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As world leaders gather the papers at the end of the era – politicalbetting.com

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  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,424

    BBC are talking over this far too much. And I couldn't give a toss about the interviews about "what does it mean to you?" at this stage.

    They should just let the procession speak for itself.

    There is a no commentary option. Combined with Wikipedia and the order of service, this is the best option.

    Dimbleby at Windsor later should be good
  • As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Watch it - it will not be repeated again
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Put it on in the background whilst also watching or doing something else.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,162

    BBC are talking over this far too much. And I couldn't give a toss about the interviews about "what does it mean to you?" at this stage.

    They should just let the procession speak for itself.

    Try Sky News. Sky are being respectful, they're talking a bit, but also prepared to have a silence and let the proceedings talk for themselves too.
    Is it ad free today ?
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    kjh said:

    The Pipers in their kilts are rather impressive.

    You should see them out of them...
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,344

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    The best bits will be recorded, so do like me, wait for them.
  • BBC are talking over this far too much. And I couldn't give a toss about the interviews about "what does it mean to you?" at this stage.

    They should just let the procession speak for itself.

    It is a problem with the media generally
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,895

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Switch it on, but do the ironing or a jigsaw...
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873
    Spotted the first world leader I recognised, Frank Bainimarama of Fiji
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,753
    JFC. KCIII is on ITV and you're discussing the GFC.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,177

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Exactly how I feel right now. Dog needs a walk at some point, and I kind of feel I’ve done all the grieving I needed too since she died. (It wasn’t a lot).
  • FPT

    Carnyx said:

    vino said:

    Foxy said:

    vino said:

    Has anyone else been contacted by their energy supplier to inform of their new tariff. Octopus Energy has told me my direct debit payment will be lowered by 43% from October.

    • The Government have announced a 2 year Energy Price Guarantee, capping the increase in prices to £2,500 for a typical home
    • The £400 energy bill support scheme will also go ahead with monthly payments from October to March
    • This combination of a reduced cap and winter credits means while some unit rates will rise around 30%, typical annual costs will increase less than 10%
    • These discounts will be applied automatically: you don't need to do anything
    • Your new unit rates will match the Energy Price Guarantee, but your Octopus standing charges will be 4% lower – so you will be saving compared to Energy Price Guarantee rates from October 1
    • We're not adjusting monthly payments yet for the new prices. We'll review your payments in the coming weeks and send you a recommendation should they need adjusting
    • However from October to March your payments will be reduced by £ XX [ENDATED], as part of the Energy Bill Support Scheme
    • We're working hard to help those who need it most this winter. Details below

    Well done Liz!!

    Thank you Mr Kwartang.
    Actually I believe that everyone is to receive a personal energy statement on similar lines before the 1st October
    I too am with Octopus and quite impressed. They are stopping some forms of advertising and putting the savings into a hardship fund in order to spend standing charges for 6 months for some vulnerable customers.

    It is no great thank you to Ms Truss though, we will be paying off the resultant debt in other forms
    Again she will get the credit.
    She certainly is paying it on credit.
    If you don't want that, don't ask for Government expenditure.
    One of the key reasons you detested Brown was his propensity to borrow out of trouble. Why is it OK now?

    Asking for a friend.
    Borrowing countercyclically is not something I've ever criticised Brown for actually.

    I detest Brown for his propensity to borrow in the 'good times'. He took our budget surplus we had in 2002 and maxed out the deficit before the recession even hit, that's all I've ever criticised him for. Well that, and ending Bank of England oversight over the Banks.

    Increasing borrowing during a recession is inevitable. Increasing borrowing before the recession is where madness lay.
    Average structural fiscal deficit as % GDP:

    1981-1996 3.6%*
    1997-2010 2.9%
    2011-2022 3.2%.

    * IMF WEO data not available for 1979-80.
    I think you’ve cut your data

    IIRC the first couple of years of Blair’s government they stuck to Clarke’s plans… they were starting from a very good place which would help the average.

    How about looking at 2001-8 or 2001-10?
    Same data removing first 3 years of each government plus removing Covid period.

    1982-96 3.6%
    2000-10 3.5%
    2014-19 2.9%

    Still better than Thatcher/Major.

    Brown's fiscal record was far from perfect but is absolutely in the same ballpark as Tory administrations on either side of him. This idea that he "crashed" the public finances is a fantasy that lives only in the mind of Tory hacks who've swallowed their own propaganda. It enjoys no credence among people who look at these things for a living.
    Yes if you include when he had a surplus before he crashed the public finances then the average doesn't look bad. 🤦‍♂️

    The issue is what he did from the surplus in 2002, not that there was a surplus in 2002.
    What matters for the debt position is the long run record not the position in any given year. Policy was too restrictive in the early years of the Labour government - no government had run a structural surplus before Labour did in 1999 and 2000 and government debt had fallen to 34% of GDP in 2001 from 44% in 1996. There was certainly space to borrow more to fund public services and by 2006 debt to GDP was still only 40%, well below the level that Labour inherited. Brown's fiscal loosening post brought the structural deficit to levels that pertained for most of the 1980s - presumably you also damn Thatcher for her reckless borrowing?
    Thatcher inherited an awful situation and the borrowing followed the economic cycle with her reducing borrowing such that there was a budget surplus in 1989 before the next recession.

    Had Brown entered the next recession with a surplus, as Thatcher had, then we wouldn't have had an issue. He didn't, he turned the spending taps on full blast before the recession hit.

    Arguing that spending was too restrictive pre-2002 (which I disagree with) isn't an argument for too much spending post it. Two wrongs don't make a right. Yes if you average too little with too much you might get an OK figure, but you've still gone to too much by the end which is what mattered.
    Oh please, every Tory deficit is thanks to Labour, while every Labour surplus is thanks to the Tories? I am talking about the structural deficits of Thatcher's mid 80s pomp, not the early years of her administration - never less than 3% of GDP from 1983-87. Was that also reckless?
    There was a structural deficit of 3% of GDP in 1989 going into the recession caused by the crash following the Lawson boom. If you want to make a case for poor domestic macro policy causing a recession it is much easier to make the case for the 1990 recession than 2008. Where was the global financial crisis in 1990?
    Brown's deficits prior to 2002 were legacy from what he inherited from the Tories, yes. Brown's deficits after the country had entered a surplus, were because he turned on the spending taps.

    I never once said that the poor domestic policy caused the recession, I don't think recessions get "caused". Recessions happen, they're a fact of life, trying to prevent them was Brown's hubris in thinking it was possible to end boom and bust.

    Trying to abolish recessions is like trying to abolish winter. You don't abolish recessions, you need to prepare for them, just as you prepare for winter.
    You don't think that bad macro policy in the late 1980s helped to create an unsustainable housing boom and surging inflation, followed by a massive hike in interest rates to try to curb it, thousands of repossessions, and a fresh spike in unemployment? You think Lawson's approach to fiscal and monetary policy had nothing to do with anything that followed? Aren't you some kind of economist?
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,424

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Definitely watch. I think this could well be the last big event for the UK as a post-Imperial nation.
  • DynamoDynamo Posts: 651
    edited September 2022

    Watching this amazing pageant being televised worldwide to an audience in excess of 4 billion makes one immensely proud of our country, and is an entirely appropriate tribute to 'The Queen' as she will ever be known

    I agree with others now is the time to avoid political discourse for the rest of the day and to accept this is a occasion without parallel and history in the making

    Your fawning village-boy submissiveness is cringe-makingly embarrassing.

    The North Korean regime is good at putting on spectacular shows too.
    kle4 said:

    Watching this amazing pageant being televised worldwide to an audience in excess of 4 billion makes one immensely proud of our country, and is an entirely appropriate tribute to 'The Queen' as she will ever be known

    I agree with others now is the time to avoid political discourse for the rest of the day and to accept this is a occasion without parallel and history in the making

    I very much doubt even close to that many people will be watching. I'm sure it will be screened such that it is theoretically possible.
    The best of us don't even have TV sets.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,050
    edited September 2022
    IshmaelZ said:

    It does show the power of ritual that everyone has this down as The Big Day. Whereas by most metrics 8 September was a bit more important. I think we subconsciously think she hasn't really gone till she is under ground, hence talk of her "final night at Buckingham Palace" - she wasn't there. Her corpse was. And hence thinking it makes sense to file past her coffin, when you will be able to get equal proximity to her remains in the King George VI Memorial Chapel whenever you want.

    Also the visibility from global leaders, the more extrovert pageantry , and the more collective social event. This is the first day that the world really sees that she's gone.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873
    Think I spotted IDS next to Raynor, ahead of Graham Brady? Not sure how many MPs get to go.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 21,555

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    You have two options…

    Watch it, critically. Try to figure out the values and motivations that lie behind it. If republicanism is ever to be a thing, it will have to serve those human purposes as well.

    Watch it, accept it for what it is, drink tea, relax. Be glad you’re not at work.
  • As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Watch it - it will not be repeated again
    I think it will - tonight, tomorrow, all week......
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,177
    Eabhal said:

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Definitely watch. I think this could well be the last big event for the UK as a post-Imperial nation.
    I think I know what you mean, but surely we will ALWAYS be a post imperial nation?
  • As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    You should watch it. At some point I'm going to stop bickering with BR (Mr Roberts not the much missed British Rail) and put it on. It's history innit.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,424
    Dynamo said:

    Watching this amazing pageant being televised worldwide to an audience in excess of 4 billion makes one immensely proud of our country, and is an entirely appropriate tribute to 'The Queen' as she will ever be known

    I agree with others now is the time to avoid political discourse for the rest of the day and to accept this is a occasion without parallel and history in the making

    Your fawning village-boy submissiveness is cringe-makingly embarrassing.

    The North Korean regime is good at putting on spectacular shows too.
    kle4 said:

    Watching this amazing pageant being televised worldwide to an audience in excess of 4 billion makes one immensely proud of our country, and is an entirely appropriate tribute to 'The Queen' as she will ever be known

    I agree with others now is the time to avoid political discourse for the rest of the day and to accept this is a occasion without parallel and history in the making

    I very much doubt even close to that many people will be watching. I'm sure it will be screened such that it is theoretically possible.
    The best of us don't even have TV sets.
    We aren't marching a nuclear weapon along though. Our soldiers are wearing a varied collection of ridiculous hats.
  • As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Watch it - it will not be repeated again
    I think it will - tonight, tomorrow, all week......
    The event I meant
  • As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    I'm same as you and am watching it, with my 8 year old daughter (my 6 year old doesn't want to watch it as its "boring").

    For me I'm putting republicanism to one side, this is a moment of history. An extremely rare moment that everyone sits down to watch the same thing, a bit like man walking on the moon. You don't get moments like that very often nowadays.
  • DynamoDynamo Posts: 651
    edited September 2022
    SandraMc said:

    Seeing this cartoon in today’s Times has actually moved me more than anything else over the last 12 days: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/morten-morlands-times-cartoon-september-19-2022-7hbb9s02s

    I found it moving. Elderly widower sits down to watch the funeral on his own and it brings home to him the loss of his wife.
    It's like an 18-month year-old saying a cartoon character has pooed his nappy, meaning that he has pooed his own nappy.

    We're going to remember this day for the rest of our lives.

    Rest of your what? That's precisely what you need to get.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    The Bidens just arriving at the Abbey
  • Dynamo said:

    Watching this amazing pageant being televised worldwide to an audience in excess of 4 billion makes one immensely proud of our country, and is an entirely appropriate tribute to 'The Queen' as she will ever be known

    I agree with others now is the time to avoid political discourse for the rest of the day and to accept this is a occasion without parallel and history in the making

    Your fawning village-boy submissiveness is cringe-makingly embarrassing.

    The North Korean regime is good at putting on spectacular shows too.
    kle4 said:

    Watching this amazing pageant being televised worldwide to an audience in excess of 4 billion makes one immensely proud of our country, and is an entirely appropriate tribute to 'The Queen' as she will ever be known

    I agree with others now is the time to avoid political discourse for the rest of the day and to accept this is a occasion without parallel and history in the making

    I very much doubt even close to that many people will be watching. I'm sure it will be screened such that it is theoretically possible.
    The best of us don't even have TV sets.
    It must be intensely painful for you and your Kremlin masters
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    Now holders the the various orders
  • As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    I certainly won't be watching as I find the whole thing quite absurd. But I am enjoying my unexpected day off work and will probably take a pleasant stroll in the park while everyone else is inside glued to the telly.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    Dynamo said:

    SandraMc said:

    Seeing this cartoon in today’s Times has actually moved me more than anything else over the last 12 days: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/morten-morlands-times-cartoon-september-19-2022-7hbb9s02s

    I found it moving. Elderly widower sits down to watch the funeral on his own and it brings home to him the loss of his wife.
    It's like an 18-month year-old saying a cartoon character has pooed his nappy, meaning that he has pooed his own nappy.

    We're going to remember this day for the rest of our lives.

    Rest of your what? That's precisely what you need to get.
    It will be probably the biggest global funeral since Kennedy's in 1963
  • As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    I'm same as you and am watching it, with my 8 year old daughter (my 6 year old doesn't want to watch it as its "boring").

    For me I'm putting republicanism to one side, this is a moment of history. An extremely rare moment that everyone sits down to watch the same thing, a bit like man walking on the moon. You don't get moments like that very often nowadays.
    Not since the first Covid press conference announcing lockdown, anyway.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Did I just hear Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, say 'there are hard times for the people ahead, but the most important thing is there was a seamless change in the Head of State'?
    Where do you find these people, UK?

    https://twitter.com/ImmigrSchorschi/status/1571586961097502721

    Bleating ninnies gonna bleat. I am not usually all that pro affirmative action shit, but with all the OEs in government surely a role as inherently meaningless as AoC could have been shared out elsewhere? I mean not to the common people obv but somewhere like Stowe or Rugby could be given a look in?
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,424
    Westminster Abbey is well worth a visit btw. Seeing the tombs of the Kings who battled for Scotland.

    It's small and very cluttered. I was quite taken by it.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    I certainly won't be watching as I find the whole thing quite absurd. But I am enjoying my unexpected day off work and will probably take a pleasant stroll in the park while everyone else is inside glued to the telly.
    Not that I'd suggest it, but good day to commit some petty crime with all the coppers bussed down to London.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 21,555
    Not ideal to make POTUS wait.
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,661
    Andy_JS said:

    Morning.

    how non-U
    (ht TUD)

  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,503
    Scott_xP said:

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Switch it on, but do the ironing or a jigsaw...
    I think there will be lots of people like that. I've not being paying attention at all but agreed to keep someone company who is grieving herself over a recent loss and feels she "should" have it on in the background but doesn't really want to watch - we'll chat about whatever and we can have a glance if we want to.

    But if you're like Big G and really into it then of course you'll watch the whole event, and I hope it will be a satisfying memory forever. It's one of those things - like a family funeral - where we absolutely shouldn't tell each other what to do.

    The highlights will of course be on the news for those who don't want to watch continuously but would like to get an impression.
  • As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    I certainly won't be watching as I find the whole thing quite absurd. But I am enjoying my unexpected day off work and will probably take a pleasant stroll in the park while everyone else is inside glued to the telly.
    Hand wash some delicates.
    Move load of crap from one space to another.
    Strip suspension arm.
    Go to pub.

    Some unerring 6th sense tell me It's what she would have wanted.
  • DynamoDynamo Posts: 651
    edited September 2022

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    You're feeling tempted. Don't give in. Go and do something useful. And then be proud of yourself and feel clean afterwards. F*** the royal family and every last thing they stand for.

    image

  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,177
    Huw Edwards now droning on about not commentating too much, after droning on for ages… We will see how that goes…
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    edited September 2022
    Eabhal said:

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Definitely watch. I think this could well be the last big event for the UK as a post-Imperial nation.
    There will still be big events but of course when Elizabeth came to the throne she still was head of a pretty big Empire, including much of Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Yemen, the Pacific Islands and Caribbean.

    Almost all of those nations are now independent. She also was the longest reigning monarch in history. Inevitably therefore Charles and William's funerals will be smaller, however good a job they do, even if as good as their mother's
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,050
    edited September 2022
    The Daily Mail on top of the big news, as always, on its front page ; "Carole Middleton and Tom Parker-Bowles arrive at Westminster Abbey".
  • Will LizT get a send off like this?
  • SandraMc said:

    Seeing this cartoon in today’s Times has actually moved me more than anything else over the last 12 days: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/morten-morlands-times-cartoon-september-19-2022-7hbb9s02s

    I found it moving. Elderly widower sits down to watch the funeral on his own and it brings home to him the loss of his wife.

    A number of people have said how state mourning triggers memories of beareavement in their own lives.
    To be honest, if there is a next world, I would rather have one where I am fit and strong; say in my early 30s as opposed to one where I am as I am now. Or even as I was before my present troubles hit me!
    I think about this occasionally. If there is a Heaven, you surely want to go when you are at your healthiest. But what happens to a poor soul who dies at (say) eight, with the best years of your life ahead of them? Do they go to Heaven as a bewildered child, or do they magically 'grow up', both physically and intellectually?

    (and that's leaving out the evil of Limbo.)

    Also: my grand-aunt (gladly still with us) lost her first beloved husband at a youngish age. She then remarried a wonderful man. When they are all dead, what happens in Heaven? Does she have to choose which husband she wants to be with most of the time, or is there some weird ménage à trois?

    I find this, and all the other questions that the concept of 'Heaven' causes, to be one of the reasons I am agnostic.
    I think that Christian take on this is that in heaven you would experience love for all, and not the same as the earthly experience.

    Personally, and rather sadly, I reject life after death as probably not going to happen. Might be surprised, in which case, yay! But more likely the long dreamless sleep from which you never wake.
    Pretty much. The guy who inspired the book is on the record as giving the One Bride for Seven Brothers question* pretty short shrift.

    As for what we're like in Heaven, the standard piety would be something about being what we Really Are, in a way that we approximate to different degrees at different times of our lives. So a heavenly William Hague will be more of the respectable elder statesman and less of the pompous young squit and rock musicians will be more of the youthful success and less of the one more reunion tour to pay the bills.

    Seeing Paddington 2 on BBC One tonight (good choice, Auntie Beeb) makes me wonder. Heavenly Hugh Grant- posh fop of Four Weddings et etcetera or interestingly evil of Paddington and the Jeremy Thorpe thing?


    (* As opposed to the Mormon version, Seven Brides for One Brother.)
  • Jonathan said:

    Not ideal to make POTUS wait.

    I wonder if he arrived late? This is planned to the second, so I doubt they started the procession of VC and GM holders early to make him wait.
  • Always think of Joe Biden as old but its strange to think that he's 'young' enough he could be the late Queen's son.

    Biden seems too old to seriously be running for President again next year, but he's roughly the same age as King Charles as he starts his duties taking on the throne.

    Puts things into a bit of perspective.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    Drakeford and Sturgeon arrived
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,585

    BBC are talking over this far too much. And I couldn't give a toss about the interviews about "what does it mean to you?" at this stage.

    They should just let the procession speak for itself.

    BBC talk over almost everything far too much. The coverage of the lying in state has been unexpectedly wonderful.

    And as for the "what does it mean to you?" type questions - that is another pet hate. Sports coverage nowadays is almost all feelings-based (I have a particular irritation with Sonia McLaughlin on this score, but Clare Balding is almost as bad). I expect they'll move on soon to the "how sad do you feel" or "how good a queen was she?" type questions, the only answer to which is 'very'.

    Have we got a final number for how many succeasfully completed The Queue yet?
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Dynamo said:

    Watching this amazing pageant being televised worldwide to an audience in excess of 4 billion makes one immensely proud of our country, and is an entirely appropriate tribute to 'The Queen' as she will ever be known

    I agree with others now is the time to avoid political discourse for the rest of the day and to accept this is a occasion without parallel and history in the making

    Your fawning village-boy submissiveness is cringe-makingly embarrassing.

    The North Korean regime is good at putting on spectacular shows too.
    kle4 said:

    Watching this amazing pageant being televised worldwide to an audience in excess of 4 billion makes one immensely proud of our country, and is an entirely appropriate tribute to 'The Queen' as she will ever be known

    I agree with others now is the time to avoid political discourse for the rest of the day and to accept this is a occasion without parallel and history in the making

    I very much doubt even close to that many people will be watching. I'm sure it will be screened such that it is theoretically possible.
    The best of us don't even have TV sets.
    A bit of a shit point, surely? Whatever your excellence, I bet you £100 that the device you are reading this on is capable of showing TV coverage of the funeral.

    However you slice it, your lords and masters are your lords and masters. As the hymn beautifully puts it

    The rich man in his castle,
    The poor man at his gate,
    God made them, high or lowly,
    And ordered their estate.

    This is not a threat, but if you don't quit bitching me and some of the lads from Epping Conservatives will be paying you a visit, and it won't be to say howdeedo.
  • Jonathan said:

    Not ideal to make POTUS wait.

    Absolutely right.

    He's not important here. Certainly not next to the holders of the Victoria Cross and George Cross.
  • Taz said:

    BBC are talking over this far too much. And I couldn't give a toss about the interviews about "what does it mean to you?" at this stage.

    They should just let the procession speak for itself.

    Try Sky News. Sky are being respectful, they're talking a bit, but also prepared to have a silence and let the proceedings talk for themselves too.
    Is it ad free today ?
    Yes.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873

    Will LizT get a send off like this?

    After her historic 20 year term as Prime Minister? Possibly.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 21,555
    The sense of connection I get in places like Westminster Abbey is profound. The notion that you stand where people have stood for hundreds of years before you and that you are the same as them I find hugely reassuring and humbling. We are a link in a chain in one human race.

    I hope that world leaders from countries with less tangible connections with the past get to experience that connection today.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,344
    edited September 2022
    HYUFD said:

    Eabhal said:

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Definitely watch. I think this could well be the last big event for the UK as a post-Imperial nation.
    There will still be big events but of course when Elizabeth came to the throne she still was head of a pretty big Empire, including much of Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Yemen, the Pacific Islands and Caribbean.

    Almost all of those nations are now independent. She also was the longest reigning monarch in history. Inevitably therefore Charles and William's funerals will be smaller, however good a job they do, even if as good as their mother's
    Pedantically, she is the longest reigning monarch in British history; there are one or two elsewhere who reigned for longer.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873
    HYUFD said:

    Drakeford and Sturgeon arrived

    Spotted the First Minister (designate) of NI, don't know if the Deputy First Minister (designate) gets to be there.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    IshmaelZ said:

    Did I just hear Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, say 'there are hard times for the people ahead, but the most important thing is there was a seamless change in the Head of State'?
    Where do you find these people, UK?

    https://twitter.com/ImmigrSchorschi/status/1571586961097502721

    Bleating ninnies gonna bleat. I am not usually all that pro affirmative action shit, but with all the OEs in government surely a role as inherently meaningless as AoC could have been shared out elsewhere? I mean not to the common people obv but somewhere like Stowe or Rugby could be given a look in?

    George Carey went to a secondary modern, Rowan Williams to a grammar school, Runcie to Merchant Taylors' Crosby not Eton
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,190
    Oh Johnson, comb your hair you disrespectful, slovenly fat slob!
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    The Mays and Camerons arrived
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 21,555
    FFS Boris couldn’t even brush his hair today. What a total self obsessed tool that man is.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    The Blairs and Majors coming in
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873
    Spotted someone just down from JRM with his eyes closed looking asleep. If you spot five people asleep you win a prize.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677


    Strip suspension arm.

    You have my attention.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278

    Oh Johnson, comb your hair you disrespectful, slovenly fat slob!

    It looks fine
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,585

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Same boat. Issue solved by wife, who is more monarchist than I am republican, and has it on.
    Am I really a republican? Maybe all these years it's just been irritation with the inanity of the BBC. Let's see how I feel about it...
  • TimS - I think that is broadly correct. Those who blame Brown's borrowing too much pre 2008 for our predicament don't tend to quantify it. Governments very rarely run an absolute surplus. So borrowing was too high but not fatal. However you could still argue that it is one of those things that government is expected to get right and won't be let off for getting wrong.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/timeseries/dzls/pusf


    The real killer was the eye watering private debt that needed deleveraging and the fact so much tax revenue was coming from the city. However no-one ever levelled with the public about this. One of the reasons I take a dim view of Cameron, Osborne and Clegg. I don't think Ed Miliband's 'turn the page' approach helped much either.

    Not just not levelling- if Trussonomics has a plan, it's to get the City to expand again, so that we can all live off the tax revenues. Which is a lovely money-for-nothing idea, until it stops working, which it inevitably will.
  • Yet to see Trudeau, Albanese, Ardern?
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    edited September 2022
    Cookie said:

    BBC are talking over this far too much. And I couldn't give a toss about the interviews about "what does it mean to you?" at this stage.

    They should just let the procession speak for itself.

    BBC talk over almost everything far too much.
    The BBC Scotland lady commentator on the St Giles service judged it well - not afraid of “dead air”.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    kle4 said:

    HYUFD said:

    Drakeford and Sturgeon arrived

    Spotted the First Minister (designate) of NI, don't know if the Deputy First Minister (designate) gets to be there.
    Both O'Neil and Donaldson are there
  • Jonathan said:

    FFS Boris couldn’t even brush his hair today. What a total self obsessed tool that man is.

    Nevertheless I'll bet he spent some time on his hair, self obsessed tool that the FLSOJ is.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,177
    kle4 said:

    Spotted someone just down from JRM with his eyes closed looking asleep. If you spot five people asleep you win a prize.

    Probably been an early start. And it’s very boring so far.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,895
    Had to check twice but yes, that is Sue Gray sitting next to Sir Graham Brady in Westminster Abbey. Wonder if they had much to talk about.
    https://twitter.com/SebastianEPayne/status/1571791822367723525
  • pm215pm215 Posts: 1,118
    kle4 said:


    It has the same principle, that the dead live on as long as we remember them and talk about them pass on their memories.

    So the medieval practice of paying monks to pray for the soul of your loved one for x years makes sense.
    I think the medieval Christians thought the dead lived on forever anyway, and what you were praying for was to help them get through purgatory a bit faster ?
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Truss in a horizontal hat, which is an improvement.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873

    kle4 said:

    Spotted someone just down from JRM with his eyes closed looking asleep. If you spot five people asleep you win a prize.

    Probably been an early start. And it’s very boring so far.
    Some of them will have been there for hours already, and you probably don't feel able to engage in casual banter.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,190

    Will LizT get a send off like this?

    Will Johnson?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278

    HYUFD said:

    Eabhal said:

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Definitely watch. I think this could well be the last big event for the UK as a post-Imperial nation.
    There will still be big events but of course when Elizabeth came to the throne she still was head of a pretty big Empire, including much of Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Yemen, the Pacific Islands and Caribbean.

    Almost all of those nations are now independent. She also was the longest reigning monarch in history. Inevitably therefore Charles and William's funerals will be smaller, however good a job they do, even if as good as their mother's
    Pedantically, she is the longest reigning monarch in British history; there are one or two elsewhere who reigned for longer.
    As well as the longest reigning British monarch the only monarch who reigned longer than the Queen ever was Louis XIVth.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873
    pm215 said:

    kle4 said:


    It has the same principle, that the dead live on as long as we remember them and talk about them pass on their memories.

    So the medieval practice of paying monks to pray for the soul of your loved one for x years makes sense.
    I think the medieval Christians thought the dead lived on forever anyway, and what you were praying for was to help them get through purgatory a bit faster ?
    Good swindle either way.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,037
    Beeb cut the PMs entrance off
  • Dura_Ace said:


    Strip suspension arm.

    You have my attention.
    That old, tragic story: failed MOT, new arm from Alfa £800+, manky but serviceable one from ebay £150.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 21,555
    By replacing Boris today, the nation owes a debt of gratitude to Truss.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,177
    pm215 said:

    kle4 said:


    It has the same principle, that the dead live on as long as we remember them and talk about them pass on their memories.

    So the medieval practice of paying monks to pray for the soul of your loved one for x years makes sense.
    I think the medieval Christians thought the dead lived on forever anyway, and what you were praying for was to help them get through purgatory a bit faster ?
    And yet there is no mention of purgatory in the bible. I think Luther had a point!
  • HYUFD said:

    kle4 said:

    HYUFD said:

    Drakeford and Sturgeon arrived

    Spotted the First Minister (designate) of NI, don't know if the Deputy First Minister (designate) gets to be there.
    Both O'Neil and Donaldson are there
    O'Neil's presence in many ways the most significant today. And HMQ played an important role in making that possible.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Eabhal said:

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Definitely watch. I think this could well be the last big event for the UK as a post-Imperial nation.
    There will still be big events but of course when Elizabeth came to the throne she still was head of a pretty big Empire, including much of Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Yemen, the Pacific Islands and Caribbean.

    Almost all of those nations are now independent. She also was the longest reigning monarch in history. Inevitably therefore Charles and William's funerals will be smaller, however good a job they do, even if as good as their mother's
    Pedantically, she is the longest reigning monarch in British history; there are one or two elsewhere who reigned for longer.
    As well as the longest reigning British monarch the only monarch who reigned longer than the Queen ever was Louis XIVth.
    Questionable

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-reigning_monarchs
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,190
    HYUFD said:

    Oh Johnson, comb your hair you disrespectful, slovenly fat slob!

    It looks fine
    Thank you Ken Dodd.
  • DriverDriver Posts: 4,790
    The BBC commentator didn't seem to know the obscure Lib Dem sitting with the rest of the senior politicians...
  • Cookie said:

    BBC are talking over this far too much. And I couldn't give a toss about the interviews about "what does it mean to you?" at this stage.

    They should just let the procession speak for itself.

    BBC talk over almost everything far too much. The coverage of the lying in state has been unexpectedly wonderful.

    And as for the "what does it mean to you?" type questions - that is another pet hate. Sports coverage nowadays is almost all feelings-based (I have a particular irritation with Sonia McLaughlin on this score, but Clare Balding is almost as bad). I expect they'll move on soon to the "how sad do you feel" or "how good a queen was she?" type questions, the only answer to which is 'very'.

    Have we got a final number for how many succeasfully completed The Queue yet?
    The BBC is absolutely terrified of periods of quiet today. The very worst example, and now since common to all channels, is the refusal to let credits roll without talking over them ; to link or advertise the next programme. That is vital thinking space to be able to emotionally and intellectually process what you have just seen. If you don't have it, and you rush off to the next things in people's rushed lives, they'll never get the full benefit of the programme.
    Many programs put a lot of thought into what music (or silence) is played during the credits and talking over them changes it. 24 was a good example of that where the ticking clock almost always played during the credits but total silence punctuated the credits for certain episodes (typically after the death of a major character). The silence make an impact when its used.
  • HYUFD said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    Did I just hear Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, say 'there are hard times for the people ahead, but the most important thing is there was a seamless change in the Head of State'?
    Where do you find these people, UK?

    https://twitter.com/ImmigrSchorschi/status/1571586961097502721

    Bleating ninnies gonna bleat. I am not usually all that pro affirmative action shit, but with all the OEs in government surely a role as inherently meaningless as AoC could have been shared out elsewhere? I mean not to the common people obv but somewhere like Stowe or Rugby could be given a look in?

    George Carey went to a secondary modern, Rowan Williams to a grammar school, Runcie to Merchant Taylors' Crosby not Eton
    Or indeed the Archbishop of York, who also went to a secondary modern.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873
    Jonathan said:

    FFS Boris couldn’t even brush his hair today. What a total self obsessed tool that man is.

    Jonathan said:

    FFS Boris couldn’t even brush his hair today. What a total self obsessed tool that man is.

    Shows too much of a bald spot to be neat, I guess.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    edited September 2022

    Yet to see Trudeau, Albanese, Ardern?

    Commonwealth leaders bus just pulled up.

    ITV coverage doing more “in the Abbey” than cutting to talking heads like the BBC Trudeau and Arden there.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,428
    The royal cars still have EU number plates lol
  • Yet to see Trudeau, Albanese, Ardern?

    Arriving now.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    IshmaelZ said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Eabhal said:

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Definitely watch. I think this could well be the last big event for the UK as a post-Imperial nation.
    There will still be big events but of course when Elizabeth came to the throne she still was head of a pretty big Empire, including much of Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Yemen, the Pacific Islands and Caribbean.

    Almost all of those nations are now independent. She also was the longest reigning monarch in history. Inevitably therefore Charles and William's funerals will be smaller, however good a job they do, even if as good as their mother's
    Pedantically, she is the longest reigning monarch in British history; there are one or two elsewhere who reigned for longer.
    As well as the longest reigning British monarch the only monarch who reigned longer than the Queen ever was Louis XIVth.
    Questionable

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-reigning_monarchs
    As that shows no other sovereign monarch with verifiable date of reign lived longer than the Queen or Louis XIVth in world history.

  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,585
    IshmaelZ said:

    Did I just hear Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, say 'there are hard times for the people ahead, but the most important thing is there was a seamless change in the Head of State'?
    Where do you find these people, UK?

    https://twitter.com/ImmigrSchorschi/status/1571586961097502721

    Bleating ninnies gonna bleat. I am not usually all that pro affirmative action shit, but with all the OEs in government surely a role as inherently meaningless as AoC could have been shared out elsewhere? I mean not to the common people obv but somewhere like Stowe or Rugby could be given a look in?

    I think the AoC is meant to be a bleating ninny. It's part of the job spec. I don't ever remember one whose pointy hat I haven't wanted to ram firmly up his arse.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    Dura_Ace said:


    Strip suspension arm.

    You have my attention.
    That old, tragic story: failed MOT, new arm from Alfa £800+, manky but serviceable one from ebay £150.
    Thank you for your service.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,753
    Even bigger dilemma.

    How do I watch (because I think you need to have it on, live), do my ironing (because watching it can't be all you do), and read/post on PB at the same time.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,873
    IshmaelZ said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Eabhal said:

    As a mild republican, for whom abolishing the monarchy is not in my top 1,000 priorities, I find myself in a quandary this morning.

    I suspect if I sit in front of the TV and watch all the proceedings I may well regret it. However, there's a bit of me that thinks if I don't watch it, I may regret that too.
    What to do?

    Definitely watch. I think this could well be the last big event for the UK as a post-Imperial nation.
    There will still be big events but of course when Elizabeth came to the throne she still was head of a pretty big Empire, including much of Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Yemen, the Pacific Islands and Caribbean.

    Almost all of those nations are now independent. She also was the longest reigning monarch in history. Inevitably therefore Charles and William's funerals will be smaller, however good a job they do, even if as good as their mother's
    Pedantically, she is the longest reigning monarch in British history; there are one or two elsewhere who reigned for longer.
    As well as the longest reigning British monarch the only monarch who reigned longer than the Queen ever was Louis XIVth.
    Questionable

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-reigning_monarchs
    Yes, the page was edited a while back to be more specific to monarchs of 'sovereign states', which cut out a few others, though the 'verifiable dates' exclusion seems reasonable . Felt like a way of pruning the list.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 21,555
    Did anyone catch next to whom POTUS is seated?
  • kle4 said:

    Jonathan said:

    FFS Boris couldn’t even brush his hair today. What a total self obsessed tool that man is.

    Jonathan said:

    FFS Boris couldn’t even brush his hair today. What a total self obsessed tool that man is.

    Shows too much of a bald spot to be neat, I guess.
    I've said for ages that Boris is like Samson- once the hair goes, the power goes.

    Which is a good thing, because it implies that even if Truss crashes and burns, Operation Return After The Wilderness Years is a no-go.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,037
    Jonathan said:

    Did anyone catch next to whom POTUS is seated?

    FLOTUS?
This discussion has been closed.