This article argues that Keir Starmer’s government is unraveling for a variety of issues, namely that:

  • he had no clear political identity
  • no governing plan
  • was indecisive
  • created chaos among aides
  • alienated MPs

With the end result being he disappointed voters.

His team also describes a leader who “never defined himself” and “doesn’t want to decide anything,” while early structural mistakes, damaging fiscal choices, repeated U‑turns, and scandals involving key allies like Peter Mandelson steadily eroded his authority. In the end, it’s summed up by one insider’s verdict: ‘Once you lose authority, you’re fucked. It’s like virginity – once it’s gone, it’s gone.’

In the end, the article argues that by the time Morgan McSweeney resigned Starmer’s leadership had become very weak and many in his party now doubt he will be able to defeat rising challengers.

 
  • U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs for the month, up 118% from the same period a year ago and 205% from December 2025. The total marked the highest for any January since 2009.

  • At the same time, companies announced just 5,306 new hires, also the lowest January since 2009, which is when Challenger, Gray & Christmas began tracking such data.

  • Also, job openings fell sharply in December to 6.54 million, to their lowest since September 2020. Available jobs are down by more than 900,000 just since October.

 

The US Supreme Court denied the California Republican Party's request to block California's map, which was endorsed by voters last year as a counterweight to a similar effort in Texas aimed at giving Republicans five more U.S. House seats. The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, in December allowed Texas to use its redrawn map for this year's voting.

 

Back in November, both conservative and liberal justices expressed skepticism towards the administration’s arguments that the President has unilateral authority to impose tariffs without congressional approval.

That said, the timeline for a ruling appears to be more or less typical for Supreme Court cases and not accelerated as initially predicted.

A ruling against President Trump would put his administration in an uncomfortable spot as tariffs are a key component of their negotiation strategies and trade policies.

[–] 6 points 1 year ago*

I agree this is what should be done, but the reality is this will not be done. This requires a majority in Congress to bring the charges and impeach, and then 2/3rds of the Senate to convict. Democrats would gleefully jump at the chance to do both, but they haven’t had that type of majority in generations. And we all know the GOP will never impeach, let alone remove, one of their own.

The democrats are extremely limited in their institutional power right now. The only institution that stop Trump is Congress, and they’re in his pocket.

  • source
  • parent
  • context
  • [–] 79 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    He may very well be dead. Regardless, I think we have to try; somebody’s father was literally sent to hell on earth without even being charged for a crime or seeing a judge. Trump has defiled this man’s “unalienable right” to due process. The fifth amendment to the constitution of the United States also specifies that this right belongs to each person and not citizen for this exact reason.

    This is probably the biggest constitutional crisis since the US Civil War. The foundations of the entire legal world sit upon established precedent, and Trump getting away with this would basically mean the Constitution and our laws are entirely up to the executive and therefore not worth the paper they’re printed on.

    We have no choice but to make this a complete PR disaster for Trump; Is he strong, or is he weak? If he is so strong, then why is a dictator of a tiny country able to tell him no? If Trump even had a shred of guilt or decency (he has neither) he would remind Bukele that a single aircraft carrier is all it would take to level everything he has.

    (Note: I am not saying we should launch a military invasion of El Salvador. I am merely pointing out how laughable it is that Trump says he can’t do anything. He is, as he has always been, a weak and pathetic man whose only extraordinary talent is lying without remorse.)

  • source
  • parent
  • context
  • [–] 13 points 2 years ago*

    For this reason, I would much, much rather JD Vance stay on the ticket.

    Nikki Haley… I think she could so some damage to Harris’s election chances. It’s gonna be a tough fight to win this November, and Haley is much more palatable to moderates than JD Vance is.

  • source
  • parent
  • context
  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago*

    Yeah when I first heard the reference myself I was pretty confused until it was explained to me. I didn’t make the connection to it being racist - mostly because I saw it being posted by left-leaning and liberal personalities - I was more just confused people were posting coconut and palm tree emojis and having no clue what was going on lol.

    I do think it arose pretty organically and was pushed by genuine Harris supporters. People were saying they were “coconut-pilled” to show they were supportive of Kamala for at least a few weeks before Biden officially passed the torch.

    I do expect the right to try and co-opt it into being racist, but I am not sure how effective that will be considering a lot of Harris’s supporters (and people who are just excited Biden passed the torch in general) seem to be having fun posting it.

  • source
  • parent
  • context
  • [–] 93 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    I posted this in another thread, but this short video explains the coconut reference.

    Basically, it comes from a speech she gave in May 2023 at a White House event about Hispanic excellence. In her speech, she also touched on how the democratic party can better support young leaders by understanding the context they grew up in.

    This led into her personal anecdote from her mother, saying:

    “My mother, she would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say to us ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?! (Laughs) You in exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.’”

    This basically took off and got mixed up with the whole “pill meme” terminology. Those that wanted Biden to pass the torch to Kamala started saying they were “coconut-pilled” and the rest is history.

  • source
  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago*

    This short video explains the coconut reference.

    Basically, it comes from a speech she gave in May 2023 at a White House event about Hispanic excellence. In her speech, she also touched on how the democratic party can better support young leaders by understanding the context they grew up in.

    This led into her personal anecdote from her mother, saying:

    “My mother, she would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say to us ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?! (Laughs) You in exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.’”

    This basically took off and got mixed up with the whole “pill meme” terminology. Those that wanted Biden to pass the torch to Kamala started saying they were “coconut-pilled” and the rest is history.

  • source
  • parent
  • context
  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    The demise of third party apps made me look for a Reddit alternative. I had been using Apollo for years, and it was so much better than the official app. I had been using Reddit for more than a decade when they made the API changes.

    The official reddit app is trash. The’ve injected more advertisements, and now they’re even injecting ads into comment sections. it’s the very definition of enshittification.

    This is all only stuff that’s visible on the surface, too. Under the hood, there’s definitely bots manipulating the conversation and posts that get upvoted and downvoted.

    It’s still fine for smaller communities that are more niche, but that doesn’t change that Reddit has a monopoly over online forums and we really need alternatives. The fediverse seems like it’s able to do that, though it still needs to grow and diversify a bit more.

  • source
  • view more: next ›