Morning. Just out of interest who are you voting for?
I’ve already voted Labour for transparency.
Morning
I have said I would not vote. Especially as Labour just parachuted a candidate in here and took the areas for granted.
However I have quite liked Luke Akehurst's twitter campaign and his campaign stops as well as his attempts to eat his way around North Durham including a few places I have eaten, so I may well end up voting labour after all for the 10th consecutive election
Respect your choice to not vote but also to vote for Akehurst if you like what he's doing.
I wish I had abstained in 2019.
Akehurst seems to attract some really deranged responses on twitter too.
He actually seems quite personable too and is bothering to get out and speak to people in the seat daily. His reputation precedes him. I hope he can do something positive for the seat.
I will either vote Akehurst or not bother. At the moment I am leaning towards Akehurst. I had said I may vote Green as the guy has a hoopy name. But the Green campaign has been batshit central so it's a no from me.
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
That sort of depends what interests you. Chasing Candy Crush stores or overpriced restaurants isnt my bag. Ive worked in Paris long enough to treat it with the contempt it deserves and London just isnt me. I like Berlin, Prague Barcelona they are interesting. However I much prefer the countryside and landscape so much more to appreciate.
I can't see an American Candy Store without assuming it's a money laundering operation.
They seem to be everywhere now, well stocked, but there's never anyone in them.
Interestingly - !! - they aren’t just a london thing. Lots in Paris too. And Spain
So, where on earth has that come from?
There aren't that many - if any - Americans here and, "what I really want and need is lots of American Candy!!", said no-one - ever.
Yes it is very strange. Like a meme spreading
There must be some evolutionary reason - something that makes “candy stores” extremely easy to set up and maintain and staff - no need for security, nothing to steal, no training required? - so they can then be used for money laundering. Which is what they clearly are
I’m less convinced that Turkish barbers are all money laundering. Tho some must be
What we need is to have several publicly funded large outfits whose task is to investigate possible large scale crimes being committed in the public gaze, close down the operations, charge and prosecute them and if convicted incarcerate them for long periods....
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
Last time we tried that everybody stuck their fingers in their ears and told us to suck it up.
Tankie was the cognomen given to those that stayed in the CPGB after the CPGB/NCP split in 1968 - not to be confused with the CPGB/CPB(M-L) split in 1963.
It's used on here with intellectual dishonesty, or perhaps more likely dunderheaded ignorance, to refer to any person with a left wing perspective for whom the Centrist Dad posting has little regard.
Oh boo hoo. Suddenly name calling is unfair Dura? This is the line, this is where historically accurate terminology must be maintained for you, the radical bad boy of PB, that is where things get too mean?
And you call that intellectually dishonest? Has the term ever been used on here outside the context of Russia/Ukraine, instead to apply to any left wing perspective?
As someone who delights in provocation it's good to know some things are still beyond the pale for you - inaccurate referencing of 1960s Communists. Even if it is very out of character for you to be so snowflakey.
Presumably you detest the term Tory, which is supposed to refer to outlaws, typically Irish, yet some buggers, probably centrist dads, use it dishonestly about modern politicians.
Terms never evolve after all.
Perhaps Dura is just deprecating lazy invective. He does have high standards, and great fluency in that respect.
Though TBF tankie is quite useful to denote those committed to ideology impervious to any challenge.
It certainly riles up the soi-disant “radicals” on the left who turn out to be in it purely because it gives them an endless supply of opportunities for bootlicking.
But the meaning is not so much about being impervious to challenge as rather that the target is nothing more than an authoritarian follower who is lost without someone to tell them what to think & will justify almost any atrocity if it preserves the authoritarian hierarchy they cling to for meaning in this uncertain world.
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Robert Jenrick is criticising the Labour candidate for Newark for having been 'parachuted in' all the way from Nottingham. He is blocking loads of people for having the temerity to ask where he lives and particularly where he lived before he was chosen as a candidate for Newark? The answer of course is Herefordshire where he has a stately pile. Or is it London where he owns two further town houses? And all the time the taxpayer is paying £2K a month for him to rent a property in Newark.
Glasshouses and fecking great rocks spring to mind.
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
Is the wedding in Paris? I'm in the South at the moment and it seems to be the fashion for English people to get married here. The whole kit and caboodle arrives. AnywaI hope he's chosen wisely and enjoy the wedding! PS I'd go with Edinburgh as my favourite British City
The wedding is just south of Versailles In a chateau Which her dad owns. He's the conte. ( not easy to say with an Ulster accent )
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
Has anyone in the civil service ever studied operational research ?
I appreciate PPE procurement for a pandemic isn't what you'll normally expect in your job but some idea of throughput and ability of the system to utilise PPE might have been a good idea.
Given the enormous amount of functional PPE from an apparently reputable supplier that they've just destroyed, what were all the dodgy contacts about ?
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Robert Jenrick is criticising the Labour candidate for Newark for having been 'parachuted in' all the way from Nottingham. He is blocking loads of people for having the temerity to ask where he lives and particularly where he lived before he was chosen as a candidate for Newark? The answer of course is Herefordshire where he has a stately pile. Or is it London where he owns two further town houses? And all the time the taxpayer is paying £2K a month for him to rent a property in Newark.
Glasshouses and fecking great rocks spring to mind.
I hope I’m up for Jenrick! He’s an odious creature.
Breaking news. Someone has thrown a 99 with extra chocolate sauce on Farage in Uxbridge. He needs some new Pr now as things have gone a bit quiet. Not really by the way.
Breaking news. Someone has thrown a 99 with extra chocolate sauce on Farage in Uxbridge. He needs some new Pr now as things have gone a bit quiet. Not really by the way.
If we're talking ice-cream van fare, I've narrowed down what you are to three choices: a flake, a screwball, or a rocket.
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
The obvious way to deal with irregular immigration is to process the would-be immigrants' claims efficiently, and then quickly deport those who are deemed not eligible to stay. The returns deal on Albanian migrants successfully reduced Channel crossings from 45,774 in 2022 to 29,437 in 2023. Why can this not be replicated with other nations?
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
The French kicked an Imam all the way to Morocco for making some Alan's Snackbar comments. Been in France for x decades. Punting him there was illegal, apparently. "Je suis desolate"* was the response from the French government to that.
*Roughly translated - "Oh Dear, Never Mind, How Sad."
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
That sort of depends what interests you. Chasing Candy Crush stores or overpriced restaurants isnt my bag. Ive worked in Paris long enough to treat it with the contempt it deserves and London just isnt me. I like Berlin, Prague Barcelona they are interesting. However I much prefer the countryside and landscape so much more to appreciate.
I can't see an American Candy Store without assuming it's a money laundering operation.
They seem to be everywhere now, well stocked, but there's never anyone in them.
Interestingly - !! - they aren’t just a london thing. Lots in Paris too. And Spain
So, where on earth has that come from?
There aren't that many - if any - Americans here and, "what I really want and need is lots of American Candy!!", said no-one - ever.
Kids say it.
Mine don't, and I have two.
The ones in Sidmouth are usually full of kids over from the beach to spend their pocket money.
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Sorry, cannot accept that. I am not happy clappy, all people are legal, welcome them all in, open borders, like many in Labour, the Lib Dems and Greens are but you cannot risk a single persons life by doing that.
You also have to have a proper process to allow people to apply to come here rather than risk their lives on boats and then just turn up and disappear into the black economy.
Stop being such a flake
Their lives are already being risked. They drown quite regularly. And hundreds drown in the Med
If we tow them back they will stop coming so in the end you will save many more lives than might be lost. You just have to be quite ruthless at first
Also, this is inevitable. In the end if you don’t do this voters will elect fascists that will do much much worse than this. See the recent European elex
Breaking news. Someone has thrown a 99 with extra chocolate sauce on Farage in Uxbridge. He needs some new Pr now as things have gone a bit quiet. Not really by the way.
If we're talking ice-cream van fare, I've narrowed down what you are to three choices: a flake, a screwball, or a rocket.
Beginning to wonder if Newton Abbot could be a 4-way marginal?!
Am I right /wrong?
Is there another in the country that could lay claim to that?
My own seat could.
But probably, neither of them will. It’s just that we’re unable to discern how the chips are falling, given the shortage of data to work on. Don’t discount the data you do have, however.
I agree with you Ian. Can you remind me which one is yours?
As @Taz and I discussed, I think Newton Abbot will be a Cons HOLD but it’s a very confusing picture at the moment. 3 different tactical voting sites all have different answers (1 = LibDem; 1 = Labour; 1 = Unsure).
The MRPs also presented a conflicted and conflicting picture.
(Does anyone have a constituency link for Focaldata?)
Survation: Labour GAIN IPSOS-MORI: Leaning Con: Con 36% Lab 29% LibDem 19%, Reform 12% MiC: Con HOLD: Con 36%, Lab 21%, LibDem 30%, Reform 9% Savanta: Too Close to Call: Con-Lab battle YouGov: Con HOLD: Con 29%, Lab 16%, LibDem 23%, Reform 23%
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
I prefer Stoke-on-Trent.
A little counter-intuitive. Could it be the dazzling football...the 75% Leave vote....the bottlenecks on the M6.....the infamous wet Wednesday evenings or just that ten miles and you're into Wales?
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
That sort of depends what interests you. Chasing Candy Crush stores or overpriced restaurants isnt my bag. Ive worked in Paris long enough to treat it with the contempt it deserves and London just isnt me. I like Berlin, Prague Barcelona they are interesting. However I much prefer the countryside and landscape so much more to appreciate.
I can't see an American Candy Store without assuming it's a money laundering operation.
They seem to be everywhere now, well stocked, but there's never anyone in them.
Interestingly - !! - they aren’t just a london thing. Lots in Paris too. And Spain
So, where on earth has that come from?
There aren't that many - if any - Americans here and, "what I really want and need is lots of American Candy!!", said no-one - ever.
Yes it is very strange. Like a meme spreading
There must be some evolutionary reason - something that makes “candy stores” extremely easy to set up and maintain and staff - no need for security, nothing to steal, no training required? - so they can then be used for money laundering. Which is what they clearly are
I’m less convinced that Turkish barbers are all money laundering. Tho some must be
I passed one at the weekend, a customer was getting the "flames in the earhole" treatment.
Robert Jenrick is criticising the Labour candidate for Newark for having been 'parachuted in' all the way from Nottingham. He is blocking loads of people for having the temerity to ask where he lives and particularly where he lived before he was chosen as a candidate for Newark? The answer of course is Herefordshire where he has a stately pile. Or is it London where he owns two further town houses? And all the time the taxpayer is paying £2K a month for him to rent a property in Newark.
Glasshouses and fecking great rocks spring to mind.
I hope I’m up for Jenrick! He’s an odious creature.
Definitely on my 'portillo moment' list for the big night.
Tankie was the cognomen given to those that stayed in the CPGB after the CPGB/NCP split in 1968 - not to be confused with the CPGB/CPB(M-L) split in 1963.
It's used on here with intellectual dishonesty, or perhaps more likely dunderheaded ignorance, to refer to any person with a left wing perspective for whom the Centrist Dad posting has little regard.
Oh boo hoo. Suddenly name calling is unfair Dura? This is the line, this is where historically accurate terminology must be maintained for you, the radical bad boy of PB, that is where things get too mean?
And you call that intellectually dishonest? Has the term ever been used on here outside the context of Russia/Ukraine, instead to apply to any left wing perspective?
As someone who delights in provocation it's good to know some things are still beyond the pale for you - inaccurate referencing of 1960s Communists. Even if it is very out of character for you to be so snowflakey.
Presumably you detest the term Tory, which is supposed to refer to outlaws, typically Irish, yet some buggers, probably centrist dads, use it dishonestly about modern politicians.
Terms never evolve after all.
Perhaps Dura is just deprecating lazy invective. He does have high standards, and great fluency in that respect.
Though TBF tankie is quite useful to denote those committed to ideology impervious to any challenge.
It certainly riles up the soi-disant “radicals” on the left who turn out to be in it purely because it gives them an endless supply of opportunities for bootlicking.
But the meaning is not so much about being impervious to challenge as rather that the target is nothing more than an authoritarian follower who is lost without someone to tell them what to think & will justify almost any atrocity if it preserves the authoritarian hierarchy they cling to for meaning in this uncertain world.
Tankie is used here to refer to the people who are instinctively pro-Russian (or pro any anti-western nation with totalitarian aspirations), despite often claiming to be Trots etc.
It is interesting how self described left anarchists have shibboleths. And a remarkable amount of sneaking affection for empires. Of the right kind.
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
The obvious way to deal with irregular immigration is to process the would-be immigrants' claims efficiently, and then quickly deport those who are deemed not eligible to stay. The returns deal on Albanian migrants successfully reduced Channel crossings from 45,774 in 2022 to 29,437 in 2023. Why can this not be replicated with other nations?
Because like a couple of billion people on this planet under international treaty they have a right to refugee status if they claim it, and we bind ourselves to those treaties. Albanians are not generally refugees.
There are only two (interlocked) decent solutions:
1) Give the UN the job of ensuring that governance in each of its member states conforms with the standards implied by the treaties
2) Give the UN the task of overseeing 100% of refugees offering absolutely equal but minimal rights to all wherever in the world they are. (Nutrition, a tent, primary education, basic healthcare, ticket home once (1) is accomplished.)
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
The French kicked an Imam all the way to Morocco for making some Alan's Snackbar comments. Been in France for x decades. Punting him there was illegal, apparently. "Je suis desolate"* was the response from the French government to that.
*Roughly translated - "Oh Dear, Never Mind, How Sad."
Thanks for the patronising guff, but that is not an answer my question. I presume you have resorted to the patronising approach as the answer is unpalatable? Oh Dear, never mind, how sad.
So Le Palais in Belle Ile is yet ANOTHER lovely French small town. With a magnificent Vauban citadel
That said I’ve been doing some research and discovered that - contra my instincts - Brittany is not poor. It is one of the richest regions of France. And the favoured coasts and islands are seriously rich - partly due to the influx of wealthy Parisians and other domestic tourists
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
That sort of depends what interests you. Chasing Candy Crush stores or overpriced restaurants isnt my bag. Ive worked in Paris long enough to treat it with the contempt it deserves and London just isnt me. I like Berlin, Prague Barcelona they are interesting. However I much prefer the countryside and landscape so much more to appreciate.
I can't see an American Candy Store without assuming it's a money laundering operation.
They seem to be everywhere now, well stocked, but there's never anyone in them.
Interestingly - !! - they aren’t just a london thing. Lots in Paris too. And Spain
So, where on earth has that come from?
There aren't that many - if any - Americans here and, "what I really want and need is lots of American Candy!!", said no-one - ever.
Yes it is very strange. Like a meme spreading
There must be some evolutionary reason - something that makes “candy stores” extremely easy to set up and maintain and staff - no need for security, nothing to steal, no training required? - so they can then be used for money laundering. Which is what they clearly are
I’m less convinced that Turkish barbers are all money laundering. Tho some must be
I passed one at the weekend, a customer was getting the "flames in the earhole" treatment.
Turkish barbers aren't money laundering. The young men if today just get way more treatment such as perms etc. They spend more money on their looks than before. (Also there are many more people)
Beginning to wonder if Newton Abbot could be a 4-way marginal?!
Am I right /wrong?
Is there another in the country that could lay claim to that?
My own seat could.
But probably, neither of them will. It’s just that we’re unable to discern how the chips are falling, given the shortage of data to work on. Don’t discount the data you do have, however.
I agree with you Ian. Can you remind me which one is yours?
As @Taz and I discussed, I think Newton Abbot will be a Cons HOLD but it’s a very confusing picture at the moment. 3 different tactical voting sites all have different answers (1 = LibDem; 1 = Labour; 1 = Unsure).
The MRPs also presented a conflicted and conflicting picture.
(Does anyone have a constituency link for Focaldata?)
Survation: Labour GAIN IPSOS-MORI: Leaning Con: Con 36% Lab 29% LibDem 19%, Reform 12% MiC: Con HOLD: Con 36%, Lab 21%, LibDem 30%, Reform 9% Savanta: Too Close to Call: Con-Lab battle YouGov: Con HOLD: Con 29%, Lab 16%, LibDem 23%, Reform 23%
Using an average from the seven MRPs (Electoral Calculus, Focaldata, Savanta, Survation, More In Common, Ipsos, YouGov) gives: Con 30, Lab 24, LD 25, Reform 16 (But Reform rising over time as Con subsides a little)
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
I prefer Stoke-on-Trent.
Well there there... meanwhile the rest of humanity thinks the City of Light is clearly preferable to a run down, post industrial conglomeration with significant social problems. 😏
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
I prefer Stoke-on-Trent.
Well there there... meanwhile the rest of humanity thinks the City of Light is clearly preferable to a run down, post industrial conglomeration with significant social problems. 😏
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
I prefer Stoke-on-Trent.
Well there there... meanwhile the rest of humanity thinks the City of Light is clearly preferable to a run down, post industrial conglomeration with significant social problems. 😏
Due to my location - City of Light to me means Sunderland and that is a a run down, post industrial conglomeration with significant social problems - better known to those slightly further north as the City of Shite.
Just look at the blue angular, masculine arrow design of the reform logo... obviously made by men, for men.
"This paper examines how a critical dimension of logo design, namely naturalness, along with logo color, influences brand gender perceptions, and whether brand-design-induced gender perceptions ultimately impact affective reactions to logos."
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
I prefer Stoke-on-Trent.
Well there there... meanwhile the rest of humanity thinks the City of Light is clearly preferable to a run down, post industrial conglomeration with significant social problems. 😏
Glasgow ?
Both Glasgow and Edinburgh show that the early 21st century approach of retail as the "fix" for city centre problems has definitely finished.
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Sorry, cannot accept that. I am not happy clappy, all people are legal, welcome them all in, open borders, like many in Labour, the Lib Dems and Greens are but you cannot risk a single persons life by doing that.
You also have to have a proper process to allow people to apply to come here rather than risk their lives on boats and then just turn up and disappear into the black economy.
Stop being such a flake
Their lives are already being risked. They drown quite regularly. And hundreds drown in the Med
If we tow them back they will stop coming so in the end you will save many more lives than might be lost. You just have to be quite ruthless at first
Also, this is inevitable. In the end if you don’t do this voters will elect fascists that will do much much worse than this. See the recent European elex
Don't you have a contradiction there. You say hundreds drown already. You also say they will stop coming if we tow them back so the extra risk of drowning will in the end save lives as it will stop them coming.
Why will it stop them coming if they risk drowning already? They will still come in a hope of not being caught.
Re you last sentence that is a genuine worry I agree.
@Heathener ignore the prats, London is the greatest city in the world.
True. I don't live there but it is the greatest city in the world, but not because of the way it looks, which is frequently awful.
The square mile of the City of London remains one of the most magical places on earth, despite all the attempts to trash it. The rest of London mostly teeters between ghastly set piece stuff (Buckingham Palace etc) and a squalor which feels carefully deliberated. I wonder how the late Ian Nairn would write his old Penguin 'Nairn's London' now?
Women also twice as likely to say don't know. Hmm. I understand that women are naturally more indecisive but could there be a shy reform factor in there?
Morning. Just out of interest who are you voting for?
I’ve already voted Labour for transparency.
Morning
I have said I would not vote. Especially as Labour just parachuted a candidate in here and took the areas for granted.
However I have quite liked Luke Akehurst's twitter campaign and his campaign stops as well as his attempts to eat his way around North Durham including a few places I have eaten, so I may well end up voting labour after all for the 10th consecutive election
Respect your choice to not vote but also to vote for Akehurst if you like what he's doing.
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
That sort of depends what interests you. Chasing Candy Crush stores or overpriced restaurants isnt my bag. Ive worked in Paris long enough to treat it with the contempt it deserves and London just isnt me. I like Berlin, Prague Barcelona they are interesting. However I much prefer the countryside and landscape so much more to appreciate.
I can't see an American Candy Store without assuming it's a money laundering operation.
They seem to be everywhere now, well stocked, but there's never anyone in them.
Interestingly - !! - they aren’t just a london thing. Lots in Paris too. And Spain
So, where on earth has that come from?
There aren't that many - if any - Americans here and, "what I really want and need is lots of American Candy!!", said no-one - ever.
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
The French kicked an Imam all the way to Morocco for making some Alan's Snackbar comments. Been in France for x decades. Punting him there was illegal, apparently. "Je suis desolate"* was the response from the French government to that.
*Roughly translated - "Oh Dear, Never Mind, How Sad."
Thanks for the patronising guff, but that is not an answer my question. I presume you have resorted to the patronising approach as the answer is unpalatable? Oh Dear, never mind, how sad.
The point was that the French State simply break the law when there is conflict between what the government wants to do and the law.
Now whether you want a governmental system that throws human rights under the bus when a problem arises is another story.
Think of the Greek coastguard killing hundreds, while trying to tow a migrant boat. Horrible and stupid.
In many ways we should be proud that the response to the boat people has been to fish them out of the water, give them Domino’s pizza and block book the kind of medium quality country hotels that have the ski machines next to the swimming pool.
@Heathener ignore the prats, London is the greatest city in the world.
True. I don't live there but it is the greatest city in the world, but not because of the way it looks, which is frequently awful.
The square mile of the City of London remains one of the most magical places on earth, despite all the attempts to trash it. The rest of London mostly teeters between ghastly set piece stuff (Buckingham Palace etc) and a squalor which feels carefully deliberated. I wonder how the late Ian Nairn would write his old Penguin 'Nairn's London' now?
If you've never felt emotionally moved in Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens on a warm summer evening you were probably being driven through in an ambulance. Ditto Waterlow and Greenwich Parks.
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
The obvious way to deal with irregular immigration is to process the would-be immigrants' claims efficiently, and then quickly deport those who are deemed not eligible to stay. The returns deal on Albanian migrants successfully reduced Channel crossings from 45,774 in 2022 to 29,437 in 2023. Why can this not be replicated with other nations?
Because like a couple of billion people on this planet under international treaty they have a right to refugee status if they claim it, and we bind ourselves to those treaties. Albanians are not generally refugees.
There are only two (interlocked) decent solutions:
1) Give the UN the job of ensuring that governance in each of its member states conforms with the standards implied by the treaties
2) Give the UN the task of overseeing 100% of refugees offering absolutely equal but minimal rights to all wherever in the world they are. (Nutrition, a tent, primary education, basic healthcare, ticket home once (1) is accomplished.)
For these to be solutions please explain how you will convince countries such as the USA, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia to accept the UN deciding how many asylum seekers they get, let alone countries such as our own.
Otherwise it is just another sensible and good but not happening wish list.
Interesting experiment by Channel 4 to see if people change their minds based on fake AI. This should be bugger news
I'm sure they can be made to change their minds based on AI-generated fakes but they'll also change their minds based on dodgy edits and outright easily-detectable lies like putting a caption over somebody saying something that isn't what they said.
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
That sort of depends what interests you. Chasing Candy Crush stores or overpriced restaurants isnt my bag. Ive worked in Paris long enough to treat it with the contempt it deserves and London just isnt me. I like Berlin, Prague Barcelona they are interesting. However I much prefer the countryside and landscape so much more to appreciate.
I can't see an American Candy Store without assuming it's a money laundering operation.
They seem to be everywhere now, well stocked, but there's never anyone in them.
Interestingly - !! - they aren’t just a london thing. Lots in Paris too. And Spain
So, where on earth has that come from?
There aren't that many - if any - Americans here and, "what I really want and need is lots of American Candy!!", said no-one - ever.
Yes it is very strange. Like a meme spreading
There must be some evolutionary reason - something that makes “candy stores” extremely easy to set up and maintain and staff - no need for security, nothing to steal, no training required? - so they can then be used for money laundering. Which is what they clearly are
I’m less convinced that Turkish barbers are all money laundering. Tho some must be
There are some quite good Turkish barbers which makes me doubt the money laundering angle. American Candy on the other hand...I used to look at the vast number of empty Angus/Aberdeen Steak houses in prime London Locations and think the same thing though - so who knows.
@Heathener ignore the prats, London is the greatest city in the world.
True. I don't live there but it is the greatest city in the world, but not because of the way it looks, which is frequently awful.
The square mile of the City of London remains one of the most magical places on earth, despite all the attempts to trash it. The rest of London mostly teeters between ghastly set piece stuff (Buckingham Palace etc) and a squalor which feels carefully deliberated. I wonder how the late Ian Nairn would write his old Penguin 'Nairn's London' now?
If you've never felt emotionally moved in Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens on a warm summer evening you were probably being driven through in an ambulance. Ditto Waterlow and Greenwich Parks.
Yes. Fair points. I was exaggerating, and too much. However there is much squalor, and too much casual ugliness.
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
That sort of depends what interests you. Chasing Candy Crush stores or overpriced restaurants isnt my bag. Ive worked in Paris long enough to treat it with the contempt it deserves and London just isnt me. I like Berlin, Prague Barcelona they are interesting. However I much prefer the countryside and landscape so much more to appreciate.
I can't see an American Candy Store without assuming it's a money laundering operation.
They seem to be everywhere now, well stocked, but there's never anyone in them.
Interestingly - !! - they aren’t just a london thing. Lots in Paris too. And Spain
So, where on earth has that come from?
There aren't that many - if any - Americans here and, "what I really want and need is lots of American Candy!!", said no-one - ever.
Kids say it.
Mine don't, and I have two.
I have two too, and mine say it.
I won't let them go too often due to the amount of sugar, but they are allowed to go from time to time as a treat.
And my wife likes it too, as she finds products there that remind her of home (South Africa). Some of the stuff available in those stores are stuff she had growing up, which you don't get in stores here so it's not just kids and American emigres who like it either.
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
The French kicked an Imam all the way to Morocco for making some Alan's Snackbar comments. Been in France for x decades. Punting him there was illegal, apparently. "Je suis desolate"* was the response from the French government to that.
*Roughly translated - "Oh Dear, Never Mind, How Sad."
Thanks for the patronising guff, but that is not an answer my question. I presume you have resorted to the patronising approach as the answer is unpalatable? Oh Dear, never mind, how sad.
The point was that the French State simply break the law when there is conflict between what the government wants to do and the law.
Now whether you want a governmental system that throws human rights under the bus when a problem arises is another story.
Think of the Greek coastguard killing hundreds, while trying to tow a migrant boat. Horrible and stupid.
In many ways we should be proud that the response to the boat people has been to fish them out of the water, give them Domino’s pizza and block book the kind of medium quality country hotels that have the ski machines next to the swimming pool.
You have clearly never set foot inside the Burstin "Hotel", Folkestone.
After my last trip to Paris I wouldn’t object if they nuked Paris.
Can that wait until after I've taken the kids to Disneyland there?
Europe's biggest LTN
With ample parking too I believe.
We're looking at booking a lodge to stay there next year. Package comes with free parking included both at the lodge and at the park for an easy journey between the two. 😀
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
The obvious way to deal with irregular immigration is to process the would-be immigrants' claims efficiently, and then quickly deport those who are deemed not eligible to stay. The returns deal on Albanian migrants successfully reduced Channel crossings from 45,774 in 2022 to 29,437 in 2023. Why can this not be replicated with other nations?
Because like a couple of billion people on this planet under international treaty they have a right to refugee status if they claim it, and we bind ourselves to those treaties. Albanians are not generally refugees.
There are only two (interlocked) decent solutions:
1) Give the UN the job of ensuring that governance in each of its member states conforms with the standards implied by the treaties
2) Give the UN the task of overseeing 100% of refugees offering absolutely equal but minimal rights to all wherever in the world they are. (Nutrition, a tent, primary education, basic healthcare, ticket home once (1) is accomplished.)
For these to be solutions please explain how you will convince countries such as the USA, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia to accept the UN deciding how many asylum seekers they get, let alone countries such as our own.
Otherwise it is just another sensible and good but not happening wish list.
Agree. But until something like this is in place I don't think there are any other solutions. Two issues. It is hypocrisy for UN member states to be routinely run in such a way that other member states have to accept their refugee's status. Secondly, because of the scale of legitimate claims, there has to be a (horrible) complete separation of refugee status from economic advantage.
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures. Last week I went to the Eras tour on one night and Opera Holland Park for Tosca another, from the wondrous and free treasure of the National Gallery to erotic gay porn at Studio Voltaire in Clapham. From the high priestess of feminist art Judy Chicago at the Serpentine, to Cézanne at the Courthauld. It’s endless and magnificent.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
You might be able to but how many people do so ?
The average Londoner visits one of the museums about once or twice a year:
Women tend to vote for liberal and centrist parties more than men. Men tend to vote more for hard right nationalist parties than women. In the US women are less likely to vote for Trump than men too.
Of course pre Blair women also voted Tory largely while men mostly voted Labour, especially working class men
After my last trip to Paris I wouldn’t object if they nuked Paris.
Can that wait until after I've taken the kids to Disneyland there?
Europe's biggest LTN
With ample parking too I believe.
We're looking at booking a lodge to stay there next year. Package comes with free parking included both at the lodge and at the park for an easy journey between the two. 😀
Depending on how long you are planning to stay we used to stay at Val d'Europe and then walk in or catch one of the buses that are put on from the local hotel to Eurodisney. Our typical approach was to go to Paris for 2 weeks and then spend 1 day in Disney, 1 in Paris....
Val d'Europe gives you the ability to hop into Paris by train whenever you want...
From memory I think the walk was shorter than the walk from the far end of Disney's car parks...
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Tho I predict Labour - which could easily get crushed by this issue in months - will adopt a form of Rwanda. In fact I expect a Europe wide consensus on this. It will feel less “fash” if everyone does it
Under what law are we ‘towing people to France’? I am so bored with hearing this stuff. If only there was a Europe wide body where political issues could be discussed and where we could develop a ‘Europe wide consensus’. Perhaps someone should develop something the UK could join.
The French kicked an Imam all the way to Morocco for making some Alan's Snackbar comments. Been in France for x decades. Punting him there was illegal, apparently. "Je suis desolate"* was the response from the French government to that.
*Roughly translated - "Oh Dear, Never Mind, How Sad."
Thanks for the patronising guff, but that is not an answer my question. I presume you have resorted to the patronising approach as the answer is unpalatable? Oh Dear, never mind, how sad.
The point was that the French State simply break the law when there is conflict between what the government wants to do and the law.
Now whether you want a governmental system that throws human rights under the bus when a problem arises is another story.
Think of the Greek coastguard killing hundreds, while trying to tow a migrant boat. Horrible and stupid.
In many ways we should be proud that the response to the boat people has been to fish them out of the water, give them Domino’s pizza and block book the kind of medium quality country hotels that have the ski machines next to the swimming pool.
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Sorry, cannot accept that. I am not happy clappy, all people are legal, welcome them all in, open borders, like many in Labour, the Lib Dems and Greens are but you cannot risk a single persons life by doing that.
You also have to have a proper process to allow people to apply to come here rather than risk their lives on boats and then just turn up and disappear into the black economy.
Stop being such a flake
Their lives are already being risked. They drown quite regularly. And hundreds drown in the Med
If we tow them back they will stop coming so in the end you will save many more lives than might be lost. You just have to be quite ruthless at first
Also, this is inevitable. In the end if you don’t do this voters will elect fascists that will do much much worse than this. See the recent European elex
Don't you have a contradiction there. You say hundreds drown already. You also say they will stop coming if we tow them back so the extra risk of drowning will in the end save lives as it will stop them coming.
Why will it stop them coming if they risk drowning already? They will still come in a hope of not being caught.
Re you last sentence that is a genuine worry I agree.
Because they won’t risk drowning if they know there is a 100% chance they will simply be towed back to France
@Heathener ignore the prats, London is the greatest city in the world.
True. I don't live there but it is the greatest city in the world, but not because of the way it looks, which is frequently awful.
The square mile of the City of London remains one of the most magical places on earth, despite all the attempts to trash it. The rest of London mostly teeters between ghastly set piece stuff (Buckingham Palace etc) and a squalor which feels carefully deliberated. I wonder how the late Ian Nairn would write his old Penguin 'Nairn's London' now?
If you've never felt emotionally moved in Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens on a warm summer evening....
How many electors will be voting by post at this election? More and more at each successive election it would seem. With the ballor forms having arrived through letter boxes over the past week, it would seem likely that perhaps millions will have already voted and to a significant extent therefore the die is already cast.
@Heathener ignore the prats, London is the greatest city in the world.
True. I don't live there but it is the greatest city in the world, but not because of the way it looks, which is frequently awful.
The square mile of the City of London remains one of the most magical places on earth, despite all the attempts to trash it. The rest of London mostly teeters between ghastly set piece stuff (Buckingham Palace etc) and a squalor which feels carefully deliberated. I wonder how the late Ian Nairn would write his old Penguin 'Nairn's London' now?
If you've never felt emotionally moved in Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens on a warm summer evening....
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
That sort of depends what interests you. Chasing Candy Crush stores or overpriced restaurants isnt my bag. Ive worked in Paris long enough to treat it with the contempt it deserves and London just isnt me. I like Berlin, Prague Barcelona they are interesting. However I much prefer the countryside and landscape so much more to appreciate.
I can't see an American Candy Store without assuming it's a money laundering operation.
They seem to be everywhere now, well stocked, but there's never anyone in them.
Interestingly - !! - they aren’t just a london thing. Lots in Paris too. And Spain
So, where on earth has that come from?
There aren't that many - if any - Americans here and, "what I really want and need is lots of American Candy!!", said no-one - ever.
Yes it is very strange. Like a meme spreading
There must be some evolutionary reason - something that makes “candy stores” extremely easy to set up and maintain and staff - no need for security, nothing to steal, no training required? - so they can then be used for money laundering. Which is what they clearly are
I’m less convinced that Turkish barbers are all money laundering. Tho some must be
There are some quite good Turkish barbers which makes me doubt the money laundering angle. American Candy on the other hand...I used to look at the vast number of empty Angus/Aberdeen Steak houses in prime London Locations and think the same thing though - so who knows.
Breaking news. Someone has thrown a 99 with extra chocolate sauce on Farage in Uxbridge. He needs some new Pr now as things have gone a bit quiet. Not really by the way.
Not seen this so it may be flake news. 99s to cost 99p is in someone's manifesto. Is it Mr Binface? FWIW I agree with this policy.
How many electors will be voting by post at this election? More and more at each successive election it would seem. With the ballor forms having arrived through letter boxes over the past week, it would seem likely that perhaps millions will have already voted and to a significant extent therefore the die is already cast.
Interesting how the exit poll is seemingly able to account for postal votes.
Women tend to vote for liberal and centrist parties more than men. Men tend to vote more for hard right nationalist parties than women. In the US women are less likely to vote for Trump than men too.
Of course pre Blair women also voted Tory largely while men mostly voted Labour, especially working class men
Another way of writing all that is women consistently tend to vote for the sensible one.
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures. Last week I went to the Eras tour on one night and Opera Holland Park for Tosca another, from the wondrous and free treasure of the National Gallery to erotic gay porn at Studio Voltaire in Clapham. From the high priestess of feminist art Judy Chicago at the Serpentine, to Cézanne at the Courthauld. It’s endless and magnificent.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
You might be able to but how many people do so ?
The average Londoner visits one of the museums about once or twice a year:
Perhaps the attractions of London are wasted on the people who live there.
I lived in Greenwich for nearly 6 years. I moved in a few months before the Cutty Sark fire in 2007 (it had been closed for renovations for several months already) and moved out just before it was reopened in 2012. So despite living there for over half a decade I've never visited Greenwich's biggest tourist attraction.
@Heathener ignore the prats, London is the greatest city in the world.
True. I don't live there but it is the greatest city in the world, but not because of the way it looks, which is frequently awful.
The square mile of the City of London remains one of the most magical places on earth, despite all the attempts to trash it. The rest of London mostly teeters between ghastly set piece stuff (Buckingham Palace etc) and a squalor which feels carefully deliberated. I wonder how the late Ian Nairn would write his old Penguin 'Nairn's London' now?
If you've never felt emotionally moved in Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens on a warm summer evening you were probably being driven through in an ambulance. Ditto Waterlow and Greenwich Parks.
London has parks. The rest of the country has countryside.
Nine days to go. (Or about a fortnight if you are LauraK/BigG)
8 days. Today has already started so it is 8 whole days (the entire of Wednesday to Wednesday) to go. And a bit. 9 sleeps.
Days is one more than sleeps, not fewer.
10 days between now and the election (today is a day and its not done yet, plus we have the Thursday itself), 11 until PM Starmer.
On election day I shall: vote, look at 'Dogs at Polling Stations', read a 1930s detective novel and think about inclusive counting in early Elamite society. According to BR above there will, on election day, still be one day to the election as there are 10 days from now, not 8, so I think I shall actually vote on Friday 5th and hope that works.
Breaking news. Someone has thrown a 99 with extra chocolate sauce on Farage in Uxbridge. He needs some new Pr now as things have gone a bit quiet. Not really by the way.
Not seen this so it may be flake news. 99s to cost 99p is in someone's manifesto. Is it Mr Binface? FWIW I agree with this policy.
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Sorry, cannot accept that. I am not happy clappy, all people are legal, welcome them all in, open borders, like many in Labour, the Lib Dems and Greens are but you cannot risk a single persons life by doing that.
You also have to have a proper process to allow people to apply to come here rather than risk their lives on boats and then just turn up and disappear into the black economy.
Stop being such a flake
Their lives are already being risked. They drown quite regularly. And hundreds drown in the Med
If we tow them back they will stop coming so in the end you will save many more lives than might be lost. You just have to be quite ruthless at first
Also, this is inevitable. In the end if you don’t do this voters will elect fascists that will do much much worse than this. See the recent European elex
Don't you have a contradiction there. You say hundreds drown already. You also say they will stop coming if we tow them back so the extra risk of drowning will in the end save lives as it will stop them coming.
Why will it stop them coming if they risk drowning already? They will still come in a hope of not being caught.
Re you last sentence that is a genuine worry I agree.
Because they won’t risk drowning if they know there is a 100% chance they will simply be towed back to France
This is the canard that the right keeps repeating - "They won't risk it if they know [they'll be sent to Rwanda/towed back/made to read the Spectator]" (delete as appropriate).
There's no evidence set out that the migrants would either know about such policies or care even if they did. Like any criminal who boasts they will get away with it, the smugglers will claim a secure route to take their money. You're just making assertions with no evidence.
How many electors will be voting by post at this election? More and more at each successive election it would seem. With the ballor forms having arrived through letter boxes over the past week, it would seem likely that perhaps millions will have already voted and to a significant extent therefore the die is already cast.
How many electors will be voting by post at this election? More and more at each successive election it would seem. With the ballor forms having arrived through letter boxes over the past week, it would seem likely that perhaps millions will have already voted and to a significant extent therefore the die is already cast.
We switched to postal voting because of Covid, and have stuck with it. I assume that there are others who did similar. Coupled with a lower overall turnout, I would anticipate a bigger proportion of postal ballots than 5 years ago.
Nine days to go. (Or about a fortnight if you are LauraK/BigG)
8 days. Today has already started so it is 8 whole days (the entire of Wednesday to Wednesday) to go. And a bit. 9 sleeps.
Days is one more than sleeps, not fewer.
10 days between now and the election (today is a day and its not done yet, plus we have the Thursday itself), 11 until PM Starmer.
On election day I shall: vote, look at 'Dogs at Polling Stations', read a 1930s detective novel and think about inclusive counting in early Elamite society. According to BR above there will, on election day, still be one day to the election as there are 10 days from now, not 8, so I think I shall actually vote on Friday 5th and hope that works.
Fun in France. The New Popular Front are having to go out of their way to say its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will not be the Prime Minister if they win. While he leads the alliance he is not that popular with the electorate.
It's always fun in Paris. Time to put the computer down. Start at the Musee d'Orsay and take a Bateaux Mouche...the good life doesn't end at Stoke-on-Trent.
Musee d'Orsay is the best place in Paris. the rest of it is boring, like London. Though I did enjoy Notre Dame the exhibition on the rebuilding was really interesting you could sit on the stands and watch the roof being rebuilt bit by bit. I'm in Les Yvelines next week and can only enthuse myself to go to Paris as Im meeting an old friend for lunch.
London and Paris are boring?
Wow. Just wow.
I accept youre easily impressed and dont get out much.
Oh Alan why do you slip so readily into Ad Hominem? Ask yourself this, no need to reply.
It’s because I go out stacks that I don’t find London and Paris boring. There is sooooooo much to do. So many amazing galleries, fantastic eating, brilliant concerts. It’s a cornucopia of sensory pleasures.
You can, literally, spend every single night of the year out in London and never do the same thing twice. Amazing city.
That sort of depends what interests you. Chasing Candy Crush stores or overpriced restaurants isnt my bag. Ive worked in Paris long enough to treat it with the contempt it deserves and London just isnt me. I like Berlin, Prague Barcelona they are interesting. However I much prefer the countryside and landscape so much more to appreciate.
I can't see an American Candy Store without assuming it's a money laundering operation.
They seem to be everywhere now, well stocked, but there's never anyone in them.
Interestingly - !! - they aren’t just a london thing. Lots in Paris too. And Spain
So, where on earth has that come from?
There aren't that many - if any - Americans here and, "what I really want and need is lots of American Candy!!", said no-one - ever.
Yes it is very strange. Like a meme spreading
There must be some evolutionary reason - something that makes “candy stores” extremely easy to set up and maintain and staff - no need for security, nothing to steal, no training required? - so they can then be used for money laundering. Which is what they clearly are
I’m less convinced that Turkish barbers are all money laundering. Tho some must be
I passed one at the weekend, a customer was getting the "flames in the earhole" treatment.
Turkish barbers aren't money laundering. The young men if today just get way more treatment such as perms etc. They spend more money on their looks than before. (Also there are many more people)
When do they get these treatments? The places always seem empty.
Could this be the real reason Sunak daren't delay the GE further?
We have to start towing them back to France, if no one is prepared to do Rwanda
Sorry, cannot accept that. I am not happy clappy, all people are legal, welcome them all in, open borders, like many in Labour, the Lib Dems and Greens are but you cannot risk a single persons life by doing that.
You also have to have a proper process to allow people to apply to come here rather than risk their lives on boats and then just turn up and disappear into the black economy.
Stop being such a flake
Their lives are already being risked. They drown quite regularly. And hundreds drown in the Med
If we tow them back they will stop coming so in the end you will save many more lives than might be lost. You just have to be quite ruthless at first
Also, this is inevitable. In the end if you don’t do this voters will elect fascists that will do much much worse than this. See the recent European elex
Don't you have a contradiction there. You say hundreds drown already. You also say they will stop coming if we tow them back so the extra risk of drowning will in the end save lives as it will stop them coming.
Why will it stop them coming if they risk drowning already? They will still come in a hope of not being caught.
Re you last sentence that is a genuine worry I agree.
Because they won’t risk drowning if they know there is a 100% chance they will simply be towed back to France
This is the canard that the right keeps repeating - "They won't risk it if they know [they'll be sent to Rwanda/towed back/made to read the Spectator]" (delete as appropriate).
There's no evidence set out that the migrants would either know about such policies or care even if they did. Like any criminal who boasts they will get away with it, the smugglers will claim a secure route to take their money. You're just making assertions with no evidence.
"We've got to be a bit fascist to stop the fascists being elected" is also dubious assertion rather than fact.
Paula Vennells was up at the @PostOffInquiry for three days. Gareth Jenkins is up for four.
- Known as the 'architect' of Horizon. - Used as an expert witness in court. - Appearance has been postponed twice. - Mentioned every day at the inquiry.
Comments
He actually seems quite personable too and is bothering to get out and speak to people in the seat daily. His reputation precedes him. I hope he can do something positive for the seat.
I will either vote Akehurst or not bother. At the moment I am leaning towards Akehurst. I had said I may vote Green as the guy has a hoopy name. But the Green campaign has been batshit central so it's a no from me.
But the meaning is not so much about being impervious to challenge as rather that the target is nothing more than an authoritarian follower who is lost without someone to tell them what to think & will justify almost any atrocity if it preserves the authoritarian hierarchy they cling to for meaning in this uncertain world.
Robert Jenrick is criticising the Labour candidate for Newark for having been 'parachuted in' all the way from Nottingham. He is blocking loads of people for having the temerity to ask where he lives and particularly where he lived before he was chosen as a candidate for Newark? The answer of course is Herefordshire where he has a stately pile. Or is it London where he owns two further town houses? And all the time the taxpayer is paying £2K a month for him to rent a property in Newark.
Glasshouses and fecking great rocks spring to mind.
https://www.migrationwatchuk.org/channel-crossings-tracker
*Roughly translated - "Oh Dear, Never Mind, How Sad."
Their lives are already being risked. They drown quite regularly. And hundreds drown in the Med
If we tow them back they will stop coming so in the end you will save many more lives than might be lost. You just have to be quite ruthless at first
Also, this is inevitable. In the end if you don’t do this voters will elect fascists that will do much much worse than this. See the recent European elex
Nice one Biden.
Spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G7Ey3ZcEMWbosicrLKtp6LqiCh2KUUBc/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101474024138217768042&rtpof=true&sd=true
319
E14001381 Newton Abbot c on 29.2% lab 23.9% LD 20.3% ref 20.4% 5.2%
It is interesting how self described left anarchists have shibboleths. And a remarkable amount of sneaking affection for empires. Of the right kind.
There are only two (interlocked) decent solutions:
1) Give the UN the job of ensuring that governance in each of its member states conforms with the standards implied by the treaties
2) Give the UN the task of overseeing 100% of refugees offering absolutely equal but minimal rights to all wherever in the world they are. (Nutrition, a tent, primary education, basic healthcare, ticket home once (1) is accomplished.)
I presume you have resorted to the patronising approach as the answer is unpalatable? Oh Dear, never mind, how sad.
That said I’ve been doing some research and discovered that - contra my instincts - Brittany is not poor. It is one of the richest regions of France. And the favoured coasts and islands are seriously rich - partly due to the influx of wealthy Parisians and other domestic tourists
Hence the gorgeous roundabouts
The young men if today just get way more treatment such as perms etc. They spend more money on their looks than before.
(Also there are many more people)
It has:
Con 29.2, Lab 23.9, LD 20.3, Reform 20.4, Green 5.2
You may well be right.
The aggregation site (which also includes non-MRP predictions from Britain Predicts, the Economist, and the FT, is here: https://inglesp.github.io/apogee/constituencies/E14001381/
Using an average from the seven MRPs (Electoral Calculus, Focaldata, Savanta, Survation, More In Common, Ipsos, YouGov) gives:
Con 30, Lab 24, LD 25, Reform 16
(But Reform rising over time as Con subsides a little)
"This paper examines how a critical dimension of logo design, namely naturalness, along with logo color, influences brand gender perceptions, and whether brand-design-induced gender perceptions ultimately impact affective reactions to logos."
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41262-020-00216-4
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EJM-08-2012-0456/full/html
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mar.20701
Does it lool welcoming to women? 9 people in the front lineup.... one is a woman:
https://onthewight.com/wp-content/2024/05/Attendees-at-the-Reform-UK-meeting-with-Richard-Tice.jpg
zero women:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ7KXj_es3nKaU8-uhZ_l4SQIMfxHB1pD1NTpdIx3a1Ql0qPMvpHyNLPRKWTcRQD4wAEOw&usqp=CAU
The internet is full of pictures like this: a reform candidate surrounded by angry grey haired men.
Interesting experiment by Channel 4 to see if people change their minds based on fake AI. This should be bugger news
Why will it stop them coming if they risk drowning already? They will still come in a hope of not being caught.
Re you last sentence that is a genuine worry I agree.
Hmm.
I understand that women are naturally more indecisive but could there be a shy reform factor in there?
Now whether you want a governmental system that throws human rights under the bus when a problem arises is another story.
Think of the Greek coastguard killing hundreds, while trying to tow a migrant boat. Horrible and stupid.
In many ways we should be proud that the response to the boat people has been to fish them out of the water, give them Domino’s pizza and block book the kind of medium quality country hotels that have the ski machines next to the swimming pool.
Otherwise it is just another sensible and good but not happening wish list.
The squealing will be magnificent.
Migrants in France ‘waiting for Labour government’
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/06/24/migrants-labour-government-crossing-channel-rwanda/
They may be but equally even with Rwanda more people have arrived between 1st Jan and 23rd June than in the first 6 months of 2022 or 2023.
and we still have another week of excellent sailing weather.
I won't let them go too often due to the amount of sugar, but they are allowed to go from time to time as a treat.
And my wife likes it too, as she finds products there that remind her of home (South Africa). Some of the stuff available in those stores are stuff she had growing up, which you don't get in stores here so it's not just kids and American emigres who like it either.
Going to be interesting to see how much blame he can pin on others to protect himself from perjury charges...
We're looking at booking a lodge to stay there next year. Package comes with free parking included both at the lodge and at the park for an easy journey between the two. 😀
The average Londoner visits one of the museums about once or twice a year:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/630146/leading-london-visitor-attractions-uk/
Perhaps the attractions of London are wasted on the people who live there.
Of course pre Blair women also voted Tory largely while men mostly voted Labour, especially working class men
Val d'Europe gives you the ability to hop into Paris by train whenever you want...
From memory I think the walk was shorter than the walk from the far end of Disney's car parks...
10 days between now and the election (today is a day and its not done yet, plus we have the Thursday itself), 11 until PM Starmer.
https://x.com/tedgioia/status/1805435702886212093
Case closed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E5hMX1rryk
Starting right now.
There's no evidence set out that the migrants would either know about such policies or care even if they did. Like any criminal who boasts they will get away with it, the smugglers will claim a secure route to take their money. You're just making assertions with no evidence.
Perhaps as high as 25% of votes cast?
Today is a day, which we haven't finished yet.
Today - 1
Tomorrow - 2
Thursday - 3
Etc until the election on day 10.
And Starmer becomes PM the following day.
@ruddick
Paula Vennells was up at the @PostOffInquiry for three days.
Gareth Jenkins is up for four.
- Known as the 'architect' of Horizon.
- Used as an expert witness in court.
- Appearance has been postponed twice.
- Mentioned every day at the inquiry.
Huge moment."
https://x.com/ruddick/status/1805506156720173152