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Post by bracknellboy on May 6, 2023 6:20:27 GMT
Bracknell Forest Council: one of the most blue of blue councils, has been lost by the Tories. I think the election before last it was something like 42 seats, 41 Conservative, 1 labour. Before this election I think it was something like 38:4. The wards have been rejigged and its down to 41 seats. The conservatives have gone down to 10, yes TEN councillors. LDs have 7 (thats +7), the Greens have 2 (that's +2) and Labour 22 (that's +18). Now, I'm not necessarily suggesting that long term I'm rooting for labour councils. But a huge boot up the proverbial by the public, a demonstration of how sick and tired the public are with the internal b*****s of the conservatives, and a shock to Tory complacency is no bad thing. I would not describe it as that. It wasn't Tory in the late 90s and this latest result shows how fickle it is. Its a relatively poor town with a lot of people just about managing. Will anything change? I have my doubts. Councillors are supposed to "run" the council in some sense and constitutionally there is a way for them to assert their leadership. But in reality, it would seem its much simple to take their expenses and perks and broadly leave the council to run itself. I wonder if the new blood will do anything different? It may not have been Tory in the late 90s, but that's > 20 years ago. The fact is that by number of councillors, BFC has been a tory stronghold for at least the last 10-15 years. Having majorities on the council the size that they have had put BFC in the top tier of one sided councils. The nature of the area is certainly mixed, but I was referring specifically to the make up of the council, not the make up of the area. Oh, and Bettison lost his post so I'm told. Break out the champagne.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 6, 2023 9:39:33 GMT
Idiots blindly vote for "The Party" (whatever colour it may be), usually disregarding the incumbent's actual performance and track record in Council office. Very true. Here in the Shire, the council was Tory-led from 2003 to 2019, when all the other parties got together in a pact to only field one candidate in each ward. The result was a total collapse in the number of blue seats (from consistent 30ish/53 to 13). This time, the others have mostly competed against each other, and the blue seats have proliferated again. But still No Overall Control by a fair way - 21/53. Councillor opinions and beliefs do dictate how those services are provided, though. Transport is one of the key ones - before the 2019 election, there was a plan for a much-needed bypass of the major A-road that goes slap-bang through the city centre. Now, locals round here don't quite understand "traffic" like the rest of the country does, but it can get a bit busy at peak times. Trouble was, the bypass would have cost around 3/4 of the council's entire annual budget. The incoming coalition binned it on cost grounds. The knuckle-draggers haven't quite forgiven them for that. They either deny the numbers completely, or try to conflate them with 1/300th of the amount being spent on some improvements to a pedestrianised area - using a ring-fenced Westminster grant... The colour of the ribbon does give a fair inkling as to their priorities, however. We had two indies standing. One of them didn't even bother to send a leaflet around, but still got a quarter of the vote in a very evenly spread result (4:6:7:7). The Tory beat the other indie (the only candidate that did bother informing the electorate) by one vote out of c.1200. Her successors are doing that via the back door, through starving funding. Central Government funding to this council has fallen by ~98.5% over the last decade or so, by about a grand per household in real terms (an amount which would have paid for the bypass in five years). Then the knuckle-draggers blame the 2019-on administration for all the woes of the world, despite them being bound to multiple long-term outsourcing contracts signed before their term... Some numpty stated the other day that he didn't think the council should spend a penny on adult social care, and thought it most unfair that council tax had a ring-fenced increase for that ( "no others do" - well, yes, they all do, because Westminster says they can). Obviously, chucking granny in the gutter to die would be better than him having to spend another quid or so a week, money better spent on... <predictable fanfare> THE BYPASS!
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registerme
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Post by registerme on May 6, 2023 13:52:51 GMT
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 9, 2023 19:30:11 GMT
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agent69
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Post by agent69 on May 9, 2023 19:53:25 GMT
Found guilty of sexual assault and defamation, but not guilty of rape. Needless to say Tangoman isn't happy.
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ilmoro
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'Wondering which of the bu***rs to blame, and watching for pigs on the wing.' - Pink Floyd
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Post by ilmoro on May 9, 2023 23:00:15 GMT
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Post by bracknellboy on May 10, 2023 6:49:41 GMT
"Where have all my tanks gone ?"
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ilmoro
Member of DD Central
'Wondering which of the bu***rs to blame, and watching for pigs on the wing.' - Pink Floyd
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Post by ilmoro on May 10, 2023 9:40:52 GMT
"Where have all my tanks gone ?" Should have painted them with 'Special Operation' stripes like they did for D-Day. I feel red & white would be appropriate. There was a linked article with Shoguiru reviewing a loan of tanks being sent to Ukraine or was it the same tank & a line of mirrors?
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Post by mostlywrong on May 10, 2023 10:02:02 GMT
"Where have all my tanks gone ?" Should have painted them with 'Special Operation' stripes like they did for D-Day. I feel red & white would be appropriate. There was a linked article with Shoguiru reviewing a loan of tanks being sent to Ukraine or was it the same tank & a line of mirrors? You are all wrong...
The guy behind Putin, whispering into his ear, has just spent the last 2 decades and billions of roubles, developing a wonderful life in the West for him and his family a fantastic new weapon.
Putin was told that behind that single, solitary tank was a whole brigade of the latest super-secret Russian tank. Using special camouflage and noise cancellation features that his famous and well-paid scientists stole from the James Bond studios, the latest technology ensures that no-one, not even the President, can see or hear those tanks. Ever.
In order to aid future overseas sales, these tanks are also powered by the latest green technology. At great personal risk, I was going to provide the project's name but this website does not accept Cyrillic characters so I will use the closest terms in English; Unicorn Farts.
The President was told that these tanks will soon enter service and completely destroy the enemy.
That will happen just as soon as the Russian Army can solve one small human factor issue.
Nobody can find the b****y things on the tank park...
MW
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ilmoro
Member of DD Central
'Wondering which of the bu***rs to blame, and watching for pigs on the wing.' - Pink Floyd
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Post by ilmoro on May 10, 2023 11:48:22 GMT
Should have painted them with 'Special Operation' stripes like they did for D-Day. I feel red & white would be appropriate. There was a linked article with Shoguiru reviewing a loan of tanks being sent to Ukraine or was it the same tank & a line of mirrors? You are all wrong...
The guy behind Putin, whispering into his ear, has just spent the last 2 decades and billions of roubles, developing a wonderful life in the West for him and his family a fantastic new weapon.
Putin was told that behind that single, solitary tank was a whole brigade of the latest super-secret Russian tank. Using special camouflage and noise cancellation features that his famous and well-paid scientists stole from the James Bond studios, the latest technology ensures that no-one, not even the President, can see or hear those tanks. Ever.
In order to aid future overseas sales, these tanks are also powered by the latest green technology. At great personal risk, I was going to provide the project's name but this website does not accept Cyrillic characters so I will use the closest terms in English; Unicorn Farts.
The President was told that these tanks will soon enter service and completely destroy the enemy.
That will happen just as soon as the Russian Army can solve one small human factor issue.
Nobody can find the b****y things on the tank park...
MW
Oh that's easy, they just use the same tactics they are using in some places in the Ukraine. Line up a load of poorly trained conscripts (convicts) & tell them to rum across the tank park until they hit something.
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michaelc
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Say No To T.D.S.
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Post by michaelc on May 10, 2023 15:49:36 GMT
Found guilty of sexual assault and defamation, but not guilty of rape. Needless to say Tangoman isn't happy. Seems America is falling apart at the seams. Justice system moving ever closer to making political decisions as per states such as Russia/Saudi/Iran etc. Might implode at the next presidential election. No doubt that is what Putin is waiting for.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 10, 2023 17:11:16 GMT
Found guilty of sexual assault and defamation, but not guilty of rape. Needless to say Tangoman isn't happy. Seems America is falling apart at the seams. Justice system moving ever closer to making political decisions Yes, he spent his last term in power trying to do exactly that, but it didn't much help - which is why he's now crying about it again. The US system does politicise the judiciary, though, via the appointment of judges, especially at the Supreme Court. It's nothing new, though... Choices have been controversial since at least Nixon's time.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 10, 2023 17:28:19 GMT
...and from the Department of Fruitloop Politicians, it's official - Bridgen ( "Covid vacc worse than Holocaust") has joined Lozza's Reclaim party... They make such a lovely couple, don't they?  |
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registerme
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Post by registerme on May 10, 2023 17:29:03 GMT
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on May 10, 2023 17:58:49 GMT
Seems America is falling apart at the seams. Justice system moving ever closer to making political decisions Yes, he spent his last term in power trying to do exactly that, but it didn't much help - which is why he's now crying about it again. The US system does politicise the judiciary, though, via the appointment of judges, especially at the Supreme Court. It's nothing new, though... Choices have been controversial since at least Nixon's time. Don't know if the political appointees spread down from the supreme court or not but strikes me as a very bad thing.
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