On topic: I'm not sure the exact poll question here, was it even for the next presidential election (?), but is the fact that Democrats still believe the vote will be counted accurately not also a bit worrying, is there a dangerous complacency about what is going on around them? Or is it just the narrow question of 'counting' and that Democrats do have greater fears if asked about other areas of the process?
Whatever, Virginia shows that the Dem base aren't mobilised to resist the GOP at every turn at every election as they should be. Even if the poll finding is not complacent that certainly is. Now, I see dire predictions downthread of Virginia being flipped Trump by chicanery - I don't know exactly what levers the GOP do or do not now control in Virginia, or what is realistic for them to try there. But whatever the now control, we should expect that they will fill force try to pervert democracy to the fullest extent possible. And that being the case, I'm worried about the level of fight in the Democrat dog.
Quote in this morning’s Red Box via @patrickkmaguire. It is worth wondering, though it doesn’t take long, what Tory MPs would be saying if this was being done by Labour MPs for one of their friends. Or, indeed, if it was happening in a less stable democracy elsewhere in the world https://twitter.com/hzeffman/status/1455813197760446468/photo/1
Murphy seems to have done a fairly excellent job as governor, not least with Covid. If he is really struggling the Democrats are in deep trouble. I think what is left will favour him and he will make it but unless something changes next year could be a Democratic bloodbath.
In 2010 the Democrats lost 63 House seats and the Republicans took the chamber in a GOP landslide in the midterms in Obama's first term (albeit they narrowly held the Senate). Looks like Biden will face a similar bloodbath next year based on last night's results.
New Jersey has not voted GOP at presidential level since for Bush in 1988 so would be a big coup for the GOP to win there as well as in Virginia
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
An unusual example of a city where the suburbs (some, at least) are more attractive than the city centre.
Like London then, where all the good stuff is in zone 2.
Zone 2 is still inner London, the suburbs are zone 3 and beyond
Thanks for your insight from Epping Forest, but I live in zone 2 and it is definitely the suburbs. It is a 10k cycle ride from my home to my work in zone 1!
This was a seat Biden won by double digits and heavily Hispanic. Seems to add to the evidence that the GOP is making inroads into the TX Hispanic vote and / or the impact of the immigration issue. In any event, the idea TX will become a purple state is losing traction
He's right to dispute it, cases are not spiking. Whatever facts and figure Amanpour is reading [which she doesn't go on to read] are wrong and the PM is right.
Under what definition of the word "spiking" can a 10% Week on Week reduction in cases be "spiking"?
Cases have been falling for two weeks now, they peaked on 18 October, how is that "spiking"?
I suppose hospital covid inpatients being as numerous as March, and approaching the 10 000 mark. That is about half the first wave peak.
In my area we're getting serious warnings from the hospitals - numerous patients struggling on ventilators, operation cancellations commonplace. We can broadly agree that case numbers are useful as a lead indicator, but hospitalisation is the better measure for serious illness. If case numbers keep going down (currently plateaud at 38-42K) that will help some weeks down the line, but the situation is serious at present, at least round here.
From 538 about Virginia but they could be talking to Keir Starmer.
If Democrats want to have a fighting chance at bucking history in the 2022 midterms, the biggest lesson they can take from Virginia might be that they need a positive, cohesive message of their own to run on next year. McAuliffe spent far more time trying to tie Youngkin to Trump than he did talking about his own record as governor or any of the accomplishments of the unified Democratic state government over the last two years (of which there were many!). That’s a strategic decision that will likely come under a lot of scrutiny in the coming weeks, especially given the contrast with Youngkin, who was relentlessly on-message in the closing weeks of the race. Right now, Democrats don’t look like they’re for anything, only against Trump. https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2021-elections-live-updates-and-results/
He's right to dispute it, cases are not spiking. Whatever facts and figure Amanpour is reading [which she doesn't go on to read] are wrong and the PM is right.
Under what definition of the word "spiking" can a 10% Week on Week reduction in cases be "spiking"?
Cases have been falling for two weeks now, they peaked on 18 October, how is that "spiking"?
BoJo looks like shit in that interview. And wasn't he dozing during the sessions.
The GOP Virginia win is featured prominently and in-depth on the Guardian website, so not sure where the claim it’s not being covered comes from. The Republicans controlling Virginia no doubt means the state will now be enacting voting laws designed to prevent a Democrat winning its electoral college votes in 2024. That must make Trump even more of a favourite.
Out of Australia and NZ, I’d say the latter comes closer to feeling like home. Maybe that’s because I have family there. I’ve always found Australia to be a place that takes itself a bit too seriously. The Aussies are very free with their Pom bashing, but are also very thin-skinned about any criticism they might get back. Kiwis always strike me as being far more at ease with their place in the world. I like that.
I have lived in both Melbourne and Christchurch, and lovely cities they are, but the resemblance to Britain can be quite superficial, but easy for a casual visitor to make. I could live quite happily in either country, but there are dozens of others that I could happily live in too, from Austria to Malawi, Malaysia to Mexico.
I wonder if those extolling the Britishness of NZ would recognise this side of NZ?
2) He lobbied the Food Standards Agency and others for those company interests.
3) He did not declare in those communications that he was a paid lobbyist for those companies.
It really is an open and shut case.
Except for the Tories who think this is should be overturned as acceptable behaviour.
Coda: BJ fanbois say they have long thought the process of the standards committee was flawed but have neglected to express a single opinion on it until now.
Amol Rajan doesn't have the right voice for Radio 4.
His voice is perfectly pleasant, but it's a Radio 5 or One Show voice. When I listen to Radio 4, I expect to hear the presenters enunciate properly.
Rajan leaves out far too many letters, he uses glottal stops all of the time, he says "yeah" and "gonna" instead of "yes" and "going to", and he just mumbles too much when he tries to speak quickly.
I'm not a big fan of Toenails, who he's co-presenting with today, but I never have to guess what he's just said. Driving to work yesterday, whenever Mishal Husain was speaking instead of Rajan, I just though "Ah.. yes. Radio 4"
Mishal Husain and Justin Webb is my Today dream team.
I disagree. Webb is a bit too thick, and Rajan a far more perceptive journalist.
Rajan has grown on me a lot - he does have a “radio 5” voice but seems the most neutral and intelligent of the presenters and perceptive is the word.
Webb isn’t the brightest and probably would have been a Cirencester estate agent if he hadn’t become a journalist! Also dull when he gets to cream over some rugby report.
Hussein is a little bit too certain of her own intelligence and doesn’t seem able to adapt her questioning away from her existing view on the matter under discussion - also bloody annoying when switching from RP to strange pronunciations on certain words such as “Taaaaahlebhaaaan”.
Kearney is warm and amusing but deceptively bright and adaptable in questioning.
Robinson drives me up the wall. Used to like him but he is obsessed with trying to find a gotcha question, shouts over interviewees and is embarrassingly excited whenever the words “Manchester United” are uttered or he can drive the conversation onto them. Also i sellers this Manchester accent has grown over the last couple of years and sounds different to his tv days.
The main sports guy is obsessed with pushing women’s sport and jamming in social issues - it’s a three minute sports report - tell us the results and news about things most sports fans care about.
The Kiwi who just left who did business was very good and a sad loss.
Tweet of the day immediately before is great.
Thank you for letting me get this off my chest!!
LOL good point about Rajan's voice. I don't listen to much apart from the 8.10 interview on the Today prog but today turned the radio on to some geezer talking about something. And lo it was Rajan.
Gop take contact of of Virgina Hoise of Delegates as well.
That's really big.
Gerrymandering and voter suppression next? Stacking the courts? Tax cuts for the rich? All non-Trump GOP SOP.
No, or at least, not yet. The Democrats still control the Virginia state senate which isn’t up for re-election for another two years.
Some comfort for Democrats as the GOP would have needed to take the state senate too to change voter registration and election certification laws in the state ahead of 2024
From 538 about Virginia but they could be talking to Keir Starmer.
If Democrats want to have a fighting chance at bucking history in the 2022 midterms, the biggest lesson they can take from Virginia might be that they need a positive, cohesive message of their own to run on next year. McAuliffe spent far more time trying to tie Youngkin to Trump than he did talking about his own record as governor or any of the accomplishments of the unified Democratic state government over the last two years (of which there were many!). That’s a strategic decision that will likely come under a lot of scrutiny in the coming weeks, especially given the contrast with Youngkin, who was relentlessly on-message in the closing weeks of the race. Right now, Democrats don’t look like they’re for anything, only against Trump. https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2021-elections-live-updates-and-results/
Disagree actually.
Dems lost this one because they couldn't keep their turnout up, and perhaps because running against Trump when he's not on the ballot is not that effective.
BUT -> when GE comes around in UK, Johnson will be on the ballot (I assume).
Other things being equal, a positive labour vision for the country sounds great. But not convinced that's what wins elections. It might be that going anti-Johnson is what matters. Arguably that's what Biden did to beat Trump?
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
Spent some time in Melbourne a few years ago. Very variable weather .
I loved the round newspaper holes (assume that is what they were - unless for posting tinnies) in the walls beneath the postboxes.
To me the preserved streets had a bit of a feel of a temporary boom town - like the seafront centres of some UK coastal towns. Not Peacehaven temporary, but certainly a feel of preserved temporary buildings that look surprised to still be there.
He's right to dispute it, cases are not spiking. Whatever facts and figure Amanpour is reading [which she doesn't go on to read] are wrong and the PM is right.
Under what definition of the word "spiking" can a 10% Week on Week reduction in cases be "spiking"?
Cases have been falling for two weeks now, they peaked on 18 October, how is that "spiking"?
I suppose hospital covid inpatients being as numerous as March, and approaching the 10 000 mark. That is about half the first wave peak.
In my area we're getting serious warnings from the hospitals - numerous patients struggling on ventilators, operation cancellations commonplace. We can broadly agree that case numbers are useful as a lead indicator, but hospitalisation is the better measure for serious illness. If case numbers keep going down (currently plateaud at 38-42K) that will help some weeks down the line, but the situation is serious at present, at least round here.
I would be interested to know what our famously lockdown-friendly public thinks should happen next. Is there a recent poll on it.
He's right to dispute it, cases are not spiking. Whatever facts and figure Amanpour is reading [which she doesn't go on to read] are wrong and the PM is right.
Under what definition of the word "spiking" can a 10% Week on Week reduction in cases be "spiking"?
Cases have been falling for two weeks now, they peaked on 18 October, how is that "spiking"?
I suppose hospital covid inpatients being as numerous as March, and approaching the 10 000 mark. That is about half the first wave peak.
In my area we're getting serious warnings from the hospitals - numerous patients struggling on ventilators, operation cancellations commonplace. We can broadly agree that case numbers are useful as a lead indicator, but hospitalisation is the better measure for serious illness. If case numbers keep going down (currently plateaud at 38-42K) that will help some weeks down the line, but the situation is serious at present, at least round here.
Yes, we have 127 in Leicester hospitals, about a dozen on ICU. Think of that as 4 medical wards occupied, before other winter pressures. This is a long way from return to normal.
He's right to dispute it, cases are not spiking. Whatever facts and figure Amanpour is reading [which she doesn't go on to read] are wrong and the PM is right.
Under what definition of the word "spiking" can a 10% Week on Week reduction in cases be "spiking"?
Cases have been falling for two weeks now, they peaked on 18 October, how is that "spiking"?
I suppose hospital covid inpatients being as numerous as March, and approaching the 10 000 mark. That is about half the first wave peak.
In my area we're getting serious warnings from the hospitals - numerous patients struggling on ventilators, operation cancellations commonplace. We can broadly agree that case numbers are useful as a lead indicator, but hospitalisation is the better measure for serious illness. If case numbers keep going down (currently plateaud at 38-42K) that will help some weeks down the line, but the situation is serious at present, at least round here.
I think the clear message coming out from tonight is that the electorate does not like Donald Trump, but they don't want a Democratic Party run by its left wing. This will bolster the Manchins and Cinemas.
Yes, I'm sure Manchin and Sinema blocking massively popular legislation thay were key planks of Biden's election campaign helped the Democrats last night.
If the Left Wing were "running" the Democratic party the legislation would have been passed months ago, along with a slew of other bills.
Biden and the Democratic leadership even dropped paid parental leave, a measure every other western nation has (indeed only 6 nations do not have paid maternity leave). Plus polling shows even Republicans back paid parental leave, so hardly a way to motivate your base to come out and vote for you now Trump is gone
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
From 538 about Virginia but they could be talking to Keir Starmer.
If Democrats want to have a fighting chance at bucking history in the 2022 midterms, the biggest lesson they can take from Virginia might be that they need a positive, cohesive message of their own to run on next year. McAuliffe spent far more time trying to tie Youngkin to Trump than he did talking about his own record as governor or any of the accomplishments of the unified Democratic state government over the last two years (of which there were many!). That’s a strategic decision that will likely come under a lot of scrutiny in the coming weeks, especially given the contrast with Youngkin, who was relentlessly on-message in the closing weeks of the race. Right now, Democrats don’t look like they’re for anything, only against Trump. https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2021-elections-live-updates-and-results/
Disagree actually.
Dems lost this one because they couldn't keep their turnout up, and perhaps because running against Trump when he's not on the ballot is not that effective.
BUT -> when GE comes around in UK, Johnson will be on the ballot (I assume).
Other things being equal, a positive labour vision for the country sounds great. But not convinced that's what wins elections. It might be that going anti-Johnson is what matters. Arguably that's what Biden did to beat Trump?
Perhaps but then last night suggests the Tories should make big gains in the local elections in opposition if Starmer does narrowly beat Boris to become PM
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
He's right to dispute it, cases are not spiking. Whatever facts and figure Amanpour is reading [which she doesn't go on to read] are wrong and the PM is right.
Under what definition of the word "spiking" can a 10% Week on Week reduction in cases be "spiking"?
Cases have been falling for two weeks now, they peaked on 18 October, how is that "spiking"?
BoJo looks like shit in that interview. And wasn't he dozing during the sessions.
I don’t think COP26 is quite the personal and national(sic) triumph that BJ was anticipating.
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
Actually the report finds that while some of his lobbying can be excused as legitimate public interest, others cannot.
From 538 about Virginia but they could be talking to Keir Starmer.
If Democrats want to have a fighting chance at bucking history in the 2022 midterms, the biggest lesson they can take from Virginia might be that they need a positive, cohesive message of their own to run on next year. McAuliffe spent far more time trying to tie Youngkin to Trump than he did talking about his own record as governor or any of the accomplishments of the unified Democratic state government over the last two years (of which there were many!). That’s a strategic decision that will likely come under a lot of scrutiny in the coming weeks, especially given the contrast with Youngkin, who was relentlessly on-message in the closing weeks of the race. Right now, Democrats don’t look like they’re for anything, only against Trump. https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2021-elections-live-updates-and-results/
Disagree actually.
Dems lost this one because they couldn't keep their turnout up, and perhaps because running against Trump when he's not on the ballot is not that effective.
BUT -> when GE comes around in UK, Johnson will be on the ballot (I assume).
Other things being equal, a positive labour vision for the country sounds great. But not convinced that's what wins elections. It might be that going anti-Johnson is what matters. Arguably that's what Biden did to beat Trump?
The problem with campaigning against Trump is that mostly as President, Trump was irrelevant and the things Dems find objectionable are standard GOP policies, and the specifically Trump parts largely did not happen. Sure, Trump riled the Twittersphere and lied about stuff but how's the wall coming along?
The GOP Virginia win is featured prominently and in-depth on the Guardian website, so not sure where the claim it’s not being covered comes from. The Republicans controlling Virginia no doubt means the state will now be enacting voting laws designed to prevent a Democrat winning its electoral college votes in 2024. That must make Trump even more of a favourite.
Out of Australia and NZ, I’d say the latter comes closer to feeling like home. Maybe that’s because I have family there. I’ve always found Australia to be a place that takes itself a bit too seriously. The Aussies are very free with their Pom bashing, but are also very thin-skinned about any criticism they might get back. Kiwis always strike me as being far more at ease with their place in the world. I like that.
I have lived in both Melbourne and Christchurch, and lovely cities they are, but the resemblance to Britain can be quite superficial, but easy for a casual visitor to make. I could live quite happily in either country, but there are dozens of others that I could happily live in too, from Austria to Malawi, Malaysia to Mexico.
I wonder if those extolling the Britishness of NZ would recognise this side of NZ?
London alone has more gangs than New Zealand but we also are just as willing to get vaxxed as they are.
Again I was not saying NZ is identical to UK, simply it is the foreign country culturally closest to the UK in my view
I've never been to NZ but the country I have spent time in that most reminded me of England was Barbados. People there are very English in their attitudes and the accent is very similar to the West Country one. Not surprising they call it Little England. Growing up in Scotland, Ireland always seems very familiar to me, but I think its similarities to England are less. Australia felt more American than English, but I only spent a week or so there.
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
An unusual example of a city where the suburbs (some, at least) are more attractive than the city centre.
Like London then, where all the good stuff is in zone 2.
Zone 2 is still inner London, the suburbs are zone 3 and beyond
Thanks for your insight from Epping Forest, but I live in zone 2 and it is definitely the suburbs. It is a 10k cycle ride from my home to my work in zone 1!
No, it is still classified as inner London, has high enough house prices and a large enough percentage of renters to be inner London and does not have a high enough Tory vote nor did it have a high enough Leave vote in 2016 to be the suburbs.
Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith are all in Zone 2 and all classified as inner London under the London Government Act 1963
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
And the fact that he did not declare that he was paid by Randox, and others.
This is a government with an express lane for ministers mates to get lucrative government contracts. Paterson was a bit more blatant, and more directly paid, but the Tories want to close down investigations before they get closer to the top of the kleptocracy.
He's right to dispute it, cases are not spiking. Whatever facts and figure Amanpour is reading [which she doesn't go on to read] are wrong and the PM is right.
Under what definition of the word "spiking" can a 10% Week on Week reduction in cases be "spiking"?
Cases have been falling for two weeks now, they peaked on 18 October, how is that "spiking"?
I suppose hospital covid inpatients being as numerous as March, and approaching the 10 000 mark. That is about half the first wave peak.
In my area we're getting serious warnings from the hospitals - numerous patients struggling on ventilators, operation cancellations commonplace. We can broadly agree that case numbers are useful as a lead indicator, but hospitalisation is the better measure for serious illness. If case numbers keep going down (currently plateaud at 38-42K) that will help some weeks down the line, but the situation is serious at present, at least round here.
Yes, if cases are to be ignored and Hospitalisations are the key measure here, c. lockdown sceptics, the fact Hospitalisations and deaths have not yet dipped but have been increasing should be of concern at least.
The models say that cases should drop of a cliff in November, and deaths would ultimately follow. But at the moment the rate of reduction is stalling, the temperature has dipped again and schools are back. It may not be as neat and tidy as that. Boosters and school vaccinations should make a sizable difference, but slowness even after JCVI said yes means that suppression comes after rates (of Hospitalisation) have been allowed to creep up quite a long way.
Meanwhile, people scoffed at the predictions of a few 10s of thousands of COVID deaths this wave (30k was kicked around, iirc), but the first two months of Autumn now stands at just under 8000 and currently rising at near 1000 a week.
The government have assumed an outswinger and, though they may not habe fully shouldered arms they at very least have left the bat loosely high, when they should have been shepherding the ball safely past off stump. And though still missing the stump at the moment, any dart back now will be problematic.
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
Are they recruiting from the same pool as the Senior Management Team from the Met?
The GOP Virginia win is featured prominently and in-depth on the Guardian website, so not sure where the claim it’s not being covered comes from. The Republicans controlling Virginia no doubt means the state will now be enacting voting laws designed to prevent a Democrat winning its electoral college votes in 2024. That must make Trump even more of a favourite.
Out of Australia and NZ, I’d say the latter comes closer to feeling like home. Maybe that’s because I have family there. I’ve always found Australia to be a place that takes itself a bit too seriously. The Aussies are very free with their Pom bashing, but are also very thin-skinned about any criticism they might get back. Kiwis always strike me as being far more at ease with their place in the world. I like that.
I have lived in both Melbourne and Christchurch, and lovely cities they are, but the resemblance to Britain can be quite superficial, but easy for a casual visitor to make. I could live quite happily in either country, but there are dozens of others that I could happily live in too, from Austria to Malawi, Malaysia to Mexico.
I wonder if those extolling the Britishness of NZ would recognise this side of NZ?
London alone has more gangs than New Zealand but we also are just as willing to get vaxxed as they are.
Again I was not saying NZ is identical to UK, simply it is the foreign country culturally closest to the UK in my view
I've never been to NZ but the country I have spent time in that most reminded me of England was Barbados. People there are very English in their attitudes and the accent is very similar to the West Country one. Not surprising they call it Little England. Growing up in Scotland, Ireland always seems very familiar to me, but I think its similarities to England are less. Australia felt more American than English, but I only spent a week or so there.
Er what? No Barbados is nothing whatsoever like England imo. Save for the post-colonial remnants, pretty much like Hong Kong was.
Never been to NZ either. Nearest country to the UK? I think the Scandis might do it for me. Norway was pretty bloody grey and dreary when I was last there, reminded me of nothing so much as the taxi ride in from Edinburgh airport, that said; Denmark is like Surrey; and Sweden is like Manchester.
But like many (on here I believe also) when I am in the US I feel European and when I am in Europe I feel a stronger alignment to the anglophone countries.
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
Actually the report finds that while some of his lobbying can be excused as legitimate public interest, others cannot.
I am not trying to defend him, and on the face of it his judgement is highly questionable; but I would also agree (with others) that it is perverse if there is no right of appeal/review.
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
Are they recruiting from the same pool as the Senior Management Team from the Met?
The term institutionally racist has a long and sometimes ignoble history. But it describes many of our institutions pretty well.
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
You're right, it started off as potentially a legitimate 'public interest', and the investigation accepted that; but Paterson then went on to openly suggest that Randox itself could help to provide the solutions to weaknesses in the food safety process, and lobbied relentlessly in that regard. Along the way, he repeatedly and blatantly broke the rules. So it developed from an arguable case of whistle-blowing to full-blown advocacy for Randox's corporate interests.
And to answer your question in the last paragraph. Why do you think Randox pay Paterson £100k a year, £520 an hour for 16 hours a month on top of his MPs salary? Is it because he is brilliant? Or is it because as an ex-Minister in a relevant department he could pull strings and make his pay well worthwhile in relation to corporate profits?
Progressives already accusing the Democratic leadership and Biden of being too centrist.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee said in a statement: “Terry McAuliffe sadly can blame his loss on a few corporate-aligned obstructionist Democrats who blocked bold action in Congress, plus his own reliance on backward-looking Trump messaging.
It added: “Democrats won’t win simply by branding one opponent after another as a Trump clone, and then hoping to squeak out a razor-thin win. When Democrats fail to run on big ideas or fulfill bold campaign promises, we depress our base while allowing Republicans to use culture wars to hide their real agenda.”
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
An unusual example of a city where the suburbs (some, at least) are more attractive than the city centre.
Like London then, where all the good stuff is in zone 2.
Zone 2 is still inner London, the suburbs are zone 3 and beyond
Thanks for your insight from Epping Forest, but I live in zone 2 and it is definitely the suburbs. It is a 10k cycle ride from my home to my work in zone 1!
No, it is still classified as inner London, has high enough house prices and a large enough percentage of renters to be inner London and does not have a high enough Tory vote nor did it have a high enough Leave vote in 2016 to be the suburbs.
Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith are all in Zone 2 and all classified as inner London under the London Government Act 1963
Inner London but not central London. They are definitely suburbs, albeit inner London suburbs. Primarily residential with many residents working in the centre. I find it somewhat disturbing that you think that geographical demarkations should be driven by the number of Tories living there!
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
Are they recruiting from the same pool as the Senior Management Team from the Met?
The term institutionally racist has a long and sometimes ignoble history. But it describes many of our institutions pretty well.
I would suggest a broader categorisation - institutionally fucked in the head? See the Met and women's safety etc, the Met and killing random newspaper vendors etc etc
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
You're right, it started off as potentially a legitimate 'public interest', and the investigation accepted that; but Paterson then went on to openly suggest that Randox itself could help to provide the solutions to weaknesses in the food safety process, and lobbied relentlessly in that regard. Along the way, he repeatedly and blatantly broke the rules. So it developed from an arguable case of whistle-blowing to full-blown advocacy for Randox's corporate interests.
And to answer your question in the last paragraph. Why do you think Randox pay Paterson £100k a year, £520 an hour for 16 hours a month on top of his MPs salary? Is it because he is brilliant? Or is it because as an ex-Minister in a relevant department he could pull strings and make his pay well worthwhile in relation to corporate profits?
I am not into the detail though it is not a good look
However, time to pay our mps an enhanced salary but outlaw them from any external consultancy work
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
Are they recruiting from the same pool as the Senior Management Team from the Met?
The term institutionally racist has a long and sometimes ignoble history. But it describes many of our institutions pretty well.
That can't be right. I've been told by many on here that institutional racism is no longer a thing in this country, and that to suggest it is makes you a woke rabid BLM supporter.
The problems in American elections have been there a long time. The Republicans were largely out smarted in postal voting but there were clear irregularities that can't be ignored in planning future elections.
This isn't all on Trump. The Democrats have done all they can to stop full analysis of those elections. I thought betting before the election the best Trump could get was 269 each, winning Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin, he lost all 3 by very small margins and all look dubious to say the least now.
The election result was never going to change but integrity in future elections HAS to be improved in the US.
He's right to dispute it, cases are not spiking. Whatever facts and figure Amanpour is reading [which she doesn't go on to read] are wrong and the PM is right.
Under what definition of the word "spiking" can a 10% Week on Week reduction in cases be "spiking"?
Cases have been falling for two weeks now, they peaked on 18 October, how is that "spiking"?
BoJo looks like shit in that interview. And wasn't he dozing during the sessions.
He has adopted the demeanour of a dedicated piss artist lately.
The GOP Virginia win is featured prominently and in-depth on the Guardian website, so not sure where the claim it’s not being covered comes from. The Republicans controlling Virginia no doubt means the state will now be enacting voting laws designed to prevent a Democrat winning its electoral college votes in 2024. That must make Trump even more of a favourite.
Out of Australia and NZ, I’d say the latter comes closer to feeling like home. Maybe that’s because I have family there. I’ve always found Australia to be a place that takes itself a bit too seriously. The Aussies are very free with their Pom bashing, but are also very thin-skinned about any criticism they might get back. Kiwis always strike me as being far more at ease with their place in the world. I like that.
I have lived in both Melbourne and Christchurch, and lovely cities they are, but the resemblance to Britain can be quite superficial, but easy for a casual visitor to make. I could live quite happily in either country, but there are dozens of others that I could happily live in too, from Austria to Malawi, Malaysia to Mexico.
I wonder if those extolling the Britishness of NZ would recognise this side of NZ?
London alone has more gangs than New Zealand but we also are just as willing to get vaxxed as they are.
Again I was not saying NZ is identical to UK, simply it is the foreign country culturally closest to the UK in my view
I've never been to NZ but the country I have spent time in that most reminded me of England was Barbados. People there are very English in their attitudes and the accent is very similar to the West Country one. Not surprising they call it Little England. Growing up in Scotland, Ireland always seems very familiar to me, but I think its similarities to England are less. Australia felt more American than English, but I only spent a week or so there.
Er what? No Barbados is nothing whatsoever like England imo. Save for the post-colonial remnants, pretty much like Hong Kong was.
Never been to NZ either. Nearest country to the UK? I think the Scandis might do it for me. Norway was pretty bloody grey and dreary when I was last there, reminded me of nothing so much as the taxi ride in from Edinburgh airport, that said; Denmark is like Surrey; and Sweden is like Manchester.
But like many (on here I believe also) when I am in the US I feel European and when I am in Europe I feel a stronger alignment to the anglophone countries.
I lived there for several years and it is very English. Hardly surprising as it was an English colony for 400 years and had a big settler presence from Britain and Ireland. Culturally it is much more similar to the UK than the US is, where I have also lived and experienced far greater culture shock.
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
Are they recruiting from the same pool as the Senior Management Team from the Met?
The term institutionally racist has a long and sometimes ignoble history. But it describes many of our institutions pretty well.
I would suggest a broader categorisation - institutionally fucked in the head? See the Met and women's safety etc, the Met and killing random newspaper vendors etc etc
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
An unusual example of a city where the suburbs (some, at least) are more attractive than the city centre.
Like London then, where all the good stuff is in zone 2.
Zone 2 is still inner London, the suburbs are zone 3 and beyond
Thanks for your insight from Epping Forest, but I live in zone 2 and it is definitely the suburbs. It is a 10k cycle ride from my home to my work in zone 1!
No, it is still classified as inner London, has high enough house prices and a large enough percentage of renters to be inner London and does not have a high enough Tory vote nor did it have a high enough Leave vote in 2016 to be the suburbs.
Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith are all in Zone 2 and all classified as inner London under the London Government Act 1963
Inner London but not central London. They are definitely suburbs, albeit inner London suburbs. Primarily residential with many residents working in the centre. I find it somewhat disturbing that you think that geographical demarkations should be driven by the number of Tories living there!
I will concede you inner London not central London then (which is really the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster only).
However it is certainly not suburbia which is Enfield, Bromley, Bexley, Hillingdon, Havering, parts of Ealing, Redbridge, Richmond Park etc not zones 1 and 2.
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
And the fact that he did not declare that he was paid by Randox, and others.
This is a government with an express lane for ministers mates to get lucrative government contracts. Paterson was a bit more blatant, and more directly paid, but the Tories want to close down investigations before they get closer to the top of the kleptocracy.
Yep, looks like bad judgement.
On the other point, isn't this just business as usual? Private Eye has been detailing such shenanigans for as long as I can remember. This government are just much less sophisticated and disciplined than their predecessors. The fact that MP's are on £500 per hour consulting gigs and it all goes by unnoticed is rather curious. They are putting themselves at risk of a public reckoning, which could prove very problematic in the run up to the next election.
The GOP Virginia win is featured prominently and in-depth on the Guardian website, so not sure where the claim it’s not being covered comes from. The Republicans controlling Virginia no doubt means the state will now be enacting voting laws designed to prevent a Democrat winning its electoral college votes in 2024. That must make Trump even more of a favourite.
Out of Australia and NZ, I’d say the latter comes closer to feeling like home. Maybe that’s because I have family there. I’ve always found Australia to be a place that takes itself a bit too seriously. The Aussies are very free with their Pom bashing, but are also very thin-skinned about any criticism they might get back. Kiwis always strike me as being far more at ease with their place in the world. I like that.
I have lived in both Melbourne and Christchurch, and lovely cities they are, but the resemblance to Britain can be quite superficial, but easy for a casual visitor to make. I could live quite happily in either country, but there are dozens of others that I could happily live in too, from Austria to Malawi, Malaysia to Mexico.
I wonder if those extolling the Britishness of NZ would recognise this side of NZ?
London alone has more gangs than New Zealand but we also are just as willing to get vaxxed as they are.
Again I was not saying NZ is identical to UK, simply it is the foreign country culturally closest to the UK in my view
I've never been to NZ but the country I have spent time in that most reminded me of England was Barbados. People there are very English in their attitudes and the accent is very similar to the West Country one. Not surprising they call it Little England. Growing up in Scotland, Ireland always seems very familiar to me, but I think its similarities to England are less. Australia felt more American than English, but I only spent a week or so there.
Er what? No Barbados is nothing whatsoever like England imo. Save for the post-colonial remnants, pretty much like Hong Kong was.
Never been to NZ either. Nearest country to the UK? I think the Scandis might do it for me. Norway was pretty bloody grey and dreary when I was last there, reminded me of nothing so much as the taxi ride in from Edinburgh airport, that said; Denmark is like Surrey; and Sweden is like Manchester.
But like many (on here I believe also) when I am in the US I feel European and when I am in Europe I feel a stronger alignment to the anglophone countries.
Enjoying the differences is one of the pleasures of travel. Does create a thought or two, of course, when has to translate the various notices. But again managing that is part of the fun. Gets a bit puzzling in 0laces like Beijing and Bangkok, of course!
From 538 about Virginia but they could be talking to Keir Starmer.
If Democrats want to have a fighting chance at bucking history in the 2022 midterms, the biggest lesson they can take from Virginia might be that they need a positive, cohesive message of their own to run on next year. McAuliffe spent far more time trying to tie Youngkin to Trump than he did talking about his own record as governor or any of the accomplishments of the unified Democratic state government over the last two years (of which there were many!). That’s a strategic decision that will likely come under a lot of scrutiny in the coming weeks, especially given the contrast with Youngkin, who was relentlessly on-message in the closing weeks of the race. Right now, Democrats don’t look like they’re for anything, only against Trump. https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2021-elections-live-updates-and-results/
538 LOL. The state government in Virginia in the last 2 years has been a complete disaster, hence the massive vote for change.
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
Spent some time in Melbourne a few years ago. Very variable weather .
I loved the round newspaper holes (assume that is what they were - unless for posting tinnies) in the walls beneath the postboxes.
To me the preserved streets had a bit of a feel of a temporary boom town - like the seafront centres of some UK coastal towns. Not Peacehaven temporary, but certainly a feel of preserved temporary buildings that look surprised to still be there.
I don't see the Nottingham comparison, really.
But Melbourne in Derbyshire is superb, albeit a little snobbish. Does Melbourne, Oz, have any Sheila-Na-Gigs?
I have an acquaintance near the Derbyshire one converting an underground reservoir into a self-build project.
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
Actually the report finds that while some of his lobbying can be excused as legitimate public interest, others cannot.
I am not trying to defend him, and on the face of it his judgement is highly questionable; but I would also agree (with others) that it is perverse if there is no right of appeal/review.
The Standards Committee and Regime was only set up a few years ago (in response to MP abuse) so I’m sure it could be improved.
However the report is pretty clear about Patterson. It was approved by a Committee which contains a Tory majority. The report addresses various attempted by Patterson.
I also find Patterson’s attempt to play the pity card incredibly distasteful.
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
An unusual example of a city where the suburbs (some, at least) are more attractive than the city centre.
Like London then, where all the good stuff is in zone 2.
Zone 2 is still inner London, the suburbs are zone 3 and beyond
Thanks for your insight from Epping Forest, but I live in zone 2 and it is definitely the suburbs. It is a 10k cycle ride from my home to my work in zone 1!
No, it is still classified as inner London, has high enough house prices and a large enough percentage of renters to be inner London and does not have a high enough Tory vote nor did it have a high enough Leave vote in 2016 to be the suburbs.
Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith are all in Zone 2 and all classified as inner London under the London Government Act 1963
Inner London but not central London. They are definitely suburbs, albeit inner London suburbs. Primarily residential with many residents working in the centre. I find it somewhat disturbing that you think that geographical demarkations should be driven by the number of Tories living there!
I will concede you inner London not central London then (which is really the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster only).
However it is certainly not suburbia which is Enfield, Bromley, Bexley, Hillingdon, Havering, parts of Ealing, Redbridge, Bexley, Richmond Park etc not zones 1 and 2.
I think there are basically four zones in London and its environs - central London, inner suburbs (zones 2-3), outer suburbs (zones 4-6) and the SE commuter belt. My contention is that the inner suburbs are the sweet spot and often overlooked by visitors. But then I would say that, bring a long term resident.
Fivethirtyeight I've noticed do seem to like trying to be super clever in their election analysis, coming up with all sorts of angles and endlessly looking for a more nuanced, alternative take. I guess they need to write stories.
But the story of Virginia at least seems to be: " in a state that voted for Biden by 10 points, voters said in exit polls that they were evenly divided in who they voted for in 2020".
So either a lot of people have switched and are misremembering... or... much more likely... more democrats stayed at home vs. republicans. Simple and classic issue for the Dems in off-years.
Yes, 538's main problem with their non-hard numbers based analysis is that it is dripping with "savvy", inside baseball, takes that do not stand up to even the slightest scrutiny.
Yes, it's amazing how what started as a data-driven journalism project has actually morphed into this. Obviously still good stuff on there, but I guess the real function of that inside baseball stuff is that it drives clicks and attention.
otoh concentrating only on the numbers without context has led 538 astray in the past, such as always tipping Brazil to win the World Cup because they did not realise Europe and South America are different.
From listening to 538 podcasts, I'd say a lot of 538 contributors lean Democrat so perhaps that can lead to an element of wishful thinking.
Lean is an understatement, they are part of the machine.
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
An unusual example of a city where the suburbs (some, at least) are more attractive than the city centre.
Like London then, where all the good stuff is in zone 2.
Zone 2 is still inner London, the suburbs are zone 3 and beyond
Thanks for your insight from Epping Forest, but I live in zone 2 and it is definitely the suburbs. It is a 10k cycle ride from my home to my work in zone 1!
No, it is still classified as inner London, has high enough house prices and a large enough percentage of renters to be inner London and does not have a high enough Tory vote nor did it have a high enough Leave vote in 2016 to be the suburbs.
Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith are all in Zone 2 and all classified as inner London under the London Government Act 1963
Inner London but not central London. They are definitely suburbs, albeit inner London suburbs. Primarily residential with many residents working in the centre. I find it somewhat disturbing that you think that geographical demarkations should be driven by the number of Tories living there!
I will concede you inner London not central London then (which is really the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster only).
However it is certainly not suburbia which is Enfield, Bromley, Bexley, Hillingdon, Havering, parts of Ealing, Redbridge, Bexley, Richmond Park etc not zones 1 and 2.
I think there are basically four zones in London and its environs - central London, inner suburbs (zones 2-3), outer suburbs (zones 4-6) and the SE commuter belt. My contention is that the inner suburbs are the sweet spot and often overlooked by visitors. But then I would say that, bring a long term resident.
I’m a Zone 2 (Zone 1 borders) resident and I won’t touch Zone 3 with a barge-pole.
Zone 1 and 2 is effectively the equivalent to Paris’s 20 arrondisements. Outside the periphique, there be dragons.
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
Are they recruiting from the same pool as the Senior Management Team from the Met?
The term institutionally racist has a long and sometimes ignoble history. But it describes many of our institutions pretty well.
I would suggest a broader categorisation - institutionally fucked in the head? See the Met and women's safety etc, the Met and killing random newspaper vendors etc etc
That works also.
There is a broader issue of management culture - which is a long ongoing theme. This goes for private as well as public service.
Domain knowledge is actively disliked. A "proper" manager is a generalist (lawyer/accountant training - but often zero practise in those professions). Any kind of linkage to the actual workforce is seen as "suspect"....
A personal favourite was the senior policeman who hid in his car when the Westminster stabbing attack happened.
He justified his hiding on the ground that he wasn't wearing body armour. Said officer was in the habit of reprimanding junior officers in police stations for not wearing their body armour, while working in the back office.
Said officer was upset to the point of complaint by "insolence" exhibited towards him at his retirement party, shortly after the incident. Attendance at which was *ordered* for lesser ranks.
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
And the fact that he did not declare that he was paid by Randox, and others.
This is a government with an express lane for ministers mates to get lucrative government contracts. Paterson was a bit more blatant, and more directly paid, but the Tories want to close down investigations before they get closer to the top of the kleptocracy.
Yep, looks like bad judgement.
On the other point, isn't this just business as usual? Private Eye has been detailing such shenanigans for as long as I can remember. This government are just much less sophisticated and disciplined than their predecessors. The fact that MP's are on £500 per hour consulting gigs and it all goes by unnoticed is rather curious. They are putting themselves at risk of a public reckoning, which could prove very problematic in the run up to the next election.
How does it go? "When politicians are in charge of buy and selling, the first things to be bought and sold will be politicians"
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
You're right, it started off as potentially a legitimate 'public interest', and the investigation accepted that; but Paterson then went on to openly suggest that Randox itself could help to provide the solutions to weaknesses in the food safety process, and lobbied relentlessly in that regard. Along the way, he repeatedly and blatantly broke the rules. So it developed from an arguable case of whistle-blowing to full-blown advocacy for Randox's corporate interests.
And to answer your question in the last paragraph. Why do you think Randox pay Paterson £100k a year, £520 an hour for 16 hours a month on top of his MPs salary? Is it because he is brilliant? Or is it because as an ex-Minister in a relevant department he could pull strings and make his pay well worthwhile in relation to corporate profits?
Its as I said in another post: in the scheme of things it is business as usual. Lobbying is always the biggest scandal that somehow never breaks. David Cameron identified it as the next big problem, and then somehow fell in to it himself.
I do agree with @Big_G_NorthWales ; the way to improve the situation amongst serving MP's is to pay them a decent wage and ban consulting jobs; or put a strict limit on associated additional renumeration.
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
An unusual example of a city where the suburbs (some, at least) are more attractive than the city centre.
Like London then, where all the good stuff is in zone 2.
Zone 2 is still inner London, the suburbs are zone 3 and beyond
Thanks for your insight from Epping Forest, but I live in zone 2 and it is definitely the suburbs. It is a 10k cycle ride from my home to my work in zone 1!
No, it is still classified as inner London, has high enough house prices and a large enough percentage of renters to be inner London and does not have a high enough Tory vote nor did it have a high enough Leave vote in 2016 to be the suburbs.
Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith are all in Zone 2 and all classified as inner London under the London Government Act 1963
Inner London but not central London. They are definitely suburbs, albeit inner London suburbs. Primarily residential with many residents working in the centre. I find it somewhat disturbing that you think that geographical demarkations should be driven by the number of Tories living there!
I will concede you inner London not central London then (which is really the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster only).
However it is certainly not suburbia which is Enfield, Bromley, Bexley, Hillingdon, Havering, parts of Ealing, Redbridge, Bexley, Richmond Park etc not zones 1 and 2.
I think there are basically four zones in London and its environs - central London, inner suburbs (zones 2-3), outer suburbs (zones 4-6) and the SE commuter belt. My contention is that the inner suburbs are the sweet spot and often overlooked by visitors. But then I would say that, bring a long term resident.
I’m a Zone 2 (Zone 1 borders) resident and I won’t touch Zone 3 with a barge-pole.
Zone 1 and 2 is effectively the equivalent to Paris’s 20 arrondisements. Outside the periphique, there be dragons.
Wut? No area of London I have encountered has anything like the feeling of a walled off, other-country, that they have achieved in parts of Paris.
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
An unusual example of a city where the suburbs (some, at least) are more attractive than the city centre.
Like London then, where all the good stuff is in zone 2.
Zone 2 is still inner London, the suburbs are zone 3 and beyond
Thanks for your insight from Epping Forest, but I live in zone 2 and it is definitely the suburbs. It is a 10k cycle ride from my home to my work in zone 1!
No, it is still classified as inner London, has high enough house prices and a large enough percentage of renters to be inner London and does not have a high enough Tory vote nor did it have a high enough Leave vote in 2016 to be the suburbs.
Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith are all in Zone 2 and all classified as inner London under the London Government Act 1963
Inner London but not central London. They are definitely suburbs, albeit inner London suburbs. Primarily residential with many residents working in the centre. I find it somewhat disturbing that you think that geographical demarkations should be driven by the number of Tories living there!
I will concede you inner London not central London then (which is really the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster only).
However it is certainly not suburbia which is Enfield, Bromley, Bexley, Hillingdon, Havering, parts of Ealing, Redbridge, Bexley, Richmond Park etc not zones 1 and 2.
I think there are basically four zones in London and its environs - central London, inner suburbs (zones 2-3), outer suburbs (zones 4-6) and the SE commuter belt. My contention is that the inner suburbs are the sweet spot and often overlooked by visitors. But then I would say that, bring a long term resident.
I’m a Zone 2 (Zone 1 borders) resident and I won’t touch Zone 3 with a barge-pole.
Zone 1 and 2 is effectively the equivalent to Paris’s 20 arrondisements. Outside the periphique, there be dragons.
I'm kind of in the middle of zone 2. It feels quite different from zone 1 and there are some nice bits on the zone 2/3 border but I certainly wouldn't want to venture too far into the wastelands of Dulwich or Catford. They do things differently there.
WRT Owen Patterson, I had a quick read of the report linked to last night.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
Maybe he's just a greedy bastard?
Paterson strikes me as that breed of Conservative MP who would demand a custodial sentence for the young single mother caught out by Capita for supplementing her benefit payments to feed her children by occasionally going on the game.
Yet Paterson is too important, when banged to rights, to take a 30 day suspension from the HoC.
It’s a fairly meaningless exercise to compare England with other countries, as it’s quite unique. It’s like saying France is like Italy. Well up to a point, but it’s not really like Italy. Italy is like Italy and France is like France.
England is sod all like New Zealand for all that it is more like New Zealand than it is, say, Eritrea.
It's not meaningless. For example, it tells you where you could be happy as an expat
I had this debate with a Swiss businessman when I was in Switzerland in September. His thesis was that "you can never be truly comfortable or at ease in any country other than your own". He was speaking as a worldly Swiss man who has lived in multiple countries
I disagreed. I told him as a Brit I felt entirely at home in Australia. At ease. I know the language, the sports, the politics, the jokes, I get virtually all of it. They go down the pub. They argue about cricket. We all know Shakespeare
Australia is no more alien to me than the Hebrides or north Norfolk. It feels like a unique bit of Britain with a different climate (that is not meant to be patronising)
Ireland is almost that yet there is something more alien in the culture, which must be the legacy of Catholicism (and, now, EU membership)
France feels very foreign. Ditto Spain, Germany or Italy. I am not automatically at ease in these countries, beautiful and cultured as they are. I LOVE holidaying in these places, but that is different
And on that uncontroversial note, goodnight
You have clearly never spent time in Darwin.
Good morning fellow PB-=es. Colder this morning; first time I've met cold this winter.
Australia and New Zealand are like Britain, but 'not quite'. But there again, all of Britain isn't 'alike'. Wales, even the English speaking areas, is different to Essex. And Scotland is different again.
I think personally that for example Nottingham is more like Melbourne than it is either London or Congleton.
Remind me never to go to Melbourne.
We loved Melbourne on our visit
An unusual example of a city where the suburbs (some, at least) are more attractive than the city centre.
Like London then, where all the good stuff is in zone 2.
Zone 2 is still inner London, the suburbs are zone 3 and beyond
Thanks for your insight from Epping Forest, but I live in zone 2 and it is definitely the suburbs. It is a 10k cycle ride from my home to my work in zone 1!
No, it is still classified as inner London, has high enough house prices and a large enough percentage of renters to be inner London and does not have a high enough Tory vote nor did it have a high enough Leave vote in 2016 to be the suburbs.
Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith are all in Zone 2 and all classified as inner London under the London Government Act 1963
Inner London but not central London. They are definitely suburbs, albeit inner London suburbs. Primarily residential with many residents working in the centre. I find it somewhat disturbing that you think that geographical demarkations should be driven by the number of Tories living there!
I will concede you inner London not central London then (which is really the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster only).
However it is certainly not suburbia which is Enfield, Bromley, Bexley, Hillingdon, Havering, parts of Ealing, Redbridge, Bexley, Richmond Park etc not zones 1 and 2.
I think there are basically four zones in London and its environs - central London, inner suburbs (zones 2-3), outer suburbs (zones 4-6) and the SE commuter belt. My contention is that the inner suburbs are the sweet spot and often overlooked by visitors. But then I would say that, bring a long term resident.
I’m a Zone 2 (Zone 1 borders) resident and I won’t touch Zone 3 with a barge-pole.
Zone 1 and 2 is effectively the equivalent to Paris’s 20 arrondisements. Outside the periphique, there be dragons.
The difference between Zones 1 and 2 and Zones 5-6 and beyond is also the difference between Manhattan and Staten Island in NYC terms.
Only zones 1 and 2 are really what most tourists would consider to be London ie the equivalent of Manhattan and maybe Brooklyn in NYC or the city of Paris rather than surrounding suburbs of the Paris region
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
Yeah I'd be interested to see what the public thinks on a "what would you personally do" question rather than the standard ones of "what should everyone else do" which can be pretty misleading.
My sense is that in private almost all people are not wearing masks indoors to visit friends and family and they are seeing lots of them in indoor spaces.
The other thing pointed out by one of my friends last night is that we're very much on course to be the first large nation to get to the other side of the exit wave. A process that every nation will have to endure, we've managed, just about, to do it before Xmas and temperatures dropping to below zero. Other Northern European countries are not even close, he pointed out the Netherlands who didn't "run hot" in the summer and autumn and have now had to reimpose indoor social distancing and mask wearing.
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
Yeah I'd be interested to see what the public thinks on a "what would you personally do" question rather than the standard ones of "what should everyone else do" which can be pretty misleading.
My sense is that in private almost all people are not wearing masks indoors to visit friends and family and they are seeing lots of them in indoor spaces.
The other thing pointed out by one of my friends last night is that we're very much on course to be the first large nation to get to the other side of the exit wave. A process that every nation will have to endure, we've managed, just about, to do it before Xmas and temperatures dropping to below zero. Other Northern European countries are not even close, he pointed out the Netherlands who didn't "run hot" in the summer and autumn and have now had to reimpose indoor social distancing and mask wearing.
I think and would very much hope that no one in the UK is wearing a mask indoors to visit friends and family.
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
I hew heard of precisely zero people ITL agitating for another lockdown. Yes, I know, dovish London etc etc etc – I realise that other areas are different. But is there anywhere in the UK where people are clinging to their homes, praying that the government soon forces everyone to stay inside? Really? I just can't believe that.
That SAGE scientist who resigned has coincidentally got a book coming out this week. What a numpty.
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
As I asked upthread, I wonder what "the public" wants to happen next. They have throughout been in favour of longer, harsher lockdowns so I would be interested to know the view now. My sense is that it is over in peoples' minds.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
Yeah I'd be interested to see what the public thinks on a "what would you personally do" question rather than the standard ones of "what should everyone else do" which can be pretty misleading.
My sense is that in private almost all people are not wearing masks indoors to visit friends and family and they are seeing lots of them in indoor spaces.
The other thing pointed out by one of my friends last night is that we're very much on course to be the first large nation to get to the other side of the exit wave. A process that every nation will have to endure, we've managed, just about, to do it before Xmas and temperatures dropping to below zero. Other Northern European countries are not even close, he pointed out the Netherlands who didn't "run hot" in the summer and autumn and have now had to reimpose indoor social distancing and mask wearing.
There has long been a problem with polling/public opinion on covid insofar as lots of people seem to favour restrictions on other people rather than themselves.
Bonkers nonsense on London 'zones'. There are interesting places to visit in all zones of London. Barnes, Richmond, Chiswick, Hampton Court, Walthamstow Village (yes!), Epping Forest – all outside the inner zones. I'm stunned, amazed, slightly saddened that people even think in 'zones' any more.
Comments
Whatever, Virginia shows that the Dem base aren't mobilised to resist the GOP at every turn at every election as they should be. Even if the poll finding is not complacent that certainly is. Now, I see dire predictions downthread of Virginia being flipped Trump by chicanery - I don't know exactly what levers the GOP do or do not now control in Virginia, or what is realistic for them to try there. But whatever the now control, we should expect that they will fill force try to pervert democracy to the fullest extent possible. And that being the case, I'm worried about the level of fight in the Democrat dog.
New Jersey has not voted GOP at presidential level since for Bush in 1988 so would be a big coup for the GOP to win there as well as in Virginia
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.texastribune.org/2021/11/02/john-lujan-frank-ramirez-texas-legislature-san-antonio/amp/
This was a seat Biden won by double digits and heavily Hispanic. Seems to add to the evidence that the GOP is making inroads into the TX Hispanic vote and / or the impact of the immigration issue. In any event, the idea TX will become a purple state is losing traction
If Democrats want to have a fighting chance at bucking history in the 2022 midterms, the biggest lesson they can take from Virginia might be that they need a positive, cohesive message of their own to run on next year. McAuliffe spent far more time trying to tie Youngkin to Trump than he did talking about his own record as governor or any of the accomplishments of the unified Democratic state government over the last two years (of which there were many!). That’s a strategic decision that will likely come under a lot of scrutiny in the coming weeks, especially given the contrast with Youngkin, who was relentlessly on-message in the closing weeks of the race. Right now, Democrats don’t look like they’re for anything, only against Trump.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2021-elections-live-updates-and-results/
Again I was not saying NZ is identical to UK, simply it is the foreign country culturally closest to the UK in my view
Dems lost this one because they couldn't keep their turnout up, and perhaps because running against Trump when he's not on the ballot is not that effective.
BUT -> when GE comes around in UK, Johnson will be on the ballot (I assume).
Other things being equal, a positive labour vision for the country sounds great. But not convinced that's what wins elections. It might be that going anti-Johnson is what matters. Arguably that's what Biden did to beat Trump?
I loved the round newspaper holes (assume that is what they were - unless for posting tinnies) in the walls beneath the postboxes.
To me the preserved streets had a bit of a feel of a temporary boom town - like the seafront centres of some UK coastal towns. Not Peacehaven temporary, but certainly a feel of preserved temporary buildings that look surprised to still be there.
I don't see the Nottingham comparison, really.
I stupidly neglected to go when I was in the Far East and now it's just such a bloody long way. Like Goodwood.
Hospitalisation *may* be peaking as well.
On Randox: he was drawing attention to problems with the the food safety testing processes following work carried out by Randox. There is a legitimate public interest here, which is distinct from lobbying for purely private benefit.
The rules allow for lobbying when there is a "serious wrong", but the finding was that this was not the case here. So on the face of it I can understand why he is aggrieved by the process and has support from others in trying to review the decision.
There is another, perhaps more important, question though; and one of significant public interest: why exactly was he doing £500 per hour consulting jobs whilst serving as an MP?
His reasons for resigning were idiotic too. Another one of the "let's protect our freedom by giving it up!". Everyone who proposes freedom in theory needs to be questioned on what the point of it is.
I was having a chat with a few friends last night and the general consensus is that COVID is done. The government is right to tell the scientists to get fucked on plan b and we're right to continue living as normal now that vaccines are freely available and older people can get third doses. The burden of self preservation has been shifted from society to the individual.
Oh and on another topic, I saw your post about Yorkshire CC. Abso-bloody-lutely. It is beyond contempt that people should have remained in post after that.
https://twitter.com/jamesdoleman/status/1455685429815123971?s=21
Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith are all in Zone 2 and all classified as inner London under the London Government Act 1963
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_London
This is a government with an express lane for ministers mates to get lucrative government contracts. Paterson was a bit more blatant, and more directly paid, but the Tories want to close down investigations before they get closer to the top of the kleptocracy.
The models say that cases should drop of a cliff in November, and deaths would ultimately follow. But at the moment the rate of reduction is stalling, the temperature has dipped again and schools are back. It may not be as neat and tidy as that. Boosters and school vaccinations should make a sizable difference, but slowness even after JCVI said yes means that suppression comes after rates (of Hospitalisation) have been allowed to creep up quite a long way.
Meanwhile, people scoffed at the predictions of a few 10s of thousands of COVID deaths this wave (30k was kicked around, iirc), but the first two months of Autumn now stands at just under 8000 and currently rising at near 1000 a week.
The government have assumed an outswinger and, though they may not habe fully shouldered arms they at very least have left the bat loosely high, when they should have been shepherding the ball safely past off stump. And though still missing the stump at the moment, any dart back now will be problematic.
Never been to NZ either. Nearest country to the UK? I think the Scandis might do it for me. Norway was pretty bloody grey and dreary when I was last there, reminded me of nothing so much as the taxi ride in from Edinburgh airport, that said; Denmark is like Surrey; and Sweden is like Manchester.
But like many (on here I believe also) when I am in the US I feel European and when I am in Europe I feel a stronger alignment to the anglophone countries.
And to answer your question in the last paragraph. Why do you think Randox pay Paterson £100k a year, £520 an hour for 16 hours a month on top of his MPs salary? Is it because he is brilliant? Or is it because as an ex-Minister in a relevant department he could pull strings and make his pay well worthwhile in relation to corporate profits?
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee said in a statement: “Terry McAuliffe sadly can blame his loss on a few corporate-aligned obstructionist Democrats who blocked bold action in Congress, plus his own reliance on backward-looking Trump messaging.
It added: “Democrats won’t win simply by branding one opponent after another as a Trump clone, and then hoping to squeak out a razor-thin win. When Democrats fail to run on big ideas or fulfill bold campaign promises, we depress our base while allowing Republicans to use culture wars to hide their real agenda.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/02/glenn-youngkin-wins-virginia-governor-election-result
I find it somewhat disturbing that you think that geographical demarkations should be driven by the number of Tories living there!
However, time to pay our mps an enhanced salary but outlaw them from any external consultancy work
This isn't all on Trump. The Democrats have done all they can to stop full analysis of those elections. I thought betting before the election the best Trump could get was 269 each, winning Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin, he lost all 3 by very small margins and all look dubious to say the least now.
The election result was never going to change but integrity in future elections HAS to be improved in the US.
He has adopted the demeanour of a dedicated piss artist lately.
However it is certainly not suburbia which is Enfield, Bromley, Bexley, Hillingdon, Havering, parts of Ealing, Redbridge, Richmond Park etc not zones 1 and 2.
On the other point, isn't this just business as usual? Private Eye has been detailing such shenanigans for as long as I can remember. This government are just much less sophisticated and disciplined than their predecessors. The fact that MP's are on £500 per hour consulting gigs and it all goes by unnoticed is rather curious. They are putting themselves at risk of a public reckoning, which could prove very problematic in the run up to the next election.
But again managing that is part of the fun. Gets a bit puzzling in 0laces like Beijing and Bangkok, of course!
I have an acquaintance near the Derbyshire one converting an underground reservoir into a self-build project.
However the report is pretty clear about Patterson.
It was approved by a Committee which contains a Tory majority.
The report addresses various attempted by Patterson.
I also find Patterson’s attempt to play the pity card incredibly distasteful.
Zone 1 and 2 is effectively the equivalent to Paris’s 20 arrondisements. Outside the periphique, there be dragons.
Domain knowledge is actively disliked. A "proper" manager is a generalist (lawyer/accountant training - but often zero practise in those professions). Any kind of linkage to the actual workforce is seen as "suspect"....
A personal favourite was the senior policeman who hid in his car when the Westminster stabbing attack happened.
He justified his hiding on the ground that he wasn't wearing body armour. Said officer was in the habit of reprimanding junior officers in police stations for not wearing their body armour, while working in the back office.
Said officer was upset to the point of complaint by "insolence" exhibited towards him at his retirement party, shortly after the incident. Attendance at which was *ordered* for lesser ranks.
How does it go? "When politicians are in charge of buy and selling, the first things to be bought and sold will be politicians"
I do agree with @Big_G_NorthWales ; the way to improve the situation amongst serving MP's is to pay them a decent wage and ban consulting jobs; or put a strict limit on associated additional renumeration.
Yet Paterson is too important, when banged to rights, to take a 30 day suspension from the HoC.
Only zones 1 and 2 are really what most tourists would consider to be London ie the equivalent of Manhattan and maybe Brooklyn in NYC or the city of Paris rather than surrounding suburbs of the Paris region
My sense is that in private almost all people are not wearing masks indoors to visit friends and family and they are seeing lots of them in indoor spaces.
The other thing pointed out by one of my friends last night is that we're very much on course to be the first large nation to get to the other side of the exit wave. A process that every nation will have to endure, we've managed, just about, to do it before Xmas and temperatures dropping to below zero. Other Northern European countries are not even close, he pointed out the Netherlands who didn't "run hot" in the summer and autumn and have now had to reimpose indoor social distancing and mask wearing.
GET OUT AND ENJOY YOUR CITY FFS.