklands should be careful what they wish for, in that the most likely result is PM Roy Jenkins. And the economy of 1983/4 was improving.
Imagine a two-term Jenkins-led Alliance government bringing in PR - we'd have joined the Euro.
Imagine a two-term Jenkins-led Alliance government bringing in PR - we'd have joined the Euro.
It shouldn't be the case that people need to change jobs every few years just to keep up with inflation. Before 2008, I used to get a raise that matched CPI for years, and then inflation went away in the Financial Crisis and so did those raises, but inflation has come back and those raises haven't.
December 2, 2025 at 3:04 PM
It shouldn't be the case that people need to change jobs every few years just to keep up with inflation. Before 2008, I used to get a raise that matched CPI for years, and then inflation went away in the Financial Crisis and so did those raises, but inflation has come back and those raises haven't.
One comment I've seen about this - which chimes with my personal experience - is that while new job salaries/wages are well ahead of inflation, employers are not raising pay across the board to anything like the same extent, so people who haven't changed jobs in a few years are being left behind.
December 2, 2025 at 3:04 PM
One comment I've seen about this - which chimes with my personal experience - is that while new job salaries/wages are well ahead of inflation, employers are not raising pay across the board to anything like the same extent, so people who haven't changed jobs in a few years are being left behind.
I think that, now that it's far enough in the past to be able to laugh without crying, you'd enjoy digging through all the nonsense plans that were created at the time.
December 2, 2025 at 11:18 AM
I think that, now that it's far enough in the past to be able to laugh without crying, you'd enjoy digging through all the nonsense plans that were created at the time.
Rereading this I noticed that it doesn't include the other speculative sea crossing - Boris Johnson's proposed one to Northern Ireland.
December 2, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Rereading this I noticed that it doesn't include the other speculative sea crossing - Boris Johnson's proposed one to Northern Ireland.
Not just heights, but also platform positions. UK-standard platforms are both high enough and close enough to the rail that EU-standard trains would hit the UK platforms.
Put in EU-standard low platforms and you can't get on UK trains; put in EU-standard high platforms and there's a huge gap.
Put in EU-standard low platforms and you can't get on UK trains; put in EU-standard high platforms and there's a huge gap.
December 2, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Not just heights, but also platform positions. UK-standard platforms are both high enough and close enough to the rail that EU-standard trains would hit the UK platforms.
Put in EU-standard low platforms and you can't get on UK trains; put in EU-standard high platforms and there's a huge gap.
Put in EU-standard low platforms and you can't get on UK trains; put in EU-standard high platforms and there's a huge gap.
Reposted by Richard Gadsden
I think that if you want the genuine "ordinary people" perspective on trans "issues" in Britain, the one everyone claims is so valuable and important because we must bow to the gut feeling of the least informed, it's this.
Anyone pretending the silent majority is anything else is selling something.
Anyone pretending the silent majority is anything else is selling something.
December 2, 2025 at 10:17 AM
I think that if you want the genuine "ordinary people" perspective on trans "issues" in Britain, the one everyone claims is so valuable and important because we must bow to the gut feeling of the least informed, it's this.
Anyone pretending the silent majority is anything else is selling something.
Anyone pretending the silent majority is anything else is selling something.