do you know the mechanics of SNP Euro selection tomorrow at Conference? Will we just have the chosen candidates with the ranking done later (all members ballot?)?
Regarding Leveson, looks like Farage is playing a smart game opposing it and criticising Cameron, lots of friendly press coverage for UKIP.
Personally I think if they print a story that turns out to be false it should be the law that the apology is the Same size and on the same page as the original
But isn't he market he best regulator for the press? If they are genuinely making stuff up, people won't buy on principle a la The Sun in Liverpool?
Regarding the cricket and DRS, I can see where MikeL is coming from... There is an argument to say is there a need for umpires at all? What can they do that DRS can't? The game would evolve, maybe pitches could be made more batsman friendly to address the increase in lbw decisions given?
My own preference would be to automatically use technology for run outs and keep the DRS to two an innings. Tradition is a big part of cricket and there has also to be common ground between all forms of the game, from village green to test match.
This is what happens when we laugh at the Aussie cricket team. That kind of thing always comes back to bite. More important, if we do lose this test that will mean three series defeats in the space of 15 months and would indicate a serious decline in standards. If you keep getting beaten it means you're not very good.
After three years of austerity, Osborne cannot be surprised his ratings are bumping along the bottom. Some 63% say he is doing badly — only slightly better than last week’s 67%.
Yet although 53% blame the government for missing its targets for growth and borrowing, even more — 57% — blame Labour, and 67% conditions in Europe.
Just 24% of people think the government’s policies have either started to work or will do so “fairly soon”. More, 41%, would like a new growth strategy than want it to stick to its commitment to reducing the deficit (32%). And by 46%-27%, voters want Cameron to sack Osborne.
If George Osborne were subject to a political rating, he would have been downgraded to BBB some months ago — and each B stands for a challenge the budget was designed to address, writes Peter Kellner. YouGov’s latest survey, post-budget, suggests he is still in a BBB-rated hole — but for the moment Labour is in a bigger one.
AT LEAST 10 police officers are now suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to discredit the former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell, who was accused of calling Downing Street armed guards “plebs”.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has expanded its role in the criminal investigation into the so-called Plebgate affair after receiving new information.
@Sam - that's probably about right at the moment. They are the only ones with real strength in batting and bowling. They're a spinner away from being a great side. We really miss Swann. Our batting is perpetually unreliable.
COMPARED with last year’s omnishambles dominated by headlines over taxes on grannies and pasties, Osborne’s latest budget has been a success — even if pollsters predict it is unlikely to bring about a dramatic improvement in the Tory party’s fortunes
THE Labour party’s biggest donor, the Unite trade union, has delivered a thinly veiled warning that the party risks losing funding unless it opposes government sanctions against benefit claimants.
The warning came from Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, which has donated more than £10m to Labour since 2010. It will increase tensions in the party following a decision to abstain last Tuesday in a Commons vote on benefits.
Paywall (Nota Bene - Panelbase have changed the question they ask, it is now the same as the proposed referendum question)
MEN are now twice as likely to vote for Scottish independence than women, according to a new poll which suggests a growing gender divide could determine the country’s future.
The latest Sunday Times/Real Radio Scotland poll puts overall support for independence at 36%, up two points since January, while opposition stands at 46% (-1%) and 18% (-1%) are undecided.
Among those who have made up their minds, Better Together, the No campaign, leads by 56% to 44% — a gap that nationalist strategists will nonetheless consider eminently bridgeable.
"Angharad Yeo's dad is originally from Saudi Arabia. For years she was a Labour activist. Her mum, Harriet, is the chairman of Labour's National Executive Committee.
For Ms Yeo, 34, immigration matters and the other parties don't get it. Angharad Yeo Angharad Yeo is a new recruit to the party
"We are the one county which gets affected the most. We are the first port of call, if you like, after the ports," she says.
It means, she says, the NHS is stretched and her six-year-old daughter isn't at the best local school.
"It just seems ridiculous that on my doorstep is a very good school and I can't get her in and I can't get her in a school nearer.
"My healthcare centre, you can't make an appointment for a couple of weeks. We are having to pay for interpreters.
"If you come here, speak English, it's just polite, it stops racism, it stops ghettos being formed, it stops barriers in society.""
While there is little movement in support for independence, the SNP has extended its lead over Labour in voting intentions for the Scottish parliament. In the constituency vote, the SNP is on 47% (up two points) and Labour is on 30% (-3), with Conservatives on 12% (-1), Lib Dems 5% (no change), others 6% (+1).
In the regional vote the SNP is on 45% (+1), Labour 25% (-6), Conservatives 12% (no change), Greens 8% (+2), Lib Dems 5% (unchanged) and others 5% (+2).
@TSE I have said all along that the SNP will get 35 to 37% of actual voters onside and voting yes. The question is whether the support for the Union is strong enough to get 35 to 37% of people to physically go out and vote for more Westminster rule ad infinitum on the day.
After questions are answered and debates are held, a lot of soft supporters of the status quo, i.e. the Union may simply stay at home and say see what happens as it cannot be any worse.
The hope versus fear campaign will be answered by then, one way or the other.
I am sure there will be a massive fear campaign in the 2 weeks prior to the vote, led by the MSM controlled from England. Salmond's secret love child to a martian is my top bet but who knows.
That wall-to-wall attack can backfire though if the arguments are spurious, as happened in May 2011 when people said enough is enough, time for a change.
That fine line is a danger to the tory led Wastemonster campaign as the economic argument is lost on actual figures without even including geographical oil revenue and export revenues.
At this time the MSM ignores this key fact and most of England which is fed by the Daily Mail and similar comics genuinely believes England subsidises Scotland and not the other way around. That can continue, but at some stage Scots will also find this minor detail out.
To many people, whether they vote YES or NO is down to whether they will be better off personally, so this information and its acceptance as fact prior to Sep 2014 is crucial. The MSM has ignored it effectively until now but it is a rather large elephant in the room that needs to be discussed after fear runs its course.
It may have been said down thread already - if this is truly the case (and I'm not convinced) then all the Tories need to do is put off the REALLY unpleasant activities until after 2015 then another part will take the flak.
Very encouraging poll from Panelbase on the independence referendum - it's the lowest lead for the No campaign in any poll this year. It also means that all pollsters who have published a referendum poll this year are united in showing a swing to the Yes side - Panelbase had previously been the odd one out on that score.
For all those night owls out there, here is a pic I took a couple of nights ago of Tucson, AZ from the observatory where I am working at ~9000ft. You can see the thick clouds obscuring our view of the heavens
@GeoffM Well the conditions are better tonight, so the clouds may already be on there way! Saying that, there are some high-altitude winds degrading the image quality... the joys of observing!
Thanks to William Hague, Richmond is now Conservative Party's safest seat in both numerical and percentage terms. For a while, the Lib Dems slipped to third in the seat, finishing behind Labour. I wonder what the seat would be like now if the Lib Dems had gained the seat in 1989? Once they get into a seat, they become difficult to dislodge.
If the Lib Dems had gained Richmond (Yorks) in 1989, they would have lost it again in 1992. It would have been like Ryedale (1986) or Ripon (1972), not like Berwick (1973).
Robs Uncle
It was the Salads who were the vote splitters, as they fielded an unknown Harrogate schoolteacher while Potter was a well-liked local farmer and, I think, councillor.
That's an incorrect analysis. Mike Potter was the splitter, precisely because the Owenite SDP existed at all. If Owen (and Potter, and a few others) had had sense, they would have joined the Lib Dems at the merger in the first place. Potter would have been the Lib dem candidate, and might have won.
FPT "Nigel, I'm deeply surprised there hasn't been a bank run (outside Cyprus) in the last week."
There probably was. If it's correct that the euro papers have been playing this down that just serves to keep the mass of the public lulled into a false sense of security. The big depositors may well have moved their money.
The solution is surely obvious: every immigrant is tested for TB on arrival (or produces a certificate of a recent negative test) and remains in a secure location until they are cleared of the disease, if it's found to be present.
That prevents it spreading into the general population.
Ditto for HIV - and these test results could be used by Deportation Tribunals as justification to remove from the UK any immigrant/would-be asylum seeker who was positive. Ditto again for anyone convicted of a crime with any prison sentence as a POSSIBLE sentence: immediate deportation on conviction - no ifs, buts, maybes or ECHR appeals.
Free tickets for any family members who wish to remain with them and any appeals MUST be lodged from the remote country. Pleas in mitigation would include the sum paid in taxes during their period in the UK - and the deportation sanction would lapse after 10 years.
The latest Opinium poll of what people will vote themselves (rather than what they think others will vote - much the same as YouGov:
The poll puts Labour on 38% (down 1% on a fortnight ago), the Conservatives on 28% (up 1%), Ukip on 16% (-1%) and the Liberal Democrats on 9% (up 1%).
All three party leaders have seen their personal ratings improve since the last poll, with Miliband now having a net score of -14%, Cameron -23% and Nick Clegg -45%.
Also an older YouGov survey that I missed from March 3:
- think one has to treat the last question with caution, as after 10 questions on tax avoidance and benefit fraud people may be reluctant to admit they've participated. But the fact that people are more concerned about tax avoidance than benefit fraud may help explain why the latter hasn't really taken off as a popular issue in the way the Tories hoped (polls on the various past and prospective crackdowns have produced mixed results).
Comments
do you know the mechanics of SNP Euro selection tomorrow at Conference? Will we just have the chosen candidates with the ranking done later (all members ballot?)?
Avery my friend, please don't tell me you live in Shepherd's Bush?
Personally I think if they print a story that turns out to be false it should be the law that the apology is the Same size and on the same page as the original
But isn't he market he best regulator for the press? If they are genuinely making stuff up, people won't buy on principle a la The Sun in Liverpool?
Exciting and nail-biting stuff for cricket anoraks.
My own preference would be to automatically use technology for run outs and keep the DRS to two an innings. Tradition is a big part of cricket and there has also to be common ground between all forms of the game, from village green to test match.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2298140/Strauss-lined-Ashes-TV-role-Sky-captains-club.html
that would make S Africa the only international side who are very good wouldn't it?
After three years of austerity, Osborne cannot be surprised his ratings are bumping along the bottom. Some 63% say he is doing badly — only slightly better than last week’s 67%.
Yet although 53% blame the government for missing its targets for growth and borrowing, even more — 57% — blame Labour, and 67% conditions in Europe.
If George Osborne were subject to a political rating, he would have been downgraded to BBB some months ago — and each B stands for a challenge the budget was designed to address, writes Peter Kellner. YouGov’s latest survey, post-budget, suggests he is still in a BBB-rated hole — but for the moment Labour is in a bigger one.
AT LEAST 10 police officers are now suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to discredit the former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell, who was accused of calling Downing Street armed guards “plebs”.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has expanded its role in the criminal investigation into the so-called Plebgate affair after receiving new information.
COMPARED with last year’s omnishambles dominated by headlines over taxes on grannies and pasties, Osborne’s latest budget has been a success — even if pollsters predict it is unlikely to bring about a dramatic improvement in the Tory party’s fortunes
Increasing Personal Allowance to 10k - 89% Support, 4% oppose
Offer Guarantees to help people buy homes - 50% Support 28% oppose, 22% DK
Cutting a 1p from a pint - 41% Support, 42% Oppose.
Emnid:
CDU/CSU: 40%
SPD: 27%
Green: 15%
Linke: 7%
FDP: 5%
Pirate: 3%
Others: 3%
http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/index.htm
Labour 41
Conservatives 30
LD 12
UKIP 12
THE Labour party’s biggest donor, the Unite trade union, has delivered a thinly veiled warning that the party risks losing funding unless it opposes government sanctions against benefit claimants.
The warning came from Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, which has donated more than £10m to Labour since 2010. It will increase tensions in the party following a decision to abstain last Tuesday in a Commons vote on benefits.
Avery my friend, please don't tell me you live in Shepherd's Bush?
Go East, young man!
Len must be very confident of winning the general secretary election he is currently taking part in.
You've really gone downmarket since you strayed back to the north of the river!
MEN are now twice as likely to vote for Scottish independence than women, according to a new poll which suggests a growing gender divide could determine the country’s future.
The latest Sunday Times/Real Radio Scotland poll puts overall support for independence at 36%, up two points since January, while opposition stands at 46% (-1%) and 18% (-1%) are undecided.
Among those who have made up their minds, Better Together, the No campaign, leads by 56% to 44% — a gap that nationalist strategists will nonetheless consider eminently bridgeable.
In the regional vote the SNP is on 45% (+1), Labour 25% (-6), Conservatives 12% (no change), Greens 8% (+2), Lib Dems 5% (unchanged) and others 5% (+2).
It was a sacrifice, Neil, but something had to be done to spoil IOS's algorithms.
http://www.ihdsports.com/index.php?id=1
Thanks very much!
I have said all along that the SNP will get 35 to 37% of actual voters onside and voting yes. The question is whether the support for the Union is strong enough to get 35 to 37% of people to physically go out and vote for more Westminster rule ad infinitum on the day.
After questions are answered and debates are held, a lot of soft supporters of the status quo, i.e. the Union may simply stay at home and say see what happens as it cannot be any worse.
The hope versus fear campaign will be answered by then, one way or the other.
I am sure there will be a massive fear campaign in the 2 weeks prior to the vote, led by the MSM controlled from England. Salmond's secret love child to a martian is my top bet but who knows.
That wall-to-wall attack can backfire though if the arguments are spurious, as happened in May 2011 when people said enough is enough, time for a change.
That fine line is a danger to the tory led Wastemonster campaign as the economic argument is lost on actual figures without even including geographical oil revenue and export revenues.
At this time the MSM ignores this key fact and most of England which is fed by the Daily Mail and similar comics genuinely believes England subsidises Scotland and not the other way around. That can continue, but at some stage Scots will also find this minor detail out.
To many people, whether they vote YES or NO is down to whether they will be better off personally, so this information and its acceptance as fact prior to Sep 2014 is crucial.
The MSM has ignored it effectively until now but it is a rather large elephant in the room that needs to be discussed after fear runs its course.
I'm sure tim would describe it as Tories being too dim to move to marginal constituencies
Does that sound familiar to anyone?
Ah, you're a comedian, Tim. Darling isn't in Salmond's class - and I'm not just talking about the obvious lack of charisma.
http://i.imgur.com/vi58qzA.jpg
Could do with some clouds in Auckland right now. Ones that are dropping some rain.
[tears up cricket betting slips]
Thanks to William Hague, Richmond is now Conservative Party's safest seat in both numerical and percentage terms.
For a while, the Lib Dems slipped to third in the seat, finishing behind Labour.
I wonder what the seat would be like now if the Lib Dems had gained the seat in 1989?
Once they get into a seat, they become difficult to dislodge.
If the Lib Dems had gained Richmond (Yorks) in 1989, they would have lost it again in 1992. It would have been like Ryedale (1986) or Ripon (1972), not like Berwick (1973).
Robs Uncle
It was the Salads who were the vote splitters, as they fielded an unknown Harrogate schoolteacher while Potter was a well-liked local farmer and, I think, councillor.
That's an incorrect analysis. Mike Potter was the splitter, precisely because the Owenite SDP existed at all. If Owen (and Potter, and a few others) had had sense, they would have joined the Lib Dems at the merger in the first place. Potter would have been the Lib dem candidate, and might have won.
"Nigel, I'm deeply surprised there hasn't been a bank run (outside Cyprus) in the last week."
There probably was. If it's correct that the euro papers have been playing this down that just serves to keep the mass of the public lulled into a false sense of security. The big depositors may well have moved their money.
"Immigration."
"Could it be anything else?"
The inability of the politically correct to deal with reality when it comes to small, fixable problems until they become huge, unfixable problems.
This relating to both TB itself and to why antibiotics are stopping working.
The solution is surely obvious: every immigrant is tested for TB on arrival (or produces a certificate of a recent negative test) and remains in a secure location until they are cleared of the disease, if it's found to be present.
That prevents it spreading into the general population.
Ditto for HIV - and these test results could be used by Deportation Tribunals as justification to remove from the UK any immigrant/would-be asylum seeker who was positive.
Ditto again for anyone convicted of a crime with any prison sentence as a POSSIBLE sentence: immediate deportation on conviction - no ifs, buts, maybes or ECHR appeals.
Free tickets for any family members who wish to remain with them and any appeals MUST be lodged from the remote country. Pleas in mitigation would include the sum paid in taxes during their period in the UK - and the deportation sanction would lapse after 10 years.
The poll puts Labour on 38% (down 1% on a fortnight ago), the Conservatives on 28% (up 1%), Ukip on 16% (-1%) and the Liberal Democrats on 9% (up 1%).
All three party leaders have seen their personal ratings improve since the last poll, with Miliband now having a net score of -14%, Cameron -23% and Nick Clegg -45%.
Also an older YouGov survey that I missed from March 3:
http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/995b3nt4q9/Prospect results 130304.pdf
- think one has to treat the last question with caution, as after 10 questions on tax avoidance and benefit fraud people may be reluctant to admit they've participated. But the fact that people are more concerned about tax avoidance than benefit fraud may help explain why the latter hasn't really taken off as a popular issue in the way the Tories hoped (polls on the various past and prospective crackdowns have produced mixed results).