It is blindingly obvious that Boris Johnson should never have been allowed to stand to be the leader of the Tory Party. It is a disgrace that Tory MPs voted for him in the first place.
It’s quite funny though. Peace talks ending in a civil war. Reminds me of this -
So either Sunak tried to play 4D chess and it blew up in his face and/or Boris Johnson didn't listen properly.
Dorries, Sharma and Adams were removed by Holac because, under the rules, for them to remain on Johnson’s list they would have had to have resigned as MPs within six months. None of them signalled to Holac they would do so. That left them with only one alternative: that Sunak would, at a later date and in his own name, formally nominate them for peerages. He was not prepared to do so.
This technical process appears to have been lost on Johnson and his nominees, who were under the mistaken belief they could be automatically re-vetted every six months without needing to be renominated as long as they announced they were standing down before the election.
Both Dorries and Sharma sought to get clarification from No 10 and Holac. “That information was deliberately withheld,” said one of the would-be peers. “If anyone had said to us that we needed to stand down to be on the list, that is what we would have done. They withheld the process to stop by-elections and look what has happened. I think there was something much more devious and sinister about it. They want Boris and his allies out of Westminster.”
Dorries first got wind that there might be a problem around 7pm on Thursday, when a journalist contacted her having been tipped off by someone in No 10. In conversations with a senior minister on Friday morning, she is understood to have repeatedly stated that Johnson had been given personal assurances that she could be re-vetted and nominated at a later date. She was informed he was in no position to be giving her personal assurances, and that she would have needed to have either resigned already, or have notified Holac of her intention to do so.
Dorries then asked whether it was possible for her to be put back on the list if she resigned that day. The answer was no. She then asked whether Sunak would submit her name for a peerage at the next election in 2024. She was told he would not be making personal assurances to anyone. She resigned hours later.
Those pointing out Labour used to hold Selby, beware. They did, between 1997 and 2010. Marginally. But it wasn't this Selby. That Selby was Selby and a substantial bit of York. Including the University. This Selby and Ainsty is Selby and a collection of villages near Harrogate. Not the same thing at all. Bet accordingly.
Yeah, not a million miles from me, or the glittering metropolis of that Leeds, but very rural, farm-y, lots of big detached houses with mahoosive gardens and mahoosive Beamers and Rangies on the mahoosive drives. Be surprised if it goes anything but Tory.
It's not quite as you depict. There have been more than enough changes in demographics of the constituency to move it from the Conservatives to... any of the three parties with a bit of effort. It'sone of those areas that acts as a feeder to lots of larger economically important centres, eg. Leeds.
A lot of those living in places like Sherburn in Elmet or Tadcaster commute either to Leeds or to York. They're college and university educated and gravitate towards the Liberals more than Labour. There are still some areas which are dyed in the wool Tory - think around Tockwith, Kirk Hammerton or the parts skirting Harrogate and Knaresborough. It's the areas around Eggborough, Drax, Chapel Haddesley, North Duffield which could be interesting. Some of these areas commute to other areas (Doncaster, Hull, Sheffield).
There are plenty of local issues at play that have never really been addressed properly: flooding around Selby can be an issue, especially in places to the north such as Cawood or to the south (such as closer to Snaith). The proposal for a new village to be built off the A19 close to Escrick and Stillingfleet has not been received well: the area is a massive flood plain and putting extra pressure on an already overworked A19 from Selby to York is only asking for trouble.
Would I bet against the Conservatives? No. Then again, this is one I wouldn't bet on. There are far too many issues and variables that could influence the outcome.
Yes you’re right. I was making a sweeping generalisation. I have family in Sherburn, it’s precisely as you describe. Lots of new housing full of well paid, younger, professional types with young families and two nice SUVs on the drive.
But whether it’s enough to get the Cons out I don’t know. They’ll be angry at their mortgages and food and everything else rising, they’ll have grown up enjoying freedom of movement, they’ll be socially liberal. Starmer won’t scare them. Will they vote tactically?
It’s going to be interesting.
There are some constituencies I’ll bet on. No problem. Selby and Ainsty… I’m avoiding. Everything says that the Cons should win but I’m not so sure. Everything says Labour or the Lib Dem’s should take it, but…
I grew up in Sherburn. I know the constituency as it is today (esp. the villages like Hillam, etc) and as it was before the last rounds of mergers. It has always been a commuter constituency - my parents worked in York, Leeds and Sheffield. To be blunt, it’s a bugger of a constituency to pin down.
So many of the people I was at school with - in the 1980s and 1990s - went to uni, and thought they experienced the strikes and industrial action and voting Labour was entrenched with some families, they vote Tory. That being said, they’ve become socially liberal and enjoyed the benefits of Blair’s Labour government. Now they’re being hammered by interest rates, inflation and mortgage rates, the like of which haven’t been seen since their parents were clobbered in the 1980s.
This doesn’t apply just in Sherburn. It’s the same throughout the constituency, in places like Knottingley or Monk Fryston, Tockwith or Tadcaster. Genuinely can’t call this one. The commuter element and the younger demographic make this a tough one.
Just glancing at it, some of that stuff about "leftists" doesn't half remind me of the way a couple of people on here talk. If HYUFD is a large language model, he for sure was trained in part on this.
Talking of manifesto’s, if you are in Scotland, why are you using a Forest Green Rovers avatar - they are the just stop oil hooligans over in West Country somewhere, who are underwriting Labours next general election and writing the Labour manifesto!
I have this as my avatar because months and months ago I saw someone bitterly and angrily denouncing them for reasons I couldn't begin to comprehend. It was quite funny and so I changed my avatar.
Oddly, I don't remember them mentioning anything about JSO. They seemed to be angry about vegetarianism. I can't resist that kind of bait so it was my gentle fuck you to all that nonsense.
I'm very pleased to note that there are even more reasons it might annoy. It should not be taken as endorsement of the Labour Party, though, but I don't think anybody normal would leap to that conclusion.
That was probably me banging on about vegetarianism, because vegetarianism is completely stupid.
Is a football club both brainwashing vegetarian is good as well as just stop oil?
Something is very wrong here! If we tolerate Forest Green Rovers our own children could be next. 😠
Well, I'm more tolerant of veggies than you, but I do eat meat. Nothing quite like rabbit stew.
Looks like Johnson's lack of attention to detail has bitten him in his fat lardy ass again.
Relying on Boris Johnson for anything, is just as stupid as relying on Donald Trump.
Also visa versa.
As my card carrying New Englander wife never ceases to remind me, they were both born in New York City. She doesn’t buy the whole correlation doesn’t equal causation thing.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
What principles does he have to relocate in the manner suggested?
After the meeting with Sunak, Johnson messaged Nadine Dorries to say: “Just finished the meeting with Rishi. List being published imminently. You’re on it.” When it finally dropped on Friday, it was shorn of peerages for Dorries, Adams and Sharma, as well as gongs for two Tory donors, David Ross and Stuart Marks.
A Johnson ally accused Sunak of “a sleight of hand we regard as deceitful”, accusing him of being “clever-clever” and misreading the politics. “He thinks he’s being very clever when he’s being very stupid. He’s like a shit batsman who completely misreads the delivery.” Another accused Sunak of sophistry and speaking in tongues.
The problem for Johnson is that the only person taking notes was the Sunak aide. In this account, Sunak said to Johnson: “I don’t want you to leave this room thinking I have made you a promise as that will be a problem in our relationship going forward.”
A neat demonstration of the lazy cluelessness and entitlement of the Johnson coterie.
I have placed political bets before the narrative settles and odds tighten. Uxbridge is a near certain win for Sunak in my opinion, because of the number of people of Indian heritage who can vote in Uxbridge.
Mid staffs I see as toss up, but I have placed the bet on Lib Dem’s, because their by election machine not let me down in the past, and Boris Tories actually want to give Rishi a bloody nose.
How many people of Indian heritage can vote in Uxbridge?
9%. Even if we assume they are heavily Tory, say 6-3, I doubt if it will be enough.
I assume you're using the census figures for Hindus as a proxy, but it's not quite the question I asked. Reason why it might be different is the census might have a disproportionate number of non-voters in that area (foreign, under 18). Also there maybe people of Indian heritage who don't identify as Hindu. Correct me if my assumption about your 9% figure is wrong, I assumed that because it's the same figure I was looking at earlier with regards to HYUFD's Hindus-vote-for-Sunak thesis.
Yes, actually my figure is unreliable - I'm quoting someone else (and can't remember who). Ignore me, sorry.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
So you think that even Boris-loving voters, are gonna be outraged because Mad Nad, etc. did NOT get their promised peerages? Really?
For every vote Sunak looses on THAT basis, likely to pick up two or more for refusing BoJo's dishounours list.
Won't save him or the Tories at next general election. But at least sign that he & they have stopped digging their hole deeper.
It is blindingly obvious that Boris Johnson should never have been allowed to stand to be the leader of the Tory Party. It is a disgrace that Tory MPs voted for him in the first place.
It’s quite funny though. Peace talks ending in a civil war. Reminds me of this -
Looks like Johnson's lack of attention to detail has bitten him in his fat lardy ass again.
Relying on Boris Johnson for anything, is just as stupid as relying on Donald Trump.
Also visa versa.
As my card carrying New Englander wife never ceases to remind me, they were both born in New York City. She doesn’t buy the whole correlation doesn’t equal causation thing.
Perhaps they are secretly half brothers and no one has put two and two together
Have the people saying Boris will be making a comeback realised that if his supporters resign as MPs then he won't have their votes in a future leadership election.
Dorries and Adams would have been certain Johnson votes - he's now lost them!
Some may say it's only two votes so who cares - but if others resign / don't stand at next GE then it would be significant in any future leadership election. Truss only just edged Mordaunt in the final MPs ballot - every vote counts.
This is yet another reason, of course, why Boris will not become leader again.
Video of a guardsman after fainting. The band keeps playing and none of the people near him help. This country is fucking weird sick.
I think that would happen in any self-respecting military in the world. Military personnel can’t just stop what they’re doing (having been specifically ordered to do it) whatever the circumstances
Not when you're doing something of vital importance, maybe.
But they're playing trombones.
That’s not the way it works. Soldiers can’t judge for yourself themselves if a lawful order is of vital importance and prioritise accordingly. That’s what military discipline is all about. That’s true in all armies, at least the ones that function properly, not just the British one. I’m no soldier but being on parade, which is what they were doing, I understand has a role in promoting that discipline so military types may say it is of vital importance. Saying they’re not helping just because they’re from this specific country is plain wrong.
Most countries don't put people out in the hot sunshine wearing enormous fur hats though!
No, but many have parades in equally inappropriate whether and dress. In India the school I worked at had close links with the local military bases and I saw teenage cadet soldiers parade in insane temperatures (hotter than London today) wearing some form of hat with huge feathers on it. That was miserable just watching in a short sleeved shirt in the shade.
I love the videos of the Indian and Pakistani soldiers marching up the border to glare at each other, every evening.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
What principles does he have to relocate in the manner suggested?
Have the people saying Boris will be making a comeback realised that if his supporters resign as MPs then he won't have their votes in a future leadership election.
Dorries and Adams would have been certain Johnson votes - he's now lost them!
Some may say it's only two votes so who cares - but if others resign / don't stand at next GE then it would be significant in any future leadership election. Truss only just edged Mordaunt in the final MPs ballot - every vote counts.
This is yet another reason, of course, why Boris will not become leader again.
As you say, just a few votes and we may have had PM Mordaunt.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
You believe Johnson's has "principles"?
In that case, he has an invisible garden bridge to sell you.
It is blindingly obvious that Boris Johnson should never have been allowed to stand to be the leader of the Tory Party. It is a disgrace that Tory MPs voted for him in the first place.
It’s quite funny though. Peace talks ending in a civil war. Reminds me of this -
Sadly I guessed Falling Water as soon as I saw the first photo but I am some hours too late.
I’m not surprised it is Trump country. As far as I can tell, Leon is actually in Northern Appalachia.
Although I’d previously thought it purely southern hillbilly high country, Appalachia actually continues north and really only peters out in New York State with the Catskills.
There’s a kind of isobar in the Catskills where the bitter people with guns meet the hipster Brooklyn refugees, leftover Bob Dylan wannabes, abandoned Jewish holiday camps, and yoghurt-knitting lesbians.
Northern Appalachia is surely Scotland? Then Ireland, then the mountains of Morocco. Once upon a time all joined together with Appalachia.
Those pointing out Labour used to hold Selby, beware. They did, between 1997 and 2010. Marginally. But it wasn't this Selby. That Selby was Selby and a substantial bit of York. Including the University. This Selby and Ainsty is Selby and a collection of villages near Harrogate. Not the same thing at all. Bet accordingly.
Yeah, not a million miles from me, or the glittering metropolis of that Leeds, but very rural, farm-y, lots of big detached houses with mahoosive gardens and mahoosive Beamers and Rangies on the mahoosive drives. Be surprised if it goes anything but Tory.
It's not quite as you depict. There have been more than enough changes in demographics of the constituency to move it from the Conservatives to... any of the three parties with a bit of effort. It'sone of those areas that acts as a feeder to lots of larger economically important centres, eg. Leeds.
A lot of those living in places like Sherburn in Elmet or Tadcaster commute either to Leeds or to York. They're college and university educated and gravitate towards the Liberals more than Labour. There are still some areas which are dyed in the wool Tory - think around Tockwith, Kirk Hammerton or the parts skirting Harrogate and Knaresborough. It's the areas around Eggborough, Drax, Chapel Haddesley, North Duffield which could be interesting. Some of these areas commute to other areas (Doncaster, Hull, Sheffield).
There are plenty of local issues at play that have never really been addressed properly: flooding around Selby can be an issue, especially in places to the north such as Cawood or to the south (such as closer to Snaith). The proposal for a new village to be built off the A19 close to Escrick and Stillingfleet has not been received well: the area is a massive flood plain and putting extra pressure on an already overworked A19 from Selby to York is only asking for trouble.
Would I bet against the Conservatives? No. Then again, this is one I wouldn't bet on. There are far too many issues and variables that could influence the outcome.
Yes you’re right. I was making a sweeping generalisation. I have family in Sherburn, it’s precisely as you describe. Lots of new housing full of well paid, younger, professional types with young families and two nice SUVs on the drive.
But whether it’s enough to get the Cons out I don’t know. They’ll be angry at their mortgages and food and everything else rising, they’ll have grown up enjoying freedom of movement, they’ll be socially liberal. Starmer won’t scare them. Will they vote tactically?
It’s going to be interesting.
There are some constituencies I’ll bet on. No problem. Selby and Ainsty… I’m avoiding. Everything says that the Cons should win but I’m not so sure. Everything says Labour or the Lib Dem’s should take it, but…
I grew up in Sherburn. I know the constituency as it is today (esp. the villages like Hillam, etc) and as it was before the last rounds of mergers. It has always been a commuter constituency - my parents worked in York, Leeds and Sheffield. To be blunt, it’s a bugger of a constituency to pin down.
So many of the people I was at school with - in the 1980s and 1990s - went to uni, and thought they experienced the strikes and industrial action and voting Labour was entrenched with some families, they vote Tory. That being said, they’ve become socially liberal and enjoyed the benefits of Blair’s Labour government. Now they’re being hammered by interest rates, inflation and mortgage rates, the like of which haven’t been seen since their parents were clobbered in the 1980s.
This doesn’t apply just in Sherburn. It’s the same throughout the constituency, in places like Knottingley or Monk Fryston, Tockwith or Tadcaster. Genuinely can’t call this one. The commuter element and the younger demographic make this a tough one.
Yeah, I’m in Knottingley.
Think i’m a similar age to you, I’m 45. Know what you mean about our cohort growing up in Labour households, make a few quid and start voting Tory. Never got it myself, always seemed like a betrayal, of the communities they grew up in, that solidarity, for want of a better word, that still lingers on. But that’s just me.
Many I know never went to uni. Got good jobs in industry or whatever, even things like plastering, started making decent money and went Tory. And Brexit.
Many, not all but a lot, of people I know who went to uni left and never came back. I went and did come back.
It is blindingly obvious that Boris Johnson should never have been allowed to stand to be the leader of the Tory Party. It is a disgrace that Tory MPs voted for him in the first place.
Essentially the conclusion Guto Harri comes to in his Global podcast series.
I thought the privileges committee hadn’t taken into account the recent info passed to the cabinet office but Beth Rigby is suggesting this was damning . And that the committee has made a unanimous decision .
Have the people saying Boris will be making a comeback realised that if his supporters resign as MPs then he won't have their votes in a future leadership election.
Dorries and Adams would have been certain Johnson votes - he's now lost them!
Some may say it's only two votes so who cares - but if others resign / don't stand at next GE then it would be significant in any future leadership election. Truss only just edged Mordaunt in the final MPs ballot - every vote counts.
This is yet another reason, of course, why Boris will not become leader again.
As you say, just a few votes and we may have had PM Mordaunt.
“sit down here and look at what you would have won….”
where am I? There are enough clues in here to guess
Came late to this and after the quiz had been answered, but my first guess on seeing this photo was Falling Water. This was only on the juxtaposition of very lush forest and poorly finished concrete.
Falling Water is a wonderful piece of architecture but a shoddilly constructed building.
If all these conspiracy rumours between Sunak and Johnson are to be believed Sunak has played a blinder
Yes, in the next few months it will be choppy but once the rumoured unanimous report from the privilidges committee drops next week the media scrum will be coriscating about Johnson and it will be an opportunity for Sunak to move forward without the malign Johnson in the HOC
Even if a few more Johnson sycophants resign I am very pleased and good riddance to them
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
So you think that even Boris-loving voters, are gonna be outraged because Mad Nad, etc. did NOT get their promised peerages? Really?
For every vote Sunak looses on THAT basis, likely to pick up two or more for refusing BoJo's dishounours list.
Won't save him or the Tories at next general election. But at least sign that he & they have stopped digging their hole deeper.
No, I don't think voters will care a jot, but I do think Boris being 'in the tent pissing out' is of value to the Sunak political project inasmuch as one believes Sunak actually wants to win an election (as opposed to prepare the way for Starmer and piss off to your neck of the woods).
The Sunak Government now looks in the most pisspoor shape it has been in. This is a Tory MP quote in the Express:
One senior Conservative MP, who received a call, said: "Colleagues are saying 'bring it on'. It is a kangaroo court and nobody will stop us speaking out.
"This proves to many of us that Downing Street was in collusion with the Privileges Committee to get Boris.
Funny how Sunak was given the job through constant bitchy briefings of 'senior MPs' against his predecessors and now it's happening to his Government - oh well.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
So you think that even Boris-loving voters, are gonna be outraged because Mad Nad, etc. did NOT get their promised peerages? Really?
For every vote Sunak looses on THAT basis, likely to pick up two or more for refusing BoJo's dishounours list.
Won't save him or the Tories at next general election. But at least sign that he & they have stopped digging their hole deeper.
No, I don't think voters will care a jot, but I do think Boris being 'in the tent pissing out' is of value to the Sunak political project inasmuch as one believes Sunak actually wants to win an election (as opposed to prepare the way for Starmer and piss off to your neck of the woods).
The Sunak Government now looks in the most pisspoor shape it has been in. This is a Tory MP quote in the Express:
One senior Conservative MP, who received a call, said: "Colleagues are saying 'bring it on'. It is a kangaroo court and nobody will stop us speaking out.
"This proves to many of us that Downing Street was in collusion with the Privileges Committee to get Boris.
Funny how Sunak was given the job through constant bitchy briefings of 'senior MPs' against his predecessors and now it's happening to his Government - oh well.
How may are in this rebellious Johnson hardcore ? One MP, quoted in the Express, is possibly a fair percentage of the total.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
So you think that even Boris-loving voters, are gonna be outraged because Mad Nad, etc. did NOT get their promised peerages? Really?
For every vote Sunak looses on THAT basis, likely to pick up two or more for refusing BoJo's dishounours list.
Won't save him or the Tories at next general election. But at least sign that he & they have stopped digging their hole deeper.
No, I don't think voters will care a jot, but I do think Boris being 'in the tent pissing out' is of value to the Sunak political project inasmuch as one believes Sunak actually wants to win an election (as opposed to prepare the way for Starmer and piss off to your neck of the woods).
The Sunak Government now looks in the most pisspoor shape it has been in. This is a Tory MP quote in the Express:
One senior Conservative MP, who received a call, said: "Colleagues are saying 'bring it on'. It is a kangaroo court and nobody will stop us speaking out.
"This proves to many of us that Downing Street was in collusion with the Privileges Committee to get Boris.
Funny how Sunak was given the job through constant bitchy briefings of 'senior MPs' against his predecessors and now it's happening to his Government - oh well.
Thanks for the quotes. Which to my fool mind, demonstrate to me that my instincts are correct.
The more the likes of them moan, squirm and wail against cruel fate, the better - not worse - it is for Sunak.
I have placed political bets before the narrative settles and odds tighten. Uxbridge is a near certain win for Sunak in my opinion, because of the number of people of Indian heritage who can vote in Uxbridge.
Mid staffs I see as toss up, but I have placed the bet on Lib Dem’s, because their by election machine not let me down in the past, and Boris Tories actually want to give Rishi a bloody nose.
It’s all a plot to stop Brexit orchestrated by… Dominic Cummings 🤪
Ridiculous notion.
As if Cummings would ever do something intelligent and sensible, while not showing everyone what he was doing and finding six extraordinary ways to cock it all up.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
So you think that even Boris-loving voters, are gonna be outraged because Mad Nad, etc. did NOT get their promised peerages? Really?
For every vote Sunak looses on THAT basis, likely to pick up two or more for refusing BoJo's dishounours list.
Won't save him or the Tories at next general election. But at least sign that he & they have stopped digging their hole deeper.
No, I don't think voters will care a jot, but I do think Boris being 'in the tent pissing out' is of value to the Sunak political project inasmuch as one believes Sunak actually wants to win an election (as opposed to prepare the way for Starmer and piss off to your neck of the woods).
The Sunak Government now looks in the most pisspoor shape it has been in. This is a Tory MP quote in the Express:
One senior Conservative MP, who received a call, said: "Colleagues are saying 'bring it on'. It is a kangaroo court and nobody will stop us speaking out.
"This proves to many of us that Downing Street was in collusion with the Privileges Committee to get Boris.
Funny how Sunak was given the job through constant bitchy briefings of 'senior MPs' against his predecessors and now it's happening to his Government - oh well.
This lot makes the Tory 'bastards' of the 1990s look sane and intelligent by comparison.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
So you think that even Boris-loving voters, are gonna be outraged because Mad Nad, etc. did NOT get their promised peerages? Really?
For every vote Sunak looses on THAT basis, likely to pick up two or more for refusing BoJo's dishounours list.
Won't save him or the Tories at next general election. But at least sign that he & they have stopped digging their hole deeper.
No, I don't think voters will care a jot, but I do think Boris being 'in the tent pissing out' is of value to the Sunak political project inasmuch as one believes Sunak actually wants to win an election (as opposed to prepare the way for Starmer and piss off to your neck of the woods).
The Sunak Government now looks in the most pisspoor shape it has been in. This is a Tory MP quote in the Express:
One senior Conservative MP, who received a call, said: "Colleagues are saying 'bring it on'. It is a kangaroo court and nobody will stop us speaking out.
"This proves to many of us that Downing Street was in collusion with the Privileges Committee to get Boris.
Funny how Sunak was given the job through constant bitchy briefings of 'senior MPs' against his predecessors and now it's happening to his Government - oh well.
How may are in this rebellious Johnson hardcore ? One MP, quoted in the Express, is possibly a fair percentage of the total.
I don't think it really matters. All of the vile 'Senior MP/former Minister' briefings against Truss could have come from the same vituperative sack of bile - savage briefings are still harmful, and Sunak's Government has now entered the stepping on garden rakes stage where nothing it does is going to be well-received.
This comprises the entire Civil Service, the tofu-eating wokerati, Rishi Sunak, Harriet Harman, Remainers, the Guardian, leftie lawyers, Keir Starmer, Leavers who don't really mean it, the EU, Dom Cummings and... Tom, Dick and Harry. But at least he has Nads and Nigel on his side.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
So you think that even Boris-loving voters, are gonna be outraged because Mad Nad, etc. did NOT get their promised peerages? Really?
For every vote Sunak looses on THAT basis, likely to pick up two or more for refusing BoJo's dishounours list.
Won't save him or the Tories at next general election. But at least sign that he & they have stopped digging their hole deeper.
No, I don't think voters will care a jot, but I do think Boris being 'in the tent pissing out' is of value to the Sunak political project inasmuch as one believes Sunak actually wants to win an election (as opposed to prepare the way for Starmer and piss off to your neck of the woods).
The Sunak Government now looks in the most pisspoor shape it has been in. This is a Tory MP quote in the Express:
One senior Conservative MP, who received a call, said: "Colleagues are saying 'bring it on'. It is a kangaroo court and nobody will stop us speaking out.
"This proves to many of us that Downing Street was in collusion with the Privileges Committee to get Boris.
Funny how Sunak was given the job through constant bitchy briefings of 'senior MPs' against his predecessors and now it's happening to his Government - oh well.
How may are in this rebellious Johnson hardcore ? One MP, quoted in the Express, is possibly a fair percentage of the total.
I don't think it really matters. All of the vile 'Senior MP/former Minister' briefings against Truss could have come from the same vituperative sack of bile - savage briefings are still harmful, and Sunak's Government has now entered the stepping on garden rakes stage where nothing it does is going to be well-received.
where am I? There are enough clues in here to guess
Came late to this and after the quiz had been answered, but my first guess on seeing this photo was Falling Water. This was only on the juxtaposition of very lush forest and poorly finished concrete.
Falling Water is a wonderful piece of architecture but a shoddilly constructed building.
Another nugget:
The contractors inserted a load of extra reinforcing steel into the cantilevered terraces to make them stay up, without telling FLW.
It was discovered when remedial work was done later.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
So you think that even Boris-loving voters, are gonna be outraged because Mad Nad, etc. did NOT get their promised peerages? Really?
For every vote Sunak looses on THAT basis, likely to pick up two or more for refusing BoJo's dishounours list.
Won't save him or the Tories at next general election. But at least sign that he & they have stopped digging their hole deeper.
No, I don't think voters will care a jot, but I do think Boris being 'in the tent pissing out' is of value to the Sunak political project inasmuch as one believes Sunak actually wants to win an election (as opposed to prepare the way for Starmer and piss off to your neck of the woods).
The Sunak Government now looks in the most pisspoor shape it has been in. This is a Tory MP quote in the Express:
One senior Conservative MP, who received a call, said: "Colleagues are saying 'bring it on'. It is a kangaroo court and nobody will stop us speaking out.
"This proves to many of us that Downing Street was in collusion with the Privileges Committee to get Boris.
Funny how Sunak was given the job through constant bitchy briefings of 'senior MPs' against his predecessors and now it's happening to his Government - oh well.
Thanks for the quotes. Which to my fool mind, demonstrate to me that my instincts are correct.
The more the likes of them moan, squirm and wail against cruel fate, the better - not worse - it is for Sunak.
Well, we do see big choruses on PB agreeing with your verdict - the problem is that none of those who approve so much of Sunak sticking it to the Boris-brigade would ever consider voting Tory. The same is true of the UK as a whole. Sunak stacks up approval in Tory opponents and is a complete turn off as far as an actual election-winning coalition is concerned.
He's also (incidentally) a completely shit Prime Minister.
Inter have the most iconic kit. No idea why no English team has ever copied it.
No way, the Roma kit is special - loved they had “SPQR” in the sponsor slot in the match recently. Also Milan’s kit is far more iconic to those who grew up watching Football Italia on C4 back in the day. Paulo Maldini, cashmere jumpers for elegant goalposts and all that.
A lovely moment toward the end of Friday’s Any Questions when the audience erupts in wild cheers as the news that the clown has resigned from parliament came through….
Plus Donald Trump sinks further into the mire. Not the worst political day, was it?
Being indicted is - so far - BOOSTING polling for Sage of Mar-a-Lardo aka former Security-Risk-in-Chief.
Yeah but with who?
With likely Republican primary voters.
Timothy Snyder was on R4 this morning saying Trump was getting a boost with those already likely to vote for him but the independents/non-aligned were still turned off. I hope he’s right.
I really fail to see how you could be neutral or hostile to Trump and then, looking at the last few days, suddenly think "actually, yeah, I like the cut of this guy's jib"
Trump's not all wrong. He's perhaps the most astute and brave observer of our age. An idiot though.
Quite how he can be the fool that he is and yet observe wisely in some things escapes me. The most likely confusion is that I have somehow misjudged him. Perhaps not a Chump. Ok, so moving on....
Trump's not a fool. Nor is he all wrong. What he is, is insane. That amount of "positive thinking" (see Norman Vincent Peale) can drive a person insane and there's a literature on it. In his case that's not the whole of the causation, though. Nor is he the most astute and brave observer of our age. I don't know how closely you've looked at him. If you haven't done so already, you might read up on how he rates "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" by Carl Gustav Jung, not omitting to consider the God-sent turd that Jung writes about in it near the beginning. His engaging in name-calling is (in his mind) Jung-inspired. Dunno about judging or misjudging, but there's a lot out there about this guy and how he thinks. I studied him in depth in 2016.
I bet on Trump to win in 2016 (more exactly, on Clinton to lose, because if Trump wasn't going to win I thought he'd drop out) and then on him to lose in 2020. Haven't formed a view yet on 2024. I'm sure he's pleased that Biden has said he'll stand for re-election.
When you offer the electorate the same choice, they usually give the same answer. Johnson vs. Livingstone. Biden vs. Trump?
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
Boris Johnson was clearly prepared to put his principles to one side and campaign for Rishi in the red wall, so I am surprised that a way was not found for his honours list to make it through the process. It seems like an unnecessary own goal. I would say Rishi is getting too big for his boots, if that were not a physical impossibility.
So you think that even Boris-loving voters, are gonna be outraged because Mad Nad, etc. did NOT get their promised peerages? Really?
For every vote Sunak looses on THAT basis, likely to pick up two or more for refusing BoJo's dishounours list.
Won't save him or the Tories at next general election. But at least sign that he & they have stopped digging their hole deeper.
No, I don't think voters will care a jot, but I do think Boris being 'in the tent pissing out' is of value to the Sunak political project inasmuch as one believes Sunak actually wants to win an election (as opposed to prepare the way for Starmer and piss off to your neck of the woods).
The Sunak Government now looks in the most pisspoor shape it has been in. This is a Tory MP quote in the Express:
One senior Conservative MP, who received a call, said: "Colleagues are saying 'bring it on'. It is a kangaroo court and nobody will stop us speaking out.
"This proves to many of us that Downing Street was in collusion with the Privileges Committee to get Boris.
Funny how Sunak was given the job through constant bitchy briefings of 'senior MPs' against his predecessors and now it's happening to his Government - oh well.
Thanks for the quotes. Which to my fool mind, demonstrate to me that my instincts are correct.
The more the likes of them moan, squirm and wail against cruel fate, the better - not worse - it is for Sunak.
Well, we do see big choruses on PB agreeing with your verdict - the problem is that none of those who approve so much of Sunak sticking it to the Boris-brigade would ever consider voting Tory. The same is true of the UK as a whole. Sunak stacks up approval in Tory opponents and is a complete turn off as far as an actual election-winning coalition is concerned.
He's also (incidentally) a completely shit Prime Minister.
But he too is a lucky guy in following the two most shit PMs in British history!
This comprises the entire Civil Service, the tofu-eating wokerati, Rishi Sunak, Harriet Harman, Remainers, the Guardian, leftie lawyers, Keir Starmer, Leavers who don't really mean it, the EU, Dom Cummings and... Tom, Dick and Harry. But at least he has Nads and Nigel on his side.
A lovely moment toward the end of Friday’s Any Questions when the audience erupts in wild cheers as the news that the clown has resigned from parliament came through….
Plus Donald Trump sinks further into the mire. Not the worst political day, was it?
Being indicted is - so far - BOOSTING polling for Sage of Mar-a-Lardo aka former Security-Risk-in-Chief.
Yeah but with who?
With likely Republican primary voters.
Timothy Snyder was on R4 this morning saying Trump was getting a boost with those already likely to vote for him but the independents/non-aligned were still turned off. I hope he’s right.
I really fail to see how you could be neutral or hostile to Trump and then, looking at the last few days, suddenly think "actually, yeah, I like the cut of this guy's jib"
Trump's not all wrong. He's perhaps the most astute and brave observer of our age. An idiot though.
Quite how he can be the fool that he is and yet observe wisely in some things escapes me. The most likely confusion is that I have somehow misjudged him. Perhaps not a Chump. Ok, so moving on....
Trump's not a fool. Nor is he all wrong. What he is, is insane. That amount of "positive thinking" (see Norman Vincent Peale) can drive a person insane and there's a literature on it. In his case that's not the whole of the causation, though. Nor is he the most astute and brave observer of our age. I don't know how closely you've looked at him. If you haven't done so already, you might read up on how he rates "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" by Carl Gustav Jung, not omitting to consider the God-sent turd that Jung writes about in it near the beginning. His engaging in name-calling is (in his mind) Jung-inspired. Dunno about judging or misjudging, but there's a lot out there about this guy and how he thinks. I studied him in depth in 2016.
I bet on Trump to win in 2016 (more exactly, on Clinton to lose, because if Trump wasn't going to win I thought he'd drop out) and then on him to lose in 2020. Haven't formed a view yet on 2024. I'm sure he's pleased that Biden has said he'll stand for re-election.
When you offer the electorate the same choice, they usually give the same answer. Johnson vs. Livingstone. Biden vs. Trump?
US Presidential repeat matchups
1952 and 1956 - Eisenhower (R) versus Stevenson (D) = Ike won both times
1896 and 1900 - McKinley (R) versus Bryan (D) = McK won both times
1888 and 1892 - Benjamin Harrison (R) versus Grover Cleveland (D) = Harrison won '88, Cleveland won '92
1836 and 1840 - Martin Van Buren (D) versus William H. Harrison (W) = VB won '36, WHH won '40
1824 and 1828 - John Quincy Adams (NR) versus Andrew Jackson (D) = JQA won '24, Jackson won '28
1796 and 1800 - John Adams (F) versus Thomas Jefferson (DR) = Adams won '96, Jefferson won '00
NOTE that last split decisions were 1896 and 1900 . . . exactly one century after the FIRST split decisions.
Those pointing out Labour used to hold Selby, beware. They did, between 1997 and 2010. Marginally. But it wasn't this Selby. That Selby was Selby and a substantial bit of York. Including the University. This Selby and Ainsty is Selby and a collection of villages near Harrogate. Not the same thing at all. Bet accordingly.
Yeah, not a million miles from me, or the glittering metropolis of that Leeds, but very rural, farm-y, lots of big detached houses with mahoosive gardens and mahoosive Beamers and Rangies on the mahoosive drives. Be surprised if it goes anything but Tory.
It's not quite as you depict. There have been more than enough changes in demographics of the constituency to move it from the Conservatives to... any of the three parties with a bit of effort. It'sone of those areas that acts as a feeder to lots of larger economically important centres, eg. Leeds.
A lot of those living in places like Sherburn in Elmet or Tadcaster commute either to Leeds or to York. They're college and university educated and gravitate towards the Liberals more than Labour. There are still some areas which are dyed in the wool Tory - think around Tockwith, Kirk Hammerton or the parts skirting Harrogate and Knaresborough. It's the areas around Eggborough, Drax, Chapel Haddesley, North Duffield which could be interesting. Some of these areas commute to other areas (Doncaster, Hull, Sheffield).
There are plenty of local issues at play that have never really been addressed properly: flooding around Selby can be an issue, especially in places to the north such as Cawood or to the south (such as closer to Snaith). The proposal for a new village to be built off the A19 close to Escrick and Stillingfleet has not been received well: the area is a massive flood plain and putting extra pressure on an already overworked A19 from Selby to York is only asking for trouble.
Would I bet against the Conservatives? No. Then again, this is one I wouldn't bet on. There are far too many issues and variables that could influence the outcome.
Yes you’re right. I was making a sweeping generalisation. I have family in Sherburn, it’s precisely as you describe. Lots of new housing full of well paid, younger, professional types with young families and two nice SUVs on the drive.
But whether it’s enough to get the Cons out I don’t know. They’ll be angry at their mortgages and food and everything else rising, they’ll have grown up enjoying freedom of movement, they’ll be socially liberal. Starmer won’t scare them. Will they vote tactically?
It’s going to be interesting.
There are some constituencies I’ll bet on. No problem. Selby and Ainsty… I’m avoiding. Everything says that the Cons should win but I’m not so sure. Everything says Labour or the Lib Dem’s should take it, but…
I grew up in Sherburn. I know the constituency as it is today (esp. the villages like Hillam, etc) and as it was before the last rounds of mergers. It has always been a commuter constituency - my parents worked in York, Leeds and Sheffield. To be blunt, it’s a bugger of a constituency to pin down.
So many of the people I was at school with - in the 1980s and 1990s - went to uni, and thought they experienced the strikes and industrial action and voting Labour was entrenched with some families, they vote Tory. That being said, they’ve become socially liberal and enjoyed the benefits of Blair’s Labour government. Now they’re being hammered by interest rates, inflation and mortgage rates, the like of which haven’t been seen since their parents were clobbered in the 1980s.
This doesn’t apply just in Sherburn. It’s the same throughout the constituency, in places like Knottingley or Monk Fryston, Tockwith or Tadcaster. Genuinely can’t call this one. The commuter element and the younger demographic make this a tough one.
Yeah, I’m in Knottingley.
Think i’m a similar age to you, I’m 45. Know what you mean about our cohort growing up in Labour households, make a few quid and start voting Tory. Never got it myself, always seemed like a betrayal, of the communities they grew up in, that solidarity, for want of a better word, that still lingers on. But that’s just me.
Many I know never went to uni. Got good jobs in industry or whatever, even things like plastering, started making decent money and went Tory. And Brexit.
Many, not all but a lot, of people I know who went to uni left and never came back. I went and did come back.
I wouldn’t like to say how they’d vote now.
To paraphrase Adrian Mole, I’m 43 and ¾ so… yeah. Not too dissimilar. I don’t mind people making money and changing how they vote. People need to think for themselves and I’d sooner they grow up, move elsewhere, see a bit of the world and form their own ideas. That’s why Selby and Ainsty is difficult to call. They don’t think (or vote) the way that their parents or grandparents did.
Selby I think could be a Conservative hold, bigger Labour vote in 2019 than so Shropshire North and Mid Bedfordshire and smaller LD vote there so local Labour Party will likely fight it in a proper contest and not hand it to the LDs. Thus splitting the anti Conservative vote
Video of a guardsman after fainting. The band keeps playing and none of the people near him help. This country is fucking weird sick.
I think that would happen in any self-respecting military in the world. Military personnel can’t just stop what they’re doing (having been specifically ordered to do it) whatever the circumstances
Not when you're doing something of vital importance, maybe.
But they're playing trombones.
That’s not the way it works. Soldiers can’t judge for yourself themselves if a lawful order is of vital importance and prioritise accordingly. That’s what military discipline is all about. That’s true in all armies, at least the ones that function properly, not just the British one. I’m no soldier but being on parade, which is what they were doing, I understand has a role in promoting that discipline so military types may say it is of vital importance. Saying they’re not helping just because they’re from this specific country is plain wrong.
Most countries don't put people out in the hot sunshine wearing enormous fur hats though!
I find it hard to believe many countries do not have soldiers in inappropriate gear in hot weather.
That's not to say it may not be a problem, but it seems a poor case to do a 'woe is the UK' about.
Which ones? I remember seen Greek ones but that were furry bobbles on the toes... funny but not mad. I've tried googling a few other countries and I don't see much in the way of giant furry hats. It's insane. It's literally mad. We are a mad country.
You are an arse or the worst order.
A list of the other countries that use bearskin caps, including Canada, Sweden, Sri Lanka (notably chilly there) and Belgium, is at the below link -
You are the reason why the left in the U.K. gets nowhere. You think that insulting the country is the best way of winning votes.
I resent that.
Not the "arse" thing, that's fair game. No, it's the accusation that criticising this country is the province of the left. I'm a dyed in the bearskin wool liberal. Not left or right, centre. Centre liberal. With a penchant for needling at British shibboleths. If you want to use me as evidence that you shouldn't vote for left-wing parties good. I don't want you to vote for leftist parties.
And Doug. Mate. Cheer up. It's a lovely warm evening. Have a bear beer. But don't get dehydrated, eh lad?
There’s some bizarre Boris obsessed, Sycophantic MPs, who seem to be utterly blind to how this look to the GE. Johnson really isn’t worth going over the top for
It is blindingly obvious that Boris Johnson should never have been allowed to stand to be the leader of the Tory Party. It is a disgrace that Tory MPs voted for him in the first place.
They wanted to win the next election and thought he was their best shot. They were right about that.
That doesn't make it untrue that he was never fit to be PM, they seemed to agree up to that point (and his backers were worried they still did, hence whinging about potentially being excluded from the final two) and the rapid descent despite winning big shows they thought so again afterwards.
Video of a guardsman after fainting. The band keeps playing and none of the people near him help. This country is fucking weird sick.
I think that would happen in any self-respecting military in the world. Military personnel can’t just stop what they’re doing (having been specifically ordered to do it) whatever the circumstances
Not when you're doing something of vital importance, maybe.
But they're playing trombones.
That’s not the way it works. Soldiers can’t judge for yourself themselves if a lawful order is of vital importance and prioritise accordingly. That’s what military discipline is all about. That’s true in all armies, at least the ones that function properly, not just the British one. I’m no soldier but being on parade, which is what they were doing, I understand has a role in promoting that discipline so military types may say it is of vital importance. Saying they’re not helping just because they’re from this specific country is plain wrong.
Most countries don't put people out in the hot sunshine wearing enormous fur hats though!
I find it hard to believe many countries do not have soldiers in inappropriate gear in hot weather.
That's not to say it may not be a problem, but it seems a poor case to do a 'woe is the UK' about.
Which ones? I remember seen Greek ones but that were furry bobbles on the toes... funny but not mad. I've tried googling a few other countries and I don't see much in the way of giant furry hats. It's insane. It's literally mad. We are a mad country.
You are an arse or the worst order.
A list of the other countries that use bearskin caps, including Canada, Sweden, Sri Lanka (notably chilly there) and Belgium, is at the below link -
You are the reason why the left in the U.K. gets nowhere. You think that insulting the country is the best way of winning votes.
I resent that.
Not the "arse" thing, that's fair game. No, it's the accusation that criticising this country is the province of the left. I'm a dyed in the bearskin wool liberal. Not left or right, centre. Centre liberal. With a penchant for needling at British shibboleths. If you want to use me as evidence that you shouldn't vote for left-wing parties good. I don't want you to vote for leftist parties.
And Doug. Mate. Cheer up. It's a lovely warm evening. Have a bear beer. But don't get dehydrated, eh lad?
You are about as centrist as Corbyn
That might be true it might not, but it is still true that the right criticise the country as well. Rees-Mogg is a complete radicalist rather than a traditionalist for example, who wants to adopt an explicitly presidential PM system. Just one of many examples.
The ever moaning leftist strand of this sort of thing is true and annoying, but they are not alone.
A lovely moment toward the end of Friday’s Any Questions when the audience erupts in wild cheers as the news that the clown has resigned from parliament came through….
Plus Donald Trump sinks further into the mire. Not the worst political day, was it?
Being indicted is - so far - BOOSTING polling for Sage of Mar-a-Lardo aka former Security-Risk-in-Chief.
Yeah but with who?
With likely Republican primary voters.
Timothy Snyder was on R4 this morning saying Trump was getting a boost with those already likely to vote for him but the independents/non-aligned were still turned off. I hope he’s right.
I really fail to see how you could be neutral or hostile to Trump and then, looking at the last few days, suddenly think "actually, yeah, I like the cut of this guy's jib"
Trump's not all wrong. He's perhaps the most astute and brave observer of our age. An idiot though.
Quite how he can be the fool that he is and yet observe wisely in some things escapes me. The most likely confusion is that I have somehow misjudged him. Perhaps not a Chump. Ok, so moving on....
Trump's not a fool. Nor is he all wrong. What he is, is insane. That amount of "positive thinking" (see Norman Vincent Peale) can drive a person insane and there's a literature on it. In his case that's not the whole of the causation, though. Nor is he the most astute and brave observer of our age. I don't know how closely you've looked at him. If you haven't done so already, you might read up on how he rates "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" by Carl Gustav Jung, not omitting to consider the God-sent turd that Jung writes about in it near the beginning. His engaging in name-calling is (in his mind) Jung-inspired. Dunno about judging or misjudging, but there's a lot out there about this guy and how he thinks. I studied him in depth in 2016.
I bet on Trump to win in 2016 (more exactly, on Clinton to lose, because if Trump wasn't going to win I thought he'd drop out) and then on him to lose in 2020. Haven't formed a view yet on 2024. I'm sure he's pleased that Biden has said he'll stand for re-election.
When you offer the electorate the same choice, they usually give the same answer. Johnson vs. Livingstone. Biden vs. Trump?
US Presidential repeat matchups
1952 and 1956 - Eisenhower (R) versus Stevenson (D) = Ike won both times
1896 and 1900 - McKinley (R) versus Bryan (D) = McK won both times
1888 and 1892 - Benjamin Harrison (R) versus Grover Cleveland (D) = Harrison won '88, Cleveland won '92
1836 and 1840 - Martin Van Buren (D) versus William H. Harrison (W) = VB won '36, WHH won '40
1824 and 1828 - John Quincy Adams (NR) versus Andrew Jackson (D) = JQA won '24, Jackson won '28
1796 and 1800 - John Adams (F) versus Thomas Jefferson (DR) = Adams won '96, Jefferson won '00
NOTE that last split decisions were 1896 and 1900 . . . exactly one century after the FIRST split decisions.
Good old William H Harrison, the best President the USA has ever had.
Selby I think could be a Conservative hold, bigger Labour vote in 2019 than so Shropshire North and Mid Bedfordshire and smaller LD vote there so local Labour Party will likely fight it in a proper contest and not hand it to the LDs. Thus splitting the anti Conservative vote
I can’t see the LibDems making an effort in Selby and Ainsty. It’s not their demographic at all - Selby is quite working class and surprisingly run down for a market town with an abbey. I agree it’ll probably be a Conservative hold, but Labour have an outside chance.
Incidentally here’s the origin of the “Ainsty” bit:
This little rustic corner of Pennsylvania (near the Virginia border) is definitely Trump Country, FWIW
Lots of “don’t blame me I voted for Trump” placards outside houses. Even the odd Confederate flag
Slightly unexpected. In my simplistic British way I always presume Trump supporters are way inland and further south. America is such a patchwork
Rural Pennsylvania voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2020, as did rural areas more generally, only Philadelphia and its suburbs enabled Biden to win Pennsylvania overall. The divide is less North South than rural urban (like increasingly most of the West).
Trump won 57% of rural voters even in 2020, Biden won 60% of urban area voters and the suburbs were split 50% for Biden and 48% for Trump.
Video of a guardsman after fainting. The band keeps playing and none of the people near him help. This country is fucking weird sick.
I think that would happen in any self-respecting military in the world. Military personnel can’t just stop what they’re doing (having been specifically ordered to do it) whatever the circumstances
Not when you're doing something of vital importance, maybe.
But they're playing trombones.
That’s not the way it works. Soldiers can’t judge for yourself themselves if a lawful order is of vital importance and prioritise accordingly. That’s what military discipline is all about. That’s true in all armies, at least the ones that function properly, not just the British one. I’m no soldier but being on parade, which is what they were doing, I understand has a role in promoting that discipline so military types may say it is of vital importance. Saying they’re not helping just because they’re from this specific country is plain wrong.
Most countries don't put people out in the hot sunshine wearing enormous fur hats though!
I find it hard to believe many countries do not have soldiers in inappropriate gear in hot weather.
That's not to say it may not be a problem, but it seems a poor case to do a 'woe is the UK' about.
Which ones? I remember seen Greek ones but that were furry bobbles on the toes... funny but not mad. I've tried googling a few other countries and I don't see much in the way of giant furry hats. It's insane. It's literally mad. We are a mad country.
You are an arse or the worst order.
A list of the other countries that use bearskin caps, including Canada, Sweden, Sri Lanka (notably chilly there) and Belgium, is at the below link -
You are the reason why the left in the U.K. gets nowhere. You think that insulting the country is the best way of winning votes.
I resent that.
Not the "arse" thing, that's fair game. No, it's the accusation that criticising this country is the province of the left. I'm a dyed in the bearskin wool liberal. Not left or right, centre. Centre liberal. With a penchant for needling at British shibboleths. If you want to use me as evidence that you shouldn't vote for left-wing parties good. I don't want you to vote for leftist parties.
And Doug. Mate. Cheer up. It's a lovely warm evening. Have a bear beer. But don't get dehydrated, eh lad?
You are about as centrist as Corbyn
That might be true it might not, but it is still true that the right criticise the country as well. Rees-Mogg is a complete radicalist rather than a traditionalist for example, who wants to adopt an explicitly presidential PM system. Just one of many examples.
The ever moaning leftist strand of this sort of thing is true and annoying, but they are not alone.
What is the UK known for globally? The BBC. The Tories hate it. The NHS. Some of the Tories hate it. Our universities. The Tories hate them (except for the Oxford Union and Bullingdon Club). The monarchy. The Tories suspect the new King is too woke, and look what Truss did to the Queen.
I don't actually agree with the whole logic or reasoning, but I do think luckyguy is broadly correct in the conclusion that Sunak has no path to victory, since he does proportionally better with people who won't make a big difference to the result.
It’s all a plot to stop Brexit orchestrated by… Dominic Cummings 🤪
We’ve been Brexed brutally. It couldn’t have been much harder. And it is final.
Is he really going to stand on a ‘save Brexit’ platform?
A bit like Farage with his "Brexit has Failed".
All part of the "stab in the back" myth that Johnson wants to nurture in his wilderness years.
Brexit has failed - Farage stabbed the country, though not in the back. We fell for his bullshit.
Brexit is setting the stage well. We now have a good deal with the EU, CPTPP membership, and a US-UK FTA is on the cards. Our main problem is debt, worsened considerably by COVID, and brought into light by the mad Truss budget. In addition, the electorate need to use the tools Brexit has given them to end low skilled immigration.
It’s all a plot to stop Brexit orchestrated by… Dominic Cummings 🤪
We’ve been Brexed brutally. It couldn’t have been much harder. And it is final.
Is he really going to stand on a ‘save Brexit’ platform?
A bit like Farage with his "Brexit has Failed".
All part of the "stab in the back" myth that Johnson wants to nurture in his wilderness years.
Brexit has failed - Farage stabbed the country, though not in the back. We fell for his bullshit.
Brexit is setting the stage well. We now have a good deal with the EU, CPTPP membership, and a US-UK FTA is on the cards. Our main problem is debt, worsened considerably by COVID, and brought into light by the mad Truss budget. In addition, the electorate need to use the tools Brexit has given them to end low skilled immigration.
A lovely moment toward the end of Friday’s Any Questions when the audience erupts in wild cheers as the news that the clown has resigned from parliament came through….
Plus Donald Trump sinks further into the mire. Not the worst political day, was it?
Being indicted is - so far - BOOSTING polling for Sage of Mar-a-Lardo aka former Security-Risk-in-Chief.
Yeah but with who?
With likely Republican primary voters.
Timothy Snyder was on R4 this morning saying Trump was getting a boost with those already likely to vote for him but the independents/non-aligned were still turned off. I hope he’s right.
I really fail to see how you could be neutral or hostile to Trump and then, looking at the last few days, suddenly think "actually, yeah, I like the cut of this guy's jib"
Trump's not all wrong. He's perhaps the most astute and brave observer of our age. An idiot though.
Quite how he can be the fool that he is and yet observe wisely in some things escapes me. The most likely confusion is that I have somehow misjudged him. Perhaps not a Chump. Ok, so moving on....
Trump's not a fool. Nor is he all wrong. What he is, is insane. That amount of "positive thinking" (see Norman Vincent Peale) can drive a person insane and there's a literature on it. In his case that's not the whole of the causation, though. Nor is he the most astute and brave observer of our age. I don't know how closely you've looked at him. If you haven't done so already, you might read up on how he rates "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" by Carl Gustav Jung, not omitting to consider the God-sent turd that Jung writes about in it near the beginning. His engaging in name-calling is (in his mind) Jung-inspired. Dunno about judging or misjudging, but there's a lot out there about this guy and how he thinks. I studied him in depth in 2016.
I bet on Trump to win in 2016 (more exactly, on Clinton to lose, because if Trump wasn't going to win I thought he'd drop out) and then on him to lose in 2020. Haven't formed a view yet on 2024. I'm sure he's pleased that Biden has said he'll stand for re-election.
When you offer the electorate the same choice, they usually give the same answer. Johnson vs. Livingstone. Biden vs. Trump?
Trump has become even more self obsessed and ranting than he was before, and double downed on all his worst behaviours. It has not hurt him with his base one bit, so we can but hope that a) Independents are sick to death of it b) the economy is doing well enough people don't think Biden is not the answer c) the response to a) is greater than the worry about Biden's apparent frailties.
Video of a guardsman after fainting. The band keeps playing and none of the people near him help. This country is fucking weird sick.
I think that would happen in any self-respecting military in the world. Military personnel can’t just stop what they’re doing (having been specifically ordered to do it) whatever the circumstances
Not when you're doing something of vital importance, maybe.
But they're playing trombones.
That’s not the way it works. Soldiers can’t judge for yourself themselves if a lawful order is of vital importance and prioritise accordingly. That’s what military discipline is all about. That’s true in all armies, at least the ones that function properly, not just the British one. I’m no soldier but being on parade, which is what they were doing, I understand has a role in promoting that discipline so military types may say it is of vital importance. Saying they’re not helping just because they’re from this specific country is plain wrong.
Most countries don't put people out in the hot sunshine wearing enormous fur hats though!
I find it hard to believe many countries do not have soldiers in inappropriate gear in hot weather.
That's not to say it may not be a problem, but it seems a poor case to do a 'woe is the UK' about.
Which ones? I remember seen Greek ones but that were furry bobbles on the toes... funny but not mad. I've tried googling a few other countries and I don't see much in the way of giant furry hats. It's insane. It's literally mad. We are a mad country.
You are an arse or the worst order.
A list of the other countries that use bearskin caps, including Canada, Sweden, Sri Lanka (notably chilly there) and Belgium, is at the below link -
You are the reason why the left in the U.K. gets nowhere. You think that insulting the country is the best way of winning votes.
I resent that.
Not the "arse" thing, that's fair game. No, it's the accusation that criticising this country is the province of the left. I'm a dyed in the bearskin wool liberal. Not left or right, centre. Centre liberal. With a penchant for needling at British shibboleths. If you want to use me as evidence that you shouldn't vote for left-wing parties good. I don't want you to vote for leftist parties.
And Doug. Mate. Cheer up. It's a lovely warm evening. Have a bear beer. But don't get dehydrated, eh lad?
You are about as centrist as Corbyn
That's what it must look like from you, because you're a Falangist
Comments
https://youtu.be/r3BO6GP9NMY
HA!! HA!! HA!!
I grew up in Sherburn. I know the constituency as it is today (esp. the villages like Hillam, etc) and as it was before the last rounds of mergers. It has always been a commuter constituency - my parents worked in York, Leeds and Sheffield. To be blunt, it’s a bugger of a constituency to pin down.
So many of the people I was at school with - in the 1980s and 1990s - went to uni, and thought they experienced the strikes and industrial action and voting Labour was entrenched with some families, they vote Tory. That being said, they’ve become socially liberal and enjoyed the benefits of Blair’s Labour government. Now they’re being hammered by interest rates, inflation and mortgage rates, the like of which haven’t been seen since their parents were clobbered in the 1980s.
This doesn’t apply just in Sherburn. It’s the same throughout the constituency, in places like Knottingley or Monk Fryston, Tockwith or Tadcaster. Genuinely can’t call this one. The commuter element and the younger demographic make this a tough one.
Also visa versa.
For every vote Sunak looses on THAT basis, likely to pick up two or more for refusing BoJo's dishounours list.
Won't save him or the Tories at next general election. But at least sign that he & they have stopped digging their hole deeper.
I bet Sunak can’t believe his luck.
Trump’s lawyer Christina Bobb says she’s not worried about the indictment because the Special Counsel doesn’t understand how the Presidential Records Act works.
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1667350286669606915
Mentored by Rudy G ?
Dorries and Adams would have been certain Johnson votes - he's now lost them!
Some may say it's only two votes so who cares - but if others resign / don't stand at next GE then it would be significant in any future leadership election. Truss only just edged Mordaunt in the final MPs ballot - every vote counts.
This is yet another reason, of course, why Boris will not become leader again.
In that case, he has an invisible garden bridge to sell you.
Oh this is excellent from @ShippersUnbound’s read:
It’s all a plot to stop Brexit orchestrated by… Dominic Cummings 🤪
Think i’m a similar age to you, I’m 45. Know what you mean about our cohort growing up in Labour households, make a few quid and start voting Tory. Never got it myself, always seemed like a betrayal, of the communities they grew up in, that solidarity, for want of a better word, that still lingers on. But that’s just me.
Many I know never went to uni. Got good jobs in industry or whatever, even things like plastering, started making decent money and went Tory. And Brexit.
Many, not all but a lot, of people I know who went to uni left and never came back. I went and did come back.
I wouldn’t like to say how they’d vote now.
Though perhaps not in the manner he intended.
He’s really not very bright, is he ?
Shorn of his ability to charm, there’s not much left.
Falling Water is a wonderful piece of architecture but a shoddilly constructed building.
Which is a pity
MPs tell Rishi Sunak that the former PM must not be allowed to stand again, while Johnson ally Nigel Adams quits and triggers third byelection
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jun/10/furious-tories-boris-johnson-bias-outburst-rishi-sunak-nigel-adams-byelection
Yes, in the next few months it will be choppy but once the rumoured unanimous report from the privilidges committee drops next week the media scrum will be coriscating about Johnson and it will be an opportunity for Sunak to move forward without the malign Johnson in the HOC
Even if a few more Johnson sycophants resign I am very pleased and good riddance to them
The Sunak Government now looks in the most pisspoor shape it has been in. This is a Tory MP quote in the Express:
One senior Conservative MP, who received a call, said: "Colleagues are saying 'bring it on'. It is a kangaroo court and nobody will stop us speaking out.
"This proves to many of us that Downing Street was in collusion with the Privileges Committee to get Boris.
"Many colleagues have had enough of this rabble running the party and their pathetic threats won't scare anyone."
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1779476/boris-johnson-warning-sunak-kangaroo-court
Funny how Sunak was given the job through constant bitchy briefings of 'senior MPs' against his predecessors and now it's happening to his Government - oh well.
One MP, quoted in the Express, is possibly a fair percentage of the total.
Is he really going to stand on a ‘save Brexit’ platform?
The more the likes of them moan, squirm and wail against cruel fate, the better - not worse - it is for Sunak.
Mid BEDS
As if Cummings would ever do something intelligent and sensible, while not showing everyone what he was doing and finding six extraordinary ways to cock it all up.
This comprises the entire Civil Service, the tofu-eating wokerati, Rishi Sunak, Harriet Harman, Remainers, the Guardian, leftie lawyers, Keir Starmer, Leavers who don't really mean it, the EU, Dom Cummings and... Tom, Dick and Harry.
But at least he has Nads and Nigel on his side.
https://www.npr.org/2023/06/08/1181002182/supreme-court-voting-rights
Also experiencing quite a thunder storm and I have a delighted good lady as the garden is getting a drenching
.
Labour lead takes a stumble to 12 points.
Con: 29% (+1)
Lab: 41% (-2)
Lib Dem: 11% (+1)
SNP: 3% (n/c)
Plaid Cymru: 1% (n/c)
Green: 7% (n/c)
Reform UK: 6% (n/c)
Other: 2% (-1)
https://twitter.com/OpiniumResearch/status/1667607597283782657
No idea why no English team has ever copied it.
46% disapprove, while 26% approve – leaving a net approval of -20%.
https://twitter.com/OpiniumResearch/status/1667607603621265409
The contractors inserted a load of extra reinforcing steel into the cantilevered terraces to make them stay up, without telling FLW.
It was discovered when remedial work was done later.
All part of the "stab in the back" myth that Johnson wants to nurture in his wilderness years.
He's also (incidentally) a completely shit Prime Minister.
NEW: A detail from the honours list saga worth noting.
I’m told a relatively recent draft included a damehood for... Boris’s landlady Carole Bamford.
He stayed in her property for free after leaving No10.
She wasn’t on the final list. Johnson spox says can’t comment on honours
Hmmm
“Vegan venison eating wokerati” surely?
1952 and 1956 - Eisenhower (R) versus Stevenson (D) = Ike won both times
1896 and 1900 - McKinley (R) versus Bryan (D) = McK won both times
1888 and 1892 - Benjamin Harrison (R) versus Grover Cleveland (D) = Harrison won '88, Cleveland won '92
1836 and 1840 - Martin Van Buren (D) versus William H. Harrison (W) = VB won '36, WHH won '40
1824 and 1828 - John Quincy Adams (NR) versus Andrew Jackson (D) = JQA won '24, Jackson won '28
1796 and 1800 - John Adams (F) versus Thomas Jefferson (DR) = Adams won '96, Jefferson won '00
NOTE that last split decisions were 1896 and 1900 . . . exactly one century after the FIRST split decisions.
https://twitter.com/OpiniumResearch/status/1667607603621265409?s=20
We fell for his bullshit.
That doesn't make it untrue that he was never fit to be PM, they seemed to agree up to that point (and his backers were worried they still did, hence whinging about potentially being excluded from the final two) and the rapid descent despite winning big shows they thought so again afterwards.
The ever moaning leftist strand of this sort of thing is true and annoying, but they are not alone.
Incidentally here’s the origin of the “Ainsty” bit:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainsty
Trump won 57% of rural voters even in 2020, Biden won 60% of urban area voters and the suburbs were split 50% for Biden and 48% for Trump.
The South was only 53% for Trump however and 46% for Biden and even in the NorthEast Biden's 58% was less than his 60% in urban areas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election#Voter_demographics