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The dramatic change in the polls since SKS became leader – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 11,741
edited April 2023 in General
The dramatic change in the polls since SKS became leader – politicalbetting.com

Change in Voting Intention Since Keir Starmer Became Labour Leader, 3 Years ago Today:LAB: 46.4% (+17.4)CON: 27.6% (-24.1)LDM: 9.7% (+1.9)RFM: 5.1% (+3.9)GRN: 4.7% (+0.8)SNP: 3.8% (-0.7)https://t.co/kz25YAE6Wc pic.twitter.com/GnrUy0eAFg

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  • Options
    GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 20,992
    edited April 2023
    The police are digging up Nicola Sturgeon's garden right now.

    Let that sink in.
  • Options
    FPT

    Every once in a while within the contented, Cretaceous-period munching of leaves that comprises much of the Telegraph comment section, someone gets a chance to point out the impending asteroid.



    https://twitter.com/peterwalker99/status/1643642150461079552/photo/1
  • Options
    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 45,010

    Sean_F said:

    We certainly have a new contender for the title of Europe's Most Corrupt Political Party.

    Previously, the DUP, Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail, Les Republicains, FPO, and Forza Italia were the runners, but it looks as if they have been overhauled.

    thats unfair you left out PASOK, Parti Socialiste, and anyone Belgian
    Ray: Don't know any Belgium jokes, and if I did I think I'd have the good sense not to... hang on. Is Belgium with all those child abuse murders lately? I do know a Belgium joke. What's Belgium famous for? Chocolates and child abuse, and they only invented the chocolates to get to the kids. [sees Chloe's shocked expression] What?
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,714
    GIN1138 said:

    The police are digging up Nicola Sturgeon's garden right now.

    Let that sink in.

    Why, have they been having problems with the drainage?
  • Options
    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 45,010
    ydoethur said:

    GIN1138 said:

    The police are digging up Nicola Sturgeon's garden right now.

    Let that sink in.

    Why, have they been having problems with the drainage?
    I thought the Bastard English were stealing all the water - wouldn't that sort out any flooding?
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,714

    ydoethur said:

    GIN1138 said:

    The police are digging up Nicola Sturgeon's garden right now.

    Let that sink in.

    Why, have they been having problems with the drainage?
    I thought the Bastard English were stealing all the water - wouldn't that sort out any flooding?
    Perhaps the garden's just a Ness the police are trying to un Loch.
  • Options
    The police digging up Sturgeon's garden

    I still can't even
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,714
    I have an hour long politics session on devolution, viz, the Scottish Parliament, in a few minutes.

    Fuck knows if we'll get on to the content I was planning to cover.
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    Re Scotland, Labour could win a couple of dozen seats off the SNP but unless they take conservative seats the conservative majority remains

    As I said earlier, for labour to win a majority they need to do very well in England and Wales but there is a benefit for labour that using the pocket of the SNP against them is much diminished

    As far as Sunak is concerned, his ratings do seem to be rising and in an election campaign v Starmer I would not understate his ability to mitigate labour's result
  • Options
    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 45,010
    ydoethur said:

    I have an hour long politics session on devolution, viz, the Scottish Parliament, in a few minutes.

    Fuck knows if we'll get on to the content I was planning to cover.

    On the upside you will be able to give an example of how history is a living thing - not just stuff in old books.
  • Options
    ydoethur said:

    I have an hour long politics session on devolution, viz, the Scottish Parliament, in a few minutes.

    Fuck knows if we'll get on to the content I was planning to cover.

    Map a direct line between devolution and Fred West trending.

    As the Harry Enfield Mr Angry character said, "is that what you want? Cos that's what'll 'appen"
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    LeonLeon Posts: 47,972
    Labour will probably overtake the Nats in the Westminster vote now. Labour will rack up major gains as voters seek to punish the SNP. 25-30 seats? Could be hugely significant

    Holyrood I am less sure. By then Yousaf will probably be gone
  • Options
    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,863
    edited April 2023
    ydoethur said:

    I have an hour long politics session on devolution, viz, the Scottish Parliament, in a few minutes.

    Fuck knows if we'll get on to the content I was planning to cover.

    I hope you spend time discussing the voting system used at Holyrood.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,209
    ydoethur said:

    I have an hour long politics session on devolution, viz, the Scottish Parliament, in a few minutes.

    Fuck knows if we'll get on to the content I was planning to cover.

    They would have prefered dentistry anaesthetics anyway.
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    Radio Scotland Drivetime reporting another location being searched alongside Chez Murrell and the HQ - as yet unidentified.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,714

    ydoethur said:

    I have an hour long politics session on devolution, viz, the Scottish Parliament, in a few minutes.

    Fuck knows if we'll get on to the content I was planning to cover.

    I hope you spend time discussing the voting system used at Holyrood.
    Yes, but D'Hondt push me on it.

    The irony is this particular student was given a task to watch the SNP leadership election some time ago and asked me, in puzzlement, 'Why? Is it important?'
  • Options
    GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 20,992
    edited April 2023
    Leon said:

    Labour will probably overtake the Nats in the Westminster vote now. Labour will rack up major gains as voters seek to punish the SNP. 25-30 seats? Could be hugely significant

    Holyrood I am less sure. By then Yousaf will probably be gone

    Election 24 could be the reverse of 2015 with SNP wipeout and a tiny Labour majority at Westminster?
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,714

    Damn you, new thread, I'm not letting this one go to waste on the tail-end of the last one...it amused me far too much!


    ydoethur said:
    "Getting ready to give Murrell a grilling?"

    Me:
    "George Foreman of the jury, how do you..."

    It was rather good.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,209
    ydoethur said:

    GIN1138 said:

    The police are digging up Nicola Sturgeon's garden right now.

    Let that sink in.

    Why, have they been having problems with the drainage?
    That's usually the first sign that gives away the bodies.....
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 92,209
    Hopefully not the case. If counter offensives are successful momentum needs to be kept - plenty of people will push a 'let's pause and go for peace' idea as soon as the next stall.


    Kofman: "Russian military is still prosecuting this offensive, but there are a lot of signs that they're calling up everybody on leave & preparing different parts of the line to defend because they're naturally anticipating a Ukrainian offensive at some point, maybe this month"

    Key, says Kofman, is after the offensive. "A lot of the indicators suggests ... this may be the high watermark for [Western] support ... after this is a good chance that Ukraine may be living paycheck to paycheck". Key is how much manpower & artillery ammo it burns through.

    Kofman: 'the best thing the Russian forces could have done for Ukraine is actually launch this ill-timed, ill-conceived Winter Offensive...leaving them open to Ukrainian counter attack." BUT: Ru has "very substantial number of motor rifle troops & territorial troops as reserves"

    Russian defences: "while the Russian military certainly spent some brigades and some units on this operation [Bakhmut] ...they're echelon holding these lines. So the lines are a lot denser, there are multiple echelons [of defensive lines], and they're entrenched"

    https://twitter.com/shashj/status/1643571072485191681?cxt=HHwWgsCzqdbLkc8tAAAA
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,922
    Still trying to get my head around those people that believe that the @EHRC is trying to redefine the word 'sex' by talking about biology...

    https://twitter.com/holyroodmandy/status/1643605288690282496?s=20
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    Re Scotland, Labour could win a couple of dozen seats off the SNP but unless they take conservative seats the conservative majority remains

    As I said earlier, for labour to win a majority they need to do very well in England and Wales but there is a benefit for labour that using the pocket of the SNP against them is much diminished

    As far as Sunak is concerned, his ratings do seem to be rising and in an election campaign v Starmer I would not understate his ability to mitigate labour's result

    Incorrect. Lets take a notional 10 SNP seats where Labour and the Tories are both tied on 320 seats before these 10 declare.

    If Labour win these off the SNP then its 330 Labour to 320 Tory and they have a majority. Labour and the SNP may both count as opposition now, but they won't if Labour become the government.
  • Options
    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 45,010

    ydoethur said:

    GIN1138 said:

    The police are digging up Nicola Sturgeon's garden right now.

    Let that sink in.

    Why, have they been having problems with the drainage?
    That's usually the first sign that gives away the bodies.....

    Brick Top : You're always gonna have problems lifting a body in one piece. Apparently the best thing to do is cut up a corpse into six pieces and pile it all together.
    Sol : Would someone mind telling me, who are you?
    Brick Top : And when you got your six pieces, you gotta get rid of them, because it's no good leaving it in the deep freeze for your mum to discover, now is it? Then I hear the best thing to do is feed them to pigs. You got to starve the pigs for a few days, then the sight of a chopped-up body will look like curry to a pisshead. You gotta shave the heads of your victims, and pull the teeth out for the sake of the piggies' digestion. You could do this afterwards, of course, but you don't want to go sievin' through pig shit, now do you? They will go through bone like butter. You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig".
    Vinny : Well, thank you for that. That's a great weight of me mind. Now, if you wouldn't mind telling me who the fuck you are, apart from someone who feeds people to pigs of course?
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,714

    Re Scotland, Labour could win a couple of dozen seats off the SNP but unless they take conservative seats the conservative majority remains

    As I said earlier, for labour to win a majority they need to do very well in England and Wales but there is a benefit for labour that using the pocket of the SNP against them is much diminished

    As far as Sunak is concerned, his ratings do seem to be rising and in an election campaign v Starmer I would not understate his ability to mitigate labour's result

    Incorrect. Lets take a notional 10 SNP seats where Labour and the Tories are both tied on 320 seats before these 10 declare.

    If Labour win these off the SNP then its 330 Labour to 320 Tory and they have a majority. Labour and the SNP may both count as opposition now, but they won't if Labour become the government.
    Aren't there 650 up for grabs? So that implies no Green, Plaid, Lib Dem, NI...
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 63,405

    The police digging up Sturgeon's garden

    I still can't even

    It's really quite easy.
    Though I understand your objecting to manual labour.
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    carnforthcarnforth Posts: 3,277
    Unless a future government does GRC on demand, then the categories in that document cease to be of use.
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    kle4kle4 Posts: 92,209
    edited April 2023
    Since people do currently get confused between the two it seems pretty sensible to prevent that confusion if possible unless literally arguing they are the same, which it seems few now are.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,922
    carnforth said:

    Unless a future government does GRC on demand, then the categories in that document cease to be of use.
    Labour has welcomed a review of whether the Equality Act should be changed to introduce explicit legal protections for biological women in same-sex spaces.

    In a further sign of Sir Keir Starmer’s determination to appeal to women’s rights campaigners within his party, a Labour spokesman said: “Clarification is a good thing. We will look closely at what’s brought forward.”

    Kemi Badenoch, the women and equalities minister, yesterday asked the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to consider the “benefits or otherwise” of placing a biological definition of sex in the Equality Act.

    She said that the need had become more pressing after moves in Scotland to try to make it easier for transgender people to gain legal recognition, which the UK government argued was at odds with equality laws applying across the four nations.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/1672ef7e-d3a0-11ed-b5c3-54651fc826e9?shareToken=1bc84739acd4eba8160159348ee72610
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    RogerRoger Posts: 18,991
    GIN1138 said:

    The police are digging up Nicola Sturgeon's garden right now.

    Let that sink in.

    Is that a subsidence joke?
  • Options
    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,922
    kle4 said:

    Since people do currently get confused between the two it seems pretty sensible to prevent that confusion if possible unless literally arguing they are the same, which it seems few now are.
    A receding tide may reveal some embarrassment....



    https://twitter.com/Jebadoo2/status/1643648700885999616?s=20
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    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,984

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
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    StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 14,768
    ydoethur said:

    Re Scotland, Labour could win a couple of dozen seats off the SNP but unless they take conservative seats the conservative majority remains

    As I said earlier, for labour to win a majority they need to do very well in England and Wales but there is a benefit for labour that using the pocket of the SNP against them is much diminished

    As far as Sunak is concerned, his ratings do seem to be rising and in an election campaign v Starmer I would not understate his ability to mitigate labour's result

    Incorrect. Lets take a notional 10 SNP seats where Labour and the Tories are both tied on 320 seats before these 10 declare.

    If Labour win these off the SNP then its 330 Labour to 320 Tory and they have a majority. Labour and the SNP may both count as opposition now, but they won't if Labour become the government.
    Aren't there 650 up for grabs? So that implies no Green, Plaid, Lib Dem, NI...
    The principle still holds, though. If the SNP are strong, there are about 100 non big two MPs, and quite a big window where party X loses without party Y winning. You have to push the other lot below 225 to get a majority yourself.

    Dial the SNP back to their 2010 score and there are only about 50 MPs in that unaligned block, and you only need push the second party below about 275 to have a majority government.
  • Options
    RogerRoger Posts: 18,991

    FPT

    Every once in a while within the contented, Cretaceous-period munching of leaves that comprises much of the Telegraph comment section, someone gets a chance to point out the impending asteroid.



    https://twitter.com/peterwalker99/status/1643642150461079552/photo/1

    Somebody has been exhuming bodies
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    DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 24,821
    Donald Trump awarded legal fees in Stormy Daniels defamation lawsuit

    The former porn star at the heart of Donald Trump's historic indictment in New York has been ordered to pay him more than $121,000 (£96,965) towards legal fees in an unrelated case.

    Stormy Daniels, alleged to have had an affair with Mr Trump in 2006, lost her defamation case over a 2018 tweet written by the former US president.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65191465
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,863
    edited April 2023
    A Tory MP offered to table parliamentary questions, leak a confidential policy document and lobby ministers on behalf of gambling industry investors who proposed paying him thousands of pounds a month, an undercover investigation for The Times has found.

    Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was prepared to help an investment fund influence policymakers and obtain “behind the scenes” information despite rules prohibiting MPs from lobbying in return for payment.

    He was secretly filmed by undercover reporters posing as investors with interest in the betting and gaming industry who were looking for an adviser.

    During a meeting at a central London hotel early last month, Benton outlined how he was willing to use his position to help their business and try to water down proposed gambling reforms. The MP:

    •Guaranteed he could leak a copy of a forthcoming white paper on gambling reforms to the company at least 48 hours before it went public, potentially allowing them to profit from market-sensitive information.

    •Offered to submit parliamentary questions and said he had done it on behalf of companies before.

    •Boasted of his “easy access to ministers” and said he was prepared to “literally sit outside” a minister’s office if the company needed an urgent answer to a question.

    •Claimed many MPs who accepted corporate hospitality were willing to table a written question or make a point during oral questions in return.

    •Said he could “call in favours” from colleagues who would be happy to support the company’s interests and offered to host a dinner at the House of Commons.

    MPs have long been banned from acting as paid lobbyists and accepting money to raise issues with ministers or ask questions in parliament on behalf of clients.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-scott-benton-lobbying-investigation-ckhzrfqg0

    By election in Blackpool South I reckon.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,922
    This from the chief exec of Stonewall shows extent to which it’s become a fundamentally unserious organisation. Pushing takes like this- while campaigning for the erosion of women’s sex-based protections -means they are responsible for a good deal of the toxicity in this debate.



    https://twitter.com/soniasodha/status/1643608890897055747?s=20
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    DriverDriver Posts: 4,522

    A Tory MP offered to table parliamentary questions, leak a confidential policy document and lobby ministers on behalf of gambling industry investors who proposed paying him thousands of pounds a month, an undercover investigation for The Times has found.

    Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was prepared to help an investment fund influence policymakers and obtain “behind the scenes” information despite rules prohibiting MPs from lobbying in return for payment.

    He was secretly filmed by undercover reporters posing as investors with interest in the betting and gaming industry who were looking for an adviser.

    During a meeting at a central London hotel early last month, Benton outlined how he was willing to use his position to help their business and try to water down proposed gambling reforms. The MP:

    •Guaranteed he could leak a copy of a forthcoming white paper on gambling reforms to the company at least 48 hours before it went public, potentially allowing them to profit from market-sensitive information.

    •Offered to submit parliamentary questions and said he had done it on behalf of companies before.

    •Boasted of his “easy access to ministers” and said he was prepared to “literally sit outside” a minister’s office if the company needed an urgent answer to a question.

    •Claimed many MPs who accepted corporate hospitality were willing to table a written question or make a point during oral questions in return.

    •Said he could “call in favours” from colleagues who would be happy to support the company’s interests and offered to host a dinner at the House of Commons.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-scott-benton-lobbying-investigation-ckhzrfqg0

    By election in Blackpool South I reckon.

    If the BIB is true, he's toast, regardless of anything else.
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    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,892
    Woke is collapsing in on itself. Simply delightful.
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    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,892

    The police digging up Sturgeon's garden

    I still can't even

    Maybe they're helping her dig over her vegetable patch for this year.
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    Driver said:

    A Tory MP offered to table parliamentary questions, leak a confidential policy document and lobby ministers on behalf of gambling industry investors who proposed paying him thousands of pounds a month, an undercover investigation for The Times has found.

    Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was prepared to help an investment fund influence policymakers and obtain “behind the scenes” information despite rules prohibiting MPs from lobbying in return for payment.

    He was secretly filmed by undercover reporters posing as investors with interest in the betting and gaming industry who were looking for an adviser.

    During a meeting at a central London hotel early last month, Benton outlined how he was willing to use his position to help their business and try to water down proposed gambling reforms. The MP:

    •Guaranteed he could leak a copy of a forthcoming white paper on gambling reforms to the company at least 48 hours before it went public, potentially allowing them to profit from market-sensitive information.

    •Offered to submit parliamentary questions and said he had done it on behalf of companies before.

    •Boasted of his “easy access to ministers” and said he was prepared to “literally sit outside” a minister’s office if the company needed an urgent answer to a question.

    •Claimed many MPs who accepted corporate hospitality were willing to table a written question or make a point during oral questions in return.

    •Said he could “call in favours” from colleagues who would be happy to support the company’s interests and offered to host a dinner at the House of Commons.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-scott-benton-lobbying-investigation-ckhzrfqg0

    By election in Blackpool South I reckon.

    If the BIB is true, he's toast, regardless of anything else.
    Yup.
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    algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 10,769

    The police digging up Sturgeon's garden

    I still can't even

    Sweet peas? Potatoes?
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    OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,267

    ydoethur said:

    Re Scotland, Labour could win a couple of dozen seats off the SNP but unless they take conservative seats the conservative majority remains

    As I said earlier, for labour to win a majority they need to do very well in England and Wales but there is a benefit for labour that using the pocket of the SNP against them is much diminished

    As far as Sunak is concerned, his ratings do seem to be rising and in an election campaign v Starmer I would not understate his ability to mitigate labour's result

    Incorrect. Lets take a notional 10 SNP seats where Labour and the Tories are both tied on 320 seats before these 10 declare.

    If Labour win these off the SNP then its 330 Labour to 320 Tory and they have a majority. Labour and the SNP may both count as opposition now, but they won't if Labour become the government.
    Aren't there 650 up for grabs? So that implies no Green, Plaid, Lib Dem, NI...
    The principle still holds, though. If the SNP are strong, there are about 100 non big two MPs, and quite a big window where party X loses without party Y winning. You have to push the other lot below 225 to get a majority yourself.

    Dial the SNP back to their 2010 score and there are only about 50 MPs in that unaligned block, and you only need push the second party below about 275 to have a majority government.
    Yup. A reduction in seats held outside of the big two parties is good news primarily for whichever of those parties is likely to have the most seats since it makes it more likely that that party will have a majority and less likely that the other big party can form a coalition government. Right now it seems likely that Labour will have the most seats so it's good news primarily for them.
    I would also think that while Labour and Tories would benefit more or less equally from a small drop in SNP support, Labour would benefit disproportionately from a big drop for the SNP because there are many more seats where Labour is competitive than the Tories - ie most of the central belt. Without commenting on the specifics of what's happening today, I think it has significantly boosted Labour's chances at the next general election.
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,593

    Re Scotland, Labour could win a couple of dozen seats off the SNP but unless they take conservative seats the conservative majority remains

    As I said earlier, for labour to win a majority they need to do very well in England and Wales but there is a benefit for labour that using the pocket of the SNP against them is much diminished

    As far as Sunak is concerned, his ratings do seem to be rising and in an election campaign v Starmer I would not understate his ability to mitigate labour's result

    Rinse and repeat.
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    RogerRoger Posts: 18,991
    Can anyone spot the deliberate mistake in this trully whacky article by Alison Pearson in the Telegraph? I think they're going through another one of their spasms

    "In 2011, the then home secretary Jack Straw let the cat out of the bag when he said that white girls were “seen as easy meat” by Pakistani rapists. Straw was swiftly shut down".
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    kle4kle4 Posts: 92,209

    A Tory MP offered to table parliamentary questions, leak a confidential policy document and lobby ministers on behalf of gambling industry investors who proposed paying him thousands of pounds a month, an undercover investigation for The Times has found.

    Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was prepared to help an investment fund influence policymakers and obtain “behind the scenes” information despite rules prohibiting MPs from lobbying in return for payment.

    He was secretly filmed by undercover reporters posing as investors with interest in the betting and gaming industry who were looking for an adviser.

    During a meeting at a central London hotel early last month, Benton outlined how he was willing to use his position to help their business and try to water down proposed gambling reforms. The MP:

    •Guaranteed he could leak a copy of a forthcoming white paper on gambling reforms to the company at least 48 hours before it went public, potentially allowing them to profit from market-sensitive information.

    •Offered to submit parliamentary questions and said he had done it on behalf of companies before.

    •Boasted of his “easy access to ministers” and said he was prepared to “literally sit outside” a minister’s office if the company needed an urgent answer to a question.

    •Claimed many MPs who accepted corporate hospitality were willing to table a written question or make a point during oral questions in return.

    •Said he could “call in favours” from colleagues who would be happy to support the company’s interests and offered to host a dinner at the House of Commons.

    MPs have long been banned from acting as paid lobbyists and accepting money to raise issues with ministers or ask questions in parliament on behalf of clients.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-scott-benton-lobbying-investigation-ckhzrfqg0

    By election in Blackpool South I reckon.

    When will they learn that if an offer seems to be too good to be true, it almost always is?

    Easy Labour gain, so they may just suspend him and wait for the next election.
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    pingping Posts: 3,747
    edited April 2023

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    Forget the politics. It’s just bloody awful. Not many details, but looks quite likely to me these were probably kids of some of those jailed. A special level of psychological torture, if so.

    Very young, too.

    Horrible. I hope, wherever they are, they’re doing alright. Good on them for speaking out.
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    OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,267
    Driver said:

    A Tory MP offered to table parliamentary questions, leak a confidential policy document and lobby ministers on behalf of gambling industry investors who proposed paying him thousands of pounds a month, an undercover investigation for The Times has found.

    Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was prepared to help an investment fund influence policymakers and obtain “behind the scenes” information despite rules prohibiting MPs from lobbying in return for payment.

    He was secretly filmed by undercover reporters posing as investors with interest in the betting and gaming industry who were looking for an adviser.

    During a meeting at a central London hotel early last month, Benton outlined how he was willing to use his position to help their business and try to water down proposed gambling reforms. The MP:

    •Guaranteed he could leak a copy of a forthcoming white paper on gambling reforms to the company at least 48 hours before it went public, potentially allowing them to profit from market-sensitive information.

    •Offered to submit parliamentary questions and said he had done it on behalf of companies before.

    •Boasted of his “easy access to ministers” and said he was prepared to “literally sit outside” a minister’s office if the company needed an urgent answer to a question.

    •Claimed many MPs who accepted corporate hospitality were willing to table a written question or make a point during oral questions in return.

    •Said he could “call in favours” from colleagues who would be happy to support the company’s interests and offered to host a dinner at the House of Commons.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-scott-benton-lobbying-investigation-ckhzrfqg0

    By election in Blackpool South I reckon.

    If the BIB is true, he's toast, regardless of anything else.
    Yup if that bit is true, and I obviously have no idea if it is and am not commenting on that, it would amount to insider dealing, which is a serious criminal offence.
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    TazTaz Posts: 11,531

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    The grooming gangs debate is one I avoid. It always boils down to left or right trading blows about the ethnicity of the perpetrators.

    The victims seem incidental, sadly.
  • Options
    mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,169
    kle4 said:

    A Tory MP offered to table parliamentary questions, leak a confidential policy document and lobby ministers on behalf of gambling industry investors who proposed paying him thousands of pounds a month, an undercover investigation for The Times has found.

    Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was prepared to help an investment fund influence policymakers and obtain “behind the scenes” information despite rules prohibiting MPs from lobbying in return for payment.

    He was secretly filmed by undercover reporters posing as investors with interest in the betting and gaming industry who were looking for an adviser.

    During a meeting at a central London hotel early last month, Benton outlined how he was willing to use his position to help their business and try to water down proposed gambling reforms. The MP:

    •Guaranteed he could leak a copy of a forthcoming white paper on gambling reforms to the company at least 48 hours before it went public, potentially allowing them to profit from market-sensitive information.

    •Offered to submit parliamentary questions and said he had done it on behalf of companies before.

    •Boasted of his “easy access to ministers” and said he was prepared to “literally sit outside” a minister’s office if the company needed an urgent answer to a question.

    •Claimed many MPs who accepted corporate hospitality were willing to table a written question or make a point during oral questions in return.

    •Said he could “call in favours” from colleagues who would be happy to support the company’s interests and offered to host a dinner at the House of Commons.

    MPs have long been banned from acting as paid lobbyists and accepting money to raise issues with ministers or ask questions in parliament on behalf of clients.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-scott-benton-lobbying-investigation-ckhzrfqg0

    By election in Blackpool South I reckon.

    When will they learn that if an offer seems to be too good to be true, it almost always is?

    Easy Labour gain, so they may just suspend him and wait for the next election.
    "Too good to be true" it may be, but the ease and frequency with which MPs are caught like this suggests to me that it is all "business as usual" - rather like the expenses scandal
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,593

    This from the chief exec of Stonewall shows extent to which it’s become a fundamentally unserious organisation. Pushing takes like this- while campaigning for the erosion of women’s sex-based protections -means they are responsible for a good deal of the toxicity in this debate.



    https://twitter.com/soniasodha/status/1643608890897055747?s=20

    Is this another trans thread?
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,984
    ping said:

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    Forget the politics. It’s just bloody awful. Not many details, but looks quite likely to me these were probably kids of some of those jailed.

    Very young, too.

    Horrible. I hope, wherever they are, they’re doing alright.
    Yes it is indeed awful. But to reduce the chance of it happening again we need to make a lot of changes. And those changes go way beyond saying that people were scared of reporting a decade ago as they were afraid of being labelled racist, which is the governments limited message on child protection.

    Whilst what they say is true it is totally insufficient a decade on to pretend that is the only thing that needed to be fixed.
  • Options
    CookieCookie Posts: 11,628

    Woke is collapsing in on itself. Simply delightful.
    I honestly don't think it is, sadly.
    Perhaps the cause of woke is advancing less fast. But it's everywhere.
    I mean, I just looked up from writing this and saw this:

  • Options
    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,829
    ydoethur said:

    I have an hour long politics session on devolution, viz, the Scottish Parliament, in a few minutes.

    Fuck knows if we'll get on to the content I was planning to cover.

    Viz? So a Media Studies lesson?
  • Options

    A Tory MP offered to table parliamentary questions, leak a confidential policy document and lobby ministers on behalf of gambling industry investors who proposed paying him thousands of pounds a month, an undercover investigation for The Times has found.

    Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was prepared to help an investment fund influence policymakers and obtain “behind the scenes” information despite rules prohibiting MPs from lobbying in return for payment.

    He was secretly filmed by undercover reporters posing as investors with interest in the betting and gaming industry who were looking for an adviser.

    During a meeting at a central London hotel early last month, Benton outlined how he was willing to use his position to help their business and try to water down proposed gambling reforms. The MP:

    •Guaranteed he could leak a copy of a forthcoming white paper on gambling reforms to the company at least 48 hours before it went public, potentially allowing them to profit from market-sensitive information.

    •Offered to submit parliamentary questions and said he had done it on behalf of companies before.

    •Boasted of his “easy access to ministers” and said he was prepared to “literally sit outside” a minister’s office if the company needed an urgent answer to a question.

    •Claimed many MPs who accepted corporate hospitality were willing to table a written question or make a point during oral questions in return.

    •Said he could “call in favours” from colleagues who would be happy to support the company’s interests and offered to host a dinner at the House of Commons.

    MPs have long been banned from acting as paid lobbyists and accepting money to raise issues with ministers or ask questions in parliament on behalf of clients.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-scott-benton-lobbying-investigation-ckhzrfqg0

    By election in Blackpool South I reckon.

    I have been calling him out as weapons grade mince for ages...
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 92,209
    mwadams said:

    kle4 said:

    A Tory MP offered to table parliamentary questions, leak a confidential policy document and lobby ministers on behalf of gambling industry investors who proposed paying him thousands of pounds a month, an undercover investigation for The Times has found.

    Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was prepared to help an investment fund influence policymakers and obtain “behind the scenes” information despite rules prohibiting MPs from lobbying in return for payment.

    He was secretly filmed by undercover reporters posing as investors with interest in the betting and gaming industry who were looking for an adviser.

    During a meeting at a central London hotel early last month, Benton outlined how he was willing to use his position to help their business and try to water down proposed gambling reforms. The MP:

    •Guaranteed he could leak a copy of a forthcoming white paper on gambling reforms to the company at least 48 hours before it went public, potentially allowing them to profit from market-sensitive information.

    •Offered to submit parliamentary questions and said he had done it on behalf of companies before.

    •Boasted of his “easy access to ministers” and said he was prepared to “literally sit outside” a minister’s office if the company needed an urgent answer to a question.

    •Claimed many MPs who accepted corporate hospitality were willing to table a written question or make a point during oral questions in return.

    •Said he could “call in favours” from colleagues who would be happy to support the company’s interests and offered to host a dinner at the House of Commons.

    MPs have long been banned from acting as paid lobbyists and accepting money to raise issues with ministers or ask questions in parliament on behalf of clients.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-scott-benton-lobbying-investigation-ckhzrfqg0

    By election in Blackpool South I reckon.

    When will they learn that if an offer seems to be too good to be true, it almost always is?

    Easy Labour gain, so they may just suspend him and wait for the next election.
    "Too good to be true" it may be, but the ease and frequency with which MPs are caught like this suggests to me that it is all "business as usual" - rather like the expenses scandal
    Whilst wrongdoers will often justify to themselves and others that lots of people are at it even when they are not, there are sufficient examples out there to conclude that his claim that many colleagues were willing to table questions etc in return for hospitality is probably true.
  • Options
    algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 10,769
    edited April 2023
    In other news Kate Forbes has found time to visit the important metrohub of Shieldaig (pop 85) and tweet about it. Other interesting tweets today are about the Scottish consultation on Highly Protected Marine Areas.

    All round good day for Forbes. As PG Wodehouse would have said 'Keep your head down and don't press'.

    And what an good time to just lose an election.
  • Options

    This from the chief exec of Stonewall shows extent to which it’s become a fundamentally unserious organisation. Pushing takes like this- while campaigning for the erosion of women’s sex-based protections -means they are responsible for a good deal of the toxicity in this debate.



    https://twitter.com/soniasodha/status/1643608890897055747?s=20

    Stonewall suddenly realising that all that corporate money is going to dry up as corporates run for the door to be disassociated with the organisation.
  • Options
    algarkirk said:

    The police digging up Sturgeon's garden

    I still can't even

    Sweet peas? Potatoes?
    Monty Don does often advise lifting and splitting Hostas, so I'm assuming they're just following advice.
  • Options
    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 45,010
    Taz said:

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    The grooming gangs debate is one I avoid. It always boils down to left or right trading blows about the ethnicity of the perpetrators.

    The victims seem incidental, sadly.
    The actual facts are

    - the majority of such gangs are non-Asian. Which isn't surprising given the relative population sizes.
    - a *section* of the Pakistani community is over-represented in the offenders who go to trial, compared to the size of their community in the population.
    - this section of the Pakistani community would be called Gammon etc, if they were white, by some here.
  • Options
    algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 10,769

    algarkirk said:

    The police digging up Sturgeon's garden

    I still can't even

    Sweet peas? Potatoes?
    Monty Don does often advise lifting and splitting Hostas, so I'm assuming they're just following advice.
    If they have any spare officers my buddleia needs pruning.

  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,593

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...
  • Options

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    Personally, I'd hang the fuckers but I am slightly reactionary in my thinking.
  • Options
    eekeek Posts: 25,187
    Cookie said:

    Woke is collapsing in on itself. Simply delightful.
    I honestly don't think it is, sadly.
    Perhaps the cause of woke is advancing less fast. But it's everywhere.
    I mean, I just looked up from writing this and saw this:

    On twitter earlier today some Mericans were complaining about a rainbow on some Bud Lite bottles saying that it would upset their target audience. Which resulted in multiple replies that like Wagamama I suspect Bud Lite know their potential customer basis way more than the people claiming it was stupid.
  • Options

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...
    Isn't this just the flip side though of what you've accused the other side of doing in banging on about the ethnic angle? "Oh look, it's a white gang! Not all British-Pakistanis!". What happened to the kids is secondary.
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,396
    Shock poll from France:

    https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1643630500857118721

    France, Elabe poll:

    Presidential run-off election

    Le Pen (RN-ID): 55% (+14)
    Macron (RE-RE): 45% (-14)

    +/- vs. 2022 election
  • Options
    OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,267
    Cookie said:

    Woke is collapsing in on itself. Simply delightful.
    I honestly don't think it is, sadly.
    Perhaps the cause of woke is advancing less fast. But it's everywhere.
    I mean, I just looked up from writing this and saw this:

    Lot of tofu in there too. Burn it to the ground!
  • Options
    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,639
    I bloody hate it when I'm going for a chicken pad thai and there's a sodding great projected flag of many colours on the front of the restaurant.

    Puts me right off my bubble tea.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,892
    Cookie said:

    Woke is collapsing in on itself. Simply delightful.
    I honestly don't think it is, sadly.
    Perhaps the cause of woke is advancing less fast. But it's everywhere.
    I mean, I just looked up from writing this and saw this:

    It's the start of a trend. These bullshit flags are everywhere but although people show them no-one really takes them seriously.

    It just says, "Oh, look at me! I'm inclusive!"

    Doesn't really mean anything.
  • Options
    OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,267

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...
    Isn't this just the flip side though of what you've accused the other side of doing in banging on about the ethnic angle? "Oh look, it's a white gang! Not all British-Pakistanis!". What happened to the kids is secondary.
    Yes it's almost as if the focus should be on the victims instead of the ethnicity of the nonces.
  • Options
    TazTaz Posts: 11,531

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...
    Isn't this just the flip side though of what you've accused the other side of doing in banging on about the ethnic angle? "Oh look, it's a white gang! Not all British-Pakistanis!". What happened to the kids is secondary.
    I’ve just made a similar point. The victims are what should concern us here.
  • Options
    CatManCatMan Posts: 2,843
    TOPPING said:

    I bloody hate it when I'm going for a chicken pad thai and there's a sodding great projected flag of many colours on the front of the restaurant.

    Puts me right off my bubble tea.

    It's when it starts to rain but the sun is still out that infuriates me. Bloody woke sky with its rainbow.
  • Options
    LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 15,754

    Shock poll from France:

    https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1643630500857118721

    France, Elabe poll:

    Presidential run-off election

    Le Pen (RN-ID): 55% (+14)
    Macron (RE-RE): 45% (-14)

    +/- vs. 2022 election

    Pointless, Macron can't run again.

    They'd be better off seeing how Le Pen fares against someone like Barnier.
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,396

    Shock poll from France:

    https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1643630500857118721

    France, Elabe poll:

    Presidential run-off election

    Le Pen (RN-ID): 55% (+14)
    Macron (RE-RE): 45% (-14)

    +/- vs. 2022 election

    Given that Macron can't stand next time, he's doing pretty well.
    The first round polling still puts Le Pen in a strong position versus everyone else.

    image
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,593

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...
    Isn't this just the flip side though of what you've accused the other side of doing in banging on about the ethnic angle? "Oh look, it's a white gang! Not all British-Pakistanis!". What happened to the kids is secondary.
    What's sauce for the goose etc.

    Although hands up, you do have a point. It really doesn't matter what the creed or ethnicity these or the Rochdale/Rotherham/ Telford/ Oxford animals are, now does it? But you have a Home Secretary who sees mileage in scapegoating a specific group, and this particular case does not feature that specific ethnic group, so move along, nothing to see...
  • Options
    bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 8,113

    Woke is collapsing in on itself. Simply delightful.
    It's only recently that the culture wars have moved on to trans issues. The invention of the term "woke" long predates all this.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,338

    Shock poll from France:

    https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1643630500857118721

    France, Elabe poll:

    Presidential run-off election

    Le Pen (RN-ID): 55% (+14)
    Macron (RE-RE): 45% (-14)

    +/- vs. 2022 election

    Right now, France is engulfed in strikes and protests as Macron tries to push through his retirement age increases.

    Ms Le Pen has promised to rescind the increase in retirement ages, so all French can sensibly continue to retire at 62.
  • Options
    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,236

    Shock poll from France:

    https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1643630500857118721

    France, Elabe poll:

    Presidential run-off election

    Le Pen (RN-ID): 55% (+14)
    Macron (RE-RE): 45% (-14)

    +/- vs. 2022 election

    Pointless, Macron can't run again.

    They'd be better off seeing how Le Pen fares against someone like Barnier.
    Barnier will be 76 by the time of the next election. I know that would be considered middle-aged in US politics, but I'm not sure France is the same.
  • Options
    FossFoss Posts: 699
    Do we actually know where Sturgeon currently is? Is she still even in Scotland?
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 47,972

    Shock poll from France:

    https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1643630500857118721

    France, Elabe poll:

    Presidential run-off election

    Le Pen (RN-ID): 55% (+14)
    Macron (RE-RE): 45% (-14)

    +/- vs. 2022 election

    Le Pen has a very good chance of winning in the next elex
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 92,209
    tlg86 said:

    Shock poll from France:

    https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1643630500857118721

    France, Elabe poll:

    Presidential run-off election

    Le Pen (RN-ID): 55% (+14)
    Macron (RE-RE): 45% (-14)

    +/- vs. 2022 election

    Pointless, Macron can't run again.

    They'd be better off seeing how Le Pen fares against someone like Barnier.
    Barnier will be 76 by the time of the next election. I know that would be considered middle-aged in US politics, but I'm not sure France is the same.
    Surely any candidate needs to be under 62?
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 92,209
    Leon said:

    Shock poll from France:

    https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1643630500857118721

    France, Elabe poll:

    Presidential run-off election

    Le Pen (RN-ID): 55% (+14)
    Macron (RE-RE): 45% (-14)

    +/- vs. 2022 election

    Le Pen has a very good chance of winning in the next elex
    4th time's the charm?
  • Options
    Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,563
    FPT: For some years I have been worrying about the conflicts of interest often found in two-career political families. For example, when Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, I thought that the Clinton Foundation should have stopped taking contributions from other nations. (Spoiler: They didn't.)

    Many of our rules were made assuming just one bread winner. (Usually a man, but sometimes a widow, or a woman who has always been single.)

    It looks as if the little problem you are having in Scotland may be -- among other things -- another example of that problem.

    (And no, I don't have any simple solution to the problem.)



  • Options
    RogerRoger Posts: 18,991

    Re Scotland, Labour could win a couple of dozen seats off the SNP but unless they take conservative seats the conservative majority remains

    As far as Sunak is concerned, his ratings do seem to be rising and in an election campaign v Starmer I would not understate his ability to mitigate labour's result

    They'll be the one's who after yesterdays double act with Suella Braverman in Rochdale don't think he's a Pakistani Muslim rapist
  • Options
    Foss said:

    Do we actually know where Sturgeon currently is? Is she still even in Scotland?

    She was at the house this morning, but exited about 30 minutes before the ScotSquad arrived.
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,984

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...
    Isn't this just the flip side though of what you've accused the other side of doing in banging on about the ethnic angle? "Oh look, it's a white gang! Not all British-Pakistanis!". What happened to the kids is secondary.
    Yes it's almost as if the focus should be on the victims instead of the ethnicity of the nonces.
    The attention also needs to be on the government and Home Secretary as they are the ones with the power to reduce the chances of this happening (it will probably never be eliminated).
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 92,209

    Cookie said:

    Woke is collapsing in on itself. Simply delightful.
    I honestly don't think it is, sadly.
    Perhaps the cause of woke is advancing less fast. But it's everywhere.
    I mean, I just looked up from writing this and saw this:

    It's the start of a trend. These bullshit flags are everywhere but although people show them no-one really takes them seriously.

    It just says, "Oh, look at me! I'm inclusive!"

    Doesn't really mean anything.
    Serious question. If it doesn't mean anything then why does it bother you? I am certainly no admirer of the current 'woke' debate when it has real world physical consequences in terms of removal of statues or changing books. But when it comes to people putting up flags to show their support for a particular issue - even if it is one I disagree with - then I really don't see why anyone should be hassled by that. Clearly the companies feel there is mileage in doing this and my attitude is good luck to them.

    People really do need to stop being offended by stuff so much. And that applies equally to the 'woke' and the 'anti-woke'
    People can signal their virtue by displaying a flag (or deliberately not displaying one) or what have, there's no point getting worked up about that. Actual law and policy changes which are harmful or nonsensical should be the focus.
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 47,972
    The Walsall child sex abuse case is grotesque. It sounds like abuse within families over multiple generations. Like something from darkest Appalachia
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 92,209

    FPT: For some years I have been worrying about the conflicts of interest often found in two-career political families. For example, when Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, I thought that the Clinton Foundation should have stopped taking contributions from other nations. (Spoiler: They didn't.)

    Many of our rules were made assuming just one bread winner. (Usually a man, but sometimes a widow, or a woman who has always been single.)

    It looks as if the little problem you are having in Scotland may be -- among other things -- another example of that problem.

    (And no, I don't have any simple solution to the problem.)



    It seems simple enough - the couple in question needs to decide who and what to prioritise, if in positions which could lead to conflicts, rather than just brazen it out on the basis that they are different and it doesn't matter.
  • Options
    Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 27,360
    Leon said:

    Shock poll from France:

    https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1643630500857118721

    France, Elabe poll:

    Presidential run-off election

    Le Pen (RN-ID): 55% (+14)
    Macron (RE-RE): 45% (-14)

    +/- vs. 2022 election

    Le Pen has a very good chance of winning in the next elex
    Michel Houellebecq's novels always seem to predict the future.
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,396
    Fire at the Russian Ministry of Defence building in Moscow

    https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1643659430959906820
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    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 45,010

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...

    Meanwhile, another Pakistani men paedophile ring has been jailed. Thank goodness the Home Secretary has spoken out calling for more action, otherwise of these Pakistani men will be at it.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65189785.amp

    Not just the home secretary, pbs finest protectors of vulnerable young girls have been posting furiously about this scandal all day. Just with invisible ink.
    When they all eventually serve their sentences and are released, repatriate them back from whence they came! Er, Walsall...
    Isn't this just the flip side though of what you've accused the other side of doing in banging on about the ethnic angle? "Oh look, it's a white gang! Not all British-Pakistanis!". What happened to the kids is secondary.
    Yes it's almost as if the focus should be on the victims instead of the ethnicity of the nonces.
    The attention also needs to be on the government and Home Secretary as they are the ones with the power to reduce the chances of this happening (it will probably never be eliminated).
    Mrs May kicked this off by ordering that *all* cases be investigated.

    Which got the clipboard types going - since they could no longer ignore "difficult" or "problematic" cases.

    In quite a few cases, it seems that the issue was that it was *too common* - since this happened all the time, the clipboardistas saw this as normality....
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    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 45,010

    Fire at the Russian Ministry of Defence building in Moscow

    https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1643659430959906820

    hmmm

    image
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    LeonLeon Posts: 47,972
    Andy_JS said:

    Leon said:

    Shock poll from France:

    https://twitter.com/EuropeElects/status/1643630500857118721

    France, Elabe poll:

    Presidential run-off election

    Le Pen (RN-ID): 55% (+14)
    Macron (RE-RE): 45% (-14)

    +/- vs. 2022 election

    Le Pen has a very good chance of winning in the next elex
    Michel Houellebecq's novels always seem to predict the future.
    Didn’t he actually predict an Islamist takeover of France?
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