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This looks problematic for Number 10 – politicalbetting.com

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  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,896

    EXC: Durham Police have asked Beergate witnesses if they'd be prepared to testify in court

    At least one witness has told the police they agree to testify, if any fines are challenged

    The witness claims the Durham gathering was 'entirely social'


    https://twitter.com/avmikhailova/status/1543280745422241793

    It "was entirely social" is of course an opinion.

    The witness has claimed it was entirely social all along as far as I am aware, so nothing new
    Yes, and even if the witness is right that the bit he saw was entirely social, the question for plod is whether it was part of a wider work event, ie campaigning.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    IshmaelZ said:

    EXC: Durham Police have asked Beergate witnesses if they'd be prepared to testify in court

    At least one witness has told the police they agree to testify, if any fines are challenged

    The witness claims the Durham gathering was 'entirely social'


    https://twitter.com/avmikhailova/status/1543280745422241793

    Lolzapalooza.
    Keir's Curry night piss up with Mazza Foy and The Ginge. Legends.
    As I understand it it would be the Crown Court and a criminal conviction if guilty

    Starmer surely is better accepting a fine than that if it is true
    Magistrates court but yes criminal conviction
    Keir and the beak. A comedy drama for the ages
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,039
    IshmaelZ said:

    EXC: Durham Police have asked Beergate witnesses if they'd be prepared to testify in court

    At least one witness has told the police they agree to testify, if any fines are challenged

    The witness claims the Durham gathering was 'entirely social'


    https://twitter.com/avmikhailova/status/1543280745422241793

    Lolzapalooza.
    Keir's Curry night piss up with Mazza Foy and The Ginge. Legends.
    As I understand it it would be the Crown Court and a criminal conviction if guilty

    Starmer surely is better accepting a fine than that if it is true
    Magistrates court but yes criminal conviction
    Thanks
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,705

    Carnyx said:

    DavidL said:

    Leon said:

    Many disastrous things are happening to the Tories. Not sure this is one

    So Boris knew this guy had a character flaw, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Isn’t that the charitable, Christian thing to do?

    Perhaps Mr Pincher was given a warning before he took up the job? “No groping, please”. Which would be entirely fair

    Or are we going to ban anyone from having a job if they have “a reputation”?

    Certainly having a Finance Minister who rather liked very young chaps in their sports kit didn't ultimately damage the SNP very much.
    True - but a different context. This is all about Boris and is another nail in the coffin.

    For the older among us, this is all too reminiscent of poor ole "Back to Basics" John Major and the neverending series of sleaze stories that helped terminate his government.

    BJ will not be leading the Tories into the next GE. The hearts of the backbenchers are hardening.
    As standards dwindle even further under BoJo, still no sign as to how they’ll get rid of him

    1922 committee.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/29/ruthlessly-organised-tory-rebels-plot-1922-takeover-to-oust-boris-johnson

    Looks ominous for BJ.
    End days when a PB Tory uses the Graun as a source. But perhaps that is the point.
    Yep. BTW how many points do you think Boris is worth to the Yes numbers?
    Fewer than people would guess, I think.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    edited July 2022

    Not that I’d want to enrage HFUYD on here and summon the tanks..

    Poll in @SundayTimesScot: “On the question of whether or not they support independence, 48 per cent said they were in favour while 47 per cent were opposed. Five per cent said they did not know.”

    ..Nicola Sturgeon has tweeted her delight at the poll. But I can’t see how Scotland isn’t stuck in a cycle of despair if that continues. Even if a vote is held and won by yes, the division won’t end.

    First Yes lead in quite a while - a mighty 1%. Surprised that she should "tweet her delight" at that TBH.
    Scots (Nats) cannae spin? Then how to explain the Highland Fling?!
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,896

    Carnyx said:

    DavidL said:

    Leon said:

    Many disastrous things are happening to the Tories. Not sure this is one

    So Boris knew this guy had a character flaw, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Isn’t that the charitable, Christian thing to do?

    Perhaps Mr Pincher was given a warning before he took up the job? “No groping, please”. Which would be entirely fair

    Or are we going to ban anyone from having a job if they have “a reputation”?

    Certainly having a Finance Minister who rather liked very young chaps in their sports kit didn't ultimately damage the SNP very much.
    True - but a different context. This is all about Boris and is another nail in the coffin.

    For the older among us, this is all too reminiscent of poor ole "Back to Basics" John Major and the neverending series of sleaze stories that helped terminate his government.

    BJ will not be leading the Tories into the next GE. The hearts of the backbenchers are hardening.
    As standards dwindle even further under BoJo, still no sign as to how they’ll get rid of him

    1922 committee.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/29/ruthlessly-organised-tory-rebels-plot-1922-takeover-to-oust-boris-johnson

    Looks ominous for BJ.
    End days when a PB Tory uses the Graun as a source. But perhaps that is the point.
    That route looks extremely circuitous and fraught with potential delay and derailment. I think it will come from within the Cabinet. A non-front runner who wants to be a front runner (the other front runners are not going to do it as they think they have too much to lose) could do it.

    Patel, Raab, or (snigger) Gove could wield the knive with a spectacular resignation, and therefore catapult themselves into consideration.
    Gove is the only one who I think might do it.

    He has form wrt Johnson of course.

    I thought Raab might do it, though perhaps Gove is a likelier candidate.
    All recent evidence of strategic resignations is that they do not force a change of leadership. We've seen it fail under Blair, Brown and Corbyn for Labour, and Cameron and May for the blue team. There are two days of headlines and the leader appoints a replacement.
  • TresTres Posts: 2,696

    Eldest daughter (16 in a couple of weeks) having her first proper teenage party tonight. I am skulking upstairs but sounds fairly tame so far. Going over the road later for the full Abigail's party experience. Hopefully Leon won't get wind of it.

    locked up daughter and rock n roll stars?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,135
    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    Tory sleaze is so back isn't it.

    The thing is you expect an experienced and sophisticated middle aged drunk to be able to accomodate any amount of Carlton Club house claret without losing control. you have to ask whether he mixes it with injudicious quantities of some stimulant like caffeine, to elevate himself into two-gropes-in-one-evening territory...
    In the habit of inviting people for "din dins" apparently.

    Is that sophisticated? Certainly sounds it!
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Eldest daughter (16 in a couple of weeks) having her first proper teenage party tonight. I am skulking upstairs but sounds fairly tame so far. Going over the road later for the full Abigail's party experience. Hopefully Leon won't get wind of it.

    Just tell 'em NOT to do what you DID do at their age. About as off-putting (for them) as possible?
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    kinabalu said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    Tory sleaze is so back isn't it.

    The thing is you expect an experienced and sophisticated middle aged drunk to be able to accomodate any amount of Carlton Club house claret without losing control. you have to ask whether he mixes it with injudicious quantities of some stimulant like caffeine, to elevate himself into two-gropes-in-one-evening territory...
    In the habit of inviting people for "din dins" apparently.

    Is that sophisticated? Certainly sounds it!
    Sounds it to me. I would fall for it.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632
    Scottish voters are split over whether an independence referendum should be held next year according to a new poll that suggests the country remains locked in a constitutional stalemate.

    A Panelbase poll for The Sunday Times suggests that 44 per cent of voters oppose Nicola Sturgeon’s desire to stage a referendum in October 2023, with 43 per cent in favour. Ten per cent said they neither supported or opposed a referendum and 3 per cent said they did not know.

    On the question of whether or not they support independence, 48 per cent said they were in favour while 47 per cent were opposed. Five per cent said they did not know.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c4551f8a-fa1c-11ec-b060-3c9acf7f2ee6?shareToken=2c5e3da0223c880133d77f4a003724fb
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,191
    The most Greek match ever :D
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,036

    Carnyx said:

    DavidL said:

    Leon said:

    Many disastrous things are happening to the Tories. Not sure this is one

    So Boris knew this guy had a character flaw, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Isn’t that the charitable, Christian thing to do?

    Perhaps Mr Pincher was given a warning before he took up the job? “No groping, please”. Which would be entirely fair

    Or are we going to ban anyone from having a job if they have “a reputation”?

    Certainly having a Finance Minister who rather liked very young chaps in their sports kit didn't ultimately damage the SNP very much.
    True - but a different context. This is all about Boris and is another nail in the coffin.

    For the older among us, this is all too reminiscent of poor ole "Back to Basics" John Major and the neverending series of sleaze stories that helped terminate his government.

    BJ will not be leading the Tories into the next GE. The hearts of the backbenchers are hardening.
    As standards dwindle even further under BoJo, still no sign as to how they’ll get rid of him

    1922 committee.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/29/ruthlessly-organised-tory-rebels-plot-1922-takeover-to-oust-boris-johnson

    Looks ominous for BJ.
    End days when a PB Tory uses the Graun as a source. But perhaps that is the point.
    That route looks extremely circuitous and fraught with potential delay and derailment. I think it will come from within the Cabinet. A non-front runner who wants to be a front runner (the other front runners are not going to do it as they think they have too much to lose) could do it.

    Patel, Raab, or (snigger) Gove could wield the knive with a spectacular resignation, and therefore catapult themselves into consideration.
    Gove is the only one who I think might do it.

    He has form wrt Johnson of course.

    I thought Raab might do it, though perhaps Gove is a likelier candidate.
    All recent evidence of strategic resignations is that they do not force a change of leadership. We've seen it fail under Blair, Brown and Corbyn for Labour, and Cameron and May for the blue team. There are two days of headlines and the leader appoints a replacement.
    That's true. We have more of a presidential style government these days, almost like America where the Cabinet members are essentially interchangeable and disposable. Mind you, even Nigel Lawson's resignation did not end Mrs Thatcher's Prime Ministership, and Sir Geoffrey Howe's was only the final straw.
  • RazedabodeRazedabode Posts: 3,028

    Scottish voters are split over whether an independence referendum should be held next year according to a new poll that suggests the country remains locked in a constitutional stalemate.

    A Panelbase poll for The Sunday Times suggests that 44 per cent of voters oppose Nicola Sturgeon’s desire to stage a referendum in October 2023, with 43 per cent in favour. Ten per cent said they neither supported or opposed a referendum and 3 per cent said they did not know.

    On the question of whether or not they support independence, 48 per cent said they were in favour while 47 per cent were opposed. Five per cent said they did not know.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c4551f8a-fa1c-11ec-b060-3c9acf7f2ee6?shareToken=2c5e3da0223c880133d77f4a003724fb

    Plain sailing ahead for Scotland, whatever happens

  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,135

    Eldest daughter (16 in a couple of weeks) having her first proper teenage party tonight. I am skulking upstairs but sounds fairly tame so far. Going over the road later for the full Abigail's party experience. Hopefully Leon won't get wind of it.

    Don't forget to take your Demis Roussos LP. 🕺
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,821
    Will I need a new avatar?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,386

    Scottish voters are split over whether an independence referendum should be held next year according to a new poll that suggests the country remains locked in a constitutional stalemate.

    A Panelbase poll for The Sunday Times suggests that 44 per cent of voters oppose Nicola Sturgeon’s desire to stage a referendum in October 2023, with 43 per cent in favour. Ten per cent said they neither supported or opposed a referendum and 3 per cent said they did not know.

    On the question of whether or not they support independence, 48 per cent said they were in favour while 47 per cent were opposed. Five per cent said they did not know.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c4551f8a-fa1c-11ec-b060-3c9acf7f2ee6?shareToken=2c5e3da0223c880133d77f4a003724fb

    Plain sailing ahead for Scotland, whatever happens

    Forget Brexit on speed, this is Brexit on heroin.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632
    Well now
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632
    Well now 2
  • RazedabodeRazedabode Posts: 3,028

    Well now

    Feels like we’re stuck in the “no legal referendum” loop (unless Supreme Court rules otherwise).
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    edited July 2022
    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632
    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,786

    Not that I’d want to enrage HFUYD on here and summon the tanks..

    Poll in @SundayTimesScot: “On the question of whether or not they support independence, 48 per cent said they were in favour while 47 per cent were opposed. Five per cent said they did not know.”

    ..Nicola Sturgeon has tweeted her delight at the poll. But I can’t see how Scotland isn’t stuck in a cycle of despair if that continues. Even if a vote is held and won by yes, the division won’t end.

    As HYUFD will tell you that is 48% in favour 52% opposed.
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,523
    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    Tory sleaze is so back isn't it.

    The thing is you expect an experienced and sophisticated middle aged drunk to be able to accomodate any amount of Carlton Club house claret without losing control. you have to ask whether he mixes it with injudicious quantities of some stimulant like caffeine, to elevate himself into two-gropes-in-one-evening territory...
    In the habit of inviting people for "din dins" apparently.

    Is that sophisticated? Certainly sounds it!
    Sounds it to me. I would fall for it.
    LOL. Not sure I have heard that phrase since I was a kid. My gran used to say DIn-Dins either when she was talking to me and my sister (at the age of about 5) or to her pet cat and dog. I have never heard it used when addresing anyone who had reached double figures in age.

    Tory sleaze combined with utter idiocy sounds about right.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632
    Messy
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,896

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,705

    The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    That'd be true of most countries, and yet somehow they don't get round to that sort of focus either.
  • RazedabodeRazedabode Posts: 3,028

    Messy

    As clear as mud. And we’ll be stuck in this bloomin cycle for years to come.

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    It doesn’t serve the SNP to talk about that though.

  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,781

    Eldest daughter (16 in a couple of weeks) having her first proper teenage party tonight. I am skulking upstairs but sounds fairly tame so far. Going over the road later for the full Abigail's party experience. Hopefully Leon won't get wind of it.

    Just tell 'em NOT to do what you DID do at their age. About as off-putting (for them) as possible?
    Yeah one party when my parents were away for the week ended with my brother in hospital. I remember desperately trying to sober up when I saw the paramedics... and realising that I really couldn't. I had another party a few days later to clean the house from top to bottom - there really was a remarkable amount of vomit. Let's hope tonight is nothing like that. It should be fine, my daughter is very sensible.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,355
    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    Any advice for cheapish, decent food in Venice?

    Here for one night. Hot.

    Get as far away from St Mark’s Square as you can, head over to the Arsenale, or beyond. Seek out one of the two remaining local places for local people. Eat cicchetti (Venetian tapas)


    https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/how-to-eat-cicchetti-like-a-venetian/


    Alternatively, brace yourself, summon the 2nd mortgage and go into one of the 5 star hotels, like the Gritti or the St Regis. The food will be good (as it should be) but omg the price. So, not cheapish, sorry
    We had our first (very indifferent) meal in a tourist trap on the Grand Canal. Then, my wife came up with the brilliant idea of finding out from the waiter, where he went to eat, and it was a wonderful little restaurant, down a tiny alley.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,355

    Eldest daughter (16 in a couple of weeks) having her first proper teenage party tonight. I am skulking upstairs but sounds fairly tame so far. Going over the road later for the full Abigail's party experience. Hopefully Leon won't get wind of it.

    If you want to impress the guests, wander downstairs, and ask them if any of them have found your crack pipe.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,355

    Messy

    Close but no cigar. Panelbase does, in any case, tend to produce the best results for the pro-independence side.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,355

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Tearing chunks out of each other over constitutional issues is much more fun.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,960

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Unsolicited advice is the best kind.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    Tory sleaze is so back isn't it.

    The thing is you expect an experienced and sophisticated middle aged drunk to be able to accomodate any amount of Carlton Club house claret without losing control. you have to ask whether he mixes it with injudicious quantities of some stimulant like caffeine, to elevate himself into two-gropes-in-one-evening territory...
    In the habit of inviting people for "din dins" apparently.

    Is that sophisticated? Certainly sounds it!
    Sounds it to me. I would fall for it.
    LOL. Not sure I have heard that phrase since I was a kid. My gran used to say DIn-Dins either when she was talking to me and my sister (at the age of about 5) or to her pet cat and dog. I have never heard it used when addresing anyone who had reached double figures in age.

    Tory sleaze combined with utter idiocy sounds about right.
    Would yours truly have turned up IF invited to a dinner by Chris Pincher MP?

    Heck yes! For the grub has got to be first-rate, and then some.

    Would limit my alcohol intake (per usual for me) AND maintain a cordial but respectful distance from the host.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329
    Omnium said:

    malcolmg said:

    Leon said:

    Many disastrous things are happening to the Tories. Not sure this is one

    So Boris knew this guy had a character flaw, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Isn’t that the charitable, Christian thing to do?

    Perhaps Mr Pincher was given a warning before he took up the job? “No groping, please”. Which would be entirely fair

    Or are we going to ban anyone from having a job if they have “a reputation”?

    Are you deranged, so mental I had to post it twice
    You've done well as the angry toad. We all know you're an MI5 imposter.
    Another absolute Looney tunes, where did that fantasy come from.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,781
    Sean_F said:

    Eldest daughter (16 in a couple of weeks) having her first proper teenage party tonight. I am skulking upstairs but sounds fairly tame so far. Going over the road later for the full Abigail's party experience. Hopefully Leon won't get wind of it.

    If you want to impress the guests, wander downstairs, and ask them if any of them have found your crack pipe.
    Well it is very moreish.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,759
    malcolmg said:

    Omnium said:

    malcolmg said:

    Leon said:

    Many disastrous things are happening to the Tories. Not sure this is one

    So Boris knew this guy had a character flaw, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Isn’t that the charitable, Christian thing to do?

    Perhaps Mr Pincher was given a warning before he took up the job? “No groping, please”. Which would be entirely fair

    Or are we going to ban anyone from having a job if they have “a reputation”?

    Are you deranged, so mental I had to post it twice
    You've done well as the angry toad. We all know you're an MI5 imposter.
    Another absolute Looney tunes, where did that fantasy come from.
    Hang on - that's almost polite! I'm sorry but your posts are too mad to be real.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,960
    Sean_F said:

    Messy

    Close but no cigar. Panelbase does, in any case, tend to produce the best results for the pro-independence side.
    Have you got some numbers for that?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    edited July 2022

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Unsolicited advice is the best kind.
    Sorry, is there a rule that says that Brits can’t comment on British issues?
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329

    Not that I’d want to enrage HFUYD on here and summon the tanks..

    Poll in @SundayTimesScot: “On the question of whether or not they support independence, 48 per cent said they were in favour while 47 per cent were opposed. Five per cent said they did not know.”

    ..Nicola Sturgeon has tweeted her delight at the poll. But I can’t see how Scotland isn’t stuck in a cycle of despair if that continues. Even if a vote is held and won by yes, the division won’t end.

    First Yes lead in quite a while - a mighty 1%. Surprised that she should "tweet her delight" at that TBH.
    Well, she’s taken a punt on it, so I’d imagine she wants to encourage the base as well

    Clock is ticking
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,036
    Sean_F said:

    Eldest daughter (16 in a couple of weeks) having her first proper teenage party tonight. I am skulking upstairs but sounds fairly tame so far. Going over the road later for the full Abigail's party experience. Hopefully Leon won't get wind of it.

    If you want to impress the guests, wander downstairs, and ask them if any of them have found your crack pipe.
    That might have worked in the 80s and 90s but I hear Gen Z are very abstemious.

    They are more likely to be impressed if display your family's pronouns on the front door.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    edited July 2022
    Scottish nationalists are as bad as Brexiters.

    Rather than put in the actual effort of improving the Scottish settlement, they hamstring the rest of the country with a set of fantasies that never confront the troubling but boring reality.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,497

    darkage said:


    What I cannot understand, is how - against a backdrop of allegations of "misconduct" ruining peoples careers and serious jail sentences for sexual assault - is how anyone could still possibly be going around groping people. Those who do, must be completely reckless and insane.

    "Further sips . . . in the evening when work is done and pleasure crooks her forefinger." - Chris Pincher
    And fate is behind the door holding a sock full of wet sand.

  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,759
    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Says MI5.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,279
    Andy_JS said:

    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    Any advice for cheapish, decent food in Venice?

    Here for one night. Hot.

    Get as far away from St Mark’s Square as you can, head over to the Arsenale, or beyond. Seek out one of the two remaining local places for local people. Eat cicchetti (Venetian tapas)


    https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/how-to-eat-cicchetti-like-a-venetian/


    Alternatively, brace yourself, summon the 2nd mortgage and go into one of the 5 star hotels, like the Gritti or the St Regis. The food will be good (as it should be) but omg the price. So, not cheapish, sorry
    Is it worth going in January or February?
    November and January are the best time to be there

    The melancholy drizzle on the empty canals. The high water flooding the hotels. The angry chefs denied their ingredients, shouting at the water taxi drivers

    It’s the only time the city returns to its inhabitants. Kinda
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Lol Scotch expert opines. Is that like UK does, eff do you people smoke.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,759
    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    You see the thing that let you down was that you became reasonable rather than sweary.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Except there seem to be more “dregs” than nats.

    I believe Hilary Clinton got into trouble for similar notions.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,036

    Messy

    So Unionists 50%, Nationalists 47%, others 3%?

    Presumably the others are mostly Greens though.

    So it's a 50/50 province.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Unsolicited advice is the best kind.
    Sorry, is there a rule that says that Brits can’t comment on British issues?
    It's funny, you never hear a peep out of Divvie et al when Stuart Dickson goes off on about England all the time.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329
    Omnium said:

    malcolmg said:

    Omnium said:

    malcolmg said:

    Leon said:

    Many disastrous things are happening to the Tories. Not sure this is one

    So Boris knew this guy had a character flaw, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Isn’t that the charitable, Christian thing to do?

    Perhaps Mr Pincher was given a warning before he took up the job? “No groping, please”. Which would be entirely fair

    Or are we going to ban anyone from having a job if they have “a reputation”?

    Are you deranged, so mental I had to post it twice
    You've done well as the angry toad. We all know you're an MI5 imposter.
    Another absolute Looney tunes, where did that fantasy come from.
    Hang on - that's almost polite! I'm sorry but your posts are too mad to be real.
    Lol
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    malcolmg said:

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Lol Scotch expert opines. Is that like UK does, eff do you people smoke.
    Do you think the SNP are doing a great job on the economy and public services? I don’t think you do.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Unsolicited advice is the best kind.
    Sorry, is there a rule that says that Brits can’t comment on British issues?
    Where did you mention anything about Britain then
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    edited July 2022
    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Yep. Its a little bit better for the SNP than I think next time will go but im not talking major differences, i don't think they will make 50 seats but theyll be above 40 certainly and probably above 45 which is more than i had thought
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329

    Scottish nationalists are as bad as Brexiters.

    Rather than put in the actual effort of improving the Scottish settlement, they hamstring the rest of the country with a set of fantasies that never confront the troubling but boring reality.

    Pompous windbag
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329
    Omnium said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Says MI5.
    Barking bob is with us
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,497
    edited July 2022

    Eldest daughter (16 in a couple of weeks) having her first proper teenage party tonight. I am skulking upstairs but sounds fairly tame so far. Going over the road later for the full Abigail's party experience. Hopefully Leon won't get wind of it.

    Do they stand around sending messages to each other at two feet distance on incomprehensibly named social media as at all other times?

    I'm told that at that age they like a background sound of late Beethoven string quartets as the evening gets lively.

  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632
    edited July 2022

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329
    Omnium said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    You see the thing that let you down was that you became reasonable rather than sweary.
    You on drugs,
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,759
    malcolmg said:

    Scottish nationalists are as bad as Brexiters.

    Rather than put in the actual effort of improving the Scottish settlement, they hamstring the rest of the country with a set of fantasies that never confront the troubling but boring reality.

    Pompous windbag
    I think you should own up - the cover is slipping!
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,960
    edited July 2022

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Unsolicited advice is the best kind.
    Sorry, is there a rule that says that Brits can’t comment on British issues?
    None whatsoever.
    However there seems to be an unspoken one that they turn into whiny, little snowflakes when the pompous irrelevance of their pronouncements is pointed out.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Except there seem to be more “dregs” than nats.

    I believe Hilary Clinton got into trouble for similar notions.
    6 seats out of 57 is only a majority in the minds of lunatics
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,523

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    Tory sleaze is so back isn't it.

    The thing is you expect an experienced and sophisticated middle aged drunk to be able to accomodate any amount of Carlton Club house claret without losing control. you have to ask whether he mixes it with injudicious quantities of some stimulant like caffeine, to elevate himself into two-gropes-in-one-evening territory...
    In the habit of inviting people for "din dins" apparently.

    Is that sophisticated? Certainly sounds it!
    Sounds it to me. I would fall for it.
    LOL. Not sure I have heard that phrase since I was a kid. My gran used to say DIn-Dins either when she was talking to me and my sister (at the age of about 5) or to her pet cat and dog. I have never heard it used when addresing anyone who had reached double figures in age.

    Tory sleaze combined with utter idiocy sounds about right.
    Would yours truly have turned up IF invited to a dinner by Chris Pincher MP?

    Heck yes! For the grub has got to be first-rate, and then some.

    Would limit my alcohol intake (per usual for me) AND maintain a cordial but respectful distance from the host.
    Not sure I would. Yes the food would undoubtedly be excellent but more than half the joy of a dinner party is stimulating company and I am not convinced Pincher would have satisfied that particular need.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    edited July 2022
    Leon said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    Any advice for cheapish, decent food in Venice?

    Here for one night. Hot.

    Get as far away from St Mark’s Square as you can, head over to the Arsenale, or beyond. Seek out one of the two remaining local places for local people. Eat cicchetti (Venetian tapas)


    https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/how-to-eat-cicchetti-like-a-venetian/


    Alternatively, brace yourself, summon the 2nd mortgage and go into one of the 5 star hotels, like the Gritti or the St Regis. The food will be good (as it should be) but omg the price. So, not cheapish, sorry
    Is it worth going in January or February?
    November and January are the best time to be there

    The melancholy drizzle on the empty canals. The high water flooding the hotels. The angry chefs denied their ingredients, shouting at the water taxi drivers

    It’s the only time the city returns to its inhabitants. Kinda
    I went in December.
    It was damp, foggy, and easy to get lost down dark impasses.

    I checked out the Carpaccios in a freezing Gallerie d’Accademia, then hopped from bacaro to bacaro, trailed a red-mantled dwarf with a stiletto.

    It’s actually a sinister place.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,386
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Except there seem to be more “dregs” than nats.

    I believe Hilary Clinton got into trouble for similar notions.
    6 seats out of 57 is only a majority in the minds of lunatics
    57?
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,759
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Except there seem to be more “dregs” than nats.

    I believe Hilary Clinton got into trouble for similar notions.
    6 seats out of 57 is only a majority in the minds of lunatics
    Nearly blown.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,386

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    kinabalu said:

    Tory sleaze is so back isn't it.

    The thing is you expect an experienced and sophisticated middle aged drunk to be able to accomodate any amount of Carlton Club house claret without losing control. you have to ask whether he mixes it with injudicious quantities of some stimulant like caffeine, to elevate himself into two-gropes-in-one-evening territory...
    In the habit of inviting people for "din dins" apparently.

    Is that sophisticated? Certainly sounds it!
    Sounds it to me. I would fall for it.
    LOL. Not sure I have heard that phrase since I was a kid. My gran used to say DIn-Dins either when she was talking to me and my sister (at the age of about 5) or to her pet cat and dog. I have never heard it used when addresing anyone who had reached double figures in age.

    Tory sleaze combined with utter idiocy sounds about right.
    Would yours truly have turned up IF invited to a dinner by Chris Pincher MP?

    Heck yes! For the grub has got to be first-rate, and then some.

    Would limit my alcohol intake (per usual for me) AND maintain a cordial but respectful distance from the host.
    Not sure I would. Yes the food would undoubtedly be excellent but more than half the joy of a dinner party is stimulating company and I am not convinced Pincher would have satisfied that particular need.
    He has made every effort to stimulate people...
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
    Boris seems to have decided to turn his press dogs onto Charles, for some reason.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329

    malcolmg said:

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Lol Scotch expert opines. Is that like UK does, eff do you people smoke.
    Do you think the SNP are doing a great job on the economy and public services? I don’t think you do.
    No I don't but being a colony run by the useless twats in London is the issue and snp will not survive in their current format after independence. London parties will be removed and we will see other real Scottish parties
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Yep. Its a little bit better for the SNP than I think next time will go but im not talking major differences, i don't think they will make 50 seats but theyll be above 40 certainly and probably above 45 which is more than i had thought
    Depends whether she really means it Woolie
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
    Boris seems to have decided to turn his press dogs onto Charles, for some reason.
    I posted a story a few weeks ago saying they don't like each other.

    The PM knows King Charles III will refuse to give royal assent some of Boris Johnson's more extreme policies.

    He's already slagged off the Rwanda policy.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,759
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Lol Scotch expert opines. Is that like UK does, eff do you people smoke.
    Do you think the SNP are doing a great job on the economy and public services? I don’t think you do.
    No I don't but being a colony run by the useless twats in London is the issue and snp will not survive in their current format after independence. London parties will be removed and we will see other real Scottish parties
    Panic in the G camp.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298

    Scotland is split down the middle, and things have barely moved (and maybe haven’t moved at all) since 2014.

    Yet it swallows up the entire conversation inside Scotland. The country would be a lot better off it was focused on how to build wealth and improve public services.

    Unsolicited advice is the best kind.
    Sorry, is there a rule that says that Brits can’t comment on British issues?
    None whatsoever.
    However there seems to be an unspoken one that they turn into whiny, little snowflakes when the pompous irrelevance of their pronouncements is pointed out.
    You’ve failed to persuade your own countrymen, and you’re defending an increasingly tired regime.

    What have you gained from your several years promoting scotnattery?
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329
    Omnium said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    You see the thing that let you down was that you became reasonable rather than sweary.
    You on drugs,
    Omnium said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish nationalists are as bad as Brexiters.

    Rather than put in the actual effort of improving the Scottish settlement, they hamstring the rest of the country with a set of fantasies that never confront the troubling but boring reality.

    Pompous windbag
    I think you should own up - the cover is slipping!
    Lol
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
    Boris seems to have decided to turn his press dogs onto Charles, for some reason.
    Distraction.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329
    ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Except there seem to be more “dregs” than nats.

    I believe Hilary Clinton got into trouble for similar notions.
    6 seats out of 57 is only a majority in the minds of lunatics
    57?
    Well 59 if you want, I was being nice to the London parties and downplaying the size of their pathetic worshipping at every election
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,361
    .

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
    Boris seems to have decided to turn his press dogs onto Charles, for some reason.
    I posted a story a few weeks ago saying they don't like each other.

    The PM knows King Charles III will refuse to give royal assent some of Boris Johnson's more extreme policies.

    He's already slagged off the Rwanda policy.
    I've always assumed that any refusal to grant Royal Assent would be swiftly followed by Parliament forcing the Monarch to abdicate. That's the Constitutional settlement we have now. I don't think much of Charles, but I think he knows what's required of the Monarch and I think he wants to be King.
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,839
    edited July 2022
    On topic: is this really a problem for No.10? There have now been so many scandals that you wonder if the public has reached saturation point and fails to notice any new ones.

    I reckon that an organised vice ring of Tory MPs could be found to have been running an operation hawking rent boys and cocaine from the House of Commons tea room (and splitting the profits 50:50 with the Russian Embassy,) and the Conservative Party still wouldn't drop any further in the polls.
  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,249

    Leon said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    Any advice for cheapish, decent food in Venice?

    Here for one night. Hot.

    Get as far away from St Mark’s Square as you can, head over to the Arsenale, or beyond. Seek out one of the two remaining local places for local people. Eat cicchetti (Venetian tapas)


    https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/how-to-eat-cicchetti-like-a-venetian/


    Alternatively, brace yourself, summon the 2nd mortgage and go into one of the 5 star hotels, like the Gritti or the St Regis. The food will be good (as it should be) but omg the price. So, not cheapish, sorry
    Is it worth going in January or February?
    November and January are the best time to be there

    The melancholy drizzle on the empty canals. The high water flooding the hotels. The angry chefs denied their ingredients, shouting at the water taxi drivers

    It’s the only time the city returns to its inhabitants. Kinda
    I went in December.
    It was damp, foggy, and easy to get lost down dark impasses.

    I checked out the Carpaccios in a freezing Gallerie d’Accademia, then hopped from bacaro to bacaro, trailed a red-mantled dwarf with a stiletto.

    It’s actually a sinister place.
    At least the plague would have been in abeyance.

    In the summer a few nights on Burano is recommended. There are some good restaurants and it's delightful to wander about in the evening after the grockles have disappeared back to Venice. During the day visit Torcello, Murano and Cimitero.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
    Ever felt like a useful idiot?
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Yep. Its a little bit better for the SNP than I think next time will go but im not talking major differences, i don't think they will make 50 seats but theyll be above 40 certainly and probably above 45 which is more than i had thought
    Depends whether she really means it Woolie
    Yeah, true. However you know me, if the circumstances change or Nicola changes tack i'll revise my thoughts. As it is i dont see much shifting for the time being. SLab have nicked a bit of the old Ruth coalition and are 5 points or so ahead of little Dougie uturn, the SLDs are still farting about in single figures and unless Alba break out theres nothing to deflate that SNP 45% or thereabouts score.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632
    pigeon said:

    On topic: is this really a problem for No.10? There have now been so many scandals that you wonder if the public has reached saturation point and fails to notice any new ones.

    I reckon that an organised vice ring of Tory MPs could be found to have been running an operation hawking rent boys and cocaine from the House of Commons tea room (and splitting the profits 50:50 with the Russian Embassy,) and the Conservative Party still wouldn't drop any further in the polls.

    Sleaze is always baked in, I remember a pollster telling me what sticks in the mind of the public is hypocrisy and behaviour that is likely to see you signing the nonce jotter.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632
    IshmaelZ said:

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
    Ever felt like a useful idiot?
    Me? Nah, I'm more idiot than useful.
  • ApplicantApplicant Posts: 3,379
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Except there seem to be more “dregs” than nats.

    I believe Hilary Clinton got into trouble for similar notions.
    6 seats out of 57 is only a majority in the minds of lunatics
    53 seats out of 650 is only a majority in the minds of lunatics.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,838

    Carnyx said:

    DavidL said:

    Leon said:

    Many disastrous things are happening to the Tories. Not sure this is one

    So Boris knew this guy had a character flaw, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Isn’t that the charitable, Christian thing to do?

    Perhaps Mr Pincher was given a warning before he took up the job? “No groping, please”. Which would be entirely fair

    Or are we going to ban anyone from having a job if they have “a reputation”?

    Certainly having a Finance Minister who rather liked very young chaps in their sports kit didn't ultimately damage the SNP very much.
    True - but a different context. This is all about Boris and is another nail in the coffin.

    For the older among us, this is all too reminiscent of poor ole "Back to Basics" John Major and the neverending series of sleaze stories that helped terminate his government.

    BJ will not be leading the Tories into the next GE. The hearts of the backbenchers are hardening.
    As standards dwindle even further under BoJo, still no sign as to how they’ll get rid of him

    1922 committee.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/29/ruthlessly-organised-tory-rebels-plot-1922-takeover-to-oust-boris-johnson

    Looks ominous for BJ.
    End days when a PB Tory uses the Graun as a source. But perhaps that is the point.
    That route looks extremely circuitous and fraught with potential delay and derailment. I think it will come from within the Cabinet. A non-front runner who wants to be a front runner (the other front runners are not going to do it as they think they have too much to lose) could do it.

    Patel, Raab, or (snigger) Gove could wield the knive with a spectacular resignation, and therefore catapult themselves into consideration.
    Bell-the-Cat certainly comes to mind as a warning tale.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,386
    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Except there seem to be more “dregs” than nats.

    I believe Hilary Clinton got into trouble for similar notions.
    6 seats out of 57 is only a majority in the minds of lunatics
    57?
    Well 59 if you want, I was being nice to the London parties and downplaying the size of their pathetic worshipping at every election
    The issue with our 'London political parties' is that now whenever someone says that, I start thinking of cheese and wine or beer and curry.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,759
    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Except there seem to be more “dregs” than nats.

    I believe Hilary Clinton got into trouble for similar notions.
    6 seats out of 57 is only a majority in the minds of lunatics
    57?
    Well 59 if you want, I was being nice to the London parties and downplaying the size of their pathetic worshipping at every election
    MI5.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,838

    Not that I’d want to enrage HFUYD on here and summon the tanks..

    Poll in @SundayTimesScot: “On the question of whether or not they support independence, 48 per cent said they were in favour while 47 per cent were opposed. Five per cent said they did not know.”

    ..Nicola Sturgeon has tweeted her delight at the poll. But I can’t see how Scotland isn’t stuck in a cycle of despair if that continues. Even if a vote is held and won by yes, the division won’t end.

    First Yes lead in quite a while - a mighty 1%. Surprised that she should "tweet her delight" at that TBH.
    Well, she’s taken a punt on it, so I’d imagine she wants to encourage the base as well

    Remember 2014. Quite an increase in Yes over the time of the campaign.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,386

    IshmaelZ said:

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
    Ever felt like a useful idiot?
    Me? Nah, I'm more idiot than useful.
    Don't say that! Your fellow bankers will kill you...
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,838
    ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Scottish westminster figures in the Scottish Times
    SNP 47
    Lab 23
    Con 19
    LD 8
    Slightly different Q to normal as it asks VI if the next GE were a proxy Indy referendum, but nonetheless figures in line with what youd expect , SNP a little better score wise than recently. On current boundaries 53 SNP 2 each the rest

    Leaves the London parties scrapping over the dregs as usual
    Except there seem to be more “dregs” than nats.

    I believe Hilary Clinton got into trouble for similar notions.
    6 seats out of 57 is only a majority in the minds of lunatics
    57?
    Well 59 if you want, I was being nice to the London parties and downplaying the size of their pathetic worshipping at every election
    The issue with our 'London political parties' is that now whenever someone says that, I start thinking of cheese and wine or beer and curry.
    Or broken children's swings and pools of vomit.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
    Boris seems to have decided to turn his press dogs onto Charles, for some reason.
    On same principle that Putin's forefathers used, when tossing babies out of the troika slow down the wolves?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632
    ydoethur said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
    Ever felt like a useful idiot?
    Me? Nah, I'm more idiot than useful.
    Don't say that! Your fellow bankers will kill you...
    I am NOT a banker.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    Boris just loves turning the heat on “enemies” within and without.

    He’s a bully, alongside his various other defects.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,279

    Leon said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Leon said:

    Eabhal said:

    Any advice for cheapish, decent food in Venice?

    Here for one night. Hot.

    Get as far away from St Mark’s Square as you can, head over to the Arsenale, or beyond. Seek out one of the two remaining local places for local people. Eat cicchetti (Venetian tapas)


    https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/how-to-eat-cicchetti-like-a-venetian/


    Alternatively, brace yourself, summon the 2nd mortgage and go into one of the 5 star hotels, like the Gritti or the St Regis. The food will be good (as it should be) but omg the price. So, not cheapish, sorry
    Is it worth going in January or February?
    November and January are the best time to be there

    The melancholy drizzle on the empty canals. The high water flooding the hotels. The angry chefs denied their ingredients, shouting at the water taxi drivers

    It’s the only time the city returns to its inhabitants. Kinda
    I went in December.
    It was damp, foggy, and easy to get lost down dark impasses.

    I checked out the Carpaccios in a freezing Gallerie d’Accademia, then hopped from bacaro to bacaro, trailed a red-mantled dwarf with a stiletto.

    It’s actually a sinister place.
    It really is. That’s the genius of Don’t Look Now. Capturing that

    Venice was a deeply dangerous city for centuries. There is a street called “street of the assassins” because so many enemies of the regime got taken out down there

    It was also the whorehouse of the western world. That’s why Byron loved it. A mixture of Naples, Bangkok and pre-communist Havana, and all of it on that magnificent stage set

    It is impossible to get a sense of this when it is swamped by clueless day tripper tourists gawping, but you can still get a vibe in the depths of autumn and winter
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,838

    .

    Prince Charles, Sleazus Defensor

    Prince Charles honoured tycoon Lord Brownlow who bailed out his eco-village

    Heir to the throne ignored aide’s advice against close ties with Tory peer


    he Prince of Wales gave an honour to a controversial Tory peer who spent £1.7 million bailing out his failed eco-village in a string of secretive deals being investigated by the charity watchdog.

    Prince Charles presented Lord Brownlow with the award during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace after accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

    His flagship charity also opened up Dumfries House, his 18th-century country estate in Scotland, for Brownlow’s 50th birthday — a black-tie event involving fireworks, bagpipes and a performance by a celebrity magician — and awarded the businessman’s company a £1.2 million construction contract....

    ...Charles became close with the peer, whose fortune has been estimated at £271 million by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, after ignoring the advice of one of his most senior courtiers. The palace insider was concerned Brownlow, 58, was using Charles to burnish his reputation, felt he had “myriad conflicts of interest” and believed his judgment was “wayward”. They shared their views with the prince.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-charles-honoured-tycoon-lord-brownlow-who-bailed-out-his-eco-village-z2l9cx2mk

    No wonder Lord Brownlow had no money left for Boris's treehouse. Is the Times perhaps using Prince Charles to get at the Prime Minister?
    More gunning for the sleazy, entitled adulterer*, The Sunday Times are making the same point I've raised many times

    Why won’t parliament speak up on Charles?

    The Commons ban on royal debate is not going to work much longer


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-wont-parliament-speak-up-on-charles-kdb8flhlp

    *Prince Charles, not Boris Johnson.
    Boris seems to have decided to turn his press dogs onto Charles, for some reason.
    I posted a story a few weeks ago saying they don't like each other.

    The PM knows King Charles III will refuse to give royal assent some of Boris Johnson's more extreme policies.

    He's already slagged off the Rwanda policy.
    I've always assumed that any refusal to grant Royal Assent would be swiftly followed by Parliament forcing the Monarch to abdicate. That's the Constitutional settlement we have now. I don't think much of Charles, but I think he knows what's required of the Monarch and I think he wants to be King.
    Slight problem. Mr J wants to be King, as we all know.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,279
    Carnyx said:

    Not that I’d want to enrage HFUYD on here and summon the tanks..

    Poll in @SundayTimesScot: “On the question of whether or not they support independence, 48 per cent said they were in favour while 47 per cent were opposed. Five per cent said they did not know.”

    ..Nicola Sturgeon has tweeted her delight at the poll. But I can’t see how Scotland isn’t stuck in a cycle of despair if that continues. Even if a vote is held and won by yes, the division won’t end.

    First Yes lead in quite a while - a mighty 1%. Surprised that she should "tweet her delight" at that TBH.
    Well, she’s taken a punt on it, so I’d imagine she wants to encourage the base as well

    Remember 2014. Quite an increase in Yes over the time of the campaign.
    But there isn’t going to be a campaign
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,632
    Carnyx said:

    Not that I’d want to enrage HFUYD on here and summon the tanks..

    Poll in @SundayTimesScot: “On the question of whether or not they support independence, 48 per cent said they were in favour while 47 per cent were opposed. Five per cent said they did not know.”

    ..Nicola Sturgeon has tweeted her delight at the poll. But I can’t see how Scotland isn’t stuck in a cycle of despair if that continues. Even if a vote is held and won by yes, the division won’t end.

    First Yes lead in quite a while - a mighty 1%. Surprised that she should "tweet her delight" at that TBH.
    Well, she’s taken a punt on it, so I’d imagine she wants to encourage the base as well

    Remember 2014. Quite an increase in Yes over the time of the campaign.
    Yes and No.

    A year before referendum Panelbase had Yes ahead.

    The first poll after the Edinburgh Agreement Panelbase had it No 55%/Yes 45%
This discussion has been closed.