this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2025
131 points (98.5% liked)

United Kingdom

4660 readers
110 users here now

General community for news/discussion in the UK.

Less serious posts should go in !casualuk@feddit.uk or !andfinally@feddit.uk
More serious politics should go in !uk_politics@feddit.uk.

Try not to spam the same link to multiple feddit.uk communities.
Pick the most appropriate, and put it there.

Posts should be related to UK-centric news, and should be either a link to a reputable source, or a text post on this community.

Opinion pieces are also allowed, provided they are not misleading/misrepresented/drivel, and have proper sources.

If you think "reputable news source" needs some definition, by all means start a meta thread.

Posts should be manually submitted, not by bot. Link titles should not be editorialised.

Disappointing comments will generally be left to fester in ratio, outright horrible comments will be removed.
Message the mods if you feel something really should be removed, or if a user seems to have a pattern of awful comments.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 22 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] imrighthere@lemmy.ca 63 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Could somebody explain to me why the UK keeps bending over for trump ? You have a bit of russian in the house or something ?

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 37 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

From an international perspective, it just makes the British government look scared, weak, and untrusting of its own abilities.

[–] TheTonDog@feddit.uk 20 points 3 days ago

Blame the historic "special relationship". We're a US vassal state, out of touch with the rest of European sentiment.

[–] lemmus@lemmy.world 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

UK nuclear weapons are American and can only be serviced by America (in Georgia). They have failed all of their recent tests, so are likely defunct. British global power is a myth that largely depends on its nuclear capabilities, so it is extremely dependent on the US for this. Brexit was the final nail in the coffin of the prospect of independence from Washington. Finally, the current Labour Party is Blairite through and through. Its prominent cabinet members were educated in US business schools and are simply setting themselves up for consultancy jobs once they leave office, all the have to do is hollow out the state even further to the benefit of US companies.

[–] thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 21 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

That's not actually correct. The missiles (the rocket part) are indeed leased from the US, and the maintenance every few years is thus done by them - which keeps the cost down. The warheads are the UKs.

A freshly serviced trident missile should be good for 5-7 years (although they currently get serviced more frequently).

If the UK falls out with the US then we have a number of years to either build our own replacement missile to put the warheads on or buy/lease a missile body off another country - France for example has several options in this space that could be easily adapted.

We are where we are because nobody could imagine the US going rogue like this, a failure of imagination for sure but our nukes are in fact in our control

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/heres-how-britains-nukes-are-operationally-independent/

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/03/uks-nuclear-deterrent-relies-us-support-there-are-no-other-easy-alternatives

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/no-america-doesnt-control-britains-nuclear-weapons/

Edit, tidied up the wording

[–] lemmus@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

That’s good to know, thanks for pointing that out. You’re certainly correct about a failure of imagination. Would be interesting to see the fallout if the UK tried to diversify its missile options.

[–] IcyToes@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 days ago

Probably keen to represent GSK, AstraZeneca and financial services companies. Though to hell with the rest of us.

[–] Naich@lemmings.world 14 points 2 days ago

That's good. They could do with a bit more money. If we had it we'd just spend it on food or some such recklessness.

[–] MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml 34 points 3 days ago

He really is a fucking tory

[–] Leeuk@feddit.uk 25 points 3 days ago

Appreciate its only been about 9 months or so, but been disappointed with Labour so far...

Starmer doesn't appear to be listening to the public mood on benefit reform, taxes or even the growing hostility here towards the US. It seems he's stuck 2 years in the past and as others have suggested it's difficult to see him as being the leader of the Labour Party. The most positive move I've seen him make was his warm welcome of Zelenskyy after the White House disaster.

I don't know if it was true, but I once read that Churchill rode the underground shortly before his famous speach which helped him get the mood of the public. Starmer really needs to doing something similar. He's looking more out of touch every passing week.

[–] drunkosaurus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 3 days ago

What the fuck

[–] Flamekebab@piefed.social 22 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They already pay naff-all, how much more can we possibly cut?

[–] Infernal_pizza@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago

Maybe we should start paying them tax instead? And they can have a free castle in Scotland each

Starmer is such a fucking piece of shit man. It was obvious from the start, but its still disappointing.

[–] Hansae@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 3 days ago

Spineless bastard

[–] lemmus@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago

Starmer the Collaborator.

[–] TwinTitans@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

Yeah, no. Tax increases seem reasonable.

[–] SanPe_@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

"Labor" ???

[–] hellfire103@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I certainly know who I'm not voting for next election. Well, unless it's between them and Reform.

[–] buster6775@feddit.uk 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Voting in ‘democratic elections’ is serious magical thinking: Nothing ever changes.

[–] punksnotdead@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 days ago

I can see the Labour Party coming to power in the next election - maybe, maybe not - who knows? But it doesn't really make a difference who's in power - the State remains the same, the structure is still there, they just tinker with it a little here and there.

https://youtu.be/-1uSSRcn7UE

[–] BigMacHole@lemm.ee 5 points 3 days ago

I thought Only AMERICANS were Incapable of Learning?