Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
One would think that the Greens would eclipse the LibDems, as has happened in other European countries.
The problem is that to achieve that - IMHO - they need to start winning real elections: councils, byelections, etc. And that's not really happening.
Let's look at the four byelections that have happened this parliament.
In the Hartlepool byelection, they got just 1.2%. They didn't stand in Airdrie & Shots (?! why ?!) They lost their deposit and went backwards in Chesham & Amersham They didn't stand in Batley & Spen
That's not the performance of a political party that is interested in winning and exercising power. They should be fighting every byelection and beating the LibDems there, and in council elections, etc.
Otherwise they're a pressure group, not a political party.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
Would the Greens want him? 2017 Jez would have been attractive, and quite a coup, but 2021 Jez has various bits of baggage...
It will seem obvious in hindsight and we'll wonder how anyone ever missed reading the runes at the time.
Well, the runes are here now and they're very clear.
The bit that I think we're all underplaying (partly because it's so damn scary) is how big the Coalition of Chaos landing zone is.
It's very easy to imagine a situation where the Conservatives have unambiguously lost, and are Boris (or Rishi, or Lizzie) Nomates, but where they still have the most seats, and maybe the most votes as well.
2010 worked, partly because the Conservatives were looking to their left anyway, and partly because Cam and Clegg were substantial human beings.
Hard to see anyone, in any party, with that degree of stature right now.
To add to your coalition of chaos factor in the Conservatives having a majority of English MPs.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
One would think that the Greens would eclipse the LibDems, as has happened in other European countries.
The problem is that to achieve that - IMHO - they need to start winning real elections: councils, byelections, etc. And that's not really happening.
Let's look at the four byelections that have happened this parliament.
In the Hartlepool byelection, they got just 1.2%. They didn't stand in Airdrie & Shots (?! why ?!) They lost their deposit and went backwards in Chesham & Amersham They didn't stand in Batley & Spen
That's not the performance of a political party that is interested in winning and exercising power. They should be fighting every byelection and beating the LibDems there, and in council elections, etc.
Otherwise they're a pressure group, not a political party.
The Greens don't seem to have the capability to do the intense campaigning that wins seats.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
One would think that the Greens would eclipse the LibDems, as has happened in other European countries.
The problem is that to achieve that - IMHO - they need to start winning real elections: councils, byelections, etc. And that's not really happening.
Let's look at the four byelections that have happened this parliament.
In the Hartlepool byelection, they got just 1.2%. They didn't stand in Airdrie & Shots (?! why ?!) They lost their deposit and went backwards in Chesham & Amersham They didn't stand in Batley & Spen
That's not the performance of a political party that is interested in winning and exercising power. They should be fighting every byelection and beating the LibDems there, and in council elections, etc.
Otherwise they're a pressure group, not a political party.
The Greens did not save a single deposit at any byelection in the 2017 or 2019 parliaments.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
Would the Greens want him? 2017 Jez would have been attractive, and quite a coup, but 2021 Jez has various bits of baggage...
It will seem obvious in hindsight and we'll wonder how anyone ever missed reading the runes at the time.
Well, the runes are here now and they're very clear.
The bit that I think we're all underplaying (partly because it's so damn scary) is how big the Coalition of Chaos landing zone is.
It's very easy to imagine a situation where the Conservatives have unambiguously lost, and are Boris (or Rishi, or Lizzie) Nomates, but where they still have the most seats, and maybe the most votes as well.
2010 worked, partly because the Conservatives were looking to their left anyway, and partly because Cam and Clegg were substantial human beings.
Hard to see anyone, in any party, with that degree of stature right now.
To add to your coalition of chaos factor in the Conservatives having a majority of English MPs.
And in 2010, the third party had an interest in showing that coalition government can work at Westminster. The likely third party in 202x... rather less so.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
Would the Greens want him? 2017 Jez would have been attractive, and quite a coup, but 2021 Jez has various bits of baggage...
It will seem obvious in hindsight and we'll wonder how anyone ever missed reading the runes at the time.
Well, the runes are here now and they're very clear.
Are you expecting heavy Conservative losses in the Waitrose belt ?
And if so is that because people cannot afford housing or because people don't want housing built or both ?
The Conservatives under Boris are an empty vessel drifting on the tides and that's masked only by jokes and bluster.
They've already got an air of mixed competence and incipient corruption developing about them, and that fish rots from the head. They are not governing in the interests of the whole nation - the only message the non-retired hear is: Go F**k Yourself - and there are nasty economic headwinds heading our way that will make it much worse. They've got themselves into a position where they're less trusted on tax & spend than Labour. Culturally, they're totally alien to anyone under 50 and haven't developed any inclusive centre-right narrative to isolate the radical Left and bring them in, so instead they're sympathetic to them. Meanwhile, they've squandered our early lead over the EU in the vaccine rollout and allowed a narrative to develop that Covid recovery challenges are the fault of Brexit. Thus, their mantle as the true defenders of Brexit could end up being a handicap for them not an asset.
Labour have plenty of problems of their own but I don't rule out that they'll now look preferable to the Tories in 2023/ 2024.
Greens were squeezed under Corbyn. Miliband not so much.
I think that the absolute numbers need to be looked at. Weren't the Greens polling higher under Corbyn than Miliband? Therefore less Green fundi?
Ooohhh... that's a good point.
Yes a green poll of 6% is a broader group than 3%.
Of course on current numbers that could be a big effect, though I think a fair number indicating Green at present are Corbynites in exile unlikely to back Starmer.
Worth noting too that Greens in 2017 and 2019 were strongly pro second EU referendum, so might have been hooked back in when Labour adopted that as policy in the autumn 2019.
In all these things past performance doesn't indicate future performance. Incidentally I voted Green in 2019.
Wasn't that rather disloyal considering your regard for JC? Or was it just the maths in your constituency?
Here is a question for all those in favour of compulsory mask wearing.
Would you be in favour of compulsory vaccination? Given it would affect only around 10% of the population (as opposed to everyone not exempt*) and be about a thousand times more effective at reducing transmission.
And if not, why not?
*Again your reminder that it is unlawful to demand proof of exemption from mask wearing so in practice nobody has to wear one.
So...
In Los Angeles, if you want to go to a public school (and are aged 12 and up), Covid vaccinations are compulsory. And they do this, because they'd rather have everyone jabbed than to have schooling be interrupted by constant people testing positive, and then them having to have homeschooling, and that disruption.
It's a fine balance.
I'm not that bothered by compulsory vaccinations, because they've been shown to be so effective.
If we have to have compulsion involved then it should be of something which is most effective and which is refused by the fewest number of people.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
One would think that the Greens would eclipse the LibDems, as has happened in other European countries.
The problem is that to achieve that - IMHO - they need to start winning real elections: councils, byelections, etc. And that's not really happening.
Let's look at the four byelections that have happened this parliament.
In the Hartlepool byelection, they got just 1.2%. They didn't stand in Airdrie & Shots (?! why ?!) They lost their deposit and went backwards in Chesham & Amersham They didn't stand in Batley & Spen
That's not the performance of a political party that is interested in winning and exercising power. They should be fighting every byelection and beating the LibDems there, and in council elections, etc.
Otherwise they're a pressure group, not a political party.
The Greens don't seem to have the capability to do the intense campaigning that wins seats.
That's the way the LDs win seats. If the Greens start to win seats I doubt it'll be the same.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
Would the Greens want him? 2017 Jez would have been attractive, and quite a coup, but 2021 Jez has various bits of baggage...
It will seem obvious in hindsight and we'll wonder how anyone ever missed reading the runes at the time.
Well, the runes are here now and they're very clear.
Are you expecting heavy Conservative losses in the Waitrose belt ?
And if so is that because people cannot afford housing or because people don't want housing built or both ?
The Conservatives under Boris are an empty vessel drifting on the tides and that's masked only by jokes and bluster.
They've already got an air of mixed competence and incipient corruption developing about them, and that fish rots from the head. They are not governing in the interests of the whole nation - the only message the non-retired hear is: Go F**k Yourself - and there are nasty economic headwinds heading our way that will make it much worse. They've got themselves into a position where they're less trusted on tax & spend than Labour. Culturally, they're totally alien to anyone under 50 and haven't developed any inclusive centre-right narrative to isolate the radical Left and bring them in, so instead they're sympathetic to them. Meanwhile, they've squandered our early lead over the EU in the vaccine rollout and allowed a narrative to develop that Covid recovery challenges are the fault of Brexit. Thus, their mantle as the true defenders of Brexit could end up being a handicap for them not an asset.
Labour have plenty of problems of their own but I don't rule out that they'll now look preferable to the Tories in 2023/ 2024.
The Conservatives will almost certainly win another majority in England again in 2023/24.
The question is whether Labour can win enough Tory marginals to get a hung parliament and then make Starmer PM with SNP and LD confidence and supply if combined Labour and the SNP and LDs have more seats than the Conservatives and DUP and NI Unionists
The Greens seem to be becoming for Labour what UKIP used to be for the Conservatives (certainly based on Yougov). Indeed 2019 was the first general election UKIP fell behind the Greens in voteshare at a UK general election since it was founded in 1993.
Of course in most general elections except 2015 most of the UKIP vote went back to the Conservatives on polling day, as was also the case for the Brexit Party vote in 2019. However that did not necessarily help the Conservatives if they could not also win over voters in the centre eg in 2015 the Conservatives won a majority they failed to achieve in 2010 or 2017 despite UKIP getting 12% of the vote and their highest ever voteshare as Cameron won swing voters in the middle
By election time it will be obvious to everyone that there is only one question: will the government be Tory or a Labour led centre left alliance. Everyone will know that in all the seats that can change hands you vote either Tory or for the party that can beat them, in every case that is LD, Lab or SNP.
Greens will vote Green in Bootle, Brighton Pavilion and South Holland but many won't do so where it would let in a Tory.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
Would the Greens want him? 2017 Jez would have been attractive, and quite a coup, but 2021 Jez has various bits of baggage...
It will seem obvious in hindsight and we'll wonder how anyone ever missed reading the runes at the time.
Well, the runes are here now and they're very clear.
The bit that I think we're all underplaying (partly because it's so damn scary) is how big the Coalition of Chaos landing zone is.
It's very easy to imagine a situation where the Conservatives have unambiguously lost, and are Boris (or Rishi, or Lizzie) Nomates, but where they still have the most seats, and maybe the most votes as well.
2010 worked, partly because the Conservatives were looking to their left anyway, and partly because Cam and Clegg were substantial human beings.
Hard to see anyone, in any party, with that degree of stature right now.
Lots of things could happen over the next few years and I think it's only human to graft past outcomes onto the future to help us make sense of it.
There won't be a 1997 wipeout even if Starmer wins, and nor will it be like the 2010 coalition. It will be something different.
If I were a Tory I'd be trying to get behind Liz Truss to eject Boris in 2022 or 2023 as she is hardworking, has an ability to advocate common sense on cultural issues, believes in economic and personal freedom, and gets a hearing outside the party faithful as well as withing it.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
Would the Greens want him? 2017 Jez would have been attractive, and quite a coup, but 2021 Jez has various bits of baggage...
It will seem obvious in hindsight and we'll wonder how anyone ever missed reading the runes at the time.
Well, the runes are here now and they're very clear.
Are you expecting heavy Conservative losses in the Waitrose belt ?
And if so is that because people cannot afford housing or because people don't want housing built or both ?
The Conservatives under Boris are an empty vessel drifting on the tides and that's masked only by jokes and bluster.
They've already got an air of mixed competence and incipient corruption developing about them, and that fish rots from the head. They are not governing in the interests of the whole nation - the only message the non-retired hear is: Go F**k Yourself - and there are nasty economic headwinds heading our way that will make it much worse. They've got themselves into a position where they're less trusted on tax & spend than Labour. Culturally, they're totally alien to anyone under 50 and haven't developed any inclusive centre-right narrative to isolate the radical Left and bring them in, so instead they're sympathetic to them. Meanwhile, they've squandered our early lead over the EU in the vaccine rollout and allowed a narrative to develop that Covid recovery challenges are the fault of Brexit. Thus, their mantle as the true defenders of Brexit could end up being a handicap for them not an asset.
Labour have plenty of problems of their own but I don't rule out that they'll now look preferable to the Tories in 2023/ 2024.
How has the UK 'squandered our early lead over the EU in the vaccine rollout' ?
Other countries were going to catch up on the first and second doses and the UK is well ahead on booster vaccinations. Other countries will catch up on those in a few months.
Meanwhile there have been fewer restrictions in the UK than in other countries.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
One would think that the Greens would eclipse the LibDems, as has happened in other European countries.
The problem is that to achieve that - IMHO - they need to start winning real elections: councils, byelections, etc. And that's not really happening.
Let's look at the four byelections that have happened this parliament.
In the Hartlepool byelection, they got just 1.2%. They didn't stand in Airdrie & Shots (?! why ?!) They lost their deposit and went backwards in Chesham & Amersham They didn't stand in Batley & Spen
That's not the performance of a political party that is interested in winning and exercising power. They should be fighting every byelection and beating the LibDems there, and in council elections, etc.
Otherwise they're a pressure group, not a political party.
The Greens don't seem to have the capability to do the intense campaigning that wins seats.
Too ideological?
LDs are *very* pragmatic.
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
So has anyone seen the news reports from Bulgaria ?
Me neither so why aren't there any ?
Bulgaria is a fascinating contrast with most other European countries with its minimal level of vaccination and allows comparison with previous waves of covid:
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
So has anyone seen the news reports from Bulgaria ?
Me neither so why aren't there any ?
Bulgaria is a fascinating contrast with most other European countries with its minimal level of vaccination and allows comparison with previous waves of covid:
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
Do you really think it’s their green credentials that is responsible for their decent polling?
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
One would think that the Greens would eclipse the LibDems, as has happened in other European countries.
The problem is that to achieve that - IMHO - they need to start winning real elections: councils, byelections, etc. And that's not really happening.
Let's look at the four byelections that have happened this parliament.
In the Hartlepool byelection, they got just 1.2%. They didn't stand in Airdrie & Shots (?! why ?!) They lost their deposit and went backwards in Chesham & Amersham They didn't stand in Batley & Spen
That's not the performance of a political party that is interested in winning and exercising power. They should be fighting every byelection and beating the LibDems there, and in council elections, etc.
Otherwise they're a pressure group, not a political party.
The Greens don't seem to have the capability to do the intense campaigning that wins seats.
Too ideological?
LDs are *very* pragmatic.
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
I'll not try to do any toasting, but I do rather think that the LDs are fanatical dogmatists. Their main issue is that they've forgotten what the thing was that they really wanted to get behind. Thus they appear pragmatic.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
Would the Greens want him? 2017 Jez would have been attractive, and quite a coup, but 2021 Jez has various bits of baggage...
It will seem obvious in hindsight and we'll wonder how anyone ever missed reading the runes at the time.
Well, the runes are here now and they're very clear.
Are you expecting heavy Conservative losses in the Waitrose belt ?
And if so is that because people cannot afford housing or because people don't want housing built or both ?
The Conservatives under Boris are an empty vessel drifting on the tides and that's masked only by jokes and bluster.
They've already got an air of mixed competence and incipient corruption developing about them, and that fish rots from the head. They are not governing in the interests of the whole nation - the only message the non-retired hear is: Go F**k Yourself - and there are nasty economic headwinds heading our way that will make it much worse. They've got themselves into a position where they're less trusted on tax & spend than Labour. Culturally, they're totally alien to anyone under 50 and haven't developed any inclusive centre-right narrative to isolate the radical Left and bring them in, so instead they're sympathetic to them. Meanwhile, they've squandered our early lead over the EU in the vaccine rollout and allowed a narrative to develop that Covid recovery challenges are the fault of Brexit. Thus, their mantle as the true defenders of Brexit could end up being a handicap for them not an asset.
Labour have plenty of problems of their own but I don't rule out that they'll now look preferable to the Tories in 2023/ 2024.
I agree but the Tories will keep winning as long as Labour remains the sort of party it currently is, ie. one that isn't trusted outside the big cities and university towns, suspected of being anti-patriotic and more concerned about injustice in other parts of the world than in the UK for example.
Greens were squeezed under Corbyn. Miliband not so much.
I think that the absolute numbers need to be looked at. Weren't the Greens polling higher under Corbyn than Miliband? Therefore less Green fundi?
Ooohhh... that's a good point.
Yes a green poll of 6% is a broader group than 3%.
Of course on current numbers that could be a big effect, though I think a fair number indicating Green at present are Corbynites in exile unlikely to back Starmer.
Worth noting too that Greens in 2017 and 2019 were strongly pro second EU referendum, so might have been hooked back in when Labour adopted that as policy in the autumn 2019.
In all these things past performance doesn't indicate future performance. Incidentally I voted Green in 2019.
Wasn't that rather disloyal considering your regard for JC? Or was it just the maths in your constituency?
It was to do with my particular constituency.
JC was a curates egg in my book. Good in parts and rotten in other parts. I could only have voted Labour if I were in a marginal, and I was not.
So has anyone seen the news reports from Bulgaria ?
Me neither so why aren't there any ?
Bulgaria is a fascinating contrast with most other European countries with its minimal level of vaccination and allows comparison with previous waves of covid:
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
In the 2019 GE there was a majority in the popular vote for a second referendum (Lab, LD, Green SNP, PC etc).
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
In the 2019 GE there was a majority in the popular vote for a second referendum (Lab, LD, Green SNP, PC etc).
That wasn't on the ballot paper. The GE was the GE.
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
In the 2019 GE there was a majority in the popular vote for a second referendum (Lab, LD, Green SNP, PC etc).
That wasn't on the ballot paper. The GE was the GE.
Of course. But it is a pretence that the electorate was increasingly Eurosceptic. The signs of buyers remorse for Brexit were already there.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
Would the Greens want him? 2017 Jez would have been attractive, and quite a coup, but 2021 Jez has various bits of baggage...
It will seem obvious in hindsight and we'll wonder how anyone ever missed reading the runes at the time.
Well, the runes are here now and they're very clear.
Are you expecting heavy Conservative losses in the Waitrose belt ?
And if so is that because people cannot afford housing or because people don't want housing built or both ?
The Conservatives under Boris are an empty vessel drifting on the tides and that's masked only by jokes and bluster.
They've already got an air of mixed competence and incipient corruption developing about them, and that fish rots from the head. They are not governing in the interests of the whole nation - the only message the non-retired hear is: Go F**k Yourself - and there are nasty economic headwinds heading our way that will make it much worse. They've got themselves into a position where they're less trusted on tax & spend than Labour. Culturally, they're totally alien to anyone under 50 and haven't developed any inclusive centre-right narrative to isolate the radical Left and bring them in, so instead they're sympathetic to them. Meanwhile, they've squandered our early lead over the EU in the vaccine rollout and allowed a narrative to develop that Covid recovery challenges are the fault of Brexit. Thus, their mantle as the true defenders of Brexit could end up being a handicap for them not an asset.
Labour have plenty of problems of their own but I don't rule out that they'll now look preferable to the Tories in 2023/ 2024.
I agree but the Tories will keep winning as long as Labour remains the sort of party it currently is, ie. one that isn't trusted outside the big cities and university towns, suspected of being anti-patriotic and more concerned about injustice in other parts of the world than in the UK for example.
I accept that in Corbyn's time Labour was "suspected of being anti-patriotic and more concerned about injustice in other parts of the world than in the UK", as you put it. Do you have any evidence that this is still the case? It is precisely that perception that Starmer and others have set about changing. Indeed, I haven't heard anything from Labour recently about injustices outside the UK. And, although he may not have succeeded yet, Starmer is doing all he can to kill the 'Labour is anti-patriotic' meme. Maybe they have to be renamed New Labour to convince you.
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
Do you really think it’s their green credentials that is responsible for their decent polling?
No, but I think it was UKIP's Euroscepticism that was behind its decent polling.
Given it's Friday evening, thought I'd have a look at booze (from Middle English bousen, to drink, which came from Middle Dutch buysen, to drink heavily, and before that from Proto-Germanic beuzą, one of their terms for beer)
I'll start with beer, which joined us - unsurprisingly - from German bier. The origin for bier is apparently much disputed, and hard to trace as it's been used for about 1400 years. I'm happy to go with the quite common idea that it was borrowed by West Germanic 6C monks from Vulgar Latin biber, a drink, from Latin bibere to drink.
If you fancy a lager, you might want to give it a while. Again from German, but not at all disputed, lagerbier is literally storehouse beer, or beer to be laid down. Lager for storehouse, comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root that we get the verb 'to lay' from.
Ale, guess what, comes from Germany! Much longer ago, as ealu the Old English word shows. It is derived from Proto-Germanic aluth another word for beer. This may have a more interesting root , as it might be from Proto-Indo-European alu- which indicates magic, sorcery and intoxication.
Prost!
Evening Blanche
Love the etymology posts.
So here is one I was hoping you could help me with.
Looking at wikipedia and various other sources, the word Constable is said to derive from he Latin "comes stabuli" (attendant to the stables).
Wiki also mentions that in France there was a title of 'Connétable de France' or Constable of France.
This latter ties in with what I was originally taught at University which is that Constable derives from Conné Table - or 'Known at the table' and it referred to the highest ranking commoner, usually the Steward of a castle, was known at (permitted to sit at) the table of the Lord.
Have you come across this? I can't seem to find any other references to it.
Hi Richard, I'm glad you're enjoying them!
I only know of the Latin comes stabuli etymology for Constable, but am intrigued by the Conné Table idea. Sadly I haven't been able to find anything to support it either.
The fact that the verb connaître has past participle connu, and doesn't conjugate to conné anywhere, makes me slightly sceptical of it, but that's not necessarily a problem - the Latin etymology changes m to nn and drops the s!
I noticed from my quick searches that Connétable seems to still be an official position (elected parish head) in the Channel Islands, and a Brittany brand of sardines.
OTOH comes tabulae would work if we think tabula may have supplanted mensa at some stage, and comes (s)tabulae/I are hardly distinguishable.
Evening both.
"Constable" is still an office in certain parts of the Church of England, with the position going back nearly 1000 years. CofE tradition often acts as a lens onto older offices and language, often for example parish boundaries still follow medieval boundaries.
There are several Cathedrals (eg York Minster) that have Cathedral Constabularies, who are responsible for security in the Cathedral and its precincts (another similar word), and specifically night watch. In York Minster it dates back to 1109.
I also know of one Cathedral with a (hopefully unused now) prison cell - Durham. But there must be others.
The Churchwarden of a normal parish church is also a constable (not sure how formal the title is) in that they have an extant power of arrest for offences committed in the church / churhyard. Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act iirc.
One more. In one British translation of the Bible - I think the New English Bible from around 1950-60 - the word "Constable" is used in a parable about settling disputes. Also one American version from the 1970s - the New American Standard Bible, Luke 12:58:
For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, in order that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison.
To me in an English context, that has a feel of the Constable being the official responsible for the local prison cell in the village centre. Other version use "Officer".
OF course we also used to have the "Parish Constable" in the parish tier of local government, and before that when ecclesiastical parishes had a role in government.
I was lazily thinking comes stabuli was a speculative, just so story sort of etymology. In fact the title dates all the way back to C4th Byzantium, which I think makes the derivation rock solid.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
Would the Greens want him? 2017 Jez would have been attractive, and quite a coup, but 2021 Jez has various bits of baggage...
It will seem obvious in hindsight and we'll wonder how anyone ever missed reading the runes at the time.
Well, the runes are here now and they're very clear.
Are you expecting heavy Conservative losses in the Waitrose belt ?
And if so is that because people cannot afford housing or because people don't want housing built or both ?
The Conservatives under Boris are an empty vessel drifting on the tides and that's masked only by jokes and bluster.
They've already got an air of mixed competence and incipient corruption developing about them, and that fish rots from the head. They are not governing in the interests of the whole nation - the only message the non-retired hear is: Go F**k Yourself - and there are nasty economic headwinds heading our way that will make it much worse. They've got themselves into a position where they're less trusted on tax & spend than Labour. Culturally, they're totally alien to anyone under 50 and haven't developed any inclusive centre-right narrative to isolate the radical Left and bring them in, so instead they're sympathetic to them. Meanwhile, they've squandered our early lead over the EU in the vaccine rollout and allowed a narrative to develop that Covid recovery challenges are the fault of Brexit. Thus, their mantle as the true defenders of Brexit could end up being a handicap for them not an asset.
Labour have plenty of problems of their own but I don't rule out that they'll now look preferable to the Tories in 2023/ 2024.
I agree but the Tories will keep winning as long as Labour remains the sort of party it currently is, ie. one that isn't trusted outside the big cities and university towns, suspected of being anti-patriotic and more concerned about injustice in other parts of the world than in the UK for example.
I accept that in Corbyn's time Labour was "suspected of being anti-patriotic and more concerned about injustice in other parts of the world than in the UK", as you put it. Do you have any evidence that this is still the case? It is precisely that perception that Starmer and others have set about changing. Indeed, I haven't heard anything from Labour recently about injustices outside the UK. And, although he may not have succeeded yet, Starmer is doing all he can to kill the 'Labour is anti-patriotic' meme. Maybe they have to be renamed New Labour to convince you.
Labour will lose in 2024 - if it does - because of perceptions on the economy. The anti-UK angle is dead and buried and that is very clear to mostly all voters. "Sir" Keir Starmer will never be able to be sold as anti-UK as Corbyn was.
I think Labour polling 40% is obviously very likely - but their number is pretty much fixed, it is the Tory vote that needs to fall if Labour is to win
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
Do you really think it’s their green credentials that is responsible for their decent polling?
No, but I think it was UKIP's Euroscepticism that was behind its decent polling.
I was comparing Green to UKIP.
Yes, why vote Green instead of the alternatives, which all have Green edges?
Either the others are not Green enough, not trusted to carry it through, or the voters see a fundamental change to a capitalist consumer economy as the core of a new Greener society. Or all of the above.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
Starmer will just dare the SNP to vote him down.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
It wasn't a problem until 2010 - even then it didn't have to be a problem but Nick Clegg was trapped into a coalition by some brilliant politics from David Cameron and William Hague and made two catastrophic unforced errors.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
Labour lead, probably yes. Chaos with Covid, not me.
How are you tubbs?
The signs on COVID are not good, I have the same feeling I had at a similar time last year and many here called me foolish for saying we needed another lockdown. I'm not calling for that quite yet but we need to put some restrictions back in.
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
In the 2019 GE there was a majority in the popular vote for a second referendum (Lab, LD, Green SNP, PC etc).
That wasn't on the ballot paper. The GE was the GE.
Of course. But it is a pretence that the electorate was increasingly Eurosceptic. The signs of buyers remorse for Brexit were already there.
Perhaps. Let's see in a year or two though. When the next GE takes place it'll clearly just about being a GE. However it'll be the best measure of whether there really is a substantial rejoin thought.
The LDs might just run on that.
I'm sure I (marginal leaver) have no crystal ball, but I'm even more sure that the remainers don't either.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
I would go 50/50 on each.
I really don't know where the covid situation goes next. It could be the peak today, or we could be in the foothills before a new peak. Even the best situation is going to be a mess for other services.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
Starmer will just dare the SNP to vote him down.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
That's not how it works. Almost certainly he'll need SNP support.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
Starmer will just dare the SNP to vote him down.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
That's not how it works. Almost certainly he'll need SNP support.
He will need SNP support but they won't be going into a coalition, at most it will be some sort of limited C&S deal.
This is why it's better for Labour to nullify the SNP as much as possible by helping the Lib Dems to do better
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
Starmer will just dare the SNP to vote him down.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
Starmer will just dare the SNP to vote him down.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
If as is likely the Tories still have most seats in a hung parliament Starmer won't be able to get into power unless the SNP not only vote the Tories down but actively give him a confidence and supply agreement too. Even if the LDs won 20-30 seats and Labour got 270 seats ie higher than 2010 and 2017, they would still need SNP support to form a government and the Tories would still likely have most seats
The lead is clearly significantly down and the underlying numbers are showing that this process is continuing. Polling parity and then Labour lead very soon.
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
In the 2019 GE there was a majority in the popular vote for a second referendum (Lab, LD, Green SNP, PC etc).
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
Starmer will just dare the SNP to vote him down.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
That's not how it works. Almost certainly he'll need SNP support.
He will need SNP support but they won't be going into a coalition, at most it will be some sort of limited C&S deal.
This is why it's better for Labour to nullify the SNP as much as possible by helping the Lib Dems to do better
The others need to vote him in to start with. The SNP will happily pull the rug, and I imagine that they'd like that. The LDs or Greens will be super-cautious. Very precise terms, and certainly c&s.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
Labour lead, probably yes. Chaos with Covid, not me.
How are you tubbs?
The signs on COVID are not good, I have the same feeling I had at a similar time last year and many here called me foolish for saying we needed another lockdown. I'm not calling for that quite yet but we need to put some restrictions back in.
I wouldn't think new legal restrictions will be brought in. Johnson has tied the government to the mast, and will sail on in the storm. We might hit the rocks or we might not.
I think though that there may well be a mass stay at home, as was seen in some US States. Without government support that could be quite difficult for some businesses.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
Labour lead, probably yes. Chaos with Covid, not me.
How are you tubbs?
The signs on COVID are not good, I have the same feeling I had at a similar time last year and many here called me foolish for saying we needed another lockdown. I'm not calling for that quite yet but we need to put some restrictions back in.
NO. No more restrictions. They were a mistake last time and they are a mistake now. I was talking to a headmaster of an infant school today. So many kids in year 2 especially with a) massive gaps in their education and b) massive issues of emotional resilience. What we have done to that generation is criminal.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
Labour lead, probably yes. Chaos with Covid, not me.
How are you tubbs?
The signs on COVID are not good, I have the same feeling I had at a similar time last year and many here called me foolish for saying we needed another lockdown. I'm not calling for that quite yet but we need to put some restrictions back in.
I’m well thanks. I feel we are at the height of the storm, and it will start to look better soon. The boosters will help, the kids have all had Covid so their rates will drop, and fast, and it will look better in a months time. And society is open. Covid has been tough for many, and many have died or been bereaved. I’ve been lucky, no one in my family or friends has died. Maybe that colours my perception? Maybe being a cancer survivor (9 years now) I feel we should live while we can, and not put things on hold. Keep the faith, and stay well.
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
It wasn't a problem until 2010 - even then it didn't have to be a problem but Nick Clegg was trapped into a coalition by some brilliant politics from David Cameron and William Hague and made two catastrophic unforced errors.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
Which bit of historical experience out of interest? Bear in mind how glittering the prize was compared to his realistic expectations when he became an MP
His catastrophic error was accepting the booby prize position of DPM. Great office of state or I walk, he should v said.
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
Indeed, but I think there's an element of the public that wishes to say "a pox on both your houses" and votes for a third party deliberately. Wasted voting be damned.
Up until 2010 that third party vote went to the Lib Dems. In 2015 that third party vote went to UKIP.
I think 2017 and 2019 were the exceptions to the rule. Corbyn plus Brexit combined to drive people to pick one side or another.
2023/24 could be a reversion to mean and a meaningful third party vote returns, this time in the form of the Greens. Not for especially Green reasons, but because UKIP and the Lib Dems have died and certain people don't see that big of a difference between Starmer or Johnson so the polarisation is reduced.
No. The minority Tory government wouldn't have lasted, there would have been another general election in the autumn and the Tories would have won it handsomely.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
Starmer will just dare the SNP to vote him down.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
That's not how it works. Almost certainly he'll need SNP support.
He will need SNP support but they won't be going into a coalition, at most it will be some sort of limited C&S deal.
This is why it's better for Labour to nullify the SNP as much as possible by helping the Lib Dems to do better
The others need to vote him in to start with. The SNP will happily pull the rug, and I imagine that they'd like that. The LDs or Greens will be super-cautious. Very precise terms, and certainly c&s.
If NOM, I would expect a Labour minority government before a further election a few months later. 1974 revisited.
My money is still on Con majority, albeit reduced.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
Labour lead, probably yes. Chaos with Covid, not me.
How are you tubbs?
The signs on COVID are not good, I have the same feeling I had at a similar time last year and many here called me foolish for saying we needed another lockdown. I'm not calling for that quite yet but we need to put some restrictions back in.
NO. No more restrictions. They were a mistake last time and they are a mistake now. I was talking to a headmaster of an infant school today. So many kids in year 2 especially with a) massive gaps in their education and b) massive issues of emotional resilience. What we have done to that generation is criminal.
Schools must not be locked down again under any circumstances in my opinion. No. No. No.
Smashed in Soho. London stays winning. Fuck plan b, fuck labour, fuck Keith and fuck Sadiq. #keeplondonopen
Coherent as always. Enjoy your evening #enjoythenightbushome
Sadiq? How about the Tories keep Rory and don't have to embarrass themselves with Sean Bailey? Plan B? You mean the government policy in waiting that Max will be praising next week?
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
Labour lead, probably yes. Chaos with Covid, not me.
How are you tubbs?
The signs on COVID are not good, I have the same feeling I had at a similar time last year and many here called me foolish for saying we needed another lockdown. I'm not calling for that quite yet but we need to put some restrictions back in.
The big difference between then and now is or are the vaccines. With 79% double vaccinated, the numbers likely to need hospital treatment and at risk of death from Covid are well down on where we were last year when we went into autumn with new variants and an unvaccinated and therefore unprotected population.
As to any kind of "restrictions" going forward, I am told by the "experts" on here even after 5-6 months, there is still plenty of protection afforded by vaccination and that is enhanced considerably by the booster vaccination. I am eligible for mine at the end of next month and while some are wanting to "jump ahead" and get theirs early I don't see why.
There's an argument for greater personal responsibility in terms of personal hygiene (hand washing and perhaps not going out and about if you are unwell) though whether the average drunk in Soho on a Friday night gets that in lieu of political ranting is debatable.
That's the problem with the current debate - no nuance or shades of grey - if you advocate no restrictions, you're accused of letting the virus loose and risking the lives of the elderly. If you advocate mask wearing or restrictions, you're accused of wanting to destroy the economy and attacking individual freedom.
Unfortunately, that's where we are - a dialogue not so much of the deaf but the daft.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
Starmer will just dare the SNP to vote him down.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
If as is likely the Tories still have most seats in a hung parliament Starmer won't be able to get into power unless the SNP not only vote the Tories down but actively give him a confidence and supply agreement too. Even if the LDs won 20-30 seats and Labour got 270 seats ie higher than 2010 and 2017, they would still need SNP support to form a government and the Tories would still likely have most seats
The SNP's difficulty will be that they won't have that much of a choice.
Back Labour, however grudgingly, or leave the Conservatives in place. Do the second, even passively, and they are in a similar position to a certain blended family member on a certain website.
They can cause trouble, any relationship will be ugly, and there will be limits on what a not-Conservative government can do, but they can only really go one way.
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
It wasn't a problem until 2010 - even then it didn't have to be a problem but Nick Clegg was trapped into a coalition by some brilliant politics from David Cameron and William Hague and made two catastrophic unforced errors.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
Which bit of historical experience out of interest? Bear in mind how glittering the prize was compared to his realistic expectations when he became an MP
His catastrophic error was accepting the booby prize position of DPM. Great office of state or I walk, he should v said.
Should have insisted on 2 or 3 specific ministries to take total control of.
Smashed in Soho. London stays winning. Fuck plan b, fuck labour, fuck Keith and fuck Sadiq. #keeplondonopen
Coherent as always. Enjoy your evening #enjoythenightbushome
Sadiq? How about the Tories keep Rory and don't have to embarrass themselves with Sean Bailey? Plan B? You mean the government policy in waiting that Max will be praising next week?
I doubt it, he's been quite vocal in his criticism of them as of late.
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
Indeed, but I think there's an element of the public that wishes to say "a pox on both your houses" and votes for a third party deliberately. Wasted voting be damned.
Up until 2010 that third party vote went to the Lib Dems. In 2015 that third party vote went to UKIP.
I think 2017 and 2019 were the exceptions to the rule. Corbyn plus Brexit combined to drive people to pick one side or another.
2023/24 could be a reversion to mean and a meaningful third party vote returns, this time in the form of the Greens. Not for especially Green reasons, but because UKIP and the Lib Dems have died and certain people don't see that big of a difference between Starmer or Johnson so the polarisation is reduced.
Yes. But you're a big fan of the PM. Those who aren't don't see him as being no different in the slightest. At all.
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
It wasn't a problem until 2010 - even then it didn't have to be a problem but Nick Clegg was trapped into a coalition by some brilliant politics from David Cameron and William Hague and made two catastrophic unforced errors.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
Which bit of historical experience out of interest? Bear in mind how glittering the prize was compared to his realistic expectations when he became an MP
His catastrophic error was accepting the booby prize position of DPM. Great office of state or I walk, he should v said.
Should have insisted on 2 or 3 specific ministries to take total control of.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
Starmer will just dare the SNP to vote him down.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
If as is likely the Tories still have most seats in a hung parliament Starmer won't be able to get into power unless the SNP not only vote the Tories down but actively give him a confidence and supply agreement too. Even if the LDs won 20-30 seats and Labour got 270 seats ie higher than 2010 and 2017, they would still need SNP support to form a government and the Tories would still likely have most seats
The SNP's difficulty will be that they won't have that much of a choice.
Back Labour, however grudgingly, or leave the Conservatives in place. Do the second, even passively, and they are in a similar position to a certain blended family member on a certain website.
They can cause trouble, any relationship will be ugly, and there will be limits on what a not-Conservative government can do, but they can only really go one way.
Yes. If the SNP keep Johnson in power, they would be destroyed in the election that would soon follow. I don't think the Parliamentary SNP would do it.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
A Labour lead on seats and votes even if Starmer becomes PM is unlikely. Absent a big recovery in Scotland it will be the SNP Labour needs to put Starmer in No 10 if he gets a hung parliament
Starmer will just dare the SNP to vote him down.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
If as is likely the Tories still have most seats in a hung parliament Starmer won't be able to get into power unless the SNP not only vote the Tories down but actively give him a confidence and supply agreement too. Even if the LDs won 20-30 seats and Labour got 270 seats ie higher than 2010 and 2017, they would still need SNP support to form a government and the Tories would still likely have most seats
The SNP's difficulty will be that they won't have that much of a choice.
Back Labour, however grudgingly, or leave the Conservatives in place. Do the second, even passively, and they are in a similar position to a certain blended family member on a certain website.
They can cause trouble, any relationship will be ugly, and there will be limits on what a not-Conservative government can do, but they can only really go one way.
Labour will accept a Indyref2 as the deal breaker so a LAB/SNP Type coalition of chaos is very much on the cards.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
Which bit of historical experience out of interest? Bear in mind how glittering the prize was compared to his realistic expectations when he became an MP
His catastrophic error was accepting the booby prize position of DPM. Great office of state or I walk, he should v said.
The Liberals had "worked with" Labour in both the 1920s and 1970s and on both occasions Labour had used the experience to gut the Liberals at the subsequent election. That's essentially what happened between 2010-15.
Clegg believed his strong personal relationship with Cameron would give him some political leverage but it didn't.
In order not to be a dead fly, you have to make sure you stay clear of both the flypaper AND the honey. Cameron and Hague lured the LDs into the honey trap of coalition - it was politically brilliant and made the LDs look like third-rate amateurs.
I supported the coalition in 2010 but the AV stupidity and the student fees U-turn were catastrophic and unnecessary political errors which were perpetuated by a political leader picked not because of his political acumen but because he was seen as the "response" to Cameron just as Cameron himself was seen as the "response" to Blair.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
Labour lead, probably yes. Chaos with Covid, not me.
How are you tubbs?
The signs on COVID are not good, I have the same feeling I had at a similar time last year and many here called me foolish for saying we needed another lockdown. I'm not calling for that quite yet but we need to put some restrictions back in.
The big difference between then and now is or are the vaccines. With 79% double vaccinated, the numbers likely to need hospital treatment and at risk of death from Covid are well down on where we were last year when we went into autumn with new variants and an unvaccinated and therefore unprotected population.
As to any kind of "restrictions" going forward, I am told by the "experts" on here even after 5-6 months, there is still plenty of protection afforded by vaccination and that is enhanced considerably by the booster vaccination. I am eligible for mine at the end of next month and while some are wanting to "jump ahead" and get theirs early I don't see why.
There's an argument for greater personal responsibility in terms of personal hygiene (hand washing and perhaps not going out and about if you are unwell) though whether the average drunk in Soho on a Friday night gets that in lieu of political ranting is debatable.
That's the problem with the current debate - no nuance or shades of grey - if you advocate no restrictions, you're accused of letting the virus loose and risking the lives of the elderly. If you advocate mask wearing or restrictions, you're accused of wanting to destroy the economy and attacking individual freedom.
Unfortunately, that's where we are - a dialogue not so much of the deaf but the daft.
Yes, for some reason we are stuck in very polarised debates (PB and the rest of the country). I would be accepting of plan b if I genuinely thought it was needed, but as it stands I don’t. I’m as sure as I’ve been about anything that the kids Covid cases can not sustain at current rates. The only issue for me is if other age groups increase, but tbh the vaccines are suppressing spread. We know this because there are no restrictions in place and the current R is estimated at 1 to 1.2. Boosters will make a huge difference, as shown by th3 latest data on Pfizer with three doses and the cases in Israel after they started boosting. I understand how others will not agree. Superficially it looks like last autumn, just before things went wrong. But it’s not, because vaccines plus recovered infections means more than 90% of over 18’s have antibodies/some degree of immunity.
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
Agreed. There's no reason to vote tactically in a safe seat. So even the 26% who went Labour in 2015 may have been significantly more in marginals.
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion about the fact that the Greens are overtaking the LibDems in some polls. Insofar as the LibDem vote is a "plague on both your houses" vote rather than a vote for their policies, they may be at risk of being displaced as the third party nationally. They could really do with a deal giving them a clear run in Blue Wall seats in exchange for some middle-class lomdon seats where the Greens could do very well.
I wonder what would happen if Corbyn was denied a Labour seat and joined the Greens?
Would the Greens want him? 2017 Jez would have been attractive, and quite a coup, but 2021 Jez has various bits of baggage...
It will seem obvious in hindsight and we'll wonder how anyone ever missed reading the runes at the time.
Well, the runes are here now and they're very clear.
Are you expecting heavy Conservative losses in the Waitrose belt ?
And if so is that because people cannot afford housing or because people don't want housing built or both ?
The Conservatives under Boris are an empty vessel drifting on the tides and that's masked only by jokes and bluster.
They've already got an air of mixed competence and incipient corruption developing about them, and that fish rots from the head. They are not governing in the interests of the whole nation - the only message the non-retired hear is: Go F**k Yourself - and there are nasty economic headwinds heading our way that will make it much worse. They've got themselves into a position where they're less trusted on tax & spend than Labour. Culturally, they're totally alien to anyone under 50 and haven't developed any inclusive centre-right narrative to isolate the radical Left and bring them in, so instead they're sympathetic to them. Meanwhile, they've squandered our early lead over the EU in the vaccine rollout and allowed a narrative to develop that Covid recovery challenges are the fault of Brexit. Thus, their mantle as the true defenders of Brexit could end up being a handicap for them not an asset.
Labour have plenty of problems of their own but I don't rule out that they'll now look preferable to the Tories in 2023/ 2024.
Even accepting that I am rather unusual in my views, I don't accept that the tories are culturally alien to anyone under 50. Far from it. They appeal instead to people a large group of people with low expectations of government, and who know what they are up to and don't actually mind. I would count myself in this group. For someone who sees the essential purpose of government being to avert the mounting existential catastrophe of human existence for another day, they are a pretty good bet. Johnson in particular. He manages to bat off at least some of the insane, crazy shit that people keep making up as solutions to the unbearable contradictions of living in a post post industrial society, and in normal times gets snuck in under the radar by ambitious idiots under the guise of progress with all sorts of intolerably stupid outcomes for society. Johnson is ok. The bribing pensioners stuff is morally intolerable, but an acceptable price for holding off the more extreme antics of the woke. Overall, he gets a 6/10
If the Lords back this amendment, abandoning all adherence to scope, it will be viewed as a 10/10 breach of trust / way of doing things. It will send a shudder down govt as to what it means for other leg. hawks for Lords reform will rightly circle 5/
As with Brexit leg that got hijacked, some Lords may be aware that the fact the legislation has a hard deadline for Royal Assent means the Parliament Acts cannot be used. There is no way to override the Lords on a short timescale and this strengthens their hand 6/
But for all the reasons stated above regarding how BIG a step it would be for the Lords to vote for this, the question for the Lords is whether THIS is the amendment they want to start the war on. Once it starts the contamination will spread across the leg programme 7/
Irrespective of the merits or not of reinstating the UC uplift, the wider ramifications are significant. With Budget votes just around the corner, MPs also have a much more powerful and conventional tool to show their disagreement should they so wish. End/
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
It wasn't a problem until 2010 - even then it didn't have to be a problem but Nick Clegg was trapped into a coalition by some brilliant politics from David Cameron and William Hague and made two catastrophic unforced errors.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
Which bit of historical experience out of interest? Bear in mind how glittering the prize was compared to his realistic expectations when he became an MP
His catastrophic error was accepting the booby prize position of DPM. Great office of state or I walk, he should v said.
Should have insisted on 2 or 3 specific ministries to take total control of.
Yes, it's amazing how the Lib Dems didn't realise how much power they had after the 2010 election (compared to say the DUP after May's election). The Tories were so desperate to be in power after 13 years of defeat that Nick Clegg could have been Chancellor, and at the very least got PR for local elections and a democratic House of Lords.
But all they got was cuts to Income tax (which anybody with a few IQ points would know the Tories would take credit for), and a vote for introducing AV (not an actuall immediate change to the voting sytem, but vote for a very slightly more proportionate electoral system), which they agreed to by *INCREASING* student fees, something which their policy of eliminating gave half of their votes.
I know it's the four most dangerous words in politics but I honestly think: This time is different.
If the Greens really breakthrough in the polling, and they seem to be doing so, then the best comparison may not be the Greens of the past but UKIP of 2015. They went from 3.1% to 12.6% in one leap despite many people assuming they'd fall back.
That being said... the other three parties were Europhilic, while the population was increasingly Eurosceptic.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
Indeed, but I think there's an element of the public that wishes to say "a pox on both your houses" and votes for a third party deliberately. Wasted voting be damned.
Up until 2010 that third party vote went to the Lib Dems. In 2015 that third party vote went to UKIP.
I think 2017 and 2019 were the exceptions to the rule. Corbyn plus Brexit combined to drive people to pick one side or another.
2023/24 could be a reversion to mean and a meaningful third party vote returns, this time in the form of the Greens. Not for especially Green reasons, but because UKIP and the Lib Dems have died and certain people don't see that big of a difference between Starmer or Johnson so the polarisation is reduced.
Yes. But you're a big fan of the PM. Those who aren't don't see him as being no different in the slightest. At all.
Oh I'm not thinking of myself, I do see a difference.
Actually I'm more thinking @bigjohnowls and similar.
Labour lead by the end of this year, must almost be nailed on at this point, surely?
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
Labour lead, probably yes. Chaos with Covid, not me.
How are you tubbs?
The signs on COVID are not good, I have the same feeling I had at a similar time last year and many here called me foolish for saying we needed another lockdown. I'm not calling for that quite yet but we need to put some restrictions back in.
The big difference between then and now is or are the vaccines. With 79% double vaccinated, the numbers likely to need hospital treatment and at risk of death from Covid are well down on where we were last year when we went into autumn with new variants and an unvaccinated and therefore unprotected population.
As to any kind of "restrictions" going forward, I am told by the "experts" on here even after 5-6 months, there is still plenty of protection afforded by vaccination and that is enhanced considerably by the booster vaccination. I am eligible for mine at the end of next month and while some are wanting to "jump ahead" and get theirs early I don't see why.
There's an argument for greater personal responsibility in terms of personal hygiene (hand washing and perhaps not going out and about if you are unwell) though whether the average drunk in Soho on a Friday night gets that in lieu of political ranting is debatable.
That's the problem with the current debate - no nuance or shades of grey - if you advocate no restrictions, you're accused of letting the virus loose and risking the lives of the elderly. If you advocate mask wearing or restrictions, you're accused of wanting to destroy the economy and attacking individual freedom.
Unfortunately, that's where we are - a dialogue not so much of the deaf but the daft.
Yes, for some reason we are stuck in very polarised debates (PB and the rest of the country). I would be accepting of plan b if I genuinely thought it was needed, but as it stands I don’t. I’m as sure as I’ve been about anything that the kids Covid cases can not sustain at current rates. The only issue for me is if other age groups increase, but tbh the vaccines are suppressing spread. We know this because there are no restrictions in place and the current R is estimated at 1 to 1.2. Boosters will make a huge difference, as shown by th3 latest data on Pfizer with three doses and the cases in Israel after they started boosting. I understand how others will not agree. Superficially it looks like last autumn, just before things went wrong. But it’s not, because vaccines plus recovered infections means more than 90% of over 18’s have antibodies/some degree of immunity.
There is also a lack of clarity/understanding about what Plan B is.
If it is simply the official govt plan, which is vaccine passports for big events and nightclubs, masks (presumably in supermarkets and public transport), and encouraging wfh then it is not really a big deal, either in restrictions or change from current status quo.
Lots of clubs and big events are already using vaccine passports, others go further and demand a recent negative test. Whether masks are voluntary or legally required but not enforced, won't make much difference to mask usage. Javid or Boris asking businesses to switch to wfh will have an impact at the margins at most.
So if thats all it is, whilst I think its unnecessary, it's not a big deal. But presumably those who favour plan B are expecting/desiring it to be govt Plan B plus more restrictions, otherwise why the big clamour for it?
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
It wasn't a problem until 2010 - even then it didn't have to be a problem but Nick Clegg was trapped into a coalition by some brilliant politics from David Cameron and William Hague and made two catastrophic unforced errors.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
Which bit of historical experience out of interest? Bear in mind how glittering the prize was compared to his realistic expectations when he became an MP
His catastrophic error was accepting the booby prize position of DPM. Great office of state or I walk, he should v said.
Should have insisted on 2 or 3 specific ministries to take total control of.
Yes, it's amazing how the Lib Dems didn't realise how much power they had after the 2010 election (compared to say the DUP after May's election). The Tories were so desperate to be in power after 13 years of defeat that Nick Clegg could have been Chancellor, and at the very least got PR for local elections and a democratic House of Lords.
But all they got was cuts to Income tax (which anybody with a few IQ points would know the Tories would take credit for), and a vote for introducing AV (not an actuall immediate change to the voting sytem, but vote for a very slightly more proportionate electoral system), which they agreed to by *INCREASING* student fees, something which their policy of eliminating gave half of their votes.
Nick Clegg was a *ucking nobb
In practice they got shish-kebabed. Gordon Brown refused to sit in Downing Street any longer and resigned. Which forced Cameron to form a government in a minority, and put the pressure on Clegg to bring the LD parliamentary party with him.
He should have held out of course. But Cameron could have said "you had your chance" and gone minority on him...
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
If most of the new cases are young people, and most of the deaths are people who refused the vaccine, things aren't as bad as they might seem. Covid-19 isn't serious in most young people, and if you refused the vaccine that's your decision to risk your life.
Somebody can explain how the Lib Dems went from scrapping tuition fees to voting to increase them
The only explanation I can possible offer was Clegg was nobbled by the Treasury civil servants who told him just how bad the public finances had been left by Labour (remember Liam Byrne's "there is no money left" note).
I suppose from a decade on I'm wondering why we couldn't have borrowed a bit more to ensure tuition fees remained non-existent for domestic students. I mean, we're on course to borrow £150 billion or more this year and no one seems that bothered - we could have continued to keep university tuition free quite easily.
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
It wasn't a problem until 2010 - even then it didn't have to be a problem but Nick Clegg was trapped into a coalition by some brilliant politics from David Cameron and William Hague and made two catastrophic unforced errors.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
Which bit of historical experience out of interest? Bear in mind how glittering the prize was compared to his realistic expectations when he became an MP
His catastrophic error was accepting the booby prize position of DPM. Great office of state or I walk, he should v said.
On a personal level for him was DPM really that bad a prize?
He was possibly the most substantial DPM ever. As part of the Quad, Clegg and Alexander basically had a veto and great input over almost every policy across the whole of government not just a small part of it.
The great mistake was having supped on one side of the fence trying to reposition themselves immediately back to the middle which pleased nobody. Centre Lefties didn't forgive them for going into office, while Centre Righties saw them rejecting everything they'd done and the Tories were given free reign to claim all the credit and be the continuation.
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
Death rates are still far below January. The remaining rise in cases is mainly amongst under 30s and especially under 18s most of whom have not yet been fully vaccinated.
Otherwise if we do not accept vaccinations are the way out and just rely on masks and lockdowns again as soon as we get a rise in cases, especially as we head into winter, we will never get out. Masks and lockdowns will be with us for the rest of our lives
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
If most of the new cases are young people, and most of the deaths are people who refused the vaccine, things aren't as bad as they might seem.
Many on here were predicting herd immunity well before now leading to falling cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
Those armchair experts clearly were not very expert.
Somebody can explain how the Lib Dems went from scrapping tuition fees to voting to increase them
The only explanation I can possible offer was Clegg was nobbled by the Treasury civil servants who told him just how bad the public finances had been left by Labour (remember Liam Byrne's "there is no money left" note).
I suppose from a decade on I'm wondering why we couldn't have borrowed a bit more to ensure tuition fees remained non-existent for domestic students. I mean, we're on course to borrow £150 billion or more this year and no one seems that bothered - we could have continued to keep university tuition free quite easily.
Increasing tuition fees was the correct decision. There's no way supermarket workers should have to pay for the middle class lifestyle.
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
It wasn't a problem until 2010 - even then it didn't have to be a problem but Nick Clegg was trapped into a coalition by some brilliant politics from David Cameron and William Hague and made two catastrophic unforced errors.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
Which bit of historical experience out of interest? Bear in mind how glittering the prize was compared to his realistic expectations when he became an MP
His catastrophic error was accepting the booby prize position of DPM. Great office of state or I walk, he should v said.
On a personal level for him was DPM really that bad a prize?
He was possibly the most substantial DPM ever. As part of the Quad, Clegg and Alexander basically had a veto and great input over almost every policy across the whole of government not just a small part of it.
The great mistake was having supped on one side of the fence trying to reposition themselves immediately back to the middle which pleased nobody. Centre Lefties didn't forgive them for going into office, while Centre Righties saw them rejecting everything they'd done and the Tories were given free reign to claim all the credit and be the continuation.
Free REIN please - means letting a horse do what it likes.
Alexander looked more substantial than clegg precisely because of having a proper job.
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
If most of the new cases are young people, and most of the deaths are people who refused the vaccine, things aren't as bad as they might seem. Covid-19 isn't serious in most young people, and if you refused the vaccine that's your decision to risk your life.
There were some stats earlier in the week showing the number of deaths (or maybe serious cases) amongst the oldest cohort were equal/similar between vaccinated and unvaccinated. That's quite something when you consider the huge take up of vaccines in that cohort.
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
Vaccines are the way out though. But even against the original Covid the vaccines weren’t 100%. And a lot of those dying are unvaccinated fools. It’s been complicated, but we are in a massively better position now than we’ve been since feb 2020.
My latest project is finding out what percentage of MPs elected since 2010 are women, because the overall figure is 34% (222 out of 650), but I think the figure will be much closer to 50% for those elected since that date. Therefore with retirements it may not be long before the percentage is much higher than 34%.
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
Vaccines are the way out though. But even against the original Covid the vaccines weren’t 100%. And a lot of those dying are unvaccinated fools. It’s been complicated, but we are in a massively better position now than we’ve been since feb 2020.
But not out, as so many here predicted. We aren't out of COVID by a long way
Somebody can explain how the Lib Dems went from scrapping tuition fees to voting to increase them
I do remember the general hilarity, even among LibDem MPs, when Harriet Harman politely asked Clegg if he could give an update on progress towards abolition.
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
If most of the new cases are young people, and most of the deaths are people who refused the vaccine, things aren't as bad as they might seem.
Many on here were predicting herd immunity well before now leading to falling cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
Those armchair experts clearly were not very expert.
We've got herd immunity already. That's why hospital admissions and deaths are so very low despite the total absence of legal restrictions, next to nobody bothering with ridiculous face coverings etc
If we didn't have it, we'd have exponential growth, a lot of deaths and a collapsing NHS.
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
I cannot recall anyone suggesting deaths would be eliminated nor will they be as this becomes endemic
I had my booster today and the vaccines are working for 6 months from second, so the acceleration in boosters is essential, but so is condemning those who refuse to be vaccinated
It must also be remembered it was the JCVI who irresponsibly delayed the vaccination of the young people and they need calling out.
My wife and I have a flu vaccine every year and still people die of flu and covid will be much the same for the foreseeable future
The vaccines have saved over 130,000 deaths so far and they will succeed to reduce this to a flu like status, and only if a new variant comes along will lockdowns be required again
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
If most of the new cases are young people, and most of the deaths are people who refused the vaccine, things aren't as bad as they might seem.
Many on here were predicting herd immunity well before now leading to falling cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
Those armchair experts clearly were not very expert.
Partly because delta is so much more infectious. Original Covid would be crushed by the vaccines, delta not so much.
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
It wasn't a problem until 2010 - even then it didn't have to be a problem but Nick Clegg was trapped into a coalition by some brilliant politics from David Cameron and William Hague and made two catastrophic unforced errors.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
Which bit of historical experience out of interest? Bear in mind how glittering the prize was compared to his realistic expectations when he became an MP
His catastrophic error was accepting the booby prize position of DPM. Great office of state or I walk, he should v said.
On a personal level for him was DPM really that bad a prize?
He was possibly the most substantial DPM ever. As part of the Quad, Clegg and Alexander basically had a veto and great input over almost every policy across the whole of government not just a small part of it.
The great mistake was having supped on one side of the fence trying to reposition themselves immediately back to the middle which pleased nobody. Centre Lefties didn't forgive them for going into office, while Centre Righties saw them rejecting everything they'd done and the Tories were given free reign to claim all the credit and be the continuation.
Free REIN please - means letting a horse do what it likes.
Alexander looked more substantial than clegg precisely because of having a proper job.
I thought it was reign as in leadership, like a monarch.
The PM doesn't have a "proper job" of doing an actual department because he has his finger in every pie. Clegg did too. If he'd limited himself to one department could he have kept as close an eye on all the others?
Re Mike’s charts, one interpretation might be that Greens will switch to Labour when they see a Labour leader is radical eg Corbyn but won’t when they see an insipid Labour Labour eg Milliband.
It also seems like that is a stronger driving factor than whether an election is close. For example, in 2015, which was thought to be close, Greens stuck with the Greens. In 2017, when people thought May would win a big majority, they went to Labour regardless.
If point 1 is right, then I don’t think Mike’s assumption at the end of right. Starmer is unlikely to enthuse the Greens to switch to Labour.
Everything depends on how things look in a particular seat. I voted for Corbyn's party last time in my super marginal because to me impeding Boris was the overwhelming priority.
So you voted for someone who tolerated - at best - anti-semitism.
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
Vaccines are the way out though. But even against the original Covid the vaccines weren’t 100%. And a lot of those dying are unvaccinated fools. It’s been complicated, but we are in a massively better position now than we’ve been since feb 2020.
But not out, as so many here predicted. We aren't out of COVID by a long way
Comments
One would think that the Greens would eclipse the LibDems, as has happened in other European countries.
The problem is that to achieve that - IMHO - they need to start winning real elections: councils, byelections, etc. And that's not really happening.
Let's look at the four byelections that have happened this parliament.
In the Hartlepool byelection, they got just 1.2%.
They didn't stand in Airdrie & Shots (?! why ?!)
They lost their deposit and went backwards in Chesham & Amersham
They didn't stand in Batley & Spen
That's not the performance of a political party that is interested in winning and exercising power. They should be fighting every byelection and beating the LibDems there, and in council elections, etc.
Otherwise they're a pressure group, not a political party.
Still, don't have nightmares, everyone.
They've already got an air of mixed competence and incipient corruption developing about them, and that fish rots from the head. They are not governing in the interests of the whole nation - the only message the non-retired hear is: Go F**k Yourself - and there are nasty economic headwinds heading our way that will make it much worse. They've got themselves into a position where they're less trusted on tax & spend than Labour. Culturally, they're totally alien to anyone under 50 and haven't developed any inclusive centre-right narrative to isolate the radical Left and bring them in, so instead they're sympathetic to them. Meanwhile, they've squandered our early lead over the EU in the vaccine rollout and allowed a narrative to develop that Covid recovery challenges are the fault of Brexit. Thus, their mantle as the true defenders of Brexit could end up being a handicap for them not an asset.
Labour have plenty of problems of their own but I don't rule out that they'll now look preferable to the Tories in 2023/ 2024.
However I do like my bins collected.
The question is whether Labour can win enough Tory marginals to get a hung parliament and then make Starmer PM with SNP and LD confidence and supply if combined Labour and the SNP and LDs have more seats than the Conservatives and DUP and NI Unionists
Greens will vote Green in Bootle, Brighton Pavilion and South Holland but many won't do so where it would let in a Tory.
There won't be a 1997 wipeout even if Starmer wins, and nor will it be like the 2010 coalition. It will be something different.
If I were a Tory I'd be trying to get behind Liz Truss to eject Boris in 2022 or 2023 as she is hardworking, has an ability to advocate common sense on cultural issues, believes in economic and personal freedom, and gets a hearing outside the party faithful as well as withing it.
Other countries were going to catch up on the first and second doses and the UK is well ahead on booster vaccinations. Other countries will catch up on those in a few months.
Meanwhile there have been fewer restrictions in the UK than in other countries.
LDs are *very* pragmatic.
I got my nuts roasted when after C&A I dared to suggest on LDV that local policy being entirely different to national policy was a problem.
Pretty much all the main UK political parties are Green (to one extent or another), so it's harder for them to differentiate.
JC was a curates egg in my book. Good in parts and rotten in other parts. I could only have voted Labour if I were in a marginal, and I was not.
And does anyone think we are not headed for total chaos with COVID? How has this happened again.
I was comparing Green to UKIP.
I was lazily thinking comes stabuli was a speculative, just so story sort of etymology. In fact the title dates all the way back to C4th Byzantium, which I think makes the derivation rock solid.
I think Labour polling 40% is obviously very likely - but their number is pretty much fixed, it is the Tory vote that needs to fall if Labour is to win
Either the others are not Green enough, not trusted to carry it through, or the voters see a fundamental change to a capitalist consumer economy as the core of a new Greener society. Or all of the above.
People aren't getting it, he spends so much time attacking Sturgeon specifically because he's seen the coming attacks on him of being in Nicola's pocket. He needs that image gone quickly as that will be his undoing.
I think any idea the Cons will be governing with the DUP will be also unpopular. I keep saying it but it is really in Labour's interest for the Lib Dems to take lots of Southern seats, it should stay out of these places like Guildford and Winchester completely.
I think NOM is value and I think in time this will become clearer.
A more politically savvy LD leader would have realised from historical experience that supping with either of the two other major parties required the longest of spoons.
The signs on COVID are not good, I have the same feeling I had at a similar time last year and many here called me foolish for saying we needed another lockdown. I'm not calling for that quite yet but we need to put some restrictions back in.
The LDs might just run on that.
I'm sure I (marginal leaver) have no crystal ball, but I'm even more sure that the remainers don't either.
I really don't know where the covid situation goes next. It could be the peak today, or we could be in the foothills before a new peak. Even the best situation is going to be a mess for other services.
This is why it's better for Labour to nullify the SNP as much as possible by helping the Lib Dems to do better
I am totally shocked, not.
The lead is clearly significantly down and the underlying numbers are showing that this process is continuing. Polling parity and then Labour lead very soon.
Con+UKIP+BXP+DUP+UUP got fewer votes
I think though that there may well be a mass stay at home, as was seen in some US States. Without government support that could be quite difficult for some businesses.
I was talking to a headmaster of an infant school today. So many kids in year 2 especially with a) massive gaps in their education and b) massive issues of emotional resilience. What we have done to that generation is criminal.
And society is open.
Covid has been tough for many, and many have died or been bereaved. I’ve been lucky, no one in my family or friends has died. Maybe that colours my perception? Maybe being a cancer survivor (9 years now) I feel we should live while we can, and not put things on hold.
Keep the faith, and stay well.
His catastrophic error was accepting the booby prize position of DPM. Great office of state or I walk, he should v said.
Up until 2010 that third party vote went to the Lib Dems. In 2015 that third party vote went to UKIP.
I think 2017 and 2019 were the exceptions to the rule. Corbyn plus Brexit combined to drive people to pick one side or another.
2023/24 could be a reversion to mean and a meaningful third party vote returns, this time in the form of the Greens. Not for especially Green reasons, but because UKIP and the Lib Dems have died and certain people don't see that big of a difference between Starmer or Johnson so the polarisation is reduced.
My money is still on Con majority, albeit reduced.
As to any kind of "restrictions" going forward, I am told by the "experts" on here even after 5-6 months, there is still plenty of protection afforded by vaccination and that is enhanced considerably by the booster vaccination. I am eligible for mine at the end of next month and while some are wanting to "jump ahead" and get theirs early I don't see why.
There's an argument for greater personal responsibility in terms of personal hygiene (hand washing and perhaps not going out and about if you are unwell) though whether the average drunk in Soho on a Friday night gets that in lieu of political ranting is debatable.
That's the problem with the current debate - no nuance or shades of grey - if you advocate no restrictions, you're accused of letting the virus loose and risking the lives of the elderly. If you advocate mask wearing or restrictions, you're accused of wanting to destroy the economy and attacking individual freedom.
Unfortunately, that's where we are - a dialogue not so much of the deaf but the daft.
Back Labour, however grudgingly, or leave the Conservatives in place. Do the second, even passively, and they are in a similar position to a certain blended family member on a certain website.
They can cause trouble, any relationship will be ugly, and there will be limits on what a not-Conservative government can do, but they can only really go one way.
Those who aren't don't see him as being no different in the slightest. At all.
Clegg believed his strong personal relationship with Cameron would give him some political leverage but it didn't.
In order not to be a dead fly, you have to make sure you stay clear of both the flypaper AND the honey. Cameron and Hague lured the LDs into the honey trap of coalition - it was politically brilliant and made the LDs look like third-rate amateurs.
I supported the coalition in 2010 but the AV stupidity and the student fees U-turn were catastrophic and unnecessary political errors which were perpetuated by a political leader picked not because of his political acumen but because he was seen as the "response" to Cameron just as Cameron himself was seen as the "response" to Blair.
I understand how others will not agree. Superficially it looks like last autumn, just before things went wrong. But it’s not, because vaccines plus recovered infections means more than 90% of over 18’s have antibodies/some degree of immunity.
If the Lords back this amendment, abandoning all adherence to scope, it will be viewed as a 10/10 breach of trust / way of doing things. It will send a shudder down govt as to what it means for other leg. hawks for Lords reform will rightly circle 5/
As with Brexit leg that got hijacked, some Lords may be aware that the fact the legislation has a hard deadline for Royal Assent means the Parliament Acts cannot be used. There is no way to override the Lords on a short timescale and this strengthens their hand 6/
But for all the reasons stated above regarding how BIG a step it would be for the Lords to vote for this, the question for the Lords is whether THIS is the amendment they want to start the war on. Once it starts the contamination will spread across the leg programme 7/
Irrespective of the merits or not of reinstating the UC uplift, the wider ramifications are significant. With Budget votes just around the corner, MPs also have a much more powerful and conventional tool to show their disagreement should they so wish. End/
But all they got was cuts to Income tax (which anybody with a few IQ points would know the Tories would take credit for), and a vote for introducing AV (not an actuall immediate change to the voting sytem, but vote for a very slightly more proportionate electoral system), which they agreed to by *INCREASING* student fees, something which their policy of eliminating gave half of their votes.
Nick Clegg was a *ucking knob
The evidence is it is the young and unvaccinated being affected and the vaccines are working
The Downing Street charts were evidence that there is no need to panic and it seems Labour agrees
Actually I'm more thinking @bigjohnowls and similar.
If it is simply the official govt plan, which is vaccine passports for big events and nightclubs, masks (presumably in supermarkets and public transport), and encouraging wfh then it is not really a big deal, either in restrictions or change from current status quo.
Lots of clubs and big events are already using vaccine passports, others go further and demand a recent negative test. Whether masks are voluntary or legally required but not enforced, won't make much difference to mask usage. Javid or Boris asking businesses to switch to wfh will have an impact at the margins at most.
So if thats all it is, whilst I think its unnecessary, it's not a big deal. But presumably those who favour plan B are expecting/desiring it to be govt Plan B plus more restrictions, otherwise why the big clamour for it?
He should have held out of course. But Cameron could have said "you had your chance" and gone minority on him...
But I think some should accept that predictions that deaths would have been eliminated by now and that cases would have fallen through the floor, that vaccines were the total way out of this, have surely been proved wrong
https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/1451653620198486023
I suppose from a decade on I'm wondering why we couldn't have borrowed a bit more to ensure tuition fees remained non-existent for domestic students. I mean, we're on course to borrow £150 billion or more this year and no one seems that bothered - we could have continued to keep university tuition free quite easily.
He was possibly the most substantial DPM ever. As part of the Quad, Clegg and Alexander basically had a veto and great input over almost every policy across the whole of government not just a small part of it.
The great mistake was having supped on one side of the fence trying to reposition themselves immediately back to the middle which pleased nobody. Centre Lefties didn't forgive them for going into office, while Centre Righties saw them rejecting everything they'd done and the Tories were given free reign to claim all the credit and be the continuation.
Otherwise if we do not accept vaccinations are the way out and just rely on masks and lockdowns again as soon as we get a rise in cases, especially as we head into winter, we will never get out. Masks and lockdowns will be with us for the rest of our lives
Those armchair experts clearly were not very expert.
Alexander looked more substantial than clegg precisely because of having a proper job.
My latest project is finding out what percentage of MPs elected since 2010 are women, because the overall figure is 34% (222 out of 650), but I think the figure will be much closer to 50% for those elected since that date. Therefore with retirements it may not be long before the percentage is much higher than 34%.
If we didn't have it, we'd have exponential growth, a lot of deaths and a collapsing NHS.
I had my booster today and the vaccines are working for 6 months from second, so the acceleration in boosters is essential, but so is condemning those who refuse to be vaccinated
It must also be remembered it was the JCVI who irresponsibly delayed the vaccination of the young people and they need calling out.
My wife and I have a flu vaccine every year and still people die of flu and covid will be much the same for the foreseeable future
The vaccines have saved over 130,000 deaths so far and they will succeed to reduce this to a flu like status, and only if a new variant comes along will lockdowns be required again
The PM doesn't have a "proper job" of doing an actual department because he has his finger in every pie. Clegg did too. If he'd limited himself to one department could he have kept as close an eye on all the others?
You should be ashamed of yourself