Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
RS Archer is not, much as I’d like him to be, a reliable source
RS Archer is a satirist whose main joke is about the gullibility of people on Twitter.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
You have exactly the same rights and privileges as we do.
The objection essentially boils down to the fact Scotland has a much smaller population than England, so is subject to getting outvoted more often than not.
If Scotland had, say, a population of 35 million and we had identical constitutional arrangements then the problem wouldn't arise.
No we don't , we have under 10% of teh population of England and can never ever win any vote at any time. It is a de facto colony. If every person in Scotland voted for something at next election it would make no difference. England decides we are too uppity and don't deserve to have a vote we are stuck with it.
A lot of things in Scotland are devolved though, surely? And the Scottish parliament has tax raising powers? Lots of choices are different in Scotland than in England because the Scots have chosen that.
If I believed there was an overwhelming majority in Scotland for independence then I’d join the campaign for a vote. But the vote would be best informed by what happened to the U.K. in 2016. No ambiguity about it. What happens to currency. National debt. Pensions. The border. Free trade or not. The army. The navy. And on and on. The Brexit mess was down to it being all things to all people. A new Independence poll should not make that mistake.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
You have exactly the same rights and privileges as we do.
The objection essentially boils down to the fact Scotland has a much smaller population than England, so is subject to getting outvoted more often than not.
If Scotland had, say, a population of 35 million and we had identical constitutional arrangements then the problem wouldn't arise.
That is, er, not the case, given the separate legal [edit] and administrative system of Scotland. This is a key issue, which many rUK commentators completely miss.
You live in England - you will always have a say in what the legal system under which you and others live, in due proportion.
I live in Scotland - where until 1997 the vast majority of the votes for the government controlling the Scottish legal system came from outside Scotland, effectively. As was very clear when the Poll Tax was imposed on Scotland by a political party and government for it did not vote in.
And under devolution, rather than true federalisation, we could return to that system in an instant should UKG in Westminster so decide.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
You have exactly the same rights and privileges as we do.
The objection essentially boils down to the fact Scotland has a much smaller population than England, so is subject to getting outvoted more often than not.
If Scotland had, say, a population of 35 million and we had identical constitutional arrangements then the problem wouldn't arise.
No we don't , we have under 10% of teh population of England and can never ever win any vote at any time. It is a de facto colony. If every person in Scotland voted for something at next election it would make no difference. England decides we are too uppity and don't deserve to have a vote we are stuck with it.
Colonies were famously the source of multiple prime ministers of the imperial centre. And they famously got higher spending per capita despite lower tax take.
The European Commission has confirmed that if an independent Scotland was to join the EU it would have to have a hard border between Scotland and England.
The executive body of the EU confirmed that if Scotland was to vote for independence and join the EU it would be expected to sign up to strict border controls.
The EU chiefs confirmed that Scots would need a passport to travel to England under independence despite Nicola Sturgeon saying otherwise.
LOL the Express, not even toilet paper. Also who would give a toss we could enter 27 other countries with no border, far better.
Twenty seven borders open and one closes.
The Express and other fascists pretend that the traffic is all one way, conveniently ignoring that England is dependent on the import of Scottish utilities.
I don’t think there are going to be checks on cables and pipes. There aren’t on the ones from Europe.
Much as I hate the Express, if you read the article instead of launching into one of your normal nationalistic diatribes, it expressly mentions traffic moving north.
Independence will have significant disruption on cross border traffic and citizens rights in each jurisdiction. If that’s an acceptable price for independence then go for it. Just don’t be disingenuous about it.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
Like the EU?
(Damn, sucked in again…)
The EU does not decide 100% of your life, ours is 100% controlled by England. What England wants England gets , we want something tough luck we have to suck it up and do what England tells us we really want.
I missed Sturgeon being allowed to make her own covid policy then. Scotland is clearly not 100% controlled by the U.K. parliament (which also returns sixty odd MPs).
Nicola Sturgeon is best performing party leader, says UK-wide poll
Nicola Sturgeon has been the best performing political leader UK-wide during her handling of the Covid crisis, with 43 per cent approval, according to a new poll.
The First Minister proved more popular throughout the UK than Boris Johnson (37 per cent) and Labour leader Keir Starmer (40 per cent) in a poll of 2,003 Brits conducted by Opinium.
A Scottish breakdown shows 57 per cent (a +24 per cent rating) of people in Scotland approve of the way Ms Sturgeon is handling her role.
Mr Johnson's has an overall ratio of -7 per cent.
The poll also finds 65 per cent of people in Scotland disapprove of the way Boris Johnson has fulfilled his role as Prime Minister.
SNP still polling no higher than 45% however and Salmond waiting to stand Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies if Sturgeon again rules out UDI after the SC ruling.
Sunak also more popular in Scotland than Boris
SNP still soaring high at approximately 45% while Scottish Tories are floundering sub-10%.
If Salmond stands Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies their membership will collapse (see James Kelly, formerly of this parish) and their vote will be infinitesimal.
Sunak is slightly less colossally unpopular in Scotland than The Oaf.
Fixed that for you.
If the SC rule out an indyref2 without UK government approval and Sturgeon rules out UDI than Salmond could be Farage to Sturgeon's May and split the Nationalist vote, then allowing SLab to gain more SNP Westminster seats
What chance an English court not ruling in England's favour...... ZERO
English court? Surely not. Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Last court for England, Wales, NI and Scotland.
It is an English court , fudged to do down our legal system. Court of Session was and still should be the highest court in Scotland. 4 out of the 5 judges in this case are English , and in my mind a kangaroo court.
Your mind making it so doesnt mean it is so.
The case looks like a very technical legal dispute, hinging on precise definitions and procedural steps - yes the politics behind it all is bitter but i doubt sleep will be lost if they say 'this is not for us right now'.
It is a treaty of union , so either party can leave, if not then Scotland is a colony, pretty simple.
There's no mechanism for England to leave either.
Apart from English voters who make up 80% plus of the population and elect a similar proportion of members who make up the parliament of this unitary state voting for parties with it as a policy. Of course as with English devolution and parliaments and the like they’d rather do the victimy put upon thing.
Is victimhood a reserved characteristic for Scotland?
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
You have exactly the same rights and privileges as we do.
The objection essentially boils down to the fact Scotland has a much smaller population than England, so is subject to getting outvoted more often than not.
If Scotland had, say, a population of 35 million and we had identical constitutional arrangements then the problem wouldn't arise.
That is, er, not the case, given the separate legal system of Scotland. This is a key issue, which many rUK commentators completely miss.
You live in England - you will always have a say in what the legal system under which you and others live, in due proportion.
I live in Scotland - where until 1997 the vast majority of the votes for the government controlling the Scottish legal system came from outside Scotland, effectively. As was very clear when the Poll Tax was imposed on Scotland by a political party and government for it did not vote in.
And under devolution, rather than true federalisation, we could return to that system in an instant should UKG in Westminster so decide.
The devolution point is like saying the King could start vetoing laws at any moment. As for the effect of different countries, Scotland gave the marginal votes for tuition fees in England, while abolishing them for Scottish universities (except of course English students going to Scottish universities).
Nicola Sturgeon is best performing party leader, says UK-wide poll
Nicola Sturgeon has been the best performing political leader UK-wide during her handling of the Covid crisis, with 43 per cent approval, according to a new poll.
The First Minister proved more popular throughout the UK than Boris Johnson (37 per cent) and Labour leader Keir Starmer (40 per cent) in a poll of 2,003 Brits conducted by Opinium.
A Scottish breakdown shows 57 per cent (a +24 per cent rating) of people in Scotland approve of the way Ms Sturgeon is handling her role.
Mr Johnson's has an overall ratio of -7 per cent.
The poll also finds 65 per cent of people in Scotland disapprove of the way Boris Johnson has fulfilled his role as Prime Minister.
SNP still polling no higher than 45% however and Salmond waiting to stand Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies if Sturgeon again rules out UDI after the SC ruling.
Sunak also more popular in Scotland than Boris
SNP still soaring high at approximately 45% while Scottish Tories are floundering sub-10%.
If Salmond stands Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies their membership will collapse (see James Kelly, formerly of this parish) and their vote will be infinitesimal.
Sunak is slightly less colossally unpopular in Scotland than The Oaf.
Fixed that for you.
If the SC rule out an indyref2 without UK government approval and Sturgeon rules out UDI than Salmond could be Farage to Sturgeon's May and split the Nationalist vote, then allowing SLab to gain more SNP Westminster seats
What chance an English court not ruling in England's favour...... ZERO
English court? Surely not. Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Last court for England, Wales, NI and Scotland.
It is an English court , fudged to do down our legal system. Court of Session was and still should be the highest court in Scotland. 4 out of the 5 judges in this case are English , and in my mind a kangaroo court.
Your mind making it so doesnt mean it is so.
The case looks like a very technical legal dispute, hinging on precise definitions and procedural steps - yes the politics behind it all is bitter but i doubt sleep will be lost if they say 'this is not for us right now'.
It is a treaty of union , so either party can leave, if not then Scotland is a colony, pretty simple.
There's no mechanism for England to leave either.
Apart from English voters who make up 80% plus of the population and elect a similar proportion of members who make up the parliament of this unitary state voting for parties with it as a policy. Of course as with English devolution and parliaments and the like they’d rather do the victimy put upon thing.
Is victimhood a reserved characteristic for Scotland?
Those figures are astonishingly discouraging for Labour given the recent opinion polls.
They are recognising that the UK is about to have what could be a good --> very good Conservative PM compared to those the voters have got used to. They are also recognising that Labour still has a helluva mountain to climb.
Yes, the polls have moved massively against the Tories, but if Rishi is deemed to have done a good job getting the markets soothed and people don't blame HIM for their finances being shot, it's still game on.
Plus, Labour still have to show they have an offer that is worth moving on from Rishi. Not nailed on by any means
NEW: This is the memo Johnson campaign is circulating to MPs tonight claiming their man is "the best chance the Conservatives have at avoiding electoral wipe-out."
Nicola Sturgeon is best performing party leader, says UK-wide poll
Nicola Sturgeon has been the best performing political leader UK-wide during her handling of the Covid crisis, with 43 per cent approval, according to a new poll.
The First Minister proved more popular throughout the UK than Boris Johnson (37 per cent) and Labour leader Keir Starmer (40 per cent) in a poll of 2,003 Brits conducted by Opinium.
A Scottish breakdown shows 57 per cent (a +24 per cent rating) of people in Scotland approve of the way Ms Sturgeon is handling her role.
Mr Johnson's has an overall ratio of -7 per cent.
The poll also finds 65 per cent of people in Scotland disapprove of the way Boris Johnson has fulfilled his role as Prime Minister.
SNP still polling no higher than 45% however and Salmond waiting to stand Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies if Sturgeon again rules out UDI after the SC ruling.
Sunak also more popular in Scotland than Boris
SNP still soaring high at approximately 45% while Scottish Tories are floundering sub-10%.
If Salmond stands Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies their membership will collapse (see James Kelly, formerly of this parish) and their vote will be infinitesimal.
Sunak is slightly less colossally unpopular in Scotland than The Oaf.
Fixed that for you.
If the SC rule out an indyref2 without UK government approval and Sturgeon rules out UDI than Salmond could be Farage to Sturgeon's May and split the Nationalist vote, then allowing SLab to gain more SNP Westminster seats
What chance an English court not ruling in England's favour...... ZERO
English court? Surely not. Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Last court for England, Wales, NI and Scotland.
It is an English court , fudged to do down our legal system. Court of Session was and still should be the highest court in Scotland. 4 out of the 5 judges in this case are English , and in my mind a kangaroo court.
Your mind making it so doesnt mean it is so.
The case looks like a very technical legal dispute, hinging on precise definitions and procedural steps - yes the politics behind it all is bitter but i doubt sleep will be lost if they say 'this is not for us right now'.
It is a treaty of union , so either party can leave, if not then Scotland is a colony, pretty simple.
There's no mechanism for England to leave either.
Apart from English voters who make up 80% plus of the population and elect a similar proportion of members who make up the parliament of this unitary state voting for parties with it as a policy. Of course as with English devolution and parliaments and the like they’d rather do the victimy put upon thing.
Is victimhood a reserved characteristic for Scotland?
No, the scousers are also allowed it.
You are Boris Johnson and I claim my usual fiver....
Those figures are astonishingly discouraging for Labour given the recent opinion polls.
They are recognising that the UK is about to have what could be a good --> very good Conservative PM compared to those the voters have got used to. They are also recognising that Labour still has a helluva mountain to climb.
Yes, the polls have moved massively against the Tories, but if Rishi is deemed to have done a good job getting the markets soothed and people don't blame HIM for their finances being shot, it's still game on.
Plus, Labour still have to show they have an offer that is worth moving on from Rishi. Not nailed on by any means
How do we know Rishi will be better? We simply don't know that at all.
The European Commission has confirmed that if an independent Scotland was to join the EU it would have to have a hard border between Scotland and England.
The executive body of the EU confirmed that if Scotland was to vote for independence and join the EU it would be expected to sign up to strict border controls.
The EU chiefs confirmed that Scots would need a passport to travel to England under independence despite Nicola Sturgeon saying otherwise.
LOL the Express, not even toilet paper. Also who would give a toss we could enter 27 other countries with no border, far better.
Twenty seven borders open and one closes.
The Express and other fascists pretend that the traffic is all one way, conveniently ignoring that England is dependent on the import of Scottish utilities.
Nicola Sturgeon is best performing party leader, says UK-wide poll
Nicola Sturgeon has been the best performing political leader UK-wide during her handling of the Covid crisis, with 43 per cent approval, according to a new poll.
The First Minister proved more popular throughout the UK than Boris Johnson (37 per cent) and Labour leader Keir Starmer (40 per cent) in a poll of 2,003 Brits conducted by Opinium.
A Scottish breakdown shows 57 per cent (a +24 per cent rating) of people in Scotland approve of the way Ms Sturgeon is handling her role.
Mr Johnson's has an overall ratio of -7 per cent.
The poll also finds 65 per cent of people in Scotland disapprove of the way Boris Johnson has fulfilled his role as Prime Minister.
SNP still polling no higher than 45% however and Salmond waiting to stand Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies if Sturgeon again rules out UDI after the SC ruling.
Sunak also more popular in Scotland than Boris
SNP still soaring high at approximately 45% while Scottish Tories are floundering sub-10%.
If Salmond stands Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies their membership will collapse (see James Kelly, formerly of this parish) and their vote will be infinitesimal.
Sunak is slightly less colossally unpopular in Scotland than The Oaf.
Fixed that for you.
If the SC rule out an indyref2 without UK government approval and Sturgeon rules out UDI than Salmond could be Farage to Sturgeon's May and split the Nationalist vote, then allowing SLab to gain more SNP Westminster seats
What chance an English court not ruling in England's favour...... ZERO
English court? Surely not. Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Last court for England, Wales, NI and Scotland.
It is an English court , fudged to do down our legal system. Court of Session was and still should be the highest court in Scotland. 4 out of the 5 judges in this case are English , and in my mind a kangaroo court.
Your mind making it so doesnt mean it is so.
The case looks like a very technical legal dispute, hinging on precise definitions and procedural steps - yes the politics behind it all is bitter but i doubt sleep will be lost if they say 'this is not for us right now'.
It is a treaty of union , so either party can leave, if not then Scotland is a colony, pretty simple.
There's no mechanism for England to leave either.
Apart from English voters who make up 80% plus of the population and elect a similar proportion of members who make up the parliament of this unitary state voting for parties with it as a policy. Of course as with English devolution and parliaments and the like they’d rather do the victimy put upon thing.
Is victimhood a reserved characteristic for Scotland?
Despite invariably getting their way (though not necessarily to their advantage), the English have become world leaders in the field as their brumous horizons shrink.
Those figures are astonishingly discouraging for Labour given the recent opinion polls.
They are recognising that the UK is about to have what could be a good --> very good Conservative PM compared to those the voters have got used to. They are also recognising that Labour still has a helluva mountain to climb.
Yes, the polls have moved massively against the Tories, but if Rishi is deemed to have done a good job getting the markets soothed and people don't blame HIM for their finances being shot, it's still game on.
Plus, Labour still have to show they have an offer that is worth moving on from Rishi. Not nailed on by any means
How do we know Rishi will be better? We simply don't know that at all.
I said "could". Reading the runes, he will be better than Boris and Truss, quite possibly better than Cameron and May too.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
Like the EU?
(Damn, sucked in again…)
The EU does not decide 100% of your life, ours is 100% controlled by England. What England wants England gets , we want something tough luck we have to suck it up and do what England tells us we really want.
If this is the extent of the independence argument, you might as well give up now.
Merely facts and the reality of the situation. At some point backbones will be obtained and tehy will tell the cowardly Unionists to go forth and multiply.
Any Oaf backers out there? He’s now drifted to 6.4.
All over bar the shouting?
Impossible to say because he may have private, though reliable, pledges from 30 or so MPs.
Why wouldn't he declare them to show he's got the 100 nominations, build momentum, formally launch his campaign and put pressure on others?
There were 126 outstanding MPs left to declare this morning. I think we're now down to 100 left. Of the 20 x big names I highlighted an interest in at 6.53am this morning we now have the following answers:
Suella Braverman - SUNAK Kwasi Kwarteng - TBC Nadhim Zahawi - JOHNSON Michael Gove - TBC Steve Baker - SUNAK Geoffrey Cox - SUNAK Therese Coffey - TBC Jake Berry - TBC Chloe Smith - SUNAK Ranil Jayawardena - TBC Michelle Donelan - SUNAK Vicky Ford - TBC Jackie Doyle-Price - TBC Nus Ghani - SUNAK Kit Malthouse - TBC Julia Lopez - TBC Alister Jack - TBC Mims Davies - TBC Neil O'Brien - SUNAK Liz Truss - TBC
I thought up to 10 of them might go Boris. As it stands I think the only ones left for him in that list who might declare are Jake Berry, Ranil Jayawardena, Alister Jack, Therese Coffey, Liz Truss (who'll never declare) and Kwasi. I was umming and erring about Vicky Ford and Jackie Doyle-Price but I doubt they'll plump for him now.
Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
Boris should have done this on Friday and declared he wasn't running and would support Rishi, competition over and Rishi becomes PM on Monday evening.
If true, with any luck he'll spurn his colleagues and walk away from active politics
Those figures are astonishingly discouraging for Labour given the recent opinion polls.
They are recognising that the UK is about to have what could be a good --> very good Conservative PM compared to those the voters have got used to. They are also recognising that Labour still has a helluva mountain to climb.
Yes, the polls have moved massively against the Tories, but if Rishi is deemed to have done a good job getting the markets soothed and people don't blame HIM for their finances being shot, it's still game on.
Plus, Labour still have to show they have an offer that is worth moving on from Rishi. Not nailed on by any means
How do we know Rishi will be better? We simply don't know that at all.
And if he's elected leader he will absolutely be blamed for anyone whose finances are shot, and with some justification, given his tenure as Chancellor for most of this Ministry and PM for the latter part of it.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
You have exactly the same rights and privileges as we do.
The objection essentially boils down to the fact Scotland has a much smaller population than England, so is subject to getting outvoted more often than not.
If Scotland had, say, a population of 35 million and we had identical constitutional arrangements then the problem wouldn't arise.
No we don't , we have under 10% of teh population of England and can never ever win any vote at any time. It is a de facto colony. If every person in Scotland voted for something at next election it would make no difference. England decides we are too uppity and don't deserve to have a vote we are stuck with it.
A lot of things in Scotland are devolved though, surely? And the Scottish parliament has tax raising powers? Lots of choices are different in Scotland than in England because the Scots have chosen that.
If I believed there was an overwhelming majority in Scotland for independence then I’d join the campaign for a vote. But the vote would be best informed by what happened to the U.K. in 2016. No ambiguity about it. What happens to currency. National debt. Pensions. The border. Free trade or not. The army. The navy. And on and on. The Brexit mess was down to it being all things to all people. A new Independence poll should not make that mistake.
Unfortunately all the main powers remain retained, Income Tax alone is useless as if it goes up the pocket money is reduced and all the major levers of power are retained to westminster. Certainly be a lot to sort out but should not be impossible, more than 60 countries minimum have done it already so it cannot be that hard even if more complex being so close to home. No reason at all why it cannot be done with good grace and with everyones needs taken into consideration. Only unionists want to make it rancourous.
Boris (or Team Boris) has run a terrible campaign, starting with those appalling photos.
Other poor decisions include leaving Zahawi and Cleverly announcements until too late, fake claims of having 100 supporters, not having a credible position on the Standards Committee, and his silly communications this morning.
He’s a busted flush. The turd is leaving the bowl.
Rishi will have an overwhelming mandate from his colleagues. I hope he uses it to expel total whoppers and chancers like Rees-Mogg, Zahawi, Cleverly from high office.
I recognise that he will - or should want to - represent all “factions” in Cabinet but he really must limit this to people of at least moderate competence.
If I had to include ERGers I would be looking at Steve Baker and even IDS over complete twits like Braverman.
Truss's problem was not that she did not have an inclusive Cabinet, it was not putting in the work to prepare her policies. But Sunak will face a lit of pressure to do differently anyway.
The European Commission has confirmed that if an independent Scotland was to join the EU it would have to have a hard border between Scotland and England.
The executive body of the EU confirmed that if Scotland was to vote for independence and join the EU it would be expected to sign up to strict border controls.
The EU chiefs confirmed that Scots would need a passport to travel to England under independence despite Nicola Sturgeon saying otherwise.
LOL the Express, not even toilet paper. Also who would give a toss we could enter 27 other countries with no border, far better.
Twenty seven borders open and one closes.
The Express and other fascists pretend that the traffic is all one way, conveniently ignoring that England is dependent on the import of Scottish utilities.
So, who else are the Scots selling that water to?
We cannot sell the electricity as England takes if for free and charges us to get it back, with the highest charges in the UK as well. Business as usual for them to steal our assets.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
You have exactly the same rights and privileges as we do.
The objection essentially boils down to the fact Scotland has a much smaller population than England, so is subject to getting outvoted more often than not.
If Scotland had, say, a population of 35 million and we had identical constitutional arrangements then the problem wouldn't arise.
That is, er, not the case, given the separate legal system of Scotland. This is a key issue, which many rUK commentators completely miss.
You live in England - you will always have a say in what the legal system under which you and others live, in due proportion.
I live in Scotland - where until 1997 the vast majority of the votes for the government controlling the Scottish legal system came from outside Scotland, effectively. As was very clear when the Poll Tax was imposed on Scotland by a political party and government for it did not vote in.
And under devolution, rather than true federalisation, we could return to that system in an instant should UKG in Westminster so decide.
The devolution point is like saying the King could start vetoing laws at any moment. As for the effect of different countries, Scotland gave the marginal votes for tuition fees in England, while abolishing them for Scottish universities (except of course English students going to Scottish universities).
Nothing like it given England already veto's lot of stuff as a matter of course. Tuition fees you are talking about Tories and Labour who are English parties, SNP don't vote on English matters as a matter of principle.
I'd also like a vote on independence from the UK, because I only have one vote and I can't ever get my own way.
Early opinion polling indicates that I'll vote Leave. I should be OK on my own, since the separation negotiations will mean I'll automatically get a veto over the MPC, get back all my past income tax and VAT payments, and be granted my own hospital.
I think Boris saying he just had to get to 100 nominations and members would do the right thing earlier today has been fatal for him getting further MP support.
That would be hilarious, but show he was going full Corbyn.
Boris (or Team Boris) has run a terrible campaign, starting with those appalling photos.
Other poor decisions include leaving Zahawi and Cleverly announcements until too late, fake claims of having 100 supporters, not having a credible position on the Standards Committee, and his silly communications this morning.
He’s a busted flush. The turd is leaving the bowl.
Rishi will have an overwhelming mandate from his colleagues. I hope he uses it to expel total whoppers and chancers like Rees-Mogg, Zahawi, Cleverly from high office.
I recognise that he will - or should want to - represent all “factions” in Cabinet but he really must limit this to people of at least moderate competence.
If I had to include ERGers I would be looking at Steve Baker and even IDS over complete twits like Braverman.
Truss's problem was not that she did not have an inclusive Cabinet, it was not putting in the work to prepare her policies. But Sunak will face a lit of pressure to do differently anyway.
Boris will have fewer to pick from anyway.
The non-inclusive cabinet was an issue though. It wasn't even factional, it was Truss's (so she thought) inner-circle with a couple of very grudging positions for her leadership rivals. It was notable, and odd that even folk like IDS weren't given roles.
Those figures are astonishingly discouraging for Labour given the recent opinion polls.
They are recognising that the UK is about to have what could be a good --> very good Conservative PM compared to those the voters have got used to. They are also recognising that Labour still has a helluva mountain to climb.
Yes, the polls have moved massively against the Tories, but if Rishi is deemed to have done a good job getting the markets soothed and people don't blame HIM for their finances being shot, it's still game on.
Plus, Labour still have to show they have an offer that is worth moving on from Rishi. Not nailed on by any means
How do we know Rishi will be better? We simply don't know that at all.
And if he's elected leader he will absolutely be blamed for anyone whose finances are shot, and with some justification, given his tenure as Chancellor for most of this Ministry and PM for the latter part of it.
The finances are shot because of the biggest pandemic in a century and the biggest European war since Hitler. The question whether is his policies are good wants to address this context or whether they add fuel to the fire.
The follow up questions are whether his approach addresses the three big long term questions facing this country: how do we address the fertility collapse, how do we restore our long term productivity weakness, and how do we prevent the worsening inequality that will undermine faith in democracy.
The Trussite age is over - this is the dawning of the age of Sunakism.
Apparently, as Boris Johnson begins to discover the mystique, the glamour, the "X" factor which he had in spades as Mayor of London and in the first days of becoming Prime Minister has deserted him.
Oddly enough, the fates have been quite capricious - eight years in a non-job and then three years working his way to the very top to be brought down by a microscopic virus and his own fundamental character flaws.
There seem to be those who presumably loathe Sunak with a healthy passion and see no future for themselves in his administration and those who still think Johnson can connect with the electorate in a way no other Conservative can. That was undeniably true once but too much water (or beer) has flowed under too many bridges for that to be the case.
There are those in the electorate who still love "good old Boris" and probably always will just as there are those who claim our last decent Prime Minister was Margaret Thatcher (no one ever says Blair or Cameron).
Sunak doesn't have Boris's charisma - he doesn't seem wholly comfortable with the electorate - and probably doesn't even have Starmer's in truth. Will he be able to allow his Chancellor to run economic policy or will he want to run it out of No.10? I see his new "friends" are pitching round trying to get jobs in the new era (as it ever was).
Those Conservatives with time on their side might consider what Sunak's future will be if the Party is comprehensively defeated at the next GE. Sunak himself will survive but will he want to stay on as LOTO? Seems implausible. Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch look well placed to survive all but the most extreme defeats and I suspect the next contest will be between them (not that, beyond it being a betting opportunity, anyone will care that much).
Sunak’s future will depend both a) when the next GE is and b) the scale of the defeat.
I can plausibly see a scenario, if the GE takes place next year and Sunak manages to save 200-220 seats or so, that he could stay on as LOTO if he wanted to. Not enough time to bed in but he steadied the ship etc.
However if he stays in post for 2 years or so I suspect enough water will have passed under the bridge that a GE defeat will be considered more as a verdict on his own leadership and therefore he will have to own it more and stand down.
In both instances if the defeat is very heavy he will be gone.
For what it’s worth I think the next GE is less than a year away.
I think I agree with that bar the final bit. I think he holds out to near the term end.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Mullin is an ex-MP, and was on the left even when he was an MP.
Please don’t follow the PB Tories into random whataboutery.
I am, of course, using the opportunity to make a general point. I welcome the prospect of the return of Labour (I mean, given the current shambles, I expect that most of us would,) but I've serious concerns that the policy prescriptions they ultimately advance might do our sick patient of a country at least as much harm as good.
We are going to get precisely nowhere until we deal properly with the funnelling of an ever-greater share of national wealth into unproductive piles of bricks and, via both that and the triple lock, into the pockets of equally unproductive old people. But old people account for a massive and increasing share of the electorate, and they vote religiously.
The biggest threat to the economy and future prosperity of the nation is not, therefore, Brexit, or the Ukrainian situation, or Tory maladministration. It's Britain turning into a gerontocracy - if it isn't there already.
I agree. But you have to be fair about Labour.
I’d like to hear Nabavi’s list of issues, because my general impression is that Reeves is very sound. Starmer, on the other hand, doesn’t do economics. He’s essentially a rather dull, triangulating technocrat, albeit with a conviction that the country has been run for the rich for too long.
But he’s not wrong about that.
Point taken. I am catastrophizing, when we have not seen the Labour manifesto for the next election and it may not appear for another couple of years, of course.
We'll know their priorities the second it drops, of course, by setting aside headline grabbing initiatives on devolution, green energy and the like, and addressing two fundamental questions: is the triple lock to be maintained? And will they decline to significantly raise taxation on property and inheritances? If the answer to both those questions is "yes," then all that Labour will be doing, fundamentally, is promising to manage the current failed economic settlement less incompetently, and decline will continue.
My worry is that Labour will definitely extend and pretend and spend on areas that we done need and can’t afford (pretending it’s “investment”)
The Tories may well do the same, but there is a chance under Rishi they won’t.
Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
Foreign Secretary you say?
Obvious really, after his last stint. What could possibly go wrong this time?
I'd also like a vote on independence from the UK, because I only have one vote and I can't ever get my own way.
Early opinion polling indicates that I'll vote Leave. I should be OK on my own, since the separation negotiations will mean I'll automatically get a veto over the MPC, get back all my past income tax and VAT payments, and be granted my own hospital.
What a stupid childish argument , grow up and act your age , not your shoe size.
Nicola Sturgeon is best performing party leader, says UK-wide poll
Nicola Sturgeon has been the best performing political leader UK-wide during her handling of the Covid crisis, with 43 per cent approval, according to a new poll.
The First Minister proved more popular throughout the UK than Boris Johnson (37 per cent) and Labour leader Keir Starmer (40 per cent) in a poll of 2,003 Brits conducted by Opinium.
A Scottish breakdown shows 57 per cent (a +24 per cent rating) of people in Scotland approve of the way Ms Sturgeon is handling her role.
Mr Johnson's has an overall ratio of -7 per cent.
The poll also finds 65 per cent of people in Scotland disapprove of the way Boris Johnson has fulfilled his role as Prime Minister.
SNP still polling no higher than 45% however and Salmond waiting to stand Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies if Sturgeon again rules out UDI after the SC ruling.
Sunak also more popular in Scotland than Boris
SNP still soaring high at approximately 45% while Scottish Tories are floundering sub-10%.
If Salmond stands Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies their membership will collapse (see James Kelly, formerly of this parish) and their vote will be infinitesimal.
Sunak is slightly less colossally unpopular in Scotland than The Oaf.
Fixed that for you.
If the SC rule out an indyref2 without UK government approval and Sturgeon rules out UDI than Salmond could be Farage to Sturgeon's May and split the Nationalist vote, then allowing SLab to gain more SNP Westminster seats
What chance an English court not ruling in England's favour...... ZERO
English court? Surely not. Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Last court for England, Wales, NI and Scotland.
It is an English court , fudged to do down our legal system. Court of Session was and still should be the highest court in Scotland. 4 out of the 5 judges in this case are English , and in my mind a kangaroo court.
Your mind making it so doesnt mean it is so.
The case looks like a very technical legal dispute, hinging on precise definitions and procedural steps - yes the politics behind it all is bitter but i doubt sleep will be lost if they say 'this is not for us right now'.
It is a treaty of union , so either party can leave, if not then Scotland is a colony, pretty simple.
There's no mechanism for England to leave either.
Your arse they can have a vote any time they want as well, is your brain that addled given the amount of comment you spouted on leaving the EU. FFS at least try to pretend you are not totally ignorant. England wanted out and voted on it, Scotland did not but were dragged out anyway. It is a treaty same as we chucked with EU.
The treaty was between the UK and the EU and the Uk decided to leave.
Scotland had previously voted to remain part of the UK
Yes based on it being the only way to stay in the EU....DOH
Do you have data to support that contention?
It was there at the time , it was EU citizens and English voters that made it but I don't want to spend forever searching for 8 yea rold data
So that’ll be a no then
@malcolmg ’s “trust me” is almost as convincing as BoJo.
I sent you the UK evidence, though by the sounds of it you are Jingo Jim and not really interested in data just your bias. Disprove the theory then smartarse.
This was written before your subsequent post. But there was no data - just a screed of opinion. A link would be nice
The European Commission has confirmed that if an independent Scotland was to join the EU it would have to have a hard border between Scotland and England.
The executive body of the EU confirmed that if Scotland was to vote for independence and join the EU it would be expected to sign up to strict border controls.
The EU chiefs confirmed that Scots would need a passport to travel to England under independence despite Nicola Sturgeon saying otherwise.
LOL the Express, not even toilet paper. Also who would give a toss we could enter 27 other countries with no border, far better.
Twenty seven borders open and one closes.
The Express and other fascists pretend that the traffic is all one way, conveniently ignoring that England is dependent on the import of Scottish utilities.
So, who else are the Scots selling that water to?
We cannot sell the electricity as England takes if for free and charges us to get it back, with the highest charges in the UK as well. Business as usual for them to steal our assets.
The national grid actually pays Scottish wind farms alot - and it even pays them constraint payments for when they have to turn off. That has meant a lot of wind farms being built in remote areas in Scotland where there electricity cannot easily be taken by the grid, with some farms making more from constraint payments than they do from selling electricity.
The European Commission has confirmed that if an independent Scotland was to join the EU it would have to have a hard border between Scotland and England.
The executive body of the EU confirmed that if Scotland was to vote for independence and join the EU it would be expected to sign up to strict border controls.
The EU chiefs confirmed that Scots would need a passport to travel to England under independence despite Nicola Sturgeon saying otherwise.
LOL the Express, not even toilet paper. Also who would give a toss we could enter 27 other countries with no border, far better.
Twenty seven borders open and one closes.
The Express and other fascists pretend that the traffic is all one way, conveniently ignoring that England is dependent on the import of Scottish utilities.
So, who else are the Scots selling that water to?
We cannot sell the electricity as England takes if for free and charges us to get it back, with the highest charges in the UK as well. Business as usual for them to steal our assets.
I'm not saying you are clueless but that sentence is beyond stupid.
Literally the only statement you've said is correct is that the interconnect fees in Scotland are higher for reasons related to development costs and a previous lack of demand see - this from the Scottish Government. https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202200303680/
Those figures are astonishingly discouraging for Labour given the recent opinion polls.
They are recognising that the UK is about to have what could be a good --> very good Conservative PM compared to those the voters have got used to. They are also recognising that Labour still has a helluva mountain to climb.
Yes, the polls have moved massively against the Tories, but if Rishi is deemed to have done a good job getting the markets soothed and people don't blame HIM for their finances being shot, it's still game on.
Plus, Labour still have to show they have an offer that is worth moving on from Rishi. Not nailed on by any means
How do we know Rishi will be better? We simply don't know that at all.
I said "could". Reading the runes, he will be better than Boris and Truss, quite possibly better than Cameron and May too.
He'll certainly be both competent and responsible, so better than Boris and Truss.
I don't share the general antipathy towards Cameron that is widespread on here. In a way he was siilar to Blair in that he was generally capable but got the biggest decision of his tenure badly wrong.
May is difficult to assess because of the impossible situation she inherited but she's unlikely to make anybody's list of top ten PMs.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
Your argument is self-referential
“I believe that England is a foreign country therefore we are a colony”
Is a logically valid as “I believe Scotland is part of the UK and therefore we are not a colony”
Nicola Sturgeon is best performing party leader, says UK-wide poll
Nicola Sturgeon has been the best performing political leader UK-wide during her handling of the Covid crisis, with 43 per cent approval, according to a new poll.
The First Minister proved more popular throughout the UK than Boris Johnson (37 per cent) and Labour leader Keir Starmer (40 per cent) in a poll of 2,003 Brits conducted by Opinium.
A Scottish breakdown shows 57 per cent (a +24 per cent rating) of people in Scotland approve of the way Ms Sturgeon is handling her role.
Mr Johnson's has an overall ratio of -7 per cent.
The poll also finds 65 per cent of people in Scotland disapprove of the way Boris Johnson has fulfilled his role as Prime Minister.
SNP still polling no higher than 45% however and Salmond waiting to stand Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies if Sturgeon again rules out UDI after the SC ruling.
Sunak also more popular in Scotland than Boris
SNP still soaring high at approximately 45% while Scottish Tories are floundering sub-10%.
If Salmond stands Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies their membership will collapse (see James Kelly, formerly of this parish) and their vote will be infinitesimal.
Sunak is slightly less colossally unpopular in Scotland than The Oaf.
Fixed that for you.
If the SC rule out an indyref2 without UK government approval and Sturgeon rules out UDI than Salmond could be Farage to Sturgeon's May and split the Nationalist vote, then allowing SLab to gain more SNP Westminster seats
What chance an English court not ruling in England's favour...... ZERO
English court? Surely not. Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Last court for England, Wales, NI and Scotland.
It is an English court , fudged to do down our legal system. Court of Session was and still should be the highest court in Scotland. 4 out of the 5 judges in this case are English , and in my mind a kangaroo court.
Your mind making it so doesnt mean it is so.
The case looks like a very technical legal dispute, hinging on precise definitions and procedural steps - yes the politics behind it all is bitter but i doubt sleep will be lost if they say 'this is not for us right now'.
It is a treaty of union , so either party can leave, if not then Scotland is a colony, pretty simple.
There's no mechanism for England to leave either.
Your arse they can have a vote any time they want as well, is your brain that addled given the amount of comment you spouted on leaving the EU. FFS at least try to pretend you are not totally ignorant. England wanted out and voted on it, Scotland did not but were dragged out anyway. It is a treaty same as we chucked with EU.
The treaty was between the UK and the EU and the Uk decided to leave.
Scotland had previously voted to remain part of the UK
Yes based on it being the only way to stay in the EU....DOH
Do you have data to support that contention?
It was there at the time , it was EU citizens and English voters that made it but I don't want to spend forever searching for 8 yea rold data
So that’ll be a no then
@malcolmg ’s “trust me” is almost as convincing as BoJo.
I sent you the UK evidence, though by the sounds of it you are Jingo Jim and not really interested in data just your bias. Disprove the theory then smartarse.
This was written before your subsequent post. But there was no data - just a screed of opinion. A link would be nice
Truss's problem was not that she did not have an inclusive Cabinet, it was not putting in the work to prepare her policies. But Sunak will face a lit of pressure to do differently anyway.
Boris will have fewer to pick from anyway.
The non-inclusive cabinet was an issue though. It wasn't even factional, it was Truss's (so she thought) inner-circle with a couple of very grudging positions for her leadership rivals. It was notable, and odd that even folk like IDS weren't given roles.
Mmm. My take is that Truss got a lot of things wrong, including the very one-sided cabinet. Getting a few more of those things right might have helped her either in avoiding the more colossal errors or in being better able to survive their aftermath.
I'd also like a vote on independence from the UK, because I only have one vote and I can't ever get my own way.
Early opinion polling indicates that I'll vote Leave. I should be OK on my own, since the separation negotiations will mean I'll automatically get a veto over the MPC, get back all my past income tax and VAT payments, and be granted my own hospital.
What a stupid childish argument , grow up and act your age , not your shoe size.
Come on; it's actually really hard to do reductio ad absurdum when the initial argument is as dumb as yours is.
The European Commission has confirmed that if an independent Scotland was to join the EU it would have to have a hard border between Scotland and England.
The executive body of the EU confirmed that if Scotland was to vote for independence and join the EU it would be expected to sign up to strict border controls.
The EU chiefs confirmed that Scots would need a passport to travel to England under independence despite Nicola Sturgeon saying otherwise.
LOL the Express, not even toilet paper. Also who would give a toss we could enter 27 other countries with no border, far better.
Twenty seven borders open and one closes.
The Express and other fascists pretend that the traffic is all one way, conveniently ignoring that England is dependent on the import of Scottish utilities.
So, who else are the Scots selling that water to?
We cannot sell the electricity as England takes if for free and charges us to get it back, with the highest charges in the UK as well. Business as usual for them to steal our assets.
The national grid actually pays Scottish wind farms alot - and it even pays them constraint payments for when they have to turn off. That has meant a lot of wind farms being built in remote areas in Scotland where there electricity cannot easily be taken by the grid, with some farms making more from constraint payments than they do from selling electricity.
It also charges them 3 x as much to feed the grid as they charge in England. So we produce the most , pay the most to put on grid to send to England and pay teh most to get it in our homes, sounds like a great deal.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Mullin is an ex-MP, and was on the left even when he was an MP.
Please don’t follow the PB Tories into random whataboutery.
I am, of course, using the opportunity to make a general point. I welcome the prospect of the return of Labour (I mean, given the current shambles, I expect that most of us would,) but I've serious concerns that the policy prescriptions they ultimately advance might do our sick patient of a country at least as much harm as good.
We are going to get precisely nowhere until we deal properly with the funnelling of an ever-greater share of national wealth into unproductive piles of bricks and, via both that and the triple lock, into the pockets of equally unproductive old people. But old people account for a massive and increasing share of the electorate, and they vote religiously.
The biggest threat to the economy and future prosperity of the nation is not, therefore, Brexit, or the Ukrainian situation, or Tory maladministration. It's Britain turning into a gerontocracy - if it isn't there already.
I agree. But you have to be fair about Labour.
I’d like to hear Nabavi’s list of issues, because my general impression is that Reeves is very sound. Starmer, on the other hand, doesn’t do economics. He’s essentially a rather dull, triangulating technocrat, albeit with a conviction that the country has been run for the rich for too long.
But he’s not wrong about that.
Point taken. I am catastrophizing, when we have not seen the Labour manifesto for the next election and it may not appear for another couple of years, of course.
We'll know their priorities the second it drops, of course, by setting aside headline grabbing initiatives on devolution, green energy and the like, and addressing two fundamental questions: is the triple lock to be maintained? And will they decline to significantly raise taxation on property and inheritances? If the answer to both those questions is "yes," then all that Labour will be doing, fundamentally, is promising to manage the current failed economic settlement less incompetently, and decline will continue.
My worry is that Labour will definitely extend and pretend and spend on areas that we done need and can’t afford (pretending it’s “investment”)
The Tories may well do the same, but there is a chance under Rishi they won’t.
Britain is starved of capital investment though, both public and private. The question is whether Labour wastes money on expanding the public payroll under the guise of “investment”.
Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
Mordaunt has rejected him because she doesn't need his support?
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
Your argument is self-referential
“I believe that England is a foreign country therefore we are a colony”
Is a logically valid as “I believe Scotland is part of the UK and therefore we are not a colony”
Neither provides evidentiary support
Treaty of Union said we were equal partners in a union, not subserviant serfs.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
You have exactly the same rights and privileges as we do.
The objection essentially boils down to the fact Scotland has a much smaller population than England, so is subject to getting outvoted more often than not.
If Scotland had, say, a population of 35 million and we had identical constitutional arrangements then the problem wouldn't arise.
That is, er, not the case, given the separate legal system of Scotland. This is a key issue, which many rUK commentators completely miss.
You live in England - you will always have a say in what the legal system under which you and others live, in due proportion.
I live in Scotland - where until 1997 the vast majority of the votes for the government controlling the Scottish legal system came from outside Scotland, effectively. As was very clear when the Poll Tax was imposed on Scotland by a political party and government for it did not vote in.
And under devolution, rather than true federalisation, we could return to that system in an instant should UKG in Westminster so decide.
The devolution point is like saying the King could start vetoing laws at any moment. As for the effect of different countries, Scotland gave the marginal votes for tuition fees in England, while abolishing them for Scottish universities (except of course English students going to Scottish universities).
It was the *unionist* parties' MPs for Scottish seats (with some honourable Tory exceptions, IIRC) which voted through that decision. Which does not refute my example, as it applied to the UK as a whole, not to the Scottish legal and administrative system alone.
The differential treatment came later - but the Scots simply maintyained the same existing *residential*, not *nationality* - based system as E,. W and NI did, but which the latter three stopped doing. It takes a certain mentality to blame the Scots for doing what they were already doing. They didn't abolish anything, or impose nw charges on English students - the (in fact) rUK students were always funded by their respective areas to pay charges where they studied.
Some really astonishing comments attributed to a Bozo supporter being quoted by Dan Hodges . Sorry can’t link as on iPad .
This one?
“ Told one prominent Boris supporter is phoning MPs saying “we have to keep going. We have to kill off Rishi, and we have to kill off everyone who supports Rishi”. MP tells me, “Boris’s hard core supporters have gone mad. It’s like Waco in there”. So that’s reassuring…
Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
Mordaunt has rejected him because she doesn't need his support?
Presumably because she thinks he'll chicken out and she'll then pick up a chunk of his supporters, coming a respectable second to Sunak. She won't be expecting to win, but to establish herself as a future contender, or at least as a significant figure.
Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
Mordaunt has rejected him because she doesn't need his support?
Does not bode well for her when he is the LOTO after the Tories get hammered. She will be back to playing with toy boats in her bathtub and pretending to be important.
Some really astonishing comments attributed to a Bozo supporter being quoted by Dan Hodges . Sorry can’t link as on iPad .
This one?
“ Told one prominent Boris supporter is phoning MPs saying “we have to keep going. We have to kill off Rishi, and we have to kill off everyone who supports Rishi”. MP tells me, “Boris’s hard core supporters have gone mad. It’s like Waco in there”. So that’s reassuring…
Thanks for that . The Bozo groupies really are like a death cult
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
Your argument is self-referential
“I believe that England is a foreign country therefore we are a colony”
Is a logically valid as “I believe Scotland is part of the UK and therefore we are not a colony”
Neither provides evidentiary support
Treaty of Union said we were equal partners in a union, not subserviant serfs.
The Treaty of Union/Acts of Union abolished the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, to be replaced by the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Nicola Sturgeon is best performing party leader, says UK-wide poll
Nicola Sturgeon has been the best performing political leader UK-wide during her handling of the Covid crisis, with 43 per cent approval, according to a new poll.
The First Minister proved more popular throughout the UK than Boris Johnson (37 per cent) and Labour leader Keir Starmer (40 per cent) in a poll of 2,003 Brits conducted by Opinium.
A Scottish breakdown shows 57 per cent (a +24 per cent rating) of people in Scotland approve of the way Ms Sturgeon is handling her role.
Mr Johnson's has an overall ratio of -7 per cent.
The poll also finds 65 per cent of people in Scotland disapprove of the way Boris Johnson has fulfilled his role as Prime Minister.
SNP still polling no higher than 45% however and Salmond waiting to stand Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies if Sturgeon again rules out UDI after the SC ruling.
Sunak also more popular in Scotland than Boris
SNP still soaring high at approximately 45% while Scottish Tories are floundering sub-10%.
If Salmond stands Alba candidates across Scottish constituencies their membership will collapse (see James Kelly, formerly of this parish) and their vote will be infinitesimal.
Sunak is slightly less colossally unpopular in Scotland than The Oaf.
Fixed that for you.
If the SC rule out an indyref2 without UK government approval and Sturgeon rules out UDI than Salmond could be Farage to Sturgeon's May and split the Nationalist vote, then allowing SLab to gain more SNP Westminster seats
What chance an English court not ruling in England's favour...... ZERO
English court? Surely not. Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Last court for England, Wales, NI and Scotland.
It is an English court , fudged to do down our legal system. Court of Session was and still should be the highest court in Scotland. 4 out of the 5 judges in this case are English , and in my mind a kangaroo court.
I think all the judges are human, not kangaroos. As a kangaroo myself, I don’t like this implication that courts by kangaroos are problematic.
I'd also like a vote on independence from the UK, because I only have one vote and I can't ever get my own way.
Early opinion polling indicates that I'll vote Leave. I should be OK on my own, since the separation negotiations will mean I'll automatically get a veto over the MPC, get back all my past income tax and VAT payments, and be granted my own hospital.
What a stupid childish argument , grow up and act your age , not your shoe size.
Come on; it's actually really hard to do reductio ad absurdum when the initial argument is as dumb as yours is.
Some really astonishing comments attributed to a Bozo supporter being quoted by Dan Hodges . Sorry can’t link as on iPad .
This one?
“ Told one prominent Boris supporter is phoning MPs saying “we have to keep going. We have to kill off Rishi, and we have to kill off everyone who supports Rishi”. MP tells me, “Boris’s hard core supporters have gone mad. It’s like Waco in there”. So that’s reassuring…
Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees Mogg are disciples of a malign culture every bit as bad as Corbynites
Some really astonishing comments attributed to a Bozo supporter being quoted by Dan Hodges . Sorry can’t link as on iPad .
This one?
“ Told one prominent Boris supporter is phoning MPs saying “we have to keep going. We have to kill off Rishi, and we have to kill off everyone who supports Rishi”. MP tells me, “Boris’s hard core supporters have gone mad. It’s like Waco in there”. So that’s reassuring…
Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees Mogg are disciples of a malign culture every bit as bad as Corbynites
Talking of malign forces, has Gavin Williamson declared who he's backing?
Some really astonishing comments attributed to a Bozo supporter being quoted by Dan Hodges . Sorry can’t link as on iPad .
This one?
“ Told one prominent Boris supporter is phoning MPs saying “we have to keep going. We have to kill off Rishi, and we have to kill off everyone who supports Rishi”. MP tells me, “Boris’s hard core supporters have gone mad. It’s like Waco in there”. So that’s reassuring…
Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees Mogg are disciples of a malign culture every bit as bad as Corbynites
Such a stain on our politics. Nadine's infatuation with Johnson is just weird
Some really astonishing comments attributed to a Bozo supporter being quoted by Dan Hodges . Sorry can’t link as on iPad .
This one?
“ Told one prominent Boris supporter is phoning MPs saying “we have to keep going. We have to kill off Rishi, and we have to kill off everyone who supports Rishi”. MP tells me, “Boris’s hard core supporters have gone mad. It’s like Waco in there”. So that’s reassuring…
Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees Mogg are disciples of a malign culture every bit as bad as Corbynites
Talking of malign forces, has Gavin Williamson declared who he's backing?
Sunak supporter last time, so surely would be this time.
Some really astonishing comments attributed to a Bozo supporter being quoted by Dan Hodges . Sorry can’t link as on iPad .
This one?
“ Told one prominent Boris supporter is phoning MPs saying “we have to keep going. We have to kill off Rishi, and we have to kill off everyone who supports Rishi”. MP tells me, “Boris’s hard core supporters have gone mad. It’s like Waco in there”. So that’s reassuring…
Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees Mogg are disciples of a malign culture every bit as bad as Corbynites
Talking of malign forces, has Gavin Williamson declared who he's backing?
He is assumed to be one of the co-ordinators of Team Rishi.
Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
Mordaunt has rejected him because she doesn't need his support?
Presumably because she thinks he'll chicken out and she'll then pick up a chunk of his supporters, coming a respectable second to Sunak. She won't be expecting to win, but to establish herself as a future contender, or at least as a significant figure.
I think you can only lose so many times. If she loses now, that’s twice. Next leadership election, which could be pretty soon, I don’t think the MPs or membership will want the twice also-ran. They’ll want new blood.
Some really astonishing comments attributed to a Bozo supporter being quoted by Dan Hodges . Sorry can’t link as on iPad .
This one?
“ Told one prominent Boris supporter is phoning MPs saying “we have to keep going. We have to kill off Rishi, and we have to kill off everyone who supports Rishi”. MP tells me, “Boris’s hard core supporters have gone mad. It’s like Waco in there”. So that’s reassuring…
Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees Mogg are disciples of a malign culture every bit as bad as Corbynites
Talking of malign forces, has Gavin Williamson declared who he's backing?
Those figures are astonishingly discouraging for Labour given the recent opinion polls.
They are recognising that the UK is about to have what could be a good --> very good Conservative PM compared to those the voters have got used to. They are also recognising that Labour still has a helluva mountain to climb.
Yes, the polls have moved massively against the Tories, but if Rishi is deemed to have done a good job getting the markets soothed and people don't blame HIM for their finances being shot, it's still game on.
Plus, Labour still have to show they have an offer that is worth moving on from Rishi. Not nailed on by any means
How do we know Rishi will be better? We simply don't know that at all.
I said "could". Reading the runes, he will be better than Boris and Truss, quite possibly better than Cameron and May too.
He'll certainly be both competent and responsible, so better than Boris and Truss.
I don't share the general antipathy towards Cameron that is widespread on here. In a way he was siilar to Blair in that he was generally capable but got the biggest decision of his tenure badly wrong.
May is difficult to assess because of the impossible situation she inherited but she's unlikely to make anybody's list of top ten PMs.
Though May has definitely moved place or two away from the bottom of the PM rankings since 2016.
As for Rishi, he is incredibly green (both in time as an MP and narrowness of his ministerial experience). He's got some big calls wrong, can't completely escape blame for the financial situation, and is often prickly when questioned. And a globalised squillionaire isn't ideal casting for an austerity government.
But the big thing he offers- a return to realism and decency - is a very good place to start.
Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
Mordaunt has rejected him because she doesn't need his support?
Presumably because she thinks he'll chicken out and she'll then pick up a chunk of his supporters, coming a respectable second to Sunak. She won't be expecting to win, but to establish herself as a future contender, or at least as a significant figure.
I think you can only lose so many times. If she loses now, that’s twice. Next leadership election, which could be pretty soon, I don’t think the MPs or membership will want the twice also-ran. They’ll want new blood.
Yes, you're probably right, but I expect she's still hopeful.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Mullin is an ex-MP, and was on the left even when he was an MP.
Please don’t follow the PB Tories into random whataboutery.
I am, of course, using the opportunity to make a general point. I welcome the prospect of the return of Labour (I mean, given the current shambles, I expect that most of us would,) but I've serious concerns that the policy prescriptions they ultimately advance might do our sick patient of a country at least as much harm as good.
We are going to get precisely nowhere until we deal properly with the funnelling of an ever-greater share of national wealth into unproductive piles of bricks and, via both that and the triple lock, into the pockets of equally unproductive old people. But old people account for a massive and increasing share of the electorate, and they vote religiously.
The biggest threat to the economy and future prosperity of the nation is not, therefore, Brexit, or the Ukrainian situation, or Tory maladministration. It's Britain turning into a gerontocracy - if it isn't there already.
I agree. But you have to be fair about Labour.
I’d like to hear Nabavi’s list of issues, because my general impression is that Reeves is very sound. Starmer, on the other hand, doesn’t do economics. He’s essentially a rather dull, triangulating technocrat, albeit with a conviction that the country has been run for the rich for too long.
But he’s not wrong about that.
Point taken. I am catastrophizing, when we have not seen the Labour manifesto for the next election and it may not appear for another couple of years, of course.
We'll know their priorities the second it drops, of course, by setting aside headline grabbing initiatives on devolution, green energy and the like, and addressing two fundamental questions: is the triple lock to be maintained? And will they decline to significantly raise taxation on property and inheritances? If the answer to both those questions is "yes," then all that Labour will be doing, fundamentally, is promising to manage the current failed economic settlement less incompetently, and decline will continue.
My worry is that Labour will definitely extend and pretend and spend on areas that we done need and can’t afford (pretending it’s “investment”)
The Tories may well do the same, but there is a chance under Rishi they won’t.
Britain is starved of capital investment though, both public and private. The question is whether Labour wastes money on expanding the public payroll under the guise of “investment”.
The rules on what counts as capital investment are silly. Most innovation comes from people. Paying people’s salaries is a good investment if they create something useful.
Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
Mordaunt has rejected him because she doesn't need his support?
Presumably because she thinks he'll chicken out and she'll then pick up a chunk of his supporters, coming a respectable second to Sunak. She won't be expecting to win, but to establish herself as a future contender, or at least as a significant figure.
I think you can only lose so many times. If she loses now, that’s twice. Next leadership election, which could be pretty soon, I don’t think the MPs or membership will want the twice also-ran. They’ll want new blood.
Yes, you're probably right, but I expect she's still hopeful.
I'm surprised she wasn't tempted if he really was offering to drop out in exchange for the Foreign Office. The stop Rishis would have nowhere else to go.
Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
Mordaunt has rejected him because she doesn't need his support?
Presumably because she thinks he'll chicken out and she'll then pick up a chunk of his supporters, coming a respectable second to Sunak. She won't be expecting to win, but to establish herself as a future contender, or at least as a significant figure.
I think you can only lose so many times. If she loses now, that’s twice. Next leadership election, which could be pretty soon, I don’t think the MPs or membership will want the twice also-ran. They’ll want new blood.
It depends whether she distinguishes herself in whatever big job she gets from Sunak. Hypothetically, if she turned being Foreign Secretary into a consequential role again, then she might still have a chance to become PM.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
You have exactly the same rights and privileges as we do.
The objection essentially boils down to the fact Scotland has a much smaller population than England, so is subject to getting outvoted more often than not.
If Scotland had, say, a population of 35 million and we had identical constitutional arrangements then the problem wouldn't arise.
No we don't , we have under 10% of teh population of England and can never ever win any vote at any time. It is a de facto colony. If every person in Scotland voted for something at next election it would make no difference. England decides we are too uppity and don't deserve to have a vote we are stuck with it.
Colonies were famously the source of multiple prime ministers of the imperial centre. And they famously got higher spending per capita despite lower tax take.
Be great to introduce Malc to a 1750 Virginian or 1850 Indian. Real Ralph McTell vibe.
Good news - copies of "The Times Guide to the House of Commons 2019" are at long last available on Amazon!
Bad news - starting at $175!
Always used to buy it but stopped in 2010 when the price reached £50.
Am probably the last, outside of libraries, who still purchases new editions of the Almanac of American Politics. Have every one from 1st in (or rather for) 1972 to the most recent for 2022 (covering develops thru mid-2021).
Used to be a veritable bible for US political hacks and pundits. This millennium, not so much. Mostly superseded by web. Still occasionally useful in contemporary terms, and of course a rich historical trove./ Coverage and analysis of some editions (esp. early) brilliant; less so in other (esp later).
Back about ten years or so ago, Iain Dale - bookmonger & publisher before becoming media interviewer and personality - told me my that my AAPs up to that time were collectively likely worth a couple thousand bucks or thereabouts.
Note that most of my copies are a) paperback and b) used. From wide variety of sources, including 1976 edition (Jimmy who?) I got as a 1975 Christmas present.
Anyone wishing to pre-order AND pre-pay for my NEXT edition, feel free! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Multiple sources now saying Johnson desperately trying to do a deal with Mourdant or Sunak for him to be Foreign Secretary as he cannot reach 100 nominations. Both have rejected him believing they don't need his support. https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1584196741427253248
Boris should have done this on Friday and declared he wasn't running and would support Rishi, competition over and Rishi becomes PM on Monday evening.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Mullin is an ex-MP, and was on the left even when he was an MP.
Please don’t follow the PB Tories into random whataboutery.
I am, of course, using the opportunity to make a general point. I welcome the prospect of the return of Labour (I mean, given the current shambles, I expect that most of us would,) but I've serious concerns that the policy prescriptions they ultimately advance might do our sick patient of a country at least as much harm as good.
We are going to get precisely nowhere until we deal properly with the funnelling of an ever-greater share of national wealth into unproductive piles of bricks and, via both that and the triple lock, into the pockets of equally unproductive old people. But old people account for a massive and increasing share of the electorate, and they vote religiously.
The biggest threat to the economy and future prosperity of the nation is not, therefore, Brexit, or the Ukrainian situation, or Tory maladministration. It's Britain turning into a gerontocracy - if it isn't there already.
I agree. But you have to be fair about Labour.
I’d like to hear Nabavi’s list of issues, because my general impression is that Reeves is very sound. Starmer, on the other hand, doesn’t do economics. He’s essentially a rather dull, triangulating technocrat, albeit with a conviction that the country has been run for the rich for too long.
But he’s not wrong about that.
Point taken. I am catastrophizing, when we have not seen the Labour manifesto for the next election and it may not appear for another couple of years, of course.
We'll know their priorities the second it drops, of course, by setting aside headline grabbing initiatives on devolution, green energy and the like, and addressing two fundamental questions: is the triple lock to be maintained? And will they decline to significantly raise taxation on property and inheritances? If the answer to both those questions is "yes," then all that Labour will be doing, fundamentally, is promising to manage the current failed economic settlement less incompetently, and decline will continue.
My worry is that Labour will definitely extend and pretend and spend on areas that we done need and can’t afford (pretending it’s “investment”)
The Tories may well do the same, but there is a chance under Rishi they won’t.
Britain is starved of capital investment though, both public and private. The question is whether Labour wastes money on expanding the public payroll under the guise of “investment”.
The rules on what counts as capital investment are silly. Most innovation comes from people. Paying people’s salaries is a good investment if they create something useful.
I’m sure that true in abstract, but it doesn’t reflect the UK’s anomalous underperformance in gross capital formation.
And yes, I’m aware this has been recently revised upwards, but it’s still crap.
This, as far as I recall, was never done for his previous leadership contest spreadsheet and many of us have suspected was a way of ramping Boris’ support to show him out in the lead at the start of the contest.
The problem is it’s now a full 16 names. If you look at BoJo’s named nominations hes only got a declared support of 60.
So when assessing his chances you’ve got to try and work out how much those extra 16 are genuine backers or not.
My prediction - there may be a handful in that boat but I am far from convinced it’s anywhere near 16.
If you remove them Boris needs 2 nominations per hour for the next 20 hours until nominations close - including all through the night - and no row back of his existing support.
Sound likely to you?
It's not really X or hour though so much as are there X not announcing who will follow through for him nonetheless?
Hed be foolish to rely on MPs for that unless signed on the dotted line.
OK, hands up, who started another argument over Scotland?
Meanwhile, the Graun carries a piece by ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin arguing the case for higher taxes to avoid public spending cuts. Fair enough, but his chosen remedy? Hike income tax. Christ, more shellacking of earnings whilst assets go untouched. And it's probably the sort of thing that Reeves will end up doing, because the grey vote will throw an epic tantrum if she touches property. I despair.
Pleese sir, pleese sir, it was HYUFD began it. He sa that Mr Sunak being more popular than Mr Johnson in Scotland is a deeply meaningful and useful statement suitable for an intelligent website like this one.
I should imagine that bubonic plague and a nuclear holocaust would both be at least slightly more popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson, so granted it's a pretty low bar.
HY hasn't been calling for tanks to be brought in to shell Edinburgh again, has he?
Not in those words, but he was getting quite excited at the though of arresting Ms Sturgeon for sedition a little earlier.
I was saying what would happen if Scotland was actually a colony, which it isn't
Have a look at the legislation. All devolution is subject to resumption by UKG at the latter's wish. That *is* effectively a colony.
You’re a serious poster, but this is not a serious definition of “colony”.
When a foreign country decides what you are allowed to do or not do and how and when you are allowed to vote and what you can vote on, that is a de facto colony.
You have exactly the same rights and privileges as we do.
The objection essentially boils down to the fact Scotland has a much smaller population than England, so is subject to getting outvoted more often than not.
If Scotland had, say, a population of 35 million and we had identical constitutional arrangements then the problem wouldn't arise.
No we don't , we have under 10% of teh population of England and can never ever win any vote at any time. It is a de facto colony. If every person in Scotland voted for something at next election it would make no difference. England decides we are too uppity and don't deserve to have a vote we are stuck with it.
Colonies were famously the source of multiple prime ministers of the imperial centre. And they famously got higher spending per capita despite lower tax take.
Be great to introduce Malc to a 1750 Virginian or 1850 Indian. Real Ralph McTell vibe.
Virginians overwhelmingly loyal to King & Mother Country until 1765, after the end of French & Indian War aka Seven Years War. AND enactment of the Stamp Tax.
Comments
And that he is looking forward to the outcome of the Privileges Committer.
Those exact words.
If I believed there was an overwhelming majority in Scotland for independence then I’d join the campaign for a vote. But the vote would be best informed by what happened to the U.K. in 2016. No ambiguity about it. What happens to currency. National debt. Pensions. The border. Free trade or not. The army. The navy. And on and on. The Brexit mess was down to it being all things to all people. A new Independence poll should not make that mistake.
You live in England - you will always have a say in what the legal system under which you and others live, in due proportion.
I live in Scotland - where until 1997 the vast majority of the votes for the government controlling the Scottish legal system came from outside Scotland, effectively. As was very clear when the Poll Tax was imposed on Scotland by a political party and government for it did not vote in.
And under devolution, rather than true federalisation, we could return to that system in an instant should UKG in Westminster so decide.
A statement on Defence Secretary Ben Wallace's call with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu:
https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1584200202948612096
Much as I hate the Express, if you read the article instead of launching into one of your normal nationalistic diatribes, it expressly mentions traffic moving north.
Independence will have significant disruption on cross border traffic and citizens rights in each jurisdiction. If that’s an acceptable price for independence then go for it. Just don’t be disingenuous about it.
Yes, the polls have moved massively against the Tories, but if Rishi is deemed to have done a good job getting the markets soothed and people don't blame HIM for their finances being shot, it's still game on.
Plus, Labour still have to show they have an offer that is worth moving on from Rishi. Not nailed on by any means
https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/1584210906678202368
Strangely enough, they didn't include this polling:
NEW: @OpiniumResearch poll shows that in a Rishi Sunak vs Boris Johnson run-off, the public would back Sunak.
https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1583451118247772160
We simply don't know that at all.
There were 126 outstanding MPs left to declare this morning. I think we're now down to 100 left. Of the 20 x big names I highlighted an interest in at 6.53am this morning we now have the following answers:
Suella Braverman - SUNAK
Kwasi Kwarteng - TBC
Nadhim Zahawi - JOHNSON
Michael Gove - TBC
Steve Baker - SUNAK
Geoffrey Cox - SUNAK
Therese Coffey - TBC
Jake Berry - TBC
Chloe Smith - SUNAK
Ranil Jayawardena - TBC
Michelle Donelan - SUNAK
Vicky Ford - TBC
Jackie Doyle-Price - TBC
Nus Ghani - SUNAK
Kit Malthouse - TBC
Julia Lopez - TBC
Alister Jack - TBC
Mims Davies - TBC
Neil O'Brien - SUNAK
Liz Truss - TBC
I thought up to 10 of them might go Boris. As it stands I think the only ones left for him in that list who might declare are Jake Berry, Ranil Jayawardena, Alister Jack, Therese Coffey, Liz Truss (who'll never declare) and Kwasi. I was umming and erring about Vicky Ford and Jackie Doyle-Price but I doubt they'll plump for him now.
So he might get seven more. Max.
@JohnRentoul
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28m
Sunak 7 away from 155, the number that would make it impossible for more than one other candidate to be nominated
Boris will have fewer to pick from anyway.
Just looking at the list of undeclared MPs I can find a dozen who'll go for Sunak straight away.
Early opinion polling indicates that I'll vote Leave. I should be OK on my own, since the separation negotiations will mean I'll automatically get a veto over the MPC, get back all my past income tax and VAT payments, and be granted my own hospital.
The follow up questions are whether his approach addresses the three big long term questions facing this country: how do we address the fertility collapse, how do we restore our long term productivity weakness, and how do we prevent the worsening inequality that will undermine faith in democracy.
(Though I haven't checked they all have the whip.)
The Tories may well do the same, but there is a chance under Rishi they won’t.
Obvious really, after his last stint. What could possibly go wrong this time?
Literally the only statement you've said is correct is that the interconnect fees in Scotland are higher for reasons related to development costs and a previous lack of demand see - this from the Scottish Government. https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202200303680/
In fact a quick google highlights that the current issues seems to be due to the Norwegian interconnector https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2010/09/scottish_and_southern_energy_0.pdf
I don't share the general antipathy towards Cameron that is widespread on here. In a way he was siilar to Blair in that he was generally capable but got the biggest decision of his tenure badly wrong.
May is difficult to assess because of the impossible situation she inherited but she's unlikely to make anybody's list of top ten PMs.
“I believe that England is a foreign country therefore we are a colony”
Is a logically valid as “I believe Scotland is part of the UK and therefore we are not a colony”
Neither provides evidentiary support
Harry Cole
@MrHarryCole
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6m
Exc: here is the message Heaton Harris has just sent, claiming Boris will be on the ballot: https://thesun.co.uk/news/20194657/rishi-sunak-announce-formal-bid-conservative-leadership/
The differential treatment came later - but the Scots simply maintyained the same existing *residential*, not *nationality* - based system as E,. W and NI did, but which the latter three stopped doing. It takes a certain mentality to blame the Scots for doing what they were already doing. They didn't abolish anything, or impose nw charges on English students - the (in fact) rUK students were always funded by their respective areas to pay charges where they studied.
“ Told one prominent Boris supporter is phoning MPs saying “we have to keep going. We have to kill off Rishi, and we have to kill off everyone who supports Rishi”. MP tells me, “Boris’s hard core supporters have gone mad. It’s like Waco in there”. So that’s reassuring…
As for Rishi, he is incredibly green (both in time as an MP and narrowness of his ministerial experience). He's got some big calls wrong, can't completely escape blame for the financial situation, and is often prickly when questioned. And a globalised squillionaire isn't ideal casting for an austerity government.
But the big thing he offers- a return to realism and decency - is a very good place to start.
Used to be a veritable bible for US political hacks and pundits. This millennium, not so much. Mostly superseded by web. Still occasionally useful in contemporary terms, and of course a rich historical trove./ Coverage and analysis of some editions (esp. early) brilliant; less so in other (esp later).
Back about ten years or so ago, Iain Dale - bookmonger & publisher before becoming media interviewer and personality - told me my that my AAPs up to that time were collectively likely worth a couple thousand bucks or thereabouts.
Note that most of my copies are a) paperback and b) used. From wide variety of sources, including 1976 edition (Jimmy who?) I got as a 1975 Christmas present.
Anyone wishing to pre-order AND pre-pay for my NEXT edition, feel free! Ho! Ho! Ho!
https://twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1584226853610323968?t=5evoblymnPgG-KkW4Gm3lw&s=19
He's a devious sort though.
And yes, I’m aware this has been recently revised upwards, but it’s still crap.
Hed be foolish to rely on MPs for that unless signed on the dotted line.
Non-dom wife and the whole Green Card-when-Chancellor thing.
We haven’t heard enough about his support for the Great Barrington lockdown deniers, though.
Addendum - Also passage of Quebec Act.