William Hill have just lengthened their No price to 2/7 (from 1/4). That is the best No price currently available. In fact, it may be the best No price since May 2013 (I would have to dig through the numbers to be certain).
traders of other sports or risk managers who just move illiquid markets on a tenner
A bit more than a tenner. I have put on much larger stakes than that (on the Yes side) without any effect on prices. So, the market seems to be a bit more sturdy than you depict it.
- "... still not much on a market that has been up 3 years"
SNIP
Thanks. I didn't think that Betfair market was all that old. Certainly not 3 years old. So 170,000 GBP traded in 7 months is not bad going. Eg. have a peek at the miniscule sums traded on most other UK politics markets, eg. London Mayor (800 GBP) or Next LD Leader (6,700 GBP).
By the way, it looks like SUSP on Oddschecker but in fact the market is open:
At no point did I say that any bookie was adjusting prices based on impending polls. I meant that the prices on No were lengthening because money was going on Yes, and conjectured as to why money might be going on Yes. Nothing more, nothing less.
Oh fair enough. I thought your original post said something along the lines of
"3 bookies have cut YES Betfair have SUSP Betdaq have opened a mkt
Is there an impending poll?"
So I said that bookies react to trade rather than look at polls. Maybe I went round the houses!
'I don't disagree with much of that and personally find name calling and negativity off putting as well. I do wonder , given your above post, why you want Tim to come back however'
Strange that Nick Palmer didn't have a problem when Tim was doing the name calling,silly nicknames & abuse.
Exactly. Pretending to be impartial is the same as telling a big fat lie
Tim said Socrates drooled over child abuse... Not one left leaning poster pulled him up
That's not right is it.
Didn't Tim just observe that Socrates got very excited by cases of child abuse where alleged perpetrators seemed to come from certain communities while plainly ignoring others?
He said "drooling" over child abuse when rowing with someone he disliked
Thats the truth
You saying "didnt tim just observe..." makes it sound very good for him, when it was exactly how I said it
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak · 3 mins Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin orders test of combat-readiness of armed forces in western and central Russia
"It is much harder for the lefty to know what position to take if a muslim man beats up a homosexual"
I remember well-known leftie Peter Tatchell attempting to effect a citizen's arrest on Robert Mugabe. I don't recall a rightie doing anything similar. But maybe I missed it.
This smear attacks on Harriet Harman are typical of the Daily Mail. Indeed, given its history of lying about the Labour Party, I would have been surprised if the fascist rag had not come up with a smear campaign. Being a historian I well know the Mail's pro-fascist, and anti-progressive history. Some of us have studied the history of the Mail from lying about the Zinoviev letter, to its support of Mosley's Black Shirts in the 1930s, and the Mails desire to do a deal with Hitler in 1940. Therefore, I think these latest smear campaigns against Harman are aimed at implicating her with paedophiles, will be treated with the same contempt, that Mails smears against Ed Miliband's father, were treated. The Mail is an insult against objective journalism, a type of journalism which is rare today.
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak · 3 mins Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin orders test of combat-readiness of armed forces in western and central Russia
I have never liked the term paedophile, meaning child lover from its two roots. I prefer the older more accurate term of child molester. PIE used paedophile because of their claim that sexual relationships between adults and children could be based on mutual affection and consent, while the reality is that the assymetry of power in the relationship means it is inherently abusive.
Hmm, never thought I'd see 'paedophile elephant' in a headline. - my life is complete...!
'Paedophile Elephant' was an early Disney character from a simpler time who had to be quietly dropped along with 'Nazi Giraffe' when attitudes changed.
That's hilarious!
I could just imagine a cartoon in which Paedophile Elephant invites little boys and girls to come and play with him.
'I don't disagree with much of that and personally find name calling and negativity off putting as well. I do wonder , given your above post, why you want Tim to come back however'
Strange that Nick Palmer didn't have a problem when Tim was doing the name calling,silly nicknames & abuse.
Exactly. Pretending to be impartial is the same as telling a big fat lie
Tim said Socrates drooled over child abuse... Not one left leaning poster pulled him up
That's not right is it.
Didn't Tim just observe that Socrates got very excited by cases of child abuse where alleged perpetrators seemed to come from certain communities while plainly ignoring others?
I share your recollection though am secretly impressed by isam's ability to (apparently unconsciously) elide the original statement to his modified, entirely different accusation. But to the more important point, isn't this just really, really dull?
If tim didnt say Socrates was "Drooling" over child abuse stories, and was as impartial as you and BenM think, then I apologise.. find the link and see
"You shouldn't announce that I'm packing it in, but I'll post a little bit today. You should hijack a thread all guns blazing, expletive ridden, hurling abuse of the vilest kind at your political opponents. That's how I'm going down, when the time comes."....Fantastic!
I would have thought the sign of a less pleasant poster was making up statements about other posters who they disagree with and then gratuitously liken them to BNP supporters. And then, when given concrete evidence of why they were completely wrong, declining either to comment or apologise.
The ghostly shade of tim will be screaming "I told you so" at the computer screen.
It looks like the same scam Cameron tried to pull over treaty change until the sceptics boxed him in on the timetable. Hook the referendum onto a hypothetical treaty change for a treaty that never comes.
I don't really know why they bother with this stuff any more. There are some voters who really want a referendum, but they won't believe it anyway.
Typical of the Daily Mail to inject false information into their coverage of a story. The Monty Python fish slapping dance was not filmed on a canal tow path as they claimed but at Teddington Lock on the River Thames.
The ghostly shade of tim will be screaming "I told you so" at the computer screen.
Big news if true.
I cant tell what they're meant to be giving a commitment to. Seeing as they are still critical of Cameron for offering a referendum in a few years they should be offering us one straight after the GE but I bet they dont. They should though, it's inevitable so they should get ahead of the issue for once. Like tim said.
Plan A was affected by the eurozone crisis, but has won out in the end. Those calling for more spending stimulus to improve growth as recently as a year ago have been shown to be wrong. Such spending would have caused an inflationary spiral. Further austerity is needed to right the deficit, but a growing economy can cope with that.
It is noticeable that the economies that went for austerity such as Ireland and Spain are now looking at bright prospects, while those that went for spending such as France are seeing the errors of their ways. China is also looking a little ropey as its spending stimulus looks to have generated more problems than it solved.
You're using Spain (unemployment 26%) and Ireland (unemployment 12.3%) as poster children for Austerity?!!
France unemployment rate is 10.9% for comparison.
Stimulus exemplar the USA has unemployment of 6.6%.
Typical of the Daily Mail to inject false information into their coverage of a story. The Monty Python fish slapping dance was not filmed on a canal tow path as they claimed but at Teddington Lock on the River Thames.
No-one has mentioned that the girl’s jacket had a badge declaring “I love PB”. There must be a suspect among us!
Plan A was affected by the eurozone crisis, but has won out in the end. Those calling for more spending stimulus to improve growth as recently as a year ago have been shown to be wrong. Such spending would have caused an inflationary spiral. Further austerity is needed to right the deficit, but a growing economy can cope with that.
It is noticeable that the economies that went for austerity such as Ireland and Spain are now looking at bright prospects, while those that went for spending such as France are seeing the errors of their ways. China is also looking a little ropey as its spending stimulus looks to have generated more problems than it solved.
You're using Spain (unemployment 26%) and Ireland (unemployment 12.3%) as poster children for Austerity?!!
France unemployment rate is 10.9% for comparison.
Stimulus exemplar the USA has unemployment of 6.6%.
you appear to have that the wrong way round. the UK doesn't have austerity.
The ghostly shade of tim will be screaming "I told you so" at the computer screen.
Big news if true.
I cant tell what they're meant to be giving a commitment to. Seeing as they are still critical of Cameron for offering a referendum in a few years they should be offering us one straight after the GE but I bet they dont. They should though, it's inevitable so they should get ahead of the issue for once. Like tim said.
I guess it is for the headline. Once you start arguing about process - as the Tories will be forced to do over why their timetabled approach is the best option - then your fox has bolted. This looks like a move to counter a possibly powerful Tory call to UKIPers that only the Tories will deliver a referendum. In that sense it is not designed to win votes (this is not an issue for the Labour-inclined), but to make it less likely people will switch back to the Tories.
Typical of the Daily Mail to inject false information into their coverage of a story. The Monty Python fish slapping dance was not filmed on a canal tow path as they claimed but at Teddington Lock on the River Thames.
No-one has mentioned that the girl’s jacket had a badge declaring “I love PB”. There must be a suspect among us!
As you can see from ONS published figures, George Osborne is cumulatively 18 billion under his 2010 forecasts for Public Sector Net Borrowing.
On GDP growth, Osborne inherited, from Brown and Darling, a fall in GDP growth which was larger than in any major economy except Japan. Even the government debt fueled growth of late 2009-2010 was the weakest of all but three of the countries and regions surveyed by the OECD.
Since then, under Osborne, GDP growth has surpassed that of the Eurozone even though the recession dip was less than the UK's and the current rate of growth in the UK is at or near the fastest in the G7. No need for a yellow box here as comparative stats & charts are set out in today's GDP Revision belief. Follow the link to:
I would start to be concerned if growth went over 2% for any long spell of time. It would suggest to me that the economy was overheating into an inflationary boom. It is quite a feat to be producing figures of this order while tightening budgets and spending. I agree that some of this is consumers finding fresh confidence, but some is also delayed consumer spending from the Brown Bust happening. One can only defer replacing the car/sofa/computer for so long.
For all their faults, George and Danny have navigated some very difficult waters very well. Balls is increasingly realising that not only is plan A working, but that he will follow the same. He will put a lot of spin on some trivial differences, but the underlying course will be unchanged. Balls, and everyone else can see that it is the correct course.
This is a very long way from plan A not least because plan A was predicated on rebalancing the economy and that, even now, is some way off.
Plan A was meant to reduce the deficit to near zero by 2015, but that is going to be some £70billion awry.
Plan A was meant to have seen GDP grow cumulatively by some 8pc by now, yet caused a double dip recession and sees the UK languishing somewhat below its pre recession peak.
Osborne has moved the goalposts as much as Gordon Brown used to and is still failing. I'm not surprised his fanclub fail to spot this.
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak · 3 mins Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin orders test of combat-readiness of armed forces in western and central Russia
Flexing muscles, or something more?
One can sympathise with the Russians, watching with interest from across the border, as the EU meddles and manipulates behind the scenes.
I salute you - you manage to convey a completely misleading picture of the recent economic history of the country without a single outright falsehood and only one yellow box!
Unemployment is one of many figures that matter. The point is that Ireland and Spain are showing good signs of growth. France is just waiting for someone to pull flush on the economy.
Spain and Ireland had major construction booms that needed deflating, that was never going to happen without increasing unemployment.
Plan A was affected by the eurozone crisis, but has won out in the end. Those calling for more spending stimulus to improve growth as recently as a year ago have been shown to be wrong. Such spending would have caused an inflationary spiral. Further austerity is needed to right the deficit, but a growing economy can cope with that.
It is noticeable that the economies that went for austerity such as Ireland and Spain are now looking at bright prospects, while those that went for spending such as France are seeing the errors of their ways. China is also looking a little ropey as its spending stimulus looks to have generated more problems than it solved.
You're using Spain (unemployment 26%) and Ireland (unemployment 12.3%) as poster children for Austerity?!!
France unemployment rate is 10.9% for comparison.
Stimulus exemplar the USA has unemployment of 6.6%.
"The Mail is an insult against objective journalism, a type of journalism which is rare today."
I agree that objective journalism is rare today, but it always was. The Guardian and Mirror have a political slant too. They regard lack of bias as meaning lack of interest for the reader and they're right to some extent. A 'Hitler was kind to his dogs so he couldn't have been all bad' type of anodyne article wouldn't sell papers.
Sean T's posts aren't unbiased but they're usually funny. Adding 'on the other hand' to stories makes them duller.
If you're stupid enough to believe what you read in many newspaper articles, you shouldn't be out on your own.
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak · 3 mins Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin orders test of combat-readiness of armed forces in western and central Russia
Flexing muscles, or something more?
One can sympathise with the Russians, watching with interest from across the border, as the EU meddles and manipulates behind the scenes.
Possibly on topic give the header - an interesting assertion by Ms Lamont, the head of Labour in Scotland last night on television, according to several sources:
Johann Lamont: "We're not genetically programmed in Scotland to make political decisions"
A remarkable statement by someone in the hierarchy of a supposedly left-wing party. And to answer the obvious question, I rather think it was not a joke, given the context of a 'debate' with Ms Sturgeon, which (my bidie-in tells me) was a rather unedifying spectacle. Metaphor, perhaps, but still an odd one.
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak · 3 mins Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin orders test of combat-readiness of armed forces in western and central Russia
Flexing muscles, or something more?
One can sympathise with the Russians, watching with interest from across the border, as the EU meddles and manipulates behind the scenes.
Europhobes. Siding with the Russians!
Ashton openly supporting Tymoshenko 'the Gas Princess' was a pretty dumb move.
Maybe the Vlads are planning to roll out the tanks in support of Harman?
Nick, who do you define as the 'nastiest' posters, and who are the civilised ones?
Not up to me to decide, of course - I'm just suggesting that contributors who find particular posters upsetting make their own choices and skip the rest. I never read anything by a few posters, maybe they never read anything by me, and we can all live happily without it. Just meant that the presence of posters who we think are gratuitously nasty shouldn't put us off - we can just skip merrily over. It's tricky with posters who are sometimes interesting and sometimes nasty.
Obviously if the majority of posts are vile then one gives up - I never bother to read Guido for that reason.But that's far from true here.
Click on your own name in any of your posts, it will bring you to a page that has a envelope icon on the top right of the screen, click on that for your messages.
PMQs - it was pleasing to see Cameron giving a more robust defence of manmade climate change than he has for a while. Gave the impression that he was saying what he believed, which denied Ed a win. I wonder how this will play in terms of party discipline though - another "green crap" moment in order to appease the backbenches will play that much worse after this.
I guess this means at least that there are unlikely to be too many surprises in the Budget on policies like renewable heat incentive and feed in tariffs, which would be nice.
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak · 3 mins Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin orders test of combat-readiness of armed forces in western and central Russia
Flexing muscles, or something more?
One can sympathise with the Russians, watching with interest from across the border, as the EU meddles and manipulates behind the scenes.
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak · 3 mins Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin orders test of combat-readiness of armed forces in western and central Russia
Flexing muscles, or something more?
One can sympathise with the Russians, watching with interest from across the border, as the EU meddles and manipulates behind the scenes.
Maybe its better if Ukraine is split (along lines of what its population wants) now than to have a war later (thinking Yugoslavia). I hope nobody in the West is intransient about this option
Got £35 in my paddy power account , cannot be bothered bringing it back to my bank so looking for a good political bet (preferably on the general election) Had a look at oddschecker but nothing stands out , any idea?
Is Owen Jones tweeting as Ed? This is a prospective PM?
Ed Miliband@Ed_Miliband·57 secs To protect the British people against flooding the PM should tell everyone in his party to get real on climate change. #PMQs
Nick Robinson @bbcnickrobinson · 7 mins "The president of the Russian Federation" put forces "on alert at 1400" - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu Interfax agency reports
Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff · 2 mins Like everyone else, bit surprised nothing on Ukraine at #pmqs. But movement of Russian forces probably breaking a bit late for most MPs?
Christian Guy @ChristianGuy_ · 2 mins Putin puts Russian military on alert to test combat readiness. Not full mobilisation but not far from it #Ukraine
Got £35 in my paddy power account , cannot be bothered bringing it back to my bank so looking for a good political bet (preferably on the general election) Had a look at oddschecker but nothing stands out , any idea?
My grateful thanks to those who told me how to access private messages. I never even knew they existed. My apologies to those who sent me such messages in the past and who never got a response, until today I didn't know they were there (I did wonder about the strange email messages from young Robert, mind).
Got £35 in my paddy power account , cannot be bothered bringing it back to my bank so looking for a good political bet (preferably on the general election) Had a look at oddschecker but nothing stands out , any idea?
If you recall, Ireland tackled austerity by imposing severe cuts on the public sector. Not just a number reduction but a large cut in their pensions and a large cut in salaries for those that were left.
If that what you were proposing for your missing £70bn?
Don't forget to make a re-appearance of GE night. This place will be a sight to behold. Everyone from the BBC, the Guardian, Owen Jones, immigrants, single mothers, postal voters, public sector workers down to the ordinary voters themselves will be feeling the wrath of certain posters. The gnashing of teeth and wailing of Hodges will be deafening. Stack up on the popcorn.
PMQs - it was pleasing to see Cameron giving a more robust defence of manmade climate change than he has for a while. Gave the impression that he was saying what he believed, which denied Ed a win.
This, along with his errors on referenda and his inability to defeat the nastiest government we have ever had led by the nastiest man, is the main thing that has convinced me Cameron is second-rate. Arriving at the wrong answer on climate change alarmism is like being on the wrong side of the eugenics debate, or Malthusianism, or indeed witches.
Nick, who do you define as the 'nastiest' posters, and who are the civilised ones?
Not up to me to decide, of course - I'm just suggesting that contributors who find particular posters upsetting make their own choices and skip the rest. I never read anything by a few posters, maybe they never read anything by me, and we can all live happily without it. Just meant that the presence of posters who we think are gratuitously nasty shouldn't put us off - we can just skip merrily over. It's tricky with posters who are sometimes interesting and sometimes nasty.
Obviously if the majority of posts are vile then one gives up - I never bother to read Guido for that reason.But that's far from true here.
But you obviously have decided, from the text of your comment (which you snipped). Since you might think a few hours was 'ages ago' and have forgotten it, I repeat the relevant part of the comment below:
"Sorry to hear that - you'll note that the nastiest posters are delighted, the civlised ones are disappointed"
Putins mistake was pressuring the Ukraine to drop the EU trade package. It would have been sensible to agree a similar Russion one and have Ukraine act as a buffer and intermediary between the two.
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak · 3 mins Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin orders test of combat-readiness of armed forces in western and central Russia
Flexing muscles, or something more?
One can sympathise with the Russians, watching with interest from across the border, as the EU meddles and manipulates behind the scenes.
Don't forget to make a re-appearance of GE night. This place will be a sight to behold. Everyone from the BBC, the Guardian, Owen Jones, immigrants, single mothers, postal voters, public sector workers down to the ordinary voters themselves will be feeling the wrath of certain posters. The gnashing of teeth and wailing of Hodges will be deafening. Stack up on the popcorn.
To understand Putin, you have to be in tune with the thinking of the KGB. Their stance was to threaten and posture and scare before considering action - and they could get very scary.
However if the Ukraine was to be partitioned along ethnic lines, then the Ukranian part might not have a route to the Black Sea.
Of course a corridor may be negotiated but those of us who used the corridor to West Berlin know how precarious that arrangement was.
It should be remembered that Putin still harbours dreams of reuniting the old USSR.
That sliver of white left in the peninsula (Sevastopol) is to Russia/Ukraine as Guantanamo Bay (The Base, not the detention centre aspect) is to USA/Cuba.
Don't forget to make a re-appearance of GE night. This place will be a sight to behold. Everyone from the BBC, the Guardian, Owen Jones, immigrants, single mothers, postal voters, public sector workers down to the ordinary voters themselves will be feeling the wrath of certain posters. The gnashing of teeth and wailing of Hodges will be deafening. Stack up on the popcorn.
I think they will lay of the UKIP voters as they will need them for the following election.
To understand Putin, you have to be in tune with the thinking of the KGB. Their stance was to threaten and posture and scare before considering action - and they could get very scary.
However if the Ukraine was to be partitioned along ethnic lines, then the Ukranian part might not have a route to the Black Sea.
Of course a corridor may be negotiated but those of us who used the corridor to West Berlin know how precarious that arrangement was.
It should be remembered that Putin still harbours dreams of reuniting the old USSR.
Naomi Long MP just asked the first sensible question to the Attorney General. There may be serious trouble for the government if the the basis of her question is true.
The political crisis in the Ukraine opens up a real opportunity for the various key players to remedy their mistakes:
1. Russia will accept that EU input with IMF and US support is necessary if the Ukraine is to develop an economy which can feed and heat its people and have enough left over to buy Russian energy supplies at global prices;
2. The EU will accept that there is nothing to be gained by splitting off the Ukraine from Russia and that future Eastern development of the EU will need to be based on multilateral agreement with the core Russo-Slavic nations (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan).
3. The Ukraine will accept that playing off the EU against Russia is no substitute for sound governance and compliance with the economic reforms required by transnational lenders.
Whether Russian tanks roll into the Ukraine or not is fairly irrelevant to the future outcome of the crisis.
Putins mistake was pressuring the Ukraine to drop the EU trade package. It would have been sensible to agree a similar Russion one and have Ukraine act as a buffer and intermediary between the two.
Can anyone with more knowledge than me on this say whether that would be a good or bad thing?
I'm torn. On the one hand, I really dislike the idea of these secret letters. On the other hand, seeing the back of Peter Robinson would be a gala day in northern Ireland.
Can anyone with more knowledge than me on this say whether that would be a good or bad thing?
Robinson has identified the key issue as Long just did in the House, which is that the practice continued after the devolution of policing and justice in 2010. The Northern Ireland Executive claims that it had no knowledge of the matter. Now if that is the case, the people it doesn't look good for are ministers in the Northern Ireland Office who have served in the current government.
Naomi Long MP just asked the first sensible question to the Attorney General. There may be serious trouble for the government if the the basis of her question is true.
Can anyone with more knowledge than me on this say whether that would be a good or bad thing?
I'm torn. On the one hand, I really dislike the idea of these secret letters. On the other hand, seeing the back of Peter Robinson would be a gala day in northern Ireland.
Can anyone with more knowledge than me on this say whether that would be a good or bad thing?
I'm torn. On the one hand, I really dislike the idea of these secret letters. On the other hand, seeing the back of Peter Robinson would be a gala day in northern Ireland.
Naomi Long MP just asked the first sensible question to the Attorney General. There may be serious trouble for the government if the the basis of her question is true.
M'lud.
Is this a cryptic clue?
I've scanned the BBC's report of PMQ's and can find no reference. If it's been tabled to the AG we wouldn't see it. Could we have an idea of what it is, please.
That sliver of white left in the peninsula (Sevastopol) is to Russia/Ukraine as Guantanamo Bay (The Base, not the detention centre aspect) is to USA/Cuba.
Not really, it has a native Russian civilian population of around 90%.
The issue is what on earth were the Northern Ireland Office doing sending letters about functions which were devolved without the knowledge of the devolved authorities.
To understand Putin, you have to be in tune with the thinking of the KGB. Their stance was to threaten and posture and scare before considering action - and they could get very scary.
However if the Ukraine was to be partitioned along ethnic lines, then the Ukranian part might not have a route to the Black Sea.
Of course a corridor may be negotiated but those of us who used the corridor to West Berlin know how precarious that arrangement was.
It should be remembered that Putin still harbours dreams of reuniting the old USSR.
Putin's a thug, but why bother reuniting the USSR when you can sit back and watch the gas and petro dollars flow into the Mother Country from the old enemy?
Villiers said in her Sky News interview yesterday that the powers of the SoS for NI to issue 'indemnity letters' had been delegated by the Coalition Government to the NI Executive.
I am uncertain whether she meant the NI Executive directly or indirectly via the PSNI.
Can anyone with more knowledge than me on this say whether that would be a good or bad thing?
Robinson has identified the key issue as Long just did in the House, which is that the practice continued after the devolution of policing and justice in 2010. The Northern Ireland Executive claims that it had no knowledge of the matter. Now if that is the case, the people it doesn't look good for are ministers in the Northern Ireland Office who have served in the current government.
Villiers said in her Sky News interview yesterday that the powers of the SoS for NI to issue 'indemnity letters' had been delegated by the Coalition Government to the NI Executive.
I am uncertain whether she meant the NI Executive directly or indirectly via the PSNI
In the Downey case, a letter was sent by a civil servant at the Northern Ireland Office on behalf of the Secretary of State, communicating a decision of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland. Now Long and Robinson claim that since the devolution of the policing of justice, the Northern Ireland Office continued to send such letters between 2010 and 2012 without the knowledge of the members of the Northern Ireland Executive. That is a very serious matter if true, because it goes to the whole basis of the devolution settlement.
Given Robinson's interview to the BBC, it looks as if the DUP are threatening to pull out of government if a judicial inquiry isn't set up. If that happened, direct rule would probably be consequence.
In the Downey case, a letter was sent by a civil servant at the Northern Ireland Office on behalf of the Secretary of State, communicating a decision of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland. Now Long and Robinson claim that since the devolution of the policing of justice, the Northern Ireland Office continued to send such letters between 2010 and 2012 without the knowledge of the members of the Northern Ireland Executive. That is a very serious matter if true, because it goes to the whole basis of the devolution settlement.
I thought the letter was sent in 2007? That's what the Beeb reported and the judge said:
Villiers said in her Sky News interview yesterday that the powers of the SoS for NI to issue 'indemnity letters' had been delegated by the Coalition Government to the NI Executive.
I am uncertain whether she meant the NI Executive directly or indirectly via the PSNI
In the Downey case, a letter was sent by a civil servant at the Northern Ireland Office on behalf of the Secretary of State, communicating a decision of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland. Now Long and Robinson claim that since the devolution of the policing of justice, the Northern Ireland Office continued to send such letters between 2010 and 2012 without the knowledge of the members of the Northern Ireland Executive. That is a very serious matter if true, because it goes to the whole basis of the devolution settlement.
Right.
And it also appears to conflict with what Theresa Villiers was saying yesterday.
Comments
"3 bookies have cut YES
Betfair have SUSP
Betdaq have opened a mkt
Is there an impending poll?"
So I said that bookies react to trade rather than look at polls. Maybe I went round the houses!
"She was wearing dark jeans and a blue coat with white cuffs, white on the front and a red collar with ‘I love PB’ on the left breast pocket."
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2567772/Its-scale-assault-Police-hunt-teenage-girl-slapped-supermarket-fish-counter-worker-face-large-wet-bream-friend-filmed-phone.html
Thats the truth
You saying "didnt tim just observe..." makes it sound very good for him, when it was exactly how I said it
Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin orders test of combat-readiness of armed forces in western and central Russia
Flexing muscles, or something more?
I remember well-known leftie Peter Tatchell attempting to effect a citizen's arrest on Robert Mugabe. I don't recall a rightie doing anything similar. But maybe I missed it.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/26/uk-britain-politics-labour-eu-idUKBREA1P0KM20140226?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&WT.tsrc=Social+Media&WT.z_smid=twtr-reuters_co_uk&WT.z_smid_dest=Twitter&dlvrit=59196
The ghostly shade of tim will be screaming "I told you so" at the computer screen.
A-Mos - Ukr
F-Sev - Bla
I don't really know why they bother with this stuff any more. There are some voters who really want a referendum, but they won't believe it anyway.
I forgot it was PMQs today, waste of time.
LBS, it was good while it lasted. Good luck!
France unemployment rate is 10.9% for comparison.
Stimulus exemplar the USA has unemployment of 6.6%.
have sent you a PM (light, or perhaps not so light, relief from politics ...).
Once again you are wrong by any objective and independent assessment on almost all the statements you present as 'fact'.
1. Plan A As you can see from ONS published figures, George Osborne is cumulatively 18 billion under his 2010 forecasts for Public Sector Net Borrowing.
On GDP growth, Osborne inherited, from Brown and Darling, a fall in GDP growth which was larger than in any major economy except Japan. Even the government debt fueled growth of late 2009-2010 was the weakest of all but three of the countries and regions surveyed by the OECD.
Since then, under Osborne, GDP growth has surpassed that of the Eurozone even though the recession dip was less than the UK's and the current rate of growth in the UK is at or near the fastest in the G7. No need for a yellow box here as comparative stats & charts are set out in today's GDP Revision belief. Follow the link to:
http://bit.ly/1cmqK1B
Osborne hasn't needed to move goalposts. He could have narrowed their span and he would still have scored.
I salute you - you manage to convey a completely misleading picture of the recent economic history of the country without a single outright falsehood and only one yellow box!
Spain and Ireland had major construction booms that needed deflating, that was never going to happen without increasing unemployment.
"The Mail is an insult against objective journalism, a type of journalism which is rare today."
I agree that objective journalism is rare today, but it always was. The Guardian and Mirror have a political slant too. They regard lack of bias as meaning lack of interest for the reader and they're right to some extent. A 'Hitler was kind to his dogs so he couldn't have been all bad' type of anodyne article wouldn't sell papers.
Sean T's posts aren't unbiased but they're usually funny. Adding 'on the other hand' to stories makes them duller.
If you're stupid enough to believe what you read in many newspaper articles, you shouldn't be out on your own.
Johann Lamont: "We're not genetically programmed in Scotland to make political decisions"
A remarkable statement by someone in the hierarchy of a supposedly left-wing party. And to answer the obvious question, I rather think it was not a joke, given the context of a 'debate' with Ms Sturgeon, which (my bidie-in tells me) was a rather unedifying spectacle. Metaphor, perhaps, but still an odd one.
Maybe the Vlads are planning to roll out the tanks in support of Harman?
"Mr Dromey sat on the NCCL executive committee from 1970 to 1979."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2568232/Harman-Hewitt-never-tried-kick-didnt-want-rock-boat-protect-careers-claims-child-abuser-ex-leader-Paedophile-Information-Exchange.html
"the cover page of the NCCL's submission to Parliament on the 1976 Sexual Offences Act held at the LSE library, .... that the age of consent be lowered to 14"
Obviously if the majority of posts are vile then one gives up - I never bother to read Guido for that reason.But that's far from true here.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2567658/Muslim-organises-petition-ban-Katy-Perrys-new-music-video-features-man-wearing-Allah-inscribed-necklace-disintegrated-30-000-signatures-days.html#comments
Click your name at the top of a message and you will see an 'Inbox' icon at the top right of the webpage that opens up. Belike and all that!
Click on your own name in any of your posts, it will bring you to a page that has a envelope icon on the top right of the screen, click on that for your messages.
I guess this means at least that there are unlikely to be too many surprises in the Budget on policies like renewable heat incentive and feed in tariffs, which would be nice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukraine_cencus_2001_Russian.svg
Ed Miliband@Ed_Miliband·57 secs
To protect the British people against flooding the PM should tell everyone in his party to get real on climate change. #PMQs
"The president of the Russian Federation" put forces "on alert at 1400" - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu Interfax agency reports
Like everyone else, bit surprised nothing on Ukraine at #pmqs. But movement of Russian forces probably breaking a bit late for most MPs?
Putin puts Russian military on alert to test combat readiness. Not full mobilisation but not far from it #Ukraine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimea
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26351251
If you have not listened to his Concierto de Aranjuez - the second movement especially - you really should. It is beautifully sublime.
RIP
If you recall, Ireland tackled austerity by imposing severe cuts on the public sector. Not just a number reduction but a large cut in their pensions and a large cut in salaries for those that were left.
If that what you were proposing for your missing £70bn?
"Sorry to hear that - you'll note that the nastiest posters are delighted, the civlised ones are disappointed"
Putins mistake was pressuring the Ukraine to drop the EU trade package. It would have been sensible to agree a similar Russion one and have Ukraine act as a buffer and intermediary between the two.
However if the Ukraine was to be partitioned along ethnic lines, then the Ukranian part might not have a route to the Black Sea.
Of course a corridor may be negotiated but those of us who used the corridor to West Berlin know how precarious that arrangement was.
It should be remembered that Putin still harbours dreams of reuniting the old USSR.
And Putin will of course be looking at what remains of the Russia-sphere and thinking 'after Ukraine, where next?'.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15561501
A more clearcut example of bullying it would be hard to find.
He wants a judicial inquiry into the secret letters.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-26352967
Can anyone with more knowledge than me on this say whether that would be a good or bad thing?
The political crisis in the Ukraine opens up a real opportunity for the various key players to remedy their mistakes:
1. Russia will accept that EU input with IMF and US support is necessary if the Ukraine is to develop an economy which can feed and heat its people and have enough left over to buy Russian energy supplies at global prices;
2. The EU will accept that there is nothing to be gained by splitting off the Ukraine from Russia and that future Eastern development of the EU will need to be based on multilateral agreement with the core Russo-Slavic nations (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan).
3. The Ukraine will accept that playing off the EU against Russia is no substitute for sound governance and compliance with the economic reforms required by transnational lenders.
Whether Russian tanks roll into the Ukraine or not is fairly irrelevant to the future outcome of the crisis.
Errrm you sure about that ?
Is this a cryptic clue?
They all sound the same to me.
Villiers said in her Sky News interview yesterday that the powers of the SoS for NI to issue 'indemnity letters' had been delegated by the Coalition Government to the NI Executive.
I am uncertain whether she meant the NI Executive directly or indirectly via the PSNI.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rada_of_the_Belarusian_Democratic_Republic
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26343700
http://imgur.com/GOOK8
It would be as much a threat to sovereignty of The Ukraine as the Gurkhas sandbagging in Wraysbury was to the seat of the monarchy in Windsor Castle.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26342465
And it also appears to conflict with what Theresa Villiers was saying yesterday.
Oh dear.