Sorry to hear you're depressed. Your clarity on the existing shitshow we're all going through is much appreciated.
We're all like drowning men hoping desperately that a boat will come along and save us.
Trump/Musk should be good for us, certainly better than Stormtrooper so I'm pinning my naive little hopes on it. I like JD Vance for the future if the Oligarchy don't manage to destroy Trump one way or another.
Just want to say thanks for all you do Pete, having followed you on X for many years I appreciate your consistency on matters political, never blowing any which way the wind blows like many others do, you've certainly stuck to your principles. Britain is shite at the moment but people such as yourself are the solution to many of the problems that ails us. We really do need to fight to get our country back and there is a sea change going on out there and that is down to people such as yourself.Onwards and upwards.
Your summary at the start of this post was excellent, ie encourage economic growth but deliver the world’s highest energy prices. It’s farcically stupid. Whatever your state of depression (and God knows we’re all entitled to feel down) it’s hasn’t affected your clarity of thought. For what it’s worth, it was reading your X posts that started to give me hope and introduced me to the Substack world last year. Thank you for that Pete. Take a rest my friend and come back when you’re ready.
Welcome back! You make a difference, although it might feel like pushing water uphill ... Sensible and competent commentators are always needed (but in short supply)
The only hope is that Trumps inauguration goes ok without incident, he can make a good first six months as this will help the “mood” in europe over AFD and others. Ifvthey and similar get in it will rub off in the UK. But i agree with the general sentiment of what you said labour wont do jack about the boats or immigration and the country will go further downhill . Gerry Adams getting compensation is bloody ridiculous
Gerry Adams receiving compensation is more than ridiculous, it is obscene. In the meantime, ex-squaddies who may or may not have made mistakes and overstepped the mark in the execution of their duties have been harrassed, persecuted and prosecuted for years. I thought the so-called Good Friday agreement was supposed to represent some kind of line in the sand, letting bygones be bygones?
I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling - it can't be easy when this is a big part of your life and the political scene is intellectually bankrupt.
Your optimism regarding the Labour Party is interesting - sadly I think we'll go on the merry go round a couple of times yet and Reform will implode on itself. Nigel might even get bored and simply shut it down.
I entirely get where you are Pete. As you say, half the Country feels the same way...hence 10k millionaires leaving in the last year. We're I lucky enough to be one, I'd have been away too, as I'm fast coming to the realisation that Britain is, to coin an old military term, BER.....Beyond Economic Repair. Another 4 years of these clowns & I don't think they'll be enough left for Trump, Musk or Miele to fix, even if we had someone of their strength of character. IMO you do need to take a break, continually banging your head against an unmoving wall is definitely not at all good for your mental health....Take care chum.
Apparently Charlie “no jab, no job” Mullins is under consideration as a potential candidate for the Reform party. If that is true and the party accepts him, then it is game over for me. Despite Farage’s equivocation and the presence of low-rent ex-Tories I can just about hold my nose and vote for Reform. However if it is prepared to admit someone like that little fascist then I shall be looking for something more radical.
Homeland Party have an agenda that I could support but they will not even get 100,000 votes in a GE. Those 100,000 votes in some marginal seats could get a Reform candidate elected over Labour. Reform aren’t perfect but they’re better than the shitshow in government now. A vote for Homeland is a vote for Labour and that’s a bloody disaster.
Given that Tory supporters used exactly the same extortion for years and falling into line got us absolutely nowhere, I am afraid that this no longer washes with me. If Farage continues to look increasingly like controlled opposition then I shall look elsewhere.
Incidentally, your comment is an interesting contrast with the usual argument that voting for Reform is more likely to let in Labour.
Just listening to Mike Graham and Kevin O'Sullivan's podcast Truth Police from 16th January (The Trump Effect) - they are having this debate and I can see both sides. It's helped clarify things for me, Mike's take is that people can change, we may not agree with everyone inside our particular tent and don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good
Pete, I've been following you for several months now, as well as a couple of other quality writers/substackers. I left the U.K many years ago, and rely on writers, such as yourself, to update me on the issues of the day, minus all the ideological, woke, far left nonsense (and I say this as someone who's more on the left and who was once an avid Guardian reader/SJW type!) One thing that often occurs to me is whether writers, such as yourself, who feel passionately about the state the U.K is in, ever suffer from burnout and just sheer exasperation at the level and speed of deterioration. Then having to analyse and report on it must be utterly depressing and soul-destroying. Even though I no longer live in England, I visit once a year and I can see how much it's changed, for the worse. I'm constantly reading about it and trying to make sense of it all. I had to really wake up from my liberal/left illusions to realise what the real issues were, and it's thanks to gifted writers such as you, that many people are waking up to the reality of the state of our country, and hopefully are more able to find solutions. In my opinion, it's important that you take a much-needed break occasionally, especially at this time of the year, which can be dark and depressing. Please know you are very valued by your followers. Without writers like you, we'd all be in the dark.
Pete, your writing is always a decent read but ye gods, the state of the UK and the deliberate destruction of morale wreaked by the Labour Party is enough to drive us all to seek permanent refuge under the duvet in a darkened room.
Analysis of this chaos is your bread and butter - so if you can, take your foot off the pedal/your hands off the keyboard for a while.
I hope Trump's inaugural speech yesterday poured a little light into the darkness. It left me wishing we had a politician in the UK with guts and a desire to stop the rot here.
It IS bloody depressing.
Take a break Pete. Lock out the madness. Look after you and your own little bit of existence for a while. Very best wishes.
Sorry to hear you're depressed. Your clarity on the existing shitshow we're all going through is much appreciated.
We're all like drowning men hoping desperately that a boat will come along and save us.
Trump/Musk should be good for us, certainly better than Stormtrooper so I'm pinning my naive little hopes on it. I like JD Vance for the future if the Oligarchy don't manage to destroy Trump one way or another.
Plus clarity on the main problems. The short summary in para 2 is spot on.
Keep it up Pete. I think you've had a huge amount of influence
Just want to say thanks for all you do Pete, having followed you on X for many years I appreciate your consistency on matters political, never blowing any which way the wind blows like many others do, you've certainly stuck to your principles. Britain is shite at the moment but people such as yourself are the solution to many of the problems that ails us. We really do need to fight to get our country back and there is a sea change going on out there and that is down to people such as yourself.Onwards and upwards.
You are not alone
Your summary at the start of this post was excellent, ie encourage economic growth but deliver the world’s highest energy prices. It’s farcically stupid. Whatever your state of depression (and God knows we’re all entitled to feel down) it’s hasn’t affected your clarity of thought. For what it’s worth, it was reading your X posts that started to give me hope and introduced me to the Substack world last year. Thank you for that Pete. Take a rest my friend and come back when you’re ready.
Welcome back! You make a difference, although it might feel like pushing water uphill ... Sensible and competent commentators are always needed (but in short supply)
The only hope is that Trumps inauguration goes ok without incident, he can make a good first six months as this will help the “mood” in europe over AFD and others. Ifvthey and similar get in it will rub off in the UK. But i agree with the general sentiment of what you said labour wont do jack about the boats or immigration and the country will go further downhill . Gerry Adams getting compensation is bloody ridiculous
Gerry Adams receiving compensation is more than ridiculous, it is obscene. In the meantime, ex-squaddies who may or may not have made mistakes and overstepped the mark in the execution of their duties have been harrassed, persecuted and prosecuted for years. I thought the so-called Good Friday agreement was supposed to represent some kind of line in the sand, letting bygones be bygones?
Douglas Murray made the same point in his book about bloody sunday. The “forgiveness” only ever seems to go one way,
Join the club (depression).
My hope is that a Trump administration will cause chaos for the UK government in the next couple of years.
Wokism started in the USA (as most influences do) and will die there.
Trumps failure in his previous attempt to gain power in the USA did us all a favour as it gave him time to study the democrats appalling behaviour.
He now begins the dismantling of the hideous woke organs of power in the USA.
The establishment in the UK will be very worried.
They cling to the apron strings of US power pretending they still have influence.
They change or face reality - change is preferable.
Starmer is on borrowed time, although he’s blind to it.
It will be all the sweeter to see the UK government twist and turn under the influence of the new USA.
I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling - it can't be easy when this is a big part of your life and the political scene is intellectually bankrupt.
Your optimism regarding the Labour Party is interesting - sadly I think we'll go on the merry go round a couple of times yet and Reform will implode on itself. Nigel might even get bored and simply shut it down.
I entirely get where you are Pete. As you say, half the Country feels the same way...hence 10k millionaires leaving in the last year. We're I lucky enough to be one, I'd have been away too, as I'm fast coming to the realisation that Britain is, to coin an old military term, BER.....Beyond Economic Repair. Another 4 years of these clowns & I don't think they'll be enough left for Trump, Musk or Miele to fix, even if we had someone of their strength of character. IMO you do need to take a break, continually banging your head against an unmoving wall is definitely not at all good for your mental health....Take care chum.
Apparently Charlie “no jab, no job” Mullins is under consideration as a potential candidate for the Reform party. If that is true and the party accepts him, then it is game over for me. Despite Farage’s equivocation and the presence of low-rent ex-Tories I can just about hold my nose and vote for Reform. However if it is prepared to admit someone like that little fascist then I shall be looking for something more radical.
Homeland Party
Homeland Party have an agenda that I could support but they will not even get 100,000 votes in a GE. Those 100,000 votes in some marginal seats could get a Reform candidate elected over Labour. Reform aren’t perfect but they’re better than the shitshow in government now. A vote for Homeland is a vote for Labour and that’s a bloody disaster.
And if you don’t vote Reform you’ll get an even more radical Labour. They’re not perfect but they’re our best hope.
Given that Tory supporters used exactly the same extortion for years and falling into line got us absolutely nowhere, I am afraid that this no longer washes with me. If Farage continues to look increasingly like controlled opposition then I shall look elsewhere.
Incidentally, your comment is an interesting contrast with the usual argument that voting for Reform is more likely to let in Labour.
Got to agree Martyr especially with the Trump-Farage bromance!
Just listening to Mike Graham and Kevin O'Sullivan's podcast Truth Police from 16th January (The Trump Effect) - they are having this debate and I can see both sides. It's helped clarify things for me, Mike's take is that people can change, we may not agree with everyone inside our particular tent and don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good
Pete, I've been following you for several months now, as well as a couple of other quality writers/substackers. I left the U.K many years ago, and rely on writers, such as yourself, to update me on the issues of the day, minus all the ideological, woke, far left nonsense (and I say this as someone who's more on the left and who was once an avid Guardian reader/SJW type!) One thing that often occurs to me is whether writers, such as yourself, who feel passionately about the state the U.K is in, ever suffer from burnout and just sheer exasperation at the level and speed of deterioration. Then having to analyse and report on it must be utterly depressing and soul-destroying. Even though I no longer live in England, I visit once a year and I can see how much it's changed, for the worse. I'm constantly reading about it and trying to make sense of it all. I had to really wake up from my liberal/left illusions to realise what the real issues were, and it's thanks to gifted writers such as you, that many people are waking up to the reality of the state of our country, and hopefully are more able to find solutions. In my opinion, it's important that you take a much-needed break occasionally, especially at this time of the year, which can be dark and depressing. Please know you are very valued by your followers. Without writers like you, we'd all be in the dark.
Sorry to hear this Pete.
Hopefully as the days get longer then the light will push the black dog away a bit.
Thanks for articles, don’t overdo it though. 😊
Pete, your writing is always a decent read but ye gods, the state of the UK and the deliberate destruction of morale wreaked by the Labour Party is enough to drive us all to seek permanent refuge under the duvet in a darkened room.
Analysis of this chaos is your bread and butter - so if you can, take your foot off the pedal/your hands off the keyboard for a while.
I hope Trump's inaugural speech yesterday poured a little light into the darkness. It left me wishing we had a politician in the UK with guts and a desire to stop the rot here.
It IS bloody depressing.
Take a break Pete. Lock out the madness. Look after you and your own little bit of existence for a while. Very best wishes.
As others have noted Pete, your clarity of thinking and ability to distil the many issues we face makes your writing exceptional.
I’m also from a northern town whose character and culture has been deliberately destroyed by excessive immigration from the sub-continent.
I’m heartbroken at what has been done to us. The r*pe gang atrocities have crystallised the situation for me.
This is the worst time of year to be concentrating on such a depressing political landscape. Hope you can take that break and come back refreshed!
Do you need to get a SAD lamp? £25 on Amazon.