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Hundreds of firms warn new guidance on single sex spaces is ‘unworkable’ and would cause ‘significant economic harm’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/supreme-court-trans-single-sex-spaces-b2826924.html

Alternatively the same rules worked well until very recently, and companies - especially those which face the public - don’t want to be targeted by groups of obnoxious activists.

Exactly.

Not remotely unworkable. We have had single sex loos and changing rooms for decades without any issues at all. The rules for employers and schools have been in place for decades and work absolutely fine.

It is only the insistence of some men that they have the right to breach women's boundaries which has made this an issue. Organisations that cannot deal with predatory bullies shouldn't be in business, frankly.

Since October 2024 employers have been under an obligation to prevent sexual harassment of their staff. Are they also saying this is unworkable?

This is just cowardice.

I don't follow LD world very closely and I'm wondering about Daisy Cooper. In the Next Leader market she is (and has been for a while) a very cramped odds on shot with no-one else in the betting really. I reckon I could get matched for a lay at 1.4. Is that worth doing, do we think? Or is she pretty much nailed on to get the job when Ed Davey goes?

Depends upon how long Ed stays. The recent intake (as others have mentioned) has some pretty impressive members with exceptional CVs, whereas the majority of candidates with odds given by the betting companies are from the established cohort and are not especially impressive, although several have grown into their roles.

If he stays around for awhile there will be a list of potential candidates that currently few people know.

Somethig has to happen between now and the next election. If like me you are convinced that Reform will not march into government something major that no one has considered has to happen. Most likely a realignment but it's difficult to see what that might be. The Welsh election might give us the first clue.

On the basis that every change is created by action-reaction my guess is a move to the left

In the 1980s, poll after poll suggested the Alliance would sweep to power with the south and south west turning orange. Don't quite remember that happening.

In a multi party system under FPTP UNS means next to nothing - I've seen polls showing Reform will win East Ham - they won't. The central question is whether Labour in power (and they are the only ones who can do this) can do anything to mitigate the genuine and (often but not always) justified anger out there across a range of issues.

Starmer will win if and only if he can convince enough people the country is back on the right track and the future will be better and brighter than the present. It's the overwhelming sense things aren''t going to get better (sorry) which is powering Reform (not that they have a single coherent answer as their councillors blundering around in the counties so aptly demonstrate).

He won't win by simply saying things will be worse under Farage - they will but too many people aren't convinced. Farage and his acolytes will convince a number between now and the next election but between the anger and the fragmented opposition (who are often too busy fighting the old battles with each other), Reform could well sweep in.

Labour deputy leadership contender Lucy Powell, who was fired by Sir Keir Starmer in his cabinet reshuffle, has criticised "unforced errors" by the government over welfare.

In her first broadcast interview since being sacked, she told the BBC's Nick Robinson attempts to cut disability benefits and winter fuel payments had left voters questioning "whose side we are on".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly6gevkn7zo

Well I have no doubt which side Labour are on.

Labour are on the side of non-workers and against workers.

Plenty of disabled folk work. Some of my most effective colleagues are in wheelchairs or have significant mental health issues.

(I'm not disputing your sentiment but some of the chat around disabled claimants has been a bit unedifying, particularly as the criteria and adjustments for disability benefits are quite different to standard UC etc).

Those disabled workers have been hit by the effect of increased employers NI on their pay.

Labour deputy leadership contender Lucy Powell, who was fired by Sir Keir Starmer in his cabinet reshuffle, has criticised "unforced errors" by the government over welfare.

In her first broadcast interview since being sacked, she told the BBC's Nick Robinson attempts to cut disability benefits and winter fuel payments had left voters questioning "whose side we are on".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly6gevkn7zo

Well I have no doubt which side Labour are on.

Labour are on the side of non-workers and against workers.

Plenty of disabled folk work. Some of my most effective colleagues are in wheelchairs or have significant mental health issues.

(I'm not disputing your sentiment but some of the chat around disabled claimants has been a bit unedifying, particularly as the criteria and adjustments for disability benefits are quite different to standard UC etc).

Those disabled workers have been hit by the effect of increased employers NI on their pay.

How? Surely they're not a specific category of worker as regards NI?

Increasing employers NI causes lower pay rises and reductions in employment.

So on those seat projections, is anything other than a Plaid-Labour coalition even remotely workable?

The Conservatives seem desperate to, as it were, jump into bed with Reform at every opportunity.

It's a poor poll for labour - it's not that much better for the LDs or the Conservatives.

The Conservatives got 25% of the Welsh vote and 16 Senedd seats at the last election. This projection shows the vote more than halving and the number of seats (despite an increased number in the Senedd) down by 5 so instead of holding a quarter of the seats as they do currently, they would hold one sixteenth.

The Conservatives and Labour won 61% of the vote between them at the 2021 Senedd - this poll shows them at 25% yet somehow it's all about Labour.

To be fair, two party politics is still alive and well in Wales and there are still three or four minor parties.

"The Conservatives seem desperate to, as it were, jump into bed with Reform at every opportunity."

Sorry, but that is complete bullshit. You wishing it doesn't make it a thing.

Like wishing the LibDems will be seen as a great option for the voters. It's just that the voters don't see it...

So on those seat projections, is anything other than a Plaid-Labour coalition even remotely workable?

The Conservatives seem desperate to, as it were, jump into bed with Reform at every opportunity.

It's a poor poll for labour - it's not that much better for the LDs or the Conservatives.

The Conservatives got 25% of the Welsh vote and 16 Senedd seats at the last election. This projection shows the vote more than halving and the number of seats (despite an increased number in the Senedd) down by 5 so instead of holding a quarter of the seats as they do currently, they would hold one sixteenth.

The Conservatives and Labour won 61% of the vote between them at the 2021 Senedd - this poll shows them at 25% yet somehow it's all about Labour.

To be fair, two party politics is still alive and well in Wales and there are still three or four minor parties.

"The Conservatives seem desperate to, as it were, jump into bed with Reform at every opportunity."

Sorry, but that is complete bullshit. You wishing it doesn't make it a thing.

Like wishing the LibDems will be seen as a great option for the voters. It's just that the voters don't see it...

Okay, it's early in the day so a little light joshing for a midweek.

Seriously, for what little it's worth, I think it's very important for the Conservatives, if they are to survive this, to maintain their identity and integrity vis-a vis Reform.

One question Kemi Badenoch (or whoever) will be asked (just as Davey will be asked from the other side) is whether and the extent to which the Conservatives would or should support a minority Reform Government after the next election? At local level, we have seen Conservative Councillors tacitly supporting the formation of minority Reform administrations by abstatining on the election of new council leaders rather than voting against a Reform nominee.

In the Commons, it doesn't work that way. The Conservatives would have to provide Confidence & Supply to enable a Reform administration to exist even if they do this as an act of paralysis by which I mean voting down aspects of Reform legislation which they cannot support which could be counter productive if Reform force an early election and win a clear majority (this was the argument during the Coalition negotiations in 2010).

IF the Conservatives provide that C&S to a minority Reform Government, they will (whether they like it or not) be seen as complicit in everything Reform says and does and their fortunes may well go the way of the LDs in 2015.

The best result for the Conservatives at the next election (assuming they will be nowhere near a majority) will be a Labour minority propped up by the LDs. IF Reform fail in 2028-29, I don't know what will happen to them - they could well implode and the Conservatives could be there to pick up the pieces and form a strong opposition leading to a win in 2034.

Reform are very dependent on Farage to hold the party together.

Without Farage, and he cannot go on forever, what becomes of Reform ?