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Graham Brady – the man to whom the VONC letters are sent – politicalbetting.com

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  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    dixiedean said:

    Carnyx said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    eristdoof said:

    Andy_JS said:

    kinabalu said:

    Morning all. I think this one is pretty easy. The ideal is obviously to have standard units of measurement that everyone - young and old, right left or centrist, British or burdened by being foreign - understands and uses. That's the point of a measurement system. Clarity and consistency across people and places. So this should be the direction of travel. Going in the opposite direction, whilst not the most terrible thing in the world, is a bit silly. Which is on brand for this government. Everything they do that isn't terrible is a bit silly.

    Hardly anyone in the UK uses metric measurements to describe their height.
    Height really is the exteme in the measurement discussion though. In Australia they introduced the metric system for everything well over fifty years ago. When I lived there 20 years ago, most people still quoted their height in feet and inches even though all other linear measurements were in m/km/cm/mm and not many know how far 10 miles is. Weight is always given in Kg even in informal conversation.

    I'm sure the reason for this is that people numeric height's are quoted and discussed in informal conversation very often (much more often than weight is) and so the old units remain in common usage for a long time.
    Also height, unlike weight, effectively doesn't change for an adult.

    Once you know your height, as an adult, you quote the same number pretty much for the rest of your life. Quoting a different number would be as alien as changing your date of birth.
    Surely you'd soon get used to saying 160 cm instead of 5 foot 3?
    I just compare it to my other large object and that works pretty well
    Never compare! Used to spoil my after-pool changing room experience, that did.
    But that's a good point re height. I was last measured, oh, more than half a likely lifetime ago, when they were still working in feet and inches ... have never been measured in metric, though had to convert to metric to work out bmi.
    I must be unusual in that I don't know what height I am. Because I'm bang average it never comes up. I'm a little shorter than six feet. And over 5 ten. But I couldn't tell you by how much.
    A touch above average, I think. And as it happens precisely same as me. You and I would be eye to eye (assuming no slouching or tippytoes).
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    Leon said:

    malcolmg said:

    Leon said:

    Aslan said:

    kle4 said:

    Farooq said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    .

    Foxy said:

    kjh said:

    MaxPB said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Taking back control-
    Aviation chaos: We need to talk about Brexit | The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/airport-airline-chaos-flight-brexit-b2091300.html

    “Brexit was a mistake which is causing harm but we shouldn’t do anything to reverse it” is a bizarre way of thinking. It’s like mishandling a knife and then resolving to let yourself bleed to death.
    https://twitter.com/seanjonesqc/status/1532630897173962752

    Not really. Some divorces are mistakes and people find out the grass is not greener. For that group it would still be the exception rather than the rule to get back together with the ex.

    Perhaps we should try and tempt the EU with friends with benefits instead of a second marriage or bitter enemies bitching about each other?
    I think that, in time, the UK and the EU will adopt a closer and more cooperative relationship with each other but we'll never go back to full EU membership. You can't ever put the genie wholly back in the box.

    We had decades of friction over our membership for very good reasons and I think both sides recognise it was the wrong model for both the EU and the UK.
    Agree with that although would replace wrong with imperfect. The Ukraine war may actually open up possibilities for different levels of involvement with the EU and a strong UK government would be exploring what possibilities an outside EU satellite group could develop.
    Of course, if you look at the original Vote Leave manifesto (and I'm not trying to trigger anyone here) but 'create a new European institutional architecture' was in there.

    It's certainly what I voted for, and would consider supporting today too.
    I think that's a bit naïve, CR. Anything that puts the UK back in the EU's orbit is, IMO, unacceptable. I have no issue with co-operation with the EU as long as it's a very tightly defined set of rules with the basis of co-operation set out in separate agreements or treaties rather than one overall and undefined relationship based on "trust" or relying on the other partner to act favourably. No more freebies, no more favours.
    I agree with that post. I am a remainer, but we have left and so what you describe is the way forward. I wish both sides would get on with it. In my opinion there are hundreds of trivial to complex agreements that have to be made to make all our lives better. Red tape on trade, and a particular bug bear of mine, is red tape on temporary exports, and then we trivial things, but which have significant real effects on people, like the pet passport fiasco and the 90 day in 180 day travel issue.

    Lets get on with it.

    However what we do re NI I have no idea.
    I think that broadly will be the Labour, and LD, approach to Brexit at the next election To "do away with unnessecary Brexit red tape", the former tacitly, and the latter expicitly to ultimate Rejoin.
    Red Wall Tory MPs would be over the moon if Labour takes that approach.
    Recent polling on Brexit as a mistake and the 58% voting Lab/LD/Green suggests other wise.

    Doubling down on Brexit culture wars is not the votewinner that you think.


    Thinking it was a mistake but wanting to reverse it are two different questions

    Furthermore, why are those who want to rejoin not standing fair and square and honestly saying so
    Oh, I think the LD policy is honestly stated. To have a closer relationship inclusing rejoining the SM with the long term aim of Rejoin once opinion has moved.

    Labours is less transparent, but clearly a move to closer alignment, which in practice means following EU regulations .
    Absolutely not. Labour has no intention of joining the EU short or long term under Starmer. The issue is toxic
    And for now, he's right to do so. Noise and toxicity beat raw numbers.

    I stick by my calendar proposed on Brexit Day;

    The 2024 rewrite of the TCA (which has to happen) will actually promote trade and co-operation at the expense of the UK giving up some of the more hypothetical freedoms.

    2029 will be EEA in all but name.

    2040ish will be the UK choosing to be in the room when decisions are taken.
    A generation of withered trade and soured relationships. And all so Boomers with 3 O-Levels could get a different coloured passport and a vacuum cleaner that pumps out useless extra heat.
    I suppose those with 3 O levels were to be respected previously when they voted the right way?
    It's the contempt Remainers can't stop. "Anyone that disagrees with me is old and thick". They are completely unable to have a level headed conversation about it.

    And in most discussions they can't even make a single concession in the argument. If you point out the predictions of the Remain campaign all turned out to be flat out lies, they will twist and turn trying to pretend otherwise. At best they will try to say the predictions were from evil Tories, rather ignoring the Labour leader of the Remain campaign repeating them everywhere.
    Yes, they exude a fetid stench of sneering and snobbery, the Remainers: they cannot help themselves. The reek always escapes

    It’s like Ken Livingstone trying to have a sensible conversation about Jews. Just wait a few minutes. Ah. There it is. Bingo
    How long till you are fighting to get us back in EU
    About five hours, when I am well into my 2nd bottle of Saperavi, and fancy a ruck
    That's my boy
  • What's happening with Great British Railways? Has franchising died now?
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    kjh said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Er, yes, and? St Paul's is NOT under Labour-held Westminster City Council.
    It will have a Labour MP though given the swing to Labour in Westminster in the local elections, the City of London was 75% Remain and Westminster was 69% Remain, it is Remainer and anti Boris central
    Are you seriously arguing that a crowd who show up to Royal watch is Remainer central?
    I guess you are.
    Yep that is nonsense isn't. Also those there aren't from Westminster or the City, they will be from all over the South East with many, many from further afield in the UK. I mean yesterday they were interviewing people on the street from Australia, Canada and USA who had come specially.
    They are all a bunch of stupid fannies, who cares where they come from. Sad vegetables with low IQ's wanting to cheer on a bunch of rich tossers who would not piss on them if they were on fire, pathetic.
  • northern_monkeynorthern_monkey Posts: 1,639
    Carnyx said:

    Boom!

    That's a Canadian flag, at halfmast (or being hoisted). I don't recognise the pieces as being UK ...
    Spoilsport!
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,450
    stodge said:

    France votes in the first round of its legislative elections next Sunday, June 12th.

    The latest Cluster 17 poll has the following:

    NUPES: 31% (+6)
    Ensemble: 27% (-5)
    National Rally: 19% (+6)
    UDC: 10% (-9)
    Reconquete: 5% (new)

    To clarify, NUPES is the Nouvelle Union Populaire, Ecologique et Sociale which is basically Melenchon's party plus the Greens and Socialists. Ensemble is Macron's LREM plus a couple of others. National Rally is the Le Pen party while UDC (Union de droite et centre) is the alliance of centre-right and liberal parties led by Les Republicans. Reconquete is Zemmour's party.

    Cluster 17 does tend to inflate the NUPES numbers more than other posters. Pollsters such as Elabe, Harris and Ifop have Ensemble just ahead of NUPES (27 to 25) with National Rally a close third on 21%.

    It's of course a two-round poll and I suspect this will help Ensemble who may be able to pick up centre-right votes to overhaul NUPES on June 19th.

    Are those big moves? They look big, but there’s no timescale.

    I’d be surprised if Le Fiasco at Stade de France did not damage Macron’s party, via his hapless Interior Minister
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.
    Should we pander to the likes of Steve though? Shouldn't he be helped into 2022? Sort of a 'cruel to be kind' ethic.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357

    malcolmg said:

    MattW said:

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    kinabalu said:

    Morning all. I think this one is pretty easy. The ideal is obviously to have standard units of measurement that everyone - young and old, right left or centrist, British or burdened by being foreign - understands and uses. That's the point of a measurement system. Clarity and consistency across people and places. So this should be the direction of travel. Going in the opposite direction, whilst not the most terrible thing in the world, is a bit silly. Which is on brand for this government. Everything they do that isn't terrible is a bit silly.

    Hardly anyone in the UK uses metric measurements to describe their height.
    True. I don't. But the direction of travel on measurement units should be consolidation not the other way. That's my point really.
    Agree there.

    I use metric when calculating BMI in my head, but then the calc in Imperial is slightly complex !

    What's 5'10" squared, divided by 13 stone 12 lb.? There are limits.
    Fat bastard
    Pots and kettles
    I am not 5'10", and am just well built.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,225
    Say what you like about the monarchy, the memes (along with the opportunities to boo the PM) they provide are excellent.

    Trading, Compliance, Sales, Legal
    https://twitter.com/SMTuffy/status/1532453595588837408
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,837
    kinabalu said:

    Carnyx said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    eristdoof said:

    Andy_JS said:

    kinabalu said:

    Morning all. I think this one is pretty easy. The ideal is obviously to have standard units of measurement that everyone - young and old, right left or centrist, British or burdened by being foreign - understands and uses. That's the point of a measurement system. Clarity and consistency across people and places. So this should be the direction of travel. Going in the opposite direction, whilst not the most terrible thing in the world, is a bit silly. Which is on brand for this government. Everything they do that isn't terrible is a bit silly.

    Hardly anyone in the UK uses metric measurements to describe their height.
    Height really is the exteme in the measurement discussion though. In Australia they introduced the metric system for everything well over fifty years ago. When I lived there 20 years ago, most people still quoted their height in feet and inches even though all other linear measurements were in m/km/cm/mm and not many know how far 10 miles is. Weight is always given in Kg even in informal conversation.

    I'm sure the reason for this is that people numeric height's are quoted and discussed in informal conversation very often (much more often than weight is) and so the old units remain in common usage for a long time.
    Also height, unlike weight, effectively doesn't change for an adult.

    Once you know your height, as an adult, you quote the same number pretty much for the rest of your life. Quoting a different number would be as alien as changing your date of birth.
    Surely you'd soon get used to saying 160 cm instead of 5 foot 3?
    I just compare it to my other large object and that works pretty well
    Never compare! Used to spoil my after-pool changing room experience, that did.
    But that's a good point re height. I was last measured, oh, more than half a likely lifetime ago, when they were still working in feet and inches ... have never been measured in metric, though had to convert to metric to work out bmi.
    Same here. I do happen to know my metric metric but it's not what springs to mind. And, yes, height is different to weight because after a time it doesn't change - other than a touch of shrinkage post 65. But this is compensated for by your ears getting bigger.
    Average person loses about 1cm per decade from around 40. Office desk bod will be faster than that.

    At 65 most men will be an inch shorter than they think they are and two inches shorter than they claim to be.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    kinabalu said:

    Carnyx said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    eristdoof said:

    Andy_JS said:

    kinabalu said:

    Morning all. I think this one is pretty easy. The ideal is obviously to have standard units of measurement that everyone - young and old, right left or centrist, British or burdened by being foreign - understands and uses. That's the point of a measurement system. Clarity and consistency across people and places. So this should be the direction of travel. Going in the opposite direction, whilst not the most terrible thing in the world, is a bit silly. Which is on brand for this government. Everything they do that isn't terrible is a bit silly.

    Hardly anyone in the UK uses metric measurements to describe their height.
    Height really is the exteme in the measurement discussion though. In Australia they introduced the metric system for everything well over fifty years ago. When I lived there 20 years ago, most people still quoted their height in feet and inches even though all other linear measurements were in m/km/cm/mm and not many know how far 10 miles is. Weight is always given in Kg even in informal conversation.

    I'm sure the reason for this is that people numeric height's are quoted and discussed in informal conversation very often (much more often than weight is) and so the old units remain in common usage for a long time.
    Also height, unlike weight, effectively doesn't change for an adult.

    Once you know your height, as an adult, you quote the same number pretty much for the rest of your life. Quoting a different number would be as alien as changing your date of birth.
    Surely you'd soon get used to saying 160 cm instead of 5 foot 3?
    I just compare it to my other large object and that works pretty well
    Never compare! Used to spoil my after-pool changing room experience, that did.
    But that's a good point re height. I was last measured, oh, more than half a likely lifetime ago, when they were still working in feet and inches ... have never been measured in metric, though had to convert to metric to work out bmi.
    Same here. I do happen to know my metric metric but it's not what springs to mind. And, yes, height is different to weight because after a time it doesn't change - other than a touch of shrinkage post 65. But this is compensated for by your ears getting bigger.
    Allegedly your nose as well
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Er, yes, and? St Paul's is NOT under Labour-held Westminster City Council.
    It will have a Labour MP though given the swing to Labour in Westminster in the local elections, the City of London was 75% Remain and Westminster was 69% Remain, it is Remainer and anti Boris central
    Are you seriously arguing that a crowd who show up to Royal watch is Remainer central?
    I guess you are.
    Best comment on twitter so far:

    "He brought his own boos."

    https://twitter.com/LevellingDown/status/1532667904201719809?t=ha69XzjFFPEoPH5y9X-56g&s=19
    Starmer did that at pmq months ago. Can't remember context
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,413
    stodge said:

    France votes in the first round of its legislative elections next Sunday, June 12th.

    The latest Cluster 17 poll has the following:

    NUPES: 31% (+6)
    Ensemble: 27% (-5)
    National Rally: 19% (+6)
    UDC: 10% (-9)
    Reconquete: 5% (new)

    To clarify, NUPES is the Nouvelle Union Populaire, Ecologique et Sociale which is basically Melenchon's party plus the Greens and Socialists. Ensemble is Macron's LREM plus a couple of others. National Rally is the Le Pen party while UDC (Union de droite et centre) is the alliance of centre-right and liberal parties led by Les Republicans. Reconquete is Zemmour's party.

    Cluster 17 does tend to inflate the NUPES numbers more than other posters. Pollsters such as Elabe, Harris and Ifop have Ensemble just ahead of NUPES (27 to 25) with National Rally a close third on 21%.

    It's of course a two-round poll and I suspect this will help Ensemble who may be able to pick up centre-right votes to overhaul NUPES on June 19th.

    Yes. Still polling a majority for Macron in second round.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,932
    Carnyx said:

    Boom!

    That's a Canadian flag, at halfmast (or being hoisted). I don't recognise the pieces as being UK ...
    That's not the joke. Look at the shape of the flash.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,225
    Careless cigarette disposal in Russia is epidemic.

    Moscow Grand Setun Plaza business center is on fire. The fire which spread to 1,000 m2 received top level of complexity. Helicopters and 200 people are involved in the firefighting, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations arrived at the site, reports Russian media 1/3
    https://twitter.com/Hromadske/status/1532646107507040256
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,450
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,225
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    “I’m appealing” ?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    dixiedean said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Led by the Dalai Lama no doubt.
    If only.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885

    Carnyx said:

    Boom!

    That's a Canadian flag, at halfmast (or being hoisted). I don't recognise the pieces as being UK ...
    That's not the joke. Look at the shape of the flash.
    Quite, but I'm wonderiing what the connection with HMtQ is ...
  • OllyTOllyT Posts: 5,006
    GIN1138 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    The CCHQ search for precedents of PMs being booed at a royal event has just reached Spencer Perceval.
    https://twitter.com/DAaronovitch/status/1532700648684257282

    I distinctly remember Tony being booed at some Royal event... possibly Queen Mothers funeral after it was reported he'd been angling for a bigger role?
    Those attending a royal event booing a Labour PM is par for the course, those attending a royal event booing a Tory PM isn't.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,450
    Incroyable testimony from a Scouse UFC fighter, on what he saw before during and after the UCL final at Stade de France

    In some ways his account is the most compelling of all, because he fights in cages AS A JOB, and he was pretty terrified. It has gone viral in France


    💬 "Je n'ai jamais eu aussi peur de ma vie qu'en sortant du Stade de France samedi"

    💥 Le combattant UFC Paddy Pimblett, venu au SDF en tant que fan de Liverpool raconte les incidents. Il résume tout en une phrase : "au moins dans une cage c'est un contre un".


    https://twitter.com/rmcsportcombat/status/1532440163133136896?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885
    IshmaelZ said:

    Carnyx said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    Note for railway enthusiasts: on my way to London and for the first time ever the journey starts at Okehampton not Exeter st David's. Life changing.

    I did Exeter to Okehampton as a Sunday special back in 2019.
    Sure. But this is a routine, unexciting, scheduled service.
    Pity the line hasn't been extended all the way to Plymouth - then it would have the views from the Meldon Viaduct. Stumbled across, or rather under, it unexpectedly when being taken for walkies by a local friend - one of the last of the wrought iron constructions on the railways. Fascinating postindustrial landscape in the valley which it crosses, remains of mining and so on.

    PS and this is Sunil. For him any service is exciting - especially on a new line. A commendable sentiment.
    Viaduct won't take trains without a complete rebuild. Also I live close enough to that line that they could use my house to remake the railway children and I don't want express trains in my backyard so I am happy as is, a lift to the station is no longer a 2 hour round trip

    Tldr meldon is a bridge too far
    No need to worry, the film has already been remade (though the eldest sis is now a yummy mummy for some reason).
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,805
    kinabalu said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.
    Should we pander to the likes of Steve though? Shouldn't he be helped into 2022? Sort of a 'cruel to be kind' ethic.
    I think we should pander to him if he wants to sell in pounds and ounces. I'm ok with it as long as Sainsbury's don't or stuff where measurements actually matters aren't. If you open an oldie worldie sweet shop it might be a good gimmick to sell a quarter of sweets (not sure about using old money though).
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,932
    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Boom!

    That's a Canadian flag, at halfmast (or being hoisted). I don't recognise the pieces as being UK ...
    That's not the joke. Look at the shape of the flash.
    Quite, but I'm wonderiing what the connection with HMtQ is ...
    Probably none; it is from years ago.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885
    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,805
    malcolmg said:

    kjh said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Er, yes, and? St Paul's is NOT under Labour-held Westminster City Council.
    It will have a Labour MP though given the swing to Labour in Westminster in the local elections, the City of London was 75% Remain and Westminster was 69% Remain, it is Remainer and anti Boris central
    Are you seriously arguing that a crowd who show up to Royal watch is Remainer central?
    I guess you are.
    Yep that is nonsense isn't. Also those there aren't from Westminster or the City, they will be from all over the South East with many, many from further afield in the UK. I mean yesterday they were interviewing people on the street from Australia, Canada and USA who had come specially.
    They are all a bunch of stupid fannies, who cares where they come from. Sad vegetables with low IQ's wanting to cheer on a bunch of rich tossers who would not piss on them if they were on fire, pathetic.
    I take it @malcolmg you don't approve of them.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,424
    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    My experience is that at least as many people understand imperial as metric and rather more don't really understand the specifics of either.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    kjh said:

    malcolmg said:

    kjh said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Er, yes, and? St Paul's is NOT under Labour-held Westminster City Council.
    It will have a Labour MP though given the swing to Labour in Westminster in the local elections, the City of London was 75% Remain and Westminster was 69% Remain, it is Remainer and anti Boris central
    Are you seriously arguing that a crowd who show up to Royal watch is Remainer central?
    I guess you are.
    Yep that is nonsense isn't. Also those there aren't from Westminster or the City, they will be from all over the South East with many, many from further afield in the UK. I mean yesterday they were interviewing people on the street from Australia, Canada and USA who had come specially.
    They are all a bunch of stupid fannies, who cares where they come from. Sad vegetables with low IQ's wanting to cheer on a bunch of rich tossers who would not piss on them if they were on fire, pathetic.
    I take it @malcolmg you don't approve of them.
    Malcolm himself is in fire today. The monarchy def brings out his best material
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,816
    malcolmg said:

    kjh said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Er, yes, and? St Paul's is NOT under Labour-held Westminster City Council.
    It will have a Labour MP though given the swing to Labour in Westminster in the local elections, the City of London was 75% Remain and Westminster was 69% Remain, it is Remainer and anti Boris central
    Are you seriously arguing that a crowd who show up to Royal watch is Remainer central?
    I guess you are.
    Yep that is nonsense isn't. Also those there aren't from Westminster or the City, they will be from all over the South East with many, many from further afield in the UK. I mean yesterday they were interviewing people on the street from Australia, Canada and USA who had come specially.
    They are all a bunch of stupid fannies, who cares where they come from. Sad vegetables with low IQ's wanting to cheer on a bunch of rich tossers who would not piss on them if they were on fire, pathetic.
    just like Premier League football you could argue.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,126
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Not these days. Labour stand candidates as Labour and have had a few elected, IIRC. There are some local groupings that have formed parties too. Although the majority of those elected are still independents.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,805
    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    I don't agree. If Sainsbury's did it, it would be confusing and they have an important market presence, but if Steve does it on his market stall you can go elsewhere, pick out spuds yourself or tell him you want about a dozen and ask him how much and pretty much judge the value. But going elsewhere to next stall holder is the obvious solution if you can't judge the value. If many do it he will change his ways. If they don't it shows what he is doing is popular.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,816
    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.
    Should we pander to the likes of Steve though? Shouldn't he be helped into 2022? Sort of a 'cruel to be kind' ethic.
    I think we should pander to him if he wants to sell in pounds and ounces. I'm ok with it as long as Sainsbury's don't or stuff where measurements actually matters aren't. If you open an oldie worldie sweet shop it might be a good gimmick to sell a quarter of sweets (not sure about using old money though).
    yes , variety is nice in life - Never understood this desire to make everything standard or the same - it happens in a lot of walks of life - My old firm used to bang on about "one truth" which always struck me as a fascist slogan . It was one of the strengths of the EU in that the concept of we all get along but have our different ways and cultural idioms and also one of its weaknesses when it got the "everything must be the same everywhere" mentality
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,450
    edited June 2022
    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,426
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
    Ironic comment really given her defecatory capabilities.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,816
    I see the picture of the intro for the test match score has changed from a wicket to a grimace from Stokes - must mean a big partnership is growing
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601
    The fact that one of the main arguments of the days is over whether to use pounds or kilograms shows how unserious British politics is these days.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,126

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Not these days. Labour stand candidates as Labour and have had a few elected, IIRC. There are some local groupings that have formed parties too. Although the majority of those elected are still independents.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_City_of_London_Corporation_election
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,514
    ydoethur said:

    Boom!

    That looks like a penis!

    The gun must be cocked.
    I think that image might be an optical illusion. It's a phallus see.
    Some cock and cannon ball Story behind it I bet.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,426
    malcolmg said:

    kjh said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Er, yes, and? St Paul's is NOT under Labour-held Westminster City Council.
    It will have a Labour MP though given the swing to Labour in Westminster in the local elections, the City of London was 75% Remain and Westminster was 69% Remain, it is Remainer and anti Boris central
    Are you seriously arguing that a crowd who show up to Royal watch is Remainer central?
    I guess you are.
    Yep that is nonsense isn't. Also those there aren't from Westminster or the City, they will be from all over the South East with many, many from further afield in the UK. I mean yesterday they were interviewing people on the street from Australia, Canada and USA who had come specially.
    They are all a bunch of stupid fannies, who cares where they come from. Sad vegetables with low IQ's wanting to cheer on a bunch of rich tossers who would not piss on them if they were on fire, pathetic.
    Friends of my wife (can’t abide the grifting, freeloading leeches) who we are supposed to be going out tomorrow with for an afternoon in the toon have gone down from Durham to stand in the mall. Your perceptive comments are right on the nail Malc.

    With any luck it will just be the two of us now
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885
    kjh said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    I don't agree. If Sainsbury's did it, it would be confusing and they have an important market presence, but if Steve does it on his market stall you can go elsewhere, pick out spuds yourself or tell him you want about a dozen and ask him how much and pretty much judge the value. But going elsewhere to next stall holder is the obvious solution if you can't judge the value. If many do it he will change his ways. If they don't it shows what he is doing is popular.
    Point taken (from you and others) but that sort of guesstimate is rightly banned for commercial traders. We are dealing with a staple of life and he may be the only trader or the only one of two. Refusing to give the metric equivalent is outright subversion of the essential common units system for many people. Doesn't matter if he has a stall vs Sainsburys - it's impossible to compare properly.

    This sort of subversion goes against the entire trend of modern history - and would not be tolerated by the great heroes of the so-called British Constitution. This shite about allowing people to deal in the units they want is straight out of 18th centiry custom and practice.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,424

    ydoethur said:

    Boom!

    That looks like a penis!

    The gun must be cocked.
    I think that image might be an optical illusion. It's a phallus see.
    Some cock and cannon ball Story behind it I bet.
    Have you ever seen any of Dave Allen's work? I think you'd enjoy it.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,816
    Leon said:

    Incroyable testimony from a Scouse UFC fighter, on what he saw before during and after the UCL final at Stade de France

    In some ways his account is the most compelling of all, because he fights in cages AS A JOB, and he was pretty terrified. It has gone viral in France


    💬 "Je n'ai jamais eu aussi peur de ma vie qu'en sortant du Stade de France samedi"

    💥 Le combattant UFC Paddy Pimblett, venu au SDF en tant que fan de Liverpool raconte les incidents. Il résume tout en une phrase : "au moins dans une cage c'est un contre un".


    https://twitter.com/rmcsportcombat/status/1532440163133136896?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w

    I feel the same about scouse fans being told to wait for a bit at the champions league final as you do about Amber Heard
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,218
    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    My experience is that at least as many people understand imperial as metric and rather more don't really understand the specifics of either.
    I work on the theory that a pound is half a kilo. An ounce? Not quite sure how much that is.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    kjh said:

    kinabalu said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.
    Should we pander to the likes of Steve though? Shouldn't he be helped into 2022? Sort of a 'cruel to be kind' ethic.
    I think we should pander to him if he wants to sell in pounds and ounces. I'm ok with it as long as Sainsbury's don't or stuff where measurements actually matters aren't. If you open an oldie worldie sweet shop it might be a good gimmick to sell a quarter of sweets (not sure about using old money though).
    Maybe just discourage Steve rather than sanction him. But yes I see what you mean about a business with this as a USP. That's a bit different. No need to discourage that, quite the opposite. And maybe even old money could work too. You'd just have to implement some local voucher system whereby using real money you purchase shillings & pence which can only be spent in this olde shoppe you're running. I can see the point of that. Customers go in there, ask for (say) thrupence worth of liquorice and hand over the necessary. On a technical note, you would need to use 1973 exchange rates otherwise your thrupence won't buy anything.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,426
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    Brexit was a vote to control not stop immigration. I expect the High levels of positivity are down to our ability/perceived ability to control it.

  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,126
    kjh said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?
    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    I don't agree. If Sainsbury's did it, it would be confusing and they have an important market presence, but if Steve does it on his market stall you can go elsewhere, pick out spuds yourself or tell him you want about a dozen and ask him how much and pretty much judge the value. But going elsewhere to next stall holder is the obvious solution if you can't judge the value. If many do it he will change his ways. If they don't it shows what he is doing is popular.
    I’m not particularly bothered by Steve either way. Steve does not seem like a legislative priority. The cost of living, the crisis in Ukraine, a monkeypox outbreak and a continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the collapse in UK exports after Brexit, the unaffordable cost of housing… y’know, everything else going on in the world seems rather more important. So why is the UK government focused on Steve? And vacuum cleaner power levels?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,424
    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    My experience is that at least as many people understand imperial as metric and rather more don't really understand the specifics of either.
    I work on the theory that a pound is half a kilo. An ounce? Not quite sure how much that is.
    It's 28.34 grams.

    Which is not a lot of use, really.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149

    kinabalu said:

    Carnyx said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    eristdoof said:

    Andy_JS said:

    kinabalu said:

    Morning all. I think this one is pretty easy. The ideal is obviously to have standard units of measurement that everyone - young and old, right left or centrist, British or burdened by being foreign - understands and uses. That's the point of a measurement system. Clarity and consistency across people and places. So this should be the direction of travel. Going in the opposite direction, whilst not the most terrible thing in the world, is a bit silly. Which is on brand for this government. Everything they do that isn't terrible is a bit silly.

    Hardly anyone in the UK uses metric measurements to describe their height.
    Height really is the exteme in the measurement discussion though. In Australia they introduced the metric system for everything well over fifty years ago. When I lived there 20 years ago, most people still quoted their height in feet and inches even though all other linear measurements were in m/km/cm/mm and not many know how far 10 miles is. Weight is always given in Kg even in informal conversation.

    I'm sure the reason for this is that people numeric height's are quoted and discussed in informal conversation very often (much more often than weight is) and so the old units remain in common usage for a long time.
    Also height, unlike weight, effectively doesn't change for an adult.

    Once you know your height, as an adult, you quote the same number pretty much for the rest of your life. Quoting a different number would be as alien as changing your date of birth.
    Surely you'd soon get used to saying 160 cm instead of 5 foot 3?
    I just compare it to my other large object and that works pretty well
    Never compare! Used to spoil my after-pool changing room experience, that did.
    But that's a good point re height. I was last measured, oh, more than half a likely lifetime ago, when they were still working in feet and inches ... have never been measured in metric, though had to convert to metric to work out bmi.
    Same here. I do happen to know my metric metric but it's not what springs to mind. And, yes, height is different to weight because after a time it doesn't change - other than a touch of shrinkage post 65. But this is compensated for by your ears getting bigger.
    Average person loses about 1cm per decade from around 40. Office desk bod will be faster than that.

    At 65 most men will be an inch shorter than they think they are and two inches shorter than they claim to be.
    I'm getting a jump on things and claiming to be shorter than I actually am now, so I will match up later.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,837
    Andy_JS said:

    The fact that one of the main arguments of the days is over whether to use pounds or kilograms shows how unserious British politics is these days.

    Well if we elect a journalist who specialises in non existent laws on bendy bananas as PM it seems quite appropriate?
  • northern_monkeynorthern_monkey Posts: 1,639
    ydoethur said:

    Boom!

    That looks like a penis!

    The gun must be cocked.
    I think that image might be an optical illusion. It's a phallus see.
    Chapeau, sir.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,126
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    The other big change is that the right-wing press have stopped going on about immigration (because it’s difficult for them to do so now they’ve got Brexit). So are people happier with immigration because it’s under our control, or because they’re not being fed a torrent of vile propaganda by the Daily Mail etc.? Or maybe it’s because Remain won the argument and a lot of people have come to appreciate the benefits of immigration more?

    I don’t know. The shift in opinion on immigration is noteworthy, but I’d like to see more research into what’s behind it.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,602
    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    Brexit was a vote to control not stop immigration. I expect the High levels of positivity are down to our ability/perceived ability to control it.

    I would like to believe this narrative, because it suits me to do so. But I do wonder if some Remainers are just giving the pro-immigration answer to the polling question reflexively, as a way of signalling their distaste at Brexit, not as a reflection of their actual opinion on immigration policy. That would juice the pro-immigration numbers, no matter what Leavers did.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149
    edited June 2022

    This is well worth a minute and a half of your time. And I’m a republican.

    (Don’t tell anyone, but I watched the Trooping of the Colour and the fly past yesterday and enjoyed both. I was hovering on the edge of shedding a tear. Funny what getting older does to the absolutes of youth.)

    https://twitter.com/jake_kanter/status/1532715805384884225?s=21&t=6anESHTUgceG_KjkAELCpQ

    You shouldn't feel embarrassed for enjoying something. Sure, people who get really into it can be amusing, but that's the case for any kind of fanboy, be it monarchy, political party or anime. Don't let miserable gits make you doubt your own enjoyment.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,816

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    The other big change is that the right-wing press have stopped going on about immigration (because it’s difficult for them to do so now they’ve got Brexit). So are people happier with immigration because it’s under our control, or because they’re not being fed a torrent of vile propaganda by the Daily Mail etc.? Or maybe it’s because Remain won the argument and a lot of people have come to appreciate the benefits of immigration more?

    I don’t know. The shift in opinion on immigration is noteworthy, but I’d like to see more research into what’s behind it.
    yes I bet all those moaning leavers are really glad there is now nobody to pick their fruit and veg or serve them coffee in their seaside cafe . Or look after them in their care homes in 10 years time
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,139
    kjh said:

    malcolmg said:

    kjh said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Er, yes, and? St Paul's is NOT under Labour-held Westminster City Council.
    It will have a Labour MP though given the swing to Labour in Westminster in the local elections, the City of London was 75% Remain and Westminster was 69% Remain, it is Remainer and anti Boris central
    Are you seriously arguing that a crowd who show up to Royal watch is Remainer central?
    I guess you are.
    Yep that is nonsense isn't. Also those there aren't from Westminster or the City, they will be from all over the South East with many, many from further afield in the UK. I mean yesterday they were interviewing people on the street from Australia, Canada and USA who had come specially.
    They are all a bunch of stupid fannies, who cares where they come from. Sad vegetables with low IQ's wanting to cheer on a bunch of rich tossers who would not piss on them if they were on fire, pathetic.
    I take it @malcolmg you don't approve of them.
    The only person in public life Malc approves of is Alex Salmond
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149
    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    Brexit was a vote to control not stop immigration. I expect the High levels of positivity are down to our ability/perceived ability to control it.

    For lots of people it probably was to stop it, but day in day out people cannot really tell the difference. As long as they think it is being controlled they won't punish a failure to keep the numbers down.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,218
    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    Brexit was a vote to control not stop immigration. I expect the High levels of positivity are down to our ability/perceived ability to control it.

    I would like to believe this narrative, because it suits me to do so. But I do wonder if some Remainers are just giving the pro-immigration answer to the polling question reflexively, as a way of signalling their distaste at Brexit, not as a reflection of their actual opinion on immigration policy. That would juice the pro-immigration numbers, no matter what Leavers did.
    So, you think Remainers are saying they're happy with immigration post Brexit as a way of signalling that they're unhappy with Brexit?

    I know many people. Literally dozens. I don't know any that put even one tenth of the amount of effort into crafting opinion poll answers as that.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,149
    Andy_JS said:

    The fact that one of the main arguments of the days is over whether to use pounds or kilograms shows how unserious British politics is these days.

    Not sure it shows it is unserious so much as out of ideas.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,218

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    The other big change is that the right-wing press have stopped going on about immigration (because it’s difficult for them to do so now they’ve got Brexit). So are people happier with immigration because it’s under our control, or because they’re not being fed a torrent of vile propaganda by the Daily Mail etc.? Or maybe it’s because Remain won the argument and a lot of people have come to appreciate the benefits of immigration more?

    I don’t know. The shift in opinion on immigration is noteworthy, but I’d like to see more research into what’s behind it.
    Or could it simply be that immigration is simply less visible to most people, which is a consequence of both Brexit and Covid. And if it's not visible, then - for most people - it's not a problem.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,450

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    The other big change is that the right-wing press have stopped going on about immigration (because it’s difficult for them to do so now they’ve got Brexit). So are people happier with immigration because it’s under our control, or because they’re not being fed a torrent of vile propaganda by the Daily Mail etc.? Or maybe it’s because Remain won the argument and a lot of people have come to appreciate the benefits of immigration more?

    I don’t know. The shift in opinion on immigration is noteworthy, but I’d like to see more research into what’s behind it.
    Look at the polling. Concerns about migration collapsed exactly the moment we voted Leave, and literally took control of the borders

    It may not be the only factor (there are others, as you suggest) but Brexit is certainly at work. Liberal lefties and Remainers will struggle to digest this, but,,, whatever
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,837
    rcs1000 said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    Brexit was a vote to control not stop immigration. I expect the High levels of positivity are down to our ability/perceived ability to control it.

    I would like to believe this narrative, because it suits me to do so. But I do wonder if some Remainers are just giving the pro-immigration answer to the polling question reflexively, as a way of signalling their distaste at Brexit, not as a reflection of their actual opinion on immigration policy. That would juice the pro-immigration numbers, no matter what Leavers did.
    So, you think Remainers are saying they're happy with immigration post Brexit as a way of signalling that they're unhappy with Brexit?

    I know many people. Literally dozens. I don't know any that put even one tenth of the amount of effort into crafting opinion poll answers as that.
    So you have not yet met HYUFD?
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,602
    edited June 2022
    rcs1000 said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    Brexit was a vote to control not stop immigration. I expect the High levels of positivity are down to our ability/perceived ability to control it.

    I would like to believe this narrative, because it suits me to do so. But I do wonder if some Remainers are just giving the pro-immigration answer to the polling question reflexively, as a way of signalling their distaste at Brexit, not as a reflection of their actual opinion on immigration policy. That would juice the pro-immigration numbers, no matter what Leavers did.
    So, you think Remainers are saying they're happy with immigration post Brexit as a way of signalling that they're unhappy with Brexit?

    I know many people. Literally dozens. I don't know any that put even one tenth of the amount of effort into crafting opinion poll answers as that.
    Consciously, no. I just wonder if tribalism has led remain voters to hold being pro-immigration as a core belief, because it is part of the Remain canon.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,218
    carnforth said:

    rcs1000 said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    Brexit was a vote to control not stop immigration. I expect the High levels of positivity are down to our ability/perceived ability to control it.

    I would like to believe this narrative, because it suits me to do so. But I do wonder if some Remainers are just giving the pro-immigration answer to the polling question reflexively, as a way of signalling their distaste at Brexit, not as a reflection of their actual opinion on immigration policy. That would juice the pro-immigration numbers, no matter what Leavers did.
    So, you think Remainers are saying they're happy with immigration post Brexit as a way of signalling that they're unhappy with Brexit?

    I know many people. Literally dozens. I don't know any that put even one tenth of the amount of effort into crafting opinion poll answers as that.
    Consciously, no. I just wonder if tribalism has led remain voters to hold being pro-immigration as a core belief, because it is part of the Remain canon.
    Surely they should be unhappy, as there's no longer free movement?
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,932
    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    My experience is that at least as many people understand imperial as metric and rather more don't really understand the specifics of either.
    I work on the theory that a pound is half a kilo. An ounce? Not quite sure how much that is.
    It's 28.34 grams.

    Which is not a lot of use, really.
    An ounce is about a handful.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,218

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    My experience is that at least as many people understand imperial as metric and rather more don't really understand the specifics of either.
    I work on the theory that a pound is half a kilo. An ounce? Not quite sure how much that is.
    It's 28.34 grams.

    Which is not a lot of use, really.
    An ounce is about a handful.
    Ummm. How big are your hands and what are you measuring?
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,602
    carnforth said:

    rcs1000 said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    Brexit was a vote to control not stop immigration. I expect the High levels of positivity are down to our ability/perceived ability to control it.

    I would like to believe this narrative, because it suits me to do so. But I do wonder if some Remainers are just giving the pro-immigration answer to the polling question reflexively, as a way of signalling their distaste at Brexit, not as a reflection of their actual opinion on immigration policy. That would juice the pro-immigration numbers, no matter what Leavers did.
    So, you think Remainers are saying they're happy with immigration post Brexit as a way of signalling that they're unhappy with Brexit?

    I know many people. Literally dozens. I don't know any that put even one tenth of the amount of effort into crafting opinion poll answers as that.
    Consciously, no. I just wonder if tribalism has led remain voters to hold being pro-immigration as a core belief, because it is part of the Remain canon.
    Although, as a counterpoint, I have one hardcore remainer friend who told me, after a few drinks, "I don't know why you people care about Poles, the problems are coming from Africa".
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,126

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    The other big change is that the right-wing press have stopped going on about immigration (because it’s difficult for them to do so now they’ve got Brexit). So are people happier with immigration because it’s under our control, or because they’re not being fed a torrent of vile propaganda by the Daily Mail etc.? Or maybe it’s because Remain won the argument and a lot of people have come to appreciate the benefits of immigration more?

    I don’t know. The shift in opinion on immigration is noteworthy, but I’d like to see more research into what’s behind it.
    So, this is interesting: https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/uk-public-opinion-toward-immigration-overall-attitudes-and-level-of-concern/

    Leavers remain much more opposed to immigration than Remainers. Both groups, albeit in different ways, have become more positive about immigration since the referendum. I don’t think this supports a simplistic narrative that “taking back control” has made everyone happier and that explains the shift, but it does suggest that that may be part of the story for some people, while for other, the Brexit debate has made those opposed to Brexit appreciate immigration more.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,602
    rcs1000 said:

    carnforth said:

    rcs1000 said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    Brexit was a vote to control not stop immigration. I expect the High levels of positivity are down to our ability/perceived ability to control it.

    I would like to believe this narrative, because it suits me to do so. But I do wonder if some Remainers are just giving the pro-immigration answer to the polling question reflexively, as a way of signalling their distaste at Brexit, not as a reflection of their actual opinion on immigration policy. That would juice the pro-immigration numbers, no matter what Leavers did.
    So, you think Remainers are saying they're happy with immigration post Brexit as a way of signalling that they're unhappy with Brexit?

    I know many people. Literally dozens. I don't know any that put even one tenth of the amount of effort into crafting opinion poll answers as that.
    Consciously, no. I just wonder if tribalism has led remain voters to hold being pro-immigration as a core belief, because it is part of the Remain canon.
    Surely they should be unhappy, as there's no longer free movement?
    Are we discussing a particular polling question? Can you link to it?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    edited June 2022
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
    Or about the issue of free speech. Otherwise you would give a shit. It was a genuine question, btw, not a trick one. Is she gagged in public on this issue now? If not why not? And if so what are the wider implications?
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,126
    rcs1000 said:

    carnforth said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    OllyT said:

    My issue with Brexit now is that anyone that raises issues is told they're trying to get us to rejoin.

    I have no interest in seeing us back in the EU, we've left, fine. But the current arrangement is not working

    There is a reason the leavers don't really want Brexit discussed, they are on the back foot and have been for years. Even at the point we actually left a plurality of voters believed it was wrong to leave. That has never wavered and in fact is increasing according to the last poll I saw - - 12% gap now IIRC. Any criticism is shouted down as people wanting to rejoin. Even that is not really working. The numbers who believe Brexit has been a success continues to decline.
    I think it's because there are no tangible benefits. The Brexit dividend - as Leon has said and I agree with him both that it's the only one and a big and genuine one - is in the mind. It's about the people who voted Leave because they felt somehow oppressed by Brussels now feeling that bit more free and empowered and *listened to*. Fine and dandy - but of course if their material prosaic lives don't get better this feeling will fade over time. Which they aren't and hence it is.
    If you want a “tangible” Brexit benefit, though still psychological (I suppose) how about this. Polling on migration is at record positives. People feel more relaxed about it than ever.

    Now, there are question marks over this, not least how long it can last with the Channel crossings, and very large numbers for net migration, nonetheless since Brexit immigration has plummeted down the list of things which concern people. And, generally, that is a healthy sign in a society. And this has happened because we have taken back control of our borders, after Brexit: see the graph in tweet 3 which shows exactly this. Concern about migration peaked in 2016, then fell off a cliff, afterwards

    As the tweeter notes, paradoxically, Remainers and lefties find this quite awkward, as it rather upends their favoured narrative. The thread is worth reading in toto

    “Latest ONS migration figures show record inflows of people from outside the EU to fill jobs and study in the UK, and very large numbers settling from Hong Kong via the BN(O) route. Meanwhile, polling consistently shows record positivity about immigration”

    https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/1529754662722740224?s=21&t=KMEU11FDQsB_AUEfm99q9w
    Brexit was a vote to control not stop immigration. I expect the High levels of positivity are down to our ability/perceived ability to control it.

    I would like to believe this narrative, because it suits me to do so. But I do wonder if some Remainers are just giving the pro-immigration answer to the polling question reflexively, as a way of signalling their distaste at Brexit, not as a reflection of their actual opinion on immigration policy. That would juice the pro-immigration numbers, no matter what Leavers did.
    So, you think Remainers are saying they're happy with immigration post Brexit as a way of signalling that they're unhappy with Brexit?

    I know many people. Literally dozens. I don't know any that put even one tenth of the amount of effort into crafting opinion poll answers as that.
    The report I linked to does show Remainers viewing the cultural benefits of immigration more positively. Whether that’s because Remain = pro-immigration has become ingrained in their minds is harder to tell.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,816

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    My experience is that at least as many people understand imperial as metric and rather more don't really understand the specifics of either.
    I work on the theory that a pound is half a kilo. An ounce? Not quite sure how much that is.
    It's 28.34 grams.

    Which is not a lot of use, really.
    An ounce is about a handful.
    An ounce is a useful measure of freedom (give him an ounce of freedom and he bla bla)

    I think i have heard courage measured in pints as well?

    Maybe more modern concepts need to be in metric though - What should wokeness be measured in - metres , grammes , kelvin?
  • northern_monkeynorthern_monkey Posts: 1,639
    kle4 said:

    This is well worth a minute and a half of your time. And I’m a republican.

    (Don’t tell anyone, but I watched the Trooping of the Colour and the fly past yesterday and enjoyed both. I was hovering on the edge of shedding a tear. Funny what getting older does to the absolutes of youth.)

    https://twitter.com/jake_kanter/status/1532715805384884225?s=21&t=6anESHTUgceG_KjkAELCpQ

    You shouldn't feel embarrassed for enjoying something. Sure, people who get really into it can be amusing, but that's the case for any kind of fanboy, be it monarchy, political party or anime. Don't let miserable gits make you doubt your own enjoyment.
    Thank you.

    I’m not embarrassed really. I’m too long in the tooth to give a shit what anyone thinks of me. The 18 year-old me would be mortified and would rip the piss out of me mercilessly though.

    I don’t think there’s anything wrong with patriotism. We’re so fortunate to live in the UK, despite all the bollocks we argue about on here endlessly. The people who join the forces, who risk their lives for us, are quite often the best of us.

    It’s blind nationalism, exceptionalism, that boils my piss.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    kjh said:

    malcolmg said:

    kjh said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Er, yes, and? St Paul's is NOT under Labour-held Westminster City Council.
    It will have a Labour MP though given the swing to Labour in Westminster in the local elections, the City of London was 75% Remain and Westminster was 69% Remain, it is Remainer and anti Boris central
    Are you seriously arguing that a crowd who show up to Royal watch is Remainer central?
    I guess you are.
    Yep that is nonsense isn't. Also those there aren't from Westminster or the City, they will be from all over the South East with many, many from further afield in the UK. I mean yesterday they were interviewing people on the street from Australia, Canada and USA who had come specially.
    They are all a bunch of stupid fannies, who cares where they come from. Sad vegetables with low IQ's wanting to cheer on a bunch of rich tossers who would not piss on them if they were on fire, pathetic.
    I take it @malcolmg you don't approve of them.
    Got it in one.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,450
    For the purposes of clarity, the graph on “immigration is one of UK’s most important problems”. Look at that drop. In 2016. Not worth over-thinking this


  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,218
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
    Or about the issue of free speech. Otherwise you would give a shit. It was a genuine question, btw, not a trick one. Is she gagged in public on this issue now? If not why not? And if so what are the wider implications?
    Officially, he's a wife beater in the UK, and definitely not a wife beater in the US.

  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,885
    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    My experience is that at least as many people understand imperial as metric and rather more don't really understand the specifics of either.
    I work on the theory that a pound is half a kilo. An ounce? Not quite sure how much that is.
    It's 28.34 grams.

    Which is not a lot of use, really.
    An ounce is about a handful.
    Ummm. How big are your hands and what are you measuring?
    DJL is a marmoset?
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
    Sounds like a collection of redheaded cattle.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,357
    HYUFD said:

    kjh said:

    malcolmg said:

    kjh said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    12m
    It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

    It was at St Paul's which is in City of London and Westminster constituency, which now has a Labour council in Westminster.

    Exellent sermon by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York I thought
    St Paul's is in the City of London, NOT the City of Westminster. So it would NOT have a Labour council!
    It is in the City of London AND Westminster parliamentary constituency, Westminster council is now Labour controlled.

    The City of London corporation candidates only stand as independents
    Er, yes, and? St Paul's is NOT under Labour-held Westminster City Council.
    It will have a Labour MP though given the swing to Labour in Westminster in the local elections, the City of London was 75% Remain and Westminster was 69% Remain, it is Remainer and anti Boris central
    Are you seriously arguing that a crowd who show up to Royal watch is Remainer central?
    I guess you are.
    Yep that is nonsense isn't. Also those there aren't from Westminster or the City, they will be from all over the South East with many, many from further afield in the UK. I mean yesterday they were interviewing people on the street from Australia, Canada and USA who had come specially.
    They are all a bunch of stupid fannies, who cares where they come from. Sad vegetables with low IQ's wanting to cheer on a bunch of rich tossers who would not piss on them if they were on fire, pathetic.
    I take it @malcolmg you don't approve of them.
    The only person in public life Malc approves of is Alex Salmond
    Your avatar describes you perfectly, how anyone who worships Boris can have the effronery to try and wimpishly try and insult someone beats me. Response is up to your usual high(sic) level , ie mince
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,450
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
    Or about the issue of free speech. Otherwise you would give a shit. It was a genuine question, btw, not a trick one. Is she gagged in public on this issue now? If not why not? And if so what are the wider implications?
    I’m sure you are sincere. So am I. I’ve spent too much of my life (about ten minutes) thinking about this ludicrous “trial” and now I can’t be arsed to spend a minute more

    Ca suffit. I am off to Tbilisi’s biggest Carrefour to buy some olive oil and hopefully some decent tonic. Ah, the exotic excitement!
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,805

    This is well worth a minute and a half of your time. And I’m a republican.

    (Don’t tell anyone, but I watched the Trooping of the Colour and the fly past yesterday and enjoyed both. I was hovering on the edge of shedding a tear. Funny what getting older does to the absolutes of youth.)

    https://twitter.com/jake_kanter/status/1532715805384884225?s=21&t=6anESHTUgceG_KjkAELCpQ

    That is excellent. I know an ex Royal Family Protection Officer. I won't say who he guarded but it was one of the firm. We asked him from any stories about Andrew, but there was nothing negative at all. Only story we got was one of him rescuing a cat.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,413
    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    My experience is that at least as many people understand imperial as metric and rather more don't really understand the specifics of either.
    I work on the theory that a pound is half a kilo. An ounce? Not quite sure how much that is.
    An eighth of an ounce is 3.5 grams.
    Sign of a wasted youth, that.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,126
    More polling on immigration… https://www.britishfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Immigration.A-changing-debate.pdf

    This says people prioritise control over reducing immigration. We also see, as in the previous report, support for high skilled immigrants. This report also says that no one thinks the Government have got it right. Those who love immigration and the immigration opponents both think the Govt is handling the situation badly.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,816
    kjh said:

    This is well worth a minute and a half of your time. And I’m a republican.

    (Don’t tell anyone, but I watched the Trooping of the Colour and the fly past yesterday and enjoyed both. I was hovering on the edge of shedding a tear. Funny what getting older does to the absolutes of youth.)

    https://twitter.com/jake_kanter/status/1532715805384884225?s=21&t=6anESHTUgceG_KjkAELCpQ

    That is excellent. I know an ex Royal Family Protection Officer. I won't say who he guarded but it was one of the firm. We asked him from any stories about Andrew, but there was nothing negative at all. Only story we got was one of him rescuing a cat.
    Thats quite refreshing in the sense of somebody who does not spout his mouth off about his previous employment - Quite old school .
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468
    edited June 2022

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    My experience is that at least as many people understand imperial as metric and rather more don't really understand the specifics of either.
    I work on the theory that a pound is half a kilo. An ounce? Not quite sure how much that is.
    It's 28.34 grams.

    Which is not a lot of use, really.
    An ounce is about a handful.
    An ounce is a useful measure of freedom (give him an ounce of freedom and he bla bla)

    I think i have heard courage measured in pints as well?

    Maybe more modern concepts need to be in metric though - What should wokeness be measured in - metres , grammes , kelvin?
    Seems you'd need both extremes for wokeness - perhaps yottalitres for the woke as they are more likely to be pro-metric, and minim** for the unwoke, as they are more likely to be pro-Imperial

    * 1 septillion litres, or 1 trillion teralitres, almost 4 times the volume of the entire earth
    ** 1⁄60 of a fluid drachm or 1⁄480 of a fluid ounce
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,226
    rcs1000 said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
    Or about the issue of free speech. Otherwise you would give a shit. It was a genuine question, btw, not a trick one. Is she gagged in public on this issue now? If not why not? And if so what are the wider implications?
    Officially, he's a wife beater in the UK, and definitely not a wife beater in the US.
    Bizarrely yes. So maybe Amber can go on Lorraine but not on Oprah.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,837
    rcs1000 said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
    Or about the issue of free speech. Otherwise you would give a shit. It was a genuine question, btw, not a trick one. Is she gagged in public on this issue now? If not why not? And if so what are the wider implications?
    Officially, he's a wife beater in the UK, and definitely not a wife beater in the US.

    In which case, the EU should standardise the measurement for it.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,126
    This commentary, https://ukandeu.ac.uk/immigration-is-public-opinion-changing/ , points out that positive views of immigration and free movement increased before the UK government committed to its no-free-movement, hard Brexit.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,816
    Leon said:

    For the purposes of clarity, the graph on “immigration is one of UK’s most important problems”. Look at that drop. In 2016. Not worth over-thinking this


    it rather depends on if you think immigration is a bad thing . To me anyone with a bit of sense would think its a good thing for Britain as well as being fair and nice thing for individuals (both ways )
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,805

    kjh said:

    This is well worth a minute and a half of your time. And I’m a republican.

    (Don’t tell anyone, but I watched the Trooping of the Colour and the fly past yesterday and enjoyed both. I was hovering on the edge of shedding a tear. Funny what getting older does to the absolutes of youth.)

    https://twitter.com/jake_kanter/status/1532715805384884225?s=21&t=6anESHTUgceG_KjkAELCpQ

    That is excellent. I know an ex Royal Family Protection Officer. I won't say who he guarded but it was one of the firm. We asked him from any stories about Andrew, but there was nothing negative at all. Only story we got was one of him rescuing a cat.
    Thats quite refreshing in the sense of somebody who does not spout his mouth off about his previous employment - Quite old school .
    He did tell us that leaving their guns in hotel safes, train loos, etc was a lot more common than reported, although he stressed he had never done it.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,816
    rcs1000 said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
    Or about the issue of free speech. Otherwise you would give a shit. It was a genuine question, btw, not a trick one. Is she gagged in public on this issue now? If not why not? And if so what are the wider implications?
    Officially, he's a wife beater in the UK, and definitely not a wife beater in the US.

    Quantum Depp
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,602
    Leon said:

    For the purposes of clarity, the graph on “immigration is one of UK’s most important problems”. Look at that drop. In 2016. Not worth over-thinking this


    I don't think we could conclude from this that remainers are not angry about the end of freedom-of-movement.

    I think most people, if asked to give the three most important issues facing the country implicitly add words. For example

    (too much) immigration
    (too little) health funding

    I'm not sure someone who thinks the NHS spends too much money is likely to name "health funding" as one of their top concerns, for example.

    In the same way, someone angry about the end of freedom of movement is unlikely to list "immigration" as one of their top concerns.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,801
    One for @Leon if you've not already seen them - a series of dalle2 images of Kermit in various films : https://twitter.com/HvnsLstAngel/status/1531506455714492416 . Some of the images in the thread are really quite impressive.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,218
    dixiedean said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Carnyx said:

    algarkirk said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Of course it's populist nonsense in terms of presentation. But there's a but.

    The job of regulation is to ensure that there isn't fraud in weights and measures, and that information is given and not kept secret. That is not the same as which systems are allowed.

    The best judge of how to measure things is the free market. Supermarkets have nothing to fear. A handful of them control the market and how suppliers shall operate. They also have to listen to customers.

    If market traders in Barnsley and Essex want to sell apples in pounds there is decent reason for this to be decriminalised.

    NB in my local German owned supermarket I buy their own brand coffee entirely in metric. The bags contain the memorable quantity of 227 grm. (Why, by the way)? Would it really be a crime to call it half a pound or 8 oz, which it is?



    The buggers are already allowed to sell their apples in pounds, just so long as metric weights are also given.
    Yes. The change being suggested is not great, though of course which system is the compulsory one gives a clue as to who is in charge.

    And it is the sort of thing which showed a very un-UK like style of enforcement which did huge damage at the tabloid level. Governments, even Labour ones, forgot that popular tabloid readers vote.

    A one size fits all approach whether you are selling potatoes to old ladies in Barnsley or doing designs for missile defence systems is not a winner.

    Er, a one size approach is very necessary for missiles, and indeed anything remotely complex. Vide the Mars Climate Orbiter, which relied on a mixture of imperial (US variety) and metric.
    Agree. I think you misinterpret me. Potatoes and missiles don't require the same system as each other. It is possible, if trivial, to allow Steve in Barnsley a bit of slack on the banana front without destroying the planet.

    But he already has that slack!

    Anyway, off to finish decluttering the room ...
    Which is why the matter is trivial. Steve can sell in pounds under a dual system now, there is a consultation over whether he can also use pound scales and not provide a metric price alternative as well. It is a trivial piece of tabloid retail politics on all sides.

    The only not trivial bit is the subtext in prosecuting Steve for minor regulatory offences (metric martyrs and all that). This is an exercise in 'We are the masters now. And we don't want oiks putting two fingers up to our EU ideals'.

    But he should certainly be prosecuted. Much of the population don't understand the units, and therefore not using metric strikes at the very concept of a fair market. We are where we are now.
    My experience is that at least as many people understand imperial as metric and rather more don't really understand the specifics of either.
    I work on the theory that a pound is half a kilo. An ounce? Not quite sure how much that is.
    An eighth of an ounce is 3.5 grams.
    Sign of a wasted youth, that.
    Wasted? Yep... sounds about right.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    rcs1000 said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    JonWC said:

    stodge said:

    JonWC said:

    I was thinking of voting LibDem in the forthcoming T and H election, as I want Boris out. Reading this thread reminded my why I swore not to do that again.

    Care to elaborate?
    EU. The core leadership of the party would throw anything away, even liberalism and democracy, for it. The members used to be a bit more equivocal, and the voters at least in the SW were downright hostile.

    I have knocked on literally thousands of doors for the LibDems. I was always bemused when other canvassers would report that Europe never came up, whereas I would receive it loud and clear at 120 decibels. I guess you hear what you want to hear.

    I recall the LibDems staging a strop when their demand to get an in/out referendum was turned down. Of course when they (we) did get offered one a few years later they voted against it, duly lost it and used every trick in the Trump book to frustrate its implementation (with the honourable exception of the late great Paddy Ashdown).

    Democracy when it suits doesn't work for me so I left the party after 28 years. Since then they seems to have been captured by the worst excesses of student extremism and pretty much reject the Enlightenment never mind about classical liberalism.

    I actually think Jeremy Corbyn has a stronger grip on reality than the likes of Layla Moran.
    A Lib Dem that gets it! Bravo

    OK an ex Lib Dem, but still

    Yes, the attempts to thwart the 2016 vote were Trumpite, minus the flares and buffalo horns. It was still a shameful bid to subvert democracy

    I could actually vote for a really liberal, really democratic Lib Dem party. Socially relaxed, fiscally prudent, friendly to all our neighbours (including the EU), sound on defence and the union, strong on the Enlightenment, not full of Woke lefty idiots or lying greedy Tories. Sadly, I can’t see that in the LDs right now
    "strong on the Enlightenment" - lol.
    Yeah, you know: Free Speech. No de facto blasphemy laws. That kinda shit
    Ah, I see. Not an exam you have to sit then.

    On the Free Speech thing, forgetting Muslims for a minute (if you can), imagine Amber goes on Oprah and Oprah asks her, "So you made up all the stuff about being abused then?"

    What's her legal options for answering?
    Really don’t give a shit about Amber Heard
    Or about the issue of free speech. Otherwise you would give a shit. It was a genuine question, btw, not a trick one. Is she gagged in public on this issue now? If not why not? And if so what are the wider implications?
    Officially, he's a wife beater in the UK, and definitely not a wife beater in the US.

    Quantum Depp
    Schroedinger's Depp
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,426

    This commentary, https://ukandeu.ac.uk/immigration-is-public-opinion-changing/ , points out that positive views of immigration and free movement increased before the UK government committed to its no-free-movement, hard Brexit.

    One of the big problems the benefits of immigration has had is the dishonesty of politicians talking tough about it while actively enabling it. Both new labour and Cameron’s Tories did this. They were too spineless to make the case for their policy.

    The one problem this gave was making it seems Immigration was a problem that the govt was powerless to control

This discussion has been closed.