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Alex Salmond has died – politicalbetting.com
Alex Salmond has died – politicalbetting.com
? BREAKING: Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland, has died aged 69. He collapsed after delivering a speech in North Macedonia https://t.co/Z4L8Tjt3uU
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RIP Ales Salmond.
I did not agree with some of his politics, but he fought tenaciously for his views. His successors are/were non-entities in comparison.
(If anyone can get in quick, Wiki's still not been updated...)
I didint agree with him but could respect him as a principled politician.
Also very bright and had serious political talent. RIP
I met him just once, in a Biz Class Lounge at Heathrow T3, where he was - fittingly - knocking back the free champagne with great satisfaction
Saturday staffing I guess
Be interesting to see what comes out now.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8rd8z70pn8o
I think consequential is a good choice of word to describe his impact on this country.
"The way Europeans and residents of the EU live their lives is now at risk, and their governments and leaders are to blame
Great story on the de facto suspension of #schengen and imminent crumbling by
@GuyChazan
@FT"
https://x.com/alemannoEU/status/1842877857132957770
For this second meaning of "effectively" see here:
effectively
/ɪˈfɛktɪvli/
adverb
1 in such a manner as to achieve a desired result.
"make sure that resources are used effectively"
2 indirectly; actually but not officially or explicitly.
"they were effectively controlled by the people they were supposed to be investigating"
https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/schengen-area/temporary-reintroduction-border-control_en
Blimey, life is indeed short, nasty and brutish* (*ironically in this case autocorrected to "British")
And when Orban is in the Chair.
But undoubtedly an extraordinary political talent.
@malcolmg will be sad.
The first SNP First Minister and who got Yes to 45% in the 2014 referendum which only happened due to the SNP majority he won in 2011.
The big thing with Schengen is the ability just to walk, cycle or drive over the border with nothing but a “welcome to country x” sign. I love it - one of the joys of European travel. Especially wonderful on the high Alpine passes, or on the Riviera where one second you’re in France, then it’s Monaco then mamma Mia you’re in Italy.
Switzerland, while a member, does rather spoil the effect by having erected lots of customs infrastructure and waving you over into a lane for inspection if they think you’re carrying contraband, or haven’t got your motorway tag for the year.
Events like these make you face your own mortality just that little bit more seriously.
Once the dust settles I can explain what I really thought of the jury's verdict in his trial. #onlyinscotland
The closest Scottish politics has come to producing a political giant. And heaven knows England hasn't had any in recent years.
But in effect Schengen has been suspended, in purely legal terms. Absolute Free Movement is no more, on several frontiers
I hope new technology will mean an end to all international borders: it should do so, and it will be cool as fuck
Secutity will be done by robots, drones and cameras and the like, operating out of sight but much more effectively than any border guards or customs posts
You can be in Schengen without having free movement, a customs union or single market membership (much though I’d prefer all 3). And you don’t have to be in the EU. It doesn’t stop you catching and deporting illegal immigrants, checking vehicles for drugs or firearms or enforcing visa restrictions. But it does mean you could just rock up to St Pancras and hop on the train like you do the Thalys from Paris to Brussels.
(We don't know how or why Salmond died)
Also someone should drop a bomb on Israel. This may be a long weekend for me.
Turkeys and Christmas comes to mind.
Turned Scottish independence from something slightly odd old men in draughty halls romanticised to a genuine possibility. Then had to honour a promise to resign when lost a referendum that was arguably only possible and close due to him (with a little help from Mel Gibson).
Realised the possibilities of pitching the SNP as a 'progressive' alternative to Labour - but then ultimately became persona non-grata for not being 'progressive' enough.
And of course though genial, could be politically brutal, and passed that on to a protege who then was fairly brutal in ostracising him when he was deemed a liability.
RIP.
I can't keep up with the looney left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEXqsWZy0m0
Though why the Russians would want him dead is another matter...
Starmer is, simply, intensely easy to dislike. He has that kind of personality. Zero charm or humour, an excess of self regard, vanity, and entitlement, and he hates being criticised. He can barely handle it. This will doom him
I read this about him from Rosie Duffield in the Telegraph, and thought Yep
"Although, over the years, Starmer often claimed to be having conversations with her, this was simply not the case. She finally begged for a meeting just before the election. In the end she got 20 minutes with him. “It was utterly pointless,” she says. “He just looks like he does on television, utterly bewildered by being challenged, and affronted as well. He is astonished that anyone dares to question him. Friends in the legal profession will say to me, that’s his barrister head, because if you question a barrister, they believe you’re questioning their knowledge of the law and their absolute expertise on their subject. I was questioning him about the two-child benefit cap, and how it looked, and he just seemed baffled.
“He is a politician who has no political talent.""
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/10/08/rosie-duffield-interview-labour-sue-gray-women-misogyny/
Jon Sopel
@jonsopel
·
18m
Shocking news. Always thought he was one of toughest politicians to interview: smart, combative, ready to pounce if you made a misstep. And he turned the SNP into force it became. But very good company off camera
Lot of Russian "activism" in Balkans.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-unveils-most-significant-reforms-to-employment-rights
Which is the bit that the Corbynites and their mirror images on the right refuse to hear.
The first job of a politician is to win power. Otherwise, you're just a gob on a stick.
What Starmer is good at is being a stroppy opposition player, he is competitive, and he was needling and persistent in the Commons. He probably accelerated the Tories' demise, to a modest extent
But the landslide is built on sand. 33.7% on a 60% turnout. Against one of the most unpopular governments in many decades. That shows how poor he is, in reality, and he's not going to get better
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you
https://x.com/billkristol/status/1844734512195928153
"If Trump wins on November 5, it will be because of his support from a majority of white America. As a white American, and a white American man to boot, I’ve got to say, in the immortal words of Pogo: We have met the enemy and he is us."
She needs to make use of the Obamas heavily in the final few weeks as Obama won 95% of the Black vote in 2008 and 93% of the Black vote in 2012. At the moment the only gains Harris has made relative to Biden in 2020 is amongst white college graduates. Yet while that will benefit her in a few swing states like North Carolina and Pennsylvania with lots of graduates it is not enough for her to win overall without Black voters turning out for her, especially as Trump has a big lead with white working class voters and has made inroads with Latinos
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/12/us/politics/poll-black-voters-harris-trump.html
Good news for Harris and Trump .
Harris leads 50 to 47 in Pennsylvania
Trump leads 51 to 46 in Arizona
While one cannot deny his charisma, he really barely rates on any ordinary political dimension. Though oftent touted for his campaigning, he doesn’t actually even do that. He’s essentially a television personality.
Your list omits Brown, Sturgeon, and perhaps Drake, perhaps Gove, perhaps Osborn.
For me the sadness, if there is any, is that he didn't have kids. "Dying without issue" always strikes me as a terribly melancholy phrase
There could of course be any number of reasons for that, and he may never have wanted kids, so this is an entirely personal, subjective take
Nothing in the man I would have voted for. Easy to see why many differed with me on that.
Is there a Schengen state without FoM?
He is an out and out white nationalist who is now openly ranting night after night about deporting huge numbers of non-white people out of the country as soon as elected.
That should override any thoughts about inflation.
No one cares about inflation when they are being manhandled onto a bus headed to the detainment camps.
(Northern_Al, age 68).
"Free movement of persons enables every EU citizen to travel, work and live in an EU country without special formalities. Schengen underpins this freedom by enabling citizens to move around the Schengen Area without being subject to border checks."
https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/schengen-area_en#:~:text=Free movement of persons enables,being subject to border checks.
Eton among elite private schools set to cash in on windfall from new VAT rules
VAT-registered schools will be able to claim refunds for tax paid on capital projects over past 10 years
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/oct/12/eton-among-elite-private-schools-set-to-cash-in-on-windfall-from-new-vat-rules
Brown and Gove are B- politicians, even Osborne and Sturgeon only A-
https://apnews.com/article/chicago-migrants-black-latino-biden-immigration-ab8d7f22eea423d86fb350665b9e66f6
The closure of Wadsworth Elementary School in 2013 was a blow to residents of the majority-Black neighborhood it served, symbolizing a city indifferent to their interests.
So when the city reopened Wadsworth last year to shelter hundreds of migrants without seeking community input, it added insult to injury. Across Chicago, Black residents are frustrated that long-standing needs are not being met while the city’s newly arrived are cared for with a sense of urgency, and with their tax dollars.
“Our voices are not valued nor heard,” says Genesis Young, a lifelong Chicagoan who lives near Wadsworth.
Chicago is one of several big American cities grappling with a surge of migrants. The Republican governor of Texas has been sending them by the busload to highlight his grievances with the Biden administration’s immigration policy.
RIP.