Gone but not forgotten!

[fishman65]

Alexei Navalny. A very brave man.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Alexei Navalny. A very brave man.

RIP. Hopefully he will leave a legacy of change as Russians are outraged by his treatment and death.

[Darksky]

Can’t not let Steve Wright go without a mention. I grew up with him on the radio and I always tuned in. Treated dreadfully by the BBC, I hope hes spinning the vinyl in heaven.

[Lencoboy]

RIP. Hopefully he will leave a legacy of change as Russians are outraged by his treatment and death.

Absolutely, and a timely reminder to us all here in this country in particular how important it is for us all to value our rights to vote in elections (and to value democracy as a whole); such rights many of our great great great great grandparents basically fought tooth and nail for, which for the most part we're still benefitting from now all these years later, all of which voter hesitancy and complacency in general I fear might eventually undermine, especially if current election turnout trends continue the way they are.

And Terry, while you're by all means entitled to your opinion that the likes of Starmer aren't really much cop, but at least for the most part, what he stands for is generally humane and hardly dictatorial in the grand scheme of things, unlike the current sitting president of Russia.

And if he (Starmer) really does side with whatever anti-Semitic elements within his party, then surely he wouldn't have suspended/dismissed them in an instant and just let them off scot-free instead.

[Lencoboy]

Can’t not let Steve Wright go without a mention. I grew up with him on the radio and I always tuned in. Treated dreadfully by the BBC, I hope hes spinning the vinyl in heaven.

Yes, a true icon from a time when the BBC and pretty much all other broadcasters in general actually cared about quality rather than quantity with their audiences in mind, as opposed to their seemingly relentless obsession with the 'numbers game' over the past 30 years or so.

Steve and many others of his ilk around that time were truly creative, innovative and successfully thought 'outside of the box' without being preachy nor vain about it, and were highly respected and acclaimed for it, unlike a lot of the 'dumbed down-ness' that sadly seems to have become the rule across the board within the entertainment business since the 90s.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Absolutely, and a timely reminder to us all here in this country in particular how important it is for us all to value our rights to vote in elections (and to value democracy as a whole); such rights many of our great great great great grandparents basically fought tooth and nail for, which for the most part we're still benefitting from now all these years later, all of which voter hesitancy and complacency in general I fear might eventually undermine, especially if current election turnout trends continue the way they are.

And Terry, while you're by all means entitled to your opinion that the likes of Starmer aren't really much cop, but at least for the most part, what he stands for is generally humane and hardly dictatorial in the grand scheme of things, unlike the current sitting president of Russia.

And if he (Starmer) really does side with whatever anti-Semitic elements within his party, then surely he wouldn't have suspended/dismissed them in an instant and just let them off scot-free instead.

Absolutely. We don't get dragged off in the middle of the night by political police. I don't see any of our parties being remotely close to such practices.

I was very pleased to see Starmer react quickly when he came in. I think its tailed off a bit though and be would be better returning to that quicker action. They all suffer from this problem and it's when the pressure mounts that apologies & actions speed up. It shouldn't be like that, ethics should mean they don't need us to call for action. We don't need more racists in politics so a candidate should immediately be replaced.

Its complicated by it being perhaps too late for a new candidate and if the current candidate is likely to take block voting with him. They always worry about that with minorities.

Look at Peter Bone. The voters were behind him but not a new candidate. Many voted Reform but the majority of his voters from last time didn't show up. Voter apathy about the Tories? There has to be a % due to that but they didn't back Labour. And this is why they drag their heels over discipline because they let their ambitions override their morals and isn't that why so many of us look at the main parties as hypocrites?

[Lencoboy]

Absolutely. We don't get dragged off in the middle of the night by political police. I don't see any of our parties being remotely close to such practices.

I was very pleased to see Starmer react quickly when he came in. I think its tailed off a bit though and be would be better returning to that quicker action. They all suffer from this problem and it's when the pressure mounts that apologies & actions speed up. It shouldn't be like that, ethics should mean they don't need us to call for action. We don't need more racists in politics so a candidate should immediately be replaced.

Its complicated by it being perhaps too late for a new candidate and if the current candidate is likely to take block voting with him. They always worry about that with minorities.

Look at Peter Bone. The voters were behind him but not a new candidate. Many voted Reform but the majority of his voters from last time didn't show up. Voter apathy about the Tories? There has to be a % due to that but they didn't back Labour. And this is why they drag their heels over discipline because they let their ambitions override their morals and isn't that why so many of us look at the main parties as hypocrites?

Paragraph 1.

That's exactly my point regarding how we should count ourselves lucky in this country that despite our system's obvious flaws we still have it relatively easy for the most part as a mostly 'democratic' society, unlike certain other 'backward' and profoundly dysfunctional countries.

That's exactly why it's important for us all to use our votes effectively in order to keep it that way, rather than just being complacent and resting on our laurels.

Paragraph 4.

I do feel that certain elements of the media gave Reform UK a bit too much undue credit over Thursday's by-elections, despite the fact that they actually had the lowest vote share of the 3 key candidates in both contests, as if they were trying their utmost to 'big them up' as the 'true' winners.

I actually read an interesting article on the i site this afternoon that mentioned that UKIP (which Reform UK are essentially another 'equivalent' of) actually gained substantially more votes in by-elections during their heyday a decade ago than Reform UK currently appear to be so far. And while UKIP and the BNP both still officially remain active and coexistent alongside the newlyfangled Reform UK, they both now appear to be pale shadows of their former selves and barely seem to register within the mainstream political psyche any longer.

[Davy 53]

Also........sadly missed and never forgotten. Bon Scott . Passed 19th feb 1980. Rock In Peace.

[Lencoboy]

Also........sadly missed and never forgotten. Bon Scott . Passed 19th feb 1980. Rock In Peace.

44 years ago.

[Darksky]

Dave Myers’s……..one half of the Hairy Bikers.
Two of my favourite chefs, I’ve used a lot of their recipes.
Si King must be devastated, they were very good friends as well as TV chefs.