You make a point. It would need to be comprehensive in it’s reach.

The best way to achieve it in my view would be to strip much of the Presidential powers away. Trump has clearly shown that there is far too much power concentrated in the executive and that many of the unwritten rules are as good as non-existent.

I don’t have enough knowledge to claim to know exactly how to do it. It would require a bipartisan effort and extensive legal work to ensure it’s watertight. Giving Congress more power and giving the executive more accountability would be the way though I believe.

As much as I would personally like to see those responsible held to account I think you’re right in that it would cause untold amounts of harm. It is the right thing to do but there would be huge fallout.

Personally I think America and it’s reputation would benefit much more from putting in place robust laws, even amendments to the constitution to openly and definitively show the world “guys, we’re really sorry. This will absolutely not happen again. Ever”. That’s the only way.

If you prosecute those responsible without changing anything then they will be back with even more vengeance and even more extreme and messed up ideas.

I’m not quite sure what it was that I said to trigger that response but I was referring to a leader not accepting a salary to do the job, rather than a leader who doesn’t even have to take bribes which is what the user meant. It was a misunderstanding that was cleared up further in the comments.

I have no idea what part of my comment you’re responding to though. I apologise of this isn’t the case but it looks to me as though you’ve interpreted something in a particular way and used that to go on an angry tirade against Kier Starmer and the rise of right wing politics.

That’s fair enough but not what I was talking about. I’ll leave you to it.

Transparency International highlighted the UK has slipped due to record spending on election campaigning . Labour, Conservatives and Reform have been guilty of this in various instances.

It’s easy to blame a single party, as some commenters in here might, but this is very clearly a systemic issue.

There need to be strict limits on campaign spending and absolute transparency about where that money has come from.

No more overseas donors. No more Think Tanks taking donations for “research”, from opaque sources and funneling it back to the party.

Politics needs to be cleaned up and freed from the grasp of these rich wankers who think because they have more money they can set the rules on how we as a people are governed.

Welcome to America.

Anything and everything is susceptible to private wealth and exploitation of the poor.

Doesn’t matter if it’s your health or your property or you name it. It can and will be exploited to take money from you. The plebs.

a leader so spineless that you don’t even need to pay him? Who’da thought?

Sorry but what do you mean by this? I’m struggling to see how this is bad. Would you rather a leader took all the money they could get their hands on? Because that’s how you end up with Trump.

Sheer opulence.

I think what this actually means is that some companies are now using technology to extract as much money as they possibly can from you and me.

I bet it will soon be the majority (if it isn’t already).

Am I fine with age verification? Yes, I am. Especially for social media. I don’t want children being brainwashed by right wing propaganda that is prevalent on there and I believe the state has a duty of care to protect citizens.

No channels of privacy? No, I am not fine with that. I haven’t seen any evidence to suggest that private conversations are not possible though, either via chat encryption or any other method. Is there any for the UK?

Chat control? I’m not sure. That sounds vague. I would need to know the specifics and what it’s protective purpose is.

You are welcome to call me blind. You still haven’t presented any evidence that the government is keeping secret social scores on it’s citizens though, nor any evidence of state wide internet restrictions on privacy. If there is such evidence and I believe it is a threat to an open and democratic society then I will act.

The USA is currently descending into authoritarianism, in my view precisely because “freedom of speech” and freedom of ownership are so closely protected. Malicious forces can spread whatever messages they want and influence whoever they want with impunity.

My view is that the current UK government is not a threat to the people. The elites looking to purchase power and influence and eventually become the government are the biggest threat. Social media is their most effective weapon.

I would argue that if you can’t see that then you are blind yourself.

I’m happy to agree to disagree though. Civility and all that.

I sense a dangerous level of willful disbelief.

Disbelief of what? That the UK government is keeping secret social scores on it’s citizens? Yeah. Until I see evidence of that.

They are starting to police the internet more though. I personally think that’s due to the huge amounts of misinformation used to manipulate the public via social media. I.e. The Southport Riots which were inflamed by spreading of lies about immigrants.

This is probably an unpopular opinion here but I think there should be more control. Peoples view of reality is being completely distorted by the internet and what they see and read. It will only get worse with AI and deepfakes. I personally think it does need more policing. There is a good documentary called "Hypernormalisation’ by Adam Curtis that explores the reality distortion we experience. It is worth watching.

My political views are that one of governments main duties is to protect citizens from harm. That includes protecting them from business malpractices from social media companies and foreign influencers looking to destabilise the population. I believe our government should take action to prevent harm from those.

I am not being wilfully ignorant of what they are doing. I support it. That may make me unpopular here but so be it. I stand by that belief. I will change it if I am presented with tangible evidence of things like social ratings for citizens or nefarious uses of peoples information. I haven’t seen any this far though. Feel free to send some if you have any.

I

you don’t believe they are locking down the internet

No, I believe they are policing the internet more than previously. The part I definitely don’t believe is your idea that they are using this information to make secret social scores on citizens. That’s a dystopian fantasy in my view.

Aside from introducing age verification checks do you have any evidence that it’s being “locked down”? You’re right in that my understanding is limited as I’m only aware of what our government has passed into law, not what people think is happening.

If you have some article or evidence that helps explain it I would be grateful.

Locking down the internet is a huge deal too, they are setting up every ip, every account, connected to a name and face and connected with all other information running it through half baked ai threat detection by companies like palantir to make secret social scores to determine everything.

Sorry, what? In the UK? I don’t believe that for a second, unless you have some irrefutable evidence for that. I could write an essay about why that’s not true.

surrender your information to the US as well make no mistake.

If that is happening it is by the design of the technology made by someone like Peter Thiel. The UK government would never knowingly allow such a thing to happen. There’s no benefit and they risk being ejected from government if found out. It sounds ridiculous to be honest, sorry.

Very concerned here obviously as one would guess. We are fucked, I don’t want to see Europe also fall to fascists that have every intention of fixing elections for the worst people in the world to remain in permanent control. We will be helping your fascists, secretly and openly,

Likewise! I am very concerned just how easily the US has fallen to the right wing spell. Steve Bannon has been shown in the Epstein files as linked to helping all sorts of right wing parties in Europe, including Reform. Luckily we at least have more stringent campaign funding rules that America’s “spend what you want”.

That is the price America pays for ultimate freedom of speech. It is lauded as the peak of democracy there, yet that very protection is used to guarantee unlimited financing of political campaigns by PACS and the elite. It’s actually a weapon turned against the people. But yeah. Freeeedom.

The west is going to fall like dominoes barring some real leadership that is not forthcoming because we somehow still trust the controlled opposition of the oligarchs that have captured all of our parties

Not if citizens are wise to the manipulation tactics used i.e. social media. Many here are becoming aware. Rules are becoming more stringent. I have hope. Reform tend to do well in the less educated sectors of society. If we can educate them then they will see them for what they are. They thrive in poorer areas too. If the economy gets back to prospering then again, they will fade.

We need real leaders now

Mark Carney. His Davos speech was excellent. My hope os he starts taking the lead more with middle powers holding firm in the face of economic bullying from superpowers.

America and China cannot survive alone. They need the middle powers still, just less than the middle ones individually need them. As a collective though they have power.

My hope is the ties between EU countries grow stronger, hopefully we rejoin soon and we become a collective force.

That or Trump passes away amd MAGA fade into civil war. That would be nice.

That’s a very valid point.

I would reply though that the article is quite vague on specifics.

They could be providing verbal testimony to exactly what happened and how it happened. This piece feels like it’s vague enough for the administration to just outright deny.

If they, as a group, stood together and said “this is exactly what we saw and this is why it is terrifying” it would have far more weight than an article in a newspaper, even if it is the NYT.

I see. A lot of people do see it as concerning. We’ll see if it actually goes ahead. Many people have made their opposition to it clear.

How do you feel about the current state of your own country and the values that seem to be at threat there, if I may ask?

Cancelled the right to a trial by jury for up to 3 years in prison, from 1 passed in 2020, cancelling the magna carta without a fight.

I thought these changes were still in the proposal stage? They are bad though and I disagree with them.

I don’t disagree with anything else you’ve listed. I’m just struggling to see how any of that is worse than what 14 years of a Tory government provided? On top of a ruined economy, failing public services, huge NHS waiting times etc. they also introduced the 9k tuition fees.

Are you a UK citizen? If so are you a particularly young one?

Because I can tell you now that if you were of voting age living through those Tory governments and you were living in the country, as me, you would be far more bitter about the 14 years of turning our country to shit than a year and a half of an incompetent slightly authoritarian Labour government.

The majority of people would say the same. The Tories were voted out by a sweeping majority in 2024 because of this. UK citizens loathed the party and a good deal many still do, hence the rise of Reform.

I understand why you are angry at Starmer’s government and your criticisms are fair, but I do not at all believe that your opinion that his government, over one and a half years, has been worse than the previous 14 years of Tory governance is founded on anything tangible whatsoever.

And indeed starmer already did more damage than the tories did in over a decade.

Sorry but what is that opinion based on?

As a Brit I can assure you that a) he has absolutely most certainly not done more than the previous Tory governments to mess the country up. Lizz Truss, for only a single example, ruined the economy in 40 odd days. b) the prevailing opinion is not that he has been worse than the Tories. The reason many people say they want to vote Reform is precisely because they are a right wing party that are not the Tories.

I’m very curious as to what you think his government has done that is worse than the 14 years of austerity, wrecked public finances, crumbling infrastructure and over population that the Tories provided? Obviously you are entitled to an opinion but I struggle to see what facts it could be based on.

I get that. It does make sense. Do you know how exactly they are trying to affevt change then? Do you believe they’re working behind the scenes? Just wondering if that’s an assumption or you know something.

It’s a gross injustice. The administration is basically subverting the rule of law and these people know that. Every US citizen should be aware of what they are doing. It’s the behaviour of an authoritarian regime, not a democracy.

I mean, it’s great that they left their posts to protect their own integrity. Bravo.

Where is the fight though? Why aren’t these people going out and telling the world that this administration is corrupting the rule of law?

They have the information. They can tell the world exactly what they’re doing over there. They’ve seen it. Yet none of them come forward.

For an administration like this to succeed in what they’re doing it also takes a massive lack of action from those that could stop it or speak out against it.

All I see are cowards interested in themselves. If they really wanted to have any integrity they would be in front of the cameras, together, telling the whole world exactly what happened.

But they’re not.

It’s almost as if the US is an oligarchy and that the ultra wealthy are able to govern the nation with political influence and shield themselves from the law.

This should be a wake up call to all citizens. It doesn’t matter who you elect. Your interests will never be represented until this oligarchy is broken up or destroyed.

Very sorry to hear that.

Although I don’t know you personally I sincerely hope, as I’m sure you do, that you succeed in your battle against it and that you have a great deal many more healthy years ahead of you.

You’re doing fantastic work here and I believe I speak for everyone when I say a massive thank you for it.

All the best 👍🙏