P.K.

The storm is gathering: Netanyahu approves Rafah attack plans as aid ship reaches Gaza Israeli PM’s decision may be intended to put negotiating pressure on Hamas, observers say, after his cabinet discussed truce proposal https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/15/netanyahu-approves-plans-for-rafah-attack-israeli-officials-say Knowing that their presence in Rafah is making a difference I'm sure there will be a reluctance amongst the faithful to clear the way for the IDF. But, of course, they are all innocent and all the celebrating in the streets on October 11th was just a big world wide party for someone's birthday...

Unfortunately as we all know the likes of Abu Hamza and others preached extremism disguised by the Koran...

"MATMAN" or similar. Dire doesn't even come close...

What a load of utter nonsense Galloway spouts. Of course folks can say they come from Rochdale. Although l'm not sure you'll find anybody readily admitting they come from there. Because for years one area of Rochdale, Falinge, was the most deprived place in the North West...

Firstly anyone who thinks that Galloway will do anything for Rochdale needs to go and lie down in a darkened room until reality intervenes: So what can Rochdale expect from their new MP? Not a lot of work inside parliament, if Galloway’s track record is anything to go by. In three years as Bradford West’s MP he spoke just 16 times in the House of Commons, sometimes going for six months or more without saying a word in the debating chamber. When he did speak in parliament, it was usually about foreign affairs or to insult other MPs, once responding to an intervention from a Tory MP by saying: “I would much prefer to give way to the honourable gentleman than for him to cackle and wobble his ample girth from a sedentary position.” Secondly the farrago in Rochdale threw up an interesting question to wit: "Is bringing the Israeli Government and their policies into question antisemitism...?" Because I thought the Labour candidate was doing just that - passing comment on possible Knesset policy. To me that's not racist it's just criticising a crap government like the well-informed amongst us do about Tynwald and Westminster all the time! But the UK tory right wing press, which is to say pretty much all of it, are always going to blow minor issues like that into a massive drama and they do it because unfortunately their gullible readership believes every word...

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks..."

Another self-inflicted economic penalty from the worst government in living memory and probably forever...

@woolley So forcing "Third Country trading status" on the UK is somehow going to improve our position vis-a-vis our biggest trading partner... Care to explain how that works?

To which, by your own admission, you belong.

Sorry but we left all the lying about brexit to Messrs Farage, Gove, Johnson and the UK right wing press in thrall to the agenda of the owner, which is to say pretty much all of it. What a fine job they made of it as well...! We just stick to the facts. Like the UK had the best deal in the best trading bloc on the planet. Which was why the UK was doing very nicely thank you very much indeedy. Now all pissed away by a mixture of the gullible, the racists, the tiny minded Little Englanders and those paranoid about soundbites like "ever closer union" and so forth like they can read the future or something. Naturally they ignore the fact that had the EU tried to push through anything totally unacceptable to the UK then that would be the time to invoke Article 50. But oh no, we were doing so nicely we just had to leave...

I'm concerned about what "fact finding" they'll get up to...? From December 2019: Malta’s corruption is not just in the heart of government, it’s the entire body Only now, two years after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, is it becoming clear just how rotten the state really is https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/03/malta-corruption-daphne-caruana-galizia-murder Corruption would appear to be endemic. A recent example: https://www.eppo.europa.eu/en/news/malta-eight-arrested-investigation-customs-fraud-and-corruption-public-officials With the corruption rep of Malta I would have to say it's a very poor choice. Unless they're just going for the climate of course...

There are some real reasons for business travel. Training courses with practical examples, technical support where you need all the toys (logic state analysers, sillyscopes etc), Entity policy buy-in, trying to close multi-national customers as you can only build trust face to face and so forth. From a purely IOM perspective I can't think of any reason for political travel unless it's to Westminster to the Foreign Office to gen up on the relationship with the UK with pros, cons and boundaries of being one of three British Crown Dependencies. Where the CPA jollies come in I'm not entirely sure as they are about the Overseas Territories. Personally the only reason I can think of to visit Malta would be to bone up on how to be corrupt what with car bombings and so forth. Another recent example: https://www.eppo.europa.eu/en/news/malta-eight-arrested-investigation-customs-fraud-and-corruption-public-officials I have to say that IMHO the very worst has to be Watterson mainly because he has no shame at all about swanning off on any old flimsy pretext. But then lecturing others on the evils of drink followed by a practical example on a bus merely confirms a lack of integrity... There should be a Travel Requisition system with simple criteria such as " How will your trip benefit the Manx people?" and so forth with the CM and the Treasury Minister both having to sign it off. Of course, copies of all the Travel Reqs should be in the public domain for scrutiny by those funding it. Personally I don't care if the CPA pays something towards it because they don't fund Tynwald salaries...

Oh the irony from a brexiteer...!

Chanced upon this. It's Kemi Badenoch's bid for the tory leadership for when Sunak is dumped, which can't be far away, thinly disguised as a summary of the UK's brexit "triumphs" over the last 4 years: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65ba6d52f51b1000136a7e3d/brexit-4th-anniversary-accessible-version.pdf Have to say she's certainly got some neck i.e. you not only need a strong stomach to read it but you also have to be exceptionally gullible and badly informed as well... Just a reminder of Badenoch's personal triumphs in signing trade deals: "Badenoch came back from signing the CPTPP trade agreement to be lauded by the press. The Express front page read “£12TRILLION BREXIT TRADE BOOST Britain joins top table as we sign lucrative deal with vast bloc”. The Mail front page was “AT LAST, DEAL TO TURBO CHARGE BREXIT BRITAIN” etc etc Unfortunately the reality was somewhat different from the hype. For a start the CPTPP countries are a long way away sitting as they do in the back yard of those two trading blocs the USA and the PRC. Also the “£12TRILLION” shrilled out by the Express is the GDP total of all the CPTPP countries including the UK’s and Japan’s with whom the UK already has a trade deal. After looking at the figures the OBR calculated that Badenoch’s “deal” would add just 0.04% to the UK’s GDP over 10 years… Which isn't going to "turbo charge" anything. Basically the splashes by the Express and the Mail were simply to fool their hard of thinking readership that their precious Brexit was getting along just fine and dandy. Recently UK farmers have been protesting about being undercut by cheaper foreign produce. As one explained their beef (sorry) was how he had gone into a UK supermarket to find that there was no British lamb for sale. Just New Zealand produce. Which was true. This is because Liz Truss went to Australia and New Zealand and signed trade deals, as she had to admit on the Andrew Marr show afterwards, that were of “negative benefit” to the UK. This is all because Brexit sent the UK from a top player with the best deal in the best trading bloc on the planet straight down to Third Country trading status and desperate for trade deals. Any deals will do! Step forward Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and others… I’m very surprised that the Mail and the Express didn’t explain this obvious drop straight down to "Third Country trading status" outcome of brexit to their hard of thinking readership prior to the referendum…"

It's probably just you... The David Brent hiring technique: "The first thing to do is take half of the cv's and throw them in the bin. "After all, you don't want to hire unlucky people..."

Keep ducking and diving. You should be good at it by now...

So aren't Israelis human then...? They were going to drive them into the sea!

Excuse me but the UN partitioned the territory. The Gaza strip was an enclave created by Egypt. It was originally populated by refugees fleeing the 1948 fighting when no less than five Arab nations invaded the territory with the sole intent of destroying the fledgling state of Israel and driving it's inhabitants into the sea. What a worthy cause not... ETA calling the murderous thugs of Hamas "human" is a bit of a stretch too far...

Here in Reality Land the Palestinians simply don't deserve to share the hard work and millions of dollars of investment put in by the Israelis and diaspora. Especially after the assault on Oct 7th...

Now you're being silly. There are 2 million people crammed into an area of just 140 square miles (2/3 the size of the IOM) with over 50% needing UN handouts just to feed themselves. Half are unemployed with zero prospects and naturally the population is increasing all the time. There is no fix to Gaza, it's a road to nowhere...

How many more times do you have to be told that as a Palestinian Entity the Gaza Strip is simply unsustainable! Now here you are pointing out how true that is. So get real. The whole sorry mess will have to be dealt with eventually...

Where are the Arab nations in all this? After all, they created all the refugee camps like Gaza...

You finally got something right! Those stealing from the aid convoys are depriving the less able and vulnerable waiting at the distribution centres and it doesn't get much lower than that...

Shouldn't that read: "Waiting to ambush aid trucks before they get to the distribution centre" or similar...?