Will eating kangaroo’s bunghole improve Nigel Farage’s ratings? – politicalbetting.com
As 'I'm a Celebrity…' gets underway, Britons are twice as likely to view Nigel Farage unfavourably than favourablyhttps://t.co/X3xVglddS7 pic.twitter.com/4f96mm4Ix5
WILL EATING A KANGAROO’S BUNGHOLE IMPROVE NIGEL FARAGE’S RATINGS?
Well certainly his credit rating with that £1.5 million in the bank....whoever negotiated that deal should have negotiated Brexit as they got an amazing deal for Nige.
As I said yesterday, I don't see him doing anything other than well. He is by all accounts quite good company (though apparently not easy to work for), and certainly a good communicator. The apparently low opinion the public has of him is a good starting point. I don't think the producers will be able to demonise him, because people will know - people are getting really uppity about any perceived favouritism (or unfavouritism) shown to contestants on these things.
As I said yesterday, I don't see him doing anything other than well. He is by all accounts quite good company (though apparently not easy to work for), and certainly a good communicator. The apparently low opinion the public has of him is a good starting point. I don't think the producers will be able to demonise him, because people will know - people are getting really uppity about any perceived favouritism (or unfavouritism) shown to contestants on these things.
I agree. Politicians generally have done very well, against expectations. They expect to be picked for trials and are not going to fail to do well no matter how much they might hate it. Nigel Farage (whose politics I dislike) I respect as someone who should not be underestimated. I expect him to thrive.
I don't expect the producers to try and demonise him. They haven't with others who have been hate figures. Obviously Ant and Dec will tell jokes at his expense.
As I said yesterday, I don't see him doing anything other than well. He is by all accounts quite good company (though apparently not easy to work for), and certainly a good communicator. The apparently low opinion the public has of him is a good starting point. I don't think the producers will be able to demonise him, because people will know - people are getting really uppity about any perceived favouritism (or unfavouritism) shown to contestants on these things.
The track record of politicians on reality TV is a patchy one. For one or two it really is an opportunity to redeem themselves in the eyes of the public, For others it's the final nail in the coffin, and for most there seems to be pretty much no net effect on opinion. I'd say in most cases the viewing public are able to distinguish between how they feel about someone as a contestant on a show and what they think of them as a politician.
Ed Balls on Strictly seems to have achieved the sought after turnaround in public opinion.
Hancock on celebrity who dares wins has by all accounts further buried his reputation.
Galloway in celeb big brother, Widdecombe on Strictly and Nadine on I'm a celeb seem to have left with their reputations unchanged from when they went in.
I would guess Farage will come across as fairly avuncular in the Clarkson mould, possibly annoying at times but generally inoffensive, but that will have little or no impact on his ratings as a politician.
Why would Hamas give up 50 hostages for just a few days truce? To sneak all their fighters that aren't cannon fodder out of harms way I guess. But then Israel doesn't complete their objective of wiping out Hamas.
WILL EATING A KANGAROO’S BUNGHOLE IMPROVE NIGEL FARAGE’S RATINGS?
Well certainly his credit rating with that £1.5 million in the bank....whoever negotiated that deal should have negotiated Brexit as they got an amazing deal for Nige.
I have heard that the trawl of internal communications at Coutts on the matter did not proceed to the banks advantage.
I think this demonstrates that Farage still wants a 'political' career in some shape or form, but realizes that his connection with Brexit is now much more of a hindrance. So, like his hero Trump before him, he's opted to become a reality-TV clown to ingratiate himself with the masses. A somewhat tragic approach from several angles.
I think this demonstrates that Farage still wants a 'political' career in some shape or form, but realizes that his connection with Brexit is now much more of a hindrance. So, like his hero Trump before him, he's opted to become a reality-TV clown to ingratiate himself with the masses. A somewhat tragic approach from several angles.
He’s being paid £1.5M. I think it’s as simple as that.
I think this demonstrates that Farage still wants a 'political' career in some shape or form, but realizes that his connection with Brexit is now much more of a hindrance. So, like his hero Trump before him, he's opted to become a reality-TV clown to ingratiate himself with the masses. A somewhat tragic approach from several angles.
He’s being paid £1.5M. I think it’s as simple as that.
How many of us on PB would turn down 1.5 million for a few weeks in the jungle with some very minor celebs? I'd pay for my own flights out and back!
As I said yesterday, I don't see him doing anything other than well. He is by all accounts quite good company (though apparently not easy to work for), and certainly a good communicator. The apparently low opinion the public has of him is a good starting point. I don't think the producers will be able to demonise him, because people will know - people are getting really uppity about any perceived favouritism (or unfavouritism) shown to contestants on these things.
The track record of politicians on reality TV is a patchy one. For one or two it really is an opportunity to redeem themselves in the eyes of the public, For others it's the final nail in the coffin, and for most there seems to be pretty much no net effect on opinion. I'd say in most cases the viewing public are able to distinguish between how they feel about someone as a contestant on a show and what they think of them as a politician.
Ed Balls on Strictly seems to have achieved the sought after turnaround in public opinion.
Hancock on celebrity who dares wins has by all accounts further buried his reputation.
Galloway in celeb big brother, Widdecombe on Strictly and Nadine on I'm a celeb seem to have left with their reputations unchanged from when they went in.
I would guess Farage will come across as fairly avuncular in the Clarkson mould, possibly annoying at times but generally inoffensive, but that will have little or no impact on his ratings as a politician.
Hancock is a prize idiot with his foot firmly in his gob at all times. Farage isn't that.
The difference between politics, media, and light entertainment is smaller in Britain than the two other democracies I’m very familiar with. Yes, than even the US.
There’s something deeply decadent in British culture.
I think this demonstrates that Farage still wants a 'political' career in some shape or form, but realizes that his connection with Brexit is now much more of a hindrance. So, like his hero Trump before him, he's opted to become a reality-TV clown to ingratiate himself with the masses. A somewhat tragic approach from several angles.
He’s being paid £1.5M. I think it’s as simple as that.
How many of us on PB would turn down 1.5 million for a few weeks in the jungle with some very minor celebs? I'd pay for my own flights out and back!
It would be life changing money for most of us. Yes, I’d certainly do it, for my family.
The difference between politics, media, and light entertainment is smaller in Britain than the two other democracies I’m very familiar with. Yes, than even the US.
There’s something deeply decadent in British culture.
I’ve long said similar, but people on here wouldn’t have it
As I said yesterday, I don't see him doing anything other than well. He is by all accounts quite good company (though apparently not easy to work for), and certainly a good communicator. The apparently low opinion the public has of him is a good starting point. I don't think the producers will be able to demonise him, because people will know - people are getting really uppity about any perceived favouritism (or unfavouritism) shown to contestants on these things.
I agree. Politicians generally have done very well, against expectations. They expect to be picked for trials and are not going to fail to do well no matter how much they might hate it. Nigel Farage (whose politics I dislike) I respect as someone who should not be underestimated. I expect him to thrive.
I don't expect the producers to try and demonise him. They haven't with others who have been hate figures. Obviously Ant and Dec will tell jokes at his expense.
The difference between politics, media, and light entertainment is smaller in Britain than the two other democracies I’m very familiar with. Yes, than even the US.
There’s something deeply decadent in British culture.
Would Trump have become US President without hosting The Apprentice?
FPT: (My apologies, but the 8 hour time difference does make it harder to comment, before there is a new post.) Yes, on Nikki Haley's chances, though the odds are still against her. One in ten seems about right to me, now.
As you can see, the plague is most common in the rural West, so blacks would now be under-represented, because most live elsewhere. (If you visit any of those parts of the US and see a sick rodent, don't go near it.)
The difference between politics, media, and light entertainment is smaller in Britain than the two other democracies I’m very familiar with. Yes, than even the US.
There’s something deeply decadent in British culture.
Would Trump have become US President without hosting The Apprentice?
Even Zelensky got noticed first as a TV comedian
There probably is a relationship between Zelensky’s charisma and the amount of support from the public for Ukraine
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
The difference between politics, media, and light entertainment is smaller in Britain than the two other democracies I’m very familiar with. Yes, than even the US.
There’s something deeply decadent in British culture.
Would Trump have become US President without hosting The Apprentice?
Even Zelensky got noticed first as a TV comedian
Trump, Arnie and Ronald Reagan say howdy. We have Boris, of course, from HIGNFY. Our version of the Apprentice produced two peers but that is not quite the same thing as each only needed one man in Downing Street to be starstruck.
The difference between politics, media, and light entertainment is smaller in Britain than the two other democracies I’m very familiar with. Yes, than even the US.
There’s something deeply decadent in British culture.
Would Trump have become US President without hosting The Apprentice?
Even Zelensky got noticed first as a TV comedian
Trump, Arnie and Ronald Reagan say howdy. We have Boris, of course, from HIGNFY. Our version of the Apprentice produced two peers but that is not quite the same thing as it only needed one man in Downing Street to be starstruck.
And, of course, Pope Francis first came to prominence on series 3 of Big Brother.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
The difference between politics, media, and light entertainment is smaller in Britain than the two other democracies I’m very familiar with. Yes, than even the US.
There’s something deeply decadent in British culture.
Would Trump have become US President without hosting The Apprentice?
Even Zelensky got noticed first as a TV comedian
Trump, Arnie and Ronald Reagan say howdy. We have Boris, of course, from HIGNFY. Our version of the Apprentice produced two peers but that is not quite the same thing as it only needed one man in Downing Street to be starstruck.
And, of course, Pope Francis first came to prominence on series 3 of Big Brother.
You're getting his Holiness mixed up with Penny Mordaunt, and it was Splash! not Big Brother.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
I'm proud to admit I've never knowingly watched any reality competition thingy. I'm a sleb, Strictly, BIg Brother, the SAS shite, not one of them. I've caught the odd bit on a night shift at work, but only whilst comatose in a comfy chair during nightshift standdown. From what I can gather, they're hardly A Listers are they? Some lad called Bobby Brazier keeps popping up in my news feed as Strictly is current. Upon Googling him, he's the kid of some dead Z Lister. Really, what's the point?
From previous thread on Women with Black African ancestry dying of black death. The lead academic on this has shall we say form on some rather iffy previous claims all around diversity e.g. how diverse the Romans were. And it is always based upon tiny sample sizes of skull measures, which are well iffy to say the least (and I think Leon pointed out in many contexts thought to be outright racist).
The lady of beachy head was identified by such a manner and only after actually doing DNA testing was it found to be nonsense.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
The minimum wage is to increase by more than a pound to £11.44 per hour from April next year. The minimum wage, known officially as the National Living Wage, is currently £10.42 an hour for workers over 23. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided the rate will also apply to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time.
An example of imo someone taking the anti-Trump claims too far.
This one - a son and father played a round of golf at a Trump Club in 2015, and got drunk in the clubhouse. Son then drove home drunk, lost control of car, killed father in the crash. Son charged with various things including vehicular homicide, reckless driving, driving while intoxicated, and displaying a fictitious inspection sticker.
Trump's club fined $400k under "responsible vendor" laws. Son fined $1000 plus 3 years on probation.
The minimum wage is to increase by more than a pound to £11.44 per hour from April next year. The minimum wage, known officially as the National Living Wage, is currently £10.42 an hour for workers over 23. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided the rate will also apply to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time.
What's the point of the Autumn Statement if it has all been leaked?
The minimum wage is to increase by more than a pound to £11.44 per hour from April next year. The minimum wage, known officially as the National Living Wage, is currently £10.42 an hour for workers over 23. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided the rate will also apply to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time.
What's the point of the Autumn Statement if it has all been leaked?
I can’t decide whether they have lost control of this or are doing it deliberately and there’s still a “rabbit” to come.
The instant IC was mentioned anywhere I assumed a basic rate cut, with a flourish, at the end.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
The minimum wage is to increase by more than a pound to £11.44 per hour from April next year. The minimum wage, known officially as the National Living Wage, is currently £10.42 an hour for workers over 23. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided the rate will also apply to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time.
What's the point of the Autumn Statement if it has all been leaked?
It's bloody annoying. Makes predictions and commentary very difficult, unless you're a client journalist at the Telegraph.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
On topic, it's very likely that Farage's ratings will improve.
Donald Trump pretty much launched his Presidential bid from pretending to be a red-hot entrepreneur rather than a narcissitic Daddy's Boy on the Apprentice after all. All publicity is good publicity these days it seems.
The difference between politics, media, and light entertainment is smaller in Britain than the two other democracies I’m very familiar with. Yes, than even the US.
There’s something deeply decadent in British culture.
Would Trump have become US President without hosting The Apprentice?
Even Zelensky got noticed first as a TV comedian
Trump, Arnie and Ronald Reagan say howdy. We have Boris, of course, from HIGNFY. Our version of the Apprentice produced two peers but that is not quite the same thing as each only needed one man in Downing Street to be starstruck.
Those are qualitatively different though. Being a TV celebrity (on reality TV or otherwise) before becoming a national politician obviously helps with profile. Going on TV once already a mainstream politician is a different kettle of fish.
Very good piece by Col Richard Kemp in the Torygraph (is it still called that?)
Why is there such disbelief about Hamas using hospitals for military purposes? The only bit I would dispute is the claim that the IDF 'has been exclusively targeting terrorists.' Don't know that there is sufficient evidence to say that with certainty.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
Can someone ask the Guardian whether we want open competition based on a clear spec or not? I have separately read in that paper that one of the ills of recent NHS procurement was not doing that.
More scare stories from the anti-business medical professional fawning Grauniad. I have less fears about data in the NHS than I do about almost everything else about this dinosaur institution that every politician seems terrified to reform.
The minimum wage is to increase by more than a pound to £11.44 per hour from April next year. The minimum wage, known officially as the National Living Wage, is currently £10.42 an hour for workers over 23. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided the rate will also apply to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time.
What's the point of the Autumn Statement if it has all been leaked?
It's bloody annoying. Makes predictions and commentary very difficult, unless you're a client journalist at the Telegraph.
WILL EATING A KANGAROO’S BUNGHOLE IMPROVE NIGEL FARAGE’S RATINGS?
Well certainly his credit rating with that £1.5 million in the bank....whoever negotiated that deal should have negotiated Brexit as they got an amazing deal for Nige.
The minimum wage is to increase by more than a pound to £11.44 per hour from April next year. The minimum wage, known officially as the National Living Wage, is currently £10.42 an hour for workers over 23. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided the rate will also apply to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time.
Good of him to be so generous with other peoples' money.
Very good piece by Col Richard Kemp in the Torygraph (is it still called that?)
Why is there such disbelief about Hamas using hospitals for military purposes? The only bit I would dispute is the claim that the IDF 'has been exclusively targeting terrorists.' Don't know that there is sufficient evidence to say that with certainty.
Farage is no svengali who has gamed this out in 3D chess: he's a man who has been offered £1.5m for a month's work. That is a pretty attractive offer.
How he performs is an open question. Nadine crashed out after a week, and she is pretty personable.
On the other hand... That £1.5m means the producers won't want him to disappear too early. My guess: week 3.
How much? If the producers are reading, I am available.
Seriously though - Nadine personable?
I met her about a decade ago, outside a restaraunt. She offered to look after my two year old son, while I took my five year old daughter to the bathroom. While I turned her down, it was a very nice - spontaneous - gesture that means I gave always thought well of her personally.
On topic, it's very likely that Farage's ratings will improve.
Donald Trump pretty much launched his Presidential bid from pretending to be a red-hot entrepreneur rather than a narcissitic Daddy's Boy on the Apprentice after all. All publicity is good publicity these days it seems.
It isn't all good publicity. Matt Hancock probably saw the opposite effect (from a low base) on I'm a Celeb, as did Lembit Opik on Big Brother.
With Nadine Dorries on I'm a Celeb and George Galloway on Big Brother, it didn't necessarily impede their future careers (Dorries went on to join the Cabinet and Galloway appeared a few years before his by-election win in Bradford) but I'm not convinced that was because of, rather than despite, those appearances.
It probably did help Penny Mordaunt on Splash, and Ed Balls on Strictly (he's not returned to the political frontline but he's pretty clearly more positively thought of now than a decade ago).
From previous thread on Women with Black African ancestry dying of black death. The lead academic on this has shall we say form on some rather iffy previous claims all around diversity e.g. how diverse the Romans were. And it is always based upon tiny sample sizes of skull measures, which are well iffy to say the least (and I think Leon pointed out in many contexts thought to be outright racist).
The lady of beachy head was identified by such a manner and only after actually doing DNA testing was it found to be nonsense.
I am very happy in a free society for people to go off and fund and publish research etc into whatever they want, and we can then all have an argument about their method and sample and whether it’s all just a load of rubbish. The thing I resent is when media outlets repeat findings without any kind of critical assessment.
The study in question got the prominence it did on our national broadcaster (IMHO) because it either appealed to the BBC’s sensibilities OR they considered it to be great clickbait. Neither is a particularly great reflection on them.
I'm proud to admit I've never knowingly watched any reality competition thingy. I'm a sleb, Strictly, BIg Brother, the SAS shite, not one of them. I've caught the odd bit on a night shift at work, but only whilst comatose in a comfy chair during nightshift standdown. From what I can gather, they're hardly A Listers are they? Some lad called Bobby Brazier keeps popping up in my news feed as Strictly is current. Upon Googling him, he's the kid of some dead Z Lister. Really, what's the point?
Maybe they should rename the show "I'm Not a Celebrity - Get Me In There"
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
Wasn’t an octopus used to predict football matches?
If you have an octopus in your football team, make sure they get to the ground good and early. It takes them four times as long to put their boots on, compared to the rest of the players.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
Wasn’t an octopus used to predict football matches?
If you have an octopus in your football team, make sure they get to the ground good and early. It takes them four times as long to put their boots on, compared to the rest of the players.
An example of imo someone taking the anti-Trump claims too far.
This one - a son and father played a round of golf at a Trump Club in 2015, and got drunk in the clubhouse. Son then drove home drunk, lost control of car, killed father in the crash. Son charged with various things including vehicular homicide, reckless driving, driving while intoxicated, and displaying a fictitious inspection sticker.
Trump's club fined $400k under "responsible vendor" laws. Son fined $1000 plus 3 years on probation.
That's a rather old bit of news, and the club accepted the rap (in preference to risking its licence). I'm not sure this is an example of people targeting Trump personally (as nobody can seriously say he was personally serving the drinks). It's just that some states have quite strict liquor licensing laws and sometimes licensees get fined for breaches. Remember that prohibition is relatively recent history (in the bigger scheme of things) and many states are rather more robust on licensing, for better or worse, than in UK/Europe.
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
Even worse to be expressing anti-Semitism in March, before the current conflict in Gaza
I have informed my children that their favourite bath toy has now been cancelled
You're cancelled as well for buying it for them.
And Ringo Starr is in big trouble - a whole Garden of Octopuses.
Nah, I'm in the clear. The grandparents are in hot water though (unlike the octopus, now ) for making the apparently innocent gift one Christmas. They also have a house with white walls, a black front door, red(ish) roof and green lawn. The evidence is clear.
We could do with seeing some polling for seats that are harder to reach for Labour. The Red Wall is gone already. The blue wall was always much more strongly Tory but that's a mixed battleground with Labour and LD in the mix.
I'd love to see polling of:
- The 2015 and 2017 Tory conquests in the North and Midlands, as Alastair suggests (the red inner wall?) - The pre-2015 Lib Dem heartland of the rural Southwest (the hedgerow) - The urban edgelands (call it the dry ski slope or garden fence or something) taking in the likes of Uxbridge, Bromley, Chingford, Solihull, Tamworth etc.
It’s true that the US has a well-trodden route from celebrity into politics. Reagan, of course, although he had something like thirty years of Republican activism under his belt.
I think there’s something substantively different in the UK, and it comes from the exceedingly close connections between politics and the media, and in turn the debauchment of the media itself by reality tv formats.
With the very notable exception of Trump, most US politicians would consider it beneath their dignity to appear on the “Golden Bachelor” or whatever the latest format is.
In the UK, it’s increasingly normalised, and you have the slightly less harmful podcaster version where “old chums” like Ed Balls and George Osborne create content in the hope of making it big.
On one hand, it’s part of a “gaiety of the nation” thread in the national culture which seems to be such a prominent part of modern British life. On the other hand, it’s kind of an undercutting of the idea of public service itself.
Was Boris really a politician, or just a media personality in desire of a larger platform? I think the answer is the latter, and there are more and more like him in British public life?
About twenty years ago I was apparently being considered as someone who could go to Bangalore and contribute to the advice team who were looking at the proposed integrated NHS system. Didn’t happen, which was a shame. I’d have enjoyed a few months a year there, for a few years.
Spot the difference with the part of the Labour Party south of the border (and it's not a matter of today; Mr Sarwar was taking a different route some days back):
'The Scottish Parliament has backed a Government motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, as well as condemning the “barbaric and unjustifiable” Hamas attacks of October 7 and demanding the release of all hostages taken.
A Labour amendment calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate the conduct of all parties in the conflict was also accepted by the Government.
A Conservative amendment calling for humanitarian pauses instead of an immediate ceasefire was voted down.'
University Challenge viewers criticise ‘anti-Semitic’ blue octopus mascot as show is hit by backlash ... ... A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
Wasn’t an octopus used to predict football matches?
If you have an octopus in your football team, make sure they get to the ground good and early. It takes them four times as long to put their boots on, compared to the rest of the players.
Logic fail. Seven times as many 'hands' to get the first one on, six the second ... not sure how it works out for n=8, , though!
Spot the difference with the part of the Labour Party south of the border (and it's not a matter of today; Mr Sarwar was taking a different route some days back):
'The Scottish Parliament has backed a Government motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, as well as condemning the “barbaric and unjustifiable” Hamas attacks of October 7 and demanding the release of all hostages taken.
A Labour amendment calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate the conduct of all parties in the conflict was also accepted by the Government.
A Conservative amendment calling for humanitarian pauses instead of an immediate ceasefire was voted down.'
But is a ceasefire really a solution? Hamas remains committed to destroying Israel - with Iranian support. Too many of the 'ceasefire' brigade seem to think there can be a pause in hostilities and then everyone goes home again.
We could do with seeing some polling for seats that are harder to reach for Labour. The Red Wall is gone already. The blue wall was always much more strongly Tory but that's a mixed battleground with Labour and LD in the mix.
I'd love to see polling of:
- The 2015 and 2017 Tory conquests in the North and Midlands, as Alastair suggests (the red inner wall?) - The pre-2015 Lib Dem heartland of the rural Southwest (the hedgerow) - The urban edgelands (call it the dry ski slope or garden fence or something) taking in the likes of Uxbridge, Bromley, Chingford, Solihull, Tamworth etc.
Linked to that, where is the frontline in the electoral battleground anyway? Trickier question for the Conservatives- it they throw seats 275-325 to the wolves, it's conceding defeat. But if they don't, they have fewer resources for the seats where they still have a chance.
The minimum wage is to increase by more than a pound to £11.44 per hour from April next year. The minimum wage, known officially as the National Living Wage, is currently £10.42 an hour for workers over 23. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided the rate will also apply to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time.
Good of him to be so generous with other peoples' money.
You would prefer tax payer's money being used to subsidise the wage bills of private companies?
Spot the difference with the part of the Labour Party south of the border (and it's not a matter of today; Mr Sarwar was taking a different route some days back):
'The Scottish Parliament has backed a Government motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, as well as condemning the “barbaric and unjustifiable” Hamas attacks of October 7 and demanding the release of all hostages taken.
A Labour amendment calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate the conduct of all parties in the conflict was also accepted by the Government.
A Conservative amendment calling for humanitarian pauses instead of an immediate ceasefire was voted down.'
But is a ceasefire really a solution? Hamas remains committed to destroying Israel - with Iranian support. Too many of the 'ceasefire' brigade seem to think there can be a pause in hostilities and then everyone goes home again.
The government of Israel is discussing it right now, so we shall soon find out.
It’s true that the US has a well-trodden route from celebrity into politics. Reagan, of course, although he had something like thirty years of Republican activism under his belt.
I think there’s something substantively different in the UK, and it comes from the exceedingly close connections between politics and the media, and in turn the debauchment of the media itself by reality tv formats.
With the very notable exception of Trump, most US politicians would consider it beneath their dignity to appear on the “Golden Bachelor” or whatever the latest format is.
In the UK, it’s increasingly normalised, and you have the slightly less harmful podcaster version where “old chums” like Ed Balls and George Osborne create content in the hope of making it big.
On one hand, it’s part of a “gaiety of the nation” thread in the national culture which seems to be such a prominent part of modern British life. On the other hand, it’s kind of an undercutting of the idea of public service itself.
Was Boris really a politician, or just a media personality in desire of a larger platform? I think the answer is the latter, and there are more and more like him in British public life?
Politics always was showbiz for ugly people, and now cosmetic surgery is so much more effective.
Spot the difference with the part of the Labour Party south of the border (and it's not a matter of today; Mr Sarwar was taking a different route some days back):
'The Scottish Parliament has backed a Government motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, as well as condemning the “barbaric and unjustifiable” Hamas attacks of October 7 and demanding the release of all hostages taken.
A Labour amendment calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate the conduct of all parties in the conflict was also accepted by the Government.
A Conservative amendment calling for humanitarian pauses instead of an immediate ceasefire was voted down.'
But is a ceasefire really a solution? Hamas remains committed to destroying Israel - with Iranian support. Too many of the 'ceasefire' brigade seem to think there can be a pause in hostilities and then everyone goes home again.
Not the point at issue, here, though. Which is that Labour has two different formal policies on the same matter.
Spot the difference with the part of the Labour Party south of the border (and it's not a matter of today; Mr Sarwar was taking a different route some days back):
'The Scottish Parliament has backed a Government motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, as well as condemning the “barbaric and unjustifiable” Hamas attacks of October 7 and demanding the release of all hostages taken.
A Labour amendment calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate the conduct of all parties in the conflict was also accepted by the Government.
A Conservative amendment calling for humanitarian pauses instead of an immediate ceasefire was voted down.'
But is a ceasefire really a solution? Hamas remains committed to destroying Israel - with Iranian support. Too many of the 'ceasefire' brigade seem to think there can be a pause in hostilities and then everyone goes home again.
Hamas are very unlikely to change their ‘policy’ without religious conversion. Or a major change in Iran.
The minimum wage is to increase by more than a pound to £11.44 per hour from April next year. The minimum wage, known officially as the National Living Wage, is currently £10.42 an hour for workers over 23. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided the rate will also apply to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time.
Good of him to be so generous with other peoples' money.
You would prefer tax payer's money being used to subsidise the wage bills of private companies?
Luckyguy ought to look up 'Speenhamland System'. It was about rich *******'s wage bills being subsidised with the [edit] taxes paid by not so rich sods. One of the old C19 traditions abolished by the reformers and enthusiastically being embraced by the Tories.
Farage is no svengali who has gamed this out in 3D chess: he's a man who has been offered £1.5m for a month's work. That is a pretty attractive offer.
How he performs is an open question. Nadine crashed out after a week, and she is pretty personable.
On the other hand... That £1.5m means the producers won't want him to disappear too early. My guess: week 3.
How much? If the producers are reading, I am available.
Seriously though - Nadine personable?
I met her about a decade ago, outside a restaraunt. She offered to look after my two year old son, while I took my five year old daughter to the bathroom. While I turned her down, it was a very nice - spontaneous - gesture that means I gave always thought well of her personally.
We could do with seeing some polling for seats that are harder to reach for Labour. The Red Wall is gone already. The blue wall was always much more strongly Tory but that's a mixed battleground with Labour and LD in the mix.
I'd love to see polling of:
- The 2015 and 2017 Tory conquests in the North and Midlands, as Alastair suggests (the red inner wall?) - The pre-2015 Lib Dem heartland of the rural Southwest (the hedgerow) - The urban edgelands (call it the dry ski slope or garden fence or something) taking in the likes of Uxbridge, Bromley, Chingford, Solihull, Tamworth etc.
Linked to that, where is the frontline in the electoral battleground anyway? Trickier question for the Conservatives- it they throw seats 275-325 to the wolves, it's conceding defeat. But if they don't, they have fewer resources for the seats where they still have a chance.
Yes, generally the rules that applied to the last election don't apply to the next. That said some reversion to the mean does seem to be indicated in the polls. If it's close, then the battlegrounds are probably the entire red wall, the more marginal home counties seats, and the central belt. If it's a large Labour majority then the interesting thing will be which shores the edge of the tide washes up on. Bound to be some surprises.
I am hopeful for a good showing in the old Lib Dem Wessex and South West heartland, independent of the overall national swing.
We could do with seeing some polling for seats that are harder to reach for Labour. The Red Wall is gone already. The blue wall was always much more strongly Tory but that's a mixed battleground with Labour and LD in the mix.
I'd love to see polling of:
- The 2015 and 2017 Tory conquests in the North and Midlands, as Alastair suggests (the red inner wall?) - The pre-2015 Lib Dem heartland of the rural Southwest (the hedgerow) - The urban edgelands (call it the dry ski slope or garden fence or something) taking in the likes of Uxbridge, Bromley, Chingford, Solihull, Tamworth etc.
Linked to that, where is the frontline in the electoral battleground anyway? Trickier question for the Conservatives- it they throw seats 275-325 to the wolves, it's conceding defeat. But if they don't, they have fewer resources for the seats where they still have a chance.
I think they would be mad not to properly fight up to seat 300. 270+ seats (and you can never be sure which ones you get) is the point at which you make a quick return odds on if Labour cocks up.
Spot the difference with the part of the Labour Party south of the border (and it's not a matter of today; Mr Sarwar was taking a different route some days back):
'The Scottish Parliament has backed a Government motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, as well as condemning the “barbaric and unjustifiable” Hamas attacks of October 7 and demanding the release of all hostages taken.
A Labour amendment calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate the conduct of all parties in the conflict was also accepted by the Government.
A Conservative amendment calling for humanitarian pauses instead of an immediate ceasefire was voted down.'
But is a ceasefire really a solution? Hamas remains committed to destroying Israel - with Iranian support. Too many of the 'ceasefire' brigade seem to think there can be a pause in hostilities and then everyone goes home again.
Not the point at issue, here, though. Which is that Labour has two different formal policies on the same matter.
I can see that you you might want to use that in Scotland. But it's hardly relevant. The Scottish parliament as you know has no remit for foreign policy.
Can someone ask the Guardian whether we want open competition based on a clear spec or not? I have separately read in that paper that one of the ills of recent NHS procurement was not doing that.
The big problem is Big Projects.
I am working on a project where we replaced a system that had resisted Big Bang replacement for decades. We did so by incremental replacement of the system, piece by piece. While the original system was a monolith, we gradually switched functionality over to the new, modular system.
The Standard not very enthusiastic about any tax cuts in the Autumn Statement. The suspicion is the changes will be in NI rather than, for example, changes to personal allowances to alleviate the infamous "fiscal drag".
Plenty of caution especially after today's borrowing numbers and a scathing op-ed piece from Matthew D'Ancona who I recall was the first real Cameron devotee (even before @TSE ).
Spot the difference with the part of the Labour Party south of the border (and it's not a matter of today; Mr Sarwar was taking a different route some days back):
'The Scottish Parliament has backed a Government motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, as well as condemning the “barbaric and unjustifiable” Hamas attacks of October 7 and demanding the release of all hostages taken.
A Labour amendment calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate the conduct of all parties in the conflict was also accepted by the Government.
A Conservative amendment calling for humanitarian pauses instead of an immediate ceasefire was voted down.'
But is a ceasefire really a solution? Hamas remains committed to destroying Israel - with Iranian support. Too many of the 'ceasefire' brigade seem to think there can be a pause in hostilities and then everyone goes home again.
Not the point at issue, here, though. Which is that Labour has two different formal policies on the same matter.
I can see that you you might want to use that in Scotland. But it's hardly relevant. The Scottish parliament as you know has no remit for foreign policy.
Sure, no remit, but it is a *Unionist* party adopting this approach. That is significant by any standard. Especially ion explicit contradiction of the same party's own policy approach down south. And it is all the same party with the same budget.
The minimum wage is to increase by more than a pound to £11.44 per hour from April next year. The minimum wage, known officially as the National Living Wage, is currently £10.42 an hour for workers over 23. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided the rate will also apply to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time.
Good of him to be so generous with other peoples' money.
You would prefer tax payer's money being used to subsidise the wage bills of private companies?
Which is exactly what happens now through the tax credits system. It will just happen a little less.
Spot the difference with the part of the Labour Party south of the border (and it's not a matter of today; Mr Sarwar was taking a different route some days back):
'The Scottish Parliament has backed a Government motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, as well as condemning the “barbaric and unjustifiable” Hamas attacks of October 7 and demanding the release of all hostages taken.
A Labour amendment calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate the conduct of all parties in the conflict was also accepted by the Government.
A Conservative amendment calling for humanitarian pauses instead of an immediate ceasefire was voted down.'
But is a ceasefire really a solution? Hamas remains committed to destroying Israel - with Iranian support. Too many of the 'ceasefire' brigade seem to think there can be a pause in hostilities and then everyone goes home again.
Not the point at issue, here, though. Which is that Labour has two different formal policies on the same matter.
I can see that you you might want to use that in Scotland. But it's hardly relevant. The Scottish parliament as you know has no remit for foreign policy.
Sure, no remit, but it is a *Unionist* party adopting this approach. That is significant by any standard. Especially ion explicit contradiction of the same party's own policy approach down south. And it is all the same party with the same budget.
Sorry but it is basically a branch of the national party up north. Starmer certainly has issues with mayors, Scotland, Wales and a fair few MPs calling for a ceasefire. His own position doesn't seem to have damaged his personal ratings. It is also NOT an issue that will swing many votes come an election I suspect.
The minimum wage is to increase by more than a pound to £11.44 per hour from April next year. The minimum wage, known officially as the National Living Wage, is currently £10.42 an hour for workers over 23. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has decided the rate will also apply to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time.
Comments
Well certainly his credit rating with that £1.5 million in the bank....whoever negotiated that deal should have negotiated Brexit as they got an amazing deal for Nige.
https://x.com/FM1_3316/status/1726694084298059884?s=20
Not coming to London....
Build it on the green belt instead.
I don't expect the producers to try and demonise him. They haven't with others who have been hate figures. Obviously Ant and Dec will tell jokes at his expense.
Ed Balls on Strictly seems to have achieved the sought after turnaround in public opinion.
Hancock on celebrity who dares wins has by all accounts further buried his reputation.
Galloway in celeb big brother, Widdecombe on Strictly and Nadine on I'm a celeb seem to have left with their reputations unchanged from when they went in.
I would guess Farage will come across as fairly avuncular in the Clarkson mould, possibly annoying at times but generally inoffensive, but that will have little or no impact on his ratings as a politician.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/netanyahu-hamas-chief-indicate-deal-on-gaza-truce-and-hostages-is-close/ar-AA1kigpf?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=9b3972519ca9459d8aae3d164a9590e9&ei=17
As in they were fucked.
I think it’s as simple as that.
There’s something deeply decadent in British culture.
Yes, I’d certainly do it, for my family.
Fannies.
Even Zelensky got noticed first as a TV comedian
On the bubonic plague: Here's a map of cases in the US since 1970:
https://www.cdc.gov/plague/maps/index.html
As you can see, the plague is most common in the rural West, so blacks would now be under-represented, because most live elsewhere. (If you visit any of those parts of the US and see a sick rodent, don't go near it.)
...
...
A BBC spokesperson said, “We are aware of a number of inaccurate claims being made online in relation to last night’s episode of University Challenge and we utterly condemn the abuse that has been posted and shared.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this episode was filmed in March. The mascot is one of many chosen by the team during the course of the series and is one of their favourite animals.
"The jacket worn by one of the contestants was navy blue, orange, pink and green, bought from a High Street retailer. It has no connection to any flag.”
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/university-challenge-viewers-criticise-blue-octopus-mascot/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-67489711
Worst news in that report, he has already reproduced.....
I have informed my children that their favourite bath toy has now been cancelled
Apparently sometimes used by Nazis as a symbol of Jewish world control.
Good job it wasn't a Mimic Octopus; the outrage-bots would be confused about which version of Mimic to be offended about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvAVrOKvGLI
The lady of beachy head was identified by such a manner and only after actually doing DNA testing was it found to be nonsense.
And Ringo Starr is in big trouble - a whole Garden of Octopuses.
This one - a son and father played a round of golf at a Trump Club in 2015, and got drunk in the clubhouse. Son then drove home drunk, lost control of car, killed father in the crash. Son charged with various things including vehicular homicide, reckless driving, driving while intoxicated, and displaying a fictitious inspection sticker.
Trump's club fined $400k under "responsible vendor" laws. Son fined $1000 plus 3 years on probation.
To me that does not seem to be a very strong anti-Trump attack line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v75HJRV3gLU
The instant IC was mentioned anywhere I assumed a basic rate cut, with a flourish, at the end.
Awarding of contract to create new data platform prompts immediate concerns about security of medical records
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/21/patient-privacy-fears-us-spy-tech-firm-palantir-wins-nhs-contract
Donald Trump pretty much launched his Presidential bid from pretending to be a red-hot entrepreneur rather than a narcissitic Daddy's Boy on the Apprentice after all. All publicity is good publicity these days it seems.
Farage is no svengali who has gamed this out in 3D chess: he's a man who has been offered £1.5m for a month's work. That is a pretty attractive offer.
How he performs is an open question. Nadine crashed out after a week, and she is pretty personable.
On the other hand... That £1.5m means the producers won't want him to disappear too early. My guess: week 3.
Very good piece by Col Richard Kemp in the Torygraph (is it still called that?)
Why is there such disbelief about Hamas using hospitals for military purposes? The only bit I would dispute is the claim that the IDF 'has been exclusively targeting terrorists.' Don't know that there is sufficient evidence to say that with certainty.
Seriously though - Nadine personable?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Octopus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ESGpRUMj9E
Sadly Mr Octopus turned up his toes, or rather suckers, and there is now a memortial to him.
Edit: he'd be very useful here. Even a half sapient squid would shift the odds very nicely.
With Nadine Dorries on I'm a Celeb and George Galloway on Big Brother, it didn't necessarily impede their future careers (Dorries went on to join the Cabinet and Galloway appeared a few years before his by-election win in Bradford) but I'm not convinced that was because of, rather than despite, those appearances.
It probably did help Penny Mordaunt on Splash, and Ed Balls on Strictly (he's not returned to the political frontline but he's pretty clearly more positively thought of now than a decade ago).
The study in question got the prominence it did on our national broadcaster (IMHO) because it either appealed to the BBC’s sensibilities OR they considered it to be great clickbait. Neither is a particularly great reflection on them.
Bunghole eats bunghole.
https://x.com/AlastairMeeks/status/1727009895378276546?s=20
We could do with seeing some polling for seats that are harder to reach for Labour. The Red Wall is gone already. The blue wall was always much more strongly Tory but that's a mixed battleground with Labour and LD in the mix.
I'd love to see polling of:
- The 2015 and 2017 Tory conquests in the North and Midlands, as Alastair suggests (the red inner wall?)
- The pre-2015 Lib Dem heartland of the rural Southwest (the hedgerow)
- The urban edgelands (call it the dry ski slope or garden fence or something) taking in the likes of Uxbridge, Bromley, Chingford, Solihull, Tamworth etc.
I think there’s something substantively different in the UK, and it comes from the exceedingly close connections between politics and the media, and in turn the debauchment of the media itself by reality tv formats.
With the very notable exception of Trump, most US politicians would consider it beneath their dignity to appear on the “Golden Bachelor” or whatever the latest format is.
In the UK, it’s increasingly normalised, and you have the slightly less harmful podcaster version where “old chums” like Ed Balls and George Osborne create content in the hope of making it big.
On one hand, it’s part of a “gaiety of the nation” thread in the national culture which seems to be such a prominent part of modern British life. On the other hand, it’s kind of an undercutting of the idea of public service itself.
Was Boris really a politician, or just a media personality in desire of a larger platform? I think the answer is the latter, and there are more and more like him in British public life?
Didn’t happen, which was a shame. I’d have enjoyed a few months a year there, for a few years.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/23938240.scottish-parliament-calls-immediate-ceasefire-gaza/?ref=ebbn&nid=1457&u=f140ec39d500193051a33e140c12bd95&date=211123
'The Scottish Parliament has backed a Government motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, as well as condemning the “barbaric and unjustifiable” Hamas attacks of October 7 and demanding the release of all hostages taken.
A Labour amendment calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate the conduct of all parties in the conflict was also accepted by the Government.
A Conservative amendment calling for humanitarian pauses instead of an immediate ceasefire was voted down.'
https://www.thenational.scot/news/23936580.recap-scottish-parliament-debates-motion-gaza-ceasefire/
I am hopeful for a good showing in the old Lib Dem Wessex and South West heartland, independent of the overall national swing.
I am working on a project where we replaced a system that had resisted Big Bang replacement for decades. We did so by incremental replacement of the system, piece by piece. While the original system was a monolith, we gradually switched functionality over to the new, modular system.
The Standard not very enthusiastic about any tax cuts in the Autumn Statement. The suspicion is the changes will be in NI rather than, for example, changes to personal allowances to alleviate the infamous "fiscal drag".
Plenty of caution especially after today's borrowing numbers and a scathing op-ed piece from Matthew D'Ancona who I recall was the first real Cameron devotee (even before @TSE ).
https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/jeremy-hunt-autumn-statement-economy-trust-b1121744.html
The disconnect between "official" economic statistics and the reality of individuals in their daily lives is considerable.
Let's hope Jeremy can follow it up by increasing the personal allowance to help poorer workers. I am not holding my breath on that.
The age discrimination that is.